Peaked in High School

Mutually Beneficial

"Mornin'—coffee's in the pot. Do you want an omelet?" Everett greets him as Beau walks into the kitchen around 7:30 AM. He's currently at the stove making his own breakfast and sipping on a cup of coffee.

Beau sits on a stool at the countertop across from the stove. "Sure, thanks."

A comfortable silence settles between the two of them as Everett makes breakfast and Beau quietly observes. Everett eventually asks him what ingredients he wants in his omelet and adds them accordingly. He then joins his guest at the counter so they can eat together.

"Do you have work today?" Beau asks with a mouth full of omelet.

Everett—like a civil human being—finishes chewing his food and takes a swig of coffee before answering. "My job is hybrid, so I'm working from home today." He gestures behind them to the laptop sitting on the kitchen table with Visual Studio Code open on the screen. Beau absentmindedly thinks that whatever Everett was working on looks like hieroglyphics.

"How did you sleep last night?" Everett asks, trying to make polite small talk.

"Fine. Thanks for letting me stay here," he says flippantly. "Do you think I can do some laundry before I head out today?"

"Yeah, no problem. We can throw in a load after breakfast." Everett then clears his throat and asks a follow up question. "Do you have any idea what you want to do or where you want to go? I can drive you to Columbus or give you some money if you need to catch a bus."

Once again, Beau is perplexed by Everett insisting on helping him.

"Why are you doing this?" He ignores Everett's question in favor of asking his own.

"Friends help friends," the host responds, looking down at his coffee.

Beau is still confused. "We aren't friends. We've never been friends. I was awful to you in high school. I don't understand why you're being so nice to me."

Swirling what's left of his coffee around in his mug, Everett sighs and continues to avoid eye contact with Beau. "I know. I was so scared of you, but I always tried to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Again, Everett manages to surprise Beau with this admission. "Benefit of the doubt?"

"Yeah," Everett hesitantly looks up at him, "I mean.... I was your neighbor. I know how your dad was and what your family was like to an extent. It seemed like you only ever acted the way you did because of them."

Beau doesn't know how to respond to this. Was his family that transparent? Did the nerd that he pitied back in the day actually pity him this entire time?

"Yeah, well I don't have to worry about him for three more years at least," he mutters and breaks their newly acquired eye contact.

"What do you mean?" Everett looks genuinely confused by his comment.

"You didn't hear?" A part of Beau feels like he's being messed with. Like Everett is playing stupid to force Beau to explain and re-experience the shame that he felt back when his dad was sentenced. The old part of Beau's brain that is quick to jump to conclusions makes him think that Everett is trying to get pay back on him for everything that he did to him.

With a tilt of his head, Everett shakes his head and says, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"My dad committed tax fraud and was sent to prison, like, two years ago. It's a five year sentence, but I wish it was longer," he grunts out. If Everett is yanking his leg, then he'll get his shit and hit the road as soon as possible.

"I'm so sorry, Beau. I had no idea," Everett seems veritably apologetic about the situation. His compassion rattles Beau more than any practical joke about his criminal father ever could.

Clearing his throat, Beau looks at him again. "It's fine. I'm surprised you didn't hear anything, it was the talk of the town for a while. I got out of there, though, as soon as he was cuffed and thrown behind bars."

"Is that why you've been on the move, then?" Everett has a look of curiosity on his face.

"Kind of.... I don't know, man. Like, it's no secret I didn't graduate high school. I was struggling after that and my dad's fuck up definitely added to my stress. I guess I felt like I needed to get out of Columbus to reset my brain and try to make it on my own. Obviously, I failed pretty bad. Now I'm gonna have to crawl back to my mom and brother and ask them for their money and support after being away from them for so long."

Beau brought a hand up and is rubbing his temple in an attempt to relieve the headache that has just come up during his rant. After leaning his head back to gaze at the ceiling, he lowers it again to regain eye contact with Everett.

"My wife left me. Yesterday."

Sitting up straight, Beau turns his body to fully face his host.

"What?"

"Uh—my wife, Charlotte, left yesterday. She wants kids as soon as possible and I'm not ready. I thought we'd have a couple more years to enjoy being together before having children, but she wants them now and told me she's gonna check in with me in a month. If I still don't want kids then she's filing for divorce."

Everett is nervously wringing his hands as he explains the complicated circumstance to his guest.

"Well, shit, dude," Beau doesn't know how to respond to this information. He has consistently been shell-shocked the entire time he has spent with Everett.

"Sorry for dumping that on you. It's obviously not your problem. I just think it's what gave me the push to help you yesterday and today. It's like I've been feeling sorry for myself and wanted to help you as a distraction. And you also seem like you could use some support right now."

Beau nods along to this. "That makes sense. We're both going through some shit right now. I do really appreciate you helping me out, by the way."

"Why don't you stay here for a bit?" Everett suggests to him. "You said that you don't want to crawl back to your mom and brother in Columbus. Stay with me and I can help you out. We can look for jobs for you, or something, and you can keep me company while Char is gone." Everett gradually seems less confident in this suggestion as he pitches it to Beau. His eyes look anxious as he awaits his guest's response.

"I don't want to mooch off of you, Everett," Beau says hesitantly.

Waving his hands in front of him, Everett tries to reassure him, "You won't be mooching. If you try to get a job and maybe pay for some groceries at some point, then we'll call it even. I promise it won't be an inconvenience. but if you want to go somewhere else that's totally fine. I just want you to know you're welcome to stay here if you want to."

"Well, fuck. I'd be stupid to pass up that offer," Beau says with a smirk and claps Everett on his back. Everett jumps slightly, but sits up excitedly at his words.

"Yeah? Cool—well, we can start the job search whenever you're ready," Everett visibly looks enlivened by the recent turn of events. His smile is bright and unapologetic as he directs it at Beau.

"I'm ready whenever you are, bud." Beau's cheeky smirk transforms into a genuine smile before taking another bite of his delicious breakfast.