Sequel: Memoirs of a Gay Guy : 1000 Things ›
Status: Complete.
Memoirs of a Gay Guy : Till September
Entry : 20
I just woke up. I'm in Fin's bed and she's in the kitchen making breakfast because I spent the night. I'm still buzzing from last night because it was the night I'd been waiting for for a month; the Coming Out party! Rather than jump to the best part of the evening, I shall tell my story chronologically.
It all started at the end of school, when the entire GSA (plus Fin) helped set up the decorations in the gym. It took about an hour and a half to do the streamers, posters, tables and everything, but it looked amazing. The decorating committee was really well organized.
Once that was done, I headed out of the gym with Fin and Riley because we'd agreed to grab a bite at the Harvey's across the street. I was stopped, however, by Jeremy, who asked where we were going. I told him Harvey's and before he could say anything, Fin asked if he wanted to join us.The next thing I knew, the four of us were sharing a booth in the restaurant. I sat beside Fin since I wouldn't have been able to choose between sitting beside Riley or Jeremy. The meal went pretty smoothly, with idle chatter amongst stuffing fries in our faces.
Once we got back to the school, Fin said she needed to change because the party was due to start in half an hour. So I went with her to her locker, giving a, "See you later," and a wave to Riley and Jeremy. Fin grabbed her bag of clothes to change into from her locker and I followed her so I could wait outside the girls' washroom for her.
So there I was, minding my own business outside the bathroom, when all of a sudden Fin pulls me inside.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked her.
"It's okay, it's empty," she said, before disappearing into a stall to change. When she came out she had on a pair of sleek, white, skinny pants, a dark purple top and a pair of orange high-tops. She looked great.
"Can you braid my hair?" she asked. So I started to do her hair and she said, "You've got to dance with him y'know."
Acting as if I was clueless, I answered, "Who?"
"Riley! It's so obvious how much you like him."
I decided not to even try denying it. "Yeah, but not to him. I don't even know if he's gay!"
"But if you ask him to dance, his answer will tell you what you need to know."
I put a hair elastic on the end of her braid and she turned to face me. "Look," I said, "I'm not asking him to dance. And before you can try to talk me into it, I'll be perfectly frank as to why; I'm scared shitless."
She smiled. "All right. Don't worry, I'll still dance with you."
I smiled back and said, "That's all I ask." Then we linked arms and walked out of the bathroom together.
Mr. Munroe and who I assumed was his husband, were at the gym door, greeting everyone and taking tickets. When Mr. Munroe took ours he gave us a grin and he patted my shoulder saying sincerely, "Have fun tonight."
When I walked into the gym I was amazed. It looked so much better with the house lights off and all the colored lights dancing off the walls. I stood there for a few seconds with my mouth agape before Fin grabbed my hand and we danced.
The first five or so songs were fast, and when a slow song came on, Fin didn't hesitate to grab my shoulders and sways with me. It was actually really fun becasue neither of us knew what we were doing and we kept tripping over each other's feet. The dance continued in this pattern, a couple fast songs with one or two slow ones in between.
After me and Fin's third slow dance I was beginning to wonder if I'd see Riley or Jeremy anytime soon.
It wasn't until Fin and I had decided to take a little break and sat down that I saw Riley. He came over to the table we were at and said happily, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you two! What're you doing sitting down?"
I was just about to say that we had gotten tired when the song changed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers Can't Stop. Riley's face lit up and he shouted, "I love this song!"
He grabbed both Fin and I by the elbow and dragged us back onto the dance floor. It really was a good song and I had fun dancing to it with Fin and Riley. After Can't Stop finished, another slow song came on. I turned to look at Fin and shrugged. "I'm going to sit down again," I said to her and Riley. Fin said she was coming with me and Riley said, "OK." I watched him as he walked away, and I watched as he asked a girl to slow dance with him.
I was crushed.
I nugded Fin and pointed and she said, "Oh Will, I'm so sorry," while wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
On our way to a table we were intercepted by Travis, who asked Fin to slow dance. She looked to me first and I said, "I'm fine, go." She gave me a parting hug before she went off with Travis.
I continued in the direction of the tables and that's when I saw Jeremy. He was sitting at a table, by himself and when he saw me he got up and walked towards me.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I replied. "I was wondering if I was gonna see you."
"That so?" I nodded. "You enjoying the evening?" he asked.
"So far, yeah. You?"
"Yeah," he said. He scratched his head as if he was nervous. "Will," he started, "do you wanna dance?"
The slow song must have been about half over. I looked to my left and saw Fin and Travis, I looked to my right and saw Riley and some girl. Then I looked back to Jeremy, standing right in front of me, smiled, and said, "Sure."
He smiled back and took me by the hand and led me away from the tables. Near the
middle of the dance floor he dropped my hand and placed his hands on my hips, leaving me to rest mine on his shoulders. We swayed and stepped to and fro, keeping air between our bodies but smiles on our faces. It was nice, dancing with Jeremy, because it wasn't awkward; it felt natural.
When the song ended, we took our hands off each other and I said, "Thanks for the dance."
"No problem, anytime," he responded.
"Time! What time is it?!" I demanded.
He glanced at his watch and told me it was almost 10:30.
"Oh crap," I said. "I've got to find Fin, her Mom's picking us up at 10:40. I-I'm sorry, I gotta go. But thanks, really, it made my night." I flashed my biggest smile and gave his hand a squeeze before running into the crowd to find my best friend.
Once I located her we made a mad dash to our lockers, to grab our bags since we'd never left the school. We made it out the front door just in time to see her Mom pull up.
We climbed in and caught our breath while Fin's Mom joked, "Dance a little too much, didja?"
We gave her the benefit of the doubt and just laughed along. The ride to Fin's house was pretty quiet, since I didn't want to say anything in front of her Mom. But Fin noticed the uncontrollable, goofy grin I had plastered onto my face. When we reached her house we both raced through the door, up the stairs and collapsed on her bed. Fin had told her parents that I'm gay, so they don't mind as much when I sleep over now. In the past they always made me sleep on the couch in the living room, and now I get to share Fin's queen sized bed.
"Okay," she said, "what's with the high-smile?" That's what she calls it when people are smiling and they look kind of high. I was just elated. I blushed and looked away. "I don't get it," she said, "we saw Riley dancing with a girl and now you're all happy" Tell me what happened!"
So I did. I told her how nervous Jeremy had looked, how soft his skin was, how gentle his touch was and how happy he'd looked when I'd squeezed his hand. She followed with a series of squealy sounds that I couldn't quite understand.
All through the evening, brushing our teeth, changing into our pajamas, and lying awake in her bed, she argued with me about asking out Riley or Jeremy. She though I should ask them both, my vote was neither. I kept saying that A) I was not too excited about asking anyone out, B) Riley, we'd learned, was apparently into girls and C) I don't have romantic feelings for Jeremy.
Her argument was that A) I'm really only scared of rejection, B)Riley could be bi (fingers crossed) and C) I probably could like Jeremy if I thought about it. And the more I thought about her arguments, and the more she said them, I couldn't help but think that she could be right. But I'll never tell her that.
It all started at the end of school, when the entire GSA (plus Fin) helped set up the decorations in the gym. It took about an hour and a half to do the streamers, posters, tables and everything, but it looked amazing. The decorating committee was really well organized.
Once that was done, I headed out of the gym with Fin and Riley because we'd agreed to grab a bite at the Harvey's across the street. I was stopped, however, by Jeremy, who asked where we were going. I told him Harvey's and before he could say anything, Fin asked if he wanted to join us.The next thing I knew, the four of us were sharing a booth in the restaurant. I sat beside Fin since I wouldn't have been able to choose between sitting beside Riley or Jeremy. The meal went pretty smoothly, with idle chatter amongst stuffing fries in our faces.
Once we got back to the school, Fin said she needed to change because the party was due to start in half an hour. So I went with her to her locker, giving a, "See you later," and a wave to Riley and Jeremy. Fin grabbed her bag of clothes to change into from her locker and I followed her so I could wait outside the girls' washroom for her.
So there I was, minding my own business outside the bathroom, when all of a sudden Fin pulls me inside.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked her.
"It's okay, it's empty," she said, before disappearing into a stall to change. When she came out she had on a pair of sleek, white, skinny pants, a dark purple top and a pair of orange high-tops. She looked great.
"Can you braid my hair?" she asked. So I started to do her hair and she said, "You've got to dance with him y'know."
Acting as if I was clueless, I answered, "Who?"
"Riley! It's so obvious how much you like him."
I decided not to even try denying it. "Yeah, but not to him. I don't even know if he's gay!"
"But if you ask him to dance, his answer will tell you what you need to know."
I put a hair elastic on the end of her braid and she turned to face me. "Look," I said, "I'm not asking him to dance. And before you can try to talk me into it, I'll be perfectly frank as to why; I'm scared shitless."
She smiled. "All right. Don't worry, I'll still dance with you."
I smiled back and said, "That's all I ask." Then we linked arms and walked out of the bathroom together.
Mr. Munroe and who I assumed was his husband, were at the gym door, greeting everyone and taking tickets. When Mr. Munroe took ours he gave us a grin and he patted my shoulder saying sincerely, "Have fun tonight."
When I walked into the gym I was amazed. It looked so much better with the house lights off and all the colored lights dancing off the walls. I stood there for a few seconds with my mouth agape before Fin grabbed my hand and we danced.
The first five or so songs were fast, and when a slow song came on, Fin didn't hesitate to grab my shoulders and sways with me. It was actually really fun becasue neither of us knew what we were doing and we kept tripping over each other's feet. The dance continued in this pattern, a couple fast songs with one or two slow ones in between.
After me and Fin's third slow dance I was beginning to wonder if I'd see Riley or Jeremy anytime soon.
It wasn't until Fin and I had decided to take a little break and sat down that I saw Riley. He came over to the table we were at and said happily, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you two! What're you doing sitting down?"
I was just about to say that we had gotten tired when the song changed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers Can't Stop. Riley's face lit up and he shouted, "I love this song!"
He grabbed both Fin and I by the elbow and dragged us back onto the dance floor. It really was a good song and I had fun dancing to it with Fin and Riley. After Can't Stop finished, another slow song came on. I turned to look at Fin and shrugged. "I'm going to sit down again," I said to her and Riley. Fin said she was coming with me and Riley said, "OK." I watched him as he walked away, and I watched as he asked a girl to slow dance with him.
I was crushed.
I nugded Fin and pointed and she said, "Oh Will, I'm so sorry," while wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
On our way to a table we were intercepted by Travis, who asked Fin to slow dance. She looked to me first and I said, "I'm fine, go." She gave me a parting hug before she went off with Travis.
I continued in the direction of the tables and that's when I saw Jeremy. He was sitting at a table, by himself and when he saw me he got up and walked towards me.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I replied. "I was wondering if I was gonna see you."
"That so?" I nodded. "You enjoying the evening?" he asked.
"So far, yeah. You?"
"Yeah," he said. He scratched his head as if he was nervous. "Will," he started, "do you wanna dance?"
The slow song must have been about half over. I looked to my left and saw Fin and Travis, I looked to my right and saw Riley and some girl. Then I looked back to Jeremy, standing right in front of me, smiled, and said, "Sure."
He smiled back and took me by the hand and led me away from the tables. Near the
middle of the dance floor he dropped my hand and placed his hands on my hips, leaving me to rest mine on his shoulders. We swayed and stepped to and fro, keeping air between our bodies but smiles on our faces. It was nice, dancing with Jeremy, because it wasn't awkward; it felt natural.
When the song ended, we took our hands off each other and I said, "Thanks for the dance."
"No problem, anytime," he responded.
"Time! What time is it?!" I demanded.
He glanced at his watch and told me it was almost 10:30.
"Oh crap," I said. "I've got to find Fin, her Mom's picking us up at 10:40. I-I'm sorry, I gotta go. But thanks, really, it made my night." I flashed my biggest smile and gave his hand a squeeze before running into the crowd to find my best friend.
Once I located her we made a mad dash to our lockers, to grab our bags since we'd never left the school. We made it out the front door just in time to see her Mom pull up.
We climbed in and caught our breath while Fin's Mom joked, "Dance a little too much, didja?"
We gave her the benefit of the doubt and just laughed along. The ride to Fin's house was pretty quiet, since I didn't want to say anything in front of her Mom. But Fin noticed the uncontrollable, goofy grin I had plastered onto my face. When we reached her house we both raced through the door, up the stairs and collapsed on her bed. Fin had told her parents that I'm gay, so they don't mind as much when I sleep over now. In the past they always made me sleep on the couch in the living room, and now I get to share Fin's queen sized bed.
"Okay," she said, "what's with the high-smile?" That's what she calls it when people are smiling and they look kind of high. I was just elated. I blushed and looked away. "I don't get it," she said, "we saw Riley dancing with a girl and now you're all happy" Tell me what happened!"
So I did. I told her how nervous Jeremy had looked, how soft his skin was, how gentle his touch was and how happy he'd looked when I'd squeezed his hand. She followed with a series of squealy sounds that I couldn't quite understand.
All through the evening, brushing our teeth, changing into our pajamas, and lying awake in her bed, she argued with me about asking out Riley or Jeremy. She though I should ask them both, my vote was neither. I kept saying that A) I was not too excited about asking anyone out, B) Riley, we'd learned, was apparently into girls and C) I don't have romantic feelings for Jeremy.
Her argument was that A) I'm really only scared of rejection, B)Riley could be bi (fingers crossed) and C) I probably could like Jeremy if I thought about it. And the more I thought about her arguments, and the more she said them, I couldn't help but think that she could be right. But I'll never tell her that.
♠ ♠ ♠
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