How Green Becomes Wood

"Makes sense," Alec agreed with a nod. He paused, considering something. Then he glanced at Xander and gave him a slight nudge before walking off toward where they usually sat.

Xander took his cue. "Did Alec talk to you about this weekend?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets. "Friday, I mean."
 
"SLoan's actually been kind of low lately, so Alec decided to throw her a little party," Xander told him. "It's completely on the down-low, though. Invite only. Peter's parents agreed to rent the event space and be the chaperones or whatever, and there's going to be a few other people. Maybe like... ten, I think? Give or take? Anyway, it's just like a dance, chill out, eat food kind of thing. Wanna come? It'll be later in the evening, and I can give you a ride."
 
"Oh, okay." Milo said, shifting from foot to foot, "I mean, I can go. I just. Would they want me... there? I'm not really, you know... a dancer. And people don't... really... expect me to be... places."
 
"They can't expect you to be places if you don't go places," Xander pointed out. "Anyway, I'm no dancer either, but somebody's got to hold up the walls and lurk in the corners or else it's not a proper party. I intend to eat the food, drink the beverages, and maybe sway a bit to the music if they play a song I like. You wanna come lurk in corners with me?"
 
"Um..." Milo hesitated, torn between wanting to do normal teen things and do something with his friend and his deep anxiety surrounding social events, "How... how much later in the evening will it be?"
 
"We're starting at seven and going as late as we want, basically, but definitely by midnight. Probably way sooner," Xander told him. "If you get a ride with me, I can just take you home whenever you want. You got time to think about it. Just let me know by, like, six on Friday."
 
"Okay," Milo replied, "I'll let you know. It's not that I don't... want to go, I just... I don't know with... the way that I am, if... it'd be... fun, for other people. To have me there. Or if I'd be overwhelmed."
 
"Don't worry about them," Xander said with a slight headshake. "Sloan would love to have you there - though she doesn't know about it and will likely be distracted a lot - and Alec and I think you're fun enough. Probably a couple of other people. And maybe one or two of them don't find you fun, but, oh well, they can go hang out with someone else. It'll be a big room. If you don't want to go because you'd get overwhelmed, that's fair. You don't gotta do anything you don't want to, and you don't even have to explain it to me. If you want to go, I can take you, and if in five minutes you want to leave, I'll take you home. No problem."
 
Milo looked at him, then looked away quickly, rocking on his heels and chewing on his lip. Xander's willingness to accommodate him was touching and overwhelming and he didn't know what to do with the emotions. "I'll... I'll see if my grandparents are okay with it."
 
"Cool," Xander started walking to where Alec was sitting, "as long as it's by like 6, take as long as you need to decide. Going to all the classes today? Or skipping some?"
 
"I'll let you know..." Milo agreed, "...I should probably go to class. Some of my teachers are starting to notice me, I don't want to get in trouble with my grandparents. But at least some of my classes are doing stuff I haven't been taught before, so it's not the worst thing to happen."
 
"Cool," Xander nodded. He moved to sit next to his brother, leaving plenty of space for Milo. "I'm not doing so good in English or Math right now, but I think I'm still passing."

"Have you seen Toby yet?" Alec asked, not realizing he was invading a preexisting conversation.
 
Sitting down nearish to the twins, but not quite immediately by them, Milo said, "It's not worth failing classes when you have people who notice," but then redirected his attention, "I think, the way Tobey is, if he were around everybody would notice him. I don't mean anything by that, or anything, it's just, he's sorta, the... opposite... of me."
 
"I don't think he could be more opposite you if he tried," Alec grinned. Then he paused and frowned. "Well, maybe if he put on sequins."

Xander snickered. "Yeah, he's more surfer casual, which is weird considering where we live."

"But you are alike in one way. You're both pretty good guys," Alec told Milo.
 
"Are you implying I wouldn't wear sequins?" Milo asked. He wouldn't, but only because his dream style was to look more or less like India Jones, "He hasn't always lived here, though, so maybe it's not so strange he dresses like he does."
 
Alec perked up. "Would you? I can lend you a couple of pieces!"

"He's teasing. He wants to dress like a Hollywood archeologist," Xander said dryly.

Toby started making his way through the gym - on foot this time.
 
"I like wearing brown," he said simply, rubbing the back of his neck. When Toby walked in rather than skating, Milo watched this curiously, presuming he had finally gotten into trouble with the school and needed to really cut it out for the time being. He wondered how many people didn't know Toby's name, either, but knew him as 'the skateboard kid,' and if those people would recognize him on foot.

"That's the real similarity between us," he mumbled, it not occurring to him he hadn't explained any of his thought process.
 
"Precicely!" Alec cheered, thinking Milo was agreeing with his assessment that they were both nice people.

Xander raised his brow, suspicious of how easily Milo had "agreed" with them.

"I gotta go ask him if he's going to be participating in the talent show," Alec said, standing and heading down. "Be right back!"

"He looks downright sad without his wheels," Xander commented mildly.
 
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