Peanut Butter and Jelly (boyxboy)

Chapter Twelve

“Hey, Mom! Can you come here a second?”

In response, Cory appeared in his open bedroom doorway. “What is it?”

“Be honest,” Tyler said as he turned to the side. “Does my ass look fat in these jeans? Are they like way too tight? I can change them if they are.”

Cory laughed. “I don’t know why Devin would be worried about you acting too gay.”

Tyler groaned. “Don’t make fun of me. I told you I’m totally serious.”

“Right, totally serious,” Cory said and sobered her expression. “Okay, the jeans are a little tight, but your ass couldn’t look fat if you wanted it to.”

“Is that good or bad? Does that mean I’m too skinny and have no ass?”

“Do you seriously want me to tell you that you have a great ass?”

“So you think its great then?” Tyler said and turned to look at it over his shoulder.

“As far as teenage boy ass goes, it’s not bad,” Cory joked.

“Okay,” Tyler said and spun around to face her. “What about my hair? How’s my hair?”

“Your hair is fine.”

“Fine? Is fine good or bad?”

“Fine is fine. It’s not the best hair, but it’s not the worst.”

“Not the best? Like maybe I should wear a hat?”

“Tyler, take a breath. It’s just Devin. You guys have been out before.”

“I know, but I want to make a good impression on his parents.” 

“Then worry less about what you wear and concentrate on your manners instead. Stand up straight and look them in the eye when you talk to them. Always say please and thank you and call them Mr. and Mrs. even when they tell you its okay to call them by their first names. That’s what they’ll remember more than what you wore.”

Tyler thought about that one. It made a lot of sense, but he wanted to make an all around good impression. He wanted to be the well dressed guy with the great manners. Then again, maybe dressing too well would come of as too gay, something he knew Devin wouldn’t be happy about.

“I’ll bet you’ll be glad when you get your own car, and you don’t have to have me or Gabriel drive you everywhere.” 

Tyler’s mouth was too dry for him to do any speaking. Instead, he just nodded as he took another mental inventory of his appearance. Though he’d played it safe with jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt and tennis shoes, he still thought he looked pretty good. At the last minute, he’d decided to throw on a baseball cap turned backward.

Cory pulled to a stop in front of a red brick house. For a second, Tyler just sat there and stared at the house. Even without its three car garage, the single story house looked a lot bigger than the one he lived in with his aunt and uncle.

“It’s nice,” Cory said when he still didn’t move.

“Yeah.”

“You want me to go to the door with you?”

            “No, I got it.”

            Cory smiled at him. “What are you waiting for then?”

            Tyler took a deep breath before he got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride.”

            “See you at eleven,” Cory said and waved at him before she peeled off.