The course of the next few days were all the same. Get up, do some reading, chat with Ian, go to bed. After what seemed like years October finally came around and people were starting to decorate their dorms and plan costume ideas for Halloween.
Ian told me of this one rumor that some of the boys would be ditching their dorms to go to a Halloween party to see their girlfriends. He didn't know where it would be held place or what time, but it didn't matter to me.
I already had my own plans for Halloween.
It was my birthday after all.
Ian finally decided to introduce me to Kenny, who happened to be the blonde freckled boy I had seen the day I found out Ian was gay. I liked him, he was funny and very easygoing. Maybe these years wouldn't be so bad after all. I actually had friends for a change.
"I'm Nathan," I said.
"Nice to meet you Nathan! The name's Kenny!" He had a very subtle Australian accent.
"Nice to meet you too," It was still early in the morning and I was tired so I didn't sound as excited I was to meet him. Granted I was more so excited for the potential "stuff" Kenny snuck in.
"I actually found out where that Halloween party was, let's say we crash it?" Kenny suggested, he went wide eyed with excitement, he looked like if he could marry chaos, he would.
"Depends on your definition of crash," Ian said. "I'm not really in the mood of drinking spiked punch while all my friends are hooking up with girls."
"That was one time!" Kenny whined.
I spaced out as Kenny and Ian playfully argued, smiling. It was genuinely nice having being their friend, but I wanted to get straight to the point.
"So do you have any vapes?" I asked Kenny, when I thought they had paused in conversation for a moment.
"Oh yeah man," he took one from his pocket and tossed it to me. "Cause some trouble for me yeah?"
"Yeah," I said, not fully listening to what he was saying as I started. I missed the feeling too much.
"So are we going to the party?" Kenny inquired, still having that childish look of wanting to cause trouble on his face.
"I don't see why not," I said, puffing out a bit of smoke.
"I'm not wearing a costume," Ian crossed his arms over his broad chest, while Kenny put a hand on his hip in a very feminine fashion.
"Costumes are the best part!" He complained.
"The best part," Ian said, still very annoyed. "Is going home."
"What about you Nathan? Will you wear a costume?"
"I don't really want to go," I said, puffing out more smoke. "I have plans."
"What plans?" Kenny and Ian asked in unison.
"Nab a cupcake from the cafeteria and chill here," I explained. That wasn't the full part of my plans, but the rest of it was too petty for me to get into.
"BORING!" Kenny exclaimed, probably only half furious at me and Ian's anti-social behavior. He stormed out of our dorm room and headed to who knows where.
"Sorry about Kenny," Ian apologized. "He can act like such a girl sometimes."
I couldn't help but laugh at this.
"He's certainly something," I said, still chuckling.
After a couple minutes of just chilling out doing our own thing, I decided to be a little nosy. "So tell me more about that boy I saw you with," I teased.
"Oh, uh.. we broke up," Ian said, not looking at me.
"That means your available?" I chuckled.
"I suppose so," Ian was the one smirking now, clearly picking up my game. I chuckled internally and tried not to laugh.
Honestly I was not entirely sure what my sexuality was. It was just something I never really put a label on and I just never thought about it all that much. My dating life wasn't exactly filled and it wasn't necessarily something I cared about.
"Do you like girls too? Or just boys?
"Just boys really," Ian looked like he was going to stay more, then stopped himself.
"Do you have a lot of experience with boys?" I asked, he got off his bed and slowly walked over to mine.
"Why do you want to know?" He asked, still treading onward to my bed. When he arrived he sat next to me, his legs dangling off the edge and his hand caressing my thigh.
I flushed slightly, I've never so much as hugged my mother before. (Why would I?) And here I was, getting hit on by Ian, unsure whether I liked it or not.
"Just curious," I said, dropping my gaze to anywhere except Ian, but his cold eyes bore into mine and it was so hard to look away. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw Ian's eyes flash red. I shook my head and figured it was just the lighting.
"What kind of experience?"
"Just in dating.." I stuttered.
"Nothing else?" His voice dropped to a husky tone, his hand now dangerously close to my crotch. I remained absolutely still in both shock and embarrassment. I was uncomfortable, but then I remembered my vow.
Never make yourself vulnerable.
Never again, I told myself.
"Actually," I began, one of his eyebrows curved up in curiosity. "I was thinking something more... intimate?" He drew his face closer to mine, I could feel his breath on the front of my face.
Closer... closer...
The door flew open and Kenny stormed in with at three outfits on his right arm, and three outfits on his left.
"Guys!" Ian drew away from me quickly, removing his hand and immediately I felt better, relieved I wouldn't have to go along with whatever that was.
"I found some awesome costumes we could wear!" Kenny exclaimed. Ian and I groaned in unison. Neither of us wanted to go to this stupid party.
"Please?" Kenny whined. "It'll be fun I swear! At least try them on."
I got up in surrender, and Kenny handed me a costume that I was more then uncomfortable wearing. I went into the bathroom, wearing my perfectly normal clothes; coming out in a very sparkly bunny suit that was very tight with no pants. My crotch ached from the tightness in my groin, and my body itched from all the sparkles. The costume had a matching pom-pom tail and a bunny ears headband.
I glared at Kenny and death stared Ian as he tried to contain his laughter. "No." I deadpanned. And went inside the bathroom to change back into my much less painful clothes.
I could hear Ian burst into laughter as I shut the door rather aggressively.
Kenny crossed his arms and was very disappointed in me for the next ten seconds until I suggested Ian try on his costume. Which happened to be a lot more masculine then mine, I rolled my eyes at this.
Ian's costume was what I assumed to be a pirate. He had a white button up shirt, two buttons at the top open enough to reveal the top of his chest. He had fine tuned leather pants that hugged his hip and behind rather well. I dropped my gaze and noticed the dorky pointy shoes that made up for the relatively handsome outfit.
He had a pirate's hat that pointed both ways with a skull and crossbones on stitched on. A fake stubbled was taped to his chin and by the look of agony on his face, he hated his costume too.
"This is awful Kenny," Ian complained. I snickered, amused now that I'm not the one in the costume. "What did you get for yourself anyways?"
"I got a pirate to match with you if you picked this one," Kenny started. "And a cosplay of Tanjiro from Demon Slayer!"
"What's my second costume?" I asked, a little afraid to know the answer.
"Ochako Uraraka from My Hero Academia," he replied.
"Yeah, no. I'm not going," I decided. I already knew this of course, but Kenny was clearly in some state of denial. Why did he think I was so feminine? I don't cross-dress.
"What about me?" Ian asked, making a familiar face of distress.
"JD from Heathers, it's a musical and movie?"
Of course Ian got all the masculine costumes.
"Never seen it, I'd rather stay here anyways," Ian decided, casting me a glance. I flushed, unsure whether I was embarrassed, aroused, or uncomfortable.
"You guys are boring!" Kenny complained.
"Actually," I corrected. "We're normal."
"Fine, I'll just find temporary friends to replace you two or something," Kenny said, and without another word he left the room, leaving me and Ian alone.