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Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I can’t help but let my mind run rampant like a stampede. I’ve been worrying all day over whether I should ask out Ash or Johnny, and it shows. I know they’re seeing each other, but I’ve seen them arguing lately, and I can’t help but kind of hope it means something for me. During my performance, my voice crashed like waves and I hurried off the stage in embarrassment. Everyone asked if I was alright, and I just shoved their worries away and assured them I was just feeling a bit ill, and they dropped it. Or, at least, I thought they had.
I’m helping sort through flyers with Miss Crawly when I hear little pit-pats of shoes on the floor behind me. I can easily tell that it’s Mr. Moon, but his footsteps sound hesitant. I set the papers down and turn my head. “Hey, Mr. Moon. We’re almost done with the flyers; did you need them now?”
A little taken aback, the koala shakes his head and pulls himself up onto his swivel chair. “No, no. I just wanted to talk to you about your performance for a minute.” His voice was stern, and it made me gulp in anticipation.
“Yeah, about that—I’m really, really sorry, Mr. Moon, Sir, it really was an accident. It’s just that cold of mine!” I fake a cough and grin uneasily.
Right away, I can read on his face that he doesn’t believe me. I shyly dart my eyes away. I can’t help but feel I’m ten again and I’m being lecture by the principal for pulling another girl’s hair.
“Miss Crawly, will you please get me another cup of coffee?” He asks dryly, holding his mug out to the elderly woman, who slowly makes her way out of the room. Once she’s gone, he turns his gaze back to me. “So, ya gonna tell me what’s bothering you, kiddo? We can’t have whatever the problem is hindering your performance, you know. The Valentine’s Day show is very important. There are some cracks forming in the formation, and we need the money to fix it up.”
“Well, I…” I look to the side. Do I really want to tell Mr. Moon about my romance problems? He says that it’s so my problem won’t hinder the performance, but when I look back at him, I can’t help but smile a little. The eager look on his face reminds me of my dad, and I give in. “Well, see, I have a crush.”
He sits back in his chair, a smug look on his face. “Do I know them?”
“Yes, well, the problem is… there’s two of them...”
Now he looks as worried as I did during my performance. “That is a problem. What are you going to do?”
I look at him a bit worried. “I don’t know yet, I was hoping you had some advice.”
He snorts a laugh and lays back in his swivel chair, letting it sway from side to side. “I’m sorry to say Meena, but I have no experience in that field, so I can’t be much of a help.”
Now I can’t help but give him another worried look; this time for his sake. “You mean…you’ve never dated anyone?”
He looks at the ceiling, avoiding my eyes. “Not because I liked them, really. In high school I dated people out of pity. Or, maybe they dated me out of pity, but the short answer is no. I’ve never had a serious relationship.”
Now I snort a little bit. I try to hold it back, but even a smothered snicker out of my trunk is obvious. He looks up, an offended look on his face. “Sorry, Mr. Moon, I didn’t mean to laugh. I’m honestly surprised, though. I thought everyone your age had dated.”
“At my age?” He sounded more crestfallen than defensive. “I’m only thirty-six years old, Meena. I just…wasn’t ever interested in anybody.”
I’m not the smartest elephant in my family, but I easily pick up on his tone. “You’re lying, Mr. Moon, who do you like?”
He scoffs, flicking at his bowtie. “I’m not…okay, maybe I am lying.” He thought for a moment, before one of his famous excited epiphany faces flashed onto his face, full of innocence. “Well, how about this, I try my best to help you with your dilemma and you drop the subject?”
“Or,” I carefully place the word, watching him look at his fingers and then back to me in smug curiosity, “I tell you who I like and you tell me who you like.” I watch his face shift from discomfort back to smugness and then to his usual cheery expression all in the matter of a minute.
“How about no.” He swivels his chair around, turning away from me and toward the window, “it’s not like I’ll be able to help, anyway. I’m not good at this stuff. Why don’t you catch up with Rosita and ask her?”
I let out a sigh and sit down in the seat across from his desk. It’s much too small for me, but I ignore the screeching of the legs of the chair and gaze sadly at the back of his head. “I wanted to ask her, but…she was driving one of my crushes home today, so I couldn’t.”
I smirk a bit to myself as he whips around in the chair, a look of excitement on his face. “Really now? Well, let’s see, who was she dropping off today…” Mike scrunched up his face. “Everyone except you and Mike carpooled with her today. That’s not a very fair hint, Meena.”
“I wasn’t giving you a hint, Mr. Moon. Anyway,” I smile at him, and watch his expressions jump around again, “can you at least try to help me?”
He looks a bit upset for a moment before growing a grin. “Alright, kid, let’s look up some advice. I’ll grab my laptop, just give me a moment.” I watch in both interest and disbelief as he pulls open the drawer he lives in and pulls out a tiny CrowBook, opening it up and motioning beside him. “Pull your chair up, let’s find you some love advice.”
Right away, I read over the tabs he left open in curiosity, finding my mouth falling open. One of them clearly reads, ‘LGBT Pride 2017,’ and I can’t help but spread a smooth smile from one of my huge ears to the other. “Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon, are you…?” I point to the tab, and he swallows roughly.
“I was thinking of going with a friend.” He says rather coldly, which turns my grin into a frown. I place my hand gently, or as gently as I can, on his back and smile softly this time.
“You know, Mr. Moon, it’s okay...to be gay.”
We sit in silence for a minute and I start going over my life choices, trying to pinpoint the exact one that caused me to mess my life up and end in this situation, when he interrupts my thoughts abruptly.
“I know. I directed a play called that once, in fact.”
“You directed a play called, ‘It’s Okay to Be Gay’?” I raise my eyebrows slightly.
He nods. “In high school.”
“That’s awesome, Mr. Moon!” He shakes his hand in the air as if to slap the compliment away.
“Wait, is that why…is that why you don’t want to tell me who you like? Is it a guy, Mr. Moon?”
He goes silent again for a moment, swishing his chair around, avoiding my gaze.
“If it helps any, Mr. Moon,” I pull at one of my ears nervously, “one of the people I have a crush on is a girl.”
Suddenly, a smile pops up on his face. “That’s good to know, Meena. Quick question,” he smugly looks up, and I suddenly regret talking again, judging by the look on his face, “the girl you like is Ash, right?”
I can’t help but bubble at the sound of her name. “Yeah, you guessed it.” I pout at him. “Alright, you know one of the people I like, it’s only fair you tell me who you like now!”
He snickers and my grimace flourishes. “I’m not a teenager, Meena.”
“C’mon, Mr. Moon, I won’t tell anyone!” I say pleadingly. I can’t help but be curious!
Shrugging, he leans forward. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But I’m going to whisper it, okay?”
I nod enthusiastically and lean forward. He suddenly leans back again. “I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s not your fault, but…I really don’t like anyone right now.”
“Well, don’t you want to be able to spend time with someone on Valentines’ Day, Mr. Moon?”
He grinned and looked at some of the papers on his desk. “Every year I find somewhere to plant flowers with Miss Crawley. It’s very special to her.”
“But, Mr. Moon, didn’t she tell you? She has a date this year.”
I watch in pity as his eyes flicker up. “She…does?” He gulps and looks around the room in grief. “Well, that’s fine. I’ll just plant flowers by myself this year.”
I smile softly at him. “Wouldn’t you like to go on a romantic date with someone on Valentine’s Day? You could buy him flowers, take him to dinner…doesn’t that sound nice?”
A look of hopelessness crosses his face. “Well, of course I’d like that, but there’s just no one out there for me, Meena.”
Softly, I place my hand on the back of his chair. “Mr. Moon, there’s someone out there for everyone.”
Sadly, he stares out into the street. “Well, maybe there is, but finding whoever is out there for me isn’t worth the time…I could spend that time on the theater, Meena! Maybe the theater is my true love.”
Snickering, I cover up my trunk again. This time, he smirks and looks back at me. “That does sound ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
Nodding, I grin at him. “But really, Mr. Moon. Maybe you should just put yourself out there. If nothing happens, nothing happens, but you should at least take a chance.”
Thoughtfully, he looks at his computer. “Well, I don’t want to get into the trouble of online dating, but…if there’s another way…” he trails off, looking away from the computer and back out the window. “oh, who am I kidding. I’m sorry, Meena, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Scrambling to hold onto his eagerness a minute ago, my eyes land on the newspaper on his desk. I lift it up with my trunk and hold it out to him. “Try a personal ad!”
“A… personal ad?”
“Yeah! You just say you’re interested in finding a guy to go on a few dates with, a little about yourself, your phone number, and you go from there! You get a call and you have a date!”
Shrugging, I watch with glee as the interest floods back into his face. “Alright, I guess I can try one. It couldn’t hurt.”
“That’s the spirit! I’m rooting for you, Mr. Moon!”
Chuckling, he rubbed the back of his head. “’Yeah, yeah, well, you head on home, Meena. We’ll find you some advice tomorrow morning, alright?”
I completely forgot about my problem until he mentions it, but with hope for Mr. Moon on my mind, it isn’t bothering me much right now.
The next rehearsal day, I make my way to the theater and find Johnny, Ash, and Mike laughing at the newspaper. Rosita and Gunther look disapprovingly at them, and I can’t help but join their side and do the same.
“Guys, you shouldn’t be prying into Mr. Moon’s love life and making fun of him! What if someone did that to you?” Rosita scolds them, taking the newspaper away from the trio.
Johnny slowed to a stop. “You’re right, Miss Rosita. I’m really sorry for laughing, but—just read what he put in the ad!”
Rolling her eyes, Rosita looked down at the ad, holding back slight giggles. “Oh, Mr. Moon, what have you gotten yourself into?”
Miss Crawly entered the room, holding the megaphone, and right before she lifts it to her mouth, I stop her.
“Is it time to start rehearsing, Miss Crawley?”
Right away, I notice she looks upset. “Yes, it is, but… Mr. Moon won’t be able to help you at all today.”
Everyone suddenly becomes upset, all looking up and at the lizard woman in silent shame.
Ash breaks the silence.
“Is he okay?”
Miss Crawley nods her head. “He’s alright, but his phone is filled with crank calls. He said it will take all day to sort through them. Oh, and Meena,” I perk my ears up, “he wants to see you about your routine before you practice.”
I’m sure this is when I get my advice. I nod and follow Miss Crawley and right outside of the office she stops, motioning me inside. “He said to go alone.”
Once in the office, I can’t help but look at the somehow still energetic koala sitting in his chair. “Hey Meena! Ready for some advice, kiddo?”
A gasp escapes my lips. “Of course, I am!” My eyes lower. “But first, um… you’re not mad at me, are you?”
Laughing, he shakes his head. “Why would I be mad? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Confused, I continue on. “But Miss Crawley says you’ve been getting prank called all morning!”
His face dropped a little for a moment but he grins again. “Oh, don’t blame yourself. People prank call personal ads all the time. Or, that’s what I read online anyway.” He seems proud of this info. “Speaking of online, I searched for some advice for you, and the only answers I could find were to directly approach the problem. You’re just going to have to take the leap, Meena.”
A frown grows on my face. “But…but what if…what if neither of them like me back?” I take a seat in the seat across from his desk. “I can’t pick who I like more, Mr. Moon.”
He scrunches up his face. “Well, why pick?”
Confused, I shake my head a little. “What do you mean?”
A smile appears on his face and he stares me down. “Meena, do you know what the word polyamory means?”
I shrink slightly into myself. “I’ve heard that word before, but…don’t I have to be Mormon to be…poly?”
Laughing, he shakes his head. “Not at all. Being polyamorous means your heart is big enough to hold more than one person romantically.”
“So…I can date both of them?” I can feel my face heating up—why hadn’t I heard of this before?
He nods and reaches for the paper on his desk. “Anyway, I think the personal ad idea was great. And maybe if I’m lucky, one of these calls will be legit.” He snickered and slapped the paper back on the desk.
Curiously, I lifted it up with my trunk and read it over slowly, unable to hold back a chuckle.
A look of betrayal flashes on the usually eager koala’s face, and I set the paper down. “Sorry, the person below your ad was really funny.” He smiles again and in my head I hear a sigh of relief.
“Anyway, Meena, I think you should go practice your routine,” he smirks a little and reaches for his phone, “I’ve got some messages to go through.”
I can’t help but snicker as I leave his office and make my way to my practice space. What was that about Pina Colladas? And kissing in the rain? Who knew Mr. Moon was such a romantic? I laugh again at the thought of Mr. Moon being soaked in rain water, kissing some dude who just wants to get inside. Boy, do I have a weird theater manager.
As I leave the theater, I can’t help but curiously poke my head into Mr. Moon’s office. “Any luck?” I ask quietly, and he grins tiredly up at me.
“Actually, yeah. I’ve got three dates scheduled.”
I can’t help but hurry forward and pick up the theater owner, giving him a soft hug. “Oh, Mr. Moon, I’m so happy for you!” He just laughs awkwardly.
“You’re holding me too tight, Meena!” He says through strangled breaths and set him onto his desk, smiling sheepishly at him.
“Sorry, Mr. Moon!” I laugh a little and he laughs with me. “When are you going out with them?”
“Well, I’m going to dinner with the first genuine caller after I wrap up here, and the next one is tomorrow night and so forth.”
“That’s wonderful, Mr. Moon! Make sure to tell me all about the dates go, okay?”
A snicker escapes his mouth. “You’re not my mother, Meena.”
I shrug. “No, but you’re like one to me, Mr. Moon.”
He looks a bit offended. “I’m much cooler than a mom, Meena, I am quite obviously a cool uncle. Anyway, speaking of mothers—yours is probably waiting for you. It’s about time you get home.”
“Alright, Mama Moon!” I giggle, leaving the office.
The next four days pass by swiftly, and the morning of the fourth day I burst into my superior’s office. I’ve been dying to know how they were going all week, and I’m sure it shows. When I sit down in the chair in front of his desk, I can’t help but notice a solemn look on his face and feel pity strike through my veins. “Did they…not go well?”
Shrugging, he wipes his nose—had he been crying?—and smiles softly up at me. “They were alright. Had their ups and downs.”
“Would talking about them help?” I put my hand on the desk and watch silently as he puts his hand on mine and rubs his thumb over it.
“Yeah, I think it might.”
An hour later, and I find that the first date had went well at first. The polar bear he met up with was nice enough, but while he was driving Moon home he had spat out that he loved him, which was way too soon for Moon. The second fellow as a sweet turtle, who Moon liked up until the point he tried kissing him, which was also way too soon for the koala. The third one was when Moon started tearing up—he was a wonderful alpalca who was absolutely perfect up until he was dropping Moon off, when he suddenly picked Moon up, which was very offensive to him.
I can’t help but once again take partial blame for this, so I pull a tissue out of Moon’s tissue dispenser and reach it forward with my trunk, gently wiping away some of his tears. Setting it down, I use my trunk to rub circles on his back and give him an apologetic smile. “Don’t give up, Mr. Moon.”
He looks up at me, his eyes puffy and red and hopeful. The corners of his mouth curl up. “You’re right, Meena. Here I am,” he chuckles and sits up a bit, wiping at his eyes, “I can’t just sit in here and pout over a broken heart.”
“Mr. Moon, you’re allowed to be sad, just,” I rub his back a little more, “don’t let it eat you up, okay?”
Chuckling again, he sits up completely, shaking his head and grinning cheerfully at me. “I won’t. Thanks, Meena.”
I leave the room after he shoos me out and into my routine area. I practice for a while and only stop when I feel someone’s eyes on my back. Sure enough, when I turn around, Eddie is standing in the doorway.
“Something wrong, Mr. Noodleman?”
“I’m not sure.” He says, and before I can say anything in return, he speaks again. “Buster was crying this morning, and when you left the office he cried again. Is everything okay? What’s going on with him?”
“Oh, that…” I trail off. I was sure not to tell anyone what was going on, but of course Eddie figured it out—he is Mr. Moon’s best friend, after all. “Well, if you have the time I can tell you. It’s a bit of a long story.”
He smiles openly at me, sitting on the ground. “I’m all ears.”
After explaining everything, I look over at him expectantly. “Got all that?”
“Wait, wait…” He had a contemplative look on his face. “You mean…Buster likes guys?”
I look strangely at him. “Wait… did he not tell you? I assumed you knew, since you are his best friend…” I think for a minute. “I hope he won’t get mad that I told you.”
Eddie swallowed. “No, no he should be fine with me knowing, but I’ll talk to him about it tonight.” He looked over at me. “Thanks for clearing things up for me, kiddo.”
“Hey, wait,” I grab onto his arm, “you’re not mad at him, are you?” With how strange he is acting at knowing Buster’s sexuality, I can’t help but feel like if he lashes out at the koala that it’s my fault.
“Nah, I’m not mad. Just gonna talk to him about it.” And with that the sheep leaves the room. I gaze past him and spot Ash, who is leaning against the wall right outside of the room.
“Oh, hey, Ash!” I say shyly, and right away she ushers herself into the room and closes the door.
“Hey, didja just say that Moon’s been trying to get a boyfriend?”
“Gee, did everyone figure it out?” I say more to myself than to her. “Yeah, I did. But he doesn’t know that I told anyone, so—”
“Shh I know, I heard you and Noodlebrain’s conversation, and ya know, Eddie’s been coming to me and Johnny with a similar problem.”
“Whadya mean?” Does she mean he’s also been looking for a boyfriend? Surely not.
“Well, after he saw Buster’s ad and heard about the prank calls, he felt bad and his parents were pressuring him into finding a mate, so he put his own equally ridiculous ad out—one about how he likes swimming at midnight and hates yoga… it’s weird, anyway--he told me and Johnny that the dates all bombed. The guys were all too boring and were too shy and wouldn’t even hold his hand! Do you get what I’m putting down?”
“Are you saying we should…interfere?” I rub the back of my head. “Is that really a good idea? Shouldn’t we let them just work it out?”
“Let them work it—no!” I flinch a bit at her tone, and she grabs my hand, “we must set them up for the Valentine’s Day show coming up! They’ve had since they first met to work it out. We have to take some initiative, Meena!”
I didn’t want to at first, but I find myself nodding along. “Are you sure this will work?”
“Well, of course! They’re total opposites, Meena! Opposites attract, remember?” She stops, as if to think of examples. “Like… Mike and Nancy! Or Norman and Rosita! Or even…” she pauses, looking a little sad, “Johnny and I.”
“Is…is everything okay, Ash? With you and Johnny, I mean?”
She looks away abashedly. “Well, it could be better…but we’re…really different. Maybe too different for it to work.” She shakes her head and throws on a grin. “But no relationship is perfect.”
I wince a bit at the sound of her sad voice. “Hey, Ash…about the Valentine’s Day show coming up---”
“—I was wondering if you’d like to come with us.”
She…cut me off, with exactly what I was thinking. I can feel my face heating up.
“As a friend, I mean.”
Oh. I can feel young tears growing in my eyes and I know that either she has to leave or I do, before I burst into tears onto her. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”
“Cool!” She turns to leave the room and stops dead in the doorway, turning her head to the side, “And Meena! Your dress looks really nice on you today!”
And with that she leaves, and with that I collapse to my knees and start to sob.
The next time I meet up with her, she’s with the rest of the theater crew, minus Mike and Rosita, and everyone is in on the plan. When asked why she told everyone, she only shrugs and I don’t have the time to scold her. Even Norman and a familiar bull man are here—and they’re apparently an important key in the plot, according to Ash. “So… what is the plan?”
“Well, Norman is going to call Buster and pretend to be a sweet, sheep who saw Moon’s ad and wants to take him to a certain show he’s heard a lot about. He’s gonna ask Moon to wear an orange bowtie, and he’s gonna say that he himself is wearing a yellow bowtie, so they can find each other.” Ash explained, letting Johnny take over.
“And then Richard is gonna call Eddie and act like a daring, young koala who saw Eddie’s ad and will ask to take him to the same show, and he’s gonna ask Eddie to wear a yellow bowtie, and he’ll say that he himself is wearing an orange bowtie.”
Ash took the lead again. “So, obviously they’ll find each other. It’s a perfect plan, isn’t it?”
“Well…they know each other obviously, so they’ll know someone set them up. They’ll probably know it was us, too, so is it really worth the trouble? I don’t want Mr. Moon to not trust me anymore.”
Ash pursed her lips in thought. “They’ll probably be laughing too much to be angry at anyone.”
I can’t help but feel uncertainty creeping up my veins. “I dunno guys, maybe this isn’t a great idea.”
Johnny places a gentle arm on my shoulder. “C’mon Meena, if you heard the things Eddie was saying to us about his dates, and with what you said Buster was saying…we’re just giving them a new direction to try. If it doesn’t turn out, it doesn’t turn out. They wouldn’t be mad, I don’t think.”
I nod a bit at that, remembering how sad Mr. Moon was the other day. Surely, this could only help.
It’s the night of the show, and we all perform magnificently. I can’t help but turn into a bubbly mess as Ash and Johnny sing their duet, but luckily Mr. Moon let me do mine first so I can focus and not end up running off the stage in embarrassment again.
Once Rosita and Gunter finish their act, signifying the end of the show and the start of the post-show party, I wait with the rest of the crew for Mr. Moon to dismiss us. After saying a few lines on stage and signaling the DJ to take over, he scurries backstage with us.
“Alright, everyone! Great show tonight, and remember, because you’re all part of the crew, drinks and refreshments are free!” He cheers, and for a moment he seems like he’s in a great mood, so I start to walk away with the rest, but a glance over my shoulder tells me that he’s not, as with a heartbroken face he gazes through a crack in the curtain out into the audience. Right away I walk quietly over to him and tap his shoulder with my trunk.
“Mr. Moon, is everything alright?”
He shrugs as if to tell me to leave but then turns around suddenly. “No. Nothing’s alright.”
Right away, the guilt I had been trying to gloss over in my stomach for interfering shoots into my heart. I clear my throat before curing my trunk inwards. “What’s wrong, Mr. Moon?”
He grows his own look of guilt and sighs. “I think I was stood up. I haven’t been stood up since,” he stops to think, “I’ve never been stood up,” He gulps in air as if he’s never breathed, “and it makes me wish my dad were around to tell me how to feel about this. I was really looking forward to this date, too.”
“Maybe they’re not here yet, Mr. Moon. Who are you looking for?”
With saggy shoulders and saggy eyes he turns towards me, “he said he was a sheep and that he would be wearing a yellow bowtie.”
I peek through the curtains myself and spot Eddie over by the drinks, talking animatedly to a cow woman. “Well, you should at least enjoy your night the best you can. How about you come with me to get a drink?”
He looks up at me and smiles weakly. “Yeah. Alright, but I’m getting this stupid thing off.” And with that he starts untying his bowtie. My mind raises around, trying to figure out how to get him to leave it, but I can’t find anything to say, so I just cross my fingers and hope he puts the pieces together and figure out his mystery sheep is Eddie when he sees him wearing yellow around his neck.
He stuffs the fabric in his pocket and hurries over to the drinks, and I follow behind him, relaxing a bit when I see him start talking excitedly to the lady and Eddie. Do they know each other? I don’t recognize the lady at all, but when Buster’s face turns to a weak smile again, I step up to the table and pour myself a cup of the punch, listening intently to their conversation.
“Yeah, Katie came with me when she heard that my parents were trying to set me up and I didn’t want them to think I might be meeting a guy here. You know how they can be.” Eddie says, and I can’t help but frown a little to myself. Poor Eddie.
“How’s your little girl doing, Katie?” Buster asks suddenly, and I smile softly. He really is such a mom.
“Well, she’s been taking the divorce kind of hard, but she’s starting to act like herself again.” Katie says in a sweet, southern voice.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about that. I hope you’ve been doing okay?” Mr. Moon says solemnly.
I can hear the cow woman gulp before she speaks, “Yeah, I’ve been…good. Anyway, sorry to leave you, Buster, but I did come with Eddie as his fake date… so maybe this girl can actually get a dance out of him?”
“Sure.” Eddie says nonchalantly, though clearly surprised. “I think my date stood me up anyway, so I might as well have some fun with you while you’re in town.” And with that, I can hear them walk away, leaving Mr. Moon alone.
I finally turn around, my cup filled to the top with green punch and sherbet. Right away, I take notice of the same sad face returning to the koala’s face, and I gently touch his back with my trunk. “Is everything alright, Mr. Moon?”
“Is it that obvious I’m upset?” His voice is quiet, and if it weren’t for my he ears, I probably wouldn’t have heard him.
“Yeah, sorry, Mr. Moon. Is it…is it because they left you alone here?”
He laughs a bit, and I smile slightly. It’s been a while since he laughed like that.
“No, not exactly. Well, kinda.” He pulls himself up onto the punch table, sitting on the edge of it. “She had the biggest crush on Eddie in college. I never cared for her, but I was nice to her for Eddie.”
I look at him sadly. Is he…jealous? “Mr. Moon, I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you like her for just liking Eddie?” He shrugs.
He gazes into the crowd in silence and watches as Eddie spins her around and she laughs sweetly and smiles at him like he is the entire world, and the look of raw envy on my supervisor’s face tells all.
He is jealous.
“I’m sorry to pry, Mr. Moon, but…you’re jealous of her, aren’t you?”
That shakes him out of his silence and he turns towards me, his eyes lit up and his eye brows furrowed and I can swear he’s going to yell at me, but quickly his face shifts to one of confusion and then to soft sweetness in minutes like a scoop of an icecream cone being melted with a flame thrower. I didn’t realize his arm was raised as if to point an accusing finger at me until he drops it and shrugs again, shaking his head and turning his gaze back to the dancers.
“Maybe I am. I don’t know.”
We sit in silence and watch them for a minute until suddenly the woman’s phone rings in her bra and she pulls away to answering it, leaving the dance floor in a stride and back over to us, grabbing her purse and walking out of the building. “Well, Mr. Moon, now’s the best time to do something about it. He just got stranded on the dance floor, why don’t you go take her spot?”
A look of shock spreads over his face and he laughs. “I can’t do that! He doesn’t like me back.”
“You don’t know that! And even if he doesn’t, you should at least try!” I look at the now awkwardly dancing sheep, whose trying his best to not look like his date just walked out. Buster just stares in awe and doesn’t move.
“You know, Mr. Moon, you’re always saying you shouldn’t let fear stop you from doing what you love… maybe you shouldn’t let fear hold you away from people you love, either.”
With a nervous look to me and back to the sheep, he takes a deep breath. “You’re right, Meena. I shouldn’t let fear stop me.” He takes his eyes off of Eddie for a moment and looks over at Johnny and Ash, who are sitting across the room and watching other people dance, simply tapping their feet to the music. “And hey, take your own advice, too, kid. Go ask Ash to dance. She might not be both of the people you like, but you should at least try for her.”
And with that, he bounds off to the sheep and I stand and watch for a minute as they start dancing comfortably and I take a deep breath and hurry over to Ash and Johnny.
“Hey guys,” I say shyly, and they both look up from their phones and grin, “why aren’t you dancing?”
Ash stifles a chuckle. “The music’s a little bit boring, doncha think?”
I can’t help but agree. It sounds like stuff my grandfather would dance to, after all.
“Plus, dancing isn’t really fun.” Johnny says nonchalantly, and both Ash and I whip our heads around and look at him accusingly.
“Meena, go tell ‘em to put on something good. We’re all dancing right now.” Ash says in a determined voice, and I do just that.
Sure enough, in a minute something fast, catchy and probably by Carly Rae Jepsen is playing and Ash is dragging Johnny out onto the dance floor. At first all I can do is stand shyly to the side and smile but sure enough Ash makes her way over to me and pulls me in, too. The song stops and I feel a wave of sadness crash over me but the DJ plays another Jepsen song to my relief, and another after that. But then they play a slower song and I can feel my feet going cold as I awkwardly start to shuffle back to the sidelines, looking over to Mr. Moon and Mr. Noodleman to distract my heartache.
I can’t help but grit my teeth in second hand embarrassment at the sight of them even more awkwardly than me slowly maneuvering around each other as if it’s dancing. Part of me wants to stomp over there and shove Mr. Moon into Eddie’s arms, but I settle for vague motioning at them instead, hoping one of them catches my drift. Half a minute later, Eddie sees my gestures and reaches down and I can tell he’s saying something to Mr. Moon, but I can’t tell what. A moment later and a chuckling koala scurries up Eddie’s body as if he’s a tree.
I cover my trunk to suppress a giggle and shake my head, watching them dance for a while as they go from awkwardly looking at each other and whispering to full on cuddling, all while Eddie slowly twirls them in a circle. It’s not really dancing, but they both look very calm and content, so I don’t really mind.
Slowly the night comes to an end and after some talking it’s decided that Johnny and I are both staying the night with Ash, and soon it’s just us three and the tired sheep and koala duo, who are idly chatting away as they finish sweeping the floors.
“Well, that’s everything. It’s time to lock ‘er up. You ready to go, guys?” Mr. Moon asks, and Ash grows a smirk.
“Why, don’t you live here, Mr. Moon? Where are you going?”
I right away know what she’s prying at and I look at Johnny, whose embarrassed expression matches mine.
“Well, if you want to know, I’m going to Eddie’s for the night. We’ve got some games to catch up on.”
“Yeah, some love games.” Ash whispers this time, but I see a look of embarrassment flood onto Eddie’s face and I know he heard it, and my face floods the same way his did within seconds. Sometimes I don’t know why I love her.
Eddie seems to have dropped it and instead turns to Buster. “Alright, let’s get going guys, we don’t wanna leave too late.”
And with that we’re off, and within a minute of walking in the dark Johnny, Ash, and I have all trailed a decent space between us and the whispering duo, and we stay like that until suddenly we hear Mr. Moon distinctively cry out in pain and we hurry forward.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Moon?” I ask swiftly, watching as he clenches his foot.
“I don’t know, I stubbed my foot into that crack on the sidewalk and fell and I—” he winces, “I think I twisted it.”
Eddie kneels and holds his foot up, looking it over and brushing his hooves over them. “Yeah, that looks pretty bad. When we get back to my place I’ll have dad look at it, he’s a nurse, he’ll have stuff for it.” Through clenched teeth, Mr. Moon nods, and a minute later he’s lifted into Eddie’s arms and is being carried bridal style.
Ash, Johnny and I all speed up and watch the two closely, ready to help if our poor koala supervisor needs anything. And because of this, we naturally overhear their conversation.
“…but yeah, your bowtie is so ugly, Eddie…”
“I wear this bowtie all the time, Buster. Why didn’t you say it was uglier before?”
“Because I stared at you a lot tonight and realized that you literally have zero fashion sense…you can’t wear cachis to a formal event and fit in, Ed.”
Eddie chuckles lightly. “And wearing suspenders everywhere is fitting in, is it?” I can hear the distinct sound of suspenders being flicked lightly.
“Yeah, but I look more handsome than you do!”
Eddie goes silent for a minute.
“Oh, do I get the silent treatment now? Sorry Prince Eddie, it’s not my fault---”
“You just implied you found me handsome.”
A grumble escapes the koala, but I can’t make out what he says. Eddie whispers something back to him.
“Your bowtie is still ugly, though. Maybe if I fixed it…”
“Hey, stop stripping me, it’s only our first date!”
“Did you just…” Mr. Moon’s voice grows even more quiet, “did you just call tonight…our first date…?”
“I guess I did. Are we, ya know…seeing each other now, Buster? I mean, we danced, and I am carrying you home like a blushing bride.”
“Well, I’m looking at you right now, aren’t I? I guess that means we’re seeing each other.” I smile widely. Mr. Moon really did become more confident from my pep talk earlier. “Anyway, hold still, I want to fix your bowtie.”
A minute passes before they talk again. This time, it’s Eddie.
“Buster, are you going to tie my bowtie or not? Stop playing with the string.”
“Fine, hold still.” And with that I see the ribbon wrap delicately around the back of Eddie’s neck, and I can tell that Mr. Moon’s either still playing with the string or he’s tying it. Either way, they both stay silent for the rest of the walk to Ash’s place.
When we get there, Johnny, Ash and I hurry inside and Mr. Moon and Eddie tell us goodnight before starting their walk home. Five minutes after we come inside, my phone rings and I answer to my mother’s voice. I tell Ash and Johnny I’m stepping outside for a minute and do just that, but as I step out onto the porch of Ash’s house, one glance to this side tells me that Eddie and Mr. Moon are still here and that they’re kissing, leaning on the side of the building.
Quickly they pull away and stare at me in silence before Mr. Moon speaks up. “Hey, we’ll tell everyone about this whole relationship thing on our own schedule, alright, Meena?”
I nod. “Of course, um, sorry Mr. Moon, Mr. Noodleman. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just stepped outside to answer my phone. I’m really sorry, I can go back—”
Before I can ramble any further, Eddie interrupts me. “It wasn’t your fault, Meena. We’ll just be on our way, now.” And with that, they walk away, whispering to each other again.
After staring for what feels like a million years, I finally return my call and go back inside to my friends, and as much I try to fight it, I yawn. They both look at me and back to each other and chuckle.
“Tired already, Meena?” Johnny says jokingly.
“Yeah, sorry guys, the performance just really tired me out.” I think I might go ahead and sleep.” I look at where their phones are setting and lay down on the couch, an idea brewing in my head. “How about we put on a movie?”
Ash stands up from her chair and stretches. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I just rented this action movie and I think it’ll be good. Johnny, can you get the lights and the popcorn? I’ll get the movie ready.” And with that they both leave the room, so I quickly send out a confession over text about how I like them both and thought that maybe we could try all dating each other, and before they come back in the room I head over to their phones and put them on the shelf, dropping mine off with it.
When they come back in, sure enough, they don’t notice and we all curl up in different spots in the room and watch the movie.
Right as I’m dozing off, I can hear them whispering about the texts, but I pretend to be fully asleep to avoid the conversation, and surely enough, it works, and soon I’m fast asleep.
When I wake up, they’ve already left for the theater, even though it’s very early in the morning. Instead of thinking anything of it I take my time to shower and head to the theater myself, and the first thing I take notice of is Mr. Moon and Eddie.
Eddie is wearing an orange bowtie, and Mr. Moon a yellow bowtie. Rosita, who had apparently heard about the whole mess from Norman when he got home, is at first a little upset with us for interfering but after seeing them nuzzle noses behind stage she takes it all back. Gunter just kind of accepts this as if nothing happened, Mike acts a little angry at first but it’s only because Mr. Moon apparently has a double date planned for them, Mike and Nancy coming up and Nancy already knows about it somehow, and Miss Crawley just smiles and says she knew Moon liked him for years.
I can’t help but grin sheepishly at them as everyone stands in a line on stage, waiting for our new routine papers to be handed out. For some reason though, the small group does not contain a certain porcupine or a certain gorilla, and I can’t help but worry until two pairs of lips each kiss one of my cheeks, a gasp escaping my mouth.
“We talked it over last night, we think the idea you had might work.” Johnny says, and Ash buts in.
“Well, we’re wanting to try it out, anyway. We thought it sounded cool.”
“Sorry we left you alone this morning. We were going to get you flowers, but… the boutique isn’t open today.” Johnny says shyly.
“But we stopped by the dollar store and got you some plastic flowers instead. I hope they’re cool enough.”
I smile widely. “Oh, you guys didn’t have to do that for me!” They both rub the compliment away. “Where are they? I’ll treasure them forever.”
“They’re in your rehearsing room. And we talked to Moon, he thinks it might be a good idea for s to perform as a trio sometime.” Johnny says coolly, smiling sweetly at me.
I can’t help but feel my eyes fill up with tears. “Oh, you guys! You’re the best!” I pull them both in for a hug and earn a few ‘awwwwh’s from the other theater crew members.
And to think none of this would have happened if I didn’t walk into Mr. Moon’s office and tell him to write a stupid personal ad.