He Was... •cecilos•

Not Alone

Cecil was strange.
And Carlos meant that in the nicest way possible.
They didn't hang out or anything. Their interests contrasted each other so drastically that they really didn't talk much about it besides the one time Cecil asked Carlos if he wanted to come over.
"I was wondering if you might want to come over and do some voice over stuff!" Cecil said cheerfully that morning, standing at Carlos' front door. It was way too early in the morning to be thinking about anything, and Carlos felt somewhat self conscious of his stained T-shirt and plaid pajama pants. If he would've known his neighbor was going to randomly appear, he'd have gotten dressed.
"Voice.. over?" Carlos repeated slowly.
"Yeah! I thought it'd be fun!" Cecil smiled at him. "I'm gonna be a radio show host when I graduate, after all.'
Carlos frowned. "You still have a lot of time to consider your future, Cecil."
The other boy tilted his head in confusion. "What do I have to consider? I'm obviously going to be a radio show host. The tablets at City Hall say so. Don't you know how futures work, Carlos? It's not like the universe would just give us free will!" Cecil laughed at his own joke, although Carlos was still extremely lost.
"Uh, okay?" he scratched the back of his head. "It's just, I don't like talking on radios or whatever. I suck at speaking in front of crowds. I'd rather stick to science. Not as much talking, and there's so many theories that it's hard to be wrong, although I do need to explain a lot."
"You speak fine in front of me," Cecil said, frowning.
Carlos blinked. That was true. He hadn't stuttered once in front of his neighbor. Weird. "I guess I do," he murmured.
Cecil dug at the sidewalk with the toe of his shoe, seeming slightly impatient. "So do you wanna hang out or...?"
Carlos looked back in his house. There was still a lot of unpacking to do. And he didn't even know Cecil that well. What if his family was as insane as he was, spouting all that 'the government does this' and 'the universe isn't real' garbage?
"Um, no thanks," he declined, trying his best not to sound too mean. He immediately felt guilty, because Cecil visibly deflated. "Sorry.."
"It's cool!" Cecil said, perking right back up. "Some other time though, right?"
"I guess so," Carlos replied. He highly doubted he'd be going over to Cecil's anytime soon.
"Cool!" Cecil grinned at him. Carlos swallowed nervously. "See ya around!"
He watched as the boy walked back across the street. He stopped suddenly then ran back over to Carlos. "I almost forgot, Carlos! Here!" Cecil took out a little slip of paper and started scribbling something down on it. Carlos tried to peek at it.
"What are you doing?"
"Just, take this." Cecil shoved the paper into his hands. Carlos unraveled the little slip.
listen to my radio show!! :)
every first and fifteenth of the month @ nvcr.com
love, cecil
"You actually have a show?" Carlos said, somewhat surprised.
"I do! Well, I'll be on the actual air when I get older, but this is good for now!" Cecil looked proud with himself. "I get a ton of viewers, if I do say so myself!"
"Alright." Carlos highly doubted it, but he'd check it out later. "I'll look into it."
"Thanks, Carlos!" Cecil skipped back across the street before he could say anything else.
Carlos glanced back down at the paper, and his face grew red at a piece of text he had missed.
"Did you just give me your number?!"
~•~•~
Cecil closed the door behind him and leaned against it, smiling to himself.
Phase one complete! Give Carlos his phone number super discreetly!
Phase two? Well.. he didn't think he'd get past phase one, to be honest. Hopefully Carlos would text him, though. Or call! Both were good.
He ran up to his room, so happy that it felt like he was flying up the stairs.
"Cecil! Stop stomping so much! You're shaking the whole house!"
...Or flying very loudly, in his case.
"Sorry Abby!"
Abby was a pretty cool sister, if he were honest. She had taken custody of him after his mother had.. vanished. He didn't really remember her. Or where she went. Or why. Or why he felt like he was forgetting a lot. But at least Abby was nice! Her boyfriend was stupid, though, but Abby got pretty angry whenever Cecil told her that, so he kept his comments on the down low.
Or, in other words, ranted about how dumb he was on his show.
It was free reign since Abby didn't really listen to it, and since he had made his room in the attic, it was hard to hear him when he was recording. So it was a win-win!
Cecil closed the latch to the attic behind him and flopped on his floor. He wondered if Carlos was going to listen to his show. It would be nice. He could always tell him it was required by the government to listen to any advice that a friend gave, but he didn't want to lie to him. Not like Carlos wouldn't believe him. It seemed like wherever he had come from was really weird compared to Night Vale. Like, Carlos actually had been to a library before! How courageous! He was a hero!
He covered his mouth and smiled.
And then there was a knocking on his window.
The window on, you know, the third floor.
Cecil trudged over to it and opened the window, peering down. "Oh. Hi, Earl!"
His friend's head of ginger hair popped into view. "Cecil." Earl crawled in through the window and pulled some sort of rope behind him. It looked like it was made of hair from some kind of animal. Cecil didn't bother asking about it, though, since Earl obviously knew what he was doing. He was close to becoming an Eternal Scout, after all! If he survived the ceremony, he'd be a legend to every little kid in the whole of the desert town! "You didn't answer my calls, so I decided to take matters into my own hands." He brushed himself off."
"Ooh. Sorry. I was talking to my neighbor! You know, the really handsome one? By the way, have you seen his jaw? So angular and square like a military cemetery.."
"Alright, alright. I get it," Earl cut in before he could say anything else, looking slightly annoyed. "I've seen him around, and he isn't even that great. Like, his hair is really messy, and have you seen his acne?"
"Oh!" Cecil said, looking confused. "I didn't notice. But I like his hair! It fits him. Like a mad scientist! I told him that, and he said he wasn't mad, but he does get mad over incorrect science jokes."
Earl narrowed his eyes. "I don't like him."
Cecil smiled at his friend. "He's a nice person, though! He let me borrow a textbook!" He rummaged through his stuff until he pulled out the biochemistry book. Earl's eyes immediately widened in fear.
"Th-That could kill you, Cecil!" he said in horror. "It's not even government approved!"
"It's okay!" Cecil said, holding out his free hand to try and comfort Earl. "Really! Carlos said all books are legal where he came from!"
Earl still looked at the book suspiciously. "Well, then he comes from a very messed up society. I don't think you should be around him."
"Do you think?" Cecil asked, face falling. "I like him, though.."
"He's a bad influence," Earl sighed, getting up and walking over to his friend. "He could get you hurt, and I can't bear the thought."
Cecil put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Earl.."
His friend smiled sadly. "Just.. think about it, okay?"
Cecil nodded. "Yeah, of course."
Earl hugged him close, and Cecil could feel the other boy's heart beating fast against his chest.
Weird, but he didn't question it.
He looked at the textbook in his hands and bit his lip.
Maybe he should reconsider spending time with Carlos..