Coffee Shop

• 17 •

We spent two hours looking for Brian. Two whole freaking hours. Brian wasn't at his apartment, the park, or the beach. Kyle even checked the bar he supposedly used to work at, and that diner we never had a chance to visit.

Again, nothing.

Kyle checked alleys, small neighborhoods, and anywhere where trees were heavy and shadows came in pairs. When I asked why, he had said, "When Brian's upset, he'll walk, and it doesn't matter who might've given him a ride."

I couldn't argue. I let him search. He had a better idea than I did. Besides, I also didn't have a choice. It was Kyle's car, after all.

With his hands on the steering wheel, I decided to turn on the radio to calm my thoughts. It seemed Kyle and Brian had similar tastes. The first station that came up was an all-rock station, playing the classics from the '80s until now—that was what the lady said.

"So," Kyle leaned back in his seat as music played quietly from his speakers, "you've known Fifth for how long now?"

Fifth? I giggled, which was good because I needed a laugh. "You really call him that?"

Kyle lifted his brow and smiled, nodding once. "Well, hell, my Dad's Fourth, so..."

I didn't understand how that math worked but laughed again. Harder this time. Trying to stifle it, I pressed my hand to my mouth.

"It really isn't that funny," he added.

"It is," I said, leaning my elbow against the window, "considering I share a name with three of my cousins."

Kyle poked out his bottom lip with a quiet hmph. "Cousins, huh? They look like you?"

My jaw dropped.

"I'm joking, Kay. Joking. Don't tell him I said that."

In the two hours I spent in Kyle's car, I learned a lot about him, more than what I could've learned at the party alone. For one, Kyle and Brian were closer than best friends could ever be, and they were both running backs on their high school football team. They were nicknamed The Mills because they shared the same last name. And once, their school jackets were missing the same number of letters. They both read "Mill" instead of "Miller" their entire junior year.

He told me about their weekends at their grandmother's, who lived just a town south of where I grew up. He also told me about their old family dog, Shilo, and a cat named Joker; though, he nicknamed it Demon with Four Legs and showed me the scars on his arm to prove it.

Talking to Kyle about Brian's good memories, the ones he hadn't told me himself, made me slowly forget the bad, the ones he never wanted to share.

"So," Kyle nodded his head as the radio went to commercial, "how long have you known him?"

"He didn't tell you?" I pressed my finger against my lip.

Kyle shook his head and tapped his phone. It sat on a base, syncing with his horrible service to work a GPS. I say horrible, because every few minutes, the female voice said: signal lost, re-routing.

"No, he didn't, but Brian's a bit of a recluse. At least, that's how he's been since... you know." He cleared his throat.

"Right." I slide my fingers through my hair as we turned onto another street with too many trees. "I think... almost four months now."

"Woah." Kyle snorted. "Four months? And he's.... that's nice."

"He's what?" I looked at him with a side glance. "What's that mean?"

"Nothing bad, Kay. It's a good thing." Kyle rolled his head around his shoulders once before shooting me a smile similar to Brian's. Only his dimple was on the opposite side. "Here's the thing. Brian hasn't made new friends in a while, he can't... connect, I guess. For you to come into his life, get him to have a birthday party, do you know how big that is?"