Page 23 of Sending Love Letters to Animals

“I thought you guys ended up going to LKC anyway?”

“Liam called,” I said with a shrug. “So, we showed up for a few snacks and a few dances. But we still got back to Jules’ in enough time to watch two movies.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I saw the pictures on Instagram. And the videos on TikTok. And—”

“Got it,” I nudged the right wheel of his chair with the toe of my shoe. “We’re those guys who can’t not live our lives through the internet.”

Davud reached out to punch me in the side lightly. “I didn’t mean that, man. I just meant I’d seen the pictures and stuff, so I knew you had gone to the café. That’s all. Promise.”

“Want a push to class?” I asked.

The crowd behind us was starting to move away from the trash and bins and we were threatened with another tsunami of bodies.

“I think everyone is about to swarm again.”

“Fuck.” David muttered under his breath.

“Hey,” I said softly. “It’s cool. I don’t have to push you. I can just walk with you if you want.”

Davud sighed and his wheelchair came to a stop. He slid his hands into his lap.

“Yeah,” he said hollowly. “Could you get me to Trig?”

“Your Uber driver is waiting outside, my dude,” I chuckled to break the tension.

Davud managed a smile, so I grabbed the handles of his chair and began to briskly push him away from the crowd in the cafeteria. I took off at a jaunty pace, practically jogging behind him as I pushed him down the hall. Once it was clear that we were ahead of the crowd and no longer in danger of being run over by the crazed animals that populated our school, I slowed down.

“Mr. Martin’s class, right?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“So,” I asked. “Any movies? Any that you’re going to recommend?”

Davud sighed again, but the disappointment and tension in his voice seemed to melt away.

“I’m unsure,” he said. “I don’t want to say too much because I’m still deciding. I want you to be surprised when I present my recommendations.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Well, I don’t have any new musicals to recommend yet, but it’s coming. So, don’t get too complacent. Your time is coming. And you’re going to hate it.”

Davud managed a genuine laugh at that.

“I always do, man.”

“There’s no way you’ve hated every single musical I’ve told you to watch. I don’t accept that.”

“Okay,” he relented. “Yeah. Rent was kind of cool and stuff. A few bops, for sure. But why can’t you watch something that’s not a musical every now and then?”

“I do when you recommend them,” I teased as we entered the maths hall.

He laughed at me.

“Here’s good,” Davud said, simply.

I let go of his chair handles, and his hands returned to his wheels. Stepping up beside him, I walked alongside Davud as we made our way down the empty hall to Mr. Martin’s room. We’d ensured that Davud wouldn’t be the last person to make it to his Trigonometry class.

“You really should have come to watch with us, man,” I said. “We had a pretty good time. The movies weren’t great or anything, but we had lots of popcorn and sodas. Lots of smack-talk. It was fun.”

“Well, you guys went to the café,” he said. “I would’ve been stuck in Jules’ house alone with her family until you got back.