Fanboy (boyxboy)

"Please don't do this, Bryce."

"Are you even listening to me?" Nick waved his hand in front of Bryce's face. "Hellooooo."

"Sorry, I just thought I saw someone," Bryce didn't have to lie. "Where are we going again?"

"I was just saying I need something for my mom," Nick sighed. "I explained the whole thing. You weren't listening at all?"

"I'm sorry," Bryce repeated.

"At least tell me it's a hot guy so I can enjoy it too. I'm not here to watch you look at cute girls."

"Sorry."

"Ugh. I'll start over. She collects these little things."

Nick explained what he was looking for and Bryce really did listen as they walked toward the store where they could find what Nick wanted. It was getting close to Christmas so shopping was the perfect cover up. Bryce just hadn't explained to Nick that he chose this specific shopping area because he was sure his mom would be there.

After a few months of watching her on IG and reading everything he could find about her online, Bryce knew Clay had found the right person. His parents had even blocked her name on their stupid safesearch filter so Bryce had to look her up on one of the school computers. That was how he found out she had a baby, a little boy everyone called the "smother baby," who stopped showing up in the news the very same month he was adopted, right after she was charged with criminal negligence. The media assumed she'd lost custody but the baby never turned up with any of her family members so whatever happened to him was still considered to be one of the biggest celebrity mysteries of all time. It was just too close to be a coincidence.

Of course Bryce had asked his parents for more details and they kept giving him the same excuses about court orders and waiting to hear back about the messages they'd sent. They wouldn't tell him much more so when he offered to message her himself, they told him he had to wait. But he was done waiting. It was just super lucky that Nick needed to buy his mom a present from the same store where Bryce's mom shopped almost every weekend.

Bryce stayed close to Nick, trying to seem interested in whatever Nick was saying. It was just hard to pay attention to his best friend and keep an eye out for his mother at the same time. Mother. The word was so weird that it didn't seem like he was thinking about himself.

They were heading for the cash register when Bryce saw her walk in. His heart stopped. It seemed impossible when he saw her in real life. Could he really have come from her?

"I'll be right back," Bryce told Nick.

"Wait, where are you going?" Nick stopped walking.

"I just want to say hello to someone," Bryce motioned to him to stay where he was.

"You know Khrista whatever her last name is these days?"

Bryce didn't answer. He took a deep breath and started across the store. What would he even say? "Hi, I might be your son?" That didn't sound like a great introduction. He wasn't sure how else to get to the point though.

"Hey Boss, you need to stay with Nick," Vance stepped right in front of Bryce, blocking his path and his view.

"V, I just want to-"

"Stay with Nick. This isn't happening," Vance actually put his hand on Bryce's shoulder. Vance never touched them. As far as Bryce knew, it was against the rules.

"So it really is her?" Bryce tried to make eye contact with Vance but he wasn't looking at Bryce. "V?"

"Please don't do this, Bryce."

"But," Bryce backed up and saw that Khrista was looking right at him.

The expression on her face told him everything he needed to know. He was right - she was his mother and she was horrified to see him there. She looked like she'd just seen something awful, something so disgusting she wasn't sure if she should scream or just throw up.