CHAPTER 1
It had been a few days since he had left his family and friends in Colorado behind and now he was finally back where he belonged, New York. He left the gate at JFK and made his way to the entrance where he was told an old friend would be waiting to greet him. He searched the sea of faces before him for the familiar but the combination of jostling passengers and loved ones searching for each other made it difficult.
He was beginning to think that no one was there for him when he noticed a neon yellow sign which read: "WELCOME BACK WHERE YOU BELONG FUCKWAD!" Ephram laughed and made his way towards the sign. When he stood before the person holding it, he was puzzled. He had never seen this boy in his entire life. "You E?" the tall, blonde boy asked, staring at him with his green eyes. Ephram nodded slightly. "No offense or anything but do I know you?" he asked as he allowed the boy to take his knapsack and lead him out of the airport. "Nope!" the boy replied before dragging Ephram to an old mustang which was illegally parked in front of the terminal. He popped the trunk and dumped Ephram's bag unceremoniously inside it.
"Okay…." Ephram thought as the boy locked the trunk and proceeded back inside the airport. "What are we doing now?" he asked the 'blondie' as he flipped Ephram's sign around and Ephram noticed that it read "WHY DID YOU COME HOME SLUT? GO BACK, WE DON'T NEED YOU!" in bold letters. Ephram couldn't help but chuckle and that turned into full blown laughter when he spotted a pink head bobbing through the crowd until a girl stood angrily before blondie. "What the fuck is this about Kyle?" she demanded. "Aww babe, you know it's only because I love you." blondie – now Kyle – said before dropping the sign, picking her up and kissing her. She reciprocated eagerly and Ephram looked away as their display became more inappropriate. Kyle finally put the girl down and for the first time, Ephram got a good look at her. "Anna?" he asked.
The girl turned around, squealed and launched herself at him. "Oh My God! You dirty, stinking shit. What the fuck are you doing back in New York?" she jumped off him and slugged him in the right arm. "You know, just passing through, visiting a few friends, and hanging out, the usual." She raised an eyebrow and nodded skeptically. "Uh huh, and this has nothing to do with Alex, right? Ephram shook his head. "Of course not. You know that whole Alex and me thing is over. If it was any more over, we'd both be dead." He stated emphatically. Anna shook her head, obviously not believing him and said. "Okay, now that we're all here, let's go get drunk." Ephram and Kyle agreed and they left the greeting area, piled into the car and drove off into the sunset.