Short Stories (bxb)

Happy Place Pt. 2: Cat and Mouse

Make sure you pay attention to times and ages from here on out (the boys are gonna grow up pretty fast)

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Santiago joined Danny at lunch again the next day, despite his friends' protests. He didn't really know why. Just that he wanted to.

He had to do a bit of conversation pushing. He tried to bring up things he liked -- playing sports, Mario Kart, watching sports, Mac and Cheese, talking about sports -- to find common ground, but Danny seemed clueless when it came to Santiago's interests (except for Mac and Cheese, of course, but there wasn't much conversation to be had about that). It took a good deal of pushing and an accidental reference for Santiago to find something they had in common: they had both read and loved the Percy Jackson series. Danny's face brightened at the mention, and the pair quickly dove into the world of demigods and monsters.

They talked about it all through lunch and on the way to their classrooms. Santiago did most of the talking, but Danny listened attentively, and every once and a while he made his own little comments. Santiago noticed that he had nervous mannerisms: he fidgeted a lot, and tended to stutter whenever he did a good deal of talking. And he had this muted animation to him -- he seemed to subdue his own excitement, whether consciously or not, so that Santiago had to look at his eyes to know how he was feeling.

The day after that, Santiago sat outside once again. He was intrigued by his new acquaintance, and this time they talked about movies -- favorites and least favorites, whether the book was better, and a whole separate spiel about Disney (Santiago was obsessed with Tarzan). Danny hadn't seen a lot of Santiago's favorites, and they made a pact to watch them together sometime.

The next day, it was classes. Santiago liked Reading and PE and Art. Danny liked them all, except for PE.

Maybe Santiago was imagining it, but Danny seemed a little more talkative every day. He laughed more, too, and his smiles were a little less timid, like he was finally realizing that it was okay to show them. Though Danny was always softspoken, and always one to do more listening than speaking, Santiago never felt as if he was lugging the conversation on his back. But then, he might've just liked Danny's company.

    "Wanna come to my house after school?" Santiago offered out of the blue on a particularly overcast day.

     Danny looked surprised. He watched his hands for a moment, playing with his fingers. Then, "You want me to?"

     "Duh," Santiago snorted. "That's why I asked. I mean, we're friends, right?"

     Danny seemed even more astonished by this. "W-we are?"

     Santiago gave a toothy grin. "Of course we are," he said. "And friends hang out, right?"

     "I don't know."

      Santiago's smile faltered when it finally struck him that Danny didn't have any friends. Not knowing what to say, Santiago did the first thing that came to his mind, holding out his bag of fruit snacks. When the other boy hesitated, he rolled his eyes.

     "Take a gummy," he demanded. "And come over."

      Danny blinked. ". . . Okay," he said tentatively. "And okay."

So when the school day ended, the pair of them met at the entrance and walked together (they tried to get onto Santiago's bus, but the driver didn't recognize Danny and sent him away) in the ever-gloomier weather to Santiago's big white house in the suburbs. Santiago found fun in trying to explain soccer to Danny — the latter just couldn't grasp how it worked, what the rules were, and why anyone cared.