“You’re my kid, I’m allowed to get a little mushy,” Dad replies. “Besides, now that you’re leaving, I’m the last man standing in a house full of girls. It’s going to be tough.”
I laugh. “Sucks to be you, dude.”
“Come here, you jerk,” he says with a grin, outstretching his arms for a hug. We embrace for a few stiff, manly moments, then Dad loudly pats my back and pulls away. “Make good choices,” he says gruffly.
“I will.”
Dad starts the car and rolls down the window. “If you can’t figure out which choice is the good one, ask Theo.”
I roll my eyes again. “Okay, Dad.”
“And if you’re going to go out at night, go with a group.”
“I know,” I say, taking a few steps backward towards the dorm.
“And if you’re going to have sex, use a condom.”
I turn to walk away faster so he doesn’t see my cheeks start to burn. “Bye,Dad!”
It takes about an hour for the remaining crew to haul up Theo’s belongings and unpack the essentials. There’s a lot of chatting and teasing through it all, though—none of Theo’s family is in any hurry to leave. But when the time comes, Kora, Grace, and Nathaniel reluctantly say their goodbyes to Caleb and me, and Theo walks them down to the parking lot. The send-off must be emotional, because when Theo returns to the dorm, his eyes are glossy.
While Caleb goes to comfort Theo privately, I focus on setting up the Nintendo Switch in the living room.
If it were anyone else, I’d be playfully teasing Theo for the waterworks. But Theo’s close to his family. They’ve been through a lot in the past two years, and it’s actually really sweet that they’re going to miss each other so much. I suck at dealing with emotions—or at least that’s what I’ve been told.
When Theo first came out a couple of years ago, I was informed that my reaction was “weird” and “made everyone uncomfortable”. It’s not my fault that we grew up in a small, mostly conservative town in the South where being queer isn’t acceptable. Excuse me for being terrified for my closest friendin the world because he had a crush on a boy, and I knew his parents were going to lose their shit over it. And—not to be that guy—but his daddidlose his shit over it, and it was a disaster. Thankfully, Kora divorced his homophobic ass, and the rest of Theo’s family loves him exactly how he is, just like we do.
But yeah, I don’t do serious conversations anymore. I can only hope that my friends know that I still love them and would do anything for them. Well, anything except properly communicating when it comes to heavy, consequential topics, of course. But what nineteen-year-old CIS man is good at that?
“Need any help with that?”
I jolt at the deep, unfamiliar voice behind me, nearly knocking the Switch to the floor. “Shit?—”
“Oh, sorry, sorry—” the voice continues. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I turn to face my assailant—a slightly stocky, scruffy guy with warm, golden-brown skin, thick black hair, and rimless glasses—who stares back at me with a furrowed brow. I manage an embarrassed laugh. “Holy shit, you really snuck up on me.”
The stranger’s mouth hangs open awkwardly for a moment before speaking. “That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry–”
“No worries, man, I must be more zonked than I thought.” I stand to my full height and extend my hand to him. “You’re Vimlesh, right? I’m Oliver.”
He blinks in surprise, and I can’t tell whether it’s because of my height or because I knew his name. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, Vimlesh Panikkar. I’m in room B.” He gives my hand a stiff shake and drops it.
“Dope, I’m in C. Nice to meet you!”
Vimlesh nods. After a beat, he clears his throat. “I, um, moved in this morning. When I heard people coming and going, I figured I should stay out of the way.” He peeks around towardmine and Theo’s side of the dorm. “Was it just you that moved in, or room D also?”
“Theo’s here, too,” I answer. “He and I are buds from high school, so we got here together.”
“Ah.”
There’s another uncomfortable pause, but before I can fill it, Vimlesh gestures to the Switch. “Do you need any help setting that up?”
I chuckle. “Nah, I think I got it. We’re probably going to play someMario Kartor something soon. Do you want to join? I think I have an extra controller in my room.”
“Oh, um,” his gaze drops to the floor. “Maybe another time. Thanks, though.”
“Anytime.” I crouch back down to make sure all the cords are where they’re supposed to be before pressing the “on” button. I’m relieved to see the Nintendo logo flash up on the TV screen. Hell yeah. “So, do you play anything on the Switch, or do you prefer?—”
