October 30th, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

Haunted House

Isaac woke up on a big, empty bed. For a few moments he set into panic — his alarm hadn’t woken him up — but after quickly grabbing his phone off the end table he realized that he had just gotten up early. With an acknowledgement that he wasn’t going back to bed any time soon, he got out from under his sheets, took a shower, and headed downstairs.

The house was much more clean than it had been during the party back in September. Everything was back in its proper place, and Isaac barely acknowledged its existence. As he went down the steps, he saw a man sitting at the living room couch, reading a book with a coffee nearby. The man was just as tall and handsome as Isaac was — perhaps even more — and he peeked out at the teen from the book as the boy came down the steps.

“You’re up early.”

“Yeah, had a bit of a freakout moment. Thought I woke up late.”

The man sighed, placing a bookmark in the book and setting it down on the coffee table. “Happens to the best of us. I got a few McMuffins this morning from the drive-thru, they’re on the counter. Should still be warm.”

Isaac nodded. “Thanks, dad.”

As Isaac turned towards the kitchen, the father made a quick knock on the glass coffee table, once again grabbing the boy’s attention.

“That party tonight. It isn’t here, is it?”

Isaac turned around. “N-no, it’s… Scottie’s place. The wide receiver.” 

“Yeah, I know the kid.” Mr. Broderick took a sip of his coffee. “As long as it’s not in my house.”

Isaac gave a little smile, scratching the back of his head. “Don’t worry, I learned my lesson.”

The father nodded, and dismissed Isaac. Isaac took his breakfast, occasionally scrolling through social media as he ate, before packing up off to school.

…

When Isaac arrived at the front gate, Russell was there waiting for him.

“You’re here early,” Isaac commented.

Russell nodded in the direction of the auditorium. “Came to help out for the Haunted House. They needed some people to carry some heavy stuff around.”

Isaac chuckled, as he continued walking. Russell followed alongside him. “Didn’t take you for the type of person to help out for STUGO events.”

“Emily asked me, directly. You know how persuasive she can be.”

Isaac nodded, putting his hands in his jean pockets. “Speaking of which, you know if Maurice is gonna be at the party?”

“He said he’d try. After that whole thing with his mom, though, he’s pretty much grounded from parties. Emily ain’t too happy about it, either.”

Isaac turned to face the taller boy. “Not happy about their mom, or not happy about Maurice?”

Russell turned to face the shorter boy. Isaac could see his reflection in the athlete’s sunglasses. “She’s student council president. Which one do you think it is?”

Isaac sighed. “Well then, I guess I won’t blame him if he doesn’t show. Anyway, I’m going to head to the gym. You wanna come?”

“The gym? Nah man, I’m resting up for the parties.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you then.”

The two boys split off, and Isaac walked down the steps to go into the basement level weight room. When he came through the door, Cole was already there.

“Your sleeping issues are getting more frequent, huh?” Isaac spoke the words somewhat pityingly as he sat his backpack down.

Cole turned his head towards him, still lifting two dumbbells. “You can tell by how often I come?”

“I mean, I figure.” Isaac walked over to the barbell. “You wanna do sets?”

“Sure,” Cole put down the dumbbells and walked over towards Isaac. “You’ve been doing okay yourself?” he asked as Isaac grabbed some of the weights.

“Uh… yeah. Mostly.” Isaac replied. “At this point, I get why she did what she did. We had different beliefs about what a relationship should be about. I’m just worried that now she thinks I’m some sort of moron or something. I don’t want her last impression of me being that I’m… stupid, you know?”

Cole laid down on the seat and began raising the barbell. “I think… that she’s… sympathetic.” 

Isaac nodded. “Well, that’s good. I don’t know, man. Part of me thinks that I was being stupid. That maybe I should have gone through with what she asked of me, and just opened all my time to her. But then… I would be sacrificing who I am, you know? And I don’t think I could do that.”

Cole put the barbell back down and got up from the seat. “Relationships are meant to be give and take. You give some, and you take some, and it evens out in the end.”

“You make it sound so transactional.”

“Every relationship is transactional, Isaac.”

Isaac sighed. “Guess you’re right.”

The two continued to talk amongst each other in the empty high school weight room. The room remained empty, save for the two, until the bell had rang. They both went their separate ways, and the school day began.

…

Time had passed. Lukas brought his lunch tray over to a table that appeared to be a full house.

“Hey, Lukas, over here!” A familiar female voice called out to him. He turned to look down the table where he saw Kat leaning out from the others. “I saved a spot for you, over here.”

A smile crossed the boy’s face as he walked over to the end, the girl scooting over slightly to make room for Lukas to sit.

“So, we all agree on our plans for Halloween?” Aaron asked the group as a whole.

“Could you remind me of the specifics?” Lukas asked back.

Aaron turned to him, smiling. “We’re gonna hit up downtown. Russell’s gonna grab us some drinks, and we’ll walk around and check out all the cool events and stuff they got going on down near the pier.”

“Will there be food?”

“Oh, you know it.”

Lukas leaned back, turning his attention back to his lunch. “Then I’m in.”

“Well, who’s gonna be driving?” Emily asked.

Aaron turned over to her. “Huh?”

“If we’re going to be drinking, a couple of people have to take one for the team and not drink so they can drive us around.”

Aaron shook his head. “Ugh, you always gotta bring up the boring logistics stuff…”

Emily slanted her head towards him. “Well, I’m also not too keen on getting arrested, thank you.”

Ash looked around at the group. She sipped some orange juice out of a bottle, and then spoke up. “I don’t really like the taste of alcohol, so I can drive.”

“I can drive too,” Cole replied. “I’ll be drinking tonight, so I probably won’t be in the mood too much tomorrow.”

This gauged Aaron’s interest. “Wait, so you are going to the party tonight?”

Sadja looked up. “What party?”

“The football boys are having a party over at one of their parents’ hoity-toity mansions. Rose and I got invited but we declined. Kinda surprised you got invited too, Cole.”

Cole looked at him. “You saying I’m not one of the cool kids?”

“‘Course not. It just doesn’t seem like your type of scene.”

Kat turned to give Cole an odd look. Lukas followed, giving his own glance at Kat. 

Rodrigo, scanning the group, then shot up his hand. “I’ll be the third. That should be enough.”

Emily turned her head over towards him. “Rod, you aren’t drinking?”

Rodrigo pretended to be offended. “Hey, there’s a lot more to life than drinking, missy!”

Emily giggled. “Alright then, we’re set. I’ll let Aaron go back to his fun.”

And Aaron did, listing out his many intentions for the day after while the others paid only somewhat close attention.

…

It was the last period of the day. Rodrigo, Lukas, Kat, Ash, and Cole all wandered into their seats. The English teacher, Mr. Vince, stood at the front of the class, surveying the mass of students as they came in.

“Alright then, we’ll get started,” the teacher declared as the clock hit the start time. He walked over to his desk where he grabbed a small paperback book that he then showcased to the class.

“Today we’ll be starting a new book, as I’m sure you know. I think it’s a particularly poignant book, given where you all are in your life, and especially given the current… political climate.” He turned the book so that he could look at its cover. “The name of the book is ‘The Pier’, by Daniel Whitney. This is going to be a different sort of novel than what we’ve read so far; while Whitney does write prose and provide a cohesive narrative, the book is littered with his own thoughts and opinions as to what he is writing.”

Mr. Vince scanned the room once more. He saw Cole, slumped in his seat in the back of the room, and pointed to him.

“Cole, the publisher of our edition provides a quote from the book on the back of the cover. Could you read it for us?”

Cole, who shot to attention upon hearing his name, grabbed his copy of the book off of his desk, turned it around, and began reading.

“‘The genders will never reconcile. You could make eventual peace with race, or religion, or sexuality; but not gender. Male and female is an eternal conflict, a dance between war and peace, love and death. A sibling rivalry, one constantly trying to one up the other, to break apart and then make up. It is one of life’s greatest mysteries, greatest passions, and greatest tragedies. And it is destined to never end.’” 

Cole looked back up when he finished reading. Mr. Vince kept his eyes locked on him.

“And how does that quote make you feel?”

Cole shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno. It’s just… dumb, I guess.”

There were a few hushed bits of laughter around the room. The teacher slanted his head. 

“You’re going to need to be more specific, Mr. Mulaney.”

Cole grabbed the book, looking at the quote again. His eyes scanned over the words as he gathered his thoughts. 

“I mean, the writing just sounds kinda corny. And besides, I don’t think he’s right.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, I mean… he says gender is different from race, religion, all that sort of stuff. But I don’t think it is. I mean, we’ve made a lot of progress on gender rights in the past, like, one hundred years. At this point the difference between male and female isn’t too big. It’s pretty much equal.”

It was at this point that Ash’s hand shot up. Mr. Vince, expecting this to some degree, smiled as he turned over to her.

“Do you have a counterpoint, Ms. Monticello?”

“Yeah… well, kind of. I don’t really agree that we’ve hit gender equality yet. America, in 2016, is still very much a patriarchy. I mean, you can see it in the glass ceiling, where women still make much less in salary than men in comparable jobs… or in the violence towards women, which is still very much committed primarily by men…”

It was at this point that Cole realized the trap he had put himself in. Ash continued while the boy slowly slumped down into his chair and did his best to tune it out. From his pocket he felt the vibration of his phone, and while the rest of the class was distracted by the dialog he took it out to check the notification. It was a message from Kat.

| LOL shes going off

“… and I think a lot of people, particularly men, get lulled into the sense that things are now ‘okay’, even though they still aren’t…”

Cole texted back.

| Im just going to let her keep going

“…It’s important for us to remember that there’s still a lot of work to do, before we’re able to recognize men and women as equals, like…”

He felt another vibration.

| its cuz you know you lost!

Cole looked up at the other side of the room. Kat sat in her desk looking at him, smiling.

“…Anyway,” Ash began to finish up, “I don’t entirely agree with Whitney’s point either. I think Cole is right when he said that gender rights are as achievable as anything else in civil rights. The view Whitney gives feels… defeatist, I guess? Besides, he uses a dichotomy to define two distinct sides of gender. But as we know now, gender is a spectrum, and not a dichotomy. And I’m not sure if his theory fits into the spectrum structure.”

Mr. Vince nodded, looking slyly towards the rest of the class. “Well, those are some excellent points. Perhaps learning more about the author can help both of you with your theories.” The teacher walked over to a laptop stationed at his desk, where he used it to display a presentation on the whiteboard.

“Daniel Whitney was a psychologist by trade. He switched into writing during the 1960s, in which period he wrote this book. He was also, notably, a misanthrope…” he changed the slide, “…during his later years he pent himself up at his family’s old mansion in Vermont.”

“Rich people got way too much time on their hands,” Rodrigo muttered.

Mr. Vince turned around. “Did you have something you wanted to say, Mr. Huerta?”

“Huh? I didn’t say anything.”

Mr. Vince shook his head, then changed the slide once more. “Gender was, in many ways, Whitney’s obsession. He noticed an interesting pattern among mammals. For the most part, all of them stay together, regardless of their relationship. Rabbits stick together with rabbits, cows with cows, dogs with dogs… but there is one exception.” Mr. Vince turned back towards the class, the projection of the slide glossing over his face. “With humans, it’s split. Men stay with men, and women stay with women, but they don’t stay together. This starts at a very young age, and seems to go until their very death. There is, of course, one big exception to this. Could anyone tell me what it is?”

The class stayed silent. Lukas, who had been paying only modest attention, suddenly looked up as the answer dawned on him. 

“Love.”

Mr. Vince turned towards Lukas’ direction, and smiled. “Excellent work, Mr. Schrodden. It is love. The force which brings two people together with such an intensity that nothing else matches it. Not just romantic love, but familial love — the love of friends and allies – counts as well. It is a major dilemma in Whitney’s theory…” Mr. Vince went to his desk and picked up the book yet again. “Now, Whitney recognized this problem, and he formulated his own argument against it. What that argument is, I won’t tell you. That’s what this book is for.” The professor sat back down at the desk, pulling his glasses up and scrolling on the laptop. “Now, to go over the exam answers…”

The class ended some time later. The kids piled out, with Rodrigo stretching out his arms and legs.

“Ugh, can’t wait to start another boring-as-shit book,” he yawned.

Cole shrugged his shoulders. “They’re all like this, not sure why you expect anything different.”

Ash, who had walked ahead a few steps, turned back towards the rest of the group. “You guys gonna come check out the Haunted House? It opens at 7.”

Rodrigo replied first. “I ain’t got any better plans. Lukas, mind if I hitch a ride with you?”

Lukas shrugged. “I got no problem with it.”

“Mind if I tag along too?” Lukas turned to face Kat. She smiled at him, pushing her little side-bangs out of her eyes. “The truck’s been acting up, so we’re getting someone to look at it… in the meantime I don’t have a car.”

Lukas’ heart skipped over a few beats. “Uh, y-yeah. Of course you can.”

Ash turned over to Cole. “What about you?”

Cole thought to himself for a moment, before finally nodding. “Yeah, I can check it out. I’ll meet you guys there.”

The group said their goodbyes at the hallway intersection. Then, they headed off.

…

It was around seven when Rose and Aaron arrived. They walked into the nightly-lit school building and walked down the hallways until they saw a table which had some familiar faces stationed there.

“Hey, girls.” Rose smiled at Emily and Ash as she looked down at the papers in front of them. “So, you need me right now?”

Emily shook her head. “Maria’s manning the exit, so we’re good. You two can go through it, if you want.”

Rose looked up at Aaron. He gave her a rather indifferent expression. She turned back to Emily.

“Is… is it s-scary?”

Emily smiled, the slight dimples which she had now appearing on her face. “About as scary as a group of highschoolers on a shoe-string budget can make it.”

“Does… does that mean it’s scary?”

The four were distracted by the call of a voice down the hallway behind them. It came from a voice they recognized.

“Hey, it’s over here!”

From around the corner came first Cole, followed closely by Lukas, Kat, and Rodrigo. Rose seemed relieved by their presence.

“Hey guys,” Lukas pointed to the haunted house’s entrance. “So… we just walk in?”

Emily nodded. “Yup. I already know your names, so you’re free to go.”

“W-we should all go in together, at the same time… you know, so… it’s fun.” Aaron could feel Rose tightening the grasp in his hand as she spoke. 

“Don’t worry Rose, it won’t be too bad.” Cole caught on to her concern. “It’s just a bunch of dumb cardboard boxes and shitty acting.”

Kat gave him a look. “Cole.”

“Oh, uh, yeah…” The boy turned back to Emily and Ash, scratching the back of his head. “…sorry. I’m, uh, a little bit buzzed.”

Rodrigo smiled. “Yoooo, my man!” He reached over to fist pump Cole, who gladly reciprocated.

Kat, meanwhile, looked on in dismay. “Rod, no! Don’t encourage him, he’s driving!”

Aaron looked around. “Wait, where’s Sadja?”

“She told me she wasn’t coming. Had to catch up on some stuff for Calc, so that she could make it for Halloween,” Ash said.

“Alright. I guess we’re all here, then.”

Rose allowed the others to go first, as they entered through the black curtain and into a dimly lit corridor. They took a few steps before a short hooded figure greeted them, holding a silver metal incense holder which emitted white smoke.

“Greetings, those who dare enter our labyrinth…” the figure spoke, with a distinctly female voice. “You may enter these halls to obtain riches and power beyond those ever seen, but beware… the path to obtaining such material pleasures will not be easy.” The figure moved the holder to point to a door next to her. “Enter here, and experience the world of your nightmares.”

The group, sans Rose, seemed relatively content and walked through the door. Just as Kat was beginning to walk into the door, however, the figure spoke yet again.

“Psst, hey. Kat.”

Kat turned back to the figure. She removed her hood to reveal Kat’s Indian choir friend.

“Oh, hey Sasha!” Kat smiled. “I didn’t know you were part of this.”

“Was I… scary?” Sasha whispered.

Kat gave her a thumbs up. “You’re killin’ it.”

Sasha smiled, then put the hood back on. Kat followed the others. The setup led them down a hallway now decorated in a dark, smoky atmosphere. Ominous noises played from an unseen speaker, which kept Rose on edge. This edge finally burst when the first real scare of the night came, a cutout of a bloodied skull popping out from the shadows, matching the call of a loud voice.

“BEWARE, TRAVELER! YOUR DOOM AWAITS, IN THE WORLD BEYOND!”

“YEEAAAAACCCKK!” Rose screamed out, clutching tightly to Aaron’s arm. Aaron, on the other hand – seeming more irritated than scared – plugged his ears at the speaker which the voice came from. 

The rest of the first half of the haunted house was mostly uneventful. There were a few more actors and sets that succeeded in scaring no one except the most jumpy of the six. Between the first and second halves of the haunted house was a small break section with a few chairs and an exit. Cole was the first one to go to the door.

“Well, I think I gotta bounce to head to the party. I’ll see you all tomorrow night.”

Kat gave him a maternal look of concern. “You’re good to drive, right?”

Cole raised his hands. “Me? Never been cleaner.”

Kat shook her head, but let him off the hook. Rose, turning rapidly between Aaron and the others, stuttered out some words.

“W-well, you know… um… my shift isn’t until, uh, e-eight… and, you know, I don’t want to interrupt Maria or anything… s-so maybe we should leave early too.”

Rodrigo, who was looking at his phone (as he had been for most of the haunted house thus far), turned over to Aaron and Rose. “Hey, you guys wanna grab something from Koko’s before it closes? I didn’t really eat dinner and I’m still hungry.”

Rose’s face lit up. “Yeah! That sounds like a great idea, let’s do that!”

Lukas considered it. “Koko’s does sound good, actually…”

“Hey, Lukas!” Kat stood behind the group, who all turned towards her. “I want to do the rest of the haunted house.”

“But, I mean…”

“Sorry hermano, looks like you’re out of luck.” Rodrigo patted Lukas’ shoulder as he went out the door with Rose and Aaron. Lukas and Kat were the only two left.

Lukas continued looking at the exit. Kat put her hands on her hips.

“What, you some sort of wuss?”

Lukas turned back around to face her. “Wh-what? No, I’m just hungry! It’s different!”

Kat smiled. “Sounds exactly what a scaredy-cat would say.”

Lukas was ready to complain further, but then his hungry mind came to a realization.

Lukas and Kat were the only two left.

A feeling more powerful than hunger, more powerful than thirst, more powerful than any sense one can conjure, infected itself into Lukas’ head and heart. Kat, noticing her companion’s silence, outstretched her hand.

“Come on,” she beckoned. “Let’s go.”

Lukas snapped back to focus. Slowly he reached his hand out to grab Kat’s, and hold it. But as he did Kat lowered her hand again and started walking towards the second half of the exhibit. Realizing he misinterpreted her intention his face flushed and he followed quickly behind her, hoping she didn’t notice.

The rest of the haunted house was rather uneventful. The two slowly walked through the hall more as a museum exhibit than a fearful encounter. Both eyed the macabre props which lined both walls.

“Ash and the art club did a pretty good job, didn’t they?” Kat commented.

Lukas nodded, trying to play it cool. “Yeah, they did.”

The two got to the end of the haunted house, where they saw Maria manning the exit table. When she saw the two arrive she snapped to attention and smiled.

“Hey guys.”

Kat waved. “Hey, Maria. You holdin’ up well?”

Maria nodded. “Yeah. I just gotta sit here and give some information on upcoming events to whoever comes by.” She looked beyond the two, off near the door. “Is Cole with you guys?”

Lukas shook his head. “He left early, to go to the party.”

Maria’s demeanor changed to one of subtle disappointment. “Oh, right. Forgot about that.” 

Kat turned over to Lukas. “So, you want to go to Koko’s now?”

“Nah, at this point it would have closed.”

Kat checked her phone. “Oh shit, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’m glad we checked out the rest of the house.”

Kat looked up, interlocking with Lukas’ eyes. A grin crossed her face. “Me too. It was pretty fun.”

“Yeah… it was.” 

Of course, Lukas was thinking of something else.

…

When Cole entered the mansion, the first person he saw was Russell. He was leaning against the wall, talking to a few girls with a beer in his hand. When the football captain saw Cole walk in, he smiled.

“Cole, my man.” The two boys greeted one another, and Russell pointed down the hallway. “Food and drinks down there. Get some and settle in.”

“Thanks, Rus.”

Cole took a few steps down until he saw a kitchen island covered in alcohol bottles and, conveniently, Koko’s catering. He took a plate and a cup and while he filled them both he felt another familiar presence close by.

“Cole Mulaney! My favorite man in the whole world!”

Cole turned to watch Isaac come towards him and give him a hug, which Cole (if awkwardly) reciprocated. 

“Glad you could make it, man.” Isaac patted the boy on the shoulder, then let go.

“Not like I had anything better to do.”

Isaac gave him a grin, then looked over at the island. “Hey, if you need suggestions…” He pointed over at one of the pitchers on the counter. “That one. Pineapple vodka. First time I ever had it was today, and it was the fuckin’ bomb.”

Cole considered it. As Isaac was about to continue the conversation, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a teenage girl, who had a wavy light-brown ponytail and a provocative combination of black mascara and a skin-tight red dress. She gave Isaac a subtle smile and Isaac gave a full, drunken one back.

“Delilah! How are you?”

“Oh, you know. Not much new.” She looked up at the quarterback as she took a sip from her red Solo cup. “I heard you and Kat broke up.”

“What?” The room was rather loud.

“I said, ‘I heard you and Kat broke up’.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, it’s whatever.”

Delilah put the cup down on the counter. “Honestly, I think you’re better off for it. That girl was too straight-edge, didn’t know how to have fun. Besides, her friends were kinda lame.”

“Hey, hey now…” Isaac made a waving-away motion with his hand. “It’s, she’s… it’s, y’know. Water under the bridge.” He leaned over towards the girl, his elbow resting on the counter. “Now, how can I help you?”

The girl gave him a little bit stronger of a smile. “Well…” she looked off, then turned back to him. She got close to his ear, and whispered. “My friend wanted me to ask you if you could get her in with the big guy.”

Isaac thought for a moment. “The big guy? You mean Brock?”

“No, the black one. The other captain.” She nodded her head over to where she had been looking before, and Isaac turned to face it.

“Oh, Rus. Sorry Dee, but it’s not gonna happen.”

Delilah’s expression changed. “What do you mean?”

“He’s Santo Domini. Roman Catholic. No sex ‘til after marriage.” At this point, however, Isaac had a spark of an idea. “I know someone who isn’t, though. Cole, come over here!”

Cole, who had moved on to a different section of the party, turned towards Isaac with a look of confusion. Delilah, however, just sighed and shook her head.

“Sorry, Isaac. I don’t think he’s her type.”

By the time Cole came over, the girl had already walked off. Both him and Isaac watched as she left for another room.

“The hell was that about?” Cole asked.

 Isaac shrugged. “We’ll get her next time. Come on, let’s go see Rus.”

Russell sat on the couch nearby. Isaac and Cole slid into the spots at his flanks. He greeted the two with a nod.

“Now, Cole, you might be wondering…” Isaac said, swirling his cup with his right hand. “What calls for such a celebration, you might ask? Besides Halloween tomorrow, of course.”

“Well, I’ve been following the rankings. And, if I recall correctly… you guys are in the top three in the division, right?”

“You’re damn right we are!” Isaac laughed, clearly happy with himself. “And, since the rest of our schedule is pussy-shit, that means we’ll probably stay that way. And if we stay that way, that means…” Isaac snapped his fingers over to Russell. Russell turned towards Cole.

“It means we make it to the state playoffs.”

“Playoffs! In the great state of California!” Isaac looked up, stretching out his hands as if talking to a higher power. “And they said it wasn’t possible!”

Cole smiled. “Guess those new recruits worked out well for you, huh?”

“Well, I gotta give some credits to the veterans, too. Such as our wonderful safety here-” he patted Russell on the shoulder, “-to my division A throwing ability, and, of course, to Maurice’s fast-as-fuck legs. I still can’t believe how good that guy ended up being. Man barely talks, has a sister who’s school president, and he still dominates every defender I’ve ever seen.” Isaac leaned back in his seat, his hands resting behind his head. “He’s pretty much the uberman. Bet he gets all sorts of bitches that I don’t even know about.”

Cole turned over to Russell. “Hey, that reminds me. Aaron’s got some plans for us downtown tomorrow. If you want to join in, I can send you the details.”

Russell nodded. “Sure thing, man. I’ll be hanging around with the guys for most of it but I can drop by later in the night.”

Cole then turned his head to the other boy. “I’d invite you too, but…”

Isaac seemed unperturbed. “Nah, it’s good. I think it’s for the best if Kat and I keep our distance for a while, anyway.”

It was then that the boys were interrupted by some boisterous cheering going on near the front door. When the three saw who it was, they all got up from their seats.

“Yo, Maurice!” Isaac yelled, smiling. “We were just talking about you!”

Maurice walked over to the three guys, accepting Isaac’s hug and dapping the two others. 

“So, you were able to make it after all, huh?” Russell mentioned.

“Just for a bit. Wanted to check things out, see how my guys were doing.” 

“They’re doing quite good, now that you’re here.” Isaac pointed over to the counter. “Food and drink’s that way. Grab some and relax, my boy.”

Maurice walked down to the kitchen, where he was accosted by party-goers interested in talking to him, which he tried his best to politely decline. As the three watched him, another spark came over Isaac, and he patted Cole on the shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. Before I forget, I need to show you something. Follow me, my liege.”

Isaac led Cole through the house — occasionally stopping to greet people the quarterback knew — when finally they came to an empty back porch. Cole placed his cup down on the metal-plated table.

“Alright, so what’s it about this time?”

Isaac sat over in the other seat, scrolling through his phone. “Oh, you’re gonna like this.”

“I’m going to like what, exactly?”

Isaac stayed silent, his feet up on the chair as he slouched down, the screen of the phone lighting up his face. Eventually he found what he was looking for, and passed the phone over to Cole.

At first, Cole didn’t exactly know what he was looking at. But as he examined the image more closely, his eyes widened when he came to the realization. 

“Is… is that… is that who I think it is?” he stumbled out.

Isaac raised a finger, grabbing the phone from him. He swiped once more, then handed it back over.

Cole suddenly got nervous. He looked around him rapidly, making sure no one was outside and the people inside couldn’t hear. Finally, he leaned over to Isaac and whispered to him.

“Why the hell do you have these?”

“Oh, well, it’s an interesting story actually. You see, she sent them over to Scottie. Scottie was like, ‘Hey Isaac, you know this chick, right?’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I do’. And so he sent them to me. And now I’m showing them to you.” 

Cole vigorously shook his head. “No, no. You misunderstood me. I didn’t ask how you got these, I asked why you got these.”

“Well, I mean…” Isaac did the thing where he waved his hand this way and that. “She’s single, as both you and I know. And I felt… you know, as a potential suitor… you might be interested in assessing the goods…”

Cole tossed the phone back at Isaac, getting up from his seat. “Isaac, I really do not think it is a good idea to be showing people Sadja’s nudes.”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down there, cowboy.” Isaac straightened up in his chair. “I am not showing everyone her nudes. I am showing you her nudes. That’s a very different story. Besides… she does look pretty good, doesn’t she?”

Cole flashed the pictures back in his mind for a moment, considering the question genuinely. But he quickly snapped out of it. “Th-that’s not the point! Listen, I think you should delete those pictures. Like, now.”

Isaac sighed. “Alright, I will. Just for you.”

The athlete fiddled with his phone a bit more, then handed it back to Cole. “See? All gone. Trashed and deleted. Ain’t coming back.”

The photos were in fact removed. As Cole confirmed this, however, someone came out to the porch. The two looked towards the new entrant. It was Maurice, and he had a look of concern over his face.

“Hey, Isaac… I… I might not be able to stay after all.” He looked down, not making direct eye contact.

Isaac got up from the porch chair. “What’s up, man?”

“I… I think my mom found out I left the house. Em just texted me, saying she’s really mad and wants me back right now.”

Isaac shook his head. “Shit,” he sharply muttered under his breath. “Listen, as far as I know, you didn’t drink anything here tonight. Hell, you didn’t even look at a bottle. If you need my backup, let me know.”

“You need someone to drive you back?” Cole pointed to the red cup in Maurice’s hand. “I’m already feeling sober again, so I can drive if you want.”

“Nah, I only took like two sips. Thanks, though.”

Cole nodded. “Good luck at home, then.”

Isaac, still drunk, gave an exaggerated salute to the running back. “Godspeed, my dear friend.”

The boy gave a small smile to the quarterback’s antics, but otherwise a cloud still hung over him. And thus, Maurice Bryant left the party in shame, those who knew him giving pitying glances as he walked past. 

…

When Maurice got home, Emily was out on the steps. Her arms were crossed, and she gave Maurice a weak smile as he came close.

“She’s in the living room,” Emily spoke, almost in a whisper. 

Maurice walked inside. The house was silent and only scantily lit. He placed his keys down on a hallway table, and looked up to view a framed photo of a man wearing glasses and a light-blue polo. He was kneeling down, smiling faintly, with his hands wrapped around two small children. One male, one female. 

Maurice moved into the living room. There was a TV playing, muted, while a figure obscured by the darkness sat watching in a lounge chair. The figure took a breath of a cigarette, whose ember tip the boy could see flickering in the shadow of the room, its smoke rising gently until it could no longer be seen.

The boy’s eyes quickly darted back to the floor. He made the first approach, as he was trained to do.

“Mom.”

There was a pause as the woman took another puff of the cigarette. Then she spoke.

“You must be really lonely, aren’t you?”

Her voice was hoarse. The words caught Maurice off guard, and he looked back up, his feet trembling. The mother continued.

“Trying to go to all those parties, seeing if you can suck up their energy just like how you suck up mine. It’s pathetic.”

The door opened as Emily went back inside. Mrs. Bryant turned her head in the chair, waiting until the girl’s footsteps were faint enough that she could assure Emily went back into her room. Once this happened, she turned back towards the TV, and continued once more.

“Have you learned your lesson?”

“Y-yes, yes ma’am. I have.”

Mrs. Bryant shook her head. “No. You’re doing that thing again, where you say you’ll do it and you never do.” 

Maurice didn’t know what else to say. He kept his head down and stayed silent, as the mother smoked the cigarette again.

“I’m just glad your father didn’t have to end up dealing with you all the time. All this bullshit. Anyway, we’re done here. Go back to your room.”

Mrs. Bryant had barely finished that last sentence when Maurice stormed out of the living area, briskly walking down the dimly lit hallway and using all the mental force within his body not to slam the door of his bedroom shut. Just a few moments later Emily, whose bedroom was right next door, quietly opened her door and walked over to Maurice’s. She knocked on it.

“Hey, Maurice… you wanna talk?” She spoke quietly, but loud enough for Maurice to hear on the other side.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean… the new season of Last Responders just dropped, we can watch that if you-”

“Em. I told you. I’m fine.”

Emily nodded. “Okay. Goodnight, Maurice.”

“Goodnight.”

Emily walked back into her room. The house was quiet again.