BREAK POINT - chris sturniolo

CHAPTER 11

ACT II: SET

No amount of fall candles and Halloween movies and cozy blankets could make Los Angeles fall really feel like fall, but that doesn't stop me from trying.

I look around at my room, decked out in shades of brown and orange, complemented nicely by the maple candle I have on. My eyes trail to the window that makes up a fourth of my bedroom walls. The sun beat down on palm trees whose leaves remained green as ever. The beach, just visible from here, was still packed with beach goers. I felt extremely disjointed. 

"I'm leaving Charlotte." I call out to her, but to be honest I'm not even sure if she's home. I can hardly ever get my class schedule fully memorized, let alone hers. 

The air outside was a cool 70 and salty gusts of wind swept my hair around my face. I had a class at noon, and then another one at two, and then I was done for the day. Lucky for me, I have these two lectures with Nick, which seems to be the only thing that gets me through them. 

On my way

I text him and pull out of my apartment building. When I connect to the aux, the first song that comes on is Reflections by the Neighborhood. I skip it quickly, but then curiously, I go back to it. This song was one I fell in love with sophomore year, about the same time I met Chris. At the time, it was one of those songs that was so spot on, I felt like it had to be written for me. 

"We were too close to the stars, I never knew somebody like you, somebody." I sing along softly to the lyrics that come back to me without even having to try. 

"I'd rather lose somebody than use somebody. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. I see my reflection in your eyes." I sing, but immediately skip it after I take in the lyrics. God, maybe this song is more applicable now than it ever was before. 

When I pulled up to the Shack, Nick wasn't answering his phone. I rang him a few times, but resolved to just going to look for him in the house. 

"Nick!" I shout. His bedroom door is wide open and he's nowhere inside. 

"Looking for Nick?" A voice asks from behind me, swinging into the kitchen where I waited, furiously typing to Nick on my phone about how I didn't want to be late.

Chris stood in front of me in shirtless, in only a pair of pajama pants. He had a major case of bed head and his eyes still looked sleepy. It's impossible to tell whether he just napped, or woke up from last night, but either way he looked very cute.

"Yeah, we have class." I said, nervously fixing my hair. 

"Oh, cool. Am I good to talk to you right now or are you gonna storm off?" He cracks a smile

"Are you referring to the fight at the party? That was literally forever ago." I say exasperated. 

"No, I'm talking about earlier this week, but it's telling that it's happened so many times." He says, clearly feeling confrontational. I had completely forgotten about my running away from him on the lawn. 

"Sorry." I say reluctantly. In the break in conversation, I notice the house is more quiet than I'd ever heard it before. Everyone must me gone.

"Well you have time now, clearly. Let's talk about it. Whatever you keep running from." He says, leaning against the fridge and crossing one leg over the other. When he first said that to me, I had a leg to stand on, but recently I have literally been running from him. I figure he's right, maybe it is time to have this conversation. Not like I have much of a choice anyway.