Two Quarters and a Heart Down

Chapter 22 - One Night Can Change It All

Pete's POV

Brendon and I arrive at the snack table, Brendon taking a handful of M&Ms while I go for another slice of pizza. We then chill off to the corner a bit, watching people for a few minutes as we eat, Brendon now filling a styrofoam cup with the chocolate candies and pouring them into his mouth like a drink.

I see Travie, who's now left the stage to be replaced by four other boys. They seem oddly familiar, but I can't place their names. Travie wanders off through the people, stopping when he finds Gabe and William, hugging them both in greeting. William pecks his cheek again, making Travie blush visibly even from where Brendon and I stand. Gabe rolls his eyes sarcastically at the sight, then gently pushes William against Travie, who quickly catches William so the shorter boy didn't fall. Then their lips lock in a kiss, Gabe blushing behind them, his face seeming pleased.

"Man, they're all for PDA's, aren't they." Brendon says through a mouthful of candies, watching the trio of teens as well.

"Boy are they. They're cute though." I reply. "But one question though, why was William so hooked on Gabe earlier on stage, now he's full blown for Travie while Gabe encourages them? Aren't Will and Gabe together?" I point out, slightly confused by the situation.

"Ah yes I've seen that before. Probably a polyamorous thing. William's probably into both Gabe and Travie, Gabe's probably chill with it so he's encouraging William to also go for Travie, Travie's perfectly chill with liking them both. The whole thing with poly relationships is openness within a multiple partner relationship. I could say I'm poly myself, I could see being with multiple open partners. But I guess for right now I just have my eye set on one person. It works though." Brendon explains, seeming to be an expert on it all. Now it makes sense, and it's actually quite heartwarming to see how open the three of them are about it in public.

"Oh, nice. That's cute. I ship it." I say.

"Mhmmm. That'd be a wild ship name though." Brendon points out.

"True, true. So, anyway about the game idea. There always seems to be pretty wild games at teenage parties. Truth or dare, spin the bottle, never have I ever... there's this other game I've heard of that I thought would be pretty cool. It's called Seven Minutes In Heaven." I explain to Brendon with a smirk.

"Hmmm, sounds fun. How do you do it?" Brendon asks, gulping down a few more M&Ms. I then go through the process of explaining the game rules, a smile coming to Brendon's face as he gets what I'm getting at. I mean, I guess it could be a really casual and safe game if people wanted it to be, but for those who want a little something extra, I'd say it's a mighty fine way to spend a little extra one on one time with your crush. Not that I mean for me. I'm totally thinking of helping some of my other dudes. Okay maybe that's a lie, maybe I am thinking of myself in the situation as well. It's whatever though, just a game.

After Brendon and I have talked, we head back to the circle we departed a bit ago, seeing them stand up and prepare to move someplace else. I wave to Patrick again, who seems to be super comfortable now. He's smiling and slightly sweaty, but looking content and like he's having a good time. It's so interesting how just one night can open up so many new things. You can meet new people that could become life long friends, you can snap back at some rude bitches, just have an overall good time. It's quite amazing actually what just one few hour segment can do for a person. I mean heck, I thought I was somewhat known at Winona High. I got a decent group of friends, but after tonight, I know quite a few more people I could find myself hanging out with in the future.

"Hey Pete! We're planning on hitting the dancefloor for the last few songs of the night. Wanna join?" Patrick asks once I'm in audible range.

"Hell yeah, let's make what we can with what's left of the night." I say, smiling in return.