Reunion

"You should go." Frances insisted, Ezekiel sighed exasperatedly, not giving her eye contact. He was hunched over her laptop, trying to finish his weekly book report. "I'm busy this weekend, I can't go."

"Busy?" she raised a brow, putting a hand on the chair, "All you ever do is lie in bed all day or go to that skating rink... And you don't even skate!"

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked, still typing. Frances leaned to look him in the eye, she covered the screen with that head of hers, Ezekiel squinted his eyes at her and bobbed his head up, down, left and right then finally just stood up and continued typing. Frances decided to just back off and Ezekiel returned to his original position.

"There's nothing wrong with that, I mean you just don't seem to have that many friends..." she blurted as she plopped onto the bed.

Ezekiel chuckled, "I don't have any friends? Bold of someone like you to say such a thing!"

"I just figured you'd get lonely sometimes..."

"I have you." Ezekiel stated, still not even looking at her and half-focused on his work. "I don't need that many people to hang out with."

The reply surprised her, Frances sat up, cross-legged on the bed with a pillow in her arms. She parted her lips as though was going to say something but closed. She kept quiet for a minute, Ezekiel noticed this and glanced up from the laptop. "I guess there's one person I miss..."

Her head perked up. "Then why not go to the reunion?", Ezekiel placed a finger on his chin. He thought for a moment and gave her a shrug. "We'll just see."

******

It's been a couple weeks since he and Frances moved in to Chapter Park, his hometown and it's like nothing has changed, only, things have changed... A lot. The house was one thing, Ezekiel no longer lived there and roomed with Frances at her aunt's apartment complex instead. He was really sad that his mom had sold it before they left five years ago, he wondered how it was.

Five years... Has it really been that long? Ezekiel kicked a bunch of pebbles as he strolled along the pathway at the park. To his left he could see the playground, it's as if he never left! The slide, swing, seesaw, sandbox, and everything was still standing. A couple children were there, laughing and playing without a care in the world; whilst their parents sat on nearby benches, either sleeping, on their phones or chatting with other parents. It made him think of his mother... And his father. Ezekiel continued to move on.

He dug his hands into his pockets and continued his leisurely stroll through the park, it was peaceful but he felt something heavily weighing on his chest. Some part of him missed the bug, bustling city, he missed being with his mom and wished that she went with him, but she wasn't too keen on going back home, especially with what happened five years ago; possibly the most painful and unhappy time of their lives. He remembered how she wouldn't talk for more than a month, not even to her own son! It was as if she was trapped in a never ending nightmare, dealing with the pain of losing someone dear. Returning home would only bring back bad memories for her most likely.

He stopped at the fountain and gazed at his reflection in the water. He got her Hazel brown eyes, but his light colored, blond hair was from his father. Ezekiel missed him dearly, he was his coach, his best friend, his number one fan, and most importantly, his father. The best dad Ezekiel could ever ask for, but sadly he's gone now and that was a sad reality he had to face--it was a reality his mom wasn't able to fully accept, she only kept running and attempting to forget, until she met someone. Although Ezekiel didn't like James, he was glad that she's happy... Or at least he thinks she is.

But, he swore, James will never ever be his dad. Ezekiel just hoped that his mother understood that she can never ever replace his dad.

One good thing is, Ezekiel really like his stepdad's daughter. Frances was basically the only friend he's had in the past three years. He was glad to have met her, and was more than happy to call her his sister.

About half an hour of aimlessly walking around the park passed, he then started to take a stroll around town and came across the neighbourhood he used to live in. Some things have changed it would seem, like the fish statue that used to stand there had one missing eye and Ezekiel does not remember the new set of Acacia trees planted in what used to be an empty spot where he and his best friend buried that time capsule.

He managed to stop himself from running up there to check on it. Ezekiel wondered how he was and if he'll ever see him again.

"Then why not go to the reunion?" Frances' words echoed in his mind. A moment of silence passed, the only sounds being the birds chirping, the small group of children playing nearby as they kicked some leaves and ran around as the wind blew. A swirl of leaves flew past Ezekiel, it's as if time had stopped for a second, he thought he might've been seeing or imaging it; the boy was much taller, more mature looking than he used to but still gave off the impression of an innocent child. Those shimmery green eyes were filled with life, his hair was bright red and a bit messy, much longer than he remembered, it shone under the sunlight. The wide smile revealed a set of braces that Ezekiel thought looked kinda dorky on him and there was a light dusting of freckles along the bridge of his nose. He blinked twice and heard his name being called, "Zek?"

"Zek Sinclair?" the redhead called out, "Is that you or your long lost twin brother? Or your doppelganger??"

Ezekiel smiled, sure he certainly has changed a little bit in appearance, but that person right there was still the same person he used to spend so much time with five years ago. "It's still me, Hiki."

The boy grimaced at the name, "Shhh! Don't call me that here!"

Ezekiel laughed, "Hikaru is a mouthful."

"And so is Ezekiel." he retorted, crossing his arms and rolling his green eyes.

"I like my nickname, you should too." he smirked.

"That's not even my nickname! You just came up with something silly to call me!" Hikaru stomped his right foot, "Why were you staring at me anyway?"

"I was trying to make sure what I'm looking at is you and not some Martian." Ezekiel said bobbing his head to the left. "Yep, it's a human."

"Classic, Zek." Hikaru wasn't amused, "You're still the same little shit aren't you?"

"Yes I am." he replied with a nod. "You're breathtaking!"

Hikaru stifled a laugh and walked forwards then gave Ezekiel a punch in the shoulder that didn't really hurt him, but did almost knock him off his feet, "Why the hell did you leave without a word?!"

Ezekiel stared at him incredulously for a few seconds before Hikaru backed away and held his hands out. "I'm sorry but you deserve it."

******

Out of all the things that happened over the past two days, this has got to be the most unexpected of them all. Ezekiel stepped onto the porch, the wooden floorboards creaked under his shoes as he followed behind Hikaru to the front door. The house was just as he remembered it. Who would've thought that his childhood friend's family have bought the house Ezekiel and his parents used to live in?

A sensation of deja vu hit him as they entered, it's just like when they were children, except it was now in reverse, with Hikaru being the one "inviting" him to their home. The redhead was never actually invited, he'd just walk right in without knocking and Ezekiel's parents would just greet him as if it was his own home. Funny, because now it actually is.

"I hope you like what we did with the place." Hikaru said, turning to him. He then pointed to a shoe rack where a bunch of shoes were messily stacked. Ezekiel understood and bent down to untie his shoes, only seconds later he decided to forget it and just slipped his shoes right off and dropped it onto the pile, nearly knocking off the tiny potted fern that sat there but luckily, Ezekiel caught it before it could hit the floor. Hikaru didn't notice this and called out from the kitchen, "Hey, Zek help yourself to some cake, it's in the fridge!"

"Strawberry?" he asked almost immediately, putting the fern back in place before walking into the living room.

"Find out yourself!" Hikaru said.

Ezekiel decided to take a look at the place before that. He glanced around, recalling ever detail he could remember about his former home; a lot of it has changed. The walls were in a different color now, there was a new book shelf in the wall filled with encyclopedias, atlases and dictionaries, and the place definitely didn't have all these ornamental pots and vases around before. There's a new set of orange couches and a glass coffee table with a floral design at the center, on top of it were stacks of fashion magazines and newspapers alongside a half-full cup of coffee.

Ezekiel then entered the kitchen where Hikaru was apparently making something. Ezekiel glanced over his shoulder to see that he was whisking some eggs in a bowl. Some ingredients sat there, separated in small bowls; chopped onions, chicken skin, sliced chicken and some butter. "So what're you making?" Ezekiel asked.

"An omelette," Hikaru answered as he went to the turn on the stove. He took a frying pan then began frying the chicken skin.

"All this for one omelette?" Ezekiel said, eyeing all the other ingredients that his friend just left cluttered over the kitchen island.

"I'm experimenting." his friend said with a smirk, "trying to create the perfect omelette--", he nearly knocked down a milk carton with his elbow as he reached to take the sliced chicken, fortunately it didn't fall off, "--either that or the perfect mess."

"Since when were you interested in cooking?" Ezekiel asked, finding it hard to believe that of all people, Hiki would be in the kitchen cooking. As he'd recall, back in middle school, Hiki nearly blew up the home economics room thanks to his lasagna. It tasted like absolute crap too.

"I get really bored all alone at the house--" Hikaru explained whilst adding in the rest of the ingredients, "--after mom and dad split, Wendy left."

Ezekiel flinched and felt his heart stop for a millisecond. "Wait, what?! Dana and Marcus? They..."

"Yep." Hikaru finished, "You'd think they were happy together from the surface but things aren't always what they seem."

"Oh..." Ezekiel glanced down at his feet for a second. Hikaru took the chicken skin off the pan and put in the sliced chicke then added in the onions. "For how long?" Ezekiel queried, watching Hikaru saute the onions and chicken.

"Two months." Hikaru replied, "but it's okay, it's been rough but I managed--" he said still focused on what he's cooking, Ezekiel's eyes stayed on it for a moment, "--mom and I did... Great isn't it? You're not the only one dealing with your parents' shit."

"You don't seem okay." Ezekiel blurted, Hikaru almost dropped the spatula. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"

"I don't mind what you said... I was talking about--"

"You just came back all of a sudden." Hikaru snapped and walked past him to the rice cooker, "I've missed you a lot, you just... Left! And I hate you, I hate you so much man."

There was a brief silence. Neither uttered another word as Hikaru poured in a small bowl of rice on the pan then added some sauce. When it was cooked, he set it aside on a plate and went to fry the eggs. That delictable aroma filled the air in the kitchen, making Ezekiel's mouth water. Once Hikaru finished, he placed it on the counter where Ezekiel was now sitting.

Hikaru took a seat on the stool opposite to his friend's. "It's called omurice." he said, slicing the egg which covered the rice completely, then added some more sauce and topped it with some parsley. "Eat. Tell me how it tastes."

Since he wasn't sure of what to say as of the moment, Ezekiel did as he requested and put a spoonful in his mouth. He chewed it and savored the flavors of eggs, chicken and parsley with warm rice; it was in short, delicious.

He let out a satisfied, "Mmm" and found himself gobbling it all down.

Seeing Hikaru smile made him feel a bit better. But the heavy feeling on his chest remained, he needed to say something but didn't know what would be an appropriate thing to say, "Hikaru--" he started, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." He cut him off, "You've your own life, I've got mine... You probably had a really good reason and were... Also having a bad time."

He glanced down at his plate and nodded slowly, "Yeah..."

For the next hour or so, the childhood friends chatted about recent events, how things were, what they've been doing and absolutely anything else. Eventually, they got bored in the house and decided to go out.