This one would probably be easy. The city felt like walking through the comic books that Dakarai loved so much. The buildings were low and made of brick, with mazes of telephone wires above them. The area was commercial, but there was artwork everywhere—everything from colorful murals and paintings to art installations to graffiti tags—gracing the sides of shops, schools, and even the sidewalks.
They kept walking, settling into a comfortable silence. Dakarai studied every piece of art, down to the sticker slaps on the backs of stop signs. Elias, however, kept his attention upward, thinking about what Dakarai had said earlier about the stars—how birth charts were a snapshot of the moment they were born and how the cosmos would never align that way again. With Elias’s photographic memory, snapshots were something he knew well. Yet, he’d never considered them with such poetry before. Images from his entire life, starting with his earliest memories, were burned into his mind. The bad ones resurfaced when he least wanted them to,usually as he tried to sleep. But sometimes so did the good.
“It’s a shame it’s so late, isn’t it?” Dakarai asked, pulling Elias out of his thoughts. Dakarai was several steps ahead, his eyes still scanning for a heart. “There are some really nice parks here and a rose garden. We should come back during the day and walk around them.”
The corners of Elias’s mouth lifted. “You’re making future plans with me. We’re real friends now, aren’t we?” He quickened his pace to close the distance between them. “Admit it.”
“We probably could be if you didn’t talk so much,” Dakarai said, rolling his eyes. A reluctant smile played on his lips.
Elias’s smile widened. Dakarai truly seemed incapable of seeing anything but beauty in everyone and everything.
As they continued searching the street art for any signs of a heart, they passed by portraits of influential figures who seemed to be watching over them. Elias’s favorite was a striking black-and-white mural of four legendary rappers painted on the side of a brick building next to a parking lot.
With his back to Kendrick Lamar, feeling the gritty coolness of the brick against his skin, Elias held up his phone and prepared to take a selfie. “Get in this with me.”
Dakarai slid between Elias and the phone so they were face-to-face, nearly chest-to-chest. Elias recoiled slightly, surprised Dakarai was willing to get this close to him. Though the sudden proximity created an almost magnetic pull, and Elias felt himself drawn in by Dakarai’s gentle-yet-commanding presence. The air grew thick, every breath and every heartbeat permeating the silence between them.
Lowering his phone, Elias mused, “Why aren’t you afraid of me like everyone else is?”
Dakarai gave a noncommittal shrug. “You’re not scary.”
“Do I need to remind you why I’m even in North Carolina in the first place?”
“I can’t see you getting into a fight, much less getting sent to a whole other state because of it. I know I don’t know you well, but it doesn’t feel like that’s your character.” Dakarai leaned in farther, and, for a moment, Elias thought Dakarai might kiss him. Elias inhaled sharply. Instead, however, Dakarai leaned against the painted brick next to him, adding, “It seems I haven’t scared you off yet, either, by the way. That usually happens quickly.”
Elias met Dakarai’s eyes. “I’m afraid of the dark and you can’t tie your shoes. We’re not exactly two fish going in opposite directions, are we?”
They caught each other’s gaze and held it for a while before they both looked away at the same time.
“I can’t find a heart for this task, can you?” Elias asked.
A self-assured smirk flickered across Dakarai’s face. He rested his palm on the left side of Elias’s chest, giving it a few light pats, leaving Elias desperate to hold on to the moment. He closed the short distance between them, forming half a heart with his fingers, then beckoned Dakarai to complete the other side. But instead, Dakarai slid his hand up Elias’s palm, opening it before intertwining their fingers. Elias’s chest tightened, and he blinked hard trying to make sense of the gesture.
While Elias appreciated this particular piece of art, standing next to someone’s Buick Enclave was throwing him off his game. It made no sense for him to be so flustered by such a small thing.
“I meant like this,” Elias said, folding Dakarai’s hand into shape, delicately, like origami.
Dakarai scratched the back of his neck and smiled shyly. “I knew that.”
Elias snapped the picture of their heart quickly, giving Dakarai’s hand a reassuring squeeze before reluctantly letting go.
He made a mental note of the new number,8—the reward for finding the heart—then tapped the new task.
Random Act of Love
Tell someone you love that you love them.
Dakarai’s expression was soft and discerning.
“It’s too soon, don’t you think?” Elias joked.
Narrowing his eyes at Elias, Dakarai replied, “I’ve got this one,” as he pulled out his flip phone. His fingers moved swiftly over the keypad, pressing the “4” key three times with a softclack, clack, clack. Then “5.”Clack, clack.Then “6.”Clack, clack, clack.Then “8.”Clack.Then his finger jabbed on the “3” key.Clack, clack.And finally, “8” again.Clack, clack.He turned the phone around to show Elias, displayingI Love Uin a text meant for Bobby.
With all the effort it took just to send one text, they must bereallyclose.
Elias took Dakarai’s flip phone to snap a picture as proof. Inadvertently, his eyes skimmed the previous few texts on the screen. He squinted, trying to stop himself from reading them, but they’d already imprinted in his mind.
Kai
