There's not much to see in Pricheta.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7zQ2bRi1A
It does not even feel like a real town: few scattered houses drowned by hills, stitched together by a run down road diving in endless fields.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS7vJF4hMo
It might even make for a nice scenery the first time it's passed by, with its seemingly endless sky and vibrant colours. Just the first time.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCl2cDZo0xp
Pricheta is not a charming small town where to raise a kid away from the chaos and dangers of the big city. It's not even that far from the city, really, just an hour by bus; even less by train, if only the railway hadn't been abandoned decades ago. Now the bus cuts the town in half, running up and down the main road. The bus that stops a little further than the last house before the forest. The bus that now awaits its departure time in the square.
Wes would have walked Angel to his house —the last house before the forest— like every other day, had it not been for the rain surprising them right on the doorway; so here they are, huddled together under a busted umbrella barely keeping them dry, hopping down the road, almost shouting to overcome the roar of the rain.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZ1hA7TocU
–You know, you could have just slept at my place,– Wes tightens their grip around their friend's arm, moving closer to him to avoid the splashes of water –it's Friday.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aMObUxSls
His chuckle reaches them distorted by the scarf he had wrapped himself into, but they still catch the bitterness of it. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5TS2k6Kjl
–Who would have told my mother? Or Luis? You'd have?–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlqpsvmoRT
–I can handle them, you know.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHhWNgN6Fe
–Sure, you would shout at them for a couple of minutes and then mom would forbid me from ever talking to you again.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMtkzlIEFy
–Still, it's not like i would eat you while you're asleep,– and then they add, muttering under they breath –i'm not Cedric.–
They run down the sloping street in silence, basking in the pleasant mood of late afternoon summer rain, fingers intertwined. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTkCKi3fZc
Wes lives halfway up a hill in one of the town's oldest houses, now hidden behind a row of terraced houses meant to welcome the many new families that a remarkably optimistic mayor hoped to lure in Pricheta, but that now lay dark and empty eleven months a year. To reach the square from up there one can either go around them following the age-old, tortuous, muddy mule track, or cut through the complex's muddier yards and find themselves directly on the curve above the so called bus station —a lamppost, really—.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVndavWb3I
This afternoon, with the umbrella in hand and the backpack filled with the whole week's books, they have chosen to take the mule track instead of climbing over fences. Fifteen minutes together, instead of five.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27mPbeR2yt
The bus is there, doors open, still no one on board. From the other side of the street, the two teens look at it like it could swallow them whole and never spit them out again. Everything is as it should be, yet they both have a strange feeling. They don't even have to say it out loud, they just inch even closer than they already were.
Wes is a little shorter and they have to angle their head to see Angel's face. His narrow green eyes, the lightly crooked nose, his perpetually glossy lips, the barely distinguishable freckles against his tanned complexion; they don't know why, but it all seems important right now and before they can stop themselves they raise their hand to brush a loose strand of wet golden hair behind his pierced ear.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI4HC1W8AW
–Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRexQyAjEK
He snickers and lowers his friend's hand, holding it gently against his chest.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGOrsJWNcr
–I don't need a tour guide anymore, unless of course you just want to catch me somewhere secluded and passionately kiss me.– he drags the last words out and bends down towards them with a mocking grin.
When both burst into laughter at Wes' grossed out grimace, the built up tension melts away and the cold finally sets on their skins. Their farewell hug drags out longer than usual, they bask in each other's warmth until Wes can't suppress their shivers anymore and Angels grabs them by the shoulders, trying to push them away.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRdUJP05mo
–You should really go home, Wes, you're freezing.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBaiMcts5M
–No, I don't want to go, mom is cooking tonight.- They press their forehead on Angel's chest and let themselves slump against him for a little bit longer. -Can't we desert? Have pizza in the big city and then crash at Ariel's? She's driving here tomorrow morning anyway.– 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF7NoL6ITE
–I doubt either of our families would take us back in if we did.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEj95XJTcEk
Mumbling with disappointment Wes pushes away from him and grabs the umbrella handle he's offering them.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9f7O19Cf2I
–Ariel is staying with us for the weekend this time around.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSGp9nbgVz
–I know.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdux273dzT6
–She's driving the two of us to school Monday morning.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLiXsDTXNu
–I know, weasel.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvgquupSFp
–Don't call me that!– They cry out slightly annoyed by his jeering gaze, –I'm offering you a lift! Would you rather wake up at the crack of dawn and hope for the bus to remember your stop?–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkQ5hnVgPT
–I will miss the bus right now if you don't stop acting like an absent-minded granny.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKb42Ppoxx
–That's my evil plan.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJel8AOSo6U
–I figured.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkujEMGvQWJ
–Okay, well, see you on Monday, mastermind.–124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspSbU14v7D
Wes retreats —clearly defeated— and after another brief hug the two finally part ways. They stand on the edge of the road and watch Angel diligently crossing the street. It's the last thing they see, before they turn their back and start once again the walk home
