Walk With You

Walking Home

Geoff liked to be that guy that cheered everyone up. I mean, he was a funny guy, making people laugh was his thing. So when he saw Gavin Free, his across-the-street-neighbor, walking home from school one Friday afternoon with his head down, clutching the straps of his bag, refusing to look at the beautiful cloudless sky above, he couldn't not do anything.

He was just about to get in the car with Jack so they could drive to downtown Austin, but instead he hitched his bag back up his shoulder and leaned down into the car to talk to Jack, "Hey, I think I'm gonna skip this afternoon, but we're still on for Saturday alright?" he said.

"Yeah, sure dude. Have a good one." said Jack as he started the car. Geoff closed the door and stepped walked behind Jack's car and jogged to catch up to Gavin.

He softened his footsteps as he got closer to him, and when he was right behind him he reached out and nudged him, "Boo." he said.

Gavin, of course, jumped, but when he looked up to see Geoff he shook his head, "You're such a tosser." he huffed. Geoff had never really hung out with Gavin, there were those Tupperware parties that both their mothers attended and were forced to join so they made the best of it by stealing a whole bowl of chips and sitting in the lawn enjoying the sunset, but neither of them had ever invited the other out or over. Gavin moved in across the street when he Geoff was in the 9th grade, and because Gavin was only a tiny 7th grader at the time, they never really spoke apart from the occasional hi. But as they got older, they found that they had more in common than they first thought. Still, Geoff thought it'd be a bit weird for him, as a senior, to invite a sophomore to go out drinking with him and his mates.

"Well, any insult you say sounds like a compliment with your accent so, thank you." he joked. Gavin didn't respond, just continued to stare at the ground as they walked. "So, how was your day?" he asked when the silence stretched on.

He shrugged, "Didn't do much." he murmured.

Geoff nodded, "Cool, cool. Is Mr. Sorola giving you a hard time in math?" he nudged the Brit's shoulder with his elbow and chuckled lightly. When Gavin shrugged again, he continued, "ah, I remember very vividly the day I failed grade 10 math and they told me I might be kept down. All I wanted to say was, 'Listen, I couldn't give two fucks if I was kicked out in grade 7 let alone now, please, give me an excuse to finally move on with my life.' but I knew my mom really wanted me to get through school, so I pulled my shit together," he paused, "a little anyway." The only sign that Gavin had even listened to him, was the little huff he gave through his nose. Geoff put a hand on his shoulder, "Did something happen today? Did someone say something?" he urged, he wasn't particularly worried about him, but he was the guy that cheered everyone up, and he wasn't going to let this be his downfall.

"No. I'm alright" said Gavin in a light voice. His tone and face, from what little Geoff could see, was expressionless, he couldn't tell if the younger boy was upset, or tired, or bored, or just in another world at the moment, he just seemed to be gone to the world.

"Whatcha doin this afternoon?" Geoff asked to further the conversation.

Again, Gavin shrugged. "I dunno." he mumbled.

"Got any plans for this weekend?"

Geoff really just wanted to permanently attach weights to Gavin's shoulders because a-fucking-gain, he shrugged. "Nothing at the moment."

Geoff nodded, although Gavin couldn't see it, "Well, I was going to go Achievement Hunting this weekend if you wanted to help? I was going to get Jack to jump online with me, but I'll be honest with you, the guy kind of sucks at games."

Gavin replied back in another low mutter "I've got stuff to do at home, so I can't," he added "sorry." after a short pause, thinking that he must sound a little rude.

"That's cool, home comes first, I get that. I should probably clean my room one day. Although, I'm gonna start paying rent in a few weeks so really, I should be able to do whatever the fuck I want." he laughed. But Gavin didn't. Now Geoff was a little worried, and they were coming up to the beginning of their street. "Gavin, seriously, did something happen at school? Is it something at home? Seriously, I may be a dick, but I'm not going to go blabbing to everyone about how your Uncle diddled your butthole at the Christmas party." when Gavin still didn't say anything, Geoff's eye's widened, "Oh, god, that wasn't actually it was it?"

Gavin shook his head, but still didn't even show any signs of smiling, "No, everything's all good. I'm absolutely fine. Just...tired."

Somehow, Geoff didn't believe that at all, but it was too late to pry, they were already in the middle of the road between their two houses. "Well, have a good weekend, doing-home stuff?" said Geoff, smiling.

Gavin flashed him a very brief half smile and waved him away, walking quickly into his home.

As Geoff slipped his bag off his shoulder and carelessly tossed onto a pile of clothes, he thought about Gavin. He knew, that when Monday ticked around, he would make it the week's goal to make Gavin Free laugh.