Gene played with his phone towards the end of his shift, itching to call Dylan. Concerned Dylan would bail on him, Gene had wanted to contact him much sooner, but had held off. The fear of rejection also weighed heavily on Gene, and to add to that, he didn’t want to appear like a stalker, although his thoughts had worked their way around to something close to that.

Gene locked up before five-thirty. He hadn’t taken two steps before he hit the call button. He couldn’t back out now. When the call went straight to voicemail, Gene felt a little disappointed, but mostly relieved. He remained undeterred and left a message. “Hi Dylan, Gene here. About our date tomorrow morning—call or message me back if you’re still good to meet me there.”

Not sure if or when he would get a response, Gene pocketed his phone and made his way towards the cafe and his nightly coffee before heading home. He figured he’d give Dylan an hour to respond, and if he’d heard nothing by then, he would try again. The walk home was nice with the weather warming up, and Gene stopped in at a shop and bought several sweets for his siblings. Not something he did often. Every dollar counted.

Gene arrived home to find his mother in the kitchen. She didn’t make eye contact with him and left the room immediately. It hurt to know their relationship was broken. If only she could see him as her son, and not as a copy of his father. He picked his dinner plate up off the counter and placed it in the microwave to reheat. He set the table for one and poured himself a drink. Once the food was ready, he sat quietly, eating alone as he did every night. His two sisters joined him as he began cleaning up, asking for help with their homework.

“I’m not sure about my maths homework, Gene. Can you look over these problems for me?” Freyley asked.

“I can take a look. If I’m not sure myself, we can try looking up the answer on the internet.”

“Isn’t that cheating?” Theyer asked.

“No. I wouldn’t call it cheating. I’d call it education,” Gene told them.

“I like that answer.” Freyley replied. “I’m going to use that at school.”

“So long as it doesn’t get you into trouble,” Gene told her.

“Does Paul have homework?” Gene asked, having not seem his brother at all that night.

Theyer shrugged.

“Probably,” Freyley replied. “He does it in his bedroom because ‘we bother him all the time.’” Freyley emphasised the last part of her sentence with a roll of her eyes and a mocking tone.

“Leave him be. High school’s difficult.”

“Is that why you left, Gene?” Theyer asked.

“You know why I left.” Gene didn’t want to have this conversation, but when his siblings raised the fact he’d left school before graduating, he knew he had to answer the right way to make sure their futures looked different than his.

“You could go back,” Freyley suggested.

Gene wasn’t going to have that conversation.

“How about you worry about your own schooling and focus on passing?”

“I am passing,” Freyley replied.

“So am I,” Theyer added.

“Good. Now, what else do you need help with?”

Gene diverted the conversation and the girls willingly allowed him to.

They worked together on the homework until Eric came in to tell them it was time for bed. Gene helped the girls pack up their homework. When everyone was in bed, Gene locked himself in the bathroom, showered, and then made a quick dash to his room. With his door closed and locked behind him, Gene pulled on his pyjamas and retrieved his phone and the copy of Calvin and Hobbes from his backpack. Once he was settled in bed, Gene checked his phone to find one new message. Upon opening it, he smiled. It was from Dylan.

Here I was hoping you would forget AND IT’S NOT A DATE.

Gene laughed to himself. For someone he’d met so recently, Dylan was being a good sport about it all. Gene laid his phone on his chest and stared up at the ceiling thinking about Dylan. Gene had had a few friends in high school, but for the most part when he was growing up, he’d spent his time with his father. When he tried to make new friends, it never went well. Most times, Gene ended up with crushes on said friends, and that had gotten him into trouble more than once. As Gene grew older, he stopped making the effort to meet people. It made him uncomfortable and fearful he’d be rejected, which made the situation with Dylan unusual.

Gene picked up the comic book and read the poem on the back page again. He wanted that kind of relationship, where the word “forever” meant that. His parents had agreed on forever, although their forever hadn’t been long. Gene let out a sigh and hoped he could solve the mystery behind the book. But even if he didn’t, perhaps it might bring him closer to Dylan. Even if they simply remained friends, that was more than Gene would ordinarily hope for.

Gene picked up his mobile phone and messaged Dylan back. Great. See you then, BFF

Gene couldn’t remove the grin from his face. No matter what he experienced during his meeting with Dylan, there was no getting around the fact that Gene enjoyed teasing him. His flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes had captured Gene, and even his anxiety couldn’t deter the hope he felt. It was that hope pinned to his heart that gave Gene the strength to overlook the possibility of failure and push forward.

When Gene’s phone beeped again, he looked at the screen and saw a single word: Weirdo

Gene laughed out loud before covering his mouth so as not to wake the house. He replied back, That’s what you like about me.

There was no reply, and Gene curled up in bed, his mind full of Dylan. The possibilities for the following day were endless.