Just My Luck

3○ Temporary Solution

V E R Y A N

"So, you're scared of ducks?" I asked, covering my dick with my hands. Maybe now was not the time to make small talk. There was never a good time to make small talk with Landon.

He turned to me. That same face. Was he angry, annoyed or just Landon? Void of anything feeling. I don't think I'd ever be able to tell. 

He said nothing, moving away from me. I adjusted my glasses, looking away from him. Why was I the one being ignored? I was supposed to be angry with him. I was, wasn't I? He stood near the door, just staring at his hand on the handle, but making no move to open it. 

I stared at his back. One that had gotten broader during these last years. One that got scarred and scratched. One that I missed....I missed punching him, I never got to, but now's a hell of a time to start. 

"Aren't you leaving? Or just gonna stand there while I take a shower?" I asked, now wrapping my lower half with a towel. No need for him to see my big boy down under. 

He turned back to me. Then turned away again. Then turned back to me. Then away again. This man is going to get me dizzy. 

"What? What? What?" I asked, annoyed that I'm still covered in vomit and my glasses are now smudged and Landon's standing there so terribly unbearable and I want to jump off a rooftop onto a concrete pavement.

He turned back to me. His brown hair over his eyes and his lips apart. 

"I. I want you to leave. Please. I need you to go." Of course. What did I expect him to say. Stay with me forever? I wouldn't want to even if he begged on his knees. But I'd like to see him on his knees. Begging. Or doing something else.

"And I need to clean the vomit off myself before I can do that," I said. 

"Right." Is all he said before he turned once again and finally opened the door. Plain tiled walls splayed out before me, the most chaste bathroom I've ever been in. It felt so empty, every movement echoing. The room suddenly felt bigger. There was no Landon, only negative space. 

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Finally. The vomit has been cleaned. I felt better, though the impending dread of Torrez and Landon made that feeling disappear. Landon's shirt hung off me like a dress. I'd have to say, I felt very pretty, nothing could make that disappear. Not even Torrez and his first grader insults. 

I slung the towel around my neck and walked through the yawing halls. Day fell over the walls like a fog of dim light stark against dingy, dirty wallpaper. Ghosts of forgotten picture frames littered spots on the dusty walls. This hall will make my allergies get worse.

My steps echoed in every direction and the walls seemed to stretch for an eternity. I was walking for thirty seconds and I'm already lost. Every wall looked the same. Every creak of the floors sounded the same. Every sound echoed into this never ending maze. Seriously. I'm really lucky aren't I.

"Landon!" I called. Walking these halls are dizzying. A dull pain formed between my eyes. I just wanted to leave, but where would I go? Leeching off Landon sounds fun, but Landon might just kill me or maybe it'll be the other way around. Anywhere else on this continent is a no-go. Too many enemies. 

 Alien noises came from the end of the corridor. The sounds seemed to soften the pain. Like the nosy fuck I am, I followed the sound, the floor boards no longer creaking under me. The further I got, the more the light seemed to retreat. A door, cracked and splintered, stood at a dead end. I reached towards the knob, a pull moving my body. The noises ceased.