Rejects

Chapter Twenty Two - Come With Me

For the past week, Frank and I have been traveling around, just trying to survive. It was almost fun at first, the adrenaline of not knowing what would happen next, where we would go, what we would do, it felt like an adventure that, for once, I wasn't opposed to. Sure, it was sad, and of course I missed Mikey and my parents, but at least I had gotten over not wanting Frank to come with me. I never would have survived a day without him. He's the only reason we've made it this far.

We've even been pretty lucky, as far as luck goes in this situation. After three days we found an abandoned car, an old, beat up, white trans am. Despite the condition we found it in off the side of a road, it still worked. Thanks to that, we no longer have to worry about sleeping out in the cold or wasting money on a motel or public transportation.

The only small problem with this find, however, is that neither of us know how to drive. Even though we're both old enough to have a license, neither of us ever got around to actually taking our driving test. We're practicing though, at night we like to take it to empty car lots and take turns figuring it out, and we're not too bad anymore. At least, that's what we keep telling each other.

Still, we've agreed that until we really do figure out how to drive well, we'll try to not use it unless we need to. Right now, we're staying in this one town that's probably about twenty minutes from Belleville. Since it's a fairly small town, we've decided to keep the car parked just off a road leading into and out of the town, and just walk around for now.

We've been starting to run out of food, so today we decided we would go to the grocery store. We just payed and are heading back to the car now.

"How much longer do you think we should stay here?" I ask as we walk in unison.

"I don't know, Gee. Probably not long, but I also kinda want at least one of us to get comfortable driving before we go."

I nod. We continue to talk about small things the rest of the way. It's more comfortable to talk about things that don't matter. Other than brief conversations about where to go next, Frank and I never mention our current situation. It's too hard to talk about. If we only talk about small things that don't matter, like the weather, or each others clothes, or something we saw, it makes everything easier. It makes this whole thing feel like less of a nightmare and more like a dream.

When we get to the car, to both of our surprise, someone else is already there. Someone is at the driver side door of the trans am, pulling desperately at the handle before stepping back and assessing the situation. I look over at Frank, but he's already running forward.

"Hey!" he shouts, causing the person to look up in fear. It was a boy wearing a black crop top under an unbuttoned dark gray denim jacket and black ripped skinny jeans. Before either of us could reach the car, the boy starts to run away. Frank and I chase after him, but I drop the groceries at the car first.

I'll admit, this guy is a fast runner. I'm almost about to give up, but Frank is gaining on him so I keep going. I thought about just using magic to stop him, but I know I can't. Me using magic against people is the whole reason Frank and I are here in the first place. Finally, Frank manages to grab the end of the boy's jacket and pull him back, causing them both to fall over and collapse on top of one another. They both immediately scramble back to their feet as I catch up. All three of us are completely out of breath.

"Who the hell are you? Why the fuck were you trying to steal our car?" I ask when I'm able to speak again.

"I'm sorry," the boy says, holding his hands up, "I didn't realize that thing belonged to anyone. Ya know, when I see a beat up car on the side of the road with no one around my first thought isn't 'oh well, better luck next time'."

I can't blame him for that. After all, that's the same way Frank and I found the car a few days ago.

"Who are you?" Frank repeats my first question.

The boy brushes himself off and shrugs his jacket tighter over his body. "Name's Bren. Sorry about trying to steal your car, again. Who are you guys?"

Frank and I glance at each other. I silently ask him if its really a good idea to reveal our identities to this stranger. Of course it's not.

"Bren, do you have anywhere to go? I mean, why did you need to steal our car? You look exactly the same age as us, hell even younger." Frank ask, ignoring Bren's question.

Bren shuffles awkwardly, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "Of course I have somewhere to go! Do you two? I mean, why the hell would you leave that thing on the side of the road if you weren't trying to abandon it?"

My mouth opens and closes repeatedly. Frank grabs my hand and holds it behind his back. Bren notices the subtle gesture and his eyes lit up. He claps his hands and stares at us excitedly. "Holy shit! I get it now! You two are a couple! You don't have anywhere to go! Shit, fuck, I'm so sorry you guys. Y'know, I get what you're going through."

"You don't get shit about what we're going through! How the hell did you figure that out anyway?" Frank yells.

"Because I've been there before. Also I have this sorta...I'm good at reading people. Nevermind, it's not important. Look, if you don't have anywhere to go...I don't think my roommates would mind if you stayed with us for a night or two...Just until you figure something out."

I hold Frank's hand tighter.

"I know you probably don't trust me, and why would you? But really, I know what it's like to get rejected by the world just for being who you are."

"We weren't thrown out god dammit! We ran away! We chose to do this! And we didn't do it because we're gay!" Frank snaps. A tree branch breaks behind Bren and falls to the ground, even though there was nothing that would have caused it to break. Anxiety building up in me, I squeeze Frank's hand tightly hand and he whispers, "ow!" before finally shutting up, having realized.

Bren looks at us both, wide eyed, before zeroing in on me. I shiver under his stare, and he walks up close to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, Frank angrily swatting it away, but it was enough.

"You're magic users, aren't you?" He whispers. I lock eyes with the ground. Frank pulls me closer to him.

"How do you know about that? Please, don't tell anyone."

Bren makes a motion of zipping his lips. "Secret's safe with me. And I know...because I'm one too. Specialize in mind reading. I think you specialize in telekinesis, given what just happened. I can also tell you're pretty untrained. Come back with me. I promise you guys won't regret it."

Frank and I look at each other, but Bren is already running back in the direction of the car. We quickly follow behind.