The Wasted Days.

I yawned as I pulled myself out of bed. Lexa hadn’t brought up anything other than Jared when we’d talked yesterday. It’d been so long since we’d been able to just sit there and talk and not have to worry about when Jared would pop around the corner and interrupt or bother us. I love the kid, but sometimes he just…

I heard my phone vibrate across the room and I yawned again before stretching my arms over my head. I made my way to my phone and pressed it to my ear. “What?” I groaned out tiredly.

“Get your butt out here. You’re late.” Lexa yelled bitchily into my ear. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

Then what she said registered. “Shit!” I yelled, dropping the phone and picking up a brush. I ran it through my auburn hair and pulled off my pajama top and pulled the first band tee I saw over my head. I switched my pajama pants for a pair of slighting ripped jeans and then looked back into the mirror. I took in my wide dark green eyes. “Shit!” I yelled again before slipping on my Etnies and running down the stairs.

I made it to the kitchen before realizing my phone was still upstairs and Lexa was still yelling for me to hurry the Hell up. “Shit!” I turned around and slid into my room grabbing my phone and then I paused and dove onto my bed for my iPod. I shoved both of them into my pocket before jumping back down the stairs. I skipped brushing my teeth and hoped that Jared had a pack of gum I could steal. “Shit!” I yelled again as I ran down my sidewalk still fighting to get the strap on my backpack over my shoulder.

It was heavy and hurt against my shoulder and I threw it across the backseat of the car as I jumped in. “Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!” I shrieked before I even had the door shut. Jared revved the engine before screaming down the street. After a while we were pulling into the school’s small parking lot and Jared was looking at me curiously through the mirror. “I’m so sorry,” I sighed.

“We all wake up late sometimes.” Lexa laughed. I nodded but I couldn’t take my eyes away from Jared’s. He looked away and parked before silently getting out of the car. I watched as he pocketed his keys. The wind made his messy brown hair fly to the side.

“Hello?” Lexa yelled jumping in front of me as I slowly pulled myself and my bag out of the backseat.

“Yeah?” I asked shaking my head slightly. What was I thinking?

“Never mind.” Lexa mumbled and rolled her eyes. My eyes trailed from her perfectly straight dark brown, almost black, locks, to her bright and shining green eyes. Mine were dull compared to hers, I decided. Hers popped even more because she took the time to put on make-up every morning, where I didn’t. Then my eyes trailed down to her full and pink colored lips. I sighed and nodded a sorry before pulling the bag onto my shoulder. I winced a little at the twinge of pain it gave me. “You’re such an airhead sometimes Salem.” She sighed and then grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her to homeroom.

~~~

“Salem!” I heard Jared yell at me but I was too busy staring at the pile of potatoes on my lunch tray. It’s the only thing that looked slightly appetizing and still I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. “Salem, c’mon!” He poked my shoulder, making me look over at him.

“What?” I almost whispered.

“What’s wrong?” It seemed like everyone has been asking me that lately.

I shrugged. “My parents haven’t come home yet. I miss Riley.” I muttered, it was only a half lie. My parents hadn’t come home, and they hadn’t brought Riley home either, but that wasn’t why I couldn’t eat potatoes. What could I tell him though?

“Oh.” He nodded, slightly glancing at my mountain of potatoes. “Where’d they go anyway?” He asked looking back at me.

I shrugged again. “They only left a note telling me that they took him and that they’d be back,” I thought about it for a second, “today.”

He nodded again and watched as Lexa sat down across from us. She looked confused and I guessed it was because Jared normally sat next to her rather than beside me. For a second my stomach burned. I’d had him first. He’d been my best friend years before you moved here. I wanted to scream it in her face. I shook my head almost violently, ridding it of those thoughts before picking up my fork and eating a little of my potatoes.

“You know they had chicken nuggets up there right?” Lexa asked me with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Did they?” I asked cocking my head to the side.

She motioned to her little pile of nuggets. “Yeah.”

I made a slightly interested looking face, nodding, before focusing back on my small mountain. “Cool.”

“Do you want some of them? I’m sure they’d go amazing with your… uh…” I looked up at her waiting expectantly for a name for my potatoes but she just closed her mouth quickly and smiled half-heartedly at me, head cocked a little to the side. I watched her as she picked up a chicken nugget, dipped it into a lake of ranch, and then took a small bite out of it.

I turned back to my own tray. Jared nudged me slightly, making me look at him again. “What’s going on with you?” He asked almost cautiously.

Shrugging I said, “Nothing. I’m just tired.” I left out the ‘I guess’ but it was still burning in my throat.