Standing for Weirdo

Chapter 18

I called Stella as soon as I arrived home and filled her in. She liked the idea and told me she would pick me up the next afternoon and that she would be on time. Miraculously, she was. When Josh's SUV pulled to the curb in front of my house, I kissed my parents good-bye and rushed out the driveway and into the car. Stella gave me a conspiratorial wink in the rearview mirror when I climbed in and I fought the urge to giggle.

This adventure, this moment of rebellion… felt good.

It was a short drive to the mall. Josh dropped us at the door and went off to park his monster vehicle.

“I hope you’re sure of what you’re doing,” Stella whispered in my ear as soon as we were out of earshot. She sounded more worried than she had the previous day.

“Stop second-guessing me. I do enough of that already,” I said, trying to laugh off her gentle warning. “We’re just getting coffee, anyway.”

She shrugged and said nothing else. Trevor was already waiting for us, leaning against the wall, so it really wasn’t the best time to talk me out of my decision.

I dragged her over to him just to make that point.

Nothing to do with my own eagerness, oh no…

“Hi,” I said in an impressive display of social skills.

“Hi yourself,” Trevor replied with a small smile. “Hey, Stella. Good to see you.”

“Same here…” She looked thoughtful for a second, studying him, then sighed dramatically. “You know, you don’t look like Dracula in Drag up close, no matter what the idiots at school say.” Back to good old Stella.

Trevor laughed. “Thanks, I guess.”

“No, I mean, this is serious. We need another nickname for you.”

“What’s wrong with Trevor?” I asked, and she gave me a look that said “duh.”

“Well, it’s his name. People get called by their names all the time,” I went on.

Then, it clicked.

The rumor mill would never call him by his name.

It hurt that my best friend would open the conversation like that. I didn’t want to think too much about why, but it did and it must have shown in my face because Stella lifted her hands in a placating gesture.

“I so didn’t mean it like that,” she said.

“What’s the freak doing here?” Josh's voice drowned out anything else she might have tried to explain.

Stella cringed.

She hadn’t told him about today’s arrangements? He was clearly not happy about the discovery.

My day was about to go down the drain.

“He’s coming with us for coffee,” she smiled, trying to forestall disaster.

“Like hell he is!”

Trevor just pushed off the wall with a weary smile that told Stella, I don’t hold it against you.

“It’s okay. I’ll head back and leave you to it.”

“You better, fucktard. I don’t want to see you close to my girl again.”

Trevor narrowed his eyes and for a heart-stopping moment I thought he was going to be confrontational. Then he turned to me. “See you in theater, then?”

“I don’t want you to go,” I said, dredging up the courage from the depths of my stomach. And sounding terribly childish in the process. “I want that mocha.”