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“Gina?”
Buffy and Marty turned to see the only two other people in the skateshop looking at them. “Are you talking to me?” Buffy asked even though her name was definitely not Gina, and she didn’t even know anyone named Gina. But there wasn’t anyone else in the store the other girl could have been talking to.
She took a step closer to her and shook her head. “Yeah, sorry, you just look a lot like our friend Gina.”
“Oh. Ok…” Buffy didn’t really know how to respond to that.
The girl said, “I’m Nini, by the way.” She pointed at the red-headed boy next to her. “And this is Big Red.”
“Are you sure you’re not Gina?” Big Red asked.
She gave a short, awkward laugh. “I think I know my own name. It’s Buffy.”
Marty stepped up next to her and waved. “And I’m Marty.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you guys around here before?” Big Red said.
“We live in Shadyside,” Buffy said. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was still talking to the two other teens, but they seemed nice enough. “It’s like 20 minutes away. We didn’t want to go to the skate shop we usually go to because we’re getting a present for our friend, and we didn’t want him to see us.”
“Also, this one is bigger,” Marty added. “And we heard they have pride stuff here.”
Buffy could practically see some of the tension leave Nini and Big Red’s bodies as he said that. Big Red smiled and pointed to a section of the store they hadn’t looked at yet. “Yeah, they’re over there.”
Buffy turned and let him lead the others over there. Sure enough, there was a whole wall of skateboards with different pride flags on them. Marty picked one up. “They’ve got an ace one,” he said excitedly while grinning at her. She smiled back and looked at the board. It was pretty cool.
She looked up and pointed at the board right above the empty spot where the ace one had been. “They also have an aro one.”
Marty looked at it. “Huh. Is it bad that I lowkey wasn’t expecting that? Which one should we get him?” Buffy just shrugged. “Damn, why does Jonah have to have two different flags?”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Says the guy who has like three…”
“Should we get Ricky a bi one?” Buffy turned to see Nini looking up at the boards.
“Who’s Ricky?” She asked.
Nini looked at her. “My boyfriend. That’s why we’re here. To look for a Christmas present for him.”
Buffy nodded and smiled back at her. “You should get it.” Nini smiled at her and then turned to try to grab it, but it was up kind of high, and she couldn’t quite reach it. Buffy easily reached up to grab it, handing it to her. Nini gave her a grateful smile in return.
“I want one.” Buffy turned again to see Marty looking at the board Nini was now holding.
She rolled her eyes. “We only have enough money for one skateboard, and we’re here for Jonah. Not you.” He pouted. “Besides, it’s hard enough to decide which one to get Jonah, I’m not gonna stand here and watch you try to choose between three different ones for yourself.”
He sighed. “I hate that you’re right.”
“I’m always right.” She turned back to the boards. “Now, which one should we get?” She picked up the aro board. “I think I like this one better.”
“I like the ace one.”
“Of course you do.”
“Hey, it’s not because I’m ace. I just happen to like the color purple.”
“It is a good musical,” Nini joked. Buffy snorted while Marty and Big Red shared a confused look. Nini shook her head and waved her hand. “Never mind.” She looked at Buffy and Marty. “Well, which one do you think your friend would like more?”
Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s kind of the most indecisive person ever.” Marty nodded in agreement. “But I still think he’d like the aro one better. It just seems more him.”
Marty cocked his head to the side. “Maybe… But purple…” Buffy rolled her eyes.
“What if you got purple wheels?” Big Red suggested.
Marty gave him a bright smile. “That’s a great idea.” Buffy couldn’t help but notice the look he was giving Big Red. It was a look she’d seen on his face many a time before. Oh boy.
The four of them spent a while longer looking for the perfect wheels and debating about what else they needed (and could afford) to get their friends to go with the boards and also just talking. Nini told them that she was about to go to some fancy acting school in Denver and was worried about leaving her friends, and especially Ricky. Buffy told her about Andi and did her best to reassure her that everything would be fine, but at least SAVA was still in the same town, so they could still see each other sometimes. She couldn’t imagine what she’d have done if Andi had gone all the way to Denver. She had pretty much entirely fallen apart when she’d moved to Phoenix for two months. Nini seemed to appreciate it nonetheless. Buffy hoped things worked out for them.
Meanwhile, watching Big Red and Marty interact was honestly kind of fascinating. They had similar chaotic dumbass energies. It kind of reminded her of the first time Marty, Jonah, and TJ had all hung out together, but there were much less disastrous consequences. After they finished shopping, the four of them went out into the main part of the mall and found a pretzel stand. Big Red and Marty shared a big pretzel. She was definitely going to tease Marty about that later, but for now, she just enjoyed tossing her own pretzel bites into the air and catching them in her mouth while Marty and Nini bonded over having two moms.
As they left the mall and headed toward his mom’s car, Buffy bumped Marty’s shoulder and gave him a knowing look. He looked at her. “What?”
“Big Red’s pretty cute,” she teased.
He blushed and looked away. “Shut up. We’re probably never gonna see each other again anyway.”
She gave him a sad smile. “Hey, you never know. Maybe the Universe will bring you back together.”
“You sound like Andi’s dad. I thought you didn’t believe in all that ‘love at first sight’ stuff.”
She snorted. “I don’t. But I know you, and I can tell when you have a crush. And I know it does not take long for you to fall for someone. I may not understand it, but I know that’s just the way you are.”
“Maybe. But don’t get my hopes up. We know basically nothing about those two.”
She shrugged. “We know they go to East High,” she pointed out, referring to the hoodie Nini had been wearing.
He seemed to get where she was going with that because he shook his head. “No. No way. I’m not asking Ben about him. That’d be weird, and he’d never let me hear the end of it.”
“Fine, but if you aren’t going to do anything about it, I don’t want to hear you pining for the next month.”
“You won’t. I promise.”
Somehow that didn’t reassure her very much.
---
The Robotics Club was in the gym, setting up for their competition that afternoon. It reminded Big Red a bit of setting up the gym for the musical last semester, except way less stressful, despite Mazzara typically being more strict than Miss Jenn. Big Red and Ashlyn were messing around when they heard the gym door open and looked over. Someone in what looked like a sports jersey walked in. Mazzara looked up and the face he made was one of both recognition and exhaustion. It took Big Red a second to realize where he recognized him from. Marty?? What the hell is he doing here? He vaguely recalled that there was a track meet going on today, but he hadn’t really given it much thought because he didn’t usually pay much attention to sports. But now, this kid he’d met at the mall two months ago had just walked into his school’s gym. For some reason.
As he approached, Mazzara asked, “What are you doing here, Marty?” How do they know each other?
Marty put his hand on his chest and gave him a fake-offended look. “You wound me, Benjamin. Maybe I wanted to come see your nerd competition or whatever.” He waved around the room vaguely.
“You mean the Robotics Club competition. That doesn’t start for,” he looked at his watch, “four hours and thirteen minutes.” He looked back up at Marty with his eyebrow raised.
Marty’s smile didn’t falter. “Exactly.”
Mazzara sighed. “Don’t you have a track meet you’re supposed to be at or something?”
Marty shrugged. “My next event isn’t for like two hours. You’re gonna come see it, right? Henry’s there.” Big Red had no idea what was going on or who Henry was, but he couldn’t help but smile at the smug look on Marty’s face and the exasperated look on Mazzara’s.
“I am aware, but as you can see, I’m a bit busy right now. Setting up for the competition.”
Marty looked around the room. His eyes landed on Big Red, and he was almost positive his face brightened for just a second before he turned back to Mazzara. “So, if you get this room set up in time, you’ll come watch me?”
Mazzara gave him a suspicious look. “Where are you going with this?”
Marty gave him an innocent look, but even Big Red could tell it was fake. He shrugged. “I could help you.”
Mazzara seemed skeptical. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you help. Just don’t break anything.” He turned back to directing a few students in getting their makeshift stage set up, and Marty walked over to Big Red.
“So, what can I do to help?”
Big Red looked around and saw the light and sound board Mazzara had asked him to set up a while ago. He pointed at it. “Can you pick that up for me?” They walked over, and Marty picked it up, while Big Red picked up a plastic tub that was next to it.
“Now what?”
He tried to gesture with his head to the table at the top of the bleachers. Marty seemed to get the message because he started walking. “So, why are you here?” Not that he was complaining, but it was weird.
Marty shrugged. “I got bored. Decided to come bother Benny.” It took Red a second to realize that he was talking about Mazzara. “Then I saw that you were here and decided to stick around.”
Big Red was glad that Marty couldn’t see his face because he was pretty sure he was blushing. Luckily, they got to the top of the bleachers before he had to think of a response. He directed Marty where to set the control panel. He set the tub on the ground next to it and started pulling out various chords and wires.
“Is there anything else I can do?”
Big pointed at the tub. “There should be two lamps and Mazzara’s laptop in there. Can you get them out and set them up on the table?” Marty nodded and did as he was asked.
Big Red untangled the chords he needed and crawled underneath the platform the table was on to plug them in. When he came back out, he stood on the other side of the table to plug everything into the back of the control panel. He saw Marty open Mazzara’s laptop and type something. “You know Mazzara’s password?”
Marty shrugged. “You’d think a self-proclaimed tech genius would have a more secure password, but it’s literally just his wedding anniversary.”
Ok, Big Red had noticed that it was a date when Mazzara had told him earlier, but he’d had no idea that he was married. He briefly wondered if Miss Jenn knew that, considering her blatant flirting, but he decided to push that thought away for now. “Remind me again how you know him?” He asked, even though Marty had never told him in the first place.
“He’s pretty close with my moms. I think they met doing theater in college or something.” Big Red could only stare at him in shock. Marty noticed him staring and asked, “What?”
Suddenly, Red grinned. “I knew it!”
Marty looked confused. “You knew that your science teacher met my moms in college?”
He shook his head. “No, I knew that Mazzara was a closet theater kid.”
Marty looked amused. “Oh really?”
Red walked around to the other side of the table. “Dude, you should have seen him when he was teaching me about all this tech stuff for the musical last year. I knew there was no way he’d never done theater before. But no one else believed me!” He looked off to the side. “Carlos owes me twenty bucks.” Marty laughed. Big Red looked back at him. “What?”
“You bet on whether or not Benjamin Mazzara did theater? That’s hilarious.”
“You won’t tell him, will you?”
Marty shook his head. “Nah. Don’t worry. That’s exactly the kind of thing I would do. My friends and I make dumb bets all the time. But I’m glad I could help make you twenty dollars richer.”
Big Red chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Any time.”
Big Red looked back at everything on the table. “I should probably…” He pointed vaguely.
Marty nodded and moved out of his way. “Right. Of course.”
Big Red moved over to the laptop and opened up the app he needed to program the control panel. They hadn’t had time to do that for the musical, and that had been a disaster, but this time, everything was already mostly set up and should run smoothly. He asked Marty to help him label the buttons because there would be students from other schools running the board today, and he knew first hand how difficult it could be if you don’t know what everything did.
By the time they were done, Mazzara and another student walked into the gym carrying several pizzas. He hadn’t even noticed them leave, but now that he saw them, he realized he was starving. He double-checked real quick that everything was where it should be, and then he and Marty ran down the bleachers to join everyone else.
He heard Ashlyn call his name and looked over to see her holding up one of the pizzas. He nodded and grabbed a couple plates and napkins before joining her where she had sat down on the floor a little bit away from everyone else. Marty followed.
“So what makes you two so special you get your own pizza?” Marty asked as they sat down and Ashlyn opened the box to reveal the pizza: veggie with soy cheese. Ashlyn’s favorite. Personally, he preferred pepperoni, but she was vegan, and he was willing to compromise.
“We don’t eat dairy,” Big Red answered, shrugging as he handed him a plate.
Marty nodded. “Fair enough.” Marty grabbed a piece of pizza as Red and Ashlyn each grabbed two.
Ashlyn looked between the two boys. “So, are you the same Marty Big Red was telling me about a couple months ago?”
Marty put his hand on his chest, looking flattered. “Aw, you told your friends about me?”
Big Red rolled his eyes. “I tell Ashlyn everything.” He turned to Ashlyn. “Yes, this is Marty.” She nodded. He turned back to Marty, realizing he’d never actually introduced them. “And Marty, this is Ashlyn, my best friend.”
Marty smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Ashlyn.”
She smiled back at him. “You too, Marty. So… Question: how do you know Mazzara? Because I’ve never seen anyone get away with talking to him like that.”
Marty snorted. “He’s an old family friend.”
Big Red shook his head. “I still think it’s weird that you’re like friends with our teacher.”
Marty just shrugged. “You think that’s weird? His husband is my principal.”
Big Red almost choked on his pizza. From Marty’s smug look, there’s no way he didn’t time that like that on purpose. “He’s gay?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“Kind of, yeah,” Ashlyn answered. “I think half the theater department is convinced he’s homophobic.”
Marty laughed. “Wait seriously? Why?”
Big Red shrugged. “Gay people generally assume that anyone who doesn’t like us is homophobic.”
“Honestly fair,” Marty said, nodding.
“And he’s had it out for the theater department all year,” Ashlyn added.
“Well, mostly just Miss Jenn.”
“And Carlos.”
“But not as much this semester.”
“True. I think they came to some kind of truce last year when he helped us out with the musical.”
Big Red nodded. “Yeah, still not sure what happened there, but he kind of saved our asses at the last minute.”
Ashlyn nodded. “But he never did apologize for being a dick to Carlos like all of Freshman year and the beginning of this year.”
Marty raised his eyebrows. “Wait, who’s Carlos, and what did Ben do to him?”
Ashlyn shrugged. “He’s our choreographer. Mazzara’s just always seemed to have it out for him, you know? I’m pretty sure he’s said stuff to him that Carlos hasn’t told the rest of us. And yeah, we’re in the Robotics Club, so he’s nice to us, and he’s been nicer to all of us this semester, and Carlos says they’re fine now. But, I don’t know, when Mazzara tried to get Miss Jenn fired, Carlos took it as like a personal attack. And there was this one day, last semester, when Carlos walked into rehearsal right after talking to Mazzara and Miss Jenn, and I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m pretty sure the only other time I’ve seen him look so hurt was when he thought his date stood him up at Homecoming. He tried to act like he was fine, and he wouldn’t talk about it, but clearly something happened.”
Marty looked over at Mazzara and then back at the two of them, clearly thinking. “Is Carlos the one who dances while taking tests?”
Ashlyn nodded. “He told you about that?”
Marty nodded, biting his lip. “Yeah…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry he’s such a dick.”
Ashlyn shrugged. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Besides, he is getting better. It’s just, how do you even make up for something like that?”
They were just putting the finishing touches on the stage when the gym door opened. A woman walked in. She looked around, and when she spotted Mazzara, she walked up to him. “Benjamin, have you seen-” She stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Marty!”
Marty waved at her. “Hi, mom.”
She rolled her eyes and started walking up to him. “Your race is about to start. I was going to call you, and then I remembered that you didn’t have your phone with you. How did I know you’d be in here bothering Benjamin?” She looked over at Mazzara. “I’m so sorry about him.”
“It’s really no trouble, Jessie. I was keeping an eye on the clock; he wouldn’t have been late. And he’s been surprisingly not too difficult.”
Marty rolled his eyes. “Can you not talk about me like I’m a dog? I’m right here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Marty. My dogs are much better-behaved than you.” Mazzara gave him something close to a smirk.
Marty rolled his eyes again. “Yeah yeah, let’s go.” He waved at Big Red and Ashlyn and started walking toward the door. His mom turned to follow him. Just before Marty got to the door, he stopped and turned back to Mazzara. “You’re coming, right?”
Mazzara sighed. “Yes, I suppose.” He turned to his students. “I believe I can trust you all to finish up here without me. As always, while I’m gone, your co-captains are in charge. And I expect to see all of you back here no later than 3:30, got it?” They all nodded. “Good.” He followed Marty and his mom out the door.
Without even turning to look at him, Ashlyn said to Big Red, “You want to go watch him race, don’t you?”
“Maybe? Is that weird? I feel like that’s weird.”
She rolled her eyes and started to grab their stuff. “I think it’s cute. Besides, it’s a public event. What’s stopping you?”
He gestured vaguely around the room. “Don’t we have to finish setting up?”
She looked around the room and shrugged. “I think it looks fine.” She looked across the room at Theo, the other co-captain. “I think we’re done here, wouldn’t you agree?” They gave her a thumbs up. She grabbed Red’s hand and led him across the gym to the door. She turned back and waved at everyone before they left. “See you all in a couple hours!”
She led him down the hall and out to the track. They got there just in time to see Marty’s race start. They watched from the edge of the crowd as the runners took off. Neither of them had ever been to a track meet before or knew how these things worked, but they could tell one thing: Marty was fast. He quickly passed his competitors.
Ashlyn turned to Big Red. “Did you know he was good?”
Big Red shrugged. “I knew he said he was good.”
Ashlyn laughed, and they turned back to the race, watching as Marty crossed the finish line, several seconds before everyone else. As the race ended, Marty was quickly surrounded by his moms and his teammates cheering for him. Ashlyn nudged Big Red’s arm. “Are you gonna go congratulate him or something?”
He shook his head. “That’d be weird. There are a lot of people down there already. And I barely know him.”
She rolled her eyes, but gave in. “Come on.” As they left, Red turned back and was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t see Marty through the crowd.
---
“... The East High Robotics Club!”
Big Red was slightly shocked as he and his teammates walked onstage to accept their award. He was vaguely aware of the confetti canon going off and Ashlyn and the rest of the team hugging him. Sure, it wasn’t like a big State competition or anything, but it was his first Robotics competition, and they’d won! Someone took a picture of them, and then the crowd started to disperse into the lobby. It wasn’t nearly as big of a crowd as had been at the musical last semester, but he didn’t care. Because he’d won something he cared about. And his best friends were here to celebrate with him.
They all followed the crowd out to the lobby. His parents found him first, hugging him and telling him they were proud of him, like they’d done at every event or competition he’d ever been a part of. He loved them, but they had two modes: not being around at all and being way too overbearing; there was no in between. It could be a lot to handle. He eventually managed to get away from them and make his way over to where Ashlyn had already found their friends. It wasn’t the whole theater department or anything, just EJ, Gina, and Ricky, but he appreciated it nonetheless. They all shared a group hug, and everyone told him and Ashlyn how proud they were, despite having basically no idea what was going on throughout the whole competition.
“Is that guy staring at us?” EJ asked, looking over Red’s shoulder.
Big Red turned to see where he was looking and grinned when he saw who it was. Ok, ‘staring’ might be a strong word, but he was definitely trying too hard to pretend like he wasn’t looking at them. “Marty?” He looked up from his phone and smiled when he heard his name.
He gave Big Red a small wave and started walking over to them. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?”
Marty shrugged. “Ben made me come.” Somehow, Big Red didn’t quite believe that.
“Are you going to introduce us to your friend, Big Red?” Ricky asked.
Big Red turned back to his friends and saw that they were staring at him. “Right. This is Marty. Marty, this is Ricky, Gina, and EJ.” He gestured toward each other them as he said their names.
Marty hit him lightly on the arm. “Duuuuude! You were right?!” Big Red was a little confused until he saw that Marty’s eyes hadn’t left Gina.
He laughed. “I told you so! What? Did you think we were lying?”
Marty shrugged and smirked at him. “I don’t know. Maybe you just wanted an excuse to talk to us.”
Ricky raised his hand slightly. “Hi. What’s happening?”
Big Red laughed, realizing how ridiculous he and Marty probably sounded right now. “Ok, remember like a couple months ago when Nini and I told you about how we ran into a girl who looked like exactly like Gina?” Ricky nodded slowly. EJ and Gina still looked confused.
“That was my friend Buffy.” Marty pulled out his phone and showed everyone his lockscreen. It was a selfie of him, Buffy, and another guy making cheesy faces at the camera.
Gina took the phone. “I guess we look a little similar…”
Ricky looked over her shoulder. “‘A little?’ Dude, you could be twins.”
Gina shrugged. “I don’t see it.”
Ricky showed the picture to EJ and Ashlyn, who both agreed. “Ok, that’s a little freaky,” Ashlyn admitted.
“Yeah, I hate to agree with Ricky, but are you sure you don’t have a long-lost twin or something?”
“I’m pretty sure.”
“When’s your birthday?” Marty asked.
Gina raised her eyebrow, but answered, “March 3rd, 2004.”
Ricky scrunched his eyebrows. “Wait, that’s kind of soon. Why didn’t we know that?”
Gina shrugged. “No one asked.”
Marty looked a bit disappointed. “Ok, so that rules out the twin theory. You’re about a year older than Buffy. But there could still be a chance you’re related.”
“I doubt it,” Gina said.
“I don’t know,” Ashlyn said. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
Gina rolled her eyes, but before she could respond, a man came up to the group. “Marty, there you are.”
Marty turned and grinned at the man. “Hi, Henry.”
“Your mothers are looking for you.”
Marty sighed and nodded. “Right.” He turned back to the group. “I guess this means it’s time for me to go. But before I forget…” He opened the program he was holding and took out a folded, torn piece of paper, handing it to Big Red. “Ok, bye.” He waved and followed the man to where two women were waiting for them.
Big Red looked down at the paper and unfolded it, blushing slightly when he saw a phone number on it. Ashlyn practically squealed next to him. She tried to take the paper out of his hand, but he shoved it in his pocket.
“Ok, that was the cutest and gayest shit I’ve ever seen.”
He rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
“Dude, he came to a Robotics competition for you. No one does that.”
He gestured toward their friends, trying not to look directly at Ricky. “They’re here.”
She waved her hand. “That’s different. Marty barely knows you.”
“Exactly. He barely knows me.”
“But. He wants to get to know you. Hence the phone number.”
EJ butt in then. “It’s true. That’s a pretty classic move. He went out of his way to see you and talk to you. And now you have his number, but he doesn’t have yours. That means it’s your turn to make the next move.”
But did he even want to make the next move? He looked around at all of his friends, nodding and smiling at him encouragingly. Even Ricky. That hurt. But maybe not as much as he thought it would? He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about this right now. He wanted to go out to eat with his teammates and then go to bed and deal with his feelings later. Or preferably never.
“So… Are you going to text him?” Ashlyn asked.
“Maybe. I don’t really want to keep talking about this right now.” He glanced at Ricky and hoped that she got the message. And that no one else did.
She nodded. “Ok.” She turned back to their friends. “Ok, as Robotics Club Co-Captain, I am officially kicking you all out.” They all reluctantly left, saying goodbye and congratulating them one last time.
Ashlyn and Big Red walked over to the rest of their teammates. Mazzara gave them a short speech about how well they did and how they better be here in the morning to help clean up. Then, the man who had talked to Marty earlier came over and handed him his coat. Big Red noticed that he had Mazzara’s computer bag over his shoulder. The two of them left, and he and Ashlyn turned to each other, matching looks of realization on their faces. They seemed to both decide against saying anything though; clearly, Mazzara didn’t want his students to know anything about his private life.
As soon as Big Red got home that night, he just wanted to collapse on his bed and fall asleep, but things were rarely that simple. Before changing into his pajamas, he took everything out of his pockets, including the paper Marty had given him earlier. Now that he got a better look at it, he realized that there were words above the numbers. Despite the messy handwriting, he was able to read the words surprisingly well. ‘I don’t want to go another 2 months without talking to you ;)’ He stared at it for a minute, barely noticing as he sat down on his bed. He grabbed his phone, and added the number to his contacts. He set the note on his bedside table and stared at his phone, opening the messaging app, but not typing anything. He wasn’t sure what to say. Come on, don’t overthink this. He wants to talk to you. He hated how much the voice in his head sounded like Ashlyn. He typed, ‘Hey,’ hit send, and set down his phone, trying to put the whole thing out of his mind as he got ready for bed.
When he came back to his phone, he saw that he had a response.
Marty: hey
is this Big Red?
Big Red smiled at his phone, and then realized that maybe he had underthought this.
Big Red: yeah
sorry
i probably should have said that
Marty: no worries dude
i’m glad you texted
i just realized i never actually congratulated you on winning your nerd competition
so yeah
congrats dude
Big Red: thanks
and you too
i saw that you won your jock competition earlier
Marty: lmao
you saw that?
Big Red: yeah
is that weird?
Marty: not as weird as me showing up to the robotics thing
Big Red: i thought you said mazzara made you?
Marty: …
so
that might not have been completely true
Big Red: oh really?
Marty: …
pls don’t judge me
Big Red laughed slightly as he thought of his next response. He settled into bed without putting down his phone. The two of them kept talking. Big Red was amazed at how easy it was to talk to Marty. He wasn’t sure how long they talked. He barely remembered to plug in his phone and put on his cpap before he fell asleep, just after saying goodnight to Marty. He didn’t even need to turn on his white noise machine to block out the sound from the cpap. He fell asleep almost immediately, his phone on his chest, a small smile on his face.
---
Big Red was at play practice on Monday afternoon. He watched as Carlos led the actors through the choreography to Something There. Suddenly, there was a knock on the open door to the rehearsal room. The music stopped as everyone looked over and saw Mazzara standing in the doorway.
“Benjamin. What do you want?” Miss Jenn asked, taking a step toward him and crossing her arms.
Mazzara cleared his throat. “I was hoping to speak to Carlos actually.” Carlos stepped up next to Miss Jenn and copied her stance. Miss Jenn gestured for him to speak. “Alone.”
Miss Jenn raised her eyebrow. “Just because we have a truce now, doesn’t mean I trust you alone with any of my students.”
He sighed. “Fine.” He turned to Carlos. “I wanted to apologize to you.” Everyone looked shocked, none more so than Carlos.
Miss Jenn gestured again. “Well, go on.”
“Oh that was it. That was the apology.”
Miss Jenn took a step closer to him. “Well, you’re going to have to do a lot better than that. Let’s start with what exactly you’re apologizing for.”
Mazzara nodded. “Right. Carlos, I have been… less than kind to you in the past. In particular, the comment I made last semester about you not having friends other than Miss Jenn was uncalled for, inappropriate, and clearly, inaccurate. So, I am sorry.” Big Red was sure he had never seen Mazzara look so uncomfortable.
There was silence for a second before Carlos spoke. “Um… Thank you, I guess. And um… I think I forgive you.” Carlos sounded a little surprised at his own words.
Mazzara nodded. “Ok. Good. I’m going to leave now.” He turned and walked away.
Miss Jenn turned back to the room and clapped her hands. “Ok everyone. Let’s take five and then take this song from the top.” She turned and said something quietly to Carlos. He nodded, and then a second later, Seb was by his side, and she left the two of them alone.
Big Red pulled out his phone to text Marty.
Big Red: what did you do?
Marty: nothing
wait
what didn’t i do?
Big Red: mazzara just showed up at rehearsal and apologized to Carlos?
Marty: oh
i can’t believe he actually did it
Big Red: so i’m assuming you had something to do with that?
Marty: yeah
mayhaps i shamed him last night at family dinner
Big Red: family dinner?
Marty: yeah
you know
when me, my moms, ben, and henry have dinner together
Big Red: so how’d you manage to get him to do it
Marty: mayhaps getting people who refuse to admit when they’re wrong to own up to their mistakes is my specialty?
Big Red: oh really?
Marty: yep
i’m not as good as cyrus, but i did manage to get through to Buffy
(although that might have been a team effort)
but getting through to ben was definitely all me
Big Red: who’s cyrus?
Marty: my friend
and the first ever person to be able to get through to Toxic TJ Kippen
although, in retrospect, that might be more due to his being cute than his psychological expertise
“Who’s ‘Toxic TJ Kippen?’” Big Red definitely did not jump when he heard Ashlyn’s voice right over his shoulder. He glared at her, and she at least had the decency to look a bit guilty.
“Did you just say ‘Toxic TJ Kippen?’” Big Red and Ashlyn looked over to see Seb looking at them. He hadn’t even noticed that he and Carlos had moved closer to where he and Ashlyn were sitting.
“Uh yeah… Why?”
“People don’t still call him that, do they?” He looked kind of sad, which only confused Big Red.
They both shrugged. Ashlyn answered, “Big Red’s friend Marty called him that.”
Seb looked slightly relieved. “Oh. Wait, how do you know Marty?”
“Um… It’s a long story. How do you know him?”
“TJ’s my cousin.”
“Oh.”
“Huh. Small world… I guess?” Ashlyn said.
“More like small city,” Carlos threw in. Ashlyn and Big Red both snorted.
Seb rolled his eyes. “At you least you guys live in the city…”
They heard Miss Jenn clap her hands, startling them and directing their attention back to the center of the room. “Ok everyone, places for the top of Something There.” Carlos and the actors all got up to head to their places. Big Red snuck one last text to Marty telling him that he had to get back to practice before Miss Jenn glared at him, and he had to put his phone away.
As they were packing up their stuff after practice, Ashlyn said to him, “Seriously though, he managed to make Benjamin Mazzara feel shame. If you don’t marry that boy, I will.”
“You’re a lesbian,” Red pointed out.
She shrugged and put her backpack on. “I said what I said.” He watched her walk over to where EJ and Gina were waiting for her, so they could go home together.
“You ready to go, dude?” Big Red startled just slightly at the sound of Ricky’s voice.
“Yeah, let’s go.” He put on his backpack, grabbed his skateboard and helmet, and followed Ricky out the door.
---
“Texting Big Red again?” Buffy asked as she sat down next to him at lunch.
Marty shrugged, not even pretending to be ashamed. “Maybe.”
“What kind of name is ‘Big Red?’” TJ asked as he and Cyrus sat down on the other side of the table.
“It’s a family name,” Marty answered.
“Seriously?” Buffy asked.
Marty nodded. “Yep. Big Red Redonovich the third.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope.” He looked a TJ. “And do you really have any right to judge someone else’s name, Tyrone Jethro?”
TJ snorted. “That might be your worst one yet, Martonious.”
“Also not your best work. But don’t worry. They get worse. I have a list.”
“Why?” Buffy asked.
“Big Red helped me come up with it. He has a friend named EJ who also won’t tell anyone what it stands for, so…” He shrugged.
TJ rolled his eyes. “You’re never going to guess it.”
Cyrus lightly elbowed him. “Come on, your name’s not that bad.”
“You have to say that. You’re blinded by your love for me.”
Jonah came up to the table and sat down on the other side of Buffy. “What’d I miss?”
Buffy put the back of her hand against her forehead and dramatically leaned against him. “Save me from the alloromantics. They’re being,” she looked around before whispering loudly to him, “gay.”
Jonah snorted.
TJ muttered, “You literally have a girlfriend,” and rolled his eyes.
Marty looked around, pretending to be confused. “Wait. Are there gay people at this table?”
Buffy put her hand on his arm and, playing along, said in a fake horrified voice. “They’re everywhere. In fact, there might even be some in your own home.” At that, he could only hold it together for a second before he broke, and they all burst out laughing.
When they calmed down, Marty looked at his phone and saw that he had a text. He smiled involuntarily and then noticed Buffy giving him a look. “Shut up.”
She put her hands up. “I didn’t say anything.” Then, as she ate, she pulled out her own phone, probably to text Andi, the hypocrite.
Marty rolled his eyes and checked the text.
Big Red: hey, do you wanna hang out this weekend?
“Um question.” He showed the others his phone. “Is this a date?”
TJ said “Yes,” at the same time Cyrus said “No,” which was very helpful. Thanks, guys.
Buffy took the phone and looked at it, frowning. “I don’t think there’s enough information to tell. He could be being intentionally vague so you can make it a date if you want but also not make it a date if you don’t want to.” She looked up at him. “Do you want it to be a date?”
“I mean, kind of? But what if he doesn’t want it to be?”
She rolled her eyes. “Ask him what you’d be doing.”
He nodded and took his phone back.
Marty: yeah, what do you wanna do?
Big Red: i don’t know. what even is there to do in Shadyside?
Marty: lol it’s not that small of a town. we have stuff
Big Red: like what?
Marty looked back up at his friends. “Oh god, he wants me to decide what we do. What do I do?”
“Is he coming to Shadyside?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah, I don’t have a car.”
“What do you want to do?” Cyrus asked.
“I don’t know. Something that could be a date, but also could not be a date, you know?”
“Steal a golf cart,” Cyrus suggested with a smile. TJ rolled his eyes.
Buffy snorted and shook her head. “You could do something fun.”
“Like what?”
“What about the virtual reality arcade?” Jonah suggested.
Marty and Buffy both winced. “Yeah, no thanks. I don’t really need another virtual relationship.”
Jonah looked like he felt bad. “Right. Forgot about that. Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Marty shook his head and looked around. “Anyone else got any ideas?”
“What about the skate park?” Buffy suggested. “I mean, you did meet in a skate shop.”
“Um…” He shared a look with TJ and Jonah. Right. They hadn’t told her about what had happened the last time they gone there a couple weeks ago…
“Oh god, what’d you do?” She looked between the three of them. “Actually, do I want to know?”
“So, long story short: we’re banned from the skate park,” Jonah said.
Buffy sighed. “Of course you are. And you wonder why we call you the dumbass trio.” She looked at Marty. “Ok, well, I guess that narrows it down a bit. Maybe we should start by making a list of places you aren’t banned from.”
“We aren’t banned from that many places,” TJ said.
Jonah started counting on his fingers and listing them. “There’s the skate park, that one Walmart-”
“Both Walmarts actually,” Marty added. Buffy raised her eyebrow at that.
Jonah nodded. “Right. Both Walmarts, the trampoline park, that pizza place downtown…”
“Like half the stores in the mall,” TJ added.
“I think it’s the whole mall at this point,” Marty pointed out.
Buffy and Cyrus both looked horrified. “Why do we ever let the three of you hang out alone?” Buffy asked.
“Maybe we aren’t the only dumbasses here,” Jonah tried.
Buffy raised her eyebrow at him. “Excuse me.”
Jonah panicked. “Um…” At that moment, the bell rang, and Jonah looked relieved as he practically ran away from her to put his tray up and go to class.
---
Big Red felt a little nervous as he pulled up to Marty’s house. He still wasn’t completely sure if this was supposed to be a date or not. Ashlyn, who was sure that Marty liked him, had said he was taking the coward’s way out when he’d asked Marty in as vague terms as possible, hoping that Marty would just come out and say if he wanted it to be a date or not. And then Marty had said he’d wanted to surprise him? And Big Red had no idea how he was supposed to interpret that.
Red sighed and got out of his car, determined that he would know at least by the end of the day whether or not Marty liked him. He walked up to the front door and knocked.
After a couple seconds, a woman opened the door and smiled at him. She held out her hand. “You must be Big Red. I’m Audrey, Marty’s mom.”
He shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He heard the sound of someone running downstairs, and she turned to look over her shoulder. Marty came running up to the doorway, stopping and smiling when he saw Big Red. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Marty’s mom moved out of the way to let him by. He grabbed Red’s hand and led him away. “Have fun!” she called after him as they left.
“Nice car.”
Red looked at the old bright orange Beetle and blushed slightly. “Shut up.”
“What? I’m serious. It’s cool.”
“Thanks.” He opened the passenger side door for Marty, letting go of his hand when he realized he was still holding it.
Marty smiled at him. “Such a gentleman.”
Red just shrugged and walked around to the driver’s side, getting in and putting on his seatbelt. “So, what’s the plan?”
“You hungry?”
“I could eat.” He shrugged.
“Cool. Because TJ finally got the Spoon to start serving dairy-free milkshakes, and I thought you might appreciate that.”
“Oh my god. Seriously?” Marty nodded. “I haven’t had a milkshake in so long.”
Marty smiled at him. “Then start driving.” Red did as he was told, following Marty’s directions to the diner.