The younger boy browsed the children’s books, and the older boy didn’t look up from his laptop. Whatever was on the screen held his attention like glue.
His features were familiar, but Everett didn’t think he had seen him before. He had seen the boy’s strong nose, dark eyes, and dark skin on someone else. His gaze jumped to Everett, then back to the laptop.
“Can I help you?” Everett asked.
The boy jerked and the laptop bounced on his lap. He pulled the screen halfway shut. “No thank you.” His voice was a deep rasp.
“If you need assistance with anything, I can help.”
Everett got the feeling the boy didn’t want him to leave. He put his attention on the shelves and helped the younger boy pick out books. Whenever he went near the bookshelves behind the older boy, the laptop screen was fully pushed back and the boy leaned away from the screen, making it easy for Everett to see a list of brew ingredients in a word-processor document.
“Are you doing work for the English program at GFC?” Everett asked.
The boy brought up an Internet tab and opened an online bookstore.
“I’m just searching books. New Age and occult books. Witchcraft and that sort. Some paranormal.” The boy smiled nervously, and the woman from Wednesday flashed in Everett’s mind.
“Your mother walks your dogs in front of the shop every morning. She told me you love paranormal books. She also told me your name, but I don’t remember it.”
“Jacob, but I’m Jake for short.” He didn’t seem pleased to be connected to his mother.
“I’m Everett. It’s nice to meet you.”
They shook hands. Everett cringed at the warm wetness coating Jake’s hand.
“I sweat a lot.” Jake wiped his hand on his pants.
It wasn’t sweat.
It felt like the ectoplasm Everett had produced last week, except Jake’s was diluted. It looked like a thin layer of sweat, normal in the summer heat, but the air conditioner kept the shop cool.
“It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting it in an air-conditioned room. Is it too hot in here for you? I can turn the temperature down,” Everett said.
“I don’t want to bother you. I actually should be heading out.” Jake looked at the time on his laptop. “It’s 3:05. Yeah, I have to go.” Jake packed his laptop and charger in a messenger bag that was the same style and color as Everett’s. “Um, here’s five dollars for taking up space and not buying anything.” Jake dished out five one-dollar bills from a torn wallet.
“It’s okay. The Wi-Fi is—”
“Take it.” Jake put the bills in Everett’s hand. “Bye.”
“Okay. Stop by later,” Everett said to Jake’s broad back.
The mother of the younger boy came into the room. “You ready?” she asked.
“Yup.” The boy filled the rest of the basket with his books.
“Strange boy,” the mother said, tipping her head in the direction Jake had gone.
“Do you know him?” Everett asked.
“I know his family. They’re a strange lot.” The mother sighed.
“He was looking up spells on the laptop. Real spells. The ones witches brew,” the boy said, his eyes owlish.
“You see what I mean?” The mother patted her son’s shoulder and steered him with one hand to the cashier.
The scabs on Everett’s back flared with pain. He pressed his fingers into the center of the pain and massaged.
He changed his bandages in the bathroom and remembered he had left his phone in his room. He hadn’t responded to Bryce’s text either.
There were three new texts, all from Bryce.
I’m sorry for ignoring you. It freaked me out when you grabbed me.
Are you free tonight? I was thinking we could hang out and I could apologize in person.
Is 6 a good time? Downtown Sundale?
Everett could manage that.
Meet me in front of Pizza Shack.
Ok. See you soon!
Everett heaved a sigh. “It’s a date.”
Then he looked at the date on his phone and remembered today was his birthday.
FOR THE
first time in years, Everett left his home without any personal luggage. He slipped a wallet into his back pocket and a restaurant salt packet in his front pocket. He left his phone at home and didn’t realize he had forgotten it until he arrived at Pizza Shack. Bryce was already inside the restaurant, next to the window in front of Everett.
Everett stepped back and checked his appearance in the window of the Bundt cake shop next door.
Two hours ago, he had found a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk while taking out the trash. Nobody had been nearby to claim it, so he pocketed it and went to a thrift shop for something to spruce up his drab outfit. There he bought a four-dollar button-down shirt and paired it with a thick tank top.
He tucked the front of his tank into his jeans, unbuttoned the shirt halfway, and double-checked the torn holes in his jeans for blood. He had washed them to scrub as much of the stain off as he could, but there was a faint red where his blood had pooled.
Buzz still hadn’t returned from his quest. Everett didn’t need him back anytime soon. Not tonight, especially. That would invite Buzz to creep on Bryce tonight. There wasn’t room for another incident.
Bryce was playing a game on his phone, thumbing the screen with a scowl fixed on his face.
“Hard game?” Everett asked.
“Frustrating.” Bryce put his phone down. His gaze softened as he gave Everett a once-over. “You look good.”
“You too.”
In worn jeans, a snug T-shirt, and gray hoodie, Bryce was a black-eyed wonder.
“Are you hungry? I ordered a medium vegetarian pizza. Should be coming out in a few minutes.”
“How much was it?” Everett took the seat across from Bryce, and the distance seemed closer than it was.
“It’s all on me. Don’t worry.”
“That’s very kind of you.” Everett unconsciously twirled his hair around his finger.
“It’s my gift after ignoring you for days. It’s almost been a week.” Bryce made a steeple with his fingers on the table. Gray scales lined the sides of his pinkies. “I’m sorry about it all. The ignoring and the awkwardness and I pushed you too. I’m sorry. It took me off guard that you’d move that quickly. I thought you’d go slower or something.”
Everett dwelled on Bryce’s final words. He was going to strangle Buzz when he got home.
“I have to apologize as well, for touching you. I don’t know what I was thinking. I really don’t. It makes no sense.” Had Buzz done it to spite Everett? “I barely know you and that’s completely uncharacteristic of me. It’s like I didn’t do it at all.”
Bryce chuckled and rubbed his pinkie. The scales were gone. “I was more than shocked at the grope because I was pretty sure your hands weren’t moving.”
Everett was going to strangle Buzz until he inked, and then some.
“Brains don’t pick up everything when they’re in shock. Sometimes they imagine things,” Everett said.
“My mind definitely didn’t imagine the groping. It was pretty hard to ignore.”
“Pun?”
Bryce looked through his eyelashes at Everett. “Maybe.”
The waiter brought their pizza. Bryce went to get water, and Everett took the salt packet out. He stripped Bryce’s aura but encountered a block just as Bryce’s skin started to gray.
“Did you feel that?” Bryce asked, setting the cups on the table.
“Feel what?”
“Did the temperature drop or is it just me?”
Everett twisted his lips and shook his head.
“Lately I’ve been picking up nonexistent temperature changes. Must be going crazy.” Bryce trailed off into thoughtful silence.
Everett filled his mouth with pizza.
“Oh. Somebody’s hungry,” Bryce said.
Everett kicked Bryce under the table.
Bryce jumped in his chair. “You kick hard. We should expand on that tomorrow.”
“It’s my birthday,” Everett said, covering his mouth with a hand.
“Seriously?” Bryce dropped his jaw.
“I told you it was coming up.” Everett shrugged and tore off a piece of his pizza slice. Marinara sauce squeezed out, oozing onto his fingers and dripping onto his plate.
“You should have told me. I would have brought a gift.” Bryce ran his hand over his scalp. “You’re eighteen, right?”
Everett nodded and licked his fingers clean. He hadn’t celebrated his birthday since his parents disappeared. His middle- and high-school teachers had received e-mails from his grandfather asking for his birthday to be unmentioned. He hadn’t celebrated it until now, and for the first time in a decade, he wanted to.
“We should celebrate with something cooler than pizza.”
“I think this is cool enough. I haven’t gone out with a friend in a long time.” Everett smiled.
“Cool to you.” Bryce shrugged and stuffed pizza in his mouth.
AFTER THEY
ate, they strolled down the streets, talking about whatever crossed their minds.
Bryce’s hands were another set of lips for him. He waved them as he spoke, gesturing passionately at things that were not there. Physical speakers usually ended up whacking Everett in the face. Not Bryce. He worked around Everett’s closeness. The sidewalk was a stage to him, and when he spun with his gestures, he stepped forward or backward, and Everett held on to every word and hand motion, enthralled by Bryce’s passion.
“Enough about me. Tell me about your shop.” Bryce stuck his hands in his hoodie’s pockets and synchronized his steps with Everett’s.
“We sell paranormal fiction. A lot of what we shelve used to be out of print, and some of the books we have are collector’s editions or first prints. We also have a publishing service, where you can publish with us and sell your books in print on our shelves. We haven’t published a book in a while since we’re a bit picky.” Everett had thought of publishing a novel during high school, but in between all his schoolwork, paranormal research, and shop assistance there was little time to write.
“My dad’s a novelist. He writes paranormal fiction.” Bryce grinned.
“Really? What name does he write under?”
Bryce’s grin melted. “I don’t know. He’s very protective over his writing. Says he wants to keep it out of his personal life.”
They looped around the block when they reached the residential blocks and completed a full lap around the downtown area. It could have taken thirty minutes or an hour; Everett’s perception of time shortened around Bryce. He wanted the night to last forever.
The Pizza Shack sign came into sight. Everett brushed hands with Bryce. They smiled at each other, and Everett wondered if he should make a move. He desired the callused touch of Bryce’s hand.
“This was a lot of fun,” Bryce said when they were on the second floor of the public parking lot, next to Bryce’s recently washed car.
Everett ran a finger along the passenger door handle. “We should do this again sometime.”
Bryce’s gaze followed Everett’s finger. “I thought that was obvious. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. I didn’t talk your ears off, did I?”
“I loved listening to you. Your happiness is contagious. It makes me happy. Obviously.” Everett could make a fool of himself right now and he wouldn’t care. “This was the best birthday I’ve had in years.”
Bryce unlocked his car, and under the parking structure lights, he looked like a god. “You’re different today. I like it.”
“You don’t like the real me?”
“
This
is the real you. You’re comfortable and you don’t want to go home.” Bryce pointed at Everett’s hold on the door handle. “I could take you to my place if you want. My family isn’t home, and I have dessert.”
Everett’s blood rushed. “I’d love to, but I need to ask my grandfather first. I left my phone at home.”
“You’re eighteen and you still need permission?” Bryce chuckled and lent his cell.
The moment the line picked up, Everett’s grandfather demanded, “Who is this?”
“It’s me, Everett.”
“Thank goodness. Buzz told me not to worry. He couldn’t sense any distress from you, but I still worried. Where are you?”
“I’m in the parking structure with Bryce. I was actually wondering if I could spend the night with him. Not a full night. Just a few hours. He’s offering to drive me.”
Bryce leaned against his car and watched Everett with a small smile, twirling his keys around his finger.
“Mr. Pendley has news on Omar’s disappearance. You need to come home now.”
“Bad news?” Everett frowned and Bryce did the same, catching his keys with a crunch.
“I don’t know. He won’t tell me until you get here.”
“See you in a few.”
Everett handed the phone back. “I can’t make it. I’m sorry. My grandfather needs me.”
Bryce plastered on a smile. “It’s okay. Tomorrow maybe? My family will be home, but I can tell them to leave us alone.”
“I’ll ask. I’ll see you tomorrow at the dojang.” Everett began to walk backward to the stairs.
Bryce nodded. “It was a great first date tonight, huh?” He winked and got in his car.
Everett dumbly watched Bryce drive down the exit ramp.
MR.
PENDLEY
sipped tea with Everett’s grandfather in the living room. The TV was turned to the news where an excited weatherwoman reported the warm temperatures that would follow the rest of the week.
“Good evening.” Everett locked the door and tried not to dwell on how cramped the apartment felt with just a single guest in it.
He sat at the end of the sofa. It was closer to Mr. Pendley, who smelled of ink, than to his grandfather.
Mr. Pendley muted the TV. He crossed his legs and put his hands on top of his knees and said, “Omar’s house was tampered with on Friday. There were bloodstains in the master bedroom. The team attempted to track the perpetrator through the blood, but a block hindered them. The block was strong, but the team broke through.” He looked at Everett, eyes hooded and the corners of his lips twisted. “Mr. Hallman, is there anything you’d like to say?”
Everett’s grandfather dropped his teacup on its saucer. “Everett!”
His gaze burned Everett more than the scratches on his back did.