Chapter 6: A little fun

Thanks to Jim for editing!

"Oh, look at that," Dave mumbled, in a voice not much louder than a whisper. "It's just not fair. I mean, just look at that."

I was looking; I just wasn't as interested in it. I was actually more interested in the sunset, which had colored the sky various oranges and reds. We probably had a good hour left before it was completely dark, and that was fine with me, considering we were sitting in the middle of the park, in the grass, and watching the varying activities around us.

Luke and I had arrived early, and then we ran into Rick and Brian, and then finally Dave. Of course, Chey was there too, and Chey happened to be what everyone was looking at... well, Chey and the group of girls that had decided Chey wasn't getting enough attention. Chey was now on her back with more than enough hands willing to scratch her belly.

"That's just wrong." Dave shook his head sadly, when Chey licked the face of a short girl--pretty with short, curly, dirty-blonde hair and a bubbly smile. Earlier someone had mentioned that she was Angela Conner: current object of Dave's desire. "Luke, dude, I never thought I'd be jealous of your dog."

"Shut up," Luke remarked, flicking a piece of dried grass in Dave's direction."You get jealous of my dog when I scratch her belly."

"Angela does look good today," Rick remarked from my left, where he was sitting on the other side of Brian, who was between us. Luke was next to me on my right, and Dave was next to him.

"Hey!" Dave leaned forward and glared in Rick's direction. "There are like, ten of them out there, you have to look at her?"

Rick laughed. "What?It's not like she isn't available."

"Rick, I swear..." Dave started, sounding annoyed.

"Do you think she'd go out with me?" Rick interrupted, looking at Brian.

"Don't see why not," Brian said with a shrug. "I don't see anyone else asking her out."

"You guys are fucking assholes," Dave informed them, and Brian and Rick laughed.

I glanced at Luke, who just smiled and rolled his eyes.

"You should go talk to her, Dave," Brian insisted.

Rick laughed."Yeah, just don't forget how to talk this time."

I looked over at Dave, who was blushing somewhat and shaking his head at his friends. It was strange seeing someone like Dave act so shy. He definitely wasn't unattractive, and he had an outgoing personality as far as I could tell. As I looked out towards Angela Conner I wondered what it was about this girl that had him so worked up. Sure, she was pretty, but I didn't see anything particularly special about her. Then again, I was probably the wrong person to ask.

"Leave Dave alone, you guys," Luke said. "He'll come around... and don't worry, Dave, if you don't get it right soon I'll date you myself."

Brian and Rick laughed when Luke suddenly threw his arm around Dave and pulled him closer to plant a big kiss on his cheek, while my eyes slightly widened at the gesture. I guess Luke was just extra friendly with his friends.

"That's because you're a slut," Dave remarked as he shoved Luke away, wiping his cheek off with the back of his hand.

"Yes," Luke proudly agreed, "but I'm a picky slut, so take it as a compliment, asshole."

"Is this all you guys ever do?" I asked, deciding to join the conversation."Watch girls and pick on Dave?"

"Don't make it sound so boring," Luke remarked. "I guarantee that by the end of the summer you'll like picking on Dave as much as the rest of us."

I smiled, shaking my head as Dave elbowed Luke in response. We hadn't been at the park very long, but I was surprised how comfortable I felt around Luke's friends, considering the only one who I'd been around for more than ten minutes was Dave.

I think it had something to do with Luke. I was comfortable around him, so now I was also comfortable around the people who he liked. Ever since we made up from our one fight we'd grown used to each other's presences, and I was starting to feel close to him--like he was the big brother I never had; especially after the last few days, and after learning about his mom, and that he really did know how I felt. It was nice actually, having someone who I could talk to about my mother if I needed to, someone who would really understand.

Of course, I doubted that Luke's mom was coming back to haunt him. That's exactly what it felt like my own mother was doing. She was haunting me. Don't get me wrong, I would take my mom however I could get her. If it were possible to trade ten years of my life for one more minute with her, I wouldn't hesitate. But, nothing that I'd learned over the last few days made any sense. Mostly, the fact that my mother had kept my entire existence a secret from Eddie made no sense.

I couldn't understand why she would do that. If he was some sort of criminal or evil person it would at least make sense... and the fact that he was a lawyer didn't count.

I guess I could only hope what Grandma Alice was sending would at least provide some answers. In the meantime, I was stuck waiting. But, Luke and his friends proved to be a good distraction.

I was glad that Luke invited me to come along with him tonight, and quite frankly, I was surprised that Eddie let me go, especially after my incident the night before when I abruptly decided to go running off into the desert. I know that if I was with Grandma Alice, I wouldn't be going anywhere after pulling a stunt like that. But I think Eddie was just trying to get along with me. And, he did seem really happy after I'd decided to share those pictures with him.

I guess I wanted to try to get along with Eddie too. I think the fact that I now knew he wasn't just a deadbeat who walked out on his family contributed to me wanting to get to know him better. Maybe I hadn't been very... nice to Eddie before, but I could hardly feel guilty about it now. If he had just told me the truth in the first place... well, things might have been better.

"Oh god," Dave mumbled, pulling me out of my thoughts. "She's coming over here. Why is she coming over here?"

Luke laughed."Will you just calm down?"

I looked up to see what all of the fuss was about and noticed Angela and another girl were headed in our direction with Chey.

"Yeah, Dave," Rick added, "calm down, it's not like she's coming over here to talk to you, anyway. I think she's more interested in those of us who can carry on an actual conversation with her."

"Shut up, Rick," Dave mumbled.

"Yeah, Rick, shut up," Brian remarked. "If you keep talking we'll miss the way that Dave's about trip all over himself."

"Shut up!" Dave said, a little louder.

I noticed that everyone around me seemed to quiet down as the girls approached, but they didn't hold my attention like they did everyone else. Actually, someone else who had suddenly caught my eye had all of my attention at the moment.

When Luke had first asked me to go to the park, I knew that there was a possibility of seeing Aaron. I'd even hoped to see him. But, at the same time I also hoped that he wouldn't be here, because I was with Luke.

Luke said that he wouldn't tell me who to be friends with anymore. He'd also suggested that he'd leave me alone about Aaron. But, I hadn't exactly had a chance to test whether or not he meant it. I also wasn't sure if I'd get that chance now, because Aaron was with a few other guys, and he hadn't seemed to notice us, or me, yet.

I wondered if he'd want to come over and talk to me if he did notice. We'd gotten along just fine the last time we were at the park, and after I called him, he even asked if I wanted to get together and do something. I hoped that he wanted to talk to me. For some reason I was drawn to Aaron. I hadn't figured out what exactly it was about him that interested me... except for the way that I'd thought he might have been flirting with me the last time we were together, and I wasn't really even sure about that... But I knew for a fact that I really did want to get to know him better.

However, whether or not Aaron wanted to talk to me tonight, I wanted to be careful around Luke. I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize my new friendship with him, and if that meant avoiding a conversation with Aaron while Luke was around, then I was willing to accept that.

But when I finally looked away from Aaron I noticed that Luke was watching me with an unreadable expression. The most I could tell was that he was troubled, obviously having noticed Aaron. I opened my mouth to say something to him--I'm not really sure what, but something. Unfortunately, before I could, we were interrupted by a more feminine voice.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi, Angela!" Dave blurted in a way that made me think he'd been holding it in for weeks.

"Um... hi, Dave," the blonde-haired girl replied, but then looked in Luke's direction. "Luke, your dog's so sweet. What's her name again?"

"Cheyenne," Luke replied with a proud smile.

"Hey, Meg," Brian said to the darker-haired girl standing next to Angela. "Is Cathy around?"

Meg smiled at the big guy."She'll be by later, Brian."

"So, what are you guys up to?" Angela asked as she took a seat opposite us and started to pet Chey as Meg followed her lead.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rick responded. "A whole lot of nothing... except Dave over there was just telling us how pretty you look today, Angela."

I looked at Rick, a little surprised, and then looked over at Dave, who looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole, with that red face of his.

Angela grinned. "That's sweet, Dave."

Poor Dave. It looked like he wanted to respond, but he couldn't even meet her eyes and all he managed was a small shrug. Maybe he really did forget how to talk around this particular girl. When Dave didn't respond, Angela ended up looking at me.

"You're new."

"Yeah, Angela, this is Rory," Luke answered her. "He's... visiting for the summer."

I smiled. "Hi."

"Really, you're here for the summer? Where are you staying?" Angela asked.

"Cousin Luke's, " I drawled.

"Yeah, he's staying with us," Luke responded, looking a little surprised, but giving me a smile.

"Great, maybe we'll see more of you, Rory."

"Sure," I said, shrugging.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna go get some water," Luke suddenly announced, abruptly standing up. "Wanna come with, Rory?"

"Um... sure." I shrugged, a little curious why Luke wanted me to take a walk with him, considering he had a water bottle in the back pack he'd brought with him, along with Chey's frisbee.

I smiled at the others around me as they waved me off and I stood to go with Luke, and together we started walking towards the water fountain on the other side of the park.

"Are you doing alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah. What do you mean?"

"You just seem distracted," he explained. "But I guess after today you have a right to be, huh?"

"I guess it's been a long day," I admitted.

"Aaron's here," he said abruptly, looking in the direction where Aaron was still talking to the same group of guys.

"Yeah, I noticed." I frowned, not sure where this was going. "Look, Luke..."

"Are you gonna go talk to him?"

"I don't know..." I replied slowly. "I don't have to, and it's not like I came here with him, I came here with you, so..."

"Just because you came here with me doesn't mean you can't go talk to him," Luke pointed out.

"Look, I don't want to..."

"You don't want to piss me off."

I looked over at him feeling annoyed, trying to figure out if he was trying to start a fight with me. That definitely wasn't something I wanted right now. But, as I did look at him I realized that he was smiling.

"I just don't want to start trouble," I admitted. "I get that you don't like him, so I figured that maybe when you're around..."

"If you're going to be his friend you can't avoid him just because of me, Rory."

"I thought it was you who didn't want me to be his friend at all."

"I don't," Luke replied, without any hesitation whatsoever. "But, I realize that it's none of my business. All I can do is tell you to be careful and wait for you to figure Aaron out on your own."

"You know," I said, sounding frustrated, "it might help if you just told me what he did to you. I'm sort of getting sick of people waiting for me to figure things out on my own. The last time I did that I ended up with a cactus needle in my ass."

"Right," Luke said. "How's your foot, by the way? Is this too much walking for you?"

"I'm fine. So are you going to tell me what's up with you and Aaron?"

Luke's face scrunched up in a thoughtful frown as I waited for him to decide whether or not he wanted to tell me. I hoped he did. I was definitely curious about what could make someone who seemed as outgoing as Luke dislike someone so much. I mean, I'd had my share of people who I didn't really like, but I'd never detested anyone as much as Luke seemed to hate Aaron. I don't think I'd even had as big of a problem with Eddie as Luke seemed to have with Aaron.

"Let's just say that he doesn't make the most reliable friend," Luke finally replied. "And, he was my friend, Rory. I won't deny that. The truth is, at one time he was my best friend, closer to me than Dave, even."

"So what happened?"

Luke let out a breath, looking annoyed that I'd even ask, but I didn't care. If he didn't want to tell me then he could just say so.

"He's always been... sort of a troublemaker," Luke said, shrugging. "I think part of it was his parents let him get away with anything. When I first met him, I thought some of the stuff he could get away with was cool. I mean, if I ever did some of this shit... But, back then I was dealing with losing my mom, and I didn't think that Eddie and Jase wanted anything to do with me. I just figured that I was this kid that got dropped in their laps. So I started acting out, you know? I went along with Aaron every time he did something he shouldn't."

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

"At first it was small stuff," Luke explained. "Getting into his mom's cigarettes, maybe taking a few bucks from her purse here and there. It was stupid, all of it. But we never got caught. I think for a while we thought that we could get away with anything... but it didn't last very long."

"What did you get caught doing?" It was strange for me to picture Luke in trouble with anything. He seemed like such a... do-gooder.

"Well, Aaron's neighbor went out of town and Aaron thought it would be cool to break into his house." Luke frowned and I followed his gaze over the where Aaron was still talking to the group of guys I saw him with. "It wasn't all his fault, though. He didn't make the decision for me, or anything like that."

"You got caught?"

"Oh yeah. We were in so much trouble." Luke shook his head. "But, in some ways I think it was the best thing that ever happened to me--getting caught. After that, I started talking to Eddie and Jase and things just got better for me from there."

"That's why you stopped talking to Aaron? Over that? You said it was probably the best thing that ever happened to you."

"No," Luke stated. "We were still close at that point. We were for a while. Aaron was still rough around the edges, but after we got caught and he got grounded just as long as I did, he mellowed out some, got in less trouble... That lasted for a few years, Aaron was still my best friend... it was on my sixteenth birthday when we stopped talking. Aaron's two months older than me, so he was already driving. I didn't even have a party that year, just a small dinner with Eddie and Jase because I'd rather go out with Aaron. Anyway, he picked me up in his mom's new car and said he wanted to do something special. I'd just gotten my driver's license that morning, so when Aaron asked me if I wanted to drive, I thought it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, you know?"

"Not really," I admitted with a smile."I don't drive."

"Right," Luke said with a roll of his eyes, but then grew serious and went back to his story. "Anyway, his mom didn't let him take her car very often, and I couldn't believe that she let him take the new one. He said it was because it was my birthday. But, I still couldn't believe that he was letting me drive."

"Did you get in a wreck or something?"

Luke snorted. "Worse. See, it wasn't his mom's car. The asshole stole it. When we got pulled over, all I could think about it was how Jase was going to kick my ass for getting my first ticket when I hadn't even had my license for one day. I was thinking about how I could get out of it, maybe tell the officer that it was my birthday and get off with a warning, right? But, the next thing I know, I'm being told that I'm under arrest. It was such bullshit."

"Are you serious?" Maybe it was the fact that I'd never really been in trouble in my whole life, but just the idea of being arrested freaked me out. And apparently it was just last year.

"It gets worse," Luke replied. But, instead of sounding angry, he sounded sad. "Since I was driving the car, Aaron sat there saying that he didn't know anything about it and that I already had the car when I picked him up."

"Shit." No wonder Luke didn't like Aaron. After hearing this, I wasn't really sure if I liked Aaron, either. "So what happened?"

"Eddie," Luke answered. "Thank god him and Jase knew I wouldn't steal a car. They didn't think I was guilty for a second... Unfortunately, the police believed Aaron's version, no charges were even brought up against him."

"He never told the truth?"

"Oh, he came and apologized to us when it was all over, but up until then he was playing the role of the innocent victim... even when it went to court. He still said that I did it. I guess I'm lucky that Eddie's not that bad a lawyer. After what Aaron told the judge--and he's a very good liar--I ended up guilty, but Eddie got it knocked down and all I had to do was a little community service. But, it's still on my record, that I'm a thief."

"I'm sorry Luke, if I knew that..."

"Well, you didn't know. But now you do. So like I said, be careful with Aaron."

"I don't think you have to worry about that anymore," I stated, glancing in Aaron's direction as I made a mental note never to speak to him again. The fact that Aaron could do something so... wrong... to Luke, angered me. Maybe I was curious about Aaron, but after what Luke just told me, I could safely say that I was probably better off without him.

"Look, Rory..." Luke sighed and ran his fingers through his curls. "It was wrong of me to tell you to stay away from him like that. And, the truth is, I don't think he's really gotten into any trouble since then, and it's not like he hasn't tried to apologize a thousand times..."

"Now you're thinking about forgiving him?"

"No," Luke immediately replied. "I'll never forgive him... look, it's complicated with Aaron for me. But, I really do hope he's changed. I don't necessarily like the idea of you being friends with him, that much I can be honest about. But, if he has changed, it's not really fair for me to tell you to judge him based on this. So, if you still want to get to know him... I'll deal with it."

"Luke... thanks for telling me. But seriously, you were right about him in the first place. If he did that to you... believe me, he's just one less complication that I don't need right now."

...

"So Cathy's your sister?" I asked.

"Uh-huh."

"And she's Brian's girlfriend?"

"Uh-huh," Meg said, nodding. Meg. I'd only met her briefly, earlier in the evening when she'd approached us with Angela. I remembered Brian asking her about someone named Cathy, but that was it. Of course, now I seemed to have the whole story, at least after properly meeting Meg. She seemed to know everyone.

I glanced over to where Brian was sitting in the grass, his red hair standing out even in the dark as he spoke to a tall, blonde girl who looked like she could fit into one of his shirt sleeves. She'd been introduced to me as Cathy earlier on, but if Meg was her sister they looked nothing alike, Cathy being light and Meg being dark.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked me. I really hated that question.

"No."

"Do you want one?"

I hadn't seen that coming. A second ago we'd been having a normal conversation and I was actually getting comfortable with her, and now... she was scooting closer to me on the picnic table bench that we were sitting on.

"Um..."

"Hey, Meg," I heard a familiar voice call and turned to look behind us."I think Craig is looking for you."

When I saw Aaron standing there, still looking good with his hair shading his eyes and his small features, even that sly smile... I wanted to smile at him, but remembering what Luke had told me earlier, I held it back. But damn it, why did the sight of him have to make me feel so good?

"Really?" Meg smiled, standing up. "Oh, well it was nice meeting you, Rory." And just like that I was forgotten as she walked away, leaving me to look as unapproachable as possible and slide over as Aaron took a seat next to me.

"Hey," he said, "I was hoping to see you here tonight."

"Oh," was my short response as I took a quick look around to see where Luke was. Unfortunately, it was too dark for me to be able to tell exactly where he was anymore.

"I saw you earlier, but you were with Luke and after last time..."

"Yeah," I abruptly cut him off and stood up. "Well, see ya."

"Hey," Aaron said as he grabbed my arm as he stood up. I wasn't expecting it and turned around to face him, feeling uncomfortable. I simply didn't know how to talk to him after what Luke told me. "Are you alright? I thought Meg was bothering you, but if you wanted to talk to her..."

"It's not that," I stated. "I just... gotta go."

"Okay," Aaron said slowly, looking a little confused. "Well... did you still want to get together this weekend, maybe we could..."

"I'm sort of busy," I replied, avoiding his eyes.

"Busy?" Now he just sounded suspicious.

"Yeah, I have some things to do," I replied. I guess you could say that I didn't like this sort of confrontation. When I was angry, it was different. But, blowing off Aaron made me uncomfortable... and sad. But, I think part of my sadness came from disappointment too. I'd been looking forward to getting to know him better. I'd been attracted to guys before, obviously. Hell, I was attracted to my cousin. But then, I'd never actually met anyone as attractive as Luke before, I'm not sure I ever would in the future. But with Aaron, I wasn't only attracted to him, but in the short time that I'd been around him I actually felt something with him. There seemed to be a connection there, the way he talked to me, the small touches and gestures... I wasn't sure if this connection was one-sided or not. I guess I'd never find out now. But, it was for the best. Aaron seemed too... complicated for me. And, after hearing about what he did to Luke, I was having a difficult time believing that I could trust him. I definitely didn't need that right now.

"What kind of things?" he asked, moving a little closer. I was becoming increasingly uneasy. Something about Aaron's face... he seemed cold all of a sudden, angry even. The look surprised me, but I pretended that I didn't see it.

"Just things," I said, feeling annoyed.

"Okay, what about next weekend?"

I let out a breath. Obviously, he knew something was up and wasn't going to let me by without an explanation.

"Look, Aaron," I relented, letting out a breath. "I don't think..."

"Right," he interrupted. "I get it. So you talked to Luke?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"And he's the reason you're telling me to fuck off?"

I jumped at his sharp tone, not liking the way that he seemed to be putting words into my mouth.

"He told me what you did," I stated. I was beginning to sound defensive, but I couldn't help it. The way that Aaron was standing in front of me... taller than me... He wasn't that tall, but at the moment I felt like he was towering over me.

"And what did he tell you?" Aaron demanded. I definitely didn't like his tone. It was borderline angry and nothing close to the happy personality I'd met my first night here.

"About the car," I replied.

"So you're not even going to ask my side of the story?"

"I don't hear you denying it," I pointed out.

A look of annoyance crossed Aaron's face before he abruptly took a step back.

"You know what, fine," he said impatiently. "It was stupid of me to think that you'd actually get to know me before you judged me, just because you're new. But you're obviously just like everyone else around here, and I don't need this shit from you."

I wasn't sure what Aaron meant by that, but he succeeded in making me feel guilty when he walked away. I turned to go back to the table but paused when I saw Luke standing there, staring past me, in the direction that Aaron had walked off with an unreadable expression on his face, but, when he noticed me standing there he took a small step forward.

"It's getting kind of late," he said. "I was gonna get going. Are you ready?"

I shrugged."Sure."

"Alright... just let me get Chey."

Luke turned to go find his dog but suddenly stopped and looked back at me.

"You're okay, right?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I'm good... thanks."

...

"The kid's worse than Jase," I heard Eddie mutter behind me, and then a little louder."I'm starting to wonder if you're his son instead of mine."

I felt myself cracking a smile listening to Eddie, but kept a straight face as I turned around and added a bag of carrots to our grocery cart, which seemed to resemble a miniature version of the produce section.

"You're the one who wanted me to come so you could figure out what I eat," I pointed out.

It was Saturday morning, and while I would have preferred to sleep in, Eddie had barged into my room early, insisting that I get up and accompany him to the grocery store. And, after I made a few not-so-polite protests, Eddie had mumbled something about how it wouldn't kill me to spend some time with him on his day off, right before he threw my pants at me and told me to meet him upstairs.

Now, we'd spent the last half hour in the produce section with me picking out various fruits and vegetables after Eddie told me to pick out stuff I like. Of course, normally I never would have taken so long, but I was dragging my feet at the moment mostly because it proved to be driving Eddie crazy, and it would probably guarantee that he'd never make me go grocery shopping again.

"Yeah, I know I did," he replied, "but don't you eat anything fun?"

"Fun?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, like Cheetos, or popcorn or... something that I can tell you to stop eating before you rot your teeth out."

"I like Nerds," I said.

"Nerds?"

"You know, the candy?"

"Yeah... I know. That was your..." he left the sentence unfinished, like he was afraid to say it.

"My mom's favorite," I finished for him, and even offered a small smile.

"Yeah."

"And tacos," I added. "I like tacos... so did she. Every week we'd have taco night and Grandma Alice would come over. They'd always argue because my mom liked to mix the cheese in with the meat and melt it."

"Taco night," Eddie repeated after a moment. "Not a bad idea. We could do something like that... if you want."

"Okay," I said with a shrug, and he smiled. I was a little surprised at myself, talking to Eddie about my mother. I think I was doing good, though. I mean, I hadn't screamed at Eddie or run away yet.

"So, is there anything you want to do this weekend, Rory? I don't have to work until Monday."

"I don't know... it seems like all anyone does around here is go to the park."

"Well there are other things," Eddie insisted. "There's a water park about twenty minutes away from here. What do you think? It could be fun... we can go tomorrow."

"I guess," I replied, "but... what if Grandma Alice's package comes tomorrow?"

Eddie gave me a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder before he turned the cart and headed out of the produce section with me following along beside him.

"The mail doesn't come on Sunday," Eddie reminded me. "But don't worry, Rory. It'll be here. In the meantime, we should go do something entertaining to get our minds off it."

That last statement only reminded me that I wasn't the only one waiting. I guess Eddie would be as curious as I was to see what was coming. After all, it would make sense for him to want an explanation for why he never knew he had a son.

"What do you think it is? That Alice is sending?" I asked.