The Dance [Mychyl Kime] - 3. Chapter 3

If only he knew...

"Yeah, you gay... hehe..." Jacob continued, obviously amused with himself, thinking this all a wonderful joke.

"Well, maybe I'm not joking... maybe I really DO want you... maybe I've been wanting you for a long, long time," I countered, moving closer to him as he slowly backed away, the smile on his face replaced by a look of pure fear as I move in, closer and closer, my lips stretching to meet his....

"Hey, wake up, sleepy!" I hear David chuckle as the room swam back into view.

~Ah, another daydream,~ I thought, distracted. ~Ah well, I guess I'll never know, at this rate...~

"Sorry, guess my mind wandered off for a bit there..." I responded weakly, the memory of my daydream gripping my heart strongly, at the very thought of being that close to kissing the one person I've had a crush on since forever... yet all the same, I know it could never happen... I mean, how could it? Jacob might be my best friend, but he'd never see me like I see him... there's no way!

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the judge," Jacob quipped, forcing back a fresh wave of hilarium. "Now, are you guys gonna help me with my homework, since you're just standing there, or what?"

"Actually," David jumped in, before I could say anything, "we're gonna go check out a movie, grab a bite to eat, you know, cheap Ukiah entertainment..."

"Oh fine, desert me then... I guess I can flunk all by myself, since you're too stuck up to wait for me so we could all go hang out..." Jacob pouted a little, pulling on David's heartstrings... although I was the one feeling the effects, not David, from the looks of things...

"Hey, we can wait," I said quickly, before David could get out the door. "That way, all three of us could hang out... whaddaya say, David?"

"Oh, hell, I guess it's OK... damnit!" he sighed, throwing his hands up in disgust.

***

A couple of hours later, we pulled up in front of the theatre in Jacob's new Porsche.

Yeah, I said Porsche. The thing with Jacob and David's parents is, they're rich... and I mean, filthy rich. Jacob and David both got brand-new cars the same time they got their licenses... which is good and all, I suppose, but in my book, it doesn't make up for the fact that the guys see their parents once or twice a year, and they all live together! Between their jobs and whatnot, they spend most of their time halfway across the world, and so David and Jacob basically run their house... I mean, their parents could say they can't have people over (other than me, since I'm practically family, in their eyes), but how could they stop it, when they're in Brazil, or South Africa, or Japan, or somewhere else?

We went to the ticket booth and David suggested we go see some movie... I don't remember what movie, all I remember is I didn't really wanna see it, but since it meant being near Jacob, I'd sit through the worst movie in the world, if that's what it turned out to be (which, luckily, it wasn't, although I didn't actually SEE any of it). We went inside, got popcorn and soda, killed some time at the video games while waiting for the movie to start... you know, the usual pre-movie festivities.

Finally, the movie was getting ready to start, so we went in and got some seats... in the back row, where we always sat, of course... Now, my sight isn't that good, so if I was actually worried about the movie itself in the slightest, I'd've complained, and gotten us seats farther up, but since I was more worried about seeing Jacob, I figured that back here would work fine... fewer people watching me, sitting next to one gay guy and staring at another guy...

As luck had it, that was exactly how it went: David sitting on my left side, trying to get my attention the whole time; Jacob on my right, trying to ignore me while I kept glancing at him, throughout the whole movie; and me, stuck in the middle, ignoring one so I could stare at the other.

Finally, after I had taken more than I could stand of the situation, the movie ended, and we shuffled out of the theatre, Jacob raving about how the movie sucked, and we wasted our money, and so
on... David didn't say too much about the movie, so I figured that, like me, he had something else to keep his attention through the movie... although I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to know what.

"So," David chimed in as Jacob paused for breath, "what'd you think of the movie, Kyle?"

"I dunno," I said, trying to think something up in a hurry... got it! "I think I fell asleep partway through... but if Jacob says the movie sucks, then it must blow..."

"Oh, really?" David continued, arching an eyebrow. "Asleep, were you?"

"I guess so... I don't remember the movie at all..."

"Hell, I almost slept through it," Jacob added, "it was so damn boring."

David tactfully dropped the subject as we got back in Jacob's car... next stop, McDonald's...

OK, as you'll see soon enough, I don't like McDonald's. As in really, REALLY, don't like McDonald's. I've worked there so long, I have nightmares about the place, and that's a scary thought... so you can imagine how hungry I must be to go there willingly when I'm not working...

We pulled up to the restaurant and get out, walking down the hallway past the playplace and into the store. No sooner did we enter the store than Rachel walked up, grabbing me in a tight hug.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, loud enough to make the customers look over at us.

"Oh, hi, Rach," I started softly, hoping she'll get the clue.

"Hey, Rach!" Jacob chimed in, as loudly as Rachel was.

"Oh... Jacob, David, hi," she mumbled, glancing at both of them for a fraction of an instant before turning back to me. "When you took off today, I was worried... I didn't know what was wrong with you, and you seemed so... distant, somehow..."

"What do you mean? I'm fine, I was fine, don't worry about me..." I stopped for a moment, turning her rush of words over in my mind for a mere moment. "What do you mean, 'distant'? You make it sound like we were close, and now we don't talk, or something..."

"I thought we were close... and I hardly ever SEE you anymore, and when I do, you're always running off, like you're scared of me... and I don't understand it, and I don't understand you anymore either..." She choked back a sob, a solitary tear working its way down her cheek as she ran past us and out the door.

"Hey, Rach! Wait up!" Jacob shouted. He paused a moment to glare at me, then rushed out the door after her, leaving me and David alone together in the store, all the customers watching us closely, as though it were all a soap opera or something... which, sometimes, it certainly felt like...