Lavender Love (boyxboy)✅

Chapter 2

Due to my tendency to oversleep, Mom woke me up bright and early before school. I wished she'd leave me alone on Sunday, but I had to go to boring church. This morning, she came in three times before I dragged myself out of bed. Alex was still sound asleep with the covers up to his ears.

Alex didn't budge or make a sound until I returned to my room, brushing my teeth as I paced. His eyes suddenly sprung open.

"'Morning," I said with a mouth full of toothpaste. "Want breakfast?"

He brought the blankets over his head and rolled over.

"Mom makes good pancakes. Do you like pancakes?"

He didn't respond.

"I guess not."

I left the room again to spit out my toothpaste. The blankets were still over his head when I returned. He was the weirdest boy I'd ever met.

"Well, I gotta go. See you later."

I sat down to a plate of pancakes and sausage. Mom was always on the go, taking care of everyone else but herself. It's not like I was still a kid. Most of the time I could take care of myself.

"Isn't Alex coming down?" she asked.

"No. He hates me."

"Aww, who could hate you?" Mom walked over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Hurry up and eat. You'll be late again."

School was no longer fun, so I didn't care if I was late. In grammar school, I had lots of friends and we'd go camping in the woods a couple of miles from the orchard. We'd skip school to catch a movie and never get caught. Now we never spoke. I couldn't believe we were friends in the first place. I wrote for the school newspaper and was friendly with the editors and other writers, but they never came to my house and they never invited me to their houses. High school was a lonely place. I couldn't wait to graduate. Lots of people disliked me, not just Alex.

After a long, grueling day of school, I stopped at Suicide Bridge. I learned my lesson and would never step over the rail ever again. Despite my lack of friends and hatred of school, I wasn't sad. My vivid imagination kept me busy. My brothers also harassed me almost every day, afraid I'd die of loneliness now that Frankie was gone. Both lived in the same town with their own families. I was their kid brother and they'd never let me forget it.

As snow started to fall, I sat on the curb and removed my journal from my book bag. I scribbled in it until a truck sped past me, splattering me with cold mud mixed with snow. Cold, wet, and dirty, I headed home. I hoped to make it upstairs before Mom saw me all wet and muddy. As I opened the front door, I nearly bumped into two guests on their way out.

Of course, Mom heard me. She always said she could hear a pin drop and had eyes on the back of her head. "Oh, dear. What happened to you, honey?"

I shrugged.

"Well, go wash up. Dinner's almost ready and wake Alex up. He's been sleeping all day. The journey must have worn him out."

Like a good boy, I washed up in the bathroom. If I hadn't been wearing a hat, the mud would have dirtied my blond hair. When I removed my hat, my hair stuck up everywhere. My hair was a perpetual mess. I did my best to comb it before heading to my room, but gave up after five seconds.

"Alex, wake up. Time for dinner. I'm starving."

He didn't respond to my loud voice. In fact, he didn't even stir until I gently tapped his arm. He must have been in the middle of a nightmare because he swatted my arm away and bolted upright, sweating and panting.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," I said, taken aback by his reaction. "It's time for dinner. Are you okay? Is it your head? I'm really sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean it. Thank you for saving my life." He struggled to catch his breath. I thought he was going to hyperventilate. "Can I get you a drink of water?"