One Life for the Two of Us

~Zac~

I pulled up to Neil's dads house. His parents were divorced but Neil stayed with his dad on the weekends. I waited 5 minutes but got tired of it so I went and knocked on their front door.  "Zac!" It was Neil's dad, Bobby. "It's been so long!"                                                                                            "I just saw you last week!" I said.                                                                                                                                   I don't have a dad-unless you count my stepdad, so Bobby treats me like his own son. And it's nice.                                                                                                                                                                                  "Yeah but it seems like forever!" He replied, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed.                                      "Well come on in! We both know Neil's not gonna be down anytime soon." I walked inside. "NEIL!!!! ZAC'S HERE!!!" Bobby shouted.                                                                                                             "YO ZAC, COME ON UP!!" Me and Bobby both rolled our eyes. I ran upstairs. "Come on, Neil. We gotta g-" Neil looked at me. "What?" I tried not to laugh. "Dude, are you wearing skinny jeans?" "Yeah," he replied. "It's to get the girls, my dude. You know that one band? They wore skinny jeans all the time and they are the most popular guys in the world!" I gave him a confused look. "What band?"

"It's like One,-" he snapped his fingers. "One T- One D- I don't know. Some band though!"
"Dude I am not going anywhere with you if you're gonna wear those." He rolled his eyes. "Fine, throw me those jeans." I picked up a pair of jeans off of the floor and tossed them to him. He put them on. "'Kay. Now let's go. We're gonna be late." He grabbed his phone and wallet and we went downstairs. "Dad! We're leaving now!" Bobby ran in. "Wait! I need to take a picture!!" Neil slumped. "Dad. This isn't prom. We need to go." He gestured to the door. "No."
"What?" Neil asked in surprise. "No! I am getting a picture. I'm going to put it in your scrapbook for college." I laughed. Neil's eyes went wide. "Dad!" He said through clenched teeth. "I told you not to talk about that in front of people! It's embarrassing!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on! It's Zac! You've been best friends for years! He doesn't care! Right Zac?" I tried to put on a straight face. "That's right, Bobby. Now, how about that picture?" I smiled. "Oh wait! Just a sec. I left my phone in the kitchen. I'll be right back. Bobby left and Neil punched me lightly. "Man." I laughed. "No that's actually pretty chill though." "Yeah, I guess." Bobby ran back in. "Okay! You young men need to get on the road. Okay say... Arctic Monkeys!!"
"Dad, we're not kids."
"Son, sometimes you need to take advantage of the people around you and the moments you have with them." We all went quiet. No one said anything but I knew they were both thinking about me. My mom died when I was eleven. It was hard. It still is. Everyday I wonder how much better my life would be if she was still here. The worst part is, I didn't even get to say goodbye. She died in a car crash. On my birthday. My birthday's never been the same since. My dad-well I don't even remember him. He left when I was five. The only thing I remember is my mother crying every night for a year. But then she met my stepdad. And everything was good. She was happy, so I was happy. The day she got married is a day I'll never forget. She couldn't stop smiling. But then she died and now I'm alone. My stepdad tries to be "best buds" with me but it's just weird. Bobby cleared his throat. "Well, um, enjoy the concert and try to be home by two please." I nodded. "'Kay. Bye Dad." Neil said.
"Bye. Love you guys." Bobby replied. I don't know what I'd do without Neil and Bobby. They always made me feel like family.