OLDER
CONTACT ME
DIARYLAND
2003-09-05 - 3:35 a.m.
Our laughter died down and we sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence. No one ever knows what to say after something like that. Luckily the phone rang before Amy could bring any other moments from my past that I would rather forget.
"Hello, hello, Natalie, Seven, or Martin?" "You know what? I hate the way you answer the phone. "Nice to hear from you too, Natalie. So how is the little brawler?" "Martin is fine, sort of. Three bruised ribs and his right eye is swollen nicely. You took his truck right?" "Yes, we took his truck. Amy drove because I can't drive stick." "Did Mary ever show up?" "No, she did not. It's a rather strange story as to why and I'll explain it later. But for right now the three of us are just sitting here, hanging out." "Three of you? Who else is there?" "Amy and I met Nikki outside of Platinum before the excitement started or finished, depending on how you want to look at it. Oh yeah, Sheriff Sikes stopped by to tell me what happened and not to leave town." "Nice way to make an impression on a girl. A night of aimless wandering followed by a watching a fight the next day. She'll be yours in no time." "Natalie, stop talking or I burn the dog. Now go take care of Martin." Before she could reply I hung up on her, pure spite on my part. "'Burn the dog'? Do I even want to know?" "Natalie has this stuffed dog on her bed that I've been threatening to destroy or mangle in some way since we were kids. No big deal really, just and idle threat." "Nifty. Moving on to other topics, tell me about yourself Nikki. Since the boy here hasn't told me much." "Stop, foul. You only got here about an hour ago and we really haven't done much talking about me since then." "Oh cry me a river. Anyway, Seven never mentioned you before. When he lived in Redstone he kept telling us about 'the people from home', but never mentioned a Nikki." She finger quoted where applicable. "That's because he didn't know me until yesterday. I think we've seen each other around town for the past few days, but neither of us took the chance and spoke to the other until yesterday. "I see, so his cowardice prevailed again. Let me guess, you had to initiate the first conversation?" Hostility dripping from her words. "What the hell are you doing Amy? Why the fuck are you suddenly being all bitchy?" "I'm just letting the girl know what she's getting herself into with you. That's all." "And just what is she getting herself into with me? Go ahead Amy, enlighten us." Anger rising in my voice. "Let's see... A wandering spirit who cut himself whenever things got to be too much to handle. A boy who can't see how good he's got it in a place he claims to hate, but can't help but return to. A boy who can't express his emotions but can read other people's like a book. He hides behind a wall of sarcasm because if someone got close it would ruin him. Seven, it's not that I'm trying to scare her, and I'm sorry if anything I've said has done that, but you're not the easiest person to even be friends with. You drop off the face of the earth for weeks at a time and when you pop back up you expect no one to think anything of it. You don't talk about things that bother you, but want others to talk almost all the time. It just feels like you're always pushing people away when they try to draw you close." She stared me straight in the eye as she spoke. I know she was right. Most people are right when they go off on a little tirade like that. I couldn't think of anything to say to respond to that. So I just sat there and closed my eyes. Heartbeats passed and no one said anything, no one even moved. Then a car pulled up the driveway and the front door opened.
