He left with nothing

Chapter - 4: First part-time job

They ended their date and went to the car-washers where the café owner suggested him to find a part time job. It was 6:00 PM at night and the owner was not there at the moment so they had to wait for two more hours. They requested to other employees to call their boss so that they could go home.

An hour later the owner came. That shop was not too big, only one car could be washed and repaired at a time. But still it was quite clean.

Ryan talked to him for awhile. After discussing everything Ryan left the shop with his friend.

“ So how was your interview?” Darius asked him.

“Good so far, he isva nice guy, I will work there on weekdays from 12 pm to 6pm, pay is good too, now, I can save up quickly and rent a room,” he was joyed.

Although a grim could be seen on his friend’s face, “ Yeah, so from now on work hard,” he cheered.

“Ah… I’m so tired,” Darius lay down on bed as soon as they reached home. He didn’t even put his shoes properly, just scattered around on the ground.

“Then I’m taking a shower, you lie there.”

They already Got their separate bed, but because there is only one room, They placed the bed side by side, separating a low table between them. The table had an alarm Clock. Ryan never needed alarm clock. He woke up every day before it rang.

Darius came after his shower, drying his hair with a towel, Ryan was reading the book he bought yesterday.

“Aren’t you tired, you are reading a book already, you really are a studious nerd,” Darius chuckled.

“ I am just reading a novel.”

Darius sat beside him leaning towards Ryan, he peaked at the book. He was so close as if he could hear Ryan’s heartbeat. His heart was pounding as well, not so loud but he could feel it. His ears became red as well as his heart fluttered.

“Well then, what’s the story about,” Darius asked.

“Here’s a girl is waiting for his crush to notice her, but that person already has someone else and he won’t accept anyone. But that girl isn’t willing to give up on her love. She killed that girl, who was in love with him and threw her body into the garbage. She didn’t left any traces so how can she be caught by police. I bought this one and ‘Eye of Evil’ yesterday from the bookstore at the end of the alley.

Darius went back to his bed. A long silence remained there for quite a long while. Ryan noticed him staring at the ceiling. Darius asked, “ Have you ever liked someone,” with a coarse voice it somehow sounded heavy and serious.

“Not right now, why? You have someone, tell me more,” Ryan seemed excited.

“No, no, I’m just asking, I’m just wondering what will you do if a guy likes you.”

“ Huh,” his mouth wide opened as slammed his book close.

“Aaah… don’t react like that, there’s a friend of mine who likes his one of a male friend, so he suddenly asked me about this… I was shocked too you know. So I wondered what would be your reaction if that happens to you. You know, you are so cutesy looking, so there might be a lot of men who will like you,” Darius chuckled.

“I don’t think it would happen though and if it happens, I might avoid him, I won’t like any random guy at least.”

It was upsetting to listen for him, tear came down of his eyes. The lights were off because Ryan put his book down before so he didn’t notice.

“Sleep then, goodnight,” his voice slightly quavered. He turned around to wipe his tears.

In their first year of high school, Ryan was a small cute looking boy. He never got good treatment in school, some threw garbage on him, they hurt him while he was hiding in the bathroom sometimes. he never retaliated against them.

“Hey, I heard your father lost his job, also your family is almost losing their house, are you going to be a beggar now,” a boy threw a trash can over him. Ryan trembled, he didn’t made any sounds. They also threw a bucket of water on him to make him speak. But they were so pissed at his silence, they left him there alone.

Darius searched for him all over the school and found him sitting on the ground all soaked. He helped him get up, Ryan cleaned himself, but his uniform was soaked. Darius went to his house with him to inform his parents that he was being bullied. When they reached home , Ryan’s mother opened the door and greeted them. Ryan went inside but Darius stood at the door to talk to his mother.

“Um… aunt, I think you should know that he is being bullied, please take care of him, today a g**g of boys threw garbage on him and then a bucket of water. He is so timid, he didn’t even retaliated, you should talk to him, I’m leaving aunt bye,” Darius greeted his goodbye.

Ryan was absent from school for so long after he talked to his mother. At first Darius thought he might be taking a break for two or three days. But after a week he went to their house. He peaked through the window he saw all furnitures were covered with white clothes inside there.

Ryan’s family moved to another place because their house was confiscated.

Later he heard that Ryan was transferred to another school. He might have changed his number as well, Darius couldn't get through any calls. Darius lost his best friend as well as his first crush.

Darius liked him for a long time when they were in the middle school. As a childhood friend they were quite close. He never confessed to him, thought maybe it would be rushed. So he waited, never realized that it might be too late. Ryan didn’t seemed gay at all, although he was quite girlish looking, he never showed any interest to any guy. On second thought, Darius was afraid to lose his precious friend out of his selfishness. So he never tried to approach him as more than friends. This created a vast loneliness in his heart.

Darius woke up without alarm and saw Ryan still sleeping, he had curly fringes, laid on his forehead, long eyelashes coming out of his eyes looked beautiful, with a sharp nose and a little plump lips made Darius’s ears red as tomatoes.

“His puffy face is adorable,” Darius smiled.

Darius backed up from Ryan’s bed, afraid of waking him up. Ryan muffled for a moment but was still asleep, so he crouched at the side of Ryan’s bed, stared at him lovingly.

He made breakfast and left for his school, leaving a note, “I’m going to school, have breakfast and all the best for your first day of part time job”.

At 5:00 PM in the evening Ryan entered the café shop, the place was quite empty, only 2-3 tables were occupied.

“Oh, Ryan, welcome,” the café owner greeted, “I’m calling you Ryan, don’t mind it, I saw you are younger than me, So…”

“It’s okay, sir don’t worry, you can call me by my first name,” Ryan replied smilingly.

“So now you need to learn the basics of serving and making basic coffees. Let’s go to the kitchen inside, I will teach you personally.”

“Thanks Mr. Luke.”

“Don’t call me like that, you can call me Luke. It sounds a bit close, after all we’re going to work together”

There were two girl staffs, from the day shift, their shift will finish at 7:00 PM, right when Ryan’s shift would begin.