Mina

Humble and Ordinary

"Let me get this straight." Max was losing his mind. "You're going to his house?"

"Yes." I rolled my eyes.

"And you get to just hang out?" He asked.

"I'm just going to be there to make sure he doesn't need help with anything." I told him again.

"But you get to hang out with him! Out side of school." He threw his hands up, shouting. "Please can I come?"

"He's not that great."

"How would you know, you're always mean to him." Max scolded. "Poor guy probably wants to run away every time he sees you."

If only.

"Come on, please Mina." He begged.

"No."

"Please."

I blew out a breath, ignoring Max's attempt at a puppy dog face.

"No. Why does it matter so much to you anyway?" Max knew Owen was straight.

He shrugged, his enthusiasm deflating.

"You know why." He mumbled.

"Being popular isn't going to make people like you more, it's just going to make them pretend to be your friend." I said. "I know you know that."

He blew out a breath, his brown eyes meeting mine, a sad smile on his face. I never understood Max's deep rooted desire to be popular, to be known. I didn't understand his obsession with being popular. My only guess was it stemmed from some feeling of not being accepted. Which was crazy because Max had never not been accepted. He was who he was and we all loved him.

Even when he officially came out at the beginning of fifth grade, it wasn't a shock to any of us and even his parents seemed to be waiting for the announcement. I remember sitting on the couch with him and Chelsea as he told his parents. We were there for moral support and just incase his parents didn't take the news well. He was convinced they wouldn't love him anymore. Max finally worked up the courage to blurt the words out and his mom just smiled and his dad asked if we wanted pizza.

As it turned out, his fear was for nothing.

But Max had always tried to befriend the "popular" kids, the kids he thought were cool. Never quite being accepted into the group but also not completely rejected either.

———————

His house looked just like everyone else's house. Humble and ordinary.

I had expected him to live in some massive lake house or sprawling estate like all his friends. I had never been to one of Drew's party but from Chelsea and Max I knew Drew wanted for nothing and so did a good portion of his friends. I had just assumed Owen was one of them.

But as I sat in his living room, looking around, it reminded me of Chelsea or Max's house. Cozy and comfy, clean but not new. It was lived in and real.

The TV droned on, I couldn't remember the last time I sat down and watched a show. I wasn't even sure what everyone was into these days. All I knew was Penny liked to watch Judge Judy and reruns of Toddlers and Tiaras. Both shows I found obnoxious.

Was this all Owen did now?

If it was, no wonder he was always so irritable. What a boring way to spend his time.

"So this is all you do when you're home?" I asked, watching some guy barter the price for a Pepsi-Cola sign down to $150. "No wonder your attitude is so bad."