Things Only Go Downhill

Chapter 4

_________________________________________

"You can go other places. You can live on the other side of the world but you can't ever leave home"
_________________________________________

Elio's stomach twisted in discomfort as the door handle slowly jingled just like it had a couple of hours before. He let out a sigh of relief and forced his body to relax when the jingling stopped. He heard a small sigh from the bunk above him where Kyle was sleeping. Elio hadn't gotten any sleep due to the kid's quiet sobs throughout the night combined with his fear of Lola coming into the room and Cory's makeshift lock failing. The door from the connected room where Cory and Landon were staying began to jingle as well before it stopped.

"Fucking psychotic whore" He heard Landon mutter from the other room. "And Cory, go to your own bed"

"Make me, asshole" Elio rolled his eyes and covered his face with his pillow in an attempt to tune out their conversation.

"Go. You kicked me in the dick last night" Landon shot back.

"You probably deserved it" Cory muttered. Elio groaned into his pillow before a little boy's head poked down from the bunk above him. His coily hair was hidden by a bonnet and a small hand extended toward Elio.

"I-if you put these in y-your ears, it h-helps" Kyle whispered. Elio hesitantly accepted the two orange plugs the boy had extended to him and pushed them into his ears. He hesitated a few moments longer before relaxing just a little.

"Um... Thank you" Elio mumbled. He closed his eyes feeling his heartbreak a little at his choice of language. As if he had just given up the last piece of his home to a complete stranger. His accent was still prominent and heavy when he spoke, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to keep him close to his family and the people he had left behind. It wasn't enough to remind him of home. When he pictured warm summer nights and the parties held in them the warm summer breeze felt less real. The words to the loud music forgotten, the moves to every dance he once knew foreign, the taste of his mother's cooking lost for eternity. Nothing felt like it belonged to him anymore.

"Yeah" Elio's eyes met Kyle's and a small smile broke out on the little boy's face. "No problem"

_________________________________________

Elio swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared down at the ceiling tiles as he listened to his roommate scribble away at his homework. He closed his eyes tight before swinging his legs off of his bed and heading out of the room without a word. Him and his roommate Gavian had an unspoken agreement that they simply existed around one another. They didn't talk, they didn't even exchange the most basic of conversation. If it wasn't for the school being as small as it was, it would be unlikely they would even know the other's name.

He headed down the hallway and past the familiar dorm rooms toward the one room with a person who could help him forget for even a moment. Help him forget about his parents, about the trauma from the foster homes, or about how badly he wanted to end it all. Anything would do... A pill, a joint, a knife. Anything that would bring some form of relief.

He hesitated as he neared an unfamiliar door and raised his fist to it. He gave three quick knocks before crossing his arms over his chest to soothe his nerves. He swallowed the lump in his throat as the door opened and a tall, tan boy with pretty dark eyes and long dark hair opened the door. He seemed unbothered at first, but his facial expression instantly morphed into one of surprise when he realized who it was.

"Oh... Um... Hey. Elio Ramirez, right?" Elio nodded despite cringing at the last name.

"Yeah" Elio mumbled, bringing his gaze to the floor. Maybe this was stupid. He didn't talk to people for a reason and even talking made his stomach twist. He hated his voice. He hated how natural English rolled off his tongue, he hated that his accent was beginning to fade with each passing day, he hated that his native language was beginning to feel foreign to him.