Twists Of Fate

Chapter Three

I rode my bike up to Nolan's driveway. He was standing outside on the porch, with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Are you serious? You don't have a car?" he asked.

"Yes, I do. I just decided to ride my bike here while my brand-new Chevy Camaro is sitting in the garage, collecting dust." I replied, with every bit of sarcasm I had.

"I don't like your sarcasm, Four Eyes." Nolan remarked.

"If you don't want a sarcastic answer then don't ask a stupid question." I shot back. "And that joke is so old, it's not even funny. Lots of people wear glasses these days. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up with one.

"There's this great invention called contacts. It's for the people who actually take their time to look good." he replied.

"Um, excuse me? Glasses are the new trend nowadays. In fact there's people who run around town wearing fake ones.

"Ugh, I'm done arguing with you. Just hurry up and get in." he commanded.

I parked my bike next to the stairs. When I entered the house, smoke wafted towards me. I coughed in response.

"Who are you? Is this another one of your skanky girlfriends?" a woman holding a beer bottle asked.

"Oh her? No way, mom. She's just another one of those project partners that I had be stuck with." Nolan replied.

The feeling's mutual.

She scoffed as she walked back into the living room.

***

So we ended up getting a lot done, which surprised me. He actually cooperated well (surprisingly), even though we had a few arguments along the way (not surprisingly). We decided to just work on the rest tomorrow. When I headed out to the door to leave, somebody walked in. He was a man who looked to be in his 30s, and he looked drunk.

"Well, well, well. Who is this lovely lady?" he asked as he grabbed my arm

"Let go of her!" Nolan shouted as he rushed over and tried to pull us apart. He stopped and bit the man's arm instead.

"YEOWWWCHHH! SON OF A BITCH!" the man yelled.

"Let's get out of here." Nolan suggested as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the house.

I hopped on my bike and rode it all the way to the end of the street. I waited for Nolan.

"Who the hell was that man?" I asked when he finally caught up.

"That was my stepdad. He's a scum. He's done nothing but yell at my face or steal my mom's money. I hate him. But my mom doesn't give a shit." Nolan replied.

"Shouldn't you report that to the police?!"

"I can't risk having my ass thrown into the foster home, with both of them messed up in the head and all. And I don't even stay there that often. I go to one of my friend's house, or sleep in my car if I had to. Since when do you care, anyway?"

"Nolan, that's serious stuff. You really should report that, before it gets worse. Who knows what that man could do to you?"

He gazed at me for a moment."Well uh, thanks for you know, wondering about me and all."

"Yeah, anytime."

He smiled at me. I smiled back. That was the first real smile I received from him.