On Sleepless Roads
Chapter Eleven
Marti’s POV
When I woke up in the morning I had very vague memories of the night before,
Of Ryan actually being nice.
Maybe it had just been a dream.
That would make more sense.
People don’t go from being assholes to being nice in a matter of hours,
It just doesn’t happen.
I dragged myself out of bed,
Even though all I wanted to do was stay in bed.
I took a shower and got changed and all that stuff.
Then I sat on the bed and waited.
I wasn’t sure if Ryan was up,
And I’d feel weird if he was still asleep and I was wandering around his house.
The only thing I could do was wait for him to come in and see if I was awake.
Ryan’s POV
I woke up around ten but didn’t get out of bed until about eleven.
I’m lazy, so kill me.
By the time I’d showered and gotten dressed and all that it was nearly twelve.
Then I went and checked on Marti.
She was awake, just lying on the bed, listening to her Ipod.
I sat down on the bed and pulled out one of her earphones.
“What are you listening to?” I asked, putting it into my own ear.
Marti gave me a really funny look.
It was This is Halloween, the first song in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
“You like that movie?” I asked, surprised.
Marti nodded.
“I love that movie!” She said.
“So do I!” I said.
Marti looked surprised.
“You do?” She asked.
I nodded.
“It’s only the best movie ever made!” I said.
Marti nodded.
“I want Zero.” She said.
“I want the skeleton reindeer.” I replied.
Marti started to say something but then she stopped.
“What?” I asked.
She looked nervous as she answered.
“What do you want?” She asked.
To be honest I felt a bit insulted.
“Am I not allowed to be nice?” I asked.
Marti hesitated.
“People are only nice when they want something.” She said.
Seriously, what kind of people has she met?
“I don’t want anything, I’m just in a good mood.” I said.
I was lying but she didn’t need to know that.
Brendon and I had come up with a new plan to get Marti to tell us things.
Instead of trying to pry everything out of her,
We were going to be extremely nice and see if she told us on her own.
Besides, being nice was easier than being an asshole.
“Really?” Marti asked.
She sounded like she didn’t believe me.
“Really.” I said.
“Now, what else do you have on here?” I asked, taking the Ipod out of her hand.
She had a lot of Billy Talent, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and my band on there.
“So you like us then?” I asked.
Marti blushed and nodded.
“Or you did until you met us?” I asked.
Marti hesitated,
“No, I still like you guys.” She said slowly.
She seriously sucks at lying.
I decided to ignore it though,
We hadn’t exactly been the nicest to her.
“So what do you want to do today?” I asked.
Marti looked surprised.
“I don’t know.” She said slowly.
Well she was sure helpful.
“Let’s go eat, then we can decide.” I said.
I led her into the kitchen.
We both had cereal.
I tried to make conversation but all I got was one-word answers,
So finally I gave up.
Once we were finished eating I started to do the dishes.
I have a dishwasher but it’s broken,
Like usual.
“Do you need help?”
Wow, I seriously had not been expecting her to offer to help.
“Sure, you can dry, there’s a towel in that drawer over there.” I said, nodding my head.
Marti grabbed the towel and started drying.
She rolled up her sleeves but she didn’t take off the many colourful bracelets on her right arm.
They kept making noise and they looked extremely uncomfortable as they got wetter.
“Why don’t you take those off?” I asked.
All of a sudden Marti looked extremely nervous.
“I never take them off, they don’t bug me.” She said quickly.
Well that’s not suspicious at all!
“They look uncomfortable, just take them off.” I said.
Marti shook her head.
“No, they’re fine.” She insisted.
I rolled my eyes.
“Please take them off.” I said.
Marti shook her head again.
“I like them on!” She said.
I sighed loudly and grabbed her arm, (there was no bruise on this one)
Putting my thumb underneath the bracelets, I pulled them all off.
And reveled many, fresh, angry looking cuts.
When I woke up in the morning I had very vague memories of the night before,
Of Ryan actually being nice.
Maybe it had just been a dream.
That would make more sense.
People don’t go from being assholes to being nice in a matter of hours,
It just doesn’t happen.
I dragged myself out of bed,
Even though all I wanted to do was stay in bed.
I took a shower and got changed and all that stuff.
Then I sat on the bed and waited.
I wasn’t sure if Ryan was up,
And I’d feel weird if he was still asleep and I was wandering around his house.
The only thing I could do was wait for him to come in and see if I was awake.
Ryan’s POV
I woke up around ten but didn’t get out of bed until about eleven.
I’m lazy, so kill me.
By the time I’d showered and gotten dressed and all that it was nearly twelve.
Then I went and checked on Marti.
She was awake, just lying on the bed, listening to her Ipod.
I sat down on the bed and pulled out one of her earphones.
“What are you listening to?” I asked, putting it into my own ear.
Marti gave me a really funny look.
It was This is Halloween, the first song in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
“You like that movie?” I asked, surprised.
Marti nodded.
“I love that movie!” She said.
“So do I!” I said.
Marti looked surprised.
“You do?” She asked.
I nodded.
“It’s only the best movie ever made!” I said.
Marti nodded.
“I want Zero.” She said.
“I want the skeleton reindeer.” I replied.
Marti started to say something but then she stopped.
“What?” I asked.
She looked nervous as she answered.
“What do you want?” She asked.
To be honest I felt a bit insulted.
“Am I not allowed to be nice?” I asked.
Marti hesitated.
“People are only nice when they want something.” She said.
Seriously, what kind of people has she met?
“I don’t want anything, I’m just in a good mood.” I said.
I was lying but she didn’t need to know that.
Brendon and I had come up with a new plan to get Marti to tell us things.
Instead of trying to pry everything out of her,
We were going to be extremely nice and see if she told us on her own.
Besides, being nice was easier than being an asshole.
“Really?” Marti asked.
She sounded like she didn’t believe me.
“Really.” I said.
“Now, what else do you have on here?” I asked, taking the Ipod out of her hand.
She had a lot of Billy Talent, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and my band on there.
“So you like us then?” I asked.
Marti blushed and nodded.
“Or you did until you met us?” I asked.
Marti hesitated,
“No, I still like you guys.” She said slowly.
She seriously sucks at lying.
I decided to ignore it though,
We hadn’t exactly been the nicest to her.
“So what do you want to do today?” I asked.
Marti looked surprised.
“I don’t know.” She said slowly.
Well she was sure helpful.
“Let’s go eat, then we can decide.” I said.
I led her into the kitchen.
We both had cereal.
I tried to make conversation but all I got was one-word answers,
So finally I gave up.
Once we were finished eating I started to do the dishes.
I have a dishwasher but it’s broken,
Like usual.
“Do you need help?”
Wow, I seriously had not been expecting her to offer to help.
“Sure, you can dry, there’s a towel in that drawer over there.” I said, nodding my head.
Marti grabbed the towel and started drying.
She rolled up her sleeves but she didn’t take off the many colourful bracelets on her right arm.
They kept making noise and they looked extremely uncomfortable as they got wetter.
“Why don’t you take those off?” I asked.
All of a sudden Marti looked extremely nervous.
“I never take them off, they don’t bug me.” She said quickly.
Well that’s not suspicious at all!
“They look uncomfortable, just take them off.” I said.
Marti shook her head.
“No, they’re fine.” She insisted.
I rolled my eyes.
“Please take them off.” I said.
Marti shook her head again.
“I like them on!” She said.
I sighed loudly and grabbed her arm, (there was no bruise on this one)
Putting my thumb underneath the bracelets, I pulled them all off.
And reveled many, fresh, angry looking cuts.