"So what's new man?" Alec asked, his keys dropping to the floor as he fell through the door.
He apparently was my babysitter tonight.
"I brought pizza."
I watched him set the boxes of pizza down on the coffee table in the living room before gathering his keys off the floor.
"Your grandma still here?" He asked, shrugging out of his varsity coat.
I shook my head no.
"She been gone long?" I shook my head no again. "Having one of those days huh?"
"Sorry." I mumbled.
He smiled, shaking his head. "It's fine, we don't have to talk."
I was tired. I hadn't slept the night before, the few hours I got interrupted by spontaneous spasms and pain. Sarah was out for blood at therapy and the combination of the two made me feel like a zombie.
"I'm just really fucking tired." I told him.
"Go to sleep then, I've got a test to study for anyway."
It wasn't that I didn't want to go to sleep. I did. So bad. I had even wrestled my way into my bed after therapy with help from Nan that is. It lasted all of ten minutes before I couldn't take the stabbing pain in my legs.
I watched Alec flip open a box, a steaming hot meat lovers pizza revealed. The smell hit my nose, my stomach gurgling.
"Hand me one." I mumbled.
Alec grabbed two, shoving one straight into his mouth while he passed the other one to me. Even though I hated having a fucking babysitter all the time, I preferred Alec and Pops wasn't bad either. But Alec made it seem like everything was almost back to normal. We were just two friends, chilling, eating pizza, watching whatever game was on. I didn't tell him but I appreciated it more than anything.
———————
I woke up the next morning to Jase, which meant it was Saturday. Nan's day off. I cringed at the thought of being considered work. But yet, there I was a half useless blob. Of course people would need time off from me. My mood soured even more as Jase flicked on my lights in my room.
"Oh good, you're up." He said. "Listen I got a ton of errands to run today. But I figured you'd like to get out of the house so you're coming with me."
I took a deep breath, my eyes closed as I tried to talk myself out of verbally assaulting Jase. He had this habit of not asking me what I wanted. Instead he told me what I wanted. It made my blood boil.
"What do you want to wear?" He flung my closet doors open as I awkwardly pushed myself upright. "Here, this'll work. Joggers, shirt and a hoodie."
He threw everything on the bed beside me. It wasn't that I wouldn't have picked out the same thing. It was that he asked and then answered for me. I clenched my teeth together, my jaw aching and I hadn't been up for five minutes.
Jase yanked the shirt over my head before I even wrestled myself into a comfortable position. I could successfully get my shirt on, I was slow as fuck, but I could do it. Which made me even more irate at Jase.
"The fuck?" I spat as my head poked through the hole.
"Sorry, we just got to go." He said as way of an explanation as he continued to dress me.
I surrendered but only because I couldn't necessarily stop him.
"Alright, chair." Jase said more to himself than to me.
"Wait, what about stretching?" I asked.
I didn't want to admit it but I could hear the desperation in my voice when I asked the question. If I didn't stretch, my pain increased significantly.
"We'll do it when we get back. Come on, we're late." He glanced at his watch, patting the seat of my wheelchair.
Jase hardly ever waited for me to help transfer myself, I'm not sure if he even realized I was getting close to being able to do it myself, and now was no exception. He hefted me off my bed and into my chair, not caring whatsoever about what I wanted.
"I got a protein drink for you in the car."
I could already tell today would suck.
———————
Several hours later, I was still sitting in the passenger seat of Jase's car, uncomfortable as fuck. I was bored out of my mind and I hadn't moved for hours. Everything hurt. And not just ached, it was borderline unbearable stabbing pain. I leaned my head back against the seat, my eyes squeezed shut as I dealt with the agony.
"Alright just two more stops." Jase said as he climbed in. The car rocked back as he shifted into reverse. It wasn't until he shifted into drive that he asked, "everything okay?"
If I had my eyes open I would have rolled them. Instead I ground my teeth together trying to hold in my anger.
"Do you need something?" He prodded.
"I need to go home." I muttered through my clenched teeth.
"We will, just two more stops, I promise they'll be quick."
Jase's definition of quick had always been miles different from my definition of quick.
"I need to go home now."
"Why? We're already out, let me just do these la..."
"Take me the fuck home!" I yelled, very aware I probably looked like a child throwing a tantrum over some trivial bullshit.
"Are you serious? It's just two mor..."
I slammed my eyes shut, trying to hold in the desperation that was about to leak out of me.
"Please, Jase. I want to go home."
Maybe he just finally gave in, or maybe it was because tears had forced their way out of my sealed eyelids. I honestly didn't care what the reasoning was but I felt relief flood through me as Jase let out a sigh.
"Yeah, okay." He said softly. "Home it is."
My breath was shaky, bitterness and anger settling down for the long haul inside me. How was this my life? How was I ever going to survive this?
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I took a mini break from writing on this story the past couple days because I had inspiration for a short story. I just posted the first four chapters of it if anyone wants to check it out. It's called "A Late Night Walk". I posted the whole story so there's no waiting for updates.