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...
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DECEMBER
"But that's the answer," Danny argued.
"No," Jackson said. "The answer is phenol. You wrote fennel."
"What's the difference?" Danny asked.
"Phenol is an organic compound. I think it's used in fertilizers," Jackson explained. "Fennel is a cooking herb, usually used to garnish chicken."
"What are you? A fucking chef?" Danny snapped.
Jackson smiled. "Maybe if you had stayed for breakfast, you would've found out," he prattled.
"Okay," Danny simpered. "Fuck off. And fuck Ms. Hodge."
Danny folded his graded test and stuffed it into his pocket. The racket of the school cafeteria clamored around him—the dropping of milk cartons, the giggling of cheerleaders, the clanking of plastic sporks. He couldn't imagine a more obnoxious place, well, maybe his house on a Friday night during Lent. His aunts usually bickered about who should make the fish casserole. Danny didn't really understand why it mattered. The casserole always tasted gross no matter who made it.
Danny would never admit it, but he missed his chaotic household. Not enough to go home yet, though. There was too much disappointment in his father's voice at the police station. He didn't know if he'd ever muster enough courage to go back.
A few yards away, Bones detached himself from the assembly line of hungry high schoolers and set his tray down in front of Danny and Jackson.
"Why is Strawberry Shortcake sitting at our table?" he asked, taking a seat.
"I would be offended if I hadn't heard that a million times before," Jackson said. "Like Raggedy Ann. Matchstick. Carrot-Top. Ginger-Pop...the list goes on."
Bones kept his face flat, only looking at Danny. "Does he sing the theme song too?"
Danny grabbed a tater tot from Bones's tray and tossed it into his mouth.
"I failed our biology midterm," Danny disclosed. "Jackson was helping me review my test."
The redhead nodded. "With his impeccable tardy record and my C average... He might get a D by spring," Jackson said.
"Speaking of Ds," Bones shifted his eyes to the bake sale table at the front of the cafeteria. "You think Nadine told Kenneth yet?"
"Are they making out?" Danny questioned.
"Yes."
"Then probably not."
The annual holiday bake sale was getting set up, which meant Nadine and Heather were sitting at a pastel-colored booth while they bossed around freshmen volunteers. As usual, Kenneth was hovering around Nadine – pecking her face whenever she looked away for too long.
"Is there drama in the royal court?" Jackson asked, curious.
"None that involves you," Bones replied sharply.
The snippy comment reminded Jackson that he was only Danny's lab partner. Meaning, Danny's friends didn't have to be nice to him. They hadn't labeled anything after their night in the trailer, and frankly, Jackson didn't want to pressure him. The redhead figured something had happened between him and Evan, and he was fine with a little fun on the side – especially if it was to spite Evan Webster. Plus, Jackson was trying to forget his relationship with Heather too, so it was a mutual distraction. A few kisses in the northern stairwell and a couple meetups in the school's greenhouse – nothing too consequential. They had kept their connection playfully PG.
Jackson took the hint and stood up. "I'm going to go eat some expired Cheetos."
"Does that qualify as cannibalism?" Danny wondered.
Jackson shoved the tough boy, making them both chuckle before Jackson walked toward the vending machines.
Bones was too busy staring at Nadine to notice his best friend's joke. Danny wasn't one to act bubbly or giddy, but it was evident that Jackson had a jaunty effect on him.
Conversely, Bones looked like he had just cracked a tooth. His lower jaw was jutting out in a way that accentuated his frown, making it look like his heated anger had melted the expression onto his face. Nadine was oblivious to the penetrating stare, shooing Kenneth away from her lips. It was one of those rare days when Kenneth was making her smile. Somehow he knew she wasn't her usual sunshine-self. Evan would never admit it, but he was grateful for Kenneth's small doses of compassion. Those small moments gave him hope for his sister's future.
She was sitting beside Heather, who was telling Evan where to put a box of fruitcakes. He wasn't really listening, since his attention was fixated on the back of Danny's head.
"Careful with those, Evan," Heather said. "Those are our bestsellers."
"Fruitcake?" Evan scoffed. "This town is so predictable."
Jackson's comment about the royal court was accurate. High school was a whimsical hierarchy, and Evan was granted clemency by association. In simple terms, Kenneth was the king and Heather was undoubtedly queen of something...like the mall or at least a shoe rack. Nadine could be qualified as a princess because she was expendable, but still fair and likable. Evan wasn't really royalty, but he was Nadine's brother so he was more or less a nobleman. He wasn't a nobody, but he wasn't a somebody either.
And Chris...He was the token fool.
"Evan," Chris said, setting down a box of apple pies. "Why did the pie go to the dentist?"
"Chris...I swear to God..."
"Why did the pie go to the dentist?" he asked again, excited.
Evan sighed. "Why?"
"Because he needed a filling," Chris said.
Evan swore he heard Heather snort, but when he looked over at her, she was silently looking at an order form.
