Boyfriends with Girlfriends Read Online Free PDF Page B

how their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly; he loved her body naked, damp and moist after they’d made full-on love. It all seemed so cosmic. . . .
    Until the afternoon Kimiko came over, acting weird and evasive—fidgeting, not looking him in the eye.
    “What’s up with you today?” he asked.
    “I saw Zelda at the mall . . . ,” she muttered softly, “. . . with some guy. I’ve never seen him at school.”
    “So?” Sergio felt his chest tighten. “The guy was probably her cousin or something.”
    “Dude, the guy didn’t exactly look like a relative. He was black. Zelda is white. And . . . they were holding hands.”
    Sergio felt his head grow warm. “I don’t believe you.”
    “Why would I lie to you?” Kimiko asked.
    He knew she wouldn’t, but he didn’t want to believe her.
    “Maybe you’d better ask her about him,” Kimiko suggested.
    After she left, he played Tetris on his phone for a while, trying to ignore what she’d said, until he finally shut the game down. He dialed Zelda’s number, counting the number of rings: one . . . two . . . three . . . fo—
    “Hi,” she answered, just like normal. Obviously, Kimiko had been wrong.
    They talked for a few minutes about nothing important, while Sergio debated whether to mention what Kimiko had told him.
    “I heard you were at the mall this afternoon,” he said at last.
    Zelda suddenly went quiet—only for a moment, but long enough for Sergio to notice.
    “Yeah,” she replied. “I went with a friend.”
    “Who?” Sergio asked, scooting back on his bed against the headboard.
    “A friend,” Zelda repeated. Her voice seemed tense. “ . . . Why?”
    Sergio grabbed a pillow and clutched it to his chest. “Because you two were holding hands.”
    Zelda let out a loud sigh. “Look, this isn’t working for me.”
    “ What isn’t working for you?”
    “ This. Us. I’m always wondering: Are you thinking about me or about a guy?”
    Her comment took Sergio by surprise. “Why would you wonder that?”
    “Because you’re bi! Whenever we’re kissing or anything, I never know if you’re really thinking about me or about some guy.”
    “If I wanted to be with a guy,” Sergio replied, “I’d be with a guy. I’m with you because I want to be with you.”
    She turned quiet again as though contemplating what he’d said. “I just don’t think this can work. I don’t want to be a couple anymore.”
    “But why?” He clutched the pillow more tightly to his chest.
    “Because you’re gay.”
    “I’m not gay; I’m bi . If I was gay I wouldn’t have sex with you, would I?”
    On the other end of the line, she took a breath. “I don’t like how you’re talking to me.”
    “How do you expect me to talk? You’re the one who’s cheating on me with another guy. I told you I was bi from the start. If you had a problem with it, you should’ve said so. Why are you trying to blame this on me?”
    The phone line clicked off.
    “Hello?” he demanded and started to call her back, but then he stopped himself. What would be the point?
    “You bitch!” He hurled the phone onto the mattress but it bounced to the floor. “Shit!” He sprang off the bed and grabbed the cell. Seeing that it was okay, he speed-dialed Kimiko.
    “You were right,” he told her, his voice quivering. “I’m sorry I doubted you. She dumped me.”
    “Hang on,” she told him. “I’ll be right over.”
    “I’m so pissed at her,” he told Kimiko when she arrived. “And at myself . Why did I trust her? I was so stupid! Why did I ever go out with her?”
    “Because you were in love . . . Here . . .” She handed him a pillow to punch. “Give it a whack.”
    He punched the pillow several times. Then the tears began to flow. Kimiko put her arm around him while he sobbed and wiped his nose, until his tear ducts hurt.
    In the months since the breakup, he’d tried to numb his hurt feelings in any way he could: eating chocolates by the carton, working out,