My mind raced as I exited the bathroom and walked out to my car. I eyed all of the other students I passed, silently wondering which of them could be behind the Grindr profile. I mean, I knew there had to be other gay students at Clareview, but I still found myself dumbfounded.
I needed to find out who that profile belonged to. And that was when the obsession began.
When I got home, against my better judgment, I sent another message to Mr. Pride Flag: Do you go to Clareview?
I immediately regretted it as I waited nervously for him to reply, refreshing every 5 seconds. I'd probably scared him off. I cursed my inability to leave well enough alone.
Finally, I gave up waiting and got ready for work.
Most kids around Clareview didn't have part-time jobs because they didn't need to. Parents were typically fine financing their children and their bougie lifestyles, but not mine; since they didn't come from wealth, my parents insisted I needed to get a job in order to instill a "work ethic" and "discipline" in me, and apparently the only way to do that was to work some mundane job a few days a week.
So, a few months ago, I got a job at a coffee shop downtown. I worked a few afternoon and weekend shifts each week. I got paid minimum wage plus tips and received a 20% employee discount, which Liv made me use for her during every single one of my shifts without fail. I told her she was going to get me fired, and she told me that with great power comes great responsibility.
I arrived on time for my 3:30 shift at Elysium Espresso, a pretentious name for a place that served subpar coffee and baked goods. It was basically a knockoff Starbucks, but many of the locals got their coffee here because it was locally owned. Supporting small businesses and all that.
I punched in, tied the stupid barista apron around my waist, and clipped on my name tag. I walked to the front and took my place behind the counter. Like clockwork, Liv walked in moments later with Sophia and Lydia.
"Hey, Connor!" Lydia greeted me with a smile.
"Hey."
Liv leaned up against the counter, eyeing the menu above my head. "Don't worry," she told me. "I told them that you couldn't use your discount for all of us. Just me." She winked at me.
"Gee, thanks," I replied sarcastically.
"So, I'll have a large oat milk latte. Extra foam with a sprinkle of cinnamon."
"Do you intentionally try to make my job harder?" I asked her.
"Your job is literally so easy," she shot back.
"As if you'd know, freeloader."
I used my discount on Liv and began preparing all three of their orders, intentionally misspelling all of their names on the cups, which was a long-running joke among our friends.
My coworker, Harper, a junior at the neighboring high school in Aspen Heights, jokingly clucked disapprovingly at me. "You know Pam's gonna notice you're using your discount on friends."
"If she hasn't yet, I kind of doubt she will," I said with a laugh.
"Probably true." Harper grinned at me.
I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. Technically against the rules, I discreetly checked my phone. It was a text in our friends' group chat from Sophia that said, Connor and his coworker are definitely flirting right now.
I looked over at where my friends sat at a table in the corner, whispering and giggling amongst themselves. Another text came through from Lydia: Ask her out!
I rolled my eyes in their direction and put my phone back in my pocket.
When I looked back up, none other than Josh Brooks was standing across the counter from me, waiting for me to take his order.
"Uh, hi," I said. I could barely make eye contact with him.
Hot guys with brown eyes always made me forget my name, but coupled with the fact that it was Josh Brooks turned me into a bumbling idiot.
"What's up? I mean, what can I get started for you?" I tried to lean against the counter casually but my arm slipped and I had to grab onto the edge to keep myself from falling over.
Smooth, Connor, real smooth. Hopefully the girls weren't paying attention to that.
Josh either didn't notice or spared me the embarrassment by pretending like he didn't. "Can I get a large iced green tea?"
"Yeah, definitely. For sure. One large iced green tea. Anything else?" I silently cursed myself every time words fell out of my mouth. Was it just me, or was I talking way too loud?
"Nah, that's it," Josh replied, pulling out a card to pay. Afterwards, I noticed he slid a $5 bill into the tip jar. I didn't know what to make of that.
While I made his drink, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket again. Paranoid it was Lydia or Sophia messaging about how I clearly had a crush on Josh, I whipped out my phone to check. To my relief, it was just an Instagram notification.
I swiped away the notification and put my phone back. I grabbed Josh's drink, but since my palms were all sweaty, I ended up dropping it right as I was about to set it on the counter in front of him.
The momentum caused the liquid to slosh and spill all over the counter. Some splashed down the front of Josh's sweatshirt.
I froze, my face turning crimson red. My mouth hung open as I stared at the spilled cup.
"Shit. Oh, shit, I'm so sorry." My voice came out as no more than a squeak.
Harper had already sprung into action, grabbing a towel to soak up the liquid.
"It's fine," Josh replied. If he was irritated, he didn't show it. In fact, I thought I caught a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "Don't worry about it."
Harper tried to hand him napkins to clean himself off with, but Josh just shook his head. Instead, he began pulling off his sweatshirt. In the process, his t-shirt underneath lifted up to just below his chest.
My breath caught in my throat. There, just above his belly button, I noticed a mole. The size, shape, and placement, if I wasn't mistaken, looked eerily similar to the headless torso belonging to one Mr. Pride Flag on Grindr.
"Connor, remake his drink," Harper hissed at me.
I blinked, finally forcing myself back to the situation at hand. "Again, I'm really sorry, Josh," I muttered, going back to remake his tea, my thoughts swirling.
"It's fine, Connor," he replied coolly.
I secretly got excited when he knew my name, until I remembered I was wearing a name tag.
After I gave Josh his drink with extreme caution, I took off my apron to go to the bathroom.
Once inside, I pulled out my phone, ignoring the message from Liv that said, Did you just accidentally throw a drink on Josh Brooks? and pulled up the Grindr profile.
There was no way that was just a coincidence. This was definitely Josh that had messaged me. Was it possible Josh was bisexual? What the hell was going on?
I was certain I had inadvertently stumbled onto the biggest secret of the famous Josh Brooks.
Now what?