B A D
B O Y ' S
G A M E
At six in the evening, Archer's phone rang, when he didn't reply the first time it rang again. And again. And again until he answered due to my curious stare at it.
"What?" he asks into the phone roughly.
We've now defeated the box of pizza and I was fixing to go, I couldn't stay over his house forever.
"I'm going to go now," I mouth to him, picking up my belongings.
I walk to the front door and twist it until it opens up, a body blocking my way a mere second later.
Archer gives me one finger and mouths something.
One second.
"Zac, I don't have time for this and I feel like shit," he says casually into the phone.
I can faintly hear a deep voice on the other end before Archer hangs up, putting his phone into a pocket.
"You don't have a ride," he says to me, blocking my way out.
"I'll walk," I say, trying to move around him.
"You don't even know where you are," he replies.
I let out a deep sigh, he's right, I could be anywhere.
"And?" I question, hoping he'll cut to the chase.
"Let me drive you," he offers, or rather he demands.
"You're not driving while you're sick," I retort, pushing him out of my way slightly.
"Yes, yes I am."
He moves his arms around me and he gets a grip on my waist, holding me in a romantic position.
"I'm going to kiss you and spread my sickly germs to you if you don't let me drive you home," he threatens with a sweet voice.
I sigh, a sigh of defeat, Archer takes that sigh as acceptance and grabs a set of keys from the coffee table. After we make our way out of the house he leads me to a covered up car, taking off the cover to reveal that the car is in fact mine.
"That's my car," I say out loud, wide-eyed.
"I may have fixed it up in my free time," he starts to explain, just to continue after he opens up the passenger side's door, "I'm not done fixing it up, but it at least should run a couple times."
I step into my baby blue beetle, happy to be back in my car. I haven't seen my car in awhile, myself idiotically letting Archer take care of his mistake he made weeks ago.
Archer too steps into the car and starts the engine, no cranking sound coming out this time.
"How about this, I drop you off tonight and you let me finish up with your car in the next couple days," he proposes.
I nod, indicating that I'm fine without my car. I'm not incredibly fond of driving so not having it wouldn't be too much of a burden.
"So, instead of towing the car to a repair shop you just took it here?" I question.
He nods and puts his arm around the passenger seat, backing out of the driveway. Archer turns on the radio, fiddling with the stations with his right hand as he drives with his left.
I lean back in my seat, realizing that Archer wasn't in the mood to talk. We sit in silence the ten minutes it takes to get to my house, our breaths the only thing audible throughout the car ride.
The moment Archer parks the car right in front of my house his phone rings yet again. Archer picks up his phone and I remember that I never returned his jacket from Friday night. I tell him to wait for a second in the car and I rush to my room to retrieve it. I have been meaning to return his jacket, it just seems like I haven't had the chance due to him being home from school.
By the time I reach the car again he's still on the phone so I lean into the passenger side's window.
He puts the phone down for a second, facing me.
"I've got your jacket," I say, giving it to him.
"Thanks," he says with a little sincerity.
"Are you okay?" I ask him.
"I will be once I drink some alcohol," he replies back crudely.
I say nothing in response, my facial expression telling him everything I could ever possibly communicate. He gives me a forced smile and gives a farewell, departing shortly after.
I walk back to my front porch and just look out to the road, feeling a bit uncertain.
What happened, Archer?
* * *
At two in the morning, my phone rang, it rang Archer's designated ringtone at two in the morning.
I pick up my phone to see a flooded screen, dozens of notifications visible. All the messages were from Archer, phone calls too.
I dial his number immediately, afraid that something had happened to him overnight. After a few seconds Archer picks up the phone, however, his voice is not what I hear when he answers. A series of bangs and clatters fill the phone line along with heavy breaths, Archer seriously disorientated from the sound of it.
"Archer?" I ask.
I receive no response other than a small hiccup and deep chuckle. Archer had to be drunk; he was serious about drinking his pain away.
"Archer?" I call out once more, my voice slightly raspier than usual.
I hear a loud crash as if he had just dropped a glass bottle on the ground, the phone picking up a few shifting sounds.
"You're so beautiful, Grey," he slurs out through the phone.
The words he manages to say are not at all what I expect. I shift the phone, sitting myself up in confusion.
"I wanted to tell you that earlier, but didn't want you to think I have some silly crush on you," he says, hiccuping again before continuing, "I wish you refused to let me drive you home so that I could have kissed you."
I feel my cheeks turning rosy, his words having an effect on me. He's drunk and has no idea what he's saying, but I still am flattered.
I take a breath and ask, "Are you alright?"
He chuckles, far too many times.
"Probably, I'm still breathing aren't I?" he replies, his sarcasm and wit present in his drunk self.
"Do you want to tell me what's going? I don't like seeing you upset," I say, ignoring his previous comment.
I hear him shift his phone, he waits a moment before speaking.
"Nothing's going on, my father's just in prison again for financial theft and he's in extra trouble for being under illegal drugs at the time of his arrest," he replies nonchalantly, as if what he just said it no big deal.
I open my mouth wanting to respond, but I can't. Archer beats me to the chase and says something first.
"Hey, Grey, tell me why you were crying Friday night and ran out of the gym," he says, changing the subject.
"I was crying because I saw Ryder with his date and she was wearing the same necklace that Ryder gave me for my birthday. She was wearing the same necklace I threw back at him when we broke up. It just hurt knowing that he gave the necklace he gave me to some other girl so easily. There's not much to it, it was stupid for me to cry over him again," I explain.
Archer's silent for a good minute, only his heavy breaths able to be heard.
"Don't you dare cry over him again," he tells me seriously through the phone, laughing hard a moment later.
I nod, a nod he can't see.
"You're beautiful, Grey," he says, repeating the line he used previously.
"You've said that already," I point out.
"Really?" he asks loudly, shock present in his voice.
I give a small laugh.
"Go to sleep, Archer."
"Only if you agree to babysit my cousin Sofia with me next Saturday," he counters.
"Fine, I'll help you out," I tell him, ready to go back to sleep.
Archer's probably got a crooked smile on his face right about now, even drunk he could coax me into doing anything he wants.
"Goodnight, Grey," he says, letting out a big yawn.
"Goodnight, Archer," I reply, a smile present on my face.