"Why the hell are you in my apartment this time?" I asked/yelled at the problematic boy. Maybe he forgot he lived across the hall.
"Is Sky still here?" He asked, ignoring my question.
"Why do you care?" I snapped back, crossing my arms.
"Look, I just want to-" He started but I cut him off.
"I don't care what you want. I want you to get out of my apartment. Now." I told him. He doesn't deserve to talk to my best friend. Not now, not ever.
"Listen, Hot Stuff. Just let me-" He started to say with an attitude. I might take it from Sophia, but I sure as hell won't take it from him.
"No, you listen, Sweet Cheeks." I spit back. "You do not come into my home after being the worst date to my best friend and go off demanding to see her."
"Oh please!" Zack scoffed, crossing his arms as well. "I bought her dinner!"
"Oh, so that makes up for checking out other girls?" I asked, stepping towards him. "Last I checked, you don't do that. You pay all your attention to the girl you asked out." My finger was out and pointing at him like I was a mother scolding her son.
"You obviously don't know the whole story." He snapped back, stepping towards me as well.
"Oh, please enlighten me!" I yelled. "Tell me how Sky was so horrible you paid almost no attention to her!" I was angry. I know Sky. She wouldn't act horribly on any date.
Zack opened his mouth but closed it after nothing came out. He didn't have an excuse and he knew it. His face was turning red, either from embarrassment or anger. I had no doubt mine was as red as a stick of dynamite.
"Exactly. She didn't do anything wrong. You did." I sneered, poking his chest.
He grabbed my wrist with my finger still out and pushed it away. "Don't poke me." He said, clearly irritated.
"I'll do whatever the hell I want. You don't like it, get out." I told him, pointing to my door. "And while you're at it, get the damn nail out of my door!" I finished off yelling again.
"Just let me see Sky!" He almost yelled in my face. He was so close I could smell his nasty breath. His green eyes were piercing my blue ones.
"Why do you want to see her so badly? You made it obvious you don't care about her." I pointed out.
"Because, unlike you, she's actually nice so I wanted to apologize!" He was getting angry now. I could hear it in his voice.
Not gonna lie, that took me off guard. Zack didn't seem like the apologetic type. I still wasn't sure if I could trust him.
"But never mind! If apologizing means I gotta deal with you, forget it!" He finished off loudly.
He turned on his heel and walked away from me. When he left, he slammed the door so hard I felt the vibrations in my feet. Overreacting much?
I let out a sigh of relief. Zack slamming the door reminded me of fights I had with my parents, but I shook that off. It was over now.
"He's gone," I said, loud enough for the two to hear from my room.
"Naomi?" Sky said as if she didn't know if I was me or not. "Are you okay?" She asked me.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked in return.
"It just seemed like it was serious. There was a lot of yelling..." It seemed as if she was tiptoeing around the subject.
"I'm fine. I'm used to it, remember?" I asked, referring to the many fights I've had with my parents and even Sophia's dad. Sky knew about them. She knows what I've been through.
Before she could reply, Sophia came running out of my room. She had tears running down her face. She didn't even bother stopping, she just ran straight to her room and closed the door.
"Was she...?" I questioned, I didn't want her to be.
"The yelling scared her. I kept her close." Sky admitted.
I can't believe it. I knew what yelling could do to a little kid, yet it didn't occur to me Sophia was listening to every word. God, I felt horrible. I just made my daughter cry. My laughing, lovable daughter was in tears. I felt like the worst mother ever.
"Oh my god." The words escaped my mouth almost like a sob. I ran to Sophia's room. I couldn't let her fall asleep thinking I was a monster.
I softly knocked on her door, trying to be as quiet as possible. I could hear a few sobs from the other side and it broke my heart. I did this to her.
"Sophia, can I come in?" I asked softly. She didn't say anything, but I came in anyway.
She was sitting on her bed, hugging her stuffed Olaf, crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. She had snot running down her nose.
"Hi, sweetie," I said sweetly. I walked slowly to her bed and sat down next to her. "Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Why were you yelling at Zack?" She asked me, the words getting caught in her throat.
I sighed and placed my arm around her. "He wasn't nice to Sky and I didn't like that. I shouldn't have started yelling. It was wrong of me to do that." I admitted. I did feel bad about yelling so quickly. I couldn't help it. I got defensive of Sky. She was the only person who stood by me through the hell I had to go through.
"Then why did you do it?" She asked me, wiping tears from her cheeks.
"You don't understand just yet, but Sky is a one in a million person. She helped me in my worst times. I didn't like that Zack treated her wrong, so I got carried away and started yelling." I told her.
She let go of Olaf and hugged me. "You scared me, Mommy," Sophia admitted, tears starting to fall down her face again.
"I am so sorry, Sophia. I never wanted to scare you." I hugged her back and kissed her head. "I always hated it when people yelled too."
Without knowing it was coming, a tear rolled down my face. Memories from my past were flooding back, but I pushed them away. I needed to be here for Sophia. I couldn't deal with my problems right now.
I don't know how long I sat there holding Sophia, but next thing I knew, she was asleep in my arms. I softly laid her head on her pillow and covered her up with her favorite blanket. I kissed her head again and turned off her light.
I closed her door quietly just as Sky was walking back into my apartment. I couldn't tell how she was feeling. Her face was blank.
"I talked to Zack." She told me.
"What did he say?" I asked, becoming more aware of how much I overreacted.
"He apologized for acting the way he did. He admitted he doesn't really see me that way, he just wanted to get under your skin so he asked me out." She informed me.
"Why would he want to get under my skin?" I questioned. What did I ever do to him?
Sky shrugged and said "I don't know, maybe he thinks it's funny. Sometimes I do." She said with a smile.
"Whatever," I said with an eye roll. "It still doesn't give him an excuse to act the way he did."
"He apologized for that too. I think it's time for you to do the same." Sky said like she was my mother.
"I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed quietly, not wanting to wake up Sophia.
"You did jump the gun and start yelling." She reminded me.
"Who's side are you on?" I asked her. Didn't I just get rid of her problem?
"I think you should apologize for yelling, nothing more. Plus it'll show Sophia you are capable of fixing broken relations." Sky explained.
"What relation do I have with Zack?" I asked, confused.
"I don't know. Neighborly relations. Point is, you need to get along." Sky answered.
"He broke that relation a while ago," I informed her. Hell, he broke it on day one.
"Just go apologize so we can put this behind us," Sky ordered like an irritated mom.
I rolled my eyes and walked towards the door. "I hate you sometimes," I told my best friend.
"You just don't like that I'm right." She responded with.
I entered the hallway and closed my door behind me. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, I stepped up to Zack's door and knocked.
It took him a minute to answer. When he did, it was obvious he was almost asleep when I knocked. Hey, what goes around comes around.
Zack had changed out of his nice clothes and into pajamas. Well, pajama pants. He wasn't wearing a shirt.
"What do you want?" He asked me, rubbing his eyes.
"I came to apologize." I rushed out. I wanted this to be as quick and painless as possible.
Zack apparently wasn't expecting me to say that. "Really? And what compelled you to do so?" He asked, leaning against his door frame.
"I realized I shouldn't have started yelling at you. It was uncalled for." I admitted. This actually physically hurts to admit.
"Well isn't that sweet." Zack cooed, his stupid smirk growing back on his face.
"And Sky's making me," I admitted the real reason. I wouldn't be doing this out of free will. Bringing up Sky's name reminded me of how this whole thing started. "Sky actually told me why you acted like a douche," I said, waiting for his reaction.
"Your point?" He questioned, raising his eyebrow.
"Why'd you wanna get under my skin?" I asked him, crossing my arms.
"Because it's funny." He shrugged.
"How is it funny?" I exclaimed. Seriously, how is getting a rise out of me hilarious to people?
"I don't know, it just is. Your face gets flustered and turns red." He informed me.
"No, it doesn't!" I denied.
"Oh, and your eyebrows scrunch together so it almost looks like you have a unibrow." He described, smiling.
This boy was already irritating me. "Well, I apologized. I'm done here." I finished.
"I never said I accepted it." Zack jumped back in.
"I never said I wanted you to," I informed with a shrug.
"I'll accept your apology if you make me dinner." Zack offered as if it was negotiable. "I didn't get to finish mine."
"Last I checked, that was your fault." I reminded him. I wasn't going to make him dinner.
I turned around and turned my doorknob only to find it locked. I didn't lock my door.
"I'll let you in when he accepts." Sky said from the other side.
"You can't be serious. How far do you really want me to go?" I complained and hit the door.
"When he gets dinner." Sky clarified for me. I can't believe she locked me out of my own apartment.
I huffed and slowly turned back around. No surprise, Zack was grinning.
"Fine. Let's get this over with." I gave in. "But don't even think about trying anything," I warned.
"Awesome! I'm starving." Zack announced as he opened his door, ignoring my warning.
I dreadfully followed Zack into his home, a place I never planned on seeing.