Page 50 of Summer of the Boy

The closer we get to the campus, the more his nerves show. Leg bouncing as he opens and closes his fists on his lap. Staring out the window. He’s silent and the man hasn’t been silent with me since we moved here. So now I’m nervous for him. This must be how a parent feels dropping their kid off for the first day to school, though I’m nothing close to his parent.

I find a spot to park and at this point I don’t care if anyone is uncomfortable with our public display of affection. He needs my strength right now, so that’s what I intend to give him, and I gently pull him to meet me halfway over the gear shifter to kiss him.

He melts, some of the nerves seeming to vanish.

“You’ll do great, babe. You’ve got this.” I press my lips to his again, this time cupping his face so I can rest my forehead against his. It’s become our thing. He doesn’t let anyone else touch his head. Yet another privilege I, alone, have been granted. “Go out there and show them who Ridley McAllister is.”

“Have I told you today that I love you, Leif? I couldn’t do this without you.”

I still get a thrill whenever he says he loves me, but the other part just isn’t true. “Yes you could. I’m proud you’re allowing me on your adventure, but you don’t need me.”

He inhales a deep breath and lets it out in a puff. “Okay,” he says. “I’m ready.”

With backpacks slung over our shoulders, we move along the picturesque route of stone walkways weaving between the buildings built to look old and covered in ivy to give them an ivy league, New England feel rather than plunked on the Georgia coast. We stop under a tree in the center courtyard to shade us from the blazing sun. It might look like New England, but feels inherently Georgia.

“You want me to walk you to class?” I ask.

“No. Thank you, but I better do this myself.”

Ok.

I bend in to kiss him one more time, then we set off in separate directions. “Rid?” I call over my shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Remember, you got this.”

God, the smile he beams at me. If I could bottle it, I’d be a millionaire and the people of the world would forget what sadness means.

I reach the double glass doors of the science building, and pull them open, ready for my first class of my sophomore year.

***

My first two classes of the day turn out to be an even split. The early one should be a breeze. Class number two, not so much. Physics in the morning, what had I been thinking?

I’ve been waiting on Rid now for ten minutes in our previously decided upon dining hall to meet for lunch, straining to see his head of sandy blond hair through the throngs of other students passing in and out of the dining facility. I try calling to see if he maybe got lost or turned around or something. He never picks up.

One call. Two calls. Did he stay after class or is something wrong?Please don’t let something be wrong.

Finally my phone flashes with his number, “Hey,” I answer. “Where are you?”

“Do you know the guy who owns this phone?” A girl’s voice asks me.

What?

“Yes.” I rush out. My stomach pitches. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know what happened, but he’s having a major freak-out.”

“Where?” I feel like I could vomit.

“Kendall Hall.”

“I’ll be right there.” No sign off, I disconnect from the call and take off full sprint toward Kendall Hall. He’s not outside, but it doesn’t take a genius to know which way to run once I get inside. I can hear him melting down from the door.

Shit.Ridley hasn’t had a meltdown of this magnitude since we first met. There’s a crowd of gawkers gathered around the door to the classroom.

“Move.” I order them. Most of them do, even with the shooting of dirty looks or eye rolls. Standing just past the crowd, there’s Rid hitting his head, over and over, as he cries.

---