"You don't find it the least bit strange that he only shows up when you're looking for him? Or that the only time any of us has seen him was when he was with you?"
Zeke began as we sat alone at the table in the dining area, eating a late night snack of cereal and crisps. Ever since we had returned from our ice cream adventure a few days ago, something about Zeke had been off. It was hard to tell with him, since most of the time he was all laughter, but lately there was emptiness of some kind behind his echoing laughter and as he began the conversation I started to figure it out.
"He just leaves before you guys are up, he has to go to school."
I explained, reaching into the bag for another crisp.
"Where does he go to school?"
Zeke asked, his bluntness taking me by surprise.
"He didn't tell me and I didn't ask."
I replied, hoping that my slight annoyance wasn't conveyed in my voice.
"Well, maybe you should."
He suggested, his tone of voice making it clear that his suggestion was not a suggestion at all, but a command.
"It's none of my concern, Zeke. What's the big deal anyways? Am I not allowed to have friends?"
I sighed, slowly becoming more and more fed up with Zeke's rash judgment of Harry, who he had only met once.
"He is not a friend, he is a stranger."
He stated, grabbing the bag of crisps from the table and helping himself.
"To you, maybe."
I grumbled, folding my arms over my chest, like how I imagined an angry toddler would.
"I don't know, he just gives me this weird vibe. You say he just disappears? Do you ever wonder where he goes?"
He questioned, his words garbled by his remaining mouthful of crisps.
"He probably goes home."
I said rather sarcastically.
"Why wouldn't he just tell you that?"
He asked in the same tone you would talk to a child in. I hated in when he did this, Zeke could never be wrong. He never lost a game of Monopoly, let alone an argument.
"I don't know, Zeke"
I snapped, my annoyance reaching it's peak.
"Maybe you should just, you know, stop seeing him."
Zeke's voice faltered, he knew the words he spoke were going to infuriate me as soon as they passed his lips, but he couldn't take them back. Although, he probably wouldn't have anyways. I jumped out of my seat, kicking the chair I was sitting on over in the process.
"What did you just say to me?!"
I yelled, slamming both of my hands onto the table making a loud 'smack'. The stinging in my hands was the least of my worries as I felt the anger erupt from inside. Zeke and I rarely fought, and when we did, it was about something very petty which we got over in a matter of hours, but this, this was different. I could feel anger coursing through my veins.
"Punk, no one knows who he is."
Zeke spoke in a hushed tone, in a lame attempt to keep me calm. I was no where near calm and I wasn't going to be anytime soon. How could he talk about Harry that way?! I finally meet someone who's nice to me and makes laugh and suddenly he's some kind of horrible person. I had known Harry for a month and in that time the worst thing I'd heard him do was swear. He literally wouldn't even kill the fly that flew into the room. A week ago a fly flew in through the window, Harry noticed and got up from where he was sitting, picked up a cup, captured the fly and let it go back out the window (He shut it ,of course). So what if he disappeared every once in awhile, it's not like I needed to know where he was at all times?
"He took us all to get ice cream for fuck's sake, do you really think he's that bad?"
I spat, trying to find any sense of reason behind Zeke's argument.
"I don't know."
He yelled in frustration. I was hoping that the kitchen was far enough away from the bedrooms that no one could hear us, but I knew I wasn't that lucky.
"You know what. Leave me alone, Zeke. I will talk to who I want."
I seethed, removing my hands from the table and walking away with my cane. I walked a fast as I could towards the room, hearing Zeke's footsteps close behind. I made it to my room, placing my palm on the cold metal doorknob and opening it.
"Punk!"
He yelled, catching the bedroom door with his hand just as I began to shut it.
"Fuck off, Zeke. Please, just fuck off."
I slammed the door, inhaling a sharp breath. Alix emitted a frightened gasp as I fell face first into the bed, losing my composure at last. I felt as if someone had set a hundred pound weight on my chest as the tears began to flow down my cheeks. I wasn't someone who cried very often, let alone in front of an audience. Alix stood from her bed and walked over to mine, sitting next to me without a word. As I continued to sob, she pushed my hair away from around my face, lightly rubbing my back . She whispered comforting words that were muffled my the deafening noise in my head. I had never been so angry, yet sad at the same time. Everything I thought about was conflicting and nothing was certain. Nothing except my need to speak to Harry.
