Aleksandr slipped the pen into his bag.  He ignored the fact that Sylv and Jamie had bonded over work so quickly. 

He sprinted to his blue bicycle, shifting through his pocket for the key.  After unlocking his bicycle, he shoved the U-lock into his messenger bag and hopped on his bike. The rain was pouring heavily, soaking his hair. He could feel the fingers of the rain seeping through his shirt.

As he biked through the sidewalk, small puddles had formed.  He skidded through them, watching the puddles splash in both directions from the swiftness of his bicycle.

[i]He woke up covered in blood, naked.  The coldness of the tub was painful as the white acrylic touched his bare skin.  The faucet was dripping on his foot.

"Aleksy?" A low soft voice asked.

The door opened.

"I'm changing..."

His father stood confusingly in the doorway, "Aleksy, what happened to you?  Are you hurt?"  His voice wasn't as concerned sounding as the look on his face.  He wasn't being sincere.

"I..." He looked down at his chest, rubbing his face with his mouth, "I..." he swallowed hard--chunks of blood slid down his throat, "I got a bloody nose," he said sharply, annoyed that his father had barged in on him.  He already said that he was naked.  

His father apologized, "I've been looking for you for over half an hour..." 

"I'm sorry," Aleksy tried not to hiss at his father.  The situation was awkward enough, and disrespect would not help the situation.

"You're not doing drugs, again, are you?"

"No!"

A grave and solemn look settled on his father's face.  He slumped out of the bathroom and closed the door softly behind him.  There was a dark cloud of guilt hovering over him as a parish priest.   This was unacceptable behavior.  If looks could kill, a thousand deaths Father Seraphim would have already died from the glare in Aleksy's eyes...[/i]

Aleksandr pedaled past the Urban Grind Café.  His face turned hesitantly to look at the café.  Rain was running down his face.  He turned to face forward and kept pedaling.  The day was getting uglier by the minute.  A crack of lightning hissed across the sky.  The sound of thunder roared shortly afterwards.

Taking in deep breaths, he pedaled as quickly as he his fit body could possibly send him. He reached the neighborhood and relaxed, feeling the closeness of [i]home[/i].  A reserved frown had formed back on his pale lips.  He parked his bicycle in the dying yard, which probably needed the rain more than anything in the city.  His father's old, gray Toyota was not parked in the drive way.  His father must be visiting someone from the parish.  There were some days he didn't know how his dad could be so sympathetic and secretive towards other people.

He unlocked the front door and walked inside the house.  The air was not on, and the coldness of the outdoors lingered on his skin as he dripped to his bedroom.  He closed his bedroom door and removed his clothes, deciding to hop in the bathroom for a shower.

As he stood in the shower, with the lukewarm water beating on his bare skin, he felt an unusual need to think of the people he had met.  The person who came to mind most of all was Sylv.  He squirted some shampoo onto his hand and massaged it into his scalp and hair.  Maybe he could convince his father to let him drop out of college.  He didn't like thinking of ladies, especially when in bathroom.  It could only lead to trouble.  He'd have to tell his Confessor... not that he particularly believed in the sacrament of Confession, but he did have some sort of respect for the party on the other side listening to his sins. [@Arista]