Days of the Old

I spun myself around in my chair slowly as I strummed my new guitar, smiling as I showed Tyler the song I’d made. We’d both been bored out of our minds, trying to figure out what to do, but then I just picked up my guitar and figured I’d show him the song I’d worked so hard on. He hadn’t heard it yet, and I really wanted to hear his opinion on it.

However, he didn’t seem interested in it at all. He was laid back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling as he threw a tennis ball up in the air and caught it repeatedly. He hadn’t even noticed that I stopped playing and put my guitar in its case.

This was odd; he was usually the one who encouraged me no matter what. Not the one who completely ignored me. Hesitantly, I got up from my chair and sat beside him on my bed, and only then did he acknowledge me, and even then it was just a simple glance before he went back to tossing the tennis ball back up in the air.

He threw it with a little too much force, and it hit the ceiling at an odd angle, ending up across the room on the floor. Letting out a long sigh, he finally met my eyes and abruptly sat up, the movement sort of spastic. “We’re going to a party tonight.”

“Ty,” I did a double take on him, watching him carefully. “Who could you possible know in Huntington well enough to go to one of their parties?” I asked, my tone sceptical as I stared up at him with a raised eyebrow.

Standing up suddenly, he looked down at me with almost an anger burning in his eyes. That made me stand up, too, but that only made him come a little closer so he was almost in my face. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I know people. Stop asking so many questions okay?” He asked fiercely.

Okay, I was pretty sure that was the only question I’d asked him. I stepped back, not liking him so close when he was in such a mood. He’d been fine up until when he woke up today, and he’d been almost grouchy ever since. I thought showing him my song might cheer him up a bit. Guess not.

“Alright, alright. Calm your hormones Tina, god.” I said, raising my hands up in front of me defensively.

Just as spastically as he had before, he too backed away and ran a hand down in his face in frustration before collapsing in my computer chair. I paused, staring at him and wondering what the heck was stuck up his ass. “I’m gonna invite Dannii along too, okay?”

“No, no!” He said, once again standing up abruptly. He noticed me looking at me oddly and looked away, running a hand down his face for the umpteenth time that day. “I mean, I don’t want Dannii to come.” He stated, his voice a little softer this time.

That was another surprise for me, he and Dannii had gotten along so well over the past few days. I would have thought he’d have been excited for her to come, maybe even make his first move like I thought he wanted to. Up until then, I thought it was so obvious he liked her.

“Are you okay, huh Ty?” I asked in the same tone, taking a step forward to get a closer look at him. “You’ve been acting off all day. You sure you’re up for a party tonight?”

A party wasn’t very appealing under normal circumstances, and I didn’t want him going out when he was like he was then. If he acted like this with other people, he was sure to get in a fight at some point. And that wasn’t a very smart thing to do at a party where we basically knew no one.

“I’m—I’m fine, P, I just... I just need some fresh air, okay?” He said, still not looking me in the eye as he stalked over to my desk and took out a pad of paper and a pen, furiously scribbling something down on it. “If I’m not back by eight go to this address okay?” He asked, stuffing the piece of paper into my hand.

“How am I gonna get there?” I asked, smoothing out the piece of paper and squinting at the address. I didn’t recognize it, but I wasn’t really expecting to in the first place.

“That—just figure something out, Payton!” He asked, raising his voice again. I was a little more worried then, this was the first time in years, or possibly ever that he actually sounded mad at me. I began wondering what I could have done wrong, had I said something that upset him?

Did he and Dannii get in a fight, and he was just blowing off some steam over it? No... they were getting along perfectly well yesterday before she left, and to the best of my knowledge he hadn’t talked to her since.

I didn’t want to him to be even more upset with me, so I simply nodded and gave him a tiny smile. He gave me another quick look before leaving, let the door stay open behind him. “Bye!” I called out hesitantly, even though I knew he wouldn’t reply while he was in such a state.

The front door could be heard slamming shut just a few moments later, and I sighed as I stared down at the crumpled piece of paper for a few long minutes. How the hell was I going to get there? I did not know how to navigate my way around Huntington.

Asking Matt to give me a ride couldn’t hurt, could it? Besides, I was sure he would say yes anyway. He wouldn’t want me beating around the streets looking for some godforsaken address. I neatly folded the paper up and closed my fist around it before heading downstairs, going straight to the kitchen where I heard voices.

Matt and Brian stood behind the island, each with a beer in hand. They both smiled at me once I approached. “Hey, P, what’s wrong with Tyler? He left in a bit of a hurry.” Brian said, nodding toward the front door.

“Uh... yeah, about that,” I mumbled, realizing that I didn’t even know what was going on with him. “I dunno. But we’re going to a party tonight, okay? I’m gonna need a ride.” I said, turning my attention toward Matt.

He straightened then when he heard about anything to do with a party, and that made me a little wary. I thought he was going to be cool with it. “A party? Where? Who with?” He asked, setting his beer aside as he leaned forward slightly.

Figuring it would be best to just be honest with him, I held my hand out, the paper with the address in it. “Here’s the address. And I already said I’m going with Tyler.” He took it, frowned once he got a look at the address and showed it to Brian, who gave him a ‘look’ while shaking his head.

That made me even more wary. “What?” I asked warily, now leaning against the counter too and trying to get a good look at the address, wondering if there was something I’d missed on it.

“There aren’t a lot of bad places in Huntington, but that place...” Brian said, trailing off as he slowly looked away from the paper and focused his attention back on his beer.

Matt nodded, agreeing with Brian. Of course. He slowly handed the paper back to me, and I could tell he wasn’t sure if he wanted to or not. “Patey, that part of Huntington is really dangerous. I can’t let you go to that party.”

I quickly realized my mistake, I shouldn’t have told him about the party at all. That was what I got for being honest. “Matt, I’ll be fine! You’re just worrying too much again!” I argued, unwilling to give up so easily.

Once again, he shook his head, this time a little more forcefully with a look of determination in his eyes. “No, Payton. It’s not safe.”

“But—but that’s not fair!” I huffed, backing away from the counter to fold my arms across my chest. I rolled my eyes when Matt did the same. “I’ll be safe with Tyler. I went to parties with him back home all the time!”

It was obvious Matt was quickly growing frustrated with me, but there was no way I was giving up yet. “It’s not safe, Payton! No, you’re not going to the party. That’s final.”

Opening my mouth, I was about to continue arguing, but Brian held up his hand and cut me off. “Just drop it, Peanut. Even if Matt says yes, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go. You don’t know what an understatement ‘not safe’ is for that part of Huntington.”

Rigidly, I stuffed the piece of paper in the front of my jeans pocket and turned to glare at them, running my tongue across my teeth. “You guys fucking suck.” I said simply and turned on my heel, storming up the stairs and once I was in my room, I began pacing around.

What the fuck was I going to do? I wasn’t ditching Tyler. I wasn’t going to let him venture into apparently one of the most dangerous parts of Huntington alone. I was going to be there, by his side winging it with him, just like the old days. The days I wanted back so badly.

Oh, no. I was not going to give up so easily just because my ‘daddy’ said I wasn’t allowed to. I was going to be there for my best friend at whatever cost. And I was going to figure out what had been bugging him all day.

After a few more moments of pacing, I walked over to my window and opened it, trying to see how much of a drop it was to the ground. The poolside tile was pretty much directly below my window, and I was thinking that wouldn’t be a very soft landing, but I would have to risk it.

For Tyler.