The Closet-a Ralbert Story

Chapter 15

I am very sleepy lol

On Friday, Race grabbed his favorite flannel out of his closet, along with his favorite pit of shoes and his favorite pair of pants.

Something good was going to happen today, he could feel it.

Checking the mirror in his bathroom- after brushing his teeth, combing his hair, then running his wet hands through it- he felt he was ready. Something in him still made him nervous, though.

"Hey", his dad sniffled, wiping his nose with his hands. "You need to find someplace to sleep tonight. You can't stay here."

Race furrowed his brows. "And why not?"

"I'm having some company over and I'd rather you not embarrass me."

Race rolled his eyes, taking his phone out of his back pocket. "Whatever."

The older man left with a stumble, scratching his bare stomach as he yawned back to his room. Race couldn't even believe he was debating leave here.

He hadn't heard back from the college- Massachusetts Institute of Technology- yet, but he wasn't nervous. He got good grades, played sports, and now he was going to get volunteer hours. He's set.

But, just in case, he did apply to NYU.

Sighing, Race walked out of the bathroom and to the front door, shoving his shoes on quickly as he grabbed his bag of extra clothes in case of an emergency. He opened the door and walked out.

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No, Albert did not see himself using his Friday afternoon after school for a park cleanup. He didn't even see himself doing it on Saturday.

But he was glad Mr. R kept a beanie in his car. It was still November, and at this point, Albert finally admitted it was freezing. His ears were turning red, and he kept checking his fingers to see if they were turning blue. Elmer helped him through it, though.

"Hands", his little brother called, waiting for Albert to take his hands out of his pockets. Albert showed him his fingers. "Put them back."

Albert chuckled as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "How long are we going to do this?"

"Until your fingers are back to their wonderful pale color", Elmer answered, making Albert laugh. He pointed ahead. "Look. There's the group."

Albert sort of remembered them. The party last night was cut a little short, but there were some people he could recognize. However, there seemed to be more people there. That didn't scare him, though.

Despite their brief meeting, the guys were pretty nice. "Hey, guys!"

The group of boys gave Elmer a big and loud greeting, and Albert couldn't help but smile. "You guys remember my brother."

"Ah, right", Jack smacks his head. He turns to his friends and clears his throat. "Uh, this is Albert. Al, you remember Mush, Blink, Davey, and Spot", Jack assumes, pointing a thumb at his group of friends as he downed the rest of a Coca Cola. "That's Romeo, Mike, Ike, Crutchie, Henry, Buttons, Finch, and the Brooklyn boys."

Spot rolled his eyes. "That's Hotshot, York, Bart, Myron, and my younger cousin, Graves."

Albert nodded, looking at all of the new faces. "Hello."

"Guys!" Albert turned with the rest of the guys, seeing three people running towards them. Two of them appeared to be familiar, but he didn't know from where. There were other people behind them- a lot of people behind them- but they were definitely the most noticeable. "Guys! We're here! We brought the team!"