Chapter 10: Brenner Road

MAVIS:
“Jerk,” I mutter through gritted teeth, and honestly, it feels kind of good.
He freezes for half a second before I turn and walk after Axel. Nice to finally get a reaction out of him for once, even if it was small.
Jasper's already around the corner, purposely walking ahead again.
I jog up beside Axel. He's wiping his eyes on his sleeve while waiting near the doorway for Mika.
“Hey, Axel.” I make sure I'm smiling. “I'll let you ramble to me about all your little knick-knack stuff after this.”
He pauses mid-wipe. His gray eyes glisten through the tears.
“You don't have to do that you know.”
His voice is so quiet I actually have to focus to hear him.
“It's whatever. I'm bored all the time anyway. It'll pass the time.”
His expression falls slightly.
I bump my shoulder against his.
“Oh, I know. We can do that weird box thing again.”
I step in front of him so he has to look at me.
“Which one?”
“The fort one. Where we made those giant forts out of boxes with everyone.”
His eyebrows shift, looking confused.
“You guys haven't done that in almost a year.”
“Well, I changed my mind. And we should totally sleep in it again too. I'll make Jasper and Mika join so they don't get jealous.”
I grin at him.
He looks down at the floor and nods.
“Promise. I'll even tell you those nasty horror stories so you can't sleep.”
A faint smile finally cracks across his face.
Across the hall, Jasper leans against the wall while Mika speed-walks toward us carrying a gray-blue backpack.
“Okay. Let's go,” Mika says, already reaching for the door.
I inhale sharply and practically bounce after him.
Once we climb the concrete stairs, I immediately start scanning the alley for cardboard boxes. The garbage trucks always take them before I can get them.
I’ll still find some though.
Axel walks extra close beside me, bumping my shoulder every few steps.
“So where are we even going?” Jasper asks in his usual ‘fuck this’ voice.
“Brenner Road, 102,” Mika says.
“Do we even have bus money?” Axel asks.
“I put some in the bag.”
Mika adjusts the backpack strap on his shoulder, trying to sound tougher than he actually is.
“Dude, the bus is gonna take forever.” I complain.
“Then we move faster.”
Mika keeps walking ahead like he already expects us to follow him.
Of course he does.
My thumb digs into the side of my finger.
He's not the boss of me.
Nobody is.
Cars hiss past on the cracked road while everyone keeps following him anyway.
I stare at his back for another second.
“Hey, Mika.”
I jog up beside him and tap his shoulder until he finally turns around.
“I have a better idea.”
His eyes narrow slightly as he studies my face, so I make sure I look completely harmless.
“Well, this isn't gonna turn into another Creed field trip. So maybe let's skip the magic school bus this time, yeah?”
My voice stays upbeat, but his shoulders stiffen immediately.
“Can we just leave already?” Jasper says flatly.
“Yeah. We're leaving.”
Mika brushes past me before I can grab his shoulder, heading back toward Jasper and Axel.
My face twitches.
Ridiculous.
My thumb presses harder until it starts to shake.
Axel glances back at me, then slows down.
Shit.
He jogs back over while I pretend not to care.
“If you stay behind, you’re gonna get lost.”
Why does he look pitiful?
“I’m just enjoying the part where my legs don’t hurt yet.”
He raises an eyebrow.
Car horns echo somewhere down the street.
“Well… because the bus stop’s far away.”
I accidentally hold eye contact way too intensely.
“Oh. Yeah.” He hesitates. “Are you coming?”
“Yep.”
I start walking again.
He falls into step beside me, studying my face like he’s trying to solve something.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. My feet already hurt, that’s all.”
I laugh quietly under my breath.
He doesn’t answer. Just walks beside me, arms swinging awkwardly.
After a while, he speaks again.
“Hey, Mavis? Remember when you said you’d haunt me if you breathed in too many cleaning chemicals?”
“Absolutely. I love being annoying.”
He smiles faintly.
“Well… if one of the field trips goes wrong, I’m haunting you instead.”
Light purple neon lights reflect in his bright grey eyes.
I smack the back of his head lightly.
“That’s because you wanna steal my sweatshirts.”
“Well yes, that’s true.”
The sun sinks deeper behind the buildings, barely visible through the clouds.
And Axel slows down behind me again, scanning the sidewalk for another knick-knack.

JASPER:
By the time we reach the bus stop, the sun's completely gone.
The wind cuts straight through my sweatshirt, and I hate that I'm the only one visibly shivering.
I sit on the bench and pull my knees up against my chest.
Mika steps closer like he wants to say something.
I look away down the road.
“I brought my spare jacket.”
His voice is as flat as ever.
I grunt without looking at him.
He shifts under the flickering streetlight.
“Do you want it?”
“I'm fine,” I say, matching his tone exactly.
I hear the bag unzip.
Then something smacks me in the face.
I yank Mika's jacket off my head.
“Mika, I don't need your dirty—”
“Take it or get hypothermia.”
He finally looks directly at me.
I glare back, annoyed more by his tone than the jacket itself.
Before I can argue again, the bus screeches to a stop loud enough to make my ears ring.
I stand first and board without waiting for the others.
The back corner's empty.
Perfect.
I curl against the window with my feet pulled onto the seat.
Mavis and Axel sit farther up front.
People are talking all over the bus.
Too loud.
Every conversation feels like it's happening directly inside my skull.
I pull my broken headphones over my ears and press them tighter against my head.
It barely helps.
Something drops into the seat beside me.
Mika.
I glance at him.
It should be obvious I wanted to be alone.
He notices immediately.
“All the other seats are taken,” he says with a tired sigh, like he didn't want to sit here either.
I rub my thumb over the cracked plastic of my headphones.
“Mavis and Axel would move over.”
I mostly say it to see if he wanted to sit beside me.
“Only two people per seat.”
He stares down at his hands while he says it.
I curl tighter against the window and close my eyes.
Even though I already know I won't sleep.
I wish someone actually wanted to sit next to me.

After what feels like an hour, the movement of the bus starts making me nauseous.
Then it finally stops.
Mika stands, so I drag myself up and follow him outside.
It's darker here.
Less neon.
Less noise.
Good.
Mika pauses on the sidewalk, scanning the street.
Mavis stands nearby kicking rocks into a brick wall.
“Here,” Mika finally says, pointing down a narrow street lined with cramped houses practically stacked on top of each other.
Great.
More walking.
I catch him staring blankly down the road for a moment before he starts moving again.
Mavis immediately sprints after him, practically running into the street.
Axel rushes after her, already out of breath.
“If you get hit by a car, nobody's carrying you to a hospital!” I shout.
She doesn't answer.
Just keeps running.
I crack a small smile.
Axel's moving so fast he's practically tripping over himself trying to keep up.
Eventually Mavis stops in front of a faded light-blue house.
“Is this it?” she asks between breaths.
Mika steps beside her near the wooden fence.
He checks the street sign, then the house.
“I guess.”
Across the street, Axel watches a dog rolling around in the grass.
Everything goes quiet except for Mavis and Axel trying to catch their breath.
“Mavis, check the windows,” Mika says.
She throws her head back dramatically before jogging across the street and peering into the front of the house.
A few seconds later she jogs back.
“There's no car.”
“The windows?”
“Didn't see anyone.”
Mika keeps staring at the house like he's trying to calculate every possible outcome.
Then he snaps his attention toward Axel.
“Axel, knock on the door and ask if they've seen your dog.”
Axel blinks.
“What? Why me?”
Nobody answers right away.
“Obviously because you're the youngest,” I say. “It's believable.”
Axel looks between all of us like he's waiting for someone to defend him.
Nobody does.
“Fine.”
He slowly walks up onto the porch, glancing back over his shoulder.
I motion for him to hurry up.
He rolls his eyes and knocks twice.
Nothing.
He looks back at us.
Nobody says anything.
So he knocks again.
And again.
A full minute passes.
Mavis groans and jogs up beside him.
I'm tired of standing around doing nothing, so I follow.
Mika finally joins us, unzipping the bag and pulling out the key.
And the pill.
“We won't need it,” I tell him.
He doesn't put it away.
Just keeps it clenched in his hand.
Axel notices too.
The look on his face makes that obvious.
Mika pretends not to.
He slides the key into the lock and slowly turns it.
Then he cracks the door open and peers inside.
“Move already—”
Mavis cuts me off by pushing the door wide open and walking inside.
“Mavis!” Mika hisses.
I ignore him and step in after her.
Axel hesitates, waiting for Mika.
Old photographs line the walls.
The wallpaper is faded pink, patterned with little daisies and dots.
A dinner table sits nearby, already set for one person.
Lilacs rest on a small table beside the doorway.
From the corner of my eye, I see Axel staring around in horror.
He makes a small sound in his throat.
Then something creaks in another room.
I flinch so hard my shoulders curl inward automatically.
Mika instantly grabs my sleeve.
I glance down.
His hands are shaking too.