They sat inside the same diner as before. Brendon ordered the same thing since he couldn't eat anything with meat in it: French fries and a soda. Ryan sat across him, constantly checking the window for some reason. Brendon knew his mother would be a little upset he skipped dinner today, but he needed a break away from that house. It was nice here, he didn't have to think about how he felt like the world was closing in on him. He felt safe here, but the lingering thoughts of the past week or so were still there creeping up his neck. He ignored it, mostly because nothing was happening to fully trigger them yet. He grabbed a fry from Ryan's tray when he wasn't looking. Since Ryan didn't seem to like to eat a lot in one go. Also, Brendon was paying for it anyway, it was technically his food. Also, he was starving, try out takes almost everything out of you. He forgot how active you had to be to play baseball.
"Baseball, huh?" Ryan turned away from the window for the first time since they sat down, and he caught him redhanded in his thievery, but he seemed unbothered by it so he pushed his tray towards Brendon. The question leaked some sort of sarcasm like he was slightly making fun of the kid for even trying out. "Well, I played little league games throughout middle school and still played regularly with my friends. I need something to do while I'm here so why not baseball?" Brendon dumped the French fries into his tray. Speaking of friends, he wondered what Bill could be doing right now. Bill was three hours behind and was most likely still in school. He couldn't wait for Thanksgiving, maybe that would make him feel better. Ryan didn't say anything, but Brendon wasn't mad. What he didn't realize was that the reason why Ryan didn't respond was that he walked right through the door.
"Ryan!" Even though Brendon hadn't been here very long, he knew that voice. Ryan's face turned from somewhat calm to just annoyed. Keltie invited herself right next to him. "Hey, Keltie," Ryan whined a bit, as Kelts wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes narrowed at Brendon, slightly annoyed at his presence again. Ryan grabbed a fry from Brendon's tray, even tho he had just finished giving his whole tray away just minutes before. Keltie started to talk about cheer and how hard practice was in the rain. "The rain was awful today." Brendon decided to participate in the conversation. Keltie just nodded and went back to talking about cheer. "Brendon, we should get going." Ryan stood up from the table, he signaled to pack the fries and take them to go. He didn't want to sit in the diner anymore.
Since the now-annoyed teenage boy was on his ride home, he obeyed. Keltie seemed confused by the sudden movement, but she didn't say anything about it. She was used to this from Ryan, but it didn't look like she cared too much about how easy it was for him to leave her. She grabbed her bag and stood up from the table. "Where are you headed?" She sounded a little desperate.
"The lake," Ryan said blankly, but for some reason, Brendon could read that his friend wasn't being too truthful. "Great! I'll come over a little later to hang out." She bought it, and Brendon began to feel bad. He didn't say anything because he wasn't going to risk being by himself, he wasn't ready to go home yet, and Ryan seemed to want him around.He dropped a ten-dollar bill on the table.
"Why do you do that to her?" Brendon asked once he got in the car. Causing Ryan to look at him annoyed. "She complicated and she doesn't take no for an answer." He wasn't telling the full truth but Brendon would take it. Mostly because he didn't want to poke the bear. "Why are you a senior at eighteen?" He asked another question. He examined Ryan's face carefully, his face softened a bit at the question. He didn't look upset anymore but he did look a little irritated, he seemed sleepy. What was going on in this kid's head? Brendon wanted to know so badly. "My dad put me in kindergarten a year late because he thought it would make me faster than the other kids in sports. Which sucks because I don't do sports anyways." He looked in the rearview mirror. Taking a very sharp turn. The more and more time Brendon spent in his car, the more and more he realized that Ryan really shouldn't be allowed to drive. He was breaking so many street laws. He didn't slow down for yellow lights, he wouldn't always stop at stop signs. How did this kid even get his license?
They were in front of Ryan's house. Ryan grabbed the prescription medication and Bren grabbed the leftover french fries and contemplated asking if he could stay around Ryan for a little bit longer. It was probably too late to ask since he was already walking up the stairs of his house. "I'll see you tomorrow." Ryan turned around and smiled. That was the first time Brendon truly saw him smile. That feels so good. That made Brendon feel weird inside, but the good kind of weird. Then it hit him again. That's another man, that's not normal, well it's normal but not for him. He wasn't into guys. Ryan went inside, but Brendon went back into his personal hell. He went inside and took his shoes off at the door. "How were tryouts?" His father had a beer in his hand. Brendon always wondered why his dad was opposed to coffee but drank a beer regularly. It was strange how some people just didn't fully follow the rules of their religion, but then get upset when other people don't follow all the rules. "Good, they let me hit the ball." Brendon's hair was wet from the rain. He was cold. He waited for his dad to say something else, but he never did. That would hurt but Brendon had gotten used to that.
He went up to his room and grabbed the landline. He knew his dad would be pissed at this long-distance call price, but he needed it. He had so many thoughts and he needed some guidance from someone he knew wasn't going to judge him completely. "Hey, it's William." Bill didn't recognize Brendon's number yet, mostly because he was used to Brendon calling on his cell. "It's me, Brendon, I got a question."
"Shoot."
"I feel complicated, would you kiss a guy?"
YOU ARE READING
Going Back to Sin City
RomanceBrendon is forced to move back to Las Vegas because of uncontrollable circumstances, leaving behind his four older siblings in Hawaii. His parents have a hard time dealing h his emotions on top of the fact they are Mormon and have certain expectatio...