The G(r)ay Area

Part Four

Part Four.

Aiden age 10.

"Aiden, this is Emily and her son, Lucas. Lucas is the same age as you." Mom said.

Lucas had a red and white baseball cap on over his brown hair. His eyes were brown and his skin was a light tan shade. He was wearing a red t-shirt and jean shorts. He had a scar just under his left eye. His mom looked just like him but without the scar.

"Do you like Rise of the Underworld?" He asked.

"I've never played it. Mom says it's too expensive."

"I got it for my birthday a few weeks ago. Do you want to play it?"

"Really?"

He nodded.

I looked back at mom. "Can I go?"

"Alright. But I want you back for dinner."

Lucas ran out the door, me trailing behind him.

"How come your dad didn't come over?" I asked as we walked into his house. The outside of it was typical for the neighborhood. It was a red brick house with dark blue shutters. There was a small porch that led to the front door. It too was a dark blue shade. Inside, the furniture was outdated by a few decades and the walls were wood panels. The carpet was white but an off, dirty shade. It was clearly lived in. There were no decorations up and some of the boxes sat against the wall in the hallway.

"He passed away when I was little." Lucas said nonchalantly.

"Oh."

Lucas turned the TV on then his PlayStation. "What about you?"

"He's in the backyard."

"I wish mine was still around. We could play video games and watch TV together and-"

"I wish it was like that. My dad and I don't have much in common."

"Why not?"

I sat down on the couch and kicked my shoes off. "He's into like manly stuff. Like playing sports or working in the garage."

"You don't like that stuff?"

"Do you?"

He shrugged and sat down beside me. "I think it'd be cool to try but I doubt I'd like it much. I'm more into video games and stuff."

I took the controller he handed me and stared down at like I was embarrassed. "Sometimes I wish he'd like stuff that I did so I wouldn't have to pretend to like what he liked."

"I'm sure killing zombies would make you feel better." He said, smiling.

"It better."

"You can be first player then."

"I don't know what I'm doing."

"I'll show you."