Josh looked at his dad. “Well, I’m only four weeks out from my graduation, but what do you think, Dad? Headmaster Olivos isn’t the most flexible in regard to school policy.”
“I know what you mean,” Brian said with a concerned look on his face. “He is a stickler for policy, and this situation is definitely going to require an exception to be made. I’ll set up a meeting with him for later in the week. I know we can’t explain everything in detail, but we’re going to have to explain that you probably won’t be able to finish the year in the traditional way. How do you feel about the situation, Josh? It’s a lot to take in for both of you. You’d both be giving up all those end of the year events and graduation parties. Josh already missed his prom, but maybe you still have yours, Cory. Everything else though? You might consider taking some time to talk about how you each feel.” Brian looked to Ben and back to the boys. “I can attest to the fact your grandpa and I aren’t even sure how to proceed since this is definitely something neither of us thought was a possibility.”
“I guess we’ll have to talk about this later, Cory. I mean, what each of us wants and what things will look like for us. It’s all been kind of crazy even wrapping our heads around this that we haven’t really thought about actually making this work on a day-to-day level,” Josh said and turned from Cory to their parents. “I think we should probably make it through the rest of the school year before we move on to after high school. I was only planning on going to the community college and Cory already told me he was taking a year off after graduation. So I think we can hold off on finalizing anything there.”
Cory squeezed Josh’s hand and nodded his head in agreement. “I think that’s probably a good idea. Let’s just make it through this week and figure out what we’re doing for school. Then we can make it through graduation. One thing at a time, yeah? Although...” Cory waggled his eyebrows at Josh. “I do like the idea of taking you to prom.”
Everyone laughed at Cory’s comment. “We can definitely talk about that later too,” Josh said with a smile and slightly heated cheeks.
“Well, I think we should probably get a little more into the backstory and such as that might help you boys going forward,” Ben commented, taking a sip of his lemonade.
“Josh, you’ve probably heard the story several times, but maybe now it will have a different meaning for you,” Maggie spoke up for the first time. “Maybe you boys can appreciate how lucky you are to have found each other when you did.”
“Is this the story of how you and Grandpa met?” Josh questioned.
“Mm-hmm. I know Brian explained to you guys yesterday about Complements usually being risk-takers or adrenaline junkies. Also, typically prone to accidents or clumsiness. Well, it would seem I was a bit of both.” Maggie laughed good-naturedly. “When I turned thirty, as a birthday present, a friend of mine named Jeff finally relented to my constant badgering that he needed to teach me how to ride a motorcycle.” Maggie paused and looked around at everyone significantly. “We spent several weeks just looking at his bike and him showing me all the bits and pieces and how they worked. We talked about everything from shifting to breaking, on down to road safety. I watched him ride several times around an empty field outside the city.
“On the first day we were going out together, with me just holding on to him, it had been raining. I was just supposed to be getting a feel for the bike and the way it moved. Jeff was very careful with me and always wanted me to know that even though motorcycles were lots of fun, they were still heavy machines that needed respect. Of course, all of his talk was really a moot point seeing as how we never even considered helmets back then.”
Ben reached over and wrapped his hand around his wife’s smaller one as a show of comfort and support.
Cory, who was already partially twisted in his seat to see Maggie better, leaned back a little, moving closer to Josh’s side. He could probably sense where this was going for the fellow Complement and wanted some comfort as well. Josh inched closer to Cory and drew his left hand around Cory’s side, pulling him in tighter.
“As you can imagine, with the slick streets and lack of head protection, things didn’t end well when Jeff swerved to miss a cat that had darted into the road.” Maggie paused for a moment. Everyone seemed to understand and gave her a moment to gather her thoughts. “The bike’s tires lost their grip and since we were fairly well out of the city, we had some good speed going. The bike went down and we slid along the pavement. I ended up slamming into a tree along the side of the road and Jeff ended up tumbling down an embankment. The bike never left the highway and really had minimal damage.”
Taking a deep breath and looking over to Ben, Maggie finished her story. “That’s all I remember really. They told me later that I was out for over a week. Jeff had been in the hospital as well and ended up with a broken arm and lots of cuts on his face and bruises everywhere else. I ended up with a concussion, dislocated shoulder, and several broken ribs. Thankfully we were both wearing jackets and pants due to the cold day and the rain that morning, or things could have been much worse.”
Ben put his arm around Maggie and kissed her affectionately on the temple. Cory took a shuddered breath and Josh squeezed him a little tighter. Ben picked up the story from there. “Jeff and I were coworkers at the time. I was working as a physical therapist assistant while I finished my certification and Jeff was the newest PT on staff at the hospital. I had heard about his accident since he had missed a week of work while recovering. The first day he came back he had his arm in a sling and had several fading bruises on his face and stitches over one cheekbone. When I asked him if he wanted to talk about it he just confessed to how guilty he felt for his injured companion. He had little concern for his own well-being, but was wrecked over some girl named Maggie.” Ben smiled and winked at his wife who giggled and teasingly shoved him away.
“When I heard that Maggie hadn’t woken up yet from her ordeal, I just knew I needed to see her. As a Catalyst, I wondered if this could be my chance. Would she respond to me? As morbid as it sounds, this is the way we often find our Connections. I couldn’t pass up the chance. I told Jeff I would go with him after work to visit Maggie. I was obviously nervous because what if she was the one? What if she woke up and all of a sudden I had this person, someone I didn’t know, someone who would need me always, bound to me, so to speak. Someone I would have to explain everything to and hope she understood,” Ben continued, looking fondly at his wife.
“Hmm, yeah. What would that be like I wonder?” Josh interrupted and threw a look at his dad and grandpa. Cory just snickered and elbowed Josh lightly.
“In our defense, you weren’t eighteen yet. You already know that,” Brian reiterated.
“We’re sorry you were so confused and didn’t understand what was going on. If you had already known the stories and the signs things would probably be a bit different now,” Ben said, looking between the two boys.
“You both seem to be handling things rather well, however, and I am glad for that. You really might not appreciate how lucky you are to have found each other so young. I can imagine you both might be feeling a little put out and unsure about your futures. Thinking this seems unfair and how will you go on with this other person tied to you. But, I can assure you, we will all do our parts to help ease the way and ensure an easy start to your new lives. You have the freedom to live openly and not be constantly wondering when your life will finally begin. Josh, as you know, I was thirty-four when I met your grandma. You and Cory will have sixteen more years together than we did. As your Connection strengthens, and you both understand that the other person is simply a missing part of your soul, you will be forever grateful to have that part with you for as many years as possible,” Ben finished and Maggie wrapped her arms around her husband with a slight sniffle.
Josh looked around the table then and noticed a slight sheen to everyone’s eyes. His father, however, just looked sad and resigned. Even though Josh hadn’t known Cory that long yet
he could already feel how important the other guy was to him. His heart went out to his father that he had never found a Connection of his own to share his life with.
“Anyway,” Maggie chirped, as she discreetly wiped her eyes, trying to add a lighter tone to the conversation. “Needless to say, I did wake up and needed only some minor convincing. As you both have discovered—” she gestured toward Josh and Cory, “there’s really no disputing that you need each other.”
Ben picked up the story then, adding, “I knew what finding her meant and what needed to be done. So, together, we were able to get my physical therapy certification done, and that was when Jeff and I opened our small private practice, with Maggie running the front office. She was already working as a secretary so the transition was very easy. We just did it together.”
“Now you boys might not have it so easy,” Ben continued. “We were well past our school-age years and had already established ourselves. But together you will have to make several decisions and have lots of discussions about what you see yourselves doing. Figure out what interests you both have and what things you both enjoy. If your interests align you might even be able to go to college together, taking the same classes, or at least online classes. But, you see, you have the choice to plan this together. I know we’ve always pushed the medical field on you Josh, but now you understand why. If that’s not something you want any more you certainly don’t need to continue with it. Anyway, you get the idea. The point is you have each other now and you always will. You can plan the type of life that makes you both happy and successful. And, as I said before, we will do whatever we can to help.”
“On that note,” Maggie interjected, “what do you say we help with all these dishes and get out of your hair. I’m sure these boys would like some time to themselves to reflect and discuss all these new revelations. Diane and Jim, thank you again for welcoming Josh and the rest of us into your home and lives. I’m sure you could use some time to yourselves as well. We’ve dumped a lot of information in your laps, and it might be nice to discuss things privately,” Maggie said as she started gathering plates.
Everyone took Maggie’s cue and extricated themselves from the table. Cory barely let Josh stand before pulling him into a tight hug. Josh could feel the large breath that Cory took and murmured softly into his ear.
“You okay?”
Cory just nodded but kept a hold of Josh all the same. Josh understood. They had so many decisions ahead of them and discussions to have. Where did they even begin? Everything seemed so overwhelming to think about. And even though he had heard the rough outline of his grandma’s accident over the years, the story took on a whole new meaning this time around. He had known that it led to his grandparents meeting, but everything seemed so much more significant now. Josh shuddered a little at the thought of never meeting Cory. Having to wait years and years for him, only for something unimaginable to happen to him, and then hope that somehow he would have been able to find Cory and make the Connection. Josh was really beginning to see how lucky he truly was.
“Thank you,” Cory whispered into Josh’s ear.
“For what?” Josh asked, wondering if Cory was feeling the same way.
“For everything,” Cory sighed and pressed his face into the crook of Josh’s neck and squeezed him tighter. “For this hug. For being here with me today. For finding me. It seems like so much to take in, but it helps to know that you’re here and you’re in this with me. We have so much to talk about and think about. I kinda just want to put it off for a while and spend time with you. But for now—” Cory eased back and looked at Josh affectionately, “thank you for the hug.”
~
After everything was tidied up and all the family was out the door, Josh and Cory headed back into Cory’s room to figure out new sleeping arrangements. Cory’s house had another bedroom at the end of the hall, but it had been turned into an office over the years for Cory’s parents. Josh learned there was also a converted space over the garage that the family used for storage, but since it was at the other end of the house, it wouldn’t work comfortably for their situation. So, he and Cory had been measuring and rearranging furniture to fit another twin bed into his room.
Cory had realized it had been a long time since he really overhauled his room, and he had a lot of stuff to box up for donation. While they were going through old photos and yearbooks, Cory kept coming across pictures of himself with Nick.
There was one photo of them dressed up as girls, with wigs and all. Cory explained that that year several members of the baseball team all decided to dress as girls for the school costume day on Halloween. He and Nick were wearing matching purple dresses with flip flops, and Cory had a long blond wig, while Nick had a bobbed cut black wig. Both guys sported huge plastic hoop earrings and matching purses.
Two things caught Josh’s eye while they talked about the picture. The first was the way Nick was looking at Cory in the photo. Even though the picture was goofy, and Cory was smiling at whoever held the camera, Nick was looking at Cory with clear admiration and longing in his eyes. The second thing Josh noticed was the way Cory frowned slightly at the image, the corners of his mouth turning down and the slight furrow of his brow.
“What’s wrong?” Josh asked, sitting right next to Cory on the bed.
Cory held the photo in his hands and looked over at Josh. “I never really noticed before.”
“The way Nick is looking at you?” Josh ventured.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I told you he had always been really friendly and affectionate toward me. Not really handsy or anything but he was never shy about hugging me or invading my personal space, you know? I never really paid attention to whether he ever hugged anyone else, but now looking at this and thinking about it, he always does the half-hug-back-slap thing with everyone else. I don’t know. He’s always just looked at me like this so I never really thought about it. After his reaction earlier and looking at this photo, I guess it seems pretty clear, huh? I could probably find five more pictures just like this on my phone,” Cory said, and his shoulders seemed to slump, making him seem older somehow.
Josh took the picture and set it aside. He took both of Cory’s hands in his and angled his body, drawing one leg up on the bed to face Cory more fully. Cory mirrored his actions.
“What is it that bothers you? That you didn’t know about his feelings for you? Are you wondering if, now that you know, you might act differently around him? Or that some part of you might even return his feelings?” Josh wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to the last question.
Cory was already shaking his head. “I have never had any feelings for him beyond just friendship. We always hung in the same circles, played the same sports, that kind of thing. I’m not sure why it bothers me. Or if it really even does. It just changes so many memories for me that I always figured were just Nick being Nick. Now… I don’t know what to think. I definitely never led him on in any way. Besides the fact that he has never said a word about being gay or even bi for that matter. I guess I just feel bad that he acted that way toward you, and me. He has no claim on me and shouldn’t have treated either of us that way no matter what his reasons were. He’s my best friend and that is confusing for me.”
Josh pulled Cory into a hug and just tried to offer some comfort to his Complement. “Why don’t we clean all this up and go outside for a while. I’d like to see your yard, and maybe we can play with Jenny a little bit. We’ve had a lot to deal with these last few days, especially you, since you really were just in the hospital. Let’s take a break and just chill for a while, huh?” Josh asked.
Cory nodded and pulled back from their hug. “Thanks, Josh. You’re pretty good at this whole Connectivity thing. You sure you don’t have another Complement hidden away somewhere?” Cory teased.
Josh snickered and joked right back. “You didn’t hear my dad when he said we could have multiple Connections? I’ve got dozens of Complements stashed all over the city.”
“
Sure you do. You wish you could have a dozen of me,” Cory teased sarcastically. “I am pretty great you know.”
“Oh, I know. I’m finding that out every minute we spend together,” Josh replied.
“Aww, see. That was so sweet. Now if you’ll excuse me I think I need to go brush my teeth or I might get a cavity.”
Josh threw a pillow at Cory’s retreating form and Cory threw a wink over his shoulder at Josh. “Coming? Jenny can’t throw the ball all by herself, you know,” Cory said on his way down the hall.
Josh just laughed and got up to follow his feisty little Complement out to the backyard.
~
Once Jenny was sufficiently worn out from chasing a tennis ball, Cory took Josh’s hand and led him to the opening in the stone wall at the edge of their property.
“Can I take you on a little hike? This is one of my favorite places to hang out when I need to get away and take some time for myself. My dad used to come up here with me a lot when I was younger, but now I mostly come alone or sometimes with Nick,” Cory said.
“Sure,” Josh said brightly, trying to chase away the look on Cory’s face at the mention of Nick. “I’d love to see all your haunts and hangouts. Maybe some time in the next few days I can take you to my place and show you around my world.”
“Yeah, definitely. I’d love to see where my brainiac spends his time,” Cory teased. “Okay, this way,” he said and led off along a dirt and grass trail to the left. “The path is kinda growing in since it’s spring, but as the weather improves, I’ll beat it down quite a bit the more I come out here. It’s only about a five-minute walk, but still, it at least has the quiet feel of being out of the city.”
Connectivity Page 10