Page 37 of Talk to Me

“It’s more than three states, my dear.” Arthur leaned forward and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

Both of us laughed, and Theo actually let a chuckle escape. Which drew Arthur’s attention and a steely glare. Theo was very quiet suddenly.

“Arthur,” I said, “please. Don’t be mean. This is Theo Hendrix. He’s my friend.”

Arthur’s face softened slightly.

“Theo, this is Arthur Thompson,” I said. “A raging queen with a side of bitch. Also my friend.”

Arthur puffed slightly, pleased with my introduction, actually taking pride in the way that I described him. Or he was pleased to be referred to as a friend. It probably wasn’t the friend part, though.

“Hello, Theo Hendrix,” Arthur said with a nod.

“Hi,” Theo said. “Arthur. Uh, Thompson.”

I chuckled.

“You do those videos on Peepers with your boyfriend?” Arthur asked, nibbling at the end of his Twix again. “Bob? Billy?”

“Arthur.” I warned him.

“Uh, Ben,” Theo looked down at his lap. “Not anymore. We broke up several months ago.”

“Oh,” Arthur sniffed as he chewed, as if disinterested, “that’s right. Now you do them on your own?”

“I guess. Yeah,” Theo replied.

“Arthur’s being a cunt,” I explained to Theo, though my warning eyes stayed on Arthur. “He knows who you are and that you aren’t doing videos with Ben anymore. Stop antagonizing people for your own amusement, Arthur.”

Arthur stared at me frostily for a moment, then giggled. He bit into the Twix again.

“Fine, fine.” He waved me off.

Theo’s feet scuffed the floor as he shuffled them, and I suddenly realized how much we differed in height. My feet dangled a few inches off of the floor, and I swung them slightly as I sat on Arthur’s bed. Theo’s feet were easily touching the ground. I found it funny how I never noticed that he was several inches taller when we were standing. Or when going top and tail in bed. We had to sit down for me to notice.

“I like your animal videos,” Arthur said. “They’re cute.”

“Thank you,” Theo said, but he didn’t look up.

“I didn’t pay him to say that.” I teased him.

Arthur gave me a quizzical look, so I felt the need to explain.

“I said the same thing to him,” I added. “That his animal videos are the best videos.”

Arthur nodded in understanding and went back to his candy bar.

“Except the Uno video,” I continued. “But I probably just think that because ninety percent of the commenters agreed that I was right about the rules of the game.”

I glanced over at Theo to find that he allowed a small grin at my comment. The tension in the room was palpable, since Arthur was always mean to new people, and Theo had dealt with too many mean people lately. He had no defense against anything Arthur threw at him. Theo was simply too beaten down to really tackle a hard case like Arthur. And I couldn’t completely blame Arthur. He had every right to be suspicious of strangers.

“I hear the other children at the university are bullying you?” Arthur asked casually.

I cringed, but said nothing. Technically, Arthur hadn’t said anything rude. Of course, that’s where his line of questioning might have been heading, but I’d have to wait. Accusing him of meanness before it happened would only rile him up.

Theo shrugged almost imperceptibly. “I mean, I guess? I don’t know. Some of them aren’t nice.”

Arthur made a disgusted sound.