Ursa Minor (On hiatus)

The trespasser

The basement smelled like basement but was otherwise cozy enough. Adam had put his touch on it with posters nicked from venues we'd been to, an old tv and game consoles with numerous video games spread out in front of it. The dingy set of armchairs we were currently sitting on and a sofa to match, that the stepdad had tried to veto out of the house. A glossy new computer on the black coffee table. Spraypainted walls. Even my mom who held all kinds of expressions of creativity in high regard would've drawn the line there. Actually I knew for a fact that she did draw the line exactly there.

"How's the newbie then?" I asked, and I more felt than saw Adam shrugging in the chair next to me.  

"Y' know fucked up as usual, like he actually told me..." Adam started and if I was maybe not the most polite person ignoring my wannabe-stepdad Tim most of the time it was nothing compared to Adam. He hated his new dad with a burning fever that never seemed to fade. On top of it, Adam went out of his way to make sure he knew he was hated, knew he was the replacement. And yeah, his stepdad was sorta smarmy but I wouldn't have bothered, wouldn't have had the energy to keep the flame alight.

We didn't talk about it much nowadays though, it was such a solid base of our friendship it didn't require mentioning. Ade moaned about it for a while and I filled in with a 'looser' when he wanted some input. In the beginning the dads gone missing had been the glue that quickly had bonded us together. We'd become brothers in abandonment. Never the one without the other. Always on the run. Always up for anything. It really wasn't hard to figure out why Ade wasn't happy with my recent transformation. Done complaining Adam grew silent and swinged his kicking legs back over the armrest again. He got up and shuffled over to the sofa, pulling out a brown paper bag from underneath one of the pillows. Ade's parents clearly didn't search the basement or his room with the same vigor as my mom searched mine.

"Please don't. I can't go to the prayer circle smelling weed," I told him as I could see where it was going. 

"You're no fun anymore, you need to relax." Adam stated, and sat down on the sofa, pulling from the paper bag several small packages onto the coffee table. 

"I don't get relaxed, I just get paranoid." 

"Dude, you're always paranoid," Adam snorted starting to unwrap the tiny gifts. "And paranoid, how's it going with the choir girl? Any need for that ring?" 

"Haha," I replied dryly, the thought of Allen being interested in Lis seemed very very far away by now. "It's going good, I mean I think that if I just try-" 

"Like you'd need it," Adam interrupted, unlistening. "Fucking funny how everyone were all like woo, new guy and then after the visual, waah waah." Adam still meaning Trish when he said everyone. "I mean fuck, if I had that hair I'd dye the shit out of it." 

"You already dye the shit out of your hair," I remarked and Adam dragged his fingers over his sooty black bangs. "Yeah, but I don't need to. Or at least cut it short I mean, just not to burn everyone's eyes out."

"Mel said she liked it," I said absent-mindedly, thinking about Allen sitting in math class, leaning his head in his hand as he did. Pulling one of his loose copper curls around his finger as he concentrated. I just couldn't imagine Allen without his trademark hair. And it was kinda practical, like if I wanted to talk with him about the project or whatever I never had to search for him for long. 

"Mel!" Adam spat out. "Mel likes Kyle Rosen, that guy's a little fag, I mean those glasses? Those shoes? Fucking gay!" Kyle Rosen had sort of an eccentric way of dressing, that appealled to quirky girls and probably would work for him in collage when that day came. But for now the plaid pants and boxy glasses paired with his quiet demeanour made the name calling from some people inevitable. People like Ade.