“Oh.” He pulled away.
Damn. What’s wrong with you, Étienne?
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” I pulled myself up and looked down in embarrassment. The moment was ruined. Why did I do that? He was not ready to go that far yet.Why do you have to ruin everything, Étienne?
“No. It’s ahh. It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting it.” He grinned nervously.
It was nearing the time his friends were supposed to arrive anyway, so the two of us descended to the kitchen to grab another drink. Thad sat on the sofa facing the large flat screen in the living room and set his drink on the coffee table. I stood near the entrance of the room, examining the large stereo.
“Ooh, it has an aux cable.”
“Want to listen to some music?” He pointed to my front right pocket.
You know where I keep my stuff now, eh?
He encouraged me to connect the iPod so we could continue the playlist I had put together. We put on the stereo loud enough to enjoy the music, but not so much that we wouldn’t hear a car pull up. I sat next to him, and we took a large sip of our drinks. He scooched closer to me, wrapped his left arm around my shoulder, and looked directly into my eyes.This is all we need.The two of us worked together. All we needed was some time alone to figure that out. Despite his problems, and mine, the world felt like it stopped when we were together. Nothing else mattered.
It’s after nine now. Where are they?I wondered. His friends should have been arriving.
“What is this?” he asked, pointing toward the stereo. The playlist had come up to a song in French.
“This is Indochine. My favorite French band.” I looked at the stereo.
“You know French?” He raised his brow.
“Yes and no.” I grinned.
“How?”
“Well. My dad’s mom was raised in French schools before Lebanon’s independence from France. She used to sing to me in French as a child.”
I understood it more than I admitted but didn’t speak it much. Just like Arabic, I knew how to navigate French but feared sounding like an idiot if I tried speaking it. My second year at Wayne State University changed that. I enrolled in French courses and decided to push past my fear and relearn everything my grandma had taught me.
“What is he saying?” He tilted his head to the side. He was more interested than I thought he would be.
“The song is called, ‘J’ai demande´ a` la lune.’I asked the moon, in English.”
“Asked the moon what?” He winked.
An exact translation wouldn’t have made much sense in English, so I tried thinking of how the song made me feel instead. “Bear with me.” I exhaled. “So, he’s asking the moon for advice, after being hurt by the sun. But she’s not interested in helping. He then asks her if the sun still wants to be with him. But she laughs at him in the end.”
It’s more meaningful if you actually know French. I didn’t think my summarization was the best, but I tried to show him how the song made me feel. How throughout my life, I tried showing people who I was. But the world hadn’t made me feel like I was actually there, or that I was wanted. Like the singer, whenever I asked the moon for help, she chose not to.
“I like that.” He looked down at the time on his phone screen before adding, “it’s late. People are supposed to be here by now.” He then pulled me closer.
He was right. Where was everyone? I didn’t know who he had invited, but it had to have been at least two other people. He had more friends than I ever managed to have.Could Heather have said something?I scratched my head. She was peeved to see me at the city pool.
“Ope. Maybe that’s them.” He reached down to grab his dinging phone.
I took a peek at the message.Sorry man, can’t come. Something came up.
He squeezed the phone and exhaled as he shrugged. It was nothing. He wasn’t that bothered. Things happen. Right?
“What?” he said as another message appeared before he could put down the phone. The message read,Hey man. I don’t think we can come. Something came up.
His face turned yellow as he took a gulp of his drink. He didn’t tell me how many people he had invited, but it was apparent that none of them were coming. Thad was the cool guy with all the right friends. Why would they bail on him like that?
“They’re not coming.” He pulled his arm out from around me, resting his forearms on his knees.