Freak - Chapter 2

[warning]: Contains Boy's Love


Freak - Chapter 2



It hadn’t gone that wrong for a first day. Matthew felt relieved in a way. It wasn’t exactly easy clicking with a new band on the first rehearsal; he had to meet the members and was yet to find the right tone in the songs on top of that.
He wasn’t sure why they had started needing a new guitarist, they had two already if he counted with the lead singer, but better for him he guessed. If it wasn't for that he’d never have found these guys and truth was he was glad he had. He really liked the music; all the band members were seemingly pleasant nice guys; and they were much in accord with his own personal sense of style.
The rehearsal was almost over and he couldn’t help being nervous to either getting the props for being good, or being reprehended for sucking at it by one, or more, of the guys. He thought he’d done well. But you never know what others make of your effort.
He took a quick look to a pair of chairs in the corner, in one of which there was a guy sitting. Even if they hated him, at least it had been worth it. Who was him…? Matthew didn’t know what to make of him; there was just something about the guy… He couldn’t really tell how tall he was since he was sitting, but he could tell he was skinny, with these piercingly greens that hypnotized him. For some reason, the guy didn’t seem aware of it; he tried to hide them behind a messy looking hair that covered his face making him look innocently cute. He wasn’t aware of Matthew looking at him either, but he didn’t dare to stare much more; he couldn’t risk being noticed.
They were done. The rehearsal had just ended. Matthew took the guitar stripe off of him and laid it on the floor against one of the amplifiers. Now was the daring moment of truth.
‘Nice job dude! You’re good.’ A tall guy had come to him. He was very cute and Matthew asked himself why he hadn’t noticed him that much. ‘I’m Spike’- a wide smile opened in the guy’s face as a leaned a hand towards Matthew- ‘I got here a little late today so I didn’t have the opportunity to introduce myself and all that. I’m the drummer here… and you are…?’ He looked at Spike curiously, finally letting out his own hand and shaking Spike’s in greeting. That was a rather interesting guy, and his blue eyes were something to equal the stranger’s greens.
‘I’m Matthew, but I usually go by Matt. I'm...'- he pointed to his guitar- …the new guitarist; and that’s my Princess…-he smiled a little shyly, as if afraid he’d exposed himself too much for letting Spike know about his “princess”.
‘I noticed… and she’s beautiful men - Spike winked at him and smiled understandingly. He was sure now it was no big deal-…so you met the guys?’- Spike pointed out to the other and members whom were either storing their instruments or talking to the mysterious guy in the corner he was yet to meet. The boy was now standing and smiling. Matt couldn’t help to notice how gorgeous his smile was.
Looking up, he realized the other boy, Spike, was still waiting for him to answer. ‘Huh, let me see…’ – he thought about it for a little trying to remember the introductions that took place a few hours before . ‘The guy with the blond and black hair is the lead singer, Isaac!’- Matt looked up in search of approval in Spike’s eyes, which he found, and carried on- ‘The one with all the piercings and green hair is Oly…’ Oly waved nicely in approval from across the room and started walking towards them.
‘Go on…’
‘The one with the striped hoodie next to him’ – he pointed out to the person next to Oly – ‘blond and black hair; that’d be...’ – he thought about it for a second before answering – ‘Isaac, our lead singer.’
Spike nodded consentingly and allowed Matthew to carry on. ‘And then we have Zack, tattooed all over’ – he let out a soft laughter that didn’t mean he either disapproved or mocked the fact. This was clear to Spike, who understood the smile and smiled back at him- ‘he’s our guitarist number two and screamer.’
Matt knew he had it right on the names and patiently waited as Oly drew near them, in what seemed to him as slow motion. He was still thinking about whom that was, the mysterious guy that had now caught up with Oly and was approaching them as well. He felt an awkward something inside and stood there, silent. He had to ask who that was, and time was running out as they approached. Matt certainly didn’t want to look embarrassed or make a fool of himself when they were introduced, so he had to know pre-hand, or first impression would be a total waste.
‘So....’ – He gave a particular tone to that “so...”, hoping he didn’t actually have to finish the question and that Spike would instinctively understand, but as soon as he looked at him inquisitively Matt knew he had to. ‘Who’s “him”?’
Spike’s eyes turned slowly and fell upon him. He could feel them scanning his own, trying to penetrate his mind and figure out his inner thoughts. He quickly looked down, trying to secure himself from the penetrating gaze before Spike could figure him out. This was a stupid thought all for itself, but nonetheless he felt insecure. He was supposed to be the one able to scan people that way, not someone else being able to scan him. Spike straightened his head and made a brief pause, his eyes unreadable with an apathetic expression, and then looked behind himself as his friends approached.
‘Him?’ Spike gave a subtle turn to his head in the unknown character’s direction. He could tell Spike knew who he meant, but was for some reason not wanting it to be true. Oly and the boy stopped side to side with Spike, and as the boy drew a wide, beautiful smile on his lips, Oly remained in a wise like peaceful expression and limited his greeting to a slow blink of his eyes and an unspoken “hello” drawn in his lips.
‘This is Alex’ – Spike’s arm flew around the boy’s shoulder before Matt even had the time to process the newly come information. Alex showed a little embarrassment with the embrace, but that only made Spike hold him tighter. ‘He came with me...’ – an accentuating edge was given to the “me”. Oh...- ‘my best friend.’
Oh... Right away Matt understood it, and saw his chances being washed away, like a sand grain under tropical rain. Looking at Spike’s face now he understood him. It was no longer unreadable but rather quite clear; without a doubt, pure jealousy. He acted like a mother not wanting to let go of her son once she realized he’d grown up. The situation going on there was crystal clear, and though Alex didn’t seem in any way aware of it Spike sure was. And he wasn’t letting anyone take away, or even approach for that matter, his “baby”. Or in this case, the boy he was in love with.
He unconsciously sulked with his realization but quickly returned to reality and looked at the newcomer. ‘Nice to meet you Alex’ – he laid out a hand, carefully studying his own movements so he wouldn’t do anything to trigger Spike’s defensive mode.
‘Oh, hey!’ – Alex, whom was looking curiously at him, gave a quick shake to his head and a cute expression was drawn in his face –‘Nice to meet you,…’ – Alex’s words searched for a name, insinuatingly pleading for Matt to finish his sentence. Matt on the other hand, was only feeling frustrated for having to control the sudden urge to hug him and kiss him. It was unusual for him to be so strongly attracted to someone.
‘Matt…’ – he finished the other boy’s sentence, pulling away from his thoughts – ‘I’m Matt, the new guitarist.’ He took a quick look at Spike, somehow assuring it was okay for him to even state that. Since no defiant glare thrown in his direction he asked casually – ‘How did you end up here?’
‘Oh, Spike’s staying over at my place for the weekend…’ – Alex slightly turned his head in the direction of the person he was embracing, looking up at him. Spike looked back in an assuring manner, and Alex spoke at Matt again – ‘…so I came to the rehearsal instead of just staying home and sleeping. I actually had to get him out of bed to come here’ – Alex laughed softly and rolled his eyes up at Spike happily. Something in his eyes shimmered brighter, an almost worship gaze could be noticed in them.
‘I’ve been meaning to come for quite a while now, so yeah…’ – the boy scratched the back of his neck shyly, looking cute.
‘Oh, I see. That’s… cool.’ He looked from Alex to Spike for a couple of seconds. The guy seemed to be enjoying himself, taking pleasure in the fact that Matt knew he could do nothing about it. He was defiantly not letting go.
‘So, why don’t we all go grab a cup of coffee or something?’
Matt’s gaze turned the opposite way, only to realize Oly was there with them, looking at him in a questioning but pleasant manner. He’d forgotten all about him. Truth was, he hadn’t really noticed the green hair, full arms tattooed, face pierced boy, but for some reason it felt like the boy’s eyes had been scanning him for quite a while.
Matt was observant when it came to people, he had to be. In fact he’d learned how to be over time so he shouldn’t have missed that detail. Mistakes were a risk followed by high consequences, and for his own good there was no affording to make them. He was now questioning what it was about Oly that he was seeing. Matt was usually very good at reading people but this one, this one was clearly a hard one. Besides, all those initial thoughts on Alex were pointless. That battle was lost before it started.

---
‘So guys, me and Alex are gonna head back home ‘kay? It’s running late…’ – Spike’s smile was a bit awkward and uncomfortable. Half for being there and half for being the one to call them back to reality.
While Spike had been talking to the rest of the guys and with Alex, who was drawing something not quite perceptible and loosing himself in the now dark ocean ahead of them from time to time, he and Oly, strangely enough, had failed to notice the time running past them.
Matt looked up, only to notice the already orange-pink sky turning into a dark blue, meaning the afternoon was over, and the conversation forcefully ended. He looked a little embarrassed at the guy’s comment and couldn’t help but feel that they somehow knew something he didn’t. Something about either him or Oly was undoubtedly getting through to them.
‘Yea we’re heading home too guys.’ Isaac said that with the same tone he had noticed, and hated, in the other boy’s voice seconds ago.
One by one, everyone started distributing handshakes and goodbyes; deciding who was heading where and walking away to random directions. Matt’s mind slowed down during the process. He was only vaguely aware of all the commotion happening around him. It all got through to him as a quick flash.
‘Are you okay Matt?’ Oly’s voice sounded distant, but approaching, like guiding him back from a deep sleep, into a vivid dream.
‘Sorry’- Matt had a way of blacking out from time to time. ‘You were saying?’

Usually when a conversation was being held he was fully concentrated, barely noticing anything other than what was being said, whereas there was no way he could keep up with a mix of crossed dialogues, especially when directed at him.
It was actually not a bad thing sometimes, especially when it was his father babbling and yelling at him.
When Matt was little, about four years old, his mother left him and his father. He had never found it in himself to forgive her, for as far as he could tell his father never was parental material. He’d learned to trust only a few people, and even those were in no need to know everything. Since his mother’s departure, all his dad did was drink, yell and sleep. When he slept, Matt almost imagined he was living alone, on his own account, taking refuge in the only still sane division in that house, his room.
Though an evident mess, with all kinds of band posters spread randomly across the walls and ceiling, he had covered the wooden floor with black tapestry. On the wall further from the door a sole mattress was carelessly placed in the floor. Though it did seem to be a bed, if closely looked at, it wasn’t one. Someone, him, had just covered it in a way that it all worked together, and that small detail was easily dismissed. If there was something in that room that you could tell about Matt’s interests, that something was art.
Art was all over everything e owned. The walls were literally written on with all kinds of colours, sizes and contents, with paintings and drawings placed in them. A various number of canvases were lain around in the floor. Piles of papers were stacked in a little desk and on the surrounding floor, all with countless amounts of texts and drawings.
Brushes were abandoned all over, and everywhere stains of colourful dye had been spilled, not only on the walls, but on the tapestries below them as well. On another corner there was a special space for his princess, the only lady ever considered in his life, his guitar.
That was another thing about him, and he had no problem saying it. No lady had ever come into his life. Matt considered himself to be bi, though everyone he’d ever liked were boys he didn’t remain indifferent to all girls. His dad had long realized it and had uselessly yelled before giving it up and deciding not to care, as he did face everything else.
Coming to think about it, the only reason the house was still holding in place was him. He cleaned, he cooked, and he paid the bills. Since the age of twelve, when his father was once and for all fired from his life job, Matt had had to find a way to fix the situation. His father wouldn’t. He’d worked in various jobs alongside with school. For quite a while now he had a stable job working as a chef on a little pasta house every day after school and on the weekends. And that was about it.
Matt didn’t have much free time for things most of the time. Truth was he didn’t have much of anything to allow himself to the luxury of having friends, for he was always too busy.
The sad truth hit him from time to time, though he had learnt to ignore it. Ironically, he was actually really good at dealing with people; dealing with them and seeing right through them. A big motive for his lack of people to go to also laid on the fact that in his school there was a non existing stack of good people, and most of them looked at him sideways. He could kind of understand them though. He was unlike anyone else in that school, and his will to follow the cloned, status quo obsessed army was equal to none.
Maybe deviant was what they thought. Matt on the other hand saw puppets. He could almost see the little strings attached to them, not their bodies though, their brains. Think alike mindless dolls, despising the new and the different, fearing to actually be someone worth knowing, worth talking to; not striving to be more than a mere waste of space and actually make a difference.
Such wasted minds made him think about whether or not humans had evolved, mentalities had evolved, until he realized, as he always did, that some things would come back and forward and remain unchanged, unfortunately to us all.
Eventually Matt would meet someone that caught his interest. Most of the time some random guy or girl who got fascinated over him, not that they understood him at all, and whom he’d date for a short period of time, just until it became evident that they too were mere puppets, trying to play a different game, but eventually being uncovered as “do-as-everyone-else-does” types of individuals, with no individual thing about their boring selves.
During these "relationships", though you can hardly call them that, Matt usually remained unharmed. He was always cautious not to get too close and let people know him.
Though lacking human contact, so to say, Matthew was one of those people who simply understood, and saw right through everything, the why his words, when put into paper, sounded so wise and ancient.
Just a week ago, when going to a local gig, Matt heard that the band in question was searching for a new guitarist and saw there a brilliant opportunity. He had always planed on making it in some artistic career, the music business being considered as such, and his thoughts quickly took over him right then and there. The thought of taking part in a successful band, to earn money for his talent, not work for someone else, blew him away.
He tried it. He auditioned. And he made it. Though one of the members was missing on the day he was admitted, he soon got to know everyone. One thing he already knew from the gig, at the very least, those guys were good. And the opportunities presented for him then were more than he’d ever imagined.


‘Good I lost you again…’ – Oly sighed deeply and caught Matt’s gaze in his, continuing – ‘Do you get like that very often?’
‘Quite often, yes.’ Matt was still looking blankly into the never-ending dark ocean ahead of them while answering, before being caught by Oly’s piercing eyes. - ‘But anyways…’ - he turned his head quickly - ‘…what was that you were talking about?’
‘Right.’ Oly slowly run his fingers through the back of his head and, Matt could have sworn, almost blushed, before he put on a face that Matt had by now found to be so characteristic in him; a calm and serious expression. He spoke again.
‘I was thinking of a possible way to solve your freedom problem…’
Without realizing it, Matt had confided in that person and had told him about how he wanted to change places as soon as possible. It was very unlike him to do so, and he had just realized what he’d done. Though he may come through as a very talkative and trusting person, always casually hidden under a "happy" loving person cover, inside he was much like Oly, an apparent wall of the heaviest metal keeping him safely sheltered inside. The difference was that Oly, unlike him, purposefully distanced himself from outsiders.
‘It may sound weird since we’ve practically just met and all, but I’ve been looking for a roommate for quite a while now…’ Oly’s eyes seemed intrigued and uncertain, but still distant, and maybe misinterpreted as cold, while his voice, sounding absolutely normal, seemed to Matt to be as unease, uncertain and fearsome as his eyes, longing expectantly for the answer. After all, he always saw right through people.
Oly carried on while Matt paid extra attention to his every word.
‘I have a quite spacious apartment. My parents aren’t exactly what you’d call "poor"... But I’m paying the bills myself. I don’t want any more of their help. Everyone I interviewed for it to the date was too... well let’s just say I didn't quite picture us getting along that well.’ Oly looked for approval, or disapproval, in his face and, unable to find them, proceeded, sounding less and less certain.
‘You, on the other hand, sound like and seem like a very decent guy. And we’ll be playing together from now on and all...”
He started to vaguely show an increasing interest for the other boy’s case. ‘What do you say? The rent is what you’d call fairly low. And attending to the size and location, it’s a real bargain. Besides, you’d gain a friend and a roommate.’ – Oly cocked up an eyebrow and for once looked slightly amused, drawing a teasing smirk – ‘Up for it?’
The proposal floated in his mind for a good minute, one that seemed to him like a full hour. All the information started rushing to his mind, tracing links, connecting dots, until it finally hit him. What the guy had said minutes ago. “…a way to solve your freedom problem…” The words echoed in his head and a glow, a natural and joyful glow started showing in his eyes, and in his smile. But this time, Matt was glowing on the inside too. He could picture his life becoming easier to bare. “…besides, you’d gain a friend…”
He opened his mouth slightly. First to draw a smile, that he quickly covered up by biting on his lower lip, while he looked into the boy’s eyes to check for truth and confirmation; then to ease his newly made friend’s mind and say:
‘Where do I sign in?’

Freak - Chapter 1

Alex looked reluctant face task ahead of him. He didn’t want to do the presentation. Well not only because he hadn’t properly prepared it, but also for the lack of time he’d had. Couldn’t they see he had more important matters to focus on other than school?

“So?”- Mrs. Cannon asked-“Doing the presentation or not Mr. Higgins?”-she added a sarcastic face with the saying, which made the class turn staring at him, and Alex hated when people did that.

“Uh…yea, I mean, yes Mrs. Cannon”-he babbled. He was really nervous about speaking in public as always-“just a second, I’m just…”-he gathered a bunch of paper in his desk-“ok, I got it. Thank you for…-he lost his balance, dropping all his work onto the classroom’s floor.

The bell rang, and all his classmates hurried out the door with in fuzz, laughing and gossiping, obviously at what had just happened, which only contributed to making him feel even worse. Mrs. Cannon rolled her eyes, looking deeply annoyed -“You’ll do your presentation on thursday Higgins. Now pick everything up and close the door behind you when you leave”. She started heading towards the door remarking-“…always the same Higgins, it’s unbelievable”.

He found himself alone in the room. Picking up all of his papers, he put them back into his messenger’s bag. He leaned against the wall and slid his back against it till he sat on the floor. Tired. He was deeply tired of all this and couldn’t wait for school to end. Besides, where would History be of any use to him? Except if he signed up for one of those question answering television contests which, lets make clear, he wouldn’t, his life was embarrassing and ridiculous enough as it was, let alone with those. The fact that he was in a new school didn’t help neither. He’d moved there since the beginning of the school year, and was he sick already.

‘Alex?’ A voice came in from the door interrupting his thoughts. ‘Oh there you are! Where else, right?’ A boy stood there. He was tall, taller than Alex, which was hard since he wasn’t that short himself. He had black silky hair, styled in this “emoish” way, with some purple stripes to it. His eyes were highly unique and of a deep turquoise, very bright, with some yellow reflexes to it, as if out of a drawing. The boy was very skinny aswell, and wore some black skinny pants with a colourful t-shirt, “Fosters home for imaginary friends” he noticed. Yes, that was probably the reason that made him manage to step foot in that school for so long now. That was Spike, one of the few people he could call friend since he’d gotten there.

‘Hey, you listening to me?’ he realized Spike had just moved closer to him and was now kneeling down on the floor next to him.

‘Oh yeah, was just…’

‘Cleaning the floor with your clothes?’ Spike stood up and gently offered him a hand, as if to help him up, raising his eyebrows to go with the teasing smile and the sarcastic tone on his voice.

‘What?’ He sounded a bit confused, and looked around himself - ‘Oh that, no…’ – he laughed a little and took the other boy’s hand and he helped himself up.

‘I was wondering where you’d gone, but you’re still here strangely enough.’

‘Don’t be meany now Spike’- he frowned face the teasing smile on his friend’s face.

‘Okay, okay, sorry now’- Spike moved his arm easily around Alex’s shoulders, due to his height – ‘You just make it so easy though.’

As they stepped out of the classroom door, Spike holding Alex’s bag, they had a stop by their lockets, which were right next to each other.

‘So Alex, are you so sad you can’t stand on your feet anymore, or was that just a lame attempt to cry out for attention?’ he looked to his left and saw a classmate of his and a bunch of others who quickly laughed at the guy’s little attempt for a joke.

Spike, whose locker was just to Alex’s right, had been missed out by the jokers due to his locker’s door being open, and closed it noisily, throwing a nasty look at them. Spike could easily overpower them, which he could tell they knew and made them scared, was even a good 2 inches taller than the guys.

‘Now, now “Brat” why don’t you leave him alone and go bother someone with your own IQ? Oh wait, you can’t beat up preschool kids can you? Dang…’Alex thought of letting out a laugh but quickly hide it.

‘Name is Brad you moron!’. The look on the guy’s face was both angry and frustrated; he knew he couldn’t stand against Spike.

‘Oh I knew that, but brat just fits you so much better! Now if you’ll excuse us, we have stuff to do other than studying the behaviour of an inferior subspecies’ Spike smiled sarcastically, it could tell he was enjoying himself. To this, Brad turned to Alex, along with his mates, and directed his speech at Alex.

‘Need your boyfriend to stand up to you now do you? Can’t even defend yourself you…’

‘He can brat’- Spike interrupted - I just find so much joy in doing it that I get in his way’. Alex couldn’t be more relieved by the intervention, he never knew what to answer in these kinds of situations; he was too shy. This, however, made Brad look defiantly towards Spike, whom replied with a “what??” look.

‘Shall we Alex?’ Alex couldn’t hear him though. His mind had frozen when Brad mentioned Spike as his boyfriend. Had he noticed it aswell? It wasn’t even like he saw Spike in that way or anything, he didn’t; he couldn’t possibly like another guy… Did Brad really mean it? Did he think it looked that way? And why on earth didn’t Spike argument on that? Spike didn’t seem worried at all, it’s like he hadn’t even heard it! Was he actually okay with people thinking that about him? Maybe he was just freaking out for no reason; maybe the reason why he didn’t say anything was that he…

‘Hey, Alex? You hearing me?’ Was he talking to him? He could tell Spike looked dazzled, trying to figure out what was going on inside his head.

‘Maybe your girlfriend froze with fear; see the shocked look on his face?’ Brad speaking sounded stupid to him, but that had made his groupies laugh along again at another one of his humourless attempts for a joke.

‘Why don’t you shut it before I make you “freeze with fear” by shutting you up myself?’

The guy shot a last look at Spike. ‘Let’s go guys.’

As they all walked away from the two of them, Spike placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder –‘Hey, you okay?’ Don’t listen to what those “wannabe bullies” say, they’re just plain ignorant jerks with no life, and find nothing better to do but to pick on others.’

Alex’s eyes widened. Was he touching him? Was that…? No, he was being paranoid! That was his friend; friends do that kind of things all the time, it’s no big thing… But why had Brad’ words got to him?

‘Huh yea, right’ –he hadn’t really listened, his mind was someplace else – ‘and thanks for backing me up there.’ – He drew a gentle smile on his face, but quickly regretted in and cleared his throat, as to sound manlier. ‘No problem’- Spike said, who didn’t seem to have noticed that though and a smile widened on his lips- ‘Always there for you, you know that.’

And as a matter of fact he did know it. Spike was a smart guy, the smartest there really. He always got straight A’s in every class, and despite that he had always been… well cool!, and with a great attitude, one that kicked Bradford Red’s ass necessary, as he had just witnessed in first hand. Coming to think about it, you wouldn’t make all that just by looking at him. Spike looked like your deviant school-skipping rebel kind of kid but, as he had discovered over the past few months, there was a lot more to Spike than met the eye.

‘So’ – Spike took a look at his watch- ‘it has been twenty five minutes since the bell rang, that meaning school’s ended.’

‘Oh – Alex followed the movement and took a quick look at the clock hanging on the school’s corridor- ‘you’re right. Sorry I made you wait’- he slammed his locker’s door closed.

‘No problem’- Spike smiled-‘I don’t mind. So want to grab something to eat? We can make a stop by that cool little pasta house on the way to Broken Edge, and go home or hit a movie afterwards or something. It’s Thursday after all and tomorrow being a holiday, we have a long weekend ahead of us.’ The look on Spike’s face was so happily natural that Alex wished he could have captured the moment and kept it a while longer. He found himself lost again but quickly recovered before his friend noticed and the situation got awkward. ‘Sounds great to me.’- Alex answered with a cute smile but quickly remembered- ‘And by the way, my parents will be going out of town to visit grandmother Lucy during the weekend’-the smile on his face quickly changed to a indecisive expression, not knowing what reaction to expect from his friend- ‘and they’ll be staying there. they’ll be taking my little sister, but they’ve also given me the choice of not going with them, since I went last time, and they trust I’m old enough to stay home by myself and all.’

‘Awe, little Alexander is all grown up now isn’t he?’ Spike spoke sarcastically, but adorably, as he pinched Alex’s cheek mimicking what old ladies do to children. Alex however frowned and shove Spike’s hand off.

‘They don’t call me that; nor laugh at me, cut it out…’ Spike didn’t seem to care for the intimidating gaze he gave him though. ‘Sorry, but you look too cute when you’re mad like that.’

‘Huh…’- he blushed heavily. Could that be noticed?

‘Awe he blushed on me!’ Well apparently it could. Spike laughed softly while covering his mouth; this made Alex throw another discontent gaze at him. ‘Sorry, sorry… You were saying?’

‘Oh, right. I mean, I don’t know if I’m going or not just yet… I guess it depends on what you’ll be doing this weekend.’

‘How so?’- Spike seemed intrigued.

‘Well,’- he looked down so Spike couldn’t tell the shyness he was sure his eyes reflected. He never handled requests like this well, even if it was just a friend - ‘if you don’t have something particularly interesting planed out for the weekend maybe you could stay at my place you know, hang out and all.’

‘Loved to!’ The tone on his friend’s voice went up in an excited and thrilled way that made Alex jump back at the suddenness as he let out a wide smile to go with it. ‘I’m bore to death of my parents already and I’m sure it’s reciprocated, so they’ll give me the thumbs up anyways. We just need to stop by my house to get my stuff and then we’ll head off to yours.’

They had been walking for a while now and could no longer see the school behind them. Spike pulled on Alex’s arm, changing their direction from the pasta restaurant to his place and started walking faster in content with himself and the just made plans. Alex stopped abruptly.

‘Wow Spike, wait…’ Spike stopped too and turned his head back in a questioning manner, as if asking why they had stopped. Alex continued- ‘I have plenty of stuff at home that you can wear!, besides, it’s not like you need to look perfect or anything when it’s a guy’s weekend right?’ Spike thought about it for a minute and then changed his expression to one of agreement. ‘Right…’ - Spike laughed softly- ‘I’ll just call my mother when I get to your place.’

‘Good. All I need to do is let my mother know I’m staying. I’ll text her…- he got his mobile out and started clicking the buttons at light speed- ‘she is probably picking up Kiki to leave by now so I think they’ll be going directly to my granny’s house.’- he put his mobile back onto his pocket- ‘There.’

‘‘kay cool. So where’re we heading now, your place?’

‘Either that or the pasta house. I have food at home though.’

‘Hmmm…’

‘And yes, you can eat it! I’ll make you something. You forget I’m a vegan too now?’

‘Right’- Spike pointed up in understanding, Alex could tell he’d forgotten about that detail-‘Okay, then your house it is.’ –Spike smiled and Alex was happy to make lunch for both of them.

That was another thing about Spike, he was vegan. To top all the things that were good about him, and having a friend like him, he neither ate nor wore animals, and he had recently turned him vegan aswell. He had now started seeing Spike as a role model of some kind, for everything Spike did just seemed to contribute more to his already existing perfection as a person; a person whom Alex would one day like to be as.

It hadn’t been that hard on him to get his parents to accept this change in his life. Thought they laughed a little at first and didn’t think it would last long, they’d sent him to a nutritionist and all since the major concern was their “baby boy’s” health. And not drinking cow milk or other dairy products hadn’t been that much of a change neither since his mother had always been a soy milk/soy products nutty. She loved all of those things and Alex had been brought up to like them aswell so it was easy for him in that aspect.

‘A penny for your thoughts?’ The sound of Spike’s voice seemed to bring him back to reality.

‘Uhm? Oh, it’s nothing.’ – he realised he’d been awkwardly silent for a while now and they were almost arriving at his house.

‘Well I’m certainly not wasting a penny on that!’ Spike said sarcastically which made Alex laugh slightly -‘Care to develop?’

‘I know, but really it’s nothing. Just wondering what we’ll do with so much time on our hands!’

‘I’m positive we’ll figure something out’- Spike winked at him while opening the garden gate.

‘I’m sure too!’ Alex had livened up and smiled happily.

The two boys went up the few steps on the porch and made their way into the house. It would be a long weekend….They had no idea.

‘Morning sleepy head…’

That such caring voice woke Alex up but it didn’t seem to be his mother’s. He opened one eye, half sleepy, half curious and thanked that whoever it was this person waking him up was kind enough to not to let too much light in the room; it was so hard when he was forced to wake into a room filled with an astounding amount of brightness. He slowly started finding shape, and then Spike’s face appeared before him, clear as ever. He remembered now. Spike was staying over for the weekend. Flashes of the previous night flooded him rapidly.

After having a very light, very healthy lunch, they went outside for a swim in the pool until dusk. For dinner they had popcorns and candy, staying the first half of the night playing monopoly and talking about life; Spike always won at monopoly, he was far more gifted the game than Alex was and smarter too. The other half was spent watching promiscuous teenage comedies and laughing stupidly. Strangely enough he couldn’t recall coming to bed at all. Maybe they’d drank or something, though he had no memory of that neither, and he’d came to bed on his own just too drunk to remember any of it. It was still not fitting…

‘How did I…?’

‘You fast asleep halfway through American Pie’- Spike had already made out the question without him even finishing it; he laughed softly and carried on explaining- ‘I carried you up here and laid you to bed. You just seemed so awkwardly uncomfortable in that strange pose you were sleeping in on the sofa. Didn’t want your back to hurt.’ Spike’s smile was caring like parent.

‘Oh’- he was definitely not expecting that as an outcome- ‘thanks but… where did you…?’

‘There.’ Spike pointed out to the floor showing a sleeping bag and a pillow all in an organize mess, clearly showing someone had just slept there. Spike had guessed what he wanted to say again, and he went on- ‘I remember where you’d left them last time.’- Spike drew a smile that was both adorable and proud, proud of himself for being so useful and handling the situation so well without any help.

‘Dude’- Alex just waved his head in astonishment- ‘you’re the best!’

‘Yea, I know.’ Spike did have a reason to play perfect.

Both boys laughed. Alex found it comforting in a way that though Spike and him were about the same age, few months difference, Spike was a year ahead and acted like it aswell. Sometimes he’d just acted like a mother and truth is, Alex didn’t care that much. He liked the way Spike treated him.

‘So, want to go downstairs with me and have some pancakes? I just baked some.’- Spike’s tone was kind and slow, not forgetting that Alex had just woke- ‘You have fresh squeezed orange juice and syrup, jam and chocolate to go in the pancakes’- Spike widened a smile and winked at him playfully- ‘All vegan obviously!’

‘Don’t mind if I do!’

The getting up process took Alex ten more minutes, during which Spike had been hit by sleep again and was now joining him, eyes closed and laying down next to him on the bed.

‘What time is it?’ Neither one of them could be arsed to open their eyes.

‘About ten…’- Spike spoke vaguely, still not opening his eyes.

‘Why didn’t you let me sleep until noon?’- The tone on his voice was a bit cranky.

‘Couldn’t sleep again. Though now...’- Spike’s tone let him know he was getting sleepy again- ‘Besides, you just had to try on my pancakes.’

‘So that’s what it is about! I see...’

Spike rolled over Alex playfully in response, while he tried to fight him back kicking and punching with harmless intentions. Spike finally got tired and rolled back to where he had been, breathing heavily. Alex, though he didn’t leave his spot, was equally tired from resisting.

‘Didn’t you have rehearsal today or something?’

‘Still do, but I called in saying I’d miss it already in the morning. After all you invited me over, so...’

‘You dumbass! I’ll go with you!’-he rushed up the bed and pulled on Spike’s arm- ‘Come on, when were you supposed to get there?’

‘Ten thirty...’- Spike pulled back on Alex’s arm making him fall on top of him- ‘Ouch!’- Spike contracted a little with a smirk.

‘Well who told you to pull me?’- he punched his friend’s stomach as to make him moan with pain again- ‘Now let’s go, come on! Up!’ Spike whined sleepily.

‘Hmpff... What happened to “wake me up at noon”’?

‘We don’t want to make your pancakes cold now do we?’ his smile was ironic and made Spike respond.

‘Alright, alright, we’ll go!’- Spike rolled his eyes teasingly- ‘Damn you can be annoying.’

Alex showed a bit concern at this but it soon vanished when Spike winked at him and he realised it was a joke and his friend wasn’t actually annoyed.

‘Tell you what...’- Spike’s tone was intriguing and Alex took and extra moment to pay attention to what he was about to say- ‘...I’ll even race you downstairs!’ his distraction cost him. When he finished acknowledging what Spike has just said he could no longer see him, only hear him running down the stairs rapidly.

‘Oi! Unfair!’-he started getting up, both amused and frustrated- ‘That’s cheating!’ At least Spike had gotten out of bed. The voice he heard sounded distant; Alex could tell Spike had already reached the kitchen, on the bottom floor of the house for he could make out the sounds of plates and even the refrigerator door.

‘No it isn’t!’ – Spike yelled from downstairs and Alex started going down the stairs cheerfully in a not too rushed compass- ‘Now rush! We have like twenty minutes if we plan on making it there in time!’