Rochdale | LGBTQ+

.Eighteen.

"Welcome to the Bargain Mart, anything I can help you find today?" I asked the person that just walked in.

A young lady clutching her black purse was dragging along a toddler and a much older boy with her. She turned her head slightly to look at me, her sunglasses pointed right at me. But I had a guess her gaze was darting from side to side wildly. 

"Miss, this store is perfectly safe. We have a very strict policy in place, shop for however long you'd like," I said reassuringly.

The woman nodded stiffly. "T-Thank you," she said. 

"Of course." I turned back to the catalog I had been browsing, looking at backyard playsets for the girls, when the older boy came up to me. He looked to be about my age, and vaguely familiar. He didn't go to my school, but he might've been there before for a school event. I was racking my brain. Football team, maybe? He had the body for it.

"Hey," he said.

I smiled pleasantly. "Hi. Anything you want to purchase?"

"Are you an option?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. 

I tried to push down the urge to blush. "Unfortunately not until after six o'clock."

He looked me up and down. "You're cute, you know that? Do you go to school here? I think I've seen you before."

"If you play football, you probably knew my older brother," I said, before I could stop myself. "We look alike."

"Whose your brother?"

"Adam Barker. Quarterback for our school's highschool football team. He was really good."

Recognition flashed across his face. "Oh yeah! Shit, your that monster's brother?"

I flinched. 

"Sorry, that was a bit mean."

"No, no, it's fine. He was really mean on the field, but he had a soft side, too," I said, finding myself defending him. 

The boy nodded. "Right. That's what I meant when I called him a monster, by the way. Monster on the field. I never knew him outside of that. How's he doing nowadays?"

I shrugged. "Haven't spoken in a couple years. Got fed up with my dad constantly showing up with new babies for him to take care of, and he just left. I think he said something about attending university in the last letter he sent us." This boy was easy to talk to. I found myself sharing a lot about my personal life, more than I usually did with strangers. 

"Your dad a bit of a manwhore?" he asked.

Like father, like son, I thought bitterly. Stop, I told myself sternly. "I guess you could say that. Two of my siblings and I have the same mom, the other two got different mothers. But we treat them just as we would our biological ones."

He smiled. "That's sweet. You're a sweet guy."

I was starting to realize that the reason Penny's argument had gotten to me was because she thought I might leave her with Greg and the girls. She thought I'd abandon her like Adam and Mom did. The fact that she could suspect that made me realize I'd gone too far, and I ceased contact with Ned right away. I had to get my life turned around, and forget about Lucas. Fast.

But hey, I wasn't thinking about that douche now while speaking with this boy. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Tyler. Yours?"

"Cory."

He smiled. God, he had such a pretty smile. Shiny braces, soft pink lips, and pearly white teeth. I couldn't help but smile back, but I kept mine a little more refrained. His eyes were a pale green color. Maybe sage. They made me think of Libby's bright gaze. I wondered if Tyler was good with kids.

"That your mom?" I asked, gesturing to the brunette scanning each aisle like she had to pick out the criminal in a police line up. 

Tyler nodded with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah. I love her, but she takes forever running errands. The toddler is my little brother Carter."

I smiled. "He's adorable."

Tyler glanced at me with a funny look on his face, like I'd said something that just solved a problem he had been facing. "Cory..." he said slowly. 

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me sometime?"

I shrugged. "Depends, I guess. It'll have to be after one of my shifts, and on a day when I'm not hanging out with Maddie or the girls."

He blinked. "Are you one of those gays?"

I was confused. "Huh?"

"You know, like the real fruity ones. 'The girls'," he said in a squeaky voice.

I snorted into my hand, trying to stifle my laugh. "No, I just call my sisters 'the girls' sometimes. I call my younger ones the littles, but when I talk about all of them I just say the girl's. Maddie isn't my sister, but she's my best friend. I hang out with her a lot."

"So.. bisexual?" questioned Tyler.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Can you stop interrogating me? Jesus Christ. That's what dates are for."

"Well?" Tyler pressed.

I was getting a little annoyed, but I blamed it on stress from work. I was sure that spending some time alone with Tyler would help me. "No. I'm just gay. Only guys. Maddie is my best friend, but I don't feel anything towards her romantically. We've been through a lot of shit together, especially with her brother. She lives with me and my sisters now."

"Where?"

"Not that it matters, but my room."

"Same bed?"

"Separate."

"Good." Tyler seemed satisfied with my answers, but my nerves were wearing a little thin. The brunette dragged her whining toddler up to the front and lifted her basket, brimming with items, onto the counter. 

"And make it quick," she said sharply.

"Yes ma'am..." I mumbled.