Broken

“One of the most high-maintenance…and she knows it too. She would tell you. She’s crazy, but we’ve been friends for years. If I took her along, I would have to hear her bitching about bugs, the sun, the grass, the stones, the sky and the mountain itself for a week. She isn’t an outdoors person.”

“And…no one else would go with you?”

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go with me. My parents wouldn’t climb a mountain and my other friends, they’re school friends, you know? Not, go brave the wilderness friends.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Of course, there’s a difference,” I answered with a slight insinuation to my voice that he immediately picked up on.

“You realize, you’re talking to the guy who prefers the company of a dog, to any human beings, right?”

“Fair enough. So, you just hate everybody, huh?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” he retorted playfully, “People are stupid.”

I rolled my eyes, “So, do you think you’re better than everyone else, or what?”

“Oh, God no. I’m a dick. I wouldn’t want to be my friend either. I’m surprised poor Jake has stuck it out this long,” he insisted playfully.

“Jake loves you,” I insisted, glancing at the dog, who was now looking between us, hoping that someone would sacrifice a piece of bacon for him.

“He just loves me because I feed him,” Johnathan insisted.

“Sometimes, that’s all you need.”

“Yup, this pup is all I need,” Johnathan, insisted, giving up a piece of his bacon to an extremely happy Jake, as he pet the dogs massive head.

Jake swallowed the bacon in one bite and immediately starte

d to scour both of our plates for another.

“That’s all you get,” Johnathan insisted, “Don’t look at her plate. She needs her strength. You’re fine.”

As though Jake understood what his owner was saying, he huffed in protest before flopping onto the floor and laying down, away from us.

“He’s never happy, that dog,” Johnathan laughed.

“But he’s so cute!” I exclaimed, wishing I had given up some of my bacon while I still had the chance.

“Ugh…He’s two-hundred pounds of pure muscle and fur… He’s not cute.”

“And that is why, I think he might like me better,” I retorted.

“Eh, he definitely likes you better,” he replied hastily, in a way that slightly lessened the effect of my joke. “But he’s stuck with me…Speaking of which, if you’re able to move around on it today, we’ll work on it a little more for the next few days, but I’m hoping you’ll be well enough to get back down the mountain in a little while. From what I can see of it right now, the sprain seems to be healing nicely. I’m more worried about re-injury than I am about you not being able to make it. I just want to make sure you don’t overdo it too soon.”

“Thanks,” I answered, feeling the spark of a connection starting to take shape again. I grinned at him.

However, this time, he didn’t respond in a positive manner. He swallowed hard and put his plate to the side. His expression wasn’t angry, but it scared me.

“What?” I asked, my face falling to match his morose expression. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah…I just…I feel like I have to tell you something,” Johnathan replied, putting his plate down on the ground and settling in to have a serious conversation.

Suddenly, the remainder of my breakfast was no longer appealing. I felt my stomach churn as I wondered what could possibly be so important, or so grave, that he would feel the need to be so serious about.

Since, the one thing I had learned about Johnathan was that unless he was angry, he didn’t take things overly serious. He would rather insult a problem or tell it to go to hell wit his dry sense of humor than actually address it, which I was starting to get used to. Instead, though, right now, he seemed almost too serious.

“Johnathan, you’re scaring me…” I offered, pulling back from him.