Reno and Weisz

chapter 10: reno is happy to have a friend

chapter 10: reno is happy to have a friend

~reno~

       As much as I like working with Dad in the auto shop, it's nice to spend some time with Weisz when we're not obligated too. In fact, I think this is the first time we're actually hanging out outside of school without a certain reason like a stupid school project or because we're working.

       After driving around town for a bit, I decide to go to the best spot to overlook the entire town. It will be easier for me to point out certain places to Weisz instead of doing so while I'm driving.

       Surprisingly, it's not a well-known spot in town. Spots like these seem to be popular in media, but not here. Maybe enough people saw me here and it drove them off since I tend to be oh-so terrifying.

       I park my car at the top of a cliff overlooking the entire town. The cliff can fit at least half a dozen cars in here comfortably without them being too close to each other, but my car is the only one here. Like I said, it's not a well-known spot.

       I turn off my car before getting out, moving to sit on my car's hood instead. I turn to look at Weisz, who's staring at me in confusion. "Well, don't just sit there. You get a better view from right here."

       "On the hood?" Weisz asks.

       I nod. "Plus, it gives me the excuse to stretch my legs properly."

       "Are you sure it's okay for me to sit on the hood?"

       "Dude, I wouldn't be telling you to if it wasn't okay." I pat the spot beside me. "Come on."

       Weisz gets out of the car, closing the door before he sits down beside me. He looks forward. "You're right. The view is better from here. I can see almost everything. The school, the diner, my house. It's very different from where I used to live before."

       "What was your other home like?" I ask.

       "Very big," Weisz says. "It was a city, so very different from here. It was always so loud with the traffic and night life and everything. And as much as I loved it there, I like how quiet it is here. Well, how quiet it is most of the time."

       "Ah, right, it's never completely quiet around here." I lean back on my elbows. "Just wait until the bikers start a protest. The protests are always reasonable, but it can get loud. Last year, a flower boutique owned by this really sweet elderly lesbian couple was vandalized, and the vandal was going to get away with it despite there being proof of who it was. So the bikers protested by driving around the city hall, loudly revving their engines while waving the lesbian flag. It worked. It pissed off a lot of people, but it worked."

       "Wow," Weisz says. "How do the bikers get bad rep if they did that?"

       "Media," I say. "It makes them out to be these big, tough, dangerous, scary dudes. In reality, they're just a group of people who came together because of their love for motorcycles. They never do anything bad for the community."

       "Your dad. He's a biker, right?"

       I nod. "He's trying to convince me to get my motorcycle license, but I'm more of a car guy."

       "Is that why you were so upset when I had that preconceived notion about bikers?"

       "Sort of. I grew up around the bikers because my dad has been one since before I was born. They're like family to me, so I can't say whether or not I'd think differently if my dad wasn't one."

       "I'm sorry about that, by the way."

       I look at Weisz. "It's okay. You already apologized a while ago. You don't have to keep doing it."

       Weisz smiles at me before he looks out over the town again. I'm probably going to have to thank my dad for suggesting that I hang out with Weisz while we wait for his car to get fix. As sad as it sounds, I've never actually gone out of my way to hang out with someone. I've never had someone I can call a friend like Weisz. He's the one person who didn't stop being friends with me once he met my dad.

       "Hey, what's that place over there?" Weisz points to the one his eyes are on. "The one with that flashy sign?"

       I try to follow his pointer finger the best I can to see which place he's talking about. It isn't hard to figure it out since there are only so many places with flashy signs, and only one in the direction Weisz is pointing at. "That would be a roller skating rink."

       "No way," Weisz says. "There's actually one here? I've always wanted to go to one, but there wasn't any close by my previous home. We should go to it together one day."

       "Yeah," I say. "Yeah, that would be fun. They even have arcade games, too. Not a lot, but some."

       "That makes it sound even better," Weisz says. "I love arcade games. Please tell me there's also an arcade in town."

       "There is," I say, scanning the town before pointing it out. "Over there. With the purple roof. It closes late at night sometimes. We're talking about two in the morning late. Surprised nothing bad has happened there because you know what some teenagers are like in the middle of the night."

       "Well, we also have to go there one day," Weisz says. "Honestly, you should just take me to everything single place you think is fun."

       "I find dark alleys where I can sell drugs to be very fun."

       Weisz sighs at my relentless joke, but he does have a small smile on his face this time. "I have yet to live this down."

       I lean closer to him, gently nudging his arm with mine. "Oh, you're never going to live this down. Even when you think you did, I'll hit you when you least expect it."

       "You already hit me when I least expect it," Weisz says. "I didn't even expect it at all this time. But for real, I'd like for you to take me to all the fun spots in town. I feel like I haven't really experience the town enough. All I do is go to school and then work at the diner. Nothing else."

       "Then we will definitely make plans to go to those places," I say. Even I haven't really gone to the arcade or roller rink too often. I can't even remember the last time I went. Maybe for one of my classmates' birthday parties when I was in elementary school, though I stopped getting those invitations when everyone saw who my dad was.

       It will be fun to actually go with someone who wants to go with me.

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don't tell reno or weisz but they're totally planning a date lol. they just don't know it yet. just like they don't know that they're already madly in love with each other thank you.

anyway i am very tired since i only get two hours of sleep last night before i had to get up to go to my sister's for easter. i could have napped when i got home buuuuut i played genshin impact instead oops. one or two more days until i'm ar 59.