Cliché

20: Yuki

Walmart is a mom's best friend.

My mother cannot cook FOR HER LIFE.

So, when she pulls out a steaming hot lasagna from the oven, I know she just went and bought a frozen one from Walmart and pretended it was cooked hot 'n fresh.

She sets the lasagna on the table, "Sorry Yang, I didn't ask Yuki if you were vegan or anything... You're not, are you?"

He shakes his head, "Couldn't live without meat and cheese."

Everyone laughs at that.

Under the table, me and Yang's knees are touching, my left hand on his knee. He had a bit of a breakdown in the bathroom, even though we pretended we didn't hear him. I never wanna see him or hear him like that again.

Well, he looks a bit sick right now as he takes a bite of the Walmart lasagna, Mom notices too.

"Yang, sweetheart, are you okay?" She looks worried as mothers usually look. Worry worry worry.

He chokes down a bite of the lasagna (which I don't think is that bad), "Y-Y-Yeah, it's just... I usually cook for myself. Like, um, I guess I don't really like packaged food? But i-it's okay, um..."

I rub his knee under the table which seems to calm him down, "I'm terribly sorry."

Hah! The way he said 'terribly' with his little British accent, it's so cute. So cute and kind of funny, before I know it, I'm laughing out loud.

Pretty soon, we're all laughing for God knows what reason.

Once we calm down, the parents start asking their parent questions.

"So, Yang, what do you do for a living?" Mom says, she's only eating the veggies in her lasagna. According to her, I was such a fat baby she's still trying to lose weight.

"I make manga!! I... I have a YA yaoi-ish... no wait... more shonen-ai? Yeah, YA shonen-ai series. I'm on my 6th book right now. Oh! And I wanna open a bakery once I get married, if I get married." He winks at me and nudges my knee under the table. Mom smiles.

"You like drawing? You definitely got it from Hunnie, God! Did you see how amazing her flower drawings are?" She's beaming. Wow, she never smiles this much.

But, Yang's expression fell, "Mama never drew anything... She was either sick or pregnant or cooking or cleaning. She didn't like talking about her life before... me..."

Mom fidgets with her thumbs, "I'm so sorry... really. She was like a big sister to me. And you-- You just remind me so much of her I just..." Tears well up in Mom's eyes, "I miss her."

Yang smiles his little British smile, "I miss her, too. I'm sure she missed you."

All goes quiet except for the faint thumping of scarred hearts.

~~

My bedroom is PINK.

Pink walls.

Pink curtains.

Pink desk.

Pink BEDSPREAD.

Pink pink pink, I love pink.

The pink walls are dotted with pictures of baby Rayvn and I, along with some from our middle school years. On my bed sits all 24 of my stuffies, from Woolworth the sheep to Bear-Bear the bunny (Bear-Bear is actually Rayvns, but that's a story for another time). Yang takes one look at my room and starts sweating, he picks up a picture of 3-year-old Rayvn and I.

It's one of my faves, in the picture, little Rayvn has his hair all did up in pigtails and is wearing a sweet little blue dress. I'm wearing a dress too since I had gone over to Rayvns and I wanted to play dress up. We're smiling at the camera and I'm holding GiGi (a giraffe stuffy) and Ray is holding Bear-Bear. The ends of Yang's mouth curl up.

"This is so cute I'm having a heart attack, why were you so cute when you were small aaaahhhhhhhhhhh..." He hugs the picture to his chest

I flop on my bed, "You're cool, y'know? And hot. Hot..." Dunno why I'm thinking about his hotness, but he's really hot.

Yang moves over a few stuffies and sits next to me, "You're not hot, Yuki, you're cute. There's a difference." His hand traces down my neck, toward my stomach.

"Do hot people and cute people kiss different?" I sit up once he nods, and then we're kissing. It's the kind of kiss that will most DEFINITELY end up with him on top of me, skin-on-skin, caked in sweat and tears.

But-- our kiss is broken by my mother coming into my room with mugs of hot cocoa.

We break apart, wipe our mouths and stare at Mom, who giggles.

"Sorry for interrupting, boys, actually... Yang is hardly a boy. He's much more of a man, eh Yuki?" My face gets red, Mom giggles again.

"MOMMA!!! QUIT IT!!!" I cover my face and Yang pat-pats my head. Mom sets the cocoa on my desk, blows me a kiss.

"I'll leave you kids alone, and Yuki? If you need anything... particular... like you know... protective me-"

"MOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!" The last thing I need is to hear my Mom remind me to practice safe sex. That's just gross.

Mom skips out of the room, shutting the door. I quickly lock it before throwing my arms around Yang again.

He smiles, "Shouldn't we drink that cocoa first? I don't want it to get c-cold or anything..."

I kiss him, he kisses back, "This'll be quick, promise!" I smile, kiss him again for good measure.

Now, now he gets forceful. I like it though, there's weird pleasure in being dominated. He pushes me onto my bed, one hand pressed beside my head, one hand messing with my jeans. His lips don't leave mine, not even for a second. But, I remember what my mother said.

"H-Hey, stop for a sec." I push him away, just a little.

"What? Did I hurt you? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!!" 

I wanna tell him 'it's okay' but his phone rings, fantastic timing. He pulls it out of his pocket, stares at the screen, then at me.

"I have to take this, sorry." He's frowning as he answers, I just smile politely and sit, listening.

"Hi, Connie," He sighs, there's a pause, "No, sorry. I'm at my boyfriend's house."

I swoon, he called me his boyfriend!!!! But, I hear the person on the other end screaming.

"Conn-- Er, Dad. Yeah, he's nice," another pause, "Yukio Meiyo, he's six years younger than me."

More screaming, Yang is starting to lose his cool.

"DAD. I CAN'T! I-- Okay, okay I'll ask. Tell Cinna I said goodnight. Yeah, sure, okay, fine."

He hangs up, sighs, sits next to me on my bed.

"So... that was your dad?" He nods, "Why was he screaming?"

"Hah, well, he's not very gay-friendly. He was calling me the usual, fag, homo, you know. He wanted to know if I could come and babysit my little brothers while he goes on a date with his new stupid girlfriend." Yang gulps, "He also asked to meet you over dinner tomorrow."

Yang is visibly shaky, very shaky. "Hey, that's okay! We can drop by for dinner and then come back here. No biggie."

"But what if--"

I press my finger to his lips, "No buts, mister. Straight to bed for you."

He sighs, a happy sigh, I don't feel like changing and neither does he. We slip under the pink covers of my pink bed, I flick off the lights.

Let myself fall into a dream.