Strength

Sunday

I woke up from a weird ass dream to see Xavier still a sleep as usual. I grabbed my pillow and was about to throw it when.
"Don't even think about it."
"What the hell?!" I said still throwing the pillow.
He smiled and threw the pillow back at me.
Bzz-Bzz-Bzz
"Your phones going off dude."
He found his phone, looked at me and then answered it while I got up and got ready.
—-
I was about to turn the handle to the door back into my room when I heard Xavier still talking to someone.
"Listen man, you don't understand how much that girl cares about you. Just because you have a dick, doesn't mean you have to be one."
Silence fell across the room and I went in.
"Who was that?"
"Ace."
"Oh."
He looked at me and smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing. You want me to run to the bakery and get something?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
"It's on me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You've been through enough."
"Thanks."
"I'll be back in a few minutes."
"K."
After he left I got a call from Nathan.
"Hey Nathan."
"Hey Skylar. Let you now your tags are done. You can pick them anytime today between now and 4:00."
"Thank you. I'll be there, let's say around noon to one?"
"Sounds good. See you later."
"Thank you. Bye."
"Bye."
——
"Honey I'm home." Xavier yelled coming through the door.
I laughed and went into the kitchen.
"A little extra?"
"Nah."
I shook my head at him.
"Shut up and eat yo dang donut." He said handing me the bag.
"Thank you. Oh by the way can you drive me to Nathan the Engraver's shop today?"
"Yeah. Did your dad get something engraved?"
"No, actually I did. For all of us."
"Who's all of us?"
"You, me, Carter, Kelsey, Mr. H, Coach and Ace."
"Ace?"
"In hopes."
"Understandable."
——-
We left around an hour later heading out to Nathan's shop.
"Wanna play a game?" I asked.
"Sure."
"Ok. Instead of explaining you'll get the hand of it."
"Ok."
"We start with A. My name is Abigail, I'm married to Austin, We have two kids, Autumn and Alyssa, we live in Alabama and sell Apples. Ok, you have B."
"Ok. My name is Brendan, I'm married to Brittney, we have three kids, Bryan, Bruce and Betty, we live in Boston and sell Baseballs."
We played the game through the alphabet and ended as we got off the interstate.
"Turn left at the light." I said pointing.
We arrived soon and I looked at the clock. 12:15.
"We here." Xavier said.
We got out and went up to the Nathan's shop.
"Hi Jennifer." I said walking into the office shop.
"Skylar. Oh my goodness. What happened?"
"A long story."
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"Nathan's finishing up putting the chains on. You can go on in."
"K. Thank you."
"No problem."
We both walked into his shop.
"Nathan." I said.
"Skylar. I haven't seen you in forever. Woah. What happened?"
"Long story."
"Ah, well I'm just putting the chain in the last one if you wanna see them."
"Yeah."
He handed me one I saw my name engraved on the one and in the second one the saying.
"These are so awesome. Look at these Xavier."
"These are cool."
"Well here you go. All seven."
"Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?"
"It's on me."
"You sure? I wouldn't mind."
"It's good."
"Ok. Thank you."
"No problem."
——
Back at home I pulled out the dog tags and laid them on the table.
"Xavier this one is for you." I said holding it up.
"These are cool. Thank you."
"If you were it, it mean you're a supporter. You're strong. You're part of a team."
"You giving everyone else theirs tomorrow?"
"Yeah. After I tell them about Friday night."
"What are you going to do with Ace's?"
"Wear it."
"Why?"
"Hope. Also reminds me of strength."
——
"I better get going. We have school tomorrow and I think I'll be at home for at least a couple hours."
"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then. Thank you for the weekend."
"It's what friends do. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye."
"Bye."
After Xavier left I plopped down on the couch and looked through the tv. I ended up watching Spongebob. I got bored five minutes in and just decided to play some Pandora. I was going around the house singing when I got an idea. I ran upstairs and grabbed my notebook. I jumped back into the couch and started writing. I was writing about a new family that came to town. They were rich people in a neighbor filled with rednecks, hillbillies, mud, bonfires and dirt. Chandeliers and white, spotless glass most definitely do not mix with mud and kids.
——
Midnight

I was sitting in my bed scrolling through Instagram. Pretty boring night. I mean home alone. Nothing to do. My creativity going off and on. Not much to do.