Casey's Choice

Tell me how you really feel

It was Friday, June 17th. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and Casey Martindale was shut in his house, playing geometry dash. He was just about to beat the final level, when a sudden knock startled him, causing him to jump, and drop his ipad. He sighed in defeat, and called out "come in!"

"Jackson's here, Casey," his mother chirped happily. Casey's mom thought of Jackson as her second son, which makes sense because Jackson and Casey had been best friends since preschool. Casey felt his cheeks get hot as he smiled back at his mom and nodded. At that moment, Casey remembered he hadn't showered since the day before. As soon as his mom left the room, Casey got up and ran to the bathroom. As he desperately searched for his cologne and deodorant, Jackson came upstairs to Casey's room and knocked on the door.

"Just a second!" Casey called out nervously. He felt his face turning bright red as he recalled the last time he saw Jackson. He pushed the memory far out of his thoughts, and focused on finding what he was looking for. After a few minutes, Casey found his axe deodorant and cologne and quickly applied them, tossing them aside as he opened the bathroom door as entered his room.

"H-hey Jackson," Casey stuttered nervously, "how have you been?" Jackson smiled and stood up to give Casey a hug, his head resting on his shoulder. Jackson embraced Casey for just a little longer than what could be considered a "friendly hug", but Casey gladly accepted Jackson's affection.

"I'm wonderful now that I'm here." Jackson replied, blushing ever so slightly. Casey just smiled and squeezed Jackson's hand. "How's your training coming along?" Jackson asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them. Casey's face lit up with excitement as he guided Jackson over to his desk.

"Everything is going great. I leave in a week for the convention, and if I end up in the top five, I move on to internationals." He explained with enthusiasm. Jackson smiled as he looked at Casey's profile and application.   

"Man, I can't believe you're going to be an international gamer. You'd best not forget me when you're famous." Jackson said. He smiled and jokingly slugged Casey's shoulder, but truth rang behind his words. Casey just smiled.

"Aw, come on bud, you know I could never forget you. You're the reason I got this far, and you're the reason I'm still going." Casey replied. He knew how important Jackson was to him, and he'd always choose Jackon over anything else in the world. He was his best friend, plain and simple. 

Casey and Jackson spent the weekend playing video games and eating pizza until their stomachs nearly burst. By Sunday, they'd beaten all of Casey's games.. twice, and had run out of things to do. after a moment or two of thought, Jackson thought of the perfect way to end a weekend well spent with his best friend. He looked over at Casey and grinned.

"I wanna show you something," Jackson stated enthusiastically, "get in the truck." Casey was confused for a moment, then remembered that Jackson had just received his driver's licence the week before. "Come on slowpoke," Jackson joked, "we're losing daylight." Casey slugged Jackson as he slipped on his shoes and raced him out the door. After about a 30 minute drive, Jackson parked in front of a drive in movie theater. Casey looked at Jackson and smiled.

"Where are we?" Casey inquired. He'd never been to a drive in theater before, and he didn't even know this one existed. 

"It's an old drive in theater. Nothing plays here anymore, it's abandoned. But it's a nice place to come to think. Speaking of thinking.." Jackson's voice trailed off as he turned to look at Casey.

"What's up bud? Everything okay?" Casey asked. He looked at Jackson with concern as he blushed a deep crimson. Jackson just nodded and shifted in his seat. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Jackson leant forward and gently pressed his lips to Caseys. Casey was shocked at first, but after a short moment, he melted into Jackson's kiss. After what felt like a perfect eternity, Jackson pulled away and blushed an even deeper crimson than before. All Casey could do was smile and pull Jackson into another kiss.

About an hour later, Jackson drove Casey home. The two boys sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, and after a while, Casey kissed Jackson on the cheek and got out of the truck, making his way back to his house. As he entered his front door, Casey couldn't help but smile as he made his way to his bedroom. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Casey was asleep and smiling wider than ever before.