Dynamics of Chuck

He ran into the house and his mom poked her head out of the kitchen.

“You’re home early!” she said.

Kyle stopped and looked at her, “Yeah. They let me go early.”

She smiled and nodded, “Good. We can have dinner as a family. We’ll be eating in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” he said and finished rushing to his room to call Ed.

“Uh, huh huh, Hello?” Ed half-chuckled into his end of the phone.

Kyle nearly out of breath, finally managed to speak. “Duder, guess what?”

“What?”

“I decided I would leave town for a while. Awesome, right?”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go to Colorado and write a book.”

“Why Colorado?” Ed asked, sounding distracted on the other side of the phone.

“Fresh mountain air,” he said then paused to think about it, “I guess I could go to Oregon. I have no idea why Colorado.”

“I know what you mean.” Kyle could picture him nodding slowly as he said it.

“So,” Kyle said, nodding slowly himself, “do you want to come with me?”

“Dude! No way!” Ed yelled into his end of the phone. Kyle stared at the receiver.

“What?” Kyle finally managed to say.

“Well, duder, you know how I’m suspended?”

“Uh yeah,” Kyle said somewhat exasperated, still recovering from Ed’s yell, “so you don’t have to go to school.” There was a pause on Ed’s end, and Kyle heard mumbling between Ed’s dad and Ed. A moment later, Ed came back on.

“I can’t talk too much longer. Anyway, Michelle―you know, scary chick―is totally into my suspension. She’s like one of those people that does that and stuff.”

Kyle laughed, “You know, I was going to say ‘not like us good boys,’ but I understand now.” Suddenly an image of the two of them going on a date with both Michelle and Rachel imposed itself on Kyle’s mind. He was stricken by it and unable to speak for a moment. He and Ed, they’d be practically related. That would be far too weird, Kyle thought, or maybe, somehow, far too normal. But, there was no way Rachel would talk to him again. Not unless he did something spectacular. He knew this. He was ready to leave. Ed said, “Uh, hello?” a few times. When Kyle finally spoke again into the phone he asked, “What about Sissy?”

Ed made a noise like a low moan, “Uh, it wasn’t meant to happen.”

“Wow, Definitive,” Kyle said.

“Man, my dad went nuts tonight.” There was silence. Ed said it, and Kyle wasn’t sure what to say in reply. “But then he kinda settled on the idea that we’d do homeschooling until I get my G.E.D. So, like, I’m never going back to school.” There was a pause, and, again, Kyle was stunned into silence. Ed continued, “It’s like, now I can go see Michelle in the middle of the day and do homeschool in the middle of the night.” He chuckled. “You know,” Ed offered imploringly, “you could do homeschool, too. It would be totally cray-zee, like permanent detention.”

“Somehow,” Kyle said slowly, “I don’t think that would go over as well with my dad.”

There was another long pause where Kyle tried to imagine homeschooling in a coffee shop in the middle of the night. It taunted him with it’s unattainability. Ed finally broke the silence again, “You’re set on leaving, huh?”

“Well, I think so.” Kyle’s thoughts returned to a picture of Amy-Jennifer storming off. To
Rachel, as she’d walked away from him. To Hawkes. To Fabrics. “It’s going to be really lame if you’re not there tomorrow. You know it’s a Friday. What a lame long weekend that is!” Neither said anything for a bit. Kyle suddenly thought and then said, “We could do the one-sided note thing. I’ll write what I’m doing on the road. You can write what’s going on around here.”

“Hey, totally, duder,” Ed perked up, “Then someday I’ll trace your route and finish you’re note while you stay here and finish mine.”

“Awesome. It’s only a couple days anyway.” Kyle tried not to think of Monday. “I’m sure no one will miss me.”

“Yeah, duder, what are you like chopped liver? Anyway, gotta go.”

“Hey, if you see Nick make sure to tell him I’m on a mission of … oh!  Nevermind.  You probably won’t see Nick anytime soon.” Kyle said and finishing blandly, said, “See you.”

“Okay, Kyle babe,” Ed retorted for the last time.

Kyle hung up the phone. It seemed different, now. Going alone. Not that he’d planned it with Ed in mind, but he almost thought Ed would just go. Like they were naturally on the same path. But they weren’t. Their paths crossed, and just like everyone else’s they diverged. Maybe it doesn’t have to be travel, Kyle thought, maybe I could convince my dad to do the homeschooling thing. Maybe I could convince Rachel and Amy-Jen I can be normal. Everything is here.

“Kyle,” his mom called from the other room, “Come in for dinner.”

But if everything is here, Kyle thought as he left his room for dinner, then what’s all that stuff outside?