Gray Days

Chapter 7: Meeting A New Friend and Friending An Old One

7

Zoey.

The actual place Rut wants me to see isn't where the girl met the stranger, it's a nook hideout.

In the middle of the forest, hidden between mountains, is plain ground. There's a little passage over at the side, and through there is a waterfall dropping to the river. It didn't meet my conditions. There are more than eight people—teenagers—hanging out here. But they aren't partying or doing anything loud, they're just hanging out. Some are playing old-fashioned games on the ground while others are taking a swim. It's a place that doesn't exactly calls out to the Rut I know.

If there's a word that can describe this place in Rut's tongue, it's boring.

"We found this place in the summer before junior year. At first, it was just me and Rigel, but after some time we found some good friends that'll treasure this place as much as we do," he says as he tours me around the place. If Rut is popular back at school, here it's the same. Others greet him as we pass by and he greets them back, sporting his easy grin. "Artemis Dematteo, a very good friend, preferred it to be called Our World, but she went away and the name went away with her so now it's back to simply "hideout". We're open for suggestions though."

There is over fifteen people hanging here and there. All of the students—says Rut—either come from our school or Middleton High School so there are familiar faces as there are those I haven't seen before.

"That's Isaac, the one with Rigel," Rut tells me and calls out to them. They both smile towards us but soon goes back to their conversation, and Rut turns his attention back to me. "What do you think? The place is great, right? It's fresh. We have a pool to cool down in if it gets too hot but with winter, I'm guessing no one's going to swim in there by the end of December."

I look around the place to find a person or two, but I don't see what I'm looking for. "Brad and Harry aren't here?"

"Nope. It's just me and Rigel. Neil O'Donnell and Derek Mason are part of us too but they rarely come. What do you think?" he asks me again, anticipating what I'm going to say about his nature hideout.

When I look up at him, he's waiting for my answer, looking like a kid waiting to be given a lollipop. "I never thought you like this kind of place," I tell him honestly, "You're a party animal. This place would be boring for someone like you."

Rut laughs at my comment. "Yeah well, it looks like you don't really know me at all, do you, Zoey?"

"And you think you know me?" I shoot at him back.

Laughing, Rut holds his hands up in surrender, and grins, "I'll stand corrected."

Stubborn but easygoing. Reserved but friendly. Silent but outspoken. These are usually the paradoxes my friends describe me as. I can talk, be friendly, and warm if I want to just like how Rut can be serious, concerned, and furious if he talks about his father. I believe everyone is like this. Full of paradoxes. They can be rigid but they can also be carefree, just like how people can laugh and also cry. Given all this, even Rut, who enjoys going to loud parties all the time also wants to have a little peace and quiet.

Even Rigel, who— every time I see him in school—always looks reserved and shy is now talking openly with Isaac and everyone else. This side of Rut and Rigel makes me realize we're not limited to the things we show to others. It's like having another person inside of you that only comes out in the right environment and with the right people. It's strange but it's beautiful. This is one example of the beauty of life, and I'm looking at it face to face.