"FIGHTING! I get a call from your school again to say that you've been fighting!"

Noel surveyed his mom's pained expression. Ron was right behind her, his thick ropey hands was squalled around her small waist.

"Skipping school, coming home late, locking yourself in your room, and now fighting! Noel what is going on?"

Noel could see his mom's face turn an unflattering red, the whites of her eyes sticking out stark against her face. Ron cradled her into his arms, murmuring quietly, yet loud enough for Noel to hear. "Just go and rest. I'll deal with him. You shouldn't get your blood pressure too high." Kim nodded quietly, she was at wit ends when it came to Noel, not knowing what else to do, she complied and dragged her lithe body up the steps and into her bed.

"Haven't I already talked to you Noel? Is there something your not understanding?" Ron's voice was like a thousand cockroaches scurrying up your arms into places cockroaches shouldn't go. He was walking unsettlingly closer to Noel, a strange glint armed in his eyes.

"I said, is there something you're not understanding?"

Noel unconsciously took a step back, he had just been mauled to pieces in school today and he wasn't ready to go through it again.

Out of nowhere, Ron lunged for the arm of Noel's oversized sweater, he pulled at it so hard it burst apart at the seams, the thread hanging forlorn and crumpled.

"If I had it my way, you wouldn't be here. But I don't, unfortunately." He brought his large face closer to Noel's, stopping until they were almost nose to nose. "It doesn't mean I can't punish you."

Ron then digged his fingernails deep into Noel's pink flesh, scraping and scrapping at his skin until blood poured out. Noel's face flushed as he scrambled to get out of Ron's death grip.

"S-s-s-stop." He breathed.

Ron reluctantly let go before stepping away from Noel, his face twisted in a sadistic smirk.

"Let this be a warning to you. Your running out of straws." He then went up the stairs pointedly, in a bid to return to Kim's fragile state.

Noel looked down at the bleeding scratches on his arm, for some reason, despite being in a crazed fight, that scratch was the worst pain he had experienced in a long time.

Let this be a warning to you.

___________

It was raining.

The type of hot, heavy, sticky Florida rain, that was unpredictable as well as predictable.

Noel was dragging himself on the polished suburban sidewalks, half off his elaborate outfit having been ripped out and trailing behind him.

He loved that sweater.

Noel didn't really know where he was going, he just wasn't going to stay in his house so he had opted for wandering outside, as if he had a clear purpose or plan.

Spotting a familiar black car slowing down at Noel's presence, the window rolled down and a mop of fading dark blue hair stuck out. "Noel, what are you doing?"

Noel simply shrugged. He felt ridiculous.

"It's raining, come in the car!"

Noel opened the car door tentatively and sat down, his being taking in the fresh pine trees and haribo musk his car usually obtained.

"Where to?" Myron asked cheekily.

"Nowhere." Noel's blunt reply came.

Myron slowed the car to a spot and parked by a large willow tree, he made no move to turn off the radio, but instead let the tinny voice carry on singing an irrelevant song.

"I saw the fight."

"Everyone saw the fight. It was in the cafeteria."

"Remind me to never get in a fight with you, I won't lie, you've got some fists! Did you go the nurses' office?"

Noel shook his head, funnily enough, the only thing that was hurting right now was the scratch Ron gave him, it throbbed uncomfortably anytime he tried to move his arm.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine!" Noel hadn't meant to shout, but he felt like his blood pressure was increasing at a steady pace, his mind whirring at an uncontrollable pace. Myron's thick eyebrows were pushed together in a firm frown, he relaxed his body and looked at Noel, who quickly trained his face to the ground.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No. Let's talk about you."

Noel slowly lifted his head up from the dusty car mat, meeting Myron's dark eyes before looking at the car freshener. "What about me?" Myron broke the strange silence, his arms felt hot in his varsity jacket.

"Anything. Like, what's your favourite thing to do?"

"Oh, um, I like playing football, I guess, it was more fun in sophomore year though, but I'm hoping to get a scholarship so college can be a bit more cheaper...I don't really know what else..." Myron chuckled nervously. Nervous wasn't usually part of his disposition.

"There must be something, it doesn't have to be an action...li-l-like a feeling, um, I don't know."

Myron furrowed his eyebrows in thought for a second before speaking. "Well the day before yesterday I went to the park. It was really hot that day, and they finally turned on the water fountain. I sat not too far from there, listening to music and sleeping at the same time, and I just remember watching some kids throwing some coins in the fountain and screaming, and I kept on falling in and out of consciousness....and-" Myron abruptly stopped, shaking his head slightly. "It's going to sound weird."

"No tell me."

"Isn't it strange you can compare fighting sleep to fighting death. You're body has to do them both eventually. We all must give in to sleep. Its like a balance. Almost like we learn to die every night. Fighting our sleep in order to enjoy living more but we can't really enjoy living without good enough sleep..."

"I don't really know what you mean."

Myron let out a strangled laugh, his cheeks darkening slightly. "Nor do I...But that day I felt so happy, because nothing mattered, but the sun on my face and the screaming kids and sleeping...Have you ever had a day like that?"

Noel nodded unconsciously, the knot in his chest had uncurled, his curls hung loopily into his eyes but he made no move to flick it away, letting the curl scar his vision with the scent of strawberry shampoo. "It was a Wednesday in eighth grade...it was raining so hard that day. Kind of like this, sticky, wet, annoying and I had walked out of school just wanting to go home and watch cartoons. But then I saw my Dad standing by the school gates, and it was strange because I usually walked home." Noel remembered how his stomach had lurched wildly that day, his gut foreshadowing him something horrible to come.

 "Obviously I went over to him to ask him what was going on, and he just said 'I've got two tickets' and they were baseball tickets." Noel remembered how crumpled they looked, a small coffee stain littered on the both of them, they looked like they were folded, over and over again, as the edges were neat and crisp.

 "Then we went and watched baseball, and he brought me a blue and white scarf, and hot peanuts and a cold milkshake with lots of marshmallows that I accidentally spilled on the scarf." Noel remembered clearly the cold chocolate drink spilling across his ugly green t-shirt and staining his scarf, and how his face curled into a scowl, he had felt so embarrassed.

 "My Dad just laughed, and gave me his own, wrapping it around my neck, so I had two scarfs doubled on each other, and then we both started laughing and people in front of us were giving us nasty looks and then we laughed even harder." Noel missed that type of laughter, where it rocked heartily in your bones, and your stomach hurt so much it almost felt good. 

"After that we got pizza, and my Dad told me stories from work, and stories from his travels and stories from before I was born." He remembered how his eyes lit up and the cheese that was smeared unconsciously on his face and how calm and smooth his voice was. "Then he told me, don't lose you Noel, and always remember me. Then he dropped me in front of our home, but he didn't step out of the car. And, a-and I said, why aren't you leaving the car? And he said 'you're mother will explain, okay? You're mother will explain everything...don't forget your scarf'" Noel could recall how soft the scarf felt in his hands and how strangely cold it was, and the long walk up to the front door. 

"Then I went home." Noel stopped, his mouth was dry and hoarse, he had never spoken so much at once. "And, I didn't see him again."

Large warm arms wrapped around Noel, Myron's varsity jacket was curled around Noel's ripped sweater, as Noel felt hot tears slip onto his jacket unknowingly. He hadn't been aware he was crying the whole time.

"I lost those scarves. In a garage sale, in our old home, I don't, I don't remember." Noel gulped, slowly removing himself from Myron's hold, he tried to ignore his crestfallen expression which was quickly replaced by a wan smile.

"It was one of the happiest days of my life, even though it ended horribly." Noel focused his attention on the swinging car freshener, before leaning back in Myron's leather seats. "I said we should talk about you, and we ended up talking about me."

"It's okay, Noel."

"I still want to know stuff. Oh, er... what do you see in Cheryl?"

Myron let out a boxed laugh, his chest wheezing unexpectedly. "Your sister?" Myron replied teasingly.

"She isn't my sister. She isn't anything." Noel answered through gritted teeth, as far as he was concerned he was an only child. "Anyways, you haven't answered my question."

"Um, I didn't really have a choice. It's Cheryl Baker, you know? Next question." Noel could detect Myron's clipped tone, but chose not to comment on it.

"Okay, your...home life, brothers and sisters..."

"I h-h-had two sisters, they were twins, Mira and Ashley... Before I moved to this town, I used to live in a place called Wood Acre. It sounds how it looks, lots of forests and stuff. We lived in an old mansion which my parents' fixed up and I lived with my grandmother and grandfather."

"When did you move here?"

"Start of middle school..."

"Do your grandparents live here then?"

"No. They stayed at Wood Acre."

"Did you want to leave."

"No, there was something special about that place, magical almost. I know that sounds weird, magic and all that..."

"No, n-no I get what you mean about magic, like, I don't know. Like the day with my dad, it was after school and it was different, I felt different than all the students going home to do homework, I...yeah..."

"I'll take you there one day. Our house in Wood Acre, you can meet my Grandma and watch her old tapes of when she used to be a professional ballerina...and my grandpa who makes the best butterscotch cookies and, I don't know explore..."

Noel watched Myron lazily, how his face glowed from the inside, out and the little half smile as he talked to Noel, but at the same time talked to himself. "You promise?" Noel's voice came out quieter than he intended to, but he knew Myron heard as he turned to look at Noel straight in the face, his gaze unwavering.

"I promise."