“Tell me what’s wrong with this picture.”

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I huffed as I closed the front door and walked into the house. The meeting with the principal resulted in Vic and I having to stay after school for two days. Since the school day was over when we were called into Dr. Johnson’s office he decided that our punishment would start the next day. At least he was fair about that part.

I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge for a drink. My parents weren’t home and wouldn’t be for a while. Mom was probably gonna be working until the early hours of the morning again and Rick was gonna be gone until dinnertime. I looked around the kitchen that still hadn’t been completely unpacked. There were still boxes filled with dishes on the countertop and table. I shrugged and opened a box. Mom would appreciate my help. God knows she didn’t like Rick helping to unpack since he didn’t really understand her organization system.

I took some glasses out and put them in the cupboard. I thought back to how my first day had been, I knew my parents would ask when they got home so I needed to find something to tell them besides the fact that I’d been threatened and given detention.

It didn’t make sense to me. Who gave the new kid detention on his first day? And for defending himself no less. I tried to explain to Dr. Johnson that Vic had taken my notebook from me and I was merely trying to get it back, but he didn’t care. As much as he wanted to believe me he had to reprimand me for disrupting class. Still, two days detention seemed a little harsh.

Mom was gonna be so upset when she found out. I’d never been given detention before. I usually always kept to myself or my close friends and stayed out of everyone’s way. I got good grades, was respectful, and never spoke out of turn. Now I was getting a bad rep among the teachers, and all because of one person.

I didn’t get why Vic wanted to pick on me. It couldn’t be because of a stupid seat, could it? No, that didn’t make much sense. Then again bullies bullied just so they could feel powerful. Maybe he didn’t have a legitimate reason or needed one.

I put away the last of the cups before opening a box marked “china”. The box was filled with beautifully decorated plates and bowls that Mom and Rick had received as wedding presents.

Mom and Rick had only been married for four years. My dad left us when I was five, and since then Mom had stayed single. I always thought it was my fault she never went on a date but she would always assure me that I wasn’t to blame. She was going through school at the time, working to get her nursing degree. When I got older she told me that juggling a toddler and school was a lot of work, but it never mattered because she wanted a good life for me. My biological dad couldn’t provide it and never really helped take care of us so she took the responsibility upon herself.

She met Rick when she was doing her residency at a hospital in Medford. He’d come in for an X-ray and the rest was history, although they didn’t date until I was twelve. They’d met two years earlier and I’d gotten to know him pretty well since that time, but Mom didn’t want to confuse me. Plus she was still going through school so dating was “out of the question”. Rick was patient enough to wait for her to be ready so over the years their friendship grew and so did our relationship. It was when my mom graduated from school that he asked her out. A year later they were married and later that year we moved to Grand Rapids.

Rick was a great guy but I never really felt all that connected to him. He was nice and took care of us. I knew he loved my mom and he cared for me too, but I never really felt that father-son bond with him. Maybe it was because I wasn’t actually his kid. He had a biological daughter, Harper, who he had that connection with. Maybe it was because she was a daddy’s girl or because he didn’t see her as much. She lived with her mom.

I was okay with my relationship with Rick. As long as he respected me and never tried to make me or Mom do something we didn’t want to do then he was cool in my eyes. He hadn’t crossed any lines in the five years they’d been together so we hadn’t had any problems. Mom always said she wanted me to be closer to Rick though, but Rick was fine with how we were so the topic was never brought up.

I put the last of the dishes in a cabinet and closed the wooden door. I then carried the empty boxes up the stairs to the attic. I hadn’t been up there since nothing in my room was unpacked yet but I was bound to check it out eventually. I pulled the string down from the ceiling and lowered the ladder to the floor. I picked up the boxes again and stepped up.

The attic wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I assumed that it would smell of mold and cramped and dusty but no, it was roomy with a nice view of the neighborhood from the circular window that was laid on the back wall. The floors were hardwood and squeaked a little when you walked on some of the boards, but it wasn’t too bad. I placed the boxes in a corner of the room and walked around. This room could easily be a bedroom or something other than a storage room. Maybe I could convince Mom to let me put some furniture up here; make it into a hangout spot or maybe a quiet place for me to get away.

I went down the steps and closed the door. I wondered what else this house had to offer. I hadn’t been exploring since the weekend was all about getting the three of us unpacked and registered in school or the hospital in my mom’s case.

I decided I would worry about the rest of the house later and went to my room to unpack the various boxes strewn about. My walls were too bare without all my posters and pictures so fixing that was a priority.

A couple hours went by and I had gone from unpacking my room to starting my music appreciation essay. I was focused on that when the front door opened. I got up from my computer and went downstairs to see Rick getting a water bottle from the fridge.

“Hey kiddo,” he said after he had taken a sip.

“Hi,” I answered. I didn’t want to be awkward so I went into the pantry to find a snack.

“Did you unpack all this?” I poked my head out.

“Uh, yeah. I didn’t want to start my homework when I got home so I did this.”

He nodded. “Thanks bud. I’m sure your mom’s gonna be happy.” I nodded and picked up the granola bars. “So are you doing your homework now?”

“Yeah. Working on a paper for music appreciation.”

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to that. What do you want for dinner?”

“Take out,” I said. We didn’t really have much in terms of groceries since Mom liked to go shopping but since we’d moved she hadn’t had the chance. I offered to go for her but she said she wanted to. There was no use arguing with her. At least she’d bought some snacks and frozen dinners to hold us over.

“I can pick up a pizza.” Rick offered. I shook my head.

“No, you just got home. I’ll get it.” He smiled a little.

“Thank you Kellin.” He reached in his pocket and handed me a 20. “Pick one up for your mom too.” I nodded.

“Sure thing, thanks.” I took the money and went upstairs to put on my shoes and get my wallet, phone, and keys. Soon I was out the door and asking Google Maps to lead me to the nearest pizza joint.

The drive wasn’t long and within ten minutes I was parked outside a place called Lefty’s. I walked in and looked around. The atmosphere was more mom and pop than anything but still really modern. I could tell this place was popular since so many people were there on a Monday night. A couple of them I recognized from the halls at school. In particular I noticed one of the guys I saw Vic hanging out with at lunch. I didn’t know his name, nor did I care, but I couldn’t look away from his table. Maybe I was afraid that Vic would show up and kick my ass. It was a stupid thought but he seemed so adamant on beating me up.

The guy must’ve felt my eyes on him because he looked in my direction questionably. I shook my head to clear it and went up to the counter. I ordered three personal pan pizzas, each with different toppings that would suit the three of us at home, and some sodas.

I turned around on the stool I was sitting on and looked around again. My gaze fell on Vic’s friend. He wasn’t sitting alone anymore but was with another friend of Vic’s. Did they hang out without him often? I giggled to myself. Maybe Mr. Fuentes wasn’t as popular as he thought.

The two boys were looking at me. I hadn’t noticed it at first but then I felt someone staring at me. Sure enough, it was them. They weren’t being subtle about it either. They were both looking at me and whispering to each other. I didn’t know why but I cared a lot. I looked back at them hoping for an explanation before my food was ready. One of them got up and came to me.

“Have we met before?” he asked. I looked at him like he was stupid.

“No,” I said.

“You sure? I swear we’ve met.”

“I’ve only been here since Saturday so unless you’re talking about school we haven’t-”

“That’s it!” he exclaimed. I jumped a little at the excitement in his voice. “You’re the guy who sat in Vic’s seat.” I rolled my eyes. I guess I was gonna be known as “the guy who sat in Vic’s seat” for the rest of the year. That wasn’t a reputation that I particularly wanted.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said with a sigh.

“Look, I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said sincerely, “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” I questioned.

“Vic,” he stated. “He’s not a bad guy, really, he isn’t. Don’t take anything he says or does to heart. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” I raised an eyebrow in confusion. How could it be that this guy, one of Vic’s friends no less, was telling me that the guy who bullied me on my first day and landed me in detention wasn’t a bad guy? The whole school was terrified of him. And why was he telling me this? It didn’t make any sense.

“I get why you don’t believe me,” the guy said. “Vic’s really not a terrible person. If he was then I wouldn’t be friends with him, and that guy,” he gestured to his friend who was still sitting at the table, “wouldn’t associate with him either.”

“Quinn!” I turned to where the cash register was at the front of the room. My order was ready.

“Uh, that’s me,” I said. Vic’s friend nodded.

“My name’s Tony by the way. You know, in case you wanna make a friend or hang out or whatever.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. I nodded.

“I’m Kellin.”

“Nice to meet you, Kellin. I hope you and I can hang out sometime.” I looked at him skeptically. As nice as he may seem, he was still friends with an asshole.

“I don’t know,” I trialed off.

“Don’t judge me for who I’m friends with. Like I said, I wouldn’t hang out with him if I thought he wasn’t a good person. He may act tough but there’s more to him than what he shows at school.” I gave him a quick nod in understanding. I may not have believed him but he was so adamant on me accepting that Vic wasn’t horrible so I agreed to get him off my back.

“I hope to see you around Kellin,” Tony said.

“Yeah, you too.” He gave me a polite smile before heading back to join his friend. I approached the register where I paid for the food and left the building.

I walked in the house to see Rick on the couch watching the news. I placed his pizza in front of him along with a soda. He smiled in thanks as he opened his box. I wasn’t particularly hungry after my interaction with Tony so I took a sharpie out of the drawer and labeled the remaining two boxes so Mom would know she had something to eat when she got home.

I went upstairs and changed into sweats and an old t-shirt that I slept in. I wasn’t tired but I wasn’t in the mood to do anything either. I sat in bed on my phone to distract me from all the things Tony had told me.

Why was I even stressing about this? Maybe because there was now an air of mystery around Vic. I always wanted to know about anyone I encountered. That was why I loved people watching. I liked to make up stories about their lives. It was a way for me to get insight on their lives even if I was totally wrong.

According to Tony I was totally wrong about Vic and that didn’t sit well with me. This was a person I’d be seeing every day until graduation and me being me couldn’t spend so many months with him without knowing his story, or at least some of it. I sighed. Maybe I was overreacting to the information.

I checked the time on my phone. 9:24. Mom would be trying to take a break right about now. I texted her telling her that she had food in the fridge whenever she got home. I wasn’t expecting a reply but I knew she’d like to know.

I yawned and stretched as fatigue invaded my body. The day had been long and tiring so it wasn’t an odd feeling that sleep was creeping in earlier than expected. I got up to turn the light off before crawling under the covers. Whatever Vic’s story was wasn’t important. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. Tomorrow was a new day that I didn’t need Vic or any of his confusing friends ruining it.

Notes