Paper Hearts (boyxboy)

John

Noah:

I knock cautiously on the door. No answer. Andy and I haven't spoken since last night, and I have the feeling it'll be a while longer until we do.

After I walked home, I stayed up all night thinking about what he said. I tried to sleep and forget about it, but I couldn't. I heard him come home this morning just before the sun came up, but I didn't get up to talk to him. I really wish I would have. He's been locked in his room for almost six hours, hopefully just sleeping.

I rub my eyes and go back downstairs, plopping down on the couch next to Heather. "Nothing?" She asks.

I shake my head. "Nichts."

"Hey, look at you." She says, impressed by the one word I've learned.

I put my head into a pillow. "What am I going to do about Andy?" I moan, muffled by the cotton.

She pats my back. "He'll come around. Maybe. Or maybe he won't. Couldn't really tell, since I don't really know what happened."

"I told you, I can't tell you." My face is still buried. "I know he'll just be mad that I told you."

She groans. "I get that, but the unknowing is maddening! How about you tell me, and I promise not to get mad? Then I can give you actual advice."

I look up at her skeptically. "You promise?"

She puts one hand on her heart and holds up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

"Okay." I sit up. "So last night, we all went to Wood Creek to pull our senior prank, the details of which: not necessary. Then afterwards we got ice cream and he didn't want to come in, so I started thinking maybe something was wrong. So Mama tells us we have to head back to her house, and we're thinking she wants to have a sleepover, right?"

She nods, listening. "Wrong!" I exclaim. "Mama had invited over a few people to hang out, and as it turns out, word spread that she was having a party, and by the time we made it, half the kids in school were there! Now everybody's drunk, right? They must have brought a bunch of booze, I think there was even a keg."

"Wonderful." She quips.

"So anyway, I break everybody up into tasks, and Andy's was to move his car, you know, to keep it safe. And let me just say, everyone totally sucked at their jobs. Hannah was even outside huffing a chonger! But anyway, I went downstairs to clear everyone down there out, and that failed, so I headed back up to check on him, and he was gone!"

"Where'd he go?" She urged.

"I'm getting there!" I whine. "So I'm looking all over for him, right? And when I finally find him, he's totally hammered. I couldn't believe he managed to get drunk that fast. He's going on about Spin the Bottle and shit, and I tell him we need to go home. Then, and this is where it starts to suck, he starts telling me off! He's saying all these things about how I'm a cliche and a 'straight gay boy' and don't know how to enjoy being normal."

Heather's deep in the story. "So what'd you say?"

"I said he was out of it, which he was! Then Sara convinces me to stay and play the game, biggest mistake ever by the way, and now he's mad because I got Denae."

She gasps. "You kissed Denae?"

"Yeah, but only after being berated by him to play the stupid game in the first place! And not to mention, him and Sara were totally going at it."

I feel so much better saying this all out loud. "Sara? Really?"

I nod. "It was the wildest thing. But the worst part was, after he got all mad at me for doing exactly what he did, he ran off and told me to leave him alone."