January 16, 1939

My new school friend smells like peaches. I get this urge to sit closer to him just to take in the aroma but it's not polite. He does not seem to mind. He says its okay since he likes to sit next to me too. I thank him for the haircut again, grabbing a piece of pizza from his plate.

"What do you feel like doing today?" I asked, taking a bite. He nudged me on the arm, forcing me to look him.

"I haven't heard about the Virus in the news so far, so we could hang out at your house. My foster parents said we were allowed to do that from time to time." Sweat started to gather at the center of my forehead, but I wiped it away. I did not feel that well after eating the pizza.

"There isn't anything at my house. but we can go. I don't think my mom is going to be home, though. Are you okay with that?" I could tell that Aiden was tense. His arms went rigid and his muscles slightly popped out. He felt like a warm statue to the touch. He sat there quietly, thinking about how he would respond.

"Of course. I could help you out with your school work. The honor roll is calling your name."

"Me? The Focker boy? I wish. If I get honor roll, I will give you one hundred dollars. That's enough to buy 500 pieces of candy." Aiden held out his hand. His hands held mine for no more than a few seconds, then pulled away and thrust his hand back into the pockets of his pants.

"That wasn't a real handshake," I uttered, almost immediately. "You have to do it like this." I pulled his hand out of his pocket, cupping our hands together. The handshake was unnatural. His hands shook gently as our skin touched. They were perfect, baby soft and smooth, like an infant. Nobody had hands like that anymore, people had calluses and scars, red welts from hard work and behind their nails was grime that no amount of washing would change. Like mine. 

"See? That's how you do it."

"Thanks." I had never seen a guy blush before, but when Aiden did it, I could not compose myself. He turned his head to the side to avert my gaze, but the sudden rosiness of his cheeks gave him away. He scooted an inch away from me, rubbing his hands together. Before I could say anything, the bell rang. Lunch was over and it was time to go home. I didn't even finish my pizza.

We arrived at my house, and I directed him to the living room. Since my mom's friend paid the bill, the heat was practically put on blast. Aiden turned to me with bright eyes. "Nickolas, what do you wanna do? Do ya' got any games?."

"I got some cards. I can teach you how to play. "

"You don't have to." His voice wavers. I point toward my room, squinting really hard to understand why the light was turned on. "I played it a bunch of times with my mom, it was super fun. We played this game called spoons too. Basically, you're suppose to get the same cards in your hands. And when you do, you pick up a spoon." I turned around to make sure he was still listening to me. 

His lips brush mine. 

"Aiden, what the fuck?" He looks offended, wiping his mouth. 

"What? It was an accident." I rolled my eyes, whatever. 

I decided that playing spoons in the hallway was better than playing my room because I tended to break things when I get hyper. After I taught Aiden how to play almost twenty times, we began playing seriously.

"Hey! That's not fair. I got the spoon first."

"You snatched it from me!" The spoon went from the floor to his hand to my face. I could feel the pain building up in my head. I shut my eyes, trying to stay still, but it wasn't working. 

In the back of my throat, I felt food coming up from my stomach. I gagged on it. A liquid substance made up of red and yellows and oranges were spread across the hallway. I think it was my pizza. 

I wiped at my mouth, acidic residue forming a shiny patch on my sweater sleeve, and retreated to my room for the night. I stripped down to my underwear, falling into my bed. It was so hot. Even when my mom entered my room at sometime during the night, I could not stomach dinner. According to her, I had a fever. Even stripped down I am burning, but all she could do is open the door to let the winter wind do me some good.