Slowly, Yadriel sank in his seat until his textbook was functioning as a pillow, chin propped on his folded arms. Keeping his eyes open took effort, and his hoodie was warm and soft, clearly working against him as it tried to lure him into taking a nap right on his desk.
“Hey! Wake up!”
Julian had wandered back from poking around in students’ backpacks.
Yadriel let out a dismissive rmph in reply.
Julian dropped into a squat in front of him. He gripped the edge of the desk and rested his chin on his fingers, bringing himself to eye level with Yadriel, their noses a few inches apart. “Can we go on a walk? Let’s go on a walk. Doesn’t that sound nice?” he asked, a barely contained ball of energy shoved into the body of a teenager boy.
Yadriel focused on the dark eyes staring at him expectantly. He gave Julian an unamused look. He wasn’t going to ditch class, especially not this close to the end of the day. He just needed to survive a little while longer.
“Just a quick one!” Julian argued, as if reading his mind. “Around the school?”
When Yadriel blinked slowly at him, Julian amended it to “Okay, okay, okay, just down the hall and back?” He drummed his fingers on the desk and bounced on the balls of his feet.
Yadriel hated to admit it, but that did sound appealing. If he could get up and move around, maybe it’d wake him up a bit. It wasn’t like he’d be able to rest any time soon.
Yadriel huffed a big sigh and sat up. “Mr. Guerrero?” he asked, raising his hand. “Can I use the restroom?”
“Yes!” Julian was on his feet and out the door before Mr. Guerrero could hand over a hall pass.
Yadriel stretched his hands over his head, twisting his back this way and that as they walked down the empty hallway.
“Good Lord, how do you sit through that every day?” Julian demanded with a mystified shake of his head.
“It’s not that bad, usually,” Yadriel said through a yawn. “When I’m more awake, it’s downright tolerable.”
“I would die,” Julian told him. “Like, again.”
Yadriel chuckled.
“You’re really into this school stuff, huh?” Julian asked with an amused grin.
Yadriel shrugged, rubbing his fist against his eye. “I want to get into a good college, get a good job, help support my family, be successful.”
Julian cut him a cross look. “Tch, you don’t have to be good in school to be successful,” he told him, annoyed.
“No, you’re right,” Yadriel backpedaled, suddenly much more awake. “I just meant—”
“Carlos—the guy my dad opened his mechanic shop with?—he didn’t even finish high school!” Julian went on. “He got an appendixship—”
“Apprenticeship—”
“Got a job right off the bat, learned all the tricks of the trade, made hella money,” Julian continued, punching his fist into his palm for emphasis. “Eventually opened his own shop and did it all without a degree and zero student-loan debt.” Chin tilted proudly, he gave Yadriel a challenging look.
For a second, Yadriel didn’t know how to respond. He was a little caught off guard by Julian’s very valid observation, and felt ashamed of himself for saying something so obviously classist.
Maritza would be ashamed of him.
“You’re totally right, I apologize,” Yadriel said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I just meant—”
Julian stopped. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait, I missed it, what was that?” he asked, holding his hand up to his ear with feigned confusion.
“Oh my God,” Yadriel groaned.
“Something about me being right?” Julian preened.
The hallway ended, and Yadriel stopped. “You’re insufferable,” he said, glancing around.
“Yeah, but I think you’re kinda into it,” Julian replied with a casual shrug.
Yadriel chose to ignore him.
There was a water fountain and restrooms on either side. Yadriel headed for the girls’.
“What are you doing?” Julian asked with a critical arch of an eyebrow.
“Using the bathroom,” he said.
Julian hooked his thumb toward the door to the boys’ restroom. “Uh, wrong one, dude.”
Yadriel hesitated. “Uh … I haven’t ever actually used the boys’ bathroom,” he confessed, face growing hot.
“What?” Julian frowned. “Why?”
Sometimes, Julian surprised Yadriel by how knowledgeable he was.
Other times, not so much.
“Several reasons,” Yadriel said, crossing his arms. “Including, but not limited to: people harassing me, calling me names, pushing me around, general humiliation,” he listed off. Truthfully, he’d never worked up the nerve to use the boys’ bathroom. In public, he always tried to find a gender-neutral stall, which was difficult. They didn’t have those at school, so Yadriel just held it for as long as he could before forcing himself to use the girls’, and only during class, when it was less likely he’d run into someone.
“Oh.” Julian expression softened for a moment, which Yadriel hated, but then it contorted into anger, which was much less humiliating. “People are assholes.”
A surprised laugh leaped in Yadriel’s throat. “People are assholes,” he agreed.
“Well, there’s no one around right now,” Julian pointed out. He went up to the metal door to the boys’ bathroom and literally stuck his head through it, earning another laugh from Yadriel. “And nobody inside!” Julian’s voice echoed from inside. He straightened and turned to Yadriel. “I mean, if you wanna see what all the fuss is about, now’s your chance,” he said with a grin.
Yadriel scoffed, not sure if Julian was making fun of him, but … his humor did make the whole thing less … scary. He would make himself an anxious mess, loitering outside the boys’ bathroom and trying to work up the nerve to go inside, and he always ended up flaking out.
But Julian’s bad jokes, easy smile, and nonchalance seemed to suck all the stress out of the situation. Or at the very least, dilute it.
“Fine,” Yadriel huffed, as if he were doing Julian a favor. He headed for the bathroom, and Julian moved to follow him. “What are you doing?” Yadriel demanded.
“What?”
“You can’t go in there with me!” Yadriel balked.
“It’s not like I’m gonna watch you!”
Yadriel spluttered. “I—I have a shy bladder!”
Julian threw his head back, letting out a deep belly laugh. “Oh my God!”
“I can’t go if I know you can hear me!”
“Okay, okay, okay!” Julian laughed, a big grin on his face. “I’ll stand guard,” he said, tapping two fingers to his temple like a salute. “Should I cover my ears? Sing a song?”
“Shut up!” With that, Yadriel stomped inside before he could change his mind.
And suddenly, he was standing in the boys’ bathroom for the first time in his life. Yadriel looked around. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but after all the buildup it was a little … lackluster. And smelly.
But he was a boy, and if this was what their bathrooms were like, then he’d get used to it.