Aaron's phone vibrated in his pocket as the ringtone went off, signaling a new text message. He pulled his phone out of his front pants' pocket, where he always kept his phone, unlocked it, and checked the text.
It was from his best friend, Kaitlan, and it read,
"No, Aaron. I know how Dylan is. He's not the type of guy you want to be with. Okay? Can you please just drop it?"
Aaron felt a feeling of sadness sink his heart down to the pit of his stomach. He didn't like the feeling at all, being told that he couldn't be with someone he liked. The sad part was that it wasn't even the person he liked telling him no, it was a friend.
A friend named Kaitlan. Kaitlan had been Aaron's best friend since December of 2010. They met in art class, as their seating arrangement had been made for them to sit across from each other. Aaron had been in 7th grade, Kaitlan, however, in 8th. As Aaron really got to know Kaitlan, he grew upset at the thought of him being away from Kaitlan for a whole school year, as she would go to high school while Aaron stayed in middle school.
But it's different now. Aaron was happy that he finally left 8th grade and was now joining Kaitlan at high school. Aaron would be in 9th grade, Kaitlan in 10th. It was currently mid-summer, so they'd have to wait a month or two before being reunited once again.
Aaron smiled at the thought of it. He tapped his phone's screen quickly with his thumbs, replying to Kaitlan's message, which read,
"Alright, Kaitlan. I'll give it a rest for right now. I just feel like it would be better if I could get some kind of, well, closer with Dylan. But I'll just leave it at that for now."
Kaitlan was one to usually never get upset over small things, but Aaron thought he was pissing her off pretty badly, so he let the conversation about Dylan go.
Dylan was a 17-going-on-18-year-old guy who had lived in a nearby town and was homeschooled up until this coming school year. He had moved to the city where Aaron lived and would be joining them in high school. Aaron didn't know much about Dylan, other than he was a "player" and didn't stay in relationships for very long, but Aaron felt like he could change that. What am I thinking?, Aaron thought to himself, I've never even seen Dylan's face and yet I think I have a chance with him.
Aaron had talked to Dylan a few times before through texting, and Dylan had been absolutely flirty with Aaron. Dylan claimed that he had seen photos of Aaron before from Kaitlan and said the he was gorgeous.
Aaron blushed at the memory of that day. He felt happy. It was usually easy for Aaron to feel happy around people other than his family. His friends were awesome, heck, why else would he be friends with them if they weren't? His family, however weren't the coolest folks around.
His younger sisters, who were twins, named Averi and Alexa, were 8-years-old and were possibly the coolest kids you'd ever meet. Especially Alexa. However, they weren't his biological family. His parents adopted the twin girls when they were about 4 or 5, Aaron couldn't remember. How could his family just let baby twin girls leave their house after having them since they were 10 months old? They couldn't.
His brother. Aaron had one older brother, 25-years-old to be exact, and his name was Anthony. He was attending college at a nearby university and was entering his senior year. Anthony still lived at home, as he hadn't found a suitable place to live. He also had a 1-year-old son, named Masyn, and a baby momma. He and her weren't together, however, hence the "baby momma" part.
His sister, Ashley, who was 22-years-old, graduated college recently, was married and had a 6 month old daughter named Haylin. She had her own house across town and had a pretty good life. Not much to it.
His mom. Aaron's mom was a strange woman. She was a strong Christian, but did quite a few things that were un-Christian like. She was crazy and outgoing, but also had a side that was professional and calm. She was a fighter, too. She took control of almost all situations, whether for better or worse. Being a Christian, she did not, whatsoever support the gay community. She claimed she was alright with gays, but went turned right around and said that they were all going to Hell, each and every one of them.
His "dad". Aaron's dad wasn't much of a father. Yeah he did typical father stuff, changed light bulbs, taught Aaron to drive, and cooked an occasional meal for the family every once and a while. Aaron didn't like his father at all, though. He did very mean and abusive things to Aaron when he was younger and still did the same to his little sister's occasionally. He used to drink. A lot. And Aaron liked those days, when he was drunk 24/7. Because he was more chill than now. But nowadays, things were hectic; screaming and fussing was always a promise throughout Aaron's household. He hated that.
Aaron tried his best to be the most normal 14-year-old boy he could be, though.
His ringtone went off again, bringing him back from going too far into his thoughts. He opened the text from Kaitlan, it read,
"Thanks Aaron. That subject bothers me. I'm just trying to be a good friend a protect you."
"I know, I know. lol (:" Aaron sent back.
"Well, I guess I'm going to bed, it's already 10 o'clock. Sleep tight, nigga."
Kaitlan always joked around with Aaron, calling him "nigga" and "fag" and other curse words. Aaron knew that Kaitlan was just playing around and didn't take it to heart. Ever.
"Haha alrighty. Night, Kake. Love you."
"Kake" was Kaitlan's nickname that Aaron had given her ages ago. Only Aaron called her that at first, then the whole world caught on to it.
Aaron locked his phone and walked over to his phone charger, which was plugged in next to his bed. He plugged it in, the phone giving a loud confirmation beep signaling that it was charging. He walked over to his light switch on the other side of his room and flicked it off. He crawled into his bed, pulling back his covers and settling in for the night, staring up at the ceiling until his eyes got heavier and heavier and eventually closed.