Chapter 13

 

“Mom, please.”

“Just a little… bit…

“Mom!”

“Honey! I just want you to look your best, okay? There.” May’s mom took a step backward to look at her handiwork while May herself tried her very best not to fidget. “It’s not every day that my little one goes on her first date, you know.”

“It’s not a date!” May said, blushing furiously in denial. 

“Yeah, sure,” Dad said, walking through the room. “Your mom and I are just friends.”

“Dad!”

“You look beautiful, sweetie,” her mom said. “You know, for your not-date.”

“Kill me,” May groaned. “Just end it.”

“None of that,” Mom said. “So what are you two going to be doing on your… friendship outing, then? You know, if it’s not a date?”

“Well, we were thinking of grabbing something to eat and going to see a movie–” In the other room, her dad burst out laughing, but May pushed on. “But then we realized that like… this is the first time I’m going to go ou– hang out with him as May, and we didn’t want that marred by people being homophobic or something.”

“Or transphobic,” her mom added, nodding.

“It wouldn’t be transphobic, Mom,” May said. “I’m not a girl.”

Her mom didn’t skip a beat. “I don’t think they’d care, honey.”

“Ah. I guess… like… yeah, alright, that’s fair.” She frowned and looked at her hands. “Weird to think that that would be but like… yeah, I guess.” Her mom fixed her hair as she thought through some things. “A– anyway, we were thinking of having dinner at his house and then watching a movie there,” she continued. “That way, we’re safe at home.”

“And under parental supervision,” Mom said, “which is a normal thing to reassure your mom of when you’re just hanging out with a friend.” May’s ears burned. “Oh, don’t make a face. I think it’s a good idea. You haven’t been there in a while, they might not even recognize you!”

“Y–yeah,” May said, weirdly hoping for that possibility. “But he talked to them and they were okay with it.” 

“With what?”

“With him bringing a girl home.” May blinked. Her mom’s eyebrows went up. “I mean–”

“I know what you mean, honey,” Mom said, kissing her on the forehead. “Better than you know, I think. Your father and I love you very much, you know that, right?” May heard a very quiet sniffle.

“I… yeah, of course. Mom, what’s going on?” May pulled back in confusion.

“The past week has been a lot for you,” her mom said. “Obviously we can tell you’re stressed. But.” She let the pause sit for a second. “But we’ve also never seen you smile as much as you have the past week. Not since you were, like, nine. And we’ve noticed that. We’re really happy to see you this happy, and we want to keep you safe.”

May was a little confused, but her mom seemed so genuine she didn’t want to say anything that might break the moment she was obviously trying to have. “Thank you, M–”

The doorbell interrupted her. They both perked up like meerkats. “That’ll be him!”  Without even saying a word, May got up, looked down at her dress, and got a flick on the forehead from her mom. “You look beautiful, sweetie. Go!”

May made a pretty good show of pretending not to run for the door, managed not to tear it off its hinges, and almost bit clean through her lip when she saw Drew. He wasn’t even dressed up very fancy, wearing a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, half facing away from the door with his hands in his pockets. “Hi,” May said, blushing. 

He lit up when he saw her, a smile wide enough to bridge the atlantic with room to spare, took a step forward to do… something, then paused when he saw her mom behind her, cleared his throat, ran his hand through his hair and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, hi,” he said back. 

“You can kiss her!” Mom yelled from the living room. “We already know!”

“MOTHER!” May spun around on her heel and shot daggers at her mom who ran out of the room giggling like a 40’s cartoon character. She shook her head and turned back to Drew. “I’m so, so sorry, she’s always so awkw–”

He interrupted her by lifting her up and pulling her into the kind of kiss that knocked the wind and brain out of her. He was still a little bit awkward, but he was definitely getting better at it, May sort-of half realized while she was trying to collect thoughts like someone picking up the shards of a plate they’d dropped at three in the morning. 

“Ah,” May finally said as he stepped back again. “Uh.”

“Your mom did say it was okay,” he said sheepishly. “Was it, uh, was it not–”

“It was very okay!” May blurted out. “I mean, uh, yeah, I mean, we’ve kissed before, right?” She bit her lip again. “Yeah, it was very okay.”

“Good,” he said. “I’d like to do it again, some time.”

“I’d like that.”

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“Do you still need to, uh, grab something?” He looked behind her. May just shook her head and grabbed her purse.

“No,” she said. “I do have to be home before midnight though. Otherwise I’ll turn into a pumpkin.” Drew stared at her for a second.

“Don’t even joke about that,” he said as she joined him outside and her hand slipped into his like it was born to be there. “With everything going on there, you secretly being Cinderella is within the realm of ridiculous possibility.”

“That’s very fair,” May said, chuckling slightly. “Are your parents okay with me coming over… you know, like this?” She looked at her reflection in the door of a parked car. Her mom had really gone all out today, forcing her out of bed early so they could go dress shopping and making sure she was ready-ready for the not-date. 

“Of course,” Drew said. “I just told them that May was coming over.”

“Wait, you didn’t tell them…”

“Not my place,” he said with a shrug. “If they give you grief, I’ll disown them.” With a bit of trepidation, May squeezed his hand. A knot of tension formed in her stomach, worrying about a million different things, when she felt him stop and turn her towards him. “Hey,” he said. “It’s going to be okay. My parents are cool. Ish.”

“I know what that’s like,” May said, laughing nervously.

“But yeah. Don’t worry. Tonight, all I want you to worry about is eating too much and enjoying the movie. And maybe letting me know how the food is.”

“Wait,” May said, “you’re cooking?”

“Already did. I made it earlier today. Mom helped.” May tried not to be a little weirdo about the fact that he had apparently cooked for her. 

“Oh,” she said, as casually as was physically possible for her in that moment, “that’s really cool. Do you cook often?” Drew nodded.

“Sort of, yeah. Mom doesn’t want me to go to college next year without knowing how to take care of myself so she makes me learn recipes from time to time. It’s pretty cool, actually. If you want I can cook for you some time when you’re actually there, but for tonight I didn’t want to bore you, you know?”

“You’d never,” May said. “Uh… this is it, right?” Drew led the way up the short driveway. It was only a few minutes walking between their houses. “Why don’t we ever hang out at your place, anyway?”

“Yeah,” Drew said. “And I think it’s because the Playstation is at Ryan’s and the Xbox is at Matt’s. My parents were never really into consoles, so you know.”

“That makes sense,” May said as Drew held the door open for her and she almost walked into what she had originally mistaken for a strangely decorated wardrobe. Drew’s father turned around with the deliberate momentum of a glacier. He had a mustache. 

No, that wasn’t accurate. He had the kind of mustache that made other mustaches feel inadequate. It was facial decoration. The man’s facial hair wasn’t a statement, it was a declaration. Only barely did it manage to not be overshadowed by the man’s ample eyebrows, two large furry caterpillars that had been separated and now wanted nothing more than to be together again. He was a mountain of a man, with foliage to match. 

“A,” May said. 

His eyebrows lifted, revealing two large, warm, brown eyes. His mustache smiled. “You must be May,” Drew’s father said. “It’s good to meet you.”

“Hi!” May squeaked. “It’s good to meet you too, sir!” She almost exploded out of her skin when Drew put his hand on her shoulder.

“Relax, Dad, you’re scaring her,” he said, leading her into the living room, where Drew’s mom, who looked like she could bench-press a motorcycle, was setting the table. 

“Hey, honey. And your friend! May, right?” May nodded just as Drew’s dad walked in. “About time, huh?” May looked at her with a bit of confusion. What did she mean? Was it because Drew’s parents had assumed that she was a new girl from school, and were they glad that he had finally brought a girl home after maybe talking to them about his sexuality? Or was it that they recognized May and were they glad May was finally “a girl” now, even if she wasn’t? Or was it b–

“May,” Drew said, “I can feel you overthinking from all the way over here. Mom, what did you mean by ‘finally’?” His mom gave him a casual glance as she brought a big pot over to the table. 

“Oh! This is your friend we met before, right?” she said. “You’re always talking about her so your father and I were kind of waiting for you to finally bring her over here. She’s even cuter than you said.” She winked at May. “And that’s saying something, he’s always talking about how pretty you–”

“Time for dinner!” Drew said loudly as he started to spoon freshly made chili onto everyone’s plates. It was clear he was trying not to be too embarrassed, but pretty soon all of that was forgotten when they dug in and May found out he was a fantastic cook, to her eternal frustration. 

After dinner, his parents went upstairs, and they weren’t even being subtle about the whole living room being free for just the two of them and also there’s popcorn in the cupboard if you want any, honey, feel free. 

May was wrapped in a blanket, sitting in front of a giant television showing… something. She couldn’t even focus. Drew was sitting right next to her, one arm over the back of the couch. Behind her. She looked over at him. “You… you can put your arm around me if you like, you know.”

“I just didn’t want to–” he said, and then stopped when May let herself fall over against him. He chuckled and pulled her just a little bit closer. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, like a drumbeat from some ancient subterranean kingdom. “I like you, May.”

“I like you too, Drew,” May said quietly, and then sat up a little bit to ask him something. He misunderstood and kissed her so hard it made her toes tingle. It took her a moment to put words back into the right order. “Monday is probably the last day of the contest,” she said. “And I think Ryan might have to lose.”

“Why is that?” Drew asked, skeptical.

“Just something… someone said. But I also think I know how I’m going to win.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” May said. “Can you get in touch with your cousin for me?”