Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
SAM
Day Seven
Itry to stretch out the kink in my aching back, sweat dripping down my forehead, even with the air con on. I put the vacuum cleaner to the side, hearing it clatter to floor as I flop down on my sofa, arm over my pounding head.
It’s been a mad day in the coffee shop, and I swear I can still hear voices asking for an order despite the shop closing three hours ago.
I’d cleaned the apartment, trying to distract myself from the shop, but also Will.
Because all day I’ve been getting orders wrong and forgetting names of the regulars because I’m there but I’m not there.
I rub the tips of my fingers together as I lay on the sofa, eyes closed, immersing myself in darkness.
I try to think of my friendship with Will, looking at it from a new angle.
Did I ever feel something for him back then?
Our teachers and our family would just say we were ‘like brothers’.
Maybe in this day and age they’d call it a bromance.
All I know is that when I left, he occupied my mind for a long time.
I sigh, sitting up. I need something to distract me. I boot up the Switch, seeing the Pokémon game I’m currently playing.
A notification tells me Will is online.
So much for distractions.
Grinning, I type a message.
Fancy seeing you here.
I wait for him to reply, clutching the controllers.
I catch myself chewing a nail, staring at the screen, waiting for his reply like a lovestruck puppy. I tell myself it’s nothing romantic. It’s the excitable feeling of having a friend again. Seeing someone who reminded you of happier times.
Nostalgia.
Yes, that’s what it is.
I’m nostalgic for a simpler time. Will’s that simpler time.
I’m sorry, how did you add me, Mr Greer?
I’m about to reply, when Will’s next message comes through.
Just here playing Animal Crossing for the foreseeable.
Must visit his island, I think.
What have you been up to today?
Will replies:
Went wine tasting with Ollie.
My stomach drops.
He’s been with Ollie.
My hands begin to sweat. Maybe they’ve rekindled.
Another message.
And I’m listening to Pallet Town on Spotify to calm myself down.
I exhale, eyebrows raised. The soundtrack from the Pokémon Red and Blue days are as familiar to me now as they were back then, when we were two boys huddled next to each other in a den we’d constructed from blankets and pillows.
I write back.
Remind me that we need to do a duet to the theme tune.
Maybe I should tell him that I have a whole playlist dedicated to the game score. Another time. Our message box looks back at me, and I glance at the kitchen, to the food I’d bought for our double date. A wild idea forms.
I’ve got food here. Let me wine and dine you?
I stare at the words wine and dine, tongue tracing my lips as I get lost in thought. Is it too forward? Too desperate? Too cheeky? Should I add ‘all in the name of research’?
Fuck it.
With a deep breath, I send it.
I put the controllers down, turning away from the screen, running both hands over my face. Did I just ask Will on a date? No. It’s a friend date. Nothing serious.
The message pings.
I pause, staring at my reflection.
I’ll be there in an hour.
I punch the air, letting out a cheer, thankful that he can’t see me and nobody else can hear me.
It’s a date.
A date.
Heart thudding, I press my fists to my lips.
Pokémon game abandoned, I get up and head to the shower, but not before I play the Pokémon theme tune on repeat. Tonight will go swimmingly. It has to.