"So? What's it gonna be?" Shiri asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Henry, you're growing up. There are things you're going to have to figure out yourself."
She's right. I told everything that's been going on recently and Shiri is the one person I feel like who can help me, but her answer is everything everyone else is telling me. Plus she made it seem like my decisions are going to have drastic impacts in my life. "Shiri, tell me something else that I don't know."
"What you don't know Henry is the fact that you are who you are. Stop fighting it and just deal with it head on. Life just goes on and years from now, who knows where you could be."
"Alright. I'll go talk to him later today. Mom doesn't come home until five. Thanks for talking Shiri. I'll be back tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Sweetie, you can visit me anytime you want. I'll see you soon."
I told her goodbye and left the ice cream shop. Unlocking my bike, I check my phone. I never responded back to Dylan once Shiri and I started talking. I felt bad for trying to start a conversation to just ghost him. I texted him back by asking him to meet me at my house. He didn't respond back, but I continued to tell him that there's a key under the front door mat.
I get onto my bike and head back home.
As I turn the corner to my house a car behind almost makes me jump off my bike. The car was honking and got closer. I steer my bike left and onto the sidewalk. Once I got to my house, I leaped off my bike as I yelled at the red car who almost ran me over. As I did the car stopped in front of me and whoever was in the car rolled down their window. The faces I saw made me feel more relieved, but I was still pissed off to what they did. Dylan was laughing at me in the passenger seat as Damien did too with his douchey sunglasses.
Dylan got out the car and Damien drove off. Dylan held out both his arms for a hug, but when I went up to him. I punched him on the shoulder. He winced, but knew he deserved it. A second after I immediately gave him a hug. Dylan was surprised about what I did, but he accepted it of course.
"So you came?"
"What else do I got going for me Henry?"
"Right...well lets head inside."
We went inside and went straight for the kitchen. I told Dylan to take a seat as I get some snacks for us. Dylan asks why I asked him to come, but I tell him that I just wanted to hangout for a bit.
"You just want to hangout?"
"Yeah. And?"
"Henry Wilhelm, you been avoiding me since school ended and you want to hangout today."
"The others are off on trips for the summer."
"OH. I get it. So I'm last choice?"
"Not what I meant Dylan." I take out two cups and fill it with Dr. Pepper. I shouldn't have said what I said. I could tell it pissed off Dylan. Dammit.
"Then what do you mean?"
"I wanted to just spend time with you. We need to talk."
When I said that, Dylan relaxed himself. Like he was waiting for this to happen forever. He takes big gulp of his soda and gets ready to listen to what I got to say.
"This is the closest thing I'll get to alcohol." He jokes when we say cheers and clap our glasses together. I didn't know what to say at first or do, but I think my first action was already a big mistake. An awkward mistake. I put my on hand on his shoulder, but Dylan responded immediately with that action.
"Don...don't ever do that again." Dylan says as he takes my hand off his shoulder.
"Yeah, that's not how I wanted to start this. Okay. Let me just..." I adjusted my seat and turned it towards him. "Do you want to go see a movie. Tomorrow. With....me?"
Dylan was frozen, but his words weren't, "As...friends? Or is this what I think you're asking?"
"Take it how you want to take it. I'm fine with either."
"Alright. As friends."
"Wait...what."
"So what movie are we going to see?"
"I'm sorry. You...Dylan. You make a big deal of having this crush on me. You kiss me. And I kiss you to prove a point. And I ask you to basically go on a date with me. And you want to go as friends?"
"You said to take it how I want to take it."
"You knew what I meant dude."
"First of all Henry. You ignored me. Avoided me for weeks. I needed somebody. I needed you. So what the fuck do you think I was gonna do. You should be thankful that I even showed up to your house."
I can't believe Dylan is fucking acting like this. What the actual fuck. He doesn't have the right to do that. He makes me feel...so feely. But he's right. I was an asshole to him for awhile, but still. This is so fucks me over.
"Fine. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I acted this way to you. What's it gonna be for me to make it up to you?"
"We are going to go watch that superhero movie that came out a week ago. My dad and I usually went to go see the movies together, but ever since I came out. Well...you know how that's going."
Dylan grabbed his bag of chips and went upstairs. I ask where he's going, but he walks up the stairs. Ignoring me. Once he got to the top, he yelled at me from the top, "TO YOUR ROOM TO PLAY YOUR FUCKING PLAYSTATION. CALL MY NAME WHEN YOU NEED ME."
I sighed as I head up stairs to my room. I hope Dylan can forgive me. I shouldn't have been this way with him. That's all I can think about. How much of a dick I've been to Dylan. Once I get into my room, Dylan is glancing through the photos from when I took pictures of the others. That was going to make everything even worse with Dylan and I. I ran up to him to grab the book, but he ran onto my bed and kept the photo album behind him. Then I noticed that the camera was around his neck.
He started laughing at first, but then he got serious for a minute. He started to get angry for the fact that I didn't invite him to go hangout that day. That when he was the most alone, I was spending time with my friends. God, he was really driving the knife into my heart with this. I got closer to Dylan, but he was now on the other side of the room. He held up the camera and took a picture of me with it. The flash was still on, so the stupid thing blinded me. The photo slipped out of the camera and Dylan placed it into his pocket.
"Oh I know for sure that this one will be a keeper."
"Come on Dylan. Give me them back to me before you break the camera or something."
"Oh...shut the fuck up Henry. You four are really enjoying that day, huh?"
"I didn't invite Alice and Janet. Leo did. He was there the day before and spent the night." I lied to him which hurt, but I didn't know what else to say.
"Whatever." Dylan said. He sat down on my bed and handed me everything back. I placed the photo album onto my dresser, but kept the camera. Dylan sat on my bed, waiting for me to start the console up, but he seemed upset. Obviously Henry. I sat right next to him and put my arm over him. I tell him to smile for me as I hold the camera up in front of us.
We both say cheese as I take the photo. The photo came out and I handed it to Dylan.
"I put this one in the photo album, but you should keep this."
"I think I'll always keep this in my pocket." Dylan slips it into his pocket where the other one was. We both sit there for a bit.
"I'm sorry." Dylan says.
"Don't be. You have every right to be mad at me. I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Well...the first thing you can do Henry. Is take me on the date to the movies tomorrow."
"D...date?"
"Date.
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