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Stevie was sure that his mother was exaggerating when she stated that his new work friend’s mother was ‘a piece of work,’ as southern hospitality never left the women, even after moving hundreds of miles away from Oklahoma.
But as he was met with the slightly lanky woman who was smiling at him like he was food on a platter, he understood how unexaggerated his mother’s words were.
It was less distaste, and more shock of the way that Kev- Hall monitor, was so different from his mother, and his father at that. Mrs….Monitor, was soft spoken, a housewife, and had natural blonde hair, which wouldn’t be too peculiar, but her husband also had pure blonde hair, and they both had bright blue eyes.
To be honest, Stevie had almost asked if Hall monitor’s uncle lived with them because of the shocking resemblance. But his mind was preoccupied with the next to nothing resemblance that Hall monitor shared with the two.
“Hello,” Mrs. Monitor had greeted him from the open doorway to the two story residential home that they lived in. “You must be Kevin’s friend, Stevie?” The women had a floridan accent that was proof she had never gone further than the border. It was fitting with her appearance.
“Uh, yes ma’am, I am.” Stevie gripped his bag strap slightly tighter than he had been at the gaze of the woman. How the hell does Hall monitor get away with half the shit he does when he has to look at her eyes everyday?
“Please, come in, my husband, Kevin’s father, will be home shortly.” She moved from the doorway, and beckoned Stevie in. He was immediately hit in the face by the smell of air freshener, it wasn’t unpleasant to be honest it was nice, but Stevie was far more accustomed to the smell of coffee that radiated the apartment he lived in.
He was seemingly getting lost in the sights as Mrs. Monitor lightly giggled. “I know the smell is a little strong, but Craig smokes outside and brings in the smell.” She slightly muttered, which sounded very familiar in her tone, like she was used to speaking quietly.
That's where Hall monitor gets the addiction from.
As he thought this hall monitor himself came down from the staircase which was covered in a carpet that was obviously added after the family moved in.
“Heya Stevie,” his raspy voice let out, waving a slow hand at Stevie. The other boy’s face got slightly warm at the sight, it felt more personal seeing Hall monitor in his own home instead of the kindergarten, or sometimes at school.
The two were a grade apart, so they didn’t see a lot of each other during school. But the three hours every day at the kindergarten they served was enough time in Stevie's eyes.
“Hi Ha-Kevin.” Stevie quickly remembered that Hall monitor went by his birth name, Kevin, at home, and only went by Hall monitor at work. It was because of the horror story that Stevie had brought back from his short time at another kindergarten without his partner.
“Holy shit man,” Hall monitor stated as he blew smoke out of his mouth, purposefully avoiding Stevie’s direction, and passed the cigarette over to the shorter boy.
“Yeah, and that freak was under the school, in some like, cave under a lake that only a gator could reach.” Stevie slightly coughed at the smoke filling his lungs, he wasn’t used to cigarettes, and he only smoked after hard days, which was every day that he had to interact with annoying kindergartners.
“Shit, his name was Kevin, like me?” Stevie nodded, passing the cancer stick back to him. “Hey, it's just hall monitor now, do not associate me with that.” He shook his head. “Bad connotation ya’know?” He smirked, the smile soon falling as his eyes met Monty and Kidd muttering to each other behind the school. Stevie sat out yelling at them, and had finished the cigarette.
Hall monitor’s eye brow slightly raised at the name slip, but he gave Stevie that dumb smirk again, and Stevie immediately forgot about any embarrassment that he had previously felt.
Mrs. Monitor looked the two boys over, making a weird noise with her throat, not a ‘mhm’ but something else that Stevie didn’t catch. “Kevin, how about you two head upstairs. Lamb is for dinner tonight.” She gave a light smile, and a pat on Stevie’s shoulder that definitely didn’t send a shiver up his spin at how cold her hands were.
“Kay ma.” Hall monitor jerked his head towards the stair case, and Stevie blindly followed him.
As they walked up the stairs, Stevie looked at the pictures hanging on the wall, family photos, extended family photos, but no baby photos of Hall Monitor, none with him younger than seemingly twelve.
Hall monitor’s bedroom was as expected, maybe the only thing that was predictable in this house. It was messy, and smelled of cigarette smoke, and lightly of the air freshener down stairs. Clothes were on the floor, and band posters littered the walls, Stevie could name none, and he was slightly embarrassed at that.
Stevie was as Hall monitor loved to say, basic. In every way, Stevie was as normie as normie gets. He listened to whatever was on the radio, he watched the popular movies at the time, he read mainstream books, and couldn’t name three nirvana songs if he really really tried.
He tried to learn new things, hell he was smoking, so that wasn’t basic. He also tried to be less normal. He thought maybe if he knew more bands, or watched more homoerotic and slasher films Hall monitor would enjoy his company more. Enjoy him more.
Even though many times the other says that he loves the simplicity, and the feeling of teaching Stevie the great ways, a nagging feeling always is in the back of the other’s head, telling him Hall monitor would be happier with someone who understood him more.
But he couldn’t act like he liked all this shit. He hates hard metal, he can’t do horror movies, and goddamn he hates nirvanna. He thinks they sound like a bunch of idiots mumbling into a microphone.
Stevie placed his bag, with clothes and toiletries filling it, on the floor next to a flannel. And sat on the bed that was surprisingly clean.
“So,” Hall monitor leaned back against the wall as Stevie did not, and kept his back straight. “You wanna watch interview with the vampire?”
They then proceed to watch homoerotic vampires with a child, Stevie had only heard of this movie on Tiktok, and was surprised to see that the movie wasn’t much like the tv show.
The two had spent the entire movie snuggling, Stevie breathing in the scent of stale cigarettes on Hall monitor’s jacket. Hall monitor talked a lot through the movie, and Stevie nodded along, and watched halfheartedly as he zoned out.
“Did you like it?” Hall monitor asked after the end credits rolled, and Stevie rubbed his eyes. “Yep.” He let out in a quiet voice, he blinked his eyes open to see Hall monitor smiling at him.
“You fell asleep didn’t you?” He was already laughing, and Stevie slapped his arm. “I did no such thing!” He huffed out his chest, and crossed his arms. “I watched the entire time, hell I’d say I watched more than you.”
“Yeah babes, definitely didn’t drool all over my jacket or anything.” Stevie gasped and profusely apologized, which made Hall monitor laugh harder, and in turn made Stevie hit him again.
They were soon called down to dinner, which was definitely lamb.
Hall monitor’s father was back at this point, and he seemed slightly less threatening than his mother. He was a tired looking man, with matching blonde hair and blue eyes to his wife, and not his child.
He wore a three piece suit, gave Stevie a firm handshake whenever he approached the table. He was a lawyer, Stevie knew because his oldest brother worked at a law firm as an intern, and Stevie had met many lawyers. He was a lawyer.
“So Stevie, what makes you like our darling son here so much?” Mr. Monitor asked, in a dad tone that Stevie had heard on TV and from friends’ dads, but never in real life. “I love him, but he’s not exactly a butterfly, and he doesn't really hang around nice seeming boys like you.”
Stevie was aware of this, Hall monitor’s other friends were all punky, and either stoners, or dropouts. Stevie didn’t like them, and that was a main reason he never saw his boyfriend at school, they didn’t like him either, and they made it apparent.
“Well, we work together at the kindergarten, so we were bound to be quick friends.” The smiles on the couple’s faces dulled slightly.
“You’re also a hall monitor at the kindergarten?” Mrs. Monitor asked, shifting her head slightly. “Were you also in the juvenile program?”
Ah, yes, the reasoning behind Hall monitor’s employment at the kindergarten. It was community service he was working off from selling weed in freshman year, he still hasn’t filled all 60 hours, and Stevie is happy for it.
“Oh, no ma’am. My mother made me sign up, it’s for college credit.” Stevie nodded along with his words, and took a bite of lamb. He didn’t like lamb, but he liked his life more than he didn’t like lamb.
Mr. Monitor huffed out relief. “Thank god,” He leaned in, like Hall monitor couldn’t hear if he rotated his body slightly. “We were so scared that you would be another bad influence, but we are being proven wrong.”
Stevie had assumed that Hall monitor would be a rebellious child, he would argue with his parents, and roll his eyes, and smoke in his room after they argued. But he giggled along with his mother at the comment, and thanked her for the meal afterward, and went back to his room after being excused.
“I had expected you to be a bad kid or something, given the…interests.” Stevie muttered as they closed the door, and laid back on the bed. Hall monitor wrapped his arm around Stevie’s shoulders and let out a light giggle.
“I don’t have the liberty to be a bad kid anymore.” Hall monitor’s tone got deep. “You see, uh, mom and dad kinda obviously ain’t my bio parents. Those guys, the ones down stairs, they’re my foster folks, or were until last year when uh, my bio-mom died, and they officially adopted me.”
Stevie didn’t know what to say, so he let the other continue.
“She like sucked though, mom that is, she was a junky or whatever, in and out of jail and stuff. I used to suck too back then, smoked way more, drank, got put in juvie.” He rolled his eyes. “But after the uh Monitors took me in, I went straight. They run a tight ship here, got me in shape by the end of eighth grade. Then mom died.”
“I’m sorry about your mom,” Stevie said, grabbing Hall monitor’s hand and squeezing. Hall monitor squeezed back and nodded.
“My moms downstairs doin’ dishes, I ain’t got a clue what you’re talking about.”
Stevie didn’t cry then, but whenever he thinks of the Monitors, he still tears up a little bit.
They smoked after that, cigarette passed between the two of them with that shitty mumbling music playing in the background. They didn’t talk then, they didn’t talk after the last filter tasting hit was taken, they didn’t talk as Stevie read over Hall monitor’s essay for english, and they didn’t talk when they wrapped their legs together and laid down while scrolling through instagram on Hall monitor’s phone.
They watched a few episodes of House M.D and laid down more, only speaking when something interesting happened, or Wilson was on screen.
It was late whenever the downstairs lights turned out, and Hall monitor turned the lamp on the night stand off, and they actually laid down in the bed. After Stevie’s long skin care, and hair routine, and getting bullied by Hall monitor for keeping him up for so long. They smoked one more cigarette, and fell asleep cuddling.
Whenever his mother picked him up, she was given a hug my Mrs. Monitor, and told that she should bring Stevie by more, would be good for all of them.
Stevie would come back, again and again, he would meet Hall Monitor’s little baby sister who was in Mrs. Monitor’s stomach this very night, he would see Hall monitor off to college with Mr. Monitor, he would go to Baby Monitor’s baptism, he would go to every family event, and when he went to college, he would come back on holidays and spend them with his boyfriend and his new family.
He would stay until Hall monitor didn’t want him around, and when they were married, and when they went to Baby Monitor’s wedding, and baby shower, he realised that he was now apart of that ‘piece of work’ family, and the little ball of sunshine that he called his daughter was permanently a part of it, and so was he.
He slept over a whole bunch more.