Everyday Combat

The area was all swollen and red, the blood dried up now and it looked like it was already beginning to scab around the stitches. I wanted to poke it some more but if I did mom would have my head on a stick in the front yard. Alongside my bike which was how I'd ended up cutting myself and needing stitches in the first place.

I mean, mom hadn't been at work today and had told both Zack and I to piss off out of the house so she could tidy it. Faith 1 - 0 Julie. So I decided I would take my BMX so I could ride ahead of Zack and wouldn't have to listen to him bitching out Sarah, and telling us to piss off out only means we're gonna go see our friends. Faith 2 - 0 Julie. And there's this old abandoned half built house with an empty pool not far from Matt's that just screams to be used. Faith 3 - 0 Julie.

Totally not my fault when Jason went on to dare me to jump down a ladder, off a slide and into said pool on my bike, and that once I was done ignoring Zack telling me not to do it, and I had actually gone ahead and done it, I then fell off my bike onto some broken glass.

Yeah, mom wasn't pleased. Neither was dad.

But it meant I had something more to do other than listen to Zack whining about his girlfriend. Even if it did mean I had my bike taken off me. I mean, everyone goes to that place to skate anyway, and the police don't care. It was just the manner in which I had come to acquire medical attention that pissed them off.

"You are such a douche," Zack grumbled as he stood aimlessly stirring a pan of freshly made pasta whilst I washed up the thing mom uses to make it, and all the other stuff we used to make the pasta.

"I tied my laces and wore my helmet did I not?!" I retorted incredulously, flinging my arm out so that some bubbles hit him in the face.

"Faith laces tied or not, you could have broken your fucking neck," he growled back. "I've lost my girlfriend, I don't wanna lose you too."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief as he turned back to our pasta and fished a bit out to test if it was cooked. I could not believe him. He made it sound like Sarah was the one in the wrong and she wasn't. Even I knew she wouldn't cheat on him on and I hated her guts.

Or at least, I used to. Now I just disliked her.

"You seriously need to take a good hard fucking look in the fucking mirror if you think I'm the fucking douche!" I yelled angrily. I was finished with his shit. Now he was gonna get mine, and he was going to listen. Zack whipped round to look at me, frowning himself.

"I'm not the one who threw my bike and myself off a roof and got fucking hurt!"

"No but you're the one going round making false accusations!" I screamed, throwing the dish cloth down out of fury. "You're acting like you're the victim here when you're the one who brought this all on yourself!"

"And how exactly did I do that?" He now said, his voice low and venomous.

"How about being too fucking stressy just because you're girlfriend was going to Europe for a few weeks?" I spat back. "I mean, every time we go to Italy she doesn't get pissy or accuse you of cheating does she?!"

"No because she knows I wouldn't do it!" He yelped, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Then why do you think she will?" I whispered, glaring at him.

Zack fell silent as did I, the both of us with heaving chests from yelling backwards and forwards at each other. I could see tears pricking the corners of his eyes and he turned away back to the pan and stared into it. He said nothing, just stirred what was in front of him.

"You need to quit with the macho act Zack, you're not fooling anyone," I mumbled, going back to my washing up. "Especially not me, you should know that."

Suddenly I heard the door slam and when I looked round he was gone. I dropped the dishcloth back into the sink and dried my arms before grabbing my jacket from the back of a chair. At the same time mom and dad came shuffling into the kitchen with looks that told me they had been listening from the hall.

I felt tears prick my own eyes. I didn't mean to make him storm off, or those tears appear but he needed to see his mistakes. "I'm just gonna-"

"Faith, give him some space," Mom said softly, rubbing my back gently.

"Bu-"

"I think he needs time to process what you've just said," Dad then spoke up. "If there's one person he will listen to it is you Faith. You always seem to get through to him, even if Sarah and the guys can't."

I looked down at my feet. My jeans were scuffed and ripped even more from today, and my Etnies were in dire need of new laces. Just because I had tied them earlier didn't mean they weren't ratty and in need of replacement. A few studs from my belt were also missing now and they looked scratched from my fall.

A tear rolled off my face and hit my shoe, so I turned and shuffled from the kitchen and out onto the front porch. I hated myself now for making Zack feel crappy but like I said, he needed some tough love.

So why did it feel like I had given him too much?

"Whooooa! There she is folks, the almighty Faith Annalisa Baker!" A voice suddenly a yelled, a voice that sounded just like a Berry. I looked up to see the guys cutting across the lawn, and Jason on his knees. "We are not worthy oh great art and BMX empress!"

I let out a laugh and wiped my eyes using my right hand since it was my upper left arm I'd fucked up earlier. "How's things?" Brian asked, pointing towards my arm.

I looked down at it, then back at them as Matt B filmed it. He had also got the stunt on camera so no doubt he would have some mini documentary up on the internet about it tomorrow. He was good at shit like that.

"I gots stitches and my arm is a little painful, if not stoned." I smiled triumphantly, poking at some dried blood and recoiling my finger with a hiss. Note to self: DO NOT POKE ARM! Until tomorrow of course, when you may try again. "Oh my God there was the cutest guy in the X-Ray waiting room! His leg was a weird shape and since he had a helmet on his head and a skateboard it wasn't hard to figure out how he'd done it." I then gushed with a grin, remembering said guy.

"Oooooh, Faith likes somebody!" Jimmy sang making kissy faces, and wrapping his arms around himself like a twat.

"Dude, he was so cute!" I retorted, kicking out at his leg. "Cuter than you, Jimmy-tron. And he was telling me how he'd busted his leg at this other abandoned pool and I told him what I'd done and he said he's heard of you two stoners-" I glanced at the Berry's who gave us the thumbs up, "-he said he was a sophomore at our school, and he was so damn cute!"

"What did Zack do?" Johnny then asked. Nobody had to ask 'what happened' or anything like that.

"He looked at him and said some shit then grabbed me and made me sit elsewhere," I frowned. Damn Zack, he always does that. The only guys I'm allowed to talk to are these guys. He's such a douche. "Fucking asshole has stropped off because I told him he was being a douche about the whole Sarah sitch."

"Yeah well, don't beat yourself up Faithy because he needed to hear it," Brian smiled down at me.

"I know."

We were all silent for a few minutes before Matt cleared his throat and grinned at me. "So what stunt you gonna pull next?"