Awkward.
That's how Farren felt as he stood outside the resource room waiting for Kaden Rivers to come out. He jiggled his knee back and forth as he waited for the other boy, a nervous trait he had picked up long before he could remember.
This feeling wasn't common for Farren. He wasn't an awkward guy, never was. However as he waited for Kaden he couldn't have been more awkward. What exactly does one say to their rival-turned-roommate anyway?
Roommate. Just the thought of the word made Farren uncomfortable. He always liked having his own space, and anyways, what were him and Rivers meant to talk about for the next six weeks. Farren groaned internally at the thought.
Six weeks.
Six awkward weeks of awkward small talk, awkward dinner time conversation and awkward awkwardness.
He groaned internally at the thought. If he believed in God, now would be the time for a prayer. How unfortunate that that ship sailed a long time ago.
As more of the Redwood team began to leave the room Farren was growing more on edge. Why couldn't he be paired with one of them? Someone nice, like Matt Shaver or someone else. Anyone else. Anyone but Kaden Rivers. As a rule, he didn't get on with Kaden. Not that he was exactly sure why, but that was just the way things were between them. They never fought off the field, but they were rivals. That's just the way things were.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck
The curse word was like a mantra in his head and surprisingly calming. Thinking about it, Farren realised he had never actually had a real conversation with Kaden.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Hopefully Kaden wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. Who knows, maybe Kaden Rivers was actually a nice guy.
He snorted. Yeah, there was no way that was true. Nice try brain, but not today. It didn't count as judging a book by its cover if you've already read the first couple of pages, right?
Just when he was deciding that maybe he would be better off to go home and give up on State Championships all together, he heard someone clear their throat behind him.
Even before he turned around he knew who it was. There was only one person that it could be. He closed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before turning around and coming face to face with his darling new roommate.
Neither of the boys said anything for a moment, not wanting to be the one to break the silence. Eventually Farren just decided to go ahead and introduce himself before things got any more awkward.
"Hey, Kaden is it?" He said nonchalantly, already knowing the answer. But it didn't feel right to greet him with a 'Hey Kaden' when they'd never even talked before.
God this was an exhausting situation. Only four words in and Farren was already ready to bail.
Kaden nodded. "Yeah. Hi." He said impatiently, which slightly irritated Farren. It's not exactly like he wanted to be here either, but at least he, unlike Kaden, was actually making an effort to be polite.
He fought the urge to roll his eyes, which was an immediate reflex to him.
"So.." he began, knowing they had to make arrangements and not wanting to spend any more time with Kaden then he had to. "Do you want me to pick you up or..? I'm in town for a while after school anyways."
He knew that Kaden didn't drive anymore. Something to do with road rage and a suspended license. Served him right.
"Yeah that's fine," shrugged Kaden. "I presume you know my house?"
"Yeah," he replied. Everyone in the school knew where Kaden Rivers lived, his parties were legendary. And while the two teams didn't exactly get along, or to be frank, hated each other, there was an unspoken rule that when it came to parties, it was free for all. "I'll give you my number and you can drop me a text when your ready to go."
"Yeah sure," Kaden drawled with boredom evident in his tone as he handed over his phone to Farren, who took it and began typing in his number.
Straight after he handed Kaden's phone back to him, he felt his own vibrate in his pocket with a message from his aunt. She had texted him earlier after the coaches rang her, asking Farren to let her know who he was paired up with. Which he had done as soon as he had found out.
From; Grace
Kaden Rivers huh? I'm sure it'll be fine honey, if you just don't start a fight with him I'm sure you'll be able to get along. Myself, Rowan and Jenny are having dinner at Julia's house tonight, I left money on the counter if you want to grab a bite from McDonalds or some place with Kaden? Make sure you pay, he's your guest!
Love you xx
Farren sighed, typing a quick reply to Grace before turning back to Kaden.
"The rest of the family's going out for dinner at a friend's house tonight, so we can just grab a McDonalds or something after I pick you up?" He asked, cringing inwardly. He really hoped Kaden would say no, but he had to ask or else Jenny would be at his throat.
Kaden just ran a hand through his gleaming blond hair. "Yeah that's fine." He shrugged with disinterest, killing any hopes Farren had of treating himself to two meals at McDonalds. I mean, he deserved it right?
God damnit.
"Okay perfect," Farren said, forcing a pained smile on to his face. "I'll see you later so?"
"No Farren, you won't," Kaden replied sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
Hey, at least it was a change from the blank expression.
Farren forced himself to try and a stay pleasant. If he was to start arguing with Kaden who knows when they'd stop. Both of the boys were hot-headed, not to mention stubborn. And he was too lazy, he couldn't be bothered dealing with arguments and bad tensions for six weeks. It would be easier for both of them just to try to get along, for the sake of their sanity.
"Whatever Kaden," he joked back with a smirk of his own.
"Well, I'll see you then Milton. Bye for now I guess."
"Bye Rivers." he replied with a curt nod, watching as the other boy turned and walked away, his footsteps growing fainter and fainter until Farren was just left on his own.
Now that he was by himself, he could finally relax. He sat on a nearby windowsill and shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.
He had to admit, Kaden wasn't quite the horror he imagined he would be. He appeared to have some sort of sense of humour, which was a relief to Farren. There would be nothing worse than being stuck with a dry guy with no personality for six weeks.
Six weeks. Farren just could not get used to it. That's a month and a half of doing whatever he wanted, gone! How was he supposed to stay up until the early hours of the morning watching movies if he had to share a room with someone else.
That's when the reality of the whole situation really dawned on him. He didn't have a spare bed in his house, and he knew Grace wouldn't take to either of the boys taking the couch for the next six weeks.
Oh shit.
He was going to have to share a bed with Kaden Rivers.
XXXXX
Kaden arrived at his front door, after deciding that today he would walk home. Half an hour of fresh air was exactly what he needed to clear his head.
He tried not to saunter as much as he usually would, conscious of the fact that Farren was waiting for him and that they were going to get McDonalds. Because if there was one thing Kaden Rivers loved in life, it was food.
He pulled his key out of his back pocket and managed to unlock the door quickly, making his way inside his house.
He entered the foyer, calling to see if anyone was home. Even though he knew they wouldn't be. His parents worked a lot. They were both busy lawyers in the neighbouring city, and were away from home all the time.
Kaden hated them.
He knew it was wrong to hate your parents, but he didn't really care. Scratch that, he didn't care at all. It wasn't that they treated him badly, it's that they didn't treat him any which way at all. Kaden knew it wasn't right but sometimes he wished they yelled and screamed at him. At least then they would be acknowledging his existence.
They could go days without speaking to him. They never asked him how he was, how school was, how football was going or anything else. He rarely ever got so much as a "how was your day?"
He hated when his friends complained about their mother's fussing over them, or being worried when they were out late. His parents wouldn't even realise if he was gone for a week.
He never understood why. It wasn't like they had them when they were super young and inexperienced. If his mother hadn't wanted a child, why did she get pregnant? And it wasn't an accident, he had once heard her tell her friend that her and his father were trying for a few months before they got lucky.
But why bother have a child if your just going to disregard them for their whole life?
Just the thought of his parents put him in a bad mood.
He trudged upstairs and grabbed his suitcase from under his bed and began to pack. As he did so he felt his thoughts drifting to earlier on with Farren.
He had to admit, Golden Boy Milton wasn't as bad as he thought he would be. Then again, five minutes was hardly long enough to make a real first impression.
Twenty minutes later and he was finished packing and waiting at the door for Farren. It was times like this that he really wished he hadn't got his license revoked.
Having a car would come in handy for these next six weeks. That way, whenever Milton became too much to handle he could just drive to his house for a break, or to the gym.
Not that he was bothered much about the gym. Unlike most of the rest of the players on his team, his life didn't revolve around football.
Which was ironic, considering he was team captain.
He just never felt the need to constantly workout and drink protein shakes. For him, football was about enjoyment. The more he enjoyed a game, the better he played. But if he spent all his time tiring himself out at the gym and living off turkey and salad, it would completely take the enjoyment out of football for him.
His phone pinged, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked down to find that he had a message from Farren, saying he was on his way and would be there in about fifteen minutes.
Which gave Kaden fifteen minutes to say goodbye to the one thing in this house he actually cared about (excluding the fridge of course), the piano.
He made his way down to the music room. It wasn't much of a music room, considering it had a total of two instruments, but it was still his favourite room in the house.
The kitchen was a close second, of course.
It was a medium sized room, with the palest baby blue walls and cream carpet. The wall on the left had a great big window, going horizontally from one side of the wall to the other. A pair of navy blue curtains pinned back on either side. The wall on the right hand side of the room used to be home to his shelf of CDs and his stereo system, but he had recently moved them upstairs to his own bedroom, wanting to leave the room free for his piano and such.
In the left hand corner of the room, his acoustic guitar stood propped up against the wall. But the main attraction sat glistening in the centre of the room, taking up most of the space. It was a Yamaha grand piano in a midnight black colour.
Its sleek lid stood propped open, and the fall was also open, leaving the white keys gleaming in the sunlight that was streaming in the bay window.
The opposite wall, which was the only wall without a window or door, was lined completely with shelves upon shelves of sheet music, all arranged by their housekeeper in alphabetical order.
He didn't bother go over and pick something new out. He knew most of it already, anyway. He instead sat down at the piano, stretching his fingers out before beginning to play.
He let his fingers slide smoothly over the notes, closing his eyes and really feeling the music.
God was there anything better in this world than music. Kaden thought not.
He continued to play even when the piece ended. He easily slipped from one song to another, bouncing between Beethoven and Mozart, and eventually descending into more modern pop songs.
He didn't know how much time has passed, but after what felt like a mere matter of minutes the doorbell rang, snapping him out of his music induced trance.
Sighing, he took one last look at his piano before heading out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him.
He thought for a moment about leaving a note for his parents but then decided against it. They probably wouldn't even notice that he was gone.
He opened the front door to greet Farren, who had already gone back to his car and was sitting in the front seat waiting for him. He grabbed his suitcase from the foyer and headed out to the car, making sure to lock the door behind him.
He had made up his mind that he was going to try and avoid trouble with Farren. What was the point, it would only make the next six weeks more unbearable. Not that he was planning on becoming best friends with the guy, but as long as they could be civil, this whole situation wouldn't suck as much. Hopefully.
He took one last look up at the house he didn't call a home, and for a moment was relieved he would be escaping it's lifeless walls for the next three weeks.
XXXXX
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed. Please tell your friends if you did haha, I really want to get this story out there!
Also I've decided to start doing a question of the chapter. I've seen some other writers do this and I find it really interesting to learn more about you all.
Qotc; What country do you live in?
-A