{"id":1331,"date":"2024-02-16T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T06:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2024-02-15T22:35:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T22:35:41","slug":"untitled-part-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=1331","title":{"rendered":"Untitled, Part Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fineas has been frantically clinging to the floor in fear of being heard ever since he accidentally dropped the matchbox in April’s memory box on the wooden floor out of shock. In his defense, he tells his imaginary audience, why would she have a matchbox<\/em>? Who would give her one, and why would she keep it? Was it from a friend, starting a fire on some excursion? Was it from a date, lighting a candle? Was it-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No,<\/em> he thinks to himself, cutting off his own thoughts. That\u2019s not important. He can deal with those preoccupations later. Right now, he has to find his way out of this goddamn house. Why did he think that it was a clever idea to break into his girlfriend\u2019s house while her deranged father was still living there? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He could wait until the man went to sleep, of course; that was always a possibility. But the fate he would face if he managed to wake him up while escaping is something so unknown, something he can\u2019t quite risk. He could wait until the next morning, when the man went to work, but that was hazardous as well: too much time to be caught. He supposes, though, that that\u2019s the safest way to get out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, he has to wait a while. Extremely carefully, he lifts out his phone from his pocket. He can\u2019t afford to drop it, even if he\u2019s lying down; the collision will be too much, and will result in the man running toward him, probably with a fully loaded gun, thinking he\u2019s a thief or an assassin, and he\u2019ll shoot without thinking twice, and it\u2019ll be too late-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fineas knows he has to stop coming up with these scenarios, but he can\u2019t help it. He really can\u2019t. In moments like these – moments, of course, that he\u2019s never experienced before, as this is his first break-in – it\u2019s instinctual to think of the worst possible outcome. He checks the time on his phone: 7:20. God, it\u2019s already been an hour since he arrived. He has no choice but to stay there, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sifts through April\u2019s memory box – he knows he\u2019s being nosy, but he craves entertainment. This time, however, he makes sure the box is under each item he picks up – he won\u2019t make that mistake again. There\u2019s letters from friends, receipts, photos, addresses scribbled on post-its, candy wrappers – anything that has a relation to someone important. There\u2019s even a couple things from their dates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He doesn\u2019t know how long he lies there. He won\u2019t let himself fall asleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, he hears the man get up. Fineas holds his breath as he walks past April\u2019s room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man walks outside. Fineas can hear the sound of the man getting in the car and driving away. He doesn\u2019t waste a second. He crawls out from under the bed, climbs out the window, closes it gently, and sprints all the way home, as fast as he can, frantic, dizzy, and scared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calms himself before entering the house, taking deep breaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere the hell were you?\u201d his mother asks him the second he steps foot in the house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh no. He was so relieved that he got out of that house alive that he forgot that he was still a minor on a school night, living under his parent\u2019s roof with the promise to text them long forgotten. Yet somehow, the wrath of his mother doesn\u2019t feel as impactful this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOff with Thomas,\u201d he says, the first thing that came to mind. That seems reasonable enough – to be with his best friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me? You weren\u2019t answering your phone. I was getting worried.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He feels bad – he really does. But he can\u2019t do this right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d he murmurs. \u201cIt won\u2019t happen again.\u201d He goes to his room and shuts the door, shutting her out as if he was shutting out a pestering sibling. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fineas has been frantically clinging to the floor in fear of being heard ever since he accidentally dropped the matchbox in April’s memory…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions\/1333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}