I put my hand over Neel’s mouth.
“Shh. This is not an intervention. But do you ever get sore? That’s a lot of rubbing, my friend.”
“Sometimes,” he says.
Mags and Neel burst out laughing again, but I don’t. There is something about the topic that is not funny to me. Though I am not sure why.
At a break in the laughter I say, “Neel, what I want to tell you is…I’m gay. Gay, gay, gay! Just like Mags. I’m officially coming out to you.”
Neel looks shocked, and I’m worried he is taking it badly.
“Say something. Please! You seem upset,” I say.
Neel shakes his head. “No, I’m not upset at all. I feel stupid and insensitive. I truly had no idea. I’m always asking you about girls. I’m a bad friend.”
A small smile spreads across my face. I tell Neel he is not a bad friend at all and that I only came out a few days ago. He seems relieved.
I catch him up on everything that has gone down in the past week, and he genuinely seems happy for me. His favorite part of my story, though, is the hairdressers. He offers advice about telling Mom and Carole, and he listens intently when I talk about PJ and our failed date.
“Well, Heartbreaker, you continue to live up to your name. Only now you are breaking the hearts of girls and boys,” Neel says sarcastically.
“Do you want me to hit him? I can hit him. He deserves to be hit. Please let me hit him,” Mags pleads.
“No, Mags, violence is never the answer,” I say with a wink.
Mags hits him anyway.
“Ouch! Mags, stop it. I have something I want to tell you both about too. And it’s not about girls or video games either.”
I sit up a bit straighter, and Mags does as well. It’s not like Neel to say things like this, so I am quite curious as to what he is about to tell us.
“I’ve decided what I want to do after high school,” he says.
“I thought you wanted to go away to college like me?” Mags asks.
“Well, I don’t. Not anymore, anyway. Since we’re sharing… I’m going to tell you a secret, but please don’t freak out. I’ve never told this to anyone before.” Neel pauses. “I have a substantial trust fund set up for me by my grandparents, and it will become available to me when I turn eighteen.”
Mags lets out an audible gasp, and I cover my mouth in shock.
“Christ, Neel, I can’t believe you’ve never told us this before! We’re your best friends!” Mags says, exasperated.
“My parents didn’t want me to tell anyone, and I didn’t want to, either. Come on, guys, let’s face it. I’m introverted and awkward at best. I want people to like me for me, and not for the money I’m about to inherit. Money changes things. I need to know that my friends, and hopefully future girlfriends, like the real me, not the money. Does that make sense?”
“Of course, it makes sense,” I say. “And now you know that we are your true friends, right?”
“Well, I might like you a little more now if I’m being honest,” Mags jokes.
“So, if you’re not going away to college what are you going to do? I assume it has something to do with the money you will be coming into, right?” I inquire.
“It does,” he says. “I want to open my own business. You know how much I love cereal, right?”
“I’ve never met anyone who loves cereal more than you,” I say.
“Well, I’m going to open a cafe and call it The Cereal Bar. It will be a low-key, self-serve restaurant that only offers cereal. You know when we go for froyo and you grab a bowl and fill it yourself? It will be just like that. I will offer every kind of cereal known to humankind stored in long, self-serving plastic tubes that will line the walls of the cafe. People can pay for a single bowl or choose the all-you-can-eat option. The cafe will have a lunch counter just like in the diners. I’m considering a retro look too. Maybe fifties style.”
“Okay, that is kind of awesome, and totally you, Neel. I can bring bubble tea girl on date night,” Mags says excitedly.
“Ooh, and I have an idea. You should have The Simpsons artwork on the wall. Then it really would be totally Neel,” I add.
