Just One of the Boys

“Henry, come join us!” Two days had passed since Claudia’s and my “break-up”, and things had gone back to being relatively normal. The boys were still perverts, I still had class, and Alex was still a bit of a womanizer. Zack, the ever apparent figure in my hectic life, was still my pillar of strength. Without him, this whole thing would probably have crashed to the ground in a heartbeat.

A wave of water came drastically close to me, and I avoided it quickly, jumping back, and ultimately tripping over a root and falling on my back. I climbed back on my feet and glared at Jack, trying to see if I could will him to drop dead.

“Come into the water!” he called, waving his arms. Rian took that as his chance to jump out of the water and shove Jack under.

“Yeah, join us!” Rian exclaimed.

“I don’t swim,” I sniffed, glancing at the water longingly. The truth was, if I were to jump into the lake like I wanted to, the wig would get ruined, the corset would show through, and my secret would be out. Yeah, not going to happen.

“Why not?” Alex called, splashing Zack. Zack pushed himself out of the water, his chest glistening from the sun.

“Just don’t,” I shrugged, leaning back onto my elbows. We had decided to spend the day in the water, so the second class ended, we hightailed towards the lake, ready to swim. That is, we being Alex, Zack, Rian, and Jack.

“Didn’t you live in California? Isn’t it like, required to swim there?” Jack wanted to know once he had resurfaced. I scowled, angry at the stereotype.

“Just because I’m from California does not mean that we have to swim. I mean, have you ever been in the Pacific? It’s fucking cold!” Noticing blank stares, I barreled on. “To sum up California: we wear shorts to the mountains and jeans with sweatshirts to the beach. It’s not warm and all that crap, it’s freezing. And Malibu? The smog is so thick over the ocean you can see it.”

“Have you ever met anyone famous?” Alex asked, running out of the lake and dropping before my feet, grinning sweetly. I forced myself to tear my eyes away from the water droplets slowly making their suicide rivers down his chest to his…southern regions.

“Well…” Technically, I was famous myself, and I lived with the most famous movie star of them all. So, yeah. “No.” The others also crawled from the glistening water and joined us, patting themselves dry with towels.

“You haven’t? Why not?” Jack wondered, sitting on Alex’s back. Alex started to wheeze as he tried to roll Jack off him.

“Dude, you fat ass, get off me!” he groaned, but Jack refused to budge.

“Because I go to school in Atherton which is like an hour away from San Francisco,” I explained carefully. “That’s pretty much like Greenwich here. I don’t live in L.A.” Which was true, Fairgrove’s was in Atherton, while my mom lived down in Hollywood. I only lived with her on breaks, that is, when she wasn’t off making her movies.

“I get it now!” Jack cried, bouncing up and down on Alex’s back. Alex was gasping for breath, his face screwed up into one of pain.

“OW! Goddamnit, you fat ass, get off!” he moaned, arching his back so that there was less weight on him. “Help me, someone!”

Placing my foot on Jack’s stomach, I added pressure until he toppled off of Alex, whining. “Aw, Henry, you ruin all my fun,” he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I was having fun sitting on Alex!”

“I wasn’t having fun being sat on,” Alex said, rubbing his back and sitting back up. Jack stuck his tongue out at him and ran back to the water, flapping his arms and shouting gibberish. Rian, shrugging, joined him while Zack and Alex hung back.

“Yo, douchebag!” Rian called, motioning for Zack to follow. “C’mon into the water!”

“You guys going to join us?” Zack wanted to know, standing up and brushing off his butt. I shook my head and Alex replied with a steady no. As he headed to the water, I found it hard to keep my eyes away from his very attractive butt, something I wouldn’t mind looking at all the time.

“So,” Alex interrupted my gazing at their half naked bodies, forcing me to look at him, which was pretty much the same. “Tell me all about Holly.”

“Holly?” I was playing dumb, I’ll admit it. But damn, it you saw Alex shirtless, in a pair of plaid blue swimsuits, with his hair now dark brown and sticking to his forehead, you’d be acting dumb, too. “Who’s Holly?”

“Holly! Claudia’s friend, the one that lives in California!” Alex informed me impatiently.

“Oh, that Holly,” I muttered, scratching the back of my neck. “She’s…um, she’s nice.”

“That’s it? Just nice?” he sighed, nudging me with his elbow. “I want some details!”

“She’s really smart, and she’s outspoken,” I added. “She thinks for herself, and she hates being told what to do. She’s spontaneous, too. She can think for herself, and she has a great personality.”

“Okay,” he nodded, staring off at the lake. Jack was trying to get Zack and Rian to play chicken, and he wouldn’t let his mind be changed, even if there were only three people to play a four person game. I let my eyes switch back to Alex’s chest, memorizing every curve, tuck, and skin cell.

“Henry?” I jerked out of my stupor, looking at Alex. “You okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, just…perfect,” I smiled, thinking back to his chest before shaking myself out of it. Remember, perfect or not, you can’t go and let your secret out of the bag, I reminded myself. “I’m just going to head back to the dorms, kay? I’m really tired, and maybe I can get some rest.”

“Sure, see ya later!” Jumping up from his spot, he ran down to the water’s edge, joining the other shirtless boys.

[&awkward]

When Alex returned to the dorm, I was lying on the bed, cell phone pressed to my ear. “…I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do? They all looked so goddman h--bye!” I quickly hung up on Claudia, dropping the phone next to me. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing big,” Alex shrugged, lumbering over to his stereo. Pressing play on the machine, he let Blink-182’s All the Small Things. “You mind?” he asked as Tom Delonge’s voice poured from the speakers. I shook my head, bobbing to the music.

“I love this song,” I admitted. “These guys are fan-fucking-tastic!”

“Um, hell yeah! God, what I’d give to play with them.” Alex started snapping his fingers in time to the beat before shaking his hips. He then started bobbing his head, then twirling. Finally, he started to dance, shaking his butt, twirling his hips, and leaping from one spot to the next.

“Say it ain’t so, I will not go! Turn the lights off, carry me home!” Alex bellowed, twirling like a ballerina. Laughing, I joined in with my beyond raspy voice.

“Keep your head still, I’ll be your thrill. The night will go on, my little windmill,” we sang, rocking our air guitars. When the song finally ended, Alex collapsed on my bed, panting slightly.

“Admit it,” he grinned. “You were totally looking at my ass.”

“What? No!” I stammered out, blushing.

“You so were,” he grinned, standing up to shake it in my face. “Your eyes were glued to my ass! Not that I blame you, it is perfect, after all.”

“I was not looking at your ass!” I defended myself, feeling my face growing hot. Alex started laughing, shaking his head.

“You so were.”

“I was NOT!” I snapped, picking up my pillow and swinging it at his head. IT connected, and he jerked forward, still laughing. He lunged for his pillow, and swung right back at me.

“You so WERE!”

“Was not!” SMACK

“Was too!” SMACK

“Was not!” With one mighty swing, my pillow flew from my hands, landing on the other side of the room. Taking advantage of my vulnerability, Alex mercilessly hit me, until I was backed up against the wall, my hands lifted before my face to save it from being hit.

“You so were,” he crowed, hitting me one final time.

To this day, I don’t know who it was that did it. I don’t know how it happened, but somehow our lips ended up pressed against each other, my fingers entwined in his hair while his arms wrapped around my waist, drawing me in closer. Our eyes closed, the kiss still going on passionately. Suddenly, my eyes flew back open as I roughly shoved him off me.

We stared at each other with our lips swollen, chests heaving, and eyes as big as dinner plates. “I…” I swallowed nervously before turning on my heel and leaving the room, Alex right behind me. We separated, him heading for Nolan’s and Rian’s room, me heading for Zack and Jack’s.