into the wild

Shan wished he could talk to Henry all the time. Somehow, it made the day better, knowing he was there. But sometimes, he wasn't sure if he was suppose to have good days.

His Dad was pissed that he wasn't doing band. They'd had an argument over band and why did he go to band camp, anyway?

"See, the only reason I went was because of Lily." He told Henry on their drive to his mother's. "She paid for half of it, anyway. You'd think I was costing them a fortune, by the way he's acting. I mean, I know he's got a new kid. I get that. And she's a girl. And she's his little princess." Shan knew he shouldn't have brought it up. "See, what boring crap I've got to deal with? You, don't need that."

"Its OK." Henry promised, but he kept his eyes on the road.

"I'm really trying, you know." Shan winced. He knew he hadn't done enough. "But, now they've got a problem with me having a job. How can that be wrong? Huh?" He guessed he was talking too much. Just then he remembered his Father's anniversary with his step-mom. "Crap." He squinted hard. "How could I forget that?"

"Forget what?" Henry wanted to know.

"They wanted me to watch Bree-Anna. But I know they don't trust me. I kept thinking my step-mom would find someone else. I gotta work that night." Shan looked out the window.

"How old is she?" Henry looked at him then.

"8. Going on 28." Shan sighed.

"You don't get along?" Henry wondered.

"She's OK. I guess. I don't really know her. She probably thinks they want her to babysit me." Shan sighed thinking he didn't want to be dropped off with a new family. He liked his old one just fine. "Look, I hate ..to..ask you ..to baby sit."

"I could do it." Henry assured him.

"Well, I could get you some passes. You know, take her to a movie at least..so I could..." Shan cleared his throat, what was he thinking? Did he want Henry to think he wanted to see him? He bit into his thumb nail. That would be just crazy. For starters, he didn't date. He remembered then how Lily stressed they should come to the pizza place first. The last thing he needed to do was split up in two cars before he got there. "Lets get pizza."

They met up with Lily and Frankie who were already there. Of course, Lily had to make over Henry like he was a popstar.

"Shan will not shut up about you." She informed Henry. "And now I can see why." She was all giddy. Shan thought he might crumble because his friend was turning this into a real date.

"You know, he's really new at this." Lily let out silly sigh as she looked Henry over.

"Shut up, already." Shan was feeling really uncomfortable now. He kept glaring at her to turn off her charming pixie style.

"You, shut up." She was playful as she sat next to her girlfriend so Henry and Shan would have to squeeze in the other side of the booth. Shan felt he was in a sweat.

"I was so in hopes, you could at least give him some style tips, Henry." Lily smiled at Shan who was waiting for the next horrible thing to come out of her mouth. Shan went ahead and poured root beer from the pitcher. Lily already ordered. A cheese pizza for her and Frankie and the Meat-Eater's delight for Shan. "But I miss, Big Foot here. I guess you've seen his feet." Again, she teased.

Henry's smile was open. Shan kept eyeballing Lily as if she was being the thorn in his side.

"Oh, I know you miss me." She made duck lips as if she might kiss him, but turned to kiss Frankie as if to aggravate Shan.

Luckily, they managed through dinner. Shan kept cramming his mouth full of pizza. Of course, Lily didn't give Henry much room to talk. Instead, she told him stories about Shan, how she got him turned on to "drums" his sophomore year in high school. By the end, Shan felt the only reason Lily liked him to begin with was because he had a reliable car and lived on her street.

Finally it was over and Shan was full of apologies.

"She knows you." Henry grinned as if he enjoyed all her terrible stories.

"I guess so." Shan kept his hands in his pockets, wondering what he should do? Thank Henry with a mad handshake?  They were parked in front of where Shan used to live. No one was home, but his car was parked on the street. It was an old Honda Accord.

"I owe you so much." Shan found himself saying as he stood there by his car. Finally he leaned next to it, thinking he probably needed some time alone with it.

"Don't worry about it." Henry shrugged he leaned next to the car too. It was comfortable being with Henry, but he starred at Henry's sneakers.

"But I do." He tried not to look at him, but he kept finding himself looking at Henry wondering just how to make this happen. "I told someone I had a boyfriend."

"Really? Like your Dad?" Henry smiled.

"No." He sighed. "Of course, not." He didn't want to dare, go there just yet, but he had a feeling his Dad knew. "No, this guy at the movie theater..."

"Oh. Does he work there?" Henry winced as if he might know this someone.

"Yeah." Shan sighed. "But the point is..I dunno if ..If I'm..even.. boyfriend material."

"Well, you might..never know..until..you try." Henry's shoulder edged next to his. Shan didn't want to move. He didn't want to say anything. Yet, he waited. He wasn't sure if it were his place to make the first move.

It was quiet then. A clear sky. Such a warm night. Why was it so hard to make the first move? But he kept his eyes on the stars, and Henry found his lips. Shan couldn't help but to touch his face. To have Henry closer. Maybe his lips twitched. It felt electric, a pulse of its own. Suddenly, he felt reanimated. It was even better than he expected.