Photo by Andrew Ebrahim on Unsplash
Dejoy plopped down beside me at the back of the classroom. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?”
“Lord fuck no, I hope not.” I glanced up and made sure Ms. Leonhardt was still taking attendance.
Dejoy and me go way back; she should have never given us assign seats next to each other.
“Yeah. I hope not too.” A smile cracked his face wide.
But I know. I know we are thinking exactly the same thing.
“No.” I shook my head. “No. I’m not getting detention today.”
“Then how about…”
“Fine. Will do.”
Tamsin who sat in front of us turned around. “You guys are the weirdest.”
“A-yep.” My crooked smile matched Dejoy’s.
***
“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Dejoy waved the fourth bottle of his six-pack back and forth.
Halfway through my wine bottle sans glass, because who needs extra dishes?, I respond with, “Lord fuck no, I hope not.”
Dejoy and me go way back; I should have known not to drink with him after his breakup with Tamsin.
“Yeah. I hope not too.” A sad smile had him staring into the hole at the top of his empty bottle.
But I know. I know we are thinking exactly the same thing. But I won’t be a rebound, and we will never be friends like that. I hate to see him hurting.
***
“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Dejoy demented smile seemed to have touches of rigor mortis at the edges as he stared at me across the table from where he attempted to study for his exit exams.
“Lord fuck no, I hope not,” my response immediate and flat.
Dejoy and me go way back; don’t know why any of the teachers thought we would make good study buddies. But, hey, both of us were in the top 10% of the community college despite it. He studied my face more thoroughly than he had been studying his books. Dejoy’s overlarge head tilted sideways like Chewy, my old puppy used to do.
Hesitantly he grunted, “Yeah. I hope not too.” His smile edged away like the sun getting covered in clouds.
I know. I know he understood my dark, angry thoughts about graduation. About the war they are fighting along the coasts around the planet. About my dad’s deployment and my mother’s suicide attempt last night, which I hadn’t talked about yet but would. All those things making these final two tests meaningless enough to blow off for ice cream and running screaming through the woods afterwards like we’ve done a million times. But not today, and not likely ever again. Sorry to bring you down buddy.
***
Dejoy glanced sideways at me before whispering. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?”
“Lord fuck no, I hope not.” I met his eyes only for a moment before returning to the piles of paperwork that matched the piles on his desk, and the desks of everyone in the room. I waited two long inhales, hoping against my daily growing despondency to see if our Overseer noticed. A tiny smile curved across my downward tilted face, the unused muscles fighting the deepening frown lines. What I was thinking was very much Not Safe for Work.
Dejoy and me go way back; they never should have put us next to each other. Not that anyone was going to be telling those now in charge who knew whom before.
“Yeah. I hope not too.” His voice was a low hiss as he kept his head down.
But I know. I know we are thinking exactly the same thing.
(word 601, first published 9/18/2022)