Breaking Apathy

Chapter 20: What I Am Now

“Dude, I can see the sun... I can feel some of it... but it’s freezing!”

I chuckled at Taylor as he sat with his back pressed to mine and his feet raised to rest on the sill of the window. Exams had ended a week ago and we entered winter - which, luckily, had a holiday to ease the cold, but that was two weeks away from now. My cold hand found its way to my cheek, cupping it and supporting it as I propped my hand on the table and tilted my head whilst reading a book from Maddie Ridges titled A Faint Heart. A green strand of hair threatened to stray in to my left eye, but a small lime green varnished hand pushed it back before I could get to it. My eyes focused on my saviour, and I smirked flirtatiously when we locked eyes.

“Oh get over yourself Eden,” Nina said through her giggles.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and continued to read her magazine. Jordan sighed and shifted her head in her arms. It’s been thirty minutes and all Jordan did was sleep with her head on the table. It would have been cute to see if only I could see her face. Especially with the snake bite she got recently. It amplified her beauty.

“Why can’t they close school now?” Taylor groaned as he shuffled around, forcing me to put down my book in annoyance.

“Because people like you need some time to tie up the loose ends in missing homework and projects which do affect your marks,” I replied while fisting my hand and resting on it again.

Taylor moved off me and sat up straight in his chair to nudge me with his elbow.

“Or for people like you to steal all the remaining glory they can get for marks,” he stated arching an eyebrow at me.

“Or for a chance to book a lay for the holidays,” Nina said before she giggled and hid her face behind the magazine.

I blinked and turned my focus to her, Taylor doing the same in disbelief.

“I like your train of thought,” he commented.

It was surprising how much of a pervert Nina was once I actually made an effort to know her. She’d make any situation awkward – even a simple task like eating. Suddenly, Jordan sneezed in her sleep, making Taylor and Nina wince. Her head lifted and she gave a zombie expression to the world with her red tinged face.

“Uhhhhh... Is school over?” she sniffed, her right hand slithering up her face to a dishevelled tuft of white hair to scratch.

“Well,” I checked my wrist watch. “We got an hour more before we get to that point.”

“Although she looks really bad,” Nina said before picking up her pencil and poking Jordan in the arm like she was diseased.

“Haha! I think you drooled a little bit too!” Taylor pointed out the dry trail from the left corner of her lips running onto her cheek.

Jordan covered it with her hand that was enveloped by her oversized blazer and frowned at Taylor. But her eyes were focused on me. I shrugged and looked at her.

“What?”

She ignored me and rubbed the trail while listening to Nina talking. I sighed and threw in some comments throughout the conversation that they had.

“SHHHHHH!”

We abruptly stopped and turned to the head librarian who looked pretty much sick with us. Our apologies were muttered and we pretended to read again. When he left, we erupted in to chuckles and giggles – except for Jordan. She was always the exception. But she did smile.

Somehow, after all that happened two months back, I managed to heal slightly and move on. Taylor was the main reason I managed to do so and I appreciated it more than ever because now we rebuilt what we once had and we can’t even define the difference between blood relation and friendship between us – I mean we were brothers. Jordan also hung around us. She was still the same but I saw glimpses of emotions she had never shown before. Nina also joined our little group, adding her new found pervy self into our world. A lot had changed. My dream as a poet? Gone. Anorexia? I’m recovering. My friends? I just re-united and expanded. I left my shell behind and became a little bit of a social bug. Where I had usually kept to myself, I made an attempt to do the opposite. It’s not a “wow my life is great now” because I do suffer a little, but it is an improvement. It is something that can earn my full attention.