Bad Boy Chemistry

8. Bowling

"Not unless you count Nintendo Wii."

He chuckled, turning down another street.

We arrived to the bowling alley not long after and put on some bowling shoes.

I couldn't help but think this could be a date.

Is this a date? Or is it just two gay guys hanging out? I thought to myself.

I nervously chowed down on my nails again.

"Are you okay?" Stan asked.

I looked up, pulling my fingers away from my mouth. "Yeah, just nervous."

"Nothing to be nervous about, I promise I'm not a murderer."

I smiled. We made our way towards one of the bowling lanes, where Stan picked up a dark blue bowling ball from the return system.

"Would you like to go first?" He handed me the ball.

"Okay." I said, though I had no idea what I was doing.

I held the ball, and readied myself for the throw, aiming towards the pins.

I inhaled a breath before releasing the ball onto the lane, closing my eyes as it rolled towards the other end. When I didn't hear any pins drop, I opened my eyes, frowning.

"Don't worry, my first time bowling, I ended up launching the ball onto another person's lane."

I smiled as he plucked another bowling ball from the returning system.

"Here, watch me." He said, slowly demonstrating how to bowl.

He did a stance, then demonstrated how to throw it.

When he released the ball, it soared down the lane and crashed into the pins at the end, knocking all of them down except for one.

"Alright, try again."

I reached for another ball, following Stan's demonstration and instruction before releasing the ball onto the lane.

It rolled down the isle and crashed into the pins on the right side, knocking three of them down.

I jumped excitedly. "I did it!"

"See, you'll be a pro in no time." He smiled at me.

We played bowling for another hour before we sat down and had something to eat. He was talking about his life in London, all of the friends he left behind. His family over there.

"My sister is actually in college over in London." I said.

"Really? How'd she end up over there?" He wondered.

"She always wanted to go to school in London. She said it was her dream. And it's far away, I'm pretty sure she wanted to get away from our annoying parents."

"Sorry, i didn't mean to just rant about my family."

"It's fine. Families are complicated."

"Yeah. What about your family?" I asked.

"I have four siblings, three brothers and one sister. My older siblings, Erica and Bernie stayed behind in London with my grandparents."

"Do you miss London?"

"Yeah."

After eating and talking some more, Stan drove me home.

"Could you drop me off down the street a bit? I don't want my parents to see me coming home so late."

"Sure." He pulled over around the corner from my house.

After putting the car in park, her turned to me. "So, did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it was great."

"Maybe we can go out again, sometime?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, sure."

"Goodnight, Charlie."

I opened the car door, saying goodnight to him before starting the walk towards my house.

It was a tad cold out tonight, but I didn't mind it. I've always enjoyed cold weather.

I turn the corner into my street, my house just a few driveways ahead. A car door opened behind me, and my heart raced inside my chest.

Was I about to be murdered?

I heard steps behind me, so I turned to see who was approaching.

Joey?

"I was kicked from the team because of you." He seethed, approaching me with a can of beer in his hands.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't tell the principal." I said, walking backwards away from him.

"Who else did? Huh?" He spat, scrunching up the beer can like it was nothing.

"I don't know, but it wasn't me."

He threw the scrunched up can at my head before launching himself at me.

His left hand grasped my sweater, holding me in place as his right hand closed into a fist and clashed against my cheek.

He let go of my sweater and I fell down onto the sidewalk. "Please, Joey. It wasn't me!"

He kicked me in the stomach, causing the air to be knocked out of my lungs.

He landed in a few more punches to my face and chest before once again kicking me in the stomach. I tried to kick him away, but it was useless.

He landed a kick to my chest before walking away.

I lied down on the sidewalk, spitting blood. My entire body was achingly numb.

I heard his car door open. Thank god, he's leaving.

The car door closed and I heard the sound of metal scraping on the ground.

I rolled over to look over, seeing Joey carrying a metal baseball bat.

"Please." I pleaded, but it was useless. He was drunk and angry. Those two don't usually go well together.

He lifted the bat over his shoulder before swinging it against my leg.

Something cracked.

"You fucking bitch!" Joey spat as he threw the bat and kicked me in the head, causing me to see static stars.