Tony has a choice to make. He can demand that he be what he wants to be, or life can simply go the way everyone else thinks it should.

"Tommy, it's me" I said with a smile enveloping my face.

"Ben! Tommy!" I heard Mikey yell to my right before full sprinting to hug our two teammates.

"Mikey! Is that really you? Are you really here?" Ben asked with tears in his eyes as the two boys broke apart.

"It's me. After the wave, we didn't know what happened to you two" he replied as he hugged the other boy. I closed the gap.

"What about everyone else?" Tommy asked with urgency.

"Everyone from our life boat is here too. Safe. But we don't know where the other boats washed up"

I didn’t get to Haley as she was quickly absorbed into a crowd of girls who looked like extras from a Black-Veil Brides video shoot. Not that I had an issue with goths, but at that moment the spell that I was under, the one that compelled me to get up and walk through the lunchroom. The one that made me think the ocean of students would part and it would just be the two of us, faded away and instead I found myself walking to the door that lead to the lunch line. I pretended that I was looking at the price of Cheetos as Haley was cloaked in a veil of black, red and purple hair.

He gave me a small squeeze. “You’re going to be killer when you get the training wheels off..."

“Rory kidnaps pretty girls and brings them to see the sunset.” He gestured, and I gasped as I got another glimpse of technicolor glory.

 

Part 11 of 11

Friday, June 3, 2016

Pillow talk.

Some evening conversations are more interesting than others. Take tonight, for instance.

"Now really, Alonzo, your parents weren't anywhere near as bad as you made me think."

"You didn't have to live with them once Dad saw the light."

"Now really, I didn't smell even a hint of brimstone. Chantal doesn't seem to think they're so bad, either."

"Grandchildren get spoiled, children don't have that luxury."

“Dad’s a plastic surgeon. But you don’t need him.” She flashed me a few dimples. “Yet.”

For lunch they gave me real food and it was a good thing I was being fed or I might have made a pig of myself. The aide made sure I didn't eat too fast or take giant bites. I discovered I actually enjoyed my food more and felt filled before I had even finished my dessert. Dessert? What else, green jello.

The problem with lying in bed doing nothing is it gives me too much time to think. To think about Christina, to think about my new job and to think about why Rick felt it necessary to try and nearly succeed in killing me.

“Is there an animal you think is particularly like you?”

I blinked. What an odd question. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? “An animal? Uh—a chipmunk?”

She turned to grin at me. “I believe it,” she said.

Marjorie said, “We’re dressing my baby brother up as a girl for a party tonight.”

“Not your idea?” Deirdre asked.

I shook my head. “I still don’t remember agreeing to this,” I said.

Things had gotten a lot clearer since yesterday. It helped that I didn't have to worry about Christina. The nurses did tell me about her catfight with Rick's wife. I'm sorry I missed it. Maybe there was security footage. I'd ask.

Okay, I'm a guy, the idea of Christina and another women fighting kind of turned me on. As long as she didn't find out.

“Stop flirting with Double Johnson,” Marjorie said. “Unless you want to be dragged away by the hair.”

“Double Johnson?!” I squeaked.

Part 1 - Melrose

She grinned. “He called you ‘miss,’ I didn’t want to confuse him.”

“You’re confusing me,” I said.

Part 1 - Melrose

Chapter 3 - Salad

She watched me with sideways glances as she drove. “I like your hat,” she said with dimples. “It suits you. Not many guys would have the nerve to wear it.”

Part 1 - Melrose

Her sauce was good, better than mom's but not as good as dad's. Cooking was his hobby, his release from the stress of the construction business. Sunday belonged to him and mom was only too happy to have the day off.

She chased me out of the kitchen. I ran in the bedroom with her right behind me. She stopped and told me to take off my shirt so she could check on where I had been hit by the taser. I knew she was going to bug me until I did so I carefully took off my shirt. Sitting in the car and on the sofa had aggravated the dull ache. I heard her intake of breath as she saw the bandage.