Tranquil

Chapter 2

Days later, I came back with a piece of paper with a single address and a time written on it. Antonio passed it to me before we parted the last time, inviting me to his little brother's birthday party. It was a plain piece of paper torn from a random page, one couldn't even tell it was an invitation card.

Soon enough I heard the screams and shouts of children and knew I was somewhere in the area. Their place was an apartment complex that was showing its age with graffiti on the walls that no one bothered to paint over.

After some difficulty trying to navigate my way into the compound, I finally found it. There were a few children playing around the swings, who seemed to be the right age but I didn't know anyone so I approached cautiously, scanning the area for a familiar face.

That's when I felt a firm pat on my shoulders. All my senses peaked, not hearing anyone approaching me from behind. I turned around so quickly that even the person behind me was startled. "He- woah!"

If I didn't hear that familiar voice, I probably would've actually hit the person. My hands stopped just in time before striking Antonio and he visibly stiffened and flinched away expecting impact.

"Shit, sorry. Antonio, are you alright?"

"Woah, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to places like this, I got nervous."

"Yeah, please just don't start clobbering people on the streets, Rudy."

"I don't!" I argued.

He just side eyed me, unamused and walked past me. He gestured for me to follow him. "I'll introduce you to Luis." and I followed behind him towards the kids playing around at the playground.

There was a single table with paper plates and cups on at side with refreshments, fizzy drinks and various types of sandwiches that were homemade. It was a simple set-up but anyone could tell a lot of work was put into it.

Antonio called his brother over and he came running over to us. "I told you I was going to invite a friend over right. This is Rudy." he pointed to me.

Luis stared at me, his expression unreadable. He had the same brown hair as his brother but has light caramel eyes instead of a light green colour like his brother. Just when I started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, he burst into a huge smile. "I'm Luis! My brother talks alot about you."

Hearing the younger say that, my eyes widened and I looked at Antonio with a mischievous grin, "Really now? What does he say?" I edged the kid on.

"He said that you- " he started but was cut off by his brother who called out his name and was giving him a disapproval look.

Luis pouted, huffed and walked away back to his friends. Antonio watched as his brother walked back over and sighed.

"You could've let him speak you know." I said with a sly smile and he just told me to shut up.

Leaving the kids to play by themselves, we went up to his apartment. Seeing his place, it took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting much since the beginning but my closet was bigger than the entire apartment. It had everything a house should have. It was a little on the messier side of things but it was still fairly neat and had a familiar comforting scent to it that calmed me. The light shone through the sheers and lit the apartment

"Just sit anywhere you want." he said pointing to his room and I complied. His room was cosy, filled with elementary school books on one side of the room and action figures, and the other bed, there was a guitar case, which I assumed was Antonio's bed and sat by the edge of the bed.