Chapter 98
My dad always said mean things about Mr. Reynolds. I didn’t understand why. If he hated him so much, why was he taking me to stay at his house?
I knew better than to ask, though.
That would get me in trouble.
So, I was quiet as my dad dragged me out of the car and up the steps to the two-story detached home that was supposed to be Mr. Reynold’s house.
This house was much smaller than ours. It was… cozier. Warmer. With red bricks and a lush green vine crawling up the side.
When we got up to the door, my dad didn’t have to knock. It opened right away.
I jumped, feeling surprised to find that it wasn’t Mr. Reynolds who’d opened the door, but a boy my age.
This boy had messy brown hair that stood out in all different directions. His copper eyes shone with excitement, and he was wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Fueled by mitochondria’ on it.
“Are you Sebastian!?” the boy exclaimed, and I blinked at him in surprise.
“Uhm. Yeah. That’s me.” I smiled at him, and the boy immediately reached out to grab my hand before dragging me inside.
“My dad said you were coming! What took you so long? Hey, do you like rocks? I have this cool polisher I want to show you…”
I had never really thought about whether I liked rocks or not, but something told me this boy was going to show me what I’d been missing out on in the rock world.
I glanced back at my dad, who was already on his phone and walking away.
I was used to him leaving me behind or handing me off to other people, but it still always sent a small spark of panic through me every time he did it. There was always this tiny hint of worry that maybe this time, he wouldn’t come back.
Usually, I felt lonely and sad when my dad abandoned me in strange places like this, but it was hard to feel that way with this boy excitedly yammering my ear off about all the different kinds of rocks a kid could find in their own back yards.
“What’s your name?” I asked, and the boy glanced back at me, smiling so wide it made me smile too.
“Jay, Jay Reynolds.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah. Wanna be friends?”
My eyes widened, and I nodded frantically.
“Yeah, I’ve never had a friend before,” I admitted, feeling embarrassed but wanting to be honest.
“That’s okay. It’s pretty easy. You just have to always have each other’s backs.”
“O-okay. I can totally do that!”
“Cool! I knew you would be a good friend! Anyway… I find most of my rocks by the pond in our backyard. Sometimes there are frogs and turtles and stuff in there, too. Wanna come check it out?”
I nodded, because that’s what I thought a good friend would do.
A good friend.
A sense of responsibility welled inside me, and I squeezed Jay’s hand, hoping he would never let me go or leave me behind.
Good friends always have each other’s backs.