Skinny Boy ✔

Chapter 27: the only thing worse than a broken man

Late December, right before the long awaited winter break, not long before the arrival of Christmas, it snowed. Granted, that was typical behavior for this time of year, but this was an especially cold day. Not just in temperature, but in attitude. My attitude was getting cold as the snow, but my temper was hot as could be.

Do you ever get those days where you're snappy for no reason at all, and just want to be left alone because you're ready to punch the next person to talk to you? And you know that it's nobody's fault that you're in this mood, but you're angry at everyone, and want to be left alone? Well, this was one of those days, but on steroids.

No, literally. I don't mean the mood was so much stronger than usual, or that my impatience was multiplied. I mean that I was literally on steroids when in this moodiness. As you can probably imagine, being this irritable and being on anabolic steroids does not bring about some pretty things.

I was a teenage girl on her period, whose day was getting worse and worse. In other words, I was ready to snap at any given moment.

That's why when I was navigating the school halls after the last bell, I took off for the door as fast as I could without running. (Hey, I wanted to get out of there, but I also didn't want to get in trouble for running in the halls.) I just wanted to get to the gym, get my workout done and out of the way, and go home and ignore the world around me. I wasn't in the mood for lingering around the lockers. Not that I ever did to begin with, though.

My plans, however, were interrupted.

"Hey," Garret said as he jogged up beside me. The perkiness in his voice was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. "Where are you in such a rush to?"

"Home," I said flatly. I didn't glance in his direction, let alone look him in the eye.

I could have sworn I saw him flinch at that in my peripheral vision. He was relentless, though. "You know, my birthday was recently," he stated. A pang of guilt hit me. I gave him a candy and a card for his birthday, and used the excuse that I wasn't feeling well enough to see him that day. I told my parents that he only wanted to spend time with family because he outgrew parties. They were both lies.

"I know, and I'm sorry I couldn't come to your party--"

"No, I wasn't saying that to make you feel guilty," he explained. "I was saying that, since it was was my birthday recently, I saved up enough money to get a car last week. I just got it registered and everything, so if you want--"

"No thanks," I said through gritted teeth.

"You didn't even hear what I had to say!"

"You were gonna ask if I wanted a ride, right?" His lack of response was answer enough for me. "Exactly." Still, he ignored my attitude and finished his question.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"The gym." I said.

"You're always there!" I ignored his comment. I yanked the door open, taking as much anger out as I could on it. My anger must have rubbed off on him, because I was no longer the only one simmering with anger. "What is with you lately?"

"What do you mean, what is with me lately?"

"I mean that you've been all moody and brooding lately. More than usual."

"More than usual?" I stopped in my tracks, and for the first time since our conversation started, I looked at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind, my point is that you haven't been yourself for a while."

"And what does that mean?"