Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

11 | Ventriloquist

I lost at mini golf. Obviously.

Nicolas rubbed his victory in our faces the entire journey home. My nerves were still rattled after  the stunt he pulled and I wasn't quite sure why. This was Nicolas Young we were talking about. The boy who used to draw on my face when I fell asleep first during sleepovers. The boy who would build sandcastles with me on weekends. The boy who had a girl waiting for him when he got home. There was nothing there.

Once we arrived at Benji's and Nico fled to the bathroom, we both fell onto the couch. "So," Benji said. "I didn't know you liked guys."

I snapped towards him. "What are you talking about?" He gave me this knowing smile in response.

"You were practically drooling during mini golf. You know, when Nicolas leaned up against you and-"

"Yeah, I was there!" I huffed out a breath. "I don't... I'm sort of seeing Lilli Sanders right now."

"So, you're bi?"

"What- No, I don't like guys."

"I mean... Whatever you say. It's sort of obvious, though." He pulled his phone in front of his face as if this was the most casual conversation ever. "We don't live in, like, Texas or something. Cali is super progressive. You don't have to lie about your sexuality."

"I'm not lying!"

"Okay, well, you may not be gay at all, but Nicolas definitely is." I blinked back at him and his eyes flicked away from his screen. "Oh, come on. 'Bros' don't practically grind on one another-"

"He was adjusting my hands," I replied as I felt my face redden.

"Looked like he wanted to adjust a lot more than your hands."

"Benjamin!"

He laughed ridiculously hard at my reaction before Nico entered the room. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Benji smiled. "Just discussing Apollo's major loss back there."

Nicolas grinned and sat beside me, leaning his feet against the coffee table in front of us. "What time is your mom expecting us home, Ollie?"

"Ollie," Benji whispered beside me to which I shot a glare.

"Uh, I don't think it matters."

"In that case," Nicolas said. "How about a sleepover?"

***

I have spent the night at Benji's house a million times. We used to fill our weekends with Chinese food and video games before passing out far too late into the night. I've bothered his sisters, I've cooked with his mom. I've cleaned his bedroom when it became too much for me. We were comfortable in one another's presence. Today, however: Nicolas Young joined our duo and caused a ripple throughout my life.

Our plan was simple, and quite dumb; We would steal Benji's parent's alcohol before bolting to the beach and getting wasted to commemorate summer's beginning. Afterward, we would... Well, Benji never got that far, but I went along with it because Nico seemed very excited about starting some sort of trouble. I wondered if he was the type to do this or if he was simply bored.

I was assigned to watch in the hallway and make sure none of Benji's parents or sisters entered the kitchen while my two friends worked together to sneak vodka into their bag. This was a ridiculously stupid plan and honestly had Benji written all over it. He was the first person to get me drunk during our freshman year, the first person to throw a house party when my mom was out of town. He was more rebellious than I was, and we sort of evened each other out because of it. Benji was the, "Let's start a fire!" type and I was the, "I'm gonna read instead." type.

Nicolas ran out of the kitchen with a smile before giving me an idiotic wink. "The target has been obtained," he said, forming his hands into a fake walkie-talkie. "Operation 'wasted on the beach' is a go."

"That's a very secretive operation name," I replied.

"Don't get snarky, Quinn."

"Roger that, Young," I said, saluting him before following through the back door. Benji was struggling to climb over the fence before I opened the gate, nonchalantly walking through it.

"Apollo," he groaned. "You're no fun."

"Well, you're sort of acting like an idiot."

He jumped down from the top of the fence and dusted himself off quickly. "So, to the beach?"

"To the beach!" Nico draped his arm over my shoulder, tugging me against his chest as we walked. "How long have you two been best friends?"

Benji kept his eyes forward as he moved but smiled at Nicolas's hold on me. "Since the 7th grade, I think. We both played volleyball back then and now, he helps me pass my classes."

"What, are you not good at school?"

"I'm shit at it," Benji admitted through a laugh. "But, school's not super important to me. Not like Apollo here."

Nicolas's eyes flickered for a moment before landing on me. "What do you want to do when you're older?"

"Oh, uh... I'm not sure. Something in journalism, maybe."

"Your mom's a writer, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then you're kind of lucky," Nico smiled. "You have a mentor right in your house."

"What do your parents do, Nicolas?" Benji asked. I could practically hear his breathing hitch before he let out a strained laugh.

"Uh, my mom's hairdresser," he said with a very forced smile. I think I may be the only person in the world who knows what that smile means.

"Nice," Benji nodded and we continued on. The sun was smiling sleepily in the hot pink sky as the sounds of the ocean boomed before was.

"Hey," I whispered, just loud enough for Nico to hear. "Are you okay with drinking? We don't have to if..."

"No, no. I'm fine, Ollie," he said, flashing me a smile.

"Okay... But, if you feel even a little uncomfortable, just let me know. We can have a safe word or something."

Nico chuckled at this. "Okay, how about... Surfboard."

"What? No that's too normal."

"Mmm... ventriloquist."

"Ventriloquist? Why?"

"Dunno," he shrugged. "It was the first word that came to mind."

"Okay, ventriloquist. That works fine."

"Wait, guys," Benji said, turning and interrupting our whisper conversation. "Can we build sandcastles?"

"No," I groaned, but Nicolas said "Yes!" at the exact same time.

"Drunk sand castle building? This sounds like a blast," Benji grinned. I scoffed, but Nico tightened his arm around me as we entered the gates to the beach and I felt calm again. Not calm-calm, because I was sort of innerly freaking out, but a new calm. An unsure calm. A hopeful calm.