Best Friends Since Kindergarten

Free-Form

RYAN

Blondie and I followed Amy up the stairs. I couldn’t help but admire her ass in her leggings. She really was perfect. I caught Blondie giving me a disgusted look and rolled my eyes. Like he hadn’t been checking her out too. Guy was clearly into h er. She led us into her room and shut the door. I blinked and looked around.

“Wow you tidied a lot in a few minutes,” I said. She scowled at me. It was true though- all of the undergarments were tucked away somewhere. Her bed was made. The floor was visible. All her hundreds of string lights were on, giving the whole place a soft glow.

“How would you know?” Blondie snapped at me, irritated.

Amy pointed through the window into my dark bedroom. “Friends since kindergarten,” she sighed. I grinned widely at her.

“Oh,” Blondie said. “That’s what you meant.” She sat us down on her rug and she and Blondie pulled out their chem books. I leaned my back up against the bed frame, watching from afar. “Aren’t you here to study? Where’s your book?” Blondie asked me pointedly.

“I believe in a more free-form version of studying,” I said cheerily. Amy rolled her eyes. Blondie scowled at me. “Oh, fine. Since you insist,” I said, tugging Amy and her book closer to me. I wrapped my arm around her waist and peered over her shoulder at the page disinterestedly. I’d already skimmed the textbook. I had read most of the textbooks, actually. There was some saying my art teacher used to tell us in elementary school about needing to know the rules before being able to break them more effectively. I liked that idea. I don’t think she’d quite intended for the full range of applications I’d found though. I rested my chin on Amy’s shoulder as she started going over the basics of stoichiometry with Blondie.

She called him Andres at one point. I ignored my blood boiling as she said his name. Too soft, too sweet. She’d give him the wrong impression, make him think she was interested. I bit my tongue so as not to interfere. I might think of her as mine, but she wasn’t, and I couldn’t get angry about it. Besides, if she was interested in him… I shut the thought down, sensing myself tensing and noticing the red clouding the edges of my vision.

Amy wasn’t the best teacher, which had always been true. She understood concepts pretty intuitively, but wasn’t good at explaining why she understood them. Andres looked increasingly confused. I sighed and clarified, not wanting this session to go any longer than it had to. They both looked at me in surprise. “You were listening?” Amy asked.

“I always listen to you,” I said dramatically, feigning hurt. She rolled her eyes, but I could see her cheeks flush with color for a moment. Had I imagined that? My heart beat a little faster. They spent another 40 minutes discussing, then started doing practice problems. I couldn’t help but notice that Blondie seemed to be fudging his answers on purpose. His work was always correct, but the total would come out wrong. I rolled my eyes. I knew this asshole was faking it from the moment he’d asked for help. Finally, around 5, they started to wrap up. “Can we eat now?” I asked eagerly. She laughed.

“Yeah, okay, we can eat now. Are you staying?” she asked Andres. I scowled at him over Amy’s head. He ignored me.

“Definitely! I’d love to eat anything you cook,” he smiled at her. She winced while I laughed.

“You misunderstood,” I said. “I’m the chef. Amy could burn water.” She blushed angrily, but didn’t argue with me. Andres looked uncomfortable, but still insisted on staying. When we went downstairs, Lucy and Rob were sitting at the counter, looking at a few packets of premade pasta and arguing about which shape they wanted. Neither of them were great cooks either. Robert’s eyes looked up hopefully at me as we came downstairs.

“Ryan,” he whined. “Please tell me you’re here to cook!” I laughed and strode past them, looking briefly at the boxes of pasta before deciding that linguine would be best. I wound up making a garlic pasta with sundried tomatoes. Amy put on music for me, which I hummed along to as I cooked. She was the only one who always knew what I was in the mood for. She sang along too, our voices winding together. I had a flash of a long-time fantasy- cooking in the kitchen of my own apartment, making dinner for just me and Amy. Her dancing around the kitchen with her hair tied up in a knot and wearing one of my t-shirts like a dress. It made my heart ache. I quickly buried the thought deep down and focused on dishing up for everyone. Andres looked dubiously at the food, while all the rest dug in.

“It’s not poisoned,” I snorted at him as I brought the first bite to my mouth.

“It’s delicious, Ryan!” Amy said cheerfully. She was never as happy as when she was eating. Her foot rested on top of mine under the table. I grinned at her, unable to help myself, as usual. Rob and Lucy made sounds of agreement. Andres finally started eating, his expression clearly surprised when he had his first bite. He gave me a look of begrudging respect. The front door suddenly opened and shut. Amy and Lucy’s younger brother came running in, sniffing the air wildly.

“Oh man!” he said excitedly, spotting the pasta. “f**k yeah, Ryan!” He heaped his plate full and came to sit with the rest of us. He had already shoveled a couple of forkfuls in before he noticed Andres looking at him with curiosity. “Uh… who the f**k are you?” he asked politely. I laughed while Amy and Lucy both scolded him.

“That’s not nice!”

“Jesus, he’s a guest!”

Andres grinned. “I know you- you’re Jimmy right? Basketball team?” Jimmy’s eyes widened. He turned to Amy.

“Who is that?” he asked in hushed tones.

“Football team,” she said through her food. “Andres. He’s new here.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Jimmy wrinkled his nose at Andres. Amy and I both choked on our food at the same moment, though I at least covered it well. Amy coughed and had to drink some water.

“No, he’s a friend,” she said firmly. Ouch. I grinned at Andres, who glowered at me. Jimmy peered between the two of us, putting the pieces together. I’d always liked Jimmy.

“Whatever you say,” he said suspiciously, returning to his food. “Just use protection.”

Amy just rolled her eyes. “Andres, Jimmy is our brother.”

“You… don’t look alike?” Andres asked. It was true- Amy and Lucy were both tiny, with pale hair and bright purple eyes. Jimmy had soft brown hair and hazel eyes and towered over even me at 6’4”.

“Half-brother,” Jimmy added. “Their mom died years ago.” Amy, having just recovered, choked on her food again at her brother’s bluntness. I suppressed a chuckle, knowing she would not appreciate the laughter right now. She glared at me as though sensing my amusement anyway. Lucy, who had already cleared her plate, gave Jimmy a hard time for his wording.

Then the front door opened and closed again. We all went quiet. Amy’s dad walked in. He frowned at us all seated around the table, sniffed the air, and went to inspect the pan of pasta. He filled himself a plate, making me scowl. He didn’t deserve to eat anything I’d made. Amy kicked me warningly under the table, knowing how much I hated him. I was also technically forbidden from their home, so there was that. Her dad narrowed his eyes at me.

“You’re welcome for dinner,” I said snidely, unable to help myself. He grunted, then turned and left the kitchen with his food. We heard the door to his office slam shut. Andres looked at us with wide eyes.

“Uh, what just happened?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Dad’s home,” Jimmy said flatly, shoving more pasta into his mouth aggressively. Amy picked at the remaining food on her plate. She always got anxious when he came back.

“Eat, Amy,” I ordered. She sighed and nibbled on another bite of pasta, her eyes worried. I didn’t think her dad had ever hit her or anything, but he’d certainly cut her down emotionally. We finished the meal in relative silence. “Ames,” I said, poking her with my foot under the table. She looked up at me with a frown. I never used her nickname. “Do you want to come over tonight?” I asked. “You too, Luce,” I told Lucy.

“Wouldn’t your mom mind?” Amy asked.

“Mom loves the two of you,” Rob said with a snort. “I don’t think she’d mind if you replaced us with mannequins.” Lucy quickly agreed, but Amy hesitated.

“I just don’t want to be in the way,” she said.

“You’re not imposing,” I told her flatly. “I just invited you.”

“Dad won’t notice,” Jimmy added. Amy bit her lip, but nodded. Her eyes flicked to Andres. I suppressed a groan.

“You can come too, if you want,” I told him gruffly. Andres looked at me in surprise, but shook his head to my relief.

“That’s okay- it’s game night with my siblings,” he shrugged. Rob and Lucy loaded the dishwasher while the rest of us chatted. We said our goodnights to Jimmy, then walked across the lawn to my and Robert’s house, where Andres said goodbye to the other three. He just gave me a nod, then turned and walked off into the night. I opened the door to the house.

“Mom?” I called from the doorway. She emerged from the kitchen with a mixing spoon in her hand. “Is it okay if Amy and Lucy-“ I started.

“Ryan Robertson,” she snapped before I’d finished. “I heard what happened at school today. You’re lucky that poor boy agreed not to press charges!”

“Mrs. Robertson,” Amy quickly interjected. “It was my fault. Ryan was protecting me.” Mom’s face softened as she looked at Amy’s worried expression. She grumbled something about me not getting out of this, but that the girls could come in, then returned to the kitchen. I could hear her muttering angrily to herself. I hooked an arm around Amy’s shoulders and kissed the side of her head. No one stood up for me like she did. The four of us went downstairs to the lair- Rob and I’s gaming room. Our basement wasn’t the most finished or pretty thing in the world, but it was our space. We’d set it up pretty well. TV on one wall, gaming systems all hooked up. We had the family’s old sofa and armchairs down there, and a decent rug. Amy and Lucy had put up curtains so you couldn’t see the cement walls, and hung fairy lights from the ceiling. It was cozy. Rob and Lucy plopped down in Rob’s favorite chair, while Amy and I took the couch. I lay on my back with Amy on top of me, her head pressed against my chest. I hoped she couldn’t hear how hard my heart was pounding. Rob and Lucy argued over what to watch, before finally settling on what we always ended up watching on school nights: Bob’s Burgers. I tugged a blanket over Amy’s back and settled down, stroking her back soothingly. She fell asleep quickly, like always, leaving me with Rob and Lucy. I grimaced watching them suck face for a moment, then decided to close my eyes for a minute.