felt compelled to break the silence- but found his mouth unable to work. What was he going to discuss? Politics? Their families and whether or
not they were cool with their entire being (As is a topic on every queer
person’s first date?) There were so many options, but which was the best
one to start with? With so many options his brain went into paralysis and
they walked another minute in silence- but this time one filled with his
stress.
“It’s a beautiful day.” Joe finally broke the silence and Jacob felt a wave
of relief. The weather was a much better topic than the rise of fascism in
the modern age. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
“It is. Definitely. Do you like sunny days?” Jacob asked.
“Every day that the sun comes up is a blessing in my books. It’s a good
day for good news.”
“I could certainly use some good news in this economy.” Jacob
responded, and then immediately kicked himself for changing the subject. “You’ll get plenty. I assure you.” Joe responded. “The world is full of
it.”
“I haven’t noticed lately.” Jacob said. He felt awkward. He felt like his
skeleton was trying to crawl out of his skin. He felt awkward and silly. He
felt the eyes of people all around him looking at him, judging him. He
couldn’t tell how, but he knew in his head that everyone around him knew
what he’d done and they were judging him harshly for it. They knew he
was the worst person- yet somehow Joe seemed optimistic. And not even
in an ironic way. It felt…different.
“You should really take some time to notice the little blessings all
around you. There’s plenty.” Joe said. Jacob almost asked ‘where?’ “You’re awfully optimistic, you know that?”
“You have to be sometimes. But it helps when you have something that
makes you feel that way.” Jacob felt a light brushing against the back of
his hand. He froze and looked down to see Joe delicately tracing his fingers
against his knuckles. He also took this as a moment of shock and tripped
over his own stupid clumsy feet. Luckily, with excellentreactions, Joe
reached out and kept him upright.
