登入The sun had slowly travelled behind the clouds, and darkness seeped through slowly, rearing its head in bits. The stand was almost empty, but I was still hoping to make more sales. It was the least I could do after bailing on the stall back at home since I got back."You should go join the festival, baby," my mom said, already packing up. "It looks fun, and I would hate to rob you of this experience.""No," I began to shake my head, but she cast me a glance from the side of her eyes. "We need to make more sales. We still have a few eggs left, and the milk isn't…""I can preserve the rest of the milk till tomorrow," she cut in. "And we ran out of milk at the house, so this will actually work for us. And for the eggs, they won't go bad, Marcus. We've done enough for the day."She turned to my friends. “Could you guys help me load the car with the rest of the stuff?”“I can drive you home,” I jumped in.“Marcus, you are not allergic to fun, are you?”Anna looked up at me. I could see the
I was gone for only thirty minutes, but by the time I returned, James was nowhere to be found, and Anna had had her fill of staying alone at the stand. Because the minute I jumped out of the car with my mom, she was off, waving at me from above her head.“I guess it’s just us then,” I sighed, moving to the spot behind the displayed products. “So much for letting Gary get away with work for today.”“You both have been bickering a lot since you returned,” my mom murmured, coming to join me. “Something I should know about?”“Come on, Mom. Gary and I have always bickered since we were kids. And it doesn’t help that I’m gay and he’s homophobic.”I expected it. The way she looked away sharply, before bringing her eyes back to me. But no matter how frequently it happened, it still managed to hurt me. And as usual, my mom ignored the part about me being gay.“You both need to find a way to make up. He’s your brother.”"Maybe we will make up when you stop letting him have so much freedom."“Ma
That night was one of the most chaotic nights since I arrived at Phoenix. Despite the fact that we had a guest room across the hall, both Anna and James insisted on sharing my bedroom with me. Of course, their excuse was that the guest room was right next to my homophobe of a brother.Their words, not mine.But I couldn’t deny the fact that it felt so good to hear. We talked about random things, including Anne’s spontaneous visit to James’ frat house and the sight she was met with. Everything and anything was the subject of our conversation.But not once did it stray to Jordan, or the fact that Anna had feelings for James. We kept those a secret, not because we didn't trust James or want to tell him, but because we understood what the change could do to us.And we weren’t ready for that yet.We must have slept off at some point in the night, because the next time I opened my eyes, my mother was pacing my room, picking clothes off the floor, a basket balanced in one arm.I rubbed my ey
She was standing in my bedroom, her hands on her hips and her hair all over the place. There was a white sheet on her face. A facial mask. But despite the covering, I could tell that she was mad all over.And maybe a tad curious.I landed carefully into the bedroom, closing the blinds behind me.“Answer me right this minute, Marcus, before I go down the hallway and tell your parents that you were not studying like I claimed you were.”"You lied for me?" My eyes shone wide open and a smile broke out on my face. "You are a lifesaver, Anna."I tried to pull her into my arms, but she danced right away from me. "I'm listening. Where were you? Because what you don't get to do is leave me in the middle of a hot conversation and leave me to God knows where. And please, let it not be what I am thinking. Because if it is…"“It is,” I breathed, throwing myself into my carefully made bed. “I was with Jordan.”“What? Are you insane? How many times do you want me to tell you that he isn’t your…”"H
“What was that about?” I asked as I drew closer to Joshua. He was running his fingers through his hair, obviously perplexed. But when I stopped in front of him, it was all gone, replaced by a careless grin. Did he always act this way? Try to pretend like everything was fine when it wasn’t?“Nothing for you to worry your pretty head about,” he said, ruffling my hair. The action sprayed water all over me. I would have complained, but I let it die on my tongue. There was no need. I was already damp from head to toe. “I was clubbing with the girls when I noticed that Jordan wasn’t there. And he really isn’t the kind to opt out for a night of drinking and dancing.”“I thought…athletes…”“Yeah,” Joshua waved his hand dismissively in the air. “When he has a major game, he usually stays in the night before. But this… I wanted to get him to party, but he seems not to be in the mood. But you….”I shook my head immediately. “Nope. I have to be home right now. I already spent one night out. I’m
It felt like I had been caught doing something wrong; like we had been caught doing something wrong. I pulled away from Marcus the minute I heard the back door slam open, seconds before Joshua’s loud laughter reached us.The water strangely felt colder than it usually was, from where I leaned over, pulling myself out of the pool. I didn’t look back, because honestly, I didn’t know if I should, if I wanted to.Okay. That was a lie. Every inch of me wanted to. I needed to see Marcus’ face, to check if he was as confused as I was, or whether he would laugh this strangeness off. For a split second, just before my cousin came in, I could have sworn that we would have…that it felt…No, Jordan. I shook my head as if to get rid of the thoughts. You can’t even think that way. It was … It was nothing. Nothing happened. Yet, I felt every bit of the warm breath that caressed my face inside the water, the way he’d looked at me, drawn closer like he couldn’t help it. The way I couldn’t help it.“H







