Declan Hankinston is on a mission to find a new prom date amidst the pain of his first heartbreak. Encouraged by his cousin Aubrey, he ventures into the world of gay online dating and signs up for Grindr to seek a companion. Little does he know, Aub...
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My phone dings. It's Declan sending his location and another text follows. Meet?
What the fuck? No. It must be a trick. Aubrey definitely has something to do with this, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she's the one who texted me from his phone. Same old Aubrey, same old games.
Wrong person? I take the 'act dumb' approach to avoid coming off as desperate but to also save myself from some disappointment if it isn't him. I had to do this a lot with Aubrey—the act stupid thing—because I knew she needed to feel big in some aspect of her life. I didn't mind dumbing myself down to appease her ego.
John, don't play dumb and don't try to play me like I'm dumb. Again. Please just meet me. It's important.
Jeeeez, it's only a text but my skin is burning from the apparent anger in his tone. Then the hurt that ricochetted and stabbed me right in my heart. Does it mean he cares if he's showing that much emotion through text? Do I have a chance? God, I hope I do.
"Dude..." I shove my phone in Ben's face again.
He reacts crazier than I did and jolts up. I could pinpoint the exact moment when his mind was able to digest the information from his eyes. It was his eyes again that gave away he cared.
He's still Ben. Ben my best friend, always down to fuck some shit up and bro-ig out.
"You have to go. Come on, I'll drive you."
Ben grabs me by the arm and forces me out of the house. His mom doesn't even ask questions, just tells us not to be back home too late. I'm worried she might be getting annoyed that I'm over often now more than not. I'm basically living there at this point. She denied it when I asked and Ben refuses to discuss it at all because I'm their half-Asian son/brother. but I hate to feel like a burden.
I can't believe Declan initiated contact with me. It's all I can think about this whole damn car ride. What's so important? I mean, it doesn't matter because anything Declan has to say is important. I hope he just wants to talk. I miss talking to him, hearing about his day and his feelings. I loved getting his inner monologue through text. He might be that psychotic person who sends multiple messages but it was awesome. Unapologetically unfiltered.
Ben blasts Khalid's American Teen album, Young Dumb & Broke being the song that he constantly replays. He's driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other is pointing and slicing at the air. (Yeah, he's that guy.) I remember when he gained the confidence to sing and dance in front of others. It was a day after he started dating Kira, we were on our way to the coffee shop on Eastview and he was in the best mood I'd ever seen. You would've thought that they had sex already. His personality grew a little more that day. He was vibing to one of Khalid's songs—if you can't tell, he loves Khalid—back then, it was Better. He was swaying his head singing "Nothing feels better than this." He got me hooked on the EP that day, specifically Saturday Nights. It resonated with me for some reason. Not that I had a relationship that I felt the same way about at the time, but then I met Aubrey and boy, did that song come back at me full circle. As lame and corny as it was, it was my song to her... she just didn't know it because that would be fucking embarrassing. Plus, she would never let me live it down.
She's with Declan when we get to his shared location deep in Riverfield Park. They're sitting side by side at the end of the only dock on site. Trees line the small lake and a light shines from a boat in the distance. Ben stops and questions who the girl with Declan is, I'm shocked Aubrey isn't the first person to come to mind for him but he doesn't know them like I do. And I can recognise the back of her head anywhere. "Aubrey," I respond, staring straight ahead. "Did he tell you she'd be here?" "No." "Think it's an ambush?" I turn him over and look at him, I bet this new nervousness that's overtaken my entirety is all over my face. "I didn't think of that." "I was joking," he says straight-faced and reaches over me. The passenger door swings open. "Go on." Ben nudges, "I'll wait here."
