Kaleidoscopic

Chapter 6

Danny briskly pinned Evan against the wall, knocking into a metal shelf. The impact rattled dozens of cameras and sent a few rolls of film tumbling to the concrete floor. As the clatter was subsiding, Evan detached their lips to pause their movements.

"Careful," Evan whisper-scolded, but Danny didn't seem to be listening. His face remained inches away from Evan, honing in on the lips that were trying to hush him. "We're not supposed to be in here."

Their eyes had finally adjusted to the school's pitch-toned darkroom, allowing both boys to see the hanging strips of film surrounding them overhead. Danny could smell sodium hydroxide looming in the air, recognizing the strong chemical as the same scent that often lingered on Evan's clothes. The pungent, acidic odor clung to Evan's skin and clothes every time he developed a new set of photos. Danny hadn't thought of the toxic aroma when he blindly followed Evan into the tiny space—shutting out the fluorescent hallway light and retreating into the darkness with colorful intentions.

"Then let's go somewhere else," Danny suggested, brushing their noses together. "I can drive us to the train tracks."

Evan turned his face so that Danny's lips landed on the hollow of his cheek. The familiar touch reminded Evan of summer—when neither of them had a roadmap to new feelings. They had kept going on a whim, even though they were both completely lost. Their initial touches were innocent and brief, but eventually, the weight of their shared intimacies finally shattered Evan's moral compass. He led Danny into uncharted territory throughout the remaining heated months, detouring the wariness in Danny's locomotive mind.

They weren't just stealing kisses in Danny's car anymore. Danny had expressed his desire to move things beyond PG-13, which excited Evan, but also made him worry. Did Danny really want something more with Evan? Or was he simply intrigued by the novelty of a new experience? And would he regret it and blame Evan for moving too fast? Would he lose Danny? Evan couldn't risk that. Selfishly, he could wait. After all, this wasn't the first guy who had offered him sex.

That was the problem, though. Sex was so much more than a proposition to Danny. Evan sensed that, which deterred him even more. He liked Danny, he really did, but sometimes he felt like Danny's feelings outweighed his own. He wanted to navigate his feelings at his own pace.

"I can't ditch the dance," Evan said. "I'm supposed to be taking pictures."

"You can take pictures of me instead," Danny coerced, lacing their fingers together. Evan reciprocated the action with both hands, not wanting Danny to leave yet.

He let Danny kiss his way over to the square of his jaw and then tickle the underlining of his ear with the tip of his nose, sending a ripple of quiet anticipation through his body. In fact, together, they had accumulated a stockpile of anticipation with all their stolen moments.

Evan imagined the two of them sitting in a train car overlooking the overgrown farm fields at dusk. He had only heard the rumors of what people did on the abandoned train tracks—what couples did, hidden away in the graffiti-ridden railcars. He'd be lying if he told Danny he hadn't considered taking him there once or twice. And after their tryst in the movie theater, Evan was aching to find out what else Danny would let him do in the dark.

"You're thinking about it," Danny murmured, his words rolling under Evan's jawline.

"I am not," Evan defended, embarrassed. Damn those pretty brown eyes.

"You want to get naked with me and watch the sunset."

Evan's face reddened. "Those words did not come out of my mouth."

Danny flashed a smile like an instant Polaroid camera, making Evan think his bright, white teeth might have the power to overexpose the developing film hanging around them.

The light from Danny's wide grin seemed to radiate throughout the entire room—propelling patches of warmth into Evan's heart. He wished he could take a snapshot of the emotions pixelating within his body, so that he could keep the memory in his back pocket and pull it out on rainy days.

Danny closed the small gap between their lips and kissed Evan softly, luring him into a sense of disregard. He could feel the tan boy breathing through his nose, releasing a puff of hot air over the double curve of his lips. Evan swallowed the scent of menthol cigarettes and cherry Carmex as he opened his mouth, tempting Danny with the swipe of his tongue, but the dark-haired boy inched away and pulled out of the kiss with a suction-like sound.

"I should leave," Danny teased. "I don't want to be a bad influence on you."

Danny took one step backwards, but Evan tugged on his arm to get him to stay. He pulled on Danny's hand like a bungee cord, giving him the momentum to spring back to his abandoned spot. Evan latched a finger through one of Danny's belt loops to secure his position. With his other arm, he reached a hand over Danny's gelled hair to grab something off a shelf.

"I'll come with you," Evan started, holding up a Polaroid Sun 660. "But I'll only take pictures of you if you smile." He was caving. Maybe he liked Danny more than he thought?

Danny's lips spread again as he leaned closer, but his movements were abruptly halted when a high-pitched alarm sounded.

"I didn't do it," Danny said humorously, hearing the buzzing roaring in his eardrum.

Evan listened to the siren blaring throughout the entire school. "I think that's the fire alarm," he said.

Danny didn't have time to respond before the built-in fire sprinklers dowsed them with water.