Saturday was laundry day and had been for as long as I could remember. Any changes to my routine would send me over the edge so I was pretty annoyed to find Jamie's clothes in the washing machine. In a huff, I removed all of his clothes from the machine and dumped them on the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jamie asked, catching me red-handed.

"I do my laundry on Saturday morning," I said, walking passed him and out of the room.

"Are those the rules?" he said.

"Yes," I said, heading to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" Jamie said, following me to the kitchen. I was done talking to him.

"Uh-oh," Tim said. "What'd he do now?"

"He dumped my wet clothes on the floor," he said.

"He does his laundry on Saturday morning," Tim said in my defense.

"How was I supposed to know?" Jamie said. "He could have put it in the dryer for me or he could have just done his laundry later in the day. There, that's an idea, right?" Tim and I both stared at Jamie who was so angry and annoyed.

"You don't have to stay here," Tim said.

"Yeah, I know, but you've got good weed," he said and went outside to the back porch.

Tim directed his attention to me after Jamie left. "You really could have waited until he at least put his clothes in the dryer," he said. He knew better than to make such a comment. "Never mind. I take that back."

After finishing my Cocoa Puffs, I returned to the laundry room to complete my Saturday morning chore. As I transferred my wet clothes into the dryer, I realized I had accidentally washed my earphones—again. So far they survived each wash, but I wasn't so sure this time. Holding them up, I discovered that the wire was frayed. My heart raced in a panic. No, this can't be happening! I plugged the earphones in my phone and discovered the horrible truth; they were broken and I didn't have a back up. Instead of going to Tim and asking him to take me to the store to buy a new set, I couldn't think or see past the fact that they were broken. I chucked my phone against the wall. In an uncontrollable rage, I threw each piece of clothing around the small laundry room, screaming and carrying on like "a wild animal," as Tim would say. Tim and his houseguest came running in.

"What's going on?" Tim said.

My hands shook nearly uncontrollably as I held my mangled earphones. "What am I going to do? I don't know what to do."

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me," Tim said. "I hate it when you do that." Since he wasn't taking me seriously—again—I gave him one big shove. I was bigger and taller than him, so I had enough force to injure him if I really wanted to.

"Hey," Jamie intervened, stepping between us in case I went after him again, which I was inclined to do. Tim rarely retaliated with physical force, maybe because he was afraid of me.

"I hate it when you overreact like this," Tim said. "I thought you were hurt or something. I..." I tried to get passed Jamie to get to him, but Jamie stopped me, holding my wrists so I couldn't move. He was touching me after I had told him not to touch me. So what did I do? I spit in his face. "I can't believe you," Tim said. "Just stop it, okay? You can borrow my headphones until you get your own." Tim really didn't get me sometimes.

"Let go of me," I growled at Jamie and kicked him in his shin, forcing him to let go, doubling over in pain. Embarrassed, instantly regretting my actions, I bolted out of the room and out of the house. The pool was still a little green, but I jumped in the water anyway, maybe to cool myself off. I swam in the cold, green water for a few minutes, telling myself over and over, "It's okay. It's okay. You're not going to die. It's okay. You'll get new ones..." As I swam, the last song I listened to popped in my head:
"As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding?"

I swam under water and bobbed back up again to finish the next verse:

"And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony..."

Another voice unexpectedly joined me, getting my attention. Jamie was there, up on the pool deck and looking down at me in the water.

"'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry
What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding?"

"Sorry," he said. "I just couldn't resist. You wanna sing some more?" I dunked back under the water. That would be a "no." "I guess not," he said as I re-emerged to the surface. "So....I was thinking we could go to the store and buy a new set of headphones. Tim said there's a mall about a half an hour from here." Why would he take me to the mall after I just spit in his face and kicked him? "Come on," he said. "I'm not angry. I know how much your music means to you. It could have been worse, right? You could have washed your phone instead." I don't know why, but I almost laughed. "It's okay. You can smile and laugh once and awhile." Standing in the pool, I continued to look up at Jamie, confused with his motives. It didn't make sense to me. Why would he offer to take me to the mall after how I treated him? He was weird, that's for sure. "I have nothing to do today, anyway."

Jamie extended his hand down to help me out of the pool, not like I needed any help. I liked the idea of getting new headphones. Jamie seemed to understand me.

Something stopped me from getting out of the pool, though. I had a strange thought in my head, an urge, something I had done to Tim a million times before. Grabbing hold of Jamie's  hand tightly, I pulled him as hard as I could, so hard he tumbled into the water. Amused with myself, I burst into laughter, not something that came easily or naturally to me.

"You little shit," Jamie said and dunked me under the water, making me laugh even harder. He splashed me and dunked me again over and over until I started coughing.

"Does this mean we can't go to the mall?" I said after I regained my composure.

"You'll have to shower and get dressed before we go," he said. "I mean it."

Jamie and I made our way back into the house where Tim stopped us immediately. "What have you two been up to?" he said. "Oh no. He got you, didn't he?"

"Yeah. I guess I'm a sucker, huh?" Jamie said.

"To be fair, I just stopped falling for that gag last year," Tim said.

"We're going to the Mall," I said.

"After your shower," Jamie clarified. "Wanna come?" he asked Tim.

"No, thanks," Tim said. "I hate shopping. You kids go have fun," he teased.

Like a good boy for once, I took a shower and changed into some freshly cleaned clothes I pulled out of the dryer. Tim had cleaned up the mess I made earlier, which included putting all my wet clothes in the dryer. I threw on a pair of jeans and black Pixies t-shirt that read "Death to the Pixies" across the front. Tim got me that shirt a couple of birthdays ago. The Pixies happened to be one of my favorite bands, also because they were one of Mom's favorites.

"Great shirt," Jamie said. Apparently he was a fan, too.

Jamie removed the roof off his Jeep since it was such a nice day. We took the back roads all the way across the border to New Hampshire where the closest shopping mall was. Throughout the ride, we blared my music although Jamie clearly stated it wasn't just "my music" since he liked it, too, and music belonged to everyone.

Shopping or going to public places was not really my thing, but I tolerated it since we were going shopping for me, specifically for headphones.

I pulled out my wallet and counted fifty dollars. Dad sent me an allowance every month. He usually sent me a couple of hundred, sometimes more, but Tim always made me put most of the money in the bank. There were tons of headphones on display and I tried all of them. I concluded that maybe I should just buy a few of the cheap headphones, the ones with the ear buds in case they go through the laundry again. I really liked the blue wireless Sony headphones, though, and kept going back to them.

"Why don't you get those?" Jamie said. I pointed to the price sticker that read $200, then showed him the measly fifty bucks I had in my wallet. "They're on sale for 150. I can loan you a hundred." Why would he do that, especially after everything I've said and done to him? "I bet you'll never let these go through the wash." I stared at him stupidly. "It's not like you can stick these in your pocket. That's it. I'm getting them. Pay me back later." I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing and accepted the headphones.

I couldn't wait to get home to try them out and held the box tightly in my lap on the drive home. Jamie's brown hair with the naturally blond streaks blew wildly in the wind. That's when I realized where I saw him before.

"Thor," I said.

"Huh?" Jamie said.

"You have the same hair as Thor," I said.

"What are you talking about?" he laughed, but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Thor, the Norse god. Marvel Comics. Do you think you look like Thor?"

"I know who Thor is," he said.

"Are you aspiring to look like him?"

"You know, I thought I liked you when you spoke, but I'm not so sure now." I got the hint and decided to keep my mouth shut. It was safer that way, so we sat in silence for a few seconds or minutes. Jamie had a hard time keeping quiet, though, and just couldn't help himself. "Do you like Marvel Comics?"

"Yes," I said. Tim and I must have seen every Marvel Comics movie. I was Iron Man three times for Halloween.

"I'm not aspiring to look like Thor."

A/N

So I was just watching The Avengers and realized Jamie's hair really is like Thor's and it seemed like something Jordan would say.