Chapter 10

Corn Dog Place was packed that day. Most of Tyrone's classmates went there to socialize while poor Tyrone had to work. However, Tyrone let out a sigh of relief when he spotted Matt. He came inside and sat to a table that was by the windows, with his hoodie on. Tyrone quickly asked his co-worker if he could pay for lunch, and he rushed over to Matt to give him a Corn Dog combo.

"What's all this?" asked Matt, looking up at Tyrone slightly.

"You must be hungry. Have this. You'll like it." said Tyrone.

Matt's face brightened at the sight of the corn dog on his plate and he grabbed it as fast as he could.

"Did you eat something back home?" asked Tyrone.

"I did not. I didn't want to eat your food." said Matt.

"Dude, you are more than welcome to eat something," said Tyrone.

He sat across from Matt, still in his work uniform.

"I'm on break. I usually just drink something here." said Tyrone.

"You get free food!?" cried Matt.

Tyrone chuckled. "I wish!" he said.

"Dude, you need to hear this." whispered Matt fiercely and he quickly spoke.

"The Bogey Man came over!"

Tyrone's eyes widened. "What?" he asked, a little too loudly.

"But he didn't do anything. He just came in and asked if I ate, and if I needed anything. He was very weird! He just showed up and then the salt started to hurt him." said Matt.

"That's it? He didn't do anything else?" asked Tyrone.

"Nope. He was just looking for you. That guy has an unhealthy obsession with you for some reason." said Matt.

"Noted. But he didn't hurt you." said Tyrone.

"No. He was being kind of…. Nice? I don't know. He was very weird." said Matt.

"Either way, we need to be extra careful! If I see the Mothman, I'll tell him about it!" said Tyrone.

"We both will!" said Matt.

Just then, Ganon and Garret came in, holding a small box.

"Tyrone! And a little kid we have just met! Hi!" cried Ganon.

"Little?" murmured Matt.

Tyrone collected himself quickly and laughed lightly, although a little forcibly.

"You guys want your usual?" said Tyrone.

"Yeah. We can wait for you. You're the only one who gets our orders right." said Ganon.

"Matt, these are Garret and Ganon. They happen to be frequent customers of this joint." said Tyrone.

"We just met this afternoon," said Ganon.

"We knew each other for a long time, but we never knew each other well," said Garret.

"Great. More white guys." said Matt sarcastically.

Tyrone cringed slightly and whispered to Matt. "Cut it out."

Ganon and Garret both chuckled. They didn't seem to mind the joke and one of the boys put the small box on the table.

"Wanna take a look?" asked Garret.

"What's inside?" asked Matt, almost defensively.

"You'll like it." said Ganon with a wink.

Matt took a peek and in the box he spotted a small hermit crab, sleeping on top of a huge lettuce.

"This guy here is called Bubbles. We lost him at school and we found him! He was hanging out in the pool." said Garret.

"By the pool? I get it now. I bet he was looking at the nenas with their bikini on." said Matt chuckling.

"He's right! Bubbles escaped just for that!" said Ganon.

Garret nodded. "I knew Bubbles had a double life."

Tyrone nervously smiled, but the twins seemed to be having a good time. "I like this kid. What's your name again?" asked Ganon.

"Mateo. But you guys can call me Matt." said Matt.

"How do you know this cool kid Tyrone?" asked Ganon.

Tyrone didn't know what to answer until Matt spoke up.

"I'm an exchange student from Mexico. And Tyrone's family is hosting me for the time being." said Matt with a wink. Tyrone let out a sigh of relief and the twins nodded their heads.

"So this is your first time in Oregon?" asked Garret.

"Your English sounds really good. Did you take English classes in Mexico? You don't seem to have an accent." said Ganon.

"You guys the FBI or something?" asked Matt.

"Actually we are CIA." said Ganon with a wide grin.

"CIA my butt dude. We are Sword Warriors of Queen Imani!" cried Garret proudly.

Gannon gasped, and shot Garret a look. Garret made a "What?" face while Gannon gave him a "top secret" looking face in return.

"Don't mind him. He's into fantasy role playing games and such. He's such a geek." said Gannon, showing his teeth with a forced smile.

Tyrone and Matt both nodded nervously and then it was time to go back to work.

"I'll be seeing you guys. Ganon, Garret, would you guys mind keeping Matt safe?" asked Tyrone.

"Sure! He's very funny." said Garret.

"He's cool. He's bright." said Ganon.

Matt smiled and the twins sat on the table with him, making Tyrone feel relieved. At least Matt had more human interaction than himself yesterday. The more people the boy spoke to, the better, thought Tyrone to himself.

After work was over, Ganon and Garret were both waving at their phone and Matt joined in.

"And I'll make the edits and bada bing, bada boom! The video will be up and running!" cried Ganon.

"I hope it gets more views than the last one." said Garret.

Tyrone got close. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Our blog of course. We have a youtube account and we upload memes, and other random things. We are also on Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, ect…" Ganon was saying.

"I get to be in one of their videos!" said Matt proudly.

"You see! We made him have a good time!" said Garret happily.

Tyrone smiled. "That's cool I suppose. I'll check it out."

"Well you guys, see you tomorrow!" said Garret.

"Yeah! See you. And watch our video! Matt will be on it, and so will you!" said Ganon.

Tyrone and Matt nodded as the twins waved crazily and they left.

Matt pulled Tyrone's ear close to his mouth. "You just met them today officially?"

Tyrone nodded. "I always see them, but today we actually talked."

"How come you don't have friends?" asked Matt.

"What?" asked Tyrone.

"Ganon and Garret told me they have seen you not only here at work, but at school. They tell me you are lonely. They have tried to talk to you a few times, but they were always kinda nervous. Bumping into you today at school was no accident." said Matt.

"The bump? That was on purpose?" asked Tyrone.

"Garret said it was so they could talk to you. Bubbles was with them the whole time." said Matt.

Tyrone smiled. "I didn't realize I had two secret admirers. And they happen to be internet celebrities."

After a while, the boys went home. They walked cautiously in their neighborhood, but Tyrone had the salt jar in his hand, in case. But thankfully, they arrived safe and sound. After the boys settled in, Matt still had more questions. "So Tyrone, how come you don't have friends?" he asked.

"I told you before. I had to work and go to school at the same time. When my parents died, I had to survive one way or another." he said.

"That's lonely." said Matt softly. Tyrone looked at Matt and the boy hugged himself with his arms.

"I'm sorry Tyrone. I'm happy to be here, but I feel very sad right now too. You know." said Matt.

"I understand." said Tyrone.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?" asked Matt.

"What?" asked Tyrone.

"Can I sleep with you tonight? I don't want to be alone." said Matt.

Tyrone shook his head nervously. "I don't think that is such a good idea."

"I'll sleep on the floor. I can bring the blankets from the room." said Matt.

Tyrone looked at Matt's sad looking face and gave in.

"Okay. You can. But under one condition. No snoring." said Tyrone.

The boys walked up into the room and Tyrone pulled some extra sheets from the closet.

"I'll sleep on the floor tonight. In case you need something, let me know. You can have the bed." said Tyrone.

Matt nodded and Tyrone changed the sheets on his bed. As he did, he then remembered something that happened at the diner and decided to talk.

"Matt, can I tell you something?" asked Tyrone.

Matt nodded slowly and Tyrone breathed in deeply.

"Please be careful with your jokes. Especially when you called Gannon and Garret "white guys." I know they had fun, but folks can be sensitive about that sort of thing. I'll be honest with you. I don't like those kinds of jokes. It makes me feel like I'm hurting you." said Tyrone.

"This town hardly has Hispanic people like me." said Matt sadly.

"There are a few people here who speak Spanish. I'm sure there's a bilingual program for you at School. I'll have to enroll you somehow though." said Tyrone.

"Okay." said Matt.

"Let me ask you something. Was it a good idea to be in a video with those two?" asked Tyrone.

"It's okay. They don't really have many views. They got about 40 people watching at least one of their videos. I didn't want to be rude." said Matt.

"Okay." replied Tyrone.

Matt was about to get on the bed and then he looked at Tyrone, who was trying to make his bed on the floor.

"Can you sleep with me tonight?" asked Matt nervously.

Tyrone looked at Matt. "You don't want to have space there?"

"It's just that… Marcos used to be with me for a while. He would stay with me until I fell asleep, then he would go to his own bed." said Matt.

"Fine." said Tyrone.

Matt took off his orange hoodie and only wore his shorts and a black T-shirt. Tyrone was also wearing snug PJs with the Grinch's face on it.

He got into bed and the boys awkwardly got closer.

"This is unsettling to say the least." said Tyrone.

"You smell." said Matt while he pinched his nose.

"Dude, first you tell me to stay here, now you're complaining about BO. I showered." said Tyrone rolling his eyes.

"No, don't go. Not tonight." said Matt sadly.

The boys turned to see each other's faces. For a while, they stood silent, awkwardly not saying anything for a while. Tyrone spoke quickly to break the ice.

"What was the video about? The one you made with the guys." said Tyrone.

"It was about memes." said Matt.

"Tik Tok?" asked Tyrone.

"Something like that." said Matt.

"Were you and Marcos into that sort of thing?" asked Tyrone.

"He never liked YouTube. He was so into soccer. "Futbol" as we call it." said Matt.

"Football. Makes sense." said Tyrone.

"Have you ever played sports before?" asked Matt.

"Not really. I did try Basketball once. Didn't work out." said Tyrone.

"Your Mom and Dad looked like they had a lot of fun in their life. I saw their picture in the hallway." said Matt.

"They did. They loved to live life to the fullest." said Tyrone.

"Do you miss them?" asked Matt.

"Oh yeah. All the time." said Tyrone.

"I don't miss mine at all. I only miss Marcos." said Matt.

"I'm sorry." said Tyrone.

"Why do adults do that?" asked Matt.

"Do what?" asked Tyrone.

"Being selfish. They marry, they divorce, they see their kids on the weekends, and they make bad choices with who they fall in love with." said Matt.

"I don't know. Perhaps when you and I get older, we might figure it out." said Tyrone.

"Only I don't want to be like my Mom and her bad boyfriend. I want to be like Marcos." said Matt.

"You really loved him huh?" said Tyrone.

"You would have liked him." said Matt.

"I would have. If he was anything like you, perhaps." said Tyrone.

"How long do you think I'll stay?" asked Matt.

"Don't know. In the meantime, don't think about it." said Tyrone.

"Okay." replied Matt.

"Seriously. There's no point in worrying right now." said Tyrone.

After a couple minutes, the boys were fast asleep. However, sometime during the night, Matt had a bad nightmare. He opened his eyes and started to pant. Luckily, Tyrone was still asleep. Feeling nothing but fright and despair, Matt quickly snuggled close to Tyrone. Matt placed one side of his face on Tyrone's back and closed his eyes as he began to sob quietly. Tyrone slowly woke up, hearing the sobs. He didn't do anything. He allowed Matt to continue grieving.

"Hug me." said Matt.

Tyrone turned around and hugged Matt.

"It's okay. I got you." said Tyrone softly as Matt continued crying.