Chapter 4
“You have to admit it looks pretty queer even if people don’t know what you said to us last week.” Trevor said in a way that totally set me off.
“What the fuck did you tell her?” I yelled at him. We were in the middle of the nearly deserted parking lot. Both Trevor and Brandon were facing me, their body posture defensive. P.E. had ended long ago, and I’d just finished the afternoon’s NJROTC meeting only to find my two ‘friends’ waiting for me by my car. Davey hadn’t even waited for the end of P.E. before heading back into the gym and changing into his regular clothes. His car wasn’t in the parking lot when I came out, which I’d pretty much suspected since I’d stayed longer in the shower trying to calm down.
It had been such a wonderful day from the moment I’d woken up this morning. Turning seventeen wasn’t supposed to be that big of a deal. Seventeen was the year between when you could get your driver’s license, and the year that you legally became an adult. There was just something about it though, at least for me this time around. Not many people could say they’d turned seventeen twice in a lifetime.
My parents had even relented on my ‘birthday party’. It was just going to be a few friends, and of course my parents, but Davey would be there. He’d even asked for the night off of work, something he was really reticent to do, but he’d done it and that made me happy beyond belief. Davey had met me at the library after school twice now to work on our history project, and was starting to unwind a little around me. He’d been surprised when I asked him to come to my birthday party, protesting that he had to work.
Money was tight for him, and he was working at three different McDonald’s restaurants in order to make his car payments, his insurance payments, and still have money for things like food and gas. His mother wasn’t working now because her back pain was so bad, and there were still the payments for his sister to go see a psychologist. The state had stopped paying for them, and his Nanny didn’t have the money for them since she was helping Davey’s mom by giving them a place to live, buying groceries, and helping to pay for the surgery Davey’s mom was going to have in a few weeks.
Still, he was taking the night off so he could go to my birthday party.
“Nothing about that stuff.” Brandon broke into the argument with his own angry look. “She’s just hurt, Brian, and she’s lashing out. Marcie thought you loved her and you just turned around and dumped her like that.”
“Last week she said she dumped me.” I groused.
“Yeah, well she’s a girl.” Brandon said with a sigh. “We’re not getting it any easier, you know. Our girlfriends are upset because she’s upset and they’re digging for why you won’t just apologize to Marcie so it’s all over. Add on that you’re now hanging around Davey and some of his freaky friends and everyone’s wondering. Reggie’s pissed at him because he’s a racist…”
“He’s not a fucking racist.” I growled. “Reggie’s blowing things out of proportion just like Marcie is doing. How about his faggot comment in P.E.? That wasn’t exactly unbigoted, you know.”
“Everyone hates queers, you know that.” Trevor said with a snort, earning a glare from me, but he didn’t say anything about my glare while Brandon looked off into the distance for a moment. “Look, it was you who said you were interested in Davey that way, and pretty soon people are going to figure it out. We don’t have to say anything. They’ll just assume you two are faggy on each other and go from there. You’re not acting at all like yourself, Brian, and you know that damn well.”
“Well maybe I just fucking woke up and realized I wanted to be better than I’d been.” I snarled while resisting the urge to lash out at them. What made me really sick is that all these little popularity games in high school didn’t really end after graduation. They just changed, and grew more vicious. Kind of like the difference between playing poker with pennies and playing high stakes poker with a million dollars on the table. I’d lived in Washington D.C. for far too many decades to deny that the popularity games of high school were not reflective on the real world.
“What the fuck was wrong with how you were before?” Brandon snorted. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, Brian, but you better wake the fuck up. You’re doing that stupid Sea Scout thing, making friends with Jones and his freaky friends, and you’re totally ruining your reputation! Are you even going out for baseball this year?”
“Of course I am.” I snarled. “Look, I just know I can be better than I’ve been lately.”
“Don’t you remember what we promised each other back in seventh grade?” Trevor asked in a softer voice.
“Yes, I remember.” I told him. “We decided we were going to be the baddest dudes in school and we’ve been that.”
“Yeah, and now you’re fucking it up!” Trevor snarled.
“Maybe I’m realizing there’s more than one way to be the best in our school.” I said angrily as I pushed past him and unlocked my car.
“Brian.” Trevor said and then stopped as I got in the car and slammed the door. The engine started right up and I roared out of the parking lot, not caring if they got stung by loose gravel thrown up by my spinning tires.
I was angry, as angry as I could ever remember being at my friends. Then again, they weren’t really my friends. I’d always known Davey had a positive affect on us in the last timeline, but this was just ridiculous. Brandon at least had always been more considerate of other people’s feelings while Trevor could be downright oblivious at times. Still, he’d never been so… arrogant before. I was relieved though when I pulled up in front of my house and saw Davey’s car out front. It was a Pontiac J2000; something I never even knew existed before. Still, there was no mistaking Davey’s car since the front-end was smashed up a bit. It wasn’t bad damage, just very noticeable.
He’d had the accident just after midnight one weekend, having gotten off work late. He’d worked sixteen hours that day, he’d told me a couple days ago. Technically, it was a violation of the state’s child labor laws, but he got away with it because he’d only worked eight hour shifts at two different restaurants in town. That worried me, how he was working so much. It was taking away from his studies, and I knew now for a fact that most of the time he missed classes in school he was working because someone had gotten sick or quit and they’d called him to come in and work early.
Then again, he was calling them every morning before he left for school to see if they needed the extra help.
I parked my car behind his, leaving the driveway for my father and went inside the house. Davey hadn’t been over here before in this time line, but I knew my mother had been getting anxious to meet him so it was no surprise he was sitting in the dining room, having a soda while talking with my mother.
“Brian, you’re home!” She said with a smile. “I found this young man here sitting out in his car waiting for you to get home, so I told him he had to come inside.”
“Hi Mom, hi Davey.” I said with a smile while mom frowned.
“Davey?” Mom asked.
“Only Brian calls me that.” Davey said with a sigh. “Everyone else calls me David.”
“Oh, I see.” Mom said with a curious little half-smile on her face. “Well, I’ll just let you two boys go do your thing while I finish getting things ready for Brian’s birthday party. Brian, did you know David’s birthday was last week? You boys are less than a week apart in age.”
“Really?” I asked feigning surprise and wondering just how she’d managed to get that information out of Davey. I’d tried to get him to admit his birthday but he’d flat out told me it was none of my business. He was blushing now.
“Yes, so now you’re going to have to go shopping with me so we can get him a nice present, even if it is after the fact.” Mom said before sailing out of the room.
“You don’t have to do that.” Davey said softly.
“Dude, forget the protests.” I said with a chuckle. “You’ve given Mom an excuse to go shopping and there’s no way in hell she’s going to give up a shopping trip just because you don’t want to be embarrassed.”
“Oh.” Davey said with a shake of his head. “So…um…”
“I’m sorry about P.E.” I said quickly and he shook his head.
“Let’s not talk about that.” He said as he stood up. “I was wondering if you wanted to work on the history project. We’ve got the deadline for the outline coming up and I don’t want to drag your grade down by missing it.”
“That sounds good.” I said. “Let me show you my room.”
While we sat and debated different things for the history project, I couldn’t help but relax and feel like things were going better. Here, in my room where it was just the two of us, I could actually feel us growing closer. At school, Davey walked around with hunched shoulders, meekly flowing around the crowded hallways so he wouldn’t bump into people or bother them. If people wanted to talk or interact with him, they had to dig deep to get a reaction and it took a lot more effort than most high school students were willing to give. Yesterday, a guy whose first name I knew was Todd had stopped me in the hallway to say he’d seen Davey actually talking to me and how he thought that was ‘cool’.
“I tried when he first showed up last semester, but it seemed like he always had something else he’d rather be doing.” Todd had said. “We were pretty cool in junior high, but he like totally disappeared freshman year.”
The Davey I’d known in the previous timeline had decades of memories and experiences behind him and had been one of the most articulate and well-reasoned people I’d ever known. This Davey, the one sitting in my chair while I sat cross-legged on the edge of my bed, didn’t have those years of experience and memories to draw from. Despite that, while we talked about our history project, I was finding that he was just as articulate and well-reasoned. Sure, he wasn’t quite as able to pull up quotes and historical references, but he was the rough diamond that had become the well-polished diamond I’d known.
A part of me wondered if that was how he’d seen me in all the different timelines as he’d gotten to know me again and again.
“Boys.” Mom said as she knocked on my closed door.
“Yes?” I called out and she opened the door just enough to stick her head inside.
“Your dad called, Brian.” She said to me. “He’ll be home in about twenty minutes. We’ve got reservations for five o’clock at Marlucci’s so you boys should get ready. Davey, do you need to call anyone before you go to dinner with us?”
“I…um…I can just go home.” Davey said hesitantly. “There’s no need for you to…”
“Nonsense.” Mom said with a snort. “You’re coming to Brian’s party after, right?”
“Yes.” Davey said slowly.
“Good.” She stated with an emphatic nod of her head. “You’re here now and it makes no sense at all for you to go home only to come back later for the party. We made the reservations before Brian and Marcie broke up so you can just take her place.”
“Thanks, mom.” I said while trying not to break out in laughter. Would she remember that line when Davey and I were finally a couple and came out to her?
“Just remember you need to be wearing slacks and a nice shirt.” Mom said.
“Oh.” Davey said a little crestfallen.
“Don’t worry, we’re about the same size.” I said as Mom closed the door behind her. Sure, this Davey wasn’t nearly as in-shape as I was, and he had a bit of gut over his belt, but there should be something in my closet to fit him, and we spent the next ten minutes getting him into a pair of slacks that were a bit tight but still fit, and a dress shirt as well as a nice sweater. He was a little hesitant changing in front of me, and I frowned at the sight of the ragged underwear he had on, but we were dressed and ready to go by the time Dad arrived.
Yes, I did notice the sly looks he gave me as I stripped down to my briefs before getting dressed. That was a good thing on all accounts, and I took extra time changing just so he would get a bit of a show. Yeah, I was going slowly with that aspect of our budding relationship, but there was no reason why I couldn’t show him what he’d get one day.
Dinner was great, which wasn’t surprising since it was one of the best Italian restaurants in Modesto. Davey looked really uncomfortable at the start as we all perused the menus. He even tried ordering something relatively inexpensive, but I stepped in and talked him into ordering something a little higher up on the menu, something I knew he’d enjoy more. Dad and Mom both looked on with approval.
As we all munched on mozzarella patties, my Dad started in on trying to draw Davey into conversation. He was subtle about it, first asking me questions about how school was going, how the NJROTC was going, and my plans for sports in the upcoming months. I’d played baseball every year since I was seven, except for skipping it last year, and he knew what I was planning on doing, but I knew he was getting me to talk first before he started asking Davey questions.
“Well, what about you, David?” He asked Davey after I’d talked about my hopes that maybe this year Downey’s baseball team would win more games than we lost. “How is your semester going so far?”
“It’s okay.” Davey said with a shrug as he quickly stuffed some cheese into his mouth and chewed while my father looked at him with a smile on his face.
“Are you going to go out for any sports?” Dad asked him when he was done chewing.
“Um, I can’t.” Davey said cautiously before taking a swallow of ice tea.
“Oh, why not?” Dad asked him with a lift of his eyebrow. Like me, both my parents were blond but it was obvious I got my dark eyebrows from my father.
“I have to work.” Davey said after a long pause and a glance at me.
“Oh, that’s just too bad.” Mom said with a frown. “Young people should be able to enjoy their last few years of high school before they have to work.”
“Yeah, well, my family needs the money.” Davey said with a shrug.
“That’s right, Brian mentioned your mom was having major surgery in a few weeks.” Dad said and I hoped Davey wouldn’t get upset. He gave me a glance I couldn’t quite fathom, but he nodded at Dad’s statement.
“Yes, they’re going to try to fix her back.” Davey said. “Nanny, that’s her mother, is paying for it so money’s really tight now.”
“What’s wrong that they need to operate?” Mom asked. “Brian didn’t really give us too many details.”
“Well, you see she’s had scoliosis since she was thirteen.” Davey said calmly. Apparently talking about his mother’s condition didn’t quite make him as uncomfortable as talking about his working. “They didn’t catch it until it was too late and after a really tough operation she ended up having a hump on her back. It means she gets tired easily and is always in a lot of pain. She also can’t breath that easily, so she gets winded pretty quickly. The surgery is supposed to help with that.”
“What are they going to be doing?” Mom asked and Davey warmed up to the topic.
“They’re going to break her ribs loose, reposition them and then reattach them to her sternum.” He answered, oblivious to the way Mom’s face went slightly white. “They’re also going to do something with her spine, help straighten it out some. She’ll still have that hump on her back, but it’ll be half the size it is now and she’ll have better lung capacity. The doctors say it should help her be able to work again. Right now she can’t stay on her feet more than a few hours without downing so many painkillers she goes loopy.”
“Oh my, it sounds painful.” Mom said softly.
“That’s what they say.” Davey agreed with her. “Mom’ll be in Children’s Hospital for at least a month while she recovers and then another four months recovering at home before she can expect to work again.”
“Well, thank goodness for disability.” Dad said and Davey frowned. Dad saw it and reacted. “Don’t tell me they’re trying to not pay her disability.”
“They’re saying it’s an elective surgery, not mandatory.” Davey answered. “Besides, we haven’t been back to California long enough for her to qualify since she’s only had one job and that was only for three months before the pain was too much for her.”
“That’s just not right.” Mom said with a hint of anger in her voice. Davey looked surprised to hear that. “Don’t they understand she has a family to support?”
“Yeah, well, we moved back in with my grandparents.” Davey said with a shrug. “It’s a little crowded with Shantill living there with her daughter, but Mom and Jenny share a room while Shantill sleeps in the middle bedroom. Nanny and Papa dote on her daughter, Whitney, and put her in the bed with them every night.”
“Where do you sleep?” Mom asked, beating me to the question.
“Papa converted the garage into a living room when they bought the house back in the sixties.” Davey answered.
“So now you get it as your bedroom?” Dad asked with a smile.
“Kind of.” Davey answered and I frowned. “My bed is behind the couch, and I’ve got a dresser I can use for my clothes, oh and I’ve managed to fit my stereo in next to the bed. As long as I wear headphones I can listen to it all I want, and Nanny and Papa usually go to bed after the 11 o’clock news so it’s not too bad. Plus, they make pretty good alarm clocks. They both get up around six in the morning and when they turn on the kitchen lights it’s even better than having an alarm clock. Papa put in these fluorescent lights over the dining table and when they turn them on in the morning they’re bright enough to wake me right up.”
“I see.” Dad said slowly, and I could see the tightness around his eyes. This was… Davey had never mentioned this to me in our last lifetime. Maybe it was something he’d long forgotten, judging from the suddenly bitter expression on his face. The food arrived, saving him from further grilling by my parents for at least a few minutes.
“David, honey, did you say your mom was going to be at Children’s Hospital?” Mom asked after a few minutes.
“Yes, in San Francisco.” Davey answered after he swallowed a bite of his food.
“You’ll be going up to see her, of course.” Mom said.
“Yes.” Davey answered although he frowned slightly. “I can’t miss much more school and Mom’s forbidden me from going up there during the week, but I plan on going up there all weekend long while she’s there. Nanny’s trying to find a hotel room she can afford so she’ll be up there all the time and Jenny gets to go for the day of Mom’s surgery and the day after. I wanted to go, but they’re saying I’ve missed too many days of school this year.”
“Coach Cole said you’d be sent to alternative school if you missed more than one more day.” I said quickly, so my parents knew the score on that matter. Davey grimaced at me, but didn’t object.
“Brian, would you object?” Dad asked and I knew right away what he was going to suggest. Without hesitating I shook my head. “Davey, has Brian told you about his apartment that he owns?”
“You own an apartment?” Davey asked with surprise as he turned to look at me.
“Yeah, it used to belong to my Uncle Rich.” I answered. “He left it to me when he died back in ’81.”
“Oh.” Davey said with a weird look on his face.
“It’s in San Francisco, and currently not occupied.” Dad said, drawing Davey’s attention back to him. “We’ve kept the furniture that was in it when Richard passed away and have rented it out to students and other people who don’t have a lot of their own furniture. Only thing is, right now there’s no one in there and the last few people who’ve applied we haven’t really liked. There’s no reason, if Brian agrees, that we couldn’t leave it vacant until your mother’s surgery and allow your grandmother to stay there, and of course you and your sister could stay there too when you go up to visit your mother on the weekends.”
“That would be nice, but Nanny won’t just accept charity.” Davey said with a sigh.
“Then we’ll charge her a fair rate.” Dad said with a smile. “If you want, you can tell her about it sometime this week and have her call Brenda to discuss the details.”
“I’ll do that.” Davey said and paused for a moment before getting a look on his face that I knew was his ‘woops, forgot something’ look. “Um, thanks, all of you.”
“You’re welcome.” Dad said with a smile and gave me a sharp look. “Brian, take notes from this guy. He sure knows how to be polite.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I said with a typical teenage eye roll, although sometime soon he was going to get a big hug from me for being so generous.
That seemed to end the subject of Davey’s family life for a bit, and not once had they brought up Davey’s father. While my parents began to tell the typical funny stories from my childhood, stories I blushed at like a typical teenager, I could see Davey relaxing. His shoulders weren’t hunched up anymore. He was sitting back in his chair, and a smile was on his face the entire time. I laughed as well, and listened with interest as the stories reached the point where I was older than twelve. From the stories they told after that point, it became clear that was where my life of this timeline diverted from the one I remembered. Meeting Davey along the bike path on the way to the first day of the seventh grade seemed to be the key difference.
We skipped desert and headed back home, all four of us smiling as we left the restaurant. My parents seemed to genuinely like Davey, something that despite the last timeline I’d been a little nervous about. If things went well, and Davey once again ended up with me, there should be no problems with them accepting him as family. Dad already seemed protective of Davey in a way that I totally hadn’t expected.
No one else had arrived by the time we got home, which wasn’t all that unexpected. We had another twenty minutes before the party was supposed to start. While Mom worked on the last little touches for the party, Dad gave Davey a tour of the house, including the old weight set in the garage. I could see the sparkle of interest in Davey’s eyes that he quickly suppressed. That encouraged me a bit, considering his current lack of physical fitness. He at least harbored a desire to work out again, and if he was given the chance, probably would.
Trevor was the first to arrive, pulling up on his motorcycle. Brandon showed up not more than two minutes later, and the other three people I’d invited arrive moments later. Mom had been surprised by the modest number of people I’d invited. Apparently, last year I’d had nearly forty people over. Despite the fact that I’d told people to not bring gifts, Brandon had a small gift-wrapped package in his hands and everyone else had cards. Even Davey produced a card from somewhere.
It was awkward for a few minutes as they all stood in the living room while my mom brought the cake into the dining room. Davey’s friend’s, Ronna (who was in our history class), Jeannette (the thin brown-haired girl whose braces had finally corrected her buck teeth), and the thin, red-haired boy Todd who I’d spoken to at school all stood behind Davey. Brandon and Trevor stood near me, looking at the three they didn’t really know.
“Where are the girlfriends?” I asked my two friends. I’d invited their girlfriends out of politeness.
“They wouldn’t come.” Trevor said sourly while looking over the two girls standing next to Davey, now talking to him quietly.
“This is from Marcie.” Brandon said as he tried to hand the package over to me. I flushed with anger at that.
“Take it back to her.” I said.
“No, I’m not playing gofer for you two.” Brandon snarled as he threw the package down onto the couch. “You give it back to her tomorrow at school.”
“Fine.” I said with a sigh as I scooped up the package and put it on the fireplace mantle. I turned to Davey’s friends then, giving up on Brandon and Trevor for the moment. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for inviting us.” Jeannette said with a smile that caused me to worry for a moment.
“How about all of you come in the dining room?” Mom called out. “The cake’s ready.”
What followed was a very uncomfortable forty minutes as they sang happy birthday to me and I blew out the candles before Dad cut the cake. My parents really saved the night by asking all sorts questions of the three people they didn’t know, and dragging both Brandon and Trevor into the discussion at different points.
I was actually relieved to see Brandon and Trevor leave early. Certainly the explanations of how Ronna, Davey, Jeannette, and Todd all knew each other was a lot freer and more enjoyable. Todd had some funny stories of Davey in an eighth grade math class they’d shared. I’d never heard the story of crazy Mrs. Dent, her good guy/bad guy explanation of multiplying negative numbers, nor the funny story about sticks of Big Red gum being exchanged behind her back.
Considering Todd’s red hair, I had to wonder if he’d been making passes at Davey all that time or if they’d actually done something together. That made me slightly jealous, and I debated on whether I should have invited him or not, but realized there was nothing I could do about it if something had happened. It was just as much my fault as it would be Davey’s.
We had still bumped into each other, according to Ronna’s story about the first time she ever saw me, but there had been no conversation. In my timeline, I’d actually bumped into Sean, but Davey told me that the first time it had been him I’d bumped into. Still, in this time, we’d never chatted, never became friends. I’d apparently walked off without a word except for my angry exclamation at him that he’d ignored. It was almost funny how one little thing could cause such a big difference.
“If you kids would like to go out and ditch the old folks, we wouldn’t mind.” Mom said after another twenty minutes had passed. That surprised me since I was supposedly still grounded, but Dad nodded his agreement. “Just be back by midnight, son.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I said with a smile. They’d given me some nice gifts, new clothes and a new watch that was pretty cool.
“I know just the place to go.” Ronna said with a smile as we headed out of the house.
“I’ll drive.” I offered and everyone agreed. Davey sat in front while the other three piled into the back of my Mustang. Following Ronna’s directions we ended up at a deserted park near the river. After I parked the car, we all piled out and Ronna led us to some bench tables that were actually near the water. Jeannette was carrying a backpack she’d come into the house with and she produced two thermos bottles as we sat down.
“What did you bring?” Davey asked with far too much excitement in his voice for my comfort. I wasn’t born yesterday, and put teenagers, dark location near a river, and thermos bottles together and I came up with some kind of alcohol.
“Screwdrivers, just the way you like it, Davey dear.” Ronna said with a smile.
“Cool.” Todd said with a smile. Davey was sitting next to Ronna with Jeannette on the other side and Todd was next to me on the other side of the table. Jeannette handed one thermos to me and the other to Davey.
“Drink up birthday boy.” Jeannette said with a dazzling smile.
“Uh, I’m driving, I shouldn’t drink.” I said softly.
“Oh, c’mon, at least one sip.” Ronna said and I shrugged. One sip wouldn’t hurt.
“Oh god.” I said moments later as I coughed. The shit was strong, too damn strong! “Like a touch of orange juice with your vodka, do you?”
“Blame Davey.” Ronna said with a laugh as Davey handed her the thermos while I handed mine to Todd. He took a deep gulp, shook his head after swallowing the awfully strong drink and handed the thermos over to Jeannette who took a deep swig.
“So what do we do now?” Todd asked. There was just enough light from the moon to see that his eyes were already starting to get glassy. Damn that shit was strong!
“It’s a birthday party.” Ronna said with a smile. “How about Truth or Dare?”
“Oh god, not that again.” Davey groaned after his fourth swallow of the foul concoction.
“What? We haven’t done that in years!” Ronna protested with a laugh.
“Yeah, last time you ended up daring me to kiss Mardi McFarland and she followed me around all eighth grade like she was convinced I was going to marry her.” Davey groaned.
“She still would if you asked her out again.” Jeannette jibed with a laugh. She pulled out a silver pin and put it in the middle of the table. “Okay, here’s a pen we can use since both the thermoses are still full.”
“Um, aren’t we a little old for this?” I asked, not totally sure I wanted to be doing this, especially at the rate they were drinking. Todd was halfway drunk already, and Davey looked like he had a good buzz going after his fifth drink from a thermos.
“Oh, these are not going to last long at all.” Ronna said with a frown at her thermos. “You sure you don’t want more, birthday boy?”
“That’s fine.” I said with a frown.
“Good.” Ronna replied, taking another sip while reaching out and spinning the pen. The pointy end stopped facing me and I suppressed a groan while Ronna giggled. “Truth or dare, Brian?”
“Truth.” I said, not wanting to be dared to run around the park naked, which I was sure she would have done given the look in her eyes.
“Oh you’re no fun.” She moaned. “So, who really broke up with who, you or Marcie?”
“She dumped me, but I wanted her to.” I answered sourly and all four of them laughed.
“Your turn.” Ronna said with glee and I spun the pen. It landed on Todd.
“Truth or Dare?” I asked him with resignation. He actually seemed to think about it for a moment before mumbling ‘truth’ to me. I was feeling a bit pissed and my mouth shot off before I thought about what I was asking. “So do you like Big Red ‘cause it lets you make a joke about your cock?”
“Um, um, yeah.” Todd said as his face blushed a bright red and the other three at the table burst out in laughter. Davey almost fell backwards from his laughing and Todd glared at me before spinning the pin. As fate would have it, it landed on Jeannette who demanded a dare.
“I dare you to kiss Brian.” Todd said immediately with a triumphant gleam in his eyes as he looked at me before taking the thermos from Davey. Jeannette squealed in happiness and leaned over the table towards me. She got her kiss, and it was a decent one on my part, although she slobbered way too much. It was nothing like kissing my Davey, who was currently sniggering at me. Jeannette’s spin landed on Ronna, and Ronna was dared to kiss me. She was definitely better than Jeannette, and quite good at using her tongue, but again she wasn’t Davey.
“Dare.” Todd said with a wicked smile when Ronna’s spin landed on him. Ronna’s answering smile spelled trouble and she proved it immediately.
“I dare you to kiss Brian.” She said in a wicked tone. Ronna and Davey burst out in laughter, leaning against each other while Todd looked stricken. He gulped and looked at me hesitantly while I let out a groan.
“Oh come on, it’s just a game!” Ronna nearly shouted amidst her laughter.
“Am I going to have to kiss everyone at this table?” I growled, setting off a fresh round of laughter. I was irritated at the childish game, but I grabbed Todd’s head with both hands and brought him in for a kiss, tongue and all. After a surprised moment, he returned the kiss, to my surprise, and he was better than either of the girls had been. I broke the kiss when I started to harden. The slacks I was wearing wouldn’t hide an erection for long.
“Oh, that was priceless!” Jeannette giggled. “I wish I had a camera!”
“Spin.” I growled at Todd who was licking his lips and looking at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. Had he enjoyed the kiss? His spin landed on Davey, and Davey let out a groan.
“Don’t tell me, you dare me to kiss Brian.” Davey said with what I was hoping was just mock horror. Todd squeaked out a ‘you bet’ and Davey looked at me expectantly. We both leaned across the table, and my body tingled as our lips touched for the first time in this reality. Despite the smell of vodka and orange juice on his breath, it was a wonderful moment as our lips touched and our tongues sought each other’s mouth. It ended all too soon, and I sat down in a hurry when I realized I was now fully erect.
“Oh god, that was just too fucking hot.” Jeannette murmured while Ronna shot me a look that could only be described as jealousy. Davey was hunched over in that now-familiar gesture that something had embarrassed him. If he was as hard as I was, which I hoped, then I could understand his posture. He took a very long gulp from a thermos before spinning the pen, which landed on Jeannette, who was now looking thoughtful.
“Truth.” She said, changing the tempo of the game. At that moment I was very thankful for that.
“Have you ever gone all the way with a guy?” Davey asked her and she blushed.
“Yes.” She answered and quickly spun the pen again. It landed on Ronna and Jeannette smiled quickly when Ronna took a dare. “Ronna, I dare you to go for a walk with Davey for at least ten minutes.”
“That’s easy.” Ronna said as she got to her feet, only slightly unsteady, and pulled Davey up before taking his arm and walking off towards some trees.
“Oh thank God.” Jeannette said as she swallowed some more alcohol. “That was the whole purpose of that game. Sorry you had to kiss two guys on your birthday, Brian.”
“Don’t worry.” I said with a shrug. “What do you mean that was the whole purpose?”
“Oh, it’s just that Ronna’s been interested in Davey for years and she’s finally gotten the nerve up to tell him.” Jeannette said. She was slurring her words slightly, and Todd was taking another long pull from the other thermos. “She’s going to tell him she likes him and ask him to go out with her. I think she’s hoping to get some action while she’s out there, too.”
“Oh.” I said with shock, not sure how to react. Yeah, Davey was gay, but he could still choose to date her and pretend. It wasn’t like he was out or anything. Only a hand on my thigh broke that jealous thought and suddenly I was faced with another problem. The hand could only be Todd’s, and when I didn’t react immediately, his hand slid further up my thigh until it was cupped over my erection. Jeannette had turned her back to us and was watching the river that glinted with reflected moonlight.
It was all to surreal for me, as Todd squeezed my erection and I sideways glance revealed a smile on his face. His red hair was longish, and curled around the edges of his pale neck in a way that was suddenly very attractive. Part of me knew it was my seventeen-year old hormones talking, but with Davey off in the trees with a girl he’d known for years and years, and showing no real interest in me beyond friendship, it was almost tempting.
Almost, but not quite. I reached down with my hand and gently pulled his off of my crotch. He frowned, and started to look worried, but the soft smile on my face, a squeeze of his hand and a wink put him at ease as I placed his hand on his own leg instead of mine. He let out a sigh as I turned to ask Jeannette a question.
The rustling of trees in the distance interrupted me, though, and Davey stomped back over to the table, an angry look on his face. Ronna followed a few seconds later, looking both angry and hurt while Jeannette started to mutter a few curses. There was a tense moment at the table until Davey spoke.
“We have school in the morning.” He said in a tight voice. “Brian, you mind dropping us off?”
“Sure.” I said flatly, wanting to ask what exactly had happened, but I was also relieved that I knew at least one thing. Davey had not reacted well to whatever Ronna said. It was weird dropping the girls off because Jeannette lived so near the house that I’d always thought of as being Davey’s home. It was empty in this timeline, and my eyes misted over at the thought of all that I had lost from the last timeline. Then again, I’d been an old man there, and my days with Davey Jones had been coming to an end. In a few years we’d both have been dead, and now there was the possibility of another lifetime with him, no matter the troubles that we faced now.
“Todd’s house is just a few blocks away.” Davey said and gave me directions. When I pulled up in front of it, he got out with Todd.
“Happy birthday, Brian.” Todd said softly. “I had a good time.”
“Thanks Todd.” I replied with a genuine smile. “I was glad you could be there.”
“Thanks again, Brian.” Davey said as he shut the door and leaned in from the outside. That confused me. I’d planned to have him stay the night since he couldn’t drive with as much alcohol as he’d consumed. “We can get a ride with Todd’s mother in the morning. Would you mind giving me a lift back to your house in the afternoon so I can pick up my car?”
“Uh, sure.” I said softly and he smiled before turning to follow Todd in the house. They were inside the nice home for several minutes before I pulled away from the curb. The memory of Todd’s hand on my erection was all too recent and played a major role in my dark thoughts of what would be happening in that house tonight. I knew Davey had no problem with sleeping around in this timeline, and I knew Todd at least played for our team a little bit, and that combination had me imagining the familiar body of Davey’s locked in wild passionate sex with the cute red-head instead of with me, the way he should have been.
By the time I got home and inside, the tears in my eyes were more than enough to obscure my vision. Fortunately the parents were in bed, so I could escape to the safety of my bedroom, throw myself down onto my bed and cry myself to sleep over should-have-beens.
This story brought to you by a lot of hard editing from Emoe, and
beta-reading by Trebs.
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