The Nuisance Across The Hall

Ten: A.M. Convos Get Deep

     Breaking the silence, Zack asked, "You like NCIS?"

     "I used to watch it." I shrugged.

     "Why'd you stop?" He asked in return.

     "Got too busy." I dully explained.

     "I'm pretty sure you aren't that busy," Zack said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

     "College, a job, and a kid are pretty time-consuming. But I wouldn't expect you to know that." I elaborated.

     "What's that supposed to mean?" Zack questioned with offense.

     "You don't take care of any kid but yourself. You don't know what it's like being a parent." I told him.

     "Like hell, I don't!" Zack snapped, throwing his sandwich back on its plate.
 
     I faced him and asked, "What's your problem?"

     "You don't know what the hell my past was. You don't get to tell me what I do and don't know how to do!" Zack's face was turning red, clearly pissed.

     "Um... I'm sorry?" I apologized, still confused as ever. "Actually, no. I'm not." I decided.

     "Excuse me?" He asked. Now it's his turn to be confused.

     "I just made you dinner after I stood up for my best friend. I'm not apologizing for what I said." I defended.

     "You know, you're really judgmental." He declared.

     "And how did you come up with that?" I asked, crossing my arms.

     "You assume that, just because your past is rocky, everyone else has had it easy. No one else can match up to what you went through. Well, guess what. You're wrong." Zack said. There was a look in his green eyes, I couldn't place the emotion though. It was like a mixture of hate, pain, and experience.

     "You don't know about my past." I reminded him. "You can't make declarations like that without knowing the truth." I reminded.

     "Trying taking your own damn advice." He said with his red face going away.

     "Oh, please elaborate on how my past compares nothing to yours," I asked sarcastically.

     Zack looked away from me. He decided the floor was more appealing. The TV was still playing in the background.

     "You think I'm some immature asshole that doesn't give a shit about anyone." He stated. I couldn't tell if he was mad or just simply stating a fact.

     "You nailed that one," I said bitterly. I will admit, I was slightly eager to see where this conversation was going.

     "Something you are wrong about though, I do have experience raising a kid." He admitted.

     "You have a kid?" I asked, my jaw hitting the floor. He really doesn't have the right to judge me now.

     "What? No! I wasn't an immature little teenager like you. I'm talking about my sister, Carly." He clarified for me. Damn, I was hoping he did. That would've given me much more leverage.

     "So you looked after your sister? That's not exactly the same thing." I informed him.

     "Let me finish." He said, irritated again. He obviously didn't tell this story a lot. "My dad was a drunk and my mom was a druggie. The two of them clashed a lot. They were too busy fulfilling their desires and fighting so that left me to earn money to feed Carly."