Mediocrity 50% [Brallon: Deja Vu, Book 1]

3.5

Dallon was sitting in the passenger seat of Ryan's car staring out of the windshield at that godforsaken bowling alley that was two streets too close to his and Ryan's apartment. Spencer had really seemed to want him to go, however, so he might as well come, and not disappoint his second best friend. He hadn't wanted to get out of bed recently, and when he did, he either went to work, or retired on the couch, still tired, even after hours upon hours of sleep.

"You ready to go?" Ryan asked, taking the keys out of the ignition. He looked over at Dallon with his kind brown eyes that always seemed to have a sweet smile behind them. Ryan was an infallibly good person, and Dallon liked to think that they were both good influences on the other, even if sometimes he didn't feel like too good of a person. He was too dodgy and he took to long in making decisions so he was always too late and always hurt someone. He was too careful, not methodical enough, too bent on looking outside the box that he fell back in it again. He was too quiet and wished he was less softspoken, but he didn't want too much attention on him.

"No." Dallon sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning back against his seat. His eyes wandered up to the roof of the car, his vision tracing the handle against the roof, of which's purpose he had no clue.

"Are you serious, or are you just pulling my leg?" Ryan said, pulling his hand away from the door handle, concerned. Dallon regretted making Ryan have to constantly walk on eggshells around him, for fear of anything bad happening. He wished he could just snap out of it and be happy again, but he knew that's not how life worked. It wasn't how anything worked, and especially his existence. He sighed again, then opened the door, not wanting to let Spencer down.

"The latter, let's go." Dallon said, getting out of the car and stretching his legs. He was too tall for most cars, and the seat was usually pulled too far up.

"You know what I just realized?" Ryan mused, a ghost of an amused smile on his face. The sun was going down, the sky turning blue and orange and brilliant pink. The sun would be gone in a few minutes.

"What?" Dallon asked, quietly curious, as he always was.

"We're about to meet the Other Ryan." He responded, looking like he was trying to hold back laughter. They walked forward, towards the entry doors of the bowling alley.

"What is this, some alternate dimension?" Dallon quipped, cracking a smile in Ryan's direction.

They opened the double doors. Dallon scanned the room, looking for anyone he knew. Meeting Spencer's wandering eyes, he nodded, and touched Ryan's wrist to alert him that he'd found their friends. They were all sitting around a circular table, half of the other patrons occupying the seats possessing unfamiliar faces. There was a girl, smiling wider than Dallon thought possible, red lipstick on and blonde bangs. She was laughing and it seemed like a natural state of mind for her. She was sitting next to Patrick, he noted, Pete by his side. 

That made sense, Dallon thought, for Pete to want to sit next to Patrick. Patrick, with his sweet voice and strawberry blond hair. Pete had his arms crossed, his foot tapping against the table leg. He looked distracted and kept staring in Patrick's direction, who didn't seem to notice. Otto was sitting next to him, arm extended behind Pete in a comforting gesture. Dallon sensed that he was missing something and would probably find out later. Or never. It depended, Pete wasn't that type to keep secrets, but when he did, he picked and choosed who he told.

Otto's other hand was on the table, relaxed. He was paying attention to the person talking, of whom Dallon didn't know. Geoff was next to him, back to Dallon and Ryan, but Dallon knew him so well, he could tell it was him from the back of his head. He was sitting next to two other people that Dallon didn't know. He could probably surmise that it was Geoff and Otto's friends that had ventured with them back to Texas to visit Awsten. Dallon missed Awsten, and it had been an excruciatingly long period of time since he'd last seen him in person. He wondered if he'd dyed his hair another color yet. Dallon made a mental note to go see him the next time Otto and Geoff did, which would probably be in the next couple of months. They visited him pretty frequently, even if it was a hellish drive. They didn't fly because it was too expensive, and one of their friends, Tyler, he thought, had a petrifying fear of flying.