Page 28 of Septembers

“Okay, but if you said no, and⁠—”

“I didn’t say no.” Exasperation poured from his very soul. “He kissed me, I kissed him back, then I stopped kissing him back, and he got the hint. Can we let it go?”

Be normal, Theo! Normal friends didn’t fixate on the people their friends kissed the night before. Even if the person they kissed was an ex-lover whom, if memory served, really knew what he was doin⁠—

“Theo, are you with me?”

“Yes. Group thing. The campus pub has too many people for you, and the park doesn’t have enough to do, which would put too much pressure on you to talk. What about a café or book store?” His phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket, prepared to press ignore, but then he saw who it was. If he didn’t answer his dad’s call, there was no telling when he would hear from him again. Which was fine, of course. He didn’t need to talk to his dad often. But still. “Sorry. One second.” He answered. “Hey.”

“Heya, kiddo. How’s school?” His echoing voice was almost drowned out by traffic. His dad almost never called anyone standing on solid ground.

“Good.”

“Living with those boys again?”

“Yeah, we got a house near campus.” A house which suddenly felt way too hot, so he got up and opened the window, resisting the urge to stick his head outside.

“Oh, that’s great. Really great. It’s important to make solid friends in university, because let me tell you, it doesn’t get any easier once you’re older. What about dates? Any boyfriends I should be meeting?”

“Early days, Dad.”

“Right, right. Don’t want to tie yourself down.” The silence that followed was likely him wincing. Reminding your son that you left his mom when you were a baby wasn’t a stellar conversation tactic. He recovered quickly, though. He always did. “Still doing communications, right?”

“Yep.”

“Ah, great. That’s really great. And ah, your friend Dae… Still doing languages?”

“Linguistics, yeah.” He could hear his dad tapping on the steering wheel, probably psyching himself up for something. Outside, a muscular woman walked by with an enormous dog marching in front of her, its tail in the air and ears up. Theo wanted to be that woman. Wanted to have that dog.

“And Jason… He’s doing nutrition stuff righ⁠—”

“What’s new with you, Dad?” He couldn’t stand it when his dad tried to prove that he actually listened when Theo talked.

“Well, I’m working on a proposal right now for a picky client. Really have to dig into my old school days to remember how to write properly.” His laugh was rough and forced. “This could be important for the company, so of course I’m a big ol’ ball of stress, if you know what I mean. My brain is mush from staring at it so much.”

Dae was focusing way too hard on his laptop not to be listening. He hadn’t even turned the show back on. Theo should’ve left the kitchen for this conversation, but he didn’t want to seem like he had something to hide.

“Do you want me to read over it for you?”

“Oh, Theo, would you? You’re so great with words, so I know you could spice it up a lot better than your old man.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Thing is…” His words were drowned out by a siren and then they came back rushed and almost breathless. “...so I have to send it to my client by tomorrow. Is that doable? I could pull over and send it right now.”

“Okay.” Theo’s face was hot, and he couldn’t figure out why.

“You’re sure you have the time? I don’t want to get in the way of your homework or anything.”

“Classes haven’t started.”

“You’re a lifesaver, an absolute lifesaver. I owe you.” A horn blared, and his dad swore then tried to laugh it off. “Never buy a car, Theo. It’s not worth it in the city. Anyway, thanks again. You’re the best!”

The line went silent, but for some reason, Theo felt the need to put on a show for Dae, so he smiled into the blank phone. “No problem. See you later.” If Dae had heard and knew Theo was full of shit, he was gracious enough not to call him on it. “He just needs me to proof something. Won’t take too…” He opened the email and nearly dropped his phone. “Jesus. It’s fifty pages long.” How was he going to ‘spice it up’ in one day? This was going to take an all-nighter and a dangerous amount of caffeine. “Oh shit. The group thing.”

“Right.” Dae’s expression was so vulnerable, it made Theo want to throw his phone out the window. “Theo, you’re busy. Changing your life so I can go on a date falls into the category of babysitting, which I told you not to do.”

He hated this so much. “Promise me you’ll still go.”