The Queen of the Underworld

Chapter 10

"Just think of it as a free vacation, for a long period of time," Rio said, attempting to comfort me. One of the only times I am able to see my best friends is when we're at school, if they stop at my work, or if I sneak away to go see them. "Do you have to share a room?" I shook my head at him, drawing mindlessly in my notebook. "At least he's trying to accommodate you. It seems like he's letting you find your rhythm again at his place." Shrugging, I looked around the classroom. "I'm not gonna lie," He nudged me, making me focus on him. "We really miss you; it's weird not having you around all the time, or spending all our free time with you. It's boring."

"I think we just got into a routine, and none of us like change in routine," Kei said quietly as he ate a snack. "Is it really that bad for you? Staying with him, that is."

"He's not really there when I am, so I'm alone a lot of the time. When he is there, he's doing work in his office, and I don't want to bother him. I try to be as silent as possible. When he gets back really late, he seems like he isn't in a good mood, so I just stay in my room, so I don't make him upset." I leaned on my hand and looked out the window. 

"Are you eating at least?" Rio said warily. "I know that you only ate because we're always hungry."

"Sometimes," I mumbled. "He made a comment about something smelling weird a few weeks ago, so I stopped cooking. I don't know what he likes or dislikes. It's hard to read him a lot of the time. It feels like I was in college and got paired with a bad roommate." 

"Maybe he doesn't know how to gauge the situation. He might not know how to approach you because he might feel bad for it all being forced on you. Maybe just trying to have a short conversation will test the boundaries for you both." Rio said softly, making me take note of it.

"I genuinely think that what you just said was possibly the most intelligent thing I've ever heard come from your mouth in eighteen years," Kei said, making Rio attack him. The two started to bicker as they usually do. I sat in my seat, listening and watching with a smile. I do miss my best friends; I miss Chance and Kenny. I had a routine, and now that I'm somewhere new, I dislike it. I miss my old life. 

"If you weren't such an a** all the time, maybe you could actually get a girl." Rio snapped at Kei, grabbing his shirt. Kei rolled his eyes and pinned Rio, but the two were broken up by a teacher coming into the room. They both shot up and got back in their seats, making me giggle at them. They seem to be functioning without me well. I wonder how Chance is then? Maybe he and Kenny have made the final leap, and made their relationship public beyond us few.

The final bell rang, and the two boys were waiting eagerly for me outside my class. The three of us were walking down the steps when we saw a nice car around the corner. When we saw a man Kenny worked with getting out of it, we all groaned. 

"S***heads, let's go." He nodded at the car. We all piled in and, the boys went about their normal behavior. I watched the man carefully as he drove us. When we arrived at Mr.Crawford's gym, we all perked up to see what was happening. The gym is usually closed on Tuesdays because Rio's dad likes to spend at least one day with his family or doing errands. Sometimes, he straight cleans the gym top to bottom. We all got out and went inside.