Just Another Lovesick Boy

The next few days passed by as usually and peacefully as they usually would. My mother spent her entire time planning both Cecilia and Jack’s wedding along with another client. All of her time was consumed by them. I had yet to actually see Jack again. I could only admit that I was surprised that he had not come around. I fully expected that he would stay around and pretend that what happened never did. So when he never came back, I was somewhat surprised. Cecilia, however, came over as often as she could to visit. When she was not talking to my mom about wedding decorations, she would invite me to go out with her shopping for the wedding or hiking or other things. I usually declined because I found myself wanting to spend more time than ever with Eddy.

Our friendship had gone back to normal. It was like the couple of weeks that we did not speak to each other did not even exist. The only proof that it did happen was the amount of time we spent with each other. There were only a few fleeting moments that passed that we were not with each other. I spent all my free time at Eddy’s house and he spent his at mine. It was nice being able to see Freedom and Mr. Devereux again. After giving Eddy a good scolding for not talking to me, Free immediately dragged me to the kitchen or the garden with her every day. I did not realize how much I missed the entire Devereux family instead of just Eddy.

By the end of the week, Eddy, Lee, Anya, and I were all walking with each other home. Anya and Lee had gotten extremely close and were soon spending as much time together as Eddy and I did. When Lee did not walk with Eddy and me home, she went with Anya at her house. It felt odd having close friends other than Eddy, especially with girls, especially with girls that we liked. But at the same time, it felt extremely normal. It was comfortable and I enjoyed it.

The highlight of the week, however, was neither the reunion between Eddy and me nor the newfound combined friendship with Anya and Lee. It was the fact that on the Saturday that followed, Mr. Devereux had done something that we never thought he would ever do. He bought Eddy a car. Granted, it was a run-down, used car but it was still a car. My mother and I stood out in the Devereux’s front lawn as Mr. Devereux revealed the car to Eddy.

My mom had her arms folded and stared in amusement as Eddy ran over to the car. I walked forward with him, glancing over the car before looking at Eddy. He was screaming on the top of his lungs how much he loved his dad and how grateful he was for it. Mr. Devereux chuckled in the background before turning to talk to my mom. Eddy soon ran over to me and began shaking me by my shoulders violently.

“Dude, how are you not excited?” he yelled in my face.

I squirmed out of his grasp before saying with a grimace, “Do you even know how to drive? Do you even have license?”

“Ah, my love, I have keeping secrets,” Eddy sighed as he pushed his hair back and threw an arm over my shoulder. “Dad’s been teaching me how to drive for about two years now.”

“It took you two years to learn?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“I was always hanging out with you,” he shrugged.

“How come you never told me this?”

“Because I am one sneaky motherfucker,” he whispered before going back to his normal tone of voice. “Can you imagine all the places we can go now? One weekend, we have to have a road trip.”

“Not while you’re still in school, young man,” my mother called out.

“Yes, ma’am,” Eddy answered automatically.

I grinned at his response before leaning against the car. I stuffed my hands in my pockets as Eddy began checking out every single detail of the car. I was never one for cars so I did not feel quite as excited as he did. He could most likely run off every single thing there was to know about it, but all I saw was a blue car with four doors. In a way, it kind of suited Eddy. He did not need something brand new. He liked things with a bit of history behind it. He did not need something modern or cool. He was a simple kind of guy. So the small blue car definitely fit him. As I leaned against the car, Eddy opened the driver’s side door and sat down in the front seat. He was gripping the steering wheel in his hands with an excited grin before he glanced up at me.

“You’re quiet,” he remarked before looking away.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“What are you thinking?”

“You look like a kid who got his Christmas present early,” I said.

“Dude, I am a kid who got his Christmas present early,” he laughed.

“I just can’t believe you have a car, man.”

“Why?” he asked in a distracted voice.

“I guess I just see the kid in you too much. I always imagined you just being some kind of free spirit without material things. And now you’re all grown up with a car and driving,” I shrugged.

“It had to happen sometime,” he sighed as he leaned back in his seat. “No matter what I want, I will always physically grow older. But I don’t see why that has to affect how I live my life. Just because I get older does not mean I have to become a stuffy businessman or something. I could become a graphic designer or make video games or be a rock star and act like a kid my entire life. I’m not really growing up, Age.”

I stared down at him for a moment in silence. I glanced away to look down the long street we lived on. I rubbed my nose before straightening up. “So where you going to go with your hot racecar?”

“Don’t disrespect my car with your dirty sarcasm, Adrian,” Eddy glowered.

“Whatever, man,” I laughed.

“And I don’t know, dude. Dad said I am officially in charge of driving Free to and from school. Which means, I’ll be driving to school from now on so be ready for that. And before you ask, yes, I’ll drive Lee, too,” he rolled his eyes at his last statement.

“Cool,” I nodded.

Eddy soon stepped out of his car and closed the side door. He twirled his key ring around his finger before grasping it tightly in his hand. As he leaned against the car door by my side, he casually slipped the key into his front pocket. As Free’s singing voice drifted outside from the kitchen window and our parents spoke to each other behind us, we stood there with our hands in our pockets in a comfortable silence. I was not sure quite why but it felt like Eddy receiving a car was an impact on not just his but my life. It always felt like Eddy and I were always going to be together forever, always walking home from school and always just a climb across a wooden board away from each other’s room. But when Eddy got his first car, it suddenly hit me that we were growing up. And though we were each other’s best friends, we were completely different with different tastes. College applications were due soon and I knew that even if Eddy was remotely interested in going to college, we would not be majoring in the same subject, much less going to the same school. We would always be friends but we would not be the same as we were. Eddy was all over the place so who knows where he would end up? And I had not really bothered to even think about what I would do with my life. I had no sense of direction with my life and as I suddenly thought about it, it frightened me. I knew I would have to do some serious thinking soon.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were learning how to drive.”

“Get over it already, Adrian.”