Trevon Carter

"Do you want to grab some lunch?" I asked Ryan after class.

"Sure," he said.

"How is your job going?" I asked as we walked to the cafeteria.

"Eh, it's a job. I'm sure you can relate."

"Sure," I said. I worked for my grandfather's main brewery. Well, I had given guided tours in the summer during high school. Vincent had worked at his family company too. Alex had worked at his mom's gallery. Out of the three of us, Vincent's job was the only one that seemed normal. Alex also gave tours at his mom's gallery.

"Some of the managers are okay," Ryan went on, "but some of them abuse their power and it drives me crazy. You know I hope to work for NASA like you do, but I hope if I ever get in a leadership position, I won't let it go to my head."

"Same," I said, but I wasn't sure how to recognize if it was going to my head. I wasn't even sure what that meant. Maybe I needed more work experience. Oh well, I needed to concentrate on my studies at the moment. And if I was being completely honest, I didn't want to lessen my time with Arthur.

We arrived at the cafeteria. We each got a sandwich and found a vacant table to sit at.

"Do you want to study together for finals?" Ryan asked.

I hesitated.

"Oh, right," he said, "you're so smart you probably don't even need to study." He didn't say it in a mocking or ironic tone. He stated it as if it was fact.

"It's not that," I said.

He smirked. "You don't want to spend time away from your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "That's it."

"You are so whipped," he teased.

"If being whipped feels like this, I'll do it everyday." We paused as a couple of girls walking by gave us strange looks then we burst out laughing.

My phone beeped with a text. I pulled out my phone to look at it.

Aley: If you get a phone call from an unknown number, answer it. It's probably Vinny.

Me: Why would he be calling me from an unknown number?

Maybe he lost his phone, although that was unlike him. Maybe his phone was stolen or got damaged. Maybe his parents took it for some strange reason. His parents were weird.

Aley: I think he should tell you himself. If he doesn't call you by tonight, I'll tell you. I'm sure he'll call you though.

Me: Ok.

"Trouble?" Ryan asked me.

"I don't know," I said and stuck my phone back into my pants pocket. It couldn't have been an emergency or Aley would have told me. "It's probably fine."

We spent the rest of lunch talking about our classes and trying to anticipate test questions.

After classes, I went home. I did my school work and studied for finals. I was starting to feel anxious since I hadn't heard from Vincent yet. Alex hadn't called me to tell me it was an emergency so it couldn't be too bad. At least not yet.

I grabbed my phone as quick as I could when it beeped with a message.

Beautiful Art: I'm on my way. I'll pick up dinner.

Me: Ok.

It wasn't Vincent. As much as I loved Arthur, I was really starting to worry about Vincent. I tried to call his phone number even though Alex told me he would call me from an unknown number. It went straight to voicemail.

Arthur had turkey wraps when he arrived. "Hi, sweetie," he greeted when I opened the door.

"Hey, beautiful," I returned.

"I hope you're hungry," he said, "because I got you two wraps and Alice gave me brownies. I'm not going to eat any because I'm saving my cheat days for Christmas and New Years."

"Alice? Are we on good terms with her again?" I asked as I followed him into the kitchen.

"Her attitude has completely changed after Thanksgiving," he said. "Which is good since I'm being paired up with her again."

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"Are you alright with that?"

"Well, we do dance well together and are already familiar with each other's styles and habits and everything. I don't mind it as long as she is being nice to me and isn't pining after you." We sat at the table and he distributed the wraps. "We actually had a pleasant conversation today. It felt like we were back to being friends."

"That's good," I said. Her attitude changed too quickly for my tastes. I was grateful I had broken up with her when I had.

My phone rang. I immediately pulled it out of the pocket. It was from an unknown number.

"Hello," I said.

Vincent's familiar voice greeted me. "It's me. This is Chet's phone. My mom walked in on us this morning."

"Were you having sex?" That would be bad on so many levels. He wouldn't be able to play that off as just friends. Arthur's eyebrows raised at this.

"No we weren't having sex, just kissing. She kicked me out."

Of course she did because Vincent's family wasn't a good family. What was he going to do now? I couldn't really offer him a place to live. I wasn't even in the same state. I couldn't tell him to drop out of that university and come to mine. Wait. He wouldn't even have money now to attend university.

"What are you going to do? Do you have a place to live? I could ask my parents if you could stay at their house. My sisters don't live there anymore, but they do come home occasionally and I don't know that you want to be subjected to that. Kylie's puppy peed in my bed. What about Alex's mom? You could probably stay with her."

Arthur mouthed to me, 'What's wrong?' But I couldn't really pay attention to him at the moment. I needed to know that Vincent was going to be okay.

"Chet says he has a plan," Vincent said.

"Do you need money? I could send you money at least."

"No I don't need any money. I don't think so anyway. I'll let you know if I change my mind."

"I have a plan," Chet's voice called out in the background. "He doesn't need money."

"It sounds like he has it all worked out," I said, "but if you need anything at all, you can ask me. Let me know how everything goes and what his plan is."

"Okay," Vincent said. "I'll keep you updated. Bye."

"Bye," I said and hung up. I had never thought I would see the day when Vincent chose anything or anyone over his family, money and the stability that came with it. Chet must have been really special. I saved the phone number in my contacts as Chet.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked from across the table. His turkey wrap was completely forgotten in his hand.

"Vincent's mom walked in on him and Chet this morning."

"Having sex?"

I smiled because for some reason when Arthur said it, it was cute.

"No. Kissing. But they kicked Vincent out."

Arthur shook his head. "What kind of terrible parents does he have?"

"Terrible," I said. It was slightly more than that. We all knew it, but none of us talked about it. Vincent's eyes were different from anyone in his family. He shared some features with his mother, but none with his father. I had overheard my mom gossip about it once with Alex's mom. Vincent's mom had an affair and his dad wasn't his real dad. It's why Vincent had to be careful growing up and never rebel. He was always afraid he would be kicked out.

"So does he need money?" Arthur took a bite of his turkey wrap.

I picked up my own and bit into it. "No," I said after I swallowed. "At least, not right away. Chet says he has a plan."

"What's his plan?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just that he has a plan."

After the turkey wraps, Arthur passed me a brownie that Alice made. He looked at me expectantly.

"Are you going to watch me eat it?" I asked.

"I have to live vicariously through you. Describe it to me as you eat it."

I took a bite.

"How is it?" he asked.

"It's a little dry and would be better with milk, but it's not bad," I said. I finished the brownies as he watched me eat every bite.

Afterwards, we went into the living room. I pulled out a book to read while he did his homework. I ended up staring at the pages more than reading it.

"Are you worried about him?" Arthur asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

"He has people to help him, Alex and Chet and I'm sure there are others."

"I know," I said.

"You're a good friend."

I didn't feel like a good friend though. I felt helpless.

"Maybe you could call Alex to get more information without making it seem like you don't trust Chet," Arthur suggested.

I pulled out my phone and immediately called Alex.

"Hi, Trev," Alex answered.

"Have you heard from Vincent?"

"Since the hour or so he was here and he called you? No. I'm sure he's alright though. Chet is trustworthy."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Mateo said in the background but it sounded more like he was teasing a friend than being serious.

"I gave him some of my clothes. He can use Chet's phone. Chet isn't going to just let him sleep on the streets. My mom told him he could stay with her too. He's going to be alright."

I didn't realize it was so bad that his parents didn't even let him take clothes with him. Times like these reminded my how great my own parents were. I needed to call them later and tell them I loved them.

"Okay," I said.

"Are you coming into town for Christmas? You still haven't met Mateo and Chet in person."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure when. Arthur and I talked about meeting each other's families over Christmas."

Alex squealed in my ear. "You must be serious if you are introducing him to your family."

"Why does that mean it's serious?" I asked. I was serious about my relationship with Arthur. I wanted it to last forever if that was possible. It was at that moment that I realized Arthur had leaned in close and was listening in on the conversation.

"Well," Alex said. "You never brought any of your girlfriends to meet your family." Arthur smiled at this and put a warm hand on my thigh.

That was true. Although, my sisters knew all my girlfriends or of them at least, I had never brought home a girlfriend formally to introduce to my family.

"Reserve some time for us when you are here," Alex said, "so you can officially meet our boyfriends and we can meet yours."

"Alright," I said.

We hung up and I tapped Arthur's homework so he would get back to it and quit stalling. He sighed, but continued to work on his homework. When he was finished, we turned on a show to watch. I let him choose since I was too distracted with thoughts of Vincent anyway.

When my phone beeped, I immediately pulled it out. I didn't mind as Arthur put his chin on my shoulder to read the text with me.

Chet: Don't worry about Vince. My parents let him move in. Everything is fine.

"I like Chet's parents already," Arthur said.

"Me too."

I sent a text back to Chet.

Me: Thanks for updating me. I was wondering. Keep in touch.

I put my phone away and sighed. I never thought I'd see the day when Vincent's life changed so completely.