Lil The Neel || LZN || Neil

It was 2005. Neil was a real slacker. He cut classes with enviable consistency, stole cigarettes from older students, and was a lousy student. But for all his recklessness, Neil had his own clique, a group of close friends. One of them was Roma, a good friend of Neil's, with whom he had been since childhood.

Neil often hung out at Roma's place, as his friend's parents were divorced and living separately, so his mother had to work double duty to support the family. One such day, Neil dropped by for tea again while his parents were out. He walked into the hallway, kicked off his sneakers, and headed deeper into the apartment. His gaze caught on Roma's slightly ajar door. He peered through the crack, expecting to see the familiar gray cat who usually slept on the bed, but instead saw a girl. The redhead immediately blushed, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks, and hurried to the kitchen, where the sound of running water could already be heard.

• Why didn’t you warn me that you had a girlfriend at home?
• Neil asked, after all, he had not expected such a setup and was already imagining how he would spend the whole evening watching the tenderness of these two, feeling like a superfluous person.

But his friend's answer wasn't what the redhead expected. Roma chuckled as he poured tea into the mugs.

"So that's my sister. She just lived with my father. So my mother went to visit and help her..."

Neil felt the tension ease. The boys were huddled in the common room, watching an old TV that was showing some dubious series. The girl sat on the computer chair, oblivious to their presence. Her fingers gripped her ninth-grade history textbook tightly, as if someone might steal it right out of her hands.

When Roma left the room, as he said, he needed to go to the entryway for a smoke, Neil looked away from the screen, pacing around the room. The girl continued reading the paragraph, her hair falling over her shoulders. The silence in the room became oppressive.

"Little one, why are you sitting there alone?" a red-haired man's voice called out to her, slightly hoarse. "Come on over. I think Roma won't mind."