Sabrine + Dylan

Time Away

For P.E. today, someone had brought in a football. The game today was slow, with more boys than ever joining in, most on Dylan's team.

Sabrine sighed.

Why was Dylan so upset, anyway? Was it really because she hadn't said goodbye after karaoke?

As a malicious thought crept into her brain, Sabrine felt her face redden.

Or maybe it's because whoever talked about me to Vienna talked to Dylan, too.

Sabrine shook her head to clear that thought. Whatever Vienna had meant, Sabrine had a feeling she wasn't saying it to get a rise out of her. There was something genuine in her apology, and in the admission of a misunderstanding.

She glanced at the bleachers from her tree. Circe was sat with Perdita and Romola, showing them something on her phone. while the other two were giggling.

Why aren't I sitting with them? Did I even say hello this morning?

She stopped worrying about that, though, because Tobias stood from where he had been seated, on the outer edge of the field.

Slowly, he approached Sabrine and took a spot next to her.

"You play?" he asked.

"No."

"Me neither. Let's get something to eat."

She turned to him, eyebrows raised. "But what about class?"

Tobias hummed like he was considering it. "Well, what do you have after this?"

"Public speaking."

He stood, dusting off his pants. "Well that settles it, then. C'mon."

Sabrine couldn't turn down his offer. She followed Tobias as he ducked behind her tree, then made a break for the fence surrounding the lot. He intertwined his fingers to give her a boost, then clambered over himself. As he ran to his car, Tobias extended a hand in her direction, and Sabrine took it.

*

Tobias took her to a hole-in-the-wall made out of bricks the color of cherries. Inside the darkened restaurant, Sabrine could smell pizza and gasoline. She initially thought Tobias would lead her to one of the tables- tables and chairs made out of tires, Sabrine noted- but he instead made his way through a door in the back right corner. A single red light hung in the center of a long hallway, and Sabrine had no idea what to expect.

"Karaoke?" Sabrine suggested.

"Exactly," he laughed, pushing open door number four.

The room was small, the walls bare. Above a darkened screen was a a string of multi-colored lights.

Sabrine stepped in and walked directly to the black, booth-like benches pressed against two of the walls and looked around the room. "So what song are we doing?" she asked, flipping through page after page of song titles.

Tobias hummed, picking a bag of chips from a tiered table in the corner. "Well, despite what Dylan said, I don't really sing, but you looked like you needed a distraction."

That made Sabrine stop. So that's why he had invited her out.

"Hmmm," Sabrine said into her hands. While he was completely right in saying that she needed a distraction, it wasn't very helpful to remind her that she needed distracting.

Tobias was silent for a while, and Sabrine didn't want to look up and see him. Until, of course, she felt the leather dip beside her when he sat. "You know, Sabrine," he started, "you can decide to stop being sad, right? I get that it won't be permanent, and that you probably won't feel better afterwards, but for right now, you don't have to be sad."

Sabrine lifted her head slightly, and glanced at Tobias from the corner of her eye. He was already looking at her, eyebrows raised expectantly. 

She couldn't argue with him. She wanted to, of course, but Tobias was right. Why was she sulking and worrying about Dylan and Circe and Vienna and rumors when she could be here, spending time with Tobias?

Finally letting a smile settle on her lips, she took the remote once again.

She settled for one she knew every word to, even if the notes were too high for her.

You're turning away again,

Who could've seen it coming?

You wanna make me cry, like back then

But all you've done is stop my loving

Sabrine could swear Tobias was singing along. Her cheeks flushed; she would've chosen a song that wasn't about a breakup if she knew he would join in.

Close the door 'cause it's getting cold

You keep changing your mind and it's getting old

So make sure you close the door when you leave

Cause it's getting- 

By the time the music ended, Sabrine was sure Tobias had sang every word with her. It made her heart beat faster to know their taste in music was similar.

"You listen to San Franny's Candies?" Sabrine laughed.

Tobias shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah. Well, you know, they come to Morcian often. I heard they're coming for the Festival of Lights."

"The what?" Sabrine's favorite band in the same city as her? She took a seat, clutching her hands to her heart.

"You know, the Festival of Lights. At the start of winter, the city does a whole thing. A band performs at the end, and then there's fireworks."

Sabrine's eyes widened. "And San Franny's is coming?"

Tobias nodded. "That's what I heard."

"Oh my God," Sabrine said, gripping his arm. "That's great! Where-where is the Festival?"

"All the main events are downtown," Tobias laughed. 'You know, we can go together, if you want."

Then, before Sabrine could answer, "If you didn't already have plans with someone."

Who would she even have plans with?

"No, no, I'd love to go together."

Sabrine giggled loudly, giddily. This was great. Perfect, even.

When Tobias smiled, she felt the butterflies in her stomach go wild.

"Cool. So, what song is next?"

Sabrine turned to the screen, smiling. Tobias sure knew how to distract a girl.

*

"Hey, Sabrine!"

Dylan was waiting for her under her tree.

She was sneaking back into school alone; Tobias had decided to take a walk into the woods and, while the offer had been tempting, Sabrine couldn't bear missing yet another class.

"Shouldn't you be inside?" Sabrine mused as she walked past him.

Dylan followed closely behind and she could practically feel him roll his eyes.

"Shouldn't you?"

Sabrine stopped in her tracks, regretting not going along with Tobias. "No. See, I'm enjoying Morcian in a way that hadn't been offered before today."

Dylan moved his jaw from side to side. "You mean with Tobias?"

"Actually, yes."

"You like him, don't you?"

Sabrine could feel her cheeks redden. How transparent had she been? To be completely fair to herself, Dylan really did have a sixth sense for what she was thinking. He could read Sabrine like a book, so maybe she didn't have to worry about how much Tobias knew.

"No," Sabrine attempted, but Dylan, of course, didn't look convinced.

"Wow, I believe you."

Sabrine tried to swallow her anger. "I don't really see why that matters. Whether I like him or not, are you going to stop ignoring me?"

Dylan extended his arms to the side. Sabrine realized in that instant that he was in uniform. "I'm not ignoring you right now, am I?"

"Yeah, Dylan, well, that's the least you can do! Or no, you know what? You could tell me why you're angry in the first place!"

"Why do you care?" He was screaming at Sabrine now, and that just made her anger rise.

"Because I thought we were friends!"

Before he could answer, a woman in a lanyard threw open the doors by the field and blew a whistle in their direction. "What are you doing out of class?" she shouted, stomping in their direction.

Before Sabrine could react, Dylan grabbed her hand and began running toward the fence. Instead of jumping over it, however, he took a sharp left turn and raced down a narrow passageway that lead them between the fence and the building. It was unkempt, and the tall weeds nipped at Sabrine's skirt. The fence began curving slightly inwards, forcing the pair to run single file. Sabrine would have laughed in exhilaration if not for the pounding feet chasing them.

She permitted herself to glance back and managed to catch a glimpse of a security guard close behind them.

"Stop!" he yelled, reaching out a hand. His fingers grazed Sabrine's elbow, but Dylan yanked her forward just in time.

It didn't take long for the passageway to become too narrow for the security guard, and he stayed behind, belly on the wall, back on the fence. Sabrine continued running, hoping he hadn't gotten a good look at her face. Maybe she and Dylan wouldn't get caught. And hopefully they wouldn't get into trouble.

Eventually, they came to the end of the building and Dylan turned the corner, his back pressed against the wall. Sabrine shook her hand free from his vice-like grip and sat on the ground to catch her breath.

"Is he gone?" Dylan asked, as if he weren't closer to the corner than she was.

Sabrine stood and peaked around the corner, giving Dylan a nod.

"Okay. C'mon, we have to climb the roof," Dylan said, taking Sabrine's hand again, as if that were the natural progression of events.

"What? Why?" she protested, ripping herself free.

"Because," Dylan said, taking her hand again, "he'll come looking for us. We need to hide."

"Then let's hide in the woods," Sabrine suggested, using the hand he had been holding to point away. She could feel her patience wearing thin.

Just then, as she begun to march away from Dylan, a voice boomed from the other side of the back lot. "You two look for them in the woods. I'll stay by the entrance in case they circle back."

Sabrine sighed, looked at Dylan, who was predictably smiling smugly.

"Shut up. How are we supposed to climb up, anyway?"

Dylan pointed behind her. A little ways up the wall, a ladder was folded upward, but Dylan was able to get it down by pulling on a chain hanging on either side.

Sabrine tried not to look down, especially once they reached the top. She allowed herself a quick peak, and instantly regretted it.

"I'm dizzy," she admitted, stepping away from the ledge. Her back hit a hard surface, and when she turned, she found herself facing a construct smaller than a classroom.

"It's the maintenance room," Dylan called, from his spot at the edge of the roof.

"How do you know?" Sabrine asked, though she couldn't hear his answer because she was circling the protrusion. On the opposite side there was a door that Sabrine tried to open. She was disappointed to find it locked.

Might as well look around, she thought to herself, as she wandered farther from where Dylan sat. The school looked smaller from where she stood, like would be able to explore every classroom before the school day ended. Soon, she was on a ledge, looking down into the courtyard. Two boys were throwing a  backpack around, and a girl read a book under a tree.

Up there on the roof, Sabrine's problems didn't exist.

At the opposite end of the first maintenance box was another one, which Sabrine tried to open, again, to no avail. She circled that one. On one wall, in hasty writing, was a word. Sabrine squinted, trying to make it out, but it was worn by the sun. By the chipping paint, someone had tried to scrape it off.

"What are you doing?" Dylan shouted.

"Nothing!" Sabrine answered, giving up in the word.

The bell rung. What class was she supposed to be in right now? It didn't matter, anyway. On the school rooftop, nothing much mattered.

"I wish I could stay up here," she told Dylan, once she made her way back to him.

"Too bad. We're going to have to get down soon if we're gonna make it to class on time."

"The security guards are gone?" Sabrine held Dylan's shoulder while looking over the ledge. 'Well, that doesn't mean we have to go to class, right?"

"Hm. I guess we could stay up here."

But he was already on his way down.

Sabrine wasn't going to follow Dylan, but eventually, she gave in. She wouldn't be able to put the ladder back by herself, after all.

She was pretty sure the security guards hadn't seen them through the crowds of students walking in and out, because Dylan and Sabrine slipped into the school unbothered.

"You almost cost me my weekend," Dylan whispered to her as they approached the classroom.

Even from the hallway, Sabrine could hear the silence of her classmates. She could see inside, her science teacher sat at his desk, arms crossed, scowling.

Sabrine elbowed Dylan away. "And who told you to skip class and come wait for me?"

With a laugh, Dylan grabbed Sabrine's arm and followed her into class.

"C'mon, you weren't wishing I'd show up?"

"No, it-"

"You two!"

Sabrine's heart sunk.

It was the security guard.

"Yes, sir?" Sabrine was frozen at the door. Dylan was already at his desk.

"You both skipped class," he shouted, red in the face.

"No," Dylan said, as if it had been a question.

Sabrine tried to shoot him a glare but he wasn't looking at her.

"I recognize them two," the security guard insisted.

"You're sure then?" Mr. Jorden asked, his scowl deepening. If Sabrine's mom were here, she would have told him to not do that, that it would cause him to wrinkle.

"Yes, sir," the security guard answered.

"Sabrine. Dylan."

Sabrine held her breath. This was the calm before the storm, she knew.

"Why are you skipping class?" he shouted.

"You!' he continued, pointing a finger at Dylan. "Are you going to live off of your dad for the rest of your life? What about when he dies? Is he going to keep paying for you to go to a good school then? And you! Are your grades so high that you can afford to leave in the middle of the day?"

Sabrine bit her tongue. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Dylan.

"We didn't-" Dylan started. He'd risen out of his seat.

"No, who asked you to talk? Saturday detention, for the both of you. Take your seat. Now!"

"But-!"

"And come in Sunday, too! Now sit, before I make you come in for another two weeks."

Sabrine raced to her chair while Mr. Jorden thanked the security guard. For a second, they walked out of the classroom and everyone erupted into whispers.

A couple of times, she heard her name being thrown around, until she decided to bury her head in her arms and block everyone out.

After class, she'd apologize to Dylan for costing him his weekend.

***