The Good Stuff, Part Three
By: James Finn
Tags: Adolescence, Gay, LGBTQ, Transgender, Short Story

Travis and his mom talk seriously for quite a while, then the car goes quiet.

Inside the boy’s head, nothing feels quiet. His mind is racing faster than the speeding cars whipping past them.

Travis remembers the first time he ever laid eyes on Caleb. Math class at the beginning of the year.

He remembers how he was shocked to find himself looking forward to his worst subject. He remembers the thrill he used to feel just spotting the new kid in the halls between classes.

He remembers being too scared or nervous or whatever to even say hi. He’d try, but his mouth would freeze closed or his breath would stop coming out.

He remembers Caleb’s awesome drawings. How it brought them together, Travis finally working up the courage to ask to see some one day.

None of his other friends could draw. None of them could do anything cool. None of them had chocolate eyes quite like that either, or that special shade of red-gold right in the middle of their cheeks. Or the shape of that nose!

Ha! Travis laughs at himself and his mom smiles over at him.

He can’t wait to see his friend. He’s been so unhappy without him.

Friend?

His mom brought that up once, just before that terrible night when it all got bad.

“Buddy?” she’d asked him on a ride home from school one day, one of the rare days the two boys weren’t together. “Can I ask you a serious question about Caleb and have you not get mad at me?”

“Um. Yeah, I guess,” he nodded from the passenger seat. “Mad about what?”

“Oh, just like I wonder what kind of friends you are? Or what kind you wish you were. If maybe you’re more than friends?”

“Mom! Stop!”

Talk about embarrassing!

“Hey,” she laughed, “I warned you!”

“Did not!”

“All I’m saying,” she continued, chuckling, “is that if he is your boyfriend or if you wish he were, then I think that’s great. He’s a good kid, and I like him.”

“Mom! We’re just friends. Geez!”

“OK, chill. No problem either way.”

Her eyes went back to focusing on the road for a while. Then softly and casually, “He’s pretty good looking though — just sayin’. You could do worse.”

Travis gave in, looked right at his mom. “I know, right? Isn’t he awesome?”

“Aha! Knew it!” she crowed. “My son has excellent taste. Good for you.”

“But how’d you know?” Travis can’t imagine. He doesn’t think even Caleb knows how he feels.

“Oh, don’t underestimate moms, kiddo. We notice things. I pay attention to you because you’re my son and I love you. I see how you look at him when he’s over. You aren’t all that mysterious, boyo.”

“Yeah, but! We really are just friends, even if I wish we weren’t. I don’t think he likes me. I don’t think he even has a clue!”

“Trust your mom on this one. He has a clue, all right. He has bags of clues. If you two make any more cow eyes at each other, we’re gonna be able to open up our own dairy around here.”

“Really? You really think so?”

So, Travis thinks maybe it was his mom who gave him the courage to take things to the next level with Caleb. Or maybe not. It’s not like he did it on purpose.

All he really knows is that one minute he and Caleb were goofing around on Caleb’s bed, and the next minute they were kissing. It just sorta happened that way.

His heart was pounding, and Caleb had his arms around him squeezing, and it was the best feeling ever. He could have stayed like that forever.

He can’t quite figure out how to explain it, and it’s not something he’d ever say out loud to anyone, especially his mom, but it’s almost like being with Caleb was something he’d been waiting for his whole entire life without even knowing he’d been waiting on anything.

It was the best feeling in the world ever, for about two minutes.

Then the bedroom door opened without warning, Caleb’s dad started shouting, and Travis thumped against the wall.

The world went grey, and Travis hasn’t seen Caleb in all the months that have passed since.