Chapter Ten

After the first day Richie didn't come back, Lance knew he was with one of his many chickadees. Sickness burned in his stomach. It was what Richie did. He wasn't too worried, but he knew Richie was dealing with some heavy stuff. He was only concerned about how the kiss would affect their relationship.

He couldn't help but worry that Richie had just been experimenting. It was a logical fear that Richie had needed to get the kiss out of his system to satisfy a curiosity and now he was over it. Lance was driving himself crazy.

The second night he didn't come home, Lance was feeling a little more anxious. If he was with Stace or one of the other girls she might be convincing him to stay. He thought maybe he'd gone to stay with his mom. His sister Kendra lived three hours away, but it was hard to imagine Richie driving that far.

The next two nights and Lance not only worried, he missed his friend terribly. He decided to go out and find him. Saturday morning, he planned to go to all the girls he knew of and their mutual friends. He was spinning at the Ithaca Festival and needed to be there at three. If he hadn't found him by then, he would have to go get ready for his set.

After securing a towel around his waist, Lance drew his hand over the foggy bathroom mirror. He flinched at his reflection. There were dark circles under his eyes—indicators that he hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours since Richie left the apartment. His complexion was slightly paler than normal. Worry was not a good shade on him.

Leaning over the sink, he quickly brushed the film that seemed to be coating his mouth. It seemed that anxiety caused a bad case of dry mouth. He quickly styled his hair and walked into his bedroom. While the festival was a pretty big deal, he put very little thought into what he was going to wear. His thoughts were trained on Richie and where he was.

As he pulled his clothes on, his heart pinched tightly in his chest. Mentally he cursed himself, just as he had every day since they’d shared the hottest kiss on the face of the planet. He tugged on his shoes and made his way toward the kitchen. One look at the empty coffee machine was all the reminder he needed that Richie hadn’t been home—as if he needed a reminder.

His phone buzzed and danced on the counter. He darted across the room and hurriedly picked it up.

“Hello?” he said quickly.

“Hey, biznitch, what’s shaking?” the voice of his Brooklyn native friend Dot said from the other end.

“Hey, hag,” he said, not bothering to hide his disappointment. He and Dot had been friends for as long as he could remember. She had been the first one he’d come out too when they were in high school, and at the same time, she’d come out as a lesbian. It had been nice having her around. Their banter was usually filled with snarky one liners and belligerent remarks. She had a personality that was bigger than life and had zero problem telling people what she thought.

Dot had dropped out of school early on in order to pursue her folk music career. She played with bands all over the country but came back every couple of weeks. She loved the party scene, and technically she was still a member of one of the sororities.

“Sorry. Just have a lot going on. What’s up? You back in town?”

“Why don’t you open the freaking door and find out?”

Despite his sour mood, he crossed the room and threw the door open. Standing there on the other side was his best friend. The minute he saw, her tears sprang to his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him.

Dot was tiny, maybe all of five foot, and the right side of her head—just barely above her ear— was shaved showing off her flowery tattoos. The rest of her long hair reminded him of a mermaid’s tail shimmering in teals, pinks, blues and purples.

“Hey? What’s going on?” she asked as she took a step back and looked up at him. Her wide blue eyes studying his face.

“I messed things up with Richie,” he sniffed as he wiped his eyes and closed the door.

Dot frowned. “What do you mean?”

Lance led her into the kitchen and made tea. As he did, he told her the story. A little bit later, after telling the story, he stared into his untouched tea. While it felt good to finally get everything off his chest, he felt more miserable than before.

“Well,” Dot said, loudly slapping the counter top, causing him to flinch. “Looks like we got some work to do.”

Lance frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, we both know Richie is a hound, well not really a hound, but he’s struggling right now. Struggling with something that goes against everything he’s ever been taught. He’s at war with himself.”

“Okay?”

“Well, before I came out, I did everything I could to prove to myself that I didn’t hit for the same team. I tried to sleep with as many boys as possible.”

“So, he would go somewhere that the women would be all over the place.”

“And I know just the place to look,” she said, pushing her plastic frame glasses back up her nose.

He looked down at her, puzzled. “You literally just got back into town. How do you know where to look?”

“There was a party over at Delta Delta Pi last night.”

He opened his mouth to reply, astonished that she knew that but she just gave him an impish look. That gave him the answer he needed. “You talked to Ember, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. She told me there was a party there last night,” she said coyly as she turned and walked toward the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“Well, you’ve got to be at the festival at three, right?”

He nodded and she looked at her watch. “Well, that gives us eight hours to find your boy and have this happily ever after. We will start at the sorority house and go from there.”

Lance couldn’t help but snicker as he locked the door behind them. “You’re just wanting to see Em again.”

Dot looked over her shoulder, flashed him a wide smile, and dazzled him with a wink. “You know I love you. We might as well kill two birds with one stone. I get to see my girl while you’re looking for your man. If he was there, someone will know.”

They walked down and climbed into Dot’s yellow, 70s style, Volkswagen beetle. He looked at her as she slipped behind the wheel. “Are you like my fairy godmother?”

She snorted and scoffed. “Puh-lease! The only bippity-boppity-ing I’m going to do is with my boo! I’m helping you because I love you and you need your Prince Charming.”

Lance genuinely laughed, and for the first time in almost a week, he felt hopeful. If anyone could fix his life, it was Dot. No matter the trouble he got into, she was always able to help him get out of it.