Another Way To Love (LGBT)

II

Despite Cooper's constant teasing about it, I actually liked my morning routine.

Sure, it was a bit on the pathetic side, but it worked for me.

Wake up, check for any uploads on The Gossip, play on my phone for an hour, shower, and then get dressed in whatever I happened to grab from my dresser first.

Cooper thinks I need more action in my life. That I should try jogging or cooking instead of stalking The Gossip all morning (his words, not mine) and only putting minimal effort into my hygiene.

But I'm perfectly happy to stay in my pathetic little pining bubble until the end of time; and no amount of sass from Cooper would change that.

"HEY DIPSHIT, ARE YOU GONNA SHOWER ALL DAY?!" I heard my sister, Monica, shout from outside the bathroom as she banged obnoxiously on the door with her fist, hard enough to make the door rattle. "IF YOU USE UP ALL THE HOT WATER AGAIN I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Well gee, maybe I'll take some extra thinking time then, just to make sure I use it all up," I retorted from my curled-up position on the floor of the shower.

I didn't even need to see my sister to know she was probably going red in the face from her rage; she wasn't the calm, collected soul that I am. "YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES BEFORE I DROP YOUR PHONE IN A CUP OF COFFEE!"

Shit. I knew my sister enough to know her threat was very real and not to be taken lightly.

Scrambling out of the shower, I briefly dried off and threw my glasses on, taking a glance at myself in the mirror.

Yep. My hair was still wet and I looked like a crow that had been stuck out in the rain all day. But besides my mopish hair, I liked to think I had decent looks overall. My skin was clear, I wasn't too pale, and I still hadn't gotten any facial hair yet so my face was extra smooth.

After deciding I didn't look like too much of an abomination, I headed out the door and went downstairs.

I found my sister in the kitchen on her phone, holding my phone in her other hand as a steaming cup of coffee waited on the counter.

"Okay, I'm out, and now when I'm bullied relentlessly for my wet hair at school, you're paying the medical bills." I snapped as I ripped my phone out of her hand.

Monica let out a scoff, rolling her eyes. "Drop dead," was all she replied with before hurrying off to the bathroom; probably to get ready for a date or something.

My sister was kind of my polar opposite: loud, adventurous and arguably demonic.

She was already in her twenties, just living life and had no problem rubbing it in my face that I was still just a little baby trapped in high school.

(But she did give Cooper and I beer sometimes if we asked really nicely, so it wasn't all bad.)

I poured myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast; my parents had already gone to work before I'd even woken up. Once I'd had my cereal, I held up my phone and checked The Gossip for an update.

Still nothing, but that wasn't surprising. Nina rarely uploaded before noon, but you know, better to be on top of things.

Just as I was about to shut my phone off, it vibrated in my hand with a text from Cooper.

C: Prapere to shawer me with love

G: Whatever you did, undo it.

C: Oh well fine then I was going to tell yuo I got us tikets to 27 Roses you know that cheesey romance film the girl of yuor draems just saw? Thuoght youd want to see it...

C: But it's fine! Ill just give the tikets away. Or maybe Ill just cut them up with some scissers...

G: if you destroy those tickets I will never talk to you again.

C: So what im hearing is...yuo wanna go to the moives with me?

G: What time?

C: After schoul

G: Cool. See you at school.

C: Mwah

The phone was suddenly snatched from my hands, startling me. "Hey!" I snapped.

Monica dangled the phone above my head. She was now dressed in one of her stupid crop tops, ripped shorts and her trademark leather jacket. "You were staring pretty hard, which means that it was either Cooper or The Gossip," she mocked, pretending to contemplate it.

I reached for my phone, but she held it up high enough so I couldn't reach. Yet another reminder of my disgusting shortness. "Give it!"

"I'm gonna guess... Cooper. If it was The Gossip, you'd be cumming into your cereal," Monica deadpanned before dropping my phone. I just barely caught it before it could fall to the floor.

My nose curled in disgust to even hear my sister use the word cum. "Don't you have a pregnancy test to take or something?" I sassed.

I half-expected to get my face shoved into my cereal, which at this point was probably just a bowl of soggy, inedible mush. But to my surprise, Monica smirked at me.

"Careful. Be nice to me or I won't get you and Coops' the goods."

Ugh.

This was literally the only good thing I could say about my sister: she'd get Cooper and I anything we wanted but didn't have easy access to; be it beer, cigarettes, or even condoms.

"Oh, before I forget, Dean's coming over tonight so you're staying at Cooper's," Monica announced suddenly as she snagged a water bottle from the fridge.

I wasn't surprised. Honestly, Cooper and I stayed over at each other's houses so often we didn't even bother to put the sleeping bags away anymore; they almost acted as carpets in our room.

"Fine."

"Mom and dad had to head out of state for work, so they aren't gonna be back till tomorrow," she added.

My eyes widened. "What the hell? They didn't even say goodbye!"

"Don't cry over spilled milk," Monica told me irritatedly, as if I was ruining her day by complaining.

No longer feeling very hungry, I snagged my bag and headed for the door. "I'm going to school."

"Try not to kill yourself, no matter how boring the classes are!" she exclaimed as I slammed the door shut.

As usual, Cooper was waiting for me in front of the school, bouncing back and forth on his heels with a wide grin on his face.

"Gary, my bestie, my love, my—" he started obnoxiously, bringing up his arms to hug me.

I stopped him. "Show me the tickets."

He pouted at me. "Jeez Gary, absolutely zero faith." He produced the tickets from his pocket and I quickly snatched them from him.

Sure enough. Two tickets for 27 Roses.

When I saw that he hadn't been fucking with me, a genuine smile formed on my face. "Sweet. Thanks, Coops'."

He looked at me with surprise. "Wow, using my nickname? You must really be happy," he joked.

Damn, had it really been that long since I had used his nickname? When we were kids, it was practically the only name I used.

I should make a point to use it more again. I never really realized how much I missed it until now.

"Let's just get school over with so we can go," I insisted.

Cooper gave me a salute before throwing his arm around my shoulders. "Lead the way!"