A Tale of Wild Roses [ROUGH DRAFT]

Chapter 2

Angel knew that he had messed up. First of all, he screwed up the entire conversation he had with the new kid. Secondly, he didn't have the courage to go up to him during lunch. He was just a few seats away from him, but no. He just couldn't walk away from his friend group while they had their eye on him. Angel couldn't get his mind off of the boy for the rest of the school day, thinking about what he could've done differently.

When Angel got home, the sound of the TV was emanating from his parents' bedroom. This always meant that his dad had gotten home from work early. Trying to avoid a likely semi-awkward conversation, Angel attempted to sneak past their door to get to his room. It did not go to plan. "Angel! vení por un instante, would ya?"

He sighed and made his way back to the doorway. The loud boom of the show his dad was watching dwindled. "So I was thinking we could have albondigas for dinner tonight?" Angel lit up. He knew the answer to that question right away, "Yeah, that would be great!" His dad nodded his head before he got back to his show. Angel walked away, feeling pretty alright about the short talk they had.

The two of them had trouble getting along sometimes. No parent is perfect and Angel's dad was not an exception. They were both content with that however. His dad always mentioned that no one's always right, but they can try to be, and that's what counts. That was one of the only things they could agree on.

He walked to his room and carefully shut the door. His room was a mess: unfolded clothes found their home on the ground, dirty cups sat about on his desk, and his bed was unmade. He knew that he needed to clean up, but he put it off once again.

Instead, he focused his attention on trying to find out more about the mysterious, and sarcastic, kid from art class. He plopped down on his bed, trying to get comfortable, and took out his phone. Angel had a plan, to search every single inch of the internet to see if he could find absolutely anything about them. Angel didn't even know their name, but he was determined, and that's all that counted.

* * *

Oliver was instantly relieved when he stepped inside his house. While he wasn't completely familiar with the semi-new home, it felt more comfortable than a building with hundreds of sweaty kids in it. He walked into the kitchen to see a To Do list on the fridge and sighed. That list was one in which his dad wrote, informing him of the excessive amount of chores they had to do.

So long to have the rest of the day to relax, maybe even work on writing a new song. One inspired by the recent move across the country. He got into completing the list, crossing them off as he went. By the time he was almost done, their dad arrived home from work. He immediately looked over the paper he had written that morning.

Oliver looked at him with hope that he was pleased with the work he had gotten done. He turned to his son. "Hey buddy, how was school?" They leaned in replying with "Not so bad, I think I made a friend. His name's Andrew!" His dad nodded with a tired smile and began working on dinner.

While he was waiting, he finished his remaining chores. The smell of soup wafted throughout the house, including his mom's office in which she was stowed away. Oliver's mom was a writer so she didn't really have to get out of the house for her job. She always spent at least 5 hours there everyday, conjuring up new ideas for her book projects.

She opened the door and made her way to the kitchen to see what her husband was cooking. "Hi honey, how was work?" She pulled him in for a hug as he responded with "Tiring." Oliver set the table like he usually does as their mom attempted to comfort his dad. He sat down, ready to eat and hopefully have a good conversation with his parents. It's not like they were never around, it's just that they both had to work a lot because of the jobs they worked.

They always came together for dinner though and Oliver was thankful for that. His mom set a pot down on a mat near the middle of the square wooden table. After looking at the contents for a split second, they knew exactly what it was. Champon, which his dad filled with some of his favorite foods, including shrimp.

When everyone was settled, Oliver helped himself. His parents broke the silence by talking about this Netflix original they saw the trailer for.

"Hmm what was it called, it was something like Heart Stopped. Oliver, do you know?" My dad turned his head to face me, "I have to be honest with you, I have no idea what you're talking about." He searched Youtube for the trailer for a good couple of minutes until he found it. Oliver's dad clicked on the video and showed it to them. "Oh yeah I know what that is! I have the books. Teddy gave them to me for my 13th birthday." His parents' eyes lit up. His mom spoke first,"Oh right, I remember now. Well I think we should watch it sometime. I don't think it's too inappropriate for you Oliver so I'll permit it."

His mom had always been a bit strict when it came to what they watched, but at that moment he didn't mind. He was allowed to watch this really cool looking show and that was all that mattered! After everyone finished eating, he stuck to his usual routine: take a shower, put his designated PJs on, and brush his teeth.

Oliver headed up to his room which was the newly renovated attic. In the corner of the room were flattened boxes from moving and leftover trinkets he wasn't sure where to put just yet. His ukulele and desk were near the singular window that let in a surprising amount of light during the day.

The moon must have been in the perfect spot that night because its light was sprawling throughout the room. He walked across the room and took his backpack off of his bed, taking his phone out of the front pocket before putting it on the hook near his dresser. They hopped in bed, ready to check their notifications briefly before attempting to sleep.

But a specific notification from instagram caught his attention. @AngelzHal0 followed you.