𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 (𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛)

The Art of Nodding {Twenty-Three}

"But they all pale
against the light in your eyes..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleeping through the night was easier than it's been in weeks. I actually slept without tossing and turning or staring blankly at my ceiling. I slept.

It's crazy to think that Sal and I have only known each other for a few months. It feels like I've known him all my life-- though, when I really think about it, my life didn't truly start until I came to Nockfell. I had been so closed off and secluded but coming here forced me to meet people. Forced me to make friends.

Sure, things got really awful here and there but I wouldn't rather it any other way. At least I have feelings. Compared to before I came here, all I did was go through the motions of life. I wasn't actually living.

Everything is starting to come back together and I'm sure I'll be reminded of how hard that will be soon, but for now, I'm on a hope high. I'm hopeful. I'm ready to move on and get better.

Ash and Larry came by with Todd this morning to pick me up. We all drove to school. Todd has no idea what's going on between Ash and Larry and, fuck, I shouldn't either. But I do. And I think it's fucking splendid.

They're at the awkward stage right now-- a stage that Sal and I even went through. Larry and Ash finally opened up and now they have no idea what to do or how to approach the situation.

Poor things.

Sal isn't with them, but I'm not surprised. It's okay. We can't mend our friendship right away.

"So, Sal dropped by?" I ask the air, assuming that all parties met with Sal at some point yesterday.

"Oh-- yea!" Ash exclaims, jumping in the drivers seat like she's just remembering they saw Sal. "He, uh, he came by Larry's place to apologize. It was really sweet but you can tell that there's some heavy tension. Between all of us of course, but it was completely overshadowed by the tension between Sal and Max. That was borderline scary."

I grimace, pinching my lips together. "I can imagine," I murmur. "Did they interact at all?"

"I'm sure Sal could explain it better, but they did the guy nod. But not the respectful head down nod, they nodded up at each other. Like, trying to keep the peace but miserably failing," Larry adds in.

"Guy nod?" I splutter out, a little confused.

"Yea, you know. The nods guys have. Like up is for friends and down is to be respectful towards people you don't know--" Larry cuts himself off, turning to me when I remain silent. "But when you nod up at someone who isn't a friend, it's more like a challenge."

He even starts demonstrating the nods for me, but I've never paid attention to how guys greet each other, so I'm still lost.

"So if they nodded up at each other, wouldn't that mean they were being friendly?" I slowly ask.

"No, Emilie." Larry sighs, aggravated. "There are lowkey aggressive up-nods and the friendly up-nods. Get it together!"

I glare at him momentarily before turning away. "I'm not worried about the nods, Lar." I sigh. "Did they seem okay? Like do I have to worry about separating them today?"

The car goes quiet. That's not exactly a good sign.

"Keep them away from each other." Todd's voice makes me whip my head toward him. "Sal and Emilie, although distanced, are closest to each other. Larry and Max are closest. So both of you take a boy."