"I need space." Those were the words Jacky said to Ryan the night before they both left for separate colleges. Now, each of them will try to learn who they are without the other. Will their paths lead them back together?
Liliana jerked a thumb at Jacky. "Guess who's being a Debbie Downer about it."
"Hey! Just because I don't feel like falling on my ass all night doesn't mean I'm a downer."
"Of course you are." Billy waved Jacky off, then gestured to his companion, a tall curly-haired guy with olive skin. "This is Stavros. He's going to be my ice skating date." Linking arms with Stavros, Billy kicked a foot up behind him like they would be doing couples ice dancing or something.
Jacky glanced at Braedyn to see how he was handling this news. He had gotten the distinct impression that Billy was interested in Braedyn, and vice versa. But Braedyn kept his eyes down on his plate even though he was just poking at his pile of French fries with his fork.
With a nudge, Liliana asked Jacky, "So? Are you gonna go?"
"Why not," Jacky grumbled, but only half-heartedly. He had a feeling there would be lots of drama to watch from wherever he fell on the ice.
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Ryan
Ryan was at the laundromat, squeezed in a plastic chair with his anatomy textbook open on his lap and highlighter in hand, when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He would have ignored it – he had three more chapters to read – but then it buzzed four more times in quick succession, and again as he was in the process of extracting it from his pocket without spilling his textbook onto the lady knitting in the seat beside him.
He sighed when he saw that it was just Marina and not Jacky.
Tonight
You + me
You're gonna find me a man
You in?
Don't worry it will be free, it's a fundraiser hosted by Kappa Alpha Theta
Even as Ryan was trying to make sense of all this, and recalling that Marina was in a sorority, she sent another text: Pretty please with a cherry on top? This was followed by the prayer hands emoji.
Thus far, and likely due to living off-campus, Ryan had avoided the frat party scene. He'd only seen the aftermath, with several of his football teammates being kicked off the team for showing up hungover or drunk to practices and games. He had politely declined invitations to the various frat parties. He didn't need to get sucked into that lifestyle when he needed to be able to work and stay on top of his classes to keep his scholarship.
But this didn't sound like one of those crazy frat parties he'd seen in movies. This sounded nice. A fundraiser. He texted back, Sure I'll go.
YESSSSSS
He smiled and started to put his phone away, only to be startled by a knocking on the laundromat window beside him. "This is gonna be so fun!" Marina yelled from the other side of the window.
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Jacky
From across their dorm room, Jacky watched Billy flip through the clothes on his clothes rack. "Nothing I own is giving Adam Rippon," Billy complained.
Jacky snorted. "What do you mean? You have plenty of sequined blouses."
The way Billy inhaled made Jacky steel himself for a comeback of epic proportions. But rather than snarking back, Billy just exhaled slowly. "You clearly do not understand."
The door was closed, so Jacky felt okay about bringing up what he was about to bring up. "What I understand is that you invited Sergei to go ice skate when you are clearly leading Braedyn on."
"Oh, are you now Braedyn's protector?" Billy spun to face him. "Braedyn's a big boy, and he needs to get out of the closet or he's going to lose—" Billy gestured to his body, "—all this. And, his name is Stavros."
Jacky set his laptop aside. "So you are using Stavros to make Braedyn jealous?"
With a twist of his lips, Billy spun back toward his wardrobe. "I didn't say that." He contemplated his fashion options for only a few seconds before he said, "Yes."
"You don't think that's mean?"
"Mean? Ha! What's mean is keeping me hanging this long. Which is why a little ice skating date with Stavros is a good idea. I get a fun night with a hot Greek guy, and I make Braedyn realize that if he doesn't come out and say he likes me and wants to date me, he loses. Two birds."
"Have you told him you like him?" Jacky asked.
"Not explicitly."
Jacky sighed. "You have to be explicit."
Billy peeked over his shoulders and shimmied them. "I'm always explicit."
"No, you do. Ryan was in the closet when we first... when we first became friends. Because I didn't know he was gay. I had to force him to watch Brokeback Mountain and make him super uncomfortable so he'd fucking come out and admit to being gay. And even though I knew at that point that he liked me, it still took him a while for him to tell me that."
"Huh."
"Braedyn has still never said he was gay, and he gave me a fucking blow job. Which is way deeper in the closet than Ryan ever was. Ryan... really just didn't have friends he felt like he could talk to."
Billy didn't respond. Maybe Jacky's words were really sinking in. Jacky sat back in satisfaction.
Then Billy gasped and pulled a black sweater with a swirling red sequined pattern on it. "What about this? It's giving David Rose, yeah?"
Clearly, Billy was not going to get the message. Jacky turned back to his computer. "Who's David Rose?"
"Who's David Rose?" Billy clutched his heart and staggered back into his bed. "Your profound lack of culture will kill me one of these days."
Jacky shrugged.
"Also, is that what you're wearing tonight?" Billy asked.
