Page 18 (2/2)
I link arms with hiht” When his lips tug upward, I press on, “Man, I’m so funny What would you do without me?”
He stares at h, he wiggles his aresture but out of the ordinary for hier so we can get back Otherwise, we’ll be late for band practice”
We pay for the trees and load them in the back of my Uncle Ethan’s truck, who really isn’t my uncle, not by blood anyway Uncle Ethan and Aunt Lila are just close to my parents, best friends to be exact I’ve known them since I was born and sometimes call them aunt and uncle
Once we hop into the cab and pull out onto the road, Ayden turns on the radio, flipping on some Brand New I’ve learned over the last year of our friendship that his ht, he’s stuck in his own head I’d ask hih to understand he more than likely won’t tell me
The Christhborhood, so after we pick up some takeout, we still arrive home with a decent amount of time to spare before we have to leave for band practice
Theorb and the stars sprinkle like pixie dust across the sky A scenic night to be decorating the house, which is exactly what Uncle Ethan is doing e pull up
“What’s with the inflatable Santa?” Ayden nods at Ethan who’s inflating a massive Santa near the border of where our properties meet “Last year, he put it that close to your house, too”
“It’s because uess he got stuck under one during a teenage prank gone wrong Every year, Uncle Ethan puts it up to torture him They’re so crazy and weird, maybe weirder than me”
“Yeah, but it’s nice, I guess To have Christuys have done for years” He silences the engine and unfastens his seatbelt
Suddenly, his deal with the big tree e one like the Gregorys did last year during his first Christmas with the fa him out of his comfort zone I wanted so much for him to be my friend This year, I want hih, I can’t expect anything more than friendship
“You know,one of her holiday art shows like she did last year on New Year’s Eve,” I tell Ayden as I open the door to get out “We could go again, but this ti Get buzzed Add to the tradition”
“I thought you were going to go to that party with Sage?” Ayden’s brow arches as he glances at uys to”
Sage is the drus, and tattoos, he fits the part of what most people think a dru with hi cliché or just an expressive person
“Well, she invited you, too, silly But I think the art shoould end up being more fun Besides, parties still make me uneasy And I could very well run into William there”
Williauy who assaulted o Thankfully, I was able to get away before he got too far, but the thought of being near him makes me uneasy
“You shouldn’t worry about running into him,” Ayden says “He’s the one who should be worried, not you”
“I know, but unfortunately, that’s not the way it works I saw him at school after he did his corin at me”
“I want to punch hi onto the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white
“You already did that” I gently touch his ar to cal in what he did only gives him more power”
“You got that from my therapist”
“Yeah He said that to me when I went to visit him”
I went to one therapy session after what happened with William, mainly becauseabout what happened was therapeutic, but not enough for o to weekly visits like Ayden does
“So, what do you say?” I ask, clasping my hands in front of me “Does an art show sound New Year’s Eve worthy? Pretty please, say yes”
“Sure An art show sounds good” He offers rateful smile “But only because you said pretty please”
“Awesousts inside the cab “I’ to take a shower I sreat coht or am I?”
“I can” He appears distracted, his attention on the shut garage ahead of us
“Hey, are you okay?” I search for what heat,
“Yeah, I’aze findsabout soht”
“Anything you want to talk about?” I swing e of the seat to hop out of the truck
He shakes his head then forces a stiff so take care of the trees and then head over to your house in about a half an hour”
I suppress a sigh, ju a quick wave to Ayden, I round the fence between our driveways and enter the warmth of my home
My dad is in the kitchen when I walk in He has a notebook in his hand, intently reading one of the pages as he nibbles on a cookie His blond hair is sticking up, and he looks stressed out
“Yo, Daddy-O” I slam the door with an excessive amount of force to scare him
He jumps and drops the cookie on the floor “Jesus Christ, Lyric” He shakes off his jumpiness and scoops up the cookie from the hardwood floor “You scared the shit out of me”
“That’s what I was going for” I unzip rab a cookie off the plate in the et out of bed? Or were you going for that bedhead/fauxhawk look all the cool kids are wearing nowadays?”
He places his pal his hair down “Is it really that bad?” When I nod, he puffs out a frazzled exhale “I was just going through souess I took my stress out on my hair” He pulls out a chair and sits do
wn at the table
I rest et a gli I can help with?”
He fans through the pages then rakes his fingers through his hair,the culprit of the bedhead/fauxhawk look “Nah, it’s just club stuff I’ure out”
“Like what?”
His brows elevate “You really want to hear about my business problems?”
I stuff the rest of the cookie into my mouth “That all depends on if it has to do with the music business side of it”
“It does” He seems hesitant to embellish
I drop down in the chair across from him “Then lay it on me I’m all ears”