“Why would anyone but Cid want to come between us, Minnie Mouse?” Ted asked.
“Oh my god, you used to call me that too.”
“What did you call him?” Cid asked, interested.
“Teddy Bear and Batman.”
“I am Batman,” Ted said in Michael Keaton’s voice.
“Well, I’m Superman according to Mia,” Cid bragged.
“He speaks the truth. Be nicer to him, he’s always had your back, Ted.”
“Except today. And I ended up in the locker,” Ted said.
“So, you’re not mad about him stealing me but more about not being there when you were being shoved in the locker.”
“Well, yes. I know Cid’s not going to take my girl because he’s not that kind of guy. He’s loyal.”
“He is,” Mia agreed. “Tell him, Cid, where you were, or I will.”
“I was there early, but Mr. Stevens spotted me. He had a note from my mother to call her. She and Dad are going to be spending tonight and the weekend in Kansas City with my grandmother. My sister is in charge. Which means there will be no one to watch me because she is going to be partying with her cheer squad over at the college all weekend. One of the cheerleader’s sister has a dorm room there. Anyway, I got back to the locker only three minutes late and waited, but you never showed.”
“I was there all the time and didn’t see you,” Ted said. His eyes narrowed, and he asked Mia, “How’d you know about this?”
“You guys talked about it one night when we were on night watch for PEEPs,” Mia said. Her eyes lit up and she asked Cid, “Hey, do you really have an empty house?”
“Yes, I thought I’d stay with Ted. His parents are used to me staying there.”
“How about if Murphy and I stay with you? I need a place to bunk overnight. I can’t catch a bus to the Duprees until ten in the morning. I don’t think they’ll let me hang out at the bus station all night, and I doubt a minor can book a hotel room.”
“You and me alone at my house?” Cid questioned.
“Murphy will chaperone, so no funny stuff,” Mia said.
Ted laughed. “Cid wouldn’t know what stuff to be funny with.”
Cid was going to object but thought the better of it.
They all waited until Cid’s sister, Candy, left with her friends before entering the Garrett house. It wasn’t a particularly tidy house like Ted’s. The cluttered counters spoke of parents whose interests were elsewhere. Cid had made them a snack of homemade pizza. They walked into the family room where he and Mia sat on the couch and watched television together. Murphy moved in and out of the house playing the chaperone while guarding the house.
Mia excused herself to use the facilities, and when she came back, she had on new pajamas.
“Those are nice,” Cid said.
“I guess. I didn’t buy them. Want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
“No one will let me buy my own clothes. Time and time again, there is some male picking out my clothes. My father because he has to, my godfather Ralph because he feels sorry for me, and now the butler of a friend of mine. I’m too polite to say anything, but I hate it.”
“If you were to buy your own pajamas, what would they look like?”
“I would wear a big T-shirt and boxer shorts.”
“Come on,” Cid said.
Mia followed him to his room. He pulled open a drawer. The clothes were neatly folded inside. He pulled out a green tee and a pair of plaid boxers. He handed them to Mia. “They’re yours.”
“Really?”
Cid did a facepalm and mumbled, “Damn, I picked them out. Okay, let’s do this again. You pick out a tee and boxers.”
“I would have picked these out,” Mia lied. She started to pull off her pajamas and stopped. “I’ll just change in the bathroom,” she said.
“Wouldn’t matter. My glasses are so fogged up from me being nervous, I wouldn’t be able to see a thing,” Cid admitted.
Mia still went into the bathroom and changed. She came out and twirled. “How do I look?”
Cid, who had just wiped his glasses clean, nodded. “You look tough.”
“I like that,” Mia said. She walked around. “Your room is so clean. Unlike…”
“I know my house is messy. No one cares but me. My sister thinks I’m gay.”
“She’s wrong. There are very orderly gay men, but there are also messy gay guys. You’re not a freak about being orderly. You just appreciate your things more than most guys your age. And there is nothing wrong with being gay. I have two gay godfathers.”
“Mia, I’m so lonely,” Cid blurted out and started crying. “I have no one who cares about whether I live or die. My parents are embarrassed by me. My dad wants to send me to fat camp. My mother say’s I’ll grow out of it and keeps putting me in sports programs. My sister bullies me here and at school.”
Mia ran to the bathroom and got a clean cloth and put cool water on it. She came back to find Cid sobbing, laying crosswise on his bed. She got into bed and rolled Cid over so his head lay on her lap. She blotted his face with the washcloth. “There now, Mia’s here. You’re not alone anymore.”
Cid sniffed.
“We’re all freaks. I can see ghosts. My best friend is a ghost. He’s kind of a freak too. Murphy doesn’t want to scare us; he wants to help us. When you grow up, you turn heads as you walk down the street. You once pulled your shirt off, and I was so amazed I couldn’t talk. I just kept on staring at your muscles. Ted picked me up and carried me into the house.”
“Why did
