𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴-𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘴

four

The front door was locked, Otis and Eric looked at one another with confused expressions. "I thought you said James was home".

Otis shrugged his shoulders "I guess not, maybe he already left for school" Eric looked beside the trailer. The boys bike gone "yeah, maybe, I can't believe he's not here".

It had been three long weeks, and James had distanced himself from Eric and Otis. They'd ride home separate, the boy practically rushing home,

Eric of course was the only one who found it odd, Otis claimed maybe he was just in a rush. The boy wasn't very fond of school anyways.

"I reckon we'll run into him at school" the duo walked off nearing there bikes. "Maybe we should talk with him, see if he's alright".

Otis sighed "last time we did that, he ignored us for a month, I'd rather not go through that again". Eric pushed his helmet over his head "you're right. He'll come around when he's ready".

The inside of the trailer, was neat. Although the table in front of the couch held many cans of diet coke, some full and others empty.

James normally spend his entire week cleaning, however the cans remained. Surely they reeked and were no longer good to consume.

He rarely had the time to pick them up, but today he walked into the small area holding onto a trash bin. Each can be threw away harshly, the distant sound of movement behind him made him pause.

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he set the bin atop the table. His eyes locking with Ruby's "I thought you were showering before school".

She looked rather interested in what he was doing, she held onto herself for a moment before moving forward. "I was thinking, what if we go on a date".

He couldn't help but frown deeply at her words "I thought you didn't want people to see us together, hence the sneaking around for three weeks".

He spent so many long weeks avoiding Eric and Otis dropping him off home. Or even meeting in the morning before school.

They would notice Ruby leaving behind him, and he didn't exactly want them to find out about the duo. He respected what Ruby wanted, and he was damn good at keeping it secret.

"Surely we can go something no one will see us, what about tonight, after school". She looked nervous he'd refused by the way he shifted.

He pushed his arms in front of himself, biting down on his lip in thought. "I'll figure something out for us, of course only if you want me too".

She nodded, grabbing hold of her bag off the counter and nearing the doorway. This was the morning routine, she'd wake up. Get ready and then run off home so her friends could pick her up.

Of course sometimes she didn't attend at all, and he understood her family needed her. So he spent those long nights cleaning, but the cans always laid on the table. Slowly melting away into nothing.

He looked at the trash bin, reminding himself to attend the shop and purchase more. Ruby left in a hurry and he leaned into his counter sighing.

—

James normally didn't enjoy school, but today felt different. He did all his work, he smiled and he even helped out anyone who seemed in desperate need of it. He sat beside Otis and Eric.