TRIAL AND ERROR | short stories + snippets

'So what's with the dropping out thing?'

Nicolás is still licking Hubba Bubba ice lolly though half of it must be melted over his fingers by now. Caleb ate his Mint Feast in about four bites and they've resumed walking because Nicolás, unlike him, can walk and eat at the same time.

Caleb directs his attention to the pavement. The roads in Moss Side are in such shit condition that they're easier to navigate in crutches than his wheelchair but they are much more tiring. He's already emotionally knackered from the doctor and now he's physically spent too.

'I dunno what to wear.'

'What?'

After twelve years of friendship, Nicolás is perfectly acquainted with Caleb's antics but this is a lot even for him.

'I don't know what to wear,' he repeats, each syllable jabbed into the air. 'I liked wearing a uniform. I don't wanna pick my own clothes.'

'Just wear that.'

'I can't wear this,' Caleb huffs.

Nicolás glances at him. 'What's wrong with it?'

'Dunno. But summat¹, I'm sure.'

Nicolás returns to his ice lolly and they amble toward the school. The sky opens flawlessly blue around them. Caleb swears it would be soft to touch. The sun smiles down at them.

He shouldn't be in such a sour mood in weather like that. The summer has seen impressively little rain for Manchester and it's their summer before college² which some might argue is the last time in their lives they'll ever have fun. But both he and Nicolás got to celebrate the end of their GCSE exams by working more than any other holiday.

They were both poor before the economy crashed and now that they're sixteen, they're old enough to pay for themselves outside basic needs. They've not even gone to the botanical gardens or the aquarium once which has been an annual summer activity since they met each other.

'I thought college would be the time of my life now that I'm on T³,' Caleb mumbles. 'I don't feel any different.'

Nicolás frowns, upset to see his friend in pain, but forces the feelings away. 'It's been a month. It needs some time to kick in.'

'D'you think my voice is deeper?'

'Hard to tell with all your moping about,' Nicolás mutters.

'What if it's not working?' Caleb plants his crutches on the ground right on the corner of Isaac Evans Community Academy. 'I'm not even horny. Everyone says they get horny. That's the primary characteristic of a teenage boy. You wank so much you had to learn to do it with your left hand cause your right arm got cramps–'

Sniggering interrupts them and they look up to the quartet passing them. 'Is that right, Nicholas?' Winnie asks. 'You might wanna see a doctor about that.'

Caleb sticks his tongue out though they're not looking, huddled together in their laughter.

'Oh, nice one, mate,' Nicolás whines.

His cheeks are burning in a way that has nothing to do with the weather. He glances at Miss Brahma who's on gate duty but thankfully she gives no indication of having heard.

'Just when she might've started to think I'm normal.'

Caleb continues toward the gate as the group passes through. 'Winnie does not fancy you,' he bites then falls silent as they show their school IDs to Miss Brahma like she wasn't their physics teacher for the past two years and doesn't know what they look like. Nicolás asks her about her summer and it takes several minutes before they get into the school and Caleb resumes in a whisper. 'She's talked to you like four times cause you work in the same shop and she don't have a choice. That don't mean she fancies you.'

'How'd you know?'

'We've been going to the same school since we were six and she still calls you Nicholas.'

'We live in England. Loads of people call me Nicholas.'

'Yeah, people who don't fancy ya. Why don't I have to wank?'

Nicolás is scowling and his tone is notably clipped. 'Dunno. Maybe you're just not into sex like that.'

'I am into sex! It just sounds a bit boring.'

Nicolás shrugs and gives a somewhat taut "good luck" as they separate into different queues to fetch their envelopes. The rush must have been in the morning but they still have to wait. Caleb's surname queue for Tuyisenge-Furui is much longer than Nicolás's whose surname begins with a V and so Nicolás has already checked his results by the time Caleb finds him again.

The corner of his envelope gets crumpled between his hand and crutch but he ignores it as he looks at his friend. 'Sorry. It's just that she's mean and I don't want you to end up hurt.'

Whether or not Winnie at least tolerates him is already old news for Nicolás who beams as he shows his marks to Caleb. A line of As and A*s greets.

'Brilliant! I'm proud of you!'

Nicolás glances at the page one last time before he carefully folds it back into the envelope. 'What about you? I get it doesn't matter since you're dropping out,' he plays into the dramatics, 'but out of curiosity.'

Caleb hands him his second crutch, balancing fine with the first and his leg now that they're only standing still, and tears the envelope with his index finger. He pauses before tugging the page out.

'Will you do my hair?'

'Yeah, alright,' Nicolás says. 'You wanna braid it?'

Caleb thinks a moment before nodding.

Notes

1. Summat: Something

2. College: Sixth-form college or general further education college, what in the US would be your last two years of high school. Years 12 and 13, ages 16-18

3. T: Testosterone