FreeTheLGBT: Anthology

The Sweetest Friend

Entry by lisa_london_

~Winning entry of the Pride Month Flash Fiction Party Contest~

Obscured by branches and leaves, Robin hid from his mother's all-seeing eyes. After climbing the rope ladder to the treehouse in the neighbor's yard, he put the pirate flag on the roof to let Des know he was there. It was their secret code. A secret his mother didn't know.

He curled up in a corner, his back rested against rough boards, nailed together by his friend's older brothers once upon a time. They were in college now and had let their younger sister Desiree inherit their tree-dwelling castle. Truthfully, both Robin and Des were probably too old to hang in treehouses as well. They were, after all, sophomores in high school. But the rickety shack, nestled among birdsong and rustling leaves, was their haven. It felt safe there.

The rattling of the ladder announced his friend's arrival. Red hair in braids hung down way past her shoulders. Jeans shorts and a zebra-patterned t-shirt covered her pale limbs. Des never cared about fashion, but still, she somehow always managed to look fashionable. The opposite of Robin, who had never looked fashionable for a day of his life.

Without a word, Des sat down beside her despondent friend. They cuddled up together between apple crates and worn-out blankets. A hand patted his arm. A head rested against his shoulder. A comfortable and familiar position.

She never forced Robin to talk if he didn't want to. Sometimes it was difficult to express his frustrations and he just needed a friend by his side. To feel support, instead of pressure.

But this time, he chose to talk. "My mom..." he started. His vents almost always started that way. "She won't let me be on the quiz bowl team anymore."

"But why?" Des asked in confusion. "You are the best student on that team. They'll be helpless without you. I thought Liza had agreed on you joining since it would look good on your college application."

"Because she saw me..." he mumbled, letting his fingers crumple dried leaves between them. "She saw me talking to Tristan Conway after the game last weekend. He's my... friend. I think. At least he could have been. He was nice to me. But my mom says he's a bad influence on me."

"Tristan does algebra for fun and brags about knowing all the capitals of the world..." Des protested. "He's hardly a bad influence."

Robin shrugged. "You know how she is."

Having been homeschooled until high school, friends hadn't been easy to come by for Robin. He never knew how to even start a conversation and he had no clue about most things the kids at the school talked about. He didn't know of K-pop, Minecraft, or Tik-Tok. His mom had never let him find out about those things.

When he first joined the quiz bowl team, Robin, true to form, struggled to talk to the other members and mostly sat alone in a corner. But one day, Tristan, with big brown eyes and a gangly stature, sat down in the corner next to him. Tristan helped him become part of the team and Robin's heart fluttered every time he looked into those doe eyes.

His mom must have seen the flutter. She must have seen Robin laugh as Tristan said something that wasn't even funny.

Des nodded. She knew that Robin's mother was fickle and hard to please.

"But she can't let me have... friends..." Robin continued, now pulling leaves apart violently. "She can't let me live. She wants me to be alone and miserable."

Des' hand flicked through his hair softly. "You'll always have me," she said and placed an affectionate kiss on his cheek. "You're not alone and you don't have to be miserable."

Having grown up in the houses next to each other, Des had always been there for him. No matter how awkward or out of place he acted, she never abandoned him. Not even his mother could get between them and she didn't even seem to try, probably because she hoped for romance to spark between them. Des was, after all, "pretty and from a good family".

Those words echoed in his head. Perhaps that's why he did what he did. To try to be who his mother wanted him to be.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. A stupid one. But as Des' lips graced Robin's cheek, he turned slightly. He met her lips with his own.

They both froze for a moment. Lips against lips. Neither of them knew what to do next.

Robin tried to pucker his lips slightly. That made the situation worse. Their teeth clanked together in a very unromantic fashion.

Not that the kiss had been romantic to start with. But somehow it became even worse.

There were no sparks or tingles. Just his own chapped lips against her vanilla-flavored ones. Des must have just put on lipgloss.

Not at all like the kisses he had imagined. But he had imagined them with someone else. Someone with deep brown eyes. Someone who made Robin laugh even when they weren't funny.

Des pulled her lips away and dissolved into giggles. "What are you doing, Robin?" she asked between snorts of laughter.

"I'm just... trying something," he replied, feeling a blush rising on his cheeks. He looked away. Ashamed of his stupidity.

"Well, try it on someone else," she said and gave him a soft slap on the knee.

Robin knew who he wanted to try it on. Even if he tried to deny it. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"I'm your friend." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Don't kiss your friends, Robin."

Des was his friend. His only friend. The sweetest friend anyone could have.

Tristan Conway had not been his friend. He had been something else. Someone who Robin wanted to kiss.