Toño
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“Rano, it’s time to go.”
“Nnnhgh,”
“Wake up, we need to leave before the maid comes.” I grabbed her feet and tried to shove a pair of flats on them.
“I don’t wanna,” she whined sleepily, kicking at me and making the task significantly difficult. I let out a heavy sigh. Why did she have to be so difficult?
Well, I warned her. I strode over to the ornate curtains and tore both of them aside. “Wake up.”
I turned to see her still sprawled across the fluffy king sized mattress. She must’ve been hugging half a dozen pillows. “Nice try,” she murmured dreamily, rolling over the comforter to face me. She was wearing one of those ridiculous frilly masks that people wear when they go to sleep. I scowled and crawled over the bed to her.
“We need to go, now.” I yanked the silly thing off her head and she winced like I had splashed molten lava in her face. I wasn’t trying to be mean, but if we didn’t leave soon--
KNOCK KNOCK
The generic knock of a room service maid.
To her knowledge, she knew the room would be vacant. It was in her job description to knock anyways.
I grabbed Rano’s hands and pulled her off the bed as hard as I could. She landed with a THWUMP and an “Gah!” just as the door beeped and swung open. I crouched as low as I could, still grasping one of Rano’s hands.
I’m sorry.
It’s okay.
There was a moment of silent hesitation at the door. I couldn’t see the maid, but I imagined she had heard Rano’s startled yelp and was assessing the room suspiciously. She must’ve shrugged it off though, because she pulled her cleaning cart into the room and started humming.
What are we going to do, Toño?!
I could feel her adrenaline beginning to pump in sync with mine.
I don’t know yet. Just stay down. I’m thinking.
I know you’re thinking, we’re reading each other’s minds.
It amazed me how her thoughts were just as annoyingly sing-song as her actual voice was. Smart Aleck...
Hey! Her mood flashed red with annoyance.
Shhhhh!!!
The red feeling melted away and her thoughts fell silent, but I could still feel her emotions churning softly in the back of my head.
My mind whirled. Why must the maids always go for the beds first? We only had a few precious seconds before she would find us.
We’re gonna have to break the window.
What? No. We’ll get scratched.
Do you want to get caught instead?
No.
Then we charge, on three. One. Two.
The maid let out a startled cry as she spotted us kneeling beside the bed.
Three.
And so we charged, forearms braced, and shattered the glass window of our hotel room. Thankfully, we’d only been one storey up, and both of us landed in a mass of decorative shrubbery. I could already hear the maid screaming bloody murder, so we probably didn’t have much time to run. I leapt to my feet and took Rano’s hand to help her off the ground.
--so many scratches...!
You can buff them away later. Just run. I started running and dragging her along behind me. Her thoughts were cloudy and gray, like she was still half asleep. Even after falling out of a bed and a 15 foot drop.
With my thoughts and my lips, I shouted, “WAKE UP AND RUN, RANO.” She yawned, shook her head a little, and eventually managed to keep up with me.
OH NO!! Rano suddenly cried mentally, her thoughts flushing with rapid, vibrant colors. Our luggage!
I cursed, but kept on running. It’s too late now. We would’ve never made it out of there with all our stuff, anyway.
All my cute dresses... She lamented, recalling an image of each and every one of them. And now all I have are these PAJAMAS!
I took my hand away so I could run in silence. My sister’s clothing dilemma could wait. We needed to figure out what we were going to do now.
“We could always beg on the streets again. We usually get a lot of change from that. What do you think?” I asked, panting between each sentence. We were at least a mile from the hotel now, and I still didn’t hear any police sirens. Well, that’s a good sign at least. I thought optimistically.
“And Mr. Bunnykins...,” was all she had to say. I had a feeling she’d be upset about losing her stuffed rabbit companion for awhile.
Then the sirens sounded, and I felt my heart skip a beat. They were loud. And close. We both started running as fast as our wooden legs could possibly take us.
“I can’t-” I whipped around to see Rano hunched over with her hands on her knees. “I can’t. ...Run. ...Anymore.”
“Come on, we have to keep moving!” I tried to pull her along with all my strength.
I saw her eyes go wide. Watch out!
Before I could stop myself, her fingers slipped out of mine and I flew back into a body. He grunted a little when my solid wooden appendages slammed into his fleshy ones.
I immediately turned around and backed away, putting myself right between him and my sister.
He coughed once, like he was waiting for me to say something. Ignoring him, I glanced all around me, scanning our surroundings. The alleyway- that was our only hope. I could hear the sirens getting painfully close. I took Rano’s hand--
“Rrrright. Well, I forgive you anyway.” the young man forced a smile. “Besides, you’re the two I needed to see.”
“What?” Rano and I said in unison, distracted from our only plan of escape.
“Yeah, can we talk real quick? There’s a restaurant right over--” He trailed off as the cop cars came screeching to a halt beside him. He looked back at us, bewildered, “What did you two do?”
I’m sorry, Rano.
It was my fault, Toño
.
No, it was this guy. I thought spitefully, glaring at his sneakered feet.
Yeah, I guess it was his fault too.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” he interrupted my thoughts with a nudge. I flashed him a look of annoyance, and saw his eyes for the first time. They were unnaturally green and I swear they were smiling. I looked away.
“Um. Good evening, officers!” he called innocently as two policeman stepped out of their car. “Can I help you?”
“Nothing that concerns you, sir,” the first officer replied, advancing toward us. The confident stranger took a step forward and put an arm out protectively.
“If it concerns my sisters, you better bet it does.” Sisters? What game is he playing? The policemen traded uncertain glances.
“We have reason to believe these two-” the second officer blinked at us hesitantly, eyeing our wooden flesh, “-girls... broke into the Hot Springs Hotel a couple miles from here. They’re going to have to come with us.”
“What?” Green-Eyes burst out laughing. “Sorry, you have the wrong girls. These two made me take them on their ‘little shopping trip,’” he rolled his eyes for extra effect and swung a big, girly shopping bag in front of him. “We’ve been walking around town all morning. I can assure you, they haven’t been crashing any hotels.”
“We were specifically informed that the suspects had ‘gleaming, fine wooden skin.’ It looks to me like these two fit the description.”
I felt Rano’s feelings glow pink at the thought of her skin being described as gleaming.
The guy laughed nervously, and I knew we were done for. But then I heard the sound of a fist colliding with face. Bewildered, I watched the stranger take out the first officer and knock the gun off the second before he could even get a good grip on it. “Sorry,” he offered, before swinging his knuckles into the man’s temple. He turned around to face us. “Man! Look what you made me do,” he whined half heartedly, but smiled nonetheless. “Come on, we better get out of here.”
For some reason, we both obeyed and ran after him. We made it to his car and hopped in the back, feeling safe for the first time it a long while. The stranger hit the road, and for a few minutes the only sounds in the car were that of panting and the radio.
“My name is Sebastian, by the way,” he finally said.
Before I could tell her not to, she opened her mouth. “Rano,” she breathed. Her cheeks might be naturally rosy, but I could have sworn she was blushing. I tried to touch her but she smacked my hand away. “And that’s Toño,” she added, sticking her tongue out at me.
“I feel better now that we’re not strangers,” Sebastian laughed awkwardly. “I can’t believe you two just hopped in my car.”
“Well, you did save our lives!” Rano chimed.
“He saved us from prison, not death,” I retorted. Why was she being so ridiculous? She shot me a livid glare. Sebastian cleared his throat loudly. “Besides, why are you doing this? You said you needed to see us. Why?” I demanded.
For some reason my attitude seemed to amuse him. “Settle down, girl. I’ll explain everything. You see, I’m a part of this club called the-”
“And why do you have this?” I plucked up the girly bag he had flashed to the officers earlier. Sebastian began to protest, but he couldn’t do much while he was driving. Rano pulled out the gifts inside and unwrapped them curiously.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” he was aghast. “I paid for the wrapping too! Stop it!”
“Do you often buy perfume and stuffed animals on your days off?” I smirked, looking at the contents. Rano squealed in delight and started cuddling her new Mr. Bunnykins.
“They’re not for me!” Sebastian snapped. His ears were turning pink. “They’re presents for my girlfriend! Now put it back.”
I don’t remember much of the following hours in that car. He wouldn’t stop talking about some club we were apparently a part of now. However, Rano spent a considerable amount of time trying to negotiate a deal with Sebastian that let her keep Mr. Bunnykins. I commend him for not giving in, even after she crawled onto his lap while we were on the highway.
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haha, weird abrupt endings are the best.
I had a lot more fun writing this than I expected. :D
Here's a picture of the two since I barely gave any descriptive words. Sorry about that. xD
