Narrow Paths

Chapter Thirteen

The next few days made me feel like I was falling back into the cycle of life that Darcy had broken for me. Every day was basically the same, with trips to Jeremy's house the occasional diversion from football practice and Backlash 2.

I knew that it was my own fault that the cycle was coming back. I easily had the power to step outside of my box and do something crazy, but without Darcy's help, I had no inclination of breaking the pattern, no matter how much I hated it.

I woke up one morning to a lazy summer rain. My phone had already received a text from Coach Greene saying that practice was canceled.

I got up out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I got ready for my day and then realized that I had literally nothing to do.

I pulled out my phone and called Jeremy. I knew he'd probably still be asleep, but I didn't care. He answered on the fifth ring.

"Hey, I'm coming over."

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"Nope," I told him as I hung up the phone.

I walked into the kitchen where my mother was cooking breakfast. I hadn't forgiven her yet for what she'd said yesterday. She ignored me although I knew she heard me.

"I'm going to Jeremy's."

"All right."

I headed out of the house and ran to my truck. The raindrops were quarter sized and I was soaked by the time I'd unlocked my door and gotten inside.

The drive to Jeremy's was uneventful. His grandmother opened the door with a smile. I could smell bacon frying from the kitchen.

Ed was already wide awake and kicking Jeremy's ass at Backlash 2. We hadn't gotten bored of it yet. Ed was writing a walk-through that was the most visited so far and voted the most helpful. He wasn't even done yet.

"What's up?" Jeremy asked.

I sat down on the chair in the middle of the room and propped my feet up on their bed. I watched as Ed landed a headshot on Jeremy.

"Just watching a fool attempt to play video games."

"I'm the only one allowed to insult my little brother around here," he muttered.

"He wasn't insulting me."

Ed and I laughed as Jeremy finally understood what I'd said. He punched my arm hard enough to leave a bruise as his character respawned.

"What do Bigfoot and smart blonds have in common?" He asked.

"They're both incredibly stupid?" Ed guessed.

"We'll never find them."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one. Jeremy must have been scouring the Internet for new blond jokes, because he was throwing them at me like they were going out of style.

"What's the definition of forever?"

"I have no clue, Germ, but I know it's going to have something to do with stupid blonds."

"Four blonds at a four-way stop," he said with a grin.

We laughed and the match between Jeremy and Ed ended. Ed turned on the third controller and handed it to me. As soon as I'd put in my character information, we started a new match.

"So, Ed, what's up with you and Nora?" Jeremy asked suddenly.

"Nora Minow? She's a freshman."

Ed blushed beet red from his nose to his ears. He tried to stammer out an explanation, but he couldn't manage it. Jeremy laughed and punched him in the arm.