What Was The Worst?!

"You would have to punch a lot of people," Jonah deadpanned.

Troy gave him a look that smacked of challenge. "You think I care? I'm sick of this, man! You're a seriously cool dude and people need to get past their stupid prejudices to see that. Eden might not know what you look like but she knows your personality and she likes you for it.

"I'm sorry the first girl you met that likes you for who you are had to meet you while you were pretending to be me, I really am. If you want to try and meet her in person later, I can explain what happened and pray she doesn't report me."

He was serious about this. He was willing to risk a lot of trouble for his cousin's sake. Troy may be a man of many faults but he was undeniably protective of his own.

Jonah sighed, oddly touched by the thought. "No need for that. I have no intention of seeing her in person. Ever. Have you come up with a list of possible places for me to move away yet?"

"Yes, actually, and they all start with M. Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi—how do you even spell that?—Montana, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, or Michigan and that's only in the United States. If you want to fictitiously move to Canada there's Montreal, Mont-Royal, Milton…the list goes on," Troy bragged before frowning. "Is that really necessary though? I think she likes you more than you give her credit for. She might actually be okay with your face. If you would let me explain—"

"No, Troy," he said firmly. "I'm not going to meet her. I don't even know if I should text her."

"If you don't, she's going to blow up your phone if my experience today was any indication. Honestly, dude. Get your act together. At least give her a chance. Talk to her more over the phone and gauge if she's trustworthy or not.

"Don't give up without even trying because I can't stand seeing you do that all the time. I know people suck. I know you've been hurt. But not everyone can be a total piece of trash, right? There have to be some good ones out there! Eden might be one of them," Troy insisted.

"And if she isn't?" Jonah asked dully. "She's the only girl that's ever smiled at me without pity in her expression. I don't think I would be able to handle losing that."

His cousin's expression softened. "I know. Like I said, see if she's trustworthy first. If she seems shallow after more time talking to her, I totally support you pretending to move to Mississippi or Montreal."

He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a tub of white chocolate raspberry ice cream and two bowls with spoons in them. "Here, dude. Seems like both of us had sucky days so let's eat our feelings."

Jonah laughed and accepted his bowl. Troy might be rough around the edges and ask him for way too many favors but he always looked out for him when it counted.

"I'm down for eating my feelings. Cheers." They knocked spoons before digging in.

"I really do hate Thursdays and Fridays though. Being in the suit that long is terrible," Troy complained. "And not only because I had to avoid Eden today like my life depended on it. It's exhausting and doing the Freddie voice that long seriously hurts my vocal cords."

"Yeah, I have a hard time doing it at all. I kept forgetting at first, especially when your coworkers were talking to me," Jonah admitted. "If you hate it that much, why are you so insistent on keeping this job?"

"Because only two days a week suck. The rest of the time is pretty chill and I have Sundays off, which isn't common in the food or retail industries. Believe me when I say Freddie's is the least offensive part-time job I've ever worked."

He had a hard time believing that. "What was the worst?!"

"Shopmart," Troy said with a shudder. "The people that shop there are completely crazy. I get that the products are cheap but that's no reason to act like actual animals inside the store. I'll take kids attacking me any day over that."

Jonah vaguely remembered him working at Shopmart shortly after graduating from high school. "Didn't that job only last two months?"

"One and a half. It was that bad. I finally quit on the spot when a grown man pooped in an aisle before anyone could stop him and my manager tried to get me to clean it up because I was the newest person there.

"I think he must have been high or something. I can't think of a logical reason an actual adult would poop on the floor of a store like that. That may have been the worst thing that happened but it was also the final straw in a series of ridiculous things. I couldn't take it anymore. Freddie's is heaven on earth compared to that place," Troy finished fervently.

"That…is absolutely disgusting. Why is this my first time hearing about it? You've complained about all of your jobs."

He shrugged. "You were busy trying to earn enough for your first car, remember? You may have had a full scholarship but you were always worried about money because everything your parents left you ended up being used for your surgeries."

Troy was a year and a half older than Jonah. Originally, they had been two grades apart but, with how gifted Jonah was with reading and math, they let him skip ahead so he could be with someone he knew given his unique circumstances.

He ended up graduating when he was seventeen. That had been a very stressful summer between trying to get everything in order and make enough money for books and a used car to make the commute between U.C. Berkeley and their house in San Jose.

It was more than an hour each way but Jonah really didn't want to live in the dorms. His aunt and uncle hadn't pushed him. They said he could live at home if he provided his own transportation because they couldn't afford it.

School started the last week of August and they had graduated at the end of May. He didn't have a lot of time so he spent every second of free time doing freelance coding jobs on top of working part time at a fast food restaurant.

He suddenly felt guilty. "Still, you shouldn't have kept it from me. I would have listened."

Troy smiled sadly. "I know you would have, dude. That's the problem. I knew you were stressed so I didn't want you to feel like you had to."