2:56 :: h.s

quarante quatre

19:04

I pull up outside of Ryan's house.

There are about four other cars parked outside.
That doesn't mean there are only four other people here, though.

I text Ryan and tell him that I'm here and climb out of my car.
Ryan opens the door as I walk up and I smile an awkward smile.
We do some weird guy handshake thing and he welcomes me inside.
I follow him to the basement and see about ten other guys.

I knew it.

"Guys, this is Harry. Harry, this is guys." He jokes.

I laugh lightly and wave to them.

There is a group "hi, Harry" and I greet them as well.

I sit down on the couch and pull the hood of my jacket down.
They're playing FIFA and my mind goes back to when I would play this game with Cody.
When we played soccer outside, we always would pretend to be our favorite players in the game.

A guy with blond hair nudges me and I'm brought back to reality.

"Hey man, I'm Kris. Harry, right?" He asks.

I nod, "yep."

He smiles, "sweet. Wanna play?"

Kris holds a controller out for me and I take it.

How are these people so happy all the time?

Whoever is player one starts a new game.
I pick my favorite character and sit back on the couch.
The game starts and I'm passed the ball.
My character runs across the screen and makes the shot.

My 'teammates' cheer and I take a deep breath.
I don't even know why I came here.
I would rather be in my bed, watching a movie, waiting for a knock on my window.
I should just go home.

"Hey, Harry, what kind of pizza do you like?" Some guy with dark brown hair says.

"I'm cool with whatever," I shrug.

He nods, "aight, cool."

Player one's name is Caleb, he's also the guy who ordered the pizza.
Caleb is also the captain of the soccer team.
Caleb also has the most money.
I learned that by him talking about how he only drinks wine when he's upset.
Then everyone said 'rich kid problems'.
I almost made a comment about my old house and how I had an entire bar upstairs, but I decided against it.
Material objects aren't really important to me anymore.

I run my fingers through my hair after I give the controller to some guy, Adam, who showed up late.

The pizzas got here a couple minutes ago and I've only taken a bite of mine.
I want to go home.

I pull my hood back over my head and sink into the couch.
I think I'm going to ask to go to the bathroom but then go home.

It's a dick move but I don't really care.

"Hey, Ryan," I call.

He turns around, "yeah?"

"Where is your bathroom?"

"Upstairs, down the hall, and to the left."

I get up, "alright, thanks, man."

I walk up the stairs and head towards the front door.
I slowly open the door and gently close it behind me.

My car is warm.

I look at the clock.

It's 20:49.