Page 103 of Icarus

“I thought you would be mad at me,” he admitted.

Celestina shrugged, then backed up until Luca got the hint that she wanted to be pushed again.

“Get out of the way, Icarus, can’t you see I’m swinging?”

Luca heaved her up with a grunt and she flew up into the night sky. Icarus leaned against the wood again and watched her pretty hair sparkle in the streetlights.

“I forgive you. But only because this is your first time. No one is born knowing how friends work. You figure it out as you go along. And besides, you didn’t ‘not tell us,’ you’re telling us now.”

Icarus smiled. His chest hurt in a good way.

“But I do gotta say, though. It is a bit strange that your name is Icarus and his name is Helios,” Celestina remarked.

“Oh, that? It’s not an accident.”

“Oh?”

Icarus glanced at Luca. He hadn’t told him this part. “His mom was maybe in love with my dad? And he got named that because my name was already Icarus.”

“That’s weird and gross?”

Icarus shrugged. “I know. I’m not even named after the guy from the myth. I’m named after the plant. Icarus filiformis. My mother was a botanist. She liked their shade of green. Our house is full of ferns. She wore the color all the time.”

Luca rubbed his palms into his eyes. “I am going to split my head open against this pole.”

“That painted lady from your house!” Celestina crowed.

“Dude, I don’t even know. Figuring this out has been absolutely exhausting,” Icarus admitted. “There’s this big tragic story that has been really awful. Me and Helios getting away from all of them is pretty much the best-case scenario in this situation. I just really hope that I can pull it off.”

Celestina flew backward, her braids flowing in front of her like she was underwater.

“Well. It’s Friday. We have the whole night.” She smiled and it was the brightest thing in the whole back yard. “Tell us your story, Icarus. The whole thing, from beginning to end. Then, we’ll help you.”

Kiss

Celestina hugged him with her arms wrapped under his coat. Tucked her hands against his back and swayed from side to side, like he’d seen her do with her mother and sister earlier.

“Are we still friends?” Icarus asked.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” she asked, like it was simple. Like it was foolish that he’d been afraid.

Luca held him too. Hesitantly at first, but Icarus wouldn’t let him. Wormed his way closer, didn’t let go early.

“You taught me how to do this, you know,” Icarus confessed in a rush.

“Shut the fuck up, man,” Luca groaned. “You can’t just say stuff like that. Now I’m going to think about that for the rest of my life.”

Icarus pulled back and looked at them both. This couple—his first friends—their hands clasped between them like a lifeline.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with this?” he asked.

“We’ll be there,” Luca promised.

“We won’t fuck it up.”

Burn

When Icarus got home, he was alone.