Chapter Twelve

Dreams on Hold

Between the kiss, the embarrassment that quickly followed, Eli’s emotional breakdown during the interview, and the amazing time they’d had at the arcade, Tyler was not prepared to go back to classes on Monday. He considered faking sick but decided to just suffer through whatever mockery he was sure to receive.

His second class of the day was World History, and Charlie Holt just happened to be in his class. He did his best to avoid eye contact throughout the entire period. Once the bell rang he made a beeline for the door, but Charlie stepped straight into that line.

“Man, that Gathering was a great night—definitely one for the books!”

“Yeah, agreed, thanks again for the invite.” Tyler was still doing anything not to make direct eye contact.

“And hey, look, that thing about kissing your third cousin or whatever? Don’t sweat it.”

“Huh?” Damn it, he did remember.

“We all do crazy things we regret when we’re wasted, right? You’re definitely not the first to do something stupid.”

Tyler had been far from wasted and he also wasn’t sure if the kiss had been something he regretted, but he was now at least off the hook socially. “Yeah, totally. What can I say? I’m a lightweight.”

Charlie just laughed. “No worries, see you around, Ty!”

Tyler exhaled and one of the countless knots that had formed in his back over the weekend loosened. There were still plenty of other things causing him anxiety, but now he didn’t have to worry about rumors going around school about how that one film geek with the red hair and glasses—yeah, you know the one, the guy who passed out during dissection day in bio—had a thing for his cousin.

Come lunchtime, Tyler wondered if he should be going back to his dorm to check on Eli. He was a little worried about him after how emotional he had gotten yesterday but, in order to keep him preoccupied while Tyler went to class, he had introduced Eli to the beauty of streaming. Eli had been immediately fascinated and seemed content enough when he left. Kids who had grown up with this technology could lose an entire day to a Netflix binge. A kid who was experiencing all the joy it could offer for the very first time? He would likely have to pry his laptop away from Eli.

So instead, he grabbed a turkey sandwich and some kettle chips and scanned the cafeteria for Zoe and Oscar but didn’t spot them, so he went to eat outside on the steps and wait for them to find him.

And they did.

“Dude, you went to one of the Gatherings? Are you kidding me?” Oscar sat down beside him then placed a hand over his heart, making a pained face as if he had just been pierced by an arrow. “Thanks so much for the heads-up.”

“Hey, look, I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “To be fair, the invite was really more for Eli than it was for me. Having a cute British accent grants you automatic popularity, unsurprisingly.”

“Okay, whatever, Tyler got to go to some stupid party—big deal,” Zoe said. “We’re burying the lead here.” She flashed Tyler a toothy grin and starry eyes. “You and Eli kissed?”

“Wait…how do you know that?” Tyler asked. “Word travels fast around here.”

“It’s all over Vanessa’s Instagram. Although, from her caption it seems like she thinks you guys are cousins. What would give her that impression?”

Tyler looked over Zoe’s shoulder at the screen of her phone and groaned. Great, so much for rumors not getting around. “I don’t know,” Tyler said, hoping it sounded casual. “She was pretty drunk—everyone was. Maybe she misheard something.”

“Fair.” Zoe bit her lip and frowned in a way that made her look almost concerned. “But what do you know about Eli or his actual family? Do you know anything about the guy?”

Definitely concern, although it seemed unwarranted and completely out of left field. Hadn’t she been the one basically pushing him toward Eli that first night, talking about him being cute? And just a second ago she sounded excited about the fact that they had kissed.

“Umm, well…he just got here. So not much.” Tyler cocked his head. “I know he has a younger sister named Sam. And from what it sounds like he and his grandfather were—are close. But where is this even coming from?”

Zoe shrugged. “I’m happy for you, don’t get me wrong, I just…this is all happening so fast, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Plus there’s just…I dunno…something about his mannerisms and the way he speaks…something just feels kind of…off.”

She wasn’t wrong on that one.

“Whoa, mama bear,” Oscar interjected, taking a big, crunching bite out of a pickle. “You’re starting to sound a little judge-y.”

Zoe’s cheeks turned bright pink and she shrank, her shoulders sagging. “That’s not— I didn’t mean…” She straightened her posture then turned to Tyler. “Look, just be careful okay?”

I’m happy for you? Be careful? This all made it sound like he was about to embark on a serious relationship. It had been one weekend. He certainly had no idea what would happen with Eli or where any of this was going to lead, but he still nodded to give his friend some peace of mind.

His next class of the day was his favorite. Media Studies. It was technically more of an independent study that he had built for himself as an elective, since he was doing well in terms of credits for graduation. It was either independent study or study hall, and this seemed like a much better idea.

Technically, according to the syllabus he had to submit for the course to be approved, today was supposed to be spent reading a piece from The Atlantic about whether the changing landscape of digital media affects the initial creative process for content creators and storytellers. But he figured his time would be much better spent sifting through the footage he had gotten so far. Maybe it would give him a chance to finally sort some things out.

Since he was at the school’s computer lab and not in the privacy of his own room, Tyler decided to go ahead and skip the night of Eli’s arrival, just in case any wandering eyes landed on his computer screen. He didn’t have any sort of explanation for the footage, as there was no way he could actually convince anyone he was any good at special effects—let alone that good.

He watched a few minutes of the footage that he had taken during the Gathering, but it was all pretty boring. Mostly people talking, but with so many different clusters of people that it was hard to make out what anyone was saying, and occasionally people would start dancing. It was as if he had been getting background shots for a party scene in a movie—a scripted one, that is.

All that was left was his interview with Eli. Considering it had just happened yesterday, it was still extremely fresh in his memory. But still he played it.

And then he rewound and played it back again.

Rewind.

Playback.

It was enough to bring Tyler to tears himself. It was good. It was damn good. So many documentarians spent years, sometimes spanning their whole careers, trying to get that same kind of raw, emotional breakthrough, and here it was, playing on his screen right in front of him. This film really would be his masterpiece.

But as he watched how Eli sobbed at the prospect of going back to a home that did not want him—a place where he clearly did not feel safe—Tyler’s heart ached. What kind of monster would he be if he turned his back on Eli and shut him out? He had absolutely no right to send him away or make him go back, and so he wouldn’t. He had meant what he said when he’d told him that no one was going to make Eli do anything that he didn’t want to do.

But if Eli was going to stay, that also meant that this film—this beautiful, life-changing documentary—could never, ever see the light of day. If Eli wanted to lead a normal life here, there was no way Tyler could let any of this footage get out. If it did, people would come around asking questions, reporters would stalk his every move, scientists might take him to go be studied or experimented on—hell, the government would probably get involved, too. The life of acceptance and normalcy that Eli had come here so desperate to find would be all but impossible.

Tyler took one of his books and slammed it against the desk, causing the other students to either jump or turn and glare at him. Life was cruelly unfair sometimes. This film was the key to everything he ever wanted, but in order to achieve any of that he would have to be horrid and selfish. However, doing the right thing would mean saying goodbye to his dreams—okay well maybe not goodbye as much as “see you later” until he was able to break into the industry some other way. Still it was hard to let go with it so close.

Tyler sat with his head in his arms on top of the desk. Stewing. Moping. Contemplating. Evaluating. Moping some more. Weighing.

Then he packed up his bag and left for his dorm room to rejoin his roommate. Not his temporary roommate. Not his visiting cousin or exchange student he took under his wing. His for-real, long-term roommate. He wasn’t even sure why he was pretending to contemplate it anymore; he knew that the decision to let Eli stay had already been made a while ago. The movie may be over, but Eli’s new life here was just beginning.