A Wealth of Unsaid Words (7 page)

A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

over everything, gum, mints, bagged popcorn, all oddly

fascinating in its own way. Kitschy, silly things a child would

eye with longing.

He didn"t know Everett was close until he spoke.

“I think I own that movie.” It made Alex jump, his heart

a wild bird. Everett smoothly dropped a carton of cream and

some packages of seasonings into the basket and picked up

one of the movies. He was close, a smile at his mouth. Alex

thought his lips would feel warm to his frozen fingertips, but

didn"t touch them.

“Why?” The cover had a cheesy charm, but one look told

him it wouldn"t be good.

Everett studied him and smiled evilly before turning

toward the front counter. “It was a gift.”

Alex grabbed a package of powdered donuts covered in a

horrible shade of red and green sprinkles, and tossed them

in too. He was supposed to be resisting impulsive purchases;

they filled no holes and built no bridges.

He glanced over as Everett started to move toward the

cash register. It was not Alex"s smile that held devilish

charm, no matter what the world thought. Everett was far

ahead of him. He hurried to catch up.

“I don"t expect you to keep everything I gave you.”

Keeping everything he"d given out while in full mania would

mean Everett would have an apartment full of convenience

store knickknacks and old paperbacks and anything else

that would have once set fire to Alex"s imagination for

whatever reason.

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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

Everett was trying to pay, so Alex added in some of his

money for the duck and the donuts, and watched Everett"s

profile. He didn"t speak again until they were out of the

store. The steam from his breath rose up and then vanished.

“How about you? What have you been up to aside from

trying to part the wealthy from their wealth?”

“Working, of course.” Everett gave an angry sigh as he

got in the car. “It"s so hard to convince these kids they are

worth anything, and just when I have, a dozen more walk

through the doors. There"s one… well….” Everett had gone to

school with the intention of becoming a psychologist, but

with his family Alex should have guessed he would end up in

social work.

Everett"s hand was on the steering wheel. Alex reached

out,
felt
the moment where Everett waited, but then settled

his hand over the heating vent once again, an unabashed

coward.

“So no one in your life, then?” He cleared his throat. “I

thought for sure with your new co-director you"d get more

time for yourself.” He turned the other way to watch their

high school go by once again. It had been the opposite then,

Everett alone and Alex popular. Both felt wrong, but he kept

his mouth closed and waited tensely for Everett to answer.

Not wanting to hear the answer didn"t mean he could

avoid it. Everett deserved a chance at a better life if he

wanted one.

“Me?” Everett waved it off and seemed honestly

surprised, though it wasn"t as if Everett didn"t have

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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

boyfriends. There were always bank tellers and other social

workers and the occasional cop who gazed at Everett with

want in their eyes, even if they had never lasted beyond a

few months. “You must be confusing my social life with

yours.”

“You know I don"t date, Everett.” Alex had never really

dated in the traditional sense, though he had tried once or

twice. But his brain chemistry hadn"t been geared toward

stability, and he"d already known at the start of each

relationship that it was going to be a waste of time. His eyes

in those old pictures said it all. He"d been searching for

someone else.

Now, with everything in his life starting to truly feel

secure, with schedules he stuck to and his thinking mostly

even, he wasn"t ready to risk himself for anything less than

what he really wanted. He had thought he"d made that clear,

but Everett frowned before turning his face away.

“I know.” Everett"s tone said he knew it, but he didn"t

like it. “But I still think….”

“Very few people would understand. Anyway, the only

ones interested these days are either people impressed by a

few articles or students, and I don"t want that in my life.” He

was firm enough that Everett finally nodded. But his sigh

was long and heavy.

They were almost at the driveway before he spoke again.

“What do you think of Molly"s new roommate? Ty, I

think?”

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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

Alex had to stare at him. “Ty?” Ty had been attractive, if

young, but a little too bold for someone like Everett, if that"s

what Everett was leading up to.

“I think he liked you.” Everett seemed to agree, though

he was still sorely mistaken if he thought Alex would be

interested in someone like Ty. It was like those moments

after coming, when the fantasy was gone and he was alone

again, the wrong person in his bed.

Alex slowly put a hand to his chest and tried to think of

something, anything, to say to express the confusion and

need welling up inside of him. It had always been so much

easier on paper.

There was another car in the driveway, forcing Everett

to park in the street. George wouldn"t be happy about that,

but it was a distant thought because Alex was still staring at

Everett. His heart was finally starting to slow, but his

stomach remained tight, spiking with nerves and fear and

heat.

“Everett,” he said when the car was quiet, not angry but

not happy. He didn"t want Ty. Everett didn"t want him with

Ty either, but Everett wanted him to be happy.

Everett set his jaw and looked ridiculously stubborn and

righteous. “I"m not giving up. You deserve love, Alex. With

someone.” He jerked his head to stare out the driver"s side

window. “Especially now that you don"t need anyone to…

care for you anymore.”

“So you keep saying.” Alex"s students wouldn"t know

what to make of him like this, choking and quiet. Everett

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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

half-turned back to him, but wrinkled his forehead and then

shook his head. He heaved a breath.

“One day you might even believe it.” He got out of the

car, leaving Alex to get the paper bag of last minute groceries

and tchotchke that had caught his eye. He looked inside the

grocery bag and stopped without opening the door. Everett

came around and opened it for him.

“Oh yeah, I grabbed some bags,” Everett explained when

he saw what Alex was staring at. Of course Alex had seen the

waxy bags of handmade, old-fashioned, paper-wrapped

candies hanging up by the cash register, but he hadn"t

noticed Everett buying any.

A local woman made them. Alex had never seen them

for sale anywhere else.

“I know there will be enough sweets at home for

Christmas, but I"ll take these back to the city with me and

keep them for later. I loved these as a kid.”

“I know.” Alex moved but kept the bag close to him as

he got out of the car. He was too quiet to be heard. “I"d never

forget that.”

Everett"s mouth had been sticky with them when he had

explained with perfect Everett logic that they ought to learn

how to kiss and that there would be no one better to practice

with than each other. A man didn"t forget things like that,

especially not a man in love.

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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

here was a lot of noise in the house when they

returned. There was always a lot of noise of course,

T

this many people in one house made noise, but as

this was of the screaming, excited-child variety, Alex had left

the kids to their redecorating of the already decorated tree in

the living room and attempted to hide in his old room.

As that option hadn"t been available since his room had