Justin’s always late when we set up a date, so this afternoon I take my time getting to the coffee shop in our old neighborhood where we usually meet. To my surprise he’s already there. Talking on the phone, so he doesn’t notice me.
“Yeah, I know. Ok. Ok. Yeah.”
I flop down in a chair across from him.
“Me too,” he smiles. “Bye.” He finally hangs up and looks at me. “Hey, Daph.”
“Who was that?” I ask.
He puts his phone into a pocket of his jacket. “Nobody,” he mumbles. “You wanna order?”
I shake my head. “Nah, not hungry. Let’s get going before the mall closes.”
We get up and leave. Justin’s obviously relieved that I seemingly forgot about him talking on the phone with somebody. But I’m just biding my time for now. It bugs me that he hides things from me these days. Especially the big secret of who his new boyfriend is. He keeps saying that he doesn’t have one and that this guy’s just a friend, but I’ve met all of Justin’s friends and I know that this is different. He’s almost giddy at times. That would be the times when he’s not acting like a Brian Kinney clone. Which has only gotten worse AFTER the two of them broke up. Obviously, it left me and everybody else who knows Justin absolutely perplexed. We all thought, yes, even me, seeing how much Justin had changed since he’s met Brian, that Brian was a bad influence on the innocent little Justin. But now I realize that maybe it was just Justin growing up. I’m sure he took a lesson or two from the King of Liberty Avenue. I remember Justin’s constant complaining that Brian would never show his emotions, always acting like he didn’t give a shit. Well, apparently, Justin decided he wanted to be Brian when he grew up, because in the last year and a half he’s perfected that art. I might not know Brian all that well, but I’m pretty sure that Justin’s a lot better at this than even Brian himself could ever be.
“Do you know what you want to get?” I ask, trying to start up conversation, as we walk to the mall. It’s only about five minutes away from the coffee shop and there’s no point of getting in the car and then looking for parking for half an hour.
“I have a couple of ideas,” he replies.
“Who do you need to get presents for?”
“Uhm…” he pulls out a piece of paper. It’s so Justin to make a list. “Mom, Molly, Deb, Vic, the guys…” That’s what he calls Michael, Emmett, Ben, and Ted. “Colin and Alan.” His new friends from PIFA. “And…” He looks at me quickly, then folds the paper and sticks back in his jacket.
“And?” The new guy. It has to be.
“You, of course,” he replies, grinning at me.
“What am I getting?” Ok, gotta hand it to Mr. Smarty-pants. The distraction technique worked perfectly because now I’m pestering him about what he’s going to get me and giving him ideas about what I really want.
It’s a couple of hours later and we both have hands full of shopping bags. Justin actually found a few things he wanted. I, on the other hand, got what I really needed: lots of make-up and new clothes. Hey, I have to use the money I got for my birthday somehow, right? No self-respecting college junior would put it away for a rainy day. Besides, I still have plenty of time to go gift-shopping. Unlike the big drama queen over here.
“I can’t believe you’re going to the Bahamas for TWO weeks,” I say. If I don’t bring it up he definitely won’t.
“Yeah, I know,” he smiles as he sits down on one of the benches.
I sit next to him. “What are you going to do there all that time?”
“Nothing,” he snickers. “Absolutely nothing. Just lay on the beach and get sunburned all over.”
We both laugh. I’m glad he’s going. He really deserves a break. The last three years have been hard for him. And not just because of the bashing or even his problems with Brian. A lot of teachers in school had problems with him working on a computer most of the time. Of course, now he barely ever uses it, but at first he spent so much time and energy just trying to prove himself to everybody.
It was amazing to see him at his show last spring. Being praised by the dean and a bunch of other important, or so I was told, people. They told him he’d go far, blah blah blah. All I wanted to do was rub their faces in just how wrong they were before. Of course, Justin behaved like the perfect country club offspring. Smiling and shaking hands with all these losers. Once again hiding what he really felt.
Even when Brian showed up. I still don’t know if Justin invited him or if Brian showed up on his own. I asked Justin about that later and all he said was that it was only fair for Brian to see what he was paying for. The point is, Brian showed up. And all eyes were on the two of them. All of us searching for any sign of…anything between those two. Brian got himself a drink and then walked over to the section where Justin’s work was displayed. He studied each piece carefully, then turned to Justin. I was too far away to hear what he said, but I know that it must have been something nice because Justin nodded and then smiled.
Then Brian was introduced to Timmy, Justin’s boyfriend, and I use that word loosely, at the time. And once again we all looked on as the royal couple, as they are still referred to on Liberty Avenue according to Emmett, tried to outdo each other at how nonchalant each one could be. Which let me tell you, is not a very interesting game to watch. For anyone involved or not involved.
“So, are you going to tell me who’s going with you or not?” Ok, so patience is not one of my stronger qualities.
He looks at me and smirks. That all-knowing, annoying-as-hell smirk. “Daph, I told you…”
“Yeah, I know, not a boyfriend. I don’t care about that. I just want to know who. I mean, what if this guy kills you on your trip. We won’t even know what to tell the police.” What can I say? Being best friends with a drama queen rubs off on you eventually.
And the jerk just chuckles. “I’m sure that if I get killed on my trip, the police will be able to get that information from the travel agent.”
Argghhh. If he wasn’t my best friend I’d strangle him with my bare hands. He’s become so closed off lately. Ever since he and Ethan broke up. No, even before that. A couple of month after he left Brian I began noticing the change. He was quieter, and to get any information from him about his life was like pulling teeth. After Ethan, he started “dating”. And I do mean, DATING. Instead of just fucking everybody around without even bothering to ask for the other person’s name, Justin DATED all the guys he fucked. And there were a LOT of them.
“I hate you,” I tell him. And I do. He is the most frustrating person I know. Well, maybe the second most frustrating person.
“Right back at ya,” he grins again and we both stand up and head out.
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