Chapter 08

Pulling into the driveway, Seth finally opened his eyes. He looked around and watched as Leon kicked the stand back down and removed himself off the bike. Seth touched the part of the seat that Leon just left. It was warm to his hands.

"Get off." Leon spoke out. Seth took off his helmet and handed it to Leon who took it and buckled it to the back of the bike. Seth swung his leg over the seat and plopped off. When Seth's legs hit the ground, they felt like jelly and made him lose balance. Leon was able to catch the younger teen before he landed face first onto the pavement. "So it really was your first time riding a bike?" Seth blushed and tried to balance himself on his wobbly legs. "Can you walk now?" Seth nodded his head and Leon let go of teen. "Let's go inside." All Seth could do was nod his head.

The house looked huge, maybe a three level home. Seth watched as Leon opened the door and walked in. It was a small hallway, but when they walked into the main room, he could see a closed door on one side of him and another room that looked like a family room. It was huge. He was not used to this type of space in a house. Seth was so in awe that he didn't notice Leon head towards the stairs. He quickly followed Leon up the stairs only getting glances of what could be the kitchen farther down the hallway.

"Where is everyone?" Seth asked. They stopped in front of a door. Leon opened it and gestured for Seth to go in.

"We are the only ones here." He spoke out as Seth passed by him. Seth's eyes went wide. He stopped and looked at Leon. He saw Leon smirk. Seth was unsure of whether he should actually stay here or go. "Do you want something to drink?" Seth darted his eyes at the ground.

"W…Water…" Seth barley spoke above a whisper.

"Is that all you want?" Seth nodded his head. "Okay, go inside. I will get us some food and bring your water. Then we can study." Leon started to walk back down the hallway passing doors and headed down the stairs. Seth watched the teen's back as he disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Seth walked into Leon's room. He could catch the scent of the other teenager right away. His room was normal. He did have some punk rock posters and pin ups on his walls, but everything else was normal. A bed, a TV stand with a 52" TV on it. He also saw a bookshelf that looked like it has several Blu-ray DVD's on them. He walked over to the case and scanned through the DVD's. Many he had heard of before, but some he never heard of before. Seth reached over to look at one of the disks.

"Are you interested in movies?" The voice made Seth almost jump out of his skin.

"Oh…um…I'm sorry." Seth turned around. He was embarrassed. He was caught snooping.

"Nah! That is all good. If you want to, we can watch a movie later or something." Seth felt really nervous with the other teen in the same room. He didn't know what to do. He fiddled with jacket. "God it's hot." Leon spoke out. He took off his jacket and threw it on the bed. He had already removed his shoes. Leon looked up at Seth. "Aren't your shoulders getting sore? You've had that bag on your back since we left school." Seth didn't even realize he still had the backpack on. He removed the bag and placed it on the floor. "Also if you want, you can remove your jacket." Seth nodded. It was really hot with his jacket on, but it was more about of embarrassment than anything. His hands were shaking as he pushed out each button for the hole and removed his own jacket.

"Where should I…" Seth mumbles.

"Just throw it on my bed." Seth followed the instructions. "Are you ready to study now?" Seth nodded. Leon looked at Seth whose head was hanging down, not looking at Leon. "Can you quit being so quiet. It's getting kind of annoying."

"I'm sorry."

"And stop saying sorry. Just relax." Leon spoke as he sat down leaning against the bed. "I don't have a table in my room, so we will have to use our knees to hold up our books, is that fine?"

"Yeah, that's okay." Seth tried to speak louder, but cracked as he spoke. He looked down at a tray that Leon hand brought in. It had a bottle water with some chips and also… "Leon, is that beer?" It was a stupid question to even ask. It said it was beer right on the label.

"Yeah" Leon spoke as he reached over to the can and picked it up. He pushed up the tab making it push open the metal piece on the can. It opened with a crack and he started to gulp down the liquor. He pulled it from his mouth and let out a satisfied noise. "It's good to have a cold one after listening to old men bitch." He turned to look at Seth. "You want one?" Seth's eyes went wide and he turned his head.

"I don't think it is right to be drinking stuff like that at our age."

"You are so straight lanced. Come on. Just take a sip at least." Leon spoke as he extended his hand that held the can of beer.

"I shouldn't." Seth spoke.

"Come on. Just one drink. What harm will that do?" Leon was pressuring Seth. Seth understood what peer pressure was, and he never thought he would ever encounter it. "Come on." Leon kept pressuring. Seth took in a breath and let it out in a sigh.

"Fine, give it here." Seth spoke out a bit annoyed. If this would shut up Leon, then he'd just have to,just make the teen happy. Seth grabbed the cold can and brought it up to his lips. He could smell thembitterness of the liquor. He took one swig of it and then started to cough. Leon laughed at Seth. He reached over to grab the can before Seth dropped it. Seth reached for the closed bottle of water and opened it taking several gulps, hoping it would get rid of the taste lingering in his mouth.

"So what do you think?" Leon asked.

"Tha…That was disgusting." Seth spoke as he cleared his throat. "I don't want to drink that again." Leon laughed a bit more before speaking again.

"It's defiantly something that you have to get used to. So of course the first sip is the worst, but if you keep drinking it, it gets better." Leon extended his hand out again. "Wanna try again?"

"No thank you." Seth shook his head back and forth. "That was enough for me." Leon crackled a little, then took a sip of the same can. He must not care that I took out a sip out of the can. But I also…andmhe... Seth's face went red as he thought back to what had happened before.

"What you're you thinking about to make you so red?" Leon asked.

"Nothing!" Seth said a bit too quickly. He reached over for his bag and unzipped it. "We should get to studying. Just tell me what you have issues with, and I can try my best to help you out." Seth laid out all the books. Math, English, History, and Science.

"We are not going to go over all of this are we?" Leon questioned. Seth looked up at the teen.

"I wasn't sure what you knew and what you didn't know. So I brought all the books we are working on right now. So I can help you with whatever you are the worst at."

"Then you will be here for a while." Leon spoke after taking another sip.

"Why is that?" Seth asked.

"Because I suck in all four of those subjects." He took the last sip of the beer and crushed the can. "I'mmgoing to get some more beer. I know that I will need it." Leon stood up and made his way out of themroom. Seth looked down at the subjects. I thought that he would be good at least one of these subjects. Seth took in a sigh. He already knew What was going to happen if he had to help with all four subjects He heard Leon re-enter the room and he held a six back of beer. Where is he even getting those from?

"Well, I'm ready to start this." Leon spoke as he ripped one of the beers out of the plastic ring. He grabbed the tab and opened it. He began to take several gulps. Leon let out another satisfied sigh asmhe finished drinking.

"So. Um, what subject do you want to work on first?" Seth questioned. Leon looked at Seth for a moment.

"I don't care. I guess math. That is one of the worst subjects I have issues with." Leon took another sip of his beer.

"Okay." Seth grabbed the Math text book. He flipped through the pages to the part they were going over today. "So what part do you not get?" Seth questioned.

"I can't see that far. Come closer." Leon patted the spot next to him on the floor by his bed. Not thinking, Seth got up and sat next to Leon. He had the book sitting on his bend knees. Half of the book was leaning off of his knee and held by his hand. Leon leaned closer to Seth. Seth caught his breath as he felt Leon put his arm behind Seth leaving it on the bed. He was so close now. Seth was unsure what to do. He could feel his face getting hot.

"Wh…What is it that you don't understand." Seth stuttered out.

"This one." Leon pointed at one of the problems. Seth could smell the liquor linger from Leon's breath. He felt like he could get drunk off just the fumes.

"Um…well. This is how it goes." Seth grabbed the notebook that he had laid by him along with some writing utensils. He stared to write down the problem and showed the steps of how to break it down.