Realistic or Modern Six Degrees of Separation [Private]

[NickNacks]

Having his own bedroom was something Kyron Strek never took for granted. It hadn't been until he was almost seventeen that he'd been given a stable place to live, let alone his own space. He wasn't cute enough to go home with anyone, wasn't smart enough to impress anybody, and when he'd had his first major breakdown at twelve, it had scared off any potential adoptions pretty much for good as soon as they got a look at his medical records. There was essentially only one person who fully understood and appreciated him, and that was his elder sister, Hannah. Hannah was a tough chick, that was to be sure. She'd been virtually on her own raising Kyron from a young age, and was the definition of self-sufficient. At twenty years old, she'd inherited their old home, fixed it up, and landed herself a stable job training K-9 units for the local police station (she'd always had a way with animals.)

When he'd been sixteen, the call he'd been looking forward to for years finally came through-Hannah was all ready for him to arrive home.

Since then, despite her best efforts, adjustment had been...Well, a little difficult. With his medication, his sleeping schedule was usually out of whack which was why he was currently wide awake around midnight, playing a computer game. Schooling was going slow. Despite being eighteen, Kyron had yet to graduate, and was currently in the process of trying to get his GED online (mostly because his sister would kick his ass if he didn't.) Employment was still in the works, but the zoo was supposed to call him back about a food station job soon, unless they decided to ghost them.

Hannah was out late with a boy she'd been seeing, which Kyron was honestly glad about. She devoted to much of her life tot taking care of him and the house, that he tried his best to pester her into going out and doing something by herself, for a change, without him tagging along. Besides, the guy seemed cool, despite Kyron never really sitting down and talking to him. He knew Hannah would never put up with anyone not treating her right, so that wasn't much of a concern. She had high standards for everybody, including herself.

He squinted at the screen, the blueish afterburner of his monster casting a pale glow on his face that made him look almost vitamin d deficient. His room was sort of a mess, but he'd been meaning to clean up the pile of dirty laundry and empty soda cans which still rested on random surfaces here and there. As far as decoration went, things were somewhat threadbare, aside from a few vintage horror movie posters on his wall. All and all, it appeared like the average teenager's bedroom, if you overlooked the fact that he had snuck extra snacks to hide under his bed, a habit he'd aqquired from various foster homes. Well, that and the weekly pill organizer.

He was about to reach over for another sip of coke when a sudden knock became audible. Frowning, Kyron removed his headset and listened.

It came again. If it was Hannah, she would've texted. Despite there being no real reason for it, a chilling sense of apprehension trickled down his spine as he sat there. It could be anybody. The police, maybe. Somebody trying to break in. Some junkie, confused about the house number. Or..

Or it could be nothing, dumbass. Just go see.

After the mental prep talk, Kyron shook his head and got to his feet, running a hand through slightly disheveled brown hair. It didn't take long for him to reach the door. The clean scent of rain-soaked asphalt made his nostrils flare as he nudged it open.

"Yeah?"

 

[ekoutrakos]

The rain had washed away what makeup was left on her face, her dress the pretty stupid dress she had bought at Old Navy was now stuck to her body like an old wash clothe that needed to be rung out. Her curly hair, clung to her face. Her blue eyes, shining into the dark apartment, seeing the light from the kids bedroom.
Hannah’s younger brother, reminded her of her own. Her own brother, was the same age as the guy standing in front of her. Yet she assumed they both would look at her would the same kind of ugly pity. “Hey, Hannah said I could wait for her here, Curt and I-we.” Sighing Elaine shook her head, feeling the rain water come down over her shoulders and down her spine. “Doesn’t matter, he kicked me out. Can I stay here till Hannah, can bring me home?” Home, where the fuck was home now? Licking her bottom lip, an anxious habit she would never fully control. Crossing her eyes she waited silently in the doorway for an answer.

 

[NickNacks]

He recognized Elaine straight away, with the amount of times she'd been over visiting with his sister. They had never really talked beyond pleasantries, on the rare occasion he left his bedroom in order to get a snack or drink from the kitchen or play video games on the tv. She'd seemed nice enough-pretty much anyone Hannah liked was okay with Kyron.

It wasn't pity that flickered across his face when she mentioned Curt, but empathy. He knew what it was like to be displaced, to not be certain about where you were going to end up. And the pouring rain certainly didn't help the situation. Without waiting for her to explain further, Kyron shrugged and pulled the door open the rest of the way, not seeming to take much embarrassment in the face that he was just wearing a t-shirt and an old pair of boxers. "Sure, it's not like we don't have room," he replied, jerking his head to motion her to step indoors. There was a certain degree of nervousness he felt-after all, if Hannah was coming home, it probably wouldn't be for a while, and he wasn't sure how to entertain Elaine until then.

"I was, uh, gonna make mac and cheese. You want any?" Kyron asked, crossing over to the large, open kitchen. "Kind of a good comfort food."

 

[ekoutrakos]

“Thanks.” Elaine sighed softly as the door was left open for her to step inside, she dropped her shoes off at the door and her now soaked jacket on one of the coat rings that Hannah had put in the perfect place. “I think I’m okay, but I’ll keep you company while you make it.” Elaine offered, as she walked into the open kitchen and used her hands to pull herself up onto the granite counter top. Crossing her ankles she watched as the water dripped off of her clothes and onto the floor. “Remind me to ask you for the mop before, I go anywhere else tonight, okay?” Elaine titled her head to the side before looking at the young man.
Her blue eyes transfixed for a small second on the way is his chest moved when he breathed, the last few times she was over had he been wearing that same shirt? Or did he just have multiples of the same one, just in different colors? Biting into her lip she almost asked him the strange question, pulling back once she heard Curt’s voice in her mind.
“Why would you, even think of something that god damned stupid...” nodding slowly to herself she decided it was a bad idea, instead she stared at the wall behind him. The pretty, sky blue paint job that Hannah had asked her to help do a few months before.

 

[NickNacks]

He was moving mostly on autopilot as he went to get a pot and fill it halfway with water, his mind going quicker than his actions. Her boyfriend had kicked her out, which meant she must have been living with him, which meant in turn that it must have been serious. Kyron's own situation had been too chaotic for him to even think about dating anybody, but he assumed it was hard. He couldn't quite hide a snicker of amusement as he glanced at the small puddle on the floor her clothes had left. "If you wanna, like, go borrow something of Hannah's, I don't think she'd care," Kyron offered, turning to set the pot on the stove. He leaned back against the counter, regarding Elaine with a thoughtful expression.

"So, are you one of those people that likes to talk about whatever the issue is, or do you like it better when people just pretend nothing's going on? Because, like, I can do either one."

 

[ekoutrakos]

“I’m too fat to fit into Hannah’s clothes, Curt used to remind me of that all the time. One night we tried going out and I ripped one of her favorite pair of pants.” Clicking her tongue Elaine licked her bottom lip, once more before crinkling her nose.
“And I’m not sure, there isn’t much to say really. It’s his apartment, so technically he could have kicked me out anytime he wanted.”
Absently, Elaine looked down at her phone for some sort of text or phone call from Curt telling her she could come home, just like all the other times he’d pushed her out of the house. This time though, this time he’d slammed the door behind her before she could grab her jacket. Shaking her head lightly she looked back over at the young man. “Hannah was telling me you’re trying to get your GED I heard from a few people over the years, sometimes it’s harder than actually going to high school, so good luck.”

 

[NickNacks]

It was probably a mark of Kyron's bluntness when it came to his next reaction. "If he tells you shit like that, you shouldn't talk to him anyway," he replied curtly, leaning over to inspect the water, wisps of steam curling up into his face. "I've had people say crap like that to me before. Never talked to 'em again." His voice was firm and decisive as he poured in the noodles.

It would take a little while for them to boil, so he turned in order to face Elaine while she spoke in the meantime. She didn't seem to want to talk much about her current situation, which he didn't blame her for. He offered a quirked grin at her mention of his education. "School doesn't work for me. I'm better learning stuff on my own instead." he replied simply. "I do better when people aren't telling me what to do. Plus, I don't think I'm the best at making friends, so I'm not missing out on too much."

 

[ekoutrakos]

Crinkling her nose, Elaine listened to what the younger man said. “Yeah, I had a really hard time in high school. We moved around at least 7 times before my sophomore year, and then once we finally got settled, it was because just my brother and I had moved into my grandmothers house. I hung out with the wronggg people for a little bit and almost didn’t graduate.” Shrugging Elaine leaned over the sink that sat next to her, ringing her curls out.
“Once it’s done though, it’s thankfully over, and you don’t actually have to go back.” She raised her eyebrow making the valid point before sitting back up.
“And your what, likeee 17/18? The world is sooo full of I uninterrupted, opportunity.”

 

[NickNacks]

Kyron gave a small hum of understanding, snatching up a clean dishcloth and passing it over to Elaine in order to dry her hair a little easier. Well, hopefully-he had short hair, so he wasn't sure if long hair was more difficult to manage or not. "Yeah. Hannah could tell you about the kinds of stuff I got into when I was going to school. Of course, shit was crazy anyway at that time, so it wasn't really all my fault, but..." Kyron shrugged with a small grin. It seemed as though even when he attempted to be serious, he still had a hard time.

However, he couldn't help but scoff a little at the last statement. "You sound like my guidance counsellor," he joked. "Besides, it's just school. Everybody does it."

 

[ekoutrakos]

Elaine held the rag between her fingers before actually saying another word. “I guess it would be super cliche of me to say, at least be lucky you were given an education.” Clicking her tongue, she leaned over the sink again her long curls hurting themselves into a snotty, tumbled mess as used the rag to wring them out.
Tossing the rag over the long stainless steal sinks pipe she leaned between her legs pulling the silverware drawer open before leaning over and tasting the teenagers macaroni. “Needs pepper.” She laughed lightly sticking her tongue out at the younger man.