Amy walks him home, waving to his mom who greeted them at the door. He quickly walks past her, putting his face down. Once his mother stops conversing with Amy, she closes the door and angrily turns to Ryu.
"Ryu James! What happened to your face?!" She runs over to him, cupping his face tightly. Moving it all around to get a better look at his cheek.
"It's nothing! I got hit with a baseball in PE today!" He takes his mother's wrists, pulling her hands away. Her face softens. She takes a deep breath resting her hands on her hips.
"Okay, I was worried for a second. I'll get you some ice."
"It's fine, doesn't hurt much anymore!" He reaches up and touches his cheek. Slipping off his shoes, he sighs.
"My phone was dead all day." He awkwardly chuckles, trying to change the subject. His mother waves him into the kitchen. Following, he sits at the kitchen island, and putting his arms on the counter, he leans forward.
"I could tell. You woke up late today, and that's so unlike you. Is everything okay?" His mother grabs an ice pack from the freezer, sliding the little pack across the table.
"Everything is fine! It's just that my charger apparently wasn't plugged into the wall, so my alarms didn't go off." Ryu picks up the ice pack and holds it, not pressing it against the giant bruise growing on his cheek.
"Okay..." Her tone made it obvious she didn't believe him.
"I want your father to look at that." She points to his face.
"No! It's just a baseball bruise! Why does he need to look at it?" He groans loudly, being interrupted by his mother clearing her throat.
"I don't care where it came from! I want it off your face! So, he's going to see how bad it is." She's made up her mind, and Ryu knows it.
"But-" He starts.
"No." She glares at him, crossing her arms. He sighs, setting the ice pack down.
"Fine. Can I go upstairs now? I've had an... interesting day." His mother sighs, waving him off.
"Go." She rubs her temples. Ryu immediately stands, leaving the kitchen, grabbing his bag, and running upstairs. Quickly throwing his bag in his room, he goes to the bathroom to look at his face.
"Ugh, it's worse than I thought..." He groans, tapping around the bruise, the throbbing pain eating away at his cheekbone.
"Getting punched in the face wasn't as painful as I thought it would be." He scoffs, leaning away from the sink. The black and purple spot stuck out on his pale face. His eyes traveled to his stretched-out collar, the image of Daren glaring down at him sent a shiver down his spine. I should take up boxing... He takes a deep breath before leaving the bathroom. Cold air pours into his room from the open window. Quickly walking over, he slams it shut before falling back on his bed.
"Daren probably told Erin I was watching the team!" He covers his face, the bruise throbbing under his palm.
"Fuck you, Daren." Ryu closes his eyes, deciding on sleeping the pain away. After what feels like 5 seconds, a gentle knocking comes from the door.
"Put it away. I'm coming in." Ryu rolls his eyes while sitting up in bed. His dad walks in, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Your mom didn't want you sleeping much longer, so I decided to knock out two birds with one stone."
"It's not even 5!"
"You're right, it's 8." His father grabs his jaw, leaning his head closer to see the bruise. His dad grumbles something before letting go.
"A baseball huh?" Ryu looks away, red creeping on his ears.
"Yup! I was talking to my friend, and it just came out of nowhere!" He smiles awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with his bear of a father.
"Ryu, do you know how many teens have come into my office, saying it was because of a sport? I can see the knuckle marks." His dad pokes Ryu's cheek. Ryu groans, covering his face.
"Please don't tell Mom! She'll never let me hear the end of it. She'll never let the school hear the end of it. It'll be so embarrassing-"
His father cuts him off, "Ryu, your mother wouldn't let me hear the end of it." He sighs.
"A fight? That's so unlike you, Ryu."
"Not like you'd know," he grumbles. His dad looks away, picking his fingers anxiously.
"I know we aren't as close as me and Carter were, but I still care about you. You know that right?" He looks at Ryu softly.
"Yes, I know." Ryu crosses his arms, looking away.
"You're doing great Ryu. Don't stray away from that. Don't end up like Carter." He places a hand on Ryu's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. When Ryu returns with nothing, he shakes his head, slowly standing from the bed. He leaves the room, giving Ryu a small glance before shutting the door. Don't end up like Carter? A lump grows in Ryu's throat, and he clutches his sheets. His knuckles turn bright white before he lets go. He stands from his bed, leaves his room and walks down the hall. Standing in front of his late brother's hollow bedroom, he stares at the door with some tears rolling down his face, over the bruise, and falling off his chin.
After opening the door, he collapses on his brother's bed, sobbing in the pillow and wrapping the blankets his brother once owned around his body.
"Why'd you leave?" He takes off his glasses throwing them on the floor. Rolling on his back, the tears burn to the corner of his eyes.
"Were the drugs more important than me?" His heart aches like the pain of losing his brother was still fresh in his mind. He covers his face, crying himself to exhaustion and falling asleep soon after.
"Ryu? Honey..." Ryu opens his puffy eyes, slowly looking at his mother. She was gently petting his head, running her fingers through his long hair.
"What time is it?" he asks groggily.
"I took off work today, so I decided to let you sleep in. I'll just take you in later." She smiles. A frown creeps onto his face. Looking at his mother just makes his heart hurt more. He hugs his mother, shoving his face in the crook of her neck, clutching the back of her shirt.
"I miss him too. I can barely come in here now..." She shushes him softly, rubbing his back in gentle circles.
"No talking," he grumbles. His mother says nothing else.
After Ryu took a shower and joined his mother downstairs for breakfast, she had the table made for him and her. His father already left before his mother woke him up, so it was just him and his mother. Just the way Ryu liked it.
"Sweet, French Toast!" He hops in his chair, quickly grabbing his utensils.
"Slow down! No rush. I'm taking you in today so you can take your time." She laughs, setting her plate down.
"I know, but I still have to be there soon. I can't just miss half the day." He sighs, taking a bite of his food. His mother rolls her eyes, drowning her French toast in syrup. Ryu stares in disgust, shaking his head to look away from the sea of syrup.
"Yeah, I'll stick with my powdered sugar." He huffs, eating his food.
Breakfast with his mother was calm and simple. Ryu knows his mother could've asked him a million questions, but she didn't. Getting dropped off was different too. His mother didn't get out of the car and try to make small talk with the staff. He got out of the car and she left, and this left a small smile on his face. Unfortunately for Ryu, he had arrived during 5th hour.
He walks in with a straight face, bracing himself for the verbal abuse.
"Look who's late," Daren snickers. The teacher snaps her fingers at him, shaking her head. He grumbles something, looking back down at his Chromebook. Ryu rolls his eyes, looking around the room for Erin, who was at the back of the class with his head down, asleep. He walks up to him, harshly tapping the desk.
"Fuck!" He sits up and looks around the room before his eyes settle on Ryu. Narrowing his eyes, a frown forms slowly on his mouth.
"What happened to you? You look like shit."
Sighing loudly, Ryu sits down at the desk in front of him, rolling his eyes.
"Get any work done?" He grumbles, looking at anything other than Erin.
"I found a homeless shelter we can go to. It's in town but-" he yawns loudly and says, "It'll work. You can just wait with Daren after school."
"No way. I'm not waiting with that asshole." Ryu scoffs, crossing his arms.
"Watch it. That asshole is my friend, so I'd stop with the name calling." Erin glares at Ryu, and with his expression, telling him to stop. Ryu, not looking to get his ass kicked again, slouches in his chair, silently backing down. So, it's only bad when he gets called names...
"What's up your ass?" Ryu retorts.
"Everything. I'm tired, and I ran out of my anxiety medicine... and my pharmacy can't give me more!" He hits his desk, causing Ryu to flinch, leaning away from him. The class all turns to them. Ryu looks around, turning a bright shade of pink.
"Anxiety medicine?" he whispers.
"Yeah, what about it?" He pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out an irritated sigh.
"I just didn't expect someone like you to have anxiety."
"Did whatever happened to your face yesterday knock your brain loose?" he asks sarcastically and then glances at his cheek.
Ryu grimaces at the thought, chuckling slightly to cover up the discomfort.
"Haha, PE Baseball! You know how it is!" He scratches the back of his head, looking away and praying the lie wasn't apparent on his face.
"Checks out, baseballs hurt." Erin stares at him for a few more seconds, looking away from the sound of the bell.
"I'll see you at the end of school, you'll be able to find me. Hopefully, you won't be saying stupid shit at the end of the day." Erin grabs his things, standing from the desk. Ryu sits there for a moment, going over the conversation he just had. He quickly glances at Erin. As if on cue, Daren walks up aggressively patting Erin's back. Erin rolls his eyes, not even happy to see Daren. Why's he acting so weird? Anxiety medicine? He sets those thoughts aside, leaving the classroom.
At the end of the day, he stands at his locker awkwardly. His things were already packed in his backpack, and Amy probably left thinking Ryu was not at school. What do I do for an hour?
Ryu heads outside, over to a tree they had at the front of the school. It was a tree that only its own mother could love with small patches of leaves missing from all the senior pranks, initials carved into the truck, and dirt patches all along the bottom. This tree has a lot of history, and Ryu was sad to see it all, knowing he wasn't from this town.
"Wonder what you've seen..." he whispers, sitting down at the base of the tree pulling out his sketchbook. Still able to hear the whistle and grunting from the football team, he puts his headphones in, trying to ignore the sounds of football practice.
After about an hour, Erin walks up to Ryu, tapping his knee with his foot.
"Let's go," he commands. Ryu fumbles with his stuff, putting it away. Daren was standing behind Erin, looking around the front of the school. Ryu stands, the tips of his ears turning red at the thought of what's happening.
"We're dropping off Daren before we go!" Erin sighs, limping over to the parking lot.
"Yeah, you told me yesterday. Why are you limping?" Ryu points out. Daren chuckles, covering his mouth.
"I got tackled-"
"It was hilarious! Teagan picked him up and- and went like this!" Daren motions slamming someone into the ground, he laughs loudly, shoving Erin. Erin aggressively shoves him, grumbling something under his breath. Daren glares at him, before quickly shaking the annoyance off.
"Yeah, and it hurt like a bitch." Erin shakes his head. Ryu underestimated how privileged Erin was. His car was a clear sign of his money at home. It was a black Audi A4, in the closest parking spot to the school. Ryu stares in awe as Daren and Erin get situated.
"You coming?" Erin scoffs, tapping the top of the car.
"Oh, yeah!" Ryu walks up, getting in the back. The car was clean and didn't smell, unlike many of the high school's boys cars. He felt the cool leather seep through his jeans; however, it was a bit cramped in the back, and he couldn't imagine sharing the back with someone.
"Song requests?" Erin says, starting the car up. The engine starts as air blasted through the vents. Ryu shakes his head.
"Don't lie, I see you listening to music all the time. Name one!" Daren looks at Ryu in the mirror. The hard stare creeps Ryu out.
"Uh... You guys like Bob Marley?" He smiles awkwardly.
Turns out Ryu's music taste pleased the boys. The entire time Erin and Daren nodded along to the music, a slight smile on their lips. Ryu sat in silence, pleased with the music. The car had a great sound system, so hearing his favorite music in surround sound calmed his nerves a bit.
Daren's house was surprising to Ryu, as it was small and a bit run down. The outside metal fence was broken, the sidewalk was not level, and old kids' toys were outside. It's in the "poor" neighborhood, so Ryu has a bit of culture shock.
"Alright, I'll see you." Daren daps up Erin as he gets out of the car, grabbing his bag.
"Yup. Hey, text me if you get the stuff, okay?"
Erin nods, waving to Daren.
"Here, get up front." Erin pats the seat Daren just left from. Hesitantly, Ryu gets out of the car and moves to the front, avoiding as much eye contact as he could with Erin. The music was now off, and Ryu could hear Erin's sighs.
"I called the homeless shelter before I went to practice. They were more than willing to ask people for the interviews," Erin chuckles. He pulls his visor down, blocking the sun from hitting his face.
"That's great! All we'll need are about 5, so this should go pretty quick." Ryu looks out the window, watching the broken down houses trickle out.
"Good. We'll need to make this quick, or my mom will be pissed." Erin glances at the radio, grabbing his phone from the cup holder. He flips it in his hand, shaking it at Ryu.
"Turn your music on again." He says, not looking away from the road. Ryu stares at him before reluctantly taking the phone, turning on more of his music. Guess he likes it... He smiles.
When they arrive at the shelter, they get many stares and begs coming from the people there. Ryu felt uncomfortable and sad being there. As he walks past them, Ryu tries giving them some change, only to be stopped by Erin. He was confused on how he seemed so unaffected by the people around him. The staff brought them to the back room where they had five people sitting in a room, all talking.
"Dibs on Recording!" Ryu shouts. Erin groans in annoyance.
"But I look like shit! And I'm tired and-"
"You look fine, just shut up and pick a person." Ryu pulls out his phone, pretending to record Erin. Erin rolls his eyes, looking around.
"I need like, a microphone." He looks over to a small table in the corner of the room. It was a kids table, full of drawings and crayons. Quickly, he snatches one up, coming back into shot.
"Looking great. Quick, strike a pose for the before and after!" Ryu jokes. Erin shrugs, giving a smile with the crayon close to his chest. He takes a picture, looking down at the photo. Wish I had that smile.
"Okay! Introducing Erin Fearce!!" Ryu says loudly. Erin stands there, not knowing what to do, before breaking out into laughter.
"Let me try again! Let me try again!" He clears his throat.
"Hey guys, today me and Ryu are talking about homelessness in our beautiful town. Today, we have some people who would like to tell you their story."
"Ready!" Erin waves over a woman. She was thin and bundled up in many layers of clothing.
"Okay can you state your name?" He holds the crayon to the women.
"Nicky." She scratches her neck. Erin brings the Crayon back to him.
"Okay, tell us what led to you ending up here," he says bluntly.
"Erin, be respectful," Ryu warns.
"I have to make this quick!" he whines.
"Drugs. Drugs are the reason I'm here. They ruined my life! I ran out of money, sold my home, my body, everything for drugs! Glad I ended up here, I needed to break that addiction..." Nicky sighs, patting Erin's shoulder, shifting away from the two.
"Okay..." He wipes his shoulder off, gagging. The next four people were the same, their lives all affected and destroyed from the use of drugs. As the interviews went on Erin's attitude changed drastically. He looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Ryu was confused at how he could have no reaction to people begging at his feet, but freak out when they tell their story. In the last interview, the man was talking about one of the many encounters on the streets. Erin's face scrunches up, clearly at his limit of these stories.
"Okay, we're done here." He drops the crayon, putting his hand over the camera and walking past Ryu and out the back room. The homeless man stares confused but almost immediately walks away.
"Dude, we were in the middle of talking to him!" Ryu calls after him.
"Don't care! This is depressing." Erin waves. He walks out of the homeless shelter, the doors slamming behind him. Ryu stands there confused about what just happened. He only got uncomfortable with the talk of drugs. That's not a mystery. Ryu quickly thanks the staff, running after Erin to not get left behind.
"Erin! You can't just do that! We wasted valuable time-"
"Valuable time? It was the same story over and over! The only reason those people are there, is because they don't have a family! It was the same thing every time. I was done!" Erin leans against his car, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We needed the stories for the project! Do you every think about anyone other than you or Daren?!" Ryu raises his voice. He catches himself, taking a step back from Erin. Don't get your shit rocked twice, Ryu.
"Oh, don't bullshit me. I'm a great person!" Erin crosses his arms, scoffing a smile on his face.
"You're not a great person to Grace!" Ryu immediately regrets saying that. He covers his mouth, eyes wide. Erin slowly turns to him, his amber eyes piercing his soul.
"I-I heard you talking to her!" Erin says nothing looking away.
"You don't know anything, you're just a fucking albino loser who spies on people that are better then you." Ryu could feel the jab to his heart.
I thought you were nice.
"I'm dropping you off. We're getting this project done, and that's it. You keep your mouth shut, or I'll kick your ass and throw you in the dumpster behind the drug store." Erin glares at Ryu, opening the door for him. Walking to the other side, Erin gets in the driver seat, starting the car back up.
Ryu gets in the car, looking down at his knees, his heart pounding. It's silent, with no music, no talking, just Ryu and Erin's breathing. He gives Erin his address: The Forest Hills neighborhood, which was large and new. The suburban houses were all big and individualized in their own way. Ryu's mother and father chose to move here, trying to get away from their past and give Ryu a new start.
By the time the car comes to a halt, the sun is setting and barely peeking over the hills in the background. Ryu quickly gets out that car, grabbing his bag from the back.
"Ryu! You're home late! I was worried! Oh- Who's this?" Ryu mother speed walks down the front steps, past the small gate and to the road. She's in a tracksuit, even though Ryu hasn't seen his mother run since his brother died.
"Hi Mrs. James! I'm Erin, Ryu's parnter in a project. Sorry for getting him home so late, the project ran longer than expected," he laughs, leaning over to see better.
"Oh, it's alright! I just would've appreciated a heads up from Ryu." She laughs, wrapping her arm around Ryu.
"I'll make sure he does next time." This kid can act. Ryu rolls his eyes.
"Mom, can you let him leave? I'm sure his mom is just as worried as you were," he says tiredly.
"Oh! Yes, yes! Sorry! Go home. If you ever want to come over, I'm sure Ryu would love to have you." She pats his back.
"Mom, please don't speak for me," Erin laughs, nodding his head with a fake smile.
"Will do, thanks Mrs. James!" Erin waves.
"Bye Ryu," Erin says a bit differently. Ryu glares at him as he drives off.
"What a sweet kid! You know we're talking about this at dinner!" Then she laughs, running into the house.
"No Mom-" He sighs, looking down at his phone. He goes in his photos. Scrolling past the videos, he pauses on the photo of Erin smiling. Without a second thought, he tries to delete it, but he isn't able to press the button. I'll keep it for a bit longer. He has a nice smile...