Brandon. Yes, THAT Brandon.

Be Careful

"I'm literally going to murder Shelby," Aiden says as she laughs hysterically. "Ohhhh boy. I'm going to kill him."

Aiden wanted to come with me to Borderly's. I told her she was not going to have fun, and that Marshall is kind of an idiot. She's been sitting on the stairs, complaining about Shelby for a while now. Marshall has headphones in. He's been really non-talkative today so far. I thought of doing the 'acquaintance' thing an asking him what's wrong, but that means I'd have to listen. Bleh.

"Don't say yes. If he's going to act like you guys being 'just friends' is okay, but he still wants to do non-platonic things with you, then he's being a jerk," I say, taking a break from fixing boards.

Aiden groans. "He doesn't know what he's doing wrong, though. He has no idea how much this really sucks for me."

"Well, I'm making the most of 'friends', so Logan, Chris, and Shelby are coming over tonight. We were all going to go shopping with you. Chris already got her dress. What time is it?"

"Six o'clock."

Great. "Damn, they're probably already over there. Marshall?" He turns my way. "Gotta go. It's six."

"Peace, my dude."

*********

Just as I thought, Christina, Logan and Shelby are in my living room. Chris and Logan sit down while Shelby talks, using his hands as his voice fluctuates immensely. I'm not listening to what he's saying.

"Sorry, everyone," I interrupt.

"How long will you have to slave at that drug store?" Logan asks.

"Til the end of the week. Are my parents home?"

"Your mum's in the kitchen." I head that way to find her sitting down, reading a book. She looks tired. I hate to have to bother her, but I don't have a tuxedo for F&F, and Aiden doesn't have her dress, of course. Logan told me he is still going with Violet, because he made a commitment, but he's going to be with me pretty much the whole time. I still haven't really talked to Christina about everything, but I'm ready to start trusting her, and having her trust me.

"Hey, mom," I start. She looks up from her book and smiles. "Sorry to ask—"

"I can take you all where you need to go. I didn't know your dance was next week. So soon. You tell me where, and we'll work it out," she says. Cool.

"Can I use your laptop to find a place?" I ask. Mine, of course, has been confiscated.

My mom points to the edge of the table. "That one's your father's. Password is 071499." Mom goes back to her book. I hear Shelby start another monologue as I type the password into my father's computer. Then I realize...

It's my birthday. July 14th, 1999. He's thinking about me all the time.

If that isn't enough, I go onto google and see that four searches ago, it says "how can I let my gay son know that I love him?" right under "what if my wife has twins?", "used car lobby nearby", and "professional patio designs." His whole life is centered on my mom and me. I try not to get too sappy as I type in the search bar to find a clothing store we can go to.

"We can go to Men's Warehouse and David's Bridal. Ten minutes and twelve minutes away," I say, my voice cracking. "Christina already has a dress."

"Well, we better get going. How much do you and your friends need?"

"I bet they can take care of themselves," I respond. I head out to the car, and Shelby and Logan follow me.

Chris gave me a piece of the fabric of her dress, and I think we should get fitted first. I bet I'll be fine, and Logan is fine, but Shelby is pretty skinny. He'll probably need special sizes. "I think I'll need to know Aiden's dress color first, but I can wait for you guys," Shelby says. We're super late getting all this done, but better late than never.