IMPORTANT NOTE: Jaime and his family speak Spanish from Argentina, also known as Castellano. Some other characters are from Spain and may sometimes use different words too.
*petiso = nickname for someone who is short/shortie
Phone Company - do not answer: You're quiet today. No bailing right? In or out? [Sent: 5:31 PM]
Jaime Lane took a deep breath, leaning his back against the wall of Lucky Thirteen, a local fast food joint. He looked at the trash bags on the concrete. With his luck, "Phone Company" was a psycho, and he'd end up stuffed in one of them after being cut into tiny Jaime filets.
Talking to and hooking up with a stranger? A male stranger? This was so not like him. Too many things could go wrong. For starters, the guy said his name was Al and that he was eighteen like Jaime, but it wasn't like Jaime could check. Hell, he'd told the guy his own name was James. It was a safety precaution, just like saving his gay internet hookup's contact information under "Phone Company." (Though that was mostly to stave off a snooping sister and friends.)
Lying was easy online. But in person...? He really should've been backing out. Instead, he found himself replying.
Me: In. I'm just at work, but I'm still in. [Sent: 5:32 PM]
Everything was perfectly arranged for tonight: his dad was working late, and his twin sister Olivia would be at soccer practice and wouldn't whine about wanting to use the car.
Jaime saw Olivia through the service window. She was sitting at a table inside, flipping through a magazine as she waited for her food. She often ate at Lucky Thirteen before practice because it was close to the fields. Well, that, and to take advantage of Jaime's employee discount while pretending to want to spend time with her dear twin brother.
Phone Company - do not answer: and how's the fast food business treating you? [Sent: 5:32 PM]
Me: Oh, the usual. It's like food Armageddon in here, my coworker's a totally unhelpful asshat, and I don't get paid enough to put up with any of this. [Sent: 5:33 PM]
He'd just finished cleaning up a literal explosion of fries drowned in ketchup and mustard. Jaime was pretty sure more ingredients had ended on the floor than in the bratty mouths of the kids at the table. Of course, the parents had only laughed at how adorable their spawns of Satan were.
Phone Company - do not answer: Lol. that deserves an ouch: [Sent: 5:33 PM]
Phone Company - do not answer: Ouch [Sent: 5:33 PM]
Me: Thanks, that makes me feel so much better. [Sent: 5:33 PM]
Phone Company - do not answer: Yeah? I can cheer you up even better than that. Tonight [Sent: 5:33 PM]
Jaime's cheeks burned at the casual yet extremely-not-casual remark. Obviously, they both knew what they were meeting for, and—news flash—it wasn't to have a casual conversation.
With no idea how to react to this kind of forward flirting, Jaime quickly exited the messaging app. Hopefully, Phone Company/Al was as forward in real life as he was over chat and would do most of the work. Hopefully, Jaime would be able to do more than sputter and gape in response when he was actually in front of Al.
Pull yourself together, Jaime scolded himself. His shift ended in less than half an hour, and he had to be ready for the date. Jaime opened the camera app and switched to the front-facing camera. He didn't look too horrible. A few small pimples here and there, but at least his face didn't resemble the pizzas they sold. His hair had all but collapsed, though; gravity had won against gel. He was two months overdue for a haircut.
"Try a duck face, petiso."
A sharp pain from his ass accompanied by a whoosh of air nearly made Jaime leap up and drop his phone. Whipping around, he narrowed his eyes at the culprit.
Isaac Carrillo was behind him. The towel he'd used to assault Jaime's ass with casually hung over his shoulder. There was an infuriating smirk on his face.
"Or do you need my help creating that perfect Myspace angle?"
Isaac made a grab for Jaime's phone, but Jaime quickly pulled it out of his reach, glaring up at the other boy.
Asshat. Isaac always had to remind Jaime of his height, or lack thereof, by calling him petiso. "Shorty." Jaime had to tilt his head up to even look Isaac—who was well over six feet tall—in the eyes, and he hated that.
"Shut up," Jaime snapped. "And we're not supposed to use any Spanish at work. Customers complained."
Isaac laughed. "What? You mean the same customers who told you, 'Oh, you speak English so good, JAY-MEE'?"
"Some people don't have a mom who's friends with the boss and actually have to follow the rules to keep their job."
"Whatever you say, petiso. Back to work—the floor won't clean itself."
Isaac laughed again as he dropped a trash bag in the dumpster and brushed past Jaime on his way back inside.
"And of course you won't help me clean," Jaime grumbled at Isaac's back as he followed.
Only twenty more minutes, Jaime tried to console himself. He fetched the sanitizer from the kitchen and returned to the dining area. His sister still seemed engrossed in her magazine. She didn't acknowledge him even when he stopped at the table next to hers and started cleaning.
Isaac was at the counter with a customer, making himself useful for a change. The customer was old enough to be Isaac's mom. But that didn't stop her from giggling like a teenager at something undoubtedly hilarious Isaac said.
Jaime rolled his eyes while he wiped off the table. "Olli, you're a woman. Tell me: what do women see in guys like Isaac Carrillo?"
Olivia lazily looked up from her magazine. She glanced at Jaime, and then at the counter. The woman tossed her hair over her shoulder in a flirtatious manner, and Isaac shamelessly winked as he handed her her change.
Olivia shrugged. "Maybe we like him because he smiles. You should try it sometime. Plus, he's cute."
"Cute" his ass. Jaime didn't see anything cute where he was looking. Isaac was now staring down at his phone. He'd clearly forgotten about the woman the moment their conversation ended, while she was still shooting him longing glances from the waiting area.
He was such a douchebag. At least Jaime had the courtesy to go outside before using his phone. They weren't allowed to have their phones out in front of customers at all. But when their boss wasn't around to keep a watchful eye on him, the rules didn't apply to Isaac Carrillo. Even if the boss had been around, she probably wouldn't have fired him because she was good friends with Isaac's parents.
Jaime snorted. "Sure, Isaac's very cute. If you go for the generic, douchey jock type. So pleased with himself just because he's good at kicking a ball."
"Wow, someone's extra salty today." Olivia shot him a look over the rim of her glasses. "What's with the way guys can never just admit other guys look good?"
"Oh no," Jaime replied, pointing his index finger at her. "I can see where this is going. You lost the right to make any comments about me feeling insecure about my masculinity when we both hit puberty and you got taller than I did."
The height difference was only an inch or two, but people just loved reminding Jaime his sister was taller. Somewhere, something had gone horribly wrong in their genetic melting pot. Jaime was short, skinny, and had two left feet, while Olivia was tall, athletic, and played for the best local girls soccer team. If Jaime ever joined a soccer game, it'd probably be as the ball being kicked around.
Olivia shrugged. "Fair enough; no masculinity comments," she said. "Hey, check on my pizza, 'kay? I'm starving, and I don't want to go to practice on a full stomach."
"Sure."
Jaime gathered the dirty towels he'd been using to clean and left the table. As he deposited them in the laundry bin behind the counter and headed toward the kitchen, he took out his phone.
Olivia would never, ever make a comment about him being insecure about his masculinity if she knew what he was up to tonight while she was at soccer practice.
He was, in fact, very capable of admitting guys were hot. So capable that his sister would have to crown him king of masculinity. Maybe. The jury wasn't entirely out yet, and he was only carefully sticking his toe out of the bisexual closet with tonight's hookup. Jaime wasn't even entirely sure what he wanted out of it. But he did know that curiosity and the need to be sure were slowly suffocating him. He'd spent weeks installing, deleting, re-installing, and then re-deleting the dating app before finally daring to talk to a guy, promising himself this would be a one-time thing.
Phone Company - do not answer: Still busy? [Sent: 5:40 PM]
Phone Company - do not answer: Orrrr nervous? You should be. did you know I'm actually a 60 year old pervert? [Sent: 5:41 PM]
Like hell would Jaime admit he was nervous.
Me: Why do you think I'm on here? My fetish is 60 year old perverts [Sent: 5:41 PM]
Me: I'll be very disappointed if you're not. [Sent: 5:41 PM]
Phone Company - do not answer: haha! what about you no picture guy? still not sending me one before we meet? gotta wonder what you're hiding. Are you really 18M, Latino, shortish and kinda cute? [Sent: 5:41 PM]
Me: Yup. [Sent: 5:41 PM]
Jaime had decided to be honest about his looks. There was really no point in lying and saying he was a tall, athletic guy when he was, in reality, short and scrawny. At least, not if they were going to meet. Horndog goggles could be very strong, but Al would probably notice that kind of lie.
Me: And like you should talk, mr "I downloaded some stock image of abs and tried to pass it off as me." You didn't show me your face either. Are you really 18M hot and athletic? [Sent: 5:42 PM]
Jaime had called him out on the stock image thing early ("I know how to reverse image search you know"). That was actually how it all started. Cue some insults and sarcastic written sparring the next day and suddenly they were exchanging numbers and names and agreeing to meet despite never having seen each other's face. But Jaime was a lot wittier when typing than he was in real life. He really hoped he wouldn't disappoint by being shy. He would be shy. Not only was he completely unaccustomed to internet dating, this was also his first and only gay date.
This was insane. Completely bonkers. Why was he doing this again? "Curiosity" and "because he could" suddenly didn't seem like good enough reasons anymore.
Phone Company - do not answer: as a token of my sincerity, I actually took a real picture of my abs - feel free to reverse search it, will come up empty. They're better than the Google abs too [Sent: 5:42 PM]
Jaime received a picture. The moment he saw it, he instantly remembered why he was doing this again. Jesus, Al was not lying. His real abs were better than the stock photo, and it looked like a young guy's body. That was a relief. He didn't look sixty. And if he was sixty, he was the kind of sixty Jaime might get on board with.
Phone Company - do not answer: taken today - hot off the press. it's my best asset. personality included [Sent: 5:43 PM]
Me: *that* is your best asset? Ew. Never mind that date then. [Sent: 5:43 PM]
Phone Company - do not answer: right? we can just skip the date and hop right into a bathroom stall. Let me know when you leave [Sent: 5:43 PM]
Jaime snorted in an inhuman way, making Randall, the cook, glance up and raise an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing," Jaime hastily replied.
Me: Yeah, you're definitely a 60 year old pervert. And will do. [Sent: 5:43 PM]
"Quit watching your cat videos and move your ass." Randall pushed a plate his way. "Your sister's pizza's ready."
"Right, right. Going." Jaime tore his eyes away from the screen. He snatched the steaming plate from the counter and ignored Randall muttering "kids these days" under his breath.
The space behind the counter was empty. Was Isaac slacking off somewhere again? Probably flirting with some poor, unsuspecting woman somewhere in the establishment, knowing him.
Rolling his eyes, Jaime moved to the dining area. And he was met with the sight of Isaac flirting with a poor, unsuspecting woman.
Except it wasn't some random woman. It was his sister. Isaac was sitting at the table next to Olivia's, leaning toward her. They were both smiling, chatting about some soccer game in Spanish.
Jaime frowned. The boys and girls soccer teams from their school hung out sometimes, but that didn't mean he wanted them talking alone. And he definitely didn't want to watch his sister twirling her dark hair between her fingers while they talked.
Jaime set the pizza in front of Olivia, who thanked him and immediately dug in. At the same time, he glared at Isaac. "Aren't you supposed to stay at the counter?"
Isaac looked up, a smug, crooked smile still on his face. "Relax, petiso, there are no customers right now."
"Anyway," Olivia said between bites, before Jaime could get another word in, "you want to go clubbing with me and the girls, Isaac?"
"Nah," Isaac replied. "Would love to, but I've got other plans tonight."
Good, he wasn't going. At least Jaime didn't have to cancel his plans and haul his ass to some club to cockblock Isaac. Because he would cancel everything to keep Isaac away from his sister.
"How about you? Up for some clubbing with me and the girls?" Olivia glanced at Jaime.
"Next time," Jaime replied while scowling at Isaac.
Isaac just smiled. The asshat didn't care about other people's opinions of him. He'd certainly never cared what Jaime thought of him. But if Isaac ever tried something funny with Olivia, he had another thing coming.
Shooting Isaac one last warning look, Jaime turned to his sister. "I have the car tonight."
"Oh, yeah. Here." Olivia fished the car keys out of her pocket and tossed them at him. Jaime tried to catch them but the keys slipped through his fingers, clinking as they hit the floor.
"Whoops, sorry," Olivia apologized. She often forgot that small objects should never be thrown at him. For obvious reasons.
Isaac laughed as Jaime bent down to pick the keys up, his face hot with embarrassment.
God, why did he have to be such a loser sometimes? Especially in front of a jerk like Isaac. He didn't want to give the asshat even more ammunition to tease him with.
"See ya, Olli," Jaime said, ignoring Isaac. "Don't get drunk, and call me if you need me to pick you up."
"Yes, yes, I'll be careful—don't worry so much!"
Olivia gave a wave, and Jaime reluctantly left her with Isaac. It wasn't like he could bother her for long. His sister would have to go to soccer practice.
After wrapping up some final small tasks in the kitchen, Jaime's shift was officially over, and he headed to the parking lot.
He'd never realized how much of a distraction Isaac was. Now that he wasn't busy being angry, the nerves definitely started creeping and crawling under his skin. He was about to get into his family's old car and meet an online hookup, and there were only two possible outcomes.
The first: Al wouldn't like him or he wouldn't like Al, and he'd go home embarrassed and unsatisfied. The second: they would like each other, and he would be making out with—and maybe even having sex with—a guy tonight. The thought of that was equally thrilling and terrifying.
Me: I'm off, see you soon. [Sent: 6:04 PM]