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Chapter Three

I stumbled into Waffle House the next morning and lowered myself into a seat across from Brian and next to AJ. Everything sounded particularly loud. Brian looked up from the menu he was reading. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked with a tone of surprise to his voice.

Howie, who was sitting next to Brian and across from AJ, snorted. "He got shot at last night."

"Like with a gun?" AJ asked, glancing between Howie and I excitedly. "Was it like being on TV?"

"A better question," Brian said, rolling his eyes at AJ, "Might be why he got shot at?"

I opened my mouth to reply but Howie interrupted, "He took that country girl from front and center home last night."

Brian sighed, "Oh g'Lord..."

"Was she good?" AJ asked.

"Her boyfriend opened fire on our little horn dog's ass last night," Howie finished.

"When are you gonna learn ---" Brian started in. I grabbed the menu from my spot at the table, opened it and ducked behind it, cutting off Brian's lecture effectively.

AJ peeked around the menu. "Serious dude? You got shot at by a homeboy fighting for his dame?"

I sighed, "Yes."

"Are you okay?" Brian's parental instincts were delayed but came out nonetheless.

"Yeah I'm okay. I almost wasn't though. He like just barely missed me when I was trying to scramble off the bus for my dear life," I added dramatically. The fact was, the kid was a horrible shot. "He got the back of the driver's seat. And the table and the closet..."

"Did you come out of the closet?" AJ joked, winking.

I stabbed his hand with my fork.

"Ow, sunva--" AJ glowered at me and pressed his hand to his mouth.

"Did you call the police?" Brian asked.

"Yeah but they don't think they'll find anything 'cos I didn't know the girl's last name," I replied.

"Her last name?" Brian asked, eyebrow raised.

"I knew her first name," I argued, "I'm not a complete idiot."

"Are ya missing a couple pieces?" AJ asked.

I turned to him, "Dude, do you want to get stabbed in the hand with the fork again?" I asked, waving it at him. He recoiled. "I didn't think so."

"You look like shit, dude," Howie said to me, "You should go take a shower or something."

"I look like shit because I didn't sleep because I kept waiting to get gunned down," I replied pointedly, "Because some people ditched me and left me all alone."

AJ and Brian looked at Howie. "He called me Elton John," Howie replied. AJ snorted in a way that makes me guess he almost had orange juice come out his nostrils.

The waitress appeared at my side and asked for our orders, which the other three guys were prepared for and I just ordered the same as Brian. Brian was usually pretty good at picking out food on menus. The waitress took our menus back and disappeared to the kitchen. I glanced around at the other guys. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

"Just make sure you pick a single horse or you might get shot at," AJ joked. I quickly stabbed him with my fork before he could duck away.

"Play nice," Brian said offhandedly as AJ grabbed his own fork and aimed for me.

"Maybe you should keep the fork by your bed just in case Billy comes back for you," AJ said in a voice like he was telling a horror story he addd, "WooOooOoOooo," and waved his fingers at me.

I scowled and tried to stab him again but Brian caught the fork out of my hand and put it down next to his own plate. "Enough with the fork stabbing," he said. AJ stuck his tongue out at me. "Good Lord you two are worse than Baylee," he muttered.

"That's because Baylee's still young," AJ said, "He hasn't perfected the art of being a pain in your ass yet." He grinned.

Brian rolled his eyes. He turned back to me. "Seriously, though, have you learned your lesson yet, Nick?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, "I learned not to go to bed without a bodyguard on duty."

Brian sighed, "Not exactly the lesson that I had in mind but okay."