Arthur Sakho

When I finished my Choreography class, I had two new text messages. I paused in the hallway. Samantha leaned against the wall next to me. It didn't bother me that she looked over my shoulder to see my phone.

The first text was from an unknown number.

---: I saw you dance at the performance the other night. I just wanted to tell you that you are a fantastic dancer. I look forward to your future career.

And that was it. It was weird though. How did this person even get my number?

"I've gotten texts like that before," Samantha said.

"From people you don't know?"

She nodded. "I just ignore them. If they text me more than twice or it starts to feel creepy, I'll block them."

"I've had strangers come up to me after a performance to talk to me, but I've never had any strangers text or call me before."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," she said, "unless it starts to get to be too much."

"Okay," I said. "I won't worry about it then. I'll just take it as a compliment. I am a fantastic dancer."

Sam gave a small laugh and shook her head. "You are," she agreed, "but you could use some humility."

"Who needs humility," I answered.

She put her head on my shoulder as I opened the second text from Trevon.

Tall Dark and Handsome: Do you want to eat lunch with me today?

I glanced at Sam. I usually ate lunch with her.

"Go eat with your man," she said. "I can fend for myself."

"Thanks," I said. "You're a great friend."

"I am," she said.

"Show some humility," I teased, but I was already rushing down the hall. I quickly typed a reply.

Me: Yes. I'll meet you at the cafeteria.

Tall Dark and Handsome: No. I'm waiting outside. I'll take you to a restaurant.

My heart leaped at the thought of seeing him even though I saw him every day. We didn't usually eat lunch together although we had talked about it before, it just hadn't happened yet.

He found a parking spot rather close to the dance building. He must have gotten lucky and found a space someone just pulled out of after class. As soon as I got in the car, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Doesn't matter," I said, "somewhere where I can get a salad." He drove me to a restaurant close by that served mostly soups and salads. They had a soup and salad buffet so I chose that option. I went and piled on various ingredients of salad onto my plate and then got a cup of vegetable soup. When I got back to the table, I slid in next to him. Trevon got a few bowls of different kinds of soup and lots of bread to go with it.

"I got a weird text today," I said in between bites of salad.

"How was it weird?"

I dug my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the text. A black eyebrow raised as he looked at it. "You don't know who this is?"

"No, but Sam said she gets texts like that sometimes so I'm not going to worry about it unless they text me again or it starts to get creepy."

"You're not going to respond?"

"No. I don't want to encourage them. Sending random texts to strangers is weird."

"I agree," he said and handed me my phone. I slid it back into my pocket.

I finished my salad and soup and went up for a second helping of soup. When I returned Trevon had his phone out in front of him and said, "Hi. What's up?"

I couldn't let him talk to people on the phone without me. Especially since this seemed like a video call. I slid in next to him, my cheek against his so I could see the screen. Two young men our age filled the screen. They were handsome. Not as handsome as my Trevon, of course. "Hiiiii," I said into the phone.

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"You already told him?" the blond one with the green eyes asked the one with golden eyes. I had never seen golden eyes on anyone before. I wondered if they were contacts.

"Yes," the one with the golden eyes said, "but don't worry, it wasn't that long ago." And I realized I recognized both voices.

"Are you guys talking about Chet?" Trevon asked.

"Yes," they said at the same time. That just confirmed it.

"I know these voices," I said. "It's Alex and Vincent. They look tall. Are they tall?" I asked Trevon.

"Vincent's as tall as I am," Trevon said, "Alex is an inch shorter."

I slouched. "Then you're all taller than me." And then I wanted to see Chet and Mateo because they shouldn't be without their boyfriends. And I secretly hoped they were shorter than me, but I couldn't confirm it without them being there. "What about your boyfriends?"

"They're shorter than us," Alex said helpfully.

"I meant where are they? I want to see them," I said. Just because they were shorter than Alex didn't necessarily mean they were shorter than me and that was the real question. But of course, I didn't ask. I didn't want to seem like I had a complex. And at 5'10" I wasn't exactly short.

"They have a soccer game tonight," Alex said. "They had to fly there. Do you think they're off the plane by now?" he asked Vincent.

"Probably," Vincent said.

"We're going to watch them play tonight," Alex said.

"I want to watch too," I said to Trevon. I wrapped my arms around Trevon's left arm. I didn't know a lot about soccer, but I wanted to see their boyfriends. Since Trevon, Alex and Vincent were best friends that probably meant at some point I'd have some interaction with them and their boyfriends. I hoped we would all get along when we met. But how could we not? I got along with almost everyone. Except for Alice but that was more of a her problem than a me problem.

"Okay," he said. "We can find the broadcast and watch it."

"How will we know it's them?" I asked Alex and Vincent.

"They've only been playing at the end of the first half now that they are playing more competitive games," Alex said. "Look for the last names Lopez," he pointed to himself, "and Watakeekul," he pointed to Vincent, "on the back of the uniforms."

"Okay," I said. "I'm so excited." And I was. It was like I was becoming more involved in Trevon's life even though it was about his friends and their boyfriends. I felt closer to Trevon.

Trevon smiled at me and it warmed my insides.

"We're going to go finish our lunch," Trevon said. "Hurry and eat," he said to me when he hung up. "The afternoon classes will be starting soon."

I quickly finished my soup while he was browsing on his phone. When we were walking back to the car I said, "Do you know what channel to watch the game on tonight?"

"I found the info on my phone," he said. "Do you want to come to my place to watch it or should I go to yours?"

We got in his car before I answered. "Yours," I said. "I might be a little late in getting there after the studio. You can have it up and running."

"Okay," he said. He dropped me off for my next class. I started to head to the door of the building, but I paused to watch him drive away.

The rest of the day went by as usual. I didn't get anymore strange texts so that was good. I picked up some grilled chicken on the way to Trevon's. When I got to his apartment, the game was already on.

"Did I miss them?" I asked. My heart was heavy at the thought.

"No," he said with his eyes on the television screen. "This might be them coming into the game now."

I put the take out bag on his coffee table and then curled up next to him on the couch.

"It is them," he said and pointed to the screen.

I caught the names Lopez and Watakeekul on the back of the uniforms. Mateo was shorter than Chet, but I couldn't tell if they were shorter than me. At least I thought Mateo was.

The announcers even praised Watakeekul and said he should be one to watch for in the future. That was exciting. It seemed like I knew someone famous. Even though I didn't actually know him. And if I thought about it, my mom was famous. Well, her fake author name was famous. Her real name wasn't famous and no one knew it was her so I supposed that didn't really count.

There was a lot of going back and forth across the field without anyone scoring. Then the announcers voices started to get excited and I realized Mateo had the ball and was close to the opponents goal. He passed the ball to Chet. Chet kicked the ball with grace and skill. The ball flew past the goalie and hit the net.

"Yes!" I yelled and jumped off the couch. Trevon was right there with me though just as excited as I was and he high fived me. I didn't know I could get so excited about soccer. But the first half ended and I was quickly bored. Then I noticed the unopened take out bag on the coffee table.

"I guess I should reheat the chicken," I said. I grabbed the bag and went into Trevon's kitchen. He followed me while typing on his phone. He sat at his table while I put the chicken on plates and reheated it in the microwave.

I set a plate down in front of him. I pulled the other chair around so I was sitting next to him instead of across from him and put my plate of chicken down on the table.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He handed me his phone where I saw an exchange between him and his friends.

Me: Your men are kind of hot. They can't beat Arthur though. I smiled at Trevon when I read that. Then I turned my attention back to the phone.

Vinny: What are you talking about? Chet is clearly the hottest one. Did you see his thighs...I mean, did you see him make that goal?

"Chet does have great thighs though," I said.

"You're not supposed to be checking out his legs," Trevon said.

"But they wear those shorts. It's not like I can't not notice them. Don't worry though, the only thighs I want to touch are yours. Especially that spot on your inner thigh."

Trevon sighed, but there was a slight smile on his face. I went back to reading the texts as I had a bite of the chicken.

Me: But you haven't seen Arthur dance.

"Aww," I said and nudged Trevon who had just put a piece of chicken in his mouth. I went back to reading.

Aley: You are both delusional. Mateo is clearly the best. And I've been dating him longer than either of you so my word takes precedent.

Vinny: But you haven't even slept with him yet.

"Such cute nicknames, Aley and Vinny," I said. "Do they call you Trevy?"

"I would kill them if they called me Trevy," he said. "They call me Trev."

Aley: That doesn't mean he isn't the hottest. In fact, I think that makes him the hottest. His ability to control himself should put you two to shame.

Me: I don't feel shamed.

Vinny: Me neither.

That was the extent of the exchange. "I'm glad you didn't make me wait for sex," I said to Trevon.

"I think waiting for us would have been impossible," he replied as he finished his chicken.

"True," I replied. We went back into the living room and finished watching the game. It wasn't as interesting when Chet and Mateo weren't in it. Their team won.