Asterism

Peter put his hood down as he followed Axel inside. The convenience store’s lights buzzed as refrigerators hummed, and music came crackling through speakers in the ceiling. The attendant at the counter didn’t look up from his phone as they entered.

“You’re my only friend that doesn’t,” Axel replied, scratching his chest as he went to look through the chips. Both men were athletic to some degree, but Axel far more so. “You have class, right?”

Peter paused his search for candy. “What day’s tomorrow again?”

“Don’t you mean today?” Axel said, grinning stupidly.

“Shut up,” Peter said flatly. “ ‘Today’ doesn’t end until I fall asleep. So what day’s tomorrow.”

Axel laughed. “Sorry Petey. Thursday.”

“Physics.” Peter took a bag of sour gummy worms. “You?”

“English. Math later.” Axel picked barbecue chips, and they relocated to the fridges.

“Algebra, right?” Peter asked.

“Yeah,” Axel said, scanning the drinks.

“How are you doing with it?”

Axel picked a blue Gatorade. “Still making dumb mistakes.”

“That sucks,” Peter said, trying to keep his face neutral.

Axel saw it, though. “Yeah,” he said, sighing.

Peter hastily picked a grape soda after he saw Axel’s slight slouch as he waited. “I can help out, if you want? For real this time.”

Axel brightened some. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, we use algebra in Calc like crazy.”

The attendant cashed both of them out without a word.

They moved out into the windswept night. Axel popped his chip bag open as they started back the way they came. Peter fumbled with his bag until he realized there was a cut for easy opening.

“Those’re so sugary,” Axel said, making a face as Peter pulled a worm out.

Peter held it toward him. Axel snatched it out of his hand and popped it into his mouth as they walked. He gave a chip in exchange.

The night air was dry and a little cold, gusting now and again, shaking the wires that crisscrossed high above the street. Stop lights held green this way, their default state with no traffic to wake them from their sleep.

Axel came to a stop outside the window of a diner, with checkered linoleum and Googie stars, painted in pastel pinks and yellows where there wasn’t bright red or white. It was low-lit, just enough for the cameras inside to see.

“Oh man,” Axel said, looking in. “I forgot about this place.”

“Had my first date here,” Peter said, suppressing a scowl.

Unsuccessfully. “Did it go bad?”

“No, just. You know.”

Axel stared into the middle distance, before returning his gaze to the diner’s interior. “You didn’t tell me much about you guys.”

Peter sighed heavily. “Marina and I were bad for each other in every way, I think.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t her fault, or anything, just…one of those bad match-ups, I guess.”

“You think so?”

Peter waved his worms dismissively. “It’s fine. Sure I came out the other end of it with no friends and a mild eating disorder, but whatever.”

“Do you know what she’s up to now?” Axel asked.

Peter shook his head. “Dunno. But she did text ‘I miss you’ like three years ago at two in the morning, after three years of nothing.”

“Did you reply?”

“Are you insane? No.”

“That’s progress, Petey,” Axel laughed. “What about the Knights?”

Peter tutted. “Took you ’til now to ask? Max went to school in Idaho and got married to Janessa, like, two months later. And Dylan…” Peter thought, a gummy worm midway to his mouth. After a moment, in it went, and he said, “Dylan joined the Army; he’s in Korea I think.”

Axel blinked. “Seriously?”

“Joined a year after high school.”

“Huh.”

They returned from their detour and continued on up a sloping street that skirted the steep hill it had been cut into. Past its curve, they crossed into a huge lot belonging to the movie theater and a dozen stores and restaurants large and small. Cars that had survived the transition from day to night were largely confined to the fringes, save a few.

They leaned up against their cars, between two light poles in the middle of the lot. They finished their snacks and moved on to their drinks in comfortable silence.

Peter noticed some of the stars and lines of the tattoo over Axel’s heart, the rest of it obscured by the fabric of his tank top. Peter looked up at the night sky, stars twinkling brightly in defiance of the city light, and made out the familiar line of three immediately.

“Orion’s up,” he said.

Axel nodded, taking a swig before looking up.

Peter pointed at an unfamiliar light near the constellation. “Did they make a new star?”

Axel chuckled. “That’s Jupiter,” he said. “Do you see Mars anywhere?”

Peter searched for the reddish star, and pointed over Axel’s head. “There.”

“In Gemini,” Axel said, nodding. He scanned the sky. “Remember what those belong to?”

Peter couldn’t tell what he was pointing at—he sidled up to Axel and tilted his head, closing one eye to follow the line of Axel’s arm to five stars. “Lazy W?”

Axel nodded. “Yeah, Cassiopeia.”

Peter indicated the orange shoulder of Orion. “Do you think Betelgeuse has blown up by now?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Bad reporting.” Axel looked impressed. “You remember that? Kinda thought it’d all leave your brain.”

Peter moved back to his car, taking a sip of his soda. “You and your dad beat me to death with all that stuff.”

Axel snorted. “C’mon, don’t give him credit for that. I was the one that stopped you from looking into the fire and wrecking your night vision all the time.”

“I was a moth in a past life,” Peter said. “You really don’t want to major in it?”

“No,” Axel said. He took a drink. “Takes all this calculus stuff, and physics, which takes calculus.”

“You could do it if I helped.”

“You couldn’t come to work with me, Petey.” Axel shook his head. “And I can’t do it solo. I failed algebra twice in high school, and once here. So far.”

Peter scratched his head. “It’s only up from here?”

“Yeah, uphill,” Axel said sourly. He shook his head. “It isn’t just about knowing how things should look, it’s knowing what they really are. And that takes math—trivia isn’t enough. Some things should stay hobbies.”

“I guess,” Peter said, yawning.

Axel paused before downing the rest of his Gatorade. “Tired?”

“I better get home before I fall asleep at the wheel.”

“Yeah.”

Peter rounded his car, but Axel stayed rooted where he was. Peter’s car unlocked with a beep. “See you,” he said, and he got inside.

He finished his soda and tossed the bottle to the back seat. Before he could turn the key, he was startled by Axel getting into the passenger seat, car rocking with the sudden movement.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he said quickly.

“Wha—o-okay?”

Axel’s knee bounced, shaking the car. He swallowed. “Sorry for, y’know, making you stay up so late, uh…”

Peter waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “Ax?”

Axel swallowed again. “Um, so…” He took a breath, twisting the empty bottle in his hands. The light poles illuminated them both sidelong, and Peter could see sweat beading on Axel’s forehead. Peter was sure he’d never seen him like this, and that made him sweat too. Axel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out before he closed it again. He looked at the theater ahead of them. “Remember how my dad banned me from hanging out outside school?”

Peter nodded slightly. “Your grades were bad.”

“That’s what I told you he said.” His eyes turned down, and he rolled the bottle in his hands. “Damn,” he said under his breath. “I just, uh. I should just—” His grip on the bottle tightened, making it creak. “He stopped me from hanging out with any guy.”

“…why?”

“Because I…told him…” He screwed his eyes shut, and he nearly made the bottle collapse in his fists. “I told him I like guys.”

After too long, Peter understood. “You’re gay?”

Axel flinched, and his eyes stayed closed as he nodded.

The curb outside school, early junior year. “But I was gonna help you with math,” Peter had said.

Axel shook his head.

The curb again, later that year. Students waiting for their rides under a high, hot sun, the smell of cut grass on the wind from the football field. Dylan getting into his mom’s car; Max would have already driven off by now, but maybe…

There. Peter walked up to Axel by the wall.

“Hey,” Peter said.

Axel scanned the line of cars waiting for their kids before turning toward him. “What’s up?”

“How’s math going?”

Axel shrugged.

They watched cars in silence.

“Heard you got second at regionals,” Peter said.

Axel nodded.

Peter saw his mom’s car pull up to the curb. “I broke up with Marina.”

“Sorry Petey.”

Peter bobbed his head. “Sorry for disappearing for a while. If you ever want to hang out at lunch, let me know.”

Axel nodded. “Will do.”

The beginning of that year. Before the ban. The driveway of Peter’s house with a car idling at the end.

“Hey,” Peter said, phone to his ear. “I can’t make it. Next time, I promise.”

Third grade. A church of hundreds. There seemed to be a chorus of babies, crying or shrieking or laughing as if the chorister directed them instead of the dozen voices behind. Axel was in the congregation, making faces at Peter to get him to laugh. Max was elbowing him. Peter waited onstage, unsure of who to root for: Axel for distracting him from his nerves, or Max for trying to keep him from embarrassing himself before he even got to the pulpit.

Second grade. A desert of sage and low cacti, and a dozen boys. Three men attempting to corral them.

Dylan climbed onto a rock and held a long yucca leaf aloft, triumphant. “My loyal Shadow Knights—”

“Dylan,” Axel interrupted from below. “It’s Peter’s turn.”

Dylan pointed at them all in turn as he said, “No, it goes you, Max, Peter, me.”

Axel jerked a thumb at Max behind him. “Max went before.”

“No, ’cause…” Dylan paused. “Oh, wait. Max and the ogre—okay.”

Dylan hopped down and gave Peter the leaf, before Peter clambered up the rock. Peter cleared his throat and held the leaf aloft, triumphant.

“My loyal Shadow Knights!”

“Boys,” one of the men said. appearing from nowhere. “Come help put the tents away.” Peter saw the rest of the scouts were already obeying the order.

“But it’s Peter’s turn,” said Axel.

“I can see that,” the man said. “Now, please.”

Axel folded his arms in defiance. Peter followed suit, then Dylan. Max did so reluctantly.

“Gosh,” the man said, shaking his head. “You four might as well be brothers.”

“Yeah!” Max and Dylan said, at the same time as Peter and Axel’s “Gross!”

Kindergarten…no, first grade. A locked door outside, the trellis around it covered in vibrant bougainvilleas that quivered in the breeze. Peter and Axel laughing, Max and Dylan nervous.

“Why are you scared?” Peter asked. “It’s not our fault. We didn’t hear the whistle.”

“I don’t wanna get in trouble,” said Max.

“We won’t get in trouble,” said Axel.

September, sophomore year. Adam—

The locker room. Dozens of boys changing, getting ready for class.

“C’mon man,” Axel said, averting his gaze. His nose was taped, and reddish-yellow bruises hung under his eyes.

“It’ll be quick,” RJ said. His gym shirt dangled from his hand. “Come on, Ax.”

“Don’t call me that,” Axel replied, face reddening. His was still in his locker.

“You are the biggest ones here,” Dylan interjected.

“Then it’s obvious,” Axel said to RJ. “You could have beaten Adam too.”

“But—” RJ started.

“Let’s go!” the coach barked from somewhere over the lockers. “If you’re not out there when the bell rings, you’re running laps!”

“He’s on one today,” Dylan said.

“Fine,” said RJ, putting his shirt back on. “Next time.”

Axel finally leveled his gaze as RJ scampered off. “I’m not gonna get into a…a flexing contest with RJ.”

“What about with him?” Dylan asked, pointing at Peter. “Or do you guys already do that at the gym?”

“Shut up.”

A rented-out pool, the end of junior year. Dylan and Max talking to Sabrina and Janessa at a table, Peter in the water basking against a wall. Axel in one of the pool chairs to Peter’s left, looking at his phone, still wearing his shirt. The sun was blazing, turning the horizon white from the haze.

“Ax,” RJ said, marching up to the chair with a gang of boys behind him.

“Don’t call me that,” Axel said without looking up. “What?”

“Put your phone down, we’re gonna throw you in.”

Axel looked up now. They looked pretty jazzed at the prospect—one of them said “Yoohoo!” in a sing-song voice. Axel glanced at the adults keeping watch in the corner.

“Please don’t,” he said, sighing. “I’ll get in, just give me a minute.”

RJ tutted. “You can have two,” he said, moving to the edge of the pool. “Men?”

At once, they all cannonballed in, splashing a lot of water onto Axel as the monitors grumbled. Axel sighed, wiping his phone on the now only mostly dry towel he was laying on. His shirt was soaked through.

Peter heaved himself out of the water and approached Axel. “You could jump in without them.”

Axel gestured at the adults. “They’d probably stop them throwing me in anyway.”

“You guys got the school to regionals for the first time in six years,” Peter said. “You saw what they did about them cannonballing. The chaperones aren’t touching any of you.”

The party again, sun lower now. The Knights at a table, talking about nothing important. Axel wouldn’t look at anyone for long, returning to his phone after only brief remarks. Axel’s dad hovered nearby.

Wait.

His dad had been there?

One of them said “Yoohoo!” in a sing-song voice. Axel glanced at his dad keeping watch in the corner with the other chaperones.

“The chaperones aren’t touching any of you.”

Axel got to his feet reluctantly and peeled his wet shirt off.

“Did you put sunscreen on?” Peter asked, standing too.

“Uh—yeah,” Axel said, looking at his dad for a fraction of a second and blushing slightly. “Before this, y’know.”

The curb outside school, early junior year. Fading light, a cold winter wind. Most students were long gone. Peter stopped halfway to his mom’s car, turning to Axel by the wall.

“Oh, what time are you coming over?” Peter asked.

Axel swallowed. “Um, so…” He took a breath, wringing his hands. “My dad said we can’t hang out anymore, ’cause…” Axel’s eyes returned to the ground as all tension in his body faded, arms dropping to his sides. “ ’Cause my grades are bad.”

“But I was gonna help you with math,” Peter said, crestfallen. He had been looking forward to having a better excuse to get away from Marina.

Axel shook his head. “I’m sorry, Petey.”

“Hey,” Peter said, phone to his ear. “I can’t make it. Marina, you know.”

“Again?” Axel said with genuine hurt in his voice.

Peter glanced at her standing by her idling car at the end of his driveway. She knocked on the roof and mouthed Come on.

“I know,” Peter said. “Next time, I promise.”

“Yeah.” A moment later, Axel started, “I—” but Peter hung up at the same time—he made a mental note to call later to see what Axel was going to say. He forgot about it before he got back home.

An empty spot behind the pop-up stage. The sun touched the mountains now, and there were hundreds of people on the football field. Most of them carried diplomas in hand and talked loudly. Some were already leaving to beat the traffic. Peter and Axel had yet to find their families, though they hadn’t been trying very hard.

It was like a blow to the stomach. “You’re…moving?”

Axel wrung his hands and nodded.

“When?”

Axel swallowed. “Next month.”

Peter’s heart sank. “That’s so soon.”

Axel said nothing at first—a few graduates got precariously close, deep in conversation, before they spotted someone and ran toward her.

“I tried to convince my dad a closer school would…” Axel shook his head. “He only wants to pay for that one, so…”

“But you were already—”

“I know,” Axel said, aggravation across his face. “I’m really sorry, Petey.”

Dylan getting into his mom’s car; Max would have already driven off by now, but maybe…

There. Peter walked up to Axel by the wall, nervous all the way. Axel looked up from his phone, not turning toward him—as if this was going to be a temporary distraction.

“Hey,” Peter said. “…long time.”

Axel scanned the line of cars waiting for their kids a moment. “Hi.”

Peter felt a pang of guilt. “How’s…math going?”

Axel shrugged. “Still making stupid mistakes.”

They watched cars. Peter was sure they had never had an awkward silence before.

“I heard you won at regionals?” he said.

“I got second.” Axel shrugged and added, “Which is still good.”

“Oh.” Peter saw his mom’s car pull up to the curb. Time was up. “Well. I just, uh, wanted you to know I broke up with Marina.”

“Sorry Peter.” Axel nodded toward the curb. “Your mom’s here.”

Peter winced. “Right, uh…” He took a few steps before stopping. “Um. If you ever want to hang out at lunch, or anything, let me know.”

“Okay.”

The car windows were fogging up.

“When did you, uh,” Peter started. “When did you find out?”

Axel cracked an eye open as if checking the world was still there before he opened his eyes fully—he still didn’t look at Peter, but Peter was thankful for that at the moment. “Junior year. A—A couple weeks before the ban, and the ban was ’cause I told him.”

“He still let you wrestle?”

“Yeah, the scholarships, y’know. Needed them, I guess, or…or maybe we didn’t, I dunno. But that’s what he said.”

Peter inhaled. “If I—” Something caught, and he cleared his throat. “If I hadn’t stopped talking to you, would you have told me, eventually?”

Axel fiddled with the label of his bottle. “I don’t like to think about it.”

The light pole past Axel started flickering. An ambulance drove down the street with its siren off and lights on, making the condensation on the windows blink red until it passed.

Peter stared at his hands. “How did you find out?”

“After you started dating Marina, it just kind of made me…think. You were the first, y’know, Knight, to date. I thought, ‘Do I want that?’ And then, ‘Why don’t I want that?’ And then… ‘Uh-oh.’ ”

The flickering lamp went out, casting Axel in shadow. A gust of wind made the car rock.

Axel’s actions had been entirely innocuous in Peter’s eyes. He had no reason to assume Axel was…this. Now there was a new context to everything, an unpleasant undercurrent that made him second-guess every exchange and interrogate every action. Peter had assumed Axel was just put off by RJ’s performance in the locker room. He’d assumed Axel was telling the truth when he blamed non-waterproof sunscreen for the bad sunburn he got after the pool party. He assumed a dozen other things. He’d assumed innocence.

There was this huge secret in the dark of Axel’s life, hidden from sight. Peter had looked right at him and seen what he expected to. Maybe he couldn’t be blamed for that, circumstances being what they were, but…

“I’m sorry for...everything,” Peter said. “You know, not being there. We…we never really recovered.”

Axel opened his mouth, but closed it again.

The ensuing silence was filled by a car driving slow along the road ahead, marked with a security company’s logo. The guard either didn’t notice them or didn’t care, and soon turned a corner out of sight.

Axel started tapping the bottle against his leg. “Everything from back then is just so…” He shook his head. “I have to question everything now. ‘Did I do that because of this?’ Or did I, y’know, come by it honestly? How far back does it go? Was anything I did innocent?”

Something tickled at the back of Peter’s mind at that. It sounded different coming from Axel.

“There’s just tons of little things I have to think about now. Why I liked certain shows, why I picked certain characters in games…why I ran from that shirts and skins game at scout camp, why I got into wrestling, why I got in that fight with Adam—”

“Stop,” Peter blurted.

Axel glanced up at him. “Huh?”

Peter wasn’t sure either. He thought hard. “Do you remember Halloween in seventh grade?”

Axel nodded warily. “The first time it was just us.”

“It was bedtime, we rock-paper-scissored. You had to turn off the light. On the way back from the switch, in the dark, you kicked your candy bucket.”

“I swear it moved.”

Peter leaned in. “The edges of it got blurry, right? When the lights are on, you can see everything, and everything has edges and colors. But you can—only—see everything. In the dark, you can’t see. So you forget the edges. But you can still touch, hear, smell, and taste. You can still feel. I think…I think we need to turn the light off.”

Axel frowned. “What?”

“We’re looking back and wondering if stuff happened because of, uh…what you are. Who. The light’s on, so we’re seeing ‘yeah, that’s why.’ I’m seeing it like…a lie I just found out, maybe. You’re seeing it like it’s wrong. Morally.”

“I don’t think it’s…” Axel fidgeted. “How do we turn the light off?”

“I don’t know, I just made it up.” Peter considered. “Is there anything you’re wondering about? Maybe I can, like, check it. A second opinion to say if it’s inn— …actually related.”

“Would that work?”

Peter shrugged. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. “Anything?”

Axel’s knee bounced lightly. “I guess, y’know, the Adam thing.”

September, sophomore—

“No,” Peter said, eyes snapping open. “How would it be? I was being bullied.”

Axel frowned. “Huh? Do you remember what he called me?”

Peter paused. “Oh yeah. Well, either way.”

“Let me try.”

“But we already know the Adam thing.”

“No, something else.” Axel covered his eyes with a hand.

It took a second.

“You probably don’t remember this,” Axel started. “RJ tried to do a flex-off once, with his shirt off. I thought I was embarrassed because it was weird, y’know, but…” He concentrated. “No, definitely not innocent—or, uh, I mean.” He cleared his throat. “I remember basically shielding my eyes from him, but, y’know. Wandering eye.” He shook his head. “It’s so obvious isn’t it? Why I got nervous in the locker room, or at swim PE, why I always ‘checked’ the underwear aisle at the store, why it was hard to look at you some—” He pulled his hand away, wide-eyed, face rapidly reddening.

Peter blinked. “Wait, you—” He shifted uncomfortably. “…I was your type, or whatever?”

“No no, no, uh. I mean…” Axel squeezed his bottle. “…yeah. Still—Still are.”

Peter looked ahead at nothing—the windows had fully fogged over now, and Peter wished he had anything to look at that wasn’t in the car with him. He needed some kind of distance. He needed the dark.

He shut his eyes to make a wall, but he still had the radiant heat coming from Axel; Peter’s car was much smaller than Axel’s SUV, and Axel was still a wrestler. They were separated by only a few inches.

Peter’s heartbeat thudded in his ears. “How serious is it?”

“What?”

“Is it a…problem?”

He heard Axel move. “Nah,” Axel said casually. “I said it was hard to look at you sometimes.”

“I guess, uh…”

September, sophomore year.

Peter’s hands were balled into fists, eyes welling. Axel picked Peter’s book up off the ground and handed it to him, trying to coax him away from here, but Peter kept his gaze focused on Adam. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Max and Dylan appearing from around the corner at the far end of the hall.

“Looks like he wants to fight,” Adam said. “You been in a fight before, Petey?”

His hands clenched around his book. “Don’t call me that,” he said.

“What are you even doing, Adam,” Axel said tiredly.

He shrugged. “I do this to him all the time,” he said neutrally.

“What?” Axel blurted. He checked Peter for confirmation, shock on his face—Peter nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Come on,” Adam said. “I’m just having fun. If you do it enough times, he cries. Big guy like that, crying. Hilarious.”

Axel took a step toward him, vibrating. “If you keep messing with him, I’ll get suspended dealing with you. Okay?”

Adam snorted and threw a slur at him. Axel shoved him. Adam paused, enraged disbelief on his face, before he kicked Axel in the shin. Students had been gathering, Peter realized, and everyone gasped.

It didn’t take long before it was over.

Adam fell to the ground and scrambled backward, a horrified look on his face as blood started dripping from his brow. The circle of students quickly dispersed as Max and Dylan fidgeted nervously. Axel’s knuckles and newly-crooked nose bled onto the cement as he stood swaying slightly.

“Are you okay?” he asked Peter through panting breaths.

“Are you?” Peter asked, dropping his book and rushing to prop him up when he tilted dangerously. Axel leaned against him, almost tipping him over before Peter got them stabilized. He nodded at Max and Dylan, and they ran off to get help.

Axel chuckled weakly. “Don’t forget about me while I’m gone.”

“It was what he called you,” Peter said, relieved. “For sure. I remember now. I imagine being called that when you’re in the closet, or whatever, doesn’t feel great.”

Axel winced. “Do you think I went too far?”

Peter frowned and looked over at him. He was slumping a little. “Don’t feel guilty, Ax. About that, or anything. Nothing’s wrong with you.”

Axel’s gaze rested on his bottle, but he was miles away. “I’ve heard that before, y’know, but it’s different coming from you. I…lied to you, for a long time.”

“That’s…not really lying, is it?” Peter thought, before shaking his head. “It’s an innocent kind of lying. You did it for safety.”

Axel tugged at the bottle label. “I was so scared this would go badly.” He sighed. “I shouldn’t have thought you’d, y’know, reject me. Of all people.”

“Hey,” Peter said. “The way we grew up, there were high odds, you know?”

“I guess so,” Axel said, sighing. “You—You’re the only one I’ve told now, other than…my dad. Couldn’t tell anyone up there, I would just get nauseous and couldn’t say anything. Even off-campus, y’know—somehow the school’d find out. Guess it didn’t matter in the end.” He watched the bottle for a moment, before he sat up straighter. “I haven’t actually said the word since I told my dad.”

“The—The slur?”

Axel made a spluttering laugh. “No.” He took a deep breath and held it. Through the exhale, he said, “I haven’t said I’m gay.”

The cramped space made the movement awkward, but Peter twisted and clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly. “There you go!”

Axel looked a little proud and mostly embarrassed. He chuckled and yawned. “I’m so tired.”

That prompted a yawn from Peter too. “I have class in…” He checked his phone. “Four hours.”

Axel rubbed his temple. “Really sorry.”

“All good. It was for a good cause.”

“Right,” Axel said through a smile. “Thanks, Petey.”

Peter flashed a thumbs up. “Don’t forget to turn the light off sometimes. Uh, metaphorically.”

Axel chuckled. He got out of the car and stretched. “See you later.”

“Later.”

They turned their cars on at the same time. Axel’s car hummed while Peter waited for his windows to defog.

A year ago to the day. The bell tower chiming as a tide of students flowed along campus pathways. A sight across the quad.

Peter actually sprinted. “Ax?”

Axel turned and stared, slack-jawed. The students quickly diverted around them. “Peter?”

“Wow, what are you—” Peter saw Axel’s backpack—the same one he used in high school. “Do you go here?”

“I—I do.”

“Me too!” Peter said excitedly. “I just started this semester!”

Axel blinked. “But so did I.”

“Really? That’s—Wait, do you have a class right now?”

Axel nodded, gesturing down the path.

“Do you wanna catch up after?” Peter asked quickly as the bell stopped tolling. “How long’s your class?”

Axel inhaled. A second later, he caught Peter in a hug—Peter wheezed from the compression—and let him go with the requisite back slaps after a long moment. “Haven’t done that for a while.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, grinning.

“I didn’t think you’d still be here after…seven years?”

“Yup!” Peter noticed the walkway was emptier than before, the tide of students going out. “So, talk after class?”

“No, I’ve got”—Axel checked his phone—“negative two minutes. Okay, I’ll go, uh—I’ll see you after?”

“I’ll be right here.”

Axel couldn’t stop a smile. “Okay. See you soon, Peter.” He hesitated, before asking, “Petey?”

Peter nodded. “Always.”

The windows were finally clear. The sky was barely beginning to lighten, and at some point the dud light outside had taken on new life. Peter and Axel waved at each other through the glass, and they drove into the wakening day.