Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall Page B

really feel was an epic thirst. It was like his whole body was thirsty. His eyes, his skin, his hair—it was all thirsty. Not just his mouth.
    As he opened the door, he prayed silently that it wouldn’t be Buck. Anyone but Buck. Teo couldn’t handle his stepfather at the moment. But of course it was Buck was on the other side, holding up Teo’s cell phone. Because that was how life worked.
    â€œThis has been in the living room making noise for the past two hours,” Buck said.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Teo said, taking it from him.
    It was only 7:02 in the morning. No wonder Teo was exhausted. And no wonder his cell phone was making a lot noise. He had about fifty notifications ranging from texts making sure he got home okay to photos that he’d been tagged in to new friend requests.
    â€œWhy have you been in the living room since five?” Teo asked, rubbing at his eyes.
    Buck rubbed his own tired eyes. “Keegan had a nightmare. She went back to sleep, but I couldn’t.”
    Teo yawned and leaned on the doorjamb. “Oh God, that sucks,” he said.
    Buck nodded.
    Teo wasn’t going to remain upright much longer. “Anything else?” he asked, hoping to cut through Buck’s usual hemming and hawing.
    â€œYeah, the lawn,” Buck said. “It needs to be mowed.”
    â€œRight this minute?”
    â€œNo, but sooner rather than later. Definitely today.”
    â€œBut I just did it,” Teo said, the whine in his voice making a headache spike behind his eyes.
    â€œThe grass continues to grow, Teo,” Buck said with the barest edge of impatience in his voice. “And I know you missed curfew last night.”
    Now Teo understood. “Are you going to tell my mom?”
    â€œI should, but I won’t if you do the lawn today.”
    â€œI can do that. I have today off. Any chance I could go back to sleep for a little bit?”
    â€œYeah, sure,” Buck said, patting him awkwardly on the shoulder before turning to go downstairs. “Make sure you shower, too. You smell like a distillery.”
    Teo sniffed at his shirt but couldn’t really smell anything.
    After brushing his teeth and drinking vast quantities of water from the bathroom sink, Teo threw himself back into bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
    The alcohol had made his brain a little foggy, but when he woke up next, he felt a lot better. His conversation with Buck seemed like a dream.
    Teo tried to put the pieces of last night back together, and a lot of it featured Jane. He opened the notifications on his phone and found that all the pictures he was tagged in also featured Jane.
    Jane and him by the keg.
    Jane and him in the background talking.
    Jane and him sitting in lawn chairs, looking at the sky.
    The evening definitely had a theme. Teo stared at the images, trying to remember what they had talked about, but he really wasn’t sure. It made him nervous not to know.
    Teo had a tendency to latch onto people. There weren’t a lot of people who appreciated that quality. Hopefully, Jane didn’t mind.
    He sat straight up in bed, a cry of horror on his lips.
    He had tried to kiss Jane and failed spectacularly.
    He exhaled through his nose and tried to remember the lead-up to the kiss. Maybe she had wanted to kiss; maybe he’d been reading the signs better because he was some kind of drunken kissing savant.
    The smell of pancakes drifted upstairs, and Teo decided it was time to get of bed and face Buck. And the lawn. And his newfound feelings for Jane that he hadn’t even known about until he got drunk last night.
    He got out of bed and showered fast, keeping the water on the cold side to wake up his fuzzy brain.
    Buck was cooking at the stove and Teo’s sisters were all sitting around the table when he walked into the kitchen. They greeted him with their usual exuberance.
    â€œTeo!” Keegan said, her voice like knives stabbing at his mushy skull. If