The Creature

Chapter Fourteen: The Friendship

I've finished doing my rounds, and had to come back around see J me again. Hadn't really managed to calm myself down all that much, but I did have some water from the drink machine in the break Room and that kind of helped a little bit. I made my way down to his door, and sat down beside it. I gave my usual 3 knocks, and he answered.

" I'm sorry..I didn't mean to freak you out earlier " he apologized which made me feel even worse. The poor guy thought I was mad at him. I wasn't mad at him I was mad at myself.

" I'm sorry Jamie..it's not your fault. It is just me being dumb" I answered, staring down at the white brick tile floor.

" You aren't dumb. Whatever it is that you are going through..you can talk to me about it.." he was trying to help a situation that he of course couldn't help. I felt so foolish for all of this.

" Jamie..you can't help this. It's just me feeling things that don't make sense to me..and it's not your fault" I didn't know how to say it to him. I couldn't say it to him. Not until i figured out if that was even what it was..a crush.

" Well I'm sorry. Do you wanna quit? " he asked, which caught me off guard..

" No I don't wanna quit. I wanna...I just...I wanna..I wanna get you out of here someday. I wanna spend time with you. I wanna show you things that you haven't gotten to see. I wanna kick the asses of anyone who tries to come at you even though I'm not that brave. I wanna..just be around you more." I confessed. It's all I could do in the moment.

" When I put the Walkie Talkie in your drawer..I saw a poem thing you had written. I think it was called The Creature. Could you...read it to me? " I asked, wanting to change the subject from anything other than this at the moment..

" Okay" he answered as he shuffled around, heading to the drawer and opening it and closing it and then heading back to the door.

" From the fire he rises

Ashes drifting down from his shoulders

His eyes, remain cold and lifeless

But his battle, was never over

He took to the sea

And clutched the golden sand within his hand

The waves would wash away the disease

Or he would remain ablaze upon the land

His thirst was never quenched

And his body remained forever broken

He wreaked of deaths wretched stench

His eyes were finally open "

And is all I have so far" he answered.

"Damn" was all I could say. His words were deep. And I felt as though on some level. He was talking about himself.

" You know you aren't a creature right? You are an awesome guy" I know my words didn't carry much weight with Jamie but I felt like he should know how I felt.

" I know. But sometimes I feel like I am. I feel like it's easier to be something like a monster to people than to be what I actually am. Because at least then, people can have an opinion about me without feeling like they owe me something " he explained which made me feel even worse.

" I'm not your friend because I feel like I owe you. I'm your friend because I want to be. We both need a good friend. Even if you don't believe that is possible for you to have. I promise you that I'm your friend. And for what it's worth..I thought the poem was great. And so are you " I smiled, leaning my back against the wall even more.

" Thank you for being my friend " he said from behind the door. " Always"