Chapter Thirty-Two•City Boy

As the week was passing through, I was getting more impatient to see Blake, even though we haven't seen each other for over a month, but it felt like years. I was binge watching Say Yes to The Dress after watching Ridiculousness for nearly 2 weeks and then it started to feel like a job and I knew that I needed to watch something different, but with the exclusions of Cable TV, there was no HBO, TMC and Showtime or Cinemax, I was not about to resort to Jersey Shore or any dramatic reality show that only women who don't have a life, has their hair up in a constant bun, sit around all day listening to women complain about one meaningless thing after another, who don't even pay attention to their own children, who get long acrylic nails and don't even do chores and sleep for 24-48 hours. So Say Yes to The Dress was interesting, there were women who were unbearable, but it was always for one or two episodes and it gives knowledge for wedding dress designers, dresses and budgets while Randy Fenoli who comes to make everything better, so it's actually a really good show, definitely underestimated it. So almost on a daily, the Grandparents and I go to get Breakfast  at McDonald's, they occasionally go grocery shopping, sometimes they try to spoil me by trying to get me what I want as in clothing items, shoes or something, but I always trade it in for food whether it's rice, fruit, tea and diet Pepsi. They never really had a Grandchild that always turned down clothes and personal items in exchange for healthy food and snacks, thanks a lot Mom for raising me to be picky. I was watching it then Alan came in, sat down on the rocking chair and watched it for a bit,"I don't understand how these women can spend that much money on a dress"

"Because it's Kleinfeld, these women would save up for years and then spend it on a dress that they would have their eye on" He did a condescending nod and gave the show another comment,"I always thought that you would just find a dress and call it a day"

"There are some who have that luck, but it could take 3,10, 20, maybe over 75 dresses to find the perfect one, but somehow Kleinfeld can solve that for some women" He nodded and asked,"Did this Blake respond yet?" 

"Yeah, he did and he'll be there"

Wednesday finally came around, when I woke up, it was 7:36am, I got up to go wash my face, brush my teeth and Alan came out,"We'll leave around 10 to head over there" I nodded,"Okay, just gonna go watch TV" Geostorm was ending anyway and so I clicked on guide to see more Channels and Cake Wars was playing so I thought 'What the hell?' Then I saw the gorgeous Aaron Samuels smiling at the contestants, oh those lucky bastards. After the 1st round, I turned around, about to use the bathroom and I see Alan shaving his almost existing beard and putting on after shave,"Aw that's so sweet, Alan and Blake's first date" We chuckled and Kate comes in saying,"He does this every time" Trust me, how she said was not as insulting that you think it is, it's more annoyance than insult,"You'd think that women would be the ones who are more fashionable than men, no he likes to dress up and our closet, my proportion is not even ½, he has more vests, T-Shirts, pants than what I have combined"

"Wow, so in a way, you wear the pants in this marriage" She shrugged and gestured a bit,"Well he does physically, but mentally, I do" I chuckled lightly and I went to go put on yoga pants, a tank top and maroon sweater crop top with Black Air Force 1's. It was hot that day and Jeans are not my best friend for that specific season, but other than that, all I did was put on light makeup as in just eyebrow filler, as I was looking at the clock anxiously because I just wanted to get out of here, want to hang out with someone outside of my family circle, as Kate and I were just waiting for Alan to pretty himself up. It was until 10:17am that we finally got to leave the house; The closer we got to Pizzahut, the more nervous and anxious I got and I had no idea why, I mean this was Blake, I've known him throughout my Middle school and High school career, why was I nervous? I don't know,"Did Blake say what kind of car he drives?"

"A Chevy"

"My kinda guy" I rolled my eyes, but he didn't see because I was in the back and Kate was in the passenger seat,"Where did you meet him again?"

"Middle school, Wrestling, then had different interests, except Track" Summary since his mind is almost going, but oh well, that's what happens when you get 7 surgeries, head injuries from boxing, ignore doctor's orders and you get Diabetes, your mind eventually goes. After that drive, it was long, unusually, but not that I was complaining about because of the gorgeous view of Portland, there are days where I wished I had a different life, or at least change everything around in my life; Before you know it, we pulled into the parking lot of Pizza hut and I saw the back of Blake's car,"Where is he?"

"Right there, the erm dark grey car" I texted Blake that we just pulled in and we got out of the car, he walked over with a buttoned up shirt with jeans on along with converse for casual wear, but he did look good,"Hello sir, ma'am, my name is Blake"

"Ah yes, hello, my name is Alan Radcliffe and this is my spouse, Katherine Radcliffe"

"And I'm Sabrina" Alan and Kate chuckled lightly,"Well let's head in" So it was awkward for Blake and I, could tell by his body language, but he held his own, I even texted mom about it

Blake's uncomfortable by Alan -Sabrina

How come -Mom

He's talking about his time in Jamaica -Sabrina

Oh really? I hated that story -Mom

I hate it too and he even complimented Blake's physique when he went to the bathroom -Sabrina

That's….weird -Mom

I know, I just thought you'd be the one to do that -Sabrina

I don't need to compliment a 18 year old boy's body because that's not my place to do that, but apparently Alan's -Mom

I think Blake only got to talk at least 3 times during this entire luncheon and Alan is taking up much of it -Sabrina

Shocker there, that poor boy having to listen to his stories 😄 -Mom

Yeah I only had 1 slice and halfway done with my drink just to speed up the process, I got an idea -Sabrina

"Hey Blake, you said that your dad's ex girlfriend needs help with that stove of hers. It needs to be cleaned out right?" He had that somewhat confused look, but it didn't show, he got the message,"Oh right yeah. She can't do it by herself because she treated herself with a manicure and she needs 2 people to do it for her. Mainly it was her and my Dad, Chris. She comes back to her place in about 5 minutes, but after that, she has to go back to her store" Finally he gets to tell the name of his father,"Really? Well we don't want to hold you two back anyone, we'll let you go. Excuse me yes, can we get 3 to-go boxes" The man nodded and walked away,"Takes them almost an hour to make their pizza, 20 minutes to get our drinks. As if the service here isn't good enough" Then he and Kate laughed it off as I mentally slammed my head against the table wishing I could tell him to shut it, but I had to hold my lip. The workers are doing their best, they just want to make their pizza as delicious as possible and it's always worth waiting for, there I said it.

I grabbed my Nike drawstring bag and before I left, Blake and Alan shook hands, Kate went inside the car. Alan had his back turned on Blake and hugged me, he saw the discomfort look on my face, Alan kissed my hair,"Back at the house at 9pm, okay?"

"Yes sir" We went back to his car and said to him,"You're welcome" Blake smirked lightly,"It's okay, my dad's kinda the same way too. I got used to it, but to also hear from another person" He shook his head and I finished it,"He's a narcissist"

"Doesn't shock me there" Every block was a pain to deal with, he did curse, but come on who doesn't,"Fuck out of my way dude! God, c-can you talk to get my mind off of these dumbasses? Like erm, how's your dancing or something?"

"Still teaching myself, so far all I've learned was Look What You Made Me Do and Cheer Tryouts should've been in Late May, but our coach quit because her engagement ended and she needed a fresh start, so she moved to Tri-Cities, so now the girls and hopefully guys who want to try out are on standby" He nodded,"Yeah one of the coaches tried to get me to try out, mainly for muscle"

"I think you would've looked adorable in the uniform" He shook his head and said no repeatedly until he found more words,"I was not in the mood to defend my sexuality. I was better off playing Football, Basketball and Track" 

"So you were macho huh? Or you still?" He rolled his eyes as he gripped onto the steering wheel, he turned around the corner,"Shut it"

"What? You told me to talk to you to keep your mind off some dumbasses and now all of a sudden, you want me to be quiet?"

"Don't make me turn this car around"

"You don't even know where I'm staying at" One thing that I also love about us is that we can't seem to take each other serious unless one of us knows, he was still smiling, except it wasn't the one where his teeth was showing, I know it's weird, but that's how I can describe it,"But I can always drop you back off at Pizzahut and let you walk back"

"That wouldn't be the first time that I would have to walk back to a place that I'm staying at" I knew he was kidding and he exhaled,"You poor thing, don't have a car? Go get one"

"Easier said than done, Blake" And before you know it, we were in his apartment building parking lot, he pulled in, showed his ID and key. We got out of the car, I grabbed my bag and we went into the elevator, the ride up felt smooth more than rough, seems legit, but I'm very poor, I felt sick to my stomach, I held it in like a champ. There were mirrors on the ceiling,"So this is where you took that morning selfie?"

"Hey hey hey, I felt good that day, don't-" He even had that finger pointed at me and I raised my hands up,"Chill, chill, cut back on the T, I was just asking" 

"Oh yeah, this is the elevator"

"I don't judge those who take selfies, if they were feeling themselves, that's okay, even I don't take photos of myself" I never really brought myself to take more selfies, mainly because I always preferred professional photography than you know, but with being broke, I had to position my phone in different ways and find perfect lighting and since Senior Photos is coming up, it's good that I have this skill. 

We entered his apartment, it was a fucking mess,"Just to let you know, this isn't my mess, this is Jared's"

"But he was only here for a week" He nodded as he hung his jacket up,"Yeah now he's helping out with his mom back home, said he doesn't know how long he's gonna be gone, but now I'm stuck here with his fucking mess" My entire body was trembling by the grotesque sight of the Living Room, but again I was holding it in like a champ and I said,"This is coming from a messy person, but my OCD is developing and I have the sudden urge to clean this shit up" I picked up some garbage and threw it away to at least make a pathway and he pointed down the hallway that had a door opened, it was his bedroom, I walked in there and asked,"Did Jared come in here too?" It was messy too,"I'll admit this is my mess, but the rest of this place, it's his doing" I took my shoes off and just laid down on his bed,"Made yourself at home already?"

"And? Would you rather have me standing at the doorway blushing while clenching onto myself as you're trying to get me to lie down on the bed? Because if you want, I can do that"

"Hahahaha" Sarcastically he laughs and gets on the bed too,"So funny I forgot to laugh"

"So how's your Dad doing?" I ask him as he lays next to me on the foot of the bed,"Girlfriend number 3 moved in with him, my half sister is living there now, after the shit that Girlfriend Number 1 pulled, he took custody. He may be a dick, but to me and her, he's kinda an okay dad"

"What's your sister's name?"

"Paige, she's 11 turning 12 in the Fall. I've only seen her 2 times. My other brother doesn't really speak to me anymore, we were close, but now not so much" He has said to me a few times in our friendship is that he considers himself a single child since he was raised by his mother and wasn't really around his brother, next thing you know, he answered the question that I didn't even ask, but he knew what I was thinking,"His name is Sebastian. 24 Years old and last I heard was that he was in New Jersey"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah he didn't want to be near any of us, I guess new change of scenery" I nodded as he turned on the TV,"I was supposed to have an older brother, name was James and he would've been in his 30s, that's about as far as I know" It gets hard for me to open up about my other unborn siblings, so I only bring up James, not Clark or Peter or Padme,"Did he pass away at Birth?"

"No, stress caused the miscarriage. Mom told me when I was 8, she couldn't name him, so I did" He was kind of in awe and shock,"Why did she tell you at 8 years old and how come you named him?"

"She knew I was ready and I think that even from miscarriages, babies deserve a name. They may have not been in this world long, but they were in it long enough to have a connection" 

We were watching shows, just relaxing and he picks up his phone,"When's your Curfew?" I said 9pm, so he puts it down,"Gotta get corn for Dad, I know this grocery store we can go to and we'll stop by, have dinner and I'll drive you back" It's weird knowing someone who has an agenda, just got so used to 'Living in the moment' people and being around someone who has that habit, it feels good. We just hung out, he laid his uppet torso on my back, God he was a fatty,"Oh God"

"Relax, you're fine" but luckily I was able to breathe;  After he got off of me to continue playing his Call of Duty, I laid on him and he's being an over dramatic queen,"God you're heavy"

"I'm 20-30 pounds lighter than you. If I can handle it, so can you" He slightly groaned and said,"Ugh fine, we gotta get ready in 25 minutes and head over to the-"

"Grocery store to grab the corn and head over to your Dad's for Dinner and drive me back to the house at 9pm, I got it the first time" I finished the sentence for him as I got up and laid next to him,"What was it like? Moving away from almost everything you've ever known?" I ask him as he was playing video games and when his match was over, he laid the controller down,"It felt like, a weight came off of my shoulders, I can finally do something that I've been ready for what seems like a long time now. I was being held back from achieving my dreams just being over at Seattle. But now that I'm out of high school, my mom's place, away from all that high school bullshit, sky's the limit, I can do whatever I want and its like, no one can stop me from going for it"

"That's gotta be a good feeling"

"Trust me, it's better than good. I can date whoever I want, don't have to worry about age restrictions. I can date a 30 year old for all I care" I chuckled lightly and told him to slow down a bit then he asked,"Would you date someone older?"

"Yes I would, but normally it was a year or 2, but over a decade older? That's going over the boundaries" Okay not going to lie, I have always seen myself being with someone older and in a similar field of work that I'm in, no idea why, it's just been a vision. I always tried to repel myself away from men older than me such as 5-10 years because I'm still in High school, but I always find myself picky with boys in my school, as I have been told,'They only think with their penis' Not all boys though, I just don't see myself with someone my age.

Later on, we got ready after having a great time in his apartment, went to the grocery store and he warns me about his father,"Oh and if you do bring up Trump, you gotta agree that Trump knows his shit" I wrinkled my face,"But he doesn't"

"Well you can say that too, if you're in a mood to argue with Chris" His Dad,"Chris thinks that Trump is a God to this country. Jared argued with him and it did not end well. He asked Jared if he has a job and he's only been in Portland for 24 hours" We pulled into the grocery store, I always forget that he walks fast for a 5'11 guy and I'm here being 5'3 trying to catch up,"Chris and I come here a lot, it has good prices and I know this store like the palm of my hand, so follow me" We go to the produce section as he looks at tomatoes, cucumbers, he claps his hands,"Where's the corn?" It was behind him, I felt like I shouldn't say anything and let the boy find it himself, but it took at least 2 minutes until I just gave it to him, I tapped his shoulder and said,"It's right behind you"

"They change the aisles here every now and then" I nodded knowing that he was making up an excuse as he bagged up the corn, grabbed drinks and went to his Dad's place. Some days I wonder who the hell gave him a license because he took some major sharp turns, but I didn't have severe injuries, had my seatbelt on and we made it to his Dad's house, he was watering the vegetable garden, he was wearing a loose tank top, shorts and some sandals as he had a cigarette in his mouth, he turned around and waved at both of us as 2 tiny dogs came to us and a black and white dog, it has been my favorite breed. I gave them some attention and we unpeeled the corn, Chris came over and introduced himself,"Hey I'm Chris and you must be…?" He looked back and forth on us and Blake answered,"Her name's Sabrina, Jared's cousin"

"And is that how both of you met? Through Jared?" I shook my head and answered,"No, we actually met in Wrestling in Junior High and then in Track so we were Teammates before we became friends" Blake agreed and backed me up, thanks to his heads up, Chris asked,"So what do you plan on doing? Have you graduated High School?" 

"No, she's a Senior now and she has told me about this school down in California that she plans on applying" I was blown away by Blake, I didn't think that it was rude that he answered a question for me, he remembered,"Yeah, that's the plan and after that, I plan on moving down there" 

"I went to California once, I hated it, I like my cities with a bit of rain, snow and wind" I nodded,"There was one over in New York, but thinking about across the country, so I think it'd be better that I stay on the West Coast" 

"Well that's good, buster here almost planned on going to Northwestern University or NYU without knowing what his major is going to be, but his mother helped him think about it" He got accepted to both of those schools,"Yeah and with Jared coming back"

"Coming back? He was only here for not even a week" Oh boy, Blake shouldn't have said, but luckily he answered his question,"Yeah, I know that, but he was getting himself settled down before he heads over to Joseph, Oregon for that, what was it again Sabrina?"

"Chief Joesph Days, it's family tradition and an event that happens around Mid-to-late July" Chris nodded as he pulled out another cigarette,"How come you aren't going?"

"It's also where there's a lot people drinking and with my mother not going again, she prefers that I stay put here rather than in the care of my other relatives who drink"

"Well your mother is a good woman Sabrina" I agreed with him as we were peeling the corn and his sister came outside,"Hi Blake, are you his girlfriend?" Blake and I looked at each other in shock and I answered,"No, no I'm only his friend, hi I'm Sabrina"

"I'm Paige" I nodded and she grabs one corn to peel along with us.

Chris's girlfriend was really nice, her name was Holly, she was a homemaker, a damn good one as a matter of fact. The dinner was fairly quiet, but when someone talked, it was a good topic, it was nice spending a bit of time in his world. Since Blake and I were practically new to this city, even though I told him that I remember the way back, but he asked Chris for guide, but that didn't work out so well,"Erm Blake, this isn't the street"

"What?" He looked and said damn,"Do you remember the way back?" I groaned and put my head against the dashboard,"Now you ask?"

"Apparently Chris isn't good at instructions, so you're my Plan B" I shook my head and said to him,"I should've been your Plan A, okay I can kinda remember this street, this is where my cousin stayed at for the Rose Parade, take this turn" We talked for a bit and about his family, even losing his Grandmother during Middle school, it really took a toll on him and he never told anyone about it….except Camille who helped him through it,"I lost my Grandmother when I was only 13 years old, so I didn't really remember her that much, but I do remember how much it affected the family" It was 8:50 and we were nowhere near the house, we left at 8:03 and this morning, it was a half hour with Alan and Kate, he was getting nervous to the point that he was chewing on his sweater drawstrings,"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just nervous, I hate being late"

"I feel that way too, almost everywhere I go, I'm early" Then he brought up this,"But school you weren't"

"I'm aware of that, but I would show up around 6:30am or 7am. The hotel, I'm there at 6am, this store that I like going to and I stay there for the bus to come by, I'm there at 6:15am. Everywhere else, I'm early, but classes, not so much" I shrugged my shoulders as I said it and he took his drawstring out of his mouth and he brought up politics,"There's one thing I hate is that these adults thought that 16 year olds were old enough to vote and I said,'We literally thought of eating Tide Pods. I don't think we're ready for politics"

"I know, that's what I said too and doing that starfish on the wall or lockers. Oh God the Freshman was doing that" He groaned when he took a turn,"Yeah that annoyed the hell out of me, I had to avoid the 3rd floor just because of that"

"Honestly, I really did try to tolerate that shit, but I just couldn't do it, so I avoided that floor at all times" The clock was ticking and he was getting more nervous, it was actually adorable and one thing that I noticed is that he never turned on the music, he just wanted to talk almost about anything, whether it was bad or good, whether it made me want to kill myself or die of laughter. During our time of getting lost, I came to the rescue and it was 9:01,"It's after 9, your dad's going to kill me" I placed my hand on his shoulder and rubbed it a bit,"Relax, as long as we tell him what happened, he'll understand, he's gotta" He placed his hand on top of my hand, but not to take it off, he patted it and held it,"Thanks Sabrina"

"Yeah of course" 

"Its just that, I like leaving early so I can be on time, it's how I've been for many years" He began chewing on his sweater drawstrings again, that's what I've noticed, it's his nervous habit.

We made it and he is no longer trusting his father and now whenever he's driving around Portland himself, he'll bring his phone for GPS, it was 9:24 when we pulled up the driveway,"It should be okay. I don't even know he said 9pm, he goes to sleep around 8:30 anyway" Boy was I wrong, he walked with me just in case he needs to explain to Alan about why we're late,"And Sabrina, if things are getting a little too, you know, you can always text me that you wanna spend the night at my place because I'm okay with it, it's not like Jared's gonna freak out about you staying at the apartment"

"Thank you and yeah, I'll consider that offer" We were walking up to the door, I unlocked it and there was Alan sitting on my bed aka the couch in the Living Room,"Hello sir, just want to let you know that we did leave early, but my father's instructions threw us off course and Sabrina's memory came to the rescue. I haven't been this part of town and…." He began trailing off, explaining to him as he was nervous on the inside. He's not really scared of him, he just doesn't like being late, so Alan smiled and waved his hands to say,"Oh that's okay, she messaged me before you two left, but didn't when you two were lost"

"Cause of reception and also my phone is a Samsung, but not an S6 or a newer version, so it's kinda bad" Then Blake says to Alan,"I also did let Sabrina know that if its okay, she can stay the night at our place, Jared will be coming back in a few days, my place is a alcohol free place, no drugs and I have a girlfriend, her name's Mandy" Maybe my heart did jump by hearing him having a girlfriend and I nodded to agree with him, Alan looked at both of us with a frown on his face, arms crossed and curled his lip,"Yeah that's okay, as long as you two let me know a couple days in advance and I'll run it by her mother"

"Thank you sir and have a good night" Alan nodded and says to me,"Sabrina, the garbage needs to be tossed out,"Okay I'll do that"

"Tonight" He empathized that one word and I said I'll do it again, so Blake and I walked out together as he helps me with the heavy ass garbage can,"Thank you for today, it's been really fun"

"Yeah you too, it's nice to see a familiar face around here every now and then" We bring it out to the curb and I ask,"Do you really have a girlfriend?" We walk back to his car and he shook his head,"That's always a cover name, I don't know why I chose it, but I use it in case one of my friends who are girls that has a father that's starting to think of us either in the right way or the wrong way, I go to the girlfriend card"

"Good idea, anyways, I'll let you know if things get too crazy around here" He nodded as he pulled me in for a hug,"Night Sabrina"

"Good night Blake" And the feeling is always the same each time he leaves, I always want to go with him and I don't know why, so I had to go back into the house

"Sabrina, you know I worry about you" I sighed and wanted to bang my head against the wall,"Dad it's a big city and maybe this is a good thing for me to stay out late past curfew. You know I live in a house that's a half hour away from the school and town, I always lived by everyone's time table. I never really had a chance to stay out late with friends, and Mom trusts me with Blake"

"I know, it's just...I thought it'd be easy, with you being 17. You're not drinking, smoking that bad stuff and everything that Grace" My mother,"What she said about you, I figured it'd be simple"

"It can be, but not all the time. Blake does have a girlfriend, he met her at work, it's not like he's going to do anything to me, he never has done anything bad to me. He's a great man, he'll warm up to you eventually" He sighed and rubbed my knee, oh god get it off,"Okay, I'll give him some time and is there anything you would like to tell me?"

"Yeah actually one of my friends from Middle School, Rhiannon texted me today and said that she's going to be here in Portland visiting and wants to know if we can spend time. Perhaps spend the night"

"Okay. That's alright, just let me know about the date and time and if I'm working, Grandma and Grandpa can drive you if they're up for it" I nodded as I thanked him,"Okay good night Sabrina" 

"Night Dad"