The Medium Kid

Chapter 50

When Morlen came back with food and beer, the colour returned to his son's cheek and he almost sighed with relief. "Right, I have rules," Morlen said and sat on the opposite couch. "You can't ask questions about- actually, don't speak at all during the football, and you can't film me yelling at the TV because I will break your phone. If you do anything to irritate me on purpose, you're going straight back to Alfie's house. Got it?"

Koda nodded. His face relaxed with amusement. "Can I-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was about to ask!"

"Shut up, it's starting."

Koda shook his head and moved his attention to the food. Morlen watched him from the corner of his eye, knowing Enya would be proud of them both for working together to fix the holes he had created.

* * * * *

"Dad?" Alfie asked when they paused by traffic lights on the way to college. Monday morning was miserable in terms of the weather and Alfie was miserable because it was a Monday morning. "When can I stay over at your new place?" Alfie didn't have to look at his dad to know that he tensed. He felt it like someone sucked the air out of the car.

"It's a bit of a mess at the minute. You can come round when I've settled in."

"Its been over a month now."

"I've been busy."

Alfie turned and Tom smiled, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Why are you lying to me?"

The smile faltered and Tom blinked with surprise. "Alfie-"

"Oh come on, I'm not stupid. You're acting so secretive. We never talk about what you're doing when you come over to make dinner. I don't even know what you do for a job because... because maybe I never asked but that's not the point! And Koda! You act weird around him and I can see you judging him. We have the same eyes, I know what you look like when you do that because it's how I look all the time. Don't deny it."

Tom frowned as he drove, but it wasn't with annoyance. "I'm not secretive."

Alfie scoffed. "Yes, you are. Why? Have you found someone new, is that what it is?"

"Okay, calm down. Did you sleep enough last night?"

"Dad! Why do you always have to change the subject?"

"Well, why are you asking me all of this now? Couldn't it have waited until tonight?" Tom questioned and pulled into a parking spot outside the college.

"No, because you'd only lie to me."

"Where's this coming from?"

"Are you dating someone new? Are you not telling me because you think I'd be upset?"

"No," Tom sighed. "I'm not dating anyone."

"Then why can't I come round to your new place? I don't care if it's a bit messy. I just want to spend more time with you!"

"Alfie, stop yelling at me, and understand that I'm busy."

"Yeah, busy enough for you to find the time to come round every evening to make dinner." Alfie opened his car door and it lightly hit the car next to him. People were in it, and the windows were down, but Alfie was too lost in his argument.

"I'm trying Alfie. I don't get why it's so hard for you to accept that I'm busy," Tom said before Alfie could slam the door behind him.

"If you're so busy, then don't bother coming round if it's too much of an inconvenience for you!" Alfie slammed the door and his father reversed and left before he could yell back.

Alfie watched him leave. The sky appeared to be a little darker.

"You hit my car," a voice said and Alfie turned to glare. He was surprised to see Morlen scowling at him from the car window. Koda was there too, watching him with an awkward smile.

"It didn't scratch, so what's the problem?" Alfie snapped.

"Koda, your boyf- Alfie is yelling at me," Morlen muttered.

Koda glanced from his dad to Alfie, then back to his dad. "Um, I'll see you later." Koda quickly got out of the car when Alfie pulled his hood up and turned towards the college.

"Good luck," Morlen yelled and reversed as quickly as Tom, eager to get to the rugby field.

"Hey wait!" Koda hurried after the short kid and grabbed his elbow to slow him down. "Walking to class together would be nice."

Alfie slowed and pulled his hood down. "Sorry," he mumbled and felt his frown slip when Koda's hand slotted with his. "We don't have class together till this afternoon."

"But I can still walk you to your class."

Alfie perked up immediately. He had always wanted a boyfriend who did that. "How much of that argument with my dad did you hear?"

"The parts that were said when you were out of the car." Koda stared down anyone who looked at Alfie, but as usual, Alfie didn't care about them.

"I was just being cranky. We'll talk it out later." Alfie tried not to squeeze Koda's hand too hard. His knuckles were still bruised.

When they reached Alfie's class, a few people were hovering near the door, but nobody looked up from their phones. Koda made sure nobody was listening when he bent down and whispered in Alfie's ear. "I think I want to talk about this Grim Reaper stuff later. It's worrying me that nothing has happened since the dove thing."

Alfie looked up. Their faces were very close. "You're ready for this conversation?"

Koda nodded. "It's too tiring trying to ignore it."

Alfie smiled and wrapped arms around Koda's shoulders. He went on his tiptoes but Koda still needed to crouch when they kissed each other. "I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too."

Alfie chuckled and they unravelled when more people crowded around the door. "You should go before you're late."

"Do you think the tutor will notice if I snuck in?" Koda asked. his spine tingled every time Alfie's eyes traced around his face.

"Yeah. He hates me."

Koda shook his head, wondering why that shocked him. "I'll see you at lunch then." He pecked Alfie's forehead with his lips before reluctantly walking away.

Alfie hid his love-sick grin under his hoodie, ignoring the stares. They were used to his unimpressed brows.

When their teacher arrived, his eyes landed straight on Alfie. "Mister Willow, go to the principal's office. I don't know what you've done but if it gets you out of my lesson, I don't care," he sighed and unlocked the door. A few people laughed before entering.

Alfie made sure to give him a dirty glare. "I'll do everyone a favour and complain about you while I have the chance." Alfie turned with a smirk and vanished. Sometimes, he wondered how he was still in college when all he did was bad mouth teachers, not do homework, and fail almost everything apart from art. He knew his attitude was horrible, but he would never speak that way to people who were actually nice to him. The fact that he crushed on Koda for so many years proved that his body wasn't completely full of poison.

As he wandered through the wide corridor and towards the principal's office, his fingers started to tingle and the air suddenly turned very dense. He was familiar with the change. It meant that a ghost was pushing their way through to him.

"Ronnie Birch," the ghost whispered in his mind. Alfie looked behind him, but he didn't see any ghosts.

"The principal?" he asked out loud. "Why have you been telling me to find him?" Alfie turned back around and the ghost was standing right in front of him. Alfie almost jumped out of his skin. The man was middle-aged with a receding hairline, a pointy nose, and eyes like black pits.

Alfie didn't have to crane his neck to look at him, but it still felt like the ghost towered over him when he said, "because he has been trying to find you."