𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 ~ 𝐛𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐫

20

Mike waited patiently in front of the gas station, his hands in his jacket pockets. He looked at his watch.

"8:00 P.M."

"Hey." Will said suddenly as he walked up to Mike. Mike smiled as he looked back up. He put his hand back in his pocket.

"Oh-hey." Mike said with a soft smile.

"You didn't think I forgot, did you?" Will asked.

"What-no. I just.. You're right on time." He responded back. "I brought money. We can get drinks or something."

"You in the mood for a slushy?" Will asked.

"Of course." Mike responded back with a smile. Will smiled back. They both went inside and walked to the back of the gas station where the slushy machine was as the song "What I Like About You" by The Romantics was playing.

"Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear
'Cause it's true (that's what I like)
That's what I like about you (that's what I like)"

"I love this song." Will said. Mike smiled.  Will usually said this about every song, but he didn't mind.

"Yeah me too." Mike started, "Catch- catchy song." He felt embarrassed of himself for stuttering so much. Will laughed a bit. Mike got a cherry slushy and Will got a blueberry slushy like they always used to get. They then paid and went back outside.

"So.. was the rest of your day better?" Will asked as they sat down. Mike thought about it.

"It was.. interesting." Mike replied.

"Yeah, I noticed you skipped lunch. El was worried." Will responded.

"I just went to the library to think." Mike said.

"Okay, well we're seeing this movie on Saturday and she wanted to know if you were going." Will started, "You don't have to though. Only if you're up for it."

"No, it's fine. I'll go." Mike responded as he looked at Will. "I'm feeling a bit better now that I'm talking to you." Mike smiled as Will kind of smiled back.

"Speaking of, what happened?" Will asked. Mike was reminded of why they were even here in the first place, and his smile faded.

"Oh um.. you know how Nancy came over for dinner yesterday?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, Jonathan came to our house too." Will replied before taking a drink of his slushy.

"Well she asked how our uncle was doing, he's been sick for a while." Mike started, "And.. my parents both got awkwardly quiet.. before my mom said that he was.. well she implied that he has AIDS."

"Oh my God." Will responded.

"Yeah I know. Then.. then my dad said that he deserved it for being.. for being a queer." Mike started, "That was how I found out that he was gay."

"Oh.." Will said before he took another drink of his slushy. He didn't really know how else to react.

"He.. he's such a fucking asshole, you know? He was so nonchalant about it.. and it just made me so mad. I tried to defend my uncle and.. and he.." Mike started before taking a quick pause, talking about this to Will was embarrassing enough, but crying in front of him was even worse. "He accused me of being queer. Not that anything is wrong with that.. I mean there fucking shouldn't be! And.. and just because you're brother is gay doesn't mean you should ignore the fact that he's dying. It's.. it's fucking bullshit."

"Mike.. I'm so sorry." Will responded as he put a hand on Mike's shoulder. Mike felt tears start to form in his eyes.

"No.. it's not your fault." Mike responded as he looked away from Will. "He said he didn't want me to waste my life being something that isn't normal. Newsflash! No one is fucking normal. Why doesn't he get that? I'm about to lose a person I care about and all that he's worried about is if I'm.. if I'm normal or not."