Chet Watakeekul

I watched with a strange sort of numbness as Vincent's car sped away. Why had he lied? Why had he insisted he wouldn't be friends with Alex if Alex wasn't as rich as him when it was so clearly a lie? Why was there so much pain and loneliness behind his eyes? Who had convinced him that anyone poorer than him was only after his money? It felt deeper than a couple of stupid high school girls though they clearly had not helped.

At least he hadn't heard my conversation with Melissa about Jason.

And then with a start the numbness jumped away and my feet needed to just move as I remembered what Vincent was really after. I needed to warn Mateo. I sped down the sidewalk with no clear destination in mind. I selected Mateo's name in my phone and hit call. I held the phone up to my ear as I walked under the trees lining the sidewalk. The phone rang and rang. There was no answer. I hung up and quickly called Gareth.

"What?" Gareth asked lazily as he answered almost immediately.

"Are you home? At class? Where's Mateo? Is he in class? Is he home? Is he at lunch right now?"

"Breathe, kid," Gareth said.

"I'm older than you," I reminded him.

"That doesn't mean anything," he said easily.

"Where's Mateo?" I repeated.

"I don't know. Try calling him."

"I did. He didn't answer." I stopped when I was suddenly in front of a building I'd never been to before. I blinked up at the brown building, read the word dance hall and then turned around and walked in the direction I just came from. I had a class to get to.

"Maybe he's in class," Gareth said.

"Do you know what class he has right now?" I asked. "Are you home?"

"No and no. I'm in class."

"You're talking to me during class?" I asked aghast, but not surprised.

"Yep. I guess I better hang up. The professor is giving me dirty looks."

I groaned. "Gareth, don't answer your phone during class." I hung up without saying goodbye.

I sprinted back to the cafeteria and searched inside. There was no sign of Mateo. I wasn't sure which class he had next. I sprinted to the Biology building, but after wandering the hall for about 5 minutes I decided that was useless.

I looked at the time on my phone. My leadership training class had already started. I really hated to miss that class, but my friend was more important. I took the campus shuttle to the nearby apartments and sprinted to Mateo's and Gareth's apartment. I knocked on the door and waited.

There wasn't an immediate answer. I put my ear to the door, held my breath and listened. There was quiet shuffling beyond the door. I knocked again.

"Mateo, are you in there?" I said to the door. "I really need to talk to you."

I put my ear to the door again. There was more shuffling - closer this time - and then the door opened. Mateo stood in front of me with a scowl on his face and his lips slightly swollen.

"What?" he asked clearly grumpy.

I was distracted by Alex sitting on the couch further in the room patting down his disheveled blond hair.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked, but already guessing the answer.

"Yes," Mateo sighed, "but it's fine. Come in." He left the door open as he went back into the room. I stepped in, but stayed close to the open door. I knew I had interrupted them and now I was feeling guilty and uncomfortable.

"Sorry," I said. "I tried calling, but you didn't answer."

"I must have left it on silence after class," Mateo said. "So, what is it? I imagine it's important. You don't usually just show up like this."

"It is important, but I can come back later or you can just call me when...you're done." I took a step towards the hallway.

Alex's face flushed red and he looked away from me. I pretended I hadn't noticed his blush. I also pretended not to notice the hickeys that dotted his neck by the collar of his shirt.

"It's really okay," Mateo said. "We're not supposed to let things get too heated in here. And do you know what the worst part about that is? I was the one who said to Gareth if we got dates we shouldn't have sex here. I thought he was going to get a girlfriend first and I didn't want to deal with that. Well, it backfired on me. I wish everyday I had never said that."

Alex's blush deepened.

"That's too much information, Mateo," I said. "I don't want to know all that."

Mateo smirked at me. "Careful, Chet, you might find yourself in this same situation one day and I won't be sympathetic."

"Doubtful," I said.

Alex's color was starting to return to normal.

"So what do you want?" Mateo asked.

"Oh, yeah." I looked at Alex. It was probably best not to mention this in front of him. Vincent was doing this only from some misguided attempt to protect Alex, but he was being a jerk and I didn't want to call him out for being a jerk in front of his best friend. "Maybe you and I should talk in the hall."

"I can just leave if you need to talk," Alex said. He started to stand.

"No," Mateo and I both said at the same time, but for two very different reasons. "Stay here," Mateo instructed Alex. "Please," he added to detract from the harshness. "I'll be right back."

I stepped into the hallway. He followed me and closed the door behind us. "So what is it?" he asked quietly so as not to be heard from beyond the door.

"You haven't come out to your family yet have you," I said.

"Serafina..."

"I know she knows," I interrupted. "Does anyone else in your family know?"

"I haven't told them yet," Mateo said. "Why?"

"I think Vincent is trying to find them to tell them you're gay."

Mateo stiffened. "Why would he do that?" he asked bewildered.

I shrugged. "Maybe he's hoping your family will cause a rift between you and Alex." There was a pause. "Will they?"

"I don't know," Mateo said. "I mean, no they won't if I have anything to say about it, but I don't know if they will accept us."

"What are you going to do?"

He shook his head and stared at the closed door as if he could see Alex through it. After several moments of staring at the door, he opened it and went back inside. I followed him and I closed the door behind me this time. I did stay close to the door though in case I needed a quick get away.

"I have to tell my family I'm gay," Mateo told Alex.

"I thought you wanted to wait for your grandpa's test results," Alex said.

"Why is Grandpa Manuel taking tests?" I asked.

"Medical tests," Mateo said without looking away from Alex.

"What's wrong with your grandpa?" I asked.

Mateo sighed. "I'm not sure. They think something with his heart. He went in for tests on Friday. I don't think I can wait any longer," he said to Alex.

"Does this have something to do with Vincent?" Alex asked.

"No," Mateo said.

"Don't lie," Alex said.

"Vincent is just trying to protect you," I said not quite sure why I was defending him.

"I know," Alex said. "I know him better than you two. He will always be my friend. You don't have to try to protect him."

"He's trying to find my family," Mateo said, "I guess to tell them about us before I can."

Alex's jaw clenched tight. He looked at the ugly cream carpet. He nodded. "Then you need to tell them first," he looked at Mateo. "Do you want me to go with you or do you want to tell them on your own?"

Mateo thought about it. "You can come with me if you don't mind," he finally said.

Alex smiled. He stepped forward and grabbed Mateo's hand in his. "Of course I don't mind. When are we going to tell them?"

"Would Friday work for you?" Mateo asked.

"We have away games both Wednesday and Saturday," I reminded him. We would be traveling Friday night.

"Right," Mateo said. "Is tomorrow night too soon then?" he asked Alex.

"That is fine with me," Alex said easily. "Whenever you want to do it, I will be sure to be available."

Mateo nodded. "I'll call my family then and make sure they can do dinner tomorrow night."

The way they stared into each other's eyes suddenly made me feel like an intruder. "I'm just going to go now," I said. "Bye." I waved at them at the door, but neither one paid any attention to me. I quickly left.