BXBX NOVEL Chapter 16 - Maybe A Good Idea
Just as Samuel was going to get ready to protest the uncomfortable situation that he found himself in with Leo, his phone started ringing. The other, who after moving closer to him had been doing nothing but continuing to stare at him thoughtfully as though he was waiting for the older boy to say or do something first gave soft laugh when he heard the ringtone.
"I suppose you should be answering that." He told the other as he moved to get ready to stand up. Samuel took a second to take a quick breath in before he replied.
"Yeah, it is probably my family calling to check and see how I am doing." Although Leo seemed as intent as his older sister to make him uncomfortable, Samuel couldn't deny that he didn't feel as uncomfortable around the other when it to worry about what his next move would be.
"Parents tend to be like that. Especially when their kids are away from them for the first time. I guess I will see you later at dinner then. I have some things that I should get on myself now that I am back." Leo offered a small wave before leaving the room and shutting the door behind again.
Once he was certain that the other wouldn't decide to suddenly come back because of something else he wanted to say, Samuel out the breath that he had been holding in before picking up his phone to see who was really calling. The caller ID read back Roger and while he normally would've ignored the call and texted his friend instead, he decided that he could use the distraction of all the questions he was certain that his friend would want to be asking him since they hadn't had a chance to talk properly in the last day and a half.
"Dude! I have been waiting for your call all day!" Roger shouted at his friend the moment that the other answered the call.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, things have just been really busy since I got here and there's just a lot to adjust to." Samuel replied, apologizing to his friend as he shifted on the bed so he was rub his still sore feet while listening to his friend rant at him.
"That's not a good enough excuse, you know I have always called you when I was doing anything fun and exciting that your parents were too worried to allow you to and do it yourself. The least you could've done was send me some pictures or something." He heard the other boy huff on the end of the phone after he had finished speaking, clearly out of breath from speaking so quickly.
"Pictures? Pictures of what exactly would I be sending you?"
"Pictures of that girl you're supposed to marrying of course! I want to know what kind of girl that my friend is going to be marrying!" Samuel rolled his eyes when he said this. He knew that it was more like his competitive friend wanted to know if this girl was something he could compete with in terms of finding someone better.
"I haven't taken any pictures. I don't even know if I would be allowed to without asking her and that is something that I am not ready to do." Samuel replied, he mumbled the last part, but his friend's sharp ears picked it up.
"Why wouldn't you ask her to let you take some pictures with her? You guys are going to be getting married soon. It's something all couples do." Roger tried to reason with his friend.
"Yeah, but you forget that I have only been here for a day so far, and this isn't the traditional type of relationship were both parties have decided independently to be together. We are still getting used to being around each other and I can assure you she isn't the kind of quite squishy person that be willing to stand next to me with a huge smile on her face just because my friend happens to what to see a picture of her."
"You make her sound like a little demoness." Roger laughed on the end of the phone, but after Samuel didn't join in after a few seconds and chose to remain far to quite for the other's liking, he realized that perhaps it wasn't that much of a joke. "You're not that serious are you? I know she's the daughter of the head of a huge gang, but I didn't think that meant she would be so bad."
"She's in line to take over after him, what were you expecting you? I will admit that I hadn't quite prepared myself for her personality before we met and find myself at a loss as well, but it's only been day." He was aware that he had been saying that a lot, that he and Lena had only known each other for a day, like he was trying to convince himself that was the only reason they had been off to a rocky start, but his attempt to convince himself was not working as effectively as he had hoped it would.
"Have you told your parents about this?" Samuel could tell by the background noises through the receiver from his friend's phone and the way he sounded out of breath that he was probably out running again. Unlike him, Roger was getting the chance to head into college once the summer was over and he had even gotten a full ride sports scholarship which was probably what he was running to stay in shape for.
"Of course not. I am wanting to give this thing a chance before I say anything to them. You know if I say anything now that might make them worry that my father would drive up here himself to pick me up, call the whole wedding off and try to find a way to pay back all the money even though we hardly have enough to get by each month.
"What happens if the wedding gets called off from there end?" Roger asked. This was a question that Samuel had been wondering himself but didn't feel like asking Zane. He didn't want to give the other the impression that he might try to dissuade his daughter from the marriage to avoid the debt if that was a possibility.
"I don't know. I am not going to ask though. I assume that he's taken that into consideration. He does have a younger son also."
"You don't mean you think he might make you marry him instead if his daughter isn't interested?" He could hear the cringe in his friend's voice as he spoke. Roger had never openly spoken about having a problem about having gay marriage or relationships, it just wasn't something that he was interested in.
"Maybe. I have yet to determine exactly how this family works and I am going to be having to eat dinner with them again soon." Samuel sighed as he laid back on his pillows. If he could, he would skip eating in order to avoid any more awkward situations, but he was sure that if he didn't come down to eat at dinner time, the little queen would be the one sent up to fetch him and he didn't want to deal with her again.
"You got six more days, right? I am sure that you can figure out something by then. You just need to do a better job of keeping me updated so if anything happens, I can be here to make an excuse for you to come home."
"No offense, but I don't think you'd be able to do much to help. Even if I did get to come back for some reason, it needs to be something legitimate as I'd be driven back by one of the staff on hand here and if it turns out to be a lie, it won't look that good." Samuel paused for a second as a thought went through his mind. "Although there's something that I wonder if she would interested in. Do you know if that paintball range that we always went to when we were younger is still open?"
"It should be. My uncle took my little cousin and some of his friends there just a few weeks ago. Why?"
"I will give you a call back later after I find something out. I may need your help in reserving a few hours for us later this week."
"I can do that, but I want to know what for." Roger insisted.
"I will tell you once I know if it'll be given a greenlight or not, otherwise there's no point in getting anything together." Samuel retorted.
"Fine, but you better let me know right away."
"I will and ask some of those friends of yours if they'll be free later this week with it being summer."
"You always ask so much of me without giving me even a sliver in return." Roger replied, mock hurt lacing his voice.
"Oh, don't be that way. You won't be complaining later if everything works out." The other replied. "Now, I am going to hang up because I don't have long for dinner and I would like some time for myself." Samuel didn't even wait for his friend to reply before he hung up. He knew that if he did the other would most likely string him into talking longer to get him to spit out what he was planning. He just hoped that the idea he had in his mind would be something that the princess would be interested in.