The Closet-a Ralbert Story

Chapter 3

Albert blew out a breath as he walked down the stairs, his headphones placed on his head as he tried to block out the world.

"Hey, kid", Mr. Shefflan- or Fred, as he preferred- greeted, smiling as he stood up from his place on the couch. Albert raised his eyebrows in recognition, walking to the kitchen.

Fred sighed as he watched Albert go, following after him. He smiled at his other son, Elmer. "Morning, El."

"Morning, Mr. F", Elmer greeted, glancing up with a smile. He turned back to his work, as Albert grabbed a bagel. "How are you?"

"Better than yesterday", Fred nodded, smiling. He turned to Albert, you was getting ready to bite into his bread. "You not gonna put that in the toaster?"

Albert watched his foster dad intensely, biting into the bagel slowly. Fred nodded.

"Good morning, familia", Ralph, Fred's husband, greeted. He was struggling to tie his tie. "What's for breakfast?"

"Cereal", Fred answered, leaning on the counter with his arms crossed. He smirked as Ralph rolled his eyes, fixing his cuffs. "I know you stayed up late last night."

"Siempre lo haces", he whispers, kissing his husband with a smile. He chuckles then walks over to his his sons, ruffling Elmer's hair and offering a fist bump to Albert. "Good morning, my children."

"Morning, Dad", Elmer says, smiling at him. "You got the interview."

"Yes, I did", Ralph answers, taking the cup of coffee his husband made him. "And I'm nervous as hell."

Albert chuckled as he ate his bagel. Elmer smiled at Ralph as he placed his papers in his folders. "You'll do fine."

"Vous allez faire de manière incroyable", Fred says, placing his hands on his husbands face, staring into his brown eyes. "Vous le faites toujours."

"I don't know what you said", Ralph smiled lovingly, "but it sounded supportive and I love you."

Albert watched their interaction, not sure how to feel about it.

He didn't have a a problem with them- if the pride flag he kept on the cuff of his hoodie had anything to say about it- but he hadn't really grown up around this. The amount of diversity he was around.

Spanish, French, and Polish fled the halls- and Italian when Albert felt like it. Different colors and backgrounds forced him to see the reality of the world everyday. Fred was a nurse and Ralph was a lawyer. Elmer was probably the smartest kid in the sophomore class! There was support and love, and pretty much everyone in the house liked guys, but it takes some getting used to. Especially for Albert.

"We're gonna be late", Albert told Elmer as he looked at the clock. "Like, for school."

"Okay", Elmer acknowledged, sniffling as he grabbed his backpack from the floor. He placed his backpack on his shoulders as he tried to take a cup of Joe. "Bye, Dad. Bye, Mr. F."

"Bye, kids", they chorused, Fred taking the cup away from him. Albert left with Elmer without a word.

The two of them walked down the street, having no reason to look for the bus stop. Albert kept his headphones on, noticing the stares he got from other teenagers. Most third graders had earbuds.

"Shit", Elmer cursed, remembering something. "Prawie zapomniałem. Czy możesz powiedzieć tacie i panu Stefflanowie, że nie będę w domu po szkole? I'm supposed to stay with Spot in Brooklyn."

Albert stared at Elmer in question, pulling his head phones down. "Yeah, I understood, like, none of that."

Elmer chuckled. "Can you tell Dad and Mr. F I'll be in Brooklyn tonight?"

"It's a school night", Albert argued, watching as Elmer's brows furrowed in thought.

"I'll just...tell them it's homework", Elmer shrugged, holding the straps of his backpacks.

"Woah! Elmer Kasprzak is going to be lying to his parents, everybody!" Elmer laughed and punched his brother in the shoulder, shaking his head.

"Whatever, man", Elmer says, looking ahead. "And they're your parents, too."

Albert pursed his lips, wishing he could put his headphones back on. The conversation died.

"So", he started, looking around. "How has school been so far?"

Elmer smiles at him, glancing at the bus ahead. "It's been cool. New clubs, new friends; the whole deal."

Albert chuckled, getting into the line for the bus. "You Manhattan kids are so optimistic."

"And you Bronx kids are such downers", Elmer smirked, climbing onto the bus.

———————

He hadn't seen him today.

Race already had a pretty crappy morning. His dad was already drinking and his car broke down. It didn't help that he missed the bus and didn't have time for breakfast. He had to call Jack to pick him up.

"You know, you could just live with me", the teen offered, opening the school doors. "Crutch, Medda, and I would love to have you."

"That's nice of you, sure", Race says, not really thinking about the offer. "But I'm fine. Plus, my dad would kill me if I disappeared out of no where."

"He'd kill you anyway if you stayed", Jack muttered, causing Race to scoff. The blonde hit him in his shoulders with his pitching arm.

"God, you hit like The Rock!"

"Bet I fight like him, too."

"Hey, guys!" Race and Jack looked over to find Crutchie and Davey walking up to them, bags of donuts in hand. "We brought breakfast."

"I brought breakfast", Davey corrected, handing a bag of donut holes to his Race. "Crutchie called me and mentioned you guys woke up late."

Jack's smile grew softly as he opened the bag, finding a pig in a blanket. "How'd you know I didn't like donuts?"

"Wild guess", Davey chuckled, placing both his hands in his back pockets. Crutchie walked over to Race, his crutch clacking on the floor.

"I told him", he whispered, watching the scene unravel. Race snickered, looking around the hallway.

He probably looked like a lunatic, smiling at the hallway for no reason- at least not one anyone knew about. He did realize that he probably looked crazy to a lot of people, but he didn't care as a certain boy caught his eye.

The ginger kid. Most likely not his name, and height find it offensive, but there wasn't much else to call him. All he knew was that his name started with an 'A'.

A letter that he totally didn't spend all of last week thinking about.

Just as he was about to walk over, the bell rang. Race cursed under his breath as Jack grabbed his arm, pulling him in the direction of his class.