Life, the Universe and Everything

7-Eleven

There are some moments that stay with you forever. Usually, they're something traditional, like going on your first date, or having your first kiss.

I'm racing my boyfriend through a 7-Eleven at 1 am to see who can reach the Slurpee machine first and I'm realizing that this is totally one of those moments.

Today (or yesterday? Either way, my brain clearly isn't intended to function this late.) was the last day of school. My boyfriend just got his driver's license, so we decided to spend the night out doing stupid teenager things. I don't have my license yet (I'll be the last of my friends to get one, not including Jenny since she drives so much she might as well already be 17) so I'm basically going wherever he wants. Right now, he really really wants a Slurpee. He may like Slurpees more than me. I might have to have a chat with 7-Eleven.

Oh yeah, his name is Danny. Almost forgot to introduce him.

"I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry is playing over the store loudspeaker. In a way I can kind of relate to it, but the song would have to be called "I Kissed a Boy" instead, because, you know, Danny.

Also, my name is Ryan. God, I'm forgetting to do a lot of things.

One thing, however, that I will never forget is the way that Danny and I looked at each other while sitting on the curb outside of the store, getting sugar-high on our Slurpees with nobody else around, and knowing that, in that moment, we were perfectly content.

One thing I did forget is my dad's 11:30 curfew. Crap.

It's not like I'll get in too much trouble. We trust each other, Dad and I. I'll get off relatively unscathed if I'm honest to him. So I'll just tell him exactly what I was doing. Just minus the Gay.

As far as Dad knows, me and Danny are no more than a couple of hoopy froods (Google it) with a strong, masculine bond. But he's totally been suspicious of us lately. Yeah, Dad has a long way to go regarding "controversial" social issues. So, to quell his suspicions, whenever I tell him about being out with Danny, I just add in my friend group. Voilà, heterosexuality.

It's almost somewhat quaint, hiding our relationship from him. Kissing behind a closed door, whispering gay nothingness to each other.

Did I just romanticize homophobia? Ok, disregard that last part.

As Danny drives me home, I'm starting to get existential. Will we last together through the summer? Will we last out of school? Will we last out of Pinewood? How long will everything last? Our lives our just a series of little moments. How small is one moment on the grand scale of things?

Pretty small. Like I said, it's quaint.