Author's Note: Hi y'all! I got a LOT of e-mails about last chapter, and they were great! Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback! Please, send e-mails about this one as well. If I don't get e-mails, then I have no way of knowing that people are reading what I write. Thanks a lot! If you have ANY suggestions, then don't hesitate to let me know! My address is above, as always.
"What's your name, by the way?" he asked me as we walked back down to the library. I thought it was kind of silly that we had forgotten to introduce ourselves.
"Dean." I said. "Yours?"
"Neil."
"Okay." Then there was that kind of awkward silence that makes you just want to hurry up and get away from it, but he broke it.
"So hey, do you want to come to the movies with my sister and me tonight?" he asked me.
"Uhh.." I said. It's not like I had anything better to do. I only really had one or two true friends, and we didn't hang out after school. I don't know why I didn't just say yes right then.
"If you don't want to.." he started, but I interrupted. "Sure!" I said. "Why not? What time?"
"Actually, we were gonna go around five or six. It's about 4:30. Why don't you just come home with us?" he asked.
"Okay. Do you guys walk home, or what?"
"I drive."
"That's insane. How can you afford a car?" I asked.
"Are you calling me poor?" he raised his eyebrows at me.
"No."
"My mom's a computer technician. How's that for a stereotype breaker? Anyway, I would bale hay for people whenever they needed it and get paid for it. We went half and half on an old eclipse. It runs well, so I'm content."
"Doesn't Oklahoma have some strict laws about drivers under the age of eighteen, though?" I asked, tapping into my knowledge base of random facts from reading Wikipedia articles all day.
"Technically, but no one follows them. They change like every time you go to the DMV, so..." he said.
"How interesting. I thought you guys just learnt how to drive from your parents." I said.
"Thanks." Neil said. "Okay, so I had a list somewhere for these books..." he patted himself down, pulling the list out of his back pocket.
"Can I see it?" I asked.
"Yeah." he turned around and gave it to me before opening the library doors for me. I felt kind of awkward. Did he think I was so weak that I couldn't even open the doors? I mentally slapped myself. He was just being polite. God, I should try to be less self conscious.
I started unblinkingly at Mrs. Jenks as we walked by.
"Why're you so mean to her?" Neil whispered.
"She's a bitch."
"That's not a nice word." he said, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"You're not in your one stop light town anymore, chuck. We don't smile at strangers here."
"You should try it sometime." he said, smiling at me. Maybe he was just being ironic, but it was friendly nevertheless.
"Whatever. Let's just get your books and leave. It's nearly 4:30 already." I said. "Okay, so AP Biology. Here." I said, quickly finding a large, dark green book and putting it on the table.
"Got the French book." he said, placing it on top of the other book.
"I can't reach the mathematics book." I said, pointing to the top of the bookcase.
"Yeah, no problem." he said before getting it.
We finally got all of the books, and somehow, got them checked out without giving in to the urge to bite Mrs. Jenks' face off.
"Okay, where's your sister?"
"Let's find out." he pulled out a cell phone.
"Oh! You have a cell phone too!?" I asked in faux surprise.
"Really?" he said in disbelief.
"I'm joking!"
"Good." he looked over at me before dialing his sister's number.
"Devan! Hey. You ready to go?" he asked her.
A few minutes and some talking later, he hung up.
"Guess she isn't coming." he frowned.
"Why wouldn't she?"
"She's with some guy."
"Let's go get him." I suggested. In reality, by "let's" I meant him, because chances are, the guy could knock me out cold. But he overlooked this.
"I don't have a reason."
"He's the reason your sister isn't going to be hanging with you tonight. What kind of brother would you be if you let that slide?!"
"A desirable one. You wanna just spend the night at my house instead of going to the mall?" he asked.
"Will your mom be there?"
"No. Her work is having a 'lock-in' type thing." he said.
"Wow, that's weird. Well, let's go then."
"Why does my mom's presence or lack thereof matter?"
"I dunno. I just thought it'd be fun to meet some random people and hang out with them all night."
"Are you serious?" He looked at me with a peculiar expression.
"Why would I be joking?" I grinned.
"Just doesn't seem like something you'd do."
"Hello? You met me like 30 minutes ago."
"That should serve as a warning, heh." he said.
"OR it could serve as a chance of opportunity. Duh! Come on. Live a little."
"Alright, alright. But if I get caught, you're dead."
"Deal!" I grinned, shaking his hand kiddingly.
"Lead the way." he said.
"Ugh, newbies." I joked.
"I'll show you a newbie." he said, picking me up around the chest and squeezing lightly.
"Oww, oww, okay, you're not a newbie!" I tried to break my arms free but couldn't. "Let me go!" I was kind of laughing even though I might as well have been asphyxiated.
"Alright." he said and let me down easily.
"You're mean, therefore you're a jock." I said.
"I'm not the one who calls old women mean words."
"Okay, assume you were mad and wanted to kill someone. Would you not place a few 'fucks' in your sentences?"
"That's different." he said.
"Whatever N-dawg."
"What???" he asked with genuine confusion.
"N-dawg. Duh. You take the first letter of a person's first name and add 'dawg' to it, and that becomes their new nickname."
"That's utterly lame. Can't you give me something better?'
"Like what?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, how about boxerboy?"
"I don't wear boxers."
"I didn't mean your underwear you goofball."
"Wait, hold up. I'm weird for saying 'silly', yet you say 'GOOFBALL'? Something about that seems wrongly out of place."
"You wouldn't understand. Besides, I was referring to the sport, you know, the thing you just did to me."
"That wasn't boxing, it was wrestling."
"Oh, so you speak Spanish, do MMA, wrestling, and boxing. What else? Sewing? Scrapbooking?"
"Anger management." he said flatly.
"But you haven't lost your cool yet..?"
"Do you have to be mentally unstable to attend therapy?"
"You do in Seattle."
"Well, good thing I don't believe in stereotypes."
"They exist regardless."
"Like cliques."
"Exactly."
"This town is depressing."
"Well, it DOES rain year-round."
"Case in point."
"So, are we gonna wait for my ribs to become unbroken before we leave, or what?"
"Come on, I barely applied any pressure."
"Ohhh the memo must have escaped you! I'm not made of steel."
"Guess I did miss that one. What do you want me to do, massage you?" he asked sarcastically.
"Depends. Are you Asian?"
"Do I look Asian?"
"I don't know. You're pretty tanned, so probably not. What are you, Mexican? I mean, you speak Spanish."
"Wow, two stereotypes in the span of one minute. That's a new record."
"Well?"
"I'm Native American."
"Lo and behold, an Oklahoman who's Native American."
"Is it so surprising? I mean, the state's name is Choctaw for 'red people'."
"Choctaw?"
"Are you serious? Did you not take 7th grade Social Studies?"
"Not included in Washington's curriculum."
"Pity." he said as we walked towards his car. To no one's surprise, it was drizzling.
"Not used to the humidity?" I asked him as I got in the passenger's seat.
"I AM from Earth, you know."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes I'm used to humidity. Am I the first southerner you've met? Honestly, you live in Seattle. Surely not everyone here is a native."
"Are you serious? The only people who move here are writers who write depressing love stories, or misinformed tourists. Seriously, if you want to see the Needle, just Google it."
"I don't think that's the same."
"Well, duh. What does Oklahoma have?" I asked sarcastically.
"The Five Civilized Tribes Museum." he said.
"Whatevs. Say, how fast does this go?"
"I don't know. Maybe 110?"
"You can't say that you've never tested it."
"Yes, I can."
"Whatever. So, to the mall, or your house?" I asked.
"Which do you want to do?" He asked me.
"Let's decide this the old fashioned way."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"Rock, Paper, Scissors." I said brightly. "If you win, we go to your house. If I win, we go to the mall."
"Alright." he said, letting a small smile slide to his lips.
"Oh! Destroyed!!" I grinned as my rock trumped his scissors.
"You're like a little kid with candy." he said as he started up his car.
"You're just mad because you couldn't interpret my body language to decide which I'd choose!" I stuck out my chest in faux pride.
"Oh, is that it? Well.. despite everything, I'm pretty sure I'm the one behind the wheel. So forget your rock!"
"Aw, come on."
"I'm kidding!" he grinned. "Okay, so what's the mall called?"
"Well, there're a lot, you know." I said as though this were obvious. Granted, his hometown probably didn't even have a single mall. Hm..
"Which is the best?"
"Southcenter is always full of other people!" I grinned. "So, I'm hoping that that big thing on your dash is a GPS?"
"As a matter of fact, it is. Don't hate." he said as he reached out towards it.
"You need a built-in one." I said.
"No, I want a build-in one." he said.
"Yeah yeah. So, it seems that the rain is supposed to get worse." I said.
"Why?"
"Because we're in RAIN CITY! Duh." I said. "We'll probably get struck by lightning."
"Can't wait." he said.
"Don't be such a downer." I nudged his particularly well-muscled arm, silently gasping in amazement. Maybe I was exaggerating, but really, what 16 year old has the genes to get that built?
"Okay, we're here." he said.
"Oh, is that why we're stopping?"
"Don't be a smart alec."
"I think you mean 'smartass'." I said.
"I only use such words when it matters." he grinned.
"Whatever. What kind of guy are you? Hollister, Dillards, Fossil?"
"Seriously? A pair of jeans from Fossil would cost more than a new iPhone."
"It's not that expensive." I said, though I kind of doubted myself. I'd never shopped there.
"300$ for a pair of jeans. I'd rather just wear gym shorts."
"Why?"
"Because gym shorts are silky and feel awesome."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Is Didier's Café any good?" he asked.
"You hungry?"
"Yeah."
"I'll lead the way." I said. Sure enough, it was downpouring by the time we got out of his car. I just walked on but he ran for the entrance, covering his head with his arms.
"You are so not a local." I laughed.
"Apparently. Unfortunately, my anti-precipitation mechanisms didn't work. My hair's soaked."
"You are such a nerd." I snickered.
"The same nerd that made you tap out earlier."
"Oh, whatever! I only 'tapped out' to give you an ego boost." I grinned.
"Ohh really?" his arms got dangerously close to me.
"What're you gonna do, lay a guy out in public?" I taunted.
"I've done it before."
"I bet you have!" I exclaimed. At this point I was laughing my ass off, half wondering if I was about to get knocked out or not. But for some reason, I knew he wouldn't really. Either the Anger Management classes worked for him, or I just wasn't provocative at all. Needless to say, I actually felt like, in that moment, that I had a true friend for once in my life. I had only known Neil for a short amount of time and we were already hitting it off. I wondered, does friendship always feel like this? If only the uncertainties of the future weren't so... uncertain.