An Easy Friend

Chapter 4

'Should I take the jacket to school?'

I stood in the hall, hesitating. Since Kurt let me borrow his jacket two days ago I've been pondering over what to do with it. Do I take it to school? I don't see him until lunch and it'd be pretty silly to have a jacket on as well as in your hand. Do I wear it? I'll still need one for the rest of the day. I'll just wear it and hope he's wearing mine so that we can trade back. You can't even tell this is a men's jacket, plus it's black- like most of my wardrobe. I'll just wear it.

Why do I stress over everything?

I throw the jacket over my t-shirt. There's that scent again. It's sweet yet musky somehow.
Am I becoming obsessive?

It's cold today. It's always cold. That's why I love it here. It's small and cold. That's what home feels like to me.

As I'm walking to school, I see Krist ahead of me. I yell for him to wait for me. When I catch up to him, I asked where Kurt was.

"Wow, not even a hello?" he says jokingly.

"Oh, well, yeah, hi. But um, I have his jacket. I need to give it back. That's all." I say rapidly, embarrassed by my mistake.

"He's not coming today. He's got, uh... he's sick."

"Oh." was all I said. We walked for a few minutes in silence. Suddenly Krist stopped in his tracks.

"Why do you have Kurt's jacket?" he says raising an eyebrow.

I blush. "I ran into him on Saturday and I needed one so we exchanged jackets." We began walking again.

"How in hell did you run into him? He never leaves my house expect for one place."

"Yeah, that place is where I found him."

"What? What were you doing all the way out there?" Clearly the idea of Kurt seeing anyone was very confusing for him. That says something about Kurt.

"I was exploring. Chill out, man." I elbow him.

"Alright. It's just weird. He never lets anyone bother him there. No one." Shit. And there I go and fall on him. Yeah, I'm not telling Krist that.

-

It's lunchtime now. All I'm having is a bottle of water because I know I can't eat. There are very few times I can eat more than one meal a day, my body just won't take it. This morning I was shaking violently so I knew it was going to be one of those days.

I was sat under that tree again waiting for Krist when someone sat down next to me. As I look up to say hi, I nearly choke on my water. It wasn't Krist, but Kurt.

"What the hell, are you okay?" Kurt says, failing miserably at containing his laughter.

I regain my breath. "I thought you were home sick?" My voice rises at the end, making it more of a question.

"I got better. Miraculously." he says with a shrug.

"Where's Krist?" Oh how the tables have turned.

"He's with his girlfriend."

"Krist has a girlfriend?" I had no idea.

"Yeah. Her name's Shelli. He didn't hang out with her before because he didn't want to be rude to you. You know, the newbie to the group."

"Wouldn't that be rude to her?" I ask.

"No," Kurt shakes his head, "She was cool with it. They spend every waking hour together anyway." He said that last sentence with a twinge of annoyance.

"He mentioned that you never leave his house either." I paused, hinting that I wanted to know more.

"That's different. I live there."

Do I push it? Do I ask why he lives there? I've learned that he was more of a private person. Maybe I shouldn't.

"Oh! I've almost forgotten. I brought you your jacket back." I gesture to my shoulders. I eye the jacket he's wearing - it's mine.

"I have yours too." He says with a smile, causing me to smile. We exchange jackets. Amazingly, he's transferred his scent onto my jacket.

The bell rang and we walked to math class together. Today, instead of doodling or daydreaming, he talks to me. We talk mostly about music. It's amazing when you find someone who has the same taste in music as you. Especially when your playlist is complicated. He likes older stuff, like the Beatles, but also punk rock, like Leadbelly. Just like me. In fact, he was so interested in music that he wanted to start a band.

Now, that wasn't a rare dream for a teenage boy to have, especially not at this time and in this place. But the way he spoke about music and his desire to play it was admirable. He already played drums and guitar, "I'm all ready." he'd said with a smile. I told him that it would be great for him to form a band. I'd definitely support him. He appreciates good music, just like me.

Talking to him for that hour made me realize something. He had finally began to warm up to me. Now that we've found a common interest, who knows? Maybe we'll have a good friendship.