Redefining Normal By Owen Wright
Hi guys, this is the fourth chapter in what I hope will be a very long series following the journey of Kasey, the narrator, as he learns to redefine the concepts that construct his world.
The disclaimer: There will be sex in this series, and although it will most likely be sparse, those 18 and younger, as well as those who shouldn't be reading this for whatever reason, please stay away for your own good. The characters are purely fictional, any relation to actual people/stories is absolute bull shit. I'm serious.
Author's note:
Please, enjoy the series, and if you want to contact me, please do so at superwrighter13@gmail.com. I'd love to hear your comments, and although I'd rather not hear any harsh criticisms, I'd be more than happy to accept constructive ones. I apologize for the sporadic postings but I look forward to your emails so even if you haven't read a chapter in a while I hope you can get back into the flow of things and let me know what you think. Thanks guys!
Chapter 4: Mikey Makes a Friend
The week passed quickly enough, and before I knew it I was back in Biology class on Friday, still two rows and three seats away from Orion Jensen. Since I made the plans with Zeo on Monday to talk to him, I still hadn't gotten up the courage to invite him over that night. I was never really the type to approach people, and I wasn't the best at making new friends. It was Zeo that talked to me first in the third grade when I had no friends, and Ross that befriended us both when we played soccer together. I knew I would have to be the one to reach out first, seeing as Orion was the new kid, I just wasn't exactly sure it fit my personality description.
Suddenly everyone around me was getting out of their seats, but the bell hadn't rung yet, so once again I regretted not paying a bit more attention in class. I had no idea what was going on. Big surprise.
"So, I guess we're going to be partners for this project?" Orion was standing to my right, smiling that half-grin of his, backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Project?" I don't know if I was confused more by what he was saying, or the fact that I had spent the last half an hour trying to get up the courage to talk to him, and here he was, talking to me. Weird.
"You really don't pay attention in class, do you?" He chuckled as he took the seat next to me, studying me closely with his sapphire eyes, disappearing behind long, delicate lashes.
"Sorry. I usually just ask Mikey when I need help studying for the tests and homework. Class is usually just too boring for me."
"Mikey? Oh, that's the little kid you guys hang out with, the really smart one, right?"
"Yeah. He doesn't play on the same club team as us, but he's always around anyway," this talking thing was going much easier than I thought it would, "so what's this project supposed to be about?"
"Ms. Martin, you know, our teacher?" his sarcasm wasn't exactly subtle, "she assigned us a presentation on the animal phylum Cnidaria."
"Right. Presentation. Got it."
"It's due next week Friday so we've got the weekend to work on it. Did you want to get together sometime and get it done?"
"Actually, I was going to invite you over to the house on Friday night after soccer practice. If you wanted you could stay the night and we could work on it Saturday. If that's cool with you."
"Stay the night?" his eyebrows raised a bit, feigning surprise, "well you're being awfully forward in your advances, Mr. Sanders."
"What? UhÑI meant like with everyone else, like not in that wayÉnot that that's a bad thing or anything I justÑ "
"Relax," he chuckled, "I was just kidding. So the whole team is going to be there?"
"Well, you know, our friends, we just thought it would be cool to invite you."
"Sounds like fun, I'll have to ask my mom but I think she'll be okay with it."
We spent the rest of the class planning the actual project, and it turns out that Orion Jensen is one smart guy. Like not Mikey smart, but like clever enough to get by smart. I surely didn't mind being his partner. Well maybe it wasn't just his intellect, there was a certain pull I felt when I talked to him, like I needed to lean in closer or something. I don't know what it was about him that made me feel all weird, but at least I was at ease in conversationÉthe awkward silences in between, where he looked down and let those long eyelashes just fall over his sapphire eyes, those were a different story altogether.
"Hey Dad," I hopped out of the passenger seat of Mom's van, soccer bag in hand. The rest of the boys piled out of the sliding door as they called out similar greetings, and out last from the van was the blonde Orion Jensen. He had gotten permission from his mom to sleepover so he caught a ride with us after practice.
"Hey boys," Dad looked up from the grill, which he manned with a sweating brow and spatula, "how was practice?"
"Not too bad, we had to run for a little while though; coach got irritated at a certain someone," I laughed as I looked over pointedly at Zeo, who was currently strangling James.
"Huh?" he looked up, genuinely confused, and James took advantage of his pause and quickly reversed the stranglehold, much to our amusement.
"So what's on the grill, Iron Chef?" Ross chatted casually as he sauntered over.
"We're having burgers tonight, Mom didn't feel like cooking and I haven't broken out old Heidi in a while."
Heidi was the name of our grill, christened by my father, although no one else really understood this reference. Ross knew Heidi well, so he didn't need to ask, but Orion shot me a very confused look, making me laugh a bit; his eyes were so big when he glanced up, like a lost puppy or something, but manlier. A little manlier.
"Smells good, chief," Ross patted my Dad's shoulder and headed indoors as the rest of us followed suit.
"Where's Keith?" I asked casually, unwrapping a slice of cheese for one of the patties.
"Said he was going to hang out with some of his friends tonight. From football I think."
"Cool, I think he told me about that but I forgot. I'm gonna shower and I'll be right out," I called out as I turned to head inside.
Orion lingered in the yard for a few seconds, allowing the other boys to file in so that he could wait for me. I assumed he felt a bit awkward, here for the first time, and not really knowing anyone outside of practice so I hoped things would change over dinner. I smiled and accompanied him through our double oak doors through to the living room, where we all stashed our bags. We only had three bathrooms, and one of them was strictly for my parents' usage so Zeo headed upstairs to the bathroom I shared with Keith and Ross hit the shower down on the first floor.
Mikey, James, and Orion sat with me in the living room as we waited for our chance to shower. We soon fell into the normal routine of pulling out all of the sleeping materials we used at night. James took Mikey over to the linen closet while I headed to the closet next to the pool to grab the lantern and games we kept there, giving me a much needed chance to be alone with Orion to make sure he was doing alright.
"You alright?" I asked him as we made our way through the sliding door, "I know we're kind of tight-knit so I don't want you to feel like you're excluded or anything."
"It's not too bad," Orion's eyes reflected the rippling blue of the pool water, "I've had to make friends a bunch of times so I think I'll be okay."
"Good."
Awkward silence. The closet door echoed loudly throughout the pool area, blaring against the quiet. Orion broke it.
"Hey Kasey?"
"Yeah?" I looked over hopefully, linking my green eyes to his.
"Thanks for inviting me over."
"No problem, man. And now that you're here once, you better be here every Friday from now on."
"I'm pretty sure you can count on that," he grinned, pleased, and embraced me in a side- arm hug. My heart was beating faster than a rabbit, so I hoped he didn't notice. I definitely had some figuring out to do.
Everyone finished showering eventually, although Zeo teased me playfully about taking a bit long (nothing happened, I swear) but I shut him up by retorting that I wasn't the one who held up the bathroom the time we came back from spotting those hot chicks at the beach this past summer. This set off everyone into fits of laughter and prompted a noogie to my head, but at least no further comments were made.
We headed outside for dinner as the sun began to disappear beyond the mountains ahead of us. The boys grabbed spots at the picnic table on the lawn while I checked on Dad and his burgers to make sure nothing crazy happened to them. He was usually a good cook but sometimes he tried to apply his chemistry to it, which usually resulted in Mom having to bake her cake all over again because the ingredient he added had adverse effects. The burgers were fine, though, and crept their way up into my nostrils as I helped Dad carry them over to the table. Mom called Zeo and Ross to help bring out the condiments, utensils, and chips.
When we finally started eating, everyone began questioning Orion, which was to be expected with a group of people who saw each other every week with sometimes very little new information to be shared. He was the hot topic of the night, and Mom and Dad started first, which wasn't a surprise because they typically sat and ate with us on Fridays to see how we were doing; they were normally the ones to start the conversations.
"So, Orion," Mom looked over from where she was sitting, "why haven't we seen you around before?" she popped a chip into her mouth as she waited expectantly.
"Well, I just started playing for the club team so I'm kind of new. I didn't play for the school team this year either."
"But he's good," Zeo added as he bit hungrily into his burger.
"Yeah, he is," I turned to face the boy next to me, who was currently making a happy face on his burger with ketchup, "so why didn't you play before?"
He finished his work, looking pleased, and said "well, I'm kind of really into musical theatre. It's my life. But there aren't any really big shows that I wanted to try out for this season so I decided to spend some time getting back into soccer because I haven't had time for it this past year."
"Musical theatre? Like singing and dancing and stuff?" Ross looked a bit wide-eyed, but I knew he wasn't the type to get too judgmental so I think he was just surprised.
"Yup, I mean, it's not that simple but that's pretty much what we do."
"Cool," Mikey grinned with admiration, "so you can sing?"
"Kind of, but there's more to me than just musical theatre, which is part of why I'm taking a break."
"Sensible," Dad smiled warmly as he fixed himself another hamburger, "so do you boys have any tournaments coming up soon?"
"Not since that one a couple weeks ago," Zeo replied, "but I'm not too eager to go back there again. That ref sucked."
This, of course, inevitably launched a fiery conversation about the refs in this state, which carried on for the rest of dinner, and luckily allowed Orion to step out of the spotlight, although from what he just shared, I'm not so sure he had much of a problem being in it. When dinner was over, Mom and Dad retired to the living room but the rest of us headed to the fire pit to roast marshmallows for dessert.
Our fire pit was off to the side of our yard, a spot intentionally left with no trees so that there would be no chance of burning the house down. There were a few logs around the pit of sand, which was dug out by Dad a while back. James attended to starting the fire with the wood we always kept under the large oak to avoid wetness. He was a bit of a pyro, which was understandable given his background, and in times of stress he played with his lighter, although he swore never to smoke, because he knew firsthand the type of damage drugs could do to a family.
Orion sat rather close to me, so that our knees were almost touching, on one of the logs and James and Ross were directly opposite me; Mikey joined them shortly. Z plopped himself next to me, his height still noticeable when sitting down. I tore open the bag of marshmallows as Orion separated some chopsticks for us to skewer them with.
Soon enough the fire was at an acceptable height, flames licking up the sides of the already blackened logs. A few sparks rose above eye level, quickly fading into the night, which was already turning a deep, mysterious shade of blue.
I don't remember what we talked about, but as far as I'm concerned, I don't think what we talked about was that important. What was important was that we were together, soaking up the best moments of our youth, and now, we had someone else to share them with. Orion was great in the conversation, chiming in with thoughtful opinions at times and funny jokes at others. He was certainly quick-witted, for every time a playful insult was thrown his wayÑusually by Ross or Zeo, I might addÑhe tossed it back harder. He even seemed to have won over James's approval, for he was talking to him directly at times, which he hardly did but for people he knew really well. I couldn't have been happier, sitting there, under a blanket of stars, some hidden by airy clouds with my best friends in the world and someone who I was sure would become just as important to me in the near future. It was one of those beautiful nights that you remember long into your adulthood not because anything particularly spectacular happened, but because the feeling when life was perfect stuck with you through the years.
We eventually ran out of marshmallows, which along with the sudden drop in the temperature, prompted us to take the rest of the conversation inside for the night. Joni was supposed to be coming over soon to hang out with Ross and the rest of us until later on in the night, and we had a few video game rivalries that still needed to be settled. So although it was hard to leave that feeling of pure contentment, we killed the flame and slowly trudged inside over the early spring grass.
"Hey Kasey?" Mikey called out. He was still seated near the fire, poking around at the ashes with a long branch. His face was hidden in the darkness, the moon wasn't quite full so I couldn't make out his expression, but I hadn't even noticed he was still sitting there.
"What's up Mikey?" he didn't look like he was going to get up any time soon so I motioned to Zeo to head inside without me. He understood immediately; for some reason he and I never really have a need to talk, we can communicate with our eyes. He slipped between the large oak doors, carved intricately by my grandfather as I headed back out to where Mikey was sitting.
"Is it okay if we talk for a little while before we go back inside?" He asked, sounding so vulnerable it almost broke me right then and there. I guess something was bothering him the whole night and I didn't really notice; then again, Mikey always tended to fall between the cracks because he fit in so well and at times we forgot how truly different he was.
"Of course, buddy," I had to say yes, of course, since I was usually the one in the group that dealt with emotional issues the most, "what's bothering you?"
"It's going to sound really stupid, but it's a been bugging me for a while now. I just had to tell someone and I know I can always come to you with stuff like this." I thought back to last year, when Mikey had come to me crying because he didn't think he was ready for high school; he was a year younger than us after all, and not as developed, although his maturity and intellect often led us to forget that.
"Of course, little man," I said soothingly, using our nickname for him, "remember last year?"
He nodded solemnly, still running his stick through the powdery gray ashes, which were started to swirl in little eddies with the cool breeze.
"It all worked out, didn't it? We were there for you and you made it into high school without any major breakdowns. Except for that first paper for English," I broke into a smile as I recalled the memory.
A small chuckle escaped his lips as well, "hey, I was really worried about my grade on that!"
"Mikey, the paper was about what we did over the summer, it wasn't a thesis on the works of Gerard Manley Hopkins."
He was our favorite poet; Joni, Mikey, and I spent hours sometimes going over his work.
"See that I wouldn't have been worried about," he laughed a little and finally caught my eyes, holding my deep greens in his glasses-covered hazels.
"But you aced it anyway, remember? So what's up this time, Mikey?"
"Well the big thing is just thatÉI feel left out a lot," he started on a roll, finally dropping the stick and telling it to me straight, "everyone has a best friend. You have Zeo, and Ross and James have each other and I always feel like the odd man out. I know you guys are always there for me, but it would be nice to have someone to hang out with, to care about me when I'm not in a crisis, too. Ross has always been like my older brother, but now he has Joni, so he doesn't have time for me like he used to. Look Kasey, I'm not trying to be a baby about this and I 'm not whining for attention, I just needed to tell someone about how I'm feeling, I don't know what to do. I mean, I'm so happy for Ross that he has Joni because she's great and she likes me too, it's just that I need someone, too."
"Like a girlfriend?"
He laughed his little laugh, "that would be nice, too. But I'm talking about a best friend. I'm not asking you to be him, I'm just saying that it would be really great to have someone like that. Everybody ought to, right?'
"But you have us, Mikey. You know that."
"I do, and I'm grateful. You guys have all been awesome. I'm talking about having a partner in crime, though. Someone who gets me, that one person I go to for everything, who wants to hear about everything that I have to say. Someone who might think I'm being stupid, and is willing to tell me. A best friend."
I thought about that for a little bit. I don't know what I'd do without Zeo. I loved everyone in our group, but he was always my right hand man, my best friend. We were always together, comrades, getting into trouble together and taking the punishments as well. When I realized that I couldn't live without Zeo, I realized the dilemma Mikey was facing, and all of a sudden I felt his pain and I racked my brains trying to think of some way to help as I told him all of this.
"I just don't know what to do," he said as he nodded, taking in what I shared.
"I think I can help," a small voice ventured from outside my front gate. Joni was standing there somberly, clutching her purse to her breast, looking positively sorry.
"Joni?" Mikey ventured, a little surprised but not angry. He didn't seem to be upset that she was listening in on our conversation, probably figuring she was going to hear it soon from someone anyway.
"Mikey, why didn't you say anything?" she asked as I let her through the gate, "I feel terrible; I never meant to steal Ross away from you! Oh, little man, I'm so sorry."
She rushed over and embraced him from the side, sitting close on the log.
"It's okay, Joni. It's not your fault; I just meant that I really need to find a best friend so I can feelÉright."
I for one was a little surprised at Joni's sneak attack, but Mikey wasn't bothered by it at all, in fact he seemed still completely engrossed in his problem at hand. She just came out of nowhere! Like she popped up out of the ground or something; with her purse. It was just a little weird but she told me later her brother dropped her off but we were so busy talking we didn't notice so she waited and heard nearly everything. Sneaky.
"And about you saying you feel left out," Joni continued, "you're never going to feel like that again. I was just so focused with myself that I guess I didn't realize we were leaving you out. I'll tell Ross, too. You don't have to worry any more."
"That's all really sweet Joni, but I think it would be better if you didn't tell Ross," Mikey's voice was small again, and he was giving a slight smile. His voice just changed so it was right at that point where it was a really high tenor. It kind of just contributed to his vulnerability.
"I just don't want him to get all worried," Mikey continued, "he'll get all overprotective and that will take attention away from you, and I don't want to do that. If you change, he'll follow." He was so smart sometimes, it's no wonder that despite his youth, we still thought of him as one of us.
"Okay," Joni smiled sincerely, "now come on, we've got to go inside and hang out with our buddies!"
"Don't you mean Ross?" I joked, saying something to Joni for the first time that night.
"You think I come all the way over here for him?" she laughed, "I only come here to hang out with my favorite boys in the world; he's just a perk." Joni winked at me as she put her arm around Mikey's shoulders and we headed into the house.
Z shot me a look when we joined everyone else in my room, as worried as I was about Mikey. I said, with my eyes, of course, that he was okay and I'd tell him about it later. He seemed satisfied and turned back to watch James sneak up behind Ross and stab him, running off at top speed while Ross collapsed to the ground, defeated. He respawned, of course; they were playing Halo 3 on my XBOX 360.
Joni kissed Ross hello, inadvertently blocking James's view of the screen, large as it was. Ross shot James and high-fived Joni for her accidental contribution to their team as the rest of us laughed.
"Who's this?" she asked playfully of Orion, who was on my bed, watching the game happily.
"This is our new buddy Orion," her boyfriend answered, "he's a bad ass soccer player. Just joined our club so we invited him over to hang. Orion, this is my girlfriend, Joni."
Orion and Joni waved to each other in greeting.
"And I'm guessing by 'we' you mean Kasey invited him?"
"That's what I said, right?" he shot back playfully.
Mikey didn't follow Joni to sit by Ross; there wasn't much room left as he was sitting next to James and Joni took up the rest of the space. It wouldn't have stuck out that much to me but was just had that conversation so I was a little worried. Mikey seemed okay, though, content with Joni's promise, and opted to sit next to Orion with his back to the headboard instead.
Something pulled at my gut when I saw that, but I quickly tossed it aside. I couldn't be jealous that Mikey was sitting next to Orion; I was justÉI don't know. I didn't want to think about it. Zeo was in the usual chair (the gaming one he bought for me) so I went over to where he was and leaned against his legs, which were starting to grow a light dusting of blonde hairs. We were strangely comfortable with each other, as Joni once noted, but I just thought it was normal; but I understood Mikey's problem with not having someone like that to be easy with. I loved being able to just do stuff like that with Zeo and not have him care. I still found myself glancing over at Orion and Mikey periodically, but I told myself it was because I was still concerned for Mikey and not at all because of Orion.
As it turns out, Mikey knew a lot more about Broadway than I ever imagined, he hit it off with Orion quickly, and they launched into a conversation about Aida playing at a local theater and how much they both wanted to see it. I missed parts of the conversation over Ross and James's gunfire but from the gist of it, they were becoming fast friends, and as much as I was concerned for Mikey, I couldn't help but feel oddly proud of their fast friendship.
My feelings were quickly stashed as we all decided to head into the now empty kitchen for dessert. I led the way down, my seat being closest to the door, looking forward to raiding the freezer and sparking a conversation with the entire group to distract me for a little while. Mom and Dad were already in their bedroom; they were probably reading or something as it was already near 11 'o clock.
"Where's your broski?' Zeo asked casually. He seemed to take a liking to Keith, even though he had come out to him only a few nights ago. It was already weird not having him home for dinner, even though he'd only been around for a week or so.
"I don't know," I replied, "he said something about going out to dinner with some of his friends from football."
"Weird," he looked back to make sure that the others were following without being in earshot, "I didn't think football players would be okay withÉyou knowÉhis thing."
"Me neither, but I don't think he's told them yet. He probably wants to wait for them to realize that he's just like them in every other way before he says anything."
"Makes sense, I wouldn't want to be the new kid and be gay. That would be tough to deal with."
I nodded, trying to remember if Zeo ever said anything about how he felt about gays, or bisexuals for that matter, but I came up short. He never really expressed his stance on the subject, which made me feel a bit wary about what Keith and I talked about coming out to him if I was bi. Problem was I didn't know, and I think that moreover, I didn't want to be, but nonetheless I still had no idea what Zeo's reaction would be.
"Score," I celebrated as I peeled the freezer door open, "Mom and Dad restocked the ice cream sandwiches!"
I made sure everyone else had one before I took a seat next to everyone on the couch.
"So, Mikey, what's new with you?" Joni asked, winking at me, "we haven't heard any cool stories from down yonder in a while."
"Oh nothing much. Just living, you know. Trying to deal with life."
"Sounds like girl troubles," Ross stated seriously, out of the blue.
"Huh, a girl? I, uh, no, that's not what I meant, I just meant-" he stuttered, his cheeks flushing a bright red.
"Dude, it's a girl," James stated matter-of-factly, before taking a huge bite from his sandwich.
"Okay maybe," Mikey finally broke, as everyone let out a collective gasp.
"Who?" questioned Joni excitedly. I'm sure I was equally intrigued as we all leaned in for his answer.
"Cheyenne Freeman."
"The cheerleader? The super popular, bubbly, gorgeous, Cheyenne Freeman?" Zeo shot out.
"One and the same," he sighed, shaking his head, brown eyes pointed to the ground.
"Wow, shooting high there, buddy," Ross nodded in approval as he gave Mikey a little punch.
"Well I've heard that she's actually really smart, too. She just tries to hide it, being popular and all," Joni said encouragingly, "I think she'd be into you, Mikey."
"Even if she was smart, she still wouldn't be into me. I'm not cool like you guys, I'm younger, I wear glasses, and I'm kind of a nerd."
"But you're good at soccer," James noted.
"And girls kind of like that," Orion added, jumping into the pool of compliments, "you know, that quirky charm? Just work it on her man, you'll get her no problem."
"I agree. You've got the whole 'I'm super smart and I might be young but I definitely know how to treat a lady' thing going for you, little man," I offered.
"What about you, Z?" Mikey asked, waiting for his reponse.
He kind of looked put on the spot, but then came up with his two cents.
"I think that takes some major balls to go after Cheyenne Freeman, and you're going to need all of our help, including 'Mr. Charm' here," he gestured at Orion, "but I think you've got what it takes, Mikey Lang. The question is, are you as confident in yourself as we are in you?"
"I think so. Thanks guys," Mikey said smiling, finally content for the first time in a while. It wasn't often that he got to be the center of attention so I had to hand it to Joni for being supportive.
Just as we were moving the conversation onto what girl James was currently after (which was, as usual, no one), I heard Keith's black Tacoma pull into the garage.
"Keith!" I jumped up to open the door for him, noticing he was early for our midnight curfew.
"Hey bro," he glanced around furtively, albeit with his trademark smile.
"You remember all my friends right?"
"Yup, nice to see you all again," he paused as his eyes rested carefully on Orion, "but I don't remember meeting you."
"Hi, I'm Orion," he walked gracefully over and extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you," he gave a one of his pearly grins then pulled out a package, "I picked this up on my way home, do you guys want to pop it in?"
"Sure," I walked with him to the DVD player of our entertainment center as everyone got comfortable for the movie; Joni curled up in Ross's lap, Mikey was sitting near Ross's legs with his back to the bottom of the couch, James beat out Zeo to the armchair, which led him and Orion to sit on the couch perpendicular to Ross's.
"What movie is it, big guy?" Zeo called out.
"Fame. The new remake of the old one just came out so I thought it would be cool to watch."
"Cool," Ross tossed out casually, "a little homo, but I'm interested."
I shot a glance at Keith, who appeared to be unperturbed as he inserted the disc into the player. Zeo looked as if he was going to say something, but decided not to. It was best that we dropped it, though, Ross would often say stuff like that in a joking manner and not mean anything serious.
"I think you'll like it," Orion replied, "it's a musical, but the music is super sick and the choreography is bomb, too."
Mikey laughed. "You'd know all about that wouldn't you, Mr. Theatre?"
"Why yes I would," he smiled proudly as we laughed. I was glad that Orion was able to roll with the punches that everyone was sending his way. Our group was so comfortable with each other that our jokes were kind of uncensored because we all knew that no one was serious; like Ross's homo comment It was nice that he was totally okay with that kind of stuff; I gave him an approving smile as I made my way over to where they were sitting as Keith took a seat in the other armchair Zeo left for him.
The movie played, images flashing with a lot of pop and pizzazz against the darkness of the living room, lighting up the characters both on screen and in the room. Soon, though, Ross was nodding off to sleep, and James followed not too long after. Mikey and Orion were totally engrossed in the movie though; I saw Mikey smiling almost the whole time and I heard Orion laughing behind where I lay with Zeo's legs propped up on my back. Either he wasn't enjoying it or he fell asleep as well; I was leaning more towards the latter since it was a long day for all of us and I wasn't doing so good in the staying awake department either.
Something about Orion's presence behind me was keeping me alert, though. It felt like my heart was pounding as I felt his warmth radiating out from where he sat cross-legged. I could smell his scent; like vanilla and cotton twisted together, an ice cream cone fresh out of the dryer. His laughter was so pure, his amazement so captivating, I could just picture his blue eyes sparkling in the light of the widescreen television, his perfect white teeth gleaming when he smiled.
I had to do something. I couldn't just lie there for the rest of the movie. I lifted Zeo's legs off of my back. Dead weight; he was asleep. I sat shoulder to shoulder with Orion, as he looked over at me warmly, happy for the company.
"Enjoying the movie?" he asked, always first to break the ice.
"I think so, the time jumps are kind of confusing but I think I get the gist of it."
"The best part is coming up," he grinned, as if he knew some secret, "too bad no one else is up to watch it."
"Yeah no kidding, I think Joni and Mikey are still watching together though; he ended up on the couch with her."
"Ross was out like a light," he both chuckled as we looked over at Ross, his head in Joni's lap, lightly snoring.
"He's always like that, but we can't ever prank him because he's like the master of revenge."
"He seems the type," Orion smiled knowingly before turning his attention back the television, "oh, it's the part!"
We both watched intently as Jenny convinced Marco to play a song for her on the piano, and I felt a musical number coming on. The piano was soft and beautiful, I was enraptured in the combination of his voice blending with the music, producing a wondrous melody. It was amazing. Then Orion started singing. And if such a word as 'amazing-er' existed, I would use it.
He started softly at first, merely mouthing the words to the music, but he became increasingly brave as the song went on, and sang loud enough just for me to hear.
"If I sing you a song would you sing along? Away, till I'm gone, oh how we push and pull. If I give you my heart, would you just play the part? Or tell me it's the start of something beautiful?"
I was completely engrossed, his voice was so velvety and smooth, with just a touch of amber resonance, a part of being young, I guessed. He closed his eyes, feeling the power and emotion of the song, his full lips moving sweetly along with the words.
Then he caught me staring.
"What?" he asked, grinning, "is it that bad?"
"No, no," I answered quickly, "I've just, never heard anything thatÉamazing in my life before. Ever."
"Wow, you sure know how to give a compliment," he smiled and rubbed up against my shoulder.
We watched the rest of the movie like that, with occasional glances, a lot of smiles, and a constant connection. I didn't know what I was feeling, but at that moment when he opened his sapphire eyes, I felt my heart leap up into my throat, and I had to swallow hard to keep it wherever it was supposed to be. I had no idea what it meant to fall in love, and I didn't think that's what it was, but there was definitely something there. Something undeniably magnificent.
I kept thinking throughout the movie about being gay. It was so out of the norm, so different. I was used to being just like everyone was else; but if I was falling for Orion, I wasn't normal. I was different. And I didn't want to be different. Then I would decide that I simply wouldn't be gay, and I wouldn't have any feelings for Orion. That would last about 5 minutes or so, because then he would shoot one of his heart-stopping grins at me and bat those long eyelashes and I'd forget everything I told myself.
Eventually the movie drew to a close, with a huge number (as expected) and a lot of flashy dramatics. I barely noticed, though, because at that same time, Orion decided to rest his head on my right shoulder. His hair was unbelievably soft, a shaggy blonde cut so his bangs fell right above his eyes, and grew out a bit over his ears on the sides. It smelled like Pantene, a scent I recognized immediately from my mom's own shampoo.
"So did you like it?" he asked softly, keeping his eyes on screen as the credits rolled.
"It was amazing," I responded, hoping he meant his question as dually as I did my answer.
We were both shocked out of our stupor by a sudden conversation between Mikey and Joni; we almost forgot they were still awake.
"Hey Joni, don't you have to get home soon?"
"Are you trying to get rid of me, little man?" she laughed and tapped his button nose, causing his glasses to slip a little.
"No, I just don't want you to get in trouble. I need help in Geometry and if you're grounded, I'll have to figure it out myself."
"You're the one that always helps me, retard," she rose slowly, careful not to awaken Ross, "but you're right, I've got to get going. Is anyone still awake?"
"We are," Orion called out happily, and we both got up to say goodbye to Joni.
"Is your brother coming?" I asked as I gave her a hug.
"Yeah he's almost here. Thanks for having me over, tell your new brother I really liked the movie."
"Will do," I remarked as I scanned the room, only to find Keith asleep in the recliner.
"And you," she continued, turning her attention to Mikey, "I won't forget what we talked about, and I hope you find that best friend you're looking for."
"Thanks, Joni," he smiled gladly, embracing her, accidentally poking her chin with his spiky hair. She giggled.
"And it was nice meeting you, Orion. I hope these boys didn't freak you out too much; they're actually really cool. I better see you around more often, okay?"
"Sure, Joni. It was nice meeting you, too."
When Joni left, the three of us made our way carefully over to make sure everyone was covered with the blankets James and Mikey grabbed earlier. Orion replaced Joni's leg with a pillow so Ross wouldn't have a stiff neck when he awoke and I eased Z into a sleeping position before covering him with a blanket. Mikey left James in the recliner, but threw a soft blanket over him. I turned to where Keith was, only to find his chair empty.
He must've snuck upstairs when we were saying goodbye to Joni, but I knew for sure that he and I were going to have a long talk later. I needed it.
The three remaining amigos grabbed comforters and set up in a sort of circle, with all of our pillows together at the center. I then realized the TV was still on, so Orion and I went in search of the remote to turn it off. We were relatively unsuccessful, so to speak, and ended up marching over to the TV itself to turn it off manually.
We probably should have thought beforehand about how dark it would be once we turned it off because as soon as I hit the power, we were in complete darkness.
"Shit I forgot to turn on the nightlight," I cursed as I bumped into Orion, "sorry."
"No prob," he whispered, "let's stick together and try and get back to Mikey."
"I'm over here, guys!" a voice called out from over on our right.
Orion's hearing must have been way off, because he headed over to the left. I grabbed his hand to stop him and led him over to where I thought Mikey was. I stopped suddenly and he bumped into me, causing us both to laugh. There was a lot of grabbing and bumping and almost falling but eventually we made it back to Mikey. My heart was racing as I came to the realization that I just held someone's hand for the first time. I mean, it wasn't a real hand-holding experience but it was still pretty close.
"Good night Mikey," Orion said softly, just a bit louder than the soft sprinkle of rain falling outside, "and just so you know, I'm going to help you get this girl of yours. No question, man."
"Thanks, Orion. I'm glad Kasey invited you over tonight. Good night."
"Night Kasey," I swear I heard his smile as he said that.
"Night Orion, night Mikey."
Orion knocked out first, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see the soft rise and fall of his thin chest as my eyelids began to shut as well.
"Hey Kasey?" I guess Mikey was still awake, "thanks for tonight. For everything."
"No problem, Mikey. Are you feeling better?"
"Kind of. Joni helped me out and I really like Orion, so maybe if he hangs out with us more he can turn out to be a really good friend. Maybe even the best friend I'm looking for."
"I hope so. I like having him around."
"Me too. Anyways, good night Kasey."
"Night, little man."
I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Orion's blue eyes, sparkling smile, and golden hair flooding my vision. I don't know why, but I hoped that everything would work out okay. Mikey needed a best friend, and Orion could definitely be that for him. I needed Orion. I don't know why or how but I did. My thoughts washed around, like a little beach in my head, before I eventually gave in and didn't think any thoughts till the next morning, which was a break I definitely needed.