Home and Holidays

Chapter 1

Noah stood outside next to the fast food place that he was waiting to be picked up from, his backpack slung over his shoulder and his hands in the pockets of his thick jacket. He was thankful that the weather wasn't as chilly as it could've been, considering that it was the middle of November. Noah's parents had been extremely toxic toward him, and they abandoned him when he was only 14, not even caring that he had nowhere else to go.  He couldn't stay in the house where they up and left him--not that it was much of a home anyway--because he couldn't afford to keep up with paying for it, which left him with nowhere to stay. And since he knew full well that he would inevitably end up in the foster care system or some kind of adoption agency if anybody found out that he had been abandoned, Noah refused to fully explain the situation to anyone, afraid that being tossed around the system would only make things worse for him. Practically living out of his backpack at this point, Noah had pretty much been relying on staying over at other people's houses or sometimes not having anywhere to go at all. Plus, being only 16 years old now, he didn't really have any money which made it even more difficult to make ends meet.

Having people pick him up at random locations such as fast food places had become a usual thing for him, since he wanted to avoid people asking questions about his home situation.

He was currently waiting for Bryce to arrive to pick him up, but Noah was starting to wonder if he was even going to show up. It wouldn't be the first time he had done something like that. Bryce wasn't exactly Noah's friend, more like an acquaintance, but he was currently who Noah would stay with the most.

After what felt like hours to Noah, Bryce finally pulled up, unlocking his car doors and letting Noah in the car before driving off again.

"Thanks again for letting me stay at your place tonight, Bryce. I appreciate it." Noah thanked him.

"It's cool. You didn't have anywhere else to stay tonight, huh?" he asked as he drove.

"Um, I mean-"

"You're only staying over for tonight, right? Because I'm having a party at my place tomorrow, so I'll need the house free." Bryce interrupted him, as if this was the most important question ever.

"Yeah.... just tonight. Don't worry, I'll be out of there in the morning." Noah said. He could tell that Bryce was already sort of annoyed that he was staying over at all, and Noah wished he didn't have to stay at Bryce's place, but this was his only option right now.

The drive to Bryce's house was pretty quiet, and a little awkward as well. And halfway there, Bryce's phone made a noise, indicating that he received a text. He read the message when they were at a stoplight, clearing his throat awkwardly before speaking.

"Hey, so, little change of plans, Noah. This girl that I've been talking to just texted me that she wants to hang out tonight, and I think we're gonna go out to eat and then just chill at my place. But you know, I can't really have you over there tonight if I'm gonna bring her over, you know what I mean?" Bryce told him as if it wasn't that big a deal.

Noah tried his best to hide his disappointment, it taking everything in him not to sigh in frustration. What was he going to do now?

"Oh.... yeah, I get it. Is this the same girl who stayed over at your house last week?" he tried to make conversation.

Bryce shrugged. "Nope, different girl." He simply replied as Noah sort of wished he hadn't kept this uncomfortable topic of conversation going. "But anyway, this is the perfect chance to bring her over to my house because my parents aren't gonna be home. So I can't have you there too, Noah. You understand though, right?" he over explained as Noah just nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I understand. It's cool." he said, just wanting this whole awkward discussion to be over with.

"Thanks, man. I actually wanna go pick her up now though, so where do you want me to drop you off at? Is your house close by or what?" Bryce said, already seeming in a hurry and not really caring how rude he probably sounded.