Hi everyone!
I have a big surprise for everyone who's stuck with this story. I have recently started a new story set within the same universe as this one but it's in the college section here on nifty. It's called "In My Head." It's written about a new cast of characters but still with my style of writing. I figured I should write something more age appropriate for myself. I must confess that it's difficult for me sometimes to get in the right mindset of a teenager for someone like me who hasn't been one for a while. Before anyone freaks out, I'm not abandoning this story. It's not even close to being finished in my view. So there's that. I do want to say that characters from both stories will make appearances between the two stories. I guess in a way this will be a fun challenge for me, to shake things up. Well enough about me, I hope you guys enjoy this next entry.
P.S. Sorry about the long wait. I promised myself I was going to adhere to a quota of two chapters per month and I got sidetracked. I blame my mind that's already focused on future chapters and not the one I'm currently writing. I will definitely try my best to keep the pace of two a month though.
Thanks,
Justin
Chapter 28: Cheerleader
We sucked up so much time just figuring out what I was gonna pack. I swear it felt like we were in an episode with Marie Kondo and asking ourselves, "Does this spark joy?" Since I initially packed so much, it looked like a tornado had swept past my room, and my room only. There were clothes everywhere. My mom's gonna kill me...only to bring me back from the dead so I could clean my room and then kill me again.
"Okay I think we're good now," Carver said slinging my bag across my shoulder.
"Are you su—?"
He pressed his pointer finger against my recently balmed up lips.
"Yes I'm sure. If for any reason, you need more than what I packed, we can always come back for more. Although that would mean I'll have to clear out some closet space for you then. But in the mean time, this is more than enough."
"Okay, you're the boss."
"Hmm," he hummed to himself as he took a gentle whiff of his finger.
"What are you hmm-ing about?"
"I was just thinking...your lips smell minty fresh. Reminds me of all the mint stuff my grandma has been pushing on me. She didn't happen to give you stuff too, did she?"
"She may have slipped a balm into my bag when I saw her at the store the other day. I don't have to use it though if you don't like it."
"No, no, I like it. The scent's grown on me. I admit I didn't like it at first but all this mint stuff helps ease my worries away. Does that make me sound crazy?"
"Mm I don't think so. So I have your seal of approval then? I don't have to toss it out even if it makes me smell like an old lady?"
"Mm let me try something first," he said as he swept me off of my feet and planted his lips against mine. He set me down gently and smiled wide. "I approve."
"Okay, cool, that was...warn me next time you do that," I said in a drunken haze.
"I don't think so. I think I like surprising you. Watching you go limp, it's cute. It's good to know that I still got it," he winked. "Well, shall we?"
"Mhm, one sec. I'm still coming back from that kiss."
He smiled and blushed.
"Okay, well I'll be waiting by the door. But hurry up, my grandparents are already going crazy. They kept blowing up my phone while I was packing," he said walking out the door.
"Oh crap, sorry!" I said in a panic. Pulling out one of my dresser drawers, I grabbed my pills and tossed them into my already full bag. "Okay let's get outta here! Last one to the car is a rotten egg!"
As soon as I said that, I stuck out my tongue and pushed through him. I got as far as his arm could reach because the next thing I knew, he was pulling me back at the starting line. He gave me a look like "Really? What do you think you're doing?" He shook his head at me as he pulled out my keys from my bag and dangled them in front of me. Crap, I knew I was forgetting something. What? I had my eye on the prize. I didn't want to be a rotten egg. In return I gave him an uncomfortable smile. With the keys, he ended up locking the door, but instead of slipping my keys back in my bag he pocketed them. I didn't race him this time. I just took the steps as they were instead of thinking I had someone to beat. He, on the other hand, did race me. He zipped past me and slid across the hood of the car like how those action stars do in the movies. I'm impressed. If I did something like that, I'd surely land on my ass or my face...or somehow both.
"Looks like you're the rotten egg," he smirked leaning into his now opened car door.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm the rotten egg. You cheated though," I said in a huff reaching my side.
"I cheated? You're the one who started it! I made it fair."
"Yeah well I thought the race was over. You didn't say go so in my opinion this race was against the books."
"Want to try again?"
"Hell no! Now that you know, there's no way I could beat you in a race."
He tilted his head to the left and squinted his eyes.
"So...is this your way of admitting that you cheated first?"
"You're twisting my words."
"No I'm not. But I could think of something else I could twist, if you catch my drift," he winked.
"As tempting as that sounds, I'm gonna have to pass. Let's just go. Wouldn't want your grandparents to blow up your phone again," I said as tossed my bag in the back seat and hopped into my seat. "Funny, I didn't even hear your phone go off."
"That's because I had it on silent," he said as he followed me in and started the car. "After a while, all the noise takes a toll on me. Complete and total silence is all I can handle sometimes."
"Oh, should I text you less then? I don't want to be a bother."
"No, silence is reserved for everyone but you. It'd kill me if you went dark. So keep doing what you're doing. It may not look like it, but it helps. Talking to you, seeing you, being with you is the only thing that helps me venture through this sick, sad world we live in. This is me thanking you for everything. So don't give up on me. I'm working hard to bring back some sense of normalcy. It's all I want and to do that I need you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. I know you think you're not doing enough but trust me when I say this, you are. Even this conversation with you is helping me. So don't think that you need to do anything special, you're enough. I just need you. You're the cure."
"Oh, well then I guess I'll continue existing I guess."
He laughed and smiled again.
"What am I going to do with you?"
"Huh?"
He looked at me, staring right into my brown eyes with his hazel eyes. He stroked my cheek with pad of his thumb and the side of his pointer finger. He then pulled in for a kiss and when he pulled back, he bit into his bottom lip. No words were exchanged, just continued to stare into me. At one point, he realigned a single strand of hair that wandered off from the rest of my fringe. Eventually he took control of the wheel and drove outta here. It was a short drive and still no words were exchanged, just silence. I know he said that he didn't want silence from me but I figured just this once, maybe this would be good for him. All I did was keep my hand on his thigh while he drove. Whenever we would reach a stop sign, he'd stop to look over at me just so he could have an excuse to smile. Not one of those forced fake smiles either, one of those genuine smiles that make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
When we finally pulled up to his house, Grandpa George and Grandma Aggie were lounging on their new dark stained, wooden bench swing. It was chained up into their porch and was adorned with a few lavender colored square pillows. By the looks of it, she was already crocheting a matching blanket too.
"Carver! Fang! Is that you two?" she yelled from the porch. I sometimes forget that she's blind as a bat without her glasses.
"It's us Grandma, don't worry!" Carver answered back. "Come on, we should probably head up."
I nodded, taking my bag with me. As we walked up, my eyes darted in different directions as I tried to count how many cameras they had set up. I saw four but something tells me there's probably more, they're just hidden out of plain view.
"What took you two so long? You get lost?" Grandpa George asked sipping on a can of beer.
"Sorry, we stopped by my house really quick or it was supposed to be quick. I got a little sidetracked when I was packing up. I ended up having to get Carver's help in the end. Ya see, I tend to over-pack. If it weren't for him, I'd probably bring my whole room."
"Ah, you're just like Aggie," he chuckled nudging her gently.
"What are you talking about? I don't over-pack, that's you! I may be blind but I'm not senile!"
"Alright you keep telling yourself that, Sweetheart. Remember the last time we went to Azure? We left a day late because you had packed three suitcases full of clothes and were only going to be there for an overnight stay."
"Well you never know what sort of things could happen on a trip like that. I was prepared for anything and everything. You don't hear me complaining when you forget to pack something."
"All you do is shove it in my face when I forget something! Like when I forgot my toothbrush or that time I forgot my belt."
"And every time you did, I had your back because what do I do? Over-pack for just the occasion."
He sighed heavily, a clear sign that he had given up on this conversation.
"You're lucky you're cute," he said under his breath.
"I'm sorry dear, you're going to need to speak up. It almost sounded like you were trying to give me a compliment but you were too pathetic to say it loud enough."
"Why don't I just help the boys with their bags," he said pushing himself off the bench.
"It's okay, it's just his book bag. I think we can handle it ourselves. You two enjoy your bickering," Carver said nudging me towards the door.
"A-Are you sure? I don't mind," he continued. Clearly he was trying to get out of this situation he put himself in.
"We're sure!" Carver yelled pushing me and him through the door. Slamming the door behind him, he wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed. "Sorry about them."
"For what? I thought they were cute, like old couples should be. And did you hear what your grandpa said? I remind him of your grandma."
"Yeah, I told you the same thing a while ago," he said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
"Great minds think alike. I hope I'll be as cool as her when I'm old and my body's rotting from the inside."
"Leave it to you to make a compliment morbid," he said walking in the direction of his room.
"What?! It's true. At a certain point, our bodies stop growing and we start the rotting process. It's the circle of life."
"Jeez you really are my Grandma. Remind me to never bring up this subject again with you."
"Ha ha, very funny. But you know a lot of people would be offended to be compared to a senior citizen but not me, she's cool. But don't tell her I told you that, okay?"
"Don't worry, I won't. Weirdo."
Just as we both walked into his room, I noticed just how clean his room was. It was obsessively clean like I couldn't find a speck of dust anywhere and for the most part it looked as if no one even lived in here. It looked like one of those model rooms you'd find in a catalog. It was eerily creepy.
"Sorry about the mess," Carver said as he rushed over to his bed, readjusting the pillows that were off by a hair. His nerves and uneasiness were back tenfold as stress was written all over his face as he scrambled to clean his already picture perfect room. I was starting to get worried. "I could have sworn I had this perfect before I left this morning. It'll only take a second."
"You call this a mess? Carver we left my room a bigger pig sty than it was when we got there. Trust me, this is far from messy. You can relax," I said trying to calm him down.
"I can't! It's so messy. If I don't clean up then he'll—," he stopped before he could finish his sentence. It was uncomfortably silent.
"M-Maybe I can help you then," I suggested as I started tugging the navy blue comforter taut by the foot of the bed.
"Don't!" he yelled gripping my wrist.
"Carver?"
"I-I'm sorry. I—," he sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just being overly obsessive right now. I just want things to go perfectly. Everything needs to be perfect."
He looked straight ahead, straight into the nearest wall, as he began to slowly breathe in and out. As he continued to breathe slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth, the grip on my wrist loosened till eventually the tips of his fingers slowly trailed back to him against the softness of the blanket. With both palms face down in front of him, his breathing continued, his focus on the wall never wavered. Not until I placed my hand in his did his focus break. He looked at me and instead of smiling like he usually would do, he just had this uncomfortable air about him. It was unsettling.
"You're not alone. I want you to know that I'm here for you. You don't have to completely go into yourself and try to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed. You're perfect just the way you are. I know that this is a trigger response for you know who and I know I can never understand what you're going through but I just want you to know that I'm here for you. Use me as your buffer so you don't crawl back into that dark head space that I just watched you go into."
"I'm trying," he muttered.
"I know. I can see you trying everyday. I just, I don't know...I just want you to know that well, you know."
"You're here for me and I appreciate it, I really do," he whispered. He leaned down and gingerly kissed my forehead then held me in a loose embrace as I stroked his back. A few moments passed and he started to pull away from me not before kissing me one last time on the top of my head. When I looked up at him, he smiled. I could see the light in his eyes returning. "Stay here, I have a surprise for you. But uh, the top drawer, it's all yours."
"Wait where are you going?" I asked as he was already half way out the door.
"Upstairs. It'll only be for a moment, I promise."
And just like that he was gone. I could hear his loud footsteps stomp all the way up the stairs. There was a mixture of other noises too like something rustling and I think I heard some being pushed atop the wood flooring. Nothing really discernible though. Honestly couldn't tell you what was going on, but he seemed better, almost like he flipped a switch in his brain, but even I know that's not how it works. Is it possible to "fake it till you make it" in this kind of situation? I hope so.
Well best not to dwell on it too much. I walked towards the six drawer tall dresser. Must be new because I don't remember him having something like this before. It stood almost to almost my height, it stopped right below my neck. It was stained a dark walnut in front with golden rounded knobs but the sides and top remained it's original, lightly sanded down wooden color. Maybe he got it while thrifting with his grandma or maybe he built it from the ground up with his grandpa. I can see both scenarios but I guess that detail isn't really all too important.
Anyway, as I pulled on the golden knobs I could hear a faint sound like something was being dragged against the wood on the inside of the drawer. Curious, I stopped pulling on the knobs and the so did the sound. Whatever it is, it's in the drawer. What if he put a gift in there that's too big for the drawer so it's dragging against the top? Placing the pads of my fingers against the knobs, I pulled hard and with a loud bang shot out an explosion of rainbow glitter confetti straight into my face. Who knew getting shot with little pellets of shimmery glitter would sting this much?
"Oh my god!" I cried out, not so much in pain but in total shock.
Is this why he went upstairs? So he wouldn't get blasted by a gay cannon? Reluctantly, I crept forward, taking itty bitty steps forward. Who knows, I could get blasted again. Maybe it was a motion activated cannon or something. Quickly, I peered into the drawer only to find some mechanical contraption that I assume was used to thrust the glitter into the air once the drawer was pulled out and the words "Reserved for Fang, My Prince Charming" written in black and gold paint.
"Fucking dork," I said under my breath.
Upon closer inspection there was the picture that I was reminding Carver about. The first selfie we ever took together. He must have forgotten that he had put this in here when he was rigging that confetti death trap. It looked like it was glued on the base acting almost like a signature. I thought about taking it out so I could show it to him but after thinking over it, I decided against it. This looked like he really put some thought into its placement. I'll just reprint him a new one. Maybe I'll frame it too.
I wanted to stare at the picture longer, to reminisce, but I'd hate if anyone walked in on me doing this. Talk about embarrassing. I just packed my things in there as best as I could while trying hard to make sure I didn't make a mess here too. I think my clothes tornado effect should stay in one localized location. It took me maybe like five minutes to stow everything away into the drawer. It all fit in there. I'm sure if I had brought what I had initially packed not even a quarter of it would have fit in here. Good thing he took over.
This whole time Carver never came back. I could still hear some rumbling going on up there so I guess he's still doing whatever it is he is up there. I don't know why, but I felt a little awkward just standing by so I skipped over to his bed and hopped up. When I did though, one of his pillows shifted slightly revealing something small in the corner of my eye. Out of curiosity, I lifted up his pillow and found your standard hammer. It had a bright yellow handle with a black rubberized grip. It was pretty dirtied up and has probably been used for a ton of housework.
"What the hell? Why would this be here?" I said to myself. Maybe he forgot about it when he assembled the dresser? As soon as I placed my hand on it, my phone rang. It was Carver. Crap, did they put a camera in here too? Nervously, I answered, "H-Hello?"
"Come up," was all he said then he hung up.
I really hope he doesn't have a camera in here. I quickly shoved the hammer back underneath the pillow and briskly walked out of his room and up the stairs towards the attic. The door was wide open. I peeked my head out slightly readying myself to get ambushed by questions as to why I was snooping around but instead he grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I didn't see him at all so it sorta caught me by surprise.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"What is this?" I asked looking at a gigantic white sheet that completely covered the balcony doorway and was anchored to both the ceiling and the floor. The white icicle and tea lights were back. They were framing the sheet from above and below. It was sending me back to that time when he did this originally. When he was trying to profess his love for me, when I was super oblivious to it all. Even the family quilt was back, resting right in front of the sheet.
"My grandparents thought it'd be a cool idea to spruce up the attic, to be more than just a place for me to think," he said as he shut the door. He then walked to all the windows and pulled the down all the blackout curtains even closing the balcony doors and pulling the blackout curtains on them too. "Here, catch!"
I flinched when he tossed a small little remote at me. Luckily, I was able to catch it...after fumbling with it for a few seconds.
"What's this for?"
"Press power. Trust me, you'll love it."
"Okay?" I said squinting at him. Pointing the remote at the sheet, I pressed power and lights flickered on it from above me. Looking up, I saw a projector shining its beam onto the sheet and when I looked back at the sheet, I saw exactly what he was talking about. It was the home screen from the Nintendo Switch. "You got a Switch? When did you become a gamer?"
"I'm not. They bought it for me over the weekend and set this up maybe a couple days ago. I think this is one of their many ways to try to cheer me up. But I have no idea what I'm doing. I was hoping you could teach me how to play? I realized we never really played much together and now that I have this, I can't think of anyone else to share it with. How about it? They got a few games here, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Smash...I think they got just Mario games. I hope that's okay. Wait I thought I got another one," he explained as he sat down on the quilt while maneuvering around the welcome screen with the small palm sized neon green controller. "Here it is! I made sure to get this one online, I know you play this one a lot. Or you used to. I don't know if you still play but if you do maybe we could play it together? It's Overwatch."
"Overwatch? You want to play Overwatch? It's not exactly the same genre as any of those Mario games but I can teach you how to play it if you want. I'm not the greatest player. I'm ranked gold right now."
"You don't want to play with me?"
"I can, it's just Overwatch doesn't have local multiplayer. It's all online. But we can play together when I'm home and you're here. Or if I brought my own stuff here, we could play together. If that makes sense."
"Well that's stupid," he said in a huff. "I really wanted to play with you. I know how much you love this game."
"We can still play together. How about I give you a tutorial first? A personal in-depth tutorial. That way when we do end up playing together, you'll not only know how to play but you won't lose your head when things get crazy. If you're not used to seeing a lot things flying around on screen, it could get a little overwhelming."
"I think I can handle anything you throw at me. Pop a squat next to me," he said patting the quilt.
"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you," I said sitting right at the spot he was patting at earlier.
Here I was turning my boyfriend into a gamer. Never thought I'd see this kind of outcome. He couldn't exactly grasp the concept of an FPS all that great but he was having a lot of fun. We were smiling and laughing, honestly it was such a fun time to be had. I wanna say I spent maybe an hour, maybe even an hour and a half teaching him the fundamentals of the game. Something the in-game tutorial doesn't tell you. Like how to best work with your teams of randos, even when they don't want to work with you, and when's the best time to push or when it's better to fall back. After that training session, it was time to put in a real match and well...he lost his first game, well first five games. Most of the time he was too distracted by the visuals, well mostly the chaos on screen. He ended up playing Reinhardt and for those of you who don't know who that is, it's this old man in full body armor with a big hammer and an even bigger shield. I guess in simpler terms, he played the role of a tank, protecting the team and pushing in to advance. I'm not really surprised that he picked that role for himself, he is my protector after all.
"I'm going in!" Carver yelled.
"W-W-Wait! Use your ult!"
"My what?" he asked confused.
"Your ultimate. It's like your super power move. It's that ability that looks like crack in the bottom middle of the screen."
"Now?"
"Yeah, do it!"
"Oh my God!" Carver yelled in amazement as the enemy team knocked down in front of him.
"Hurry, use your fire strike and charge in!"
Carver followed my instructions and his eyes lit up as his attacks took out the enemy team one by one.
"All that's left is that Mercy! Swing your hammer!"
His character swung his human-sized hammer and after three swings the character got taken out.
"Team kill!" The game's announcer called out.
"Did we win?" Carver asked turning to me.
"You won!" I cried out in excitement.
"I won?" he asked again. It took a second to register but when it did, he pulled me up as he hopped in place in celebration. "That's right! Who's throwing now?"
His over excitement was too much for me to handle. I couldn't help but smile and giggle at his adorable reaction to his very first win after a pretty grueling few games.
"Wh-What?" he asked, stopping from jumping and looking at me embarrassed.
"Nothing, you're just being really cute right now. I didn't mean for you to think like I was laughing at you. Do you wanna play another one?"
"Can we?"
He looked so adorably, cute asking me to play more like a kid in a candy store. Yeah, I think I got him hooked now. Can't wait to introduce him to competitive mode. It's a real nasty, soul-sucking experience. Probably explains why I'm low gold, almost silver in my ranking.
"Why are you asking me? It's your house, your rules."
"Well I don't want you to be bored. We can switch to something else so you can play too."
"I'm having plenty of fun showing you the ropes and watching you react to the game. If you want to continue playing this, I'm one hundred percent content. Really. It's up to you though."
"Just one more game and then we can switch to kart or something. I swear," he promised as he plopped back down on the quilt and entered another match.
"Okay, that's fine by me," I smiled sitting down next to him, resting my head on his shoulder.
It wasn't just one more game though. He really was hooked. I didn't say anything. He was having so much fun and I didn't want to ruin that moment for him. During one of his matches he found a team that invited him into their own group. It's rare to find non-toxic teammates in this community that's so toxic to each other. After a few more games, I managed to slipped away while his focus was hard locked on the screen. Once I got downstairs, I headed towards the kitchen only to find Grandpa George coming in with a few sectioned off pieces of firewood.
"Hey Fang, you're just in time to help this old man," he said tossing in the same logs into their fireplace. "How `bout it? Want to help me chop some wood?"
"Uh as much as I appreciate the offer, I'm gonna have to pass. I'm pretty sure I'm the wrong person to ask when it comes to stuff like that. I just came down to grab some snacks."
"Nonsense!" he said grabbing me by the forearm, pulling me out into their backyard.
I don't know if I can even call it a backyard. If they wanted to they could build another house back here. It's enormous! The back was fenced up with it's wooden panels placed edge to edge vertically; there were no gaps between the slats. There was about a foot of decorative concrete foundation at the bottom of each panel only to be hidden by short and tall square trimmed bushes. At the top of each panel was a crisscross pattern of wooden boards. All together the fence was maybe seven feet tall. I guess if you were a giant, it's possible to see over and into their yard. To the left was a little sitting area with a whole wicker set of couches and chairs and a stone circular table in the center that also acted like a fire pit. To the right was their own private bar and grill that was connected to their own home gas line. It seemed like the ultimate hang out spot. I wonder why I've never been out back like this now that I think about it. How come I never thought about looking down when we're up on the balcony? I knew his grandparents were rich but damn, this is crazy that something like this exists within the same realm as Lulu's and my house. Although should I really be surprised? Chloe does live in the same neighborhood and her parents are loaded too...for completely different reasons.
Grandpa George had walked a few feet ahead of me as I took everything in. It's a lot to be honest. I tried to not be obvious even though as I walked towards him, my eyes stayed wide as my eyes darted all over the place. I finally snapped out of it once I got to Grandpa George, not because of him, but because Carver was yelling something unrecognizable from where we stood but I could tell he was enjoying the game.
"He sounds like he's having fun," Grandpa George said as he grabbed a log off the fresh cut grass and lined it up in the center of a nearby stump. With one clean motion, he struck down swift splitting the wood in half with ease. I actually flinched when the blade of the ax struck the top of the stump.
"Y-Y-Yeah, he's smiling again. I've missed it."
"I agree. I appreciate what you've done for him, Fang. You're not the only one who misses him the way he was before, pardon my language, before the shit hit the fan," he said again as he took another whack at one of the half pieces.
I didn't really know how to respond to that mention so I didn't say anything. I'm sure my awkwardness lit a figurative light bulb in his mind because he immediately apologized and continued to chop more wood for the fire.
"So I get the feeling that you got everything under control here so I'm just gonna head back in. I don't want Carver to worry about me when he finally realizes I'm not right next to him anymore."
With that said, I made a one-eighty for the door listening to to Grandpa George chop down more wood in the background. It felt like with each step, he'd take another swing. I know that probably doesn't make much sense especially since I think I'm walking at a pretty brisk pace and I don't think it's humanly possible to chop wood that fast no matter how old or how experienced someone is. I think the sound of it all was just a little too unnerving for me. I kept flinching at each chop. I don't even know why the sound bothered me so much. I can't even think of a time when I was around wood chopping. All I knew was that I had to get as far away from it as I could. The door leading in was finally in arms reach, I practically leaped forward to reach it. Twisting the knob and pulling it towards me, I was finally home free...that is until I heard him clear his throat in the background stopping me dead in my tracks.
"Before you go."
"Uh huh?" I asked reluctantly looking back.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he grinned, big and wide.
Okay, now I can't be scared of that. He looks like Santa Clause...if he were covered in old military tats and bulked up. I didn't say anything, only smiled awkwardly, then walked back in, shutting the door behind me. Sighing, I walked into their kitchen to grab some waters and a bag of chips. I don't know where Grandma Aggie is but she wasn't in my general vicinity. She wasn't on the front porch anymore either. Grandpa George didn't mention anything so I doubt there's anything to worry about. With snacks in hand, I rushed back upstairs. It's not like I was actively trying to avoid another awkward conversation with anyone or anything.
"There you are! I was changing out the games when I noticed you weren't next to me. I was about to put out an Amber alert for you. Where'd you go?" Carver asked sitting crisscross applesauce on the quilt, phone in hand.
"I grabbed snacks," I said dropping everything I had down onto the quilt.
"It took you that long to grab snacks?"
"I may have gotten pulled into a conversation with your grandpa," I said finally sitting down to relax.
"About what?" he asked squinting at me.
"Uh just a general conversation really. I think he just wanted me to help him chop wood for the fire...I-I wasn't much help. I kinda just stood there while he did all the work."
I don't want to tell him the real conversation. I know if I do, he'll shut down again or apologize profusely and I don't want that. I mean hell, I didn't even want to get pulled into the conversation I had with his grandpa. I just want him as he was or is, not the way he's been recently because of you know who.
"Is that all?" he pushed. I can tell he's a little skeptical about my own response.
"I mean yeah, if you look out the window you can probably catch him still out there chopping wood. By the way, how come you never took me out back? It's nice!"
"I don't know. Well they were renovating out back until recently. It looked like a straight up construction zone for months. Plus I don't peg you as the outdoorsy type. You're a homebody, no offense."
"I see your point. Well...I wouldn't mind going out there...if you were to accompany me that is."
"Okay, well how about we have dinner out there tonight? Would that make you feel better?"
"R-Really? I-I-I mean I don't want to impose."
"Yeah, I mean my grandparents have been wanting to use that space to entertain their friends ever since they finished. I don't think they'd mind entertaining a couple of kids. It'll be...practice for when something real comes along. I'll go let them know. Pick a game while I'm down there," he said as he ran downstairs.
Before I could get a word out, he was already out of the room and out of sight. He seems genuinely excited for this. I know he's been going through a lot. It's not like I planned for all of this to happen. Maybe all he really needed from all of us was to act like nothing happened. His mood has changed so dramatically you'd never guess he was at rock bottom. Maybe I don't have to be so worried for him anymore. Maybe we could all just relax now, I'm sure that's what he wants all of us to do.
Kneeling down, I hovered over the pile of games that were left on the quilt. I don't think he really knows how to play any of them but kart is really fun and I'm sure he'd pick it up really quick. As I opened the case, I could hear faint chatter going on right outside the balcony entrance. I don't want to snoop on their conversation, I mean I doubt it'll be a long drawn out one since it's only supposed to be about dinner but even if I wasn't trying to, I was more invested in trying to hear their conversation than to actually pop in this game. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed over to the balcony, making sure not to give my position away as I cracked the door open and poked my head out. I could still barely make out anything that was being said but based on body language and their facial expressions, it looked like our makeshift plan was a go.
"So tell me, how long are you planning to eavesdrop on our conversation?" Grandpa George asked as he looked up and winked.
"Grandpa, are you okay? Who are you talking to?" Carver asked. His grandpa pointed up at me and he was completely taken aback. "Babe! What are you doing?"
"How did he—I-I-I mean, sorry!" I apologized as I awkwardly stood up, leaning against the wooden bannister. "I promise I wasn't listening for that long."
"It's alright!" George chuckled. "I was about to show Carver the ropes on the proper way of chopping wood for the fire. Why don't you come down and join us?"
Guess I have no choice now. With my head hung low in defeat, I took my time getting out there. By the time I got there, Grandpa George had positioned himself back at the stump and Carver had walked towards me wiping the sweat from his brow.
"H-He's not really gonna show us how to chop wood is he? Like he's not actually expecting us to do it? This is a joke right?" I whispered.
"You see all the logs next to him?" he asked pointing out the pile of foot long logs next to his grandpa.
"Y-Yeah."
"I carried all of those. He's most definitely going to show us. Actually doing it though? Well that's up in the air but I'd say we have a one percent chance of dipping out once he gets started."
"Oh great."
"So, um, what were you doing up there? Are you spying on me now?" He joked.
"I guess you could say curiosity killed the cat," I joked back. "But no, honestly I don't know what I was doing. I shouldn't have eavesdropped on your conversation. I promise it won't happen again."
"You don't have to apologize. I was messing with you. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'd rather have you spying on me than well," he paused and pointed up.
Following his finger, I looked up and saw yet another camera pointed down at us...and in the corner of my eye I saw yet another camera just above the balcony.
"They really went all out on security didn't they?" I asked scanning around for any other ones I missed.
"Yup."
"Wait, they didn't put any in your room did they?"
"They said they didn't but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a hidden one in there somewhere. This is my life now. Say goodbye to privacy because its left the building."
"Boys, watch this! You're not going to want to miss this!" Grandpa George said as he swung the ax into one of the logs. There goes that sound again. I tried my best not to flinch again, only to wince away. There were several quartered off logs laying around the stump. He looked triumphant at his own progress. It was adorable in a weird lumberjack kinda way.
"Way to go Gramps!" Carver cheered on. He turned his attention back on me and rubbed my shoulder. "I'm really happy you're here with me though. Takes my mind off of everything."
"Mhm, no problem," I said still wincing at each swing.
"Hey what's wrong?"
"It's the sound. I can't handle it for some reason. It bothers me."
"Why didn't you say anything? We'll just go in," he said as he wrapped his left arm around me taking me back inside. "Grandpa, we're going in!"
"Are you sure? You're going to miss out on the fun!"
"Rain check!"
Once we stepped in, we were greeted by his grandma in the kitchen prepping dinner.
"Hi boys! Did you enjoy your woodcutting lesson?" she cheerfully greeted us. I think she could see the discomfort in my face because she came rushing to my side. She placed the back of her hand against my forehead and asked, "What's wrong? Do you feel sick? You don't feel warm though."
"I-I'm fine. I just—."
"Got bored right?" she giggled. "I know it's not for everyone especially not you kids but he's very passionate about it. Sometimes even I get bored watching him ramble on and on about the correct technique required for such a thing but I just smile and nod so he doesn't think anything of it. Dinner's still a couple hours away. How about you two go back up and I'll holler when it's ready, sound good?"
"Sounds great, Grandma. Thank you," he said as he raised his hand up. "Wanna race again?"
"I'm already a rotten egg. I don't really feel like playing double or nothing," I said walking ahead of him.
"Don't be like that. It's all for fun."
"You're literally a speedster...or the Flash come to life. You know you should really try out for cross country next time. You'd easily make the team. I'm kinda surprised you didn't do it last year."
"I had other things on my mind. Also I want to spend all of my spare time with you. If I joined a team, I don't know how often we'd be able to hang out together."
"I'd make time for you. It's not like I was doing much of anything when we were getting to know each other."
"Yeah, well now you work so if I got on a team, we'd spend less time together."
"But if you try out and get put on a team, which by the way is gonna happen. I've seen you run. Then I can be your cheerleader. You know supporting and cheering you on from the stands."
"A cheerleader?" he asked, putting his arm between the door frame, barring me from walking upstairs.
"Yeah. What part of that confused you?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking, if you were to be my cheerleader, would that mean you'd wear one of their uniforms for me?" he asked looking me up and down, pursing his lips forward.
"I'm a guy so I'm wearing the guy's uniform if that's what you're asking. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading up," I said crouching under his arm and proceeding to walk up the stairs.
"Why do you always have to be such a tease! You know exactly which one I meant!" he cried following closely behind.
"Ha ha, you're funny. There's nothing you can do that will get me to wear one of their skimpy uniforms. I'll take the pants thank you very much."
"Oh yeah? Nothing?" he asked as he tackled me down onto the quilt. Thank god for the quilt, still hurt but probably less so if it weren't there. He then got on top of me and pinned me down. "How about now?"
"I-I-I mean I guess I could wear one of them. Only for your eyes though and no pictures."
"Aw why not?"
"I don't want something like that to leak to the whole class. That's embarrassing."
"You know I'm not that kind of person. But if it means that much to you, no one's ever going to see you in something like that. I want you all to myself," he whispered as he leaned in and kissed me on the lips. "So it's a deal? I try out and you be my very sexy cheerleader?"
"Yes, but you have to make the team and from what I remember, cross country season is over."
"There's always track. I think I remember seeing flyers for it in the cafeteria. Aren't tryouts this week?"
"Oh yeah, we do. I forgot all about track," I lied.
"So we have a deal then?"
"I mean I can't really say no."
"Of course you can!"
"You literally have me pinned to the floor."
"Oh right," he chuckled. He moved his limbs off of me and lied right next to me, propping his head up with his right hand. "Sorry about that. I got a little excited. You can pin me back as payback if you want."
"I'm good. So are you actually gonna tryout for track?"
"Definitely. I had no idea how much I wanted to see you in one of those uniforms but now that's all I can think of."
"Oh great," I said dryly. "I guess it's not all bad. At least I'll get to see you rock those short shorts they're always wearing. I can see it now. My boyfriend, the track star."
"And my boyfriend, the sexy cheerleader, cheering me on, shaking his cute little butt. Sounds perfect," he said pulling me into another make out session.