Renaissance (boyxboy)

Chapter 2

The car ride through town was quiet and awkward, but I knew at one point one of us would break the silence.  I just didn’t expect it to be him,

“So…you’re taller.”

I nodded, not really knowing how to respond to such an obvious statement.  I smiled a little bit, hoping to lighten the mood as much as I could, “You’re not.”

It worked.  The corner of his lips pulled up and he looked over at me, “Your old man’s reached his peak.  You look like you’ll pass me, ever thought of sports?”

Shaking my head I mumbled out, “Not really.”

It wasn’t exactly that I didn’t like sports, I just didn’t really have any interest in playing them.  Watching them was fine, but that was about the extent of it.  Maybe track.  Running was easy and it was just you on your own, not really having to worry about any team mates unless you did relays.  Though with the small population of Forks I highly doubted there’d be a track team in the high school.

“That’s all right, you’ll figure something out.” I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or not, Ricky wasn’t really the best at showing his emotions, something I’d inherited from him.  Little things like that were what left me bewildered that he and Mom had ever been together, even if it was brief.

That was about the most small talk either of us could muster, and instead I spent the remainder of the car ride looking out at the scenery.  Damn it was green, so green.  It was my favorite color but I wondered if being this encased in it would get me sick of it. 

As beautiful as Forks was, there was also something about it that was depressing.  Maybe it was the constant overcast.  After all, it got more rainfall than any other city in the country.  People here must suffer from seasonal depression like mad. 

I looked over at my father, so pale that the scruff on his face was even more prominent.  And then I looked down at my arms: tanned from the Phoenix sun.  If I had any hope of not being physically noticeable then I’d have to be in long sleeves and pants for a while.  My face would still be a dead giveaway, hair too: it was constantly filled with gold highlights from hours spent outside.  What if that made me weird…?  Just looking at me you’d be able to tell I didn’t belong, and the people here had all grown up with each other.

Maybe coming to Forks had been a mistake.  No, it was too late to think things like that now, Mom would want me to do my best, try and find friends and fit in.  Heather would tell me to just create my own niche if I couldn’t find one.  Kinda had to go with Heather on that one.  Maybe there’d be some other kids here that would be into the same stuff as me.  Just because it was a small town didn’t mean it was overly sheltered of conservative.  I hoped not.  I definitely didn’t have any childhood memories like that.

We pulled into the driveway and I looked up at the two story reconverted farmhouse.  Hard to believe that this had been farmland since it was a neighborhood now, but there was enough land behind all of the houses to support that fact.  There was plenty of water for plants, but not nearly enough sunlight.  Why anyone had had that dream was beyond me. 

My eyebrows furrowed when I saw a faded red pickup truck in the driveway.  It was old, really old, but that kind of old that still had charm,

“Dad,” Had to get used to saying that, “Is there someone over?”

I stepped out of the police car and closed the door behind me, looking over the top of it at Ricky as he walked around the car to the truck, “Actually it’s supposed to be a ‘welcome into town’ present.”

He looked as uncomfortable as if he’d just told me I’d have to go to school naked.  But for once I couldn’t hold back my surprise, “Mine?  Are you serious?”

He pulled a key off of his keyring and tossed it at me, I caught it and ran my thumb along the teeth of the metal, “Billy Black sold it to me for a good price.  You remember Billy.”

I looked up at him, momentarily pulled away from my new treasure and instantly felt guilty for having no idea who he was talking about.  He must have seen the blankness, “Well long story short, he’s in a wheelchair now.  Doesn’t need his truck anymore and gave me a deal on it since you were coming in and would need it for school.”

New objective: reunite with Billy Black and give him the biggest bear hug I could manage for a complete stranger.  I laughed and hurried over to the car, backpack heavy against my shoulders, “Dad it’s so sick.  It’s like something out of some old gangster movie, or Grease.  This is mine?  Let me pay you back, I swear I can.”

I was speaking too fast, already excited about finally having a way to get around on my own.  Even back in Phoenix I hadn’t had a car.  That’s one for Forks.  Dad waved me off immediately, looking even more embarrassed, “It’s a gift Adam.”

“Yeah yeah a gift.” I was hardly listening, running my fingers over the hood and the bulbous head lights and grill.  Perfect: different, an outsider, just like me.  I loved it already.

“Well come on, let’s get your stuff in.” Ricky was already going to the door and unlocking it, and somehow I managed to pull myself away from the truck to follow him.  The house was oddly exactly like how I had remembered it.  With how much Mom was always changing furniture and wallpaper based on what she was in the mood for, it was bizarre to see so much stability.  Or maybe I was mistaking stability for lack of creativity.  Whatever, to each their own.

“Your room’s still at the top of the stairs, got you some updated furniture and bedspread.”

I could tell by the way that he was talking that he wanted to be able to leave me alone.  I was grateful for the moment of peace and nodded, gripping one of my backpack’s straps and nodding over at him,

“Got it.  Thanks Dad.”

We nodded at each other, silent for just enough time for it to be awkward and wordlessly walked in different directions of each other.  Him outside, me upstairs.