Dusk (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 2 - Alternate Universe

A/N: homophobic slurs, some violence...

***

I was on my back, staring at the stars.

I wondered if somewhere out in the darkness above me, there was another planet. It'd be just like ours, with oceans and forests and deserts. And there'd be another teenage boy that'd just graduated high school. At a party. And as of that moment, he was free. He could do whatever he wanted. But his mind was stuck on this one thing.

This one boy.

I felt my head spin as it often did when I thought about space. I closed my eyes, trying to push the thoughts of the empty unknown out of my mind.

This only amplified my thoughts of Rowan. There was a mystery there, and my gut was telling me to leave it be, but my heart ached to find out what was hidden behind his cryptic guise.

"Evan!" My stomach lurched as someone jumped on the trampoline I was laying on. I sat up straight and looked around. I was dizzy but through blurred vision, I made out Madison and Alex. Madison gave me a mischievous smile.

"How high are you? I got that weed from Portland, it's strong." I made eye contact with her for a minute doing my best to feign concern, before I lost my composure and burst out laughing.

"I'm guessing he's pretty high." Alex jabbed in with a fat smirk on his face. I wildly kicked at his legs and he lost balance, falling back on the trampoline. I rushed to my feet to start jumping before he could get back up, but Madison leapt on my back and took me down with him.

"Judas!" I hissed at her, she was out of breath laughing. I lay back down and gave up while they taunted me.

"Guys!" Lucy stepped up to the trampoline with her hands on her hips, appearing out of nowhere. I blinked at her. She stayed silent for a few seconds before breaking out a large grin. "Last one standing gets to pick which club we go to!" She started jumping. Madison and Alex scrambled to their feet and joined.

"Don't you mean last one jumping?" I asked, struggling to get up. I was still dizzy.

Lucy jumped closer to me and sent me sprawling back to where I was before.

"Oops!"

I sent her a glare and lay back down, accepting defeat.  A few minutes later, Lucy stood victorious over the rest of us and we reluctantly got off of the trampoline.

"So what'll it be?" Alex asked. Lucy grinned.

"The Max." Alex groaned and Madison giggled. I shrugged. I'd never heard of it.

"No Evan trust me, you don't wanna—"

"—Excuse me Alex, but he can decide for himself. Anyway I won, so I say we're going." Lucy snipped at him, whipping her phone out. He rolled his eyes.

We started making our way through the crowds of people saying our goodbyes, some of Lucy's friends telling her they'd join us at the club later. Someone handed me a drink on my way out and I took it. It was punch.

This is my last drink at a high school party.

It was a bittersweet moment. Not that thought alone, but the realization that my life was about to completely change forever.

We made it out of the house and back into the cool air.

Lucy had ordered us an Uber and soon we saw a grey Prius pulling up on the street. I piled in the back with Lucy and Madison while Alex reluctantly sat in the passenger seat.

"You're headed to..." the driver paused while his directions loaded. His tone became stiff, "The Max?"

"That's right." Lucy said cheerfully. I saw him shake his head slightly as he pulled away and I gave Lucy a questioning look. She shrugged but failed to hide the glimmer of amusement in her eyes. I turned to look at Madison but her face was planted in her phone.