"I need space." Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
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The apartment was full of people Ryan didn't know.
When Sam had told him a few people were coming over, Ryan had expected one or two friends. Not wall-to-wall humans.
After they'd eaten all that pizza, Ryan had put on his noise-cancelling headphones, a graduation present from everyone at the group home, and sat down to do the reading required before the first day of school. Finally finished, he removed his headphones and realized how good they were at cancelling out noise. Rock music and loud conversation leaked from beyond his bedroom door.
Ryan checked his phone. It was nine p.m. on a Sunday night, and Ryan had his first day of classes tomorrow. He wondered if his new roommates would hate him if she told them to keep it down.
He eased past the cluster of people in the hallway. There wasn't quite enough room for him, but the green-haired kid he bumped into only turned to him and smiled. "You must be Ryan."
"Uh, yeah," Ryan said. "Nice to meet you?"
"I'm Tatum. They/them pronouns." Tatum stuck out their hand, and Ryan shook it.
Unsure how else to respond, Ryan said, "He/him."
"Cool." Turning to the group they'd been talking to, Tatum rapid-fire named everyone: "Jon he/him, Van he/him, Natalie she/her, and Charlie they/them."
Ryan smiled blankly. He would never remember any of their names. Or their pronouns. Although the one named Van was checking Ryan out in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Just gonna get a drink," he said, and hurried toward the kitchen.
"Ryan!" Pete called from one of the high stools at the kitchen bar.
One look at Pete's red cheeks and Ryan knew he'd been drinking. Ryan was no stranger to alcohol, but he'd never seen Pete drink. They'd never hung out together outside of the group home environment. Stupidly, he hadn't considered what Pete would be like without anyone supervising him, although grocery shopping should have been a warning.
"Did I miss the party invite?" Ryan asked, leaning on a free patch of counter, only to discover it was wet with something red. He lifted his arm and found a paper towel to wipe it off, then soaked as much of it off the counter as he could.
"Nah, Harper invited a couple people over and then all these other people showed up. But it's cool, the roomies know them. Most of them." Pete shrugged and slurped something from a red solo cup.
"What are you drinking?" Ryan asked.
"Gin and juice," Pete slurred, and wobbled to his feet. "Want one? It's easy to make. Kool Aid and gin. Thass it."
So that was the sticky red substance all over the counters. "How many have you had?"
"Juss two. But they're strong. I'll make yoursh shtronger so you can catch up."
