Basement Royalty

Chapter 9

It took Ray almost two months and several more French tutoring sessions to work out what Joel had said to him that night. By then he was too flustered and embarrassed to say anything. Over time he had come to terms with his feelings for Joel, but declared to himself that it must be a lost cause. That just because Joel was bi didn't mean there was hope he would really be attracted to him. What he had said was just for show; after all, he hadn't mentioned it again either. Still, they spent a lot of time together, hanging out on weekends. Being so close, it was easy for them.

Since the first time Ray had visited Joel's place, Gavin had slowly let up on teasing him about it. This was mostly because he was excited. He had a friend from the UK, a boy called Dan, who was scheduled to visit him around Thanksgiving. Gavin, of course, hadn't stopped talking about it since the beginning of November, much to Michael's chagrin, since he was the one whose house was now to be invaded by two British kids. Still, he was taking it in his stride, and by the time the others finally met Dan, it looked as though they were friendly.

A second meeting took place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Ray, Michael, Gavin, Dan, Ryan, Geoff, and Joel all sat in the park a few blocks away from school. It was fairly early, but there were still kids on the play equipment in the middle of the grassy area. Instead, they sat under the bare trees in the back corner, wrapped up in hoodies and coats. It was finally getting really cold in Austin, and even in his thick hoodie, Ray shivered.

"So, it's my birthday soon." Ryan said, a grin on his face. "And my dad's out of town. Which means I have the house to myself."

"What are you planning, Ryan?" Geoff asked cautiously.

"Well, I figured a party was in order."

"What kind of party?"

"One that's... a little bigger than usual, shall we say."

"When will it be? Is it gonna be before Dan goes home?" Gavin asked.

"I think so. It'll be on the 6th of December, that's my birthday."

"Yeah, that's before I go home." Dan nodded. "That's cool. As long as I'm invited, obviously."

"Of course you're invited. Everyone's invited."

"Everyone being... who?" Michael asked. "Cause eleven people isn't a very big party."

"No, no. More than that. I'm basically gonna invite everyone we're friendly with and let some of those people bring a plus-one if they want."

"Jesus Christ. Is your house big enough for that?"

"You've seen it, you tell me."

"Yeah, you know, that's a good point. You might be right."

"I am right. So, you all game?" There was a mumble of yes's from the group. "Joel, what about you? I know you're... not great with people you don't know."

"I mean... I can probably cope." Joel shrugged. "I'll be hanging around with people I do know so, yeah. Is this gonna be an overnight kind of deal?"

"For our groups, sure. And significant others, if necessary; there's plenty of rooms to sleep in. I'm gonna have to throw everyone else out, though. Hopefully most people can get a ride or something."

"Does that... does that include me?" Dan asked, looking uncertain.

"Yeah, sure." Ryan replied, slapping him on the back. "You're part of our group while you're here."

"See, B, I told you!" Gavin said loudly.

"Hey, Ray, you didn't say if you were coming." Ray jumped as if someone had hit him. In truth, he'd been absorbed in his own thoughts, but stammered out a reply: