Jagged Edges

Aside from when I picked Sabrina up this morning, I haven't been to anybodies house since Amren's suicide attempt. I never imagined that a sleepover could be so nerve wracking. Gian gives me directions to his house from the passengers seat of my car, Sabrina and Ivy in the back. Bradley and the rest of the crew follow behind in his car.

The street they live on is lined with absurdly huge houses. He points to a particularly impressive home, claiming it as his own, and I pull into the brick driveway. Gian leads the way inside, calling to his parents that we're here before giving the grand tour.

I follow the swing of his hips through the foyer, living room, family room, den, dinning room, his room and L'vons room. The house is literally spotless, something I later learn is a direct result of having a military dad.

Mr. Vercillian greets us as we re-enter the living room. I follow Bradley's example and introduce myself, noticing with vast interest that his eyebrows raise in a surprised way that suggest it's more than just my name that intrigues him. He excuses himself after he's met everyone, saying that the burgers won't grill themselves. Which is true. They won't.

L'von suggests that everyone wait outside which is just fine with me since they have a trampoline. Mrs. Vercillian props open the double doors and puts on some music that captures the beginning of autumn feeling perfectly. I notice that Skipper is avoiding me as much as possible, choosing to dip her feet in the pool instead of hopping up on the trampoline with the rest of us which is also just fine with me because she gets on my nerves quite a lot.

About an hour passes before we're told to go inside to wash up which is excellent because my legs kinda hurt from jumping and my stomach kinda hurts from laughing. And I'm kinda hungry. L'von points me in the direction of the bathroom and for that I'm grateful because I was sure to get lost on my own. Plus, the soap smells awesome.

On my way out something catches my eye on the wall of the hallway. Upon further examination I realize that it's a picture of the Vercillian family on a beach somewhere. Gian and L'von are only about four years younger and are both smiling happily. Gian sits perched on his dads impressively muscular shoulders just like a little kid with a ridiculously big hat on his head. His mom stands to the right, looking up at her husband lovingly with her hand on L'vons shoulder. He's kneeling next to an impressive sand castle and squinting into the camera proudly. The family looks so happy and it kind of makes me jealous. This is how a family should be.

The picture next to it is of a younger Gian next to a classically dressed Mickey Mouse. The younger boy looks stunned and happy, as if the weight of the world has been taken of his shoulders. I can't help but smile at the captured moment.

"That was the first time I ever came out to anyone." Gian seems to come from nowhere and startles me slightly. "Mickey was very understanding."

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," He smiles. "I figured that if Mickey Mouse could accept me then so could my family. And they did."

We stay quiet for a while and I ponder the information he just gave me. A blind man could see how gay Gian is but the revelation of how it happened, how he came out, makes me feel kind of special that I know and I lot of other people don't."

"Dinner!" Mr. Vercillians booming voice calls, breaking the bubble of calm that had surrounded us. Gian beams.

"Dad makes the best burgers, I swear."

He leads the way back outside and we slide into the remaining two seats around the patio table. Gian wasn't lying about he burgers and as soon as they're gone I wish they weren't. It soon turns dark and Mrs. Vercillian ushers everyone inside, pointing us in the direction of the living room and saying goodnight before retiring to her room with her husband. 

I fetch mine and Sabrinas bags from my car so we can change into our pajamas, or in my case sweatpants and T-shirt. As soon as everyone's ready for bed we decide to stay up all night. This is a sleepover, after all, which apparently means absolutely no sleeping at all. The last sleepover I went to was when I was eight and my friends mom was hell bent on an early bed time so this is all fairly new to me. 

First it's a movie that nobody pays attention to. Then it's truth or dare which turns bad as soon as Bradley asks Ivy if she takes meds. She got really fucking offended and threatened to shave his head while he was sleeping and tattoo a bulls-eye on his head so that the aliens would know which human to harvest first. Needless to say, we switched to spin the bottle shortly after. That only lasted about five minutes until Skipper spun Bradley three times in a row. After that we just gave up, turned the lights off, and crawled under blankets. Girls on the left. Boys on the right.

By this time it's almost three in the morning and everyone is dead tired. I'm the only one still awake ten minutes after the last of the chatter dies and I can't seem to catch even the slightest hope of sleep. Gian is breathing softly on my right and L'von is snoring loudly on my left. Suddenly, I remember the trampoline outside and slip out from under the the covers carefully so as not to disturb the others.

The doors creek open softly and I close them before the sounds of the night could wake anybody. The trampoline groans slightly under my weight and I simply lay out, staring at the intensity of  the stars' light.  

Tonight has been . . . more than expected. I don't mean that in a bad way. Gian has been more than friendly and that makes me glad I made the decision to be his friend. Personally, I think we're off to a good start. At least, I hope we are. I don't really have much experience in this department.

"Treason? What're you doing out here?" Gian's voice comes out of nowhere again and he tears my attention away from the stars.

"Just chilling out." I shrug, leaning up on my elbows.

"Mind if I chill with you?" He asks adorably.

I nod and pat the space next to me, watching him climb up with a little difficulty and settling by my side. 

"Are you having a good time?" He asks after a while.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you invited me." I say softly. "I generally don't get invited out."

"Really? Why? You're awesome." He says through a yawn.

I laugh and shake my head. "You're probably the only one who thinks so. I don't have many friends if you haven't noticed."

His hand finds my knee and he squeezes gently. "You have me."

I look at him and smile widely. "Thank you. I really need a friend." 

Suddenly his lips are on my cheek in a light, barely there kiss. "I know." Gian smiles again and bounces to the edge of the trampoline. "We should go back inside. Dad plans on getting us up in approximately six hours but he's making us breakfast so that'll be great."

"Okay, yeah." I hop off too and follow him inside, laying down beside him and finally finding the will to sleep.

Knowing that I have a friend in Gian makes me feel calm and at peace. What is it about this boy that makes me want to disregard everything I've know for the past five years?