21st Century Breakdown: Nathan and Ari

1 - 21st Century Breakdown

Chapter 1

"Dad, I've been on the couch all day. You really think I'm gonna get up now?" I asked, one of my last rhetorical questions of the night. Dad gave me one of his "Ari, get your ass up. Right. Now." looks, causing me to sigh. "Fine, send him in. I'm not getting up, though. I'm sick."

Nathan had shown up at the front door of our house a minute or two ago, claiming that he wanted to check on me, what with my missing school for the second time this week. The exact word that came to my mind when Mom announced that Nathan was here was "bullshit," which is probably all he's going to talk here tonight.

I may sound like a whiny, ungrateful, 21st century teenage girl here, but I have no idea why Mom or Dad even let him in here when they know that he dumped me yesterday. This is just cruel and unusual punishment for whatever the hell I did to them only God knows when. They must hate me right now... Maybe it's because I'm sick. They think that I'm all defenseless and shit, so they think I'm not going to fight with Nathan, I thought to myself as the brunette appeared in my living room. That's not going to happen.

"Hey Ari," he sighed, flopping down in the recliner across from me as both Mom and Dad cleared the room. "You okay?" I shook my head, my side bangs falling in my face. "I only assumed."

I rolled onto my side so that I was facing him. "Frankly, Nathan, I feel like utter crap. If I can tell you one thing, it's that I absolutely hate being sick," I said, starting to cough. "I can also tell you that one, I love not being in school, two, it's fun laying on the couch all day watching cartoons, and three, I've been an emotional wreck all day."

"Does that explain the, uh, combat boots and jeans?" he asked, starting to chuckle. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Actually, I thought that I was going to go to school today. But, I didn't because after I got dressed, like, combat boots and all," I laughed, "I took my temperature and it was, like, a hundred, so Dad made me stay home. Although, Mom was all like, 'No, you need to go to school' and blah blah blah...but she called the doctor's office and I went to see the doctor and they said that I'm fine but they called in a prescription for me just in case I still have a temperature on, like, Sunday or something like that. Yeah..."

He nodded. "Oh. Well, Melonie and Cat and Dani and Anthony and all of us all missed you today...especially at lunch," he said, instantly making me feel a little better. I smiled slightly, and he continued with, "And, as surprising as it may seem, we didn't have any homework other than to study for our math quiz on Monday."

"Really?!?" I asked, astonished. He nodded, smiling and beginning to laugh a little. I rolled my eyes. "I look like hell, don't I?" I asked, yet another rhetorical question. He nodded.

"Your eyeliner is smudged, you mascara is running, you're incredibly pale, and you hair is all over the place. You. Look. Lovely," he replied. I laughed a very breathy laugh, closing my eyes.

I sighed. "I really just wanted to sleep today, but I couldn't for some reason. There were a bunch of times when I was this close to sleeping, but then I heard something on the TV and woke back up. That happened all the time today, and it was annoying as hell." Nathan nodded as if he cared about what I was saying. I know better, though; he didn’t give a shit. "And I could've slept, too. I mean, Mom was gone all day and Dad was probably with your dad and Tre. Neither of them even bothered to come in and check on me all day...for all they knew, I could have died!" We both started laughing, but I stopped because I started to cough...yet again.

I heard the door open and close in the next room. "ANTHONY'S HERE!" Anthony screamed, referring to himself by his own name. I laughed, pulling the blanket I've had on all day over my head. Well, this should be fun...and less awkward, I thought to myself as Anthony marched into the living room and sat at the end of the couch, pulling my feet into his lap. "Ari, why are you wearing combat boots and jeans when you stayed home all day?"