What I'd Never Tell Him

The arcade section of the pizzeria dinged and binged obnoxiously as they continued to eat their pizzas. Cam glanced up, spying for a few seconds on Oli who quickly munched down on his anchovy pizza. He felt a small tug towards him, but he assumed he just liked the fact that they both liked this fishy piece of Italian heaven.

His body buzzed sitting by Oli, he felt more alert. Maybe that was just because of his lack of trust for the boy, though he thought he had gotten over that. Either way, something was different about the guy in front of him, as Oli glanced up. They locked eyes awkwardly, and Oli’s face contorted as if going to say a snappy comeback, but Cam glanced away before he could finish thinking about it.

He didn’t want them to go back to the way they were.

He couldn’t help but feel mixed feelings toward this boy, especially because he knew the other male had mixed feelings right back. They were friends now but who would say they didn’t hate each other the next day? That’s probably why he felt so on edge. Yeah…that was is.

Either way, the awkwardness of the stare still lingered in the air, as Cam cleared his throat, offering a sound, apart from the hustle and bustle around them, for the silence to cling on.

“What do you think of California?” Cam asked, shooting the boy a friendly smile as he cemented over the tenseness of the moments before. Thankfully, Oli went with it as he continued.

“It’s alright. It’s much sunnier here than I excepted.” Oli stated, his voice ringing in Cam’s ears as he tried to get his mind off how slick his voice was. What the hell was Cam’s problem?

Mentally shaking his head, he forced himself to check out a group of girls near the counter. “Better girls though, am I right?” Cam teased, nodding to the girls of swooning tourists. With a laugh, he shrugged.

“As least they aren’t trying to stick their titties out at us.” Oli joked, as they erupted into laughs again. This reason is why they got along and Cam actually really liked it.

Cam nodded with a laugh. “Very true. They’re not actually like the house wives shows that you see on television. It’s much more like those fancy cop shows, arresting college kids.” Cam chuckled, with a shrug.

Oli cocked his head as he listened. “I have yet to see one of those famous shows.” Oli stated with a curious look on his face. Cam quickly made the decision, wondering if it would be too far, but he quickly realized, that he didn’t care.

“I have pretty good channels over at my place, if you want we could catch a few episodes. We’re never going to finish two pizza pies now anyway, might as well finish it over some good bad-assness.” Cam teased, with a small smile, hoping this isn’t crossing the line.

It took Oli a moment to respond (due to a mouthful of anchovies), but that moment was long enough for Cam to regret his offer. Last thing he needed was Oli flipping out again. He didn’t know why he hated it too much, people were almost constantly mad at him anyway, but this one felt more personal. That was Oli for you, it always seemed as though he could see right through you.

Oli abruptly got up, packaging his pizza, and turning to the door. Cam quickly scrambled towards him. “W-wait, you didn’t have too, we could of just hung around here, unless you have somewhere to be. Then you wouldn’t have to stay at all, of course.” Cam quickly stammered out, blushing, feeling embarrassed for his response, embarrassed for his invite, and most importantly, embarrassed for his embarrassment.

Oli turned towards Cam, raising his eyebrows. There was a smirk, which was obviously attempted to be hidden, snagging at his lips. “I got up because I assumed we were going to your house.” Oli stated, his voice amused and his eyes dancing. The embarrassment only worsened, but he did feel relieved.

“Oh right…of course. It’s only about five minutes away.” Cam quickly recovered, grabbing his pizza box and heading down the street with Oli. He couldn’t help feeling awkward about the whole situation, and his mind swarmed with questions.

Why was he acting like this? He couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe he was getting sick and acting delusional. There was a feeling in his stomach that made him feel sick, but it could also be mistaken for butterflies. What the hell? No, it was probably just nausea for eating half a pie, and then laughing too hard. Plus, it was a hot day and the heat and stress from work was probably getting too him. Yeah, that had to be it because that’s all it could be.

“It’s right around this corner.” Cam couldn’t help but narrate, as Oli examined the houses. He felt slightly cocky about his choice of neighborhood. You could hear the ocean, you were that close. The pavement has grains of sand in the crevices, after years and years of beach bums trekking up and down.

“And this, here, is my house.” Cam stated, gesturing widely towards his home, which was white and large. The grass was green and the walk ways were paved with clean sand. With a proud smile, he turned to Oli, only to find Oli’s eyes trained on the house next door. It had gone up for sale a couple months back and it had yet to find an owner.

It took Cam a moment to realize that Oli was not staring at the house, but instead at the car in front of the house. “Who is that? Do you know them?” Cam questioned, but his question was quickly answered as the group of boys walked out of the front door. One that Cam remembered as Jordan had a key in hand, waving it obnoxiously.

“Look, Oli! It’s our house!” Jordan yelled, as Cam’s eyes widened, mirroring Oli’s. They were moving in…right next door.