The Montgomery-Detmer Guide To Making Teenagers Think You're A Witch

Chapter 4: The Crabby Crystal Camera Champion

Andrew blinked at the boy before turning on his heel and shouting "Mom! There's a kid on our porch who wants you!" Not the greatest choice of words, but that wasn't really what mattered at the moment. There was no way Andrew was going to make the decision of letting the kid stay or not, he was so antisocial that he was making his own mother deal with the conflict. He quickly skittered away as Karen walked up to the door, sitting back down in his seat next to Steve and leaning his head on the taller boy's shoulder as the younger shoved Karen's Mac and Cheese into his mouth. It was like that for a while, Andrew calming down from his short social interaction while Steve ate, and Karen was still talking with the kid outside. Suddenly, Karen walked back into the kitchen, joined by the boy, who no longer had bags in his arms. Andrew tensed a little, moving his head from Steve's shoulder, and Steve being Steve, sensed his tension, reaching under the table and grabbing his hand gently. Karen insisted the kid eat, but he said he wasn't hungry and walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs to the second level. Andrew looked at his mother, extremely confused, but Karen cleared it all up.  

"I told him he could stay,  for now. He'll be in the guest room, so unfortunately," she said sarcastically, "you and Steve will have to share a bedroom." There was a smile on her face and Steve giggled. 

"Bold of you to assume Steve's even slept in the guest bedroom before." Andrew muttered and Steve almost spit out his bite of Mac and Cheese.

"Andrew Ri- R. Detmer!" Karen shouted, her voice full of shocked laughter.

"What? It's not like we do anything suspicious. Matt was the weed one, remember?" Andrew retorted.  Steve looked over at Andrew, whispering something in his ear and making a rude gesture involving his pointer finger going into a hole made by his other hand. Andrew got it immediately, his eyes widening. 

"No, Mom! Ew! We don't- we don't do THAT! It's just sleeping together! Like, sleeping, sleeping! Not... not that!" 

"I'm not saying I'm angry, if you want to do that just use protection and be safe-" Steve was at a loss for words while Andrew tried to convince his mother that they wanted nothing of the sort. A conversation like that had never come up between the two boys, but now that it was on the table, Steve made a mental reminder to talk to Andrew about it later. 

The rest of dinner went without a hitch, Andrew taking clean up duty while Steve went upstairs to grab their homework papers and get the bed ready so they could study next to each other. As he expected, Steve ran into the new boy, and it wasn't hard to find him with his all black clothing and the constant clinking of chains. His black hair completely covered one eye and the eye that was uncovered was so bright blue Steve thought this kid could be related to Andrew. When he saw Steve, the boy stayed in one spot, as if deciding between walking away or walking up to Steve. Steve approached him and the boy stayed put, his hand clenching up into a fist, but he didn't say a word. 

"Hey, I'm Steve. Steve Montgomery. I, uh, live here with my boyfriend Andrew, this is his house. There anything I can help you with, you got stuff you need to put away? I'll help you out with it." The boy stayed silent for a minute before speaking in a lower raspy voice Steve wasn't expecting. 

"I'm Onyx. Onyx Reege. Sure, I mean I couldn't grab too much, but it's enough that it'll take more than an hour. Thanks for the offer." He studied Steve for a moment before a look of realization appeared on his face. 

"I think I know you. Junior? Captain of the football team?" 

"That's me. I don't remember seeing you around, I mean, I feel like I should've at some point." Maybe it was rude to comment on Onyx's outfit, but seriously, anyone could spot that kid from over a mile away.