Other Half

Trevor’s completely forgotten about his brother’s weird behavior and the new kid in his class, when Tyler shows up at Abercrombie and Fitch, smirking. Tyler never shows up at Trevor’s work so he walks out from behind the counter and crosses his arms as he stands in front of his brother.

Tyler takes in his brother’s pre-faded jeans and flannel shirt underneath a gray sweater. “Dude, is this a dress code thing or do you really dress like this?”

“Dress code. Now, Tyler, please tell me why you’re here.”

“Oh, I want you to meet someone. You get off at four today, right?”

Trevor glances around, looking to see if his manager is watching. “Yeah, four. Who am I meeting?”

“You’ll see.”

“Tyler—”

“Thanks for your help,” Tyler says, a little louder. He turns around and walks out.

Trevor checks the time when he gets back behind the register. He gets off in ten minutes.



Trevor walks out of the store, picking at the edge of his sweater. Tyler’s leaning against the advertisement a few feet from the entrance.

“Tyler, what’s going on?” He asks.

He grins at his older brother and runs a hand through his blonde hair. “Well—”

“We should get coffee.”

Tyler’s eyes widen. “Oh my god, Matt told me that soul mates could—”

Trevor starts walking away, suddenly craving caffeine. He glances back and Tyler is staring at him. “Are you coming or what?”

“What coffee place are we going to?”

“Wise Bean,” Trevor says. He’s never been there before. Normally he doesn’t even buy overpriced coffee at the mall. He can’t help but feel like he needs to go into Wise Bean though.

“Trevor, the new kid in my class,” Tyler starts and when Trevor’s about to step into the coffee shop, he grabs Trevor’s arm. “His name’s Charlie Ray.”

“What? You met him?”

Tyler nods. “He’s a nice kid.”

Trevor looks into Wise Bean. There’s a woman carrying a toddler at the counter, a couple both using laptops sitting at a table, and then there’s a teenager sitting alone with a bottle of fruit-flavored water. He’s staring at the bottle, like he’s reading the label. He has dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin. Trevor takes a deep breath and glances at his brother. Tyler smiles and pushes him towards Charlie Ray.

Even if there had been another teenage boy around the right age, Trevor would have known that this was Charlie Ray. There’s no doubting who he is. Trevor walks toward the table and asks, “Can I sit down?”

Charlie Ray looks up and Trevor feels suddenly that everything is right in the world. He no longer cares that he’s losing his hearing working at Abercrombie and Fitch or that he’s broke. None of that matters now that he’s looking at Charlie Ray.

“Of course,” he says quietly. Trevor pulls out a chair and sits down. He reaches out hesitantly and pulls Charlie Ray’s hand away from the water bottle. He turns it over and sees his messy script tattooed on the teenager’s arm. Trevor lifts his own wrist and holds it out for him to see.

Charlie Ray’s eyes widen, but he had already known who this was. Tyler hadn’t told him who he was meeting at the mall, but Charlie Ray knew in his heart that Trevor would be here.

“My name’s Trevor Ward.”

“Charlie Ray Cooper,” he replies and smiles. Trevor takes Charlie Ray’s hand in his, holding onto it tightly and he barely realizes he’s done it until Charlie Ray is looking around, panicky.

“It’s okay.”

“I’m so glad I met you,” he says and Trevor smiles at Charlie Ray’s accent.