Tone Deaf

Chapter Ten

Author's Note:

Don't worry, I didn't drop off the face of the planet again. I've just been traveling over the past month for work, so I'm just a little more busy. But no fear! I've returned with a new chapter. Also this is random, but I'm thinking of switching to third person after this chapter, I think that might give you guys a little more insight into what the boys are thinking. Let me know what you think, and let me know what you think about this chapter!

xoxo,

Q.

Devon:

"You've never been to a zoo?" I ask in disbelief. Kyle just rolls his eyes at my dramatic tone.

"It's really not a big deal, you know."

"Come on! Who's never been to the zoo?"

"Me! It's animals in cages, what exactly am I missing?" He says with a wide grin. I stare at him incredulously.

"A decent childhood!" I exclaim, and in less than a second I realize my mistake. "Shit, I didn't mean that, fuck."

To my surprise, Kyle just snorts.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You're not wrong." he says, leaning forward and taking a swig of beer.

I look at him, unsurely. 

Kyle hasn't exactly shared a lot about his childhood with me, but for how damn secretive he is, I know that telling me he was in foster care and had a long-lost twin sister could not have been easy for him. I don't want to make him feel like I'm making light of that in any way.

"I didn't mean—" I start, but Kyle cuts me off.

"Seriously, I'm not mad." he says, and he has an amused look on his face. "You're right. When I was in the system, I never really had the kind of foster family that would take us places like the zoo or the fair or whatever. Exciting day excursions for us were the occasional trip to McDonald's or KFC. It is what it is, dude."

I mull this over in my head. He seems like he's really not mad—I mean, it was an honest mistake—but I still feel bad for bringing it up. 

It can't be easy, not having fond childhood memories to look back on. Being reminded of being shifted around from home to home, never meaning much to anyone looking after you, never doing anything fun that other kids were doing. 

That's when I'm struck with a brilliant idea.

"What are you thinking? That look in your eyes is never a good sign," Kyle says, looking at me with a genuinely worried look in his eyes.

"It's a great sign, dude. We're going to the zoo."

Kyle blinks at me for a second and then his face breaks into a wide grin.

Kyle:

I gotta be honest, as dumb as it may seem, by the time we get to the zoo and stand in line to get our tickets, I'm feeling really excited. 

I know it's not a big deal and zoos are definitely more fun when you're below the age of twelve, but I never even thought about being able to go to the zoo as a kid and by the time I was on my own and not working constantly, my free time was definitely not spent going to zoos. 

At that age, the people I was hanging out with were going to bars and clubs, and maybe theaters or art galleries. Don't get me wrong, I loved all that, I still do. But it feels kinda good doing a kid thing, especially because I didn't get to do a lot of those growing up.