A Tale of Wild Roses [ROUGH DRAFT]

Chapter 15

Oliver Adams was freezing cold as he stood out front of the school, waiting for the bell to ring. Halloween was coming up, and he figured that the cold weather would fit the holiday better than California's green palm trees and hot temperature. It was rarely under fifty degrees in San Francisco during the fall.

While he shivered his ass off, he realized that it had never been cold enough for him to see his breath in the air. There were so many tiny differences that Oliver hadn't thought much of when he lived on the west coast. Now it was all he could think about. The familiar sound of the bell rang out and they practically ran to the doors, soaking up the heat from within the building.

As he walked up a set of stairs to English, lugging his one thousand pound (or what felt like a thousand pounds) backpack with him. As he was about to turn into the hallway, he ran into Angel, who happened to be holding a poptart in his hands. Beside him was Adrienne, who looked at Oliver with disgust like usual.

The poptart fell to the ground matter of factly, while Angel and Oliver looked at each other with wide eyes. Angel was wearing a red t-shirt that was a little too small for him, and a pair of black jeans. A beaded bracelet sat on his wrist, his hands going up to his mouth, which had half a poptart sticking out of it. They couldn't contain themselves and bursted out laughing.

"Dude, what did my poptart do to you? I was gonna eat that." Oliver wiped away tears from laughing too much. "I don't know. It just looked at me weird," he said sarcastically. "I am sorry though. I didn't mean to do that." Angel shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay. This is what I get for not looking where I'm going." Adrienne had begun his usual shtick, crossing his arms with a smug look on his face.

Angel must've known things would go wrong because he quickly said, "I'll see you at my house later, okay? I'll send you the address." He ran off with his friend, and Oliver hurried to class before he was late. For a moment, he had forgotten about hanging out with Angel after school. It was really nerve wracking, especially since it was at their friend's house, which he had never been to before.

They were worried about all the things that came with that. He would probably meet Angel's family today, and he had no idea what they would be like. He thought through all the awkward scenarios that could ensue from meeting them, his nerves increasing by the minute. While Oliver wasn't religious, he prayed that today would go well. For his sake and Angel's.

***

Angel Romero stared down the time on his phone. It was 4:15, one hour after school got out. Oliver said he'd walk to Angel's house at 4:15, which meant that in 10-15 minutes he would be there. His nerves were high, especially since his parents weren't home. They didn't mind if friends came over when they were gone, as long as they knew who it was and they didn't make a mess.

Angel remembered how upset his dad was when he came home to find the kitchen a wreck after Adrienne made a mess while baking. He got in big trouble for that, but at least in the moment it was fun spending time with his best friend. He paced around his room, making sure everything was neat and nothing smelled funky.

A person's room can say a lot about them, and Angel didn't want to give off the wrong impression. He wanted to carefully curate the type of person he was through the cleanliness and positioning of all his notable belongings in his room. After double checking, he walked through the beige hallway towards the living room, which was much more colorful.

It was painted a turquoise blue with two blue lamps to match. They lit up the room in a comforting way, diminishing any major shadows from the room. In the kitchen, which was right beside the living room, the natural light from the windows spread across both spaces. There was a small island in between the rooms with a big opening in the wall that arched at the top.