The Art of Getting Better

e l e v e n || him

⌈e l e v e n⌋

1.1 || record
a plastic disk carrying recorded music, in the grooves, for reproduction by a record player.

• • •

At first, when the group decided that they wanted to chill at Theo's house instead of their usual places (i.e. The Yellow Café or one of the many forests) he thought they were kidding. Sure, they had been to his house before; hell, his grandmother probably loved all three of the boys more than she loved him! But even if that wasn't true, it didn't help the growing nerves in his stomach. He didn't live in a gated community or even a near-fancy cul-de-sac.

   He lived on a suburban street, complete with unkept gardens and weeks worth of newspapers at the base of the driveways. He lived in a subpar ranch styled home, really the only house on the street that wasn't a two-story family house. His Grandparents helped design it so it would fit to their growing needs as they grew older, which was the right choice in the long run.

   But, they weren't kidding. Spread out around his basement floor, were his best friends. They all talked about random topics, jumping from one to another. Arrays of music filled their ears, but no one really listened to the lyrics. It was mostly playing to fill the gaps between conversations and just be background noise.

   "Gabriel came up to me today," Sebastian scoffed from his place on a beanbag. Theo looked at his best friend, seeing anger and annoyance dancing in his eyes. For all the years Theo had known Sebastian, he only ever had seen him get angry three times. He didn't have a temper, maybe it was from the pot he smoked, or it could just be his personality, but either way, the twin looked incredibly pissed -which was out of character for him.

   "Oh yeah?" Wesley was the first to speak after a few beats of silence. No one spoke for a few moments, the air becoming thick with the emotions that were rolling off of Sebastian.

   "He said he wanted to take my sister out..." The twin finally said, seemingly spitting them out like they were poison on his tongue. His words started a frenzy, the entire group erupting in protests and startled gasps. Theo nearly jumped up from his spot on the floor, but clenched his fists and counted down from ten -a trick he had learned from the Internet.

   "You said no, right?" Natalie asked, her eye brows raised in suspicion.

   "Of freaking course I said no! I would never let that shitbag touch my twin sister!" Sebastian snapped, apologizing to Natalie quickly after. Everyone sat in silence after that, some moving onto their phones, Wesley and Noah beginning to play one of Theo's many FIFA video games.

He heard the door to the basement open, and the soft steps of his sister trying to snoop in on them. He felt himself smile at how timid her steps were, and rose from his place and walked over to the steps, looking up at his sister -who looked to be in pain with every step she took.

   "What you need, Pen?" His voice startled her, and she gripped the railing tightly.

   "A girl is here to see you. I told her to stay put while I grabbed you." Penelope smiled proudly.

   "Okay, thanks. Now let's go back up, no preteens in the basement, you know this!" He laughed when she tried to push past him and venture further into the basement. She sighed and led the way back up the steps, leaving him to go back to her room while he continued on to the front room.

   "What a surprise!" He smiled when she turned around, having heard his footsteps.

   "Sorry I'm late, had to finish my English essay." She rose from her seat, happily returning his smile. She turned away from the boy and looked around the small area, her eyes scanning the framed pictures a tad bit too long. "So... gonna give me a tour or what?" She said finally, smirking slightly when he sputtered out his answer. They were off then, him giving brief descriptions of every room they entered. Her demeanor was calm, and she was listening and taking in every word he spoke of the house.

When they got to the end of the hallway, Theo began to feel anxious again. Behind the closed door was his bedroom, nothing he was proud of. He liked to think he was an organized person, but his room showed that he was anything but.

"Don't be grossed out if there is a half dozen empty water bottles on my nightstand, okay?" He coughed, itching the back of his neck while he waited for her answer.

"You should see my room, its horrendous," She looked at him for a moment, locking with his deep brown eyes and frowned. "If you think I'm gonna judge you because your room isn't the size of a New York apartment, I'm not. I promise." He nodded and took a deep breathe. He didn't know why he was so nervous, maybe it was because she was a girl who was about to see his room, or maybe it was because she lived in a nicer house and probably had a much better room than he did. He tried not to dwell on his thoughts, and he pushed open the door before he could second guess himself again.

He walked in after her, not seeing the large smile that spread across her face while she took everything in. He heard her inhale, and saw her fists unclench and pull at the sleeves of her jumper. She looked so cute He thought while he looked at how she moved around the mess. She wore a dull leaden-blue sweater and a pair of darker washed jeans. She looked beautiful in everything she wore, even if she was just wearing her 'lay around clothes'.

"You've got a great taste," She muttered from where she stood. She was flipping through his collection of vinyls, growing happier and happier ever time she recognized one of them. "I mean like, damn, you keep surprising me!"

"Are you actually shocked that I listen to music?" He asked, his voice thick with amusement.

"You seem like a TED Talks kind of guy..." She trailed off, a loud laugh coming out her mouth when she saw his dropped mouth and wide eyes.

"I'm not some kind of nerd, you know, just because I'm As-" She cut him off, and she took a step away from the box of records and walked towards him quickly.

"I'll stop you right there, Theodore. I did not think you were a nerd because of your race... I thought you were a nerd 'cause you know every answer in AP Chem." She laughed at the end of her statement, and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth.

"Okay, you know what? Let's go see what the groups doing before you can insult me again, okay?" He smiled, grabbing her forearm, dragging her out of his messy room.

"Oh, Theodore... I will still insult you." She answered him, her voice dripping in humor.

dedicated to greenypots
➝ author of jonah clarke is not gay