Running from You

10

"And that's why I think the earth is actually square" Lucas says, with a smile.
"Lucas, that's just..."
I shake my head.
"Wow. Okay. No".
He pouts, looking insulted. But he quickly smiles again, and continues rambling about whatever pops up into that weird brain of his. He's very chatty today, even more than usual. I don't really mind very much, it distracts me from my own thoughts. But every time I hear a low voice, I immediately look up to see if that person looks anything like me. All I know is that he's called Rob, most likely Robert. There's a man named Robert in my school. He teaches history. But I don't see my history teacher as the kind of man who'd want to call his son Elvis. Besides, he already has two kids. They're named Bob and Robin.

"Dean, are you even listening?"
I look up.
"Oh. Sorry, no".
He gasps.
"You're awful".
"Right. I was a bit distracted, sorry. Anyway, what was all that yesterday about?" I ask, to change the subject. His smile instantly stiffens.
"Nothing" he says very quickly. "It was just... Grades and stuff. The usual. Nothing to worry about".
He checks his phone, and then quickly puts it away again.
"Anyway, I think the moon actually doesn't exist sometimes. Do you ever have that too?"
"No, Lucas. I never have that. Is something wrong?"
He huffs, and shakes his head.
"No, of course not you dummy" he says, laughing strangely. "Why would you say that?"
"You're rambling" I say. "That's what you do whenever you're nervous. You ramble like crazy".
"Well, I'm not crazy. I'm just saying the earth is a square and the moon might not exist".
"You're an idiot".
He rolls his eyes, and crosses his arms. Now that I called him out on his rambling, he's probably not going to say anything at all for a while. That's not great, because it'll create more space for my thoughts about Rob. I feel awkward calling him my dad. He's not really my dad, is he? He's just a man that had a baby and then abandoned him and his mother. And he wanted to name the baby Elvis, which in my opinion is a terrible name to give a child these days.

"Dean, you're not even listening to me" Lucas says, and I blink a couple times before looking back up at him. He rolls his eyes.
"What is going on with you Dean, you never zone out like that" he says, and he tilts his head a little bit.
"Oh, it's nothing" I lie blatantly. "I'm just tired".
"Right" he says, clearly not believing me. I'm tired very often, but that usually just means I don't talk very much. He's right, I barely ever zone out the way I'm doing today.
"Just know that if there's anything wrong, you can tell me" he says. "And I would feel very insulted if you didn't tell me".
I chuckle, rolling my eyes.
"It's nothing" I lie again. "Don't worry about me".

He squints his eyes a little bit, and looks me right in the eyes. I suddenly get the urge to tell him everything, but honestly, what's there to say? My dad called and I hung up on him. He's going to ask me a million questions and I won't have any idea how to answer. I guess it's a pretty big thing, but maybe I'll tell him later. If he ever calls me again.
"Just drop it, okay?" I ask.
"So there is something".
"Okay, yes, but it's barely anything. It's just like with you".
His eyes widen a little bit, and he scoffs dramatically.
"There's nothing going on with me!" he says.
"There's as much going on with me as there's going on with you" I say decisively.

Suddenly, I hear the muffled sound of the Thomas the tank engine theme coming from his backpack.
"You changed your ring tone" I say. He nods.
"All Star was getting annoying" he says, as he grabs his phone and looks at who's calling him. His face changes into a nervous expression, like he's worried about something. I manage to see it's his mom. He takes the call.
"Hi" he says, slightly nervous. "What's up?"
He's silent, as he listens to his mom. She sounds excited about something.
"Oh no, that's horrible" Lucas says. "Oh, it isn't?"
The chattering continues, and his face changes from nervous to horrified. Now he's making me nervous.
"Wait, really? You already found a house?"
A house? Maybe they've found a house he's moving to. But it can't be that bad, right? Unless it's very far away. Maybe he'll have to change schools...
He continues to discuss this unknown subject with his mom, getting more and more heated in denying whatever she's saying. Eventually, he just hangs up, and stares at his phone for a while.

"What was that about?" I ask. He looks up, and I suddenly feel a strange ache in my stomach. He looks upset, something that doesn't happen often. It kinda makes me want to give him a hug, I don't really know why. He hugs me a lot, and he sometimes asks for a hug, but I've never really done it out of my own initiative.
"My uncle Boris died" he says. My first thought is to ask: "Who's uncle Boris?" because I've never heard of this man, but that would probably be a little insensitive.
"Oh, that's awful" I say.
"It is!" Lucas says. "Because he was super rich and now my parents have inherited all his money because my mom was his only living relative".
"Oh?" I say. "Isn't that good? You could stay in your own house, right?"
He shakes his head, and takes a deep breath.
"It means my parents have enough money to move to France" he says.

My eyes widen, and I'm quiet for a moment.
"What are you saying?" I ask, sounding a lot more insecure than I care for.
"I'm saying that I'm moving to Paris" he says quietly.
Paris?
He can't really mean he's moving to Europe, right?
But he's not smiling, the way he always does whenever he's kidding. And he doesn't have that sparkle in his eyes that gives away the fact that he's not really serious. He just sits there, head hanging slightly, and looking up at me through the blonde hair hanging over his forehead.
"Paris?" I ask. "In France?"
"Yes" he says. "Where else?"
"I don't know, maybe there's a city in America called Paris, that happens sometimes" I say.
We're both quiet, looking at each other. I'm trying to think of something to say, but nothing comes to mind. He's moving to Paris.
"Is it permanent?" I ask.
"No, just for a year" he says.
"Oh, just for a year" I say, relieved, until I realise that a year is still very long.

I look at Lucas, and notice he's trembling a little bit. Maybe it's because it's cold outside. Maybe it's because of something else. Whatever it is, it makes me want to hug him even more. He looks so sad and shocked, I've never seen him this way. When he told me his dad lost his job, he looked more embarrassed than sad. Now he just looks miserable.
"I don't want to go" he says with a thin voice. He better not start crying. I don't know what I'll do when he does, I've never seen it happen since that time he broke his arm when he was ten. I reach over to him, my hand trembling too as I lay it on his shoulder.
"I don't want you to go either" I say.

He stares at me for a second, and then just drops his head against my chest. I sigh, and put my arms around him, pulling him a bit closer to me. He hugs me back, and we just sit there like that for a while, until it starts raining.

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