A Simple Story Second Verse (standard:romance, 2753 words) [3/5] show all parts
Author: sickboy	Added: Oct 22 2002	Views/Reads: 2565/1909	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
2 hearts crossed, one was taken...

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

“Her boyfriend just broke up with her. She came back drunk still holding
half a bottle of J. D.” 

“Serious shit?” They broke up? 

“Yeah, Needles and Jo weren't here, they're staying over at their
friends' tonight and I was alone messed up with her. She came back 
before you called and I was trying to calm her down a little when you 
showed up. Her name's Sue by the way.” 

“So where's the J.D.?” 

She looked at me, annoyed with disbelief. This was the look Lynn always
gave me in response to my bad sarcasm. 

“Kidding...” 

“Hi, I'm back. What the hell is at the door? What happened to Sue?” 

A wearied voice came in and Lynn and I instinctively turned to the door.
It was Needles, pushing her specs up a little to get a clearer view of 
you while letting her hair down. Needles was a fashion design student, 
found the place with Lynn and stayed together ever since. 

“Hey, Needs.” 

“Kay, how many times do I have to tell you? My name is Ni Xin, call me
that or Needles but DO NOT call me Needs! You make me sound like some 
desperate hooker or something.” 

“I know, just like to annoy you. You look cute when you're mad.” 

She threw me a faked smile. 

“Need help cleaning that up?” she pointed at the fluid forgotten on the
doorstep. 

“It's okay, I'll get it. Whatcha doing here?” asked Lynn, “Thought you
said you won't be back tonight?” 

“Plans changed.” 

She closed the door behind her and came to the couch. 

“What's with Sue, sick ah?” she asked, placing her palm on your
forehead. 

“Long story.” 

“She drunk?” 

“Like I said, long story” 

“Okay. See ya guys, I've gotta take a bath. Call me if you need
anything.” She waved casually and went into her room without asking 
further. The thing with Needles was that she never gets attached and 
never gets involved in anything unless it discomforts her deeply or 
unless she needs to. Typical, isn't she? 

“Think she'll be okay?” asked Lynn. 

“Who? Needles?” 

“No, her.” The look, again. 

I nodded. You seemed pretty stable by now so I suggested that Lynn and I
got started with her work. We cleaned up the doorstep, made some coffee 
and went to the room. 

“You know what?” said Lynn suddenly, “You guys should get to know each
other?” 

“Who?” 

“You and Sue.” 

“What?” where did THAT come from?” 

“Yeah, you guys are kinda... alike. The funny part is I was thinking of
introducing you guys when you came and what a great time the three of 
us could have.” Oops? 

Lynn's room, like the rest of the apartment, was the most horrifyingly
clean and tidy place the world has to offer. The floor was swept daily; 
the ceiling fan was always in its white shine, the windows hung with 
clean curtains and the walls decorated with posters and Lynn's designs. 


I went to the computer next to the side window, asked for some details
and started the “goat thing”, while Lynn was doing the rest of her work 
on the desk next to me. As we worked, we talked about casual stuff with 
music playing from the computer speakers. We didn't talk anymore about 
you though, it was like an unsaid mutual agreement to not go there, 
though I was indeed extremely curious about what exactly happened to 
you and how did Lynn, my so-called best friend in class, happened to 
know the unconventional girl from the station. 

The evening went by as just another night spent with Lynn, along with
the many times spent here talking to her about all sorts of crap. 
Sometimes it made me wonder how could Lynn and I became this way. After 
all, there was a time when she despised me... 

Lynn and I were classmates. We got close under some unconventional
circumstances actually. Her boyfriend broke up with her 5 months ago, 
during which I started calling her up for details of assignments. Out 
of nowhere we started talking and all of a sudden we became close, 
which was also when she told me that I didn't exactly turn out to be 
the person she thought I was, i.e. the asshole she used to despise. I 
was kind of a loner actually and suddenly Lynn was the only true friend 
I had in class. She wasn't much though, sucked at comforting, stubborn 
as a mule made of rock sent from hell, demanding as my mother and 
complained big time about me getting all sensitive and emotional all 
the time, (well, actually I was, still am) but hey, at least she was 
real, at least I thought she was real, that's all that matters, isn't 
it? 

Our friendship was kind of unorthodox in a way. It's been 5 months and
she was still drooling over the guy who dumped her, who also happens to 
be our classmate. (His name was Liam) So, in order to avoid 
complications and awkwardness plus, leaving the chance of the 2 of them 
getting back together again unhampered and undamaged, we both agreed 
that during any time that included Liam's presence, we would be 
completely non-chalant to each other's existence, steer as clear as 
possible, stay far and away from crossing each others' path and avoid 
talking to each other as much as possible. Besides that minor 
arrangement, I guess we were pretty normal as friends. On other 
occasions when we were alone like whenever I came over to her place or 
went photo shooting together or went out together, she was like the 
other sister that I never had who was way, way closer than my own. 
There was one time when she told me that she never thought that her 
best friend would be a guy and there I was. We shared secrets, we 
shared experiences, bullshit, music preferences and I guess in a way, 
life would never be life without Lynn... I needed this friend... 

“Ooi... (Yawning) what thinking? Finish fast and go to sleep, don't just
suck smoke and do nothing. You're not going home, right?” 

“Nah, too early.” 

It was 0430, 7 and a half hours since we left you in the living room.
Lynn looked like she was about to die if she didn't start getting some 
shut-eye. 

“You need to sleep.” 

She yawned again, this time a little longer. 

“How far are you from finishing?” she asked. 

“Just a little more. You want grass on the ground, right?” 

“Yeah (yawn).” 

“Go sleep, I'll finish up.” 

“Okay.” Lynn answered while drawing out a cigarette from the box. The
usual for us young smokers I guess, begin the day with a cigarette and 
end it with one. She smoked, washed up and went to bed. In less than 5 
minutes, she was fast asleep. 

It took less than another hour and a half before I finished her stuff.
It was nearly 0600 and by now, the sun was drawing the day's earliest 
shade of blue over the sky, the songs of birds could be heard from a 
far away tree and car engines began coming to life. I stood at the 
balcony to get a taste of the early morning air. A breeze blew softly 
across the balcony and sneaked its way into the apartment, bringing 
with it the morning's silent greeting. The air was almost tranquil and 
serene, still waiting to be broken by life and daylight. I sat myself 
on one of the stools at the balcony and lit a cigarette, letting its 
sweet poisonous warmth flow through my throat and into my lungs. 

As if on silent impulse, I turned and looked at you. You were still
sleeping tranquilly on the couch, with your body tilted to the right, 
your arms hugging your knees and your head leaning comfortably on the 
couch's arm. The flush on your face was long gone, replaced by a 
resting, sweet fairness, completely non-belonging to anything of the 
world... what happened to you last night after you dropped me? Was it 
anything to do with the escapade we had? 

You were in the white spaghetti-strap top and jeans from last night,
perhaps the night was too cold, leading you to sleep in the position 
you were in now. I found the cardigan you were wearing last night under 
the Japanese table, flapped it a little and carefully covered your body 
with it, then another quick peek at you before going back to my smoking 
at the balcony, shaking off my growing curiosity, after all, it wasn't 
quite my business nor was it my place to know. So I went back to 
enjoying the morning tranquility, trailing my thoughts to more trivial 
matters. 

“If it's not the cigarettes, it's the alcohol.” Suddenly recalling an
article from the Internet, writing about the “youth of our times”. 
Glanced at the burning cigarette, then a thought flashed by: J.D. 

As I turned and was about to tip-toe my way to the fridge in the
kitchen... 

“Mmm...” 

You woke up. 

You put legs down and stretched a little, then slowly sat up and bended
your head down a little, running your fingers through your short hair 
as you did, all the while seemingly not noticing my presence about 5 
paces away from you at the balcony. You pulled your head up and stared 
blankly for a moment, then turned to me and suddenly shuddered a 
little, as if completely startled to detect my presence. 

“What are you doing here?” you asked while looking at me, squinting a
little as you did. 

“I'm er... Lynn's friend. Came last night to help her out with some
stuff.” 

“You know Lynn?” 

Guess that's news to you. 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“She didn't call you because of me, did she?” 

“No, actually I called, because of her.” 

You looked at me blankly again, as if still completely boggled by my
being here. You shook your head a little, closed your eyes and clutched 
your temples gently with your left hand. Then you gave a forced smile 
and held up a finger, signaling me to wait for a moment before getting 
up and walking to the toilet. 

The sound of a door closing came, followed by a flushing toilet and then
silence again. It was probably about 5 minutes, during which I was 
beginning to feel strangely awkward of my own presence myself. I 
started wondering if I should take my leave now, after all, I've done 
what I came here to do and what better time to return to my own room 
and get some rest than, oh say, early in the morning? Besides, what am 
I supposed to do when... 

“What time is it?” you came out. 

“6” I answered, pointing at the clock on the wall. 

You walked back to the couch and sat down again, seemingly not knowing
what to do now. 

“You er... want a nicotine fix?” 

“What?” 

“You want a cigarette?” 

You pulled the other stool slightly away from the balcony rail and
slightly away from me, sat down, reached out and took the cigarette in 
my hand, then the lighter. 

“(Puffed) So what did I say last night?” 

“Well... ... nothing much actually... nearly puked on me though.” 

“Sorry.” you smiled a little. 

“No worries... say er... you wanna... get some breakfast? There's a
store down the road selling Tosai that's just to die for.” 

“No, I'm fine.” You answered, shaking your head a little. 

“Well then... guess I'll be going... see ya.” 

I hurried myself to Lynn's room, in a calm fashion, to grab my bag and
leave. I didn't really understand why I was leaving either, it was like 
this weird urge to escape (God knows from what) just suddenly came over 
me. Maybe it was because of what you said the first time we met, the 
part about ‘as a general opinion it was just plain stupid', or maybe 
because of that ‘Iris'-thing in the car, or maybe ‘cause... All the 
same, it was still extremely strange and weird and absurd, in a guy's 
term at least: there I was given a chance to spent time with a girl I 
happened to find attractive and interesting, plus I happened to admit 
to wanting to get to know better just last night, and now, here I was 
feeling like I'm dying to just leave: completely nonsensical. What was 
wrong with me? 

As I was about to open the door and make my way out of the apartment and
out of the awkwardness, though I knew for sure that I was going to 
regret it later... 

“So how did you know Lynn?” 

-to be continued- 


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