Wes and Toren (26 page)

“You look really good,” I said.

“Thanks. Watch this!” She twisted her hips and waist back and forth to make the fringe spin out. She wore a headband with a feather, a long string of pearls with a knot in it, and a red, low-cut, fringy flapper dress. She looked cute and I could tell Jeremy thought so too by the way he glanced at her at every chance. “And know what? All this fringe is glued and stapled on! Mom helped me.”

“Stapled?” I asked. That was my sister: the ghetto Martha Stewart.

“Hey, Alycia!” Wesley called from the kitchen. He walked toward us carrying two beers. “You ran right past me in the kitchen,” he complained with a pout as he gave me one of the beers.

“Wes! I’m sorry. Maybe I didn't recognize you though!” she said, giving him a hug. Wesley stood next to me and Alycia looked us over.

“You guys are so cute! A dog and a cat! That’s adorable!”

Wesley rolled his eyes and I elbowed him in the gut. We went into the kitchen where most of the people were. Many greeted Wesley familiarly and glanced at me awkwardly. Most of them were popular kids in high school and probably surprised to see me at one of their parties. Wesley introduced me without giving up our relationship, which I was glad he didn’t announce, although the matching costumes were a dead giveaway. However, he didn’t act any differently toward me and after a little while, I was sure everyone knew we were together. When they didn’t say anything or act strangely toward me, I began to feel much Wes & Toren

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more comfortable, but that could have been because I was already starting my second beer.

“All right. Beer pong in the basement and boxhead at the kitchen table,” Jeremy announced, waving over his head a case box with a hole cut out.

Wesley pushed me toward the kitchen table and took a seat. Jeremy and Alycia sat down and three others pulled chairs up to the table. Some people went down to the basement and the last few remained in the living room chatting.

“How do you play?” Alycia asked, sipping her beer.

“It’s a dice game and it’s a lot of fun. I’ll teach the rules as we go,”

Jeremy said, picking up two dice and pushing a placemat to the center of the table. He gave a quick rundown of the game, the main point being if you rolled an 11 or 12, you were the boxhead, wore the box, and were at the mercy of everyone else. Each combination of dice had a different meaning, like making up a rule, giving away drinks, and something called a “waterfall.”

“Basically, it’s just a game to get you drunk faster,” Wesley said, tipping back his beer and smiling. “And I’m gonna make sure you get sloshed.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Alycia chimed in, nodding her head.

“Just hope you don’t roll an 11 or 12 with these two,” Jeremy said.

And with that warning, I rolled an 11 on my second turn. Anyone could tell me to drink at any time, for any reason. I was seriously screwed, but I was more worried about what Wesley might come up with if I had to do anything he said.

I was the boxhead for more than half the game and I lost track of how many beers I drank. I felt silly and light, like I was floating in water.

Alycia was the next to roll a 12, so I had fun exacting my revenge, as did Wesley and especially Jeremy. After her third or fourth beer, we decided to take a break, at least to let Alycia and me recover a little.

Wesley went outside for a cigarette and, for some inexplicable reason, I decided to have another beer. There were only five beers left of 196

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the eighteen we brought and I really had no clue how many I had. I shrugged my shoulders with a grin and twisted the cap off.

“Hey, Toren. How you doing?” Jeremy asked, leaning into the refrigerator and taking out a beer.

“Pretty good,” I tried to answer soberly, though I couldn’t keep myself from grinning. “How are you?”

“Toasted,” he responded happily and popped the top of his beer. “I think I might have to cut off Alycia pretty soon though.”

“I know. She can be a handful even when she’s stone-cold sober,” I said, nodding my head.

“That’s for sure,” he agreed with a smile. “But she’s so much fun.

And so cute!” he added, his cheeks blushing lightly. He glanced down at the floor and turned the bottle around in his hands. “You know, I really like her,” he said. “I know she just broke up with her boyfriend, but I’m pretty serious about her,” he confided awkwardly.

It was kinda cute, hearing him nervously express his feelings. He was looking for my approval; after all, I was her older brother and he was her suitor. But he knew he already had my approval.

“I think she’s serious about you too, but I think she’s scared of moving too fast. Just go along at her pace,” I said, taking a long sip of beer.

Jeremy’s face brightened and he grinned. His mood was transparent, but I thought the alcohol might be to blame. He slapped my back and laughed.

“You’re all right, Tor,” he said, still slapping my back. “I mean it too. You and Wes are a perfect match. We grew up together, you know, and he’s always been a moody bastard, but since you guys started going out, he’s actually happy! So, just so you know, I’ll always be cheering for you guys.”

I blushed and looked at the bottle in my hands. “Th-thanks,” I murmured, feeling my cheeks flare. It was an odd, but good, feeling, hearing Jeremy say that he’d be cheering for us. I smiled and felt a warmth in the pit of my stomach that I knew wasn’t just the alcohol.

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“Hey, Carroll! What’s going on? I haven’t seen you in forever!”

I looked up as I heard Wesley’s last name and saw Alan Dunne walking in the front door, followed by Benny Wright.

“Alan, it has been a while, man. How you doing? S’up, Ben?”

Wesley answered, bumping fists with Alan and nodding his head at Benny.

“Pretty good. Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you since graduation,” Alan said, glancing around at the people in the living room.

“Hey, Wes! C’mon, let’s play another game!” Alycia interrupted, walking up from nowhere. Alan’s eyes widened as he looked her up and down and a smile crept across his lips. She coiled her arm around Wesley’s and tugged impatiently.

“Well now, who’s this?” Alan asked, glancing at Wesley, but quickly returning his attention to Alycia.

“Hi! I’m Alycia,” she answered, dropping Wesley’s arm, bowing slightly, and smiling broadly. She twisted her body so that the fringe of her dress spun out. I chuckled in spite of myself. She was always outgoing and friendly, but it was blatant when she was drunk.

“Not bad, man. Not bad at all,” Alan said, smiling slyly at Wesley.

My heart skipped when he thought Wesley and Alycia were together.

“You had me so worried there for a while, especially with those rumors Jen’s spreading around,” Alan continued, looking Alycia over one more time.

I gritted my teeth just hearing Jen’s name, but I forced myself to calm down. I took a long drink and turned the bottle around in my hands.

“What? What are you talking about?” Wesley asked, glancing at Alycia briefly. “Just what is Jen saying?”

“She’s making shit up about you ‘switching teams,’ if you get me. I mean, you did start hanging out with that little queer all of a sudden. But, I can see you got your priorities straight,” Alan explained with a laugh.

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My stomach dropped. He was talking about me. No one had ever called me that before and it stuck in my ears. I gripped my hands tightly around the bottle and I could feel Jeremy glance at me.

“What? Who are you talking about?” Alycia asked, her chipper voice gaining an edge.

“You know, that little fag from school. I forgot his name.”

“Toren?” Wesley said.

“Yeah, him. I don’t know why….”

“You’re really an asshole, aren’t you?” Alycia said, her voice an octave deeper.

“What’d you say?” Alan asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Didn’t know you were hard of hearing too. I said: you’re an
ass
hole.”

“Who the hell do you think you are, bitch?” Alan retorted.

“She’s my boyfriend’s sister, jackass,” Wesley said, his voice deep and sharp. “And you better watch your fucking mouth,” he warned, lifting his head and staring into Alan’s eyes.

I swallowed hard and Jeremy left my side, walking up to Wesley, Alycia, and Alan. My stomach felt hollow as I watched from the kitchen, unable to will myself to take a step forward.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Alan said, shaking his head. He saw Jeremy walking toward him and held his hands up in inquiry. “Did you know about this?”

“Look, if you’re gonna be a dick, why don’t you just take off?”

Jeremy said, standing next to Alycia and folding his arms on his chest.

Alan shook his head. “What the fuck? Am I supposed to believe you like guys now because some fag came on to you?”

Each time he said that word, my chest felt a little tighter. I swallowed hard and bit my lower lip, trying to keep my tears at bay.

Wesley was standing up for me and I couldn’t even bring myself to stand Wes & Toren

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next to him. I felt like a coward; even Alycia and Jeremy were sticking up for me, but I couldn’t do anything.

“I told you to watch your fucking mouth!” Wesley shouted, throwing his fist forward and hitting Alan squarely in the jaw.

Alan recoiled, covering his chin with his hand and looking at Wesley with angry eyes. “What the hell?”

“Why don’t you just leave, Alan?” Jeremy said, stepping in front of Alycia in case Alan retaliated.

“Like I’d wanna hang out with a buncha fags,” Alan said, still holding his chin and glaring at Wesley. He glanced at Jeremy then turned around and left, followed by Benny who never said a word the entire time.

Wesley shook his hand and stared at the door until Jeremy closed it. His eyes were narrow and angry and he gritted his teeth. Alycia touched his arm and he took a deep breath. He looked over his shoulder and found me still standing in the kitchen, gripping the beer bottle in my hands. He stepped past Alycia and Jeremy and walked over to me, his eyes never leaving mine.

I took a deep breath. He walked up and hugged me so tight I could feel his ribs pressing against my own. The other people at the party didn’t matter; I clung to him and buried my face in the cradle of his neck and shoulder. It was the strangest sense of pride; he punched someone to defend me.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” he asked, lifting my head from his shoulder.

I nodded and smiled weakly. “How’s your hand?” I asked, looking at his hand and rubbing my fingers over his knuckles.

I could feel eyes watching us, though people tried to pretend that they weren’t paying attention. And I didn’t mind sharing this moment of intimacy with them. I smiled at Wesley and he smiled back, taking the beer from my hands and finishing it in one gulp. Alycia and Jeremy came up to us and Jeremy apologized for Alan’s stupidity. Alycia cursed 200

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him up one side and down the other and pretty soon, we were all laughing.

The night wore on and I wished that one of us were sober enough to drive because I really wanted to get home. The events of the evening, Wesley’s unmitigated defense of me, and the alcohol had left me a little hot and bothered. But Alycia, Wesley, and I stayed the night at Jeremy’s and we ended up playing beer pong until there wasn’t any beer left.

Fortunately, Wesley and I both had the next day off from work, because we didn’t wake up until three the next afternoon. Tired and hung-over, we got fast food for dinner and were in bed again by eight.

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“THAT quiz totally sucked!” Mark complained, shaking his head and furrowing his brows. “How’d you do?”

“Pretty good, I think. I only got two wrong,” I answered, following him out of the classroom.

“There were only two questions,” Mark said, then grinned. He pulled at the shoulder strap of his book bag.

“I know. I’m just math-stupid,” I conceded, buttoning my coat as we left the Sciences building.

Mark and I met in our pre-calc class. We gravitated toward each other, because we were both terrible at math and because he was gay too.

It was sort of a “takes one to know one” situation and we became friends quickly.

“So, do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?” he asked. A cool breeze whipped through his brown hair and he glanced at me sideways.

“I’m not sure yet. I’m gonna go to my mom’s and Wesley’s welcome of course, but I kinda want him to go home for Thanksgiving. I mean, he hasn’t really seen or talked to his parents since we moved in.”

“That’s too bad,” Mark said quietly, staring at the ground. “It took a while, but Jared and I have finally figured out a family holiday schedule. We spend Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas Eve with mine. We sleep over, well, because my mom still likes to play Santa Claus,” he confided, blushing lightly. “I mean, I’m twenty-four and I still 202

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get presents from Santa! Then, we spend Christmas morning with my family and the rest of the day with his. It took a couple years to get everything squared away, but we got it all worked out.”