Along Came Ari (boyxboy; Open Novella Contest 2019)(Complete)✅

Chapter 4

Always the super talkative type, John talked and talked and talked as we walked down the busy school corridor. As he went on and on about some meaningless crap (that wasn't meaningless to him), a boy purposely bumped into me, nudging my shoulder and causing me to stumble a bit. Getting a glimpse of his backside and his black hoodie, I recognized him as Danny and I suddenly wasn't so annoyed.

"Was that Danny?" John asked.

"How should I know?" I said even though I did know.

"I'm pretty sure it was him. He can be such a pain in the ass," John said. "He could have said excuse me or something. You know he went on a date the other night." John always said he never cared what Danny did or didn't do, but he really did care. "He didn't say it was a date, but he was way too happy when he got home, so it must have been a date, right?"

I decided not to answer that question.

"What were you doing home on a Saturday night?" I asked even though I already knew. He was busy pining over his ex-girlfriend, convinced they'd get back together. He gave me that "shut up" kind of look because he didn't want another lecture from me. I had told him over and over again "to move on," but he didn't want to hear it. On a Saturday night, his other friends most likely had dates and John was too busy missing his old girlfriend. "Never mind," I said. "What do you care what Danny does?"

"I don't care," he said. "It's just...well, he's my brother, you know, and he's had a rough couple of months. I don't want to see him get hurt. I don't want to see anyone else get hurt, either."

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that.

"Why? What happened to him?" I asked.

"I don't want to get into it right now," John said, staring straight ahead of him. He was quiet for a whole ten seconds. "I wonder who he went out with. It's weird to see him smile. What were you up to on Saturday? Don't tell me you had a date?"

"Maybe I did," I said.

"With who?" he asked.

"With whom, you mean?" I corrected his grammar. "Nobody."

"You know my sister's waiting for you," he said. "She really thinks you like her; you just don't know it yet."

"She's going to be waiting a long time," I said, entering my English class.

***

In the middle of the week, Danny and I met up at the Starbucks next to my work. I just finished my shift and looked forward to seeing him. At first we were a little worried people would recognize us and rumors would spread at school, but then we concluded lots of people ran into each other at this Starbucks so we could just pretend we "accidentally" ran into each other. Anyway, Dunkin Donuts was usually the place to be and not Starbucks.

Danny looked like he had been waiting awhile, sitting at a small table by the window, books spread out in front of him like he was studying for a test. His hat and coat were plopped in the chair beside him. I crept up on him quietly, startling him as I lightly tapped his shoulder  before sitting in the chair across from him.

"I didn't think you'd come," he said.

"Why wouldn't I come? I said I would," I said.

Danny's sleeves didn't hang over his wrists today. In fact, this long-sleeved black t-shirt fit perfectly. On both wrists, I noticed black, cloth-looking wristbands, trimmed with yellow. Anxious to find out if they were cloth, I couldn't help myself and reached across the table. Danny quickly pulled his arms away, balling his hands into fists, hiding them in the sleeves of his shirt.