Chapter Ten #2
“Someone is running around this neighborhood vandalizing homes, destroying private property, and—”
“And that sounds like something that doesn’t concern me or my children.”
“It’s convenient that it hasn’t happened to your home,” Suburban Karen said.
“It’s convenient it hasn’t happened to any home on our block, or the next two blocks over,” Jasmine countered. “In fact, if I recall, someone said your house has been targeted three times now.”
“Makes me wonder if maybe they’re only aiming for the bitches who run their mouth,” Miguel said, announcing himself as he strutted down the driveway and toward Dylan’s car.
Snickers from two other teens living in the house trailed behind Miguel. Dylan did his best not to join in with the laughter at Miguel’s bold and abrasive entrance, instead focusing on ensuring he grabbed everyone with an appointment this morning.
Chelsea strutted alongside Yazmin, her vibrant bi-colored hair sparkling under the sunlight.
Yazmin had a deep amber complexion, complemented by the white jersey she wore to show off her school spirit.
Unlike most of the teens in Dorothy’s Home who did their best to blend, Yazmin worked hard to leave her mark by joining every varsity sport she could land.
Volleyball, soccer, and track team. It kept her busier than most and often left Dylan playing chauffeur after practices and games when needed.
Most of the kids just wanted to survive high school, finding themselves thrust into a new district and a confusing home after losing their old life because of a lifestyle their parents refused to accept.
Not Yazmin. She’d apparently been very active in athletics at her last school until she’d been outed as the lecherous lesbian in locker rooms. Between teammates who feared her, a school that didn’t support her, and a family that refused to accept her, it didn’t take long for her to find her way at the doorstep of Dorothy’s Home.
Thankfully, the high school all the teens attended now had a very strong anti-bullying policy and had grown to accept students from all walks of life. Mainly due to a decade of persistent community campaigning by Jasmine, who made herself vocal at every single PTA meeting.
“How dare you speak to me that way?” Suburban Karen’s offended expression mixed with furious contempt as she locked her eyes on Miguel.
“And how dare you offend my eyes with that tacky ass dress and heavy blush that does nothing to hide that corpse-like face you’re walking around with.
” Miguel didn’t mince words with anyone.
It got him in trouble at school on more than one occasion.
With staff and students. It didn’t make him any less mouthy; in fact, it only added to his cutting comments.
Dylan didn’t have to strain to smile now, giving Suburban Karen a big ole grin as she absorbed the depths of Miguel’s insults. Honestly, she was quite fortunate that they had an appointment to keep; otherwise, Miguel could fill his entire morning picking this headache of a woman apart.
“Good luck,” Dylan mouthed to Jasmine, who simply gestured for him to get out before her headache got any bigger.
Miguel had taken the passenger seat, leaving the girls to cram in the backseat. The drive quickly turned into a chaotic whirlwind of chatter.
“And where were you last night, mister?” Miguel asked, pointing his phone like a mic.
“Out.”
“With Kaiden?”
“No,” Chelsea said. “He’s always hanging out with that juvie dude.”
“First off, his name is Rus, not juvie dude. Second, he was never convicted of anything,” Dylan said. “Third, juvie is for children.”
Chelsea tsked. “He looks like a child.”
Miguel smacked his lips in response. “Don’t be talking about my short king like that.”
Dylan focused on the road, ignoring their back and forth. It became clear that Miguel had a crush on Rus. It seemed everyone did.
“So, what’d you do that had you out all night?” Miguel asked, turning his attention to the girls in the back seat. “You know, Dylan’s been MIA from the house quite a bit lately. Always out and about, living his best life and having sleepovers God knows where.”
Chelsea and Yazmin ‘ooooed’ in the back seat, followed by some lewd gestures. When Chelsea made gagging noises, the cacophony of chaos caused Dylan to lose sight of the road and suddenly slam his brakes at the intersection.
“Fucking hell,” Miguel shouted.
Dylan’s heart pounded, pumping adrenaline through his stressed veins.
“Q and A is over,” Dylan said. “Just be quiet, please.”
“Welp, we can cross back shots off the list of what you were doing last night,” Miguel said with the smuggest flair of sass. “Because no one laying it down is going to be this wound tight.”
“Yup,” Chelsea and Yazmin asserted in unison.
Thankfully, it didn’t take much longer to reach the dentist’s office, and they sent Miguel in first to have his braces adjusted.
Chelsea and Yazmin lost themselves on their phones since the waiting room was flooded with small children.
It offered Dylan a bit of peace. He used the time to check his own phone.
He sent Kaiden a text, which almost immediately showed a “read” message below. No surprise. Kaiden had a habitual need to read and respond to any message as quickly as possible. This anxious quirk Dylan had always found cute.
The floating bubbles of a response danced on Dylan’s phone for the better part of a minute.
Hell, he spent so much time staring at their rhythmic bounce that his screen actually turned black in the process.
When Dylan swiped his phone back to an open screen, he found the bubbles had vanished.
The message remained on read, but Kaiden didn’t respond to the simple check-in message.
That didn’t bode well in Dylan’s mind. Kaiden could be having a million feelings about their friendship right now, about their kiss, and for the first time in the three years since they’d known each other, he was dodging Dylan.
With no response, Dylan followed up with Rus from this morning, figuring he’d be leaving his first class right about now.
Dylan sat quietly, contemplating, searching for the right words to send his next message.
It made sense. Rus swooped in real fast to make a move on Kaiden the second an opportunity presented itself. And when Kaiden made a request for Rus to kiss Dylan, he obeyed almost immediately.
That made Dylan’s heart flutter. Then the flutter quickly twisted into knots that turned into a pit weighing on his stomach.
Bubbles danced, then stopped as Rus clearly contemplated what to reply with next.
Rus sent a barrage of crying laughing emojis.
They continued texting for a bit, sending silly GIFs until Dylan was called back by the dentist to discuss Chelsea’s cavities. He started checking his schedule and writing down information to relay to Jasmine.
Afterward, he returned to the waiting room as Yazmin was finally called back.
Dylan wondered what the result of a few days to reflect would be.
In what direction would his feelings settle?
Part of him wanted to explore this curiosity with Rus.
Another part of him wanted to find out where his feelings for Kaiden had been this entire time.
It was as if one moment he was looking at his best friend and the next, he was lost in this deep, sweeping desire to explore everything with Kaiden.
Maybe friendship was the best route. Dylan couldn’t fathom deciding between Rus and Kaiden. He also couldn’t imagine dating one of them and staying just friends with the other while the three of them hung out, casually ignoring the night they all made out.
Worst of all, Dylan worried that this time of reflection might reveal that Rus and Kaiden had a stronger crush on each other than on him. Maybe their connection worked better. It made more sense to Dylan since he couldn’t sort his feelings out for the life of him.
That pit in his stomach twisted tighter as he realized he’d have to be okay with it. He’d have to be okay with their feelings or risk losing two friendships.
Fuck, Dylan regretted so much.