I Wish You All the Best(91)

“Kinda.” I clear my throat. “My name is Ben.”

“I’m Nathan.” He gives a wave.

“Micah.” They don’t reach to shake my hand or anything, which I appreciate. “What are your pronouns?” they ask.

“Oh, um.” I don’t really know why that catches me off guard. “They and them, please.”

“Awesome. I use he and him,” he says before he looks Nathan’s way.

“Oh, I use he and him, I guess. Sorry, not used to the pronoun thing yet.”

“It’s cool.”

Nathan falls into easy conversation with Micah, and then more people sort of crowd around. There’s Camryn, who’s nonbinary like me; Ava, who’s pan and gender-fluid; Cody, who’s bisexual; and Blair, who’s an aromantic trans girl. They all sort of get caught up in Nathan’s gravitational pull, and I’m envious. He just slides right into the conversation, as if he’s known everyone for years. Like we’re one big happy queer family. I guess that’s sort of the point of the whole group really.

I try to chime in here and there, answer any questions I’m asked. But really, I can’t help but watch Nathan. He seems so happy.

But eventually Micah has to go to the front of the room and make an announcement that the building is closing. People start running up to Mariam, getting in last-minute questions and pictures.

“Maybe we should just wait outside,” I say.

“I was thinking the same thing.”



We sit in that silence outside. The comfortable one that comes when it’s just the two of us. Well, the two of us and the few people walking around downtown so late at night, but it feels like just the two of us, the cool air of the night keeping us comfortable.

“You know prom tickets go on sale Monday,” he says out of the blue.

Why on earth is he telling me this? “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. You want to go?”

“I don’t have anything to wear.” Or the money to rent something. And I can’t ask Hannah to do that. Not on such short notice.

“We can find you something,” he offers.

“I’m good.” My eyes fly from the floor to his face.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” I can feel my heart beating faster, and that sweaty feeling in my palms. Because did he just ask me to prom? That’s what it sounded like, right? I just thought it was going to be him and Meleika and Sophie all going as friends. Meleika already said they’d made the reservations for dinner and everything.

So even if I say yes, there’s really no room for me.

“So, did you like it?” I ask Nathan, desperate for a subject change here. Anything to get us far away from prom. “The talk, I mean.”

“Yeah,” he says. “She seems pretty popular.”

“They,” I correct.

“Right, sorry. They, they, they,” he starts repeating under his breath. “What’s their channel name again?”

“Just search Mariam Haidari,” I say.

His eyes go wide when he hits enter and sees all the places Mariam’s name is popping up. “Oh my God. You’re totally friends with a famous person.”

“I guess.” I don’t know if Mariam’s ever seen it that way.

“Come on.” He keeps scrolling. “Wow, they’ve done a lot.” Then he sees the picture. The picture. And I can tell it’s the picture because he grips my arm and his eyes go wide. “They fucking met Beyoncé?”

“Yes, I have, and she’s lovely.” Mariam’s voice surprises the both of us as they round the corner. “It’s nice to meet you. Nathan, right?” They hold out a hand.

Nathan takes it all too eagerly. “I’m guessing this one’s been talking about me?” He nods to me.

“You’re such a pain in my side it’s sort of hard not to,” I say, and Nathan grips his chest and pretends to be wounded.

“Ouch.”

“Okay!” Mariam wraps their arms around my shoulders. “Where are we going for dinner, because I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving!”

Nathan’s already up and walking down the street. I swear, he could be best friends with anyone if you just give him enough time. “If we head down a block, you’ll have the best pizza in town. It’s still terrible, but in Raleigh, it’s the best you’ll find.”

“I’m game.” Mariam glances over their shoulder. “You coming, Ben? We’ve got that thing to talk about,” they say with a wink.

“Yeah.” I follow them both closely, watching these two worlds of mine collide. It still feels like a dream.

But if it is, I really don’t want to wake up.





Prom week might be more of a nightmare than exam week.

Scratch that.

Prom week is definitely more of a nightmare than exam week. Student council probably should’ve spaced things out a little more, maybe started selling tickets at the beginning of April. But nope, they waited until the week of. So now there’s a line at the entrance of the cafeteria, stretching all the way down to the front office.

And since Meleika and Nathan are a part of the student council, they have to spend all their time after school decorating, hanging flyers, and making sure everything is to Stephanie’s standards. Luckily, it seems like most of the pieces from the Spring Fling can be reused.