Starcrossed - 4. Chapter 4

“So, what are you doing here in the mall all by yourself?” I asked him.

“Oh, I’m supposed to meet my friend Ace, but I don’t think he’s gonna show. He was supposed to be here half an hour ago.”

“Well, do you need a ride home?” I asked.

“Um, yeah…I guess it’s better than taking the bus.”

“Cool, I hope you don’t mind if we stay a while. I wanna wait until the last minute to go home.”

“Why are you avoiding your brother? Do you not get along?”

I paused, thinking about why I didn’t want to go home.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.”

“No, no it’s fine.” I said. “I’m just trying to figure out why I want stay away. I guess it’s because my brother and I don’t always get along. It could also be because whenever he comes home, my mom spoils him rotten. It’s kind of makes me nauseous.”

Billy giggled under his breath and smiled that shy smile. He really glowed when he smiled. He’s a really cool person. I can’t believe that I’ve known this guy for almost four years and haven’t ever became friends with him.

“Say, are you hungry?” I asked.

“Um, I guess. But I’ve gotta go home for dinner. My dad’ll be disappointed if I go home already full.” said Billy.

“I see.”

“But, if you’re hungry and, and you don’t wanna go home…you can eat with us.”

“I don’t want to squeeze in on your family.”

“Please, it’s been me and my dad since before I can remember. You’re not squeezing in on anything.”

“Um…Sure…”

This decision confused me. I didn’t really want to say yes, but I found it impossible to say no. So, he gave directions and I drove to his house. It was a small house, but then again it didn’t really need to be big. It was just him and his father.

“Come on in.” said Billy as he walked in before me.

His dad was in the kitchen. He had black apron on. He turned around as we walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, oh…who’s this?”

“This is Ryan. Ryan this is my dad.”

“Hey Ryan.” said Mr. Snow.

“Hey Mr. Snow.” I said.

“Dad, Can Ryan stay for dinner?” asked Billy.

“Sure, there’s plenty. We’re having rigatoni in marinara. It‘ll be ready in about thirty minutes.”

“Awesome.” said Billy. Then he turned to me. “Come on, we start on that history.”

“Cool.” I said, excited to get started.

Billy’s room was cool. It was a bit eccentric, but in a good way. It was like a big scrapbook. Billy sat on his bed and he led me to sit at the desk. He grabbed his textbook out of his bag and I did the same.

He started and after only a few minutes I already started to get it. He had this way of helping me remember things. I don’t know how he did it, but he made remembering the dates and events funny. I’ve never laughed so much while studying. Time flew because his dad called us for dinner.

“So, Ryan, you go to Ashworth as well, right?” asked Mr. Snow.

“Yes, I do, sir.” I said.

“Oh, don’t call me sir. It makes me feel old.”

I giggled under my breath a bit. I could see where Billy got his sense of humor. His dad had the same one. They had the same smile and eyes as well.

“Okay,” I answered him.

“So, are you in this play that I’ve been hearing so much about from Bill?” asked Mr. Snow.

“Um, well, I auditioned, but we find out the results on Monday.” I said.

“I’m sure you both made the play.” said Mr. Snow. “It should be a great experience.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” I told him.

Mr. Snow’s pasta was extremely good. It sort of put my mom’s pasta to shame. Of course I would never say that out loud to anyone.

“So…” Mr. Snow started. Billy didn’t let him finish.

“Dad, what’s with the Spanish Inquisition?”

“Well, someone’s gotta talk. You sure aren’t.”

I could tell Billy was a little uncomfortable. I couldn’t see why. I thought his dad was really nice.

* * *

“Where in the hell were you? Can’t you even call to say where you’re at?”

“Sorry…gosh. I went to a friend’s house to study.” I said.

“You owe your brother in apology. He was looking forward to seeing you. He’s in his room.”

“Fine,” I sighed.

I walked down the hall and into Justin’s room. He was a bit shorter than the rest of the family. He takes after my mom’s side of the family. He had dark hair, but he had dad’s blue eyes and strong facial structure.

“Sup bro? Where you been?” asked Justin in his deep voice. A voice that reminded me a lot of my father’s.

“Studying…” I simply answered.

“On a Friday night?” he asked.

“Not everyone gets straight A’s like you, Justin.” I said, making a crack at his always perfect academics.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

“Well, I’m gonna go to my room and get back to work.” I said.

“Cool, see ya in the morning.”

I left the room and made for my own. Bandit was sitting lying on my bed. He jumped up, jumped off of the bed and started to bounce at my side. His tail wagged as he barked and panted.

I bent down to one to pet him and scratch his ears. He really loves that. Then I went to go lay down on my bed, but back tracked to get one of Bandit’s chew toys. I brought it back with me to my bed. I started to play with him on my bed, then my mom walked into my room.

“Did you catch up with your brother?” she asked.

“Mom, it’s only been three weeks since the last time he was here. There’s not much to catch up on.” I said as I continued to play with Bandit.

“He’s your brother. You should be closer to him.”

“Mom, we go through this every time that he comes home. Justin and I are never going to be the kind of brothers that you want us to be. We’re just too different.”

“You’re brothers. You can’t be that different.”

“Trust me. We are as different as brothers can get. He’s book smart. I’m athletic smart. He likes science. I like baseball.”

“But you like English right. Justin likes English. There’s something in common.”

“The only reason I like English is because I speak it. Can you leave now. I just wanna wind down before I go to bed.” I said, going back to Bandit who was fighting for power over his chew toy.

My mom shook her head and left the room. I continued to play with Bandit. Eventually I got tired of it and let him just tear the toy up next to me on my bed. Eventually he jumped off of the bed with the toy in his mouth and scurried out of the room. I got up, closed the door and got ready for bed. It was somewhat of a long day. I did a lot of thinking. I was exhausted.

* * *

The next morning I snuck out to go for a swim at the lake. I swim to stop thinking, but for some reason, it just makes me think more. The more and more I thought, the more I got distracted, so I got out of the lake. It was good that the weather was still warm enough to swim in the lake. I grabbed my towel and started to dry off.

I heard a twig break in the bushes and quickly stopped drying to look in the bushes. I didn’t see anything at first, but then I did.

“Hello?” I called.

No one answered.

“I know you’re there. Just come out.”

Billy slowly came out of the bushes. I started to laugh.

“Who’s the stalker now?” I asked in my laugh.

Billy put his head down in embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s cool. Now we’re even.”

“Sorry for creeping you out.” said Billy rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just…I didn’t expect for you to be here and I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“It’s cool. I was getting really distracted. I could use someone to help me focus on one thing.”

“Maybe you should get dressed first.” said Billy.

I looked at myself. I only had my swum team briefs on. I smiled to try and cover up what must be an obvious embarrassment.

“Right…” I said.

I finished up my drying and then put on my clothes; a pair of basketball shorts and an old t-shirt.

“So, what’s up?” I asked.

“I’m here to meet my friends.”

“Are they gonna show this time?”

“Funny. You should know that Ace apologized about yesterday. He had a family emergency.”

The sun lit up Billy’s face like he was some sort of angel. I smiled at this strange similarity.

“Maybe I can make a better impression on him this time around.” I said with a hopeful smile.

“I’m sure you did fine the first time. You just made a simple mistake.”

“Yeah, a super idiot mistake.” I said, which was true.

“You’re not an idiot.”

Wow, he’s the first person who hasn’t agreed with me when I said that, besides my parents of course. All of my friends, and my brother, even some of my cousins always agree with me when I call myself an idiot.

“Hey Billy!”

I heard a girls voice. I looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw Ryan’s friend from the mall. She is super beautiful, but I still don’t know her name. She’s a medium height with bouncy red hair and a bright smile. Who is this girl?

Billy hugged the beautiful girl and they kissed each other on the cheek.

“Ryan, this is my other best friend Kendra.”

“Yeah, from the mall right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” said Kendra with a smile.

I really wanted to talk to her, but I felt bad because Billy was right there and she’s his best friend. Should I wait until after she’s gone and then ask him about her? Does she have a boyfriend? Does she even date? Would she date me?

I couldn’t ask him all that. I barely know him. He’s gonna freak out on me and then decide not to tutor me after all. Then my grades will plummet and there goes my senior baseball season. No, I can’t risk all of that for a girl.

“So what are you two doing here?” asked Kendra.

“We just ran into each other.” I said.

“Yeah, Ryan was going for a swim and I was here to meet you and Ace. Where is he?” asked Billy.

“He should be here. His parents had a huge fight yesterday. I heard that there was chair throwing and everything.” said Kendra.

“Wow…” I said.

“Yeah, he’ll be here. He’ll do anything to get out of that tense house.” said Kendra.

“I can’t believe his parents are fighting again. They should just get a divorce and get it over with.” said Billy. “Meanwhile, Ace is going through hell because of them.”

The three of them heard Ace coming through the grass. Billy walked to him right away and gave him a hug. Ace hugged back. Was Ace gay too? He didn’t seem like it? He didn’t really act like it? Billy, on the other hand, you could tell that he was gay.

“Are you okay?” asked Billy.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for not showing to the mall.” said Ace.

“Hey, there’s nothing to apologize for. The only thing that matters is that you’re okay.” said Billy.

“Well, mostly.” said Ace.

“What does that mean?” asked Kendra and Billy simultaneously in worried voices.

Ace held up his shirt and revealed a purple and yellow abdomen. Billy and Kendra gasped.

“Oh shit. Are you okay? Does it hurt?” asked Kendra.

“Not anymore. It’s just a little sore.” said Ace.

“What the hell did they do to you?” asked Billy.

“When my dad through the chair, he didn’t see that I was in the hall, where he through it. It was an accident.”

“I don’t care. You’re still bruised aren’t you. This is not okay, Ace.”

“Billy’s right.” I said. “That’s not good.”

Ace looked at me with a questioning look.

“What are you doing here?” asked Ace in a snooty tone.

“Easy, Ace.” said Billy. “I ran into him when I came to meet you guys.”

“So, are we gonna get in the water or not?” asked Ace.

“Are you sure that you can swim with that bruise?” asked Billy.

“Hey, you don’t want me babying you, so don’t baby me.” said Ace. “Let’s get in.”

Billy looked skeptically at Ace, glaring his eyes. “Okay, let’s go.” Billy looked back to me. “Are you coming too?”

“No, I’m gonna head back home.” I said.

“Are you sure?” asked Billy.

“Gay boy, the jock said he doesn’t want to come in. Let him go home.” said Ace.

“I’ll see you at school.” I told Billy.

“Yeah…see ya there.” I said.

I left the lake with a weird feeling in my stomach. I had a feeling that Ace didn’t really like me and I don’t think that it was because I shoved him. There’s something else. I didn’t know what it was, but didn’t have the energy to figure it out at that moment.

I went back home to a fully breakfast table. I was right on time, as my mother said. Breakfast was just barely put onto the table.

I sat and ate with Justin and my mom. She started to interrogate him about school and even went as far as his private life. Apparently he’s seeing this girl, Holly. She’s a year younger than him and really beautiful. My mom got excited and demanded to meet her as soon as possible.

Then my brother started to ask me if I had a girlfriend. For some reason, I always hated that question. What business was it of theirs if I had a girlfriend or not?

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend.” I answered.

“Come on. There’s gotta be a girl out there that you have your eye on.” said Justin.

I sighed, thinking of Kendra. “Well, I just met a girl through this friend of mine. She seems pretty cool. I think I might talk to her.”

“What’s her name?” asked mom.

“Mom, I barely even know this girl. I’m not going to tell you her name.” I said.

Sometimes I didn’t really understand my mom. She could be really forward sometimes. Sometimes it was a good thing. I think I can be a bit forward, but I know when to be forward and when not to be. My mom just goes for the gold, which can be borderline inappropriate.