Wrong Arrow

12 : Chipmunk

Wrong Arrow 12

He admits he hasn’t done much today. But it wasn’t like he was voiding the task either. Things just didn’t seem to go his way. And Pearl wasn’t making things easier for him. Said gild appears from the hallway, a phone pressed against her ear. There’s a smile on her face. “Yes mom….I arrived about an hour ago. Yeah. I already had my dinner…. Um.. Pancakes and that kimchi you made…hmm… yeah… Okay. Bye. See yah.” He hasn’t made that much progress. Not even half. “Why am I still here?” He throws his head back to stare blankly at the ceiling. The delicate floral patterns brings a seemingly warm feeling to his chest. He expected her to go straight to bed. And he was planning to leave right after she had fallen asleep. But she didn’t. Instead, right after she finished her dinner, Pearl enters the living room and occupies one of the couches. Her t-shirt gets drags up slightly when she sits, exposing a hint of her stomach skin. Her hair’s tied up in a messy bun. for some reason, she reminds him of a chipmunk. And ugly one. She’s brought with her a huge container of popcorn. “You just had pancakes for dinner and now this?” He states with a look of disbelief contouring his features. He throws his head back again, allowing hie earring to rest on the couch. Zach allows his solemn eyes to observe her. She’s so focused on the show playing while stuffing era face with pop corn. Probably caramel flavored. His least favorite. At least this time she isn’t worried about finishing an assignment or project. It’s healthy living to liesurly be this way. As his bangs hovers his eyes, he tucks his bottom lip between his pearly teeth and lets go. A glossy effect is left when he swipes his tongue over it. “I can’t believe you’re eating that when you just had your dinner.” Of course, his words don’t get to her. Grabbing the remote, she flickers the television screen on. Pearl sticks with the show that shows up first. And it so happens to be the famous show called the Big Bang Conspiracy. “Are you my roommate?” The character with glasses and afro hair utters. A show probably Aired during the early two thousands. Zach’s been sitting on the single couch. To glance at the show, he would have to move his neck to the side. Not so much that it might lead to a strain. Just the comfortable type.

Twenty minutes goes by. And in the past twenty minutes, laughters from both Pearl and the live audience within the show fills the room. From what he’s observed, the show’s seemingly performed in a live audience. It consists of five main characters. Three genius guys, a girl and an astronaut. “You actually think this is funny?” Zach can’t help but utter with a scowl on his face. He’s punting a finger towards the screen. He’s more annoyed than confused. Why? Because the show doesn’t make any sense. They use big words that normal people don’t. Then again, the characters these actors portray are intelligent. But even geniuses don’t use this type of language when they communicate. And he knows this since he’s been with one before. But who would watch this for fun? Seriously? Pearl has been laughing. She sounds like a seal laughing for joy. But oddly enough, Zach doesn’t find it annoying. He doesn’t find her annoying. Zach taps on his ring- a golden arrow formed in a circle to better fit on his finger - to check the time. A pink themed hologram pops up in the air, showing him a clock. In earth time, it was getting pretty late. Pearl had woken up early this morning. Isn’t she feeling sleepy? He runs his fingers through his hair, staring at the girl with exhausted eyes. She’s so focused on the screen, dumping popcorns inside her mouth. When her cheeks puff, she really does remind him of a chipmunk.

She gets another phone call and she answers it. “Hello?.. Oh Stell. No I was just watching a show.. Yeah that one. the Big Bang conspiracy.” Zach looks away for a moment. His chest feel tight all of a sudden. He takes in a deep breath and stands up for a while. He exits the living room and enters the hallways. Pictures decorate the walls. Pearl’s parents and friends. Lots of when she was a child. Her to go hairstyle seems to be pigtails. And in every one of her frames, she’s wearing glasses. She doesn’t seem to wear them no days. Only when she’s doing her homework. She looks cute with glasses though. After two minutes, he goes back to the living room. She’s probably done talking to him by now. And he stands corrected. Pearl’s enjoying the show, shoving kernels in her mouth. Zach’s watch pings all of a sudden and he glances down. It was a message from Harper asking where he was. He sends a notification back saying he’s still in the human world. “Make sure you don’t stay too long.” Is the last message he recieves from Harper. “That is not how the bomb works.” The character from the show utters.

He should really call it a night. But for some reason, a part of him wants to stay a little bit longer.

* * * * * * * * * * *

A knock on the door caused Harper to get out of his bed. He walks over to the entrance and waits for the hologram to show who it was on the other side. He knew it wasn’t Zach. The entrance would have opened on its own if it was him. The design’s structured to allow entrance through face recognition since privacy matters after all. Harper curls his lips when he sees who it was on the other side. It was that Mark guy. The one with the weird red hair. He claims he was naturally born with it. “Yes?” Like an intercom, Mark gets the message from the other side. The latter isn’t able to see Harper, but Harper could clearly see him. What on earth was he doing in front of their resting place at this hour? “Hey. It’s me Mark.” He can see that. “I just came back from a task and I wanted to say hi. You know, since we’re neighbors and basically co-workers and all.” He came all the way here just to say that? Even though he knows it’s very late and lamest everyone who’s retired to rest have gone to sleep already? This Mark guy. He was friendly. He was too friendly. “Uh yeah. Hi. Um.. I had a long day today so Imma head out first.” Mark nods his head, and waves, knowing quite well that he can see him. “Have a good rest! You’re gonna need that energy for tomorrow. See you later!” He walks away after that.