Your Sweet Six Six Six | Sitkolson [C]

Chapter 3 | Variables

Ricky kept his head rested against his fist as he tapped his pen on his notebook. After staring down the page for a few minutes, he decided he was officially stumped. He heaved a sigh, "Chris, is this right? I think I messed up somewhere because this doesn't look right. Chris?" Ricky glanced over at his friend sitting next to him.

Chris was too preoccupied with his cell phone that he was hiding under his desk. The teacher wasn't going to notice anyways. He was busy on his computer, doing whatever teachers do when they aren't paying attention to their students. Probably stupid shit like watching cat videos, Ricky thought. He took a small eraser and threw it at his older friend.

"Huh?" Chris asked, finally popping his head up, "Sorry, I was talking to Gaia."

He rolled his eyes. "You know, even though Josh has a new girlfriend too, he's still able to function with the rest of the world."

"I said I was sorry." He replied, "Did you need help with something?"

"Nevermind." Ricky grumbled. 

He'd have to ask one of the others, which posed a problem. Chris was the one that he could go to for math help because he was a year older than Ricky. Vinny was a freshmen, barely able to survive Geometry at the moment. Devin was a year behind in math because he was just as hopeless on the subject as Ricky was. He already knew that Josh had plans after school anyways, which left Ryan as his only option.

The finally bell rang. Everyone flooded out like rats on a sinking ship. Ricky chose to go a little slower. He didn't even get a goodbye from Chris. His senior friend was probably going to run off to see his new love interest. Despite the fact he hadn't met her yet, Ricky made the decision that he didn't like her. Just the sheer fact that she made Chris act like such a dumbass was a bad sign. 

After grumpily stuffing his books in his backpack, he hesitantly scanned around the busy hallway for Ryan. It was hard to miss his long hair and deep voice. Ricky spotted him at his locker across the hall. He was talking to Vinny, looking utterly flawless in just existing. When he ran his hand through his hair, smiling brightly, he seemed like a dream. 

Ricky snapped himself out of it when Ryan caught him staring. He cursed at himself in his head and hoped to fuck that his friend hadn't realized what just happened. If anything, he'd hoped Ryan would reason it off as him being tired or something meaningless like that. The small goth weaved through the crowd of people until he reached his friends on the other side.

"Hey," He softly spoke as he pushed his hair behind his ear, "Listen, I'm sorry about Friday. I didn't mean to blow you guys off like that."

Even if he desperately wanted to hold a grudge, Ryan couldn't stay mad at Ricky. He still wasn't sure why he'd acted so skittish that night. The two had known each other a damn long time. Ryan knew how his best friend acted when he wasn't himself. He tried to push the thought to the back of his head, though they weren't going to go away that easily.

"It's okay, really." Ryan gently smiled, "You heading home?"

"Yeah, I was about to. I was wondering if you would want to come over? I could use some help with my Algebra." 

"I was actually going to go to this dipshit's house to help him with his Geometry." Ryan said, casually punching Vinny in the stomach for the Hell of it, "Wanna come with?" 

Ricky giggled at the youngest's pain, "Sure. I'll text my mom on the walk there."

"Do you not have a car anymore?" He asked as he pushed open the front door.

"Nope. My parents let my sister have it when she went to college this year. I don't mind walking places though. It helps me not get fat." 

"Dude, you eat straight junk food and never gain a pound. I don't think you've got to worry about your weight." Ryan joked.

Vinny suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Being that his was behind the two older boys, it took them a second to register that he was no longer trekking along behind them. They did stop and turned to look at him. 

His face scrunched in confusion, "Was Devin not at school today?" He asked.

Ricky glanced over at Ryan, "You know, now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing him in science."

"Text him and see if he's okay." Ryan said.

"Okay," He pulled out his phone, typing away, "If he was sick or something maybe we should swing by his house later to give him the homework." 

After sending something off to Devin to check on him, and a text to his mom to let him know where he was going for the afternoon, they continued walking. Vinny's house was only about a ten minute walk from their school. Even so, going ten minutes without a reply from Devin was suspicious. He was the type to always have his phone on him, no matter what. Maybe, if he was sick, he was sleeping or something like that.

As they walked in the door, they were greeted with Vinny's mom's very heavy Jersey accent. It didn't even sound like English, in all honesty. When Vinny was around them, he spoke normally. Around his family, he was just as intelligible as them. There was some question asked and neither Ryan nor Ricky could disifer what it was. They didn't even register it was a question until Vinny was staring at them.

"Do you wanna stay for dinner?" He asked again, this time a little clearer.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks." Ricky replied.

"Yeah." Ryan added simply. 

Vinny yelled something back to his mom in the kitchen. Then he led them back to the messy pit he dared called a bedroom. They were both messy too, but nothing could compare to Vinny's mess. His room was the type you'd walk in and be afraid the laundry pile would start to grow limps soon. They threw their things on the floor. Ricky checked his phone for the hundredth time in the last few minutes.

"Heard back from Dev yet?" Vinny asked, slouching down on the floor in front of his bed. 

"No." Ricky sighed, "He's been worrying me. Have you guys noticed he's been acting strange lately?" 

"Yeah. He goes out to the clubs every weekend. It's like he practically lives there, which is weird because he doesn't drink or drug." Ryan replied.

"And he's been super tired in class." He said.

"You guys aren't worried he's doin' something he shouldn't be?" Vinny questioned, having the eyes of a sad puppy in asking, "I don't think he'd ever do drugs or drink or anything like that, but I don't know him like you guys do."

"He's got a bad home life, so he'd have plenty of reason to need a stress relief, but he's always been pretty against that kind of shit. In fact he hates whenever I even smoke." Ricky said.

Ryan sighed, "He was doing okay last year because he was seeing the school counselor but I think he stopped going this year. Let's just... keep an eye on him."

"And Chris. Keep an eye on Chris, because we all know how his relationships tend to go." He responded, "But I don't want to talk about that shit. For once, I'd actually rather talk about math."

Ryan chuckled at his comment. His laugh was so sexy and cute, Ricky thought. He tried to shake away that thought though. That was his best friend, after all. He shouldn't be attracted to anything he does. He hasn't even told Ryan, or anyone that wasn't Ryder, that he was gay. With all the complications adding up in his mind, he was more than willing to distract himself with some numbers and variables.