Ryan opened the door and held it for me. Upon entering the house, I spotted his mom in the kitchen. She turned around as she heard us walk in.
“Uh, hi, Mrs. Carter.” I waved weakly. Despite Ryan’s confidence, I wondered if it was actually a good idea to tell his parents.
She dropped what she was doing and came to greet us, causing me to partially hide behind my friend. “Michael, how have you been?”
Michael…
Once close enough, she smiled and placed her hands on her hips. “Hey now, what’s with the sudden shyness?”
I gulped and stepped to the side, finally revealing myself to her.
“I must say, when Ryan told me that you decided to change your looks, I didn’t imagine this.”
“Is it… weird?” I asked, taking cover behind Ryan once more.
She shook her head. “Of course not. It suits you, Michael.”
Her smile vanished in an instant. “Did I say something wrong?”
I had to tell her. Now that I had accepted the spell, it was a fact that I would continue changing. Even if she didn’t seem to notice anything now, it was only a matter of time. The words, however, wouldn’t come out.
“She goes by Vera now,” Ryan finally said.
“She?” Mrs. Carter asked, raising an eyebrow. She stepped closer, eyes narrowing as she almost loomed over me. “Does Linda know?”
“Y-yeah,” I muttered. The fact that she was almost as tall as Ryan did make this a bit intimidating.
She huffed, straightening back up. “Well, she could’ve told me about it.”
“She only learned about it yesterday,” I corrected, looking away.
Well, she confirmed it yesterday…
Mrs. Carter made a silent ‘oh’ with her mouth. “I see... Well, it’s nice to meet you, Vera.”
A wave of warmth came, followed by a single tear that managed to escape. Ryan put his arm around my shoulder and winked at me.
“Aw, come here,” she said, wrapping her arms around me. “I want you to know that you are always welcome here.”
That was enough for the dam to finally break, causing her to tighten the hug and rub her hand on my back.
The door behind me opened up and Ryan’s dad walked into the house. He stopped after just one step. “Did I miss something?”
Ryan and his mom explained what happened to him while he merely nodded. When they were done, he looked at me. “As Martha said, you are always welcome here, Vera. I might make some mistakes at first, but know that we’ll support you no matter what.”
There were no tears this time. I had run dry. However, the same warmth came regardless.
Dinner time came. Mrs. Carter’s cooking was great as usual, but there was something else that I always looked forward to.
The banana bread finally came to the table.
“You’re looking at it like it’s made of gold,” Ryan pointed out with a smirk.
“It’s more valuable than that!”
Everyone laughed at my comment, even though I meant it. Banana bread was my favourite type of cake, and Mrs. Carter knew it very well. She often made it just for me.
Not being able to wait any longer, I took the first bite, and my eyes closed as I enjoyed the amazing flavour with an audible hum.
Ryan laughed at my reaction. “You’re acting like it’s your first time eating it.”
“That’s because this is the best one I’ve ever had!” I yelled.
“I’m glad you liked it so much,” Mrs. Carter responded, taking a bite of her own. She then gave me a quizzical look. “It’s really just the same as always, though. I didn’t change the recipe.”
I looked down at my empty plate. “But it tasted so much better…”
“Want seconds?” Mrs. Carter asked, already grabbing the plate.
“Yes, please!”
---<>----------<>----------<>---
After eating, Ryan and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games in his room. It was the one activity that allowed for some normalcy after everything that happened. It was not perfect, though.
It wasn’t like our feelings would just vanish over a few hours. If anything, I became more aware of even the smallest of details.
Him sitting next to me, smiling or laughing when something ridiculous happened on screen… I couldn’t help but smile and be a little self-conscious about it, too. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
And he noticed.
I knew he did.
Still, he said nothing for the most part. He merely stole glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking.
The sky eventually became dark, and I decided it was time to head home. We saved our progress and went downstairs, where I said goodbye to Ryan’s parents.
“Vera, wait a moment,” Mrs. Carter said, getting up and grabbing her car’s keys from the kitchen counter. “Let me drive you home.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” I responded. “I’ll just walk there.”
“No,” she said flatly. “It’s either this or you go with Ryan, but you’re not walking home alone at night. It’s not safe.”
“Let’s go, Vera,” Ryan quickly intervened.
I shook my head. I couldn’t have him walk all the way there and then back with a clean conscience. It was one thing for him to do so from the mall, and even that made me feel guilty more often than not.
“Sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. Carter,” I said, looking back at her.
She smiled and stepped outside. “None of that. It’s not a problem.”
“I, uh… See you at school tomorrow,” I told Ryan before walking out.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Vera."
I had only taken a few steps before I turned around and motioned for him to hunch over a little. When he did, I pulled him closer and pecked him on the cheek.
“G-g-good night!” I shouted, running back to the car, not daring to see his reaction.
Mrs. Carter wore a huge smirk as I got into the car and fastened my seatbelt. I suddenly regretted not asking Ryan to come along.
“Did you have fun today, Vera?” she asked after a few minutes of driving.
“W-what!?”
“Pfft.”
I shrunk into my seat, wishing it would swallow me whole.
“I’m sorry, dear,” she said between laughs. “I couldn’t help myself.”
The scenery looked rather interesting all of a sudden.
Mrs. Carter cleared her throat. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul.”
“He knows,” I blurted.
She sighed. “I see.”
Does she know?
“And now you think it’s wrong for you to feel the way you do.”
I nodded. “Am I being selfish?” I asked, sitting back up. “Is it wrong for me to hope for… you know?”
“It is selfish, yes,” she responded. “It’s also perfectly normal.”
“Huh?”
“We don’t get to choose who we like,” she clarified. “And wanting things to go our way is only natural.”
“It doesn’t mean that it will happen,” she said after a pause. “It’s also important to be able to let go… but there’s nothing wrong with trying.”
My house came into view. Both cars were in the driveway.
“I’m sorry that I can’t give you a more concrete answer. Relationships are truly a complex thing.”
We came to a stop. I released the seat belt and opened the door.
“Thanks,” I said, stepping out. “For everything.”
She smiled at me. “You have a good night, Vera.”
“You too, Mrs. Carter.”
I waved as she drove away and disappeared from view.
Walking into the house, I could hear the telly playing in the living room. I closed the door and headed straight for the stairs.
“Son?”
I huffed and looked below me.
“Can we talk?” Dad said.
Walking down the stairs, I followed him to the living room, where he pressed mute on the controller and took a seat. I mirrored him from the opposite couch. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
“About this morning…” he started. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry for the way things went.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, arms crossed.
“I feel like we’ve done nothing but fight the last few days, and I came to realise that it’s been a while since we spent any time together, just you and me.”
It took real effort for me not to roll my eyes in response. I stayed quiet, respectfully listening, but ready to get up at any moment.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go fishing with me this Saturday. You know, like we did back in the day. I know you loved it back when you were little.”
“That was Andrew,” I said flatly.
I hate fishing.
It’s boring, and I hate watching the fish die in the cooler.
“Was it?” He scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh. “Well, how about we go watch some hockey? Just you and me; father and son. What do you think?”
“I don’t like sports.”
“Damn it, Michael!” he shouted. “Is there anything you like besides those stupid video games?!”
“What does it matter?!” I yelled back. “It’s not like you actually care!”
“Stop crying!” He stood up. “Men don’t cry!”
“Do I look like I care?!” I responded, ignoring the chills running down my spine. “You don’t care about me, so why should I care about what you think?”
“I do care! Why do you think I’m doing this?”
I shrugged. “Because Mom made you do it, probably.”
“Why, you little—”
“HEY!” Mom yelled from the staircase. She rushed to the living room and stood between us. “What’s going on here?”
“I was trying to apologise for this morning, but your son is being too emotional to have a proper talk!”
“Well, isn’t that the kettle calling the pot black,” I blurted, crossing my arms.
Dad took a step forward.
Mom placed a hand on his chest. “Don’t you dare.”
He huffed and stomped his way upstairs, slamming his door shut.
Mom rubbed at her temples before sitting next to me. I immediately hugged and fully cried into her neck.
“I’m sorry,” Mom said as she rubbed my back.
“It’s not your fault,” I muttered.
“I really thought he’d listen this time,” she continued. “He promised he would try.”
“I don’t think he can…”
She shook her head. “I’m not giving up on him. I’ll find a way to get it into that thick skull of his.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“It’s not fine, Vera.” She held my hand and squeezed. “I can’t just sit back and watch you recoil every time he calls you son or M— your uh… deadname. It can’t be healthy for you.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Of course not,” she responded. “Not unless you want me to. I did promise you this, did I not?”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
She cupped my cheek and rubbed her thumb on it. “I love you, sweetie.”
“I love you too.”