Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

5 | Pink and Sparkly

We all crashed onto the couch directly after eating. There was a telenovela on, playing quietly behind us. Benji fell asleep quick. Just a half hour ago, he was talking excitedly about surfing, but now, his eyes were drooping closed and his chest was rising and falling with sleep.

Nico smiled over at him, nudging my shoulder. "He looks so peaceful."

"Benji always is."

"He was as a kid, too," Nicolas nodded. "Never nervous. Just... happy."

I chewed on that for a second. That was how I imagined Nicolas sometimes- this ball of sunshine. I knew he had something sad inside of him, but I'd never seen it. Maybe he'd just gotten good at hiding it.

"Yeah. Benj' hasn't changed at all."

"Have any of us?"

"Well, yeah," I said. He shrugged in response, and I continued. "I mean, we had to. Both of us."

"Sure."

"Don't you think you've grown up?"

He waited for a beat before shrugging a second time. "I think being forced into growing up makes you feel younger than you are."

Neither of us wanted to unpack that, so our attention returned to the screen. Nicolas was hugging a throw pillow like it was a stuffed bear and I wondered, childishly, if he still had his old toys.

"So," Nicolas said after the episode ended, trying to break the tension. "You have a girlfriend?"

I scrunched up my face in thought, trying to find the right answer. "Kind of," I settled for as Nicolas tilted his head. "Well, this girl likes me. I don't know about dating, though."

"Ah, so you've never had a girlfriend?" Nico asked, leaning back on the couch.

"No," I admitted through a laugh. "I'm guessing you've had dozens though, hm?"

He scoffed as he sat up again, I'd think I had offended the boy if it weren't for the grin resting on his face as he spoke. "Just the one: Jackie. But, I don't really... She isn't my girlfriend girlfriend."

I nodded, studying him silently. It was boys that looked like him who usually got plenty of girls. The charismatic brown eyes, the muscular build, the crooked smile. I had seen it all before and quickly settled on Nicolas's social status. Popular, I decided. But I suppose he was just the same as the boy I had left years ago, the one who would gush about marrying the love of his life and having 12 kids. Still, embarrassment sprouted inside of me as I realized how lame I must seem. I hadn't so much as liked a girl. My life felt so small against his, and it sort of burned to think about it. Maybe he thinks less of me. Maybe Benji does, too. Maybe everyone who's every met Apollo Quinn thinks he hasn't lived a life at all, Quickly, I thought up something to give me a bit more credit.

"But, I have a date this weekend though," I rushed out, earning a head tilt from Nico.

"Really?" he said. "Alright, Apollo! Good for you. Who's the girl?"

"Right," I mumbled. "Uh, her name is Lilli. She's super smart, like a genius. And pretty."

It wasn't a total lie or anything. Lilli had been interested in me all year. I just pretended not o notice. Something about the idea of being someone's boyfriend made my stomach hurt.

Nicolas laughed, hitting my arm. "Well, good!"

I let out a nervous laugh and looked away again. "Haha, yeah," I mumbled.

My phone rang beside me, startling Benji from his peaceful slumber and leaving him to groan in fury.

"Hi, Apollo," my mom's voice spoke from the other side of the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" I said as Benji curled in beside me, hiding his eyes from the bright overhead lights.

"Do you want me to pick you guys up? I'm on my way to the store right now if you two wanna join me."

I tilted the phone away, glancing across the room at Nico who was watching Benji sleepily cuddle into my arm.

"You want my mom to pick us up?" I asked him. Benji grudgingly held onto me, mumbling something incoherent in refusal.

"Uh, no it's cool. We can bike," Nicolas said after a moment of thinking. I cocked a brow at this.

"You hated biking," I said through a. questioning glance. The boy simply shrugged, looking down at Benji.

"I've gotta get better at it though, right? I've got the whole summer left to bike around."

I nodded and pulled the phone back to my ear, quickly thanking then declining my mother, and hanging up the phone as Benji sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Can we go surf now?" the boy murmured, his voice still rough from sleep. Nicolas let out a laugh.

"You're barely awake, Benj'," I said. He pouted for a moment, then stood and extended a hand to Nicolas.

"You'll come surf with me, right?"

"Sure, why not," Nico said, grabbing his hand. Benji tugged excitedly, leaving them standing side by side. "C'mon, Apollo. It'll be fun."

I huffed out an annoyed breath before reluctantly standing beside the two. "I'm not touching that surfboard."

"Whaaaaat?" Benji groaned. "What'll you be doing the whole time, then, hm?"

I smiled and reached into the bag I had rested beside the couch, pulling out a book. "I came prepared." Benji laughed and grabbed the book from my hands.

"Mythos?" he read slowly from the cover of my book. I snatched it back from his hands and carefully placed it under my arm. "Is it a misprint or something? Since when was 'myth' spent with an 'o'?"

"It's a greek book, dumbass."

He sighed dramatically. "My best friend is a loser."

"Hey," I yelped as Nicolas laughed in reply.

"Who brings a book to the beach?"

"People who understand that humans have no business dealing with water. We aren't designed for it."

"You," Benji said and pushed my chest with a finger. "Are no fun."

"And you are going to drown one day while I stand on the shore. Safe. Probably with a book in hand."

"Aw, and then you'll have no friends left."

"Asshole," I said and nudged Benji's side as he laughed.

"Nicolas, you can borrow my sister's board. Fair warning: it is pink and sparkly, but it works."

"Nothing wrong with pink and sparkly," Nicolas shrugged in reply. Benji disappeared up his stairs  "I'm excited. I haven't touched saltwater in, like, 5 years."

"Did you even bring swim trunks?"

"Uh, yeah," Nico answered, reaching into his bag for them. "I don't know if I can still swim, though. It's been a long time."

"And... You're jumping directly into surfing?"

Nicolas shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because you could drown! Seriously, am I the only one scared of the ocean?"

He laughed and grabbed my shoulder, shaking his head slightly. "Maybe we should trade lives. You'd do better in Vermont."

"Yeah, I'll pass."

Benji came barreling downstairs with two surfboards in hand and shoved the pink one into Nicolas's arms. "My sister is not happy about this. I suggest we run."

From the top of the stairs, a girl's voice boomed out. "Benjamin! Devuélveme mi mierda ahora mismo," she yelled and, though I couldn't understand what exactly she said, I knew it sounded angry. We all bolted out of the front door and raced down Benji's sidewalk in pursuit of the ocean.