Tyler Moss

"AHHHHH!! WHAT DO I DO NOW?! iVE NEVER PLAYED THIS GAME BEFORE!!!!" I screamed in frustration at the arcade gun that kept vibrating as zombies barreled towards Liam and I. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing and I was losing!

"Just shoot! There's more!" Liam snapped. "Shoot!"

"I am shooting! How much more can I shoot?!"

"SHOOT MORE, STUPID!!!"

"WE JUST KEEP SHOOTING!!?!! HOW MUCH MORE?!!"

"Until they all die, dummy!"

"AHH!!" I screamed again. "Fuck! I'm out of bullets Liam! How do I reload?!"

"Relax, we already lost because of your bad shooting." Liam growled. "You used to be great at this before you met Levi. Now all you do is study."

"It's been years, cut me some slack! Some of us have to study to get good grades."

"Only you can study all the time and still fail. It's your only charm."

"You're the one ignoring the one player option! You even begged me to come here!" I laughed. It felt weird without Levi here, but I left a note with Jay since my phone died. I'm sure he'd understand that I left once Jay gave him the note.

"Look the shooting range is outside. Want me to win one of those stuffed toys you like so much? I'm really good at it!" Liam bragged. "I never miss my target!"

"Bullshit! Last time we came, you took a whole clip to shoot one target correctly!"

"Let me show you!" I hurried beside Liam's chair to the booth. The vendor lined up five targets and I watched in awe as Liam shot down all of them one after the other like the game wasn't rigged at all. Even the vendor looked a bit shocked.

"Woah! You are good!" I said as I took the giant black and white stuffed Danganronpa rabbit. "You should give this to your little sister."

"Naw, she's not that into all that anime shit like you are. I'd rather throw it out than give it to her honestly. I can imagine her saying 'It's just a stuffed bear from that shitty arcade, grow up' like a bitch. At least you'll appreciate it. Anyway this is a gift for hanging out with me today. You never have time for anyone but Levi, especially lately." Liam sighed.

I guess I did kind of drop him for no good reason. But it's not like he wasn't avoiding me as well after what Levi did to him. But he got me the rabbit.

Liam knows how to pull the best spoiled brat acts.

Still, he didn't demand an apology and didn't seem to require one. Was he over what Levi did to him? Should I bring it up and apologize to Liam? Would that just be beating a dead horse.

Why did our friendship get more complicated?

"Whatever. Are you feeling better now?" I asked.

"Yeah, sort of, I had to talk to my counselor about my future today. You can probably guess what Ms. Yoon said since you know what she's like, dumb bitch. I knew she wouldn't understand why I want to be a professional gamer, but it still felt shitty." Liam sighed. "Being told that I have no future in what I want to do with my own life again."

In secret Liam hated soccer but he loved all the ass it brought him. Even his father was planning out a life to get Liam into the big leagues. Even so, Liam was the most passionate about gaming and computer programming.

And it was highly discouraged.

"I don't get adults that's always think they're right about these things! Do they assume they know what right and wrong because they're older? All that arrogance and being so condescending because they hate their life! They say it's advice but it's really them passing judgement! And how would they even know how hard I'm trying?" Liam ranted. "Ms. Yoon called me a gaming addict and said I should invest my time in something more productive than childish dreams. And I tried so hard because I didn't want people saying that about me anymore or that I'm only good because of who my dad is! I'm actually really good at developing software and coding!"

"I know that, I've seen you take those advanced classes. What a bitch!" I agreed. "How are you feeling about what she said? Ms. Yoon definitely doesn't know what she's talking about!"

"Like she can shove it up her ass. I'll do what I want with my life. I'll be damed if a high school counselor shits on my dreams! She's just an ugly teacher who's bitter about being so lonely and having no dreams herself." Liam chuckled. "Seriously a little skincare wouldn't kill her."

"The ugly witch from the nightmares, she is."

"Worse than that. Anyway thanks for hanging out. I'm not going to keep you from Levi any longer."

"You're not keeping me."

"Either way, I'm going to George's house to visit his grandma." Liam told me.

"Ok, let's go then," I said. "Ah fuck, finals are coming up."

"Sorry for taking your study time."

"It ok, I've given up already." I smiled. "I'll be satisfied getting a 50% grade."

"That's still a failing mark."

"It's better than my last test grade."

"Don't say that-watch it!" Liam pulled me back. I fell onto his lap and a car whizzed by incredibly fast. "Stupid punk! He didn't even stop! You ok?"

"I'm fine," I exhaled and looked across the street. "Levi?"

"What?"

"I saw Levi, but he just walked away. You think he's mad I left without a text?"

"I doubt it, you even left a note for him. Why wouldn't Jay give him the note?" Liam said. "I'm sure he looked all over for you and he would've called if he didn't accept it, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said getting off Liam and continuing to wheel him away.

I'm sure he saw me. We looked right into each other's eyes. And then he just turned and left? Now that I think about it, this doll kind of looks like Levi's personalities. No gray areas.

"We're at the hospital, you can go, the nurse will be here for my therapy soon." Liam told me.

"I'm going to visit my grandma. I have to speak to her anyway. I'll see you later." I waved goodbye to Liam as his nurse hurried up to us in the lobby.

"...ame is Ginny Moss. She's been admitted here for a while," I heard someone say. Someone else to see grandma? Maybe it's another Ginny.

I walked closer and to my complete shock, it was a man. Who the fuck was he and how did he know my grandma? Did my grandma have a young boyfriend?

Grandma, you slut! Oh my god! Gross!

After the guy was led right to my grandmas room I followed behind sneakily. I watched as he politely knocked on the door and went in.

I pressed my ear against the door, but apparently the hospital decided it was going to be soundproof all of a sudden. Did she need a private moment with this man. Would I be interrupting a love making session if I just barged in?

I can just walk in, though. I have grandson rights. But I don't want to see-

"Is that you, Tyler?" Grandma smiled brightly. "Tyler this is my friend, Hannibal Barros. It's been so long, since I've seen you. To be honest I only recognized you after you spoke."

"Same here, Ms. Moss." The man chuckled. He was still a bit turned so I couldn't see his face too clearly. Oh, he wasn't her young secret boyfriend?

Boring!

"I guess my memory really is turning to shit. It's been years now Hannibal, the last time we met was at Helen's funeral. So....ten years?"

"I wasn't at her funeral. I was overseas so I found out about it later."

"Oh? That means it's been 20 years now."

"I didn't know you had friends grandma," I joked. "I thought he was a secret young lover and you wrote me out of the Will."

"You know I like men that speak Gaelic."

"That's why I was shocked, he doesn't look Irish at all."

"Think again, you little gobshite, this is my student. We worked at the same facility for a while too." Grandma raved. The man turned a bit. His glasses covered his face pretty well. Who wears sun glasses inside?

Of course he would be a friend of grandma. Weirdo.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled.

"Oh, you must be Drita's son. You're the spitting image of her," the man smiled before taking off his glasses to look closer at me. "You grew up to be a handsome young man as well."

I smiled but my insides were frozen. It was the guy from the picture in that envelope! The spitting image of Levi. This man looked exactly like Levi!

"I told you not to come before exams. What's that? Did Levi get it for you?" Grandma pointed at the rabbit.

I noticed the man twitch a bit at Levi's name. Subtle but obvious. Who the fuck is this guy?! "No it's not from Levi. Let me fill up your ice cup again."

I grabbed the cup before my grandma could say a thing. The man may have looked like Levi but his presence felt dangerous. All my flight instincts went into full gear. His presence was overwhelming.

Grandma taught a guy like that? Psychology right? Does that mean he's coming off as menacing on purpose? Levi does that too.

Maybe I was bugging out a bit. I mean it didn't have to be like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Grandma just has a friend....who looks exactly like Levi. And he has the same demeanor.

Coincidence?!

That's just stupid.

But he was my grandmas student, and he kept in touch with her after all this time. They knew the same people it seems....but he looks exactly like Levi. So is he in touch with Levi? Is he the one hurting Levi?

There's something going on here. My gut is telling me this.

I started back towards grandmas room only to bump right into Hannibal.

He glared down at me. "Leaving already?" I asked. "I was hopeful I wasn't intruding on your visit."

"Yes, young man, it's late so I thought I'd let Ms. Moss get some rest," geez what's with all the professional talk?

"You can just call me Tyler, dude....uh, I mean sir. It'll be great if you came by more, my grandma would love more company," I said. As suspicious as I was, I couldn't isolate my grandma. "She's lonely."

"Then Ms. Moss is lucky to have such a caring grandson." The man smiled. Smartass.

"Well, she is my family. Yours would do the same for you," shut the fuck up, Tyler. That was way to obvious! I should stop assuming. "In fact, any normal family is caring like that."

"I'm not sure about that. There would never be anyone to take care of me. I don't have any children." He shrugged. The fuck? So are you Levi's brother?

"Oh, it doesn't have to be just your children though. Well I hope to see you again here, Mr.Hannibal Lector."

"It's Barros." He couldn't recognize jokes either. What a drag! He's definitely related to Levi.

"You must be a hoot at parties," I sighed pinching myself so I didn't roll my eyes. "Have a good day, Mr. Barros."

"Good day," he put his glasses back on and continued to walk away.

No children? No caring family? Who the fuck is this guy? Did grandma not see how similar they look and act?