Chapter Four: Awkwardness with Seth
I had walked Aiden home and he would not let up about my name. He asked so many questions. My name is Vulcan. My father was a Roman historian and used to teach history. He named me and my sister after Roman deities. Me, for the Smith God and Maia for the Goddess of Growth. Aiden had looked at me so wide eyed and amazed when I told him all that. He was so excited, I was a little confused as to how my name could get that much of a reaction out of someone. When we finally reached his house all that excitement seemed to leave his body. He stared up at his house and sighed. He thanked me for walking him and disappeared into his home.
Now here I am, in my room, with nothing on my mind but him. There was something so wrong with me. I heard a knock on my door and sat up. "Come in!" I called. Maia came in then with her math book. "Could you help me?" She asked in her sweet little voice. I smiled and patted the space next to me. She climbed onto my bed and set her book down. "This one here, I don't know how to do it!" I stared at her 5th grade math book and tried to think back to when I was in fifth grade. "See, you always do the ones in the parenthesis first." I pointed out. "Just follow PEMDAS." She looked at me all confused. "What's PEMDAS?" "Parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, addition, and subtraction. Just follow that and everything is cake." She thought about it. "So like this?" She did the problem on a sheet of paper that was folded in her textbook. The answer came out right and I tickled her. "Very good Maia!" She squealed and laughed. "Is Seth coming over Vee?" Maia couldn't pronounce my name when she was younger so I taught her to call me Vee. It was short and simple and she could easily say it. "Yes, Seth is coming over." She squealed again. Maia has always had the most adorable crush on Seth. I smirked and shook my head. One day I was gonna have to have the talk with her.
Just then the door bell rang and Maia bolted to answer it. Five minutes later Seth came into my room carrying Maia in his arms. She was smiling so brightly I thought her face was gonna crack. "Maia I think you take your homework into your room. Seth and I have our own stuff to do." Maia pouted. "Aw, can't I stay here with you guys?" I laughed. "Tell you what; I'll make you a big plate of cookies and chocolate milk." That got her to smile. "Okay!" She grabbed her stuff. "I'll be back man." I said over my shoulder as I followed my sister out of my room. Seth nodded and waved, cracking open his own books and digging through his bag. I put my sister in her room and ran down to the kitchen and made a batch of cookies. The smell of baking cookies must have traveled to my room because Seth came down with a huge smile on his face. "Is that chocolate chip?" He asked; he looked exactly like a little boy waiting for a surprise. I nodded. "Yes Seth it is." He beamed. "So...uh...are they ready yet?" I rolled my eyes. "Almost...so what I miss?" Seth gave me a dull stare. "You missed a test in History. You really shouldn't have skipped." "Yeah, yeah..." I waved him off. "But you did get my assignments for me right?" He sighed. "Yeah, you're lucky you have a friend like me otherwise you'd be screwed." I smiled sweetly and fluttered my eyelashes. "That is why I love you." I jumped on him, catching him in a headlock. He laughed and tapped my arm. "Lemme go you asshole!" I gave him a noogie and made kissing noises. He laughed harder as he tried to pry himself from my hold.
"The cookies dude!" He yelled. I let him go and went to check on them. "Oh, they're done." I said as I turned off the oven and grabbed a towel. I took them out and set them near the sink to cool. "Hey could you hand me the milk bro?" He nodded and opened the fridge and tossed me the milk. I grabbed the chocolate syrup from the cabinet and made some chocolate milk. "Want some?" I asked Seth. He nodded enthusiastically. I shook my head and chuckled. I made some for him and passed him the glass. He grabbed a couple of cookies and proceeded to my room, whistling the Muffin Man song. I shook my head. Seth could be weird sometimes. "Now to get these to Maia." I said to myself as I plated the rest of the cookies and grabbed Maia's chocolate milk. I went to her room and knocked on the door. She answered the door and as soon as she saw the cookies she squealed. "Thank you!" She grabbed the plate and the glass. "If you need anything just call me." I said. She nodded and closed the door. I went back to my room.
Seth was doing his homework, still whistling that stupid song. "Here you go." He handed me a folder of everything I missed. I looked them over. "Seems easy enough." I said. I cracked open my books and got to it. Seth and I did our homework in comfortable silence, taking little breaks in between. When we finally finished, we sat on the floor and watched a couple of movies, snacking on chips and other stuff Seth managed to sneak over from his house. "I'm gonna check on my sister." I said as I got up and made my way to Maia's room. I cracked open the door and found her asleep on her books. I pulled her books out from under her and set her head on a pillow. I pulled her blanket over her and quietly set her books on the floor. "Good night Maia." I whispered.
I went back to my room and sat on the floor beside my bed. "My sister's asleep." I said. Seth was lying on my bed now. "Hey you know that Aiden kid right?" I looked at him. "Okay, random topic change but sure." "Are you two friends now?" He asked. I thought about it. "Maybe, I guess you could say we are. Why?" "Well aren't you worried about what people are gonna say about you?" His voice seemed to get lower. "Why should I be worried?" I looked at him. "Because he's just...I mean look at him." Seth looked frustrated. "Do you have something against him?" I asked. He just became silent. "No not really...there are just so many stories floating around about that kid. Some say his parents abuse him, others that he sold his body, and there are even stories about him being involved with an older man at some point in his middle school life." I wasn't at all getting where this was going. "Seth, Aiden is harmless. In fact he's a pretty good kid. I've talked to him long enough to at least figure that out. Calm down. I know you mean well but seriously dude, don't worry about Aiden and me." Seth sighed. "All right then." "You're not jealous are you?" I teased, not expecting the reaction I got. Seth looked at me straight in the eyes. "Kinda, yeah..." I laughed. "Dude chill, you and I have been buds since the crib, nothing is gonna change." He nodded. "All right, sorry." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be sorry, it's fine."
"Okay, I am officially ending this sappy shit moment and changing the subject. Do anything interesting?" I grinned evilly. "I may have gotten Mr. Ross arrested." I said. He looked at me wide eyed, almost scared. "Mr. Ross?" I looked him deep in his eyes and something clicked for me. "Aw gawd not you too." I said as I put my head in my hands. "I should have killed him, that asshole." Seth suddenly looked guilty. "I was going to tell you...I was just scared. Not even my parents know." I sighed and took out my phone. I showed him the recording. He went wide eyed. "You did this for Aiden?" "Well when he came and told me what happened I had to do something. I didn't want another student to go through that." I replied. "You still let another man rub his junk against you." Seth said as he switched off the recording and handed me my phone. "Yeah well that's a small price to pay. At least I got a few hits in." He looked at me and smirked. "Yeah, at least you did." Seth and I bounced around topics after that. We just kept talking. Soon we talked ourselves out and we were drifting off into sleep. "Hey bro?" "Yeah Seth?" I answered. "You're a great guy." He said, right before I heard his light snores. I smiled. "You're a great guy too Seth." I said as I pulled my blanket over him and decided to crawl into bed next to him. I was too tired to think about how weird it might've looked.
The next morning Seth kicked me as he tossed and turned. I woke up to find him facing me, still sleeping. I tried to move as slowly as I could so I wouldn't wake him. I was almost free when he suddenly grabbed me and pulled me back into bed. "What the hell?" I tried to pry myself from his grip. However that proved to be impossible because his grip just got tighter and I was soon pressed up against him. This was awkward. I made the mistake of moving my leg as I suddenly brushed up against his morning wood. "Oh shit..." I muttered. I really had to get free before he woke up to the most awkward moment of his life. I gently pushed him, stopping when his face twitched or when he groaned. "Dammit Seth you really need to let go." I whispered. I was getting frustrated. I finally decided to wake him. "Seth, wake the hell up!" I yelled as I shook him. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked groggily. "It's time for you to let me go!" "What?" He looked at me and it finally hit him. He took a moment to stare at me. "Why are you in my arms?" I rolled my eyes. "Gee I dunno, maybe because you effing put me here?" "I did? Well shit I'm sorry dude." He finally let me go. I sat up and got out of bed. "Dude for real...I'm sorry." Seth sounded embarrassed. I looked at him and grinned. "Dude don't even worry about it." What a way to start the day. "We need to get our shit together and head out." I said. He nodded and got up. "Yeah I'm gonna shower real quick." Seth said. I nodded and headed downstairs to make breakfast for Maia. This was a perfect start to my day. My friend waking up to find me in his arms. Yeah, just effing perfect. I sighed. "If it was Aiden..." Then I had to stop myself. What the hell was I thinking?