"How's this look?" Heather held up a purple shirt. It did look very nice, but the

thing that caught my eye was the price. She noticed me glancing at it and pulled it closer

to her. "Just for once, can you ignore the price!" I shrugged my shoulders. We were at the

mall; Heather was shopping for clothes, beyond her price range as usual. I normally

wouldn't go, but I had nothing else better to do.

"It's a nice shirt Heather, but twenty five bucks! You're not rich!" "Yeah, you're

right..." Heather sighed and gently put the shirt back on the rack. "I hate it when she does

that, as long as she doesn't give me that look…" Heather locked her eyes on me. "Let's

go…" "Yeah, she had to do it…" I took my wallet out of my back pocket. I whispered

under my breath. "Shit, there goes my lunch!" I took a couple of five's and handed them

to her. Heather smiled and snatched the bills. "Thanks." She quickly walked off to the

changing room.

My name is Kyle. I'm nineteen, five foot eight. I'm average all out, neither

handsome nor ugly. My hair is always a long, mashed, black mess, netted in front of my

gray eyes. I don't wear anything really unique or creative. A t-shirt and loose jeans and

I'm set. I've been her neighbor for about two years. All this time, and I still haven't

figured out why we are friends. I can be a real asshole sometimes, and I'm stingy. I'm

lucky to have her as a friend. Heather could hang out with anyone, but somehow our

paths have crossed, and now her future is tied with a deadbeat loser who's still a senior.

Heather is seventeen, five foot seven, and has short, blond hair, and has brown

eyes. I would say she's about average too, there's nothing about her that especially stands

out. Like me, she wears just a t-shirt or tank top and jeans most of the time.

"Well, what do you think?" The purple shirt was a perfect fit, like it was made

just for her.

The register rang, and before I could blink, twenty-seven dollars and thirty-two

cents were gone. As usual, my stinginess came in, but seeing Heather happy, if only for a

brief moment, was worth it. She eagerly took the bag and then draped her arm over my

shoulder. "Thanks Kyle." We left the store. "So, where to now?" Heather shrugged her

shoulders. "I don't know, want to get something to eat?" "Yeah, sure. It'd be nice to sit

down and relax." Heather pointed towards a fast food restaurant, Happy Burger. "How

about that?"

We sat down at the booth with our food. I unwrapped the burger and took a huge

bite. I hadn't eaten all day, so I was starving. Heather had her usual salad. She looked

tired, eating slowly. I wiped my mouth with a napkin. "You alright?" Heather didn't hear

me. She was staring off into space at her salad. I tapped her arm. "Heather?" She still

didn't look up at me. "Huh?" She didn't look good. Already the smile was gone. "You

ok? You look tired?" She shook her head slowly, tapping the fork on a tomato. "It's my

dad. He just hasn't been himself lately. He just sits in his chair like a zombie." I took

another bite. "Do you know what's bothering him?" Heather shook her head, still tapping

the tomato. "I really don't know, he's been like this for a couple of days." Heather ate a

small piece of lettuce. It was silent for a while. She really looked down, but I just didn't

know what to do. Mr. Morris is weird like that. He's a good guy and all, but he's been

unusually quiet lately. He does care about Heather; he's just too overprotective. He never

trusted me around her until a couple of months. Even so, he still makes her carry a

pocketknife just in case "Kyle tries to do anything…" Or so I overheard. "He didn't, get

denied again…did he?" Heather looked up finally. "No, no he didn't. I don't think he lost

his job either. He would've told me." Mr. Morris is a writer, or at least tries to be. He's

never been too lucky. Between waiting for rejection letters, he's a bartender. I guess the

stories he overhears helps him with writing. Heather glanced at her watch. "I better call

my dad, he told me to call him around three." She got up and started for the door. I took

my burger and followed her. That also is a pain. Heather always has to check up with her

dad every couple of hours. Better then my parents. They probably don't even know if I'm

asleep still.

Heather felt her pockets for a quarter. She popped it into the phone. I leaned

against the wall. "Hi dad! It's me!" Funny, I always thought Heather would be annoyed

having to check up with him so much. She was probably just happy to hear him speaking

for a change. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner." She ran her fingers around the cord.

"Yeah…Kyle's right here." She glanced at me. "Do you want me to come home?" I

shook my head as I crossed my arms. "Of course he will." "Alright Dad, I'll come

home." She sighed and rested her forehead on the payphone. "Yes Dad, Me and Kyle

know the way home. Third Station on Bergen Street." Heather took her head off the

phone. "Alright Dad, I love you too, bye." She put the phone back and turned towards

me. "My Dad wants me to head back home." I lightly pushed myself off the wall. "Yeah,

I know. Let's go." We walked towards the subway entrance in the mall.



The subway car screeched loudly to a halt. Not many people were here, which is

odd for this time of day. I walked inside with Heather. The seats were cold and hard as

usual. Heather sat down beside me. There were a couple of people on the train. I didn't

see anyone really out of the ordinary. Couple of seconds later, the subway started up.

Heather stretched her arms and laid her head back. "Tired?" She nodded slowly and

rested her head against the wall. "I'm going to sleep as soon as I get home…" I looked

around the car. There was one person in particular who caught my eye. A man wearing a

coat and hat was sitting a couple of benches away from us. He was writing down

something in a small notebook. He noticed me looking at him. He raised his head and

looked at me. I turned away before he could notice. Something was weird about this guy.

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could tell he was still checking me. The train

screeched as it came to a stop. The man stood up and left the car. I watched him as he

walked. The train soon picked up. As the train took off, the man stared at us.



Heather and I climbed up the stairs into the street. It was about four now. Our

apartment complex was just a block away. It was crowded with people getting off work.

It was a nice change from the abandoned subway. Heather looked into the bag while we

walked. My mind was still on that weird guy in the subway. Something really was

strange about him. I shook my head. "I shouldn't worry about it, or bother Heather with

it. No reason to worry her." She still looked pretty tired. "Heather, are you ok?" She

turned towards me slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine…. just tired…" She yawned and kept

walking. A couple of minutes later, we got to the apartment. We went in through the back

as we usually do, since it's closer to Heather's apartment. The lights were giving out

again, flickering occasionally, the green walls flashing with each pulse. Heather checked

in her pockets for her keys. "I'll come by tomorrow, about eleven, ok?" Heather turned

towards me. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow!" She hugged me softly. "Good night

Heather." Heather opened the door. She turned towards me and smiled. "Good night

Kyle." As she closed the door, I caught a glimpse of Mr. Morris standing up from his

recliner. I headed for my house, room two zero five.

The door creaked open. Mom was busy cooking dinner. I walked over to her. "Hi

Mom, I'm home." She wiped her hands on her pants. "Hi! How was the mall?" I

shrugged my shoulders. "It was ok, I didn't buy anything." My mom sat down at the

table. "So how's Heather doing?" I got a Dr.Pepper from the fridge. "She's worried about

her dad lately." I sat down at the table. My mom leaned in. "Harry didn't lose his job, did

he?" I took a sip. "No, nothing like that. He's just worried about something. Heather has

no idea what it could be." My mom stood up and walked back to the stove. "I'm sure it's

nothing too bad." I stood up and grabbed my drink. "I hope so." I headed for my room.

"Don't start worrying Heather about it, she's probably upset enough as is."



I closed the door behind me. My room was just as I left it, a mess. I wadded

through the garbage and sat down at my desk. It's the only area I keep clean. I picked up

a picture on my desk. It was of Heather and me, sitting on my bed, smiling for the

camera. Such a cheesy picture, my mom had to finish up the camera's roll and took it of

us. Don't know why, but it's my favorite picture of us. It was when we were just getting

to be good friends; she looks so happy in it. Looking at it always makes me think of how

lucky I am to know her. "I hope she's ok." I checked to see if my door was locked, then

reached into my pockets for my cigarettes. I haven't had a smoke all day. I opened my

window and rested my arms on it as I smoked. I looked around outside. Not many people

were around, and it was getting dark. I glanced down at the back door. Heather was there,

sitting on the steps. I whistled at her. She looked up at me. She waved at me slowly. I

nodded at her, and I snuffed my cigarette on the windowsill and flicked it out. "I'm going

to go talk to Heather for a bit." I told my mom as I opened the front door. "Alright Kyle,

be back soon, dinner's almost ready."