“Kevin, at least try something.”
“I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t want to be a writer or a physicist or a politician. I don’t want to do anything,” he replied, sighing at the pink paper that sat between him and his mother.
It hadn’t even been ten minutes, and they had already started arguing. How could he tell her that he just wanted to stay the same… or not the same? Kevin bit his bottom lip, turning to stare at his feet rather than facing his mother.
“How about a doctor?” she ventured.
“Typical,” he muttered, studying the white stitches on his socks.
“Kevin,” her voice whined.
“Y-yeah, okay, fine, I’ll try,” he picked up the paper and made his way back to his room.
He hated these kinds of things. Choosing what you want to be so early. Why couldn’t he be like those characters in books and movies? Go on a journey around the world. Why wasn’t there anything that could change him? It was already November, and he already had to decide too many things. It was overwhelming, and it was still empty. A big, empty void that hadn’t been filled with anything.
***
“Happy birthday, Kev.”
Tara grinned, her lips spreading across her face as she pushed the slice of pie forward. Kevin took it gingerly in his hands, balancing it on top of his Calculus textbook. He gave a half smile, opening the small paper box to reveal the apple pie.
“It’s a special tradition. Not really for my family, but more from the fans,” she nodded to the box cheerfully.
“Pie,” he smiled, taking a whiff of the homemade tartness.
“Dean loves pie,” Tara laughed.
“Thanks,” he replied, letting his fingers drop the cover back on the box.
“Mhm.”
Almost at the same time, the two sat on the bench. They both began to stare off into the trees, wondering how things had disappeared and reappeared. And yet, they were still here, sitting afterschool on the same bench for the past couple of months. Everything had changed but them. Katelyn had left school to pursue an acting career. Leo followed Katelyn. And now they were together. Kevin’s mother had finally found someone that wasn’t him. Colleges and universities were open and accepting. It was only December.
Yet, he still sat on the far right side of the bench, and Tara, on the left. Their relationship hadn’t particularly grown or shrunk. They were still friends, of course. Yet, in some ways, Kevin had grown to enjoy Tara’s company. Yes, it was still pretty much the most awkward thing. But she was like his best friend. He didn’t have any other friends, of course. Well, it depended on what people would consider as a friendship. Oh, she was talking to him.
“So,” she started, turning her head to him, “How’s college applications and stuff?”
“It’s… tiring, I guess,” he replied, “Especially when you don’t know what to do with your life.”
“I feel you, man. It’s extremely hard to explain to your parents that you just want to travel around the world and meet people,” Tara chuckled.
“Yep.”
“Right,” she replied uncomfortably. “You should grow your hair out.”
“My hair?” Kevin’s hand felt the strands of his hair that hung on the back of his head.
“Yes, your hair,” Tara nodded. “Try something new and maybe Lana or Rose will start falling in love with you. Or not. Just grow out your hair – I want to see how it looks on you. I don’t know.”
“Okay,” Kevin shrugged. “I’ll grow my hair out, but if I start looking like a girl, it’s your fault.”
“Okay,” she laughed.
And together, they turned away and looked back into the trees. This was the sort of thing they did all the time. Thinking and pondering. And then sharing nothing. There was nothing to say, but so much to remember.
“You’re Dean today,” Kevin pointed out, interrupting her thinking.
“It’s December,” she explained, her fingers trailing the brown jacket.
“Dean December,” he repeated, trailing off to the trees again.
Tara watched the streets, finding the black minivan that paused at the red light. She turned to Kevin, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. He nodded towards her, still balancing the book and box of pie on his lap. Tara gave a half smile, standing up as the car made its way into the parking lot.
“Happy birthday, Kevin,” she said.
“Happy December Dean,” he patted the top of the box. “Thanks for the pie.”
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137,557 Literary Works • 672,043 Reviews
Hiya. I'm gonna got one line at a time, okay? I should warn, I haven't read anything prior so ignore anything that may have been explained in prior chapters. Okay, here we go.
(Or I, w/e ;P).
No space after ellipsis.No comma after 'try' because this isn't a speech tag.
Use 'wanted' for tense agreement.
This seemed to jump ideas a bit. You were talking about an adventure story character. Is this a reference to superheros? Would be nice if you could reowrd this idea so that it flowed with the previous sentence better.
This is redundant as that particular movement of lips is essentially a grin. I like the later description, so I would suggest just removing 'grinned, her' and making Tara possessive toward her lips.
Another non-speech tag comma that should be a period.
I'm gonna stop here.
I thought this was very well written. I loved that though this was third person, it read like first person. You also do a pretty good job of getting the writing to read as if the main character is speaking. Also, applying to college and deciding what you're gonna do for the next 50 or so years is a great/relatable topic. So you have an interest factor about this. Best of luck with this piece and Happy Review Day! Fahrvergnurgen!
Aww ^^ this was a cute chapter!
Kevin is starting to loosen up, Tara seems happier, and she isn't up his butt about a girlfriend. It's starting to look brighter for them, so I'm happy to see that!
I like how this chapter focuses more on their relationship than anything else. The minimal time skip was a good idea, as I feel like going through every day would've been tedious and slow. I like how gradually it's taking Kevin to warm up to Tara, and it looks like that's starting to happen.
Tara's obsession with the Winchester brothers is pretty weird and confusing >_> please explain why she centers her appearance and actions around the fandom, because she's kinda completely obsessed and it's weird. xD
Anyways, this was a nice chapter than was short yet held a lot of emotions. I like how simple and casual their relationship has come to.
Overall, there isn't much I can say about this, just that it was well written, simple, to the point, and the bringer of feels.