Friendzoned

We're All Mad Here

It felt as if I'd shifted into a parallel universe the next morning. Not only had My Heart Will Go On not pierced through my sleep and stirred me awake as usual just before seven, but when I peered out my open bedroom window and across the yard to Nate's, his blinds were drawn. Chalking it up as it having to do with the fight and Sarah, I showered and hurriedly dressed myself, the internal war of weather to put makeup on fizzling out when I glanced down at my phone again and found I had little to no time to get outside and to Nathan's truck before we both ended up late.

       I threw my backpack over my shoulder, snatching my jacket from the computer chair, then darted out my ajar bedroom door and down the hallway. Mom wasn't home; that was to be expected and it would have only added to the uneasiness I felt if she were. I grabbed a muffin from the dining table with a note from Mom wishing me a good day at school. It made my heart clench for a second before the feeling subsided altogether.

       There had been a time in my life where my mother was in the kitchen covered from head to toe in flour as she threw together the pancakes that she insisted was all that kept Dad around. They'd always had a joking banter back and forth before he reassured her that it was everything, from her beautiful smile to her inability to say certain words because of her New Jersey accent, that had drawn him to her.

         Shaking the thought from my head before my emotions could overwhelm me, I grabbed my house keeps from the hook to the right of our mantle and headed out the front door. I stopped mid step on my front porch the second my eyes fell on the James' empty driveway.

     Nathan had already left. He'd gone to school without me and left me stranded. There was no way in hell I was going to make it to school on time if I tried to walk it right now.

        Pinching the bridge of my nose, I dug my phone out of my pocket and called Owen. He looked a little over five minutes away, he'd able to get me to school with time to spare.

      If he wasn't already there himself.

            "Hail? Oh, shit, is your mom pissed about last night?" Owen answered on the third ring, genuine fear lingering at the end of each word. "How deep am I in?"

             I smiled a little at that.  "Mom was asleep when I got home, O. Thing is, Nathan decided I wasn't important enough to stick around and wait for. He's gone and didn't even text me to let me know he was leaving."

            Silence. The only indication that Owen was on the other end was light shuffling. "What happened after you guys dropped me off? Did you get into a fight or something?"

            "No. We watched Grey's for a couple hours then he headed home. Even kissed my forehead and everything."

            "You're lucky I haven't left yet or you'd be walking it, Hail. I'll be there in five, you better be outside waiting."

             I sighed in relief. "Thank you, O. I love you, you're a lifesaver."

            "I know I am." Was his boastful response before the call ended. I rocked back and forth on my feet as I sent a quick text to Nathan asking where he was, then slipped my phone back into my pocket and stared at the empty driveway.

             Though he'd acted fairly normal most of last night, I couldn't shake the look we'd shared in the auditorium during the fight. There had been such a seething bitterness radiating off of him that I had felt it as his gaze paralyzed me where I stood. Then, in the car as he stared ahead at the garage after we talked about Sarah; hopelessness. I knew Nathan well enough to know that despite his tough guy façade, he was breaking inside. He'd been the same way when his father took off two years ago, leaving his sick mother and younger brother in his wake. Nathan had tried to act as if none of it affected him, like it was no more a business trip and his father would return at any given moment.