Gemini - 20. Tough Game - Uncertain Results

Josh

The noise of the basketball repeatedly hitting the ground was echoing through the driveway. Cody looked at me, trying to find a way past me while dribbling the ball back and forth. I was unsure whether I should just attack or wait for him to make a move. Basketball really wasn’t my thing, but since Jacob played it, I had no choice but to learn it, too. At least that was what Ethan had told me. I had a feeling that was just his excuse to kick my and Cody’s ass at the game.

It was only Cody, Ethan and me. Sarah’s mother had had some kind of emergency, so Sarah had to babysit her little sister and couldn’t join us. With only three of us, picking teams made no sense, so we played casually and everyone just tried to get the ball and score. That didn’t go too well for me, though. Getting the ball in my hands was difficult enough, but then maneuvering it over to the basket and actually scoring was nearly impossible. Even though I would’ve never admitted it, I was still a little afraid of the ball, and no matter what I did, it never ended up where I wanted it to go when I threw it. If it hadn’t been for a few balls that Ethan accidentally lost to me, right in front of the basket, I probably wouldn’t have scored at all.

For a moment, I turned my head slightly sideways to glance at him probably for the thousandth time that afternoon. Looking at him in his shorts and his very sweaty shirt, there was no denying that he was the sexiest boy in town. I stood there, gaping at his amazing body, watching him wiping the sweat from his forehead, and suddenly his eyes met mine… and Cody chose exactly that moment to charge past me and towards the basket. Before I could even react, he was out of my range. Ethan tried to jump in to stop him from scoring, but he reacted too late.

Cody got close to the basket, stopped for a split-second to aim, and then threw the ball. I didn’t even bother running there to try and stop him. It was too hot for fast movements, and I was too annoyed with losing all the time. Ethan was winning anyway and while Cody managed to score every now and then, I was just a hopeless case.

The ball Cody had thrown landed on the metal ring and bounced off to the side. Before either of us could react, Cody jumped after it, caught it and threw it again, and this time it went through the basket. Ethan jogged over to him and whooped loudly as they high-fived. “You’re getting better and better. A little bit more practice and you’ll kick my ass,” he praised Cody, and he wasn’t all that wrong.

Cody had notably improved since we had started playing an hour ago. Ethan was good, much better than either of us, but with some practice, Cody could probably become better than him. Not me, though. I had no idea why Jacob liked this game at all. I looked over to Ethan and Cody again and saw that they were already back to playing. Cody had the ball and Ethan was trying to take it from him. After a few failed attempts to get past Ethan, Cody lost the ball to him and Ethan ran off with it towards the street. He dribbled it a couple of times and when neither of us went after him, he aimed for a moment and then threw it over the whole long distance at the basket. And he actually scored. Cody was still standing close to the basket and caught the ball before it even hit the ground. Without hesitating, he threw it right back at the basket… and missed.

“Hey Cody, wait a sec,” Ethan said, and jogged over to him to start some kind of explanation on how to throw or stand and how not to, or whatever. I didn’t really care. Instead, I was busy fighting down a strong feeling of jealousy once again. I knew it was unfair, Ethan was just being nice to Cody and I was being a buzzkill. To be honest, even if he had wanted to explain stuff like that to me, I simply didn’t care enough about the game to listen, and he’d probably sensed that. So I just stood there and watched them, trying to ignore this feeling that I knew was unjustified, but I was unable to do anything about it.

“You definitely are getting better,” Ethan finished his lesson after Cody had thrown a few times under his instruction. “You should play some more and try out for the school team after summer break. They’re not great, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Do you really think so?” Cody asked skeptically and leaned against the wall behind the basket, way closer to Ethan than necessary. “And someone like me on the team? Don’t you think that a few people might have a problem with that?”

“I don’t think it would be a big deal.” Ethan shrugged. “You can always try out. You got nothing to lose.”

“Hey guys, I’ll be right back,” I interrupted them, and started walking towards the house. I needed a break to calm down and think clearly, so that I wouldn’t turn green with jealousy and totally ruin the fun for them. I didn’t like the game, but I didn’t want to be the guy standing on the side and looking bored, either.

“Can you bring a couple of sodas when you come back?” Cody called after me.

“Sure,” I replied over my shoulder, and went into the house while they continued to play. Thanks to air-conditioning, it was pleasantly cold inside. As I entered through the front door, I took a deep breath and within seconds I felt much better. I found the kitchen and sat down for a moment, enjoying the cool air and thinking about the situation outside. I was definitely being stupid. The only reason Ethan acted the way he did towards Cody was because he was interested in the game, and I was not. Actually, maybe the only reason Cody was so eager to play was because he knew how Ethan would react to that? I wanted to hit myself in the head. If I could show a bit more enthusiasm for the game, Ethan might have focused on me just as much as he did on Cody.

Resolving to try and do my best to at least score a few baskets, I grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge and headed out. Just when I was leaving the kitchen, my phone rang. The Caller ID showed that it was Jacob. Quickly I put the sodas aside and took the call.

“Hey J, what’s up?” I greeted him.

“Nothing much, other than that Washington is awesome,” he said cheerily. “I really like your grandparents. They are much nicer than your parents.”

“They definitely are,” I agreed. “So you like it?”

“I haven’t seen much yet,” he replied. “But it’s just awesome. I’ve never done anything like this. I really had to control myself on the plane. I was freaking out so bad, I almost puked just from the excitement. Tomorrow, I’m going to see the National Mall. When I asked your grandmother to go there with me, she seemed super happy. She is really nice. You should try to visit her more often. She’s already got plans for Sunday too, but she hasn’t told me any details yet. She only said it was going to be a surprise and that I would like it. Anyway, I should shut up. I’m just so thrilled about this. This weekend is going to be great.”

The way he was talking about it, all excited like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him, made me smile. “It’s nice to hear that you like it. After all you did for me, you’ve definitely deserved a good time like that. It’s nice to know that I can also do something for you.”

He laughed. “Thanks! I don’t think we have to worry about getting even, though.”

“True,” I agreed. “But still, it’s nice to hear that you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Your father stayed home, by the way,” he said, changing the topic. “I mean, not that it’s a bad thing. I definitely don’t like him or any of the shit he says during his dinner rants about gays and whoever else makes for a good target, so I absolutely didn’t mind. I just thought you should know. Is that something we need to worry about?”

“What’d he say about why he is staying behind?” I asked.

“Philip told me something about some kind of business stuff your father had to take care of… I don’t quite remember, I didn’t really feel like listening to him to be honest.”

“That’s odd. I don’t remember anything like that ever happening before. Still, I don’t see a reason why we should worry about something like that. It doesn’t really matter to us whether he is in Washington or in Albany,” I told him.

“Maybe he’s having a secret affair with Philip?” Jacob joked. “That might also explain why he’s so obsessed with gays.”

“Ew, I don’t even want to think about something like that,” I complained while making gagging sounds. “Also, that’s pretty unlikely. It’s probably just like Philip said… he’s got some business stuff to take care of.”

Jacob sighed. “If you say so. I still like my version better.”

“Whatever,” I laughed. “Anyway, Ian and Conrad talked to us today. Conrad was being a major asshole, but Ian really seemed to feel bad about that and he actually said sorry to Cody, and he meant it, too.

Jacob sighed. “Conrad’s gonna come around. Ian’s really great though. Eventually they will learn about us being twins, and in the distant future maybe even about you being gay. This all will definitely help with that. However, I still feel bad about the way I treated Ian now that he is trying so hard to do the right thing for me. If you see him during the weekend, make sure to show him you are thankful for him trying; if you can?”

“If I run into him, I’ll try my best, okay?” I said.

“Okay, thanks,” he said. “I’ve got to unpack my stuff and get ready for dinner, so I’m gonna hang up now. Have a great weekend!”

“Thanks, you too. Enjoy your time in Washington!” I replied, and hung up. Smiling, I closed my eyes and took my Gemini-necklace in my hand, thinking about how amazing having a twin brother was. After I was done, I grabbed the sodas and left the house. The conversation with Jacob had significantly improved my mood, so much that I even had a little jump in my step. Then I rounded the corner of the house and saw Cody and Ethan sitting with their backs leaned against the garage, talking quietly.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” I asked as I approached them.

Both of them looked up surprised. They hadn’t even noticed me coming. Ethan quickly forced a smile on his face and got up. “Oh, nothing really.”

They almost looked like I had caught them doing something that I shouldn’t know about. I threw Ethan a curious look, but then decided to drop it. If he didn’t want to tell me what they had been talking about, I wasn’t going to look pathetic by trying to find it out anyway. Still, I had to fight hard to calm my once again growing jealousy.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Ethan cleared his throat. “You guys wanna go to the public pool? It’s way too hot today and after all the basketball training I could really use something to cool down,” he suggested, obviously trying to change the topic.

“I’m game,” Cody said immediately.

I shrugged. “Yeah, sounds good.” Right now anything other than more basketball was fine with me.

“Grab your bathers,” Ethan told Cody. “Josh and I will go to my place to grab ours. I’m sure that I still have one of Jacob’s somewhere in my room. We’ll meet up at the pool.”

“Alright,” Cody agreed. “I’ll give Sarah a call, maybe she can come with her little sister. That way we can spend at least some time with her. If you guys don’t mind, that is?”

“Good idea. She will be happy about that. Her little sister isn’t too much trouble, and she likes the public pool, so we should be okay.” Ethan smiled. “See you there.”

“Yep, later,” Cody replied, and went into the house while we started walking over to Ethan’s. As soon as we were out of earshot, Ethan turned to me, a worried look on his face. “Are you alright? What’s up? You seem weird today.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing, just the heat, I guess,” I lied.

Ethan gave me a doubtful look, and when I didn’t say anything else, he sighed. “It was the basketball game, wasn’t it?”

“I… yeah, it was,” I said, and sighed, too. That wasn’t really a lie, even though he probably didn’t mean it the way I did.

“It’s okay if it’s not your thing,” Ethan told me. “Jacob really only plays because of his brothers. He grew up with sports, you know? For him, it’s a family thing. I’m sorry if I ruined your mood by making you play with Cody and me. I saw that you were annoyed, I was just hoping that… well, that you’d start liking it once you’d played for a bit. We don’t have to play anymore if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. You were right, if Jacob plays it, I should at least be able to catch and throw a ball,” I reassured him. I grimaced. “He has probably never done as much for school as he has in this past week. I guess it’s just fair when I catch up with his abilities and skills, too.”

I paused and looked off in the distance. “Maybe you can give it another try. It would be cool if you could teach me. Maybe we can take it a little slower, and with just the two of us.”

Oh God, how sly of me. I almost had to suppress a grin. Then again, it really would be better to go slow and first get a feel for the ball before trying to win a game. Nope, this definitely didn’t have anything to do with Cody. Definitely not. I mentally shook my head at how pathetic I was becoming. Hoping he would agree, I continued speaking trying to explain myself. “I think it would be better that way. Then it’s not as hectic and I have time to get used to the ball and get a feel for the game. I really hate balls, did I ever tell you that? Whatever game it is, if it involves balls, I’m out.”

“So you want to practice, just with me, so I can help you to develop a feeling for balls, and show you how to play with them?” Ethan asked, as if he wanted clarification, but his dirty grin betrayed him.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” I grinned back, feeling a distracting hardness in my pants.

“I think I can do that,” he said and winked at me. “How about tomorrow, or if you’re up for it, maybe even tonight after we come back from the public pool.”

My heart started beating faster. “Don’t worry, I will definitely be up for it,” I replied, and winked at him. “Let’s do it.”

“Great, sounds like we have a date,” Ethan agreed, and winked back. We giggled and even though our conversation ended there, we exchanged a few more grins on our way to the house. Ethan got his swimming trunks, and looking through the backpack with Jacob’s clothes for the weekend, I found a pair for me, too.

We headed back out and on our way to the public pool, I once again started thinking about Ethan and the way he acted around me, and Cody, and what that might mean. Was he just trying to make me jealous, so that I would finally gather the courage to come out to him and we would be together? No, wishful thinking wasn’t going to help me on this one. Maybe Cody was just a friend to him, and nothing more. Considering how disinterested I had acted during the game, it wasn’t a big surprise that he had focused on Cody, not me. There didn’t have to be any special meaning behind everything he did.

Then I thought about the private conversation between the two that I had interrupted after Jacobs phone call. Even now, I felt the jealousy growing again. Remembering them standing there, so close, Cody more than obviously putting his moves on Ethan… Yeah, I definitely had a reason to be worried. I thought about all the possibilities for a little longer, but no matter how I looked at it, it was bad for me. If I wouldn't do something soon, I could lose him to Cody.