Page 35 of Paint Eater
“What?Why?” Jay whined. “That’s just weird. And I’m terrible at keeping secrets. Like…I’m really, really bad at keeping secrets.”
“It’s not like Logan’s going to bring it up, Jay. Relax. And just think—you’re doing it for Logan. It’ll be fun.”
“Does Logan even like surprises? He seems like the kind of person who doesn’t like surprises.”
“Everybody likes good surprises. Look, justtrynot to say anything. If you feel the urge, just text me. Okay?”
“Urgh. I mean. It’ll be agoodsurprise?”
“Yes. You have no idea how much he hates those things. Jay. It’ll be nice for him to have a friend there. Trust me.”
Jay sighed. Logan hating fancy dinnersdidmake sense, and if Jay was actually a good surprise… “Oh. Well. Okay, I guess.”
“So. You’ll do it?”
“Yes, fine,” Jay said, smile belying his exasperated tone. “But can’t yourentme a suit instead of buying it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. A rented suit? Someone could have died in it.”
“That…” Jay shook his head. “You are so much weirder than I thought you’d be.”
“Thank you. So.” She arched her eyebrows.
Jay sighed. “Fine.”
Nisha clapped her hands together. “Perfect. Oh, we are going to havesomuch fun.”
Jay grimaced. That didnotsound good.
CHAPTER NINE
LOGAN
Logan shut the door behind him and stood there for a moment, straining his ears for signs of life, but there was only silence.
The ironic thing was that Logan’s parents were rarely there to enforce his curfew, but, knowing his luck, the day he broke it would be the day his mom would be waiting for him with another set of restrictions and a lecture about how irresponsible he was.
Logan snorted softly as he took off his shoes and placed them inside the chrome shoe holder, letting the colourful cloth his mom had purchased on one of her many trips to Africa fall over to cover the rows of sneakers and boots. The image of Jay asking him if his parents hit him sprang to mind, untied from any other thought.
Who the fuck evenaskedthat so point-blank?
Logan wasn’t sure why he kept thinking about it. Not because his parents beat him—neither of them had ever hit him. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched by them, be it a hug or a pat on the head or—
Not that Loganwantedthose things. He didn’t know what he would do if his mother suddenly showed him affection. Even when he was little, he’d learnt not to go to his parents with a scraped knee or a bruised spirit. There’d be no comforting words to ease any pain—there was only strength. Something that, according to his mom, he lacked severely.
Strength of will, of resolution, determination, drive.
Logan shook his head as he shut the door to his room. Every time he finished hanging out with Jay, Logan was left with a strange, foreign mix of melancholy and elation. He knew he was playing with fire—that whatever Jay was, the bright glow of him, the way he warmed Logan inside out, was temporary.
His life didn’t have space for people like Jay. Logan’s mother had made sure of that.
Logan looked at his bed for a moment, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the sheets and sleep, but he had homework to do, and, if he still wanted to spend time with Jay, he had to make sure his mom had no reason to suspect that he was out ‘galivanting’, as she would say. Especially with someone like Jay.
He sat down at the desk, waking up his laptop. He stared at the screen for a moment before listlessly clicking around files and all the internet tabs he had open with pages of textbooks and research.
He tried to force some motivation to ignite, but his thoughts were scattered. God, Nisha was such an intolerable bitch. Boasting about ‘introducing them’, as if she didn’t know perfectly well that Logan had watched Jay from afar ever since they did that stupid project together in eighth grade.
As if to prove his point, Logan’s phone buzzed beside him on the desk. He scowled at the text.
