86. Hunx and His Punx “He’s Coming Back” Too Young to Be in Love [Hardly Art]
“He’s a real big guy so you had better watch your back.”
No one would dare talk to Hank Everett at lunchtime. For weeks he had been boasting (in Biology class, in the courtyard, while going through the metal detectors) that he’d be reunited with his one true love some weekday when the clock struck 11:00 AM. Anne would question why it had to be a weekday and Daryl would ask why 11:00 AM was the magical time, but Hank had a way with the tool of persuasion that made it so he’d respond to your query without ever actually answering it. And yet you’d never realize that he had circumvented explaining the origins of these seemingly arbitrary rules until you had laughed at one of his jokes, fluttered your eyelashes, and given him a hug goodbye. Regardless, everyone just tried their hardest not to stare during first lunch from various tables around the cafeteria as the minute hand edged onto the number 12 the hour before the afternoon arrived. It wasn’t just that they were scared to approach Hank as if they’d perhaps break his concentration as he waited patiently with intense focus on the return of his boyfriend (some said he transferred, some said he died, most said he just dropped out); it was that it was more like a movie for them this way. But everyday the heart-rending resolution was supposed to come about, it didn’t. Hank kept on insisting, though, and the world kept believing him.
