White Shoes

  WHITE SHOES

  “How come you wear white shoes if you’re just going to scuff ‘em up?” Henry and Jake trudged across the dusty parking lot towards the coffee shop for some iced tea. Jake wanted peach green tea, Henry wanted his usual Arnold Palmer with mango. It was hot out, the last blazing week of summer before a cold front was predicted to come in to announce the fall. Henry looked down at his shoes and grinned as they walked.

  “I like seeing ‘em get messed up,” he said. “I like to see where they’ve taken me.”

  “I can get with it,” Jake said. He reached the door first and pulled it open for Henry, who nodded his thanks.

  “I don’t take care of my comics either, I just buy them to read,” Henry explained. “If I wanted to buy nice shoes to keep, I’d get a pair of those sparkly lady’s shoes with the red bottoms and put them on display or something.”

  “Or Air Jordans?”

  “Nah,” Henry said as they stood in line, his hands in his pockets. He felt his leather wallet rub against his finger and he fished it out. “I don’t do that sort of thing.” Jake laughed.

  “You’ve always been a practical sort of guy,” Jake said. The tension between them was palpable now. It had been growing for days, maybe weeks, this longing that had grown from a kindling of little looks and small sighs. College was fun, so fun, but it could also be incredibly stressful at times. It wasn’t the school work or the essays and papers that made it stressful, it was Henry being unsure if he and Jake were flirting or if they were just good friends. Something had to give eventually. They both knew it.

  “Hey, Henry, what’s up? Are you going for the usual?” Candace was the one working the front today while Beverly was on the drink station. Henry flashed her a gentle smile and he watched her eyes light up. She had nice brown eyes, and he sometimes hung out with her and her boyfriend to get donuts after class every other week or so.

  “Yeah, for me and Jake,” Henry said with a grin. Henry lightly punched his arm.

  “Let me pay for something you little cretin!”

  “No,” Henry said as he stuck his tongue out. “I get to be the rich boy in this friendship.” He almost said relationship . Almost.

  “You idiot, I’m also a rich white boy,” Jake said. “This is literally a rich kid college.” They both giggled hysterically as Henry swiped his card, and Candace shook her head at both of them while smiling. She drove a Benz, she had no place to mock them. Unlike other rich kids, Jake and Henry liked to think they were smart enough to invest their massive allowances and earn even more money while some of their acquaintances had no idea how to budget on ten grand a month from Daddy.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Jake said as they took their drinks and left. It was hot out all over again, and both of them groaned as they left the cafe. “Aw, fuck it’s hot.”

  “You’re hot,” Henry said as he took a sip of his drink. It was delicious, which was great because it cost like, six dollars. He held the cup against his forehead and sighed at how cold it was. Jake imitated him and grinned like an idiot.

  “I am hot,” Jake said. He casually bumped his hip against Henry’s and winked like an idiot. “You wanna go back to my apartment and help me out of these sweaty clothes?”

  “Oh, you mean the apartment we share?” They were both laughing again as they slowly made their way off campus and over to their apartment, which was down at the end of the street. By the time they got home their drinks were empty, and Henry found himself very much wanting another. He had little energy to turn back and buy one, however, so he debated being a rich asshole and ordering one through Uber despite it being such a short distance away while Jake dragged him up the stairs.

  “Come here,” Jake said as he pulled Henry through the door and accidentally stepped on his white shoes. Henry looked down and Jake was quick to apologize. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to do that.”

  “No, I like it better this way,” Henry said as he saw the shoe mark on the front of his own shoe. “It means I was with someone I care about.” Jake went red and shut the door, and Henry grinned at him like a moron. Jake rolled his eyes in response, grabbed him, and then their mouths met, lips parting as they crashed into each other.

  “You’re ridiculous,” Jake said and Henry melted at the slight insult. “You’re ridiculous and you’re hot.” Their lips smacked and Jake pulled Henry over to the couch between breaths. They fell over onto the cushions, grabbing at each other greedily as they made out.

  “Come here,” Henry said as he pulled Jake up against him. Jake’s head found its way into the crook of his neck and they held each other, both of them taking a moment to breathe as they cooled down. Not yet. They weren’t quite there yet. “We’re going to be so stupid happy. We’re going to snort kale and do yoga and be those assholes at the end of the street with horses and a shih tzu and we can wear sweaters around our necks like the gays on television.”

  Jake laughed into his neck and he squeezed Henry’s hand. His foot accidentally hit against his shoe, scuffing it further, and Henry was the happiest he’d been in a while. He kissed Jake’s head and held him. They were done with classes for the day, for the week, actually. It would start getting dark soon, and the heat would wear off then. Their apartment smelled like Calvin Klein cologne and fresh dry cleaning, and Henry found himself hoping that this scent might follow him forever.

  “Do you want to go out tonight?” His question hung heavy in the air. Despite their makeout sesh, Henry found himself nervous to even speak. Jake smiled into his neck, and as silly as it was it soothed Henry.

  “Like on a date?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yes,” Jake said as he raised his head. There was a smirk on his lips, a pleased look as he drank in Henry’s glow. “Yes, I want to go on a date.”

  “Okay,” Henry said. “But first I’m ordering Postmates.”

  “You want another drink already, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Henry said without an ounce of shame. Jake laughed for a solid minute, and then he peered over Henry’s shoulder as he input the order into the app.

  “I’m buying dinner,” Jake said into his ear, a grin on his lips. “Wear your best white shoes, I want to take you dancing after dinner.”

  “So you can step on them?”

  “Exactly.”

  -fin-

  Hello! Thanks for reading this short story. I’m trying to get back into producing a range of works at different lengths, so I’m including short stories in that. If you’re more interested in longer works, hit the follow button on my Amazon page, I update with new titles all the time. See you next time!

 

 

  Emrys Apollo, White Shoes

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