The New Kid (Book 1)

Chapter 10

Elliot

A whole lot of noise and talking woke me up the next morning. I groaned and rolled over, the light coming through the window hurting my head. It didn't hurt as much as it did last night, which was a relief.

Thankfully, I didn't have to stay in the hospital for too long last night. Which meant I got to sleep in my own bed. It also meant that my family was able to hover constantly.

I just had a concussion. It really wasn't that bad.

Sitting up, I had to wait until the room stopped spinning before standing up. I was fine. This was nothing.

I walked out of my room and down the hallway, following the noise. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. Honestly, it sounded like Josh and his boyfriends. But I thought they had left last night.

Walking into the kitchen, I realized I was right when I saw Leo leaning on the counter with his arms around Kyle. Josh and Jackson were practically pulling every pot and pan that we owned out - the source of all that noise, probably. At least they were all fully clothed today.

Leo was the first to notice me. "Elliot! How'd you sleep?" Josh and Jackson stopped what they were doing as all the attention was put onto me.

"I would have slept longer if you guys weren't making so much noise in here. What are you doing?"

Josh crossed the kitchen and gave me a hug. "Sorry, El. We didn't mean to wake you. How's your head doing?"

I shrugged. "It's fine. Better."

"Good. Cause I could use your help. Do you know the pan is? Don't remember what it's called, but..." He gestured out the size of the pan, and I immediately knew what he was thinking of. This wasn't the first time he's lost it. "It's not where it usually is."

I nodded my head before pointing to the pile of clean dishes that hadn't been put away yet. "For someone who is so smart, I'm starting to wonder if I should worry about you."

Josh pouted. "I can handle myself. I just haven't been home in a few weeks."

"Speaking of, I thought you guys left?"

Kyle answered. "We spent the night at my house." He made a face. "It's still weird thinking of that place as my house."

I immediately thought of Colton. He said he was going to take me out on a date today, but now that wasn't going to happen because of this stupid concussion. Maybe I could go see him instead.

"Hey, Josh?" I said. He had already gone back to running around the kitchen, except this time, finding what he was looking for - ingredients for something or other. He stopped and looked at me. "Where's Moms?"

"They, uh, had to run out. But they should be back soon."

I had a feeling he was keeping something from me, but I wasn't focusing enough to figure it out. I nodded instead. "I think I'm going to go see Colton. Will you drive me?"

"No." I was about to get angry when he explained. "I don't mean it like that. I meant not now. You have a concussion, Elliot. You need to rest."

"I'm fine! And I only want to go hang out with him. What's wrong with that?"

Jackson walked up behind my brother and said something to him. I couldn't hear it, mostly because I wasn't going to put in the effort to try, knowing that would just make my head hurt worse than it already did. After a second Josh looked at Kyle. They seemed to have some sort of silent conversation together. Again, I couldn't bring myself to try to understand.