Chapter Text
—
It was hot.
Disgustingly hot.
You always hated summers. You looked forward to Autumn more than anything. The only decent thing about hot weather is, that it's good beach weather.
Why your brother had decided to move on one of the hottest days of the week was beyond you, but you didn't question him. You knew he was under just enough pressure dealing with his girlfriend and the dog.
Right now, you were waiting in the car. The hot, stuffy car filled with air that smelled of something stale. You were nearly positive you would pass out from overheating. You wondered what it would be like after you moved. Your brother's girlfriend, Chrissy was the whole reason why you were going in the first place. She was born in Albuquerque and she went to visit during most holidays, plus summers. Victor - your older brother, was spontaneous, impulsive, and quite possibly manic. Not the most stable caretaker in the world, but you loved him nonetheless. He probably got it from your mother anyway.
And in the middle of you spacing out, the car door next to you opened to reveal Chrissy and her chocolate brown lab - Darcy. She jumped up into the car, successfully trampling your feet while she made her way to the seat beside you where she made herself comfortable.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry about her bee. She's like a child with no manners sometimes."
Chrissy said, giving an apologetic smile to you before she shut the door and made her way to the driver's seat.
Bee. Bumblebee, buzzer. All nicknames from Victor you got when you were younger, that got picked up by old friends and your brother's girlfriend. Your favorite color used to be yellow, and you would run around picking the flowers and fruits in your mom's garden all day. You were a ball of sunshine, or their little bee.
When Chrissy made herself comfortable in the driver's seat and started the car, she let you know Victor would be driving the U-Haul, and he'd meet you two there. It was alright with you because the suitcase you had with everything you needed was in Chrissy's trunk.
So, the drive finally started.
—
A good thirty minutes after the car started moving and the AC began blasting, you fell asleep. It was a well-deserved rest in your opinion, since you had been up the latest packing the very last things and cleaning out the apartment.
After around three hours, you woke up. You spent the next few hours as Chrissy's GPS, and you were pretty content with it considering the fact that she let you pick the music that played too. You liked Chrissy. You never saw her as a kind of mother figure, but you saw her as more of an older sister type. She was fun and sweet. She liked to gossip, and sometimes she would make it feel like you were one of her friends from work or something. She took you to get your first piercing, too. It was on your bottom lip, on the left side. You originally wanted snakebites but she said to start off with just that. You ended up taking it out after a year of having it though because you chipped your tooth on it. But you still had the hole.
After hours of talking about everything and nothing, Chrissy stopped at a diner. It was around six in the evening now, and you headed inside to grab a table while she called Victor to ask where he was. She came inside to sit with you, telling you he was about fifteen minutes away.
So the two of you ordered and decided to do the same for him since you figured you knew him well enough to be able to guess what he'd want. He arrived shortly after you guys ordered the food, and you two guessed correctly.
Most of the conversation going on while you waited for your dinner was made up of Victor complaining about the weather and the long drive, but you and Chrissy didn't mind much.
"And dude, this absolute asshole cut me off right? I would have fucked that guy up if I was in the Mercedes, man. He would've been pissed—"
He was rambling, but then the waitress arrived and the food got there.
Most of the dinner was finished in comfortable silence, along with a comment about the food being good here and there.
You all paid and left shortly after finished, and then went to a gas station to restock on snacks and energy drinks before getting back on the road.
—
Today was nothing more than a regular Tuesday for Dwayne and his family. Besides the fact, it was so hot, of course.
Richard — The stepfather, dropped Olive off at school. Dwayne walked like he always did. His mom always offered to take him, but he enjoyed it. The silence. It was the only peace he got between a chaotic household and high school.
School went by relatively quickly for him. His days were all the same. He sat in different classes for an hour straight, learning close to nothing in each. And then during lunch, he sat alone in one of the bathroom stalls, drawing or reading to kill time. It wasn't too terrible having no friends, he just knew things could always be better. And sometimes he did want friends. But he didn't want them after he put a lot of thought into it. People are high maintenance. They need attention and entertainment. Quality time. He simply didn't feel like most people were worthy of his, as self-absorbed as that sounded.
This cycle was starting to get to him, though. He began to hate how every day was the same. That's another reason as to why he was looking forward to summer break. Though, he hoped it wouldn't be as weirdly eventful as last year. He just wanted peace and quiet and no people around. Sometimes he wished he hadn't broken his vow, simply because he was too lazy to open his mouth and form words sometimes. And people left him alone when he was quiet. For the most part, they did, anyway.
His light brown roots were growing out again, he noticed against the rest of his black hair. He took a mental note of it before he left the bathroom to head to his last period of the day.
The last hour of school went by in no time, and before he knew it Dwayne was on his way home again.
Olive — his sister was on the porch, drawing a flower or something in chalk. He wasn't paying attention. He nodded his head to her as if to say "hello", and then he went inside and made a bee-line to his room.
He usually only left his room two or three times after coming home. Once for dinner, and then to use the bathroom or shower. Unless Frank was over. His uncle Frank was the closest thing he had to a friend. Frank wasn't high maintenance, he didn't require a lot of attention or anything like that. Just a response to an occasional question, or a head nod.
Well, tonight Frank was over.
"Hello! Why is Olive out front alone?"
Sheryl called out, getting no response.
Dwayne's mother set two bags of Chinese takeout on the kitchen counter, before setting her purse and keys out as well. She got takeout every time Frank came to visit. Sometimes he would just stay for dinner, or he would stay for the week and through the weekend. She didn't mind. She knew sometimes everyone needed a break, and she liked that his version of it was coming around family. It was nice since her sister lived out of town.
Frank walked inside after her, getting out plates and utensils for dinner. The least he could do was help his sister. And then when everything was put out and the table was set, he walked over to Dwayne's room.
Dwayne was on his bed, laying on his stomach and drawing when Frank knocked and opened the door. He turned to look who it was, a faint smile on his lips when he saw his uncle.
"Hey, kid. How's school?"
Frank asked, leaning against the door frame.
"It's fine. How's life?"
Dwayne asked in return.
"Life is... Life. Dinner's ready. Chinese."
Frank told him, before walking to the dining room.
Sheryl had gone to get Richard, while Olive, Dwayne, and Frank sat at the dinner table making small talk. When everyone was seated, dinner started. They spoke about school, summer vacation, and work.
"So, the 'For Sale' sign across the street is finally gone."
Frank pointed out.
"Is it? I wonder what the family's gonna be like."
Richard responded.
The conversation moved on after that, and Dwayne wasn't paying much attention anyway. They were just people. New neighbors, no big deal.