Everything Has Changed: The Lost Years

Chapter 7: This Is Not A Date!

Saturday morning was bright and warm, the sky washed clean by the rain of the previous days, and Quasi sat at the kitchen table, nervously tapping his feet as he ate his breakfast. The TV murmured in the background, some morning show that Barbara was listening to as she finished making breakfast, but it couldn't drown out his thoughts as he wondered about his upcoming visit to Maddy. 

He was trying new things. Making friends. Having a movie day was supposed to be a fun thing to do, but as always, the new situation made him anxious. He'd never done anything like this before, never been allowed, never been invited. Part of him, the distrustful, traumatised part, whispered that this might be a set up, that Maddy could have something horrible planned at her house, where he couldn't control the situation and anything could happen. Another part worried that hanging out with a girl like this was betraying Mich, but he wasn't presumptious enough to think that Maddy could want anything from him that Mich would be upset about. Yet another part of him hoped that he could just be normal, that he wouldn't be too awkward or weird, that she wouldn't see a side of him that would make her stop wanting to hang out with him.

Because the truth was he really, really wanted to keep hanging out with her. She was unusual and unexpected and threw him off balance but she was also kind and sweet and he was starting to look forward to her attention. And that itself made him nervous. He felt like he was getting too comfortable.

"Something smells delicious," Paul said as he wandered into the kitchen, kissing Barbara and making himself some coffee. "Hey, Quasi. I hear you're seeing a girl today? Good job, buddy."

Quasi glanced up, wondering why Paul was smiling at him like that. "Th-thanks. We're watching movies."

He hummed, coming over to sit at the table with his coffee. "I'm proud of you. Now, I'm assuming that I don't have to give you The Talk? You did Sex Ed at school, right?"

Quasi choked on his bite of food, dropping his fork, eyes wide. "What?"

"Paul!" Barbara called over her shoulder.

"You know, the birds and the bees, safe sex, all that?" Paul continued on, oblivious to the mistake he had made. "If not, I can give you the quick run-down-"

"Paul, stop," Barbara insisted, turning around. "He doesn't need that right now."

"It's not- I d-don't-" Quasi let out a breath, staring down at his food, cheeks red. "I-I know that stuff. Th-thanks."

"Not that it'll do you any good," his father had laughed when Johanna had given him a book on puberty and sex. He'd said the same thing when he signed the permission form for Sex Ed in a rare moment of sobriety. "You don't really think you'll need to use this information, do you? You know that no one will ever want to fuck you, don't you?"

Yes, Quasi knew it. He didn't need the reminder.

"What? He's going on a date, it's important stuff to know," Paul said to Barbara, who rolled her eyes.