I rolled over in bed, grumbling angrily as I reached for more pillows to block out the sunlight that was filtering into the room.
The alarm clock sounded, evidently in the mood to make my life miserable for yet another morning. Sleep clung heavily to my limbs, my eyes.
“Jonah.” I groaned. “It’s your turn.”
No response.
I reached my arm out to jostle him awake. My fingers grazed blankets and pillows. I opened my eyes, stifling back the unwanted feeling of being alone. I beat the alarm clock into silence and shuffled to the bathroom.
Three days had gone by since Jonah had held me at night, or kissed the tip of my nose, or squeezed my hand. He’d boarded his plane pressing his fingers to his lips, and then reaching for me. It took every ounce of strength that I could muster not to run to him and beg him not to leave. The night before he had left, I sobbed all night, the tears soaking my pillow. Each mournful quake of my body as sobs rippled through me threatened to tear me apart. And when Jonah realized that he couldn’t make me stop, he cried too, until we couldn’t tell who was whimpering or who was shaking, because our bodies shook together, and each gut wrenching groan became one that both of us would feel inside of our souls. He brushed my tear soaked hair away from my face and pressed kisses to my cheeks, my salty lips, until the tears refused to spill anymore. And then we held each other, our bodies trembling violently as reality began to sink in, that this would be our last night to be together, before Jonah would be hundreds of miles away from our life together in this small Oregon town.
I spit into the sink, cleaning out my toothbrush and putting it back in it’s container on the bathroom shelf. I tied my hair up and examined myself closely. I hadn’t bothered putting makeup on since Jonah had left. I had no one I needed to impress, no one who I wanted to be beautiful for. Maybe if Jonah wasn’t so tall or muscular, I could have made him stay. I turned to the side, pulling my shirt up slightly to examine my non-muscular, flat stomach. I lifted my arms, poking at the slight softness, and the even smaller amount of muscle. I brushed the stray strands of inky black hair away from my face, tucked them behind my ear the same way that Jonah did when he was here.
***
“Does anyone know what I’m talking about or am I just droning on and on to a bunch of zombies? I realize it’s a Monday, but some sort of intelligent response would be nice,” Mrs.VanDine said.
College Economics hadn’t changed much from high school. They threw in a lot more technical terms and went more in depth into a few things here and there, but other than a little bit more bookwork, there wasn’t much of a difference.
“Wouldn’t that kind of business try to split up their money?” I volunteered.
“Why would they want to do that?” she questioned again.
Mrs.VanDee was a new teacher this year, she was fresh out of college herself and was easily one of my favorites. She had the sense of raw humor that could make just about any intelligent person smile.
“Well, one bank wouldn’t be able to back up that kind of quantity of money, so putting them in separate banks would most likely gain more interest, and if one bank would happen to go under, they wouldn’t lose everything.”
“Exactly. Words of the wise, when you have a lot of something, don’t put it all in one place. For example. A middle aged married couple puts every piece of jewelry that the woman owns in a small box on the top of their night stand. The house gets robbed. Everything in the box is stolen. Spread the goods people! If you have a large sum of money in the bank, and the bank goes kaput, you’re shit out of luck. Chapter 12 for next week.”
The class snickered as they filed out of the room.
“Good discussion today, Talon. Way to keep the ball up when everyone else decides to drop it.”
I laughed. “Thanks Megan.” I said, giving a small wave and then walking out the door.
Classes had been easy all around today. Statistics earlier in the morning had been turned into a study hall due to the teacher being sick for the day. And Megan, Mrs.VanDine, was someone that I could understand well, no matter the subject matter.
I made my way from the campus to the diner, my stomach growling angrily as I passed other restaurants on my way.
When I finally reached Tobe’s, I changed quickly and threw together a burger and fries in a matter of minutes. Brad and Luke were sitting at the table already, goofing around and throwing salt at each other.
“Look who decided to come to work.” Luke teased.
“Just because you guys come early doesn’t mean I’m late. Remember that whole college thing that I’ll be doing for the next four years? That takes up a pretty big chunk of my time.” I laughed.
I popped a few french fries into my mouth. I hadn’t gotten them quite as crunchy as I usually liked, simply because waiting on fries for an extra minute wasn’t making my stomach too happy.
As if right on cue, my stomach growled menacingly.
Brad snorted, choking on his drink. “When was the last time you ate?” he asked, covering his mouth and continuing to cough.
I thought about it for a moment. Yesterday I had been so busy between college, work, and visiting with my foster parents that I had forgotten to eat entirely. Not to mention the day after Jonah had left, I couldn’t even manage to pull myself out of bed, let alone walk to the fridge and make something to eat. It had been three days since I’d eaten. We’d stopped at an IHOP the morning that Jonah left for his last stack of chocolate chip pancakes with bacon chunks sprinkled on top before he’d board a plane and be forced to eat only god knows what for eight grueling months.
“Have you heard from him yet?” Brad asked, bringing me back from the bacon topped chocolate chip pancakes and back into Tobe’s.
“No. He gets to call Sunday though. We won’t be able to talk for very long, but it feels like forever since I’ve heard his voice.”
Sunday was only two days away. Holding it together for two days didn’t seem too hard until I realized that after talking to him, I’d have to wait another week, and then another for months.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s not like they’re actually going to put him into a life and death situation at basic training. The most they’re going to do is gas him a few times and tell him how to shoot a gun without taking his own foot off.” Brad tried to lighten the mood, make me feel better.
“I know he’ll be fine. But do you guys have any idea how hard it is without him here? He holds this place together.” I said back.
“Of course he does. He’s the best worker Miss Boss Lady has ever had in here. But I think you mean that he holds you together.” Luke added.
Brady picked up his plate and took it to the sink, soon followed by Luke.
Within minutes, business picked up and thinking about Jonah had to be put to the side.
Usually on Fridays Tobe’s would have the regulars that came in for our signature sandwich and a cup of coffee, as well as different college kids that came and went as their classes ended.
Luke ran the cash register, passing back the tickets so I could read them off and get the order figured out.
I looked at the counter, at the couple that was walking away and a man that I’d never seen before talking to Luke. I reached for a ticket, but it never came. The man walked away to sit at a booth. Luke turned to Brad, exchanged glances, and continued on with work.
By the end of the night, the man was still sitting a cracked leather booth in the far left corner.
Brad fidgeted slightly by the grill, brushing back his shaggy dark brown hair away from his grey eyes and pale face. Luke looked tense with anticipation, like he was ready for anything and happy to be feeling the adrenaline of it all.
I rinsed out the sinks, clocked myself out and went to the back to change. Luke and Brad had changed and were already out the door. When I went back into the main room, the strange man was gone.
I wrapped Jonah’s leather jacket around me, pressing it’s long sleeves against my nose to take in it’s scent.
I’d stay strong for him, no matter what would happen over the eight months that he’d be gone. I’d be here, ready to welcome him home. If he could have courage, I could to. And I’d face whatever I needed to to see him come home.
(as usual haha) I was expecting her to wake up next to Jonah and was sad that she didn't, but I know the effect you were going for, and it worked. I noticed a few inconsistencies in some of the names you wrote (in one sentence it's Brad, the other Brady) may just be a slip of the finger on the keyboard, but you should fix them, however minor they may be. Other than that, there were only a few grammar mistakes here and there, and you will catch them in editing, I'm sure. So all in all, good momentum here. Keep it up, and I can't wait to see a twist!
bravo on being realistic. 
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