Chapter Forty-Three: Rooftops// Drew

Drew sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down to face me. "Couldn't sleep." He took a sip from his mug and motioned to the coffee machine on the counter. "Help yourself."

I nodded in gratitude and grabbed a mug from the cabinet, heading to the sink to rinse it out.

"So you couldn't sleep either, huh."

I knitted my brow, thinking hard. "Yeah,I guess. Homework?" I turned towards him with my coffee, leaning against the kitchen counter.

He studied me for a minute then nodded. "Yeah."

"You look like shit, man." I watched him over the rim of my mug. His brown hair was tousled and sticking up, tired eyes looking out at me from a grim set face, his thin lips pressed into a line.

He gave me a once-over, raising an eyebrow. "You're one to talk."

I snorted, splaying my fingers over the cold granite countertop.

"Hey."

He looked up.

"Do you..." I stopped and tried again. "What do you..."

"Spit it out bro."

"What do you know about Lyon?"

His jaw clenched, eyes hard as he stared at me. My stomach clenched and I shifted my weight to my other leg. This wasn't the best idea I've had.

"You talked to Cecilia."

It wasn't a question. I nodded slowly. His eyes softened and he dropped his eyes to the mug in his hands.

"What do you want to know?"

"I.." I stopped. "I don't know... who was he?"

"Cecilia must've already told you that."

"Yeah, but I want to hear it from you. Who was Lyon? What was he like?"

Drew set his jaw then released it with a low sigh. "He was a friend." He took a sip of his coffee. "A good friend of mine."

He looked at me pointedly. "And Cecilia's."

I came over and pulled out a chair to sit down. "What was he like though?"

A soft smile played on his lips. "He was..friendly. Outgoing. With everyone. Had a problem with his eyes and switched out his thick glasses for contacts. Said it helped him see more clearly. People listened to him, when he decided to speak up. Didn't do it often though. Mostly hung back and let others do the leading. Loved cars and talking about people like they were something...incredible to him." He shook his head. "I've never seen someone so animated. He thrived around people."

Extroverted. Outgoing. I thought back to Cecilia's haunted eyes.

Drew chuckled. "Couldn't tell colors apart for shit though."

"Colorblind."

He nodded. "At least, that's what it seemed like. He never said much about it. I always assumed it was just his eye problem." He paused, eyes distant. Then he blinked and looked up. "That's what got him in the end, you know. His eye issue."

"Nystagmus."

He nodded again. "Nystagmus. That, and his colorblindness. Dude was completely colorblind. Couldn't tell the traffic lights apart. We were riding motorbikes and he swerved into traffic down by Mason lane, where that one light is horizontal."

"Was. It's not anymore."

"That's right. They changed it to match the others. Too little, too late if you ask me."

"He hit something?"

Drew shook his head. "He swerved and landed in the ravine instead."

"You saw him?"

Again, he shook his head. "Cecilia was with him and we'd gone on ahead. Only came back around to find him when he didn't come around after ten minutes and wasn't answering his phone."

I swallowed and waited, not wanting to interrupt him in case he clammed up.

"When we doubled back ..." He blinked and shook his head. "There wasn't any sign of him except tire skid marks veering off the road. And half the metal beam of the stop sign in the corner. It was bent and the the top half was torn off. Anna saw it first and I remember thinking that something had done been screwed up. That's when she stumbled out of the ravine like a ghost. Blood, everywhere. Down her arms and legs... a wound in her head, and her shoulder was out of place. There was..this... three second span when she looked at me and it was like a punch in the gut. All the air flew out of my lungs. I knew he was gone. Those eyes, man. Those eyes of hers. They looked dead. She looked dead. She didn't say a word, just fell to her knees and screamed. And it felt like it lasted forever."

He shook his head. "That scream. That was the saddest sound I'd ever heard. And it went on, and on, and on."

He sighed and rubbed his eye. "Shannon started screaming next, and I grabbed her so she wouldn't attack Cecilia. Anna ran over to her but she wasn't any help so I handed Shannon over to Antoine, who looked like a zombie, and went to Cecilia. But she wouldn't talk and passed out. There was just...so much blood. I couldn't even tell how much was hers and..."

"...how much was his," I finished.

He nodded and fell silent.

I ran a finger over the smooth edge of the table until I touched a puddle of water. I quickly wiped my hands on the edge of my shirt.

"We nev—" His voice cracked and he tried again. "We never should've let him on the damn motorbike."

"People with vision disabilities can't usually get licenses."

"I know, man. We were stupid. You think any of us had licenses? We just copped the bikes off my brother. One was his, one was mine. Antoine had his own because his parents let him do whatever he wants."

I stayed silent.

"Which one was he riding that day?"

"Mine." He sighed.

After a moment, he sighed. "He was a good guy. Lyon."

"Life's not fair, is it?"

"No, it isn't."

"I'm sorry."

He studied me for a while. "That girl's got it hard." He opened his mouth then shut it just as quickly.

"What?" I pressed.

He seemed to be thinking, pressing his lips together into a thin line again. "...How..." He paused. "...She seems to be doing okay, right?"

I nodded. "More or less."

He looked relieved, shoulders relaxing the slightest bit. "That's good."

I got up, sliding my chair back under the table. "It's getting late."

He smiled and nodded, rubbing his eyes again. "Yeah. I still need to finish that essay for tomorrow."

"Just go sleep. You look like death."

He yawned, stretching his arms out. "I wish."

I smiled and turned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, wait a minute."

I turned. "Yeah?"

"The keys to the bedroom are in the kitchen drawer, under the tray with the silverware."

I blinked in surprise. "Thanks."

He nodded once. "No problem. Just put them back when you're done."