A Boy's Story

The start to a great summer

It was summer. I had my first boyfriend, and my twin brother Cole would be coming home from summer camp today. Life couldnt get better.
Earlier this morning Josh and I were at my house- he had been spending a lot of time there, because his parents had summer jobs, and he was always at my house whenever I woke up. And most times he would just spend the night, and sleep with me. (Just sleep)- and I was telling him about Cole. Not that I hadnt before, but I thought it would be good to give him details because it takes awhile to get used to Cole. He's... different... not, like, mental, but just moody.
We were in my backyard laying in the hammock. My best friend Jake was there too, but he already knew about Josh and I. I had invited him over and told him everything two days after Josh and I slept under the bridge. Nothing has changed, he completely understood and fully supports us. But just like any other guy best friend he still says 'Blah!' sarcastically whenever I kissed Josh around him. But in the end we would always just laugh it off.
Right now he was sitting at the picnic table drinking lemonade about five feet away from me and Josh. The hammock was about twenty five feet away from the slider door, and just off the end of the pateo where the picnic table was. The two trees supporting the hammock put shade above our heads, but Jake was in the sunlight. We offered him to move over here with us, but he said he wanted to get tan. Not that he needed it. He had naturally dark skin, and dark brown eyes. He had extremely long dark brown hair, and it was wavey, but not curled. He had a curved nose and, oddly enough, he looked childish, but still older at the same time. A natural fifteen year old. It was weird being attracted to him, he's been my best friend since first grade. But at least I wasnt into him 'that way.'
It was extremely hot today, so Josh had his shirt off. We've been dating for about three weeks now, so we were comfortable shirtless. We were cuddling, and he had his arm around me. I felt lucky, Josh was muscular and had an amazing body. And I had him all to myself. He was tanner since the first time I met him though. We'd spent a lot of time outside, and since he was always shirtless, he was getting darker everywhere. I felt so... weird... being attracted to both guys and girls now. Everywhere I look, its not just girls I point out anymore... I shivered.
Jake, Josh, and I were all going over all of the crazy things Cole did. Well mainly just Jake and I. Josh was just laughing and telling us crazy stories himself.
"Oh!" exclaimed Jake, "I remember this one summer I was here and you said I could take a shower in your room 'cause Cole spilled pop on me," he continued, I grinned widely. I remembered this story! I had a bathroom connected to my room, and theres a shower in it. So I told him he could rinse off before he got sticky.
"Oh yeah! I told you that you could rinse off, but when Cole came in to get a clean shirt 'cause he spilled some on himself too; you walked out naked!" I said laughing. Josh started laughing beside me, too. And Jake was hysterical.
"You should've seen the look on his face!" he laughed, barely getting out full words.
"You know we could hear you two screaming from down here?" I said pointing to my upstairs window.
"No way!" Josh looked at me with a wide smile on his face, "that's insane!"
"Well this is an insane place!" Jake and I said at the same time. Which only made us laugh even more.
Jake was the kind of person who could cheer up whenever you were down. He was so funny, it was impossible to be sad around him. The atomsphere was better when he was around. I turned my head and kissed Josh's neck when Jake wasnt looking.
"Dylan?" I heard a familiar voice say from the general direction of the house. All three of our heads snapped up and looked to see who it was. Emily. She was my 'girl' best friend. I hadnt seen her since I'd come back. She was twelve when I left, and I'd been gone four years. So Jake was eleven when I left. She was sixteen now, and very attractive. Her caramel blonde hair had gotten longer, and her bangs no longer hung in her eyes, so it was more obvious that they were light blue. Like mine. I instantly felt bad that I'd forgotten to call her.
"Emily!" I got up quickly and ran over to hug her, "I've missed you!"
"Hey, I missed you too!" she hugged me back, and then I felt another pair of arms around us both.
"Hey Em," Jake said happily. We all pulled back to look at Josh, who was leaning against the tree, waiting intently. I gestured for him to come over.
"Em... we need to tell you something..." I said, wondering if she would unterstand the way Jake had.
"I know," she smiled warmly at Josh, "I saw you kiss his neck," she turned to look at me and her smile got wider. Jake looked at me accusingly, but still sarcastically. I shrugged and grinned.
"So...Your okay with it...?" said Jake, turning to her.
"Of course I am!" she said assuringly, "and not to be rude, but I always thought that someday Dylan would be..." she smiled apologetically. She shrugged, and kissed my cheek. My mouth popped open, but I was still sort of smiling.
"But I wasnt when I left," I said confused, but I was just happy she understood.
"I know, but I just had a feeling that SOMEDAY..." she trailed off.
"Thanks Em," I hugged her one more time before I led Josh back to the hammock. As soon as we were comfortable again, I looked back up at her and Jake. She was sitting at the picnic table and Jake was coming out of the house with a glass of lemonade for her.
"Thanks," she said, "So where's Cole?" she asked, taking a sip, and turning to me.
"He's at summer camp," I said, " we have to go pick him up from the airport in a half an hour."
"The airport?"
"Yeah, he went to summer camp in Washington, so since we left, he's gotta take a plane back here," I rolled my eyes.
My mom couldnt go get him because she's been on an acting trip in Toronto since we moved back, but she's coming back next Tuesday. Emily knew about the acting trips my mom took, so she didnt ask were she was, she just raised her eyebrows disaprovingly, taking another sip.
We all talked for another twenty minutes before Jake got up and stretched.
"We better get going," he turned to Emily, "you wanna come too?"
"Sure." Jake grabbed the empty glass cups and Emily followed him into the house. Josh started to get up when I stopped him.
"Wait... I dont know if I can... let everyone know..." I said slowly.
"You dont wanna tell Cole?" He looked confused and still understanding at the same time.
"No, I'm gonna tell Cole... but the whole public doesnt have to know..." I said quietly. He understood.
"Dont worry babe, we dont have to tell anyone else if you dont want to," he smiled and kissed me quickly before getting up. "Shall we?"
We met Jake and Em at the front door. Jake coughed awkwardly, pointing to Josh. I blushed.
"Shirt..." I whispered. Emily laughed and Josh ran upstairs to get a shirt.
"Crap!" I heard him yell as he ran. They both giggled, where as I just blushed and grinned. He came back down wearing one of my shirts. "Ready!" he said reaching for the handle.
"Is that MY shirt?" I said, we all laughed and headed out the door.
"Maybe," he said mockingly, looking in the other direction.
"How are we getting there?" said Em as she stared at the empty driveway.
"Jake said we could take his car," I said, Jake nodded.
"Where is it?" asked Em, still looking around.
"I moved," he said pointing to the house at the end of the street, "my car is at my house."
"You have a lisence?" she said doubtfully.
"No, but his parents bought him a car anyway," I looked at him accusingly. He gave me a big smile.
"Lucky," Josh muttered.
We walked to the end of the street and Jake punched in the code to open his garage door, revealing a shiny red mustang.
"Woah..." we all said at the same time. Everyone but Jake who just grinned and said, "Who wants to drive?"
"Me!" said Em raising her hand, and Jake tossed the keys to her.
"Do you know how to get there?" I asked, opening the back door.
"Yeah," she said getting in the drivers seat. Jake got shotgun, and I was in the backseat with Josh. We all had our lisence's except for Jake. Mainly because we were all older than him. I was sixteen, Em was sixteen, and Josh was seventeen. Jake was only fifteen, but his birthday was next friday, and he's excited to get his lisence.
We were on our way, and Jake reached for the radio. I asked him to put it on my favorite station. He did, and everyone was quiet, listening to the music. Since we were conceled in the car, I thought it would be okay to snuggle into Josh's chest, and hold his hand. He smiled and kissed my head. I looked up at Jake, and for once he was smiling at us. Then he turned and looked out the window. Pure happiness.
It never worried me that Josh was older than me, because he was only older by four months. So Cole and I would be seventeen next month, too. August 4th. We were already half way through the summer and Josh and I have only been together for three weeks. Its July 2nd, and this saturday we're all going to Jake's for the fourth of July. Every year his parents buy real authentic fireworks. They're amazing and always beautiful. Then, while we're watching them, we make smores. Its absolute heaven. And with Josh there... I cant think of anything better.
We were here. We parked, and headed towards the the wide, glass doors. They opened autiomatically, and a gust of cool air came from inside the building. It felt amazing compared to how humid it was outside. As Josh promised, he wasnt holding my hand, or showing any signs of passion. I didnt like it, but it WAS what I'd asked for. Elevator music filled the giant place. I cringed and pulled out my iPod. I put the headphones in my ears and relaxed. GOOD music filled my head now. Josh looked at me accusingly. I grinned mockingly at him.
"Haha," I said sarcastically. He punched me in the shoulder just like any other guy would. He seemed like a completely different Josh, yet somehow, he was extactly the same.
We kept walking. We past a sign pointing to gates 1,3,5,7, and 9. A TV hanging above a luggage pick-up machine said Cole's flight would be coming from gate 1 in two minutes. I looked at Em, Jake, and Josh. They were looking at the big screen too. I looked over my shoulder down the hallway where the gates were. I saw a sign for gate 1 at the end, near a glass wall. Huge white planes were speeding down runways and taking off behind the glass wall. I started walking towards the gate. Once I got to the end of the hall, I stood behing other people waiting for their loved ones to get off the plane. Josh was right behind me, and I assumed Jake and Em followed to.
"Flight 245 now landing," said a womans voice. It was coming from a big speaker on the wall.
"Thats Cole's flight," I said excitedly, turning to Emily. She smiled.
"Wow, I havent seen him in so long!" She said fast, "Does he still look just like you?" I shook my head.
"He's skinnier, and his hair curves out," I said looking back at the gate. People were coming out now, all carrying suitcases, duffel bags, and purses. We waited for what seemed like an eternity before Cole finally came out carrying a backpack. When he saw us all waving, he smiled a big smile. He got taller! I could tell, but only by like an inch. Maybe half and inch. He ran up to us, and we all threw our arms around him. Except for Josh, that would've just been awkward. We all shared 'We missed you's' and 'How have you been's' and stuff like 'Was camp fun?'
"Yeah it was fun!" he said happily, I'd forgotten how weird it felt to see myself when I looked at him, "I seriously did everything there!" he exclaimed. But I couldnt help but think that there was a secret joke we were missing. We all started walking down the long hallway towards luggage pick-up. Emily was on the far right, then Cole, then me, then Jake, and Josh was at the far left.
"What do you mean by EVERYTHING?" said Emily sarcastically, but I could tell there was some worry in her voice. She was trying pretty hard to hide her concern. He stopped and looked at her smiling. She gasped and her hand flew up to her mouth.
"Yeah..." he seemed happy. We all started walking again. Emily laughed nervously, but didnt say anything else.
"Cole you didnt..." I said slowly. Was he seriously suggesting that he had sex?
"'Yup," he nodded and smiled wider. I gasped too, resisting the urge to slap him. But I loved him, and he was so happy... I just couldnt. And besides, he had always been more mature than me. Maybe he WAS ready.
"Geeez, my brother is sick," I said sarcastically, laughing. Jake started laughing too, and so did Cole and Josh. Emily just stayed silent. Cole noticed.
"You okay 'hun?" he said putting his arm around her shoulders. She blushed and said, "Yeah." But I could tell something was bothering her. He could tell too, he was a smart kid. He was smart enough to know not to push her on about it anymore. He kept his arm around her shoulders and turned to me.
"So how 'ya been bro?" he said calmly.
"...Good..." I said, my cheeks getting hot. He noticed everything. He saw pretty much every expression on everyone elses faces, all the time.
"I'm guessing you got lucky too," he chuckled. Emily's head snapped up and looked at me. Her eyes said 'He'd better be wrong.'
"No!" I said, my cheeks getting redder and hotter. He didnt look convinced. "Still a virgin," I pointed to my chest and grinned. He squinted his eyes and said, "Whats the catch?" Man! He knew SOMETHING was up!
"I'll tell you about it when we get in the car..." I whispered. He nodded and his eyes drifted to Josh, then back to me. He didnt have to say anything for me to know what he was thinking. He knew. I sighed and nodded. He smiled, happy to be right. Again.
After we picked up his bags, we were on our way back home. On the way back, Josh and I explained everything. How we met, where we met, and everything else all the way up to the point where he was about to leave shirtless. How we met, and where we met was something we didnt tell Emily, so she was involved in this conversation too. The whole time Josh had his arm around me and I was closer to him because Cole was in the back with us. He actually seemed really ok with us cuddling like this right next to him. I took Jake awhile to get used to it. But Em was completely ok with this too, but that was only because she had anticipated it.
"Well I'm happy for 'ya bro," he said, and I could tell he meant it. But as he turned to look out the window, I had the sense that he was hiding something...