I wanted to jump out the window or just disappear into thin air like the character in the novel I had read before. Those abilities could have been sure useful in real life.

“Oh, that’s awesome, I could introduce you to my friends.” She said while looking at me from up and down.

I smiled, trying to show an interested expression. "Yes, I would like to.” I paused for a second, raising my finger. “But I am not sure if they would be pleased to see me, given I appeared out of nowhere in this town and would then disappear in like 2 months.”

The old man turned towards me. "Kiddo, you are always welcome here.”

I felt a pang in my heart upon hearing his words. “Thank you so much. I want to, but that’s not something currently under my control, but….”

Laura leaned closer towards the table. I pressed my lips together. The old man did not question much about my incomplete sentence.

Laura tucked her hair behind her ear. “Casey, about my friends, you don’t have to worry about them; they will love you.”

Yes, they will surely love me.

~~

The moment the girl stepped out of the cabin, I turned towards the old man, who was picking up the plates from the table, I helped him with that. Rock just lays on the kitchen floor and does nothing. I wish I was that dog or maybe a stone underwater.

“Sir, I …I ..”

“Speak clearly; the shuttering can mess with what you are trying to convey me now.” He said, barely glancing at me.

“Please just take don’t Laura’s words seriously about what I think about this place.” I began fiddling with my nails; somehow the kitchen sounded even more silent than before; was it because the chatterbox had left?

“I am not good with expressing gratitude and with expressing myself in general. But I am more than thankful to stay at your cabin. Even though it’s different from the place back at Jaky, it’s still nice, awesome actually. Isn't this place's whole ambience not what makes it different than other places?”

The clattering of dishes in the sink stopped. Rock had left the room; I wished he was here. The old man turned around and wiped his hand with a towel. He frowned. “Alright, it is good to hear that you like it here, but why are you so tensed now? Are you not feeling well?” He moved his hand closer to my head.

That’s when my involuntary moments awoke, I flinched and backed away. The old man raised his eyebrows with concern. I think he himself might have gotten scared by what I had just done, but he was good at hiding his emotions unlike others, perhaps given his life’s experiences as he gently withered with his age.

I moved the few strands of hair back from my face, though they were already tied back into a ponytail before. “Sorry about that, sir. But I am good. I will head back upstairs.”

I moved my hand to one side as if heading on adventure like a little child. “I have got to complete my homework and in case you need my help with something, I am just a call away.”

I walked out of the kitchen, cursing at my stupid involuntary movements. There was a feeling in the back of my mind telling me that the old man was watching me as I moved hurriedly upstairs, out of his sight.

The old man was not my mom or him, I told myself repeatedly as I paced around the room hastily, making sure not to make it loud as the wooden floor creaked here and there. I kept adjusting my hair, even though it was already properly tied by me earlier this morning.

What’s wrong with you?

The scratching the door from outside made me jump.

I shook my head and made my way to the door, placing my ear against it. The sound outside was familiar; it was Rock. Well, it was unlikely of him to come near me, let alone enter the place that I had been allotted in the first place. I sighed when the scratching did not stop.

The moment the door opened not even one fourth of it, Rock slipped into the room turning towards me. I stared at him for a minute, contemplating what to do with him.

I kept my books 6 feet apart from the dog, because these days no one believes the statement 'my dog ate my homework’ even though he is not my dog. My eyes landed on the desk where lay the unfinished novel. My mind surely won’t be concentrated on the trigonometry, given it has already moved to places faraway from studies for now.

So I settled myself comfortably on the floor against the bed and resumed reading the novel. Let myself be the invisible form in the fictional world and observe it, while petting Rock who lay next to me.

~~

Unbeknownst to me, time moving rapidly, my eyes lay on the words printed on the book. The knock on the door was something I mistook to be the sound from my imagination until the door opened on its own.

My head shot towards the door, only to look right into the hazel eyes of the old man. “It is almost time for lunch; wait, is Rock asleep?”

I had informed him that I would do my homework but it was a lie. Given the position he has seen me in now. I wished he would turn a blind eye to my blatant lie and not tell them.