Theo

Gaming

It took almost two months of constantly approaching Phil to finally talk him into letting me come over to his house again which is ridiculous since we walked the same route to and from school—together!  That was the most logical way to force him into interacting with me and even that wasn’t immediately successful.  He was quiet most of the walk, reserved.

    His silence just made me more and more curious about him.

    Since football season was over, I had more time to mess around.  Normally I’d wind up at Trey’s with the whole crew probably sneaking in beer and drinking in his basement.  His parents were actually cool with us drinking a little as long as we stayed over.  But this Friday, I was busy and the crew wasn’t particularly happy about it.

    “You’re ditching us?” Trey asked.

    “Pretty much,” I said, shoving some fries in my mouth.

    “Bruh,” Casey said, pushing at my shoulder.

    “No filter, like always,” Mac laughed, taking a bite of his burger.

    My crew had ten people in it but the four of us were closest.  “Don’t be a girl about it,” I rolled my eyes.  “I have a date with somebody else.”

    Casey snorted.  “I know it’s not Chelsea.”

    “He wishes,” Trey laughed.

    “Doesn’t she have a purity ring?” Mac wondered.

    “God, I hope not,” I muttered, glancing over toward her table.  She was seated amongst the other cheerleaders, laughing angelically about something.  Her red hair was naturally curly but she’d straightened it today, her blue eyes focused on her best friend Tania.  Whew, she was a sight.  If only she could cook like Katarina which I’d later found out was the name of Phil’s mom.

    “Crushing your dreams over here,” Trey was clutching his stomach, finding too much joy in my worried expression.

    “Yeah right, he’d just marry her.  You know that,” Casey jibed.

    “Ya’ll suck,” I grumbled, biting into my fries again.  The guys didn’t know who I was going to be hanging out with but my eyes flickered over to his table anyway, taking in his small frame.  So little.  There was one guy seated next to him, one I recognized as Harrison Scott.  He was always up to something, that guy.  A schemer.  I wondered how he weaseled his way into Phil’s good graces.

. . .

So Phil is religious.

    That was my first thought when I stepped into his bedroom and saw a rosary on his bedside table on top of a Bible.  I picked it up curiously, noticing the book mark in it.  Seriously?  “You read this thing?” I wondered, glancing over at him.

    He shot me a dirty look, taking it from my hand and setting it back where it had been.  “So why did you want to come here?”

    I dropped my bag on his bed, unzipping it.  “You have an X-box, right?”  He nodded, eyes lighting up when he saw the games I’d brought.  Ah, so Tiny does have something normal about him.  “You got snacks?” I muttered, glancing around his room.  Everybody has a hidden snack stash, am I right?

    “I can’t have food in my room,” he said, rolling his eyes.

    “You’re a real law abiding citizen, huh?” I asked, quirking my brow at him.

    He narrowed his eyes, cheeks flushing pink again.  Ah, is he getting upset?  Puffing out his cheeks, he left the room without a word and, for a minute, I wondered if he’d even bother to come back.  Maybe I’d run Tiny off with my teasing.  When I heard his footsteps as he came back up the steps, I pursed my lips, watching as he came in with a bowl of salsa and chips.  “She’ll kill both of us if she sees it,” he said seriously.  “You’re not safe just because you’re a guest.”

    I would heed those words.  “It’s alright.  I’m pretty good at breaking rules by now.”

    “Right,” he scoffed.

    “What?”

    He turned and frowned at me.  “Are we playing or not?”

    Rolling my eyes, I set up the game with plans on absolutely crushing him.

. . .

Okay, so Tiny's got some gaming skills, alright?

    “Ha!” he shouted, throwing his hands up in victory.  “Yes!”  I stared at him, surprised that such a small creature could be so loud and, glancing over at me, he had this huge s**t-eating grin on his face as he said, “You suck.”

     Well, damn.  “I got you next game.”

    He took a bite of his chip, chuckling.  “Yeah, yeah.”

    “Where’s your mom?” I wondered, realizing we’d been playing for a couple hours.  Shouldn’t she be home by now?

    “She works evening shift at the hospital a lot,” he said, shrugging.  “Usually she doesn’t get home until late.”

    “Oh.”  I glanced down at the chips we’d been devouring and frowned.  “So, like, what do you eat for dinner?”

    He shrugged.  “Leftovers in the fridge.  I can cook too.”

    “You cook every night?”  The boy beside me just shrugged, seeming uncomfortable somehow.  “Wait, you eat alone every night?” I wondered, frowning. I found myself wondering what it would be like to spend every evening alone.  My family drives me nuts and all but, in all honesty, I didn't like thinking about eating by myself.  Fending for myself.

    It seemed kind of lonely.

    Another shrug.  “You ready to lose again?” he asked, rising an eyebrow at me.

    “Yeah right!” I snapped, going back into gaming mode.  One way or another, I was taking Tiny down this round.