Read Waterways for Free Online

he told Samaki about Sal and his string of girlfriends, and that led Samaki to ask if he was dating anyone.
    “No,” Kory said. “I got dumped last weekend.” The words spilled out naturally. To his surprise, he felt only a small twinge as he spoke.
    “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay. It was probably for the best.”
    “What do you mean?” The fox’s ears swiveled forward.
    “Well, things just weren’t going anywhere. I mean, I don’t know if you’re seeing anyone or if you know what I mean, but sometimes it’s just like you stay together because you don’t know what else to do, not because you want to.”
    “That sounds like the wrong reason to stay together.”
    “Yeah, it probably is.” Kory sighed. “But it was easier than breaking up. Until someone else asked her to the prom.”
    “You didn’t ask your girlfriend to the prom?”
    “I didn’t think of it until it was too late!”
    Samaki chuckled. “Then ’scuse me, but I think you did the right thing.”
    Kory nodded. “I know. But it’s not easy.” He looked up at the fox. “You seeing someone?”
    Samaki shook his head. “Nah.”
    “Really? I’da thought the vixens would be beating down your door.”
    “Why?” The fox tilted his head. Kory began to feel a little warm. He took a drink to stall.
    “Well, you’re an athlete. You used to be, anyway, and you still… I mean, all the jocks in our school have women hanging around them like… like a cloud of comets or something. You never know which one is going to be coming close at any particular moment, but they’re always there.”
    Samaki leaned back and laughed. “That’s great. I’ll have to remember that one. No, the track team rates pretty far down on the list. Plus, uh…” He hesitated, taking another drink of his shake.
    The nagging suspicions about Samaki returned. Kory didn’t want Samaki to tell him he was gay, not now. It would ruin this nice moment. He changed the subject before Samaki put his shake down. “How long have you been coming here?”
    “Oh, years. My mom and dad used to take us out here for a treat, and when I starting working, I always put aside enough for one shake a week.”
    “What’s your job?”
    “I help stock at the grocery store on weekends.”
    “I had a summer job at my mom’s office, just doing filing and stuff. She won’t let me work during the school year, though.”
    “Too bad.” By now, Kory recognized Samaki’s gentle sarcasm.
    “Yeah, I… oh, no.” He’d glanced up to his right. The clock on the wall read 10:13.
    Samaki pushed his shake aside. “Come on,” he said, jumping to his feet. “We can make it if we run.”
    “Maybe you can,” Kory said, but he got up anyway, and waved to the goat as they ran for the door. “Nice to meet you!”
    “Come back soon!” Chuck the goat said as the door swung closed behind them.
    They ran together down the dark street, paws slapping the sidewalk in time. Kory, a few paces behind the fox, admired the fluid grace with which he strode, and the billowing of his tail behind him. I bet he’d be a track star if he put his mind to it, he said to himself. He felt clumsy and awkward by comparison, his tail a heavy weight behind him. It was very useful in swimming, but a burden to run with.
    They dashed around the corner. The bus sat idling at the stop. I’ll never make it, Kory thought despairingly, but the bus stayed there as they drew closer, and closer. Then it started up with a rough cough, lurched forward, and pulled away just as Samaki reached the back corner and slapped it with a paw, yelling, “Wait! Wait!”
    To no avail. The bus chugged down the street. They saw it stop two blocks down, as if taunting them to follow, but Kory was already winded. He panted hard, paws on his knees.
    “I’m sorry,” Samaki said, his long tail curled under his legs. “Maybe my mom can drive you home.”
    “It’s okay,” Kory puffed. “There’s…  another bus…  fifteen minutes.