Fast (The Fast Series)

by Ringbloom, Ryan

  Patrick sets up a game on the console for his little brother. Matthew sits on the floor with his legs crossed staring up the screen. His cute little mouth is hanging wide open. I just want to squeeze him he’s so precious.

  “Take your time, don’t make your move until the bad guy steps forward,” Patrick instructs him. He spreads his arms across the back of the couch and crosses his leg resting his foot on top of his knee. Confident and sexy, there is no other way to describe it.

  Back to my book. I try to focus on reading, but I can’t help stealing glances every so often at the adorable little session of male bonding. The two of them are so sweet together. My face is frozen in a smile as I continue reading and peeking.

  Patrick flicks his wrist to check the time. He looks up from his watch and catches me looking at him. I try to play it off asking him for the time. I realize there is something familiar about him…something.

  When Kent finally returns, it’s late. We only get to hang out a few minutes before it’s time to go home.

  “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow,” he swears.

  Fantastic, another invite over.

  The next day at four thirty I show up at the Daniels’ house again. Only this time Kent needs to run upstairs really quick to do something for his father. Thirty minutes later, Kent hasn’t returned, but Patrick and Matthew have come in right on time to play another video game.

  I take out my book and read.

  Matthew pauses the game. “I have to go to the bathroom. Don’t touch this,” he says, looking over at me with a very serious expression on his little face.

  “I won’t, I promise.” I’m trying not to smile. He really is the cutest kid I’ve ever seen in my life.

  The room is quiet without the noise coming from the video game. I focus on my book and try hard not to look over at Patrick. Hopefully Kent will be back any minute.

  A few minutes go by still no sign of Kent and Matthew still hasn’t returned from the bathroom.

  “What are you reading?” Patrick’s husky voice fills the room.

  I place my thumb in the book holding my place and rest it in my lap. “It’s some romance-y thing.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “There’s a love triangle and this one guy likes this girl but they have issues and I don’t know,” I tell him. “It’s good. I love stuff like this. I want to write a book one day.”

  Patrick nods his head. “That’s good.”

  “Yeah.” I have a feeling our conversation has just run its course. I struggle to think of something to say next.

  Luckily I don’t have to say anything. Kent finally comes back.

  “Sorry,” he says. “It took longer than I thought.”

  I give him a big smile. “It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re back.”

  Patrick stands up. “I’m going to go check on Matthew, make sure he’s alright.”

  I check out his butt as he leaves the room. Only because I check out everyone’s butt.

  “Patrick being nice to you?” Kent asks.

  Good, being alone with Kent is what I want. Does Kent even have a butt? I guess I don’t officially check out everyone’s butt.

  “Yeah, he’s really good with Matthew. It’s kind of cute. It’s not anything weird like that’s his kid or anything is it?”

  Kent eyes squint in disbelief. “Are you insane?”

  I cover my face embarrassed. Seriously, I need to start thinking before I speak. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m stupid.”

  Kent puts his arm around me. “You’re not stupid and I didn’t mean to call you insane. It’s just Matthew is six and a half, Patrick just turned seventeen. Do the math. It’s kind of unreasonable, don’t ya think?”

  “I told you I’m not good at math.”

  Kent laughs and gives my shoulder a squeeze. I’m not sure how to interpret the squeeze. Does Kent want to do stuff with me? Am I missing the signals? Is this why he keeps running off and leaving me alone?

  “You should show me your room,” I encourage, making it easier if that was what he wants.

  Kent takes his arm away from me. “Not today, it’s a mess.”

  “Well, anytime you want to show it to me, I would love to see it.” I hope he understands what I’m offering. He has been really nice to me and I owe him. Plus he won’t be my boyfriend if something doesn’t happen soon. I need a boyfriend.

  “So besides thinking Patrick was a ten year old father, what do you think of him?”

  I place my hands together in a praying motion. “Please,” I beg. “Never tell him I said that.”

  “Trust me,” Kent holds his hands up laughing. “I won’t. So what do you think?”

  Not much, he’s sexy, arrogant, a little brooding, like some of the characters from my romance novels, which is kind of…fun. He’s kind of quiet, kind of scary, yet kind of sweet. It’s weird I haven’t noticed him before, because yesterday in school, I hadn’t stopped noticing him. Hmm, he was confident, built like a god and his eyes I realized were definitely green. On second thought, it turns out I have lots of thoughts about him.

  “He called me a nerd.” That’s my answer.

  Kent laughs. “He called you a nerd?”

  “Well, I might have called him one first.” I join him in laughing.

  “Not sure what I’m missing around here, because you two are not exactly what comes to mind when I think of a nerd. Although, you do know an awful lot about superheroes.”

  “I do, thank God, or you would probably have never talked to me. Luckily I am able to fake my way through a Superman story.”

  “Oh, you faked your enthusiasm toward Superman. I’ll have to remember that.”

  Kent slips his hand through his hair, his eyes light up with his smile. He’s nice. He makes me laugh. Does that mean I like him? Maybe. Nice and laughing are more than I’ve ever had with any other guy. So, yeah, I do like him.

  Maybe.

  Robin

  I look out my bedroom window for the tenth time. Ashley’s fancy car is still parked in front of Kent’s house. What are they doing over there? Is she telling Kent all about how to get the perfect spray tan without streaks?

  How? How on earth are these two a couple? They have nothing in common. Is it a physical thing? Ashley is supposedly pretty. And Kent…well Kent is sexy as hell. He has that whole guitar playing, long hair, nothing my smile can’t fix, laid back attitude thing going for him. So, of course Ashley is attracted to him. Are they over there doing it right now? I gag at the thought. I can’t let myself think about it.

  If only I knew a way to get over myself and open my mouth. I’ve had two opportunities to tell him how I feel and screwed it up both times.

  I walk over to my dresser to practice what I should have said into my mirror. “What do I think about Ashley?” I say to my reflection. “Well Kent, I think she’s a skank. Oh yeah and I’m in love with you. So please dump her fake ass and be with me.”

  That wasn’t so hard now, was it? Too bad I don’t have the guts. I need guts. How can I get guts? Guts, guts, guts….no idea.

  Well, maybe they’ll invite me to their wedding.

  The box I keep locked on top of my dresser is calling my name. It wants me to open it and look through all the special keepsakes I’ve saved over the years. All from Kent. It’s weird to have a keepsake box filled with so many memories from a guy who’s never even been my boyfriend. Shows how special he is. A few dried flowers, music programs with both of our names circled, birthday cards, ticket stubs from movies and concerts we went to together. The letter he wrote me after my mom died. If I open the box look through the stuff and see that letter, I’ll lose it. I take the box and hide it up in my closet where I can’t see it.

  I think I’m going to talk to him.

  Soon.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Ashley

  Another afternoon at Kent’s means another afternoon of me, Patrick and Matthew…no Kent.

  I read, while they play.
>
  At quarter after five Mrs. Daniels comes home earlier than normal. “Hi,” she says, surprised to see me on the couch. I’ve never met her before, she’s tiny.

  “Mom, this is Ashley,” Patrick introduces us.

  “Hi Ashley, you’re a friend of Patrick’s?”

  “Oh, no, actually,” I start tripping over the words as I speak.

  “No, not mine, she’s,” Patrick staggers his response out at the same time.

  Mrs. Daniels looks at us, unsure. “It’s nice to meet you,” she smiles at me.

  “She’s Kent’s friend, not mine.” Patrick corrects the confusion.

  “Yeah, but we like her too. Right Patrick?” Matthew looks so innocent waiting for his brother to answer. I’m waiting for him to answer too.

  Patrick doesn’t answer.

  “Matthew, time for the dentist,” Mrs. Daniels says from the doorway.

  “Mom, I told you I would have taken him. You didn’t have to leave work early.”

  “Patrick, you do enough. Stay with Ashley and hang out.”

  I squirm on the couch. Great, Mrs. Daniels still thinks I’m Patrick’s friend. Why wouldn’t she, it isn’t like Kent’s here.

  Matthew whines about going to the dentist. He tries to stall asking to finish his game.

  Mrs. Daniels claps her hands. “No, let’s go. You can play again later.”

  One last whine from Matthew and they’re gone leaving me alone with Patrick.

  “I should probably go.” I close my book. “I don’t even know where Kent is or when he’s coming back.”

  “You don’t have to go.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Patrick shrugs. “I’m not doing anything right now.”

  “Okay.” I cross my legs and lean back on the couch. It’s quiet. I look around the room, tapping my fingernail on my book.

  “Do you need help with any more homework?” Patrick asks.

  I shake my head no. I wish, but I don’t. We need something else to talk about. Just wish I knew what.

  “You’re mom seems really nice.” She really did, friendly and warm like a mom should be.

  “Yup, she’s the best.”

  Silence, the only sound is my chewing.

  Patrick motions to the television. “I could show you how to play one of the video games.”

  “Yeah, okay, that sounds fun.” I’m lying it doesn’t sound fun at all, but it’s better than nothing.

  He sorts through the games and places a disk into the console. “This one should be easy.” He hands me a remote and points out the different buttons. “Okay, so you think you got it?”

  “I think.” I look down at the remote. So, I’m supposed to look at the remote and look at the television at the same time. That’s impossible. The game starts and I push a button. “What happened?” I look up at the screen.

  “Nothing. You died. Already.” Patrick narrows his eyes. “Okay, when it starts again, hit the button I showed you to jump.”

  “Sorry, that’s what I thought I did.”

  The game starts over.

  “Jump,” Patrick commands.

  I push the button and look up at the screen. It doesn’t look promising. “Did I die again?”

  “Yup.”

  “It’s hard to look at the remote and the screen at the same time.”

  “You’re not supposed to look at the remote. You know what? Maybe a game that doesn’t use a remote would be better.” Patrick takes the game from the unit and places it neatly back in its case. He runs his fingers over the games looking for a new one.

  It dawns on me. This is probably a good time to ask Patrick for some information on Kent. Maybe he could help me out, move along the whole boyfriend thing.

  “What’s your brother’s deal?” I ask him.

  Patrick is taking out the next game. He looks over at me, a big question mark on his face.

  I take a breath for courage. “Do you think he likes me?”

  Patrick swings his head back to the game. “I don’t know,” he mumbles.

  “I think I might like him. But I don’t really know what he’s thinking. So, maybe if you said something to him it might push us in the right direction.”

  “You might like him? What do you think you might like about him? Is it the whole ‘invites you over, takes off and leaves you’ thing that you might like about him?”

  I’m uncomfortable and ignore his comment. His mood shifts to hostile as he shoves a new game into the machine.

  “This one is easier,” he barks. A virtual tennis court appears on the screen. “I’ll show you how to do it. Pay attention.”

  I watch as Patrick pulls his arm back and swings his hand forward.

  “Just like this, that’s all you need to do. I’ll serve the ball to you. Ready?”

  It looks easy enough. I raise my hand up like he showed me. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  “Okay, go,” he says.

  “Now?”

  Patrick’s fingers dig into his hand, his knuckles are white. “When I say go, you go. It’s not that hard to do. I’m going to hit it to you again and when I say go. You. Go,” he says condescendingly.

  “Okay.” I’m really uneasy at this sudden change in his temperament.

  “Go,” he hollers. “GO, GO, GO!”

  Holy shit, he’s so loud. I start flailing my arms around. “What am I supposed to do? Am I doing it?”

  “Are you kidding me? Hit the ball!” Patrick’s voice booms as he continues yelling at me. “Hit the ball!”

  I swing my hand back and forth in the same motion. “Why are yelling at me? Did I do it?” I’m starting to sweat. This is entirely too stressful.

  “Wow, you have to go to be kidding me. This is the easiest game there is. This is the game that comes with the unit. I never even used it until today. Geez.” He runs an angry hand over his mouth and curls it into a fist. “That’s unbelievable,” he mutters to himself.

  First his rude comment about Kent and now he’s yelling at me over some stupid game. What made him turn on me so quickly? This is ridiculous. I don’t have to take this shit. “What’s unbelievable is a guy your age sitting around all day playing video games! That’s what’s unbelievable!”

  “Who are you to judge me? Sitting here day after day waiting around for a guy who thinks it’s okay to just dump a girl off on the couch and leave. Where the hell is Kent? The guy you think you might like? Maybe you should take a hint.”

  His sudden meanness towards me is crushing. I step back staring at Patrick who is staring right back at me. I’m only able to break away from his stare when I stumble over my bag. Bending down I snatch it up quick and run from the room.

  “Wait,” Patrick tries to stop me. “Ashley, I’m sorry.”

  It is too late for sorry. I’m running down the hall on the verge of tears. Tears? I need to get out of here.

  Kent magically reappears as I’m about to open the front door.

  “Whoa! Where are you going?” Kent put his arms up to stop me.

  “Screw you Kent. I don’t need you or you’re asshole brother!” I yell at the top of my lungs so Patrick will hear me.

  “Calm down. What’s going on?” Kent asks, placing his hands firmly on my shoulders.

  “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want sit here every day while you disappear.”

  “I’m sorry. Come on, let’s go take a walk. You can tell me what happened and I’ll talk to my brother. Sometimes he just needs some getting used to.” Kent opens the front door and leads us outside.

  With his arm wrapped snugly over my shoulders we walk down the concrete sidewalk. I give him a play by play of everything that just happened, minus the part where I asked about him. “He was screaming at me over a video game. Who does that? It was a just a stupid video game.” My arms are waving about dramatically as I carry on. “He’s a maniac. I have never met someone like that in my life.”

  Kent gazes down at the ground as we walk listening to me rage on ab
out his brother. His face appears strained. It’s his brother, I get it, he wants us to get along, but there is just no way.

  “I’m sorry. I know he’s your brother, but Patrick’s a jerk.”

  “I’ll work on him,” Kent vows.

  “What about us? Are you going to keep disappearing if I come over? You can come to my house ya know.” He really can’t come to my house, but I say it anyway.

  “Tomorrow, come over. I’ll get rid of Patrick. It will just be me and you. We can play the game and I’ll teach you myself.”

  “I don’t care about the game.” I roll my eyes and smile. “Just as long as Patrick’s not there.”

  “Tomorrow will be me and you. I promise.”

  I relax. The leaves are starting to change colors. Forget about Patrick, focus on Kent. A walk, this could be romantic. I reach my hand over for Kent’s hand. He takes it in his and swings our hands back and forth as we walk.

  It’s cute, fun, silly…not romantic.

  “So, the game, you were really that bad?” he asks.

  “I was sweating,” I laugh.

  Robin

  The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The new cute couple is walking hand in hand down the street. I swear I’m going to board up this window so I can’t see what’s going on anymore. It’s torture.

  I flop onto my bed, focus in on the ceiling fan and think about how much my life absolutely sucks. My dad’s away. I don’t hang out with Kent anymore. I’m so lonely it hurts. Maybe I should get a cat or a talking bird. Please. Who am I kidding, the bird might ask me a question and I would shrug at it like a frightened idiot.

  There is so much dust accumulated on my ceiling fan blades it’s disgusting. I head downstairs in search of something to clean it with.

  I’m tearing through the closet when there’s a loud knock on my front door. Please don’t be Kent or Ashley or both of them. A peek through the peep hole reveals Patrick standing on the other side. I open the door warily.

  “Can I come in?”

  He can, but first I look around for any sign of Kent and Ashley walking down the street. “They went around the corner. They didn’t see me come over,” Patrick supplies, fully aware who I’m looking for.