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the not so great thing about having nolan as my roommatewho lived with me predominantly to keep an eye on the house while i was deployedwas this : i wanted to come home and not worry about anything but laying my tired ass in my own bed . |
instead , i was getting fifty questions . |
everythings fine , i said , knowing nolan wouldnt believe me , especially with the state i was in . |
glancing down at my chest , i noticed the claw marks under the thick cream had scabbed over . |
that wasnt normal . |
i shouldnt have healed so fast . |
damn . |
maybe mia did have powers , aside from throwing fireballs , at least . |
the picture of her crying while her boyfriend had walked all over her gnawed at me . |
fucking asshole . |
nolan put a hand on my shoulder . |
dude , what the hell ? |
no , its not fine . |
you have blood on your pants and your shirt is ripped . |
let alone the fact youre not wearing it . |
he nudged me toward the house . |
come on . |
lets get inside . |
you need to talk to me . |
what did mia do ? |
mia didnt do anything . |
why didnt you tell me she had such an asshole boyfriend ? |
more to the point , i said , whirling on my best friend , why have you let her keep seeing that shithead ? |
you beat the shit out of me in tenth grade when i went through that fling . |
greg ? |
oh , fuck . |
im going to kick his ass for this . |
anger darkened nolans green eyes , and he balled his hands into fists . |
he never shouldve been allowed to get away with this for so long . |
once i kick his ass ... . |
while i wanted to see that , i shook my head . |
it wasnt greg . |
but i saw the way he treated her . |
not well at all . |
how can you stand back and let her take that ? |
nolan cocked his head . |
why do you care , all the sudden ? |
youve never shown much thought toward her since middle school . |
besides , ive tried talking to her about it . |
she wont listen to me . |
when i pushed her , she said she didnt have the heart to break up with him before the holidays . |
he hates me , but i know mom and dad dont like him much either . |
he looked around the neighborhood , then back at me . |
well talk more inside . |
sighing , i knew he had a point . |
not being able to have mia in my life had sent me running in the opposite direction , but my feelings for her had never lessened . |
the cold weather made the healing cream on my chest icy . |
while the cool night air didnt bother me , i didnt want to get sick . |
besides , id lost some blood , so getting out of the elements would be best for me . |
the home i shared with nolan was a typical bachelors pad . |
the homey pictures and decorations from my deceased parents made it more than a house , but it wasnt at all like what id experienced at nolan and mias parents , or even mias home . |
it just felt ... less than . |
maybe because of the memories i still had of my parents when theyd been alive . |
they had been good friends with the brooks . |
i wished they were still alive , but having the brooks in my life had helped a lot . |
theyd encouraged me like my parents wouldve , but i knew theyd also had their own children to raise . |
they hadnt been able to support me or foot the bill for my college tuition . |
that had prompted me to go into the military . |
there id been able to get an education , have a career , see the world , and make something of myself , like my dad would have wanted . |
if only he were around to see it . |
i dropped my backpack onto the floor next to the door and headed for my room . |
the desire for questioning nolan waned . |
hey , where you going ? |
werent we going to talk ? |
nolan came up beside me , putting his hand on my shoulder . |
whats going on , man ? |
this isnt like you . |
talk to me . |
i will . |
right now , i need a shower and to unwind a little . |
i grabbed a change of clothes from my room , then hit the shower . |
it was exactly what i needed . |
hot water streamed down my body , clearing my mind . |
i didnt want mia to be in a bad relationship . |
what could i do about that ? |
nothing . |
unless greg kept acting like a total jerk . |
i wouldnt sit back while she went through that . |
id stand up for her , even if the other people in her life hadnt . |
my heart knew that if i didnt id regret it , because i wanted to be with her . |
i wouldnt stand there and let someone else mistreat her . |
balling my hands into fists , i leaned against the bathroom counter . |
while nolan said she didnt want to break up with greg because of the holidays , just how long had they been together , and why was she with him in the first place ? |
if nolan wanted to talk , then he had a lot of explaining to do . |
when i got downstairs , nolan was flipping through channels on the flat screen tv . |
he glanced up at me . |
you hungry ? |
i could order a pizza . |
mom and dad were thinking about surprising you , but when i didnt hear anything from mia , i told them it was probably best to wait because your plane mightve been delayed . |
pizza would be good . |
tell your parents , thanks for everything . |
if theyd gone through the effort to set all this up , then why had mia seemed as confused about nolans suspicious behavior as i had been ? |
i wanted to get into this , but i didnt want to scare nolan off . |
he had been worried about me , but i couldnt forget how suspicious hed been of mia when shed done nothing wrong . |
she was going through things i wasnt exactly sure how to understand , but that didnt mean she meant ill toward me . |
will do , nolan said and grabbed his phone . |
he punched in a few buttons , and before i knew it , hed already ordered the pizza with an app . |
crazy but cool . |
so whats going on ? |
why were you injured ? |
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