Sunday, September 23, 2007

I wrote something!!!

Colin jammed his thumb into the bridge of his nose. The cigarette he held was above the brim of his hat, just out of his line of sight. He imagined the smoke billowing into an aura around. He thought of his aura as something an outsider would consider vile or disgusting; he found it comforting. It kept the unwelcome out and invited smokers or those who accept smoking in. He flicked the first cigarette from his recently purchased pack. The ash danced toward the ground.
"I don't understand why you do it." Kendra pulled a chair to the table where Colin was propping his head with a precarious hand.
"Do what?" He picked dirt out from his thumbnail with a burnt matchstick.
"Smoke. You look like you hate it." There was some pity in her eyes, he though. Maybe something else. He could not discern what the emotion was. He spun the shortening cigarette between his thumb and forefinger.
"Dunno. It's something to do until..." His voice trailed off. He took a sip from his coffee. Odd, he thought, it's cold and burnt. He wasn't sure how the coffee shop could create such polar opposites in a house-blend coffee.
"Until what?"
"Whatever." He felt as if her presence became an intervention for his problems rather than a conversation starter. He wanted her there, he just wanted her to be silent. He thought about a quote his friend would say, 'silence is golden: duct tape is silver.' He smirked and crushed the cigarette into the bench on which he was sitting.
"Fucking cancer sticks," she shook her head. He looked up at her
"Bitch."
"Well, it sure is nice to see you again too, Colin." She was thorough with her sarcasm experience. "I hope you know that you look miserable, and you smell like shit."
"I wasn't aware this was a black-tie invitation." He could play the sarcasm game, too. He jammed his palms into his eye sockets and took comfort in the blackness of closed and covered eyes. "Did you ask me here to tell me how shitty I appear?"
"No," she hesitated. "I-"
"What? wanna reconnect a bond you fucking broke off? Four months, and out of the blue, god damn it. What, are you getting married to that asshole? Let's just get this fucking over with." He never liked her indirect methods at a serious conversation.
"We broke up." She no longer looked at Colin.
"Congratulations. 'Bout time. So what the fuck do you want with me, Kendra?"
"Were you always this cold?" She folded her arms.
"So let me guess, you ran out of friends, broke up with the cause, and now you're attempting to reclaim the ones you forgot about." He could see a sting of pain in her eyes. He had hurt her and felt accomplishment. He saw the olive branch turning to regret.
"I thought he was why you stopped calling. Well, it's over."
"Great. I hope it all works out for you." His stare was hard.
"I thought we could work this out." She fumbled with the lapels on her coat.
"Why?"
"Because I still consider you my friend." He granted her a cynical laugh. "I still care about you, Colin." He could feel the anger filling the area that he guessed his heart was. She avoided his gaze.
"You don't even know me anymore." Her eyes glazed over. He saw red. He attempted to convince her that this was true. He attempted to convince himself that he didn't expect or invite this.
"Yes, I do." Her voice broke and cracked as she choked back tears. "You're Colin Redstun who would drag me out of my dorm room to make fun of the weird hat lady. You used to drunk dial me from frat parties when you got bored so we could go get pizza. We would spend all night talking about music and hidden meanings. I know he's in you somewhere." he could see that she tried her hardest to hold back tears. He tried his best to remain unfeeling, unflinching, and unmoved.

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