Early Sunday morning, Orion was at the Morgan Mansion. He stayed outside the huge oak doors contemplating whether he should knock or not. He had told the security at the gate that he wanted to see Farik but she shouldn't be informed of his arrival. At first they were skeptical about letting him in unannounced but then one of them recognized him from when he used to come as a kid so he let him in without further questions. It didn't occur to the security man that Orion hadn't been to the house in almost a decade.
Standing outside made old memories flood in. He remembered when he stood there with Farik the very first day she moved in with her family. He had been sitting outside the gates playing with the Chrysanthemums that grew outside there when her father's car rolled up the curb. She had spotted him almost immediately and had asked that the driver stopped the car. He did as she commanded and five minutes later they were the best of friends. He agreed to come into the new house with her since her parents weren't there with her. Before they got in, they made a show of standing in front of the oak doors and saying a little prayer. That had been one of the best days of his life seeing that it was the first time he entered a mansion– and made a friend.
Standing there now felt odd to him. He wanted to turn around and walk out the gate before Morgan had the chance to throw him out but his legs seemed to be glued to the floors.
"Just because she let you carry her bag for her yesterday doesn't mean she forgives you," he chastised himself.
After standing there for ten minutes, he decided to just go home.
"I'm a coward. I can't handle being rejected by her."
Just as he turned to leave, the doors opened. Orion's heart got caught in his throat as he wondered if it was Farik. Slowly, he turned around to face the person behind him.
"Oh my God! Orion, is that you?" Safari's voice was filled with surprise as she stared at the black haired boy she hadn't seen in years. Orion sighed in relief as he realized it wasn't the person he came to see.
"Hello Mrs. Morgan," he greeted courtly. She waved him off with her right hand and pulled him into a bear hug.
"Call me Safari. What are you doing here? It's been so long since I last saw you. How are you? How's your mom?" She bombarded him with questions he didn't have the chance to answer cause of more questions she asked.
"I'm actually here to see Farik," he said when she was done talking.
"Oh, honey, she isn't home at the moment." Sadness washed over him immediately as well as relief. It was hard for Safari not to see the disappointment written all over his face.
"I was actually on my way out too, but you can wait for her inside if you don't mind. I can tell her nanny to get something ready for you while you wait for her in her room."
Inside? Her room? Orion didn't think he deserved to be standing by her front door not to talk of going inside, up to her...room.
The last time he was in there was when he had stolen her diary. He wondered if she had redecorated it. He knew for certain that the framed picture of the both of them at the park that she kept on her dresser was gone.
"No, it's okay. I'll just come back later."
Safari's smile faded. Even if she hadn't seen him for a long time, she really like the times he used to spend with her daughter. He was the only one who could really put a smile on her face.
"Okay," she replied rather sulkily.
"I'll see you later Safari."
She watched him leave and couldn't help but wonder if she would ever see him again at her house.
***
Farik was breathing hard. Really hard. She kept looking back as she stumbled on the tarred road leading to her house just in case someone was following her. She made sure no one was but still...she figured she couldn't be too careful.
She sighed in relief as she got to her front gate. She was about to knock on the gate when she realized she wasn't even supposed to be outside in the first place. Startled, she quickly looked up to see if the security camera had captured her. Luckily for her she was standing in a blind spot.
"Okay," she thought, "new plan."
There was an old wall by the side of the compound that had a few blocks missing. When Farik had discovered it about a year ago, she was highly impressed at how the whole wall didn't come crashing down. She had wondered for a day or two what made that hole and after coming up with no suitable conclusion, decided to let it be. Farik could have told her parents about it so they could have it fixed but decided against it. She had thought that she would need an escape route someday. Thinking back to that time, she was grateful for the decision she made.
Carefully remaining hidden in the blind spot, she made her way to the side wall. She sighed in relief when she saw the hole filled wall but for some reason the hole looked smaller than she remembered.
"God I hope I fit through."
Quickly, she laid on the wet grass and began to shimmy through the tight hole. The grass was uncomfortable seeing that it was wet and had a few gravels in it. She groaned when she realized she had to throw away another dinosaur hoodie.
"Stupid passerby."
The person that made Farik this worried came to her mind at once. She was angry, worried, a little scared and almost terrified that someone may have seen her.
"He didn't. If he did, I wouldn't be here right now."
She finally managed to get through the small space. Her hands were dirty as well as her hoodie, jeans and sneakers but the latter was as a result of running through mud earlier. She ran up to her house making sure to avoid being seen by the guards on night duty and started debating again.
"Should I go in through the front?
No. My mom would be in the living room. She doesn't know I'm out.
What about the back door?
No. It's always locked.
Side door?
Mom will see me coming if I make too much noise and I'm guaranteed to do so.
Then..."
She groaned as the only option she had struck her. Farik hated climbing up her bedroom window. Sure coming down was easy, but going back up was really stressful. There was a tree that was close to her window but the bark of the tree was really spiky so she ended up having a lot of wounds. Coupled with the fact that the tree didn't really have any branches for her to hold on to and climb properly, she ended up having no choice but to "hug" her way up the tree. She tried using a rope once but she figured she wasn't much of a rope climber on her first try.
Sighing, she started her ascent up the prickly tree. Her hoodie was already ruined so it didn't matter much to her when it got stuck to a pointy part and ended up ripping. After climbing for almost ten minutes she finally got to her room. Her window was opened so she got in easily from the balcony. It was in the light of her room that she saw the blood on her hands. Without wasting more time, she took off everything she had on and kept them inside a trash bag. Then she hurried over to the bathroom. It was just as she was stepping out with a towel wrapped around her did Safari waltz into her room.
"Mom!" Farik shrieked in surprise.
"I'm so sorry dear," her mom said looking away. "I called your phone a couple times but you didn't answer. You've been stuck in here ever since I told you Orion stopped by this morning." Farik looked away nervously as she said that. She didn't know why but for some reason she felt a little guilty about lying to her.
"Emily said you didn't even have lunch. I was just worried about you."
Without looking at her mom, she replied, "It's okay. I'll be down in a minute."
Safari took the hint and left her daughter's room. She missed the sigh of relief that escaped her lips almost immediately.
As Farik got ready to go down for dinner, she made a mental note to scrub off the blood she was certain was on the tree she climbed before anyone got the chance to see it. She just prayed that the blood wasn't too much like it was on her clothes. That would be disastrous.