The Prince and the Pauper

Attis was glued to his spot. What would happen when he walked back out of the bathroom? Would Donnie laugh at him, assuming Lyle told him? Would he just act like nothing ever happened?

Instead of standing there with a dumb look on his face, Attis made his way for the door. He could feel his nerves starting a riot inside of his gut, but he knew he couldn’t stay there forever. Dread filled him as he slowly opened the door, his face down and his eyes half shut, as if it would shield him from the world.

` ` `

“I thought you had to go to the bathroom, too,” Donnie wondered as Lyle made his way back out of the bathroom after only a few seconds.

Lyle blushed, knowing it would be wrong to embarrass poor Attis by telling Donnie. Even if he did trust him not to make fun of Attis, it should be their little secret.

“Yeah, false alarm,” Lyle lied, smiling at his friend, who only shook his head.

Lyle joined him at the table, where they waited patiently for Attis to come out of the bathroom. Internally, Lyle was smiling at how adorable the face Attis made when he saw him looking at him. No one he had ever seen looked so helplessly mortified. It was a little cute to Lyle.

“What’re you daydreaming about?” Donnie questioned. Lyle turned a little red once he discovered Donnie giving him a questionable gaze.

“Nothing. Just a little hungry. I never did get to eat those POPS you know,” Lyle gave a mock pout. Donnie smiled, planting his face on the table from impatience. He, too, was hungry.

“Maybe….?” Donnie’s tone in the form of a question, not sure what to call their company, “He never did tell us his name,” he finished, realization hitting both of them.

“Oh yeah, he didn’t,” Lyle restated, as if it didn’t count when Donnie had said it.

“Do you really think he’s your twin?” Donnie quizzed randomly, but thoroughly interested in what Lyle's response would be.

Lyle looked away from his friend, not knowing if he really did. Why would anyone want to separate them if they really were? But then, he already knew he was adopted. What are the odds Attis was adopted too?

“I don’t know. It’d be awesome if we really…” Lyle trailed off as Attis came into view, showing up at their table. Lyle's eyes were fixed on him, unintentionally making Attis uncomfortable.

Attis bit into his lip, focusing his gaze elsewhere. He wished Lyle would stop staring at him the way he was. Lyle finally did, but not soon enough for Attis, who was starting to sweat and turn a fiery hue of scarlet.

“Oh!” Donnie gained the attention of both boys, smiling brightly.

“Your name… You never told us,” he uttered pleasantly, though he felt a little unsure about what might happen if Lyle and him really were twins.

Attis scanned the table for something. A pen, a napkin… But he was lacking any of the materials. He wondered how he would tell them.

Donnie watched Attis, a little agitated. Patience was something he lacked, but his friendliness made up for it… Just not always.

“You…. Could try talking,” Donnie blurted, widening his eyes and staring at Attis.

Attis opened his mouth but no words would come. It was almost as if his vocals had forgotten how to speak, or they just refused to. He frowned, feeling unwelcome around Donnie, who obviously preferred him to talk.

“Or you can wait until you’re comfortable,” Lyle cut in, hoping to relieve some of the tension. It worked, to some extent. Donnie sulked, wishing Attis would speak to them instead of being mute.

Attis smiled towards Lyle, and then at Donnie. His face had ‘I’m sorry’ written all over it, so Donnie just flashed him a friendly grin to let him know it was okay.

“But, a name would be nice,” Lyle said and scampered over to the front counter, returning with a pen and a napkin. He handed it to Attis, anticipation taking over his pace.

Attis gladly accepted it, leaning down on the table to scribble down his name.

A T T I S

“Great, thanks guys. I get to be the only one with a boring name,” Donnie giggled, complimenting both Attis and Lyle indirectly. Lyle laughed with him, nodding his head in agreement as Attis silently beamed.

He felt a lot better around Lyle and Donnie now, compared to the drive here. Attis savored the peace, knowing from experience it might not last long. For the first time, he was communicating with real people who were actually kind to him. It felt good, until he remembered…

Attis was suddenly driven off edge by a thought that drilled into his happiness mercilessly.

Layla and Corey were waiting for him.

Attis panicked, putting his face in his hands as his heart went on a rollercoaster. He had to get home. Corey would kill him if he ever found out he’d interacted with someone. Or some people.

Lyle noticed Attis’s abrupt attitude change.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, mixed with confusion and concern. Attis continued his panic fit as he scoured his head for a way to get home from where he was. How could he have been so careless? What had he thought would happen when he had to go home?

Attis picked up the pen and turned the napkin over, writing a note. He handed it to Lyle, who scanned over it a few times unsurely.

“Is this your address?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Attis nodded instantly.

“Do you want us to… Take you home?” Lyle questioned, really disappointed. Attis nodded frantically, turning for the door and looking back at Donnie and Lyle like ‘come on!’ Lyle hesitated a moment before dragging his feet. Donnie followed swiftly, uncertain of what was going on.

“But- I was hoping we could, you know, talk a little. Well, not talk, since you don’t. But get to know each other…” Lyle trailed off, stopping when Attis shook his head quickly and offered him a pleading look. Lyle sighed and looked down, going outside of the restaurant discouraged. Attis went too, taking the napkin with him.

They all climbed into the Hummer, Donnie driving once again. Lyle didn’t look at Attis, who was sitting a seat away from him. Attis knew he’d let them down and felt terrible for it, but he couldn’t tell them why. He couldn’t stick around any longer; for Attis knew he had a very painful and, undeserved, licking coming his way. It was bad enough he was gone so long, but to make things worse: he didn’t have the milk. And was completely broke, unable to buy more.