Breathe (On Hold Indefinitely)

January 4, 2016

Christmas passed without a hitch. Dad woke up earlier than usual so that we had time for a late lunch at a local diner, before his guard shift at the bank began. We talked mostly about work and school; Dad asked how my classes were, I commented on his new handgun. After reminding him to check up Dylan, I walked the few blocks back home. I finished my chemistry lab (who knew acid-base reactions could be so fun), before passing out somewhere between the sixth and seventh episode of Jessica Jones.

The next morning I woke up feeling awful. My head felt like it has been split with an axe, I'd had a concussion that hurt worse than this. As sat up and was immediately nauseous. To top it all off, dad left a voice mail saying he wouldn't be home until around Monday. Apparently, one of the clients of the security firm he worked for has gone missing and he was on the search team.  Money was in the gun safe, be good, love you, call to check in.

So, there I was.  Sick as dog.  I slept through most of Saturday, opting for some soup we had at home over takeout. Took some medicine. Knocked out. Called Dylan. Knocked out.

It wasn't until New Years that I felt any better.  My headache wasn't nearly as sever, and what little nausea I had was probably due to hunger.  

    ☩  

I was a bit worried, classes were shifted tomorrow and I would also get my final scores from last semester. However, my grades weren't the cause. Tomorrow was also the day my dual-enrollment Latin I class began at the local community college. Classes were held Monday and Wednesday at 7 pm. It would be my first time regularly driving somewhere on my own. I didn't get my license until my seventeenth birthday, so I was still pretty new to the whole driving thing. 

I wasn't so worried for my own safety, but the safety of others. I mean, what if I hit someone, what if I killed someone? Too much responsibility. I don't want to hold someone's life in my hands. 

I'm puled from my thoughts by someone slamming the door downstairs. I creep over to the window and look out at the driveway. Dylan's home from school.

I start down he stairs. "Your home earl-", I stop when I see his face. "What the hell happened to you. I hope the other guy looks worse." Though I wasn't sure that as possible. The right half of Dylan's face was bruised. Butterfly bandages held together a long cut across his forehead. His lip was busted, and blood-soaked tissue was stuffed up his nose. "Who exactly was the other guy?"

Dylan looks pissed. "Josh."

"As in, friends for as long as I can remember, Josh. As in , Josh who your rooming with next year Devereaux. Really?" I pause then raise an eyebrow, sitting on the bar. "What did you do to him?"

"He started it," he says pouting. "He made a crude comment and I told him to shut the hell up."

"Crude comments are pretty normal with you two," I point out. "What could be so bad that you pick a fight with the school's top kick-boxer?" I mean the two have gotten in fights before, but those are typically good natured. 

"I don't know, I was already annoyed with him before and he  said something about you and I just snapped.  I don't know." He looks down. "I mean, he's talked about it before. Wanting to get with you, mostly it's just to mess with you. But he took it too far."

"Well, while I'm appreciate you trying to keep him in check, it's not worth having your face broken." I cringe, he looks pretty bad. "Words are just words, I can handle him if he tries to harass me. I hop off the counter. "C'mon let me take a look at your face. Nothing's broken, right?"

He shakes his head,"No but my forehead's busted."

"So I see." I walk over to the sink and take out the first aid kit. "Close your eyes," I say before spraying the cut with disinfectant. I wince when I remove the bandages. "This is pretty deep, are you sure you don't need stitches?"

"The nurse said I should be fine without them, but I'm not sure. We can go to the clinic if you want?" 

"No, dad has some Steri-Strips left over from when he fell off the roof. I'll do them this time, and you watch. Make sure to change them and if the cut starts to ooze or something we'll go to the clinic." I really hope he a least drew blood. If not I was going to kick Josh's ass.

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Yeah. Its kind of a boring chapter. but I should have another one out pretty soon.  As always, feedback is appreciated. Also, if you like the story, tell your friends. A lot of the content is based off dreams I have that I then alter to fit the story. I enjoy writing it, but sometimes I stray from the path a bit and begin to hate what I'm writing.

Thanks for reading,

DreamingNikol

P.S. Watched the entire season of Jessica Jones the day it was released on Netflix. I'm not ashamed. It was amazing. Dual-enrollment is basically where you take a college class an receive both college and high school credits for it.