Splinters: Part One

Part One | 8

But secretly, I did. And Zech did too. He was expecting me to ask her out, which I definitely won't be doing.

Andrew didn't press on though. He continued driving until we finally got to his house. Like mine, Andrew's is quite big on the inside and outside. It didn't make much sense to me considering there were only three people living in his house: him, his mom, and his father.

When Andrew parked his car and turned it off, we both got out and entered through the front door rather than the garage.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"In the kitchen!" she called back with a lighter voice than I expected.

Andrew's house differed from mine by far. It was probably bigger actually. The kitchen had a larger space than the one at my house.

"Oh, who's this?"

"Mom, this is Brayden. Brayden, that's my mom, Peggie."

Peggie stepped toward me with a hand stretched out. "Hi, Brayden. It's nice to meet you."

I nodded shyly. "You too."

Peggie's light brown long hair fell passed her shoulders. She shared remarkable features with Andrew. It made me wonder what his dad looked like.

"So, who're your parents, Brayden?"

I shifted onto the other foot. "Uh, Melissa and Greg Pierson."

Peggie raised her eyebrows in what I assumed to be shock. "You're a Pierson?"

I nodded, leaving it at that. There was no way I was letting Andrew know I was an orphan and risk the chance of the entire sophomore class knowing.

"Huh... So, what are you guys going to be doing?"

Andrew scratched the back of his neck, something I always do when I'm nervous. "Um, nothin'. Probably just play some video games in my room."

Peggie smiled. "Now I know not to bother you."

Andrew laughed and turned. He gestured me to follow him.

"Tell your parents I said 'hi', Brayden!"

I nodded and then went to follow Andrew. Andrew's room was at the top floor. His white door was plain but his room definitely wasn't. The same smell that was in his car was in his room, but it wasn't necessarily as bad, thankfully. However, it did make me wonder what the smell was, and then I thought that maybe I didn't want to know.

Andrew dropped his bag on the side of his wall and told me I could do the same. The awkwardness was a bit overwhelming, but Andrew made a big attempt to get it out of the way and break the tension.

"Do you have homework?"

"A little bit of Spanish."

"Are you in I or II?"

"I."

He nodded. "We can get our homework done now if you want, so that we don't have it over the weekend."

I shrugged. "Okay."

I took out everything I'd need for my homework and so did Andrew. He had some algebra homework which I couldn't help him with, but it was okay because he seemed to be really good at it.

I was struggling, unfortunately. I didn't want to ask him for help because it would be embarrassing but I knew he wouldn't judge me. Andrew didn't come off that way, and I was thankful for that.

When we both finished, he tried to teach me how to play March Madness to which I evidently sucked at in the beginning. After I got the hang of it, it became a lot easier. After two games, I finally beat Andrew, but I secretly think he let me win.