Valentino

Third dawn

Third dawn

If you look down the scenery's grid like Julien, you'd see, in order, this: the sun half-wedged along the horizon, foamy waves repeatedly forming and drowning, and Valentino already sitting on the bench.

Julien stops moving the second he spots him. And Valentino's not even trying to be subtle. He's got a hand on the backrest, torso twisted back, eyes and mouth alike curving in a silent greeting.

A sigh. That's what Julien can muster. He doesn't even know why. Loneliness withdrawal? Real social interaction side-effects? Still, he smiles and approaches.

"Hey," Julien says, then freezes. For a second, car-lock paranoia hits him and he suddenly glances over his shoulder and squints at his car all the way across the beach. Did he lock it? Sure he did. He wouldn't forget.

"Hi." Valentino perks up a bit and pats the space beside him. The tap of a his palm against wood breaks Julien's trance; he looks at Valentino, wide-eyed and startled. He relaxes again. "You're late today."

Julien laughs. "Yeah." And then he sits and when he does, he senses Valentino's restless energy today. It radiates somehow. So he frowns a little and says, "Someone's happy."

"Not exactly. But I got used to you, so seeing you here makes me happy."

"Aw." It comes out of Julien's mouth with a fake nonchalance, trying to pretend he's too edgy to care or that a fifteen-year-old telling him he's gotten used to him doesn't pull at his charred heartstrings. Goddamn insecurities. Goddamn emotions. Goddamn Julien altogether. As he sits down inches away from Valentino, he heaves in a sigh. "Question."

Valentino nods like a student. "Yeah?"

"Why do you come here? Last time I told you. Now's your turn."

"Complicated question," Valentino says with a smile. Today he looks softer. Younger. The faint sunlight curves at the side of his face and draws a golden angular shape along his eye and nose and cheekbone. "Complicated answer. Wanna hear?"

"I'm all ears."

"Ew."

Julien makes an exasperated noise and shoves Valentino's shoulder. "Dude, come on."

"Sorry, the mental image's fucked. Anyway," Valentino says, posture straighter now. "So I told you I work at Collin's Cuisine, but it's a night shift. So when I finish, usually around this time, I chill out here a little then go back home, take a shower, then I get ready for school."

Julien's frowning. "So. . .You don't sleep?"

When Valentino smiles, his cheeks lift and his eyes almost disappear. They compress like a jade crescent. It's happening right now, and he's laughing a little too. "Of course I sleep!" Valentino says. "Right after school. I wake up before my night shift and get ready."

"Oh. That's hard. I mean, how your entire schedule's messed up. It's like you're an owl."

Valentino laughs and repeats owl under his breath. Julien's sure it's not funny. He's sure he's not that funny for Valentino to keep smiling and laughing.

Julien shakes his head until the thoughts wither. He says, "And let me guess. This entire waking-up-at-night situation means that you don't have enough time to study. Which means you're having a hard time keeping your grades up. Which means that's why you need me to help today."

Valentino's nod is firm and definitive, although he's staring ahead, not at Julien. Maybe he feels a little ashamed. "Exactly." Then he snaps his head towards Julien and taps the book he's got tucked under his right arm. "Got my book."

"Alright. Cool. Wanna, um, start, or. . .?"

"Yeah." Valentino straightens, then his shoulders slump again. "I'm hungry."

Julien hasn't even closed his mouth yet, stuck in preparation to say something. He laughs. "Dude, we haven't even started yet." Initially he thought it's a joke or something, but when Valentino searches his backpack's pockets (assumably for food), Julien realizes the dude's actually hungry. He sighs. Then he glances back, in the general direction of his car, and lazily thumbs at it. "I think I got some chocolate bars in my car? If you want, I can get—"

"Found it!" Valentino pulls a cucumber out of his backpack. Just. . .Just a cucumber. You'd think he'd pull out a sandwich. But no. Whatever. Not even Julien's business. "Want some? I can break it in half."

"No, no. Thanks, man. I'm fine. You have it."

Valentino shrugs and eats and Julien plucks the book from under his arm. He's not sure where or how to start but that's when Valentino shows him a paper on which he's written all the questions his teacher couldn't answer, all the questions that kept him frowning mid-lecture.

So the tutoring starts. It takes Julien a minute to read the questions and recall all the information stored in his brain, to break them down and rearrange them in a way Valentino would understand. But he does exactly that and starts explaining. And it goes well, even if Julien stutters sometimes because the ideas jumble in his head. Even if he repeats the same sentence twice or thrice because he can't tell if it makes sense to Valentino like it makes sense to him.

And midst all this, he throws glances at Valentino and the boy's so focused, so hell-bent on understanding that it breaks Julien's heart a little. Valentino leans in closer until his head is almost touching Julien's shoulder, as if the closer he is the more he'll understand. And sometimes he puts a finger on his bottom lip and pinches it and sometimes he blinks too much and too fast. Julien hates how much he notices details, but when he looks at Valentino looking down at the book, all he can focus on is his eyelashes, the canopy they form above his cheekbones. Julien knows this is the photographer in him resurfacing.

The entire thing probably takes half an hour. When they're done, Valentino shoves his book in his backpack and stands. He smiles. "Thanks, Julien. If I don't fail the test, I'm gonna give you the biggest hug ever."

"And if you fail?"

"It's on you."

Julien laughs. "It's on me. But you'll do great."

"Kidding." With a small smile, Valentino sighs and holds his palm up, one shoulder slightly tilted towards Julien. Julien mirrors his expression. He gives Valentino a quick high-five, and when it's done Valentino curves his fingers around Julien's palm, holds it for a millisecond, then starts off. "See you tomorrow!"

Julien nods. "See you." It's kinda funny and kinda comforting, the way Valentino implies he's gonna come tomorrow too. "Hey, wait!" Julien says before Valentino can disappear. Valentino turns back to him, brows raised. "Don't forget to steal a pebble today too."

Valentino presses a finger to his lips. "Shhh." Then he pats his pocket. "I already did."

"Thief," Julien mouths.

And it's not a lie or a joke. Valentino's really a thief; he's stealing Julien's loneliness.