Lawn Boy

I called Shane at home to see if he wanted to come see the movie with us. He didn’t want to. I was curious to know what was actually up with him, but I obviously had to put it aside for another time.
At the movies, we were all in line to buy our tickets when I spotted Jamie. He was in line at the other box office—alone.
“I’ll be back,” I said to Asher. I walked over to Jamie. “Hey you,” I said with a smile.
“Hey gorgeous,” he said and smiled back. He put his arms around me in a loose hug.
“Are you here alone?” I asked.
“Um, no I’m gonna meet some friends. Who’re you here with?”
“Just a couple of friends—we’re gonna see that zombie movie.”
“Oh right,” he said. “I saw that one. It’s good.” He smiled. “So you’re here with Asher?”
“And a couple of friends,” I said.
“But Asher, too right?”
“Yeah, but—“
“Isn’t that cute,” he said bitterly.
“Look, I’m not the one who’s going out with your sister and buying her jewelry.” He had a look on his face like he’d gotten caught. “Besides, I thought we’d decided that what happened between us wasn’t gonna be a big thing. We’re both seeing other people and it’s totally okay. Right?”
“Right,” he answered.
There was an awkward silence between us, but I broke it. “Look, it was hard for me to choose between you and Asher. I really liked you, Jamie. But you can’t have me and Rebecca.”
With that, I turned around and left. I rejoined Asher.
“Was that Jamie?” Asher asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Oh,” he said unsurely.
I kissed him on the cheek. “I just walked over to say hi.”
“It looked at little more intense than that.”
“Things with Jamie and me are usually a little more intense,” I said. “But it’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“I care about you and...” Asher pulled me aside to a corner where we could have a private conversation. “Max, I care about you and I want this relationship to go somewhere. Telling me that I don’t need to worry about a guy that could potentially come between us isn’t exactly helping my situation.”
“Situation?”
“I’m new to all of this, Max. I’m not used to feeling this way about anybody, much less about a guy. Seeing you with a guy who you admitted to liking and who noticeably likes you doesn’t really help these feelings that I’m having.”
“I’m sorry, Ash. I don’t know what you want me to do.”
“I want you to tell me that you wanna be with me, but if that’s not what you want then just go and be with Jamie.”
“How many times do I have to tell you this?” I asked closing in on him. “I want to be…” I kissed him gently on the lips. “…with you.”
“Hey, you two girl stop making out already,” called Peter. “We’re next.”
I turned to look at Peter and then back at Asher. “Are we okay?”
He smiled. “Yeah,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he pecked me a soft kiss. “I’m sure.”
Asher and I got a few looks as we walked back to line. They weren’t dirty looks, but more curious. I guess they’d never seen a gay couple so young or, I don’t know what else to think. Couple? Were Asher and I couple now? I think the conversation we’d just had confirmed it. I really like this kid. He’s amazing. There’s no other word for it. But I still can’t get the way that Jamie made me feel out of my head either.
The way Asher makes me feel and the way Jamie makes me feel are two totally different feelings. There’s really no comparing them. Asher makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and he makes me feel pure happiness. Jamie on the other hand makes me feel alive and in the moment. He makes my heart beat fast like nothing else can. He makes me shake. He makes me nervous and my knees weak. All I have to do is look at him and I turn to jelly.
We walked into the movie theater and it was almost packed, but we luckily found a spot where all of us could sit. I saw between Kelly and Asher and on the other side of Asher were Lupe and Peter on the end.
Asher took my hand and my heart jumped in a good way; a very good way. We shared the arm rest and as the trailers started, shared popcorn. The popcorn was halfway finished by the time the movie started. But as the movie started, Asher’s grip became tighter. I looked at him and his face was childlike and fearful. I smiled.
“Ash, are you scared?” I asked in a whisper.
He looked at me and whispered, “I don’t like scary movies.”
“You’re so cute,” I whispered back.
I lifted up the arm rest and put my arm around him. He cuddled into me, biting his nails as we watched the movie. Every time some zombie would pop out or a noise would burst through the theater like a gunshot or a crash, he’d jump and hold onto me tighter.
When the movie ended, I could feel the tension in his body fly away. The lights came on and we all waited for the crowd to walk out of the theater.
“Well, I’m starving. Popcorn doesn’t do shit for me,” said Peter. “You guys wanna grab a bite?”
“I killed all my cash on the movie,” I said.
“I’ll pay,” Asher told me.
“Isn’t that cute,” Peter mocked. “Are we gonna eat or not?”
“I guess,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Why did Peter ask me as if I he was asking permission? If I didn’t wanna go, wouldn’t the group just go without me? I did bring my own car after all. I don’t know and didn’t feel like spending time thinking about such miniscule subjects.
Anyway, we all drove to the nearest burger place; The Big Kahuna Burger. The hostess sat as at one of the massive vinyl booths that sits like eight people, even though we were only five. Kelly sat in the middle and the two “sort of” couple sat at the ends. Ever since the pool, Peter and Lupe have been all over each other. But I guess I have no room to talk. Asher and I can’t really keep our hands off of each other either.
“So what’ll it be?” asked our server. He was a tall, built guy with dark hair and tanned skin. I wouldn’t be surprised if my mouth was wide open in shock of how beautiful he was.
Peter ordered a double cheeseburger. Lupe ordered half of a pastrami sandwich. Kelly ordered a chicken Caesar salad. Ash ordered a bacon cheeseburger. I ordered the California burger which consisted of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.
The waiter left and my mouth might now have been wide open, but it must’ve been obvious at how much I thought the server was gorgeous. He just reminded me of the guys back home.
“You can stop drooling now,” said Asher.
“Sorry, but he was HOT,” I said, looking at the server as he walked away.
Asher turned my head to him. “Yeah, but you’re mine and I’m not sharing.”
“Come on Ash,” said Peter. “Sharing is caring,” he said jokingly.
We all giggled. “No, Pete—Asher is right. I wouldn’t wanna share Ash either,” I said.
Asher and I quickly pecked.
“And what’s up with you ordering the California burger?” Peter asked. “You miss home or something?”
“I do still miss California,” I said. “But Oregon is looking up,” I said looking at Asher with a smile.
“Gosh, you guy are so in love it’s making me sick,” said Pete, sarcastically.
I had to back track for a minute. Did he just say in love? Who said anything about love? I’m certainly not in love. Am I? I mean I just met Asher. I can’t be in love this soon. Gosh, this day just keeps getting more and more complicated.