10. Something Else
Something Else
Theo got the part. Turned out a total buffoon with the singing voice of an angry meerkat was exactly what they needed.
Plus, no one else showed up in full costume, so they must’ve liked his moxie.
Rehearsals didn’t start for another two weeks, but he already knew things weren’t going to last with Cute Drama Nerd.
He was so into it. Hearing him sing Ladies Choice was sexy the first time.
The eleventh time? While he insisted Theo pay attention? Not as much.
Theo lifted his face to the breeze as he crossed the cul de sac, trying to let the crunchy leaves and crisp air chase away his nerves.
He and Dae had been careful around each other since the day of the audition.
It made Theo itchy and uncomfortable, like he had an emotional rash, so he decided the best course of action was to completely ignore it and instead focus on Jacinda.
She tried not to roll her eyes when she opened the door, but didn’t quite manage it. “I don’t have time to do this right now, Theo.”
He held up a pint of strawberry ice cream and gave her his most charming pout. “Then I guess this will melt.”
This time, her eye-roll was pronounced and deliberate. “They invented freezers a while ago.”
“This specific ice cream has to be eaten today. The shop guy said.”
Her stare was unamused, but she stepped aside. “Well, if the shop guy said.”
He took two plastic spoons out of his back pocket, which she immediately threw in the garbage and got out real spoons like some kind of aristocrat.
They sat at the living room table, a scratched wooden behemoth they’d found at a flea market, and dug in.
Theo didn’t particularly like strawberry, but it was Jacinda’s favourite, and he knew the way to a woman’s heart.
The house was eerily quiet: no music, no chatter, no giggling.
“Where’s the coven?” They’d dressed as witches for their first Halloween in the neighbourhood. A bit uninspired, but it created a nickname, so he couldn’t begrudge it.
“Lecture, class, date.”
“Ohhhh, who’s on the dat—”
“Theo, can we skip to the part where you tell me why Dae is being so distant and how I should be patient and that he’s worth it? I have a lot of homework to do.” She levelled him with a stare colder than the ice cream she spooned into her mouth.
She had his number. “Well, joke’s on you, because I’m here to tell you how much he likes you, and how when he talks about you, he gets this cute grin like someone gave him a lollipop.” He wasn’t making stuff up to make her feel better. Dae really liked her; Theo could see it.
She groaned. “I want to believe you.”
“So believe me.”
“Do you know how many of these talks you and I have had?”
He took a bite, thinking back to the rare near-breakups he’d expertly helped them avoid. The sweet coolness melted on his tongue before he could come up with a guess.
“Seven,” she said, impatient. Damn, he knew he’d lost count, but seven?
Her sigh was unconscious, raw, her body’s way of letting out the hurt she was trying so hard to hide.
“Dae is a great boyfriend. He’s kind, supportive, he gives me thoughtful gifts, he listens to me and remembers what I tell him, and he’s talented at… stuff.”
Well, that was intriguing but also dangerous. Focus. “Sounds like you don’t need a pep talk from me.”
“But he doesn’t choose me, Theo.” She had a defeated, left-out, last-to-be-picked-for-dodgeball kind of expression. “If he has a choice between me or…” She bit her lip, as if trapping the words inside.
“Or?”
A high-pitched laugh punched through the open window, making her flinch, and she seemed to decide on something, shaking her head.
“Or something else, he usually chooses something else. And I know he gets anxious and doesn’t like crowds, and he sometimes needs to be alone.
I get that. It’s just hard not to take it personally. ” She slapped my arm. “Stop it.”
“What?”
Her eyes reduced to gorgeous slits. “Scheming.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He scooped some ice cream and held it out to her, as if they were on a date.
She shook her head but ate it anyway. “I don’t want him to do some grand gesture because you told him to. I want him to do it because he wants to. Promise me you won’t interfere.”
“But…” Interfering was what he did. He would’ve put it on his business card if business cards were still a thing.
“Seriously. Promise me you won’t say anything to Dae.” She huffed when he hesitated. “Theo, promise.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in surrender.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“I, Theodore Walker, will not, under any circumstances, tell Dae what we’ve discussed today.” He flashed her his most charming smile. “I promise.”
??? ???
“You have to choose Jacinda.” He wasn’t proud of himself, but he couldn’t deny who he was.
Dae sat at his desk drawing in a new notebook. He’d been going through them so fast he was running out of room under his bed. The pen scratched to a halt, and he glared at Theo with a mix of dread and disappointment. “What did you do?”
“Don’t get mad.”
“Theo.”
“I had a talk with my friend about her boyfriend, who happens to be you. You don’t own Jacinda, you know.” It was easy to rationalize this double-betrayal with the knowledge that everyone would get what they wanted and everything would work out perfectly.
Dae sat back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. He was due for another cut, which Theo was getting better and better at, but he was also liking the way it got messy when it was longer.
“What does choose her mean?”
“Dae, you’re not that dense. You know what it means.”
Dae held his gaze and his walls shimmered, giving Theo a brief glimpse inside. He saw something lonely there, something sad and neglected.
My fault.
“Hey, um…” Theo’s voice came out as a squeak, so he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about the other day.”
The sentence wasn’t even out of his mouth before tension travelled through Dae’s body. Whatever glimpse Theo had gotten behind his walls was cut off as they erected thicker, taller, stronger. “You don’t have to—”
“I’m too excitable. I know that.”
Dae shook his head, almost wincing. “No, you were just being you, and I made it weird.”
“I know you’re uncomfortable with proximity. I shouldn’t have—”
“Theo, stop. Please.”
“—crossed a line. I can be too much.”
“No, I can be not enough.”
Theo’s breath caught. How could he think that? “Don’t ever say that again. You’re so much more than enough.”
Dae seemed like he wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t open, so he froze, staring.
The window into his mind Theo had often fantasized about would’ve been incredibly handy in that moment, but at the same time, he knew he would’ve been too scared to look.
They needed to move past whatever this was, bury it and forget it, and go back to being best friends who’d never even thought about destroying their bond with something so stupid.
Dae was still staring at him, unblinking.
“Dae? Are you rebooting?” He let out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh.
Theo let the moment settle before leaning over his notebook.
He’d drawn a flower-like character with a split stem for legs.
It was wielding a chainsaw with the caption, They love you, they love you not, come at me and find out. “Should I read into this?”
“I’m begging you not to.” His hand twitched by the side of the notebook as if he was going to shut it, shut Theo out, shut down the only clue he had to what was going on inside of him. But he didn’t, and Theo was shocked by how grateful he was.
“Dae, are we okay?”
His voice came out barely audible. “We’ll always be okay.”
“Pinky swear?” Theo held out his hand.
Dae eyed it. “I thought it was just an expression.”
“Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.”
Dae’s lips quirked as he wrapped his finger around Theo’s. “Pinky swear.”