Sheets | ✓

THIRTY-TWO

The holidays had started, and frankly... I was bored. Incredibly, overwhelmingly bored. I had powered through most of my holiday homework and had hung out with Benny for a little, until he jetted off with his family to somewhere tropical for the break. My family, on the other hand, was running much the same as it always did; Jamie's break didn't start until a few weeks later, and she was currently locked in her room studying for her midsemester exams, and was so snappy that mum and I can't even go within three steps of her door without her yelling that we're making too much noise. Mum, on the other hand, was at work most of the time, and when she came home she was often too tired to do much, let alone take the family out for outings.

The first few days had been fine - I had stayed at home and watched movies, played games, read books. It was really quite relaxing, and at first I honestly thought that a whole holiday of just that would be fun. I was wrong - something was missing, and it was painfully obvious as to what that was.

Nico.

Since it was the holidays, Nico picked up more and more shifts; not only was he working at the bar most nights, he was now working during the day at a car repair store that a relative of his owns. It was because of this that I hadn't seen him for over half a week. Sure, it was only a handful of days, but I had gotten used to seeing Nico almost every day, so suddenly not seeing him, hearing him, touching him was a slap in the face.

Sighing heavily, I slapped my cheeks before pulling up to my desk, dumping a few worksheets onto its surface. Nothing like doing homework to stave away the boredom. A few equations in, my mind began to wander.

I wonder what Nico is doing right now...

Shaking my head wildly, I sucked in a long, full breath before exhaling. 

"Focus, focus," I chanted, closing my eyes before opening them, forcing them onto the formulas dotting the paper. 

I wonder if he's had lunch yet...

I frowned at myself, catching my thoughts that always seemed to drift of in Nico's direction. This had been happening a lot lately, Nico drifting in and out of my thoughts. Sometimes I would see something that would remind me of him; a car the same model as his, or tattoos on arms that weren't quite as nice as his. Sometimes there wouldn't even be a precipitating image. I could be sitting there, doing nothing, and he would just appear. It was both incredibly annoying, but even more frustrating. 

I miss him.

I want to see him.

I sat there for a few moments, pencil twirling between my fingertips. After a few twirls, the pencil dislodging itself from my hand to clatter gently onto the table, I stood up resolutely, grabbing my jacket from the back of my chair.

I'm going to see him.

Flicking through our messages on my phone, mouth quirking up at the memory of some of our conversations, I found the message detailing the name of the garage that he worked at, and quickly keyed in the address. It was neither far nor close, with no convenient train lines going there. If I had a car, it would be an easy 10 to 15 minute drive, but without it, it would be about a 45 minute walk. With my bum leg, walking was out of the option, so I had to bus instead. The bus lines were always unreliable and I hated taking them, but in all honestly, I was a little desperate.

The walk to the bus stop was not too long, but I did have to stop to rest my strapped leg and butchered armpits once, the crutches digging deep and rubbing the soft skin there raw. When the bus came, I sat near the front and rested my crutches beside me, staring out the window as my uninjured leg tapped impatiently on the floor. The span of time between me stepping onto the bus and seeing the shop sign blinking with half faded fluorescent lights disappearing from my memory, exciting starting to bubble. All I could feel was the anticipation building up in my veins, as the smell of rubber and metal started to waft from inside the garage.