Going Long (boyxboy)

Chapter 7-Gut Punch

Chapter 7- Gut Punch

~Jake~

"So are you taking Sunny to Haley's party tonight?" I didn't look up from my plate as I asked, partly because it took a lot of concentration to get the macaroni noodles to stay on my fork, and partly because if I saw that stupid smile on his face one more time I was going to ask for a friend refund. My Josh didn't smile all the time like an idiot. My Josh was supposed to be surly and aloof. Since he started dating Sunny—approximately 2.7 minutes ago—he was like a fucking Nicholas Sparks movie come to life. Not that I'd ever seen one, but I imagined they had a lot of smiling idiots in them.

"She'll be there, but we're taking separate cars. She has a cur...few."

I finally looked up when his word trailed off and saw that he was watching me, his nose scrunched in disgust.

"Can you please not do that? Civilized people are trying to enjoy their lunch," he shuddered.

"I have a complex palate," I explained, continuing to pour honey over my macaroni and cheese. "That means I'm technically more civilized than you. And that reminds me, did you remember to DVR Chopped? Tonight's a returning champ episode and I don't want to miss it."

Josh continued to stare at my plate, shaking his head, as if I was the weird one. He was the one eating grilled chicken at a fried chicken joint. Freak.

"Yes? No? Do I need to do it myself? What?"

"How have you been living with me for almost a week and you haven't figured out how to work the DVR yet?" he answered.

"Who says I don't know how to work it?" I mean, really. Who doesn't know how to work a TV?

"If you know how then why do you ask me to do it?"

"If you do it for me why would I do it myself? Duh." Sometimes I wondered how Josh got such good grades. He could be really stupid.

"You know what, I was planning on staying sober enough to drive us home tonight, but fuck that. I'm getting drunk. Are you good with crashing there?" I didn't catch the connection between the change in topics, but I wasn't about to pass up on a chance to see drunk Josh in action. If normal Josh was surly and aloof, wasted Josh was still surly, but a lot more fun.

"Hell yeah dude! We're gonna do shots! Shots! Shots!"

I was still singing my song when Josh cleared our table and headed out to his Jeep. One of the great perks of being a senior—off campus lunch. Since school had started back on Wednesday we'd gone out every day, joining the mass flood of seniors who bolted to the parking lot the second the bell rang at noon.

Since we were carpooling to school, we went to lunch together too. Would Josh stop giving me rides and start going to lunch with Sunny once my house was fixed and we weren't living together anymore? I broke off mid 'shot' and frowned. That asshole better not abandon me for a girl. It was already starting to happen. We didn't have any classes together, which wasn't unusual, but we always used to meet in the hall between classes. So far this year he'd spent all his hall time huddled with Sunny, giggling about unicorns and fluffy bunnies or some shit.

Which reminded me...bunnies. Rabbits. Braised rabbit on a bed of cheddar grits with a marshmallow fluff and tamarind reduction.

"Hey! Did you record Chopped or not?"

~Josh~

            Getting ready for the party was weird. For as long as I could remember, I'd picked out my clothes with the thought in the back of my mind, would Jake like this? Not that he'd ever given any indication he thought about my clothes one way or the other, but that didn't stop me from fantasizing. Maybe he'll think this shirt brings out the gold flecks in my eyes. Maybe these jeans will make him notice my butt.