Go Switch On The Moon

Riley opened his eyes slowly as he heard a knock. The knock was soft at first, but soon became loud. He rolled on the bed while grumbling. He wanted more time to sleep. He was yet to respond, so the knocking went on and on. He got up lazily from the bed, forgetting he had an injury, he placed his weight on his wrist. He winced out in pain, but not loud enough for whosoever was at the door to hear. He did his best in ignoring the pain and went to open the door.

Opening the door, he looked confused, seeing a face he was not used to seeing upon waking up.

Natasha who stood in front of him, watched him rub his eyes, which got her a bit pissed off.

"If you keep on acting like one who needs more sleep, trust me, I would leave you and go to school alone."

Hearing this, Riley did stop. Taking his fingers away from his eyes, he took a good look at who was in front of him. He knew who she was, he just didn't know why she was in his house. She looked dressed up, so he assumed she stopped by to pick him up for school.

"Be right back." he said with a big smile as he closed the door in a rush and proceeded to go to his bathroom.

He took a stop as reality hit him. He was not in his room. The pain he was feeling on his wrist became more painful. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose bridge. All that happened the day before came back to his memory.

He took a deep sigh.

"Richard must have felt hurt with how I behaved, but I just didn't want to return to that house." he said to himself.

He looked around for a door, seeming to ignore every other thing in the room. Finally seeing another door, he approached it and opened it, finding just what he was searching for. He heard a knock on the door again and went to open the door, but this time around, he saw no one there.

He looked around, but all he could see was a bag in front of the door. He picked it up and before entering he looked at the door.

"I just don't understand why she knocks on the door when there is a door bell." he murmured and returned into the room.

Removing the contents in the bag, he found his school uniform, they had been washed. He smiled, dropped the uniform on the bed and went into the bathroom to have a bath.

*****

Stepping down the stairs into the living room, the very first thing he noticed was how bright it was.

"Whoa! Let there be light, and there was light."

Natasha who was sitted on a chair could not help but laugh at what he said.

"Oh!" he suddenly stopped walking, and in a teasing voice, he said

"Your uncle does not like bright places, does he?"

Natasha turned her head to face him, and with a smile

"He does." she replied.

Riley laughed, but suddenly became confused.

"wait wait wait, what?"

"I said 'he does'. "

"Does?"

"Yes, he does like bright places."

Riley became confused. Didn't she say it herself, that her uncle didn't like to put on bright lights. Does she just enjoys saying words that are never clear.

"But just last night, you said he doesn't." he said as he walked down the stairs and came to sit beside her.

She picked up a plate of fruits from the table in front of her and turned to face Riley.

" That was last night, this is a new day."

Riley sat still, looking so confused.

She stretched the plate to him and he mouthed a 'thank you' , she picked up another plate and ate from it.

"Natasha."

"Yes." she looked up and smiled at him.

"Care to explain what you mean by that?"

There was no way on earth he was going to fall for that smile. Though a nice smile, only he alone knew the troubles that smile had and could give him.

"Of course I will."

"Then do so."

"Ok. You see, my uncle hates it when you put on bright lights when the outside is dark."

"Seriously, can't he just put on the lights outside."

" Why don't you go switch on the moon."

"Oh!"

He finally understood what she meant. 'It seems like her uncle loves doing things based on how nature does.' he thought to himself as he tried imagining what her uncle would look like.

"Your uncle must really love nature." he said as he picked up a banana and peeled it.

Natasha just smiled as she got up from her seat.

"You should ask him that yourself when you see him."

"I wasn't asking, I'm saying he does love nature." he replied with a smirk, happy he also could speak like her.

"Sounded more like a question to me."

She left the living room and came back a minute later with their school bags. She dropped them and left as soon as she dropped the bags.

Riley saw her returning with a plate, and in the plate was the chocolate soufflé she got for him as a replacement for the one that got ran over.

She stood in front of him, but didn't hand the plate to him.

"Hey buddy, you still wanna eat this thing or

should I?"

He just smiled. Could she not just ask if she wanted it.

"Hey, you know, you should just eat it."

"Sure. But just so you know, I would not have asked such a question, if not for the fact that you didn't remove it from the freezer in your room, afterall, it was there all night."

He had opened his mouth to say an 'Oh', but the sound just won't come out. He closed his mouth and squeezed his face, wondering just how the chocolate soufflé got into the freezer.

Wait a minute.

How did she get his uniform? Did she enter his room after he fell asleep?

She sat down at her former seat. She took a sigh when she saw him looking all confused.

"I came back to your room last night some minutes after I left. I made use of the doorbell, but it seemed as though you were in a dreamland so I made use of the spare key."

She looks at him with a mischievous smile.

"What is it?" he asked sheepishly.

"You should have seen how you did spread yourself. Spread? No, wrong. You knelt on the floor while your waist to your head was on the bed."

"My bad. You didn't take a picture, did you?"

"I did"

"What! You did?"

"Not."

He cooled down. He seriously was not going to let Natasha be the death of him.

"Fine, you saw me a mess, placed me on the bed properly, put the chocolate in the freezer, then locked the room, making sure you locked the door. Right?"

He said all the while getting up and picking up his bag.

"Actually, that was not how it went. I placed the chocolate in the freezer before undressing you and I placed you on the bed, and then I left along with your clothes, leaving you in only your undies. You skipped that part."

He stood there, speechless.

"You don't have to say much, just say thank you.Oh, and don't worry, you are not my type."

She took her bag as she rushed off to the kitchen to wash the plates they used.

Riley waited awhile. Seeing her come out of the kitchen, he saw her drying off her wet fingers on her uniform. It suddenly dawned on him that she never bothered acting like a decent lady. Whenever she ate, her mouth was always very full, that there would be no space for more, her words stinged people. And now that he thought of it, her hair was cut short.

She got to his side and gave him a hard pat on his back.

"If you give me that look again buddy, I'm gonna think you've fallen for my charm."

"Uh!"

"Unfortunately, I can't date you, I only see you as a friend."

Saying this, she walked past him.

"There's no way on earth I'm gonna fall in love with you." he said silently, but her sharp ears heard him say something, she just didn't hear exactly what it was he said.

"Did you say something?" she said as she turned back to face him.

"No."

Having denied saying anything, he expected her to turn the other way and keep on walking, but no, she stood there, looking at him with a smile he found creepy.

"Fine, I said something."

She didn't reply, she just kept on looking at him with that smile of hers.

"I cherish our friendship a lot, so there's no way I would ruin it."

She just did nod her head with that smile. She turned back and walked out of the house.

Riley took a deep sigh before stepping out of the house.

Upon getting out, the freeze breeze kissed his face. He took a second to enjoy the breeze, and just when he decided to look around the house, he got a hard pat from Natasha, that nearly threw him off balance.

"Come on buddy, we gotta walk down the street before we can find a taxi."

She held his right wrist, and he winced out in pain. She mouthed a 'sorry' to him, came to his other side and held his left hand. Not giving him a second more to sympathize with his injury, she pulled him down the doorsteps and out of the compound, not giving him a chance to look around.