Chapter 15

"Okay, so let's get it straight... The restaurant is actually just Annie serving dinner in a dining room where you sit at a table with all the other guests, and you pay for it? Or you can opt for getting takeout, but without a car in this snow and no cabs it's not an option?" E.J. phrases the same question he has asked three times already a little bit differently.

"Yep, and apparently there aren't that many guests. Just you and me, and the other gay dude she spoke about and another couple," I answer.

I got all the information I needed when I went down to see Annie after my bath, my stomach rumbling. I was hoping for a place that could whip me up a quick pizza, but apparently dinner time isn't for another hour or so, although there is a living room with a television, tea, coffee, and rusks all day long, which is free and included in our stay.

"So you want us to go and sit and watch whatever is on the tv with strangers so that you can chow down on some rusks?" E.J. asks, his eyes widening and looking down at his Charmander onesie he snuggled in to the moment he left the bathtub.

"You don't have to come with," I answer. "I could sneak you out a few rusks and a cup of coffee."

"You're sure as hell not leaving me in this room. Now that I'm warm I can actually see what it looks like. No wonder they tried to film for ghosts in this place. I mean, have you seen the bed. I think it actually came over on the Mayflower, and the bedding might have been stitched together in England before then," he says looking over at the heavy quilted pink over the bed.

"Though... I have always wondered what it would feel like to sleep on a four poster," I say with a little bit of a grin.

"Well, I have never wondered how it feels like to sleep on a bed at least twenty people must have died in," E.J. complains pulling the hood of his onesie even lower over his face. "I mean... your stupid idea of sleeping outside is looking like a fine idea at the moment."

I can't help holding my stomach as I laugh at E.J.'s face that is stuck in a face of horror.

"Well I need some coffee and some of those rusks, otherwise I will never survive until dinner," I say as E.J. pouts his lips and crosses his arms.

"Fine," he answers. "But I am going in my onesie and you can't stop me."

I laugh again as I walk toward the door with E.J. right behind me, snuggled up in his Charmander outfit.

"Everyone's going to think you're a creature from another planet," I tell him as we make our way down the stairs.

"At least I'm not wearing a Halloween mask," E.J. pouts again, and as usual his reference to my mask doesn't bother me at all. It actually makes me feel more comfortable.

"It's what's under the mask that seems like Halloween," I answer giving another small chuckle.

I was so sure that after what happened in the bathroom when we had the bath everything would change between us, but in some weird type of way it has actually brought us closer together. It's like we understand each other better now. Like there isn't something between us anymore. We have shared something so personal that nothing can tear us apart, and it's a feeling I enjoy.

"And I present... The sitting room," I say just before we enter a room decked out in the finest couches from the 1960's, along with portraits all over the room of people that must have once lived in this house, but might be buried somewhere outside in the woods somewhere over the last two hundred years.

E.J. smiles as he walks in, and he actually locates and gets to the kettle before I even have a chance to make it there.

"It's been a while since you've had your caffeine fix," I say putting a hand on his shoulder, while turning around two cups standing on the tray. "Want some rusks."

"Nope. Just two cups. I'm going to need two cups of coffee right now," he answers making me smile again. It's weird how E.J. can sometimes be so serious, and the next moment he turns into this little kid that could get excited over nothing special.

"Another coffee-holic?" a voice behind us say and we both turn around to look into the face of a boy that could hardly be older than us. His high cheekbones, freckles and full lips makes him almost to pretty to be a guy.

"You must be Cameron," I say, extending my hand to him. "I'm Brody and mister Charmander here is known as E.J."

E.J. nudges me in the side with his elbow at the word 'Charmander' but he smiles at the boy how places a hand on his hip before extending the other hand to me the way a real lady would, almost like he's expecting me to kiss it.

"You must have been gossiping about me with Annie... Well, I also go by the name Lady Lalaland," he says with a smile, his voice changing to sound almost like a girl. "Maybe you've heard of me. I take all the boys to lala land."

"Hmmm, I'm not really familiar with pop culture," I answer, not knowing what else to say and hoping that E.J. would keep his mouth shut. This guy doesn't look like he can withstand a single bad word, let alone E.J's rudeness when he feels like it.

"If I knew everyone was dressing up, I would have too," Cameron says pouting his lips and falling down on one of the couches, pushing his hand through his black hair. "I have this little frock I'm just dying to show off."

"You're a drag queen right?" E.J. asks and again I amaze myself with how far he has come. When I met him he would have never asked a question like this to a stranger straight out.

"Drag queen. Female impersonator. Transvestite..." He draws out the last word in a very deep voice that makes me think of something that should be in the Rocky Horror Picture Show as he sits forward, places his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist, staring at the two of us as we take a seat.

"That's cool..." I mention, wanting to take E.J.'s hand again for some reason, but I know better than to do that. Instead I try not to stare at the stranger and his beautiful face that looks like it might have been sculpted out of marble. He has actual girly features that just makes it impossible not to look at him. It seems impossible to look away though. Something in his green eyes keeps me captivated.

"So what's with the mask handsome?" Cameron asks, looking straight at me. The last word of his sentence makes E.J. sit a little bit closer to me, but my eyes are still prisoners of Cameron's.

"I had a part in the Phantom of the Opera in high school. I loved it so much that I decided to just go along with it and wear the mask for the rest of my life," I answer, feeling my hand go up to touch the mask. "At the moment it's super glued to my face."

Cameron give a little infectious giggle before falling backward in his seat and then sitting up again.

"You are so funny," he says. "I can see why your boyfriend is so attached to you."

"His not my boyfriend," E.J. and I say together in union, looking at each other. I hope that I am not nearly as red as what he is going.

"Well... You could have fooled me tiger..." Cameron says slowly. "The two of you just seem so comfortable with each other. But it serves me right for assuming..."

"I'm straight," I say, hoping that the words coming out of my mouth is still true as I feel E.J. moving in even a little bit closer to me. "And E.J. here isn't into relationships at the moment. So, just very good friends on a road trip."

"And that almost at Christmas time..." Cameron says, taking his position again here he rests his chin on his fist. "Tell me, why aren't ya'll at your families for the holiday season?"

"Because my mom is a fuckup and Brody doesn't have family," E.J. says before I even have a chance to answer. "And you? Why are you here so close to Christmas?"

Cameron jumps up from his seat. It's like his entire personality changes, his voice changes and there's a bright flicker in his eyes that wasn't there one second ago. He puts his hands into the air as he starts to speak.

"The vision that is Lady Lalaland has been summoned from beyond the mountains and over the oceans to spread her love to the gays and queens who come out, hoping beyond all wonder that she will sweep them away to another land. A lalaland. A place where dreams are alive and unicorns still run through the woods. A place where a beautiful lady might just be a unicorn too."

He winks as he moves his hands slowly over his body, stopping them at either side of his crotch, showing that he might have a unicorn. Every word he said was over the top. Every movement. Even his voice. Yet I could not help looking at him the entire time. It might be a little bit too much, but Cameron is an entertainer, that's for sure.

When I finally breathe in to give Cameron an answer he sits down and starts speaking again, flipping his hair out of his eyes and reaching up to play with the small silver circle he has in his ear.

"I'm on my way to Toronto actually. I'm supposed to be performing on New Year, and since I have to go halfway across the country in the old RV, I thought to myself... Cameron, why don't you do a cross country road trips and stop at every single club you can. Do a little performance, make some money on the way, and see it as a holiday as well. But obviously I didn't quite think it through. Evening dresses and this cold doesn't quite go together. I mean, everyone can see my nipple stand."

Cameron starts laughing at his own joke. I try my best to also giggle a little bit and just be polite, but next to me E.J. does not move a muscle at all.

"I think we need to get back to the room," E.J. suddenly utters as he stands up from the couch. "I'd like to put on something before dinner."

"Oh, but off course kind sir. I'd actually like to do the same. I'll see y'all later?" Cameron says, standing up as well, marching out of the room before E.J. and I even have a chance to take a single step towards the exit.

"I guess he will be putting on some of his best drag to try and impress you now that he knows you're straight," E.J. says pouting. "I mean, if he can't get you looking as a boy I can bet you he would try looking as a girl."

"Are you jealous?" I ask, frowning a little bit, making my mask move up against my face. "I mean really... He's not my type. Not as a boy or a girl. I like someone a little more shy. Over the top drama isn't really my thing."

"But he is cute," E.J. says walking out of the room, leaving me to follow him, never answering the question about the jealousy.