To the Smelly Boy Apartment It Is! (Story 2 of Sev & M)

Chapter 30

Nora sat on Severine's bed staring at the wall, trying not to cry from frustration. She knew she shouldn't have stormed out of the kitchen like that and what Marcus was doing made sense but she couldn't help it. She still felt like this was her fault and if Zandra was protecting her all day and something were to happen to Marcus, how would Severine ever forgive her? She picked up the pillow and threw it across the room. She was getting ready to throw the second one when there was a knock on the door.

"What?" she snapped.

"It's Zandra. Can I come in?" she asked.

She put the pillow she was about to throw back down on the bed, "Fine."

Zandra opened the door and looked from the pillow on the floor to her. She slowly walked over to the pillow and picked it up then handed it to her and sat on the floor. Nora hugged it to her chest, squeezing it made her feel a little better. After a minute or so of silence she finally spoke.

"Do you want to talk about why you're so mad that Marcus wants you to be protected?"

"No," she said stubbornly.

Zandra laughed, a genuine laugh that surprised her. It was the first time she had heard her do anything besides sigh or talk. "You two are so much alike. It's not surprising that you became friends."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Marcus was..." Zandra hesitated, "He was always so much better than what our parents wanted him to be. He was never quite as cruel or good at lying, always worried about the other person. It was like some part of him knew being a villain wasn't how he was truly supposed to live his life. Caspian looked up to him even though our parents drilled the same lessons in his head that they had drilled into ours. It made me angry. I was the better fighter, being cruel and lying were easy. If Caspian picked either of us to look up to it should have been me..." she trailed off. She shook her head as if she was clearing it then started again, "That got off topic. Sorry. He's doing this because he wants to protect you and because he knows if something were to happen to you Severine would feel worse. Just like you want me to stay and protect him because you feel like Severine will be mad at you if you "let" something happen to Marcus today."

It unnerved her that Zandra had known the reason she was upset without her having to say it. She was sure it was just a great guess but she hated feeling like she could be read easily. They sat in silence for another long moment before she finally responded.

"Do you think he will seriously be okay by himself?"

"He's never been okay by himself, he just acts like it," Zandra started, she noticed Nora's worried look and hurried to finish, "But if Issac does come after him I believe he will be able to hold his own until I can get back and help him."

Nora nodded that would have to be a good enough answer for the time being. She was surprised by Zandra's openness and decided to push her luck with one more question. "Why are you doing this for him?"

Zandra stood up and acted like she was brushing dirt from her backside, then she gave her a small smile, "Let me know when you're ready for work, okay?"

She opened her mouth to respond but she had already turned and left the room. Leaving Nora alone with her thoughts again.