The Election Day Stranger

All characters are consenting adults (18+) 

“What’s one vote gonna’ do?” Tyler asked his mom, who was hurrying around the house as he waited at the door. “There’s like a billion people voting”.

“Exactly” she said, finding whatever it was that she was looking for. “Why should they all have a voice and not you? Now come on, I want to try to avoid the crowds”.

Tyler rolled his eyes as he followed his mom out to the car. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was spend hours in line, for something that wasn’t even a concert. Alas, he was eighteen now, and his parents had spent weeks trying to convince him how important his vote was, so he sat in the car, buckled up, and arrived to the polling station shortly after.

“Avoiding the crowds, huh?” He growled, as his eyes scanned the huge line of people. “Mom, can’t you just vote for me?” He groaned, but his mom was already standing outside.

He hated crowds almost as much as he hated waiting in line. There must have been thousands of people, all ahead of them, and as he dragged himself out and gawped at them, he cursed to himself.

“How long do you think it will take?” He asked, and realised that he sounded like a spoiled child on a long car ride.

“Oh, not long” his mom lied.

“Not long? Mom, there’s a million people ahead of us”.

“Stop being so dramatic, Tyler” she quipped, and turned to the person behind her, who was most certainly not of the same voting preference as she was.

“Lovely day for it, right?” She smiled, and the overweight man grunted at her and wiped his wet nose on the back of his beefy arm. “See?” She whispered to Tyler as she turned back around, “your vote already cancels out his”.

Tyler didn’t care about politics. In fact, Tyler didn’t care about anything, really. What did it matter to him, who the president was? He was young, relatively carefree, and he couldn’t think of a single thing in his life that would change depending on who won the election.

“Isn’t that the girl you used to like?” His mom said, pointing blatantly at a group of four young women who stood in line ahead of them. “See, all of your friends are voting. Becka! Becka!”

“Mom, can you stop!” Tyler spat, as his cheeks burned red, and the girl he used to have a crush on looked over and smiled awkwardly.

“What ever happened with her?” His mom asked, “you two would make such a great couple”.

“Jesus, mom” he growled, and wanted to sink into the ground.

He stepped forward as the line moved, and thought back to his time with Becka. Perhaps it would have gone further, had he not realised something quite shocking about himself. He pushed it from his mind and continued staring into the crowd, desperately trying to find something to keep him occupied.

“You dropped this” a deep, smooth voice said, and he turned his head to find the most beautiful person that he’d ever laid eyes on, standing on the opposite side of the barrier.

Tyler’s mouth fell open as he gazed at the young man. He must have been at least six foot four, with arms as thick as thighs, and a mop of dark hair. His skin was like silk, golden and flawless, and his bright, white teeth almost glistened as he smiled.

“I think you’ll need it” he pressed, and handed Tyler back his ID.

“Oh, Tyler” his mom said, fussing. “You need to stop being so careless with things like that!”.

The man chuckled to himself as the line moved, and Tyler continued to gawp at him as the space between them lengthened.

His entire body tingled. It almost felt as exciting as meeting somebody famous, except the young man who he’d just encountered wasn’t famous at all, he was just perfect.

In the hour that followed, Tyler did everything he could to strain his head and catch another glimpse of the mysterious hunk. He’d lived in the same small town all his life, and never once had he seen the man around.

“Does everybody from this town have to vote in this town?” He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“Yes, of course” his mom said, “people can check their voter registration to find out exactly where they can vote”.

Tyler didn’t need a lesson. He just needed to know if the handsome young man who he’d just encountered, lived near him. He could just about make out the back of his shoulder, and desperately tried to move closer.

“Tyler, can you stand still, for God’s sake. I know you don’t want to be here, but it won’t be much longer”.

He ignored her. As the line zig-zagged once more, Tyler realised that the man would be doubling back, and he’d have one more chance at speaking to him. When that finally happened, his words almost stuck to the roof of his mouth.

“Thanks” he managed to say, and the perfect stranger glanced at him with stunning green eyes, and smiled again.

“Don’t mention it” he replied, “you wouldn’t want to spend all this time in line, only for your vote to not count, right?”

“Right” Tyler half laughed. He didn’t care about his vote. He only cared about the person he was staring at.

“Tyler” he said, and the man grinned again.

“I know” he replied, “it was on your ID”.

“Right”.

“You must be one of Tyler’s friends” his mom said, and he closed his eyes, mortified, as his mom reached over and shook the man’s hand. “I’m Linda, Tyler’s mom”.

“Well, hello, Linda, Tyler’s mom” he chuckled. “I’m Cooper”.

Cooper. Even his name was hot. Tyler watched as the line moved again, and felt something he could only assume was similar to heartbreak.

“Are you from around here?” He quacked, a little louder than he expected.

Cooper smiled again and nodded. “I just moved here a few months ago” he called, as he got further away. “You?”

“I just lived here… I mean, I live here. I’ve always lived here”.

“Move it, dickwad!’ The large man behind him snarled, and Tyler scowled as he returned to his mom.

“He seems nice” she said, completely oblivious to the fact that her son had just fallen in love with a stranger. “Oh, Sally!” She called, and for another hour, she and her old friend Sally got lost in conversation.

He couldn’t take his mind off Cooper. How had somebody so unbelievably hot been living so close to him without him even knowing? He continued to try to catch glimpses of the man, and watched as he finally disappeared into the building, before sighing to himself. Would he ever even see Cooper again?

“We’re up!” His mom said, as they eventually got to the door. Tyler had been keeping his eye out for one more sight of the man, but it wasn’t to be. Perhaps he’d been lost in the crowd.

“Who do I even vote for?” He asked, watching as people scurried over to the private voting booths.

“That’s your decision, sweetie” she said.

“Will you fucking move, kid?!” The beastly man behind him snarled, and shoved his way by.

“Preferably, whoever he’s not” his mom spat, and Tyler walked over to the booth, cast his vote, and stood outside a short while later.

“Sally and I are going for a coffee” his mom said, when she was finished, “can you take the car home for me, honey?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure” he nodded, taking the keys, “see you later”.

He continued to scan the area as he slowly walked back toward the parking lot. The crowd was even larger now, so perhaps his mom was right to suggest that they go early, but that wasn’t what concerned him, anymore.

How could he live the rest of his life knowing that he would probably never see Cooper again? How was it fair that he had been given just a quick glimpse of somebody so fucking hot, only to have the man disappear?! He stood next to the car, trying to unlock it, and then he heard the voice.

“All set?”

Tyler spun around to find Cooper standing in front of him with that perfect smile on his face. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” He said, looking back at the building, “to have your voice heard. I always find it crazy that people like me and you decide who the most powerful person in the world is. Makes me feel pretty powerful, too, I guess”.

Tyler’s throat felt like it was closing up as Cooper spoke so passionately. He nodded stiffly before coughing.

“Yeah” he said, “yeah, I love voting. Democracy, huh?”

Cooper’s smile widened. “Exactly” he said, “so, you’ve lived here all your life? That must have been fun”.

Beautiful and funny. Cooper really was something.

“That’s one word you could use” Tyler chuckled.

“I know this is pretty forward” Cooper said, “but any chance you could give me a ride into town? My legs are killing me from standing in line”.

Tyler’s heart soared in his chest. He nodded instantly, and fumbled with the old keys until the locks popped.

“Sure” he said, his hand shaking slightly, “hop in”.

For the first few minutes, Tyler struggled to remember how to drive. How was he supposed to concentrate when somebody so hot was sitting next to him, but the more Cooper spoke, the more relaxed he became.

“This time tomorrow, the world will be a better place” Cooper said, as Tyler pulled into an empty parking lot in the town.

“Hopefully” he replied, though he wasn’t exactly sure what they were talking about.

“When people come together, it makes a difference” he said, and clipped off his seatbelt before turning to Tyler. “Thanks for the ride”.

“D… Don’t mention it” he replied, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“You know, I don’t really know my way around this place yet. Maybe you could give me a tour some time”.

Tyler’s heart almost exploded in his chest.

“A… A tour? I mean, yeah… Yeah, of course. I know places… I mean, I know the town. I… I’ve lived here–”

“Forever” Cooper grinned, and placed his hand on Tyler’s thigh. “You mentioned”.

All of the nervousness melted away from him as he sat there, staring at Cooper’s hand on his leg. His touch felt electric.

“I better go” the handsome young man said, and leaned over before pressing his lips to Tyler’s. “Imagine a world where I couldn’t do that?” He whispered, and left his minty taste on Tyler’s mouth, as he stepped out of the car.

Everything in Tyler’s body exploded with excitement as he frantically rolled down his window.

“How will I find you again?!” He called, as Cooper strolled away.

“Your ID” he shouted back, “I stuck my number to the back of it”.

Tyler pulled the card from his back pocket and flipped it around, and sure enough, the sticky note with Cooper’s phone number was stuck to the back.

“Holy shit” he grinned, and read the words above.

You never know what could happen when you vote.