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Ryan pulls his truck in behind Avery’s car. Steps out and grabs his Target bag from the passenger seat.
“Well, this is a nice twist to the evening,” Avery says, smiling. Then he pulls Ryan into a hug.
Ryan lets go of the bag, uses both hands to hug Avery back. He isn’t intending to get all emotional, but Avery’swelcome sends a signal to his brain, a permission that it manages to understand. Because all of a sudden the emotions he’s been keeping in are coming out, and he’s actually gasping right there in Avery’s arms, tearing up and gasping.
“It’s okay,” Avery says. “It’s all okay. You’re here now.”
—
Avery’s parents arewaiting when they get inside. They are welcoming to Ryan, but they also seem much more confused than last time.
They’ve barely said their hellos—they’re still in the front hallway—when Ryan starts to tell them what’s happening. He feels he owes them an explanation. He feels they need to know he doesn’t think he can just sleep over without some explanation. Avery needs to know this, too, that he wouldn’t be crashing the night before Avery’s exams without a reason. And also, in a lot of ways, the explanation is for himself, too. Like when you dump out the contents of your backpack, clear it all out and line everything up on the floor so you can see what you’ve stuffed inside and then decide what can be thrown out, what can be put away, and what should still be carried around.
He tells Avery’s parents some of the things Avery already knows, like how he was grounded after his last visit on the snow day, like the fact that he wasn’t even allowed to see his aunt, who’s the one person in town who really cares about him. Then he tells them all the things he hasn’t been telling Avery this week, not wanting to throw anything his way that wouldinterfere with studying or rehearsing. The arguments with his parents. His mom’s visit to the grocery store. Her threat.
“I know I shouldn’t have run off,” he tells them. “I know I should have tried to go there and make it right. But I felt there was no way that was going to happen, that I’d only get trapped there again and I’d miss Avery’s play, which I’ve been looking forward to so, so much. My brain said, ‘Go there, Ryan. Go there.’ ”
He stops then, because he doesn’t know what comes next.
Avery hugs him again, tells him, “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” And it makes Ryan happy, because it’s what he needs. And it makes Ryan sad, because it’s not something that would ever be able to happen in front of his own parents.
“Why don’t we go in the kitchen and sit down?” Avery’s dad says. “It sounds like you didn’t have dinner, Ryan, and I doubt Avery got much sustenance while rehearsing. How about I make you some grilled cheese sandwiches? Are you a Swiss guy, a cheddar guy, or an American guy, Ryan?”
“Dad!” Avery exclaims in mock outrage. “Such personal questions!”
“I haven’t even gotten to the bread yet,” Avery’s dad replies. “That’s when Ireallyget to measure a person’s character.”
“Boys,”Avery’s mom says, intimating that now might not be the time. But Ryan is grateful to feel some of the heaviness around him lift.
“Cheddar cheese. Rye bread, if you have it. And orange juice, if it gets to that,” he answers.
Everyone laughs.
—
As they sitat the table over grilled cheese sandwiches, Avery’s parents don’t ask Ryan too many more questions. Instead they ask Avery about the play, about the final rehearsal, about what time they should get to the show tomorrow. They don’t ask Ryan about school tomorrow. They don’t assume he’s going to leave after he’s done with his grilled cheese. At one point, as the plates are being cleared and a chain of yawns spreads from person to person, Avery’s mom tells Ryan he needs to text his parents and let them know where he is.
I’m at Avery’s,he texts.I’m fine.
Then he turns off his phone.
—
Ryan isn’t surprisedwhen Avery says, “I’ll go get the sheets for the sofa…. I think it’s probably best if we each sleep solo tonight.” He would love nothing more than to hold and be held all night…but he knows that would be pushing it.
So he waits in the family room as Avery heads to the linen closet. Both of Avery’s parents poke their heads in to wish Ryan a goodnight. They tell him they’ll be leaving around the same time as Avery tomorrow, and Ryan shouldhelp himself to whatever’s in the kitchen. They’ll be back by five, and then they’ll all get some dinner before the play.
“That’s great,” Ryan says. “Thank you.”
—
Avery has hisarms full of pillows, sheets, and towels when he sees his parents leave the doorway of the family room. The three of them meet about halfway down the hallway.
“The poor kid,” Avery’s dad says.
Then Avery’s mom looks at Avery with a slight tilt to her head and tells him, “You know this is only a temporary solution, right? We can grant him asylum here for the weekend, but he’ll need to go back home Sunday, after the cast party. He can’t skip school altogether. Maybe there’s someone else there he can stay with?”
“His aunt,” Avery says. “Maybe.”
