The Announcement

By Ada Stone

About The Announcement
It’s 2007, and Allen and Zach have just gotten married in an intimate ceremony in front of their families and four closest friends. After returning from their honeymoon with a plethora of great photos, the couple gets to work sending out wedding announcements to everyone. Because of Allen’s extroversion and Zach’s careful maintenance of the address book, they have a long list of contacts that winds deep into the past. As friends and acquaintances receive the announcements, they think back on their relationships with either Allen or Zach. A significant number find themselves recalling erotic encounters with one half of the now-married pair, which complicates their feelings about the news.
About Bryant Street Shorts
Bryant Street Shorts is a new publisher specializing in exciting short-form fiction from talented and emerging writers. We’re passionate about creating immersive works that represent our readers and celebrate what matters to them, which is why our catalog of stories reflects a wide range of experiences and voices.
Many Bryant Street Shorts are collections of stories that follow ensembles of characters across multiple storylines. We suggest reading these stories in order to get the most out of your experience. Simply scroll down to “Titles In This Series,” located just below the description of every Bryant Street Short, to find the stories in their correct order.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: May 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781094410524

Ada Stone

Ada Stone is a queer and trans book-obsessed human from the Pacific Northwest, where they live now. They love spending quiet time among trees and mountains, listening to their favorite albums on repeat, and receiving “your holds are ready for pickup” alerts from the library.

Book preview

Part One: When We Were Roommates

How about this person, Louis Watson? Zach asks. Who are they? And do they get an announcement?

Oh, Louis, Louis. I wonder what they’re up to, Allen replies, his eyes closing in a moment of recollection. Definitely send them one.

Zach raises an eyebrow. Is this friendship what it sounds like?

I’m not ashamed, Allen replies and winks. You know I’ve been a slut since my teens. And you still married me!

Just honored to be your current first choice. Zach smiles, leaning their head into Allen’s shoulder, then twisting to kiss his neck.

Careful, or you’ll awaken the beast, Allen warns. We need to get these announcements out before the wedding is old news!

Hmmm, Zach hums. I wasn’t thinking about that, but now that you mention it… I think we can make time for something quick…

Allen looks at the clock. Well, I guess we have been working on these announcements for an hour now.

He spots the small pile of sealed envelopes on the floor, but it’s already too late to halt his excitement. Allen rotates his body to face Zach and takes his partner’s chin in his hand.

That’s what I thought, Zach says with a grin, just before planting their lips on Allen’s.

Section Break

Louis ducks under the cover of their front porch and unzips their drenched raincoat so they can pull their head out from the constricting hood. In the flickering glow of the porchlight, Louis notices the mailbox is nearly overflowing. They’d forgotten to empty it yesterday, and their housemates have never shown any interest in completing this small chore. Grabbing the stack of paper in one hand, Louis unlocks the door with the other and steps inside.

The house is dark but warm — too warm. Someone must have left the heat on high. They feel their way through the living room and push the heater’s dial into the off position. Louis is almost glad that their second date with Marsha hadn’t gone well enough to invite her over. They squirm at the thought of the heat of another’s body pressing more heat into their skin. Well, they could have opened a window… but regardless, Marsha isn’t here.

After a fun first date of conversation over coffee, Louis had been hopeful about their connection with Marsha. But on their second date this evening playing mini golf, she’d been weirdly competitive when Louis just wanted to chill and have fun. They’d still followed through with their plans to see a movie afterward, but even as they’d held hands during the show, Louis sensed an energetic wall between their bodies. Now, Louis isn’t sure if they want to see her again.

Before heading upstairs to get ready for bed, Louis’s curiosity gets the best of them, and they begin sorting through the stack of mail. Once in a while, there’s something of interest among the bills and spam. As it turns out, tonight is one of those occasions. Louis’s name is written in an unfamiliar scrawl across the center of a light blue envelope. The paper is thick and fibrous, indicating a message of some importance. They check the return address, feeling the hairs along their spine prickle as they read the name: Allen Olszewski. Their first thought is to wonder how Allen still has their address. But then, they remember the holiday card they’d sent on a whim a few years ago.

Setting the rest of the mail on the counter, Louis walks up the stairs, tapping the envelope against their open hand and considering whether they have the emotional energy to deal with what might be inside. Louis rests the mysterious item on the bathroom counter, eyeing it while brushing their teeth. As they use a towel to blot water off their freshly washed face, they release a long sigh, admitting that they won’t be able to fall asleep without revealing what’s inside.

After walking down the hall to the bedroom, Louis switches on the light and closes the door. Slumping into a desk chair, they slide a fingernail under the envelope’s flap. The fancy paper rips open, and a brown piece of cardstock covered with text and a photo falls out. Although they haven’t seen each other for almost a decade, it’s still easy to recognize Allen, their first college roommate, in the photo. In the foreground of a red-orange desertscape, Allen wears a goofy smile across his sun-reddened face, and his arm is wrapped around what looks to be his romantic partner. Sure enough, the large text at the top of the card announces Allen’s wedding to this partner, Zach.

Louis realizes they’ve been holding their breath, and they exhale some of the built-up tension. Setting the announcement aside, Louis tries to pinpoint what they’re feeling, but the emotions are too jumbled to name. This news will almost certainly get in the way of their sleep, much more than if they’d let the envelope remain a mystery. They flop over onto the bed and hope for the best… just as memories start to bubble up in their brain.

Section Break

Louis is sitting on their dorm bed, pressing circles of tape onto the back of a Sleater-Kinney poster, when they hear the doorknob turning. A short white kid in a ball cap tramples in, a large suitcase trailing behind. The new arrival raises their eyes to meet Louis’s stare.

Oh, I didn’t think you’d already be here, the guy says in a high-pitched voice.

Moved in yesterday. I’m Louis, by the way, they say, setting down the tape and walking across the confined space to extend their hand.

"Louis?