Asleep

Wasso looked up from his magazine at the knock on his open door. He looked over to see Mrs. Shine at the doorway.

“Can I talk to you for a moment Brendan?” Mrs. Shine asked.

“Of course, come on in.” replied Wasso sitting up on the bed.

Mrs. Shine walked into Wasso’s room and sat down at the desk chair. She looked a bit worried and Wasso wondered what she needed to talk about.

“Brendan, has David said anything to you about university acceptance letters?” asked Mrs. Shine.

“Not yet.” Wasso replied, “I haven’t really asked him about it yet.”

“Gary [AN: David’s father] and I are a bit worried about it. We heard that Mark, Linder and a few others of David’s friends have heard back from the majority of the universities they applied to. David hasn’t said anything about his applications.” Mrs. Shine explained, “I don’t mean to sound like I don’t like you Brendan, because that’s not true, but we’re a bit worried that he may be ignoring the situation because, well, university means leaving here and leaving you.”

“Mrs. S, I understand your worries.” Wasso said, “Really, I do. But I decided long ago that David deserves the best education he can get – he’s too smart for anything less.”

Blushing, Wasso continued. “Even before the university applications had to be sent out, I knew that I would be following David wherever he goes to university. That’s partly why I left my brother’s garage and started working at Mercy’s. She pays me more and I can save up for the costs of moving and setting up somewhere else.”

Mrs. Shine looked over at Wasso with a thoughtful expression. “I thought you might leave with David. That’s something else David’s father and I want to discuss with you.”

Wasso interrupted worriedly, “I’m not planning on interfering with his education. I just want to be near him.”

Mrs. Shine smiled at Wasso. “Brendan dear, that’s not what I meant. We just wanted to let you know that we did a bit of talking with Mercy.” Reaching into her pocket, Mrs. Shine continued, “Gary and I got you this.” Mrs. Shine handed Wasso a set of car keys, “We got it from Mercy but there’s a condition that comes with it.”

Wasso looked at the keys in his hand with shock then looked back at Mrs. Shine. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple really,” explained Mrs. Shine, “We took over your agreement with Mercy for your car. Mercy has agreed to begin your apprenticeship and you just have to agree to continue it and get your full mechanics license no matter where you end up.”

“But why?” asked a confused and flustered Wasso.

“You can’t expect Gary and I to let you and David leave us without a way to come home and visit, can you? We used most of the money you’ve given us as rent to buy the car, so really, you bought it yourself.”

Mrs. Shine got off the chair and approached Wasso. Bending down, she gave Wasso a kiss on the forehead and turned to walk out of the room. Mrs. Shine turned back towards Wasso at the doorway.

“Please try to talk to David about university. And Brendan, both Gary and I are very proud of the work you’ve put into everything. Not only have you been working hard at Mercy’s but you also managed to get all your school work in order to graduate with David and the rest of your friends. We weren’t sure when you first moved in; we were worried you’d live up to your reputation around town. I’m very glad we were wrong.”

Wasso watched as Mrs. Shine left his room. He continued to stare at the doorway in stunned silence. Wasso wasn’t sure what had just happened. He didn’t have a relationship with his brother or father anymore and hadn’t had a real family since his mother died. David’s parents treated him like another son (or maybe a son-in-law) but Wasso had always thought it was because he was dating David. It looked like Wasso had been wrong about David’s parents too.

***

David stared at the pile of acceptance letters on his desk. He picked them up and leafed through them. Brown, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, Duke… David had gotten accepted into almost all of the most prestigious universities across the country - most of them with a full scholarship. Hell, he had even received invitations to schools he hadn’t even applied to.

David put the pile of letters down and picked up an acceptance letter he kept separate from the rest; Monument University – the local university. He played with the letter as he dropped into deep thought.

David knew that everyone expected him to choose a ‘top’ school to go to. For most of high school he had assumed that he would. Things were different now. He couldn’t go away, he couldn’t leave. He just…couldn’t. David knew no one would understand but he couldn’t stand the idea of leaving. David had thought about it a lot. No matter how David looked at it, he knew he wouldn’t go away for university because that meant leaving Wasso. There was no way David could make himself do that. David’s heart broke a little more every time he thought of leaving for university and saying goodbye to Wasso.

David jumped at the sound of a knock on his door. Quickly stuffing the papers out of sight, he got up and answered the door with his heart pounding in his throat. Wasso was leaning on the door jam. He smiled at David and bent down for a quick kiss.

“Hey kid. What are you doing in here with the door locked?” asked Wasso grinning, “You better not be having any fun without me.”

David smiled back up at Wasso. “As if. That’s not much fun without you anymore for some reason.” he replied jokingly while trying to get his heart to slow down.

Wasso took a look into the room over David’s shoulder. Stepping around David, Wasso walked into the room and took a better look.

“What were you doing? This place is cleaner than I’ve ever seen it.” Wasso asked.

David blushed and shrugged. Ignoring the question completely, David asked. “So, what’s up Wasso?”

“Huh?” asked Wasso turning back to face David. “Oh, it’s Friday. That means pay day and, hopefully, a date.”

Walking up to David, Wasso bent down and nipped at David’s lips. David reached up and wrapped his arms around Wasso’s neck. When Wasso started to lift away from David, David pulled Wasso back down and kissed him hard. After a long hot kiss that left both of them breathless, Wasso pulled back a bit from David and said, “Geez kid, you’re gonna make me forget my plans to take you out for a nice dinner and a show.”

“What show?” asked David curiously.

“Oh, just a concert that Nick was able to score a couple extra tickets to.” said Wasso, “It’s at the Bomb Shelter downtown so I thought we’d go out for dinner beforehand.”

“And just how are we supposed to get into the Bomb Shelter? You know I can’t pass for 21 and you said my fake id was pathetic.”

“Your fake is pathetic but no worries, kid. I got it all taken care of.” Wasso said grandly, “So, I take it you’re interested in a date then?”

“With you? Of course.” David grinned. “When do we leave?”

“I figured in about half an hour. We’ll get ready and then go for a spin in my car beforehand.”

“Car? What car? You don’t have a car Wasso.” David asked with a puzzled look.

“I do now.” Wasso said lightly before caving into the puzzled pout on David’s face. “It’s a long story, how about I tell you over dinner?”

Wasso leaned down to give David another kiss. Straightening up, Wasso grinned down at David, gave him a wink and strolled out of the room.

David walked over to the doorway to watch Wasso head down the hall to his own room. David leaned weakly against the wall. That was too close, David thought, if he had left the door open Wasso would’ve walked in and seen all the acceptance letters. Lifting his hands to cover his face, David wondered how he’d figure out what to do.

Continue