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Billy was sitting on the sofa, reading the same page of his muscle car magazine for a good ten minutes. He was mildly irritated, trying to focus on the performance of the newest car on the market without success.
At the table, his sister Max, thirteen years of stubborn bothering and early-teen muttering, was pretending to do her homework. Billy knew she was pretending because she was annoyingly tapping her pen on her notebook, staring into the void, and fixing her eyes on the screen of her school laptop for minutes at a time after hearing the familiar ping of a chat. Then she would type something nervously, cancel it instantly, and start writing again, ten times more, over and over. She snorted, tried to read something in her schoolbook, and Billy thought all that fuss had come to an end, until a new ping made the whole thing start again.
He was annoyed, but also curious. When Max noticed his interest, she half-closed the laptop, returning to her homework.
Billy went to the kitchen, right behind Max, ogling the laptop she was shielding with her body.
“Do you want some snacks?” he asked, trying to get closer. Max fidgeted and tried to hide the screen even more. Another ping, and she was torn between the urge to look at it and the need to hide it from her stepbrother.
“Who’s writing to you?” Billy asked at last, bored of the game.
“Nobody!” she screamed in a high-pitched voice, snapping the laptop shut. She jumped to her feet and gathered her things. “I can’t focus here! Leave me alone!” She ran to her room, from where Billy kept hearing the chat ping every now and then.
He shrugged and went into his room with his milk and cookies and his magazine. Finally, quiet. He had ten minutes of glorious silence and chocolate chips before Max pushed his door open without knocking.
“Hey! My privacy!” Billy yelled, throwing the magazine at her. Max shrugged, but lingered in the doorway, wringing her hands in silence.
“Well?” Billy rolled his eyes.
“You… you are a boy, right?”
Billy opened his mouth in surprise.
“I need the help of a boy,” she continued.
******
Steve was quietly smoking in the back of the house. It was cold, but he needed a moment of peace from the chaos the kids were making inside. They were supposed to be doing their homework but, as usual, they were playing, yelling, and making noise. Mike, Will, and Dustin were throwing pencils at each other, then for a moment returning to their books, until one of them laughed at something stupid and they got distracted again. Will was shouting about an idea for a D&D campaign, trying to get Mike’s attention, who was the dungeon master, and Dustin loudly showed his appreciation, while Mike added more ideas. Sometimes they started singing or ran into the kitchen for snacks, scattering chips everywhere. That day, the only slightly quieter one was Lucas, who was barely participating in the chaos, focused on his school laptop that, every now and then, lit up with the soft ping of a chat that, luckily, his friends didn’t notice. Steve regretted every time he let them stay at his place after school, but at the end of the day he was happy to have some company.
He heard a small cough beside him. Lucas was there, looking at him shyly, while the noise from inside kept going.
“Uh… Steve?” Lucas stepped a little closer.
“Mmm?” Steve flicked the cigarette away. “Yeah?”
Lucas was holding his laptop, which suddenly seemed too big for him. He kept glancing at the screen, as if rereading something over and over.
“Uh… Steve… do you know girls?” Lucas murmured after a while.
Steve raised his brows. “Uh… yeah, I think?”
“There’s a girl in my class…” Lucas said, pointing at the laptop.
“And?”
“I’m… chatting with her, but… I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you just talk to her at school?”
Lucas blushed, scandalized. “What? And what if she says no? Her friends will mock me forever, and so will Dustin and Mike!”
“Okay… and what do you want from me?”
“Help me chat with her? Please?” Steve sighed and nodded.
******
“So you want my help to chat with a boy from your class?”
Max nodded slowly, looking guilty.
“And you can’t just talk to him in class?”
Max’s eyes almost popped out of her head in embarrassment and disdain. “No, I can’t! What if I stutter or he says no? All my friends will make fun of me!”
Billy rolled his eyes. She was taking this way too seriously for middle school.
“And why do you want my help now, given that you don’t even want me near you at school?”
Max lowered her eyes even more, if possible.
“You know boys. You are a boy. You date boys,” she murmured.
Billy clicked his tongue. “I date boys… Jesus. Just show me that damn chat.”
Max ran for her laptop and opened it on Billy’s bed between them.
With just a glance, Billy knew it was a desperate case, probably beyond saving. They had exchanged only a few words, every line smelling of dorkiness and desperation, if a thirteen-year-old could be desperate. At least the kid had the guts to start the conversation.
L - Hey
M - Hey
L - I’m Lucas.
M - Hi
L - What’s up?
M - Fine. You?
L - Me too.
After that, there was a several-minute gap. Then Lucas wrote again, at least he was consistent.
L - Do you like ice cream?
M - Of course.
L - What flavour?
M- Strawberry and chocolate, you?
L - I like chocolate too.
M - Do you like jelly beans?
L - Yes.
M - Me too.
And that was the point where the conversation languished. Billy didn’t remember ever being so lame in middle school, and he was gay, for Christ’s sake.
“Maybe you should deepen the conversation a little,” he said, trying to keep a neutral tone.
“I don’t know how!”
“Maybe you can throw a couple of digs like you do with me, he’ll be surely impressed,” Billy mocked.
“Billy!” she shrieked, making Billy enjoy the situation a little too much.
“Okay, let’s try another way. Why do you want to talk to this guy?”
Max blushed. “He plays baseball and he always does those nerdy things with his friends in the school lab.”
“Oh, so you go for jocks and nerds. Good girl.”
Max giggled.
“Let’s start from there,” Billy smiled.
******
Steve read the chat, perplexed and surprised by the lack of conversation. After all, Lucas was a smart boy and usually had good ideas. Steve didn’t remember having this much trouble talking to girls in middle school, but that had been six years ago, times had changed.
“Okay, I see why you need my help,” Steve snickered. “Talk to me about her. Why do you like her?”
Lucas’s face lit up with a smile. “Oh, she skates, and she’s so good! And she always speaks her mind, and… she’s pretty.”
Steve snickered again. “So you like cool and direct women, huh? Good boy.”
Steve pointed to the laptop. “So why don’t you start from there?”
Lucas frowned, thinking, and after a while he started typing while Steve advised over his shoulder.
******
Max wrote a sentence three times under Billy’s suggestions, but she couldn’t bring herself to send it.
“I can’t write that to him!”
“Why not? You like him playing basketball.”
“But…”
While they were bickering, the sound of a new message made them go quiet. Max jumped to read it.
L - By the way, I liked the trick you did last day at the arcade, it was pretty cool. I’d like to skate like you.
Max blushed, and Billy giggled. “Well, the boy started thinking after all. Come on, answer him.”
“And how?”
“Come on, say thank you and that you liked his last basketball game too.”
Max typed.
M - Thank you! You’re very kind! I liked your last basketball game too, I’m glad my friend took me there! You played really well.
******
Lucas blushed at the message. Steve snickered. “Wow, see? Now you broke the ice. You can keep going from there, you good with that?”
“Hey, hey wait, do you… do you want me to write alone?” Lucas cried. The kids were still yelling and laughing, and he didn’t want to go back inside where they could distract or question him.
“What can I say now?” he whined.
“I don’t know, talk about what you like. Music, I don’t know.”
“I like ice cream, I already said that.”
“Oh my god. What do you think about having an actual conversation? Come on, give me that. Just tell me what you want to say.”
Lucas blushed. “I want to tell her she’s very pretty.”
“Oh, lady killer. Okay, let’s see…”
******
Max was staring at the screen, where Lucas was writing… and then deleting his message over and over. She got irritated and shot daggers at her brother.
“See? He didn’t like the message! I knew I shouldn’t listen to you!”
“Relax, every boy in the world likes being complimented on sports. Just wait a little more.”
And, in fact, Lucas’s next message didn’t take long.
L - I really like when you wear your hair loose, it’s a beautiful color.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…” Max squealed, blushing, flattered and embarrassed. She tried to close the laptop, but Billy stopped her.
“What are you doing? The guy is complimenting you!”
“I don’t know what to say!” Max squealed, almost hyperventilating. “He’s just… he’s just…”
“Look, if he crossed a line you say it, but if you like it, you can just be nice.”
“I don’t know how!”
Billy sighed. “Okay, come on, give me that, I’ll help you.” He took the laptop and started typing while Max held her breath.
******
Steve was typing quickly, interrupted every now and then by Lucas’s suggestions or weak protests.
L - California must be beautiful. I dream of visiting it with a motorhome someday… where in California are you from?
Steve had practically squeaked with delight when he found out Max was from California, even if Lucas didn’t feel nearly as enthusiastic and had definitely never dreamed of going there in a motorhome.
M - I lived in San Diego, it’s a beautiful city. It’s near Mexico but it’s quiet, I liked living there. You can surf in the sea, I love surfing, do you surf?
Max protested loudly at that. She did like San Diego, of course, but she didn’t particularly like surfing, Billy was just the one obsessed with it.
L - Have you ever listened to Crime of Passion by Pat Benatar?
“Steve! I never listen to that album!” Lucas cried, desperate to get his laptop back.
“Nah, relax, chicks love it. I can lend it to you later, you might even get some culture for once.”
Lucas protested again, but Max was already typing.
M - Well, not my favorite, but you should give Toto a chance. I like Africa, I have it at home…
“Billy! Stop it! I barely listen to it when you blast it in the car! It’s lame! He’s gonna tell me to get lost!”
Billy shrugged. “Then he has bad taste and doesn’t deserve you.”
L - Yeah, I listened to Africa once, but I’d like to listen to it with you sometime.
Lucas blushed at the bold invitation, but the answer came almost immediately.
M - I’d like that! Maybe we can see each other this weekend?
“Billy!” Max was red to the roots of her hair. “How could you, he’s gonna think I’m too easy!”
“Don’t be stupid, a corn-fed boy like him would never have the guts to ask you first. Girl power, right? Isn’t that what your precious Madonna says?”
Max crossed her arms and frowned.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Lucas was waving his arms like he was chasing his own tail, but Steve was giggling.
“Look at her, she’s a strong woman. Isn’t that what you liked about her?”
“Yes, but…”
“Let’s close the deal. Come on, you got this.”
L - It would be great! Some chocolate ice cream?
M - Of course! Scoop Ahoy at 3 pm?
Billy closed the laptop and handed it back to Max, triumphant. Max was breathing hard, trying to calm herself down, happy but a little overwhelmed by how quickly things had escalated.
“Well, you don’t have to thank me, sis. But you owe me one.”
Max retreated to her room, still a bit agitated, but in the end thrilled and grateful.
******
Steve handed the laptop back to Lucas. “See? Piece of cake. You can thank me whenever you want.”
He wore a cheeky smile while Lucas looked like a puddle of sweat. He honestly hadn’t thought it could be that easy to talk to a girl. Sure, Steve was eighteen, but Lucas couldn’t imagine himself being that relaxed even in a million years.
The next day, two shy, overdressed thirteen-year-olds met outside Scoops Ahoy at exactly 3 pm, along with two eighteen-year-old boys who apparently had nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than chaperone them and complain about their own unlucky social lives.
Max and Lucas, blushing, heads low, sat in a booth and slowly started to talk, while Steve and Billy took seats at the counter, far enough to give them privacy.
“Also stepbrother?” Billy asked casually, looking at Steve with a hint of amusement in his blue eyes.
Steve giggled, running a hand through his hair. “Oh, no, I’m just… a friend. But I’m happy to help. I… confess I read the chat. Your sister is really cool.”
Billy snickered. “Well, your friend knows what he wants,” he said, winking.
Steve lowered his eyes a little. “Well… I have to confess I helped him a bit. Maybe more than necessary.”
“Really? Well, don’t feel bad, I helped her too… actually, I might have written a sentence or two…”
“Guilty too…”
“So I was flirting with you?” Billy shot back, bold and immediate. Steve blushed.
“Apparently… I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“Oh, not at all. So… is it Lucas or you who listens to Pat Benatar?”
Steve raised a hand. “Guilty. But Africa is a good choice. And who’s the surfer in the family?”
“That would be me. She’s more of a land skater,” Billy said with a grin. “I guess the dream of visiting California is yours.”
“Come on, who wouldn’t? I’m just glad both of us are from there.”
They both smiled, a little embarrassed, then glanced toward Max and Lucas, who were now deep in conversation, laughing over their ice cream.
“Well, it looks like they only needed a little push,” Steve said.
Billy nodded. “Max was panicking, but at least she asked the right person. I’m glad I could rescue her,” he said, nodding toward the happy pair.
Steve nodded back. “Lucas asked me because of my experience with girls, you know,” he added, a bit smug, fixing his hair.
Billy snickered. “She asked me because of my experience with boys.”
He let the words hang in the air. For a moment, Steve had the strange feeling that the busy ice cream parlor had gone completely quiet.
“Well, that’s unexpected… but interesting,” Steve said with a small wink, and Billy let out a soft laugh.
“What do you think… maybe a coffee or something after we drop off the lovebirds?” Steve went on.
“Why not,” Billy smiled. “So you can tell me more about your questionable taste in music.”
“And you can tell me more about surfing.”
They smiled, holding each other’s gaze just a second longer than necessary.