Tuesday, November thirteenth. Why did big things always seem to happen on a Tuesday? Jacob mused as he walked up the sidewalk to Seth’s front door. He wasn’t even sure anything big would happen today, but he hoped it would. He still didn’t know what would make an appropriate birthday gift, but he carried a small box with two cupcakes, at least. He had felt so confident the day before. Red hot embarrassment crept up his spine, remembering what he’d said. He felt so cool in the moment, but thinking back on it, it surprised him Seth hadn’t burst out laughing. Seth had just kept looking at him with that burning intensity - until the bell rang and they rushed back to class.  Jacob knocked on the green front door. The air was crisp, and Jacob noticed ice crystals were forming on the bare, un-kept rose bushes that lined the front of the townhouse.  The doo

It was pouring rain on the early Thursday morning of the Forge Dragon’s departure. Jacob’s mom insisted on driving him so he wouldn’t get soaked on the way. Alice sat in the back seat, waiting to be dropped off at her elementary school. Normally, they both walked, since they lived so close to both schools, but on rainy days, the Mom-Mazda-Express got them where they needed to go. “It’s really coming down out there,” his mom observed. With the wipers off, the view out the windows was just splotches of undefined color. “You should have an umbrella.” She reached over and dug around on the floor near Jacob’s feet.  “Mom, I have one. Don’t worry,” he said. He pulled his umbrella from the side pocket of his backpack to show her.  “Of course,” she sighed, looking at him like she was missing the small boy she u

CONTENT WARNING: Depiction of Panic Attacks and anxiety  Sarah stood in the doorway, as white as a ghost.“Sarah! What are you doing here?!” Seth gasped, gripping the sheets around his nakedness. “You left your key at lunch,” she said, obviously at a loss.“So you decided to just fucking come in?!” Seth was shouting. Jacob couldn’t make any words come to mind, so it amazed him that Seth could form complete sentences at all.“I knocked… I didn’t think… how could I…” Sarah clamped her mouth shut. She was holding the offending key in her hand. She dropped it like it was white hot and stared at it as if she didn&rsquo

Jacob held his breath in surprise. It was true; he knew it was true, but saying it out loud somehow made it real. He hadn’t planned to say it. It almost felt like someone else had been the one to say it, but he could feel the echo of the words in his mouth.  Sarah visibly relaxed. “Oh,” she said as her brows turned up in the middle, and the intense glare she had fixed on Jacob melted to one of compassion. “I’m sorry,” Jacob said, breaking from her gaze and studying the ground in the dying light. “You don’t have to apologize for that,” she said. “It’s not something you can help.”The confidence in her words stabbed through him. If he couldn’t help it, there was no fixing i

Jacob awoke to find the hotel room empty. That’s fine. Seth probably wanted to get an early start since he missed the game yesterday. Jacob blearily dragged himself out of bed. He hadn’t been able to sleep much and his dreams were restless, but he tried to shake it off. They had an important game today, and he couldn’t let the team down a second time. Seth’s bags weren’t in the room. They wouldn’t be coming back to the rooms after the game today, but would get on the bus to go home instead, so he probably already loaded his stuff on the bus. It wasn’t a big deal. Jacob climbed into the shower and turned it on. Cold water hit his face and shocked him awake before it warmed. Seth would have waited for him. If things were normal, Seth would have waited for him