Trick Me Once - 22. Got A Secret…

Trick and Cody spent most of their Saturdays together, and this one was no exception. However, instead of chilling at Trick’s dorm room or Cody’s house, being lazy in front of the TV or heating things up in the bedroom, this time they had something special planned.

The dinosaur exhibition that Cody so shockingly announced to Trick by jumping from behind a tree and scaring the crap out of him a few weeks ago, was finally opened in Prescott Park. Huge, life-size dinosaur replicas were brought and assembled in one section of the park, placed among the trees. There were even some Pterodactyls hanging by near-invisible threads from the trees, looking as if they were about to swoop down on their unsuspecting prey.

Most of the area was fenced so that kids wouldn’t climb on or maybe damage the dino models, with the exception of one part, which was left open for visitors to enter. This area had, among other attractions, two specially-created dinosaur models where children could climb into and play, and then slide down the animals’ tails.

Parents with their kids were passing by, checking out the exhibition, stopping to take pictures and admire the huge prehistoric animals – including Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, and of course the king himself, Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Trick and Cody were strolling around, watching the animals and people having fun, as well as looking to see if any of their friends have shown up. A few minutes later, they noticed a tall guy walking toward them with two kids by his side – Theo and his little brother Tim, as well as Tim’s friend – and now apparently boyfriend – Ronan. He was a cute ginger boy, about the same height as Tim, and Cody and Trick could see the two younger guys were happy to be together.

“Hey, you made it!” Cody said, waving to the three guys.

“Yeah, here we are! You know my pesky little brother Tim,” Theo said, lovingly putting a hand on Tim’s shoulder, “and this is Ronan.”

“Hey, you two, you look really cute!” Trick said, nodding at the young couple.

“Thanks,” Tim said and turned to Ronan. “This is Patrick, but you can call him Trick. And that’s his boyfriend Cody.”

After the introductions and handshakes were exchanged, the little group went to check out the entire exhibition, occasionally stopping so that Tim and Ronan could read trivia about each dinosaur species, printed on tables in front of each model.

“Is Zoe coming to join you?” Trick asked Theo.

“No, she said she wouldn’t be caught dead spending the day looking at giant plastic animal toys,” Theo rolled his eyes, eliciting laughter from Cody and Trick.

“I bet she likes some other plastic toys,” Cody whispered so that only Trick could hear, making his boyfriend chuckle and hit him on the arm.

“There are children here, behave!” Trick responded in mock surprise.

After a while, the group of boys expanded as they were joined by another fresh couple – Anders and Blaine. Theo was now vastly outnumbered as the only straight guy in the group, something which Cody didn’t fail to tease him about.

This was Anders’ and Blaine’s third official date, and while neither of them were particularly thrilled about dinosaurs, Blaine had already taken over thirty pictures on his phone – most of them of his boyfriend looking around, grinning and pointing at things.

“Hey, everyone, having a good time?” Anders asked, greeting the group of five.

“Yeah, what about you?” Cody asked. “Hey, Blaine, how’s it going?”

“Great! Nice to meet you all,” he replied, shaking everyone’s hand.

“We’re going for some drinks and ice-cream later, if you guys wanna join us,” Theo said.

“Sure, that’d be great,” Anders replied, turning to Blaine, to which he nodded. “By the way, you guys are all invited to our concert next Thursday!”

“Awesome, we can’t wait to hear you play!” Cody said. “Anders plays the piano and Blaine plays the flute,” he explained to Theo.

“Oh, cool. I’d be happy to come,” Theo said, thinking about bringing Zoe along. Maybe she’d like classical music more than dinosaurs.

When Tim and Ronan finally said they were tired from all the walking, the group decided to go to a nearby café and order some cold drinks and ice-cream. Seated at a table, Tim and Ronan were checking out the pictures they took and talked excitedly about all the animals they’ve seen, while Trick moved to sit next to Anders. Just as he was about to ask him a question, he spotted Cody and Theo returning with the last of their ice-creams.

“Never mind, we’ll talk later,” Trick whispered and got up, making room for Cody to sit next to him.

--

Spread out on the bed in his room, wearing his comfy sweatpants and football jersey, Mason was absentmindedly tapping on his phone, every now and then casting glances at the TV. He started watching a football game a while ago, but quickly gave up after realizing he couldn’t focus at all.

Finally turning off the TV, he scrolled through his phonebook. That bitch Angela blocked his number, as well as his profile on the MusicMatcher. Not like he was going to write to her anyway, not after that so-called date.

The events of the last few weeks were still on his mind, messing with his head and making him think more than he liked to. What Angela told him irritated him to no end, not just because she was wrong – and she definitely was wrong! – but also because he wasn’t able to prove it. How could he prove to her that being gay is wrong? And why was he even giving it so much thought? He’d never dwelled on this topic so much, probably because he was never challenged about it, at least not seriously. But this time it was different.

His dad was no help. He wouldn’t even talk about it and just told him not to pay any attention to ‘the queers’. Realizing there was no point in arguing with his old man, he just dropped the subject and never mentioned it in front of him again.

Browsing the internet on his phone, he saw a new article about MusicMatcher, published recently. Out of pure curiosity, he clicked on the link and waited a few seconds for the page to load.

“What the… This is Patrick,” he muttered to himself, surprised at seeing his name and picture.

He started reading the interview and scrolled down. There was even a picture of Trick and Cody sitting close together and grinning ear to ear. The caption read: “(Music) Match made in heaven: App creator Patrick Pierce and his boyfriend Cody Henderson.”

He clicked the ‘x’ button, closing the page, still deep in thought. Returning to the phonebook, Mason found the name of his old friend from high school – Logan. Even though they used to be inseparable, they haven’t seen in each other since they graduated and started going to college in different cities. They haven’t even talked once. He wasn’t even sure how they got so distant; they used to be so close, but once they weren’t living in the same city anymore, it’s like they forgot all about each other. He knew it was bound to happen with some people, but he never thought it’d happen to him and Logan.

After letting his thumb hover above the screen for a few seconds, Mason finally pressed the dial button. He wasn’t sure about calling him and didn’t even know what he expected to achieve with it, but he decided to be spontaneous and just do it. Maybe it would calm him down, give him some peace of mind. One way or another, he was hoping to hear something, anything that would help him make sense of it all. After all, Logan was his best friend and he would definitely know what to say.

“Hello?” a voice was heard on the other side.

“Hey man!” Mason greeted his old friend, happy to hear that familiar, booming voice.

“Mason! Oh man, long time no see! How’s it going?” Logan replied, sounding excited and surprised. It’s been a year and a half since they last saw each other or spoke. For a second, Logan wondered why they didn’t keep in touch, seeing as how close they were, but his thoughts were interrupted by Mason speaking again.

“Doing good! I know, man, that’s why I’m calling, to check if you’re alive!” He had to admit, it was good to be talking to his old friend again.

“And kicking! How’s college, you still playing football?”

“Yeah, man, still playing! And college is, you know, as expected… What about you?”

He let Logan talk about himself for a while and couldn’t help but think of all the trouble they got into in high school. He wondered how the time spent apart affected them, were they too different now?

“Oh, I ran into Lee the other week! Haven’t seen him in ages! Have you seen anyone from high school?” Logan asked.

“No. Well, yeah, actually…” Mason said after a pause, “I saw Patrick some time ago.”

“Oh, yeah, I just read his article! Crazy that he and Cody are together now, right?” Logan asked, nothing but surprise in his voice. No maliciousness, no sarcasm that Mason could detect.

“Yeah, I guess,” Mason replied, not sure what to say.

“I gotta say, Cody’s got to be the bravest dude ever!”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, to have the guts to face Patrick after all we did to him. And not only did Patrick forgive him, but they became boyfriends. Talk about unexpected!” Logan gave a short laugh. “I’d be too embarrassed to even look him in the eyes… But maybe he’s forgotten about all of it.”

“Yeah,” Mason said, his voice trailing off. Who was this Logan? He sounded nothing like the guy he went to high school with.

“Man, we did some dumb shit, right?”

“That we did,” Mason chuckled, still taken aback. He was fully expecting Logan to be the same old reckless kid who had no problem dishing it out, both verbally and physically. Was he the only person who hasn’t changed?

Before ending the call, the guys promised to keep in touch, at least through phone calls or Facebook, although Mason wasn’t even sure he wanted to. It was obvious they were so different now, what would they even talk about? Frustrated at not getting any of the answers and not hearing the things he wanted, he changed into his running gear and headed out. Maybe a nice, long run would help him relax. However, no matter how hard he tried to focus on his running, his brain refused to cooperate, as one question kept popping up – had he really been such a crappy person all this time?

--

While Anders and Blaine were taking selfies in front of the café, Trick and Cody stood a little further away, alongside Theo, Tim and Ronan. As Tim gave Cody his phone and asked him to take a picture of him and Ronan, Trick saw an opportunity to make his escape.

“Hey, babe, I just remembered Anders wanted to tell me something about his concert next week. I’ll be right back!” he smiled at Cody and squeezed his shoulder.

“Ok, we’ll be here,” Cody smiled back and turned to focus on his photographer duties.

Trick quickly bounced off to the new couple and whispered to Anders, making sure Cody wouldn’t hear them.

“Hey, did you talk to your boss about next weekend?”

“Yeah,” Anders nodded and gave him a knowing smile. “The rink is reserved for Saturday evening.”

“Nice, I owe you big time!”

“So, what did you get Cody for his birthday? Aside from the surprise party?” Blaine asked.

“Well, it’s a surprise,” Trick rolled his eyes.

“Come on, you know we would never spoil it,” Anders said, trying to get Trick to spill the tea.

“I know you wouldn’t, it’s just… I want Cody to be the first to know,” Trick wouldn’t be talked into revealing the secret.

“Well, technically, he’d be the second to know,” he thought to himself, since he’d already told everything to Brad. Not only was Brad his best friend, but also his roommate, so he had to tell him one way or another. Still, no one else needed to know until Cody’s birthday, not even Zoe.

All he had to do now was wait for the big day and hope that Cody would like his special birthday present…