Kieran & Drew by L. A. Gilbert Read Free Book Online Page A

“I saw one of those comics Travis likes in his backpack and thought he might want to come with.” He chanced a look at Matt, only to see him looking back at him suspiciously.
“You don’t need a reason, I was just wondering. I didn’t know you two hung out.”
    “We don’t, we just got talking in class, that’s all,” Drew kind of mumbled. At the time, he’d felt a victory of sorts for having invited Kieran, despite not knowing what he wanted out of doing such a thing. But when it came to mentioning it to Matt, he backed out. He’d grown nervous, and a part of him wanted to know what Matt’s reaction and attitude to Kieran would be without forewarning.
    If he were to be honest with himself, he was kind of disappointed at his own actions. He’d always been the type to try and keep the peace, and he hated confrontation, but not mentioning Kieran to Matt until the last second smacked a little of cowardice. And as much as he initially liked Kieran, he was a little bit embarrassed when explaining to Matt that Kieran would be there waiting for them. What kind of guy did that make him? He turned it over in his mind and rationalized that though he was a bit of a chicken, he didn’t know Kieran all that well and was still feeling him out himself.
“What class do you have with him, again?” Matt asked.
    “Art.”
“Ugh. Mr. Trinder?”
“Yeah.”
“I hate that guy; he made me stay behind class once and wouldn’t let me go until I could draw a perfect circle. Fucking Nazi.”
    “Yeah, I don’t like him much. Kieran neither, actually.” “So, you guys know each other from just art class?”
    Drew felt himself grow warm and turned away. He plucked a flyer from a stand and pretended to study it. It advertised the date and time for some sort of comic-book signing in a couple of months’ time. He shoved it into his pocket. “Pretty much. He mentioned a movie and an author I liked.” He shrugged. “We both like the creepy shit.” He looked at Matt and made a scary oogie-boogie face, laughing when Matt glared.
    “I don’t know how you can like that stuff, man.” Matt shivered. “I had to sleep with my fucking lamp on for a week when you made me see that Paranormal Activity movie.”
    “That’s because you’re a pussy.”
“No way. You have to betwisted in the head to like that shit.” “What shit?” Travis asked.
They turned around to see Travis standing behind them, his arms full of comics, and Kieran beside him, suppressing a smile. “ Stuff . I said stuff,” Matt amended quickly.
     
“No,” Travis said in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying his brother’s discomfort. “You said shit .”
     
“Am I gonna have to beat you up?” He crouched and grabbed the front of Travis’s shirt, making his brother giggle. “Huh?”
     
“Not if you buy me this one.” Travis nodded to one of the comics he held.
    “That’s called bribery.”
Drew grunted. “That’s called keeping your little brother quiet.” “Fuck.” Matt sighed.
“I’ll have this one too, please.” Travis preened. Both Drew and Kieran laughed.
    “I like this kid,” Kieran said to Drew.
“Oh for—” Matt began.
Drew put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Dude, stop while you’re ahead.”
     
Matt took the two comics, messed up his brother’s hair, and then told him to put the rest back while he headed over to the counter to pay. “Find anything you like?” Drew asked Kieran, feeling oddly nervous when it was just the two of them.
     
Kieran shrugged, but he looked to be enjoying himself. “Not today. You?”
    “Uh. No….” He laughed.
Kieran gave him a knowing look. “Not your kind of thing?” “Not really.”
“Well, at least you have good taste in movies.”
“We’re going to see a movie?” Travis asked, now back and smiling at Kieran.
    “Uh….” Kieran hesitated.
“We hadn’t planned on it, Trav.” Drew nudged the kid.
“Planned on what? Here ….” He handed a plastic bag to his brother. “Take