Infinite, Sometimes

7

Spencer grabbed Ryan's wrist and forced him to stay by his side. He pulled him to the end of the couch and pushed him down, making him sit and instantly crowning himself authority figure of the day. "No, stay out here. You don't need to be hiding in your room." Signaling for Ellen to sit at the opposite end, Spencer sat in the middle and turned sideways, draping his legs across Ryan's thighs to position his feet on the armrest and placing his head in his girlfriend's lap. Along with taking liberties with the only available seating, he grabbed the remote control and turned on the television, paying no attention to whatever news channel it was set to. "We don't get to hang out in here much. We can go back to your room in a while. You mind?" Ryan shook his head, fully aware that Spencer wouldn't take yes for an answer. Spencer was already comfortable and for some reason had his heart set on laying on the couch on top of his friends, and Ryan decided not to protest.

"Ry..."

Ryan flinched slightly, almost surprised to hear Ellen's voice after she had not spoken for a while.

"You've been quiet. What's up, Kid?"

"Not too much." Ryan responded as if it was a rhetorical question, one you simply do not answer with much detail. He acted as if she was an acquaintance who inquired about his wellbeing in passing, although he knew she was a bit more serious than that.

"Ryan, you're going to talk to us."

"You sound so sure." It was more stalling, but Ryan didn't mean to come off as an asshole. He caught a glare from Ellen and decided to swallow his pride and talk. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying... I don't know." He started to stumble over his words and he jokingly took his aggression out on Spencer's leg, pretending to stab it with an imaginary knife. "How well do you guys know Brendon?"

Spencer laughed once again, making Ryan start to rethink what he wanted to ask. "He's a nice kid. We ate lunch with him all the time last year. He would just sit there and drink that coffee every day."

"Does his brother come by much?"

"Eh, not really." Spencer was in the process of motioning for Ellen to do something with the television volume. "I've heard him say random shit before, but whatever. Nothing too bad. They're brothers, I'd imagine brothers fight like that anyway."

"I don't know, Spence. Seth's a fucking prick."

"Yeah I know. How much did you talk to Bren, anyway?"

Ryan shrugged. "I dunno, we just talked a bit. He's nice, but there's just... there's something strange about him. I don't know how happy he is, really."

"Happy?" Spencer was momentarily confused by Ryan's odd concern. "He seems fine to me. He's just shy."

"Does he say much to you guys?"

"Much... like what? Ryan, you're gonna have to be a little clearer, here."

Ryan tried to hide his growing frustration. "You told me earlier that he's shy. He just never came off as shy to me."

"How so? That kid barely says anything."

"He sat next to me in homeroom, and we said a few words... then at lunch, we talked, and in the hallway... and stuff..." Ryan was deliberately avoiding all mention of history class, and working around the incident in his mind made him sound like he was deeper in thought than he really was.

"I don't know, he's always seemed shy to me. What did you talk about?"

"Do you think he's okay, guys?"