Rooted in My Heart - 6. Twists and Turns

It was him! It was really him! He wrote the letter! At least… the writing style did look remarkably similar to the one used in that note.

I leaned over slightly and glanced at his paper again to double check. Wait… no, he made his D's and F's completely different. Well, maybe he was smart enough to alter his style a little to throw me off? I needed to have the actual note with me to compare. It did look similar, but maybe it really wasn't from him? I couldn't be one-hundred-percent sure. Either way, if he wasn't my main suspect before, he certainly was now. I had to tell Denika about this!

"Just check with your parents and make sure it's okay. I'll give you my number if they want to call my mom. Hold on," I said, almost stuttering now. I felt like I simultaneously couldn’t move and that I could run ten marathons back to back with all the thoughts and feelings spinning through my brain.

"Here." I pulled out a piece of scratch paper and jotted my information down for him. He took it from me when I was done and smiled.

"Sure thing. Thanks," he said, taking it from me and tucking it away with his things.

He can make me swoon just with his smile. It was so cute, that I could just… kiss those happy lips of his right now! This was the new best day of my life, after yesterday, of course. I couldn't believe he really wanted to come over and spend time with me. Furthermore, I could not believe that he may actually like me, too! I now had solid evidence that he might.

When I finally heard the bell that dismissed us for the day, I packed up like a madman to race out into the hall and meet Denika for a debrief of my latest discoveries.

As I passed by my art classroom, I noticed Mr. Snider hanging some student projects on the bulletin board outside his door. It looked like he had just finished grading them. How you could really grade art is beyond me, but I suppose this was school.

I slowed down as I approached him and hesitated for a moment, then jotted closer to where he was working. He noticed and nodded in my direction, which was probably one of his nicer greetings, actually.

“Hey Mr. Snider. Do you… need a hand?” I asked him carefully. He may not like me, but that didn’t mean I’d ignore him if he needed help.

He furrowed his brows and eyed me, before giving a short “Sure” and handing me a stack of projects to start pinning to the other end of the board with thumbtacks. I moved to start my side, and we worked in silence for a few moments.

Complete silence.

I studied him out of the corner of my eye and cleared my throat to speak, asking, “I see these are all ‘A’ projects.” He didn’t spare me a glance and grunted a bit in response, which I interpreted as a ‘yes.’ A man of few words. I took a deep breath, and opened my mouth to find out whether I made the cut. I probably hadn’t; he didn’t ever have anything nice to say about my work, after all. But I still had to know. “I don’t imagine mine… is in here?”

“Nope,” he said flatly, continuing to hang pieces on his side of the board. He finished, then walked back into the classroom grumbling under his breath. What a weird man… who was very blunt. I had my answer, though. It was probably another ‘C,’ as he seemed to like giving me. Not a failing grade, but enough to say ‘hey loser, you’re bad at this.’

But then, Mr. Snider surprised me by walking back into the hallway holding another project in his hand, and he held it out for me to take.

“I was going to give this back tomorrow, but since you’re here. It may not be an ‘A,’ but keep going,” he said, before pushing up his glasses and leaving me there to think. I bid him goodbye and he just grumbled again.

I stared at my project, shocked to see a note with a ‘C+’ attached to it. That was my best grade so far! It was only a step above the usual, and it may not mean much to most people, but to me it was progress. I always loved drawing and doodling, and it felt nice to be recognized as at least… decent at it. I still had no idea what it would take to satisfy Mr. Snider, but I would keep trying.

I placed my project in my binder and went back to searching for my crazy best friend, eventually finding her at her locker — banging her fist up against it repeatedly.

"Dammit! I hate this stupid thing!" She noticed me standing beside her giggling and tried to explain. "Well, what? It's always getting jammed! I'm going to put in a request for a new one. This thing is ancient and rusty," she grumbled, and sighed to relieve the tension in her shoulders. "So what's up?"

"You'll never guess what happened!" I whispered excitedly. "I asked Tanis to come over after a volleyball game that he has on Friday, and he said ‘yes!’ Can you believe that?!" I jumped up and down in a burst of utter joy.

"Well, duh! I told you he liked you. So, it's not that hard to believe that he'd want to spend time with you, but I am happy for you, regardless. Congrats," she said, with as little emotion as possible.

"Well, then. You don't get to know the good part now, little miss smart-ass," I said, tilting my nose up at her and spinning around to walk away. She laughed and grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

"Okay, okay. What happened next?" she asked.

"Well, I think Tanis might have actually written that note! I found a hair clinging to it when I got home last night. I must not have noticed it earlier, but it was blond! Tanis is blond! Also, get ready for this… I saw some of his handwriting, and I think it matched the note!"

"No way!" She gasped in shock. "Seriously?! That's so awesome! Oh my God! I'm so happy for you!" She clasped her hands together and gave me a tender, motherly look. "They grow up so fast! My little Dylan has himself a boyfriend already! I'm so proud!"

I immediately tried to shush her and I searched behind us to see if anyone was close enough to have heard her outburst. “Out me in front of the whole school, why don't you?!" I whisper-yelled as quietly as I could. She can just be so… stupid sometimes.

Denika ignored my warning and continued rambling, forming a new ‘plan’ for me in the process.

"Okay, here's what you're going to do: you're going to watch that game, take him back to your place, then watch a movie. Next, you're going to scoot as closely as possible to him. Scoot so close, that your hand happens to land on top of his. When it does, if he doesn't pull away, try to make eye contact. If the eye contact seems really intimate, then kiss him for the love of God!" she said, shaking my shoulders as I looked at her in horror.

"Oh my God! What did you just… what?! Um… that… I… I can't just do that!" My eyes went wide in horror, and I tried to push her away from me to breathe.

"Sure you can!" she yelled, now pulling me back in forcefully for a hug. "You'll do great! You need to 'take it to the next level,' so to speak. It's obvious that he wants it, too. Who wouldn't want to kiss you though? You're cute!"

"Don't you think that's moving a bit too fast?!" I squeaked. I certainly wasn't expecting her to come up with another risky plan so quickly after the last! This one, though, I think I'd rather not follow for now. She really is the impulsive one of our group. "Wait, did you just… call me cute?"

"No, I don't, and you are! Geez!" she said, rolling her eyes. “Take the compliment.”

Okay, I'd had enough of Denika's terrible plans and weirdness for one day. I should probably start walking to work.

"Right… that's nice, Denika. Thank you, I guess. I need to get going. I have a shift at Perks Coffee House down the street." She scowled at me and crossed her arms.

"Fine. Just don’t appreciate my valuable insight and advice, why don't you? I'll see you tomorrow. I have to run to meet Kyle anyway for our date after school." She turned to leave and I rolled my eyes.

"Come here," I said, giving her a hug from behind. "You're a weirdo."

"But I'm your weirdo!" she said. I let go of her and started walking in the opposite direction. She was certainly unique.

***

It was a quaint little place, that coffee shop. It had a very welcoming, lovingly-worn-down-over-the-years kind of atmosphere to it, which almost made me feel like I was working from home. A fun and cozy first job.

When I opened the door, I tripped off the little bell tied to it, and Michael, who must've only gotten there minutes before me, looked up from wiping down a table and grinned. I studied his face for a moment and said hello.

"Hey man! What's up?" he asked in response.

"Oh, just ready for another day. Let me grab my apron," I said as I walked into the back office. The shop’s owner and manager, Dustin, waved at me from behind his desk. He was on the phone, so I just politely waved back and grabbed what I needed.

I walked back out onto the floor and smiled at Michael as I leaned against the counter to tie on my apron and fix my nametag. He set his wash rag aside and looked around before talking to me more. It was pretty slow, with only a few regulars at tables across the shop. He pushed some dark strands of hair out of his eyes and stared straight into my soul, it seemed, and wrinkled his eyebrows.

"So… I heard you got a love letter for your birthday, bro. You know who it was from yet?" he asked.

I paused what I was doing in surprise. How… how on Earth did he find out about that? There's no way he could know that! Denika was the only one that… Denika! Jesus! She didn't tell him, did she?! I was going to kill her!

"How did you know about that?!" I asked. My heart started beating faster, and my breathing became shallow. I narrowed my eyes at him and awaited an answer. It had better be good!

"Cooper told me about it. Apparently… he knows who it's from. But he doesn’t want to tell you because he doesn’t want to meddle too much or something. Or, at least that's what he said. You told me you hated secrets, so I figured I could throw you this bone if you hadn’t heard." I gaped at him in shock as my mind went completely blank. Cooper? Why would he… how…what?! I seriously felt like I was short circuiting.

"Um… I… no, I don't know who it's from yet. Well, I thought I had, but now… I have no idea." I lifted my hand to my head and massaged my aching temples as a customer entered the shop and tripped the bell.

And I saw blond and amber.

“Hey Dylan,” Tanis greeted me with a smile, bouncing up to me at the counter. I returned pleasantries, feeling my chest constrict and my steps get heavy as I walked behind the register to take his order. Michael exchanged hellos with Tanis and studied us briefly before reaching for his cleaning rag again. “I came to finally order a drink, as promised.” Tanis bobbed his head down in a bow, then fixed his eyes up to the menu.

“You should’ve told me earlier that you were coming!” I exclaimed. Why had he suddenly shown up?

“But that would ruin the surprise.” He flashed me a grin and kept looking at the menu. “Besides, my friend ditched me after school and insisted I take the opportunity to try this place, since it’s ‘a great local after-school spot that I should check out and report back on.’” He held up his fingers to make air quotes. “He’s a nerd about researching and planning everything,” he added.

“A nerd, huh? Birds of a feather, then.” I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes in the cutest way, making my chest quake a bit more. “What can I get you?”

“What do you recommend?” he asked, meeting my eyes.

I helped Tanis with his order, recommending all my favorites and the best ways to customize them. He was laughing sweetly the whole time as I searched for opportunities to crack jokes or tease him, and his eyes lit up when I handed him his drink and he took a sip.

“S’really good. Good job,” he said, humming happily.

I watched him as he made a small ‘O’ with his soft lips and inserted the straw into his mouth, sucking up more of the sweet strawberry frappuccino I had made, just for him. Some whipped cream deposited on the corner of his mouth, and he reached up to wipe at it with the sleeve of his sweater.

‘Don’t get hard, don’t get hard, don’t get hard,’ I thought to myself on repeat, feeling my skin start to warm and tingle. I had only ever really thought of Tanis as a crush, and I hadn’t had that many overtly sexual thoughts about him, but in that moment something flipped a switch in me and I realized that he wasn’t only cute, he was sexy. The thought made me panic, and despite my best mental instructions, my pants became quite tight and uncomfortable.

Tanis and I kept talking at the counter until another customer came in, with me doing my best to conceal the tent in my pants behind the register the whole time. I could feel myself throbbing, painfully, and looking in Tanis’s eyes only made it worse. While I loved spending time with him, I was grateful for him to leave so that I could regain some control over myself and finish my shift. And… maybe relieve some pent up stress in the bathroom.

As he left, he waved and asked me to join him to play some video games online later that night, and I agreed with a nod. Were we becoming… close friends? In the span of a few weeks, I realized just how much more we’d been talking, and it made me smile.

The rest of my shift went pretty quickly — especially with so much on my mind — and I was glad to get out of that coffee shop by the time I was done. My brain couldn't focus on anything else but Tanis and the note. I just wanted to figure out who this illusive author was. I was grateful to Michael for the new clues, but could I be sure that he or Cooper were telling the truth?

As I walked through the doorway after getting home, I heard my dad grumble a ‘hello’ from the couch. I kicked my shoes off and bounced over to say hi back, and my mind wandered from the note and Tanis back to my new art grade from Mr. Snider. At least that was some good news I could share with him and my mom about my day.

“Oh, guess what?” I asked my dad as I shuffled into the kitchen to get something to drink. Silence was my answer, unless you counted the sound of the news playing on the TV. Assuming he was listening, I continued. “I got my latest project back from Mr. Snider!”

I received a short ‘hm?’ in acknowledgment.

“I got my best grade yet!” I said cheerfully, pulling a soda out of the fridge. I cracked the top and took a sip while I glanced over the counter toward my dad. The soda was sweet, but the silence wasn’t.

I set the can down and scratched my temple. Shifting my feet a bit, I decided to continue.

“Well, it wasn’t a great grade, but it was still my best yet. I thought that was exciting?” I said quickly.

There was no acknowledgement.

A breathy laugh left my lips, and next, “Well, it was a C+, but my last grades were less than that. And Mr. Snider is so mean and he grades me so harshly, but this was a nice step in the right direction.” The words felt rushed. “I think?”

Silence.

I worried my brow and decided that I didn’t want the rest of my soda, placing it back in the fridge for later. And why keep up the conversation now if it was just me talking to myself? One-sided… so many things felt that way lately.

“Did you say something, buddy?” my dad asked, clearing his throat and peering over at me as I walked toward the stairs.

“No, Dad… I’m going to go do my homework,” I answered half-heartedly, and he turned his eyes back to the TV.

“Don’t forget to take out the trash,” he said gruffly. I nodded and softly answered that I would do it before bed.

After my homework, I powered on my game console and logged on, hoping to see Tanis online, too. As soon as I saw his name highlighted in green, my screen pinged with a message from him.

Tanis: Hey Mr. Barista

The new name for me made my lips quirk.

Dylan: Ha! Is that my nickname now?

Tanis: Well, you are a barista after all

Dylan: Touché, Mr. Volleyball Star

Suddenly, a voice chat request popped up on my screen and I clicked ‘accept.’

“I’m hardly a volleyball star,” Tanis said into his mic, laughing lightly. I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Well I’ll have to see for myself on Friday,” I answered softly. There was no reply on the other end for a moment as Tanis was thinking. I leaned back on my bed and rolled over onto my stomach, propping my head in my hands. The TV lit up my otherwise dimming room as the sun set.

“You seem… a little sad,” he stated. It was said matter-of-factly, but with warmth. It surprised me that he noticed, let alone cared. I wasn’t really sure how to answer. Sure, there was a lot on my mind — including him and the note — but also my father in particular right then.

“Really? It’s nothing. Promise.” But he didn’t buy that. I picked at the pillow in front of me and looked out my window at the pink and violet sky.

“What’s on your mind? We don’t have to play a game. Could just talk. Especially if you had a bad day or something?” he asked — a bit timidly.

“Just… parent troubles, I guess. Nothing serious,” I paused, before adding, “But you and you asking have made the day better. How about you and your move? Are you really settled okay? I know you… haven’t talked about it much. And you don’t have to — no pressure.”

“I… really? Um. Well. I’m glad I could help, dude,” he responded clumsily. “I’m doing okay. Thank you for asking.”

“Well, of course,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. It made me feel warm inside to hear from him. “And I’m looking forward to Friday. It’ll be fun to—”

“Dylan!” I covered my mic, startled and looking toward the source of the yelling at my door. “ I said to take the fucking trash out. NOW!” My dad boomed from the hallway. “Are you on that game? No games before you do your chores. Now MOVE!”

His face was red, and the vein in his neck was bulging. I paled seeing him and rushed a quick goodbye to a very confused Tanis, telling him I’d talk to him later. My dad stood at my doorway, waiting and glaring at me, as I turned off my console and squeezed past him to go take out the garbage.

Sometimes, when he was sober or hungover he could be… not so kind and patient. But I was used to it.

When I had finished, I mused trying to get back on a call with Tanis, but he was offline — and I heard my mom get home downstairs.

Instead, after dinner, I decided to call Denika just to make sure that she didn't spill her guts about the note to anybody — namely Cooper. “What did you do?!” I whisper-yelled into the phone as soon as she picked up.

“What are you talking about, stupid?” she said, frazzled. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best approach. I should've thought more about what I was going to say instead of just winging it, because yelling wasn't the nicest way to treat your best friend.

“Did you tell Cooper about the note?” I asked more calmly.

“No. Why?”

“Because he knows about it! That’s why!” I said, flailing my free arm around in the air for dramatic emphasis, as if she could see it through the phone.

“Huh... you don't think he wrote it, do you?” she asked. I thought about her question for a minute. I suppose it still was a possibility that he could've written it.

“I... I don't know,” I said.

“Well, it could be from him. That would explain why he knows.” She took a deep breath and I could tell that she was thinking very hard about our new dilemma. Then she giggled. I was glad she found this all amusing, because it was giving me a migraine!

“I don't know. I've considered him as a potential suspect....” She laughed loudly into the phone, cutting me off and nearly deafening me on my end. “Ow! My ear!”

“Oh, lord. A 'potential suspect?' I'm sorry, that was just... Dylan, you're hilarious,” she said.

“I know I am, but can we please focus on the problem at hand? We'll have plenty of time to compliment me later.”

“Right… You think you're so smart. Watch yourself, or you're going to wind up with a few dents in that smug face of yours the next time I see it,” she threatened.

“That's big talk for a-” I started.

“Watch it, Buster!”

“Fine. Listen, I'll talk to you later then. I'm going to go to bed. Thank you, Denika,” I said, now feeling a bit less tense after talking to her.

“Yeah, you need your beauty sleep to look good for your little boyfriend. Love you, dweeb,” she said.

“He is not my boyfriend!” I yelled.

“Even if he didn't write the note, he so likes you, so he will be soon enough!”

“Goodnight!” I said, and then hung up.

She could be infuriating sometimes. Maybe best friends were just like that. Well, at least she didn't open her big mouth. That would mean that Cooper either found out from someone else… or he wrote it himself. If he found out from someone else, then I had more detective work to do, but if he wrote the letter himself, then that meant that I had my secret admirer!

But what if Cooper was my secret admirer? That would mean that Tanis wasn't, and then that would mean he didn't like me, right? Well, he could still like me, but there was less proof that he could if he didn't write the note...

Suddenly, I heard a gentle knock at my door.

“Yeah?” I replied, looking toward the source of the knock. My mom gingerly pushed the door open and stepped inside. There was something in her expression right then that I couldn't place. She seemed almost... sad. Or was she proud? It was bizarre. “Mom? You alright?” She sighed and shrugged her shoulders before moving to sit beside me on my bed.

“So... what is this I hear about a boyfriend?” she asked. My eyes went wide. Where on Earth did she get the idea that I had a boyfriend?! Oh... she was listening to my conversation. That was so not cool!

“I... you... I... were you listening to my conversation?!” I asked, shocked at the betrayal of my privacy.

“I caught the tail-end of it. Oh sweetie, I think that's wonderful! Oh wow! My little boy is growing up!” She reached over and pulled me into a warm, motherly embrace.

“Ugh... Mom, I don't have a-”

“Do I know him?” she cut me off. “Oh, I'll bet I know who it is! It's this Tanis boy you're having over on Friday, isn't it?” she asked. I scowled at her and tried again to set the record straight, and hopefully not get interrupted this time.

“Well, not exactly... I mean, I do… like him.... I guess,” I said. She grinned happily and clasped her hands together. “Wait, no. No, no, no. I take that back. I didn't want you to know that I liked him! Now you're going to fawn all over him because you know I like him and you're going to embarrass me to death!” I complained. She frowned in offense and poked me in my side.

“Hey! I get to do that! I'm your mom; it's my job! So, then what's with this ‘boyfriend’ talk if he's not your boyfriend? Come on! I want the full scoop!” she said.

“Okay, fine,” I said, and took a deep breath before continuing. “Denika was just teasing me about us being lovebirds because she thinks that he wrote this love note that I got and so that's why she called us boyfriends, but the note may not be from him and instead it could be from this other kid named Cooper, and he knows I got the note even though no one told him about it, which is really suspicious, and then there's....”

“Hold on a sec! Calm down, pooch! I can't keep up. Okay, so you're not really boyfriends with anyone? It was just a joke?” she asked.

“Yes. But, it could happen! Maybe... if he likes me back. And I think he does, because it looked like his writing matched the note. I mean, there were a few slight differences, but it was pretty much the same, and...”

“What note?” she asked, looking a bit lost in the sea of information I was dumping on her.

“The love note!” I answered cheerfully, as if that did her much good. She probably could have deduced that much. “Sorry, it was a note that I had gotten from a secret admirer. I've been trying to find out who wrote it!”

“Right... so you think this Tanis boy wrote it because you think he likes you, and because his handwriting looks similar to the writing in the note? And the Cooper boy is another possibility because he knows you got a note when no one else but you and Denika know about it? Are you sure she didn't just blab to him?” she asked. I should be surprised she made sense of my babbling, but she's had years of practice.

“Exactly, and no, she didn't. That's what I was just double-checking with her about on the phone,” I explained.

“Ah... okay... I think I understand now. Well, I think that it'll all work out just fine. You just have to have faith.” She brought her hand up and lovingly rubbed my back.

“Yeah. I hope it does.”

“Everything will be fine. Thank you for telling me this stuff. You can always talk to me, okay?” she assured me warmly. I nodded and gave her a hug. “Goodnight, kid,” she said, and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “I love you.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you too,” I responded. She smiled and her eyes sparkled as she looked at me a moment before getting up and walking out of my room.

I felt a lot better after she left… She always seemed to know what to say.