Solving For X (BoyxBoy) [✓]

3. Bad Idea To The Ninth Power

“What does that even mean?”

She smiled and fell silent again.

“You’re creeping me out Joy,” I mumbled.

Her eyes had grown maniacally wide. “Good, Price. Good.”

The Coach had blown his whistle to end practice.

Jeremy steamrolled over to us and jumped up on the bleachers. “I'm tired,” he moaned, eyes closed and lips a-pout. “Get up, PB,” he groaned, grabbing hold of my hand and moving backwards until I was to my feet. “I want to go back home and sleep in your bed forever.”

I thumped him on his forehead. “What are you, ten? Suck it up.”

“Hey,” he growled, playfully, “You try swimming back and forth and back and forth and then doing that for another eight hundred million times and then tell me to suck it up.”  He pointed down at his speedos. “Plus I’ve been holding in this pee for God knows how long. Now take me home.”

“God, what are you, my woman?” I mumbled.

He pouted. “If I’m your woman then why aren’t you listening to me?” He placed his hand on his hip. “And why did you leave the toilet seat up this morning? And why won’t you look at me during sex? Am I getting fat?” He pointed to Joy, accusingly, “Your sleeping with this sluut, aren’t you?”

Rory and Mario came over before Jeremy got too into character and challenged Joy to a bra and panties match.

“Guys,” Mario mumbled with his face in his phone. He was probably reading a message from his girlfriend. Trina, or Teegan or T-Dogg. The point was, I had no idea what the girl’s name was.  Which was bizarre, since it was the only thing that ever came out of his mouth.

“Tina sent me this cryptic text and I have no idea what it means.”

Rory and Jeremy went to look at it. It was strange how much taller they were to him. Or how much paler they were.

Mario was half Black, half Latino. You could hear his accent sometimes, especially when he was really relaxed.  

They read it and then looked at each other. Then, for some reason, they both looked at me. “Ask Price,” Jer said. “He speaks Fluent Girl,” he commented, and I  resisted the urge to throw my left sneaker at him.

Joy waved her hands in front of Jeremy’s face. “Heeellooo. Girl here.” She cupped her breasts.  “Round, squishy boobs and all. Girl is my native tongue.”

Jeremy swatted her hands away. “Joy, you’re like, 40% girl max.”

“Yeah,” Rory said, “the rest is just muscle and sarcasm.”

Mario turned to me. His eyes were circular. They reminded me of twin asteroids, just hurdling towards earth, or in this case, me. He extended the phone to me. “You’re my only hope, man.”

I took it and exhaled. “Does she want to break up or something?” he asked. He was losing breath quickly. “I mean, we just got together like four months ago. “

I looked down and read the text: Are you free l8r?

I blinked and looked up at him. “I think she just…wants to hang out later." I slowly handed the phone back over to him.

Jeremy rolled his blue eyes. “Come on, PB. That is some layered shit right there. Read between the lines, man.”

“There is literally nothing cryptic about this message," I said.