‘Thank you, Tommy.’ The way she said it, though, made it seem like I’d just offered her a kidney. But before I could press the issue, she said, ‘Were you going to tell me something?’
‘Oh, you will never guess what’s happening,’ I said.
‘Then you should probably save us some time and tell me.’ Ava used the camera app on her phone to double-check her appearance. Her hair was already pulled back and secured for the night. Ava liked to keep her hair natural, but the Sunset Estates employee handbook was vague – most likely on purpose – when it came to Black girls’ hair. All it said was that long hair had to be in a bun or ponytail. So Ava kept hers pulled back and wore a series of jeweled hairnets to match her nails.
Today it was sparkly blue nails with a sapphire hairnet.
‘So,’ I said. ‘Do you remember when I came out to you?’
She nodded but still seemed distracted as she used the camera to check her hairnet. ‘You mean on our third date, when I said you either needed to tell me you were gay or kiss me already?’
‘Right, so remember the kid I had a crush on at camp, Gabe? I told you he was the first guy I ever realized I liked?’
She sighed and put away her phone. ‘Honey, I love you, but I really don’t.’
‘Doesn’t matter. What matters is he’s starting work here. Today. And I’m training him!’
Ava still didn’t seem impressed. ‘Wow.’
I slumped, disappointed. I didn’t expect Ava to feel the same amount of enthusiasm, but I thought she’d be alittleexcited. She was, after all, the one who kept trying to push me and my occasional drunken hookup, closeted hockey boy Brad Waldorf, together after she’d walked in on us making out at a party the previous summer.
My excitement dissipated, and I finally realized: something was definitely up with Ava. I could see it in her eyes. We knew everything about each other, and sometimes could even tell what the other was thinking.
‘Excuse me?’
Before I could dig it out of her, I turned to see a tall guy with light-brown skin and short black hair. He gave us an awkward wave. ‘Sorry. I’m looking for Thomas.’
Gabe.
His cheeks were thinner, jaw more squared, and his hair wasn’t messy with a cowlick in the back anymore. But I’d recognize him anywhere.
Ava cleared her throat and pushed past me, harder than she needed to. ‘Look at the time; lineup’s about to start.’ When she was safely behind him, she turned back and dramatically fanned herself.
He held out a large hand. ‘I’m Gabe De La Hoya.’
My stomach dropped. I stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious. Did he really not remember me? Was he really staring into my face and forgetting that summer between fifth and sixth grade when we spent almost every day together, even after just seeing my name on the lineup sheet?
Is there a worse feeling in the world than your first crush forgetting about you entirely? I mean, sure, maybe getting shot, stabbed or electrocuted feels worse, but I wouldn’t know. On my scale of pain, this was the worst. At least it felt like it at the time.
I rememberedeverythingabout him. I knew his dad’s family was from Mexico and his mother’s family from Venezuela, but he was third-generation. I knew he was closest with his grandmother on his mom’s side because she would come pick him up sometimes and they’d walk home together. I knew he went to the movies with his dad every Saturday afternoon because he’d tell me on Monday what he had seen. I knew he preferred sweet food to salty food. And that he preferred pie over cake but cookies over pie.
Remembering all that about him, while he forgot about me, made me feel like an absolute dork.
I took his hand and tried to look polite again. ‘I’m Thomas. Nice to meet you.’
It was just like that first day of summer camp. We shook hands, and I looked into his hazel eyes – the eyes that changed from mostly brown to mostly green depending on the light – and I waited for that moment of recognition. For some kind of magic to happen.
First, he doesn’t recognize me, then we look into each other’s eyes, add a dash of nostalgia, let it rest for three seconds, and suddenly he remembers a summer of games on the playground and desserts made by my dad.
But there was no recognition. Just the friendly, polite smile. And dimples that I just wanted to fall into and die.
To make it all even worse, just at that moment Natalie rounded the corner of the rear service station.
‘Thomas,’ she said, putting her hands on her hips. ‘There you are! We’ve been looking for you.’
Shit. Her tone sounded like she was warning me that I was about to lose the letter of recommendation. My mind scrambled for an excuse, something she would actually enjoy hearing.
‘Sorry, I was just checking my section.’
