The Maple Effect

by Madeleine Cull

  He looked like summer. Colorful and exciting and hot. Too hot. Had Aaron’s arms always looked that muscular?

  June and Angie sat outside the shop on the cinderblock wall facing the parking lot with glass bottles of Coke and identical starstruck expressions. They’d been utilizing their half-hour break to ogle at the boys working the docks but hadn’t expected Aaron to outshine them all. He walked with confidence in their direction.

  “You drooling?” Angie mumbled.

  “Yup.” He could hardly believe this was the guy who had asked him out on a date yesterday. Granted, Aaron had always been good-looking. He’d never looked quite like this.

  “Hey,” he greeted them, hopping onto the wall beside June in one careful movement. He adjusted his sunglasses and flashed a squinty smile. “July seventh.”

  June quirked an eyebrow at him, still dazed by the sudden, brilliant change of pace. He smelled fresh body spray on his skin too, which did nothing to help the crickets in his stomach.

  “July seventh?” he repeated.

  “That’s our date,” Aaron said it so easily. So calmly, as if he’d waited his entire life to say those words. Hard to believe he had only just come to terms with the idea he might be gay. Most teenage boys struggled with that.

  “Oooh!” Angie leaned around June to look at Aaron. “What have you planned?”

  June was glad she asked because his tongue weighed a hundred pounds in his mouth.

  “I can’t tell.” Aaron clasped his hands between his knees and swung his legs back and forth in excitement. A Christmas-morning grin nearly blinded them. “It’s a surprise.”

  Angie clapped her hands together, mimicking his excitement. “Oh, my God.”

  June’s head swung back and forth between them. His pride slowly being squashed into the dirt. “You’re not going to tell me what I signed up for?”

  “No way.” Aaron gave him a nudge. “You have to wait.”

  “I’m regretting this already.” He shook his head, raised the Coke bottle to his lips, and took a long, needed drink. The sun had returned stronger than ever since the storm. A scorching welcoming from July.

  “You’re gonna love it,” Aaron reassured. “I promise.”

  Hard to believe, but June didn't feel like arguing. He huffed and held his drink out toward Aaron. Gave him a little nod to take it. Angie leaned over with her bottle and clinked theirs together.

  “You’re gonna tell me in private, right?” She nodded as if June hadn’t heard the question.

  Aaron took a mouthful from the bottle and came away from it with a squeak, nose scrunching up as he forced himself to swallow. He held the bottle away from him, blinking at the label in confusion. “What did you put in this?”

  “Rum.” June smirked. “Just from the neck up though.”

  “Blegh.” He shoved the thing back at June. “I hate rum.”

  “Aaron!” Angie whined. “You’re gonna tell me, right?”

  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smacked his lips in disgust. “Only if you let me have a regular Coke.”

  “Don’t tell her! You big baby.” June took another swig. It wasn’t even that potent! Aaron must have a very low alcohol tolerance.

  “Deal!” Angie kicked off the wall and landed in the springy grass beneath them. “Come with me!” She grabbed Aaron by the wrist and tugged him along. “You want ice cream too?”

  He sent June a somewhat guilty grin from over his shoulder, and no matter how much June wished he could scowl back, he found himself rather stuck between a grimace and a grin. He flipped Aaron the bird.

  Kind of nice to watch him walk away though.

  The inside of the ice cream shop was mostly empty when Angie ushered Aaron through the door. Aside from a young couple sharing a banana split and Charlie behind the register, they were alone. She rounded on him at the beginning of the counter, chocolate brown eyes wide.

  Aaron didn’t know Angie very well, but each moment he spent with her, he liked her more and more. She was impish and happy and full of life. Every freckle on her face and curl in her hair held charisma. The gap separating her two front teeth quirky and unique behind her always-shiny lips. She was the kind of girl who could stop even the most confident men in their tracks. Someone his cousin, Arco might even do a double take for when she walked by. She was the girl you’d think untouchable in high school, always surrounded by peacocking jocks and cheerleaders. The one you’d naturally steer clear of until you saw her wearing a pair of high-tops with sharpie drawn all over them. Or caught her listening to Blink 182 and The Beastie Boys. She was very Beyoncé on the outside and girl-next-door on the inside.

  Most of all, he appreciated her enthusiasm over his date with June. She was a worthy ally. Held a plethora of information about June that would be beneficial to him.

  “So where are you taking him?”

  “You swear you won’t tell?”

  “Pinky promise.” She held up a slender finger, and he smiled. Aaron curled his around hers tightly and leaned into her space.

  “I got us tickets to Warped Tour.”

  As if her eyes couldn’t get any more huge. She grabbed him by the forearms and squeezed. “No!”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “No! Oh my, god. Shut up! He is going to—oh, my God. Aaron.” She bounced on the balls of her feet. “We tried to go last year, but his parents didn’t trust me to drive all that way! And it really fucking sucked, but this...this is perfect! He’s going to shit himself when you tell him!”

  “I’m not going to tell him!” Aaron insisted, glancing out the window to make sure June still sat on the cinderblock wall out in the parking lot. He was, and the sun on him was almost angelic. Damn.

  “Right. Right,” Angie corrected herself, nodding, “it’s a surprise.”

  “Yes, and you promised.” He gave her a somewhat-pleading look. She didn’t seem like the type to go and share secrets around, but that didn't mean her excitement wouldn’t get the better of her. Not to mention June could be relentless when he wanted something. There was going to be a battle of wills, and Aaron could only hope Angie would win in the end.

  “I promise.” She turned out of his bubble and walked around the counter. “Still want that Coke?”

  “Yes, please.” He leaned over the display case and watched her vanish into the back of the shop. He crossed his elbows and rested his chin in his arms, closed his eyes, and breathed easy.

  He was so relieved to have found something good for their first date, and even though he was confident June would like it, it was nice to know Angie completely agreed. They had about a week until the event, which would give him enough time to iron out some of the other details.

  Ventura was a little over a four-hour drive from here, and the farther south into California you got the worse the traffic was. He had to plan on making the trip rather early in the morning so they would have the whole day at the venue. And then after a whole day in the heat of the sun, charged with concert-adrenalin, neither of them would have the energy to make the drive back. They would have to get a hotel room for at least one night. And maybe before the drive back they could make a stop at the beach. Aaron loved the Pacific, and it would be a shame not to touch it if he was going to be so close.

  So really, his date was more of a mini-vacation inside of their vacation. He hoped June would be alright with the extended length of time.

  “Hey.” Charlie’s hushed voice drew him out of his daydream.

  “Hi?” Aaron blinked, surprised to find the younger teen so close to his face. “W-What’s up?”

  Charlie was a dramatic and interesting opposite compared to Angie. While she was rich, dark skin and sense of contagious wanderlust, he was pale and olive toned; his personality muted and reserved. The only thing they seemed to have in common was the freckles on their cheeks.

  “So…hangman?” he asked incredulously. “How’d you come up with that one?”

  Aaron pulled back in surprise, looked
around the room again to make sure no one listened. He wasn’t aware June had told the story and wasn’t sure if he should consider it a good thing that everyone knew about his tact or not. On the one hand, he was happy. June wasn’t hiding their date from his friends, but on the other, Aaron felt a little scrutinized.

  “I-I don’t know. I guess I was just too nervous to ask out loud.” It was true. He had walked out on the porch the other night with the intent of asking June out, but as soon as he’d sat down his nerve diminished. The idea had been impulsive.

  Charlie’s eyes narrowed curiously, full lips jutting out. He tapped his fingers against the glass, glanced over his shoulder toward the storage area where Angie had vanished.

  “So…do you think I should I ask Angie out?” he whispered.

  No one had ever wanted Aaron’s advice like this before. He hummed, scuffing his shoe against the tile floor, and tried to imagine what Arco might say. His cousin was rather good at giving advice despite his failure this morning.

  Charlie and Angie might be opposites, but one could argue the same for June and him. It wasn’t any of his business to play matchmaker, and he didn’t know either of them all that well yet, but what was a chance if not worth taking? He had assumed June would turn him down when he’d asked…but with a little persuasion, Aaron had gotten what he wanted. And Angie probably didn’t have much reason to deny Charlie in the first place. Unless she already had a boyfriend (if she did, she’d never mentioned it before).

  “Yeah, sure,” he said after a moment. “Why not?”

  Charlie opened his mouth and snapped it shut again as the swinging door behind him opened. The topic of conversation waltzed back out, carrying two new bottles of Coke.

  “Curls?” She held one to him, smiling softly.

  He took it. Charlie was lucky his complexion didn’t give away how flustered he was.

  “Aaron.” She held the second bottle to him.

  “Thanks.”

  The bell above the front door chimed, and none other than June poked his head in. He pouted.

  “How long do I gotta wait out here?”

  Angie, grinning mischievously, turned to a line of hooks and aprons hanging behind her. She grabbed a dark blue one with yellow stitching. “You’re good!” She tossed it. “Break time is over anyway.”

  Sometime after seven that evening, Angie’s mother came out of her office and told the three teens working behind the counter they could leave early. She would finish the shift as long as they got a head start on the cleaning. Aaron had stayed mostly to himself in one of the old booths, waiting patiently and enjoying every moment of immature banter as it came.

  It turns out June and Charlie really didn't like each other, and they picked at each other as much as possible when Angie wasn’t in the room. Aaron found it amusing. June’s remarks were especially funny and watching him in a different dynamic besides the one they shared gave him some insight as to who June really was.

  A little bit of a bully, but a guy who cared incredibly for his best friend. All the nasty looks and quick wits were just his way of telling Charlie to stay away from her. It was strangely endearing.

  When June’s attention was not on his cleaning tasks or his two coworkers, he caught Aaron’s eye and gave him a look that said a thousand words. June wanted to know what they were doing on their date, but after asking a few times and being denied, he had settled on acting like he didn’t care anymore. The look promised he was still grumpy over the whole ordeal. And threatened he was going to get revenge.

  Aaron thought it might be his favorite June expression yet.

  Once Ms. Delgado took over, the four of them ended up walking down to the docks together. Sunset burning orange and pink overhead. Dark green waves sucked sluggishly at the shore. A gentle breeze had picked up since that morning, and with the promise of nightfall in the distance, the mountain began to cool. Angie had a gallon-sized Ziplock baggie of broken waffle cone and threw small handfuls to the ducks. She talked to them each by name, occasionally jogging back and forth to see how fast they would follow her.

  Several other teenage boys worked at the end of the dock. Bringing in jet skis and tying up rental boats for the night. Yelling at each other and whistling and jumping in and out of the water with ease. At one point they waved to June; shouting something about honor and glory.

  Aaron stared from a safe distance, wondering why he’d never looked at other guys with interest before. They were all perfectly good looking; with toned bodies and tan skin and trendy haircuts, but he didn’t feel any real pull. Had no desire to ask them out or kiss them. Not like he did when his eyes landed on June.

  Maybe it was the sunset; lulling him with pastel colors and gentle clouds. A dappling, shimmery fire spread thin across the ripples of the lake. The smell of pine and campfire in the distance. Maybe it was the feeling of his bare feet on warm wood or the call of a blue jay from its nearby nest.

  Maybe it was because June was argumentative and stubborn, and so, so unpredictable.

  A fleeting, gentle scratch of fingernails against Aaron’s shoulder blade made him shiver, and when he turned, June stood next to him, staring off in the distance, refusing to acknowledge the tiny greeting. Was it a sign of affection? Aaron didn’t know, but after an entire afternoon of being several feet away from each other, he felt hyper-aware of the gesture. He smiled softly. The flutter of excitement swirling in his chest.

  “Hi.”

  June’s eyelids were heavy, face relaxed. “Are you thinking about being afraid of the dark?”

  Aaron blinked in mild surprise. After all the time they’d spent not talking about his fear, it seemed an odd time to bring it up. He looked around them, making sure Angie and Charlie were out of earshot.

  “No...why?”

  June hummed, glancing down at his feet and then up again. His blue eyes were gentle, careful. Reserved. They reflected none of the same energy from this afternoon; not fiery nor determined. Not even playful.

  “Because the sun is setting,” he murmured. “And…because I guess I don’t understand it very well.”

  It was true. June had no idea the ins and outs of Aaron’s phobia. He didn’t know Aaron felt most vulnerable out in open spaces, or that he could drive through the night and be okay so long as he was in constant motion. He didn’t know Aaron was capable of going to movie theaters or navigating his own home without light. That there were strange, zigzagging guidelines to what made a situation uncomfortable, or completely unbearable for him.

  This was the conversation Aaron had been waiting for. The one he’d promised himself he would have with June when the time seemed right. He hadn’t expected June to bring it up on his own though. And certainly not here.

  “You’re right,” he agreed, very aware of the setting sun and how much time he had left to get back to the cabin. He was good at gauging those kinds of things. “I should probably start heading back.”

  June blinked at him slowly, eyes searching for something…more. Aaron wasn’t ready to open up the can of worms here, but he was thankful June wanted to understand him better.

  “I’ll tell you about it later—”

  “You know…I…I believe you now, right?” June asked. Almost pleaded. Aaron imagined the walls around him trembling with effort. Maybe the sunset was getting to him too.

  Aaron nodded. “Yeah.”

  The two of them said quiet goodbyes to Angie and Charlie and walked together silently up the hill. Occasionally, brushed shoulders. Feeling closer now than before. Hearts beating loud. Solid pulse strung together in harmony. The promise of secrets rising with the moon.

  11

  Almost

  Aaron Valentine, once a simple and sweet topic of interest in June’s brain, was now a whole new drawer full of different files. Some thicker than others. Some harmless and some stamped with giant red block letters; WARNING and DO NOT OPEN stated clearly on the outside.

  June liked to flip through those files late at night when
he couldn’t fall asleep (which had been more often since Aaron had asked him out). He liked to peek at the file labeled endearing and run through the list of things he’d noticed about Aaron over their time here together. Smile to himself when he recalled how much Aaron liked his cooking but missed having easy access to greasy fast food. Or how Aaron’s idea of taming his hair was to drown himself in the bathroom sink every morning. How he couldn’t help but sing along to songs he knew on the radio (which was every damn song).

  June also liked the irritating file for Aaron; since it was the only one that made it easier to remember why having a crush on the guy was such a dumb idea. But lately, he’d noticed the things listed there were almost the same as the ones listed in endearing. And that was scary. That made him want to pull out the information and stick in other files he didn’t wander into very often.

  The newest, and perhaps the most interesting file for June to flip through was the one labeled The Dark. A file totally dedicated to Aaron’s biggest secret. The one he’d finally explained to June. A carefully drawn map of what freaked Aaron out and what didn’t.

  June hardly understood the information there, but he liked it. The way Aaron had been unapologetic about his fear made June squirm with enthusiasm. It made him want to climb onto the roof and scream his insecurities to the world. Loud and proud and reckless. It made him think Aaron was still just a tiny bit of a teenage disaster like himself. Less mature. Less untouchable. And somehow more incredible.

  June lay in bed staring at the ceiling fan several hours after Aaron had laid there next to him, spilling his guts, and all he could think about was how badly he wanted to conquer this situation. He didn’t know how yet, but he was going to do all he could to help Aaron get over that fear. Even if it was the last thing he did. Even if he had to spend the rest of the summer dedicated on it.

  Aaron was unbearably content with the way he lived now, and June wanted to end it. No good for nothing teenager on this mountain was going to quiver in fear of the night. Not while he could help it. June wouldn’t stop until Aaron’s eyes reflected billions of stars. Until the two of them could lay together in comfortable silence; all the lights off. Pitch black and pure darkness surrounding them.