Fuck me. If I had known that my parents were going to send me to a little town in East Jesus Nowhere, I would have laid off of the drugs a little bit. I shut the trunk of my car and headed towards the door to Steve's house, which was wide open from the numerous bags I had already taken in.
"So, chap. You apparently got yourself in some deep shit back in the 'City, didn't ya?" You see, my Uncle has lived in Bum Fuck Egypt all his life. So any town with a population greater than one hundred and twenty-one people, is a city.
"So what if I did." I eyed the beer he was sipping. Obviously he caught the fact that I was almost drooling over his drink because his friendly smile turned upside down.
"Uh-uh, kid. You came here to get clean, not to get drunk with an old man like me." I snorted. "If I wanted to get drunk, I would."
He stood up from his chair and started walking down the hallway that was to the right. "Your room's down here, dip shit. I'll be checking your room periodically for any drugs or stuff. Now," he said as he clasped his fingers together in front of him. "I'm gonna lay down some rules and I'm only going to tell you once. One, no booze. I keep an eye on my liquor, so don't even think about trying to steal any. Got it?"
I nodded and set my bags down by my feet. "Second of all, no drugs. For the first few months, I'll be testing you randomly. Once a month. After that....well, you never know. Third, I don't care if you fuck every girl in the county, but if I find you've knocked one up, or gotten a nasty disease, I will cut your penis off. Am I clear so far?"
I gulped and look down at the zipper of my jeans, as I felt it shrink in fear. "Yup."
"Fourth, you're going to have to help me out with chores and shit. Since this will be your final year of high school, you've been enrolled in the school program, which starts tomorrow. Your um...parents and I pulled some strings, so you're going. If you skip ONE MEASLY class, your ass is in jail. Absolutely NO slacking. My fifth and final rule: Your room is to be kept clean. Any mess you make will be cleaned up."
"Are we done yet?"
He chuckled and slapped my back with the palm of his hand. "Get unpacked, kid. I'll make dinner." I walked into the room slowly and eyeballed the plain walls. Holy shit, this was gonna take some time to get in order. I rolled up my sleeves and groaned inwardly.
It was time to get to work.
----Zoey's P.O.V.-----
I can't believe what I'm about to tell you, but it's true. I had walked over to this kid's house and I was standing on his doorstep, clueless as to what I should say. So I knocked anyway. An older looking man answered the door just as I was about to walk away.
"Yes?" This was such a bad idea. Oh God. WHY DID I HAVE TO DO THIS?
"Erm, hello. I'm Zoey. I just came to see if..." My voice trailed off as I tried to decide on what I should say. "You see, sir, my mother wanted me to come and see if the new boy living here needed any help. Ya know, with like, settling in or about school tomorrow. I- I can just come back tomorrow," or never, "if you'd like."
I sounded like such an idiot.
"Oh, well. I'm sure he needs help getting settled, but I don't know if he should have company at the moment. I'm trying to keep him sober.."
"Yes sir. I understand.." I stammered as I turned to retreat back to my safehouse. "BUT, I guess it wouldn't hurt. Come on in.."
"A-Are you sure?" Please don't make me go in. Please don't make me go in. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME GO IN. I crossed my fingers behind my back as I looked away. "Of course. Here is his class schedule, so maybe you could see what classes you have in common.." He mumbled as he dug a piece of paper from his back pocket. "I'll take you back to his room, I guess."
I nodded and followed him down a narrow hallway. "Dereck?" He muttered into the closed door. "You have a pretty girl here to give you some advice about your classes and such."
There was a click and the door opened slowly. A deep brown and curly head popped out, as he opened the door a little further. "Oh...hi. I'm uh- I'm Zoey." I felt my cheeks warm. "My uh- my mom asked me to come over and see if you needed help with anything.."
"I'll leave you two alone then." His uncle said as he walked away, towards the kitchen.
"Well, if you don't mind the mess, I could use some help. You see-" he spoke as he stepped aside for me- "I'm not sure where I should put some things. Also, I start school tomorrow. This is gonna sound pretty stupid, but I could really use some guidance." I stepped into the room and my jaw literally dropped.
It just looked so....perfect. "Uh- It looks fine as it is." His face flushed as he turned his gaze towards me. "Are you sure?" I was entirely sure about his room, but about anything else, I was clueless. Damn, he was HOT. "I mean like, I feel as if there should be a poster or something in that blank spot..."
"Erm, well. I don't mean to interrupt your thought process, but if you have any questions about school or something, I suggest you ask them now." He nodded. "What ti-"
"The bus comes at 7:15. Be out five minutes early, just in case. As for your classes, you'll probably only need a pencil, a calculator for Trig, a notebook or two, and a pen." I rambled hopelessly as I searched his face for a spark of interest or something.
Anything.
What I found was something much worse. There was nothing in his eyes to find.
They were just...empty.
