Anna Et Romy

A week later, I still had gotten no call from Earl or Romy and i was becoming anxious. I traded information with Earl and still NOTHING. What were they doing with my picture? Was it in some magazine? Were they laughing at it? I hung around the house worrying. Everest could tell I was stressed and ripped out two of his own feathers because of it.

Mia promised to stop by at some point so we could 'chat.' But I didn't care about chatting. I never had real friends, and I didn't care if I had one now. Sunday night, my sister didn't have to work. That was her policy. She said it felt wrong to dance promiscuously on the Lord's day.

"It's just not right." She said in a fake Texan accent. "It is unchristianlike and I should be ashamed of myself." She drawled pouring herself another glass of pinot grigio to pair with her lasagna that we bought from the market. We sat at our round dining room table having our 'family dinner.' After we had moved on our own and out of the foster care, she became adamant on eating together on Sunday nights.

"Well, we've gotta make a living somehow." I said poking at the overcooked pasta. My sister took a loud bite pointing her saucy fork at me.

"Speaking of making a living, YOU need to get a job." She accused. I raised my eyebrows. Since when was she for me getting a job? She always held a tight reign on me, I figured it was cause she didn't want to be the only Franco left. I instantly felt bad for thinking that.

"I'm not stripping if you think that's what I'm doing." I joked. She squinted her eyes at me.

"I'm NOT a stripper." She said rudely. The phone rang shrilly and we both jumped. Laughing nervously, I got up to get it. Juliet wasn't aware of my little photo debacle, and I wasn't planning on telling her. Hoping it was Earl, I picked up the phone and took it to my room. Closing the door behind me quietly, I whispered a hello.

"Anna? It's Earl." I breathed a sigh of relief watching the afternoon rain tap on the windowpane.

"Hi Earl." I said.

"Are you busy tonight? Because I could get you the photo." I twisted the hem of my t-shirt around my finger biting my lip. There was no way in Sam Hell that my sister was going to let me out. I didn't even do my homework yet. I watched the streetlamps switch on outside.

I could tell her I was going for a quick swim to clear my mind...

But then she'd bust me if I got caught...

"What time?"

* * *
An hour later, I was waiting outside of the subway, cellphone clutched in hand and shivering. It was wet and cold out, I wanted to go home. I begged and pleaded with my sister to let me go get more developing fluid for my photos. When she finally agreed, I threw a coat on and grabbed an umbrella heading out. Now I was waiting for Earl to bring me back my photo.

My teeth chattered as I looked around. The gloomy twilight settled over the city like a sour mood and water was leaking into my moccasins. Businessmen strode and busy women clambered up from the depths of the subway, eager to make it home. Looking down the grimy steps, I longed to disappear beneath the city and escape, to anywhere I wanted. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. I spun around looking straight at Romy.

My breath caught in my throat. I felt a fat raindrop hit the tip of my nose. He gazed at me somberly, like an unamused butler from one of those old black and white movies. He had the collar of his jacket up over his nose and his hair clung to his head, plastered down. Moss green eyes to the ground, he reached in his coat and pulled my picture from the inside pocket.

I took it gingerly, running a finger over the curled image. Looking up at him, I could see that he was looking at the picture too. He still didn't say anything.

"Thank you." I said politely sliding the photo in the folder I brought along. I was glad that he didn't have x-ray vision, or he would've seen the gazillion pictures I had of him from the other night. He blinked, causing the few crystalline raindrops on his eyelashes to roll down his cheeks like tears. I all of a sudden wished I had brought my camera.

"Well...bye." I said turning on my heel with a squeak of my rain boot. I heard footsteps behind me. Stopping and turning, I saw that Romy was following, his hands shoved in his pockets. My face reddened. What was he doing? The rain now came down in torrents. I opened my polka dot umbrella and squinted at him through the fog of my glasses.

"Are you trying to walk me home? Or kidnap me?" I joked. It took him a minute to process this, but he nodded.

"Which one?" I asked watching him get drenched in the downpour. My hands shook as I waved for him to join me under my umbrella. He ran under, It was too dangerous for us to be running around outside like this. So we mutually headed for an empty stoop. I was almost positive my sister was at home, worried sick about me. I pulled my phone out, seeing that I had no missed calls. It was a blessing. Looking over at Romy, I could see that he was shivering violently.

The stoop was dark and cold so we sat, watching the rain pound on the concrete. He still didn't say anything and it was making me mad. Why wouldn't he talk? Was he annoyed that he had to give back the photo? Did he just not like me? I pulled my knees up under my chin and looked out over my glasses at him. He was examining me, but looked away quickly when I looked at him.

"A-are you okay?" I asked hesitantly when he had the courage to look at me again. He nodded slowly, his full lips sealed. My insides quaked as he smoothed his hair back with his hand. I laughed, with his hair back, he looked like a mob boss or something. I laughed.

"You look like you're in the mafia." I commented. He didn't even notice I said anything, not moving, not answering, just staring at the rain. My face was hot. I stood up, angry. I wasn't going to be made a fool of by a guy who doesn't even speak. He scrambled to his feet too, picking up my umbrella.

"No." I said harshly. "You don't need to follow me. Just go back wherever you came from. If you don't like me, you don't need to follow me around."

His jaw was set as he shook his head. I was ready to tear my hair out. I ground my teeth.

"SAY SOMETHING DAMNIT! What's wrong with you? There are people with actual issues you know! My parents are dead. I can be as fucking quiet as I want to!" He stared at me emotionlessly. He took my hand. His were ice cold because of the rain, prying my fist open, he took my phone.

"What are you doing?" I hollered fighting for my phone back. He opened up the notebook tool, typing something rapidly. I waited, annoyed. He shoved it back at me, pulling his coat tighter around his neck and storming out of the covered stoop stalking away. I read it, covering my mouth. My throat ached. It read:

"The reason why I can't 'answer you' is because I've been deaf since birth. People do have more issues than me, I just don't talk about mine." My jaw dropped as I shoved my phone in my pocket. Not caring about the rain, I ran out looking around wildly for Romy. But he was already gone.