How To Find A Boy-Fry In Toronto (Mini-Prequel to HTBTBTW)

The Annoying Jerk-Face

JAMES worked on a little project, one that he had been trying to perfect for the longest time. He didn't really know what he would do with the small, wired ring he was trying to shape. Maybe he'd just add it to the collection of stuff he made.

Creating things out of wire was something he'd picked up last year, when he'd been stressed to the point that he could only cry about everything. The life that seemed so perfect at school was torn apart and in shreds behind the walls of his bedroom. People saw him as he wanted to be seen, confident and happy. Nobody saw the boy who locked himself in his room and sobbed until he fell asleep.

After his grandfather passed, nothing felt the same. They had some sort of bond that he had with no one else. After his family began to notice his depression, he was put in therapy. Life began to go uphill. It got better.

He continued with the ring, finally finishing it. Now, he just crafted these things for fun. A white pearl was wrapped with silver wire. It was beautiful. He placed it in a little box then put it at the edge of his desk.

Now that he was done, it was time to work out. He didn't have amazing muscles by doing nothing!

"James! We're just going to drop off Lara's family at the airport! We'll be back soon!" his mom yelled so loud that in surprise, he dropped the dumbell on his foot.

Lara was going on vacation?

His initial reaction was confusion because he thought that she would be here for the summer. After all, they had the best summers together. Okay, he may have "accidentally" pushed her into the lake and the pool once or twice, but she always got him back. That was the fun part.

Then he remembered that she did tell him that she would be gone. Just a few days ago, on the last day of school, she threw a water ballon (several actually) at his face. Her last words were, "Just try and get me back you idiot! Let's see if you can do it when I'm thousands of kilometers away, relaxing in the Philippines!"

Oh sweetheart, I'm going to get you back, he thought.

His next thought was about how absurd that first sentence sounded.

"Wait! Mum I'm going with you guys!" he yelled back, trying to run upstairs, but his foot was still sore from that stupid dumbell.

"What? Why?" she asked when he finally got to the main floor.

He didn't struggle to think of an excuse. "Because I want to say goodbye to Lara! And...I have something to give her."

She looked at him in confusion. "Are you courting her or something?"

He coughed. "What! Ew, mom no." What a strange question. Never in a million years would he ever do that or even think about doing that. Maybe he'd thought about it once. Maybe even twice. But he didn't like her or anything.

He actually hated her.

She rolled her eyes then said, "Fine. You can come if you can get dressed in 5 minutes."

"Awesome!" he shouted and sprinted upstairs to get dressed. He picked out his plainest clothes-a black t-shirt with some sweats-for a good reason. If his prank ended up backfiring, he was not about to get his expensive shirts damaged.

If you knew Lara, you knew the word damage was a big, bolded word in her dictionary.

"I'm here." he announced, priding himself with the fact that he had gotten dressed and ready in under 5 minutes. One of the maids looked at him and ignored his announcement as she went on to dust a table.

"What's the bag for, Son?" his dad frowned at the unusually large bag that was slung across his shoulder.

"It's just a gift for Lara." he said cooly.