In a world where everyone has a mark somewhere on their body where their soulmate will touch them, all is nice. Except for Naomi Lee, a Blasian woman who doesn't care much for the idea of dating. Naomi's mark on her chest and being asexual, Naomi do...
I stood in the locker room, braiding my hair. I hadn't braided my own hair in so long but I didn't have Joe. We hadn't talked in since I found him and I didn't want to. He had hurt me. I didn't want to talk to him at all.
I slammed the door to my locker and walked out. I headed for the commons room and spotted Joe. He saw me and started getting up. I powerwalked through the room and grabbed Dawson's arm. She protested but I dragged her through the doors into an empty hallway.
"Naomi, what is it?" Gabby asked as I stopped.
"Joe," I said. "I found him with another woman. They were in bed and -"
My voice cut out and Gabby pulled me into a hug. I buried my head into her shoulder.
She hugged me for a bit before pulling away. "Are you okay? Do you need to beat him up?"
I smiled weakly. "No. He doesn't deserve that. No matter how much I want to hurt him, I can't. He's the love of my life but he hurt me."
Gabby rubbed my arms. "Joe's a good guy but I believe you. Don't do anything stupid now, okay? You know I'll always be here for you, right?"
I nodded. "Of course. You're my best friend."
Gabby smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I love you, Naomi. Let's go face the commons room together. He better not mess with us two."
I smiled and we walked through the doors. I stayed in the kitchen, sitting on the counter. Gabby sat beside me, drinking her coffee. She didn't leave my side until we got called out. Luckily he was driving but he would probably be transferred to Squad soon. He had already put his application in.
I kept my eyes away from any mirrors. I didn't want to talk to Joe. We arrived at the fire and it was a burning house. I got out of the truck and waited for instructions. Kasey put me with Stella and we were off. We scanned the second floor, calling out for anyone to reply. We pulled a woman out of a bedroom and went downstairs.
I sat at the truck, drinking some water. I looked up and saw Joe staring at me. I glared at him and spit on the ground. His expression was incredibly sad and his eyes were watery.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I didn't feel sorry for him. I ruffled my hair and took another sip of water. The fire was doused and we were off. I returned back to the station.
I disappeared into the bunk room and laid down. I scrolled through my phone and ignored the world. Sylvie came in and sat on the bed. I scooted over and she laid down.
Sylvie stared up at the roof. "I heard what happened. Wanna talk about it?"
I set my phone down. "I don't know. Should I?"
"If you want to," Sylvie said. "I won't push it but want Joe did wasn't okay. He hurt you."
I sighed. "I know. I'll deal with it though. We never went on that girls' night out like we planned. We should do that soon. It'll take my mind off things."
"True, true." Sylvie grabbed my hand and looked at me. "You know I'm always here for you, right? You can tell me anything."
I nodded, meeting Sylvie's gave. "I know. You're my best friend."
Sylvie smiled. We laid there for a while, just enjoying each other's company. It felt nice to have Sylvie next to me. I didn't want to talk to her quite yet. I didn't want to cry. Crying was for pussies. I wasn't a pussy.
We got called out again and I went out to the truck. I climbed in and sat beside Stella. She placed a hand on my thigh, smiling at me reassuringly. I nodded and stared out the window. All the other firefighters were giving me sad and pitiful looks. I ignored it and breathed deeply. I needed to do the job in front of me instead of let what happened bring me down.
