A warm air had settled over the valley and stubbornly refused to move. Elias was okay with that. School had just started, and anything to avoid accepting that fact was a positive in his book. The longer that summer lingered and the longer that he could stick to shorts and tee shirts, the happier he would be.

There was a group of other teens gathered around the old fountain in front of the movie theater. A few of them were even sitting on the edge of the fountain, which made Eli wince. That thing had to be close to fifty years old, and it was pretty grimy.

“Hey there guys!” he cried out when he got closer.

A few people glanced over, and their faces lit up when they saw him. One girl in particular, with shaggy cropped hair she’d dyed a bright red, ran up and wrapped her arms around Elias’ neck. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Hey Susan,” he said, “I missed you.”

“We saw each other yesterday,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but it’s been almost a whole day since we made out,” he pointed out to her.

“Oh, shit, you’re right,” she said, feigning surprise, “We’d better fix that.”

They could hear their friends chittering excitedly as they explored each other’s mouths. Somebody called out, “You tap that, Eli,” but he just flung up his middle finger at the group. When he and Sue were done, he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her back to the group.

“About time,” one of the larger guys said. Smirking, he added, “Thought you might not be able to find your way, with how far your head is up your ass and all.”

There were several “oohs” from the crowd as everyone waited on baited breath to see how Eli would respond. It took nearly all his willpower not to sigh. It was the weekend; couldn’t they take a break for once? But his pride was on the line. So he puffed out his chest and smirked.

“Don’t worry, Leon,” he said, “If I lost my way, I could just as anyone if they’d seen the brick wall with a bad mouth.”

Leon was one of the varsity linebackers, and he looked it. He certainly knew how to throw his weight around, too, but didn’t have the quick wit that Eli had. Still, what he lacked in skill he made up for in endurance.

“You do spend an awful lot of time checking me out, scrawny,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “You waiting for an opening to propose or something?”

“You seem to care an awful lot about what I’m after,” Eli retorted, pulling Susan in close. She squealed a little. Eli smirked and asked, “You jealous of her? I’m sure if you ask nicely, she’ll show you how to do your makeup.”

Leon scowled. Nearby, another boy with square-rimmed glasses stepped forward a little.

“Come on Leon!” he said, “Don’t let that bastard show you up. You gotta—”

The guy next to him, with his hair in cornrows, placed a hand on the boys chest and gently pushed him back out of the fray. Eli smiled, for real this time, grateful for Anton’s intervention. The last thing he needed was for Jimmy to escalate this.

Leon cracked his neck and replied, “I don’t need your sloppy seconds, El. If I need a booty call, you’re sister’s always ready.”

Eli snorted.

“Dude, my sister plays with knives,” he reminded them, “The only thing she needs you for is target practice.”

Leon seemed a little taken aback by this, and Eli took the opportunity to turn away from them and fist-bump Anton. Everybody went back to talking among themselves before Leon could come up with a retort. It seemed pretty clear that Elias had won this round.

He took a moment to glance back at Leon, who had his back turned to them. Jimmy was hovering nearby, glaring at Elias but too cowardly to say anything himself. Eli struggled to suppress a sigh. He just wanted to enjoy his Saturday with some friends, that’s all.

“Alright!” he declared, looking out over the crowd of nine, “I’m paying for everyone’s tickets. You’re all on your own for food. Let’s go!”

There were cheers from the crowd as he led them to the box office just outside of the theater. The young woman at the counter barely seemed to even notice him as he walked up and rested his arms on the counter. Even as he asked her for tickets to the latest disaster movie—Poseidon’s Reign, about a city hit by a devastating earthquake just hours before a category five hurricane hits the shore—she barely even grunted in response.

“That’s sixty-eight forty-five,” she said.

She seemed to fight a grin when Eli winced. But he shrugged it off as nothing and pulled out his wallet. He was down to counting pennies in the end, but it looked like he had enough.

“Dammit,” he muttered, turning to Anton, “I’m exactly one cent short. Exactly.”

“I might have something,” Anton said, reaching into his own pocket.

“Hang on.”

Eli sat the money down on the counter before looking around. His eyes fell on the old fountain a short distance away. He smirked and started walking away from the ticket booth.

“Hey, Eli?”

“Where’s he going?”

“He wouldn’t—”

“Yeah, he would.”

Elias slid up to the fountain and bent down. Making sure everybody could see him, he made a big show of pretending to roll up his nonexistent sleeve. The muttering became full-on chattering when he plunged his hand into the water and started feeling around. He grabbed a coin from the ground and then pulled his arm out of the water, holding it up for everyone to see.

The group applauded his efforts, but Elias had to close his eyes and spit out the fountain water that had splashed into his mouth. He could have probably done that without the messy dramatics. But whatever, it was done.

He returned to the counter and dropped the wet, dirty penny onto the pile. He handed it over to the girl manning the register, who made a face but said nothing. She gave him the tickets and then turned away, probably hoping that he would go away if she couldn’t see him.

Eli passed out tickets, occasionally also getting a high five or fist bump in return.

Susan went ahead with some of the Girls, but Anton waited until Elias was ready to walk in with him. Once the attention was off of him, Eli deflated a little and started trudging in behind everybody.

“Are you doing alright?” Anton asked.

“I’m fine, just tired,” Eli insisted.

“At least you’ll be sitting down for a while,” Anton said, “And you can always close your eyes for a while if you need to.”

“Not that kind of tired,” Eli told him, “And it doesn’t matter. It’ll be way to loud in there to relax.”

“Do you want to do something else?”

Eli stared at him for a moment. His expression seemed to be genuine. Eli grunted turned away.

He assured Anton, “I’ll be fine.”

They stood around the lobby while they waited for everyone to get their snacks. Eli thought of all the weeks of chores he’d just shoveled down the drain, just to show off. He sincerely hoped he didn’t need anything for the rest of this month. His parents would be disappointed to learn what he did.

Finally, he asked Anton, “What’s eating you?”

“Hm?”

“You’re quiet.”

“That a crime?”

“It is now,” Eli told him, “What is it?”

“Just thinking,” Anton said, “I vaguely remember hearing a myth that if you take a wish from a wishing fountain you become responsible for carrying it out. And I was wondering what that would mean for you.”

Elias didn’t respond right away. He’d forgotten about that story. He wasn’t the superstitious type. Sure, everybody knew some relative who was a witch or found a wishing stone of some kind, but magic wasn’t exactly happening on every street corner. Most rumors were still rumors. But he’d be lying if he said that the idea didn’t catch him off-guard.

“You know what I wish?” he asked, smirking, “I wish I wasn’t burdened with being so awesome all the time.”

Anton was silent for a moment, and Eli’s smile faltered. Then Anton nodded.

“Yeah, that is definitely your biggest problem,” he agreed, but his voice was flat.

Eli didn’t say anything more. He just let the matter evaporate as people started returning to where they were standing. Then Susan grabbed his arm and started pulling him away.

Some of the girls Sue had just been talking to started making kissing noises as the two of them, but Susan just tossed up her middle finger. Eli grinned and shook his head. He was never going to understand how girls thought.

~*~*~*~

Eli was grateful to be awake, but he didn’t feel any more rested for having slept. With a loud groan that strained his sore throat, he rolled over and out of his sweaty sheets. He rubbed his temples, desperate to get rid of the pounding in his head.

That dream was getting worse every night. And he’d been having that same dream since the movie. Almost a full week of nightmares. No wonder he’d been so weak and sick lately.

Not far away, Eli could hear the sound of his sister talking. He pressed his ear to the door to listen, blushing a little. She was asking their parents where her yellow camisole was. It was lying by his feet.

He swore under his breath and pulled it off the floor. He grabbed some boxers and socks from his dresser, along with a pair of shorts. He hid the camisole between his shorts and the heavy shirt he threw on top of it.

“This will pass,” he insisted to himself, self-consciously cupping one nipple with his free hand, “Just the late effects of puberty or something. That’s all.”

They’d been unusually sensitive to pain recently. The soft fabric of his sister’s undershirt didn’t irritate them. At least this way they weren’t being rubbed raw by his regular shirt.

Elias was careful not to let his hands wander to his chest during his shower. Even though he was finished quickly, he lingered in front of the mirror. It was hard to convince himself that he couldn’t see the cami underneath his shirt.

Cami? Why did he call it that? He’d never called it that before. Had he heard that somewhere?

When he took his place at the breakfast table, there was already a plate of eggs on the table for him. His dad was at the skillet, and his mom was putting something away in the fridge. Carla was already halfway through her meal, but still in her pajamas.

“What took you so long?” she asked, “I still need to take a shower.”

“Respect your brother, Carlotta,” their father insisted, sitting down at the table, “But Elias, you shouldn’t waste water.”

“I’m sorry dad,” Eli replied, “Don’t worry. The actual shower wasn’t that long.”

“Are you okay, anjinho?” his mother asked, stepping over and placing a hand on his forehead, “You don’t sound well.”

Eli shook his head and tried to smile.

“I’ll be fine, ma,” he insisted, “I think I just spent a little too much time studying last night.”

His mother rolled her eyes.

“I appreciate the gesture,” she said, “But don’t neglect your health.”

“And you listen to your mother on that one,” his father added, “It’s only because of her that I would stop to slow down and rest when I was climbing the corporate ladder.”

“Well I needed you to spend some time at home,” she teased him, “I couldn’t exactly leave in the middle of a meeting with my client to pick the kids up from daycare.”

She came over and wrapped her arms around him. Carla rolled her eyes as their father gave her a brief kiss on the lips before turning to his own meal. El was already starting to doze.