Learning to Cope

Ch3 Page 5 (End)

Andrew:

I wake up, snuggling August on Sunday morning. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck. I like being the little spoon, it's cozy.

I pull out my phone and check the time and we have three hours till the reunion starts, it's gonna be in the school gym. I'm nervous. I think August is nervous too but he's trying not to show it. I slowly crawl from my bed and head to my closet. what do you wear to this sort of thing? it's not a private school but it was mostly full of rich kids anyway. Do I wear jeans and a t-shirt? slacks and a button-up? a suit? there are too many options.

"Trouble deciding?" August is standing in the doorway, still groggy. "Yeah, I don't know what to wear to this type of thing." I show him the options I have laid out. "You look really good in orange." He gestures to a deep orange suit. "What are you wearing?" I ask. "I didn't know about this before I packed so I brought mostly jeans and t-shirts." He yawns. "I'll wear jeans and a t-shirt too then." I try to stay confident in my decision but I'm really not.

He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses the back of my neck. "You'll look good no matter what." He whispers before stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door. He's so sexy, especially when he's too tired to be nervous.

We pull up to the old school building. I decided on some dark jeans and an orange sweater vest with a white button-up underneath. it's still cold out. August is wearing black torn-up jeans and a pale blue dress shirt. He looks so good.

We step out of the car and the school is exactly the same as I remember. a massive courtyard and several little blue buildings covered with lockers on the outside. I wonder if anyone will recognize me? will anyone recognize August? I'm nervous, my hands are shaking.

"Are you ready?" August slips his fingers between mine and smiles at me. "I think so." We walked to an open door with lots of lights pouring out. there is a sign that says "reunion inside!" It looks like it was written with a marker. "Hey! Welcome! What's your name?" A young guy with short brown hair and a mustache says. I remember him, I think he was the class representative for a while. He looks up at us. "Oh! Andrew!" He yells, I barely knew him in school but I guess he remembered me, his name was...Nate? I think. "Hey!" I smile "I'm so glad you could make it... Who's this?" He gestures to August. "Hi. My name is August." He reaches out and shakes Nates (?) hand. "He's my plus one." I smile. Nate looks uncomfortable but moves past and lets us in. "Don't set anything on fire..." He whispers.

There is a DJ playing some soft music through large speakers all throughout the gym. The lights are bright yellow and there are a few colorful strobe lights going as well. there are quite a few people mingling and hanging around everywhere.

"Andrew!!!" A male voice approaches from behind. I turn around and am greeted with a hug. "Tyler?" I question. "Yeah! how have you been?" Tyler was my best friend and he was the only one who knew I was gay. We lost touch after I moved into the city. "Hey! I've been good, how about you?" I ask. He has changed so much. He used to be so scrawny, but he's got a buff dad bod now, it suits him really well. his blonde hair is pulled back into a bun and he's wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "Well, do you remember my girlfriend? Eliza?" He asks. His girlfriend had been a mutual friend for a long time, of course, I remember. "Yeah...?" "We're married with two children." He smiles. He has kids now? I'm only 23, people are already having kids?

"So who's this?" He winks at me, gesturing to August. "This is August... My boyfriend." I smile and August blushes. this is the first time I've introduced him as my boyfriend. "Ooooh! nice to meet you." He shakes August's hand. "Where have I seen you before?" He asks. "I have no idea." August chuckles nervously. "You punched a teacher for a chicken sandwich!" Tyler shouts. Several people turn and look at us. That was him? "Heh, yeah..." August puts his hand on the back of his neck.

All through the night, I saw people I was friends with and every. single. person. remembered something bad August had done and pointed it out. He really did make an impact on the school, didn't he? Even a few of the teachers remembered him and groaned because he was here.

(This is the end of the story for now. I'm dealing with some medical issues and won't be able to continue writing for a long while.)