In the middle of Des Plaines Illinois three boys find themselves in a tangled knot of angsty lust and amateur love.
Evan Webster has an average American life. When he isn't at swim practice or the movie theater, he's trying to make time to study bi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Evan usually mowed the lawn on Saturdays, but the grass was already browning and his dad was out of town, so he figured skipping one time wouldn't make a difference. Plus, in a few weeks, it would probably be snowing and the grass would be dead anyway. People were already wearing their fur coats and puffer jackets, which, Evan thought that was a bit premature since there were still leaves on the trees. He opted for wearing his denim jacket for now, which made his sister scold him on their way out the door.
Auntie Bev had called Nadine and told her about some sale at Mervyn's, so Nadine thought it'd be a good time to buy a Christmas gift for their dad. She convinced Evan to go to the mall, promising to stop at the comic book store on the way home. Normally, she'd ask Heather or Kenneth, but today Nadine had asked him. He was starting to regret agreeing to come along because they had gone into every department store. They were looking for something practical, like socks or a fancy pen, but that didn't stop Nadine from perusing Macy's for an hour.
"Are you sure dad'll like this tie?" Evan asked, pulling the tacky fabric out of the shopping bag. "I know the guy in the store said it's paisley-chic, but I just think it looks like nana's living room curtains. Maybe we should buy him the Ray-Ban glasses?"
Nadine was walking next to Evan, seemingly distracted. She was rubbing her forehead and her feet looked as off-kilter as her wobbly head.
"Nadine?" Evan asked, slowing down. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she swatted him away. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Knowing his sister was not fine, Evan pulled her over to an artificial plant display. He steadied her until she sat on the concrete rim, parting the crowd of people around them. The mall was bustling with early Christmas shoppers and frantic ladies looking for extra-large turkey basters. It was that weird, limbo-like time of year when Halloween was over, Thanksgiving was right around the corner, but everyone was only thinking about Christmas.
"You look kind of pale," Evan pointed out. "Did you eat anything today?"
She shook her head.
Evan recalled earlier in the morning when Nadine had caught a whiff of bacon and left the room hastily.
"Is it your head?"
Nadine creased her eyebrows in distress, not wanting to open her mouth. Her lips were clamped shut as she tried to calmly breath through her nose.
"Maybe it's a migraine," Evan guessed. "Mom used to get those a lot. She used to drink a ton of water if we didn't have any Ibuprofen."
Evan scanned the middle of the mall, hoping to spot some source of water. He saw a bubbler passed the escalators, but before he could relay his findings to Nadine, he saw five leather jackets coming down from the top balcony. Three of them were lagging behind, pestering a janitor, while the other two – Danny and Bones – were talking casually.
Evan didn't know how it was possible, but the sight of Danny was actually deafening, like a sonic boom. The clicks of cash registers, the inaudible chatter of passersby, the distant holiday music, the scuffles and squeaks of shoes...Everything stopped. All he could hear was Danny's familiar breath, even though the dark-haired boy stood so far away. Perhaps it was just the memory of the closeness – the soft sighs in his ears – but the sound echoed in his mind, taunting him. As if the memory itself was alive and vengeful.
"Shit," Evan exhaled.
Nadine followed his gaze, opening her mouth to ask, "What?" But her words barely escaped her mouth before she projectile vomited into the plant display. Evan was glad the leafy bush was fake because Nadine had definitely permanently altered the soil's pH level.
The splattering sound was loud enough to fill the whole main floor of the shopping center, making the boys in leather turn their attention to the siblings below. The whole mood of the mall changed in an instant, like lifting the needle off a playing record.
Bones immediately broke away from his friends and quickly descended down the escalators, pushing people out of the way and plowing through shopping bags and clearance ranks to get to Nadine. Danny trailed behind him as the rest of their friends snickered at the scene and headed to the food court.
By the time Nadine was gagging again, Bones was already holding back her hair. Evan didn't really know why Bones was being so nice, but in the moment, he appreciated the kind gesture. He watched the tall boy try to collect all of Nadine's hair into his wide hands, careful not to pull too hard. He even gathered the loose strands on the sides of her face and tucked them behind her ears, tracing his hands over her back afterwards. The movements were genuine and unplanned – nothing like the way Kenneth touched her. Evan almost wished Chris was there to analyze the situation.
Danny approached the three of them timidly, showcasing his typical bored expression. Evan selfishly wondered if anyone had made Danny smile since the homecoming dance.
They hadn't spoken in weeks. Danny was regularly skipping class, so Evan barely had a chance to see him. He even stopped buying licorice at the movie theater. But now, there they stood – denim blue and black leather – like two sides of the same bruise, hurting and slow to heal.
And although Nadine was having an incredibly public puking episode, Danny and Evan looked at the punk-clad knight saving the princess of Lincoln High, and they both knew what needed to be done. Danny looked into Evan's eyes for the first time since their last encounter and sighed. Evan gave him an understanding nod. Even when feuding, they knew each other well enough to read each other's minds in a crisis.
