The Will To

T W E N T Y - O N E (malone)

It was dark when I returned to my apartment that night. My afternoon class had stretched into the fading afternoon, where the sun had dipped out of sight but the lingering light still reached through campus. After the fifteen minute walk home, all the light had been pulled away and gray darkness surrounded me. The alley leading into my apartment hall would have been completely dark had it not been for the dull light above the side entrance door.

Nola was sitting on the couch when I entered, which wouldn't have startled me had it not been for the unfamiliar man buttoning up his flannel beside her bedroom door. I startled, instantly feeling on guard as if he had broken in. But Nola's expression reflected embarrassment, not terror, and my panic waned. She didn't bring guys home often, but it wasn't out of the ordinary. I usually received a heads up, however.

"Hello, Stuart," I said, hanging my jacket on the wall rack.

"Uh, my name's Malone."

"Oh, Malone. Fancy," I said, causing Nola to interject with a sigh, "Ignore her."

Malone actually looked like a Malone with his stylish high fade and structured face, which seemed to accentuate the confusion resting in his contours. He looked deep in thought and a bit disconcerted by my sudden appearance as if I were the intruder.

"Who's Stuart?" Malone asked, now analyzing my statement.

Poor Malone, he was both a million seconds too late in his response and a million miles behind. Nola liked a sharp man, and the first impression I'd received from the still-confused guy beside me was that he couldn't cut into a stick of room temperature butter.

"No one, she's just—You know what? Never mind," Nola said. "It'd take too long to explain." She shot me a rather scary glare and stood up. "Time to go, Malone, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay. Sure." He still sounded a hundred and ten percent confused. "When can I see you again?"

"I don't know," Nola said, ushering him to the door. "I'll text you."

Ah, the kiss of death.

"Okay, um, see you around," he said, stepping into the hall before Nola hastily shut the door.

"You know, I would say that was cold, but that guy probably isn't able to piece together that you just broke things off," I said, flinging myself onto the couch. "Actually, now that I think about it, damn, Nola, that was cold."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Will."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "You're telling me you didn't just hookup with Malone? The evidence is all over the room, Nol. I mean, it's five o'clock and you're not on your computer. Something was obviously much more important than your precious hacking. Like Malone."

Nola crossed her arms and stood a bit straighter. I didn't understand why she wasn't amused; she was never embarrassed about the guys she saw before.

"Can we just drop it?" she nearly whispered.

My eyebrows merged together. "Sure, Nol. Just try to give a girl a warning next time though."

Dropping her arms, she sauntered towards the couch and fell beside me. "You seem to be in a better mood."

I was. My mind wasn't as strained, though I was still angry. I'd only had to dish out three death glares and one middle finger all afternoon, which was an improvement from yesterday. People still talked as I walked by, but the shock had settled. My appetite had even returned following lunch, and I quickly thought of the fry I'd tossed at Rey. It sounded appetizing to me now.