"You're gonna have to talk to him, you know?" Ryan says, stating the obvious.
"Yeah. I know. But it's not that easy." I sighed and leaned back on the couch. "He left us. He left me. I can't just forgive him all of a sudden because he's helping me."
"I know. But just hear him out. Like I said yesterday, his side of the story could be different from what you've heard from your mom." Ryan took my hand in his and traced circles on my palm with his index finger. It was really relaxing. "Just go and talk to him."
"I don't even know if he's in his office," I said quietly. "he's probably out doing work or something."
"Brendon. Go over there. If he's there, talk to him. If not, leave a note." I turned my head to see Ryan looking at me. I smiled.
"Okay, fine." I reluctantly pulled my hand from his grasp and stood up, straightening out my shirt. "I guess I'll be back." Ryan hummed and I picked up my key from the kitchen counter as I walked to the front door.
I walked out of the apartment, locked the door and left the building, making sure to take my time to Matt's office so I can think of what I should ask him. If he's even there anyway. He's been out of my life for ten years and now he's here all of a sudden. It's overwhelming and I'm confused, it doesn't make any sense to me. But I need to know what happened. I need to know his side of the story. As I rounded the corner of the office building, I saw his pick up truck sitting in the first parking spot. Okay, so he's here. Good.
"Hey." I turned around and saw a kid about my age, same height, with purple hair. Short on the sides and longer on top and he had a nose ring on the left side of his nose. A hoop. "I think you dropped this." He extended his arm out, a piece of paper in his hand. I took it from him and unfolded it. It was just a receipt.
"Nope, not mine." I gave him a friendly smile, crumbled the paper and stuffed it in my pocket anyway. "I like your hair." I blurted out.
"Thanks, thanks." He smiled and ran his hand through it. "Like yours too. Although it's just brown and not purple. But it looks fluffy." The boy stepped closer to me and put his hand in my hair, ruffling it slightly. "Definitely fluffy." He smiled. "I'm Josh."
"Brendon." I replied. "Do you live around here?" I asked.
"Yeah, I live in that building over there." He pointed behind him, not really giving away exactly which building he lives in. "What about you? I've never seen you around before."
"Yeah, I just kind of moved here yesterday. I'm in that one over there." I pointed to the building where Ryan is currently sat in, waiting for me to get back.
"Cool, cool. You live by yourself?" He asked. I shook my head. "Me either. I live with my friend and his family."
"I live with my friend." I said quietly, looking down at my shoes.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen. You?"
"Same." He nodded. "Wait, so you're sixteen and you live with your friend? How old is your friend?"
"He's seventeen." Josh stuck his bottom lip out a bit and nodded.
"Awesome. So you have no parents?" He asked.
"We um... we don't live with them." Josh hummed. "I'm actually on my way to talk to my... Matt. The owner of this place."
"Oh! You know Matt? He's awesome, right?" Josh smiled and folded his arms over his chest.
"I don't know him that well, but yeah I guess he is." I shrugged and looked down.
"Alright well, I'll see you around then." Josh waved and walked away from me, heading toward the apartment building he lives in I guess.
