August, 2011

  Getting blindsided is part of life and the world isn't gonna wait for you to get over it. Sometimes you gotta grab the bull by the horns, maybe this was what his dad was talking about? The morning air was warm as Collin jogged through the neighborhood in track pants, beat-up sneakers, and a sleeveless shirt.

  When Ezra and Inaya first got sick he wasn't that worried, but after his siblings were put in the hospital he would leave practice early or skip it all together. Collin fumbled and in football that's not good for the team. He needed to focus on his mental health and do better at multitasking.

  After looking at the time on his phone Collin stopped and drank some of his water. He thought for a moment before he lifted-up his shirt to reveal his abs and poured water over his head. Several pictures were taken as Collin posed for the camera, all he was missing was a filter.

  4 hours ter, Collin sat in woodshop as their teacher Mr. Bishop went around the cssroom. He had on a striped colred sweatshirt, cargo shorts, Converse sneakers, and a Kingdom Hearts neckchain. Collin held a wheel in his hands and scowled.

  Why couldn't he just ask his friends Emmi, Bine, and Helena if they wanted to hang out together? It shouldn't be this hard! But whenever Collin got the chance the words would get stuck in his throat like a forbidden nguage.

  Just then his cell phone vibrated again. The photo he took this morning was posted on InstaSHINE to let everyone know he wasn't dead in a ditch. His boyfriend and friends were the first to react.

  Many people don't have social media, and if you go AWOL for too long in this family you'll be scolded something fierce. To avoid this Collin made sure to collect all his retive's home and cell numbers.

  "Fascinating, what are you making?" asked Mr. Bishop.

  "A vardo," Collin expined with pride. "It's a Romani wagon."

  When school ended Collin followed Helena around town. She showed him this old park where they use to py and expined that he lost a tooth on the roundabout. Next, they went by the zoo and Helena mentioned that Collin loved tigers. After that they went to an ice-cream parlor as Collin gazed around.

  "Helena is that you?" said a voice.

  She waved. "Hi Mr. Lauraunt, how are you today? Do you remember Collin?"

  "I take pictures of all my favorite customers and hang them on the wall," the man crossed his arms and spoke. "He looks familiar though. Nice to meet you again, young man."

  Collin didn't wanna be disrespectful and nodded. "You too, sir."

  "Is your favorite ice-cream still s'mores ice-cream?" Helena smirked.

  "Uh...yea," Collin stammered because he was shocked. He was starting to feel a little bad for not remembering something about her. "You have a good memory. Can you tell me your favorite ice-cream and animal?"

  "Cotton candy ice-cream. Sea turtles and jellyfish," Helena answered with glee as she pointed at a picture on the wall. "See, that's us!"

  On the wall he noticed a photo of them with their families together. Collin recognized his mom, dad, older brother, older sister, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. The other two people in the picture were Helena and a pale guy with neon blue hair. After 15 minutes cruising around town Collin and Helena stopped infront of a comic store. The inside of the shop was very retro as they looked around.

  "Do you like comics?" Collin asked her.

  "A little," she admitted. "My favorite is Zatanna."

  He grinned. "I like Blue Beatle."

  10 minutes ter Collin heard the door chime and gnced over his shoulder. His heart sank as he ducked and hid behind a bookcase, walking into the store was Bine & Emmi with three other people. This was bad!

  "What's wrong?" Helena said as she noticed his weird behavior.

  Collin sighed. "Those are my friends and I told them I would hang out with them when I had time, if they see me they're gonna think I lied."

  "Oh!" Helena stared at Emmi & Bine's group. "We could sneak out the backdoor if you want?"

  After escaping the comic shop they crashed at a diner. Collin was starving as he scanned the menu, it wasn't that crowded as he signaled to a waitress. 12 minutes ter they got their food and milkshakes.

  "Who was that guy in the photo?" Collin asked before taking a bite outta his cheeseburger.

  Helena took a sip of her milkshake and spoke. "My older brother, Casper."

  "And the rest of your family, what are they like?" he dipped a curly fry into his milkshake.

  "My parents are not with us anymore," Helena's voice was solemn.

  Collin almost choked. "I'm...sorry."

  "It's fine," she fshed him a smile and picked-up her burrito. "What do your parents do?"

  "My mom use to be an athlete," Collin expined. "She participated in the Olympics a few years back and won two gold and one silver. My dad is a special effects make-up artist and he's working with a film studio right now."

  It was almost sunset when Collin returned home, he quickly changed his clothes and went back out. The park was quiet as he parked his motorcycle and took off his helmet. A few minutes ter Collin was doing pushups, squats, pnks, sprints, jumping jacks, lunges, sit-ups, and pull-ups on the monkey bars.

  He repeated this process several times before noticing the sky getting dark. Goosebumps pinched his skin as he wandered over to his motorcycle and slouched in the seat. Just then Collin's cellphone rang and he saw that it was his boyfriend, Rafhael.