Date Me, Bryson Keller

by Kevin van Whye

After school, I’m sitting in my bedroom at my desk, staring at the blinking cursor. It mocks me and my failure. I’ve been trying to fix this ending for the last hour. I sigh, get up, and throw myself face-first onto my bed. The words are just not coming. They’re being held hostage somewhere in my brain, and I don’t even know where to begin to rescue them. My phone buzzes with a text. I pull it from charge and roll over to read the message. It’s from Kelly. What are you doing? I was trying to write. Write what? he asks. My sample for Henning. I don’t want to miss the new deadline. Maybe you need inspiration, Bryson says. He sends a waving emoji. And a minute later a picture comes through. It’s a selfie of him making a funny face. Hello, my name is Muse. I am at your service, the caption reads. Haha. You must be bored. What are you doing? I am incredibly bored. Crystal’s friends are over, so I don’t have much to do. I sit up. Bryson and I need to talk. I’m currently home alone. If this isn’t a sign, then I don’t know what is. Do you want to come over? For the first time in my life, I invite a boy I like over. I don’t count that time I invited Colby Matthews over under the guise of wanting to show him my superhero action figure collection. Colby Matthews had been really into superheroes, and so I, too, had shown an interest in them. That visit was an awkward disaster and I refuse to have history repeat itself. This time I will not suggest we play any sort of game that may res...