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4 - l'ange et sa pile de serviettes

4 - l'ange et sa pile de serviettes
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Edwin sat down in French class, hyper-aware that Gabriel was already there and watching him as he took his seat.

"Hey, Edwin," Gabriel shot him a friendly smile. "What's up?"

Edwin shrugged. In all honesty, the closest thing to being 'up' was Edwin's blood-curdling fear of attending this class and seeing Gabriel again.

"French is kinda hard, huh?" Gabriel questioned.

Edwin shook his head. "I learned it a few years ago."

"Woah," Gabriel replied, seeming genuinely interested, which was a brand new experience for Edwin. "Are you fluent?"

"About," Edwin replied. "You?"

"I don't understand it one bit," Gabriel replied. "That's why I'm taking the class."

"Oh," was all Edwin could think of to say. He hadn't felt this hot since his family's air conditioner had broken down in the middle of July.

"Did you have any ideas for the project?" Gabriel asked. "We have, like, less than a week, so..."

Edwin shrugged again. He mentally gagged at the awkward, quiet mess he had become. No boy had ever done this to him before. Then again, no boy had previously been Gabriel.

That was when Ms. Leblanc chose to begin the class, and for this Edwin would be eternally grateful. He'd highly prefer to keep his blubbering, unsure self to a minimum.

When the lesson was over, Edwin gladly raced to the cafeteria, immediately finding Lilith.

"Woah," she remarked. "What are you, running the 100 meter dash? Is there a monster chasing you?"

"That was funny," Edwin told his friend sarcastically, relishing both his breath and his regaining of the ability to speak in sentences of three or more words.

"Seriously, what's up?" Lilith prodded.

"Just a bit of a stress factor in French class," Edwin admitted, feeling vaguely guilty that he was still not out to Lilith.

She nodded knowingly. Of course, she probably assumed that he'd had to move seats or something, not that he was being forced to sit next to the most beautiful creature in existence.

"Sorry, Edwin," Lilith sympathized, patting her friend on the back lightly. "C'mon, let's go get our food. That'll make you feel better."

Lilith had unfortunately been present for the one and only panic attack Edwin had ever had, and she now lived in fear that another one would occur. It never did, but even he would admit that she had become great at comforting him and calming him down when something disturbed him... even if she didn't know what it was.

Soon, the two were alone at their usual lunch table, a red picnic table just outside the cafeteria doors. Edwin loved the feeling of eating the same meal he always did: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Lilith's overbearing yet kind mother with a pair of Capri Suns and a clementine. Lilith's mother was probably one of Edwin's favorite people in the world. Lilith had, almost four whole years ago, told her mom about the weird little smart boy who wouldn't eat a thing at lunch because he absolutely hated the unpredictability of it all, and Mrs. Miranda Heisenberg had immediately taken it upon herself to fix that weird little smart boy the very same lunch every day and send it with Lilith for him to eat.

Edwin had just started to poke the little yellow straw into his second juice pouch when a familiar voice called out, "Hey, Edwin!" and his blood went cold.

An overjoyed Gabriel walked up to the table, looking to Edwin. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Go ahead," Edwin choked out, completely puncturing through the pouch, then jumping up as the juice started to squirt from the pouch.

Gabriel quickly set down his tray and grabbed three off the top of a pile of napkins, helping both to stop the flow of juice from the pouch and to dab the liquid off of Edwin's favorite purple polo shirt. Edwin had to admit, he admired a boy with so many napkins.

The skin on Edwin's stomach tingled as Gabriel tentatively touched the area with the napkin, trying to soak up all the fruit juice off of Edwin's clothes.

"Sorry," Edwin blushed madly, sitting back down and starting to peel his clementine in embarrassment.

"It's okay," Gabriel told him sincerely. "At least I won't be wasting any napkins."

Edwin looked to Lilith. "This is Gabriel, he's, uh-"

"I'm his drama partner," Gabriel helped. "We have this project thing to work on." He turned to Edwin. "Do you think we could work on it at my place after school tomorrow?"

Edwin's face heated up even more. "Uh- yeah. S-sounds good."

An enormous smile grew on Gabriel's face. "Awesome. Could I give you my number?"

Edwin gulped. "Sure. Yeah."

Gabriel pulled a pice of paper from his bag and quickly scrawled out his phone number, then stood up with his tray. "Well, I guess I'll leave you guys alone now. Bye!"

"Bye," Edwin whimpered.

Gabriel walked away, and Edwin turned to see a smirking Lilith.

"What is that?" He asked suspiciously, regarding her smug facial expression.

"Something you want to tell me?" Lilith smiled, cocking her head to the side.

Edwin's jaw fell open. "Oh my god. How long have you known?"

Lilith burst out laughing. "When he knew your name, then had a fucking pile of napkins on his tray!"

Edwin blushed.

"And then your tongue being tied in absolute knots made it very clear," she continued. "He's cute."

Edwin's eyes widened. "You mean you're okay with it?"

"Yeah, it's chill," Lilith responded. "Neil's gay, too. He told Mom on the day after his bar mitzvah, reasoning that he was a man now and men could do what they wanted, and I do mean do. Then halfway through he completely changed what he was saying. He was super awkward and everything. I still remember that speech like the back of my hand."

Edwin raised an eyebrow. "Can I hear it?"

Lilith laughed, then put on a goofy  voice seemingly meant to imitate her brother, who Edwin had never actually met. "He was like, 'Uhhh, look, Mom, I'm a man now, right? And a man can, uhhhh, a man can live his life however he pleases, right? And you've said yourself, Mom, that a man can have whatever wife he chooses, right?' And that was when Jacob whispered to me, 'Oh my god, do you think he got someone pregnant?' And I said, 'No way'. So then Neil went on, 'And that wife could be dainty, or strong, or feminine, or...' And he cleared his throat and went, 'Bar mitzvahs are really great, huh, Mom? Hey, could we go to some other bar mitzvahs? I'd really love to meet another new man. I'd love, uhhhh, men in general, Mom. Do you get what I'm saying?' And she kinda gave him this look and said, 'No, Neil, I don't.' And he gave this big old huffy sigh and went, 'I'm gay, Mom.' And she started laughing out loud and said, 'I know!'"

Lilith and Edwin both doubled over in laughter. Edwin wished he would have the kind of confidence to come out in such a bold fashion, especially to his mother. But for now, he was just happy that his best friend finally knew. And it wasn't as big of a deal as he'd thought.