Page 16 of Septembers

She flipped him the bird, blew him a kiss, then walked away. “Until next time, New Best Friend.”

Secret Weirdo

The mailbox was empty save for a cute little envelope bearing a hand-drawn logo with tiny creatures climbing all over it: Bob Is Not Your Neighbour. Theo hadn’t expected it to arrive so soon. It was lucky no one else checked the mail but him. The last thing he wanted was for Caleb to see his name on the package. He’d bought three stickers: a fluffy fur-monster with the caption, It’s the humidity, a boat-like creature with rainbow sails and the words, Get in, loser, and a bug-like creature with an absurd amount of limbs saying, Don’t squish me! I pay my taxes too!

Taking the stairs two at a time may have been a mistake because he was out of breath when he knocked on Dae’s door. “Hey, if you don’t tell me to screw off by the count of three, I’m coming in. Three, two…” He opened the door to find Dae at his desk with the notebook he’d obviously just slammed shut. Which was fine. It didn’t make Theo wildly curious at all.

“Here.” Theo gave him the stickers with a smug air of accomplishment. “Slap these on your computer and you’ll have something to talk to Caleb about. Ad nauseam.” Dae stared down at them with the tiniest fragment of a smile. “What?”

“Just…” His smile grew ever so slightly, but no dimples yet. “You accusing someone else of being chatty.”

Theo recognized that his flair of joy at being teased by Dae Moon was disproportionate to the moment, but he couldn’t help it.

“If my help is unwanted, I’ll leave.” He reached for the stickers, but Dae pulled them away.

“Your help is wanted, but I can’t put these on my laptop.”

Another flair. Radiant joy. “Say that again.”

Dae’s head tilted to the side like a confused puppy. “I can’t put⁠—”

“Not that part.”

He let out a half-frustrated-half-amused huff. “Your help is wanted.”

“One more time.”

A squashed smile. “Theo.”

“Okay, fine.” The bed creaked as Theo sat down. He was tempted to crawl under the covers, but figured they weren’t exactly there yet. “Why can’t you put them on your laptop? Are they too silly for the insufferably mature Dae Moon?”

“No.” A tiny breath of a word.

“Too childish? Too whimsical? Too quirky?”

“They’re my drawings.”

Theo’s brain was too busy thinking of more synonyms, so when Dae’s words finally penetrated his consciousness, he let out a very dignified, “Huh?”

Dae handed him his notebook, and there they were: the adorably wacky characters with their charming, weird catchphrases. Dae was Bob Is Not Your Neighbour.

Theo’s cheeks ached with the force of his smile. It felt like, after spending so long borderline obsessing about him, he had a chance at understanding Dae Moon. “What does the name mean?”

“I was fourteen. I thought it sounded funny and mysterious.” Dae fidgeted with the sticker in his hand, giving it his full attention. “Do you, um,” he said as an adorable blush exploded on his cheeks, “like them?”

“Of course I like them, but I like that my friend is a secret weirdo even more.” Dae tried so hard not to look happy: tight lips with his gaze focused on his hands. Theo wished he could flip whatever switch existed inside him that would allow him to just show how he was feeling. But he had to focus on one mission at a time. “You know you’ll have a friend for life if you tell Caleb you’re Bob, right?”

“No.” His eyes shot to meet Theo’s. “Don’t tell anyone, please.”

“Okay, okay, pinky swear.” Dae reached out his hand and Theo tried not to laugh. “Figure of speech, Dae. Do I get to know why we’re not taking this very obvious and simple route to friendship?”

He bit his lip, his teeth sliding across the surface, making Theo very grateful for the open window and the breeze cooling down the suddenly warm room. But then Dae swivelled away, turning his chair so all Theo saw was the top of his head poking out from behind it. “He interprets them in his own way, right? If he knows who draws them, it'll change the way he sees them.”

“Are you Doctor Claw? Why are you turned away?” He didn’t answer. “That was an Inspector Gadget reference.”

“I got it.”

“Are you regretting telling me about this?”