Graduation went decently.
Ignoring how his parents actively looked for every other parent to tell them how "he's studying computing—it's computing, right Archie?— at Banting next year" and "Banting is often called both the Harvard of the north and the Oxford of the West. That's how good it is".
They also brought a camera and spent around half an hour making people take family photos of them.
«We just want the perfect photo. We can put it on the mantle, it's so empty right now!» His mother squealed around halfway though.
It sure looked empty, when they took half of the photos off three years before.
«We're really proud of our son, can you blame us?» Stated his father.
One of them.
«Thank you for the help with the photos, Mrs Fernandez, but we have a reservation at a restaurant in not too long, so we should go» Snake reminded his parents.
«What kind of a backwards world is it if the children would rather eat in a restaurant with his parents than stay and fool around with his friends?» Mrs Fernandez remarked half laughing.
«Archie's always like this, sometimes I feel like he must be covering up for something, but no, he's just the perfect child.» His mother bragged.
«We couldn't ask for a better one» his father joined the bragging.
Mrs Fernandez chuckled and put her hand on Lucy's shoulder. «I know what you mean, even though my Lucy might be a bit more of a wild one. But what can you ask at their age?»
«The reservation» he noted again.
«I believe that more than a good son he might just be hungry» his father joked.
«We really have to go, excuse us»
At dinner, they mostly talked about how great and perfect of a son Snake was. It made sense, probably every other family was having the same discussion in their restaurant of choice, independently from how well the graduate actually did. But still, he wished they didn't.
Or at least, he hoped they didn't act like they only had one child, like their love wasn't conditional.
It's not that they said stuff like "our only child", it was more that gradually every bit of Glen was cut out of their house and discussions. They didn't even bring attention to the empty space. Honestly, if he had come home around half an hour later that day, he wasn't sure he would really realize there was something missing from their discussions.
«We didn't embarrass you at the ceremony, did we?» His father asked once they got home from dinner.
«We are parents, that is part of the job» his mother joked.
He wanted to scream, to tell them that actually all the was part of the job was to care for them no matter what, to love them even if they were gay.
Or whatever Snake was. He come to the realisation over the last couple of years that he liked guys. He liked chicks too, like Michelle, his girlfriend at the end of grade eleven. He liked them both, whatever than made him.
Sure made him afraid and mad at his parents. And their tirade about how great of a son he was didn't make him feel better.
He stared at his watch. It was about to beep for its hourly alarm.
«Oh, you've got that party thing, you wanted to attend, right? It starts soon?» His mother asked.
Actually it had already started, not by much, but he definitely wasn't going to be greated by an empty house.
«Yeah, it's just something to say goodbye»
He didn't exactly lie. It just was also a party at Lucy's and, bar for like one in junior high, they had all been extremely deserving of the title of party.
He knocked on the door, and soon enough Lucy came to open.
«Hi! So your parents are fine with the photos?»
«We ran out of film around the hundredth, so they better be good»
Out of nowhere appeared Simon and Alexa. Once she got close enough, she flicked her hand right in front of Snake's face, to show off a diamond adorned ring.
«Isn't it lovely?» She asked, all fluttery.
Simon looked proud. «I chose it myself!»
«We already have the date too! October 19, will you be there?»
Snake made a quick calculation. He remembered Thanksgiving was around the twelfth, so their wedding would be the week later. «I believe that's a Monday»
«What do you mean?» Simon asked perplexed.
Snake sighed. «Never mind, sure I'll come. Have you seen Wheels or Joey?»
«Wheels was outside, I think» Alexa replied.
«Thank you, I'll go find find him. Congratulations for the engagement again» Snake said passing them, trying to get to the garden.
When he got there, Wheels was talking to some classmates, but he excused himself when he saw Snake arriving.
«Hey! He's finally here! Were your parents too proud to let you go?» Wheels exclaimed.
Clearly the bottle of beer he was holding wasn't his first one. Normally, Snake would say something about that, but that night, he didn't have enough mental energy to give Wheels his almost daily "why don't you drink a little bit less" talk. Especially since he had already started with his "pity me, I'm a orphan" routine.
«Wanna play pool? I think there's a billiard upstairs» he tried to distract Wheels.
«Yeah sure» Wheels said, fishing something from his shirt pocket. A polaroid.
He handed it to Snake. A broken car, mainly blue, but with big sections rust coloured, or maybe just covered in rust, stood at the center of the white frame.
«How much do you think I payed for this?» His friend asked.
«They should have payed you for taking it»
«It's not that bad»
«A car is worth its engine, so if that's good… So how much? Hundred bucks?»
«A little higher, and I do need to fix it up a bit»
«You can't be serious»
«What world do you live in? This is a car, it's gonna cost money. 200 dollars»
«Sure, a car, after an incident maybe. They sold it to you pre-crashed!»
«At least I have a car! What do you have?» Wheels said between sips as Snake was positioning the billiard balls of the table.
«I would rather walk all the way to Kingston every day, than attempt to drive that shit. You start»
«Can you not talk about your prestigious college, please?»
«I just mentioned a city»
«Yeah, the one you'll spend the next four years worrying about teaching pieces of metal how to count in!»
Snake surely never heard that description of programming, and he wished to never hear it again, but in that moment it did make him laugh.
«Please start playing and I won't talk about your pieces of metal ever again» he replied throwing the polaroid on the table.
Wheels took it and put it back into his pocket, then started playing.
They mainly talked about Simon and Alexa and their impending marriage. Every now and then Wheels brought up the wonderful Karen, a woman of many talents that lived in Calgary, and Wheels girlfriend, although they had barely talked since Winter break.
Around midnight, Joey arrived.
Wheels bragged again about the wreck he bought, and Snake broke his promise. «He was robbed. It only need to be completely fixed»
«Can you give me a tow?» Wheel asked Joey. His car was not really reliable, but it had four wheels, a battery, an engine and a body. Close enough.
«Yeah sure, tomorrow after work?»
Snake prepared for his shot, pacing around the table. «I would love to help you, but I gotta work late tomorrow. Snake's the name, lifeguard's the game. I got the job»
He didn't need a job financially, actually his dad basically begged him to just spend the summer home, packing and helping with him mom. But he sure needed it to stay sane. It wasn't nice to his dad, top leave him alone, but Snake needed an excuse to be far from home.
Plus a job as lifeguard could potentially lead him to have an actual relationship, or at least some action, before university.
He imagined a possible scenario involving an extremely grateful girl that was terrible at swimming, recounting it to his friends out loud.
Wheels laughed. «Yeah, right»
Okay maybe he fantasised a bit too much, but something was supposed to happen in those two months, right?
«I'm not going to university a virgin» Snake lamented.
«Sure you are» Joey joked.
It's not like Joey ever got some action either. Caitlin was very adamant that her legs were to be closed at all times. Wheels was finding this whole thing hilarious, be it the beer the "sipped" between every shot, or the fact this whole discussion was useless to him: he managed to go all the way with the magical mystical Karen.
«My two virgin buddies, who will be the first one to get laid? Let the games begin»
And just to show off, his shot sent the twelve ball in the hole at the corner.
Joey excused himself, claiming it was time for something, but Snake and Wheels kept playing for a while.
After Wheels won, he dragged his friends downstairs to socialise. Definitely had no connection to the boxes of beer in the garden.
Alexa and Simon stopped them again, the ring as visible as before.
Snake left Wheels with them and joined Lucy, Caitlin and Tim a little further.
«The dinner went on forever» Caitlin complained, half-laughing.
«It was you, Joey, your mom and?» Lucy asked.
«My brother and his wife»
Snake was confused. «Why was your brother's wife at your graduation?»
«She's family too, and I didn't know how to say no»
«Just my parents there was embarrassing enough» Tim joked.
«I couldn't tell my brother not to come to graduation» Caitlin stated.
Lucy laughed. «Snake managed to»
Right.
He managed not to think beforehand how weird it would have been not to see Glen there, somehow. Snake's biggest point of pride was his ability to see what every possible scenario might be, obsess over every little negative thing, and at least try to make sure everything was going great.
But he didn't even think that it was extraordinarily weird that his brother was nowhere to be found on such an important day.
«He's a doctor, he's busy. Plus it wasn't so different from his graduation, so he didn't miss much.»
«He missed my speech» Lucy posed as if someone was talking a photo of her to show off. «And he isn't going to be in the photos»
«It's better that way, the shot composition is easier with only three people» Snake said, a bit more nervous than what he usually was.
The conversation quickly moved away from Glen, and the rest of the night, or early morning by that point, went, great.
Yet Snake couldn't stop thinking about how everyone saw that his brother wasn't at the ceremony. At least neither Wheels nor Joey attended, so no hard conversations with his closest friends were in the agenda.