Chapter Four
Clark
Techno beats pumped through the gymnastics room, and across the mirrored walls, I saw the reflections of sweaty, jumping bodies, all wrapped in tight silver spandex. Laser lights flashed through the air, and the instructor pumped her fist at the front of the room. “Reach for those stars! Reach for the Pleiades! Reach for Epsilon Eridani!”
“I can’t believe you dragged me here,” I panted between lunges.
Ezra bounced by my side, thrusting his arms happily in alternating directions. He had a little sparkly makeup on his cheeks, and there were stars on the bright pink sweatband around his forehead. “It’s sci-fi aerobics at the gay gym,” he said brightly. “How is it possible you haven’t come here yet?”
I placed my hands on my knees, sucking in air. “This is literally your worst idea yet. How am I supposed to meet a cute guy if I’m too exhausted to even stand up?”
“Dewback crawls! Just like Tatooine!” the instructor yelled suddenly, and everyone fell to the ground.
I dropped myself and laid in a puddle while everyone else crawled in circles around me. “I have never felt less attractive in my life,” I groaned.
By the time the aerobics class was over, I’d gone through about three cycles of cursing out Ezra and then collapsing again into self-pity. The other people from the class filed out slowly, laughing together about the week’s class. Then Ezra and I found a spot to wait for Valeria, who was busy with her regular yoga class.
“What do you think?” Ezra asked, stretching against the wall. “Will you come back and give it another try?”
“I can’t lie,” I said, “it’s pretty cool that there even is such a thing as sci-fi aerobics. At a gay gym, too! And it does feel good to loosen up and let out some steam…”
“But?” Ezra asked, pulling his knee up to his chest and almost giving me a view up his tiny athletic shorts.
“But,” I said, “I have no idea how to move from awkward sweaty guy, dry heaving at the back of the class, to asking some cutie on a date. Like how do you just walk up to someone and ask him out? It seems so confusing. Especially at a gym!”
Valeria turned the corner and joined us by the bench. Her workout clothes showed off her generous curves, and the pink flush on her cheeks made her look even better than usual. She threw her leg up against the wall beside Ezra, then leaned into a deep stretch.
“How you do all that yoga without breaking your nails,” Ezra said, “I’ll never understand.”
Valeria admired her long purple nails, then used one hand to scratch her buzzed head. “Anything for style,” she said. “My memorable look gets me attention from people of all genders.”
“See!” I said. “Valeria gets it. You obviously get it, Ezra, considering you have two boyfriends. So why can’t I figure out how to flirt?”
I sighed, frustrated not just because of the problem, but because I already knew the answer to my own question. Most people learned how to date in high school, but I had spent my teenage years traumatized and terrified. I couldn’t even consider asking someone out without panicking that they were going to push me down and start calling mecake boyall over again. And now, at twenty-four, I was forced to figure out the kinds of things most people figured out when they were still kids.
“It’s okay, Clark,” Valeria said kindly, resting her hand on my shoulder. “Just take your time and go easy on yourself. When the right guy comes along, you’ll be ready for it.”
* * *
Valeria dropped Ezra and I off at Northstar for our shifts. Mondays were typically quiet, which meant lots of time to stock the shelves, dust the collectible action figures, and, when everything was caught up, sit back and read our favorite comics.
I only followed a few titles closely, likePrism StalkerandGuardians of the Galaxy. My true love was always science fiction, specifically outer space, and I didn’t really care whether those stories came through movies, novels, or comics. I just loved to imagine new futures and societies that were totally different from what I knew. Especially back when I was stuck in a miserable high school, imagining different worlds helped me stay alive.
Tomorrow was always going to be different than today, after all. Loving science fiction had taught me to get excited about those changes, even when they might have seemed frightening or strange.
The bell above the door dinged to announce a new customer, and when I looked up from my Ursula K. Le Guin novel, my heart leapt into my throat. A strikingly hot man sauntered into the store. His eyes flashed with hazel, and dark tattoos crawled up his arms. I could have stared all day at the sway in his hips or the way his muscles popped beneath his black T-shirt. But it wasn’t just that he was one of the sexiest men I had ever seen in person. I was struck by how out of place this guy was, so unlike most of our customers.
“A friend of Brick?” I asked Ezra under my breath. One of his boyfriends was an older guy who tended bar at the dive down the street and occasionally stopped by the shop.
“Never seen him before,” Ezra answered. “Maybe he’s for you?”
“Ha,” I muttered. “I’m still holding onto my strong preference for fellow geeks.”
The guy approached the counter, and I noticed the stubble across his strong jaw. He leaned forward casually on one elbow and gave me a look up and down, like a snake considering whether a particular mouse would make a good snack. “How’s it going?” he asked, with a slight grin on his face.
“Not bad,” I answered cautiously, setting my novel down. “Anything I can help you with?” I could hear Ezra breathing behind me and knew he was soaking up every minute of the exchange.
“Mars,” he said, nodding his head backward. “I’m new to town.”
