Once my final class had ended, and the record store had closed, I went back home so I could read the book Josh gave me. Under normal circumstances I would have finished the book I was reading first before moving on to another, but these were not normal circumstances.

After parking my truck, I hurried upstairs with my backpack over my shoulder and my books in my hand. Standing outside my door, I was about to unlock it and enter, but someone stopped me.

"Hey, Tyler, what ya got there?" I smelled cigarette smoke, and immediately knew who it was.

"Just some books." I turned to greet my neighbor to the left, Juan Lopez. Juan was about my age, but taller. He was Hispanic, with short but curly black hair. He looked and dressed like he belonged in a gang--which he could have been, for all I knew.

Juan was kind of strange to be living next to--he did host parties now and then, but not like the kind I would sometimes go to. Juan's parties usually involved an unhealthy amount of beer, cigarettes, and likely marijuana. He invited me to one of his parties once, probably just to see if I'd say yes, but I'd lied and said I had other plans, as Juan's lifestyle was not for me. He was pretty addicted to smoking, and I'd noticed him bringing different girls home all the time.

Despite these habits and activites, Juan was a decent guy. He wasn't rude or harsh; he was generally polite to me, and we were on friendly terms. He almost treated me like a younger brother, but less close.

"Books, huh?" Juan eyed me, like he was inspecting me. I didn't take it personally; he looked at everyone like that. "I was never much of a reader myself."

I was 50% sure Juan had never graduated from high school, but he was street smart. "Everybody has their own thing, I guess."

At my reply, Juan puffed on his cigarette, gave me a half shrug, and walked down the hallway. I unlocked the door to my apartment and entered. I had some reading to do.

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Art credit to Melgm

I know this is Tyler and Jenna art but cut me some slack okay, this is too precious not to share