The Dance [Mychyl Kime] - 11. Chapter 11

Later that night, we were speeding down the highway, most of the sullen silence between us gone, and we all kept talking, not wanting it to come back. The night seemed full of promise, all of us dressed in the new clothes we picked out, all different shades of grey and black... not the most festive colors in the world, sure, but it looked good... David in a black tank top and jeans, Jacob in a black silk button-down shirt and jeans, and me in a black vest and a pair of Jnco cargos...

OK, we weren't out to dominate the fashion scene, but given where we lived, it was good for us, and I was pretty sure no one would complain... well, at least not too much, anyways... we looked good, and if they couldn't get over the fact we were all wearing casual clothes, they weren't worth talking to.

The highway seemed dead, luckily, since Jacob was pushing the car as fast as he felt like... which was pretty fast, even for him. Lucky for us the cops were nowhere in sight, or we'd be spending all night trying to get Jacob outta jail for reckless driving, or something like that.

Finally, the Golden Gate came into view, telling us we were almost there, and we all started getting ready, doing several last-minute checks to make sure our hair was OK and everything, before we got into town.

We were lucky again, since there was actually a parking spot close to the club itself... something our friend told us never happened. We pulled up to the spot, climbed out of the car, and all headed for the front door, more a jumble than in any real order... I mean, sure, I wanted people to know me and Jacob were together, mostly so no one would try and steal him from me, but at the same time, I wasn't all that worried... after all, Jacob could take care of himself, right?

We paid to get into the club, then walked in, immediately assaulted by the loud music blasting through the speakers and shaking the entire building. The lights were flashing, the guys were all dancing, and David
and Jacob both took off in different directions, leaving me standing, somewhat befuddled, near the front door. I took off for the bar, hoping to see a good place on the floor to start dancing, when I suddenly saw someone I thought I knew from back home. I crossed the floor carefully, trying not to run into anyone while they were dancing, and finally got to where he was standing...

"Hey, Chris!" I yelled over the music, and was rewarded when he turned around, looking directly at me, at first not recognizing me, but then...

"Oh, hey, Kyle!" he responded, grabbing me in a big hug. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Oh, me and a coupla friends thought we'd come down, check out this club," I responded, trying to play cool... no need to mention names, after all, and as far as I knew, Chris could've been here just to cause trouble... after all, what would one of the biggest gaybashers in Ukiah be doing in a gay club, unless he was here to start drama?

"Oh, cool," was his only response before he grabbed me and pulled me off to the side, towards the bar.

"Hey! What're you doing!?" I managed before he motioned me to stop.

"Hey, you can't tell anyone you saw me here, right?"

"Well, yeah, I can't exactly say anything, or people'd know I was here, ya know?" was all I could manage... after all, like I said, Chris was one of the worst gaybashers in Ukiah, and basically, he was trusting me with the fact that he's in the closet... it was weird, but not too bad...

"OK, fair enough... I watch your back, you watch mine," he joked, a strange smile crossing his lips.

We hung out most of the night, dancing together more often than not, and every once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of David or Jacob, off doing their own thing, David with some blond kid I thought I'd seen before, Jacob moving from partner to partner, never seeming to dance with anyone more than once... but always sitting down in the same place, next to this one guy... nothing more than talking, as far as I could tell, so I just kept going.

Time passed, and eventually it was 2AM, and the club was closing down for the night, so everyone started moving towards the door.

"Hey, it was cool hangin' out with ya tonight," Chris started, his car keys in hand.

"Yeah, same here," I said, watching him...

OK, confession... I used to have this thing for Chris... nothing serious, nothing more than lust... but it was there nonetheless, and now that I knew about him, some of the old thoughts were coming up again... but I was already together with Jacob, so I figured nothing would happen, and
just put everything behind me.

"Maybe we can hang out sometime?" he fished, obviously not wanting to let go of the opportunity he seemed to see.

"Yeah, sure," I answered quickly, my eyes scanning the crowd for Jacob or David. I couldn't see them anywhere, so I said goodbye to Chris and started back into the club, figuring them to still be somewhere inside.

I walked past the 'bar', where David sat, the blond guy from earlier sitting right next to him. I walked past, getting David's attention as I went, and headed to the bathroom, thinking maybe he was in there.

From what I could tell, there was someone in the bathroom, all right, because all I could hear from the second I walked in was loud moaning and grunting. Since I couldn't see who was in there, I figured Jacob was somewhere else, since the only people in there seemed to be in the one stall where all the action was, so I took off outside, hoping I could see him out there, probably getting the car ready, but I couldn't see him out there, either, and he wasn't in his car...

Confused, I headed back into the club and went over to where David was sitting, taking the seat next to him.

"Oh, hey, Kyle," David started suddenly, a dreamy look over his face. "Kyle, meet Damen... Damen, this is Kyle, the friend I was telling you about."

"Hey," I said quickly, trying to keep from getting distracted. "David, do you know where Jacob is?"

He didn't, but suddenly, the bathroom doors opened, and Jacob came walking out, his hair slightly mussed, panting a little bit.

"Hey Kyle," he started, before I could say anything. "Hey bro... you guys ready to go?"

David looked over, still stuck in that dream-state, but I felt like I'd just been doused in cold water. ~This can't be happening!~ my mind insisted. ~I know how he feels about me... he'd never do something like this, knowing it'd end up hurting me! There's gotta be an explanation for it! But what? I looked in there... he wasn't in there a second ago, not unless he was in the stall with whoever was going at it... which would mean he was in on it... but I know him, he wouldn't do that to me! ...Or would he?~

The thing that hurt the most of it all was, I had no way of knowing for sure that he didn't do that, that he wasn't in the bathroom, having sex with someone he'd just met, here in the club, while I was out here, dancing and having a good time, completely unaware... all I knew was, he'd never do anything to hurt me... unless, of course, he simply didn't know that what he'd done was wrong... My head was going in circles, trying to make sense of it all.

I did the only thing I could think to do at the moment. I got up from the seat, as calmly as I could manage under the circumstances, and took off out the door, Jacob's voice chasing me all the way out. I spotted Chris pulling away and flagged him down.

"Can I get a ride from you?" I asked weakly, unsure of what else to do at the moment, only knowing I needed some time away from Jacob to think about what'd happened.

"Sure, hop in," came his affable reply, and I didn't waste any time doing so, Jacob right on my heels, calling my name still... more confused than anything else, from the sound of it, but I couldn't go back, not now, not with all the doubts weighing on my mind. Chris sped off, and as I looked back through the mirror, I could see Jacob and David standing there. Both looked to be as confused as I felt at the moment, and Jacob was still calling my name...