Jeff had been on the phone to the police about the car. He was happy to hear that nobody was hurt. The thief was even apprehended with a broken arm. He would get his money to him later. It was good to get a little good news for once. He wanted to still give that money to the mermaid. Somehow. Still it didn't really make his mood feel any better. So he went to his room, to work rest. He really needed it.. it has been ages since he got any sleep at all.
The teenage boy though, just couldn't sleep. He was too tired to sleep.
He saw a ripped up piece of paper that had ended up near his bed, and slowly pieced it back together. It was the picture of Ricky he tried to draw. He placed it on his scanner, and made a photocopy of it. It came out a little faded, but for some reason the more subtle lines actually made the drawing better. He looked at it, smiling a little.
He took out a pencil and started to draw over it, working from memory and using the faded lines as a guide. He tried to get the detail of her clothes, and even her hand, rubbing his cheek briefly being acutely aware of the shape of it. He then tried to do another similar drawing of Belle, sitting on Ricky's shoulder. The two clockwork girls... looked happy together.
"They are perfect," he said thinking about it with a sigh. Was it... wrong to really think that? Then he recalled Ricky's freakish interest and realised to his dawning horror, he had something in common with that nerd. He frowned a bit putting his hands over his eyes. It.. wasn't like that. Ricky seemed to like all the changed that bordered on perverse. Jeff just... well... it wasn't all of them. It was just a few of them. Belle, Ricky, and of course the mermaid-
he actually liked how the mermaid looked.
She effectively lost her legs the sound of his father's voice echoed in his thoughts.
Now Jeff was feeling really horrible. He liked the mermaid even though he should be feeling sorry for her. His father felt sorry for her... did that mean he was actually worse then his father? Ricky was right. He had been a total jerk. He didn't know how it ended up like this. It wasn't supposed to.
Now he had no friends any more.
"Who needs em'," he said with annoyance. He wanted to throw away the picture, but he couldn't bring himself to. If his father found it... that would also be a problem. He hid it carefully in one of his homework books.
He glanced at the sunlight out his window. Was it... inevitable? Some people said that if you were a bad person, you would change into something bad. Jeff was a bad person... he knew that. Like his father... they both had to avoid the sunlight, not just to avoid change... but to avoid judgement. Jeff sighed again, feeling all the more bitter. He hated hiding. That's how it felt every day, and would feel like every time the sun rose.
He tried to get a bit of rest. Tomorrow night he would have to let the principal know, about Belle's homework too. He didn't want her or Ricky to get into trouble for his ideas... not any more.
