Yet, his heart refused to calm. He kept his face down. “I…” he breathed. “I’m sorry to interrupt you.”
“You didn’t. Javier did.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for me.”
“Did you have a question?”
Aiden kept his eyes lowered, grasping at straws for anything to say. Finally, he could only tell the truth. “No. I just wanted to say I had fun today.”
“Christina—is this yours?” Javier’s blaring voice was distracting enough for him to glance up, catching Brendan’s face.
The widest grin Aiden ever saw stretched across the other boy’s face. The excitement simmered out of the top of his head like steam, and a childish tilt struck Brendan’s vocals. He bounced forward. “You’re joining, right? This club.”
Aiden caught himself smiling. “Yeah. I thought I would thank you anyway.”
“Then, as the newest official joined member, you get to choose the next outing.”
“Outing?”
“Yeah. We always pick a place to take pictures for the next meeting.”
“What are the criteria?”
“There aren’t any. As long as it’s something we can all afford, so not hopping on a plane and going to Disney World. But anywhere you’d like to go to take pictures.”
Whatever you want, I can give to you.
Aiden squeezed his wallet. “Maybe a garden? They’re usually pretty. If that’s okay?”
“You don’t need to ask.” Brendan gave a thumbs up. “We’ll go to a garden.” He turned back toward Christina and Javier. “I have to lock up the room, but I’ll see you next week!”
“Bye…”
Aiden walked out of the room, but for no reason at all, decided to stop. He looked back inside where the three friends were busy returning decorations into boxes, checking their backpacks, and picking up trash from the floor.
His body tensed in anticipation at the idea of seeing them again. The creeping happiness of realization forced an uncontrolled smile on his face. He quickly walked down the hallway. “Javier is easy to talk,” he said out loud. “Christina is super cool and always chill.” His feet glided down the stairs. “Brendan is…” He stopped at the base of the stairs. “Brendan is warm.” Upon saying those words aloud, his body shifted. He felt no sorrow and no anger. He felt no fear. Yet, he still could not calm the beating of his heart as he imagined Brendan’s glowing smile fall into the distance.
Chapter Five
Not a single text from his stepmother arrived after a full week. Aiden stared at his own unfinished text to her, still labeled as draft, and his mind whirled from relief to fear until the two blended together. The text remained unsent.
His finger hovered above the call button of his stepmother’s number.What if I make it worse by calling her?Back and forth, he paced in his living room, praying to the universe to hand him the right answer.
The universe chose by refusing to stop time. Glancing at the top corner of his phone, Aiden shoved it into his pocket, grabbed his shoes, and dashed out the door.
He was late for the photography club.
“I’ll call her tonight,” he mumbled. “I’m not being irresponsible. I’m still thinking about her. She’s the weird one for not calling or texting me.” He zoomed past streets and buildings on campus. “What if something’s wrong…?”
He slowed his pace in time to see a small circle of waiting students already gathered and talking amongst themselves. Despite the bodies packed together, he picked out Brendan’s voice, then his golden hair, and met his eyes. Instinctively, Aiden raised his hand slightly to wave, and Brendan returned the favor with a wide smile and an even wider wave.
He picked up his pace to join them. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Yes, I’m not the last one this time!” Javier shouted in victory.
“We’ve got two cars. I’m driving one of them, and Amanda’s volunteered to drive the other,” Brendan explained, “so pick who you want to ride with.”
Aiden fell naturally beside Brendan and followed him to his car. As he reached for the back door, Christina quickly nudged him over to sit shotgun. “You’ll need to watch the traffic lights for him,” she said, throwing Brendan a glare. “He gets too caught up in his car karaoke and forgets to pay attention to the actual traffic.”
