Close Quarters

Chapter 4

Marcy

I had gotten no sleep last night, that girl never called quits, the moaning went on and on. It was disgusting.

"Our poor couch." Kat said, tracing her fingers along the couch that was now half ash.

We were at our apartment, looking at the damages and seeing if anything was salvageable. It wasn't.

The once familiar walls were charred and blackened, the wallpaper peeling off in large, grotesque strips. The air was thick with a lingering stench of burnt wood and memories.

As I walked into my bedroom, the door hanging off its hinges I see my bed, now a mess of burnt sheets and springs. The window, once a source of warm sunlight and fresh air, was now a gaping, glass less hole, letting in a chilly breeze.

The bookshelf, once filled with my treasured collection of my favorite reads, was a pile of ash and burnt pages. It was heartbreaking. I wanted to cry. But I didn't.

I looked over to see my painting and my artwork, all burnt. Months and months of hard detailed work down gone. Just like that. Hopefully my teachers will understand my assignments were lost in the fire. Frustration flooded my head at the thought of remaking my paintings.

I walked back out into the kitchen, the stove was now a twisted mass of melted metal. The refrigerator had toppled over, its contents spoiled and reeking. My face cringed at the sight and smell.

"Your parents are dealing with the landlord, right?" I question, looking at Kat.

Me and Kat were already going through a lot, we didn't need to deal with the landlord also.

"Yeah. Thankfully." She said as she picked up a broken picture frame, pulling out the half burnt photo of me and her.

"Half my face is burnt." She said, letting out a small laugh of sadness as she showed me the picture. It was once a picture of me and her on my dorm bed, our arms raised above our heads as we smiled brightly. It was now a half burnt piece of junk.

"We should leave. The air probably isn't good in here right now." I say and she comply's as we take one more look before heading out the door—or should i say hole in the wall? The door was burnt off, now a lonely piece of wood laying in the yard.

Thankfully it was still the weekend so me and Kat didn't have to worry about school, although it was senior year which was really laid back for me and Kat

We were at the store now, getting mostly everything we needed and partially what we had lost in the fire. I grabbed my essentials, paints, canvases, pencils and more, filling my cart to the brim.

I grabbed some sleeping essentials and day clothes. Making a mental note to order the rest online. We headed up to the front of the store, scanning our items and taking them back to the car to bring to Zayn's house.

As I lay my items on my bed, i start unpacking, placing the clothes in the closet and in the dresser, organizing it nicely. I place a few paints and canvases on top the dresser, keeping a few before heading into the kitchen to get a little work done. I had an assignment due in a week, it entailed me to make a painting, of which i could choose the theme. Id been thinking on the theme for a while now, and decided on 'Midnight City' which would be a vast canvas of the city at night.

I got started, giving the canvas a base of black before starting on the night sky.

After a while of being in focus i glance at the stove to check the time, 12:03 am.

I need to go to bed. I had only gotten a third of the painting done, the sky was coming together as well as the start of what eventually would be a skyscraper. The thought of the skyscraper brought memories of my recent dream flooding back in vivid details.