Two Birds On A Wire

ch 22

Ivan had no idea how long they stayed out. He remembered eating a light dessert from Joe's when  they were hungry ,and before he knew it was dusk. They walked up and down the streets, losing track of time and now, he was having a real great laugh. He loved how much of a gossip-lady Julian was and it amazed him of how much Julian knows of everyone.

He kept going on about how some girl in their class had dated some guy and how she had cheated on him just because she saw another guy with a better dressing sense. He knew about everyone and everything-- all when Ivan found it too troubling to remember even the names of his classmates.

"Why do you even have all these infos, boy?!" Ivan scoffed out as he watched Julian talk, his hands waving in the air vigurously to add a little drama.

Julian looked unimpressed. He raised his brows and scoffed. "Sometimes the girls just forget that I am a guy because they think I gossip too much" he smirked. "When in fact, all I do is just nod and listen to whatever they say. In return, I get all of the boys' deepest, darkest secrets which I could use to manipulate them. Teehehe" he wiggled his fingers in the air and Ivan made a scowl. "Dude, you scare me"

Julian tutted. "Don't you worry, Ivan. You're safe" he nodded to himself, patting Ivan's shoulder.

"Huh?"

"I know you have had no hoes in your life. No one should know anything about you"

Ivan smacked away Julian's arm that rested on his shoulder. "You're the worst person ever…arse!" He hissed, only to earn a cheeky grin from the other boy.

Julian just walked ahead, digging his hands into his pockets, still grinning like a goofball.

"Jerk" Ivan mumbled and followed.

The both of them walked in silence until Julian's pace slowed and he whistled, looking a building up and down. Ivan followed his gaze and saw a night club that stood high by the side lines.

Julian gave Ivan a smirk. "Ever been to one?"

Ivan hesitated before shaking his head no.

"Wanna go in there?"

Ivan raised a brow. "How old do you think you are?". He clicked his tongue with a shake of his head.

Julian rolled his eyes."Trust me when I say this, people in here are the dumbest. They think I'm 24"

"What!?" It wasn't the mere fact that those people were dumb that was the root cause of Ivan's shock. It was because how he just realised that Julian might have been doing this for an awfully long time. Maybe more than what he would like to admit.

"Come on, stop being so dramatic. It's not like we're going in there to cause any trouble!" Julian yanked at Ivan's arm as he dragged him into the building that literally glistened with all the neon lights.

As soon as they walked in, Ivan felt consumed by the lights and voices. It was such an atmosphere in there in which you ought to get drunk and be dancing on all fours. And he hated how Julian seemed to know everyone in there. He would accidentally bump into someone and the next moment, they would be giving each other handshakes and shoulder pats, appreciating the presence of each other. And Ivan felt so left out.

"Do you drink, bubba?" Julian asked as he propped his elbows up on the counter.

"Nah" Ivan heaved a sigh, looking around. He was so not enjoying this.

"Fine. I'm not gonna force you to drink or anything. How about a glass of sparkling water?" Julian grinned and Ivan just shrugged. He nodded his head at the bar-tender and they went on with preparing the orders.

"Yo", a poke on the side of Ivan's arm and he looked up from his fisted hands that rested on his laps. "You look all tensed up. Relax" Julian scoffed out and he passed a pursed smile.

"People would wanna pick at you if they see you sitting here like a lost puppy" Julian stated with a flat tone, much to Ivan's discomfort. "But hey, guess what--" a fox grin creeped up Julian's face and Ivan bet a shiver ran down his spine. He vaguely wondered what was wrong with the other boy. "No one's gonna do anything to you because you're with me. Me who is the heir to the famous Merlie enterprises"

Ivan couldn't help the dumbstruck look on his face. "The famous what?"

Julian pursed his lips. "I made it up". Ivan's face made him giggle."I told you" he leaned in closer to Ivan's ear and lowered his voice to a whisper, "They're all dumb as fuck"

"Dude, you're insane"

"You bet" Julian grinned and thanked the bar-tender as he brought him their drinks. He pushed Ivan's glass over to his side and raised his glass for a toast. "To the dumb and dumber"

Ivan watched as Julian gulped down God-knows-what. He couldn't quite understand why the boy was doing the things he did. From the face he made while he chugged down the drink, Ivan was pretty sure of how much of a disgusting taste the drink must hold. Yet there he was, drinking it and worse, wanting more. Ivan couldn't help but scrunge his nose up.

"Yo, Jules" a voice from beside Julian pulled Ivan out of his thoughts.

"Why are you here again?" Matt asked as he took a seat beside the boy. His face looked rather tired as he moved his gaze from Julian to Ivan and back.

"Aren't you glad I'm heeere?" Julian pinched Matt's chin, only to have his hand smacked away. "Ow, rude hooman" he complained.

"Go home, Jules. This isn't somewhere you should be"

"Says who?" Julian scoffed and Matt eyed Ivan, who just shook his head. Matt had a feeling that Ivan had no say in this. He heaved a deep sigh. "If I could just kick you out of here, I would" he reluctantly raised his glass. "To whatever you were toasting"

They clinged glasses and Ivan watched as the other two ranted about random stuff he didn't even bother to listen to.