Consider Yourself - Half Moon Run

Chapter Five: Cupboard Under The Stairs

After we finished eating the box of Burt's Beans (or whatever they were called) we headed back inside and changed into our regular clothes for our next class. She had Algebra and I had Drama.

Don't we all?

The classroom was nearly filled as I stepped into the theatre. My absolute favorite teacher in the whole world, Mr. Clemens, stood at the stage tuning his electric guitar and strummed a few notes as he waited for everyone to arrive. The dude was so chill it was unreal; he wore mostly plaid and nicely fitting jeans with motorcycle boots that I envied on another level. The man never brushed his hair or shaved his stubble. Not to mention he was very easy on the eyes.

He looked up as he played a soft tune and smiled. "Hey guys. Got a great class planned for today so if you'll just grab a seat wherever that would be cool."

I took a seat right in the front row. This was probably the one class where I actually enjoyed sitting in the front row.

Clemens, or Art as he liked to be called, set down his guitar and started handing out papers to us. "Today we'll be discussing the history of the moving picture. Aka the movie."

I bit my lip to contain my excitement. I loved movies. Watching them, making them, I loved everything about them. This class was a breeze for me.

"Before mankind had the right technology to make films, way before the first ever projector was ever made, a lot of storytelling relied on the use of improv and props. Theatre was popular. As was puppeteering," Art's low voice explained to us. Did I mention he also had a nice voice? Well he does. "If you brought the modern movie making technology we have now back in-let's say the medieval times-you'd more than likely be prosecuted as a witch."

A few of us snickered at the thought of knights sitting around a tv and watching a 3D movie.

"You laugh but I guarantee you that would be the case. In fact, there was actually a time in that particular era where movies almost became a thing...."

Class flew by in the blink of an eye. Since it was now lunch time, I stayed behind to help Art tune his guitar. He also taught band class too.

"Sam said you're considering joining the band again?" He asked as I strummed my bass.

"Thinking about it," I shrugged. "But nothing's 100% certain yet. Sam's just getting overexcited."

Art laughed. "He ran in here this morning and gave me the news. Didn't believe it myself so I had to ask you to confirm the rumor. I'm happy for you, kiddo."

He played a few notes from a classic Fall Out Boy song and I followed suit. The guy was a legend with the electric guitar. He could listen to a song and play the exact notes perfectly. It was called 'perfect pitch' but I called it a gift from God. He always laughed at this.

"If the gig's on Saturday, how do you expect to learn all the songs?" He asked mid riff.

"Dude. The band has three songs. They're short as hell. Plus they don't even have decent names."

"Like?"

I used air quotes for the song titles. "That Was My Packet Of Ketchup You Wanker."

Art threw his head back and laughed. God, he was so handsome. Too bad he was 30 and I was 17. "I can't wait to hear the full album once you guys are done. I'd buy it."

"You're joking."

"Nope. I'm Running With Scissors' number one fan."

"Is that what they're going as now?"

We both smirked and continued to jam out. After finishing our song, we sat on the stage and ate our lunch. Our favorite pastime was watching the students and teachers pass by the theatre in the hall, completely unaware that we were in here eating and drinking when the rules stated otherwise. What can I say? We were rebels.

"I also heard about the incident in English class," he said through a mouthful of burger.

"Ugh. Who hasn't. Are you going to tease me about it too? Practically everyone else has." I set my sandwich back in its container and crossed my arms. "You went to school with my brother so you probably already know what he said to me about that."

Art smiled. "I do, actually. Josh was always the one you could count on for kindness. He sees the best in everyone. How's he doing?"

"Good," I took a bite of my lunch. "He's home visiting for a bit. I think there's something going on between him and our dad but he won't spill the beans. I'm still a child to them."

Art pulled my beanie down over my eyes. "Stop. I'm sure he doesn't think that. Give him time and he'll come around eventually. Maybe he doesn't want to put any weight on your shoulders?"

I shrugged. I've always had a weight on my shoulders. Ever since Josh moved out, I was the one who had to make sure our drunk dad managed to get up in the morning and put his shoes on the right feet. I packed both of our lunches, one for him at work and one for me at school. You could say that I had to grow up fast just like my brother did.

"I got to head into the staff room in five for a meeting. Feel free to hang here if you want." Art packed up his guitar and tossed his brown paper bag into the garbage. "Be nice to that Nora girl, Laney. You never know. You might be surprised with her."

He nudged me playfully before heading out of the theatre, nearly bumping into a familiar blonde haired girl in the process. He bowed, flashing her a smile before looking at me and winking. Fucking tease. Why is he so hot?

"Your friend Sam said that I'd find you in here," Nora said. "Come here often?"

I laughed. "Was that supposed to be a pickup line?"

She flushed. "N-no. I was just curious. I knew you used to play bass but I didn't know if you still did it or not."

She tapped her fingers on the snare drum and looked around the room. Her hair was extra curly today, bouncing as she walked around the stage admiring the instruments. Truth be told, she wasn't all that bad to be around. But if any of my classmates saw us in the same room together, I wouldn't hesitate in strangling myself with the strings of my bass.

"I used to play the flute back in middle school but I gave it up after a while," Nora said, "mainly because I couldn't afford to replace it when I broke it in seventh grade."

Unsure of how to respond, I nodded. "Did you like it? Playing it, I mean."

"Eh," she shrugged. "It was alright. My mom played when she was in school so I thought I could follow in her footsteps. She didn't seem to mind when I told her I had quit. Said I'd find my thing eventually."

She sat next to me on the stage, careful not to squat my lunch. Today she wore a green t-shirt under a beige cardigan that fell to her knees, as did a plaid skirt, and black leggings with a pair of tan flats. Her mismatched appearance almost seemed like she wanted to be noticed even if she wasn't trying.

"About our English project....if it's not too much trouble I was thinking maybe we could start reading the book together at your place? I have a copy in my backpack for you."

My lungs began to shrink at the thought of her at my house. "M-my house? Why mine? Why not yours?"

She seemed to sense my discomfort and frowned. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It's just that my house isn't very big and it's kinda filled with screaming babies at the moment. Not exactly the best place to study or do anything else."

"Oh," was all I said. After taking a collective gulp of air, I nodded. "Uh, sure. Yeah. My house is fine. Just let me make sure my dad isn't home first before we go there, okay?"

Nora didn't question me. She just nodded her head respectfully. "Of course. Even if we can't go there, we can always go to the library. Ava is always working there and she loves it when I come in for a visit."

I didn't know who Ava was. I wasn't a book person so the library is the last place anyone would ever find me. Seemed like a good place to hide if I ever needed to go on the run.

"Before I forget, here's your copy of The Philosopher's Stone. Book one of the Harry Potter series."

She opened her backpack and handed me a fairly new looking copy of the book. On the cover was a boy with large glasses looking at a train. He had black hair and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. It was probably Harry himself.

"This is actually the first cover of the North American version of the book. It was originally published in England three years prior to the American release," Nora chirped. She seemed so proud and excited to be handing this over to me but quite frankly I was petrified.

"It looks brand new," I whispered.

"Of course it would look that way. I keep all of my books in pristine condition. I take them out for airing every now and then. I dust my shelf. I organize them from time to time. They're basically my children."

I almost held the book the way like one would hold a newborn. Any sudden movements would more than likely break it and I couldn't stand the thought of this beautiful looking book falling apart at my hand.

"What if I ruin it or something?" I asked. "I might spill coffee on it. Or accidentally get peanut butter on the pages-"

"Laney. Relax. I trust you enough not to do any of those things. Plus it's not like I don't have other copies at home," Nora laughed. "Give me a text after school once you find out if your dad's home or not. If he is we can always make our way over to the library. Sound good?"

"Sure. Awesome."

We both packed up our belongings a few minutes before the bell rang for next class. She went her way and I went mine, bumping into Sam in the process.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he whispered as he walked by, shooting me a concerned look.

I didn't know either.

----------

Joshua answered on the third ring. "Lane? Is there something wrong?"

"What? No. I was calling to see if you knew whether or not dad was home."

The final bell had rung and everyone was filling the hallways like cockroaches. I could see from my locker where Nora stood in front of her own, putting back her textbooks and grabbing her backpack. She didn't seem that phased by the jocks hooting and calling her names. But it made my blood boil.

"Laney. Hello? You still there?"

I cleared my throat. "Yup. Still here. What did you say?"

"I said that dad is with me. We're having a meeting in his office so he won't be home until late. Why did you want to know?"

I scrunched my face in confusion. "Why are you having a meeting in dad's office?"

He paused. "Look. I have to get back to the meeting but I can assure you that he's not home. Talk to you later, okay squirt? Love you."

He hung up. The one person in the entire world I could count on other than myself hung up on me like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. It felt like a literal punch to the gut thinking that there was something out there more important to Josh besides me (and his wife and kid. Can't forget them).

"Hey. Is everything okay?" A soft voice spoke up. Nora stood beside my locker holding her bag to her chest, her eyes filled with concern.

"Fine. I'm fine. Just making sure my dad isn't home." I hadn't noticed that the hallway was almost empty now and everyone was gone home for the evening. "Let's go. The sooner we get started on this, the better."

I didn't mean to say that in a harsh tone but I guess it came out that way. Nora looked hurt for a moment but nodded anyway. "Okay. Lead the way."

On the way to my place, she called home on her cell to tell her parents where she was going. Her mom probably asked her if she had anything to eat because she mentioned leftovers from lunch. I felt bad for her. Did she eat her leftover lunch for dinner everyday?

"Whoa. Is this where you live?" She gaped at my house as we approached it. "The mailbox says Lee."

"That's my dad's last name. I took my mom's name. Rubia. This is his estate," I said as I unlocked the front door. "You can put your bag in my room when we go up there. Hungry? I can cook us something."

Nora seemed too stunned to answer as she looked around the place. When she did regain her voice, she said "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

I opened the fridge. "Well we have leftover spaghetti sauce. I can make us some noodles with it. Or we can have Kraft dinner. Whatever you want."

Nora seemed giddy with excitement as she peered around my arm to look into the fridge. "Oh my. Wow. Spaghetti does sound delicious."

"Spaghetti it is," I said, taking out the sauce. "Hope you like mushrooms because the sauce is more shrooms than actual sauce."

"I love a bit of sauce with my mushrooms."

We both smirked at each other before I reached into the cupboards and pulled out two pots.

Nora ate in silence. I've never seen someone so involved with their food before that I almost forgot to eat what I had. She was a savage; attacking her bowl and slurping the noodles whenever she could. It was only when she caught me staring did she freeze like a deer in the headlights.

"Sorry if I'm acting like an animal. I was just hungry...." She wiped her mouth and blushed.

"No need to apologize to me. We're all animals," I took her bowl and placed it in the dishwasher. "Did you want anything else? Some chips or ice cream?"

Her eyes widened. "Dessert?!"

"Uh yeah. A meal isn't complete without it. So which would you like?"

She tapped her finger on her chin. "Is it rude of me to ask for both?"

This made me snort. "Girl, please. I have both all the time." I reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of salt and vinegar chips. "This is the only kind we have but we have two kinds of ice cream. Chocolate or vanilla? Or both?"

She ended up bringing a bowl of salt and vinegar chips with some chocolate/vanilla ice cream up to my room. As I shut the door behind us, she looked around stunned yet once again at the sight of my huge room.

"You can sit down if you want." I pushed my computer chair over to her as I sat on my bed. "Don't be shy. It's just us."

She carefully sat down and started munching on her chips and looking around the room. "Where are your books?"

"I don't read. Remember?"

She cringed. "Sorry. I forgot. You're into goth music and stuff."

I grinned. "Yeah. My weekly satanic sacrificial ritual is this Friday. But whatever catches our interest, right?" I laughed as she stared at me with wide eyes. "Dude. Chill. I listen to punk. Not that heavy metal stuff. That stuff's just noise."

She mumbled something like "It all sounds like noise to me" but said nothing as she ate her dessert in silence. It was like that for several minutes as we just ate and crunched and slurped. When we were both finished, we cracked open the books.

"So chapter one is a bit of an introduction to the wizarding world and what happened to Harry," Nora began, her tone serious. "You gain more knowledge as this book progresses and as the series progresses, each book being darker than the previous one."

I nodded. "Okay. So how are we doing this? Reading out loud or by ourselves?"

She handed me a few cassette tapes. I shit you not. It was an honest to god cassette tape. "I made an audiobook of all the books. This is just the first book."

"Just the first book?" I took them off her hands and looked them over. Yup. Definitely cassette tapes. "You realize there's such thing as cd's and podcasts and other forms of recording equipment."

"I know," she nodded. "But it's actually illegal to be doing any of this. Illegal if I were to sell it to you, that is."

".....and are you?"

She beamed. "No! Of course not! This is merely for educational purposes. It'll help you follow along to the book a lot easier. Do you have a tape player?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure I'll find one somewhere."

"Excellent. Then let's get started, shall we?" She opened her book and cleared her throat. "Chapter one. The Boy Who Lived....."

----------

"So his aunt and uncle put him under the stairs? Why?"

"They're embarrassed by him. Ashamed of what he is."

I closed my book. "Damn. I'd magic their asses to the moon in a heartbeat if my aunt and uncle ever thought I was an embarrassment."

She sighed and put her book back into her bag. "Harry didn't deserve that treatment growing up. No one does-"

A door slamming downstairs made us both freeze. I knew the sound all too well as I jumped from my bed and raced over to my bedroom door, listening carefully.

"Laney Rubia! Where's my goddamn spaghetti sauce?!" My dad yelled up from the kitchen. A string of Chinese curses came echoing up the stairs as he stomped up, probably making his way up to my room.

"Shit. Shit shit shit," I closed my door and locked it, grabbing Nora's stuff and shoving her towards the window.

"Laney? What's going on?" Nora sounded absolutely terrified, which was exactly what I was too at the moment. Though I didn't fear for myself.

I feared for her.

"You have to get out of here. Now. Go home before my dad finds out you're here." I opened the window and released my little ladder that Josh got me years ago that I used to sneak out of the house sometimes.

"Is everything okay though? Why is he yelling?" She squealed as we both heard more stomping coming up the stairs. "Laney, if you're in danger-"

"I'm fine. I can protect myself. Now go!"

I helped her shimmy out the window and onto the ladder, watching her until she was safely off the property before raising my ladder back up and closing the window again. My dad was now banging on my locked bedroom door with such force that I thought for sure he was going to break it down. So I did what I always did and hid inside my closet.

As I sat there in total darkness, I realized that this closet was very much like my own personal cupboard under the stairs.

And I was The Girl That Lived.
__________________________

That last line is my absolute favorite that I've ever written. It's simple yet at the same time it's powerful. Or at least I think it is anyway.

Also I find that cleaning my bookshelf is oddly therapeutic. Just sitting there thinking about all the ways I can organize my bookshelf gives me a sense of calm. I highly recommend it.

If you like what you're reading *jacksepticeye voice* DROP A COMMENT AND PUNCH THAT VOTE BUTTON IN THE FACE LIKE A BOSS! High fives all around *whip sounds* and don't forget to share this story!