Oliver woke up by the sound of his phone ringing the next day. He blinked slightly confused as he looked around in the room, almost as if he couldn’t really wake up, but he managed to find his phone from somewhere under his pillow. He squinted his eyes to look at the bright screen on his phone, trying to see who were calling. Zacks name were written on the screen and Oliver let out a yawn as he laid back down before picking up.

“Yeah?” he said in a leud of hello, his voice horse and groggy.

“Dude, you still asleep?” Zack asked a bit surprised, but Oliver could hear the smile in his voice. Oliver moved the phone to in front of him, looking at the clock. It was a little over 1pm, which were later than he had planned but he did go to bed late. He moved the phone back to his ear before he answered.

“I went to bed late,” was all he replied to the question, closing his eyes, still feeling tired. He could hear Zack laugh on the other end.

“What ever man, get up! I wanna go to the mall,” it wasn’t a question for whether or not Oliver could, but more a fact that Zack was expecting Oliver to join. Oliver let out a yawn, wondering if he really wanted to go right now or to sleep some more, but he decided he might as well get up and opened his eyes.

“Give me like…” Oliver smelled under his arm and scrunched up his nose from his stench, “an hour, I need a shower before I can go anywhere,” he replied. 

“You got forty minutes!” Zack warned before he hanged up. Oliver groaned and wondered why he said yes but got up from the bed and went to his closet. He grabbed a random black t-shirt, a pair of trunks and a pair of black pants before he headed towards the showers. 

He took a quick five-minute shower and didn’t bother to do anything with his hair, as he knew it would just get all messy anyway. He got dressed and quickly brushed his teeth before he went back to his room. He looked at his phone and could see he still had around 25 minutes, not that it would be enough to reach the mall. He wondered if he should ask his dad for a ride to town, knowing he was home. He decided to try and went down to the living room, where his father sat with his laptop, going through some files. 

“Hey dad, do you have time to drive me to the mall in about, ten minutes or so?” he asked, leaning up against the doorframe to the living room. His dad looked up from his computer, his round shaped reading glasses perched low on his nose as he looked over the rim of them. 

“What time is it?” His dad asked, before he checked his watch and then he nodded. “Sure, I can take you, I need something as well,” he replied before closing up his laptop. Oliver quickly thanked him before going up to his room, closing the door behind him before he pulled his blinds to the side and opened the window. He grabbed his pack of smokes from his desk and lit one up. 

He looked out of the window; the sky was clear of clouds and there was barely any wind. It was warm and Oliver closed his eyes as he took in the heat from the sun, while smoking. 

When he had grounded the bud of his smoke into his ashtray, he closed the window and pull the curtains, before he grabbed his skateboard and keys, then headed downstairs where his dad was waiting.

The ride was quiet as Oliver sat in front at the passenger seat while his dad was driving. Oliver looked out the window, his elbow on the door, cradling his head in his hand. Neither of them said anything, and he didn’t think much of it, since it was normal for them not to speak much, but he could feel his dad wanted to talk with him. When he glanced at his dad, he could see the gears in his head trying to work out what to say.

“So you meeting up with Zack?” his dad asked, even though he could probably guess the answer.

“Yeah, we are going to the arcade,” he replied. His dad nodded and didn’t say anything else. Silence fell over them again and Oliver had never thought about how awkward it would be to be alone with his dad. He had a feeling it was because of the day before. 

He bit the inside of his cheek, wondering what to say, since he didn’t like the awkward silence, then tried to keep the conversation going. 

“Why are you going to the mall?” he asked his dad, looking to face him. He dad quickly glanced at Oliver before returning his focus on the road again.

“A bit of grocery shopping and more ink for the printer,” he replied. Oliver nodded not that he was sure his dad could see it. Another few seconds of silence before his dad spoke again.

“Are you coming home for dinner?” he asked. Oliver looked out of the window, not sure what to answer.

“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug. His dad nodded and they went quiet again, then his dad inhaled before he spoke again.

"Listen, about yesterday..." he started but faltered. Oliver knew what his dad was going to say and sighed.

"It's fine dad," he tried to reasure him, yet it didn't really sound as reasuring as he wanted so he tried again. "I get it, you are just looking out for me," he said. Even though he knew his dad wanted to be supportive, it was already to late for Oliver. 

His dad nodded and the rest of the ride was quiet, the radio faintly playing music in the background.

“Olli, you are late!” Zack said and wrapped his arm around Olivers neck when they met up. 

Oliver shook his head with a sigh, “well of course, you didn’t give me enough time!” he replied while being dragged towards the arcades. 

“Did you get a ride?” Zack asked as he let go of Oliver, walking towards the Pac-man machine, with Oliver right behind him. 

“Yeah, my dad drove me,” he replied and leaned up against the machine as he watched Zack put coins in it and getting ready.

“Oh, is Johnny here?” he asked but not looking at Oliver. Oliver looked around at the few other machines that was here, all in use.

“Yeah, he had to do something” he replied. Zack nodded as he focused on the game. 

While watching Zack, Oliver didn’t say much, but took out his phone, not really paying attention to Zack playing, while he scrolled through Reddit. He didn’t mind hanging out with Zack, but he couldn’t really understand the hype over getting a high score, especially after seeing how much Zack had been struggling to get it. 

Fifteen minutes went by, Zack were on his last life and Oliver could see he wasn’t even close to getting the high score. He wondered how long it was going to take when he decided to look around. Many kids had left the arcade, and it was relatively quiet when he noticed someone walk by outside the arcade. 

Casper was walking with a woman while talking, not noticing Oliver, but his mood got bad immediately. He sighed and hid his phone into his pocket and looked at Zack. 

“Let’s leave,” he said, his voice having a hint of annoyance. Zack glanced at him quickly, slightly taken aback by the sudden request. 

“In a moment dude, I can still do it,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the screen. Oliver frowned a little as he looked at him, shifting a little on his feet, as he waited impatiently.

A few minutes later, Zack lost, and it let out a frustrated groan as he tilted his head back before sighing and looking at Oliver.

“Let’s go, then” he said, not seemingly disappointed by the fact that he had just lost, guessing that losing all the time it had become a normal thing, and they both left the arcade. Zack could feel something was up by how tense Oliver seem to be.

“Hey, what’s up?” Zack asked, slightly confused by Oliver’s sudden change in his mood, while he was eyeing him carefully.

“Nothing” Oliver said with a slight edge. Zack looked at him, not convinced as they walked towards their favorite diner where they could get good sandwiches for a cheap price.

“I know something is up,” he said looking at Oliver, “you never get pissed without a reason.” Oliver let out a sigh before he ran his fingers through his hair, then looked at Zack. 

“Casper is here,” he replied after a few seconds, and at first Zack looked a bit confused, then his face changed into a surprise, as he realized what it meant.

“Wait, are you sure?” He asked a bit skeptical since it’s been 6 years since any of them had seen him. Oliver nodded with a sigh.

“I met him yesterday by the carnival,” he replied, “there was no doubt about it, he looks the same just taller and more masculine, a typical jock too,” Oliver said, a bit saltier then he wanted too and the more Oliver talked, the more annoyed he seemed to get. Not only was Casper stronger and taller than Oliver, but he was also more handsome, whereas Oliver only had gotten slightly taller, but he was still fairly skinny even though he skated, and he had a more ‘feminine’ face, and because of that, Oliver was jealous of Caspers good look. 

“Oh, shit dude, did he say anything?” Zack knew of their past, so it was obvious he was curious about their encounter after six years, knowing Oliver still held grudges.

“Nothing happened. He said hello, I didn’t reply and left before we could talk any further,” Oliver shrugged, trying to act differently, trying not to make a big deal out of it, but he knew Zack had seen through his facade. Zack watched him, like he wanted to say something but then nodded, looking towards the diner.

“I wonder what he is doing back,” he said. Oliver didn’t care as to why Casper was back, as long as he would leave again soon.

“Doesn’t matter, I just hope I won’t meet him again,” Oliver grumbled.

They reached the diner and sat down to eat, Oliver ordering a fried chicken sandwich while Zack preferred their spicy pulled pork sandwich, both with a side of fries and soda. Zack looked at Oliver, like he was unsure what to say something, but he knew Oliver enough not to push him when he was in a bad mood, instead he talked about the Carnival and asked Oliver if he wanted to visit it next week. 

“Sure, it won’t be there for long, with summer vacation close to be over,” Oliver shrugged while nodding, smiling.

“Then we have to try out some of the games! I want to win something for once!” Zack mentioned in frustration, apparently tired of losing to the Pac-man game.

“Sure, lets make it a challenge then,” Oliver smirked which hyped up Zack.

After eating they headed back to the arcade games, since hyping up Zack, made him want to try out the Pac-man game again. Oliver sighed as he shook his head, knowing it was hopeless to try to stop him, so he decided to find a different arcade game. He found a pinball machine that he enjoyed and spend some time on that, while waiting for Zack to finish his round of Pac-man, knowing it could take some time. 

When he heard Zack frustratingly groan, he knew his game was done, so Oliver finished up his game, deliberately losing so they could leave the place. They decided to walk around in the mall, first going into a clothing store. Zack was looking for some new t-shirts while Oliver just browsing, not really interested in the style of clothing they sold. Then they went over to the electronic store, where Oliver hoped to find a new game for his PlayStation, even though he knew he could just buy it online, but sometimes there was good games on sale, and he could get a game cheaper in the store then online. 

When their search for a cheap game came up empty, they decided to go to a thrift store, going through clothes. Oliver liked the thrift store since they always had something interesting, and it was here he had bought several of the band t-shirts and ripped pants that he owned. But as they looked through the clothes, Zack was talking, first he started with a series he was watching at the moment, not caring that he was spoiling everything to Oliver, even though had a feeling he wasn’t going to watch it anyway, then the conversation went to a video game Zack had been interested in before it ended with him talking about Clarissa. Oliver didn’t mean to, but the moment Zack started to gush over her, he mentally zoned out and didn’t pay any attention to what he was saying, not that Zack seemed to notice. 

Oliver did his best to seem like he cared, but it was hard when every time she got mentioned or showed up, he felt like a third wheel. He hated the feeling of jealousy, and it frustrated him that he couldn’t just be happy for Zack. 

Oliver had been wondering why he was feeling so jealous, and had started to wonder if his feelings for Zack were different, than what he had thought, that maybe he didn’t just see him as a friend, but something more. It wasn’t like Oliver would ever pursue Zack, knowing he was as straight as he could be, so Oliver did what he could to ignore it the thought and try to act like nothing.

At home Oliver could see the light was on in his dad’s office and decided not to disturb him. He went up to his room just as Jake walked out of his own, looking at him surprised.

“Thought you were going to stay out with Zack?” Jake said surprised, as he headed towards Oliver. 

“He had stuff to do,” Oliver lied as he shrugged. The truth was that seeing Casper, then Zack talking about Clarissa, had soured his mood and he didn’t feel like hanging out with him, so he made up an excuse and went home.

“Oh, ok, well I promised dad I would cook,” Jake said and walked past Oliver, heading towards the stairs. “So don’t be late this time, because we won’t save you any food,” Jake warned Oliver as he walked down the stairs. Oliver flipped him off, even though he knew Jake wouldn’t have seen it, before entering his room. 

The room was dark as the curtains were closed. Oliver closed the door behind him before going to the window, pulling the curtains apart and open the window, letting in the evening breeze. He looked around his room, it was messy, dirty clothes spread out on the floor and clean clothes in a pile on the bed, which were probably dumped there by his dad. The ashtray was full and dirty plates and glasses were stacked on his desk. Oliver sighed before digging out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one, leaning back on the edge of the window, watching as the wind blew the smoke into his room.

He glanced out the window, watching the sun slowly setting, though it still was hours away from setting completely. He felt inspired and couldn’t help but wanting to take pictures of it. 

With a cigarette between his lips, he went to grab his camera from a shelf above the bed. He then went back to the window and started to take pictures, trying to see if he could capture it how he wanted it to. He looked at his camera, seeing if the pictures were anything good and felt kind of pleased with them. He then spent some of the evening, with eating dinner with his family, where he managed to get there on time, and then the rest playing  games on his PlayStation, before he went to bed around midnight.