151 Days (3 page)

I began to say something again and then stopped. Again he was right, but for some reason the statement pissed me off. “Why do you say that?”

He had pulled a book out from under the counter and was about to open it when he gave me a withering glance. “Well, because every single piece of clothing you have on now has an A&F or an eagle on it somewhere. Which is impressive, by the way, since the closest store is at least a hundred miles away. You shop online, or mommy and daddy make road trips for you?”

I want to point out a few things before I go all ballistic on this guy.

One, it isn’t a crime to like nice clothes. Two, I happen to like the clothes they sell at A&F, and I get an allowance every few months to order stuff online. Three, the idea of wearing clothes that other people have already worn gives me the creeps, because all I can imagine is a bunch of other people’s bugs wandering all over me. And four, what I liked to wear was none of this guy’s business.

“What’s your problem?” I asked him, walking toward the counter.

He closed his book and folded his hands on top of it. “Are you serious?” When I didn’t answer, he rolled his eyes at me and muttered to himself, “This boy cannot be real.”

“Yeah, I’m serious. Why are you being such a dick to me?”

He took a deep breath and let me have it. “Um, maybe because you’ve given me attitude since day one for no other reason than you’re a self-loathing douche bag who is so scared of people not liking him that even now you’re pitching a fit because someone is saying they might not like him. Even if that person is someone you can’t stand, like me.”

I really didn’t like that he had a point.

“But putting that aside,” he said, moving the book as an example of the metaphor, “the real problem I have with you is that you are so taken with yourself that you just take for granted people doing good things for you. God forbid you should thank them or even be grateful, not Little Lord Bradley Fauntleroy. Instead you should just go on with whatever issues you have in your own mind because they’re more important than anything someone else might say or do.”

“You think I should thank you for giving Kyle clothes?” Even as I asked him, that didn’t sound right.

“No, you jock dick. I want you to thank me for explaining to the girl you lied to for three years that you weren’t a complete asshole because you liked boys the whole time you were using her to hide behind. I would like a small acknowledgment that I took your side even though you have been nothing but shitty to me and that you’d never once consider taking my side if I needed you.”

I just stood there, stunned.

“See, I know Kyle told you why Jennifer wasn’t holding a grudge against you two, and still you didn’t think for one moment about, just maybe, saying thank you. I have no idea why Kyle would waste his time with you… no, wait, I do see it. Let me rephrase. If you couldn’t shred cheese on your abs, I’m sure Kyle would have nothing to do with you. Frankly, my dear, you aren’t a very nice person. I know, I’m not one either. Now you don’t like me for whatever little drama you have in your head, but I don’t like
you
because I went to the mat for you, and you’re still acting like a dick when you see me.” He gave me a plastic smile and cocked his head. “So you want to go another three rounds there, Sporty Spice?”

The last time I had felt this bad was when the guys in the library thought I was going to beat them up. Every time I think I’m becoming a better person, I trip over my own ego and find out I’m still the same asshole I didn’t like before.

“You’re right. That was shitty of me, and I’m sorry.” I would have rather eaten dirt at that moment instead of apologizing, but what choice did I have? Robbie was right. Jennifer had had every right to come after me to carve me up using a dull knife. Instead, she had buried her pain to become friends with me again.

And that was because of Robbie.

“You didn’t have to do that, and I didn’t deserve it. I apologize.” I turned to walk out, since there was no way in hell I could ask him to be the alliance’s sponsor after what he’d just said.

“So if you weren’t here for Kyle, why did you come in?”

I just shook my head and kept walking toward the door. “Doesn’t matter. Have a good one.”

“Oh, you fucking drama queen! Stop!” he snapped. I paused and looked over my shoulder at him. “I swear to God one of you butch freaks is worse than any three drag queens.” He rounded the end of the counter and came to a halt a few feet away, leaning casually against the glass top. “You came in here for something; then you were read. Now learn humility from that and try again.” I gave him a confused look, and he sighed at me. “Why did you come in here?”

I wanted to leave, but I knew I was in it now. “I was wondering…. I mean, Kyle is trying to…. Just never mind. It’s stupid.”

“Oh for the love of…,” he sputtered at me, glaring like he was thinking about taking a swing at my face. “Kyle is trying to…,” he prompted me.

“Kyle is trying to get a gay-straight something started at the school, and we need a teacher to run it, or they’ll say no.” I said everything in one breath, certain I had run everything together into one garbled phrase.

“A gay-straight something?” he echoed slowly.

“Some kind of club, I think, for gay kids. I don’t know. He just says it’s important.” I really wanted to get away from Robbie now.

He seemed to think it over for a few seconds. “You’re talking about one of those alliances, right?” I nodded in agreement. “One of those lame-ass groups where no one shows up, and the school thinks it’s done something for the poor, misguided ’mos wandering the halls.” He went back behind the counter. “It’s a waste of time. Tell him not to bother.”

I nodded and kept moving toward the door.

“Hold it,” he called out. I looked over at him, just dying for him to stop talking. “Why would you come to me for that?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you could get a job at the school or know someone who would step up. I just have no idea where to find someone.”

He shook his head. “No,
that
I gathered. I mean, why are you here pushing for it?” I didn’t understand what he meant. “Why do you care so much? Do you even know why Kyle thinks it’s so important?”

I had to admit I didn’t.

“He thinks it’s important, so it has to be” was all I could answer.

“And winner of the worst reason to do something goes to Bradley Greymark and his ‘My boyfriend is smarter than I am, so I don’t need to do any thinking for myself’ response. I know why Kyle would think this idea is worth pursuing, but if you have no idea what a gay-straight alliance means, I suggest you get out of the way, because asking people to help you with something that you have no earthly clue about makes you sound dumber than you already are.”

I nodded, feeling even more stupid. “Sorry again,” I mumbled as I opened the front door.

“Figure out what Kyle is trying to do,” he called after me. “If you know why he is doing it, maybe you’ll find a reason of your own to ask me to help.”

So far it had been the best advice I’d heard all day.

I went to Nancy’s Diner because I hadn’t heard from Kyle, and I wasn’t ready to go home and call it a day yet. A thousand thoughts jostled for my attention, and I barely registered Gayle stopping at my booth, pad in hand, to take my order. “Well, well, well, young Mr. Greymark, as I live and breathe! You ready to order or waiting on Kyle?”

I shrugged and put the menu back next to the sugars. “I guess a Coke and fries.” My voice had all the excitement of a guy being woken up in the middle of the night to answer the phone.

She shook her head and then sat down across from me. “I’ve known you since you had to use a booster seat to eat at this table, and you have never once not been hungry.” She gave me one of her “talk to me” smiles. “You and Kyle fighting again?”

“No, it isn’t that.” I began to explain. “I just, I mean, Kyle is trying to do something, and I can’t….” I sighed as I realized I was making no sense whatsoever. “I am just tired of being the dumb guy in the relationship.”

She gave me a stern look. “How many all-star games did Nolan Ryan play in?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Eight.”

“And how many career strikeouts did he pitch?”

“Um, five thousand, seven hundred and fourteen.”

“And how many no-hitters did he pitch?”

“Seven.”

“See?” she said, pointing a finger at me. “You are not dumb at all. You just have a very specific skill set.”

I rolled my eyes and thunked my forehead against the tabletop. “Awesome. My superpower is remembering baseball stats. I’m sure that will help Kyle immensely.”

I felt something hit the top of my head. I looked up and dodged away from the possibility of another lethal order pad attack. “I allow a lot of stuff in my place, but pity parties are not on the list. Brad, it takes real brains to remember all of that stuff. It took real brains for you to think past just being reinstated on the team and to demand an antibullying policy for Foster High. Thought I forgot about that, didn’t you? Well, I didn’t. Brad, the longer you sit there moaning about how dumb you are, the more you’re going to believe it. Sorry, son, you have lots of brains, so suck it up, buttercup.”

Neither one of us said anything for a few seconds. Finally I blurted out, “Do you think Kyle just likes me for my looks?”

Her eyes went wide, and she bit her lip in an attempt to withhold the laugh that burst out of her anyway. “Do I think Kyle likes the way you look? Of course he does, sweetie. Most of the people in the world would like the way you look.” More seriously, she added, “Do I think it is the only reason? No, and let me tell you why. Because Kyle isn’t in love with your face or your body or even that smile. He is in love with the guy who set up an elaborate date for him because he wanted to make him happy. He is in love with the guy who stood next to him when the rest of the school was ready to lynch him. Your looks might get you in the door, Brad, but I assure you it is your heart that’s the reason you’re staying. If Kyle has a problem, you’re already helping him. You’re there for him, and he knows that.”

I began to protest, but she talked over me. “And I know you wish you could do more than that, but I assure you, being there one hundred percent is way more than a lot of other people ever think of doing. Don’t sell yourself short there, son.” She slid out of the booth, straightened her apron, and snapped her order pad open again. “There are more than enough people in the world who will do that for you. Trust me, they don’t need any help.”

“But I have no idea what to do.” I swear to you, I was seriously trying not to whine.

“You will. Until then, be the guy in love with him.” She shook her head. “The two of you are so far ahead of the game, it’s silly. Finding the person who makes you want to rush in and save them is almost impossible in this world. Everything else is easy after that. Stop worrying.”

It was good advice, but I still felt like crap. I think she knew it, but she knew not to keep talking too.

“I’ll get your fries. You sure you don’t want a burger?” She watched me think and nodded at the same time I did. Weird. “Yeah that’s one burger too. Coming right up.”

She walked away, leaving me to sort out all the crap running around in my head. I really had no one else to ask to help with Kyle’s idea; to be honest, asking Tyler and Robbie was me going after the longest long shots I could have found. Gayle brought me my food, and I nibbled on a fry and tried not to feel completely useless.

Then my phone vibrated.

Kyle: Where r u?

Just seeing a text from him could get me to smile with insane levels of happiness.

Brad: At Nancys trying not 2 go home yet.

It took a few seconds, and he responded.

Kyle: BRT

I had to laugh; for someone whose last phone was barely a step up from a tin can and string, he sure had figured out text speak pretty fast. I took my knife and cut the burger in half and divided the fries into two piles as I waited. Five minutes later, Jennifer’s car pulled up in front of the diner, and Kyle got out and waved at me.

I felt my face light up as I waved back and then waved at Jennifer before she drove off.

He strode in and tossed his backpack under the table as he sat next to me. “Hey, you,” he said, leaning over to kiss me.

I kissed him back, and the feelings of idiocy I had been feeling all day faded a little. “Hey back.”

He looked down at my plate, and his eyes got wide. “Did you wait to eat until I got here?”

I slid my plate closer to him. “I even decided to share.”

“Oh God, this is the best thing I’ve seen all day.” He grabbed half of the burger and took a huge bite. “We’ve been running around all day, and we didn’t stop to eat.” He chewed contently and looked over at me. “I love you so much for this.”

I looked at him, confused. “It’s a burger.”

He shook his head. “No, it was your burger, and now it’s ours. That’s pretty damn awesome.” I felt a warmth in my chest as he leaned closer to me and took another bite. “Not a lot of guys would wait to eat until their flake of a boyfriend could show up. That’s why I love you.”

I slipped my arm around him and pulled him against me. “How did you get to be so awesome?”

He smiled and shrugged at me. “Genetics?”

We both laughed as we finished the burger.

T
HE
WEEK
flew by, and the news got worse and worse.

Kyle had looked up the rules for an after-school club, and not only did it need an adult there but a full-fledged teacher to boot. So my plan of somehow getting Mr. Parker made an assistant coach wouldn’t have worked, because he wouldn’t have been an actual teacher with a degree and all that. At lunch I brought up asking Mrs. A. again, but Kyle was dead set against it.

“No, she was scared of something. I don’t think that’s the way to go.”

Jennifer sighed and tossed her sandwich into the trash. “This school sucks.” She sounded so defeated I was kind of shocked. “Any of you want to cut the rest of the day?”