That's All That Matters

Dale stared in both amazement and horror at the woman on the cover of the porn magazine Eric was currently showing off. The far too large breasted creature was sitting in an odd position, legs spread and chest puffed out. Her breasts were huge. Dale wondered how it was possible for someone to have tits that big. Was it even gravitationally possible to hold those up? Were they real? There was no way they were real.

With a huge grin, Eric held out the magazine that caught the attention of about every boy at the lunch table. They gathered around him in awe, asking where he had managed to get it. Dale’s eyes shifted to the blonde who was also staring at the magazine. He couldn’t help but watch his reactions.

Ty was flushing slightly at the sight of the girls. He bit his lip while his eyes darted about the lunchroom in an attempt to see if anyone had caught on to what the boys were looking at. When he realized no one was really paying attention to them he returned to looking at the girls. Ty, however, was much more embarrassed than the others. He couldn’t stare for too long before getting too embarrassed. He’d look over to Dale to see the boy smirking at him. Dale’s smirk made Ty only blush more before he finally couldn’t take it anymore and went to eating his lunch while doing his best to ignore the magazine.

“Found it in my brothers room the other night,” Eric replied as he flipped through the book showing one naked woman after the other. Ty’s cheeks got brighter in color after every flip of the page. It seemed the farther they got into the magazine the less the girls wore and the more interested the boys became. Ty had gotten to the point that he couldn’t look but even without looking the boy was embarrassed.

Dale held back a snort. Dale wasn’t at all interested in their conversations about the magazine. He rarely ever was. Unlike the others he didn’t find himself curious or turned on by the girls, no matter how many different types of girls Eric attempted to show him or the others.

Dale looked away quickly to the homework he was working on; occasionally he glanced at the blonde beside him who, in his opinion, was the real beauty. However, Dale wasn’t able to avoid the conversation about the girls like he had hoped. Eric, who was always open and curious about how the others felt about his findings, looked to his uninterested friend and asked, “Which do you like Dale?”

Dale looked away from his book to be assaulted by yet another picture of a woman with abnormally large breasts. This one however had an abnormally large ass as well. He tilted his head at the picture wondering how the guys found her so interesting. He didn’t find her all the attractive. Her face was ok and her body was unrealistic. He bet half of it was done by plastic surgery.

Ty managed to work up the courage to look at the picture as well. He too wasn’t really interested in the woman. Rather he was interested on his best friends answer.

“The…one on the front,” Dale replied and pushed to the front of the page to reveal the first girl he had seen, hoping to end the conversation as soon as he could. He hated getting brought into the talks of girls with the guys. Dale was never sure what to say or how to react because honestly…he wasn’t sure how he felt.

Ty suddenly felt annoyed like he didn’t want Dale looking at the magazine. He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, which caught his best friends attention. Dale cocked a curious brow that Ty ignored. The blonde bit his lip to keep himself from pouting. Why was he annoyed? Dale had only answered Eric’s question.

Dale was allowed to find the girl attractive. She wasn’t that bad but..it annoyed him. He just wanted to rip the magazine up and toss it in the trash.

Lunch ended and Dale felt relieved to get away from the porn magazines. Ty too was happy to be rid of it seeing as every time Eric would show Dale a picture he felt weird. He didn’t like Dale looking at them and he wasn’t sure why. He couldn’t tell Eric to stop showing off the pictures either. What reason would he give? Because for some reason it annoyed him when Dale looked at naked women. That would just be a crazy reason.

Ty, too lost in his own thoughts, began to grumble angrily to himself. Dale watched, amused, as the boys lips mouthed a few hateful words that was directed towards no one particularly. Chuckling, Dale tapped the blonde’s shoulder. Ty, not expecting it, jumped and looked to his chuckling friend with wide eyes.

“W-What?” Ty sputtered. His cheeks brightened as he began to panic. Had he said any of that out loud?

“You’re mumbling to yourself,” Dale replied around his signature smirk that only flustered Ty more. He didn’t want Dale to see how annoyed he truly was. Mainly because the blonde wasn’t sure why he was so annoyed to begin with. “You ok?”

Ty nodded and opted to change the conversation as soon as possible. However, someone beat him to it.

Mallory Baldwin, a pretty red head that shared the same class as the boys appeared before them. Ty nearly ran into her if not for Dale who caught his arm in time to keep him from knocking her down. Though Ty was smaller than most of the boys he was certainly bigger than little Mallory who somehow didn’t even notice the almost collision with Ty. She was too concentrated on Dale.

“Hi Dale,” she said happily as she lightly swung from side to side.

Ty awkwardly stood at his friends’ side; unsure of what to do seeing Mallory was there. The blonde was no fool or at least he liked to think so. Mallory had been showing interest in his friend for some time now. She’d pop up out of nowhere, insisting on spending time with the boy. Ty always felt in the way when she was around but he hated the idea of leaving them alone. Something about Mallory just irked him.

“Hello Mallory,” Dale replied with a soft smile. Mallory never really bothered him but he didn’t consider the girl a friend either. Sometimes she felt like an annoyance though seeing as she always tried butting into his time with Ty.

“I’m having my 13th birthday party this Saturday at noon. Do you think you could make it? A few other kids from our class will be there and that’s it,” Mallory asked around a hopeful smile. She bit her lip in anticipation while Ty bit his in worry.

Ty wasn’t invited, which meant Dale would go alone. Well not alone seeing as she said their classmates would be there but Ty wouldn’t be there and that’s what bothered him.

“I’ll ask. I’m sure we could make it,” Dale replied, looking to Ty for an answer. The blonde looked as confused as Mallory.

Ty pointed to himself and asked in confusion, “We?”

Dale nodded and looked back to Mallory to ask, “What? Can Ty not come?”

Mallory’s mouth gaped like a fish as she tried to think of an answer. Her green eyes went to Ty and seemed to plead with him to say he didn’t want to come. She knew, however, that the boys were close and if she said Ty couldn’t come Dale wouldn’t even think about coming let alone ever talk to her again.

After a few moments of both Ty and Mallory sputtering like idiots, the girl finally managed to answer, “Uh…no, he-he can come too…if he wants.” She looked to him again as if to say say you don’t want to go.

Normally Ty was all for making others happy. He liked doing favors for other people but…for some reason he couldn’t do that for Mallory. He didn’t want her around Dale anymore than she already was so he smiled and said, “I can ask my parents too. I’m sure t-they won’t care.”

Dale smiled while Mallory seemed appalled by the idea of Ty coming. However, she smiled again when Dale turned back to face her and told him her number and how to get to the house. She left afterwards, making sure to throw Ty a glare behind Dale’s back that made the boys spine shiver.

“A birthday party that should be fun. Nothing wrong with free cake!” Dale said, somehow completely oblivious to what had gone on.

Ty forced a smile as he thought to himself, this is going to suck.

~

And suck it did.

Though Mallory did invite their other classmates none of them were ones that spoke much to Ty or vice versa. Dale, always being the more sociable of the two, had no problem conversing with the other kids that weren’t really part of their ‘clique,’ while Ty suffered silently.

Dale never left his friends side and did his best to help him with conversation but Ty wasn’t the type to break out of his shell easily. The blonde would laugh at a joke or say a word or two here and there but he didn’t speak unless spoken to and continued to stare while the others played games.

Ty thought he could make it through this party…until Mallory decided on a new game, one that both the boys and girls could play. Ty should have seen it coming. It’s a birthday party classic.

“All right, it’s time for truth or dare!” Mallory declared as she gestured for everyone to form a circle. They all did as they were told and soon the circle of torture, as Ty decided to call it, was formed.

Ty wasn’t at all worried about what he’d have to do seeing as he doubted many people would pick on him. If he were picked it’d probably simply be out of pity since he’d hardly done anything all night. It was Dale he most worried about. Dale, who was popular and cool and mostly likely to be picked during the game. Ty wanted to go home. Now.

“I’ll start!” one of Mallory’s friends declared and the game begun.

It wasn’t so bad at first. Eric was dared to lick some dirt off the floor. One of the girls had to tell her most embarrassing story. Another had to eat a strange concoction of food that we all helped to make, which must have been disgusting seeing as he spat it out into the trash in an instant. Ty actually managed to laugh a few times during the game but all good things have to end.

“Mallory,” one of the girls, Rosa, said pointing to the birthday girl. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare!” Mallory declared but soon became worried when Rosa smiled sinisterly. Rosa looked to her friend beside her who began giggling before she even stated the dare.

“I dare you to kiss Dale on the lips for no less than ten seconds!” Rosa held up both hands and wiggled each finger to emphasize the ten seconds bits. Mallory’s cheeks rose in color, as did a few of the other kids who began snickering and cooing. Eric made some strange wolf call and looked to Dale with a grin.

Ty, on the other hand, was eternally panicking. Everyone seemed so pumped by the idea of the two kissing. Some of the guys were even cheering Dale on, patting his shoulder as they said how lucky he was. Ty was too sick to even look at his friend. He wasn’t sure if he could.

What if he looked over and saw him smiling? What if Dale was excited about the idea of kissing Mallory as the other guys? The thought made Ty’s stomach churn. He couldn’t watch as Mallory slowly got up from her spot and came to Dale’s side.

Ty’s hands fisted into his jeans as he tried his best not to look to his left where Dale was sitting. The boy could feel Mallory near him now. He couldn’t do it so silently he pushed himself away, pretending to give the space to Mallory who happily took it.

Dale looked oddly at his friend who got up and exited the room without grabbing anyone else’s attention since they were so focused on watching the possible kiss between their friends.

Ty walked as slowly and quietly as he could down the stairs and to the front lawn where he used his mother’s cell that she let him use for the night to call her.

“Is the party already over? So soon?” She asked, confused that her boy was calling her only a few hours after the birthday party started.

Ty shook his head as if she could see him. “No, I’m not feeling very well. I think I ate too much.” Ty rarely lied. He never had a reason to but how could he explain to his mother that he left because he got sick at the sight of Dale kissing a girl?

Ty’s mother was on her way. Mallory’s parents came out to check on the boy, asking if he was all right. He nodded and said he was just sitting out here so his mother wouldn’t have to wait.

The second time Ty heard the front door open he thought it was Mallory’s parents as well and went to tell them once again he was fine until a body sat down next to him. Ty stiffened because he knew immediately who it was. Doing his best to keep his tears at bay Ty rubbed at his eyes quickly and cleared his throat, “W-Why are you out here? You s-should be inside.”

“So should you,” Dale replied as he leaned over in an attempt to see Ty better. The blonde scooted away as well as turned his head in the opposite direction. Dale frowned at his odd behavior. “Mallory’s parents said your mom’s coming to get you already. I know it’s no fun here but you should have told me. We’re supposed to go home together.”

Without meaning to, Ty snapped out, “Sorry, I thought you were too busy with Mallory to notice me leave.”

Ty regretted saying it the moment it left his lips. He bit his lip at the realization of how angry and out of character he sounded. Ty didn’t even know he could snap like that. He practically hissed it.

Dale’s eyes widened at the abnormal behavior. Ty never snapped. He stuttered or spoke softly and kindly to everyone. The fact that he actually hissed at him made Dale nervous and confused.

“What’s up Ty? You’re acting weird,” Dale said with concern. He tried to wrap an arm around the obviously bothered boy but Ty jumped up before he got the chance to.

“Don’t d-d-d-do that,” Ty hissed once again this time it sounded more sad than annoyed and that only bothered Dale more. Ty was now rubbing furiously at his eyes, which meant only one thing. He was crying.

Dale stood up and grabbed Ty without his consent. The blonde angrily struggled to get away but Dale hooked his arms around his waist before he got a good shove in, leaving Ty’s face pressed into his shoulder. The blonde tried not to make his sniffles obvious but they were practically echoing with how silent it was outside. Why was it so quiet now? Ty could have sworn the street was busy when Dale wasn’t here but now it’s clear. Someone’s obviously out to ruin him.

“I won’t know what to do if you don’t tell me what’s wrong,” Dale whispers to the blonde. He leans his head against Ty’s and waits for a response but Ty makes no move to give one.

Dale only had one idea as to what was bothering the boy and that was Mallory. He obviously left because he was uncomfortable and he even mentioned her a little bit ago. Was that it? It was the only explanation.

“Is it Mallory?” Dale asked. The moment her name slipped past his lips Ty stiffened. Dale chuckled; he was so easy to read. “Were you bothered because of the kiss?”

“No,” Ty answered far too quickly. That only made Dale smile. One would think Ty would come to realize by now that he was a terrible liar and couldn’t hide anything from Dale even if his life depended on it.

“It didn’t happen,” Dale said and finally Ty pulls away just enough to show his now red eyes.

“W-What?” He sniffled. Dale took Ty’s relaxed shoulders as a sign to loosen the grip around his waist. When he does Ty leans back some more, allowing Dale to see his tear stained face. He frowned at the sight and moved to wipe them away. The skin beneath his finger tips heated up as Ty began to blush.

“The kiss. It didn’t happen,” Dale replied and smiled at Ty’s confusion. “What? You didn’t actually think I’d kiss her?” Dale felt hurt that Ty had such little faith in him.

Flushing, Ty stuttered out, “I-I…I w-wasn’t sure…s-she’s pretty and y-you didn’t say anything.”

“That’s because you didn’t give me time to,” Dale laughed. Ty had now moved out of his grasp to rub at his eyes and fix his rumpled clothes. He was embarrassed and ashamed. The poor boy didn’t know what to say.

“What did you t-tell her? You didn’t hurt her feelings did you?” And somehow Ty still managed to show his concern for others, even towards a girl who moments ago he wanted to pull as far away from Dale as he could.

“I told her the truth.”

“What truth?”

Once again Dale gave his signature smile and ruffled the blonde’s hair. The action only made his blush worsen but he bit his lip to hold back a smile.

“I told her I already liked someone.”

But before Ty could question his mysterious friend his mother pulled into the driveway, leaving Ty confused and worried.

Who?