One of the Guys

Chapter 2

Chapter 2.0:  The Party

Cullen and I both watched as the huge slide grew bigger and bigger as more and more air was put into it, our eyes growing wider and wider with every inch the slide grew.

“You. Are.  A. Genius,” Cullen said, his flawlessly white teeth showing as his smile grew as wide as his eyes.

“I know,” I said, crossing my arms in satisfaction.  The truth was, the idea wasn’t mine.  I actually stole it from my eight-year-old cousin, who had insisted on having a giant blow-up slide at his birthday party, which had been just two months ago.  My parents had dragged me along, much to my dismay, but the blow-up slide had saved the day.  After sliding down it once, I knew I had to have it at my graduation party.

At first my parents were reluctant.  Our backyard really wasn’t the largest yard in the universe, and my mother worried it would take away from room for the tables and also hide the view of the lake.  But I continually insisted.  I just had to have it.

And so, finally, my parents cracked and rented a giant inflatable slide.  The slide was at least thirty feet high and had two slides so that races could be held.  The slide was situated so that the actual slide faced my house, and the ladder was facing lake-side.  I figured that was the rental company’s way of hindering any attempts to slide into the lake.  The slide was mostly red, with a few blue and green stripes down it, but color was the last thing Cullen and I were thinking about.

“This is going to be epic,” Cullen said.  “Like I said, you’re a genius.”

“And like I said, I know,” I said, grinning.

“We have to race,” Cullen said, his eyes lighting up like they had when he was younger.  “The second it’s done, let’s race.”

“Definitely,” I agreed.  Quite honestly, I knew all along that Cullen would be impressed with the slide.  My favorite thing about Cullen (and perhaps the reason we were such good friends) was the fact that he was a boy.  Even at the age of nineteen, he was still the most boyish guy I knew. 

Cullen's hair was long and shaggy, and, quite honestly, rather trendy and shiny, just like the models at Abercrombie, but his face was full of youth, and his eyes grew light with excitement, shining almost in a dull green color.  And he loved boyish things.  (He’d never admit it, but I know he begged his mom to let him keep his fire truck décor in his bedroom.  His mom assumed he was too old for fire trucks when he was sixteen and wanted to switch his room over to plain blues, but Cullen had a fit.  He wanted to keep his fire trucks.  In the end, his mother won though, and his room is now lacking in the fire truck wallpaper and the fire truck bed set in favor of plain blues.)

“This is gonna be sweet,” Cullen said again.  I knew all that was running through his head was how “sweet” and “epic” the slide was going to be.  I couldn’t be prouder of myself for coming up with the idea.  It was the most genius idea I had come up with to keep him at my side at what would have otherwise been a terribly boring graduation party.

Before long, the slide was finished inflating.  It towered above us, looming in almost a mysterious way as though challenging us to go down it.

The guys from the rental place came from around the back of the slide then, and, smiling at each other, and then at us, said, “Alright kids, it’s all yours.”

Cullen and I exchanged looks and then smiled widely, much like we had when I was ten and Cullen eleven and our parents had bought us a little fishing boat to go out in.

“Let’s go!” Cullen said, and he started off at full sprint toward the slide, his blonde curls lightly bouncing as he ran.  I smiled widely and followed him.