February 17 | Monday
It was approaching six in the evening. Will was standing in a massive line for the checkout at a local supermarket. The irritating beep of the scanner rang in his ears, amplifying an unbearable headache.
He usually didn’t do his shopping at the last minute, especially not before the holidays (though judging by the surrounding crowd and the picked-over shelves, he was in the minority), but just an hour ago, he’d realized his fridge was practically empty.
He wouldn’t have made it through the days off.
“Danny!”
Hearing the shout, Will spun around, his hopeful gaze scanning the crowd.
Of course, it wasn’t his Danny, just some kid who wasn’t listening to his parents.
Will had no idea why he’d expected to see his friend.
Maybe because guilt was eating him alive.
That, and worry. He’d been trying to get in touch with his former roommate to make sure he had a place to stay, or at least to arrange a time and place to give him his money, but Dan hadn’t answered his phone or replied to a single text.
Will hoped Danny just didn’t want to talk to him. He’d never forgive himself if something had happened to him.
Finally, after several long minutes, his turn came.
“Good evening,” the cashier greeted him politely.
“Good evening,” he answered mechanically, returning her smile.
And then it happened again. That specific, unpleasant shiver ran down Will’s spine, and a moment later, all the lights went out and all the electronics died. Murmurs of dissatisfaction rose from all around.
“Sorry,” Will blurted out reflexively, feeling awful.
“It’s not your fault, don’t worry about it,” the girl replied. “It’s just a power outage. I have to ask you to be patient for a moment, I’m afraid. We should have a backup generator, but it’ll probably take a little while to kick in.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” the man behind Will huffed. “I’ve been standing here for almost half an hour!”
“We have to wait. I can’t ring you up without power.”
“What a pathetic store!”
“Exactly! First you don’t open all the registers, and now this stunt? What is this?”
Will felt terrible. First, because he was once again acutely aware of his lack of control.
A few months had passed, and he still couldn’t manage it.
Secondly, because of the problems his sudden, though rarer, flashes of power caused for bystanders.
This cashier didn’t deserve to listen to all this complaining.
But the people in line didn’t deserve to wait another twenty-plus minutes just because some freak had messed everything up with his own incompetence.
Unable to take it anymore, Will left his items on the conveyor belt and walked out of the supermarket. A few people followed his lead, probably as a sign of protest, but he just wanted to escape it all.
It was raining. He got home soaked to the bone. He changed, then remembered he truly had nothing left to eat but two packets of instant noodles and a half-rotten lemon. Oh well. In the morning, he’d look for some small neighborhood shop; maybe he’d get lucky and it would be open.
He sat down in the living room in front of the TV, feeling completely burned out.
The last few days had been damn hard on him.
He couldn’t get used to the silence. He’d been weaning himself off their shared commutes, meals, jokes, and late-night movies for a while now, but Danny’s total absence was something else entirely.
The mindless shows on TV couldn’t distract him from his grim thoughts, so he decided to call his grandparents.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Grandma.”
“Willy! Ernest, it’s Willy calling!”
“Ask him why he didn’t come!” his grandpa’s voice boomed.
“Grandpa’s asking…”
“I heard,” Will said softly. “I don’t know. I have a lot to study.”
“He’s coming for the summer, right?” his grandpa called out again.
“Will you come for the summer?” his grandma asked.
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Good, good. Though Christmas isn’t the same without you.”
Will smiled sadly. He’d heard that last year, too. He had planned to visit them then, but Danny would have been left alone—Danny had a bad relationship with his family. Will had decided to stay for his sake. They didn’t know each other that well yet, so it was a little awkward, but fun.
“I miss you.”
“We miss you too, Willy. Do you really like that school so much? You should have stayed here. Why go back to a city with so many bad memories?”
“I don’t have any memories from here, Grandma.”
Except for the ones he had made over the last year and a half, but he knew that wasn’t what she meant.
“Still, who would want to live in the place where his parents died? When we moved, I was sure we were doing you a favor. Black Hollow is a nasty town.”
“Yeah,” Will confirmed listlessly. “How are you two holding up?”
“Fine, Willy, fine. Is your break long? Maybe you can still make it?”
“No, I’m sorry. I have a lot to take care of. I mostly called to wish you both a Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Willy.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up. Will took a shallow breath, looking at his phone. He opened his text thread with Oscar and reread the last few messages. He knew Oscar wouldn’t text him today; he had mentioned he was busy.
Suddenly, a text from Norma came in.
Hey. I wanted to send this tomorrow, but knowing me, I’ll forget, so here it is. Merry Christmas, Will!
The message included a video. Will played it, and his screen filled with the image of Liam holding a shovel.
“Hey, Will!” Norma’s voice came through as she filmed him. “All the best! Have a great holiday! Drag Oscar under the mistletoe and all that. Liam! Say something.”
“Merry Christmas, Will,” Liam tossed out with a smile.
“Liam’s clearing my driveway, so it’s almost perfect. It would be totally perfect if he were doing this in the summer. Shirtless.”
“I’d have no reason to be shoveling your driveway in the summer.”
“Details! Anyway, all the best, Will.” Norma turned the camera to her face and blew him a kiss. “See you at school!”
The recording ended. A faint smile played on Will’s lips.
Black Hollow wasn’t so bad after all.
January 5 | Sunday
It was the last day of the holiday break.
Will was looking forward to returning to school more than ever, having spent most of his time off at home alone.
He had no reason to complain today, though, because Oscar was visiting.
His guest had given him a heads-up, of course, which granted Will just enough time to put on some cologne, pick out a decent outfit, and tackle the mess in the living room—and the bedroom, too. Just in case.
They were sitting on the couch, watching a movie.
Will had picked a light comedy, and it was clearly a hit with Oscar, because he kept laughing.
Will couldn’t focus on the plot. He was distracted by Oscar’s voice, his scent, his closeness, and finally, by the hand that landed on Will’s knee.
He placed his own hand over it, but after a few minutes, Oscar’s fingers slipped out from under his and wandered to his inner thigh.
Will reflexively licked his lips, feeling a pleasant shiver of arousal.
Their eyes met.
Will broke first. He cupped Oscar’s face in his hands and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips.
Oscar responded instantly, making it much more passionate.
Their tongues intertwined. Their hands began a shameless exploration, drawing an involuntary sigh from Will’s lips.
A moment later, he lay back, pulling Oscar down with him.
Oscar moved his kisses to Will’s neck. He slid his hand under Will’s shirt.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
“Who’s that?” Oscar asked, half-conscious as he pulled away from Will.
“I have no idea,” Will replied truthfully. It was almost ten p.m. Not the usual time for solicitors.
“Maybe Danny?”
“No, he doesn’t live here anymore.”
“I know, but maybe he came for the rest of his stuff or something?”
“I doubt it,” Will answered, though he wasn’t sure.
Danny seemed too proud for a visit like that, especially since he wasn’t even answering his phone. But maybe he really had forgotten something important, or a lack of cash had forced him to come back.
The knocking came again.
With great difficulty, Will slid out from under Oscar. After shooting him an apologetic look, he fixed his shirt and ran to see who was disturbing them. Opening the door a crack, he was surprised to see Alden standing there.
“Blake? What are you doing here?”
He was even more surprised when Blake shoved the door open and practically barged inside.
“Hey!” Will snarled.
Blake started looking around, completely ignoring Will. Suddenly, he walked into the living room. Will rushed after him.
“Hey, Blake,” Oscar said, clearly uncomfortable.
Alden didn’t answer.
“What the hell are you doing?” Will snapped at him.
“What are you doing?” Alden hissed back, finally giving him a shred of attention.
“Me? I was having a rather pleasant moment with my, possibly, boyfriend, before you burst in here like a madman,” Will whispered so quietly he could barely hear himself. “How did you even get my address? Are you stalking me or something?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Blake seethed. “I have it because I have to.”
“And why is that?”
“For situations exactly like this one.”
“Meaning?” Will muttered, not understanding.
“Don’t play dumb,” Alden said in a low voice, sounding irritated. “Do you think this is funny? That I can afford to waste my time like this? Be careful, because one day you might actually need me, and I won’t come.”
“What are you even talking about?”
“You called me.”
“What?” Will bristled. “When?”
“About half an hour ago. Don’t you dare deny it!”
“I didn’t.”
“You didn’t?” Blake hissed. “Weren’t you just begging me for help? Telling me how terrified you were?”
“What the hell was I supposed to be scared of?”
“Your tragic sense of humor, apparently.”
Will stared at Blake in disbelief.
“You really think I called you.”
“I don’t think so, I know so!”