Ellie and I get in the backseat of the car while Taiyo goes to the front. "Where do you live?" He asks. "We live on Windflower lane," I say. "Okay." He turns on the radio and starts to drive. We stay quiet all the way to the apartment. By the time we get there, Ellie is past out. She must have had a long day. Taiyo parks the car and I try to get the leftover and pick up Ellie. "Let me help," Taiyo says. He gets out of the car and picks up Ellie with ease. "Oh, thanks." "Lead the way." He says. I grab the leftover and close the car door. I lead us up the three flights of stairs and down the hallway. We get to the apartment and I say, "I can care her in." "Nah, let me do it. It would be way easier." I nod. I take out my keys and unlock the door. I switch the light on and take off my shoes. I feel kinda embarrassed having a person over to my house. The only person who has been in here is Lia, and that's not often. We usually meet up at her house.
Taiyo kicks off his shoes and I take off Ellie's. I lead him through the kitchen to our room. Our apartment only has one room, a small bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. Our room is not that creative. I open the door and Taiyo lays her on the bed I pull the covers over her. "Thanks for today, I had fun," I whisper to him. "Oh, it's no problem." He says. He looks around the room. We walk back to the front door and he puts on his shoes. "Bye," I say. "Bye." He walks out of the door and I close it behind him. I go to the kitchen and put all the leftovers in the fridge. That will be our dinner tomorrow. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth.
I find a pair of sweatpants and a shirt and change into it. I walk around the room to find Ellie's PJs. "Theo…" She yawns. "Yeah?" I ask. I go over to her and help her change. "You need to brush your teeth," I say. "Uhhhh, fine." She gets up and slugs over to the bathroom. I lay on the bed and wait for her to come back. She comes back after a while. She slugs over to the bed and lays down. I turn off the lap and we fall asleep. Ellie has a habit of cuddling me while I sleep, I don't mind. I will do anything if it makes her feel any bit better.
I walk up to Ellie crying. I look around the room and it's still dark. "I'm sorry, I'll do better." Ellie whimpers in her sleep. I wipe a tear from her eye. She has nightmares at least three times a week. And on a bad week, it's five times. "I'm here, your safe." I stroke her hair to try to calm her down. She whimpers and cries, but after an hour it stops and I fall asleep again. At 6:30 I wake up. I look over and see that Ellie is already up. I get up and stretch. The cover falls to the floor as I get up. I roll it up and put it on the bed. "Good morning." I yawn as I walk into the kitchen. I look up and see Ellie sitting at the table with Taiyo Tachibana.
"What are you doing here?!" I practically yell. "I thought I would drop by, I brought breakfast." He says. He looks me up and down. "You may want to put a shirt on before you join us." He says. I can see a tint of red on his cheeks and ears. I look down and see I'm not wearing a shirt anymore. I must have taken it off last night while I was asleep. It's not unusual for that to happen. The apartment heating and cooling system is shit. "Sorry! I'll be right back." I scramble to my room and put on the shirt that's all bundled up on the bed. I walk back into the kitchen and sit down.
"What's for breakfast?" Ellie asks. Her hair is everywhere like always. I pat mine and I can tell it's everywhere too. We walk to Lia's after we are ready to get our hair done, she demands we do. "I brought french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and if you want some, onigiri," Taiyo says as he pulls Tupperware from his bag. Ellie gets some plastic plates and silverware. "Whats in the onigiri?" I ask. "Tuna mayo." He says. He unwraps one and takes a bite of it. Ellie takes the french toast. "You need to eat eggs or bacon," I say. I get some of each. The onigiri is quite good. "Why?" She whines. "Because sugar is not a full breakfast," I say. "Luna did the eggs and bacon," Taiyo says. Ellie takes all of the rest of the eggs and bacon. I shake my head.
We eat in silence. Ellie would tell Taiyo how good the bacon and eggs were and he needs to give Luna her thanks. After breakfast, I throw away the trash. "If you don't mind, you can sit in the living room while we get ready," I say. Taiyo nods his head. Ellie and I go to the room. "What do you want to wear today?" I ask. "Hmm. I gonna play soccer with the other boys today so pants. And the forecast says it's supposed to be a bit chilly so a sweat shirt. Can I wear one of yours?" She asks. I nod. Her sweatshirts are getting a bit small for her. She takes a towel and goes to the bathroom to take a shower. I lay her clothes on the bed for her.
I chose a sweatshirt with roses on it. I put on jeans that have holes in them and a black plain shirt. I wiggle into the sweatshirt and Ellie comes in. I grab a hair tie and my backpack. I close the door behind me and walk to the living room. We have a mirror in there, it came with the apartment. I pull the top part of my hair in a messy bun. "You have pretty hair," Taiyo says. I'm startled by that comment. "Oh, thanks." Ellie comes out and puts her shoes on. "Come on we need to get to Lia's," She says. Taiyo and I put on our shoes. He grabs his backpack and I grab Ellie's and mine.
We walk to Lia, it's only five minutes away from us. I knock on the door and I can hear her run down the stairs. She opens the door. "What are you doing here." She asks Taiyo. "He brought our breakfast," I say. Ellie and I walk in. "Come on. She won't bite you if I'm here." I say with a laugh. "You can come in." Lia grunts. He walks in and we take our shoes off. Lia's family is middle class, so they have an actual house. Rose walks in and rubs on Ellie's leg. "Rosy." Ellie picks her up and hugs her. Rose only likes Ellie. Taiyo tries to pet her but she scratches her. Lia laughs. We walk up the stair to her room.
I sit on the bed and Ellie sits in the chair in front of the mirror. Taiyo just stands in the corner. Rose is curled up in Ellie's lap purring. "How do you want your hair today?" Lia asks. "Buns!" Lia brushes Ellie's wet curls and then blow dry them. She parts her hair in the middle and puts one bun on each side. "Theo, your next." She says. "Already did mine," I say. She looks at my hair and nods. She pulls her box braids into a ponytail. She grabs her backpack and puts on her shoes and we leave.
We walk to Ellie's school. When we get there she says to Lia, "That's the boy I punched." She points to Noah and his dad. We say bye to Ellie and I have to hold back Lia from going up to the boy and killing him. I drag her way with Taiyo following us. When she calms down she pouts. "Ellie had another nightmare again," I say. "Again? Was it about him?" Lia asks. Taiyo seems confused. I'm too lazy to explain it to him. "Yeah." I sigh. "Next time I see him, I'm going to punch him six feet under." She says cracking her knuckles. "Same," I say.
Taiyo looks like at us. "Should I call the police on you guys? You kinda scary right now." Taiyo says. "You don't have to. He won't be showing his face anytime soon." "Why not." "He is afraid that I might do something to him again," I say with a smile. "What did you do," Taiyo asks scared. "Yeah, what did you do, you did not even tell me," Lia asks. "Nothing to concern you," I say walking faster. Nobody knows except me.
We get to school and we say goodbye to Taiyo. "How was Taiyo's house." She asks. Some girls look at us while we walk past them. "Nothing much, his family is really nice. I think Ellie has a crush on his sister." I say. "How old is she?" "20" Lia looks at me in shock. The girls that were behind me run in front of us. "I heard you went to Taiyo's! Stay away from him, he doesn't swing that way!" They yell. They must be one of his fangirls. "Okay, but he was the one who invited me," I say. They fume at that.
"It doesn't matter, don't infect him with your gayness." The other girl says. Why do people think 'gayness' is a disease. Like if I breathe, and you're by me, your gay. They need to learn how sexuality works. "Go away. Also, everyone can tell your make-up and eyelashes are cheap, your not fulling anyone." Lia growls. The girls squeal like pigs then stomp away. I laugh. You can't full Lia in makeup and beauty. She wanted to be a makeup artist since she was little. Lia literally watches skin wars and RuPaul drag race all the time.
We get to our class and sit down. The teacher comes in and tells us that we are going to do a project with the 12 graders. A 12-grade teacher comes in and brings her class into our classroom. I spot Taiyo and Iris. "This is the first year we are doing this." The teacher says. "The project you guys will be doing is to learn as much as you can about your family history. And your partner's family history. You will be able to pick your partners. You may pick now." All the 11 graders get up and go to our partners. Lia picks Iris and I pick Taiyo. "Thanks for picking me." He says with a smile. I smile back.