A story (C) 2004 by ZUSTARA ORUR. Contact address: zustara@hotmail.com 2.0 May not be redistributed, commercial use prohibited!
Please see chapter 1 for standard disclaimer blurb and such.
Whoops! I sent the wrong chapters in... Geez, me stupid. :) My sincerest apologies for any inconveniences!
22 - Testdrive.
Getting the bike up and running took no more than twenty minutes or so, and by then it was time for a small snack Brian throught. The two kids had the milk and cookies they'd missed out on the previous day. Mr. Fitzgerald made quite delicious chocolate chip cookies, and Simon ate several with great delight despite telling he was already on the plus side of his nourishment need curve, and beginning to enjoy his existence as almost a real-life boy more and more by the moment.
"Won't you get fat then?", Brian asked teasingly.
Simon almost snorted milk from his nose as he was trying to swallow a mouthful! "No Brian, I can't build up fat reserves", he said once he'd gotten over the initial surprise. "Once my glucose stores are filled, my body will simply purge the excess biomatter."
"...Through the normal channels?", Brian said with a giggle.
Simon actually gulped at hearing Brian's words! "Uh... Yeah...! Though it will be in a pretty much inert form, since my digestion system isn't based around bacterial action." Giggles followed from both boys, parents thankfully not within earshot, considering the subject matter!
After finishing their small meal, Brian and Simon saddled up, Brian on his 16-speed racer that he'd received on his birthday earlier in the spring. It was still new and very shiny, a model that was quite a bit fancier than Simon's bike. Not that the other boy really needed it; he could ride plenty fast enough (fast enough to make the speed limiter engage actually, even in pretty steep inclinations!). Simon was very happy for his new bike, it was the first thing he could truly, genuinely call his own, and it was so nice and shiny, you could almost see his eyes glow just by looking at it as his hands more or less petted the bike. He had a big boy-smile on his face as he touched it over and over.
"Uh... Si?", Brian said a little hesitant all of a sudden.
"Yes, Bri?", came the slightly teasing answer.
Brian paused for just a fraction of a moment. "Uh... You do know how to ride one of these, don't you?" He should have asked first, before having his parents get them another bike!
Simon grinned wide. "I think so! I guess we'll find out pretty soon, won't we?" Then he gave the other boy a re-assuring pat on his shoulder. "Don't worry so much, Bri. I'll do fine..."
The fair-skinned boy smiled back. "Okay then, if you say so, Si!", he said and then they shared a smile together.
Simon hopped up on his bike with the same elegant ease that described all his motions, an ease that spoke of lots of practice even though he'd never sat on a bike before. The boys smiled again quickly, and then the two pedalled away quite effortlessly, the wind playing with their hair.
Brian took Simon over to Rei's house, she lived closest to him of the small group of friends that had met the previous day, and of course Melanie was there, and since she was there, Bobby was there too! They were all sitting in a hammock on the front porch, arms around each other's shoulders (Mel in the middle as it happened).
Rei was the first to see the newcomers. "Hey, BRIAN!", she shouted like a mad person and started waving with her hands. "And Simon! Wow, over here guys!" Like there was the slightest possibility the boys would just bike past their friends without even saying hello! She jumped out of the hammock in a rather violent fashion (which made it start to sway back and forth wildly) and ran up to the fence along the street to welcome the boys.
"Hi Rei!", Brian said as he stopped next to her and put a foot down on the ground to keep his balance. "I'm just showing Si around, we're not really going to stay. Thought we'd stop by to check in on you guys, see what you were up to."
She looked a bit disappointed for a few moments at the news of him not staying, then her face brightened again as if she tried to hide it. "Oh. But maybe some other day, okay?" Rei's brow actually showed worry-wrinkles, and suddenly Brian leaned forwards and gave her a quick peck on a cheek. He didn't know why he did it, it just felt...right.
"Sure, Rei!", he said as the girl smiled back brightly. "We'll stop by some day soon." He paused, not sure how to say what he thought he needed to say. The two other kids had also approached, but stopped a few steps away out of politeness when they saw a private conversation was going on. "Uh, Rei... I didn't know you liked me...", he told her quietly, suddenly feeling a little shy. "...If you do like me, that is?"
Rei stepped closer to the fence. "I don't think I knew either...", she said with uncharacteristic shyness and trepidation. "Actually, I don't know if I do, I mean... We don't really know each other that well after all." She looked over at Simon for a moment, who was standing slightly behind Brian, and holding his hand again. The hands of the two boys always seemed to seek each other out whenever they could, like magnets of opposing polarity. Rei sighed quietly, then attempted a brave smile, not really succeeding. "But, yeah. I think I do after all. Why deny it when it's true? But you two, you're...close. Right? Or is it just because it's convenient?" Brian understood what she meant.
Brian didn't quite know if he should feel happy or sad. Simon seemed to sense that somehow, despite not being able to see his face, and was squeezing the ambivalent boy's hand reassuringly. "It's not just because Si is what he is, and that he lives with me... I would be this way anyway. Rei, I LIKE you. As a friend. But even without Simon, it could never be more than that between us I think... I'm wired differently, you know?" He paused, looking at the disappointed girl's face. "Can we still be friends, you think?"
Another attempt at that brave smile. "Of course we can, Brian... Of course." Then suddenly her face loosened up, and a real smile took the previous one's place. "We'll ALWAYS be friends. I PROMISE!" Brian grinned back too, happy at knowing they really were friends, and then Rei quickly leaned over the fence, her lips puckered up. She wouldn't have reached Brian (it was too far between them right then) if Brian hadn't seen what she wanted to do and leaned in also. Their lips touched in a very un-romantic yet extremely friendly-like kid-kiss, sealing exactly that; friendship and mutual feelings. "There! I did it!", she almost cheered, with Brian and Simon looking on with amusement.
Bobby came up to the fence, not able to keep in the background any longer. Mel followed also now that it seemed to be okay. He thought it best not to barge in on Rei, because sometimes when you surprised her she jumped like a scared cat at you, fur and teeth and claws bristling if she thought you were poking your nose where it didn't belong! "Brian, buddy!", he said. "Wow! New bikes?"
Brian smiled. "Naah, mine's a few months old, I just haven't used it much that's all. Simon's new though. We got it this morning."
"Sweet!", Bobby said with a nod of approval.
"I like all that blue color", Mel added.
Brian actually laughed and felt Simon squeeze his hand lightly again. "Yeah, so do I! We have ten or fifteen sets of blue shirts and pants and underwear in neat little boxes stacked out in the garage... Not sure what good they'll be, Si will have outgrown them long before they're worn out!"
Bobby's eyes widened. "I didn't know he could grow!"
Rei jabbed him playfully in the ribs with an elbow. "Of course he grows, you lunkhead!", she teased him.
"Sorry! My parents aren't robot designers you know!", he replied in a voice pretending to be wounded. "Unlike some OTHER people...!"
Melanie patted him comfortingly on his shoulder. "Yeah, we know... We're sorry too!", she said whilst flashing a look at Rei to get her to cooperate (the Japanese girl merely grinned an impish grin in return, knowing what was up and wanting to have a bit of fun with the two hesitant love-birds), then the red-haired girl leaned her head against that same shoulder for just a moment. Brian saw Bobby's hand kind of twitch, as if it wanted to sneak around her back to hold her. He chickened out.
Brian smiled again. "Alright guys, we were just stopping by. See you tomorrow again!"