Big Words, Recycled Phrases, and the Bittersweet Taste of Other Boys on Your Lips
II
I woke up, glancing over at the pallet on the floor to see that Zach hadn’t come home last night. It’s not a surprise really. I pulled the laptop out from under my mattress and booted it up. After pushing my glasses onto my nose, I logged into the neighbor’s internet service –their password was their dog’s name. People make things too easy-, and got into a local chat room.
There were some users arguing on the main chat, and then some people requesting cyber. Yeah, these chat rooms come in handy. Why would anyone use e Harmony when you’ve got this?
“Hey, bb, u wanna go privte?” someone with the username ‘21/m’ offered. I rolled my eyes clicking on the private message.
“Hey, you horny?” I typed in the box with a wink after it.
“Ya, babe, so hot 4 u.” I found myself rolling my eyes again, “Wut u look lik?”
I quickly typed out a description of myself.
“Tits?” He typed.
“Wanna meet up, you can find out?”
“Where, baby?”
“It’ll cost you.” I smirked, this was too easy.
“How mch?”
“Depends on what you want.”
“We’ll jus hav 2 c wut happens, bb.”
“No, pay before.”
“Aight, aight, no problm. Let’s meet up an we can arrange sumtin.” I groaned aloud.
“Fine, bring a decent amount of money. I’ll be wearing red.”
“Where, baby?” I told him where and when we’d meet up, giving myself about half an hour to get ready and contact a few people. We’re meeting at a local restaurant, I’m not stupid enough to meet a random person in a dark alley where anything could happen.
---
I logged into some hook-up websites, and started to go into users ‘online now’, before I saw I had some messages. I clicked on the little envelope and found a few messages from regulars and a few new guys.
After reading through them and messaging them back I had a little line up of clients for tonight. Satisfied, I pulled off my glasses and went to get ready.
---
“Hey, baby, you look hot.” The guy offered, looking me up and down like a piece of meat.
“Thanks, do you have ID.”
“Why?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I need some proof that you’re over 18. You’re hot, but I’m not going to jail for you, baby.”
He raised an eyebrow, but pulled out his ID pointing to the birth date at the corner.
“Alright,” I smirked at him, “What do you want to do.” I bit my lip.
“What do you charge?”
I went down the list.
---
“Do you do this often?” The guy asked as we entered a small apartment, similar to mine only his was on the nicer end of town.
“Only with sexy guys like you.” I purred. Men are ridiculous, you bat an eyelash, or bite a lip and they’re completely oblivious to your scheme.
He returned my gaze, the corner of his lip curling up.
---
After the second guy I was starting to grow a little bored. Plus, my stomach was growling. I bought a water bottle and chugged it to stop the growling. I could deal with the ache for now. I only had one more to go. I just had to stay in character a little longer.
---
“Thanks, baby.” The guy leaned over, running a hand down the side of my face, “We should do this again sometime.”
“Maybe.” I smirked, before getting out of his car and blowing him a kiss. I turned towards the four story fancy apartment complex and walked down the outside hallway, getting on the elevator and going all the way up. I got off that elevator and got on one a little ways down the hall before going back down and glancing around to make sure the guy had left.
I headed back to my apartment on foot.
---
“Hey, Zach,” I called as I entered, “You home?”
I heard a pair of rushed footsteps, before he stormed out of the bedroom, “What are you doing home?” He snapped.
“I’m done for the day.” I shrugged.
“You smell,” He muttered scrunching his nose up.
“Yeah, that happens sometimes.” I rolled my eyes, “Have you had dinner?”
“Jon’s going to pick us up and we’re going to the mall.” He said, like I was the dumbest person on earth and I should know this.
I crossed my arms, “How old is Jon?”
“He’s old enough to have his license.” He retorted in a rude voice.
I groaned walking into the kitchen, mumbling under my breath.
“Ew, what’s on your neck?” He snapped, and now he’s just asking for it.
“Fuck, Zachary!” I snapped, “What do you think it is? Stop acting like this is all new to you, alright! I’ve been doing this for six years.” I ignored his wide eyes and attempts to get me to talk quieter, “Had I not you would be dead right now. Or starving and living on the streets, alright? The least you can do is talk to me like a civilized person.” I groaned, again, when I heard another voice.
“Zach,” it spoke hesitantly, “Jon’s outside.”
“Sorry,” I apologized quickly to the boy who’d just appeared. Zach glared at me, as the boy shrugged nodding.
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not.” Zach snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door.
“Zach,” I snapped, “How old is Jon? How long has he been driving?”
“He’s eighteen. He’s been driving a few years.” He rolled his eyes, stopping in the doorway.
“How do you know him?”
“From school he’s a senior, why does it matter?” He groaned.
“Fine, go on, are you sleeping here tonight?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged.
“Alright, the key’s where it always is.” I told him. He nodded, walking down the hall. I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets before pulling out a wad of cash.
“Wait,” I snapped again, stepping into the hallway.
“What do you fucking want?” He snapped, turning around. His friend’s eyes widening.
“Here,” I offered holding out a twenty, “I don’t care what you use it for.” With that I turned, going into the apartment and closing the door, not looking back to see Zach’s expression crumble.
I went inside and turned on the oven to start dinner.
---
I went to bed early that night and woke when the sun was just coming up. I glanced around, noting that Zach did not come home. I entered the small bathroom, shower curtain still pulled back from my shower the night previous. Glancing at myself in the mirror I decided I didn’t need to do much to get ready for school.
---
“What words would you use to describe this picture?” One of my art professors, Michael Hansen, asked.
“It’s eerie.” A girl from the front row piped up. I pushed my glasses back up on my nose firmer, and squinted at the painting, trying to find the right words for it.
“Alright, eerie,” The teacher spoke, “Why?”
“It looks like she’s in the middle of the woods. It’s getting dark out, and she’s laying unconscious on the ground.”
“Alright,” The teacher nodded, “Well let’s zone in on the girl then. What do you think?”
“She’s hot.” A red headed guy spoke up, getting a high five from one of his friends.
“Not what I’m looking for, Mr. Brown.” The teacher snapped, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“The position she’s laying in clearly implies that she’s not just resting.” A guy a seat over from me offered.
“Excellent,” Hansen nodded, “So, what do you think happened?”
“She passed out.” The red head’s friend said.
“Yes, but how? Why?” Hansen continued. People started throwing out reasons.
“Ms. Cane, you’re rather quiet,” Hansen started, “Any thoughts?”
I glanced at the picture again, “She looks peaceful,” I started, “I mean, I know she’s on the ground, and I agree that she doesn’t look like she’s just resting, but she still looks peaceful for some reason.”
“Alright,” He nodded, “So, we’ve got eerie, we’ve got peaceful, we’ve got hot,” Hansen raised an eyebrow in the red head’s direction, “What about the dog?”
“Loyal,” I spoke up.
“Alright, why?”
“Well, if that’s his owner, than he’s staying by her side. He looks like he’s on his guard, keeping her safe.” I shrugged.
“Or he could’ve attacked her, and that’s why she’s laying on the ground.” The red head argued, turning towards me. I raised an eyebrow.
“She clearly does not look like she was attacked by a dog. Plus, it doesn’t seem like the dog would be sitting right next to her calmly if he’d just attacked her.”
“The dog might not even be a ‘he’.” A random girl off to the left spoke up, turning to face both of us. After that the entire room started talking getting into a debate about what the story behind the picture was.
---
“Ms. Cane,” Hansen spoke before I was out the door, I turned back heading towards his desk, “I noticed your major was in art education. I was wondering why.”
“I don’t think there are any other practical ones that I’d enjoy.”
“Who says they have to be practical?” He offered raising an eyebrow.
“How can I make money, if I have a major in General art. Just keep painting and drawing and hope someone buys my paintings?” I spoke, “In Art Education I can get a job as an art teacher.” I shrugged.
“Why not Art Criticism?”
“Do people actually make money doing that?” I asked skeptically, “Even if they do, I don’t think I’m right for it.”
“Why?” He asked, leaning back against his desk.
“What if the way I interpret things is wrong?” I squinted, pursing my lips.
He laughed, “Everyone interprets things differently, have I not told you guys this a thousand times.” He sighed, “Alright, you’re going to have people like Jared who see a picture and instantly check to see if it has girls and if said girls are hot, “then you’re going to have people like you, who think through the picture. They try to figure out the emotion behind it, how the things in the picture relate back to one another.”
“Yeah, but I still don’t understand the picture we looked at today.”
“That’s alright,” He said, “You aren’t going to be flawless. I really think you should look into this though; I have a friend that you could talk to. He was in this class last year.” He quickly pulled out a post-it note and pen scribbling down something and handing it to me, “Just consider it, that’s all I’m asking.”
I nodded, “Alright, thanks.”
“No problem, I’ll see you next week.”
I nodded pocketing the note and exiting the classroom.
I glanced at the clock in the hallway as I made my way to the double doors at the front of the building.
I glanced around before heading into the small gazebo on campus. I sat on the floor of the gazebo, leaning against the bench that ran against the side and pulling my knees up to my chest. I put my sketchpad on the ground at my feet before pulling out my pencil pouch and starting to sketch out another picture. I put more detail into this one. Sketching out a simple swing set at a small park. I put a line of run down looking buildings in the background. There was a figure leaning against one of them, you can’t really tell if it’s male or female, but it doesn’t matter. I was working on the details of the buildings before I heard a small ‘click’ noise.
On reflex, I turned my head, and saw a guy maybe a little older than me with a camera.
“Sorry,” The guy apologized, “I probably should’ve asked first, but then I thought it wouldn’t look as natural.” He shrugged.
“Oh,” I mumbled, “It’s fine.”
“Can I take some more?” The guy asked, motioning to his camera.
“Sure.” I shrugged. The guy moved around, taking pictures from different angles.
I continued sketching out the details on the buildings.
“Where is that?” He asked. I hadn’t noticed he’d stopped.
“Oh,” I muttered shortly, “I’ve probably seen the park somewhere before, but I know there’s not one anywhere around here. It’s probably from a movie, and the stuff in the background is probably from somewhere as well.” I shrugged, “But it’s not anywhere specific.”
“That’s amazing,” He said eyes scanning over the sketch, “I’ve never been a very good drawing artist. I stick to photography.”
“What’s your major?” I asked, glancing up at him.
“Cinematography.”
“How is that different from Film and Video?”
“Film and Video has a more general concept in the classes. Cinematography focuses directly on artistic ways of filming for movies and such.”
“So, what do you want to do someday?” I asked, stretching back a bit.
“I’d like to be a director.” He shrugged, “My little brother wrote a musical once and said that I should direct it, and he’d be the star.” He laughed.
“How old is your brother?” I asked.
“He’s fifteen now, but it was a few years ago that he wrote the musical. Though, I have a sneaking suspicion that he still wants me to go through with it.”
I laughed, “Hey, what time is it?”
The guy pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, glancing at the screen before replying, “Three twenty-one.”
“Oh, thanks,” I nodded, “I have to get home and get dinner started though, later.” I nodded.
“Alright, see ya.”
---
I got home and was shocked to find Zach home, sitting on the old couch in front of the TV.
“Hey,” I offered, “Have you eaten?”
“No, I put a pizza in the oven.” He replied.
“Seriously?” I questioned before realizing it.
He turned around glancing at me, “Seriously.”
“Thanks. How was school?”
“Fine.” He shrugged. I sighed.
“You?” He offered, glancing at me like he really didn’t care.
“Fine.” I returned, before continuing, “Hansen wants me to change my major.”
“Hm.” He hummed, “Hey, thanks for the money the other night.”
“No, problem.” I shrugged, “That’s what I’m here for.”
He glanced at me again, “Hey, can I have a friend over tonight, we’ll sleep out here.”
“It’s a school night.” I raised an eyebrow, “And since when do you want to have friends over?”
“Uhm,” He paused, “I won’t have him over if you don’t want me to.”
“I don’t care. I just want to know why you’re having a friend over here when you hate your friends seeing this place and me.”
He flinched a bit, “I just,” He shrugged, “Listen, this kid has a bad home life. He normally stays with other people when things get bad, but no one was allowed to have him over tonight. This was the last resort.”
“Hm,” I hummed rolling my eyes, “Alright, will he have eaten?”
“Yeah,” He nodded, “And we’ll get breakfast in the cafeteria tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, when is he coming over?”
“He told me to call him if he could then he’ll be on his way.”
“Which friend is this?” I asked. I hadn’t seen many of his friends. I’d heard about all of them from time to time, but I’d only seen a few of them in person.
“You haven’t met him.” He shrugged, getting up to go get the phone. I headed into the bedroom, cleaning up some dirty clothes across the floor, and putting the extra set of sheets on the bed. I also straightened up the pallet on the floor and cleaned up the bathroom. It didn’t take any longer than half an hour, by then the pizza was done.
“Thanks for making this.” I sighed happily as I took a bite out of my first piece.
---
There was a knock on the door around eight forty six. I glanced at Zach as he got up and answered it.
His friend, Ryan, was sweet, quiet, but sweet. I offered them the bed, but they were going to stay in the living room so they could watch TV. I headed on to the bedroom and changed, getting into bed.
It’s times like this when I actually don’t mind selling myself. I would do anything for Zach.
There were some users arguing on the main chat, and then some people requesting cyber. Yeah, these chat rooms come in handy. Why would anyone use e Harmony when you’ve got this?
“Hey, bb, u wanna go privte?” someone with the username ‘21/m’ offered. I rolled my eyes clicking on the private message.
“Hey, you horny?” I typed in the box with a wink after it.
“Ya, babe, so hot 4 u.” I found myself rolling my eyes again, “Wut u look lik?”
I quickly typed out a description of myself.
“Tits?” He typed.
“Wanna meet up, you can find out?”
“Where, baby?”
“It’ll cost you.” I smirked, this was too easy.
“How mch?”
“Depends on what you want.”
“We’ll jus hav 2 c wut happens, bb.”
“No, pay before.”
“Aight, aight, no problm. Let’s meet up an we can arrange sumtin.” I groaned aloud.
“Fine, bring a decent amount of money. I’ll be wearing red.”
“Where, baby?” I told him where and when we’d meet up, giving myself about half an hour to get ready and contact a few people. We’re meeting at a local restaurant, I’m not stupid enough to meet a random person in a dark alley where anything could happen.
---
I logged into some hook-up websites, and started to go into users ‘online now’, before I saw I had some messages. I clicked on the little envelope and found a few messages from regulars and a few new guys.
After reading through them and messaging them back I had a little line up of clients for tonight. Satisfied, I pulled off my glasses and went to get ready.
---
“Hey, baby, you look hot.” The guy offered, looking me up and down like a piece of meat.
“Thanks, do you have ID.”
“Why?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I need some proof that you’re over 18. You’re hot, but I’m not going to jail for you, baby.”
He raised an eyebrow, but pulled out his ID pointing to the birth date at the corner.
“Alright,” I smirked at him, “What do you want to do.” I bit my lip.
“What do you charge?”
I went down the list.
---
“Do you do this often?” The guy asked as we entered a small apartment, similar to mine only his was on the nicer end of town.
“Only with sexy guys like you.” I purred. Men are ridiculous, you bat an eyelash, or bite a lip and they’re completely oblivious to your scheme.
He returned my gaze, the corner of his lip curling up.
---
After the second guy I was starting to grow a little bored. Plus, my stomach was growling. I bought a water bottle and chugged it to stop the growling. I could deal with the ache for now. I only had one more to go. I just had to stay in character a little longer.
---
“Thanks, baby.” The guy leaned over, running a hand down the side of my face, “We should do this again sometime.”
“Maybe.” I smirked, before getting out of his car and blowing him a kiss. I turned towards the four story fancy apartment complex and walked down the outside hallway, getting on the elevator and going all the way up. I got off that elevator and got on one a little ways down the hall before going back down and glancing around to make sure the guy had left.
I headed back to my apartment on foot.
---
“Hey, Zach,” I called as I entered, “You home?”
I heard a pair of rushed footsteps, before he stormed out of the bedroom, “What are you doing home?” He snapped.
“I’m done for the day.” I shrugged.
“You smell,” He muttered scrunching his nose up.
“Yeah, that happens sometimes.” I rolled my eyes, “Have you had dinner?”
“Jon’s going to pick us up and we’re going to the mall.” He said, like I was the dumbest person on earth and I should know this.
I crossed my arms, “How old is Jon?”
“He’s old enough to have his license.” He retorted in a rude voice.
I groaned walking into the kitchen, mumbling under my breath.
“Ew, what’s on your neck?” He snapped, and now he’s just asking for it.
“Fuck, Zachary!” I snapped, “What do you think it is? Stop acting like this is all new to you, alright! I’ve been doing this for six years.” I ignored his wide eyes and attempts to get me to talk quieter, “Had I not you would be dead right now. Or starving and living on the streets, alright? The least you can do is talk to me like a civilized person.” I groaned, again, when I heard another voice.
“Zach,” it spoke hesitantly, “Jon’s outside.”
“Sorry,” I apologized quickly to the boy who’d just appeared. Zach glared at me, as the boy shrugged nodding.
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not.” Zach snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door.
“Zach,” I snapped, “How old is Jon? How long has he been driving?”
“He’s eighteen. He’s been driving a few years.” He rolled his eyes, stopping in the doorway.
“How do you know him?”
“From school he’s a senior, why does it matter?” He groaned.
“Fine, go on, are you sleeping here tonight?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged.
“Alright, the key’s where it always is.” I told him. He nodded, walking down the hall. I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets before pulling out a wad of cash.
“Wait,” I snapped again, stepping into the hallway.
“What do you fucking want?” He snapped, turning around. His friend’s eyes widening.
“Here,” I offered holding out a twenty, “I don’t care what you use it for.” With that I turned, going into the apartment and closing the door, not looking back to see Zach’s expression crumble.
I went inside and turned on the oven to start dinner.
---
I went to bed early that night and woke when the sun was just coming up. I glanced around, noting that Zach did not come home. I entered the small bathroom, shower curtain still pulled back from my shower the night previous. Glancing at myself in the mirror I decided I didn’t need to do much to get ready for school.
---
“What words would you use to describe this picture?” One of my art professors, Michael Hansen, asked.
“It’s eerie.” A girl from the front row piped up. I pushed my glasses back up on my nose firmer, and squinted at the painting, trying to find the right words for it.
“Alright, eerie,” The teacher spoke, “Why?”
“It looks like she’s in the middle of the woods. It’s getting dark out, and she’s laying unconscious on the ground.”
“Alright,” The teacher nodded, “Well let’s zone in on the girl then. What do you think?”
“She’s hot.” A red headed guy spoke up, getting a high five from one of his friends.
“Not what I’m looking for, Mr. Brown.” The teacher snapped, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
“The position she’s laying in clearly implies that she’s not just resting.” A guy a seat over from me offered.
“Excellent,” Hansen nodded, “So, what do you think happened?”
“She passed out.” The red head’s friend said.
“Yes, but how? Why?” Hansen continued. People started throwing out reasons.
“Ms. Cane, you’re rather quiet,” Hansen started, “Any thoughts?”
I glanced at the picture again, “She looks peaceful,” I started, “I mean, I know she’s on the ground, and I agree that she doesn’t look like she’s just resting, but she still looks peaceful for some reason.”
“Alright,” He nodded, “So, we’ve got eerie, we’ve got peaceful, we’ve got hot,” Hansen raised an eyebrow in the red head’s direction, “What about the dog?”
“Loyal,” I spoke up.
“Alright, why?”
“Well, if that’s his owner, than he’s staying by her side. He looks like he’s on his guard, keeping her safe.” I shrugged.
“Or he could’ve attacked her, and that’s why she’s laying on the ground.” The red head argued, turning towards me. I raised an eyebrow.
“She clearly does not look like she was attacked by a dog. Plus, it doesn’t seem like the dog would be sitting right next to her calmly if he’d just attacked her.”
“The dog might not even be a ‘he’.” A random girl off to the left spoke up, turning to face both of us. After that the entire room started talking getting into a debate about what the story behind the picture was.
---
“Ms. Cane,” Hansen spoke before I was out the door, I turned back heading towards his desk, “I noticed your major was in art education. I was wondering why.”
“I don’t think there are any other practical ones that I’d enjoy.”
“Who says they have to be practical?” He offered raising an eyebrow.
“How can I make money, if I have a major in General art. Just keep painting and drawing and hope someone buys my paintings?” I spoke, “In Art Education I can get a job as an art teacher.” I shrugged.
“Why not Art Criticism?”
“Do people actually make money doing that?” I asked skeptically, “Even if they do, I don’t think I’m right for it.”
“Why?” He asked, leaning back against his desk.
“What if the way I interpret things is wrong?” I squinted, pursing my lips.
He laughed, “Everyone interprets things differently, have I not told you guys this a thousand times.” He sighed, “Alright, you’re going to have people like Jared who see a picture and instantly check to see if it has girls and if said girls are hot, “then you’re going to have people like you, who think through the picture. They try to figure out the emotion behind it, how the things in the picture relate back to one another.”
“Yeah, but I still don’t understand the picture we looked at today.”
“That’s alright,” He said, “You aren’t going to be flawless. I really think you should look into this though; I have a friend that you could talk to. He was in this class last year.” He quickly pulled out a post-it note and pen scribbling down something and handing it to me, “Just consider it, that’s all I’m asking.”
I nodded, “Alright, thanks.”
“No problem, I’ll see you next week.”
I nodded pocketing the note and exiting the classroom.
I glanced at the clock in the hallway as I made my way to the double doors at the front of the building.
I glanced around before heading into the small gazebo on campus. I sat on the floor of the gazebo, leaning against the bench that ran against the side and pulling my knees up to my chest. I put my sketchpad on the ground at my feet before pulling out my pencil pouch and starting to sketch out another picture. I put more detail into this one. Sketching out a simple swing set at a small park. I put a line of run down looking buildings in the background. There was a figure leaning against one of them, you can’t really tell if it’s male or female, but it doesn’t matter. I was working on the details of the buildings before I heard a small ‘click’ noise.
On reflex, I turned my head, and saw a guy maybe a little older than me with a camera.
“Sorry,” The guy apologized, “I probably should’ve asked first, but then I thought it wouldn’t look as natural.” He shrugged.
“Oh,” I mumbled, “It’s fine.”
“Can I take some more?” The guy asked, motioning to his camera.
“Sure.” I shrugged. The guy moved around, taking pictures from different angles.
I continued sketching out the details on the buildings.
“Where is that?” He asked. I hadn’t noticed he’d stopped.
“Oh,” I muttered shortly, “I’ve probably seen the park somewhere before, but I know there’s not one anywhere around here. It’s probably from a movie, and the stuff in the background is probably from somewhere as well.” I shrugged, “But it’s not anywhere specific.”
“That’s amazing,” He said eyes scanning over the sketch, “I’ve never been a very good drawing artist. I stick to photography.”
“What’s your major?” I asked, glancing up at him.
“Cinematography.”
“How is that different from Film and Video?”
“Film and Video has a more general concept in the classes. Cinematography focuses directly on artistic ways of filming for movies and such.”
“So, what do you want to do someday?” I asked, stretching back a bit.
“I’d like to be a director.” He shrugged, “My little brother wrote a musical once and said that I should direct it, and he’d be the star.” He laughed.
“How old is your brother?” I asked.
“He’s fifteen now, but it was a few years ago that he wrote the musical. Though, I have a sneaking suspicion that he still wants me to go through with it.”
I laughed, “Hey, what time is it?”
The guy pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, glancing at the screen before replying, “Three twenty-one.”
“Oh, thanks,” I nodded, “I have to get home and get dinner started though, later.” I nodded.
“Alright, see ya.”
---
I got home and was shocked to find Zach home, sitting on the old couch in front of the TV.
“Hey,” I offered, “Have you eaten?”
“No, I put a pizza in the oven.” He replied.
“Seriously?” I questioned before realizing it.
He turned around glancing at me, “Seriously.”
“Thanks. How was school?”
“Fine.” He shrugged. I sighed.
“You?” He offered, glancing at me like he really didn’t care.
“Fine.” I returned, before continuing, “Hansen wants me to change my major.”
“Hm.” He hummed, “Hey, thanks for the money the other night.”
“No, problem.” I shrugged, “That’s what I’m here for.”
He glanced at me again, “Hey, can I have a friend over tonight, we’ll sleep out here.”
“It’s a school night.” I raised an eyebrow, “And since when do you want to have friends over?”
“Uhm,” He paused, “I won’t have him over if you don’t want me to.”
“I don’t care. I just want to know why you’re having a friend over here when you hate your friends seeing this place and me.”
He flinched a bit, “I just,” He shrugged, “Listen, this kid has a bad home life. He normally stays with other people when things get bad, but no one was allowed to have him over tonight. This was the last resort.”
“Hm,” I hummed rolling my eyes, “Alright, will he have eaten?”
“Yeah,” He nodded, “And we’ll get breakfast in the cafeteria tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, when is he coming over?”
“He told me to call him if he could then he’ll be on his way.”
“Which friend is this?” I asked. I hadn’t seen many of his friends. I’d heard about all of them from time to time, but I’d only seen a few of them in person.
“You haven’t met him.” He shrugged, getting up to go get the phone. I headed into the bedroom, cleaning up some dirty clothes across the floor, and putting the extra set of sheets on the bed. I also straightened up the pallet on the floor and cleaned up the bathroom. It didn’t take any longer than half an hour, by then the pizza was done.
“Thanks for making this.” I sighed happily as I took a bite out of my first piece.
---
There was a knock on the door around eight forty six. I glanced at Zach as he got up and answered it.
His friend, Ryan, was sweet, quiet, but sweet. I offered them the bed, but they were going to stay in the living room so they could watch TV. I headed on to the bedroom and changed, getting into bed.
It’s times like this when I actually don’t mind selling myself. I would do anything for Zach.
♠ ♠ ♠
I apologize for the completely awkward internet conversation...yeah. Sigh.I am trying to make the distinction between the two completely different sides of Parker and emphasize that she lives a very simple, very routine lifestyle.
Comment please. :D