Chapter 11 #2
He steps deeper into my room, studying the sketches on display. Each depicts a location around Banton. Thankfully, I hadn’t been brazen enough to put up anything more incriminating, like drawings of a certain cute guy.
“Honestly?” He smirks. “I don’t see any difference.”
A deep laugh rips from my belly, the sound catching me by surprise. I can’t remember the last time I’ve done more than chuckle. Dylan’s grin widens as he resumes studying my room. When his gaze settles on the TV jammed against the far wall, he sucks in a breath.
“Is that a PS5?” he demands, stooping to examine the shiny white game console.
“Yeah.” I sit on the edge of my bed and gesture at one of the boxes I haven’t bothered unpacking yet. “I think most of my games are in there.”
Dylan picks through the indicated box, exclaiming over the titles he recognizes. “Did your aunt buy this for you?”
I shake my head. “The Ellingtons. Hence the games still being packed.”
He looks up with a sheepish smile. “Right. Duh. You’ll have to excuse my lack of brain cells right now. I’ve wanted one of these since they came out, but my family’s still stuck in the PlayStation 2 era.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Whoa. Vintage.”
“It was my dad’s, I think.” His hands still as he tightens his jaw. “Guess he didn’t care much about it though since he left it behind, along with a bunch of his other crap.”
Left it behind? Were his parents divorced? For all he’s told me about his family, his dad has never once come up. It’s clear from his expression he doesn’t want to talk about it now either, so I gesture again at the box, hoping to distract him. “See anything you like?”
Dylan shakes his head as if to clear it, a faint smile returning as he examines the box’s contents. “Plenty. But I can’t find any of your multiplayer games. I figured we could play something together.”
A flush rises in my cheeks. I look away, fixing my gaze on one of my drawings.
This one depicts the forest outside of town.
I’d captured it after school while out wandering.
Something about the trees’ quiet serenity had appealed to me—like it had been taken straight out of a simpler time where people and their myriad problems didn’t exist.
“I, um, don’t really have any. I’ve never had many friends. Loner, remember?” I try to turn it into a joke, but I can tell it falls flat.
Dylan’s radiant smile steals my breath. “Well, my games at home might be a good twenty years out of date, but at least I’ve got some decent multiplayer titles. You’ll have to come over and play them sometime.”
It’s the first time he’s invited me over to his place, and somehow, it feels like a huge deal. I fight down a flutter in my chest. “That sounds great.”
He grins. “Cool.” His eyes return longingly to my selection of games. “I’ve been dying to get my hands on some of these forever, though. I wish I had a way to play them.”
“Well, no time like the present, right?” He gives me a confused look, and I point at the PS5. “Go ahead—pick whatever you want and put it in.”
“But what about you?”
“I like to watch.”
He raises an eyebrow, his lips twitching.
A harsh blush colors my cheeks when I realize what I said. “I mean…that is…I like to watch Let’s Play videos and that kind of stuff.”
“Right.” He nods solemnly, his lips pressed together while his eyes dance with mirth.
God, strike me down now of embarrassment.
Thankfully, he doesn’t press any further. With his game of choice in hand—the latest Final Fantasy—he starts around my bed toward the TV. As he does, he passes by my desk. His eyes flick down and he pauses, wrinkling his brow. “Wait, aren’t these sleeping pills?”
I see he’s pointing at the orange bottle I’d left sitting there. I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Yeah. I have issues with insomnia. They help me get a good night’s rest.”
Not exactly a lie, even if it’s not the whole truth either.
“How often do you take them?”
“As often as I need to,” I say, my voice tight. “I have a prescription.”
He makes a placating gesture. “Of course. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.
” He starts to turn back to the TV, then hesitates and looks at me instead, his hazel eyes wide with concern.
“Is it because of the move? I know you told me before that you’re used to being alone, but it’s okay if it’s taking some adjustment. ”
“I’ve had trouble sleeping for years. It’s nothing new.” When that doesn’t placate him the way I’d intended, I add, “If anything, the move’s been good for my mental health.”
He turns to focus on me more fully. “What do you mean?”
“Well…things weren’t exactly great with the Ellingtons.
I’m pretty sure they only took me in out of loyalty to my dad and because they were worried how it would look if they left their thirteen-year-old grandson in foster care.
We never really saw eye to eye, and I don’t think they quite knew what to do with me.
” Not that I know what to do with myself most of the time.
“Is that why you’re here now?”
I jerk a nod. “I…got into some trouble at school.” I picture Harvey’s terrified face, his heaving back as he sobbed.
“That was the last straw for them. The next day, they packed my bags and sent me down here to live with my aunt.” Dylan’s still watching me, his face full of more sympathy than I can bear, so I grumble, “Are you going to play that or not?”
He’s silent for a span of heartbeats. “Yep!” he finally says, his voice overly cheerful. “Let me boot it up.”
As Dylan loses himself in the game’s intricate story, I gradually relax, propping myself up on my bed against the wall to watch his progress. He perches at the foot of the bed, too far away to tempt me to touch him, but still near enough to leave an unfamiliar heat dancing across my skin.
I’d probably be better off kicking him out and never speaking to him again. But for better or worse, I’d made my choice and let him in. Now, all I can do is make sure neither of us regrets my weakness.