Reunited

“Talk about deja vu.” Travin muttered as he leaned up against Norina’s locker. Norina had forgotten to take in her form to allow her mother to pick her up, so he’d decided he’d drop it off for her. And so he didn’t really want to hear Belina bitch at him about it either.  Norina had her own car and everything, but every once in a while Belina liked to pick her up for the weekend. And really, Travin couldn’t argue. He got Norina most of the time, while Belina only had the summer.

Despite having been in the school several times for a number of things, he’d never just stood around alone. Well not since high school. Which suddenly made him feel old. But he certainly wasn’t a spring chicken. Despite being high for most of his high school career, he could still remember it enough.

He glanced down at his watch and wondered when Norina would be out of class. Of course he was early by about fifteen minutes. He might as well see what she wanted to do that night while he was there. It was his night off, which was a rarity for him. But it was usually spent the same way. Sitting with Norina and doing something music related. And that’s just how he liked it.

Xencin pulled up into one of the closer parking spots on the school lot. It was his turn to pick up Xyren from school and usually when he had to pick up his son he would take him out somewhere. But Xyren hadn’t told him where he wanted to yet, despite how many times Xencin had texted him for the day. He put the car in park and got out, making sure to grab his phone and walking towards the benches where he normally waited for his son. It probably wasn’t smart for him to be sitting in the front of a public school but Xencin hardly cared about the paparazzi anymore.

Travin looked down the hall and frowned. Maybe standing near Norina’s locker was a bad idea. The school would be flooded with kids when the bell rang and it might be weird for him. He slid his phone back into his jacket pocket and headed for the exit. He could just as easily sit on the bench and wait for Norina and not seem like a weirdo for doing so.

He remembered sneaking out during school hours to sneak a quick smoke to hold him over until he could get out and go see what Xencin was doing. That was a long time ago and he’d not talked to Xencin in years. As far as he knew, the man was still alive. But that was about all. He didn’t pay attention to the gossip magazines. He pushed the doors open and stepped out into the cool fall afternoon.

Xencin hadn’t even gotten his cigarette lit before his phone rang. He looked at the screen and rolled his eyes. Cheradi always called him when he was out picking up Xyren. He answered her call anyway. “Hey.” He stuffed the cigarette back into the pack and then shoved the carton back into his pocket. Cheradi was giving him a list of things to pick up that he really didn’t want to pick up.

“Xen, are you even listening to me?” Cheradi sounded irritated and Xencin sighed. “Yeah I am.” He looked over his shoulder and didn’t see a single kid walking out of the buildings yet. Of course the bell hadn’t even rung yet. “Can’t you go get this stuff yourself?” Cheradi more or less gave him a definitive no and Xencin gave a grunt. “Fine. I’ll get it.” He said and hung up, annoyed that he had to make a run to the mall to get some pointless stuff Cheradi needed.

Travin reached for his sunglasses and then stopped. There was another person waiting on the bench outside the school. “Holy shit.” Travin muttered. Of course the man was easily recognizable. It was Xencin. What in the hell was he doing there? Reiora should have been well out of school. So why was Xencin there?

He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure how it would go. Their friendship had ended less than pleasantly. Actually Travin had pretty much been an asshole about the whole thing. But he tried to justify it by that he didn’t want to be pulled down into the hole Xencin was digging for himself. But in short, Travin was just a shit friend. But he really did want to talk to Xen. “You know, I’m glad I didn’t hold my breath. I’d be both broke and dead.” He called to the man, hoping that maybe a joke would break the ice enough.

Xencin heard a voice that sounded familiar and looked over to see Travin standing next to the bench. He hadn’t seen Travin since they’d stopped talking and honestly didn’t expect to see him here at Xyren’s school. He caught what was said, however, and grinned. “Well I can finally pay you back now.” He said and gestured to the bench beside him.

“So I’ve heard. Did that porno you do finally pay off?” Travin said as he came up to the bench and sat down next to Xencin. It had been so long, but Xencin didn’t seem to change that much. Sure he’d aged, but that was just a part of life. “You know, I should add in interest. It’s been over twenty years. I could clean your ass out.” He said with a laugh.

“I didn’t do it, you know.” Xencin quipped. Travin must have really thought Xencin was low enough to do that. “And I’m pretty sure you could, but you weren’t smart enough to tack on interest.” He checked the time on his phone. He hardly wanted to talk to Travin. Not after everything that had happened.

“No shit Sherlock.” Travin said and noticed that Xencin was looking down at his phone. Yeah, the years hadn’t done anything to fix the mess he’d made. “I was only kidding about that all. I wouldn’t ask you to pay me back if I was broke myself.” Not after the way I left you and Rei hanging. Travin felt awkward being there suddenly. That moment of ease and joking was gone. And Travin didn’t blame Xencin for one ounce of it. He looked out across the parking lot at the cars, not sure what else to say. Sorry seemed like a cheap word and he’d feel cheap saying it.

The bell rang and Xencin felt relief wash over him. He just had to get Xyren and go. No more talking to Travin. He looked back at the double doors leading to the hallway Xyren normally walked out of. He saw kids starting to walk out a few minutes later and scanned the crowd for his son. Unfortunately, he wasn’t among the group.

Travin stood up. “Well I have to find Nori. Glad you’re doing ok, Xencin.” Travin knew Norina would be easy to spot. She was wearing her boots that day, so she was just about six-one. Probably the tallest girl in her class. But the students were in a hurry to get out. Of course they would be, it was a friday and their weekend was about to begin. So he really couldn’t move away from the bench and a former best friend. Which of course made it all the more awkward.

Xencin didn’t say anything, just keep scanning the crowd hoping to find Xyren soon. But even after the initial rush of students died down he still hadn’t turned up. And Travin was still sitting beside him on the bench. Xencin turned back around and quickly sent Xyren another text.

Travin got the hint and moved away from the bench. He shouldn’t have said anything. He was a moron for even thinking that he’d be able to talk to Xencin. Little bird, would you hurry up. I need an excuse to leave. He shoved his hands down in his pockets and waited for his daughter. He really hoped she wasn’t lingering with her boyfriend or sitting somewhere listening to music.

After three more minutes of waiting, Xencin was getting impatient. Luckily, Xyren walked out, saving himself the trouble of being yelled at by his father. He was walking with a girl, probably his girlfriend. Xencin only knew so much about her but honestly he couldn’t even remember her name. The two were holding hands and sharing a pair of earbuds, listening to something on Xyren’s phone. That probably explained why he didn’t reply to his father’s text.

Norina looked up from Xyren’s phone for a second and was surprised to see her father standing there. “Dad! Hi!” She said with a smile, always glad to see Travin. She pulled out her earbud and looked over at Xyren. “Looks like you’ll finally get to meet Dad, Rex.” She wasn’t nervous like she should have been, just because she knew her father. She tugged on his hand and pulled him over to Travin who was looking a little shocked. “Dad, this is Rex. Rex, this is Dad.”

Xyren smiled and held out his hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Allender.”  Xencin just stood there, saying nothing. This wasn’t happening. This was just a joke. His son was just messing around, trying to avoid him having to meet his actual girlfriend.

“I..Um.” Travin said and glanced over at Norina to see that she was looking at him funny. What was he supposed to say? There was not a single doubt in his mind who that kid’s father was. The resemblance was uncanny. “Hi, Rex. Nice to meet you too.” Travin said and shook his hand. “I see that you and Nori are both going with the mismatched eye look.” He said with a grin, acting like it was just Norina’s boyfriend and not the son of a man he used to be friends with. Norina meant too much to him to upset by being a jackass around her boyfriend.

Xyren smiled again and tugged on Norina’s hand gently. “And this is my dad.” He said and pointed at his father. “Dad, this is Nori. Nori, this is my dad.” It was weird that both their fathers were there but at least they were finally able to meet and make things a little less awkward.

Norina smiled. “Hi, Mr. Ferrier. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry I kept Rex, I wanted him to hear this song and we kind of let time slip by.” Xyren really did look a lot like his father, save for the eye colors. But even then one of his eyes was bright pink like Xencin’s were. “It was a really good song if that helps any.”

Travin ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. The universe loved to mess with him apparently. “What are the freaking odds?” He muttered and shook his head. His daughter was dating Xencin’s son. Out of all the boys in the school she could choose, she went for the one kid who was the son of a former friend. The odds were pretty high against it. But hey, if his Little Bird was happy, then he’d smile and be nice to Xyren, regardless of his relationship with Xencin.

Xencin smiled at Norina. “It’s alright.” He said and looked to Xyren. “So did you know Nori’s my ex-best friend’s daughter?” He asked and of course knew that Xyren didn’t know anything. Not unless Cheradi told him but that was highly unlikely. He looked back to Norina. “It’s a good thing you didn’t inherit your dad’s ugly.”

Travin couldn’t help the laugh that came out of his mouth. “Nope. Little Bird got my musical inclination. She’s got her mother’s looks.” He said and when Norina let go of Xyren’s hand and came over, he put an arm over her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. “But hey, like you said, Xen. I have a face for radio.”

“Too bad you don’t have the voice for it.” Xencin gave Xyren a nudge. “We gotta go. Your mom wants us to drop by the mall and pick her up some stuff.” He nodded at Norina. “Go say bye, I’ll wait for you in the car.” Xencin pulled the car keys out. “It was nice meeting you, Nori.” He said before heading back to the car. He still couldn’t believe that Norina was Travin’s little girl. Why couldn’t she be some random person’s child?

Travin looked to Xyren a bit puzzled. He didn’t think that Xencin would ever find someone else after Cheradi. “Quick question for you, Rex. What’s your mother’s name?” He asked, curious to see if maybe it was an old girlfriend of Xencin’s or something. He glanced back at Xencin’s retreating form and could clearly remember the look on his face all those years ago.

Xyren looked up at Travin. “Cheradi. But everyone calls her Cherry. Why?” He asked as he stuffed his phone into his pocket. He saw Travin looking elsewhere and looked back to see that he was looking at Xencin. “Hey, what did my Dad mean by ex-best friends? Are you guys not friends anymore?”

Travin’s color paled a little. How in the shit was that even humanly possible? He’d been there. Hell, he even tried to find a pulse on her. And yet, there was Xyren, saying that his mother’s name was Cheradi. It wasn’t like it was some common name. And one of his eyes was the same icy blue. “Um..” He said and didn’t know how to say it. “He meant that I did some stupid stuff when I was younger and left some people high and dry when they needed me. I was a crappy friend.”

Norina frowned and wrapped her arms around her father. She knew about the stuff in his past with the drugs and how he made himself get clean. He’d only told her as a cautionary tale. She wasn’t going to mess up her life for a quick buzz. “Well that was a different time, Dad. Maybe you could try talking to him? I mean if that’s something your dad will do, Rex.” She said, the last part directed at Xyren.

Xyren shrugged. “I don’t know. Dad doesn’t ever talk about his past. I didn’t even know about you.” He said, nodding at Travin. “He doesn’t even have any pictures or anything. And he’s not really the type to talk. I hope this doesn’t make things weird.” Honestly, Xyren would hate to lose Norina because of whatever was going on between their dads. But at the same time he didn’t want to upset Xencin.

“Look, Rex. What happened between your father and I happened years before you were born. As long as Nori is happy, then I’ll have no qualms with you or your parents.” Including your supposedly dead mother. Did I just fucking dream all that shit? Travin said and was pulled out of his thoughts when Norina kissed him on the cheek. Norina was the most important thing in his life and if she wanted to date Xencin’s son, then she could. “Just one more question. Do you happen to have a sister?” He wanted to know what became of the little girl his parents were supposed to have taken care of.

Xyren nodded. “An older sister. Her name’s Reiora, Rei for short. But she’s like really old. She’s married and has two kids now.” Of course Reiora wasn’t that old but Xyren liked to go around saying she was, just to tick her off.

Travin smiled a bit. So she’d ended up ok. That made him feel a little less shitty about how he’d left them both hanging. He’d have probably fucked Reiora up just as bad. “That’s good to hear. I remember when she was born.” He said and shook his head. He needed to make things right with Xencin and even Cheradi. It was just something that never sat right with him. “Rex, would you do me a favor. Could you give your parents my number? I really want to try and fix the mess I made. Xen was my best friend and I hate how I left him like I did.”

Xyren looked back at the car. He really didn’t know what his dad would do if he brought back Travin’s number. “Um... okay.” He turned back around. “But I can’t promise he’ll call you.” He said and pulled out his phone. “Just put it in here and I’ll tell him.” He handed over his phone to Travin. He felt like he was betraying his father for some reason.

“Look. Just tell him I’d like to talk. If he doesn’t want to, then that’s that.” He said and pulled up the notes app in the phone and jotted down his cell number before he handed it back. Travin felt like he was putting Xyren on the spot, but now that Norina and he were dating....He needed to at least try and fix it enough that they could sit near each other without feeling awkward. “Thank you, Rex. I promise this is the last time I use you as a messenger.” He said and kissed the side of Norina’s head and let her go. “Meet me at the car, Nori.” He said and started to walk off.

Norina frowned and didn’t like seeing her father acting strange. “I don’t like Dad acting wrong.” She said and came to wrap her arms around Xyren’s neck. She needed to get going and so did Xyren. But she just wanted to hang out some more. “He’s told me about the mess he got into as a teenager, I just didn’t know that he would have left someone hanging. It’s just not like Dad.”

Xyren put his hands at her waist. “At least you can tell what your dad’s feeling. Mine’s just a stone wall. Unless he’s mad, you don’t know if he’s happy or sad or anything.” But even if Xencin was a bottled up mess, it still didn’t sit right with Xyren how awkward his dad seemed to be when he was around Travin. “Look, I better go before he starts honking. I’ll call you later, kay?” He gave her a quick kiss but didn’t let her go just yet.

“Ok, Rex.” Norina said and kissed him herself before she reluctantly pulled away. “Lets go to the record store tomorrow, ok?” She said as she started slowly backing away. “There might be something good in stock and I need more CDs.” Even if there wasn’t anything there, they could still chat as they looked and just enjoy being around each other for a bit.

“Alright.” Xyren smiled. “Later, Nori.” He heard Xencin honk and sighed. Five more seconds and he wouldn’t have had to honk. “Thanks a lot, Dad.” He muttered as he ran over to the car and got in. “Sorry.” He said as he dropped his backpack onto the floor.

“Your mom’s waiting on us.” Xencin said and backed out of the parking space. “We’ll hurry and get her stuff and then we can do whatever you want, okay?”

“Kay.” Xyren said just as he snapped his seat belt into place. He fished out his phone and unlocked it, intending to text Norina but was instead faced with Travin’s number. “Hey, Dad....” Xyren looked over at Xencin.

“Hmm?” Xencin glanced over at Xyren and saw the scared look on his face. “What’s the matter, bud?”

“Um... Nori’s dad... well he gave his number and asked me to give it to you.” Xyren looked away from Xencin to look out the front windshield. “He said he wanted to talk.”

Xencin’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. So now Travin wanted to talk? “Oh.... Just text me his number. I’ll call him later.” He said he would but that didn’t mean he actually would. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to listen to Travin’s lame excuses or if he wanted to waste the energy arguing with him.

“Okay.” Xyren was happy that his dad was at least being calm about things. He sent Xencin the number and went back to the stack of texts between him and Norina. He sent her one before locking his phone. Whatever had happened between Travin and Xencin wasn’t his business but it would be nice if the two of them could be friends again.