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The loud music thumped around me, filling the spaces between my heartbeats with intense vibrations. It was another cheesy pop hit that was overplayed on the radio. I lifted the plastic cup to my lips, sipping on the cheap beer from a keg in the backyard. All around me people gyrated and swayed to the music, bodies grinding up against one another. Two of the hottest girls in school had sandwiched Grayson, the star quarterback, groping at anything they could get their hands on. He glanced over to me and gave me a thumbs up before slipping his hands under their shirts. I faked a smirk back before I pushed my way through the sea of classmates, out towards the backyard. My cup didn’t need to be refilled, but I didn’t want to be there anymore.
Even with my varsity jacket, I wasn’t in a good enough position on the team to be sought after by the girls, especially those kinds of girls. I sat the bench most games unless someone got injured. To my Dad’s dismay, I wasn’t the little sports star he had so desperately hoped for. I didn’t even really like playing, but I knew I never had the choice to tell my dad no. I still wore scars across my body from his belt when I was younger when I had done something he didn’t like. I figured it was easier to be sub-par on the team than be stuck at home being beaten day in and day out. I showed up to practice, did what I had to, and went to hang out with the guys, avoiding home at all costs.
Kevin would be the valedictorian of the class, there was no doubt in my mind. He had placed into advanced classes since we started high school and his senior year was completely AP classes. Chris, on the other hand, was barely passing, but making more money than anyone I knew selling weed. I was surprised how much cash you could make from high school students and Chris found ways to claim all of it. He was supposed to be at the party being the purveyor of the keg, but I had yet to see him. It was already well past midnight.
As I filled up my cup once more from the keg hose, I stepped away in the cold night air. Spring was definitely on the way, but the nights were still pretty cold. Looking up into the night sky at the stars that shone overhead, I heard someone step up next to me. I could see the familiar black leather jacket out of the corner of my eye.
“Hey Kit,” I said without looking away from the stars.
“Hey Ry,” he replied, taking a drink out of his own cup. “This party is fuckin’ lame.”
“You’re telling me,” I laughed. “If they play this fucking song one more time...”
“If I ever hear it again, it will be too soon,” he chuckled.
“Want to get out of here?”
Looking back at Kit, I noticed how much he’d grown in the past few years, but still retained his naturally lithe form. His blond hair had darkened over the years and grown shaggy. The stubble on his face filled out a lot faster than the rest of us, making him look oddly mature with a baby face. Standing with his shoulders hunched forward as always, he took one last gulp of his beer and tossed the rest into the grass.
“Yeah,” he replied, sighing. “Let’s find Kevin. I’m sure he’s already passed out somewhere. He’s such a lightweight.”
I tossed the rest of my drink onto the grass and followed Kit inside. It took less than a minute to find Kevin, being the only still body in the entire house. No matter which party we were at, we could always count on him to be the first passed out drunk. He’d always find a soft spot and take up as much room as possible. With no small amount of effort, we peeled his tall, gangly form off the couch and drug him out to the driveway, pleading with him to walk. He managed to finally find his footing as we made it to Kit’s car where he promptly fell into the backseat and passed out once again.
“If he barfs on my seats, I’ll kill him,” Kit said, pushing Kevin’s legs into the car and slamming the door shut.
“Just make him clean it up,” I replied, coming around to the passenger side. “For being such a genius, he sure doesn’t know when to stop.”
“Hey!” a voice cried out from behind us.
Turning around, we saw Chris getting out of his own car, just arriving at the party.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I called back.
“You won’t believe it!” he said, throwing his arms up in the air. “Fuckin’ cops are the worst dude!”
Chris walked over and glanced into the backseat of the car.
“I see Kev is a fucking mess as usual,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Going back to your place?”
“Yeah,” Kit replied, pulling his door open. “Meet us there?”
Chris turned, walking back to his car, calling back, “See ya there!”
We only had to stop once on the way to Kit’s house as Kevin suddenly came awake and cried out that he was going to be sick. I hopped out and pulled the back door open quickly. He scrambled out into the tall grass on the side of the road, vomiting as he went. After a few moments he calmed down and slowly crawled back into the car, passing out once more on the seat.
“Remind me to punch him when he’s good and hungover tomorrow,” I muttered, getting back into the car.
“Make it count please,” Kit replied, glancing back at the heap of pathetic human on his backseat.
Chris was already at Kit’s house when we pulled up. As usual, his father’s truck was nowhere to be seen as we walked Kevin into the house, tossing him down on the couch. Kit brought him some water, attempting to get him to drink, but he’d have none of it. Setting the glass down beside him, the three of us made our way up to Kit’s room on the second floor. Kit and I plopped down on the edge of his bed while Chris pulled out the chair from the desk and spun it around, draping his arms across the back as he straddled it. He looked more tired than usual and greasy, like he hadn’t showered in a couple of days.
“So what’s this grand story?” I asked, laying backwards onto the bed, my feet hanging over the edge.
“Dude,” he began, tapping his fingers on the plastic chair, “I got fuckin’ arrested last night.”
“Well that’s not a shock,” I replied, glancing over to Kit.
“No, it’s really not,” Kit agreed.
“Do y’all wanna keep being assholes,” Chris asked, “or do you want to hear the story?”
“By all means, let’s hear it,” I sighed, not sitting up from the bed.
“So yesterday I was making some deliveries right?” Chris started, already gesticulating wildly. “I made all my usual drops, like I do every Friday night. And then, out of nowhere as I’m heading home, this fucking cop comes out of nowhere and throws on his sirens. I wasn’t speeding or anything, so I just pulled over. I had already delivered everything anyway.
“So he gets up to my car, right? Shines that fucking flashlight in my face and he’s all like ‘Do you know why I pulled you over?’ and of course I’m all ‘No of course not officer’. Then he pulls the flashlight away and wouldn’t you know it, it’s Bryan fucking Goff.”
“Oh I know that guy,” Kit chimed in. “Isn’t his wife one of the board members for the town council?”
“Yeah she is,” Chris replied, shaking his head, “and she’s also one of my best customers.”
“So wouldn’t that be a good thing then?” I asked, sitting up on my elbows. “Getting pulled over by the client’s husband?”
“Well...” Chris said, a sly grin spreading across his face. “It would be a good thing if he hadn’t caught me balls deep in her pussy two weeks ago.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“She wanted to pay in trade,” Chris replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Who was I to say no? It would be bad for business. Anyway, so he recognizes me and sure enough he gives me some bullshit about needing to search my vehicle. And of course, he found the hunting knife I keep under my seat just in case some bozo tries to jump me on a drop. He arrested me for ‘possession of a deadly weapon’ and then took me in for the night.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t fucking kill you dude,” I reminded, waving my arm at him in dismissal. “There are some nasty fucking guys with guns in this town and you know that. Hell, my dad is one of them.”
“Well, really, I got super lucky,” Chris smirked mischievously. “He left my car on the side of the road for the night and gave me a ticket on it, thinking he was being clever by getting me twice. If he would have impounded it, they would have definitely found the entire pound of weed hidden under the spare tire in the trunk.”
Chris burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help but join in. I could never figure out how he always managed to get away with so much bullshit. It seemed almost impossible for one person to pull off, but he always did. He’d been doing it since we were kids; getting us lost in the woods, falling off a dirt bike at full speed with no injuries, he’d even dodged shrapnel from a spray paint can he’d decided to light on fire one day. The guy was absolutely nuts and he lived for it.
“So,” Chris chuckled as he settled back in, “Did you two get any pussy at the party?”
“Yeah right,” I sighed. “As if any of those girls want anything to do with the team bench warmer.”
“How about you Johnny-boy? Get lucky?” Chris asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Kit turned his head away and was silent. He rounded his shoulders more than usual, pulling away from us. I sat up next to him, curious as to what had come over him. The look on his face told me something was wrong.
“Couldn’t get it up huh?” Chris joked.
“Dude, shut the fuck up,” I waved a hand at Chris in dismissal. “Kit? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“No,” he said quietly. “Nothing happened.”
“Sorry Johnny. I didn’t mean t-” Chris started.
“I’m gay,” Kit blurted out suddenly.
The room went silent as Chris closed his mouth, leaving his half formed sentence hanging in the air. I looked at Kit, realization spreading across my face slowly. I thought of the quick kiss so long ago on the edge of the river. For a while I had pretended it didn’t happen. When Kit never mentioned it again, I thought it had been some sort of hormone induced dream, but now I knew it wasn’t. Pieces started falling into place, things I’d noticed over the years, but passed off as personality quirks. As I processed what he had said, I realized there was only one thing to say.
“Kit...” I began, putting my hand on his shoulder.
His face remained down turned and his body turned away from me.
“Kit, look at me,” I said gently.
Those big green eyes turned slowly towards me, hiding behind stray blond locks. I could see tears forming at the corners of his eyes. One slid slowly down his cheek as our eyes finally met.
“You’ll always be my best friend, no matter what,” I explained.
“I’m really proud of you dude,” Chris chimed in. “That took a lot of balls.”
“I hope you know you can always be yourself around me,” I said, pulling Kit into a hug.
“You guys,” Kit sniffled, wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeves, “are the best.”
“So, what we really want to know then,” Chris began, tapping his fingers on the edge of the chair, “is did you get any dick at the party?”