For Pops on her birthday. You wanted N2N, I delivered (hopefully :P) I would only do this for you, you know. So feel special ;)
Just realized that this got deleted somehow. I wondered why there were no reviews....
Apologies to anyone who got alerts on this twice.
"Mr. Carter!"
The sudden increase in volume jerked Henry from his stupor. Rubbing his eyes, the boy look up to see the glowering face of his biology teacher. Crap…
Cracking his usual sarcastic smirk, he simply replied, "What's up, Mr. Lennon?"
"Apparently, not you," came the dry reply. "This is the fourth time I've caught you sleeping in my class in the last week. Is this class really so dull that you feel you can drop off and no one will notice?"
Henry didn't answer, only shrugged.
Mr. Lennon held up a finger. "This is your last warning, Mr. Carter. One more offense and I'll have you in detention until the end of the semester."
Henry snorted, "Great. I need to catch up on my naps."
His teacher stopped and turned. Henry was surprised to see a solemn look on his face rather than the expected scowl. "If you listen to nothing else, Mr. Carter, listen to this. You might want to rethink that sleeping policy of yours. There are some thing in life that you don't want to miss, things that can happen in the blink of an eye." He sent the boy a knowing look. "Think about what you might be losing out on for a little shut-eye."
He turned away then and resumed teaching. Henry only shook his head. I don't know what that old fool could possible mean. Nothing interesting ever happens around here…
"Henry!"
His eyes squinted shut at the sound of his name. Who could possible be calling this early?
"Henry!" The voice came again, more persistent this time.
He groaned and rolled over, intent on ignoring the nuisance.
"Henry Carter, get out of that bed before I do it for you!" This caused his eyes to fly open. Now the voice sounded mad. Mad voices were never good.
Before he could even mutter a word, Natalie-at least he thought it was Natalie- stormed into the bedroom, the annoyance clearly written on her face. Planting her hands on her hips, she regarded him with a malicious glare. "Haven't you heard a word I've said?"
Henry only blinked. Why did she look older? "What?"
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Are you honestly that dense? It's 8:30, Einstein! You have to be to work in a half hour. Now get your lazy behind out of bed and come eat your breakfast."
Wait. Did she just say work? The man bounded out of bed, shrugged on some clothes that lay discarded at the foor and made his way downstairs. He was met with the site of Natalie preparing food on the stove, her hair pulled back in a messy bun.
"What's going on?"
She turned at the sound of his voice. "What do you mean, 'what's going on?' The same thing that's been going on for ten years. You and I wake up and go to work. How is it different? Oh, don't forget to pick up Justin from school. It's your day."
He accepted a cup of coffee. "Right. Who's Justin?"
Natalie gazed at him as if he had grown another head. "You're kidding, right? Justin. You know, our son! He's only been around for the last seven years and Tanya's been around almost four. I'm starting to wonder where you've been?"
I have kids? "Nat, how old am I?"
She turned from the stove and placed her hands on her hips. "Henry, you're scaring me."
He snorted. "I'm scaring myself. Come on, Nat. Answer me. How old?"
She sighed. "You turned twenty-eight last month."
He nearly sputtered on his coffee. Twenty-eight!? Where have I been? "And you are?"
She rolled her eyes, clearly getting tired of this game. "Twenty-seven. We've been married for nealy eight years, although something tell tells me you forgot that too."
It was only then that he noticed the gold band on his left hand. Good lord, I'm married and I didn't even know it!
Natalie glanced at the clock and shook her head. "You're going to be late for work if you don't leave now. Here." She shoved his car keys at him. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but hopefully whatever it is will be gone by the time you get home. Don't forget Justin. I'll see you tonight. Love you"
He didn't move, his feet riveted to the ground. "Henry?"
"Henry? Henry, can you hear me?"
His girlfriend's voice called him out of his trance. He glanced down to see Natalie watching him with a worried expressed. "Henry, are you alright? You didn't look so good."
"Yeah…" he said slowly, then smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Well then what was with the whole spaced out look?" She fell into step beside him as they walked down the hall. "You looked like you were in another world."
He shrugged. "I guess you could say I was. It was..different"
"Like, weird different?"
He shook his head. "No. Just different."
Natalie didn't look convinced but she didn't press him father. "So did you get your nap in bio today?"
Henry nodded. "Yeah. I don't think they'll last much longer though."
Her expression was sympathetic. "Did Lennon the Lobster threaten you with detention again?"
"Doesn't he always?" Henry grinned. "Then again, he made me see something too."
"Really." Natalie raised a brow. "And that would be?"
He shrugged. "Nothing revolutionary." Placing an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close and planted a kiss to her forehead. "Let's just say that I have a feeling that there are some things that are going to be way to good to miss."
So don't blink
Life goes faster than you think...