Trick Me Once - 11. We Are Stars

“Aaaand here we go!”

Trick pressed a button and a bunch of blue and purple Christmas lights went on in his and Brad’s dorm room. They were hanging all over the curtains, as well as around the small Christmas tree that was placed on a coffee table. Trick decided not to go overboard with decorations – he bought golden and red ornaments for the tree, and a big five-pointed star as the tree topper. The Christmas spirit was definitely in the room!

“So, what do you think?” he asked Brad and Zoe, who were sitting and watching TV.

“I love it!” Zoe said.

“Nice, I’m glad you did this. I wouldn’t have the patience for it. I’d hang three ornaments and then be like ‘nah, I’m done’,” Brad chuckled and Trick elbowed him.

“I know we’re not even gonna be here for the Christmas Eve, but still, I wanted to do a little something,” Trick said.

Cathy wasn’t there, so Zoe and Brad were quite cordial with each other. It also probably helped that Trick pointed out to Zoe that that evening was all about Cody and that she wasn’t allowed to make snippy remarks about Brad and Cathy’s displays of affection.

This evening would be the first time the four of them would get together properly. Everyone was a bit curious as to how things would go, especially Trick. He was sure his friends would get along with Cody – there’s no way they won’t be able to see what a great guy he is. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as he waited for Cody to finally arrive.

There was a knock on the door, which could mean one of two things.

“Well, it’s either Cody or the pizza guy,” Trick said, thinking – hopefully Cody!

Sure enough, his still-not-a-boyfriend was standing there and smiling as Trick opened the door. The two of them hugged, not hiding how happy they were to see each other. Nonetheless, their nerves were showing. As Cody entered the room, Brad and Zoe got up from the couch and came to greet him. There were smiles and handshakes all around, with Trick standing by and watching, pleased with how the situation was developing.

Since Trick told him they’d be ordering pizza, Cody made sure to bring dessert, and of course, the same little birdie told him that cheesecake would be the way to go.

“I like you already!” Zoe said as she saw him put the cheesecake on the kitchen table. “How did you know, did this one tell you?” She pointed at Trick.

“Nooo, just a coincidence, I assure you,” Cody said, winking.

While Trick was busy making coffee for everyone, Cody went to join Zoe and Brad in front of the TV. They were watching Mrs. Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, another Poirot-style detective TV show that Trick and Zoe loved, and Brad was also rapidly becoming a fan of.

After some quick small talk, all three were quickly engrossed in the action on the screen, trying to guess who the killer was. Cody’s full attention was on the TV, until Trick came with coffee and sat next to him. Cody turned to him and smiled.

“I love what you’ve done with the room,” he pointed at the Christmas decorations.

“Thanks!” Trick replied, happy that Cody liked it, and just happy that he was there.

He looked at Cody and slightly raised his eyebrows, as if to ask ‘So, how are things going so far?’ Cody understood, so he just smiled and slightly nodded, assuring Trick that everything was ok.

After the show ended, Brad was quite proud of himself for guessing who the killer was. Zoe called it beginner’s luck, but that didn’t ruin his satisfaction. Even if the conversation was a bit awkward at first, with the two of them not really knowing what to talk to Cody about, things got more relaxed rather quickly. The topics ranged from college, living in the dorms, nightlife in the city, to everyone’s plans for the holidays. As the pizzas were quickly disappearing piece by piece, the four of them were chatting and laughing.

There seemed to be a silent understanding that the topic of high-school was off limits, so no one mentioned it. Both Trick and Cody were very grateful for that. After the cheesecake was eaten in record time as well, Cody decided he should get going as it was already late, and he had work in the morning. Trick walked him out to his car.

“I think it went pretty well!”

“Yeah, I think so too,” Cody replied, smiling. “Do you think they really didn’t mind me being there? You don’t think they were just being polite for your sake?”

“Nooo, trust me. If they had a problem, they would’ve told me all about it. Especially Brad – well, you’ve talked to him already, so you should know,” Trick gave a small chuckle.

“Yeah, I remember it well!” Cody laughed.

After wishing each other good night, Cody drove off and Trick returned to his dorm room, feeling like the evening was a success. His feeling was quickly officially confirmed, as both Brad and Zoe told him that they saw Cody had really changed and that he was now a ‘pretty cool guy’ – in Brad’s own words. Zoe was much more eloquent in her analysis, but she essentially said the same thing, confirming that Cody had her ‘seal of approval’.

--

Christmas was only a week away and Trick still hadn’t figured out what to get Cody, so he decided to enlist the aid of his faithful assistant – Zoe. As the good friend she is, she gladly accepted to hit the stores with him and help him out, especially since Brad and Cathy were in their room again, cuddling in front of the TV. Trick came to pick her up and together they went to the biggest shopping mall in their area.

“How long are you gonna keep sulking about Brad and Cathy?” Trick asked, seeing that Zoe was not in her usual cheery mood.

“I’m not sulking.”

“Yeah, right. By the way, I talked to Brad this morning, told him you were in love with him.”

“What?! Are you insane?” Zoe yelled in shock before seeing the grin on Trick’s face and realizing he was just messing with her.

“You jerk!” She pretended to hit him as he burst out laughing. She couldn’t help but laugh along.

“I haven’t, but I might, unless you start acting like an adult,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not in love with him, geez!”

“But you do admit you feel something for him?” Trick wouldn’t give up.

“I don’t know… We’ve been friends for so long, and I don’t wanna ruin that. But lately it’s like I’m seeing him in a different way than before. Since he started dating Cathy…” Zoe was trying to analyze her own complex thought processes.

“Maybe because you were both always single, you didn’t pay attention to him in that way. But now he’s started dating someone, he’s unavailable, so it made you realize you may want something more…”

“Maybe… I’m not even sure it’s him. Maybe I’m just jealous – ok, I said it! – that he’s got someone and I don’t. I know, it’s horrible of me to think that.”

“Well, you’re only human,” Trick shrugged. “But we’ve only started college a few months ago, and this is a big city. I’m sure you’ll find someone in no time. I mean it.”

“Thanks, babe,” Zoe pulled him into a hug. “By the way, if you tell Brad any of this, I will find Cody and cut his dick off!” she added as she made a scissors motion with her fingers.

“Ok, my lips are sealed,” Trick grinned, swatting away her hand.

As they were walking around, window shopping, they passed by a T-shirt printing store and Trick suddenly stopped. His lips stretched into a smile as an idea formed in his brain.

“Wanna get him a custom-made T-shirt?” Zoe asked.

“Maybe, I have an idea… I just need to set everything up.”

--

It was December 24 and Trick, Brad and Zoe had already gone back to their hometown to spend the holiday with their families. They decided to go on the same day so they could take the same bus and enjoy the trip together. Trick was glad they did that because it would help get his mind off of Cody, at least for a while.

Since they said they’d spend Christmas with their families, Cody stayed in the city where his family was planning to host a dinner party for their relatives. He also appreciated the crowd and the guests they’d have, thinking they would keep him somewhat entertained and prevent him from being locked up in his room and missing Trick all evening.

Angela and he had decorated their large living room with an obscene amount of lights. Their dad brought in a real tree, which they decorated with dozens – almost hundreds – of ornaments of all sizes. Cody’s mom was in charge of dinner, although the guests said they would bring refreshments – meaning wine or champagne – and dessert.

The first to arrive were Cody’s aunt and uncle. Their two sons, Tyler and Nick, were spending Christmas with their girlfriends, so they didn’t come. Tyler, who was two years older than Cody, used to be sort of a homophobe, but ever since Cody came out, he surprisingly changed his attitude and became nothing but supportive of him. Shortly after them, Cody’s maternal grandparents arrived – they had to travel a long way, which is why they were a bit late. Cody’s paternal grandparents lived in Europe, so they would not be coming.

By six o’clock, the house was full and the festivities were ready to begin. A bunch of presents in colorful boxes were already set below the Christmas tree. Although there were no young kids in the house, everyone enjoyed the holiday and was excited to open their gifts.

Cody couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over so that he could get up from the table and avoid any further questions about his love life. You know how it is with relatives – the first thing they do is mention how much you’ve grown up, and then ask if you have a boyfriend/girlfriend.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend. Well, there’s Trick, but we’re obviously not together now,” he wanted to say every time he got asked that question, but he managed to hide his annoyance and just smile and say “Not yet.”

It’s not that he didn’t have a good time – it felt good to see his relatives again, reconnect with them and catch up, but he really missed being with Trick. He decided he’d have to call him later that night, just to hear his voice and see how his evening was going.

“Was he also trapped in his house, being bombarded with questions from his family? Was he thinking of me, wishing we were together?” Cody wondered.

If he thought the answer to those questions was anything other than a big ‘yes’, he was dead wrong.

Trick and his parents were visited by his aunt and uncle and their three kids: two four-year-old girls and a thirteen-year-old boy named Evan.

The girls were twins who basically started causing chaos around the house as soon as they arrived, so it fell upon Trick and Evan to watch them and try to calm them down. Once they had enough of the pesky twins, the boys told them they would get no presents from Santa unless they stayed in one room all evening, behaving themselves. Trick even took one of the gift boxes and pretended to flush it down the toilet. After seeing the girls’ eyes getting watery, he realized they took him seriously.

Faced with the same questions as Cody, Trick would just shake his head and say he wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment. He didn’t dare to mention Cody because he wasn’t sure how his parents would react knowing he was in love with a guy who bullied him in high school. They knew nothing else about Cody, so of course they had no idea he was a completely different guy now. Trick knew he’d have to tell them sooner or later, especially if their relationship got more serious.

Around eleven, Trick’s aunt and uncle realized it was way past the twins’ bedtime, so they decided to go home. Trick didn’t mind it one bit, as all he wanted was to lie down in his bed and lose himself in fantasies about Cody and him.

He turned on the Christmas lights in his dark room and lay on the bed, waiting for midnight to come so he’d call Cody and wish him a Merry Christmas.

He was bored so he turned on the TV, flicking the channels to see if there’s anything good, but quickly gave up and turned it off. Grabbing his phone, he turned on his app and started thinking about all the changes he wanted to make. He opened his profile, which just had his picture and the name ‘Patrick Pierce’ on it. He didn’t fill out anything else. Closing it, he scrolled down and saw the profiles of Zoe, Brad and Cody. They were the only people beside him who had the app installed, since they were helping him test it.

At that moment, he realized he’d never even opened Cody’s profile before. There was a picture of him, smiling. He is so cute with his brown hair and green eyes, Trick thought. He opened Cody’s playlist to see what kind of music he listens to. At the top of the ‘most played’ section was a song by someone he’d never heard of before – The Pierces.

“Pierces… Funny, just like my last name,” Trick said curiously, amused at the coincidence. “Or maybe it’s not a coincidence… Maybe it’s a message for me?” he thought and pressed play, eager to hear the song. An acoustic guitar started playing, and already after the first few notes, Trick loved it.

We are stars, fashioned in the flesh and bone

We are islands, excuses to remain alone

We are moons, we throw ourselves around each other

We are oceans, being controlled by the pull of another.

And I just wanna be loved by you

Yeah, I just wanna be loved by you

I see nothing worse than to sail this universe without you.

By the end of the song, his eyes were welling up with tears. When it ended, he just pressed repeat and sang along. Somehow, he already learned the lyrics. As he lay there in the dark, looking at the stars in the night sky through his window, he couldn’t help but wonder - “Is he thinking about me every time he listens to this?”

Screw it, he decided he wasn’t going to wait anymore. He opened the messaging app and quickly typed:

“I see nothing worse…”

His heart started beating loudly. He was all tense, as if he was waiting for the most important call of his life. Less than half a minute later, his phone vibrated.

Cody: “… than to sail this universe without you, Trick.”

Just as he read the message and started typing a response, his phone buzzed again. This time – an incoming call. Hoping that Cody won’t figure out he’d been crying, he answered. The beautiful familiar voice greeted him happily on the other side.

Cody: Merry Christmas!

Trick: Merry Christmas! How was your day?

Cody: Meh, it was ok. Boring without you…

Trick: Same here. I missed you.

Cody: I missed you too! Hey, how about I drive over and pick you up first thing tomorrow morning? We’ll go out, spend the day together, just You and I? – He emphasized the last three words.

Trick: Sounds great! But I have one condition.

Cody: Oh, what’s that?

Trick: I want it to be a date. Our first proper date.

Cody: You mean… as boyfriends?

Trick: Yes. I don’t wanna wait anymore, I want us to be together, Cody. What do you say?