Chasing a Broken Butterfly

Chapter 4

After I'm out of the shower and fully dressed, I head to my room. I sit on top of the bed with only a towel covering my naked body and yet another towel twisted in a knot atop my head. I stare mindlessly at my closet in hopes that an outfit will jump out at me. When it doesn't, I get up from my bed with a sigh and start flipping through my clothes. I end up choosing some black leggings topped with a t-shirt of my favorite band. Casual it is. I don't want to overdo it and make anyone think I'm trying too hard. I glance at myself in the mirror and purse my lips in disapproval when I see my unruly hair. I hate that it can't decide whether it's curly, wavy, or straight. So instead my hair has a mind of its own and decides to be all three at the same time.

I groan and make my way back into the bathroom to tackle my hair down. After what seems like hours of trying to tame it, I finally get it to scrunch up curly and then apply some light eyeliner and mascara on my face before going back to my room to get my phone and bag.

My room door opens and I look up to see my mom leaning against the doorway.

"Hey honey" she greets me. She looks beyond tired, and I understand why. Working graveyard shifts at the hospital must be exhausting. She says that it's the only time she can work because she wants to be there for me during the day, even if it means sleeping the day away, because then at least I could wake her up if I ever needed her instead of having to go through the trouble of calling her at work. I never understood that part, because what if I ever needed her at night? I'd still have to call her. But perhaps she figures that nothing really happens at night when most of the town should be asleep.

"Hi mom" I smile at her.

"Where are you going? Mikey's house?" She questions.

"Yeah", I say "apparently there's some new kid at school that he got along real well with so he wants to introduce me". I make a face at the thought.

"That sounds interesting" she laughs. "Just make sure you're not home too late. I'll be leaving for work at 10 tonight because they needed me to come in a little earlier. Something about a procedure that needs to be done". She explains.

I must've looked at her funny, because then she is waving away any questions I might have had with a flip of her hand and says, "at least I'll be home a little earlier tomorrow morning".

"That's good," I reply "you need the sleep" I laugh.

After talking for a couple more minutes, I say goodbye and start to head out.

I arrive at Mikey's in less than 10 minutes. After parking my car by the curb, I realize I'm more anxious about this whole set up than I had let on. I double check my hair and makeup on the rear view mirror. Eh. I look decent enough. Whatever. I tell myself. I take a deep breath and exit the car. I stand in front of the curb and admire the way the late golden afternoon sun hits the house and gives it a warm Victorian welcome aura. I adore the Victorian architecture and I know that this house would be beautiful if the yard was kept and the paint was updated. But peeling paint and dirty slanted windows aside, it is still charming. The front door opens before I reach the top step and Mikey's head peeks out.

"Thought I heard that damn old car" he smirks.

"It's not that loud!" I retaliate. Then again, sometimes I wonder if other people hear things at a much louder level than I do.

Mikey laughs when he notices the skepticism in my voice. I force my way through the door by bumping his shoulder and head to the living room. We've been friends long enough that I feel right at home in his house.

I notice Nathan sitting down casually at the end of the long brown leather couch. I stride over the to armchair facing right in front in an effort to appear confident and careless. I trip over the edge of the leopard rug on the floor, which ruins the whole thing.

Nathan stifles a laugh and looks up at me with amused eyes.

I sit down in the armchair and stare blankly back at him. The whole making friends thing doesn't really come naturally to me. I guess perhaps that's why I only really have Mikey...

I notice him staring at my shirt and back up at my face. He seems really deep in thought about it and it confuses me and scares me at the same time.

"What?" I blurt out.

"Oh. nothing, I'm just admiring your obvious distaste in music" he says cooly.

"Have you even heard of them?" I spit back.

"Nope. but I don't need to. Just by looking at their faces and the design of the shirt I can already tell that they're some type of teen-bopper band. Not to mention that their name is super cheesy...I mean come on, who names their band One Direction?" He laughs.

I'm shocked at the way he just laid his opinions out on the table. I guess I'm used to strangers withholding their opinions. it's simple manners really. I'd normally stay quite, but I'm really quite protective of my interests, particularly my music and bands.

"You're just jealous that you don't have as many girls following you around like lovesick puppies", I seethe.

He raises his eyebrow and stares at me as if he can't believe that was the comeback I had for him. I know it was pretty lame, but I bet it's true. Or maybe he's trying to figure me out. I don't know, but I couldn't be happier when Mikey finally steps into the room, breaking the awkward tension in the air.

They start talking about some new video game that came out and discuss its graphic arts. It's really just all rubbish to me because I don't take interest in that. It must be a guy thing...

"Elle!" Mikey interrupts my thoughts.

I look at him with a neutral face. When I turn to take in Nathan's face, I realize that one of them must've been calling for me for a little while now...

I feel my cheeks heat up as I try to remain cool and collected.

"What?" I try to say annoyingly.

"Nathan was trying to get your opinion on something..." He trails off. He knows how uncomfortable I get when too much information is shared with strangers. I love him for that.

"Oh." is all I manage to say. I turn my attention to Nathan, half expecting him to call me out or make some sick joke about how I must be deaf. It's the same thing as misusing the phrase that someone is retarded. It's not cool at all.

Instead Nathan studies my face with a curious expression. I never noticed how beautiful his eyes are...such a pretty shade of green. A lighter version of jade. They're so easy to get lost in. I'm just studying his lips and admiring their fullness and it's soft appearance when Nathan suddenly gets up and gives some reason that I didn't quite catch about how he needs to leave earlier than planned.

"Sorry man, that sucks" Mikey tells him.

Sorry for what? I wish I could've heard his stupid excuse...

"Just hit me up so we can hang again," Nathan says.

"Alright, cool"

Nathan turns his head around before exiting the door and looks straight at me. Something flashes behind his eyes, an emotion I can't quite register. Sympathy? Understanding? Pity? He turns back around and pulls on his green beanie before continuing out the door.

I look at the time and notice that it's already late. I know ten isn't really all that late, and Mikey's never ending torment on my childish curfew, as he calls it, never fails to remind me.

" I've got to get home." I tell him.

"I know, we can't allow Ms. London to be late to curfew again. You've got lots of studying to do and plenty of beauty sleep to catch up on", he mocks me.

I grab the couch pillow and aim it at his head. My laughter prevents me from getting a clear shot.

"I'm not a loser though!" I remind him as I put both hands on my hips. We laugh and banter for a few minutes before I grab my keys and head back home.