bubblegum

one

         a boy with silky golden hair sat soundly on a bench centered in front of the lake. he tapped his foot to a steady beat as he hummed to the melody spilling from his headphones. suddenly, he looked up to face me with scarlet cheeks and tired ocean blue eyes. i didn't break eye contact, though. the street lamp next to the bench illuminated his features as he blinked a few times, before looking down at his shoes. letting out a shaky breath, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a stick of gum. he quickly popped it into his mouth and seemed to calm down as the taste hit his tongue. i furrowed my eyebrows as he visibly shuddered. he had to of been sitting there for a couple of hours atleast. i saw him here quite frequently. i drove past this park every morning on the way to work- it was about 30 minutes away from my apartment on foot. almost every time i drove by, he seemed to be sitting on that same bench chewing on the same brand of gum. he usually only came in the morning, so i was surprised to see him there so late at night. i know i had seen him before around my apartment- i think he lived there. i stood up from my spot in the grass and contemplated approaching the quiet boy. my curiosity got the best of me and i found myself slowly walking towards him. once i had reached the bench, he still hadn't looked up. i suddenly decided to make a bold move and sat next to him. i could vaguely hear his music coming out of his headphones. taking a deep breath, i turned to face the boy, placing a reluctant hand on his shoulder.

"hey, are you okay?"

the sudden contact seemed to startle him. he quickly snapped his head to face me, his nose rosy red and his bottom lip chapped and trembling. his eyes held what seemed to be both confusion and slight fear. he reached up to remove an earbud from his ear, giving me what i assumed to be his full attention. now that he was focused on me, i removed my hand from its place and tried again.

"are you okay? its 11 pm and quite cold, and you have that tiny jacket on," i said, pointing at the thin zip up jacket he wore. he opened his mouth to speak , but closed it again. instead, he chewed harder on his gum. i sighed slightly, looking closer at him and taking note of the boy's bloodshot eyes. a gust of wind flew by and, as i expected, he wrapped his arms tighter around himself as he shivered. i wasn't sure why i was so concerned for the well-being of the blonde, but nevertheless i made another attempt.

"look, i think we live at the same apartment and if you stay out any later than i'm assuming you have then you're gonna freeze. do you need a ride home?"

i watched him contemplate his answer. he looked at his shaking hands and sighed. the light from the street lamp shone on his rosy cheeks and he went to speak.

"that would be nice," he spoke with a raspy and weak voice. i felt my heart shatter at how broken he sounded. i nodded and stood up, him following my actions. once he was next to me, we walked together in a somewhat awkward silence the short distance to my car. once we arrived to the parking lot, i unlocked it, the click echoing throughout the empty parking lot. we both stepped inside of the car, instantly greeted by the warmth provided by my heaters. i glanced over the boy, watching as he tried to subtly wipe the stray tears from his numb cheeks. i felt myself frown as i went to speak:

"what's your name? i'm mitch." i asked, as it would be nice to know at least something about the mysterious boy. he hesitated, cleared his throat, and mumbled a small, "i'm scott." i smiled at the name- it was cute. i turned on the engine, and pulled out into the road. my hand went to change the station of the radio, but reached back and look to scott.

"you can choose the station if you'd like," i offered, "whatever you like." i was desperate to know more about the boy so i figured his taste in music was at least a start. he nodded and fiddled with the knob of the radio for a couple moments, before the familiar sound of sophie filled my car. he looked at me for approval, and i smiled back at him and nodded. i hummed along to the beat of 'it's okay to cry', him quietly tapping his foot. i felt myself growing curious again, so i decided to make another bold move.

"you never answered my question earlier," i started, "are you okay? i saw you rubbing your eyes earlier." i looked over to see his expression and felt my heart break yet again. tears watered the brims of his eyes. instead of answering he pulled another piece of gum from his pocket, shoving it hurriedly into his mouth. i sighed, defeated, and focused back on the road. i was shocked though when i heard him speak up after a few moments

"why were you there?" he asked, his voice slightly cracking at the end.
i thought about the question-why was i there so late? then i remembered. i replayed in my head how broken my mom had sounded over the phone as she told me the news about my dad. it was all so sudden.

'he's gone, baby'

i tightened my grip on the steering wheel, letting out a deep breath.

"i couldn't sleep, i just needed some air," i responded, which wasn't technically a lie. i added a small smile at the end to try to convince both him and myself that everything was fine. he observed my face for a moment, before deciding to drop it. we fell into another silence as i took a final right onto the street of our apartment building. as i parked, i could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face. i locked my car, and we walked side by side into the building. as we walked, no words were exchanged.
i later learned that we were on the same floor as we stopped on floor 3. i went to walk into my room, being stopped as a hand gently pulled me back by the sleeve of my coat. i turned around to face scott. he looked at me with glossy eyes and whispered a 'thank you', holding onto my cost tighter as the words left his dry lips. after he said the phrase he seemed to be contemplating something. as i went to respond, i was pulled into a quick, gentle hug. he smelled of vanilla and home. he pulled away and his lips twitched into a smile just as warm as his hug. it made me smile as well. before i could respond to him, though, he had taken off down the hall about 6 doors to his room.
'room 336' i noted to myself. i took one last glance at the door of his room before walking into my own. i was instantly greeted by my cat, wyatt. i hung my coat and picked up the hairless cat, making my way to my bedroom. i set the cat on my bed, watching as he made himself comfortable. i stripped myself of all clothes except for my boxers, and pulled myself under the duvet of my bed. my cat crawled into my lap and purred softly. as i began to drift asleep, my mind found its way back to the tall blue eyed boy with the pretty smile.