46 | 𝐺𝑎𝑦 𝐷𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝐸𝑥 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒

I laid my head up against the grass with the sun in my eyes.

I created a starfish as the beautiful yellow, warm cascading streams of light washed over my pale complexion and the soft, itchy grass surrounding. My hair splattered on the ground and my red and white polka dot dress was laying on my body.

"I missed the nice weather for a change," I told him, shifting my head and angling it so I can see him lying next to me.

His head propped up by his head, his elbows poking to the sky and his eyes trained on the houses lined down his row. We were on his front lawn, technically, he was supposed to drive me home, but I kind of just popped a squat and haven't gotten up since. He of course, found comfort next to me and we drifted off to silence.

"Me too," he murmured before propping himself up to sit upright, the palms of his hands stamped to the yellowing grass bleached in sunlight. He squinted at me. "We should get going now. It's bad enough you're here." Victor stood up and outstretched his hand.

"I know, but are you sure we can't talk?" I pressed.

"I don't want to." Victor took my hand and tugged me into a hug. "We'll talk about this eventually, but Corbett doesn't even want this much now." He ran a few circles on my back, then separated. "You'll drive?"

We routinely practiced.

"You're eighteen," I reminded him, also another way of saying I'm not ready for the roads.

"Okay, but I would at your command," he crooned, twisting the keys around his finger before slipping into the driver's side of the jeep and staring out at me through the passenger window with a half-hearted smile. After a few seconds of absorbing the sunlight, I was seated next to him as he drove me home.

We'd been in this awkward stage for a while, mainly because I couldn't allow my heart to open to the possibility of what I felt so strongly before. After hearing Sullivan accuse Victor of such things, and make me block him and ignore him, I was starting to resent my crush. Decidedly, I did keep Victor blocked in case Sullivan was to go through my phone again. I learned that he does that sometimes if he starts to lack trust in me, but I will make sure he trusts me soon enough.

Victor drove mindlessly with one hand on the wheel, his other on the middle consul when his fingers briefly brushed over my knee warmly. The touch made me look down to his fingers toying with the fringe at the end of my red dress before he pulled his hand back and started driving with it.

I was steadying my breathing, biting my lip as we approached my house. "Thank you," I told him. "For today."

"We just watched a horror movie," he recalled, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly, but I loved it." I grinned from ear to ear, slamming the door shut and hurrying up the lawn to my door. When I opened it and locked it shut once inside, I heard a muse of chatter run to my ears. The familiar voices had a strange churn in my gut.

I walked in the direction of the volume, greeting two people in the dining room. "Dad?" I asked, my voice hollow.

He squealed out of the mahogany chair, standing from the table and looking at me. "My little girl is dating, your mom was telling me--"

"What?" I surveyed a look at my mom as she shrugged, sipping her coffee as if to tell me she didn't know he was coming. "Why are you here?"

He sighed. "I want to be there for your graduation--"

"I told you no."

"How about I see you before prom?"

"No."

"I want to be in your life, Azariah." He was desperate and followed me when I began waking to the staircase.

"No!" I shouted over my shoulder, beginning to walk up the stairs with my hand lingering over the wooden banister. When I was up in my bedroom, I noticed my bare mattress. Victor insisted I keep it, but I told him I would live. I slept with his covers for three days before I knew it was right to return them.

I popped open my laptop and sat criss cross in front of it just as my phone began to vibrate. I flipped it over and answered the familiar caller ID. "Hey, Sullivan," I started.

"Sup," he began. "Wanna come over?"

I hesitated, drawing a finger to my lip. I needed to get out of the house and couldn't stand the thought of my father just down on the first floor. I needed freedom and I needed air to breathe. "Actually, I do have to buy a comforter."

"Purple is my favorite color, you should get something like that," he told me. "I think it'd make your room look a lot fucking nicer." There was a long pause because I was scared, frozen in petrification as I fumbled with the words on my lips.

"Purple?"

"Yeah. It's my favorite color."

Shit. Purple was my least favorite color and I hated it. Purple was dark and reminded me of everything I hated. I don't like grapes and everything more purple. It was just a bad color in general and when he said it, I couldn't control it when I said, "me too. Purple comforter it is!"

I went onto an online store on my laptop with him on the phone and relayed different patterns to him. A sad part of me hated the online bit, since I needed to get out of the house and tried hinting to him numerous times that buying in person would be better, but he didn't understand it.

I sent him pictures and after eliminating a few, he picked one out. I didn't bother telling him that the reviews were bad and that people were complaining about the cheap quality. Some said it frayed within a week of buying, but Sullivan seemed to be confident in the decision, enough for the two of us.

"So," I urged after purchasing. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"What's tomorrow?" His voice was short and to the point, that I felt a bit hurt just by what he was saying. We hadn't really talked in a while and I assumed that he was planning something.

"Valentine's Day, it's stupid, I know, but I've never had a boyfriend... like ever and this just screamed cliche cuteness and I wanted to--" I rambled.

"Oh, no, I didn't have anything planned." He questioned, "was I supposed to?"

I held the phone flush up against my ear, unable to hide the shoulder slouch and my body as it tumbled to the mattress. I heaved a quiet breath. I thought almost all relationships did things like this, where they spend a little money aside to just go along with the commercialized setting.

I guess I fell into that almost category.

"No, it's okay," I assured with hearty chuckles to get my head in alignment with how I knew I was supposed to feel. I heard a few knocks against the door as I popped up from the bed. "I got to go, but we can always take a drive and listen to music for tomorrow, right?"

"Gas money."

"I'll pay?"

"I just don't want to do it," he replied with a bored tone. At hearing him, I quickly back tracked, apologizing and saying we'd talk more tomorrow before answering my bedroom door.

My dad was standing on the opposing side, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. "I know I messed up."

"Please, just go away!" I threw my arms up in a careless manner before approaching the far end of my bedroom and clamping my hands to my bed. "You're not going to my graduation."

"You should really clean your room," he said stiffly. "Here, I'll take your garbage out." He was beginning to walk into my room, carrying the trash bin.

As if he was trying to become a father in the span of a few seconds while crossing some things off my To-Do list. He picked it up and held it like a football under his arm. "Azariah, I do love you and I want you to know that I'm always here for you."

"Just throw the trash out." I shook my head, ignoring the rest of his words as he slowly walked out of my room, accepting the obvious defeat.

♡♡♡

I walked the glass bridge above the courtyard, heading down the stairs and arrived at my locker when I noticed Sullivan standing by it holding a teddy bear with a t-shirt on it that said, 'Bear Hugs.'

He held a bouquet in his other and a box of Valentine's Day chocolates was in his other hand. My heart quite literally exploded. I felt my cheeks warm at the thought of him picking things out for me in the store. I felt my eyes try and take in the memory as if I could photograph it. Everything in me went light as I floated towards him with a carbonated energy.

I jogged to his side, wrapping my arms around him gingerly and leaning up on my tippy toes, kissing him tenderly on the lips. I kiss him again on the cheek. "Thank you! Thank you! A million times, thank you!"

"No problem," he responded with a faint grin. "I took some of the chocolates out so it doesn't make you sick."

I think that's... considerate?

"Thank you," I told him again while he passed me the bear and I squeezed it. "I love it so much! What should I name him?" I pivoted the bear to him, but Sullivan was looking down the hallway absently.

"I don't know." He shoved the flowers in my chest but they fell to the floor, making me stumble back as he called, "Gonz! Yo, Wolfe!"

I gazed over my shoulder and he started running down the hallway. I sighed, closing my eyes when Kayla appeared in front of me. "This was cute."

"I guess." My voice fell and I picked up the bouquet, the plastic wrapping crinkled under my grasp as I weakly shrugged. "How are you doing with the project."

"Alright," she gave in. "Some of these quotes are too close to home." She was laughing now.

"I know right!" I rolled my head around to my locker, quickly twisting the combo and watching it snap open. I settled everything in, propping the bear to look at me just as I heard a distant conversation involving Sullivan. I looked and as Sullivan was barreling around the corner of the hallway, Victor passed by him and nodded.

Kayla suddenly waved him over. "How are you doing?"

He stopped in his tracks, smiling at her after adjusting his backpack. "Pretty good--oh, Olivia wanted me to tell you to meet her in the library during your free period for the game plan?" he reminded. "Good luck."

"Fuck!" Kayla leapt off the navy blue metal. "Gotta go! Bye, guys!" she shouted once already bounding up the stairwell.

I looked to her disappearance then to Victor with a mischievous grin. "What was that all about?" My voice was somewhat intrigued as I retrieved a book from my locker.

"Well, for the field trip, we're trying to convince Clem to let Keiona go, so we had this whole presentation made and we're planning on showing him after school today--" He intercepted himself, grinning and holding his hands out. "Which is kind of fucking funny since Rowan originally was literally going to just sneak Keiona on the bus, but we think Clem is nice enough." Victor breathed steadily after chuckling. "You're more than welcome to come, but I assumed with Corbett--"

"Yeah," I muttered.

"Okay, but if you change your mind. Room 214." He went to leave when he pivoted around and pointed to the inside of my exposed locker. "Love what you've done with the place."

I giggled, glancing to my locker then back at him. "Happy Valentine's Day."

He nodded. "Happy Valentine's Day." He was off around the corner before I could register, but it was seconds until he appeared just as I was beginning to seal the locker closed. "Also! Can you unblock me now? It's getting annoying that I can't text my best friend anymore."

"Probably. Oh, give me a random name for my teddy bear." I pointed to the bear at the top of my locker.

Victor squinted, then suggested, "Lenny?"

"Okay, hi, Lenny," I greeted, but I was looking at Victor as I spoke. "Consider yourself unblocked Lenny. You are now my drunk gay ex uncle," I told him.

He revealed his body behind the lockers completely, his dumbfounded expression taking form. "I'm sorry, what? That's one heck of a persona for a teddy bear."

"No," I declaimed, raising my phone. "I'm unblocking you and now you're my gay drunk uncle who was in my family by marriage but you divorced my actual uncle," I explained. "That way in case Sullivan asks, I'll have a story." I smiled cheekily then gestured to the bear. "He's also now named Lenny."

He was grinning, biting his bottom lip while his eyes scanned me over. "Okay," he breathed in a laugh. "See you round, Princess."

"See ya." I slammed my locker closed, separating from him and wandering off to the sounds of a male whining hysterically, his voice pitchy.

"I know! She is so fucking hot beneath all that."

"Tell me about it. No wonder he's so possessive."

"Once he dumps her, I'm going in next."

My eyes peered around the corner and I saw Wolfie, Sam, Gonzalo, and two other guys. They were perched up against the wall, some sitting on the bench. They all snapped their heads simultaneously up to me when I appeared.

"Hey, beautiful," one whistled, the guy I didn't know.

I squinted my eyes, shaking it off when Woflie stood up and stepped in front of me. "First the blowjobs and now this shit. You really are wanting attention, aren't you?"

"What are you talking--"

Sam came up from behind me, a bandage warped around his nose. "You fucking broke my nose and now I'm out for the season."

"I'm sorry, I was just--" My breath hitched as I looked at them all towering over me. "Look, I got to get to class--"

Gonzalo shoved a hand on Wolfie, pushing him away. "Stop scaring the girl, would ya?"

My face turned red and my body was practically getting stabbed in the needles of humiliation. Even my hands were coated in claminess as Sam placed a hand on my bare shoulder and I leapt out from under the grasp.

"I will break your nose again!" I threatened.

Sam cocked his head. "Nice threat, but you do owe me for what you did. I'm out for the fucking season which means that all my chances at getting into my second back-up dream school is out of the picture," he voiced pointedly.

"Well, I'm sorry about that," I told him, "And I'm sorry about your nose." I was going to walk towards the glass bridge in hopes of retreating to my class when Wolfie grabbed onto my wrist, making my heart pick up speed even more violently.

"Or you could send me some more photos like that and we'll be good."

"What are you--" I gaped, my body going limp.

"Hey, Rhy!" Sullivan called from the far end of the hallway. I quickly scurried away and he let me. When I caught up to Sullivan, he stuffed me into his chest.

"What are they talking about?" My voice was eager and my lips parted as I desperately wanted to know what they were implying.

He only shrugged and said, "I don't know. I don't even think they know what they're on about. Those guys are idiots, trust me."

And so I did.

x