"You see the house with the red fence out front? That's where they live. You can drop us off at the front mom."
Kelsey, Brian's mom, leaned forward a bit to peer out the front window, into the narrow side street showing the house her son pointed at. She huffed, seeming stressed.
"That's going to be a nightmare to make a turn in. Can I drop you two off here? The walk there shouldn't be an issue."
Brian looked at me. I just shrugged. "Sounds fine by me. I'll make sure your son won't just run off somewhere else when you drive off."
Kelsey just laughed. "Oh It's not him I'm worried about. But sure. You two take care alright? Just exit the car on the right. I'll open the door for you."
The door next to me opened without any effort on my part, in sync with her locking the backseat door on the driver's side, right as a large car passed us by.
Brian scooted over to my side of the car, and I carefully exited the vehicle, making sure to keep my head low so neither of us would hit the roof of Kelsey's car. I was just about on my way towards the house Brian had pointed at when I heard Kelsey open a window, and there came a tug at my hair. Brian leaned down to give his mom a goodbye kiss. I saw his mom struggle to lean over the passenger's side, but despite her limited movement, the two managed it.
Still always weird to see it when you're standing right by your friend's side.
That said, Brian was more a friend of circumstance. "Bye mum, say hi to dad for me."
"Will do sweetie. You gonna call when you want me to pick you up?"
Brian glanced at me, then he shook his head. "I think Gabriel's dad will be the one to collect us tonight. The next two days I'll be staying over at the Wilsons."
Them's me and my parents.
Kelsey got a forlorn look in her eyes, then gave me a sad, pitiful smile. I kept my face neutral.
"Well, be sure to call me when you're back safe at the Wilsons again. And you two say hi to them for me. Maybe we can arrange for a get-together again sometime soon."
"Will do Kelsey," I chirped. "Thanks for the lift. Now let's see what little band of friends you've conjured up Brian."
Brian looked on as his mom sped off in her red sedan. I stoically kept my hands in my pockets as they waved each other goodbye. Patience was a virtue these days, and Brian took his merry time. With how much we had to see each other nowadays, conversations had begun to run dry between us. So the walk towards the house with the red fence stayed mostly silent.
Still, I had to ask.
"Doesn't it strike you as weird that your mom basically keeps referring to herself in third person?"
Brian seemed to bristle at my question, making a difficult face, quickly jumping to Kelsey's defense.
"She isn't 'the car', Gabe." He scolded. "I think she'd want nothing more than to step out if she could. Walk around again, spend more time with my dad, sleep in her own bed again."
"In her bed, with dad."
That earned me a punch to my arm, and a tug at my hair.
"My point being, she's gotten very lonely since the Fusion Wave hit. Me being forced to spend half the time at your place doesn't make it any better either."
I hummed in agreement. "You can say that again. 'Sides, we aren't called Bella and Sarah either, despite how we look."
"Yeah, so think twice before you start calling my mother 'Carsey', or something. You'll hurt her more than you already have with your standoffish attitude towards her. She's trying to be accommodating to you. To us both."
"Not my mom, not my problem."
"Yeah, well, I'll make sure to say that to Francine tonight." He replied sarcastically.
"Technically, she isn't my mom anymore either." I hit back with a wry grin.
"I'll follow up with that too then. Thanks for the misery fuel Gabe. Now try to be a bit more chipper around my friends okay? Lookie here, they've already set the place up."
Brian led us towards the, remarkably spacious, garage. Inside it stood several instruments, an electric guitar and a bass guitar, a pair of microphones on a mic stand, and a large drumset in the right corner of the room. Brian picked up the pace when he saw his friends waving towards him, probably recognising his new face from the video calls they made on the regular. I got a swath of hair in my face, then felt the telltale tug to my scalp as I got dragged behind him again. This fucking curse...
That said, I got a nice view of the backside of my newly christened twin sister, his hips swaying with every step as we passed by the red fence and entered the garage. It was still strange to think that this is what I must look like to him as well when he ends up walking behind me.
Once we came to a stop, I was able to look back up again, where I was met with a pair of vaguely familiar faces looking back at Brian and myself.
"Brian and... Gabriel, right?" Said the guy seated behind the drumset, drumsticks in hand. "I can make a guess as to which is which, but I suppose reintroductions are still in order."