Peanut Butter and Jelly (boyxboy)

Chapter Six

“You did a good job on your room this morning.” 

            Tyler and his uncle were sitting in Gabriel’s truck in front of the school. That was the first thing his uncle said to him since he’d said good morning almost two hours ago. Tyler knew why. He knew because the same thing weighed on his mind.

            “Thanks.”

            “Listen, Ty, I know it’s hard, but try not to worry about all of this guardianship stuff. Just go to school and have fun with your friends and stuff.”

            “Okay,” Tyler said. He opened the door of the truck but he didn’t get out right away. “See you later, Dad.”

            Gabriel’s eyes widened for just a second before he cracked a smile. “See ya.”

            As soon as he got out of the truck, Tyler looked up and down the street. He didn’t see Devin’s car anywhere, but he wasn’t worried. It wasn’t even seven forty-five yet. Tyler was more worried about Lacy and Nikki catching up to him before school started. If they saw him with Devin, he’d have some explaining to do. Just in case that happened, he thought he better come up with a good lie. He was still thinking about it when Devin pulled alongside him and rolled down the passenger side window.

            “Wanna ride?”

            Tyler grinned at him as he hopped into the car. “Thanks for doing this for me, Dev.”

            “What exactly am I doing for you?” 

            “You’re taking me to see my Aunt Sarah.”

            “Why am I doing that?”

            “Because she told Uncle Gabe she wants to fight the guardianship. She wants to get guardianship of me and send me to that place in Texas.”

            “You’re kidding?”

            “No, and I have to do something.”

            “What are you doing? You’re not running away, are you?”

            “No, I just want to talk to her and try and convince her to let me stay with Uncle Gabe.”

            “I don’t mean to sound negative or anything, but you don’t really expect her to care about what you have to say, do you?”

            Tyler sighed. “I don’t know, but I have to try.”  

            Devin reached over to squeeze his thigh. “Tell me how to get there, sexy boy.” 

            In less than fifteen minutes, Devin pulled to a stop in front of Aunt Sarah’s house. Tyler knew his aunt was home. Like his mother, his aunt didn’t work either. Of course, both of them often went on and on about how running a home and raising kids was a harder job than people realized. 

            “You want me to go in with you?” Devin offered.

            “Yeah, but you better not. If she sees us together, she’ll probably think she’s doing the right thing.”

            “Okay, I’ll wait here.” 

            “You don’t have to do that. I can ask Aunt Sarah to take me back to school.”

            “No way. I’m not leaving you alone here. I’ll wait.”

            Tyler smiled at him. “I love you.”