False Confidence (bxb) (NOW ON KINDLE VELLA)

Four

"Hey," Reid nodded his head towards Lance as he sent the boy a smile, trying to act normal.

Lance nervously shuffled over, eyebrows furrowed, and an apologetic look on his face. He sat down carefully, a few seats away from Reid at the table he'd chosen.

Lance pulled out a small notebook from his bag after setting it on the long, fake marble table and then the pen from his pocket, scribbling a quick note.

Reid pulled it towards him once the boy was done and read over it quickly: I'm sorry to make you wait when I asked you to meet me here in the first place.

Reid shook his head and shrugged, "Nah, it's okay. Honestly, I'd rather be here anyway."

Before Lance could even think to question what he meant by that, the older boy continued.

"Why were you late, though?"

Lance's eyes went wide as he quickly looked away, down at the table as he tried to come up with an answer. Reid watched him with slightly narrowed eyes and a curious mind. Of course, he knew already, but he wanted to know what Lance would say.

He scribbled something else down quickly.

I was coming here but then I realized I was in the same hallway as the art room. I figured I'd finish something we're supposed to be working on—don't tell anyone though, 'cause I'm pretty sure that's not okay.

He shrugged innocently and gave a quick smile when Reid looked up at him. Reid knew Lance wouldn't just come out and tell him the truth, but he was glad to get a half-truth at least.

"Okay, well, we're gonna have to head out soon 'cause they're gonna lock the place up. We can go to mine... You did want to work on the project, right?"

Lance nodded, happy to know Reid hadn't forgotten completely about it. He figured the green-eyed boy didn't care about grades much, but then again, he had to keep his grades up to play sports, so maybe he was a little quick to judge.

Lance was nervous now. He'd been so flustered and was trying to forget about the painting he'd started that he'd shoved in his locker, so he hadn't really thought everything through. But now he was in front of Reid's house, still sitting in his Jeep and trying to convince himself he'd be okay. He hadn't yet taken in the house, but he saw a few cars in the driveway, so he figured someone had to be home. That made him feel a little better.

Reid stood in front of his car, looking through the windshield at Lance. He figured the brown-haired boy was just taking in his large house, unaware of the war going on inside Lance's brain—of the flashbacks and the pain he was still feeling as he quickly relived through everything.

Keeping his face blank, Lance finally took a deep breath and opened the door, quickly stepping out so he couldn't chicken out and hide in the car again.

Now that his vision wasn't obscured, Lance could see just how big the house in front of him was. It was ginormous or considered a mansion or anything, but it was a lot bigger than the houses a few streets down from Lance's own small home.

The house was three stories from what Lance could tell, windows perfectly lined up, letting in a good amount of natural light during the day. Light blue shutters gave a nice contrast to the purely white paint that covered the entirety of the home. There was a slightly darker shade of white covering the middle portion, to give some depth, and then the roof was a nice warm brown. Lance huffed a laugh through his nose at how cliché it seemed and huffed again at the red door in front of them.

The garden, which Lance expected to look beautiful and full, seemed a bit dull and in need of watering. He frowned at that, hoping the poor plants would perk up with the next rainfall.