The Boys are Back in Town

The Boys are Back in Town: Nineteen

Alek drove to Brownpage, our favorite independent bookstore at the Greens. It was the kind of place where a stack of books could fall on you if you weren't careful. It was chaotic and honestly a little traumatizing if you were claustrophobic, but it was also where Alek and I once discovered a first edition copy of Slaughterhouse-Five in mint condition. The owner was a firm believer in never keeping more than two copies of anything in the same edition so it was the perfect kind of place for collectors.

"So what do you feel like reading this week?" he asked, ducking low to avoid knocking over the books stacked in an arch by the entrance.

"Something good," I said vaguely.

"Very helpful," he chuckled

"Nothing about high school or teenagers or angsty contemporaries," I muttered, surveying a shelf filled with wrinkled American fantasy paperbacks.

"I heard this one is good," he said, holding up a book about two inches thick. The Name of the Wind.  He flipped it over, eyebrows raised as he read the back.

"What?"

He cleared his throat. "'I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings...'"

I listened to him read the quotes on the back, and without knowing anything else about the book we decided to get two copies in different editions. The first sentence all but convinced me already. I was definitely in the mood to read something adventurous.

We spent another hour looking around the store and I found a few other titles that interested me. By the time we left with a grocery bag filled with books, I'd already forgotten about the day I had at school.

***

Alek and I left the books in the car and walked to the grocery store. Andre had sent a group message that he was starving after practice and wanted to eat dinner with everyone at home. Unfortunately, our collective cooking skills - not including Adrian - were pretty limited so we bought stuff for pasta because he insisted that it was impossible to mess that up with ready-made ingredients. We also Facetimed with Andre in the store and spent five minutes bickering over the ice cream flavor for dessert before Alek rolled his eyes and threw both flavors in the cart.

We made it back before them so Alek and I got started on making dinner. I put on some music and we were in the middle of scratching our heads while figuring out what to do about the sauce when Adrian walked in, stared at the mess we made, shook his head and took over.

"Thanks, Musket," I grinned.

Andre burst into the kitchen waving his phone in the air. "Brothas, we got mail!"

I glanced at Alek who took the phone from Andre, paled, and set it on the counter next to Adrian, who whistled.

"What?" I asked, looking over Alek's shoulder. "Who is it?"

Adrian handed me the phone and my eyes widened when I saw the photo attached to the message.

Two of the cutest guys I've ever seen were holding their passports and grinning goofily at the camera. I inhaled audibly through my nose and Alek raised an eyebrow at me. Despite public say-so, I was not blind or immune to attractive people just because my best friends were the most popular guys in town.

I read the name of the sender on the group chat. "Jason... that Jason?"

Alek grimaced as he stared at the phone in my hand. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Henry's the blond one," Andre supplied.

I looked at the picture again and read the message under it. It said, guess where these are taking us this coming holiday?