Page 53 of Solo Stan
Leaving the concert was disorienting, like stepping off a boat or getting out of a car after driving for hours. Everything just became aggressively normal and stationary once again. If not for the evidence all over their clothes, it might not have been that difficult to convince Kai that the entire night had never happened. It was almost eerie the way that attitudes can change with sound and with music and the atmosphere created by the people you choose to spend time with. To walk out of it almost made Kai sad. Elias, however, was the last vestige of the night, and admittedly, the best part of it.
The colors and the energy around Elias were somehow brighter as he lagged behind, wringing out his clothes as best he could. His aura rippled and crackled around him like flames, more intense than when they had first met.
Kai stopped for a moment to take a deep breath and collect his thoughts. When he looked back, Elias motioned to a convenience store across the street with bright lights and a flickeringOpensign. The store was manned by a college kid who looked like they hadn’t seen a customer in hours. They didn’t even bother to act like they weren’t playing on their phone when Kai and Elias went inside.
Kai pretended to deliberate over different brands of chips, but his eyes were fixed on Elias in the next aisle. Elias moved with purpose, as if he had been there before. That was one of his charms, his ability to command any space he was in. Elias was intense and imposing in a way, but it was backed up by a certain sensuality and patience that made it hard for Kai to believe thateveryone in Elias’s life had it out for him like he claimed. Yet, Kai had seen how a fight had almost unfolded at the show, and perhaps it was possible others simply felt threatened by Elias. However, that didn’t mean Elias always had to engage.
Elias went to the checkout with several items in his hand, including a phone charger. He had a short conversation with the cashier as he paid, and they both looked in the same direction and pointed as though Elias was asking for directions. He gave the cashier a nod before rushing back toward Kai. He waved a hand in front of his face.
“You disappear into your mind again?” Elias asked, his voice low. “Take me with you next time?”
Kai smiled. Elias could be so sweet and attentive; he only wished Elias could extend some of that grace to himself.
Elias took Kai by the hand again and led him out of the store and a block over to a coin laundromat. There was no one inside when they went in, not even an employee. There were chairs and foldout tables, the plastic kind that his family sometimes rented for their reunions. A soda machine was the source of most of the light in the entire place since half of the panels on the ceiling had gone out. It was a small place with just one row of machines on each wall and aluminum tables for folding clothes in the middle.
Unsheathing his purchases from the convenience store, Elias let the plastic bag flutter to the floor, revealing two T-shirts that saidI?Raleighand two pairs of hibiscus-printed shorts clearly made for swimming.
“Don’t say anything; it’s all they had,” Elias said, putting up a shushing hand.
“These probably would have been better before the rain,” Kai joked.
“Oh, how silly of me. Let me get back into my time machine and give them to you two hours ago.”
“While you’re in the time machine, why don’t you go back andnotforget to take your keys out of the locker too?”
“And miss out on tonight? Nah, I’d rather throw my keys into the ocean.”
Kai covered his mouth to hide his hot cheeks.
“Here,” Elias said, handing Kai his new set of clothes. He then hooked a finger through one of Kai’s belt loops and guided him to the small bathroom in the corner of the laundromat, pausing in front of the door.
“Just come in with me and save whatever line you were going to say for later,” Kai said, holding open the door.
“I was going to offer to supervise you for safety,” Elias said with a grin as he crossed in front of Kai.
Kai flicked on the light, which triggered a loud overhead vent, then closed the door behind them. Elias leaned against the tiled wall, his hands behind his back, staring Kai up and down. Kai turned toward the wall and, with a winding gesture of his hand, signaled for Elias to do the same.
A crop of goose bumps spread down Kai’s back where he felt Elias’s eyes on him. He hesitated but continued to shimmy out of his soaked shirt and shorts, which had been hanging on to his body like Saran Wrap. The sopping wet fabric fell to the floor like a ball of lead. He heard Elias’s clothes fall with similar weight.
Turning his head to the side, Kai glanced out of the corner of his eye, catching only a glimpse of Elias’s body as he pulled on his new T-shirt. Kai gulped hard and averted his eyes, refocusing on changing into his new outfit.
He looked in the mirror.My first date after graduating highschool, and this is what I’m wearing,he thought. At least Elias would be wearing the same thing.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kai said when he turned to face Elias. He couldn’t believe that Elias even looked good in this ridiculous outfit.
Elias wore a self-assured smile. “Are you trying to say I look good?”
“No, I’m not. Your head’s already big enough.”
“You like my big head.”
“Yeah, whatever. Just give me your clothes.”
Holding the ball of clothes out in front of him, as far from his body as he could, he exited the bathroom with Elias not far behind. He pulled air between his teeth, unwilling to show how winded he was from the accidental exercise. The heaviest thing he usually lifted was a paint brush.
Kai put their clothes into the mouth of a shiny chrome machine and clicked the door shut. Kai puzzled for a moment as he stared at the controls.How complicated could this be?he thought.
Elias took Kai by the shoulders, directing him to one of the tables in the middle of the room. A high-pitched clang echoed when Elias patted the surface, signaling for Kai to take a seat. “You trained me at work. Let me trainyounow,” he said, and cracked a grin.
