TRIAL AND ERROR | short stories + snippets

Slouching on the bench by the door, Caleb watches Sachiko inspect herself in the entrance mirror. Considering Sachiko is the mother Caleb is genetically related to, people tend to tell him he takes after Behati oddly often. Sachiko passed down her heart-shaped face and 160 cm height but he must have inherited his umber skin and wide-set eyes from the sperm donor.

Sachiko scrunches her hair, attempts to achieve volume in her shaggy haircut but the black strands are too set in their pin-straight ways to comply without products which Sachiko has never known how to use. She'd use a two-in-one shampoo-conditioner if Behati hadn't nearly gotten an aneurysm laughing at it the very first time she snuck her into her uni hall.

'Which lipstick, angel?'

Sachiko holds out two options, one mauve and the other leaning toward pink.

'What would I know?' he grumbles, slouching lower on the bench. 'The left one,' he says eventually, referring to the deeper red that suits the maroon of Sachiko's skirt.

The front door opens and Nicolás steps in. 'Hiya.' He gives both Caleb and Sachiko a hug though he last saw them hours ago. He's glowing, his GCSE results seemingly having cleared his skin and cured all his ailments. He's wearing a new scent and Caleb scrunches his nose, not because it's bad but because it's different.

Caleb looks him over. 'What are you wearing?'

Nicolás glances down. He's borrowed an earthy green linen shirt from Desmond¹ that drapes from his shoulders, tucked into the front of straight-leg trousers. The clothes are too big but Nicolás has grown so much in the past months that rather than swallowing him up, they hang from him in a way that's both elegant and relaxed.

'Clothes.'

'You've never dressed like that before.'

'Well, I thought I'd try it.' He tugs at the bottom of the shirt, adjusts the collar. 'Like you said, I reckoned I shouldn't just wear a hoodie and trackies to school.' He shrugs, cheeks reddening.

'Is this about Winnie? Because she don't fancy you.'

'Well, I think you look very handsome, love,' Sachiko says.

His attention drops to his usual worn trainers. 'Thanks.'

Clothes are never going to look like that on Caleb. He started puberty blockers young enough to keep a flat chest but he's too short and stocky for anything to ever drape on him.

Seconds stretch into what feels like hours as they wait in the entrance. Sachiko is congratulating Nicolás on his expected (by everyone but Nicolás himself) list of A-star GCSEs and Caleb checks the time again.

They were meant to leave three minutes ago. Why does no one ever stick to the schedule? It's like time doesn't mean anything to anyone.

It takes several minutes more before Daisy finally emerges at the top of the stairs, Behati following. No one would ever guess Daisy spent the afternoon sobbing. Her curls are pulled away from her face with butterfly clips, eyelids coloured shimmery pink matched with an equally glittery lip gloss. Her halter top continues the theme until it's interrupted by bootcut jeans.

'Finally!' Caleb heaves himself up. 'Why'd you always take forever to get ready?'

'Because I don't look like an ogre,' she bites. The scowl fades as her face rests into genuine confusion. 'Have you got glitter on your face?'

'What? No!'

He rubs his whole face with the sleeve of his hoodie to make sure he gets all the eyeshadow residue off. He burns up. When did it even get on there? They're all laughing at him. Everyone laughs at him and his chest tightens.

He's incapable of not touching his face. He's always prodding it. He has to avoid looking in the mirror to not fall down a two-hour skin-picking rabbit hole. But if he had looked, he would've noticed before anyone else did–

'You alright?'

Nicolás's face is smeared and Caleb swabs the mist out of his eyes. He nods but Nicolás pulls him into a hug, squeezes him as tightly as he can, just as Caleb prefers to be hugged.

Daisy and Behati try to squeeze around them to get their shoes so Nicolás leads Caleb outside. The sun embraces them as soon as they're through the door, not overbearing anymore but comforting.

Sachiko unlocks the car and Nicolás throws all the doors open but the stale air inside is solid. They can barely breathe when they get in. Nicolás sits in the middle even though he's the tallest to act as a barrier for the siblings and holds Caleb's hand.

'Are you feeling overwhelmed? I can tell your mums you don't wanna go. We can get dinner from Shayna¹.'

'I want to go. I'm not letting Daisy get a meal at Kanesaka and not me!' Despite his dramatics, Caleb frowns. 'Have I got glitter on my face?'

'I don't see owt².'

Caleb leans into his friend as they wait for the rest of his family to get into the car. A bee flies in only to exit the heat instantly. The new fragrance Nicolás is wearing reminds him of lemonade, fresh and sweet, and as unfamiliarity fades, he settles into it.

Notes

1. Desmond and Shayna: Nikki's foster parents

2. Owt: Anything