The Small Things

-24- the fair

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: PRE-SOPHOMORE YEAR

D A T E : June - August 2012ish

✖ the fair ✖

"How's Parker liking college?"

"University? Nearly there—in the fall he'll move into the dorms. He seems happy enough, though."

"I'm so excited for him. I'll bet he'll fit in nicely at Oxford."

"Wouldn't doubt it. Seems like Mum's been planning on it since he was born anyhow. I dunno about me. I'd kinda like to go to uni in America. When we went to New York last to see Dad's relatives and all, we toured Princeton for a day. Wouldn't mind going there."

I hadn't meant to say it, but I did anyway, "Your snooty-rich-kid attitude is showing."

Fynn laughed, and it wasn't at all strained like I expected it to be. For whatever reason, I had him pegged as the type of fellow to get offended easily. Maybe it was his dressy shirt, or that boyish look on his face that he still had from the last time I saw him face-to-face. We weren't at all near each other now, though. He was on one side of a webcam, and I was on the other.

"Sorry, it's the side affects of private school, I think. What I wouldn't give to go to Port right now. Remember we'd go to the track and think it just looked so massive? A two-floor school," he said, making it sound an awful lot like he attended a school twice as big because I still had that mindset. I still got lost whenever I walked up the stairs to the second floor, even after my entire first year was over with.

"You're better off where you are. Public school isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Was it ever? If anything, private school isn't all it's cracked up to be. If we're getting philosophical, nothing ever is," he told me, and for the longest time neither of us said anything. He looked like he was busy fixing something on his end, like a loose string on his trousers, because he had one ankle propped up on the other knee. Or maybe he was fixing the case of his iPhone.

Nearing the one minute mark, I spoke up again, "What else do you want to talk about?"

His eyes flickered up to me, and the light streaming in from his bedroom window made it look almost like he had no pupil at all. It was just solid green. "Oh, I dunno. Mum's been all about me talking with you again, something about old friends being the best. Whatever that means... well, I guess your mum and my mum still get on pretty well. Lucas still has the boat, right? Didn't sell it at all?"

I replied with a positive, but I must not have looked all too positive when I said it. He blinked at me, and it looked kind of delayed through the Skype call, and when he adjusted his sitting arrangement, the picture was all crackly. "What is it?"

Even though he couldn't see it in my shot, my hands were feverishly combing through the bottom of my hair. "You didn't have to Skype me, ya know. If you're fine with just making videos, so am I."

Being the sharp kid he was, he picked up on my hint instantly, tracing it back to what he just said earlier. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. We've always been good friends, right? I mean, I didn't think—what I mean is, we'll be friends no matter what, right? I didn't think it was necessary to Skype you because we message each other just about every week, right? Mum's just getting all up in my business because... I dunno. Talking to your mum and all."

I wasn't following on his last bit, but I agreed with where he started. I had to admit, I was a bit surprised when he decided to Skype me. Even though he messaged me the day before to be open in the morning, I didn't think he was serious about it.