Every Breath You Take

24

I stabbed a piece of scrambled egg with my fork and stuck it into my mouth.

Sleeping over at Nolan's was always a joy, up until the next morning where your back was sore and your neck felt like it had been broken in five different places, which, I wasn't even sure was possible.

As usual, Nolan and I were the first two up. He was behind the stove cooking up a giant bowl of scrambled eggs to survive a football team, while I was sitting behind the counter, my hair a mess and dried drool stuck to the corner of my mouth.

I envied the girls who woke up looking like they hadn't just survived a tornado.

"Morning!" Casey beamed, plopping down on the barstool next to me, looking like she hadn't been laid on or suffocated beneath a bunch of bodies. So yes, she was one of the many girls who managed to wake up looking like sleeping freaking beauty.

"Morning, love! Want some eggs?" Nolan grinned, showing off his perfect pan of fluffy eggs.

My stomach grumbled loudly at that.

Nolan's eggs were always the best. Somehow, he never burnt or overcooked them, they were perfect. Unlike the eggs I managed to whip up, which, I wasn't even sure you could really consider them eggs after I was done with them.

"Sure, although, I don't think you've been feeding Emily very well..." Casey eyed me warily, "It sounds like there's a monster in there..." She inched back cautiously.

"Har, har, har." I rolled my eyes playfully, "I'm dying of laughter."

"You must be dying of hunger too then."

Nolan glared at her, dropping a handful of bacon onto my plate. I grabbed two pieces and stuffed them into my mouth. "I am feeding her! Did you see her yesterday?! She went through all my burger patties, half of my hotdogs, and through almost one pizza box!"

I patted my stomach, smiling dreamily at the thought of all the precious food I had devoured in a not so ladylike way.

Relaxing her arms along the countertop, Casey stole a few pieces of bacon off my plate, "I don't know, Nol, it sounded like there was a beast in there. Are you sure you fed it enough to keep it from attacking us? Remember the last time she didn't get enough food?" Casey blew out an exaggerated breath, her eyes widening to emphasize just what kind of monster she had faced, "I barely made it out alive..." She whispered.

My two best friends burst out laughing.

"Hey!" I protested, "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean it's not okay for me to have an appetite! We need to start normalizing it because you all make me feel like a fat pig." My lips puckered out into a pout and I crossed my arms over my chest.

Nolan's eyes softened. He was a sucker for my baby eyes. Leaning over the counter, he gave a soft 'awe' and squished my cheeks, "Don't worry, Emmy! I'll feed you!" And with that, he scooped more eggs, bacon, and hash brown onto my plate.

Dear lord! I mean praise the lord for all this food but I was still pretty full from last night. I cursed having eyes that were bigger than my mouth. 

"Did Zach go home last night?" I asked, looking among the bodies sprawled out in the living room. It was like a freaking ocean of bodies in there! I mean the space that I had once occupied, no longer than five minutes ago, had been swallowed up by arms, legs, and even more limbs. Everybody was practically on top of each other which probably explained the foot in my face this morning.