We’ll Be Young Forever

Kellin didn’t know how he found himself sitting in a stranger’s living room with Kailey by his right side clinging to his hand while other children laughed and played around them. He knew it was not a good idea to come, but after Vic begged his parents they eventually gave in, realizing that maybe Kellin being with his best friend would make him feel comfortable enough to talk to other children. But they were completely wrong.

As soon as they got there, Mike and Vic ran to congratulate Jaime. Vic explained earlier that they went to school together in different grades, but somehow ended up hanging out a lot and became close friends. Jaime’s house was just a few blocks away from the Fuentes’, and that could explain a lot how their friendship had grown so much.

Kellin knew he shouldn’t get jealous of the other boy because after all, the relationship Vic and him shared was unbreakable, but it was impossible not to get a bit upset. Practically he had flown all the way from Michigan to hang out with Vic and as soon as the spiked haired boy appeared in the map, he got ditched.

Suddenly a shy looking boy sat on his left side, too engrossed while playing by himself with two Star Wars action figures to even entice Kellin. The boy had dark brown eyes and hair, face rounded and he was slightly tanned. Not as tanned as Vic was but still, you could tell he was mexican too. Kellin kept his gaze locked on the boy until the stranger looked up and caught the blue eyed boy's gaze, showing a shy toothy smile that made his eyes wrinkle. Kellin returned the smile brightly, feeling a bit self conscious since he had lost his front tooth about a week ago, but it seemed like the other didn't mind at all.

"Hey, do you want to play with me?" The other kid asked, handing Kellin the darkest action figure. If he was right, that was Darth Vader. Kellin instantly nodded and sat crossed leg on the sofa, managing to make his sister as comfortable as he could, the three year old toddler just switched stares from her brother to the unknown boy before deciding she liked him. With Kellin facing the brown eyed boy and his sister watching them both, they started to play.

A few hours had passed before the oldest brother of the Fuentes remembered the blue eyed boy and his sister, who had accompanied them to the party and it wasn’t until Mike asked about him that he searched for them. Vic approached the sofa, where he saw the blond mop of hair he’d recognize anywhere and sauntered over there.

His face showed slight surprise when he noticed his friend was not alone, but playing with other boy he recognized all too well and he couldn't help but smile happily at the scene unfolding right in front of his eyes.

“Hey guys.” Vic called, attracting both boys’ stares to his face. “I see you already met Tony.” The oldest said to Kellin, who gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm Tony, but you can call me Turtle." The stranger introduced himself to Kellin, who smiled once a look of a realization flashed his features.

"I'm Kellin." The blue eyed boy answered, nodding his head and smiling again. "This is my sister Kailey." The toddler smiled brightly at the mention of her name, her eyes darting among the three boys.

“So, Jaime’s mom says it’s time to break the piñata so we’re all going outside.” Vic commented after a couple seconds of awkward silence. Everyone looked around at each other, Tony settled for shrugging and went to stand by Vic. Then both of them turned on their heel and ran to the back door, leaving Kellin behind to deal with his little sister, who clung to his hand for support since her little chubby legs weren’t stable enough yet, making her stumble easily.

Once the siblings arrived to the backyard, Kellin instantly felt out of place as every children there seemed to know each other somehow, making chit chat among themselves, laughing and playing. But what caught his attention the most were the four mexican boys standing right next to a cheerful woman who Jaime resembled very much, specially because of the deep dimples that formed on her cheeks whenever she smiled brightly while her hands moved around while she spoke. Definitely Jaime’s mom.

Vic watched from the corner of his eye how out of place both blue eyed children seemed standing right in middle of the crowd, looking everywhere amazed. So he just santaured his way over there and stood right in front of Kellin who looked at him with his big innocent eyes.

"Hey, come over, I promise they don't bite." Vic said with a small smile on his lips, pointing with his thumb where his friends were talking.

Kellin hesitated for a while, switching his stare from Vic to his friends before he felt a small tug on his hand. Looking down, he met his little sister's bright blue eyes twinkling, a small smile on her lips too. Eventually the pale boy sighed and nodded to Vic. The oldest smiled brighter and walked back with both siblings trailing behind him.

When they reached the other males, Vic noticed the way Kellin was eyeing Jaime and viceversa. He then remembered that neither of them had been introduced to each other formally.

"Jaime, this is Kellin." Vic said, removing the curious stare the hyper boy was giving his best friend to him. "Kellin, this is Jaime."

"Hi Kellin." The ever smiling boy said the blue eyed boy, who smiled shyly at him but Jaime didn’t mind. Instead, he walked right next to Kellin and snaked his arm around the shorter’s shoulders. “I think we’re gonna be really good friends.” He said in a really sincere voice. Kellin doubted that could be possible seeing how their personalities collided but he instantly found a liking towards the boy and nodded happily.

About thirty minutes later and after more talking among the group of boys, mainly Jaime and Tony asking Kellin how had he met the Fuentes; they were all standing in line to hit the piñata. Jaime was bouncing up and down, anxiously awaiting for his turn while one of the small children tried to reach the piñata and the rest chanted.

“Dale, dale, dale. No pierdas el tino porque si lo pierdes, pierdes el camino. Ya le diste uno, ya le diste dos, ya le diste tres y tu tiempo se acabó.”

After everyone had erupted in clapping, the small boy handed the baseball bat to Jaime’s mom with a pout on his face and walked right next to, who Kellin assumed, was his own mom. His blue eyes curiously ranked the child’s features. He was small ginger, pale and somehow really shy, clinging to his mom’s waist like his life depended on it. It wasn’t until the brown eyed boy locked eyes with Kellin that he tore his gaze away.

“Alright, who’s next?” Mrs. Preciado asked, her dark brown eyes darting among all the children and instantly landing on Kellin’s small figure. Vic instantly noticed and pushed his best friend’s shoulders encouragingly, only earning a glare from the blue eyed boy. “Oh, I see Jaime’s new friend is taking up next.”

And really, Kellin had no other choice but to stand in middle of the circle not having an idea of what they were singing and trying to hit the circular piñata Jaime’s dad kept moving up and down to make him miss. After all the nerves had disappeared, he found himself smiling while jumping up and down and he dreaded the moment he had to hand the bat back.

“That was really nice Kels.” Vic said once the smaller boy came back to his friends. “I mean, for being your first time hitting a piñata, it was really nice.”

Kellin mumbled what sounded like a “thanks” and then resumed to watch the rest of the children hit the object. Tony, Mike and Vic passing until it was Jaime’s turn. Obviously, being the one celebrating his birthday, his dad let him hit the object with all the force he could muster and in what seemed like seconds; the bottom part of the object cracked, a rain of candy falling to the ground.

Kellin was in awe to what he was seeing and it wasn’t until he snapped out of his thoughts that he noticed all the candy were gone. He looked at his friends who were coming back from the gathering with a huge bag of candy each and smiled weakly. He was too engrossed talking to the other boys about how cool his first mexican birthday party was to notice what Vic was doing.

Vic noticed the way Kellin’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes so his own smile faltered and it wasn’t until his eyes scanned Kellin’s hands that he noticed he and his sister had not gotten any candy. Sighing, Vic’s hand reached down to his own bag full of candy while his tongue poked out from the corner of his mouth and chose the best, he then approached Mrs. Preciado and asked for an extra bag, which she handed immediately. The small mexican made his back to his friends as Jaime’s mom watched the way Vic walked to Jaime’s new friend, whose blue eyes sparkled when he saw the amount of candy his best friend was handing him and his sister.

She looked from far away the way Kellin threw himself at Vic’s arms, closing his eyes while resting his head on Vic’s shoulder and she couldn’t help but feel a small warmth spreading through her body. Those two boys were the cutest thing ever and no one could deny it.