Page 23 of Elemasters

“I figured. What is it?”

Chris glanced down at the ground for a long moment, before meeting Dustin’s eyes again.

“We’re still good… right?”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Because of the whole bi thing. I can’t stop thinking about it. If it’s true… if I am actually bisexual… that won’t be a problem, will it?”

Dustin almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of the question, but Chris was clearly dead serious.

“Why would it be a problem? Chris I’m literally gay,”

“Yeah, but that’s exactly what I’m worried about,” Chris rubbed his hand across his forehead, “I guess I’m worried about stealing your thunder. Being the queer twin has always been your space, I don’t wanna eclipse that,”

Dustin caught Chris’s lip quivering as he spoke, and he immediately embraced him.

“Chris, it’s not a competition. You’ve gotta stop seeing the world like that. We can be queer together, it’s not a space that belongs to either of us,”

Chris nodded against Dustin’s shoulder, sniffling as a single tear fell.

“Y-yeah, right. You’re right. We can do this together… just, don’t tell anyone outside the group yet, alright? I… need some time,”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Dustin assured him, releasing him from the hug and looking him in the eyes, “I love you, and I’m insanely proud of you,”

Chris smiled and furiously wiped his tears.

“I love you too. Forever bro; cradle to grave, right?”

Dustin smiled back at him.

“Yeah, cradle to grave big bro,”

Chapter 9

The Saltwater Room

Dustin’s brain felt like overcooked oatmeal; lumpy, mushy, and ready to slosh out of his ears at any moment. That would’ve been annoying on a normal day, but on the day of the big regional meet?

It was fucking catastrophic.

He’d spent the entirety of the week trying to balance swim and elemental magic practice with a fucking Mt. Doom sized pile of homework. At this point the only thing keeping him going was the ungodly amount of caffeine he’d been mainlining since he woke up.

He couldn’t collapse though, no matter how badly he wanted to; the meet had finally arrived, and if he could just survive the rest of the day, he might finally be able to get some rest.

He pulled into the school’s parking lot before sunrise and stared at the parked activities bus like a Titanic passenger gazing upon the ill-fated ship. He couldn’t explain it, but there was this sense of dread that loomed heavy in his chest like an anchor weighing down his heart.

He was so caught up in his own feelings, that he’d all but forgotten that Chris was barely conscious in the passenger’s seat next to him.

“Are you gonna get out or what? I need to get the car home and crash. No reason I gotta start my day at 5am because you have regionals,”

“Sorry, I just have a bad feeling I can’t shake,”

Chris sat up a bit straighter and looked at Dustin through tired eyes.

“You feeling sick or something? Dude, I told you that drinking 3 Monsters before we left the house was a shitty idea!”

“I’m not sick,” Dustin shook his head, “I don’t know, maybe it’s just anxiety. Coach said that scouts from WSU are gonna be there,”