The Night We Met

Chapter Sixteen: Finding Yourself

"So, you're gay?"

Salem slapped his chest. "Tobias!"

Amy laughed and took a bite of her sandwich. "It's all good. I don't mind the bluntness."

Tobias shifted so he was laying on my stomach. "If you think I'm blunt, you should have seen Salem when she met my parents." He looked over at her and held back a laugh. "She said 'Woah, you weren't what I was expecting,' and when my mother asked why, want to know what Salem said?" He paused as Salem buried her face in her hands laughing. "She said and I quote, 'gay people usually look normal.'"

Amy spit out her drink and lost it laughing. "Salem!" she scolded. "Oh my God." 

Salem held her hands up. "I talk without thinking!"

"You do everything without thinking," Tobias remarked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

She reached over and plucked the sandwich from his hands, taking a bite. 

"Why don't you ever bring your own lunch?" Amy asked. 

Salem shrugged. "Why would I do that when I can take his?"

Tobias winked at Amy. "It's all good. When we get dinner, she pays."

"That's not true," Salem said through a sandwich. "I work at a coffee shop and his moms are rich. He pays and I order."

Amy laughed. "Working is a loose term," she sassed. "Half the time she's talking with Atticus or arguing with the customers."

"The customers argue with me," Salem corrected. "I try to make their drinks but they don't trust me not to hex them."

The lunch bell rang and Tobias took the last of the sandwich from Salem's hand and rushed off to class. "See you guys later," he called as he walked away backwards for a few steps, then turning around and jogging to class.

Salem watched him leave before getting up and helping Amy to her feet. "Wanna get coffee after school?" she asked. 

Amy nodded. "Sure. Did you drive to school?"

"No, Atticus dropped me off."

"Okay. Tell him you don't need a ride home," she said. "I'll meet you at the flagpole." Then she went to her next period.

After school, Amy drove her and Salem back to Imesso Espresso.

Atticus brought them grilled cheese and hot chocolate. "Is this a date?" he asked. 

"No," Amy and Salem said in unison.

Salem's posture was absolutely terrible. She was slumped back in her chair, manspreading. "We're just hanging out."

Atticus snorted. "Yeah and I'm straight."

Salem glared at him as Amy blushed. "Do you have a boy in the backroom?" she asked, pointing at the blond sticking his head out from around the corner. 

He straightened and walked over. "Jake, I told you to stay out of sight," he gently chastised as he walked back, forgetting about Amy and Salem. 

"Is he even allowed to be doing that?" Amy asked. 

Salem shrugged. "No. Not technically. But... nobody really knows and I don't tell because I don't give a shit what he does back there. I just know enough not to go back there when he's back there."

"Does he have sex back there?" Amy whispered, leaning forward. 

Salem sat up and clasped her hands on the table. "I don't know," she whispered. "But I wouldn't put it past him."