Taylor was pacing on the sidewalk, biting his fingernail when the wave of nerves hit him.
He took his phone from his pants pocket and took a deep breath when he looked at the time.
The person he was supposed to meet was M.I.A.
“Good boy, Taylor, that is what you get for looking for help online. Was public television not teaching you enough?”

He unlocked his phone and started looking for the chat forum.
He had posted his question on one of the forums, looking for advice, and a person had offered to help him.
He looked at the red dot near the profile picture, which meant the person was offline.

He hoped that meant they were on the way and nobody had pranked him on the internet.
“Do they still do that online?” he asked himself.

He pressed on the profile picture, looking at it full screen on his phone.
In the picture, there was a drawing of a black cat holding a cup of coffee.
The cat looked frazzled, and underneath it were the words ‘I’m fine.’
It could have made him laugh, if the situation he was in had not been so serious.

Suddenly his phone vibrated in his hand, and a message popped up on the top of the screen from the source of his stress: his very best friend, Morgan.
Gan-man: parking.
The nickname Morgan had put for himself on his phone.

A bittersweet pinch went through his heart; the last thing he wanted was to jeopardize their relationship.
Past experience had taught him never to take things for granted.

He held his breath when he saw Morgan across the path, a few cars away from him.
When Taylor and Morgan made eye contact, Morgan started to wave to him with his big smile, and there she was—walking next to him—the source of his anxiety, Morgan's girlfriend, Megan.

He did not like her but did not have the courage to say that out loud, considering that she was his best friend's girlfriend.
Taylor turned around to the front of the line of shops, standing next to a glass window of a smoothie shop.
He closed his eyes, pressing his palms on them. He took deep breaths, his brain running 100 kilometers per hour, trying to think of any excuse or escape, but nothing came to his mind.

He opened his eyes and saw that, through the glass window of the smoothie shop, in front of the cash register, someone was standing with a black hood over his head, and on the back of the hood was the cat figure from the profile picture printed in white.
Could it be? He thought the image looked the same.

When he started to hear footsteps behind him, he told himself, “to hell with it,” and entered the store.
He came up behind the hooded person, and just as Morgan and Megan entered the shop, he wrapped his arms around the black hood’s waist.

Taylor never knew how many things could happen in one second. In the moment he hugged the person, several things happened—one of them was that the drink the hooded person was holding fell and spilled all over the floor and his shoes.

The hooded person turned his head—that was when Taylor met a pair of chocolate eyes, full of anger and confusion.
He could hear gasps from several people around, stares from the worker at the register—who looked familiar—a couple of people in the splash zone, and lastly, Morgan and Megan.

“Dude?!” the hooded person said to him in anger.
Taylor was still hugging him from behind.

“Oh my God.” Taylor raised his eyes to meet the shock in Morgan and Megan’s eyes, Megan with her hands over her mouth.
And there Taylor stood, still embracing the stranger, who turned out to be a boy.
With all eyes on him.

The worker at the register leaned over the counter to look at the mess on the floor.
Taylor decided to go with it. He turned the hooded person to face him, and looked at him with wide open eyes.

“Babe, I am so sorry. I guess I was excited to see you after such a long time.” Taylor looked at the hooded face and saw the shock all over it—eyebrows raised, mouth half open.

Taylor swallowed the lump in his throat. He ran his hand from the hooded shoulder to his palm, holding his hand.
“Let us get you cleaned up,” and he took the black-hooded person to the bathroom, running away from the awkward situation.

In the bathroom, after the door closed,
Will turned around, studying the boy in front of him—dark blond hair, crystal green eyes, and long, thick eyelashes.
Totally his type.

Will looked into Taylor's eyes, seeing all kinds of stress and anxiety in them.
"Look, man, I am not interested in whatever you have to sell," Will said to Taylor, breaking the silence and starting the conversation.

"I am not selling anything," Taylor answered, a little confused.
"So I am not interested in any life-changing experience," Will continued.

Now more confused than ever, Taylor said, "Wait… what...? You are not from the forum?"

Now it was Will who was the confused one.
"I think you are mistaking me for someone else," Will said, starting to look down at the mess on his shoes.

Taylor started to freak out.
Will took down the hood from his head, revealing his dark brown hair, matching his eyes. Will started to open the zipper of his hoodie.

"But your hood…" Taylor said in a quiet voice, stopping Will in the middle of the movement.
"What about my hood?" Will said in an annoyed tone.

"No… no... it cannot happen to me…" Taylor leaned on the sink, covered his face with his hands, and shook his head.
Taylor did not see the worry that spread across Will's face.

"Damn... I know I will regret it. What is wrong?" Will said in a soft voice.
Taylor dropped his hands. "Are you willing to help me?"

"It depends," Will said, taking off his hoodie and tying it around his waist, revealing a light gray T-shirt.
Will went to one of the stalls, taking out some tissues from it.

"You are not going to ask for a kidney or offer me a chance at the beginning of my ‘true destiny’?" he said, making a quote gesture with his hands at the last two words.

"What... No... Nothing like that... I... I am just in a bit of a tricky situation… and I… I really do not know how to get out of it without jeopardizing the relationship with the only real friend I have. I asked in the forum, and someone offered to help me, but I am starting to think that person pulled an M.I.A on me," Taylor explained quickly and sighed. "I just do not know what to do."

"What were the original plans?" Will asked Taylor, putting a foot on the edge of the sink and beginning to clean up what had been spilled on him earlier.

"To pretend we are in a relationship," Taylor said, and Will gave him a skeptical look. Taylor understood—even he could hardly believe it.

"Why do you need to pretend to be in a relationship to begin with?" Will switched legs and started to clean the other one.

Taylor struggled with how much he could tell a complete stranger he had just met a few minutes ago.
The stranger finished cleaning his shoes and stood in front of him, looking at him with a piercing gaze.

"You know, after the hug you gave me earlier, I think it is okay to put the embarrassment behind us," Will said, still looking him in the eyes.

When Taylor leaned on the sink, they were almost at eye level.
Taylor sighed and said, as if it was the hardest thing he had ever said, "I am almost sure that my best friend's girlfriend is trying to put the move on me."

There. He finally said it out loud, and it still did not feel like a weight had been lifted from his heart.

Will laughed in a low tone.
"I guess you have never seen ’90s movies," he said, more to himself than to Taylor.

When Will saw the pain in Taylor's eyes, he changed his tone.
"Sorry. Have you ever thought of telling your friend? Did you not say he is your best friend? If I were in your friend's shoes, I would want to know," Will said.

"I just do not want to put our friendship to that test, only to find myself all alone," Taylor answered—another sentence he thought he would never say out loud. His emotions were so overwhelming that it was starting to make him sick.

Will saw how Taylor started to look a little pale.
No, Will! he said to himself. You cannot be a sucker for a pretty face.

"Well," Will said after a long look and an inner battle, "I guess we do not have much of a choice, after that love scene you did outside."

Confusion filled Taylor before realization began to creep into his mind.
"Are you going to help me?" Hope creeping into him.

"Only for a while. I have a few minutes before I have to go," Will said.

Taylor clapped his hands together in a prayer position. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"Okay, if we are going to do this, we had better change names. I am Will," Will said, holding out his hand.

"Taylor," Taylor said, taking his hand and shaking it, a big smile spreading across his face—still shaking hands.
Oh God… please let it work, Taylor said a little prayer inside his head.

A knock on the door made them part their hands and turn their heads toward the door.
The door opened a little, and Morgan's head peeked in.

"Everything okay?" Morgan asked, slowly entering the bathroom, his eyes jumping between the two of them.
Taylor straightened up, rubbing his hands on his jeans.
Will noticed the tension in the small space and decided to break it.

"Everything's fine, thanks for asking," he said in a sweet tone. "I'm Will. I heard a lot of things about you from Taylor."

When Will came close to Taylor and rubbed his arm, Taylor looked at Will a little in shock. He caught the look on Will's face, and his eyes said go with it.
There was a little color on Taylor's cheeks. He had not realized Will would jump straight into it.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Morgan."
A silence spread again, and Will began to recognize a pattern.

"What do you say we get out of here? I did not have a chance to finish my drink, and I'm in the mood for something refreshing," Will said in a playful tone.

"Sure," Morgan replied with the same tone. "But do you mind if I exchange a word with Tay here?" he asked, putting his hand on Taylor's shoulder. Taylor's heart sank.

"Not at all. I guess I'll wait for you outside."
Will gave him a reassuring smile and left the bathroom.

Taylor glanced at Morgan and swallowed the lump in his throat. Morgan came closer and put another hand on Taylor's shoulder.
Both of them were now facing each other.

"The first thing I want to tell you is, thank you," Morgan said.

"What?"

"Thank you," he repeated. "Thanks for trusting me enough to reveal this part of yourself to me."
Morgan gave him a deep look. Taylor only now realized that he had just outed himself in front of his friend.

Taylor decided not to say a word and just nodded back.

"Unfortunately, even in this day and age, there are still some people with prejudices. But I'm here for you. I hope you know that," Morgan said, pressing gently on his shoulders.
This time Taylor knew he had to say something—anything.

"Thank you," Taylor said, swallowing again. "That means a lot to me, coming from you."

Morgan gave him a big hug.

"The second thing I wanted to tell you is, thank you for introducing me to the special person that you are in a relationship with. I know this person must be special, because you are the most extraordinary person I know. And to you, I wish nothing but happiness."

Taylor began to feel his eyes watering with emotion.
The excitement of his friend's acceptance, the discomfort of the deception toward his friend—it was overwhelming. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Thank you," he said again.

Morgan gave him his famous smile—big and full of teeth, so bright it could light up almost any cloudy day.

"Let us go meet the special person who captured your heart."
 ~meanwhile outside the bathroom~

When Will stepped out of the bathroom, he did not know what to do, so he simply stood by the door,
waiting for them to finish talking.
He felt someone watching him. He scanned the room with his eyes and saw a girl staring at him.
Her face was beautiful and delicate, with honey-colored hair that reached her waist.
She studied him with her gaze, and Will raised a hand and waved at her.
She raised an eyebrow and looked away.
Do you want me to continue the next part in the same tone?
He looked around and saw the worker who had served him the milkshake earlier cleaning it up from the floor.
  All the effort went to waste, sorry for the mess man, he said in his heart.

He never thought the day would come when he would have to negotiate for a milkshake.
“You have ice cream, you have milk—just mix them together,” he argued.

Apparently, it was against the store’s policy to sell anything not listed on the menu.
And according to the menu, every shake had to include fruit.
In the end, he managed to convince the annoyed worker that chocolate held a very important place on the food pyramid.
He sigh my sweet creamy beverage

The situation today reminded him of his friends back home.
He thought about what they would say about the mess he had gotten himself into.
Daniel would probably laugh and say that only he could end up in something like this.
Anna would scold him for being so gullible.
And Eden, like she always did, would say, "This is not going to end well."

When his family announced they were moving to another city so his little sister could attend the gifted students' school, he had not been angry.
He had been incredibly proud of her—his brilliant little sister.

But on one hand, they were only moving four hours away, and on the other hand, they were moving four hours away, and it was by car.
He ran a hand through his hair, pulling himself back to the present.

Finally, the two boys came out of the bathroom—one with shining eyes and the other with eyes a little red.
What kind of damn hell conversation did they have?

Morgan turned to him in a cheery voice. "Let’s find a place to sit."