When your parents weren't home...
SEPTEMBER - 2011
Kory stayed for about a week. It was awesome seeing him. Gwen had a great time at Chinatown and I think my parents were starting to accept the fact that no matter what, I wasn't going to lose her.
It was the week before school. Ryan and I were sitting in my room. I was texting Gwen while Ryan was sitting on Facebook with my laptop.
"Hey, Kyle?" Ryan turned to me, spinning on my swivel chair.
I glanced at him, lifting my head slightly from my phone. "Yeah?"
"Remember, a long time ago, when we saw each other at the hospital?"
I stiffened. I never told Ryan about my graffiti. Surely, the rumors had reached to him by now... or I guess they haven't.
"Um, yeah."
"Why were you there?" his voice with genuine curiosity.
"Uh, well..." I was struggling to answer him. "F-for Gwen."
He shrugged then looked at the ceiling. "Let's see," he began, twiddling his apparently invisible mustache, "who should I believe, the super nice meal lady that's been working at the hospital for years or the guy I took in as a friend and thought I could trust since last year."
I huffed, running a hand through my hair. "Misty told you?"
"Yeah, Misty told me." he said hurt audible in his voice. "Why didn't you tell me, man?"
I shrugged, throwing the phone across the bed and sat up. "I dunno, dude. I just didn't want you to look at me like I was some criminal."
"You know, if you didn't lie to me for such a long time, I would be tellin' you that getting locked up once is freakin' bad ass, but three times, Kyle?"
"I was kind of messed up."
He gave me a flat look. "Well, obviously."
I glared at him.
"Look, bro, I wouldn't have judged you."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really, because it seems like you are right now." I gestured toward him.
"Well I am now because you lied to me. I thought we were bros, man?"
"We are! Just... I don't know. People look at me like I'm a freak. A freak that likes to spray paint and gets in trouble and doesn't care what happens to him."
It was quiet for a while until Ryan sat by me on the bed. "We're cool, bro."
"I'm sorry, Ryan."
"We're cool." he repeated, patting me on the back.
"I just didn't want to lose a friend when I finally had one."
"I get it, I do. I just wanted an explanation."
I nodded. "C'mon, let's go play ball. Tryouts are the first week of school."
I nodded again, heading out of my room.
...
The guys and I were practicing to get on the school soccer team. I hadn't realized how good I really was until the guys and I started playing one on one. One of us would be refereeing the game whilst the other two struggled to get a goal. Noah was abnormally good as well. Ryan played on the freshman team at the school he used to go to, not making one of the sophomore spots. This year, he was planning on getting a higher team.
I wasn't so confident in myself. I'd never played on a school team before, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was a good runner but I wasn't sure if my coordination with my feet and my aim is really accurate. However, my strength and speed to kick and get the ball is pretty well. I can kick extremely far.
Noah and Ryan know how to keep their eyes on the ball. They know the opponent's weakness(es). The first time I played against Noah, he had me pinned. He knew exactly where I was going to go, what I was going to do, gaining the ability to steal the ball whenever possible from me.
Since they both were in the 'popular' group at school last year, they became close friends knowing they shared the same athletic interests. They wanted me to play with them one day and all of sudden; we made a plan to try out for the school soccer team.
"You ready for tryouts, Hastings?" Noah asked, kicking the ball towards me.
"Hell yeah!" I shouted, swiveling past him.
"Wow, you've gotten faster."
"Is that possible?"
"Maybe I'm just tired."
I rolled my eyes playfully. "Sure."
We laughed. "So, how was Kory? Quaashie wanted to say happy birthday."
"We need to get him down here. Kory would be ecstatic."
"He'll be comin' for Christmas."
I nodded. "Kory comes then too."
"We could always have a get-together kind of Christmas. I know my mama misses yours like hell."
"I don't even know if my mom knows you guys are back!" I admitted, trying to recall a time where I'd mentioned that the Jones family had returned to San Francisco with the absence of their father due to prison.
Noah put a hand on his chest, feigning hurt. "Well sorry I'm not cool enough for you to talk about when I reveal my coming back."
I rolled my eyes. "Kory knows."
"Good. I'm glad I came up at least once in a conversation."
"Well, I told him Quaashie came back, not really mentioning you."
"Dude, what the fu-"
"Alright, are you guys gonna practice or what? I'm sweating here and I'm not even doing anything." Ryan admitted from the left of us. Well, my left - Noah's right.
"Yeah, sure. You and Noah," I suggested, pointing at the two. "I'll referee."
"Sweet, man."
Noah, Ryan and I practiced drills and played against each other for about two hours before deciding to go have some pizza. We headed to Pete's Pizzeria and took a seat, ordering combination. It was nice finally having some guy friends. I seriously thought I was a goner on my third arrest, as if nobody would come my way except for gothics and delinquents. I had friends, real friends. It'd been a long time since.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Gwen uses her mom's cell phone; they never bothered to buy her an actual cell phone, considering when they weren't with her, she'd be at one place and she was able to use the phone there, the Davidson hospital.
Do you think I'll be able to come to one of your games? :)
I smiled. Ever since I'd told Gwen our plan for being on the team, she's been really supportive. I wasn't sure why, but usually that's what a good girlfriend does, right?
If i even make the team
I answered.
I know you will, Kyle.
I chuckled. She was really somethin'.
"Hey, lover boy, get off the phone!" Noah laughed, slapping Ryan playfully on the shoulder as he pointed at me.
Ryan looked amused as I glared at them.
"Shut up."
"Does she go to school?" Noah asked.
I shook my head. "No. She's too sick."
Ryan stared at me confused, "But I thought she got released from the hospital."
"Well, yeah, but she's not, like, cured."
Noah looked confused as hell right now. "Then why the fuck is she not at the hospital?!"
"She's in remission. It's more like, uh, a recovery."
Noah and Ryan stared at me dumbfounded before sitting back and shaking their heads. "Cancer is some messed up shit, man."
I looked down at me phone, mumbling. "Tell me about it."
...
Gwen isn't normally the naughty type, I'm sure everyone has realized that by now, so why I got an email that said sneak into her house is beyond me. Apparently, her parents were out and she was all alone at home and was hearing things. I totally understood this.
Everyone hears things when they're home alone. As for Gwen, she's not home alone often, so she's probably a lot more paranoid than the usual teenage girl whose home alone. So I thought, hmm, what should I do?
1) Tell her to calm down and not go near her house so when her parents come, I won't get in trouble.
or
2) Go take advantage of this, do all kinds of sappy love shit girls like, maybe a make out session here or there and sneak into her house, sacrificing the ability to see her in the future just to comfort her until her parents get home.
So what did I choose? Option 2, of course. I left my room telling my parents I'd be with Ryan and left. I took the usual route to Gwen's, parking my car around the block just in case her parents came home early and saw my car. I was smart when it came to these things. Most likely for my safety against Gwen's father. Although George has cut some slack with me and has gotten used to the idea of his daughter and I for a little less than three months, I'm positive he wouldn't hesitate to kick me out of his house. Literally. With one of his golf clubs. Probably with the driver.
I know that if my daughter had had a guy in my house with her alone, I wouldn't be so happy about it either. But right now, it's an exception because Gwen's my girlfriend and I'm a teenager and I'm supposed to be reckless and do stupid stuff. This is a perfect example.
When I got to her house, I knocked four times, a secret knock Gwen and I had agreed to when I come tonight. The door opened to reveal a relieved Gwen in some short sweatpants and two tank tops. I tried my best not to look down, and successfully, I didn't, but I'm still a guy and realized Gwen's breasts weren't too small, or too large. It fit her.
She was a skinny person. She had prominent collar bones, flat stomach, skinny arms, this was her life. I wonder how she felt about it. All her life, she had to fight to live. All you hear girls want these days are evident bones to stick out. Gwen has that, but she doesn't want it. She wants to be able to eat whatever like a normal girl would, yet all the girls I know beg for this appearance.
It didn't make much sense to me.
Suddenly, arms were wrapped around me. "I'm so glad you're here! I swear, I heard something over there!" Gwen tugged me into the kitchen. "In there! Right there!" She pointed at the pantry.
I lightly chuckled. "Gwen, I'm sure you're just hearing things."
I opened the door, not expecting to see what I saw. A furry little rat scurried out of the pantry, running across the tiled floor. "Holy shit! Oh my god!" I yelled, jumping away from the critter and standing on one of the dining table chairs.
Gwen was currently screaming like she just realized we were having a Zombie Apocalypse. "Get it, Kyle! Grab it!"
"I'm not gonna grab it! Do you know how many diseases that thing might have?!"
"How do we get it?" she panicked.
"Uh, um..." I hurried to find something, to figure out a way to dispose of the demon. "Do you have any traps?"
"Probably in the pantry?" she said, breathing heavily.
I slowly walked off the stool and hurried toward the closet. I kept glancing behind me, wondering where the rat had gone and praying to God it wouldn't run out and touch me. I found several traps behind some boxes, cheese taken from the snapper already.
"Quick bastard," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the trap.
I gently lifted it and put it in the middle of the tile floor in the kitchen, glancing at Gwen. I'd laugh at her face right now, but I was just as disgusted and freaked out as she was.
"Kyle," she whispered, "be careful."
"I got it, Gwen." I assured, giving her a 'calm down' hand gesture without looking at her. I put one trap on the counter and tried to set it. "Ow! Shit." I cursed, feeling the sting from the trap that had accidentally caught part of my finger.
"I told you to be careful!" Gwen stated.
"You try setting one of these things!" I retorted.
I set several in other places as well, corners, underneath furniture; the thing couldn't have gotten far. The way inside the kitchen was through a door, and when we'd come in here, Gwen had closed it. I rushed back towards the stool and got on it, standing near Gwen.
"What do we do now?"
"Wait for-"
A snap echoed through the kitchen, making Gwen and I jump in surprise.
"Where did that come from?"
"That one!" Gwen pointed to a trap next to the door, but the rat wasn't there. I grumbled, hearing another snap. I spun around, hoping it was caught this time.
Thank God it was.
"Did it get it?"
"Yeah," I whispered, walking towards the trap, staring at the rat's now dead body. "Do you have any gloves?" I asked.
Gwen nodded before pointing in the pantry again. I found some yellow washing gloves and picked up the rat by its tail, holding it at arm's length away from me. My face was scrunched up, feeling gross that I was actually touching this right now.
"Go throw it away!" Gwen gushed, pushing me towards the doorway.
We walked outside, and I lifted the trashcan lid and threw the rat inside along with the trap. I've never been in these kinds of situations so I wasn't sure if it was okay just to throw a rat out in a trash bin, but whatever. Too late now.
Gwen stood on her tiptoes, taking a look inside the bin to see if the rat was truly in or not. I chuckled at her fear of the thing coming back alive and eating her.
We went back inside and I threw away the gloves. Next, I picked up the traps and put them back inside the pantry.
"Ow! God damn it!" I mumbled.
"Snapped again?" Gwen laughed.
"It's not funny. I didn't laugh at you when you screamed."
"You were going to do the same!"
"Was not."
Gwen shook her head and hugged me. "Thank you so much! I probably would have died if you weren't here."
"Boyfriends are supposed to protect their girls, aren't they?" I smirked.
This caused Gwen to smile and give me a little sweet peck on the lips. "You did all right, even though you did scream a few times like a girl as well."
...
"What movie do you want to watch?" Gwen asked.
"You choose." I spoke, taking a seat on her couch.
She sighed and pulled out a movie of what seemed to be a romance kind.
"What'd you choose?" I asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder when she came back to sit next to me.
She blushed. "A Walk to Remember."
"What's that about?"
She finally looked into my eyes, giving me a small smile. "It kind of reminds me of us."
"How?"
"Watch," she encouraged, nudging my side gently.
The movie started with a group of kids trespassing in a factory type area. In a way, it did make sense Gwen thought of us when she watched it. I was the delinquent and she was the good girl. The part where she finally confessed her secret hit me though.
I felt everything the boy felt. I was actually grateful that Gwen had told me she had cancer beforehand. I could imagine everything Landon was feeling. It sucked. The idea of our cancer diagnosed loved ones dying was unbearable.
The part where Jamie met him when he was working on his car and told him she was scared she wasn't going to be with him was when I was done. I couldn't watch anymore.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I mumbled, getting up and leaving towards the bathroom.
"Kyle?" Gwen called, but I didn't stop.
I went straight for the bathroom and couldn't help but... cry. I cried. The idea of Gwen dying was something I didn't want to think about. I didn't want to be Landon. I didn't want to go through that. Gwen was so much stronger than what she thought. She-
A knock sounded on the door. I jumped.
"Ky? Are you okay?"
I leant against the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. I wiped my nose. "Y-yeah, I'm okay."
"Kyle." Gwen knocked harder. "Can you let me in?" Her voice sounded gentler, but still strained.
I opened the door. Her worried facial expression was evident that she was scared of what I was doing in the bathroom.
"Are you... crying?" she asked me.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets and turned slowly. I nodded.
She moved towards me, trying to see my face. "Why? I didn't take you as the kind of guy who'd cry over romance movies." She giggled lightly.
When I didn't show much expression, she sobered up.
"Kyle?"
I looked at her. "I don't want you to die." My voice cracked as I spoke the last word.
Gwen gulped, avoiding eye contact. I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair.
"Maybe we should've watched another movie," Gwen admitted.
"This isn't about the movie, Gwen. I just... I can't watch stuff like that and try to act like you're not sick. I can't lose you."
"You won't." she assured. "I'm here, okay? I'm here right now." She put her hands on both sides of my face.
I let a few tears fall down my cheeks.
"I just don't-"
"Don't think about it." Gwen interjected. "Just stop thinking about it, okay?"
I sucked in a quick shaky breath and nodded. "Okay."
She pulled me down to hug her. Her arms wrapped around my neck.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"It's okay." Her voice cracked.
I embraced her as if my life depended on it. I would never let her go. Not now, not ever.