How Green Becomes Wood

"Cool, thank you," Milo said, shutting his bag. Presents were cool and unexpected, and only a little bit stressful.

Until lunch, the second half of the day was pretty relaxed. Nobody was bothering him, really, and teachers weren't making a big deal that it was his birthday. Hetty Piper called him over privately to give him a book she thought he'd like, something she did with all of her students on their birthdays, but something she did so subtly it didn't catch anyone's attention.

Come lunch time, Milo came into the cafeteria feeling kind of pretty okay, which for him was a lot.
 
Xander and Alec had already claimed their seats, and Alec was talking with Becky excitedly about something. Peter hadn't arrived yet, but he was planning to join them. Xander saw Milo come in and raised a hand to catch his attention and welcome him over. It was pretty much assumed by now that if Milo was in the cafeteria, he was going to join them, but Xander did it every time anyway, and sometimes Alec would wave when he wasn't distracted.
 
Milo joined them at the table, ducking his head. Even today, he didn't love the cafeteria, but he was slowly becoming more accustomed to it. "I'm glad that today is a Friday," He said, sitting down.
 
"Yep," Xander agreed, passing Milo a few grapes. "Fridays are the best."

"Hi, Milo!" Alec greeted, and Becky gave him a wave. Then they went back to play arguing about something.

Peter walked over then and plunked down in his chair across from Xander and Milo. "Man, am I glad it's Friday!" he groaned, unknowingly echoing Milo.
 
Milo smiled a little bit to himself, amused by Peter repeating the same thing he had said.

"There's a lot of that going around," Sloan said as she walked up to them stretching, "Long week, Peter?"
 
"Very long week," Peter sighed. "I think our teachers are trying to kill us with homework, and there's a Judo tournament coming up and I've got stuff I need to deal with with the transportation fleet."

"I thought you had someone else dealing with that?" Alec asked.

"So did I," Peter sighed. "Never mind me, though. How are your guy's day? Oh, happy birthday, Milo." He handed Milo a birthday card in an envelope. There was a gift in the envelope, but he expected Milo to open it later.
 
"It's amazing how half of your problems are totally normal issues every teenager has and the other half are the sort of issues are so highly specific only you could have them," Sloan remarked, "That's the harm of starting a company at 17, I guess."

Milo mumbled a thank you to Peter and tucked the card away.
 
"It's all pretty steady. I've been speaking to more college scouts, I'm thinning I may go to New York, but nothing is certain yet," Sloan said, "It's weird it's basically April. I graduate in two months."
 
"We're going to miss you," Alec said mournfully. "You're going to go off and be fabulous, and when you come visit, we'll still be high schoolers, so you'll never want to hang out with us."

Becky patted his shoulder. "It's okay, Alec. We'll just have to talk Peter into throwing really awesome parties that just so happen to coincide with when Sloan comes to visit! She won't be able to say no to that."

Peter unwrapped his sandwich delicately. "Hmm, that is not a bad suggestion. I do enjoy hosting parties and then watching from the corner like some kind of mob boss."
 
"We'll still see each other," Sloan promised, "Although I wouldn't say no to parties every time I come home. Just give me warning this time so I can actually dress the way I'd like to and make sure my hair looks good!"
 
"You haven't seen how bad my hair can be," Sloan chuckled, "I do like the idea of New York, though. It's still fairly close, but it's still... not here. And it's busy, I've always wanted to get to enjoy a big city."
 
"Can I come visit you in New York?" Alec asked around a bite. "I would so love to visit a big city! I've never been, well, anywhere outside here."

"I like medium-sized cities. Not so huge, but with stuff to do," Peter remarked. "What about you, Milo?"
 
"Of course you can visit," Sloan replied, "I mean you'll have to find somewhere to stay if you come when I'm still living in a dorm, but if I ever have an apartment big enough to have a couch, absolutely."

Milo rubbed his thumb against his camera strap, "I liked Chicago. Cities are nice... I like public transit. The people you see, you know? And I liked when I lived outside of San Diego, too. I really liked California."
 
"Yes," Alec grinned, giving a fist pump of excitement. "I look forward to checking out the sights with you!"

"Oh, do you not plan to get your permit? Like Alec?" Peter asked, thinking of all the times he'd seen Milo on a bike, and he couldn't remember seeing Milo at the school's driver's ed classes.
 
"It's not settled yet, but I think it'll be good for me." Sloan said, "I'm working on my application now. I'm applying to other schools, too, but that's the one I'm hoping for most."

"I have my permit," Milo said, "My granddad is teaching me, though. But public transit is better, I prefer it."
 
Alec grinned and crossed his fingers. "I'm hoping for the best for you!"

"Same here!" Becky chirped.

"That's good," Peter said. "Obviously, I'm all for public transit, and I love it, but I've also lived in places where it wasn't great or didn't exist at all, so being able to drive is always a good survival option."
 
Peter chuckled. "Preaching to the choir there, mate, but you know how it is. It's all about profits." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, at least we can get around alright around here. I've been thinking about trying to take some mechanic lessons when things slow down. Nothing advanced, just enough to be able to fix simple issues in most cars."
 
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