My Summer of Firsts

Chapter 22 - Late to the Party

Everyone was already eating when we arrived. Some had even moved on to dessert. Elian and I held hands as we crossed the lawn in the park, giving a wide berth to the giggling children running through the sprinklers.

Among the crowded tables, my mother popped up from her seat. She weaved her way through the maze of chairs and chit-chatters, making a beeline toward us. We waited for her at the edge of the group.

"Where have you been?" She looked me over. "And weren't you wearing a different shirt?"

"I got all sweaty, so I changed." I said. It was totally true, even if it had no bearing on our lateness.

I had come up with a brilliant excuse on the way over, but when I ran it past Elian before we got out of the car, he reminded me of his stance against lying.

"That doesn't explain why you 're over an hour late." she said, crossing her arms.

I sighed. "I don't want to lie to you, but I'd also rather not tell you the reason. Is that okay?"

"I'm pretty sure I can guess what happened from that statement." Her blue eyes bounced between me and Elian. "At least tell me you took my advice and were safe."

My cheeks burned. I couldn't believe we were having this conversation again.

Before I could say anything, Elian said, "Always."

Mom rolled her eyes and waved a hand toward the tables of food. "You better hurry and grab a plate before it's all gone."

As we were walking away, Mom grabbed my elbow. She shared a look with Elian, who smiled and continued on without me. I didn't understand what just happened. "How do you feel? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I feel great. Happier than I've ever been. And no, I don't want to discuss my sex life with my mom. Especially not in the middle of a party."

Mom scoffed and smacked my shoulder. "Don't be such a prude, Stevie." She nodded her head toward Elian. "Go on."

I jogged to catch up to Elian, linking our hands once I was by his side. We made our way to the food tables, exploring all the options.

"Baby, look, they have your favorite." Elian said.

I looked over at him. He pointed to a dish of broccoli casserole. I shook my head forcefully. I squeezed his hand and pulled him away while he laughed.

"Steven!"

I turned to find out who'd called my name. I wanted to groan when I saw them. Michael and Terrence strolled up, arms around each other, gorgeous and smiling. With perfect hair and perfect skin and their cute outfits in complimentary colors—Michael in jeans and a red shirt; Terrence in red shorts and a white button-up that had a blue collar and cuffs.

"We're so glad you came," Michael said.

Terrence nodded. "We really thought you might be skipping this year when your mom showed up without you."

"Nope." I said. "I just had to do something important first."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Elian give me a look somewhere between annoyance and amusement.

Michael and Terrence smiled, tilting their heads in unison. It was actually kind of creepy, the way they always mirrored each other. Did all couples do that? Or did they have some weird gay mind meld going on? Would Elian and I develop that when we were together for as long as them?

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Terrence asked, eyeing Elian and our clasped hands.

And what was with the "we" and "us" stuff? Did they not have individual personalities? It lent to my mind meld theory.

"Um." I looked at Elian, then back to the couple. "Michael. Terrence. This is my boyfriend, Elian Ramos."

"It's nice to meet you." Elian said. "I've heard so much about you."

"All good we hope." Michael grinned, showing too many teeth. His quip made Terrence laugh. They shared a loving glance.

I really hoped Elian didn't tell them the truth. They'd hate me forever for all the mean, bitchy things I said about them behind their backs.

Elian raised his hand toward them and shook his head. "Steven just goes on and on about you guys. I feel like I know you."

I had to applaud his cleverness. That was technically true. I talked about them ad nauseam. So much that he asked me to never bring them up again unless they were relevant to something other than my absurd resentment.

Though, standing with them now, I didn't know why I hated them so much. They were nice, and they'd always gone out of their way to let me know that I could come to them and discuss any issues that I felt like my straight friends and family wouldn't understand. I wish I'd taken them up on that offer. Maybe we could've been friends. Instead of me loathing everything about them just because they had what I wanted.

Now that I had it too, I didn't feel like I could hold on to that animosity anymore. Nor did I want to. It was a burden that just made me unnecessarily angry and bitter.

"Well, we've always thought very highly of Steven, too." Terrence placed a hand on Micheal's chest. "You're a lucky guy to snag this one up."

Michael nodded in agreement. "He's such a sweetheart."

Elian looked at me and smiled. "I know." He kissed my cheek.

They both said, "Aw," in unison, leaning their heads together.

"Well, we've gotta mingle." Terrence said. "We should all have lunch sometime. Steven has our number."

I nodded and gave a small wave as they walked away.

"They're so cute." Michael said, hugging Terrence tighter to his side.

"They remind me of us, when we got together."

As they moved out of earshot, I ignored them and turned my attention to Elian. "I hope you weren't upset about what I said—y'know, the boyfriend thing. It just came out. I really didn't know what else to call you. You're definitely more than a friend."

"I agree." Elian pulled me into the circle of his arms, holding me tightly. "I think boyfriend is the perfect word."

My heart nearly exploded with joy. I had a boyfriend. And he seemed happy to be my boyfriend. Today was a big day for me. For us.

I lost my train of thought when my boyfriend started kissing me.