Salty

Thirty-Three | Freezer Pizza on Pete Jr. and a Talk With Steve

Thirty-Three | Sloan

Normally, waking up without Hallie in the house meant a fast-paced morning. One free of the distractions brought on by my well-meaning best friend. That was not the case on this particular Monday. In fact, Hallie being absent this morning was the exact opposite. The extra help would have been appreciated, with being limited to one foot.

I was now on an Ollie-type sleep schedule—in that I got little to no sleep. Between feeling like possibly the worst widowed wife ever, the pain radiating from my foot, and the way Ollie had left, it was a given. I would cry, forget which particular portion of the night I was crying about, and start the process all over again. It felt like I had just drifted to sleep when the alarm began blaring. That's when I realized I was lacking a way to my car. And even if I could get to it, I couldn't drive. There was no way this injury was going to allow me to apply pressure to the pedal.

After checking my phone a millionth time to verify Ollie had not responded to my text last night—one pleading for him to come back and sleep on the couch—, I used Uber to get a ride. The next obstacle was the shower. That's where Hallie's CNA knowledge and help were needed. Twice I almost landed on my ass while trying to keep my foot dry. Thankfully, Hulk was there—in all his limp glory—to act as a gripping device. I hadn't ever used the damn thing, but was now thankful he was there for me in a few moments of need. Who needed handrails when you had suction cup dildos?

I dressed fast and casual, not verifying anything matched. The duplex stairs were taken one at a time by use of my ass. I didn't have time to eat, but Hallie had it covered. The snacks meant for my finals were still sitting on top of my backpack and would be woofed down on the Uber ride to Chicago. That drive would also provide time to message Ollie again.

My stomach was in knots, with a million different issues plaguing my mind during the drive to school. Maybe I should have been worried about how I'd be missing thirty percent of my grades because of missing every test. Perhaps I should have been worried about how I was supposed to work tonight when I couldn't manage a shower. That was not the case, though. All I could focus on was the argument I'd had the night prior. Ollie hadn't responded to the second text either. My eyes were already feeling the pressure of impending tears. It was my fault for not explaining the bed situation to him, but he seemed to know about it being Steve's. Hallie must have been the one to tell him. Had Ollie been testing me to gauge my reaction? Last night, Ollie had admitted something I never knew bugged him. He felt like he was competing with Steve.

The thought made me sick, and I wasn't sure if that was because it was the truth, or because it wasn't. I didn't seem to know, and that made me more nauseated.

The ride had left me with only minutes to spare before Ollie was going to have to count me as late, sinking my grades even further. I could live with the grade. Having to pretend that the man in front of the class hadn't basically broken up with me the night before, leaving me to cry all night, was going to be the real feat of the day. The least he could do was answer a text saying he hadn't nodded off and crashed somewhere in the middle of the night. We may have made jokes about it in the past, but now was not the time to be messing with me like this. My foot hurt; my heart hurt, and now he was making my head hurt.

Maneuvering my way through a hallway of people, while trying not to land one of my crutches unknowingly onto someone's foot, I made my way to the knife safety classroom while trying to come up with a way to get Ollie to speak to me about last night. It wasn't a conversation to be had here at school, and he worked tonight. The longer we went without speaking, the worse this was becoming—and it had only been a few hours since he'd stormed out. It was now eight in the morning. All students in the hallway were finding their rooms, and doors were closing behind them. All except for one door.