A/N: I thought I'd try something new: write a story entirely in dialogue. So, naturally, I'll want feedback about whether or not it worked. Just tell me if you knew what was going on, if the emotions were obvious, if you could tell which character is which, etc. I'll really appreciate it. Also, I think I'm going to take this theme and make a full story out of it, but not with only dialogue (too hard), so tell me if it's interesting enough.
At Fault
"Jack!"
"Jack!"
"Jack! I've been following you for blocks and I know you heard me… Would you stop?"
"Dave, I know what you're gonna say."
"I'm the 'Walking Mouth', who knows what will come out?"
"I'm not in the mood, Dave."
"I believe I'm the one who should be offended."
"This has got nothing to do with you, Dave. Stay out of it."
"How can I? Tell me, how can I stay out of it when my sister hasn't left the apartment in days? I've never seen her so miserable. And it just so happens that this depression set in at the same time you disappeared from her life."
"I don't wanna talk about this. I don't wanna be blamed by someone who knows nothing about it. I said everything I had to say to Sarah and she wasn't exactly quiet either."
"What do you mean, Jack?"
"Dave, lay off!"
"Jack! I want to talk about this. I… I value our friendship."
"You 'value our friendship'? Dave, this ain't school. Stop reciting."
"I'm not. I mean it. Jack, you have to realize that I don't have many friends. I study too much. I'm too serious. But you helped me loosen up. I don't want to lose that. But I can't ignore what's happened between you and my sister. I owe that to her."
"It's all about Sarah, isn't it? Did she tell you anything? No? I think you'd better get her to explain."
"Why? Jack, don't walk away! Just tell me."
"I don't want to. I don't. I don't have to, either. I don't owe you nothing."
"I know that…"
"I don't think you do. You come to me, all fired up about Sarah, demanding to talk to me. Well, I got a headline for you, Dave: It Wasn't My Fault. Do you wanna buy the paper and read the whole article or can you infar what I'm getting at?"
"It's 'infer'… but that's irrelevant. Jack, I want the whole story. Read me the paper."
"I think you'd better go to the original source."
"Jack… can we quit the metaphors? I just want you to tell me what happened."
"What the hell is a metaphor?"
"It's a comparison without… it's what you did with the paper. You related the story of you and Sarah to an article in a newspaper and continued to talk about your relationship as if it were an article, which is actually an extended metaphor… Right, never mind. It's not important. Just talk to me."
"What the hell else doyou need to know?"
"You mean besides everything?"
"Dave, I'm warning you: no more jokes."
"Sorry."
"Good."
"Are you going to talk to me?"
"No."
"Jack!"
"Dave, you trying to make me deaf or something? Quit shrieking. I'll tell you. See, like I told you: it wasn't my fault. The truth is that Sarah broke it off. Don't make that face; you'll catch flies with your mouth hanging open like that. Yeah, she broke it off. Told me I didn't make enough money to marry her, wasn't 'adult' enough… Wasn't much I could do."
"She- Sarah did it? She's been making our home as gloomy as a graveyard in the rain (which is a simile, by the way, irrelevant as it may be) and all the while she's been at fault? Jack, I had no idea."
"I could see that."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Okay… You want to go to Tibby's? I'll pay."
"You got yourself a deal, Davey."