New Path… II 66A

There was nothing to do in the house. Lying on the couch, tv on in front of him, his boredom clear in his eyes. Unlike his last two times here, he had his friends. Five out of six and then four out of five. Viola being the sixth of course. Remembering that hurt his chest. Better not to think about that. His eyes that had wandered from the tv were back on it.

Any moment now, Tom will be back from school and they can… do something. He sighed, scratching his hair. A few more days and he can go back to school. He isn’t here because he wants to be. Not that he didn’t want to be here but this was- keys jangled and the front door opened. He sprang up to a sitting position, twisting his neck towards the archway, ready to speak to Tom when he noticed the footsteps weren’t Tom’s. “Tate?”

With furrowed eyebrows, Tate looked into the living room before going in. “Hey.” He lit up. “I heard you were coming.”

“You knew?”

“Yeah, dad told me. How long have you been here?”