Divide By Two (Revamp)

Chapter 18: Dumb Teens

No warnings in this chapter except the song has suggestive themes! Enjoy!

I've been on my own for a week or two now. I was able to go back to work, I replaced my phone, and I was on a steady path to paying off that hospital bill. My insurance ended up covering most of it, so I didn't have much to worry about. I was sore, sleeping was uncomfortable no matter which way I laid; that was my main problem, as the discomfort usually got to me and I would get up and stand up for a bit, taking a toll on my sleep schedule.

It took me back to when I was younger, with those nights I spent talking to Four, only getting a couple hours of sleep each night, walking around school the next day half asleep. I probably looked insane back then, barely keeping my eyes open and giggling to myself over random things from the night before. I didn't share any classes with Four half the time, but we always made faces when we passed each other in the halls, knowing that we would be sneaking out of our windows to go meet by a dumpster. We would do stupid things together, almost get caught, laugh about it and do it all again.

I would catch myself smiling at the memories, shaking it from my head. I know it's over. I don't need anyone, especially not him. But I couldn't deny I used to have a lot of fun with him...

I remembered how we used to walk around at night. He would find a stick he deemed cool, bringing it with him as we walked. He always walked by the street, pushing me a little if I tried to be the one by the street. Four would always glare at other people we passed, grabbing my hand as if someone was gonna come up and grab me. He was always paranoid, but that was always when he seemed the happiest, when it was just us.

We would do stick and pokes, drinking whatever artery-clogging drinks we would find at the closest gas station as we sat under a playground. During the summer, we would dig up the wood chips to reveal the soft, cool dirt underneath, and we'd sit in that as we talked, only going back inside when the sun was starting to rise.

I remembered the time Four got a skateboard. Eating concrete wasn't technically a trick, but he would play it off as if he meant to fall, even as he was visibly trying not to start sobbing. He always tried to act tough around me, it made him look like an idiot, but I liked it back then... I miss what we had..

One of my favorite memories was one night when we snuck out like usual in the winter of our senior year. The look on his face when I pulled out a piercing kit I had gotten from some cheap website. He seemed hesitant to do it, but I managed to convince him. That night I got my snakebites that I never took out, and I never regretted it. I remembered how shaky his hands were, I could see that he was holding his breath in the cold air.

Before any of this ever happened, Four was alone. We met in middle school, when I moved to his neighborhood. I first saw him at The Equation Playground. I had always thought that was a stupid name for a park, but it grew to be my favorite. He had been trying to make the merry-go-round go fast, but it never would without another person. I had decided top walk up, out of his view at first. I pulled the metal, making him come around to me. He looked genuinely surprised when I said hi.

It was almost identical to the surprise he showed at that hotel....