Chapter Text
One thing that coy wants more than anything else is to just be wanted. His parents tolerate him at best, they are obsessed with the idea of him being perfect, they want him to have this amazing career and a girlfriend who fits into their ideal mould. Coy knows that all of that is just bullshit.
All coy wants is to impress his parents, he yearns for their validation and for them to like him. Coy has spent the past 17 years of his life trying to figure out what is wrong with him, he’s never had a friend.
He has nothing in common with the boys in his year, he cant throw a basketball of football to save his life, when they push and shove each other it just makes him uncomfortable. His dad doesn’t let him hang around with girls because he says that would make him a queer.
Well he just doesn’t find any girls attractive at the moment, but he can’t be gay.
For fucks sake the word ‘gay’ is banned in his house.
Coy just looks in the mirror, he’s been procrastinating getting ready for a half hour. He can hear the muffled yelling of his dad coming from downstairs, his dad is probably shouting at his mum again for whatever reason. That usually ends in a few tears from his mum and then them pretending nothing happened and masking as this perfect family. He doesn’t think that anyone buys that.
A yell echoes up the stairs “COY”
“Fuck” coy whispers under his breath as he quickly finds whatever clothes are sprawled on his floor from the days before so he isn’t late. In the mood that his dad is so clearly in that would not go down well.
He kneels on his floor and finds an old band tee and some jorts. His mum bought him that outfit because she said that its what the other boys in his year wear. When coy wears it, he looks out of place, he feels uncomfortable in his own skin anyway and this outfit just emphasises it.
He has to go to a garden party that his next door neighbours were throwing. Its about a hundred fucking degrees and all coy wants to do is stay in his clammy room with a half broken fan blasting music and sketching until his pen runs out of ink.
Instead he has to make small talk with strangers for 3 hours. Yay.
He runs downstairs before his dad can think of a reason to tell him off.
As he reaches the bottom of the stairs he pauses and looks at his dad. His dad looks him up and down observing every detail of his being, choosing what aspect of Coy he can criticise next
“You need to gain weight” his dad says looking away and into a mirror to fix his har.
“noted” coy sighs, he doesn’t think that a day will pass where his dad doesn’t decide to make at least 1 unneeded comment to him. However this is one he’s never used before, just another thing to play on Coys mind for as long as he lives. Great.
They all leave out the front door, as they walk out they are hit with the immediate warmth and the smell of BBQ. Coys mum reapplies her makeup where she’s been crying. Smiling into her little pocket mirror as if nothing has ever happened. As she always does.
They walk up to the door of the house next door and Coys dad pounds hard on the front door. So much so that Coys mum has so give him a light nudge. That was probably Coys dad letting his last bit of anger out before he has to act happy for the rest of the day.
The raspy voice of a young girl echoes “coming!”
And just seconds later the door is swung open by a Pilipino girl who is about Coys age and has such a bubbly aura and a huge smile.
“Hi i’m Hanbon, uh Hannah sorry” she awkwardly rambles
“Um of course come in come in, you guys must be from next door, I saw you guys in the back garden yesterday, I can see it through my window, wait not that I was like stalking you or anything, I could just see you, you know what nevermind” she’s fumbling over her words. Starting a new sentence before she’s finished the first one.
“Everyones in the garden” she sighs giving up with whatever point she was trying to make before.
Coys parents give her a small smile and nod as they make their way to the garden. Coy follows closely behind until he feels a tap on his shoulder.
Its Hannah. He freezes, he’s never seemed to be good at talking to people. Especially not people his own age.
His chest tightens as he slowly turns, Hannah was standing closer to him than he had expected her to.
“Hey um sorry about that I can’t function in social situations, your dad seemed pretty scared that I was stalking you guys or something” hanna says giggling. She seems so much more relaxed and less obnoxious than before.
“I wouldn’t worry that is just his resting face, he always looks like that.”, this is the first time this week that someones actually spoke to Coy not to just scream at him. As much as Coy doesn’t speak to people, deep down he wants friends, he wants a huge friend group were everyone just gets each other. He just wants a bunch of friends, is that too much to ask?
“Im Coy.. Coy Piso” he says hoping that him and Hannah might become friends or something.
“Well good day sire Piso” she says in a laughable attempt at a British accent. She curtseys and bows down looking up subtly to check coy hasn’t died in second hand embarrassment for her.
Coys face is scrunched, letting out a small laugh.
He curtseys back at her “good day miss Hannah”
He feels a strong relief when he realises that Hannah isn’t one of those girls that are too cool to be cringe.
After he does that he sees Hannah let out a relieved sigh, thankful that her desperate attempt of an introduction didn’t just scare him away.
“Call me Hanbon” she says as she grabs his arm and drags him towards the garden.
Coy doesn’t even question this.
Hanbon has this magnetic and bubbly energy to her. When most people meet her, the view her as ‘too much’. Its awlays ‘too loud’ or ‘too annoying’. She hates that. Before she had moved, she toned herself down after years of bullying.
People don’t like her personality, but, she had made a promise to herself, that upon moving, she would just be herself, weather she liked it or not.
After all, she knew that if people diddn’t like her, shed have her cousin Anthony. He was a year older than her and they grew up so close and see each other every summer, Hanbon was so happy that she would be able to live near him now.
“Come on Coy you have to meet Anthony” she says as they get close to the backdoor. Her grip on his arm loosens, as she becomes aware of his face scrunched at the tight grip she had before.
“Anthony is my cousin, I mean you might already know him, he doesn’t live too far away”.
Before Coy can search his memory for that name, a tall boy leans in the doorframe, shirt off. Coy freezes. He feels a hitch in his breath all of a sudden. Hanbon keeps talking but coy can’t hear anything.
He turns bright red and Hanbon shakes his shoulders.
“Oh my god you’re totally drooling over my cousin!” She says mouth wide open and a little chuckle as she says it.
“WHAT” coy says almost interrupting her, as much as he’s shouting, there was a tiny hint of doubt in that exclamation aswell.
They both freeze for a second and Hanbon bursts out laughing
“Hannah, sorry, Hanbon, its no like that… I dont… im not” Coy struggles to get the words out his voice cracking and his words just not coming out at all.
“Jesus Coy I don’t care that you like boys, its just hilarious that you like my cousin, I mean look at him” Hanbon says having to compose herself with every word.
Why does everyone assume I like boys?
Coy thinks about boys, yes. He thinks about the things he wants to do with them but is he gay, no he can’t be.
“Hanbon Im not-” he cuts himself off as out of the corner of his eye he sees Anthony walking up to him and Hanbon.
Coy turns slowly to look at him, he’s closer now and Coy can see details of him that wasn’t visible from so far away, his jawline is sharp and he has lightly defined abs. With chipped black nail polish, he holds a red cup with something pink inside and he lifts up his sunglasses, revealing blue eyes that Coy can’t seem to take his eyes off of.
“Hi um i’m Anthony, wait no i’m Coy you’re Anthony, sorry Hannah, Hanbon, gas just been telling me about you”
To say that Coy wanted to die was an understatement. He’s never been this embarrassed before, how could he mess up the simple sentence of ‘Hi i’m Coy’ its three syllables. He should not be getting this flustered and especially not over a boy.