I Am Not Uptight!

The Zoo part 2

Gary and Dustin arrived just a few minutes before the show was scheduled to start. They found the others easily enough, as Gary had sent them a message about which specific seats he wanted them to save—AKA the best seats in the house.

It was Josh who saw them coming, and he was quick to stand and grab his and Daniel’s coats, which they were using to keep the chairs unofficially reserved. Then, he sat on Daniel’s left, while a beaming Gary sat on his left—looking around the place as if he was so amazed by everything, even though the air smelled like fish and people were being noisy and disgusting. Dustin, on the other hand, sat beside Gary, but not before giving Josh an odd look.

“What’s with the wardrobe change?” he asked, his eyes sweeping Josh from head to toe. It was only then that Gary also noticed his change in outfit, which went from pants to khaki shorts, loafers to white rubber shoes with the zoo logo, and a long-sleeved shirt to a t-shirt with a print of a koala and the words “I koa-love you” at the front.

“A kid spilled a snow cone on me.”

“You look like one of those dads that make corny jokes—like Daniel,” Dustin lightly teased. Daniel, who had been innocently sitting down, looked at him with a frown—unsure how he got dragged into that.

“Don’t mind him, Joshy,” Gary very kindly assured, then he placed his hands on his chest, looked at Josh lovingly, pouted and cooed, “We koa-love you, too.” He had already spread his arms and was about to envelope the poor guy into a hug when Daniel gave him a warning look that made him drop his arms.

“Where was the big guy then? He’s usually all the repellant you need so people won’t bump into you in crowds like this,” Dustin asked, clearly pertaining to Wells. He took a quick scan of their vicinity then sat back on his chair. “Speaking of which, where is he now?”

The other three began to look around as well, only then just realizing the man’s absence.

“I don’t know, actually,” Daniel admitted as he tried to get a view of the entrance. It would have been easy to spot Wells, but there were only families with kids by that area. “He’s supposed to be getting the food, but it’s taking him too long. Josh and I left him by the snack bar before we bought a change of clothes.”

“Tch,” Dustin bitterly clicked his tongue. “He’s probably made a run for it already. Smart guy,” he muttered. He took another quick scan of the area then he pushed himself up to stand as he announced, “On a completely unrelated note, I’m going to go take a whizz.”

“Can you check the snack bar if Wells needs help?” Daniel asked, which earned an eyeroll from Dustin.

“It’s the 21st century. Why don’t you just call the guy?”

“I have to save my phone battery to take a video later,” Daniel whined. “You know it drains easily now.”

“Fine,” Dustin begrudgingly groaned as he began to squeeze past the other people in their seats so he could get to the stairs that led to an exit.

“We appreciate the sacrifice!” he heard Daniel call out sarcastically after him. This made a few heads turn his way and theirs, especially when Gary shouted a last-second reminder to “Make sure he’s got me hotdogs with relish, yeah? With relish! And hurry back because the show’s about to start!” which Daniel furthered with a “We know how much you love dolphins!” just to mess with him.

Of course, Gary was quick to jump on that train and added much louder than before, “We’ll buy you another dolphin stuffed toy later, okay? We know you love to cuddle them when you go to sleep!”

Dustin was already a couple of feet away, but he stopped in his tracks, turned around, and gave a snickering Daniel and Gary both his middle fingers. A few gasps and a bit off giggling were heard, which made Dustin see that he was standing amongst a group of seated grade school kids on their field trip. He guiltily put his hands down at the sight of a bunch of innocent eyes looking at him—not to mention, the disapproving looks from the chaperones. Meanwhile, Josh was covering his mouth in an attempt to fight the urge to smile, while the two men beside him were uncontrollably howling in laughter.