Basement Royalty

Chapter 17

Ray exchanged texts with Joel for the rest of the weekend, much calmer than he had expected to be. For all their beginners' nerves, things were remarkably pleasant and easy. Still, after the embarrassing conversation about safe sex he'd been forced into with his mother, anything would seem easy. He was just thankful she was accepting. Now, however, a demand was being made: she wanted to meet him. Not wanting to make Joel nervous even before they spoke face to face again, he saved the news for when they saw each other.

They had arranged to meet outside the school gates on Monday morning, the last Monday before the semester ended. It was freezing again, a light frost on the ground and mist in the air. Ray was still wearing Joel's hoodie, which he had forgotten to give back after Saturday, something Joel was quick to point out.

"That's my Longhorns hoodie." He complained as Ray approached where he stood leaning on the wall.

"You can have it back if you want." Ray replied.

"No, no. Keep it for now; I know you don't own anything warm."

"Thanks." Ray stood on his toes and gave him a chaste kiss, their lips barely connecting for a moment. "So, what's happening today?"

"You mean with us?" Joel asked, raising an eyebrow. Ray nodded. "Not sure. What do you think?"

"I think we should just act like we would if we were at home. Just tell everyone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not? Most people already know that something's going on with us. They may as well know what." Joel nodded and sighed. Ray took his hand and squeezed it.

"Hey," He said softly, "Don't be scared. It's gonna be okay."

"There's gonna be someone-"

"Yeah, sure, there might be a homophobic asshole or two. But compare that to the number of people who are happy for us. It's... insignificant."

"I guess so."

"It's gonna be okay." He repeated. Joel squeezed his hand in return and seemed to relax a little. It wasn't long before the school bus pulled up and students began to pile off. Gavin, Michael, and Jack came over, Michael pausing to grin shrewdly and look them up and down.

"Hi, guys!" Gavin called, oblivious until his eyes alighted on their linked hands. He frowned and tilted his head. "Oh. Are you... I'm confused."

"What about?" Ray asked.

"Well, you two weren't speaking to each other on Friday and now you're..." He waved a hand at them vaguely.

"They're totally banging." Michael proclaimed. Jack laughed, and Ray pushed Michael's shoulder playfully.

"We're together, if that's what you mean, yeah." He replied. "We talked a lot of things over and... here we are, I guess."

"Yeah, we went out on Saturday and dealt with some stuff." Joel nodded.

"I'm happy for you both." Jack said, smiling.

"Thank you." Joel ducked his head and smiled back. Michael was still frowning at Ray as though he was a puzzle to figure out. Something seemed to click, and he laughed to himself.

"You're wearing each other's clothes. Goddamn."

"What?" Gavin looked confused, before finally getting it. "Oh! That's Joel's hoodie, isn't it?" Now it was Ray's turn to duck his head, a little flushed.

"It might be."

"It is." Joel confirmed, getting a loud cackle from Michael.

"Jesus Christ, I can already tell you two are gonna be sappy as fuck."