See You at Harry's(21)

THE NEXT DAY, Sara gets up and drives us to school without being asked. Ran is waiting for me at my locker as usual. Cassie sees us from a few lockers down and comes rushing over. “Hey, guys,” she says. “Great shirt.”

Ran’s shirt is hot pink and says GO WITH THE FLOW.

“Thank you,” he says.

For some reason, none of us has anything else to say, so we start to walk toward homeroom. We’re almost there when I see the Things headed our way.

“Uh-oh,” I say. I move closer to Ran.

“Hey, Hildy,” one of them says. “Is this your boyfriend?”

Ran stops in the middle of the hall to face them. People bump into us, but gradually the traffic swerves around us. Cassie looks like she wants to crawl into a locker. I would like to join her.

“Nice shirt,” Thing One says to Ran in his stupid “gay” voice.

“Thanks,” Ran says. He is so calm and cool.

“Excuse us.” I take Ran’s arm and start to lead him away.

Shockingly, the Things step aside, and the three of us walk on.

“See you at Hawee’s!” they call after us. But this time, I don’t cringe. Ran, Cassie, and I look at each other and crack up. Somehow, with Ran around, stuff like that just seems so stupid.

“What losers,” Cassie says, laughing.

Ran gets a weird look on his face but doesn’t say anything. I’m sure he would like to, but he has a thing about negativity. He’s always trying to figure out why people act like jerks instead of just letting them be jerks. I’m sure it’s something his parents used to have him do when he was still getting bullied. “Sometimes if you make up a really sad story for them, it’s easier not to take them being mean to you so personally,” he told me once.

When Cassie realizes Ran isn’t going to agree with her, she blushes. I feel sorry for her because I know she’s going to kick herself again for saying the wrong thing. I wish she would just take the hint that maybe if she is always saying things Ran doesn’t like, they wouldn’t make the best couple in the world. Besides, why can’t we just all stay friends? Them being a couple would ruin everything. And I don’t think that because I think maybe Ran and I could be . . . well, never mind. It just would.

“They seem pretty secure to me,” I say, hoping to make Cassie feel a little better.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Ran says.

Well, he would know.

After school, Holden waves to me, and I follow him to the curb, where we wait for Gray. Ran walks over to us and asks if he can come, too. Holden shrugs. When Gray pulls up, we climb in.

“Who’s the new guy?” Gray asks.

“This is my friend Ran,” I tell him.

“Cool.” He turns up the music, and Ran and I lean back in our seats. Once we’re on the road, Gray reaches over and takes Holden’s hand as if it is the most natural thing in the world. They start singing to the song on the radio at the top of their lungs. It’s like they’re friends and boyfriends at the same time. It’s the first time I’ve seen Holden look so happy. So comfortable. It’s like he’s a whole new person. I wish he could always be like this. Who he really is.

When Gray drops us off, Ran and I stand in front of the restaurant. “Gray seems nice,” Ran says. “They make a good couple.” That’s Ran. I knew it wouldn’t faze him a bit to see Holden hold hands with a guy. “But he does seem kind of old, doesn’t he? How old do you think he is?”

“I don’t know,” I say. I’m surprised Ran even cares. He never cares about stuff like that.

The door opens and Charlie comes tearing out at top speed. He flies right into Ran’s open arms. Ran lifts him in the air and almost falls over.

“I love you, Wan!” Charlie giggles.

“Nice to see you, too,” I say.

Charlie gives me a bashful look. “Hi, Ferny.”

He takes Ran’s hand and leads us inside. There are a few customers, but mostly the restaurant is pretty dead. Ran and I try to do our homework, but Charlie keeps interrupting us.

“Where’re Mom and Sara?” I ask, noticing for the first time that Mona is the only one taking orders.

Charlie makes a meditation pose.

“Again?” I ask.

He nods.

“What about Sara?”

“Helping Gil.” He crawls into Ran’s lap and starts to inspect his ear.

“Since when does Sara help Gil?”

Charlie just shrugs.

When my mom finally comes down, she heads straight to a table in the back with the big silverware bin and starts wrapping sets of forks, knives, and spoons in napkins for dinner prep. Charlie runs over to help. She giggles with him, and they chatter away as they stack the bundles into a fort around Doll, who sits on the table with her green dreadlocks and shocked expression. When I was Charlie’s age, my mom never talked to me like that. I spent most of my time making my own forts under the tables with Holden. I guess the two of us have always needed our hideouts. Even when we were little.

After what feels like hours, it’s finally time to go home. My mom scoops Charlie up and squeezes him tight. “Ran, do you have any dinner plans?” she asks.

Ran smiles. “Actually, my dad’s working late.”