I n d o м ι т a в l e

(18)

* * * *

"Anything worth having is worth fighting for."

― Susan Elizabeth Phillip, Heaven, Texas

* * * *

{Chapter: 18}

Unedited ✖

{  A S P E N M O N T G O M E R Y }

It's been three days since Nicholai slammed the door in my face.

And to say the least, it's been miserable.

My morning began whenever Julius pranced into the kitchen where I'd been sulkily eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's, nearly chocking on my spoon full of mint-chip ice-cream--the color of Nicholai's eyes--whenever I saw what he'd done.

Atop Julius' head, his long unruly curls had been pulled back into a hideous man-bun, a bright orange sweat band wrapped around his temples.

"It's a sign of my manliness." He'd said, flexing his arms and tutting his chin out. I cringed.

"First off; put a shirt on before you poke someones eyes out." I say nastily, gesturing towards his sweaty chest. "Second, you look like Nicki Minaj and Michael Jackson had a child and that child grew up on drugs, thus, forming you."

"That's what I said." Edith pipes up, sliding past Julius to grab something from the fridge.

Julius gives us both arrogant looks. "The both of you have no since of style or imagination. Clearly, if I were Nicki Minaj's child, my butt would be at least a size bigger."

I'd rolled my eyes. "Fair enough. But seriously, what is that?"

Julius sighs. "Hopeless, you women."

And now, I'm sitting in the garage--the garage on the far right of the house that I never noticed before because it's hidden behind tree's and brush--where Julius keeps his old beat up camaro and 1967 GTO.

As promised, Julius offered to teach me how to help fix his car in trade of me teaching him how to fix electronics.

Earlier this morning--after the man-bun incident--I'd tried to show him how to replace his iPod screen but he just ended up cracking it with his sausage fingers, bummer was that instead of getting mad liked I'd hoped he would, he laughed so hard he cried.

After successfully ordering another screen so he could try again later, I tagged along with him to try and help him work on his Camaro. The black paint is beginning to rust on the once sleek doors, some parts chipped off while a dent is noticeable on the rear.

It's in need of some work, obviously. And since I'm in need of a good distraction, this seems to be the perfect opportunity to take my mind off things.

My thoughts are always on Nicholai, and my heart hurts every time his face floats into my head. His angry expression makes my stomach clench uncomfortably and the longer I stay away for the him the worse it seems to hurt.

I've been too cowardly to call him, too angry to try and fix things or to try and understand. My head hurts and I've had a constant ache in the back of my skull ever since the night of the gathering. A distraction was definitely in order.

"Well, the fuel tank needs replacing, as well as the oil tank. I need to run and buy some more fuses because lord knows it's in need of some more of those..." Julius trails off, his head disappearing behind the hood of car.