"c'mon dwayne, get in the car."

even after breaking his vow of silence, dwayne was still over it all- at least, less than before. but still.

and even after the whole road trip to california and back, dwayne's mom was still pressing everyone about spending more quality time together.

but, it's not like anyone (except dwayne) cared.

i just another family outing.

like any normal family would do.

"you guys want anything from that coffee shop that just opened? i heard it was good." sheryl asked, looking back at the kids + frank in the rear view mirror.

dwayne just shrugged, olive stayed quiet. frank, the only one who spoke responded with a: "yeah, sure."

"do they have cake pops?" olive asked with a grin.

"we'll see." sheryl replied with a chuckle, pulling into the parking lot of the cafe. it was pretty packed.

"do we have to go inside?" dwayne sighed.

"i don't see a drive thru anywhere." said richard with a snort.

dwayne rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, grumbling something under his breath.

as soon as dwayne stepped inside the cafe, the scent of coffee beans filled his nostrils, a warm atmosphere surrounding the place.

it'd certainly be more pleasant if there weren't so many people.

he glanced around the cafe, not really looking for anyone specific, just out of pure boredom.

there were plain, contemporary paintings on the wall, plants in every corner.

well, except for one. there was a small table, with two seats. one of the seats was occupied by a boy, a boy reading a book.

dwayne squinted his eyes, trying to catch the title of the book, and he did.

the title read: 'keeping a family cow; the complete guide'

what?

was this kid seriously reading about cows?

cows? out of all things he could read about, he chose cows.

he just had to talk to this mystery boy. or at least observe him from a safe distance.

he noticed the boy had strands of hair all in his face. how could he read like that? dwayne wanted to go over there and just tuck some of the boy's hair behind his ear.

dwayne clenched his fists and began walking over to the boy's table. he stopped a few feet away from him.

the boy glanced up from his book, with his stupidly big, brown eyes.

"yeah?"

dwayne felt his heart stop, and then rapidly pick up.

he had never felt like this before. he didn't even know what he was feeling.
he felt his face turn red. all air escaping his lungs.

maybe he was dying?

no, he felt too alive.

dwayne's mouth ran dry as he tried to speak.

"are you okay?"

dwayne's brain went completely empty at this, his whole body froze up.

the boy just continued to stare at dwayne curiously, if not a bit concerned.

dwayne tried to think of what to say, but his mouth was moving quicker than his brain.

"why are you reading about cows?"

the boy paused, setting his book down.
"my mom's making me read this book."

"why?"

"so i know what to do when i come live with her on the farm on the weekends."

the mystery boy's tone was almost perfect. his voice wasn't too raspy, or too smooth. he wasn't being too loud or too quiet. although he did sound a bit nasally.

"are your parents divorced?"

maybe it was a bit rude of dwayne to ask a stranger on their parent's marital status but right now he wasn't thinking straight.

"uh, yeah." the boy said, nodding his head.

"what's your name?"

oh.

oh my god.

is this real? did he just ask for dwayne's name?

"uh, it's dwayne." he mumbled.

"i'm alec." the brown-eyed boy stuck his hand out for a handshake.

dwayne just looked down at the outstretched hand. he didn't really like physical touch, especially from people he didn't know. he's always been a germaphobe.

alec seemed to be able to read dwayne's mind, as he followed up with: "don't worry, my hands are clean." and that sentence was followed up by a small chuckle.

dwayne's face instantly flushed, and his heart began to pound in his chest so hard, you'd probably be able to hear it six feet away.

after what seemed like eternity, dwayne shook alec's hand.

now, dwayne was already swooning, but once he felt alec's hand meet his, he was head over feet.

he never wanted to let go of alec's hand. it was so warm. so soft.

he also never thought he could fall this badly for a boy who reads books about cows.

but it wasn't all sunshines and rainbows, no.

there was an inner conflict within dwayne, his heart and his brain against each other.

his heart said: 'you really like this boy, you should ask him out!'

but his brain said otherwise: 'no, dwayne, how would you do that? besides, you don't wanna get hurt by him, do you? you've done that to yourself enough already.'

it seems like his brain had more reasons than his heart, but he couldn't choose. so he just decided to pick the middle ground.

befriend him.

but alec had already beat dwayne to it.

"wanna be friends?"

dwayne wanted to be friends with this boy, but what did he say?

nothing.

"c'mon dwayne, let's go."

dwayne had to do a double take at his mom, and as he looked back at alec, he could see the visible disappointment on his face.

he didn't want to leave him so soon. not yet.

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒

933 words