"Have you read the comic book I gave you yet?"
Dallas groans, "Crap, no. I forgot all about it."
Zelda joins him, "You had one job!"
"I know! I'm sorry, I promise I'll read it before Tuesday."
"C'Mon, Dallas Dolan!"
"Alright, Zelda Roux, maybe I won't read it if you keep nagging me about it."
"Woah now, take it down a bit kids," Dante chimes in. Zelda and Dallas' bickering continues, but somehow it seems so distant. I feel myself start to drift away from reality. All the nerves in my body suddenly go numb. How did this happen? I try to scan my surroundings, but everything has become a bit fuzzy. My friends' voices become muffled, as does everything else around me. The bell of the entrance to the pizza parlor rings, but it sounds like there is a towel wrapped around it. The stench of greasy pizza also becomes more faint by the second. Am I still here? My body feels like a room right now, and I walked out. I think I am going to walk back into it at any second now. For now though, I take in this feeling. Sometimes, I wish I felt this way all the time. It's an odd feeling of existing but not being present, it's almost nice.
A voice comes to my attention, "Jodie, are you gonna finish that?" My eyes refocus like a camera lens, and my nerves jolt back to reality like electricity. Dante nudges me and gestures to my pizza slice.
"Yeah, sorry. Do you wanna buy another pizza to-go so we can eat it and just take what we don't eat?" I take a bite of my current slice. The food tastes like a masterpiece on my taste buds. I wonder, who invented pizza?
"I'd never turn down food. Do you have another coupon or do you want me to pay?"
Mom typically stocks me up with coupons for this place because it's on the more luxurious side of the food market. I rummage through my wallet before pulling a coupon for a half off, one-topping, large pizza. I hand it over to Dante who sits next to me, "Go nuts, wild child."
He smiles at me, then jumps up from his seat to go order. Dallas, who sits across from me, taps my foot with his under the table. I look at him, and he's got his eyes locked with mine. He whispers to me before finishing his crust, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good," I conjure a smile that seems convincing enough. I don't know what I'm trying to convince anyone of. Dallas smiles at me and continues his conversation with Zelda. This time, he drags me into their discussion about the quality of comic books. Dante returns with another pizza and we return to eating again.
YOU ARE READING
The Beginning, Middle, but not the End
Teen FictionJodie Sizemore is a normal teenager--she lives in a nice house, goes to a good school, and has a group of loyal friends. However, there are a few inevitable obstacles that seem to prevent her from enjoying her life, also known as Generalized Anxiety...
