He threw his head back in frustration. His black curls followed the motion and the silhouette of his neck protruded. He stayed in this position while pinching the area in between his eyebrows. He finally set his phone down, and rested both his arms on the bench with his palms facing up. It was a dark night, but the street lights reflected of off his cinnamon colored skin. It casted a shadow beneath his cheekbones, nose, and lips.
Across the street, there was another young man who had been watching him the whole time. He moved the hair out of his face to get a better look at him and smirked. He stood in the dark as to avoid being seen by him, but curiosity got the best of him. He stepped off of the curb and crossed the street and slowly stepped into the lit area. The boy on the bench had been lost in his own world that he didn't even notice that someone was approaching him.
"What're you doing out so late" said the long-haired boy to the other snapping him out of his trance. His eyes widened at the sight of a stranger who seemed to appear out of nowhere speaking to him.
"Do I know you?" his body stiffened as he awaited the answer.
"No, but I guess you do now. My name is Santos. It's a pleasure to meet you..." he held his hand out awaiting the other boy to finish for him.
"Devon. It's Devon" he said without shaking his hand.
Santos' demeanor changed. His eyebrows lowered as he slowly pulled his hand back and stepped away.
"You know it's not safe around here. Especially this late" Santos tried again with no response.
"Alright then" Santos mumbled as he walked back out of the lit area.
Devon sighed out of relief. He's never been one to talk to strangers and he wasn't going to start now. He checked his phone once more.
11:38pm
He set it down, and a few seconds later be got a message. His eyes lit up and he picked his phone up once again. Only for his excitement to be quickly met with disappointment.
Sorry we didn't message you earlier. We're not going anymore
He grunted furiously and threw his arms up.
"They fucking do this every time" he said between his teeth.
He got up and put his hands up against the bench them began shaking it as if he was trying to remove it from the ground. As he continued his fit of rage, there was a slight squeak and a low rumble on the road behind him. Devon turned his head slightly, and noticed a car. The car inched closer and stopped completely. The window began lowering.
"If you were any stronger that would be considered vandalism" said a familiar voice.
"Oh its you again" he rolled his eyes
"You need a ride somewhere? I got enough space for your stuff too"
"No thanks"
Devon gathered his belongings and started walking. The street lights were spread out far apart and only half of them seemed to work, so it was very dark. The moonlight helped a little, but not enough. It was going to take a while before he got there on foot. Santos stayed behind him for about 20 minutes before finally catching up to him. He lowered his window again.
"Hey, why don't you just let me give you a lift, yeah?"
Devon ignored him and began walking faster. Santos continued behind him and was persistent.
"Come on, it'll be better. I'll even let you have the aux"
Devon stopped right in his tracks, inhaled deeply, and turned.
"Look if it'll get you to shut up, you can take me to my apartments"
"Great! hop in. You can put your shit in the back" Santos exclaimed.
Devon opened the back doors and threw his bags in. He situated himself in the front passenger seat and connected his phone to the aux like he was promised.
"Steve Lacy?" Santos grinned "I like some of his stuff too"
"I'm not feeling talkative bro" he turned up the music.
Devon pointed in the general direction of his apartments and Santos began driving. 15 minutes into the drive Devon lowered the music.
"Hey, I'm sorry for acting that way towards you earlier. I just don't really talk to strangers and I was upset that my friends flaked on me. Thanks for the ride. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do"
"Don't worry about it"
They continued and reached a stop light.
"My apartment complex is right after this light, you can drop me off on the outside so you don't have to drive all the way in"
"Yea ok"
The light turned green and Santos took his foot off of the break and continued. He turned his turn signal on before reaching the complex and passed it.
