Just A Spark [boyxboy]

Just A Spark {10}

                The doorbell rang a little while later and I got up. By the time I had made it out to the living room, Ezra was standing there cheerfully talking with my dad.

                He noticed me and his smile grew. “Hi Rio,” he said.

                “Hey,” I said. “Dad, I forgot to tell you that I invited Ezra over.”

                “I see that,” dad said with a laugh. “Well, I’m perfectly fine with that. Just…stay in the house, Rio. Or at least the yard.”

                I nodded, leading Ezra to my bedroom. As we passed Hank’s room, I could hear the muffled screaming again.

                I shut my bedroom door and sat on my bed. Ezra watched me curiously. He pointed at my jaw.

                “Hank?” he guessed.

                “He’s pretty irritable,” I said.

                “I see that. Is that why you wanted me here?” he asked. “Because I think putting ‘professional punching bag’ on my resume is kind of cool.”

                “What’s your last name?” I asked.

                “Carelli,” he said, laughing. “You didn’t know my last name?”

                “You never told me what it was. I couldn’t creepily look up your number online,” I said. “I had to call Brian for it.”

                “Well, I’m flattered you went to all that trouble just for my number,” he said.

                “Mitch says I shouldn’t trust you,” I said.

                “Mitch has a reason not to trust me,” he reminded, pointing at his scar.

                “I trust you,” I said, surprising myself.

                “That’s good to know,” he said with his easy smile.

                “Ezra, you’re hiding something,” I said.

                He kept the smile on his face. “I’m hiding a lot of things,” he said with a nod. “But so are you.”

                “I’m pretty open about my problems,” I said.

                He shook his head. “You do that to distract people.”

                “What are you talking about?” I asked.

                “You’re so open about your problems that it hides the fact that you’re very closed off about what those problems do to you,” he said with a shrug. “You openly talk about Hank and his drug problem, but you never talk about what that does to you or your home life. You don’t talk about how badly it fucked you. Pardon my French.” He smiled a little.

                I felt myself getting defensive, because I knew he was right. “And what about you? I don’t know anything about you. I just learned your last name today,” I said.

                Ezra shrugged. “You didn’t ask for my last name before.”

                “What are you hiding?” I asked him.

                He smiled, but I could see through it this time. “You hide the effects, and I hide the problems.”

                I fell back on my bed, rubbing my eyes. “This is so weird. I don’t want to try to figure you out.”