by Wiley, John
Rhys @RhysHesPNutbutr 1m
bye LA, I’ll miss you. x http://pic.twitter.com/jdtjw342jc
***
The next morning Erick is sitting at the breakfast bar eating some cereal when Gene comes running through the front door. “Were you out all night?” Erick asks.
“Lisa from work let me stay at her place.”
“Oh,” Erick raises his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you guys were…”
Gene shakes his head, but has a big grin on his face, giving him away. “So anyway, she was showing me some stuff on the computer last night and there’s this Facebook thing –”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of Facebook,” Erick says grinning.
“Stop making fun of me; I was homeless for like 10 years,” he says in a playful voice. “So we decided to look for Marjorie on Facebook and she has one! But then Lisa explained what Facebook is and I think it’s really irresponsible of Beth to let her have one, but that’s not the point. The point is I know where my little girl is!”
“Oh wow, that’s great news! Where are they?”
“Tallahassee.”
“Aw, sucks they aren’t closer.”
Gene nods, but doesn’t look discouraged. “I do wish they were closer,” he admits, “but I found her; I know where my little girl is! Lisa helped me make a Facebook thing and I added Beth and Marjorie as friends last night and they both accepted me!”
“Even though you and Beth can never be friends again?”
“Well, I explained that to Lisa last night and she said we didn’t have to really be friends; we could be frenemies. Is that a thing, frenemy?”
“Yeah,” Erick laughs. “That’s a thing, especially if you’re a middle school girl.” He looks at Gene grinning like a child on Christmas morning. “I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks!” he says. “Well, I’m going to get changed for work and then we can leave.” He goes in his room to put on a different suit, shutting the door behind him.
Erick goes back to his cereal when his phone chirps. He picks it up and sees a notification from Twitter. He opens the notice and sees a tweet from Rhys.
Rhys @RhysHesPNutbutr 2m
dear ohio, you’re welcome for coming back – you just got a lot cooler
August
“Thanks for the room,” Rhys says to Cheryl as she bounces down the stairs. He’s sitting on the sofa eating some Spaghetti O’s.
“You’re welcome,” she says. She walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator to look for something for lunch. “I hate having all of these long classes,” she moans. She grabs a box of left over pizza and puts a couple of pieces in the microwave.
“Yeah, Joey said that you were doing this to graduate early and move to LA.”
Cheryl nods without speaking.
“I hope I didn’t mess up your plans at all.”
“How?” she asks.
“Well, he said something about the three of us living together again – Erick, Joey, and me that is, and then you too, so I guess that would be four of us…”
“Right,” she says as she takes the pizza out of the microwave.
“But without my living there, I didn’t want you guys to feel bad about leaving me here.”
“We’re not leaving you here,” she says. She sits on the other end of the couch and takes a bite from her pizza, but spits it out when it burns her mouth. She takes a drink of her soda to cool the burn. “We’re probably not moving out there,” she finally says. “We talked about it and he’s happy with his job here.” She tries the pizza again. “And then I can do an extra internship or two since I’m doing all of these classes now and then it’ll be easier for me to get a job when I do graduate.”
“Oh, that’s a good plan.”
Cheryl nods. “So…how are you doing?” She takes a bite of pizza; finally cool enough to eat.
“Fine,” Rhys shrugs.
“I mean with what happened…on your date.”
“Oh. That.” He shrugs again. “I’m fine, really. I mean he didn’t hurt me like you were when…it happened to you.”
“You can say rape,” she says.
Rhys shakes his head. “I don’t feel comfortable comparing what happened to me to what happened to you; they don’t compare.”
“If someone forced himself on you, it’s the same thing.”
“But you were in the hospital, you almost died,” Rhys says sympathetically.
Cheryl nods. “Well, I don’t want to dwell on it…just know that I’m here if you need a friend.”
“Thanks.” He reaches over and squeezes her hand.
They finish their lunches without saying much more until Cheryl finishes her pizza. She slides her paper plate on to the coffee table and sighs as she reaches into the book bag by her feet and pulls out her planner. “I just wish I didn’t have all of this homework.” She flips through her planner to all of the reading and essays she has to do. “Sometimes I miss high school. Even when I had a ton of homework, it wasn’t this much. And then it was always worth it because at the end of the year you got a prom as a reward! At the end of this all that I get is more classes.”
“I loved prom,” Rhys says. “Remember how we were going to have a prom here for our friends a couple years ago? What happened to that?”
“I don’t know, but it would have been fun.”
“Yeah, it’d be fun to go to prom with a guy. I mean, prom was fun, but it would have been more fun if I didn’t have to go with a girl. Blech.”
Cheryl snorts with laughter. “We should do it, now that you’re back.”
Rhys nods. “Yeah, we should.”
***
Joey is sitting at a picnic table at work in the garden. He’s reading a website on his phone while eating lunch when Liam comes outside and sits with him.
“Oh, hi,” Liam says as he sits across from Joey. “I didn’t know you were out here.”
“Yep,” Joey says.
“It’s so nice out today; I don’t know how everyone else can be inside.”
“Yeah, it’s like spring time,” Joey says as both of their phones chirp.
The both pick them up and see a tweet from Rhys.
Rhys @RhysHesPNutbutr 1m
I always thought mr bone from doug and marc sommers looked alike #iMissThe90s
Liam puts his phone down with a chuckle and unwraps his sandwich.
“Do you get notifications of Rhys’ tweets?” Joey asks.
Liam concentrates on his sandwich and blushes. “Yeah,” he admits in an embarrassed voice.
“I didn’t know that,” Joey says. He takes a drink of water.
“I think I kind of have a crush on him,” Liam admits.
“What? Really?” Joey asks. “I didn’t think you two hardly ever spoke.”
“We didn’t, but I’ve been following him on Twitter and…I think we have a lot in common.”He turns a bright shade of red. “Damn, I’m so embarrassed.”
Joey smiles at Liam. “It’s cool. For what it worth, he likes you too. Well, he used to. He probably got over you while he was around all those hot LA guys.”
“I thought he was back,” Liam says, picking up his phone.
“Oh my God, you’re like, stalking him, aren’t you?”
“Stop embarrassing me!” Liam says as he turns the color of a sun burnt lobster.
“Stop doing embarrassing things then!” Joey says, laughing at Rhys and Liam’s similar reactions to being embarrassed.
Liam eats his lunch in silence, eager for his skin to turn its normal shade.
“Do you want me to try to set you two up?” Joey finally asks.
Liam shrugs. “I mean, I guess if you want to you can try, but you don’t have to…”
Joey laughs at his response. “You two are so similar.”
“Really?”
“Just eat your lunch,” Joey says with a shake of his head.
***
The next day Rhys is sitting on the back porch, trying to get some su
n while reading Talking to Addison when Jeremy comes up the steps from the back parking lot. “Hey,” says Rhys when Jeremy gets to the top of the steps.
“Hi,” Jeremy says. “When did you get in?”
“A few days ago. Where have you been?”
“I was at my friend Max’s apartment.”
“Ah, Max,” Rhys says with a grin. “Joey told me about him.”
Jeremy blushes involuntarily.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Rhys insists. He puts his bookmark in his book and sets it on the plastic table next to his chair.
Jeremy shrugs and sits across from Rhys. “It’s just that I haven’t come out yet; except for Joey, Cheryl, and Tiffany.”
Rhys nods.
“How’d you do it? How’d you tell your family?”
“I just told them,” he says distractedly, thinking back to the day. “It’s definitely not easy. I think part of what makes it so awkward is how it’s kind of like that sex talk you get, you know? It’s not just saying ‘I’m attracted to guys’, it’s basically ‘I’m attracted to guys and want to have sex with them’, and no one wants to talk about sex with their parents.”
“Especially mine,” Jeremy sighs.
Rhys nods slowly. “Yeah, they’re definitely not the most open-minded people I’ve ever met, but I’ve met worse also. My neighbor in LA was this super religious church lady that was all preachy about my lifestyle; but in the end, she was the most supportive of me.”
“I just don’t know what I would do if they didn’t want anything to do with me after I told them.” Jeremy looks up at the sky, evidently picturing his life without them.
“Unfortunately, that’s something we have to deal with. But at least you’ll always have Joey,” Rhys says. “And I’ll be here for you if you ever need anything. Not that I know what I can really do for you other than just be there.”
“Thanks,” Jeremy says, standing up and walking to the door.
“So are you going to tell them?”
“Yeah. They wanted to go to IKEA, and since the nearest one to them is a half hour from here they said they’d come have lunch with me and Jeremy and take us with them; I think I’ll tell them then.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Jeremy says as he walks inside, shutting the door behind him.
Rhys picks up his book and continues reading.
***
A week later Cheryl is curled up on the couch with Joey; his arm wrapped around her. “Let’s watch a movie,” Cheryl says to him.
“OK. What one?” Joey asks, getting up to fetch the movie.
“Umm…oh, I know! I’ll go get it, you make some popcorn.”
Joey does as told; by the time the corn is done popping the movie is already at the menu screen. “Prom?” he asks. “Really? We can’t watch something a little better?”
“Rhys and I were talking about prom last week,” she says as she crawls under his arm again.
“I should have known that he’d be the one to put a Disney movie in your head.”
“No, not Disney’s Prom; we were talking about the actual dance and how we had planned to have one of our own before they moved away.”
“Oh, I remember that discussion. I was so happy that didn’t happen,” he says.
“Why?” Cheryl demands, horrified.
“I guess my prom was pretty OK…it’s just the tuxedo – nightmare!”
“Yeah, yeah,” she rolls her eyes. “But what about the magic of the night?”
Joey shakes his head; she’s lost him.
“Oh Joey,” she sighs. “Besides your wedding, prom is the most fairy tale night of your life. You get all dressed up, dance at a ball –”
“A prom,” he corrects.
“…Surrounded by people watching you, and twinkle lights. It’s magic.”
“OK, thanks,” Rhys says as he walks through the front door. “Love you too; tell dad I’ll call him tomorrow. OK, bye.” He hangs up the phone. “Good news!” he yells.
“What?” Joey asks.
“I got a job!”
“At Coffee Cafe?” Cheryl asks. “I thought you said they filled your old position.”
“They did, but remember how I said they wanted me to come in anyway?”
“Yeah,” Cheryl and Joey both say.
“They offered me a job as shift supervisor!”
“Congratulations,” Joey says. He stands up and does a straight boy high five handshake thing that Rhys is hopeless at when it comes to learning. He just holds his hand up until Joey is done doing things to it.
“Yeah, congratulations,” Cheryl says giving him a hug. “I’m really pleased for you.”
“Thanks; I’m really excited.”
“When do you start?” Joey asks. He walks back to the sofa and pats next to him for Cheryl to join him.
“Monday – Oh my God I’m so excited! Things are finally coming up Rhys!” he punches the air in excitement.
“Really?” Joey shakes his head as he chuckles at his friend. “I was excited to get my job at the art institute, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited that I punched the air.”
“You’re just jealous you’re not a shift supervisor at a national coffee chain,” Rhys retorts.
Joey hangs his head in shame. “You know me well.”
“So we’re just getting ready to watch Prom,” Cheryl says. “Joey doesn’t believe me that prom is like a fairytale, so I’m making him watch this until he sees that I’m right.”
“She’s so right,” Rhys says.
Joey rolls his eyes.
“Do you want to join us?” Cheryl invites.
“OK, sure.” He sits on the recliner as Cheryl pushes play.
“You know what I don’t get,” Joey says halfway through the movie.
“How to watch a movie without talking?” Cheryl offers.
“When they decided that you have to make a big gesture when you invite someone to prom,” he says, choosing to ignore Cheryl.
“I know,” Rhys says. “Both years I went the girls just came up to me and asked me as I was leaving school for the day.”
“The girls asked you?” Cheryl asks.
Rhys nods. “Just because I wasn’t out doesn’t mean I didn’t know that I didn’t want to date girls.”
“What?” Joey asks. “That was a lot of negatives in one sentence.”
“It means I knew I was gay in high school and I didn’t want to date girls. But since they asked me, and it was prom, I said yes.”
“So you didn’t make a big gesture?” Cheryl asks Joey.
He shakes his head. “Nope. I asked the girl for junior prom before algebra started, and then I didn’t even ask my girlfriend senior year.”
“Why?” asks Rhys.
“Judi,” hisses Cheryl, causing Joey to laugh.
“Judi was my girlfriend senior year; we met summer between junior and senior year and it was just assumed we were going together so I didn’t even ask her.”
They get to the scene where a kid hangs a banner over a highway to invite a girl to prom.
“Thank fuck I didn’t have to do stuff like that,” Joey says.
“What about you?” Rhys asks Cheryl. “Did your prom dates do big things like that?”
“No,” she sighs. “But I wish they would have; it’s so romantic!”
Joey shakes his head. “I just don’t get it.”
“Shh!” Rhys shushes. “I love this part!”
***
“Bye!” Jennifer says as she walks out of her apartment. She takes a couple of steps toward the stairs but stops and turns to go to Erick’s apartment, where she knocks three times on the door.
After a few seconds he answers. “Oh, hey,” he says.
“Hi,” says Jennifer. “How are you?”
“Fine. You?”
“Oh, I’m good. I just haven’t seen you much since Rhys left a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah, I’ve been out with work people a lot…”
he trails off.
She looks past him and sees several boxes piled around his apartment. “What’s going on?” she asks.
Erick turns and looks at the boxes. “My sister is moving in.”
“What happened to Gene?”
“He’s moving in with a lady from work. They only just started dating about a month ago and they’re already living together,” he rolls his eyes.
“Dang…that’s quick.”
“I’m worried that if it doesn’t work out he’ll end up homeless again.”
“Well, he can always sleep on your couch again, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. I just hope it works out,” Erick sighs. “Anyway,” he says, shaking the thoughts out of his head, “did you need something, or is this just a pleasure visit?” He realizes what he said and blushes. “Shit…not that I mean –”
Jennifer laughs and shakes her head. “I know what you mean,” she says. “But yes, I do have a reason for stopping by.”
“Well?” he asks expectantly.
She sighs deeply. “Do you want to go out with me?”
He looks taken aback. “What? You’re asking me out?”
Her face starts to blush a little. “I know I kind of threw myself at you when you first moved in, but I do really like you, and I’m tired of waiting around for you to make a move.”
He takes a brief pause before answering. “Yeah, yeah let’s do it.”
“Really?” she asks, ecstatic.
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Awesome!” she can’t help grinning. “Well…you have my number, right?” she asks as she starts to back away as to not ruin the moment by staying too long.
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Well, bye!” She spins around and takes a step to the stairs before stopping and turning again. “Hey, I’m just off to the soup kitchen…would you want to go?”
Noticing her hopeful face he shrugs and says, “Sure. Just let me get some shoes on.” He disappears briefly before reappearing. “Let’s go,” he says as he runs down the stairs.
***