"Yo Sage, you got to quit staring at niggas like that man. You look 'bout evil as hell." Marion shook his head at a 23-year-old Sage, who hadn't even realized he was staring.

"You just scary." He shrugged his shoulders, turning his head to look back at the book he was reading-Soar, by T.D. Jakes.

"Nigga staring through my soul with those dark ass eyes and gone call me scary? Duh bitch. You look like the lil' hoe wit' long hair who sing through the night in that white dress." He was descriptive as hell, but Sage still didn't know who he was talking about. He didn't watch TV much.

"Sage," He said after a few seconds of silence from him, making Sage turn his head again to look at him once more-trying not to look so 'evil'.

"You ever plan on getting out of here man?" Marion laid back on his bunk, looking up at the bars that held up the bed above him.

"I don't know. One day they gone have to kick me out." He chuckled. If it was up to him, he would probably never leave the military. He did want to leave Afghanistan though, and possibly go to the Marine Corps. He heard life on the water was better than it was in constant combat.

"That's crazy. You young as hell, you shouldn't be spending yo' days doing this, every single day."

Marion was seven years older than Sage, and some people didn't understand what the two had in common that made them connect as best friends. Sage didn't care about how old he was though. A friend was a friend, whether 100 or ten-but being friends with a ten-year-old would be kind of weird.

He had always been an ear that listened whenever Sage wanted to rant about random facts or just about some past experiences of his life that he was having a hard time letting go of; and full of wisdom, Sage gave great advice and always helped Marion navigate through life.

Marion had left the U.S. military three times already, but came back time after time. Whenever he went back home, he called Sage to talk about his day and tell him unnecessary things like what he'd ordered from Burger King or that Kroger had ran out of rice flour.

He had a wife and two kids; aged 14 and 16. Yep, he started young. Life was hard on him as a kid, and what happened just happened. Some stuff he still hadn't told Sage about, so there wasn't much explaining that Sage could do. Whenever he was ready to talk though, Sage would be there to listen.

"It don't bother me much.. I wouldn't have a life if I left anyway." Sage shrugged, turning the next page of his book.

"Yeah, but you can always build one for yourself. The world is great, man. Foreal. You know I wouldn't lie to you. A nigga as smart as you, you could get yourself a nice house and a family and shit, go to parties 'cause that's what young niggas do. Take vacations and stuff.."

"The American Dream, huh?" Sage spoke, seemingly bored with the topic.

"Mhm. You must be scared or something. That's probably why you ain't never left." Marion rubbed over his cleanly cut hair as he chuckled.

"Scared of what? Can't nothing be worse than this."

"Exactly. If it can't be worse, that mean it's at least better."

"Not technically. Just means it ain't worse." Sage corrected him, causing Marion to let out a low laugh.

"Well, you deserve more. Yo, promise me something," Marion looked over at him at the same time that Sage curiously turned his head away from his book yet again.

"Get out of here one day. Find something that makes you happy and do it 'til you die. Smile more. You know better than anyone how fast a life can be took; so you need to make the most of yours. You only get one, man. Make it a good one-one day. Promise?"

Sage's eyes drifted over to the window on the other side of Marion's bunk, seeing the light of a full moon shining through the thin curtain. In a few hours the sun would be rising, giving all the lucky people another day. He didn't care whether he got another day or not though.

There wasn't much for him to live for anymore, and he'd accepted that a few years ago. Some people found their reasons to go on, but he'd never had. It didn't even bother him; it was life, and life went on and didn't wait on anyone. He couldn't do anything about it-and wouldn't try to, for that matter.

One of these days he hoped he would find that spark again, the one that made him want to keep going. If he never did, he hoped he at least got the strength to finally take himself out.

"Sure. Yeah, I promise." Sage agreed, only to make Marion feel better. Maybe his subconscious could take the promise serious, but with the mental state he was in now, he didn't think it would make any difference.

"Aight man. That's enough for me. Y'know I love you boy, I'm just looking out for ya' 'cause you don't do it enough for yourself." Marion pulled his blanket over his head, turning his body to face the wall so that he could fall asleep.

"I love you too shordy." Sage chuckled, finally able to go back to his book.

Sage remembered finding Marion hanging from his bed sheets in the bathroom just a few hours after that conversation. It was the last time he'd ever spoke to him, and he regretted not saying more that night; anything that could've kept him alive.

Pulling the knife from his skin, Sage watched his wrist leak blood with dull, tear filled eyes. It didn't hurt, so he wasn't crying from any physical pain or discomfort. He was just so damn tired that it made him emotional.

It had been a few days since the last time he'd slept, but that wasn't the cause of his tiredness. He couldn't explain what he was tired from even if he tried; and that was saying something because his vocabulary was large. He just couldn't fit his pain into words.

Leaning his head against the wall of his bathroom, he sighed to himself as the warm blood trickled down his palm and off the side of his wrist too. The fact that he could never force himself to cut deep enough was so annoying to him.

He raised up from the floor, and grabbed one of his black towels out of the bathroom closet so that he could clean up his mess. First, he ran his wrist under cold water to rinse the blood away, watching as the once clear water turned red.

Next he applied pressure with the towel against his wound to stop the bleeding. It took a couple minutes, and when it was done, he cleaned it with a sterile pad and then wrapped a cloth bandage around it.

The healing time for most of his self-harm cuts only took a day or so because he did it so much, he guessed his body was just used to it by now. That kind of saddened him but he didn't know how to stop. It was the only thing that helped him cope.

Sage wondered when the next time he would have a good day, a day where he wouldn't have to cope. Today wasn't that day. He was hurting so badly, and he tried so damn hard to keep himself together every day but it was becoming exhausting. As bad as he didn't want to give up, he was so tired of trying.

Dragging himself to his bed after a hot shower, he got underneath his covers with his face planted down on his thick memory foam pillow. It was raining in Atlanta today, and he knew it would be the thing to finally put him to sleep.

One more soft sigh later, he was out like a light.

Sage poured out the leftover milk from the fruity pebbles cereal he'd just eaten, watching as it drained down the sink. A yawn left his lips while he washed the bowl out, even though he'd been sleep since nine this morning and it was now going on 12AM.

He was craving something sweet now. He still hadn't been back to Walmart since the other day, and the Home Goods store he went to yesterday didn't have any candy or sweets. Since he would probably be up for a minute, he decided to run up the street to the corner store he'd drove past a few times.

And by run, he did literally that. It was no point in taking his car since it was only about a mile away, and he could jog that in six or seven minutes. But it was still storming, so he walked most of the way.

Most would call him crazy for walking to the corner store during a thunderstorm at midnight just for some candy, but it was actually therapeutic. Besides, his umbrella was catching most of the water anyway.

The hanging bells above the door jingled when he walked in, and he gave a small wave to the clerk at the counter to kind of give off the vibe that he wasn't looking to start any trouble. He just wanted some candy. He did have his gun on his waist, but didn't plan on using it.

His eyes danced with excitement when he found the candy aisle which wasn't too far from the door. He grabbed a white chocolate Hershey's bar, sour punch straws, a package of the purple skittles pack, pink starbursts, some watermelon sour patch, and a pack of m&m's.

He decided not to get any hot chips since he had some at home, though the purple bag of Takis looked very convincing. They had come out with so many new flavors since the last time he saw them.

The bells to the store jingled again as Sage walked to get some gummy bears and sour worms to add to his tab, but he didn't bother to look at who had walked in. When he turned to jog back to the front, he bumped right into a smaller figure.

He grabbed her arms before she could fall, and immediately recognized her as the girl who had rear ended him the other day. What was this, the universe trying to tell him something? He hated stuff like this, stuff that made him think. She had to have been stalking him or something.

It was literally 12AM. What was she doing at the corner store by his house? Hell, he had no room to judge anyway. He'd came up here for candy like he was five with a sweet tooth and silver caps.

"You must navigate life with your eyes closed or something." He mumbled, thinking she couldn't hear him since he talked so low. She did though.

"Shit. Sorry." She pulled away from him, frowning her face up as the water from his coat dampened her hands. She wiped them on her tights, apologizing once more before walking around him to get what she came for.

Sage kept his eyes on her 5'6 frame as she went towards the chocolate, watching as she grabbed two snicker bars. She was dressed in a matching Nike hoodie and tights, and Nike slides too. Slides in rain? Insane. She could slip and give herself a concussion, or worse, die from blunt force trauma to her head.

"Boo?" She had a frown on her face after catching him staring, but he didn't look away. She was pretty.

"You're rude for somebody who hit my car and bumped into me at the store-literally." He rose an eyebrow at her once she laughed because he wasn't joking.

"First off, the wreck was kind of your fault. And second, I didn't bump into you, you bumped into me." She grabbed two gatorades out of one of the back refrigerators, and a bottle of sprite too.

"Whatever." He mumbled, taking his things back to the counter so that he could finish paying. The man at the counter was having a full blown foreign conversation in the phone-speaker phone at that-while ringing the rest of Sage's stuff up, gesturing with his hands as he did so.

"What's your name?" She asked, standing behind him in line just as two more customers walked in. He didn't know why people were even awake right now.

Sage didn't reply to her because he didn't see a reason to, being his usual mean self-though it wasn't purposeful. He didn't plan on seeing her again so why exchange names with her.

"I'm Mariah."

"I didn't ask." He tapped his finger impatiently on the counter, talking to her while still looking ahead. The clerk was taking forever, getting sidetracked by his phone conversation. Sage had half a mind to just walk out without paying.

"Sassy." She muttered, deciding to stop talking to him. He was mean as hell. Granted she did hit his car, but still.

After the clerk finally rung up the last item, Sage's total finally appeared on the card swipe screen. Just as he grabbed his wallet from his pocket, Mariah around him and tapped her phone on the screen. He frowned as his total disappeared, being replaced with 'Approved'.

"What did you do that f-how did you do that?" His frown became deeper as he registered that she'd just paid for his things with just her phone camera, apparently.

"Apple Pay, obviously, Mr.No Name." She was bolder and had a slicker mouth than she did a few days ago, and that's when he smelled the scent of weed. He assumed she was high.

"Why would you do that? You're annoying." He had his lips turned up into a small mug, and she dramatically gasped to pretend to be offended.

"I just paid for your stuff and that's how you thank me? Rudeness.."

"I didn't ask you to Mariah." He retorted, causing a smile to spread across her plump lips. He'd said her name.

"Well, do something about it or be quiet." She shrugged, and he just continued to stare at her. He'd only met her twice but she still managed to get on his nerves.

"Boo?" She said once again after feeling his eyes linger on her, which made him roll his eyes.

"You are so sassy No Name." She just wouldn't shut up. Why was she so comfortable with strangers?

"My name is Sage. You talk a lot." He grabbed his stuff that was now bagged up, and passed the other bag of snacks to her. The clerk sure rung up her stuff quicker than Sage's. He didn't like that.

"You don't talk at all, Sage. That's a pretty name. Too bad you got stuck with it." She made a yikes face, and he frowned in response.

"What does that mean? Are you calling me ugly?" He unintentionally followed behind her towards the door, still frowning of course.

"Whatttt? Psssh. No." She did a hand gesture to wave him off, and he rolled his eyes yet again. He really didn't like her.

The sound of thunder made her just barely jump as they made it outside, and Sage chuckled. Still being scared of thunder at her age was crazy-assuming that she was grown.

Sage walked down the sidewalk to get back to the street, adjusting the way that he held his umbrella while multitasking, opening the bag of skittles at the same time.

When he poured a few of them in his mouth, he childishly smiled at the nostalgia. He used to love skittles when he was younger. All of the things that had been reminding him of the past kind of lifted his mood a bit.

"You walked in this weather Sage?" Mariah said after letting her window down, slowly driving next to him. His smile immediately disappeared at the sound of her voice. She was weird. At this point he knew she had to have been stalking him.

"Please go away." He spoke loud enough for her to hear, and when she laughed, he cracked a barely visible smile. She was so annoying that it was low key amusing.

"Come on, I'm not gonna give up until you're my friend. Let me give you a ride home. I'm not crazy, I swear." She slowed down even more, and Sage looked over at her. Surprising himself, he walked around her car when she stopped, and got in her passenger seat.

"After this I don't wanna see you no more. You should move or something. I heard Massachusetts is fun." He suggested, and Mariah fake gasped again.

"You are so mean. Like foreal, do you wake up in the morning and drink piss for breakfast?" She glanced over at him, watching as he scrunched his face up.

"What kind of figurative language is that? I really do not like you. Why are you driving so fast and you don't even have my address? See. Unlikeable." He poured more skittles in his mouth, and Mariah laughed. She knew she was growing on him.

"Put it in my maps." She pointed to the display screen on her car, and Sage did as told. When he typed in the street number, it popped up on her saved addresses as 'Home'.

"No way." He frowned over at her, and she looked down at the Apple Maps, before laughing once again.

"Oh my god, I knew you looked familiar! Well I mean of course from the crash, but I felt like I'd seen you somewhere. You must've just moved in?" She put her eyes back on the road, but Sage didn't respond. He just looked at her.

"What? I'm not a stalker Sage. I don't even know you." She waved him off, and he hummed as if he didn't believe her, making her smile.

He didn't like how much she was making him talk, and she made him laugh too! He needed to get it together, immediately. He hadn't said this much in forever, especially to a girl.

"You don't talk much. What, are you shy Mr.Sage?" She playfully asked, to which he just shrugged to. He wouldn't call it that, he just didn't have a lot to say.

"Since you stay in my building that means we have to be friends n-,"

"No it doesn't." He cut her off before she could finish, earning her another laugh from her, even though he didn't know what was so funny.

"Bruh you are so mean to me."

"You hit my car."

"And? That happened soooo long ago. Let it go bookie." She waved him off, turning on the street where their apartment complex was located.

"Bookie? You're very unlikeable. Maybe the rest of the ride can just be quiet." He ate some more skittles, grabbing his bag from the floor since they were almost home.

"You and I both know that's not happening. Is that the purple skittles? Can I have some?" She reached her hand out to him, and all he did was look down at it.

"Have you ever heard of stranger danger? What if these are poisoned?" He frowned over at her, then rolled his eyes as she kept her hand out. He poured some skittles in her palm, then pushed it away because he wasn't giving her anymore.

"See, you just like being difficult." She put the candy in her mouth as she pulled in the parking garage, stopping at the dial pad to type the code in.

"You aggravate me." He mumbled, rolling the package of skittles up, then put it in the bag from the store.

Mariah chuckled as she drove further in the garage, and parked in her designated spot a few seconds later. There was a black Lamborghini Urus truck in her other parking spot, and Sage rose his eyebrows in surprise.

He wasn't going to ask her about her finances, obviously, but both of her cars were expensive. He wondered what she did for work. Maybe her parents were rich or something. Whatever paid her, her pockets were definitely full.

"Stop following me weirdo." Mariah looked back at him as they both headed towards the only elevator on this level of the parking garage, and he rolled his eyes for the hundredth time.

He stood near the corner of the elevator, and Mariah purposely stood directly next to him because she knew she was getting on his nerves. When he huffed, she moved closer. Then he pushed her away, and she laughed, finally giving him some space.

"Do you have a crush on me or something? Leave me alone. Press your floor." He pointed to the buttons of floor levels; he definitely wasn't about to get off first, in case she really was stalking him.

"Crush? Boy, please get over yourself. I like pussy. It don't look like you got one either." She pressed floor six, and he face palmed himself at her language and the fact that he lived on floor six too.

"You disgust me." He shook his head at her, watching her amusingly roll her eyes with a smile on her face.

"Life just won't let you let me go, huh?" She chuckled as he followed her off the elevator, and he ignored her, shaking his head again.

"Mhm. I know where you stay now so you can't ignore me forever Mr.Sage." Mariah walked backwards away from him since her door was in the opposite direction of his.

Sage chuckled to himself as he unlocked his front door, not saying anything back to her while walking inside. Maybe she wasn't all that bad. Still annoying, definitely. But not that bad.

The fact that I didn't know that being Korean and being Asian was the same thing until like two months ago is so crazy. They still eat me up in Love Kentrell for not knowing 😣 Idc tho cause bitch y'all can't beat my ass now can y'all?????? Oh ok 😒😒😒😒