Page 1 of The Broposal

CHAPTER ONE

HAN

Hello? Han? Are you listening?”

I jolted, realizing I was paying more attention to the fake bioluminescent jellyfish in the tank next to my desk than the email on my screen or the girlfriend talking on my phone. Well, ex.

Even if the ones in my room weren’t real, jellyfish were a hell of a lot more fun to think about than getting fired or breaking up, even if I was the one doing the dumping. For one, jellyfish were pretty fucking rad.

Jellyfish didn’t have girlfriends.

Jellyfish didn’t have to work for a company that promised to sponsor unsuspecting immigrants’ work visas only to fire them over email without warning.

Jellyfish didn’t even age, bro. Those Benjamin Button motherfuckers can just de-age themselves back to childhood, to their polyp stage, whenever they’re in severe stress.

“Hello? Are you still there?” Tatiana asked over the phone,reminding me yet again that I’d just zoned out in the middle of dumping her.

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

“So, we can still go to the ball, right?” she asked, as if she hadn’t heard the wordsI think we should break up. We’d planned to go to a drag ball together since my cousin Leti would be emceeing tonight. “One last date?”

I paused to think about it. Scoring another date with the girl I just dumped was definitely not a part of the plan, but what the hell? We’d only been together-ish for a few weeks, so it made sense that she wasn’t too, well,broken upby it (heh). But I had still expected at least a little bit of pushback. Whatever. As long as Tatiana knew we weren’t together, I didn’t mind hanging out as friends. Especially if it’d get my mind off my newfound lack of a job. Without the ball to distract me, I would have beaten myself up all night. Maybe my boss found out I’d been applying for other jobs that would have also sponsored my work visa. A fireable offense, apparently.

I was happy to go to the ball with Tatiana instead of spiraling about the universe wanting me to suffer.

“Oh, uh… sure? Yeah, let’s go to the ball,” I finally said, quickly shooting Kenny a text saying Tatiana would still be needing a ride even though we were broken up.

“Good, I was really excited for that.” I could hear Tatiana’s smile over the phone, completely unfazed by having been dumped.

“Me too,” I admitted, chuckling to myself.

If commitment didn’t scare the living shit out of me, I might have ended up with someone like Tatiana. According to my best friend/roommate/honorary family member Kenny, she was perfect for me. Even though she worked at the same restaurant asKenny and was good friends with Leti, it never annoyed me to spend extra time with her. What more could a guy ask for in a relationship?

Not to mention, she was beautiful. Her dark brown skin matched the shade of her eyes almost perfectly, and she wore her makeup like art. She really was the whole package. If I was ever going to fall in love. Which, let’s be real—wasn’t gonna happen.

Because, as with all the other girls I dated, I felt nothing for Tatiana. It didn’t matter how perfect she was; the spark and passion just never came. And even if it miraculously did one day, it wouldn’t change a thing. It wasn’t that I didn’t like theideaof romance. Butrealromance—the kind you could completely lose yourself in, the kind people spent entire lifetimes maintaining, wanting nothing more in life than each other—it just wasn’t in the cards for me. It was too dangerous. Too risky. So, I always made sure to end things before they had a chance to get there.

Besides, being undocumented, I would rather not get close enough to trust anyone but family. Sure, I didn’t really trust anyone but family (Kenny included) withmostinformation about me, but especially this.

“So, you’re not mad?” I had to ask, or I’d be convinced I was imagining the whole situation.

“It’s actually good timing. I think I might be catching feelings for someone else, so it all works out.”

We both laughed, and somehow it didn’t feel forced or awkward. The two of us were definitely better as friends.

“I’m so excited! I’ve never been to a drag show before!” Tatiana said, her voice sounding a little far away. I was probably on speakerphone while she finalized her costume. Neither Tatiananor I would be performing, but it was Halloween, so we were all dressing up.

“It’s technically a ball. But yeah, there’s definitely drag. You’ll love it.”

I’d been to plenty of drag shows and underground balls alike to support my cousin Leti, who was basically my sibling. Leti performed almost every week, but tonight they were more than performing. Tonight, Leti was the emcee.

I had to admit I was relieved Tatiana still wanted to go. Kenny was bringing his girlfriend, and the three of us alone was bad news. Hell, me around Jackie at all was bad news.

“Oh, Kenny’s here. See you soon!” Tatiana said before hanging up the phone. Since she lived closer to Jackie’s house than our apartment, Kenny would be picking Tatiana up first, then me.

About fifteen minutes later, Kenny’s car horn in the parking lot beckoned me. I took one final look in the mirror before leaving. I was already in my costume, since I’d planned on going as a third wheel with Kenny and Jackie after breaking up with Tatiana.

Cowboy—an easy choice. All I had to do was raid my tío Nacho’s closet for boots, a belt, and a cowboy hat—Nacho’s go-to outfit.

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