Mailboxes and Park Benches ~A Ftm story~

Chapter 6

Luke sat with Ryan at lunch the next day. And after school they met at the mailbox. The same happened on that Friday. They just walked as the sun lowered in the sky, and sat at the same bench. Sometimes they talked. Sometimes they sat, looking at the waves of color in the sky. Now, at 1:00 on Saturday, Luke sat at a booth at some pizza place. The walls were made to look like bricks and an oven spit with fire. It was busy (obviously, it was a Saturday) and workers in red uniforms dashed around. The door jingled as it opened and Luke looked over to see Ryan walk in. She looked around, spotted him, and sat down on the other side of the booth.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"I already ordered the pizzas. They should be ready soon."
"Nice."
Ryan took a sip of water.
"Ok so this is kind of weird, but, you know pizzas?"
"Yea."
"Well I call them pizzaz. Like if you just replace the s with a z they're now pizzaz!" Luke did jazz hands and Ryan laughed.
"Ha! That's so stupid!"
"I know, right?"
"Alright. One large pizza with mushrooms and olives." Their waiter set down a tray with a large pizza on it in front of them.
"Enjoy." He smiled at them and walked away.
"Yum. Pizzaz..." Ryan took three slices.

After they ate, they went to Hot Topic. Ryan mostly looked at hoodies, and Luke at band shirts. Luke walked over to see Ryan was looking at pins, staring at one in her hand.
"Hey." Ryan dropped the pin back in with the others. Luke caught a glimpse of blue, white, and pink.
"There are some really cool Motionless in White shirts."
"Oh yea I saw those. Look I found this really cool hoodie." Ryan eagerly walked toward the hoodies, seeming to want to get away from the pins. Luke glanced at them for a second, and then followed.

Luke and Ryan held bowls of rolled up ice cream.
"This day has been awesome."
"I know right?" Luke smiled at Ryan as she took a bite of some fruity flavored ice cream. He had gotten chocolate, himself.
"So where do you want to go next?" Luke looked at his watch.
"It's 4:00 now. So we could go to a movie or something."
"Yea that sounds fun. There's a theatre at this mall, right?"
"Yea. Want to go see what's playing?" Luke suggested and Ryan nodded. They walked out of the food court and down to the theatre. They both stared up at the sign displaying all the movies. Luke's eyes caught on "Call me by your name." He thought he saw Ryan looking at the same one but neither of them said anything.
"Do you like horror movies?" Ryan asked.
Luke looked at her.

The whole theatre gasped. Ryan and Luke sat in the dark theatre room, only lit by the glow of the giant tv, displaying "A Quiet Place." People were saying it was the scariest movie yet. Ryan munched on pop corn, gripping a huge bowl of it, her eyes fixed on the screen. Luke tried not to let the bag of MnMs he was gripping crinkle. He was generally unimpressed by most horror movies these days. They weren't very good anymore, or scary at that. This was disappointing, considering how much Luke loved horror movies. As for Ryan, she looked completely content. Not scared at all, but satisfied. She leaned back in her chair, hugging the bowl of pop corn. Neither Luke or Ryan gasped with the rest of the audience.

"That was really good." Luke chirped as they walked out of the theatre, groups of people talking around them. Ryan continued to eat pop corn crumbs and Luke threw the empty bag of MnMs in a nearby trashcan.
"Yea. I was a bit skeptical but it was definitely as good as everyone said it was."
"Totally. We need more movies like THAT these days. Although... it wasn't as..."
"Scary?"
"Yes!"
"Yea everyone was saying this was the scariest movie ever! It was definitely as amazing as everyone said. Some high quality stuff. But not as scary."
"Yea. Good but not very scary. Still scary just not the worst." Luke agreed. They continued to ramble on about the movie, talking about certain scenes, the characters, and any subject that popped up. Luke looked at his watch.
"Well it's 5:50 now. Is there anywhere else you want to go?" Ryan looked around, thinking.
"Not really. I'm a bit tired. Do you want to just come back to my place?"
"Sure. Would your parents be ok with that?"
"Oh yea I can introduce you."
"Ok. Sure, yea. Let's do it." They didn't rush as they strode back to her house. The mall wasn't to far from her house but it was far enough away to give them plenty of time to take in some fresh air. Soon they got to their neighborhood. Instead of turning right like Luke usually did to get to his house, they turned left. They walked for a bit longer, and soon arrived at a two story house. Ryan walked over to a short tree, reached up to one of the branches, and pulled down a key.
"This is our spare key. Now you know where it is in case you ever want to break in." She smiled and unlocked the door. When you first walked in there was a room to the left with chairs, and small tables, not a living room but a spot to relax. To the right was a set of stairs, leading up into the dark. Deeper into the house Luke could see a huge living room and what looked like a kitchen right next to that.
"Sophia, are you home?" Luke noticed Ryan flinch.
"Mom, dad, I want you to meet someone." She called back, sinking deeper into her hoodie. A lady with long brown hair and green eyes and a man with short blonde hair and brown eyes walked into the room. Her face was stern but kind, wrinkles here and there and his face was simple and kind.
"Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Luke. Luke, this is my mom and dad."
"Nice to meet you, Luke." She shook his hand, looking him up and down.
"Nice to meet you to, Ms.... uh..."
"Just call me Joan." She nodded at Luke.
"Ok."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Her dad shook his hand , looking at him kindly. However he could see a kind of warning in his eyes.
"Ok, bye." Ryan turned her back and quickly ran up the stairs. Luke followed, a bit surprised. At the top she turned a corner to the left and flicked a switch. The darkness turned into a small hallway leading down the left side. They walked to the very end of the hallway where Ryan opened a door to a small room. The walls were just tan, but a plethora of posters made up for it. Luke looked around. There were Mcr posters, Motionless in White posters, a few TØP posters, one Suicide Silence poster, and many more. The walls were also filled with art that Ryan (Luke assumed) drew. There was a bed in the corner; it had black sheets and some purple blankets. A dresser stood on the wall opposite that of which the bed stood against. There was a wooden desk at the foot of the bed stacked with papers, figures, and a bunch of random stuff. The walls were lined with tons of things like books, comics, manga, stuffed animals, etc. A few clothes were sitting lazily on a black carpet.
"Sorry about the mess." Ryan mumbled and kicked a pair of black skinny jeans to one wall.
"It's fine. My room's always a mess. Not as cool as this, though. Nice" he said, pointing to the posters hanging on the walls. Ryan sat on her bed.
"Damn. I'm exhausted."
"Yea. Hey Ryan, why did your mom... why did she call you Sophia?" Ryan seemed to tense, her jaw clenching.
"Oh... um. I know someone named Sophia. She must've thought I was her when I came home. Don't worry about it. Do you like comics?" Ryan answered, picking up an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. She was trying to change the subject.  Luke was concerned. This whole thing with the bullies, her quietness, and now her mom thinking she was a Sophia? He didn't know what it was all about but whatever this was, Luke was going to know and he was going to make sure Ryan was ok.