Aedan's Story - 16. Chapter 16: Winter Woes

February 16 2018

My friends and I were sitting in the living room. We had just gotten out of the Valentines dance and were relaxing inside while the snow was coming down hard outside. We began a game of Truth or Dare, because, at the end of the day, we're all just teens. "Aedan. Truth or Dare?" Nina asked me.

"Umm... Dare..." I smirked.

"Okay..." she thought. "Go outside topless for a minute."

"Oh hell naw..." I scoffed. "Yer crazy! It's freezin' out there...!"

"Aw, Aedan's afraid of a little cold on his nipples..." Connor teased.

"DUDE..." I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the couch.

"Fine..." Nina huffed. "You'll get truth... What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you this week?"

Flashback: Sunday Feb 11

I was sitting on my bed practicing drawing in anime style and listening to music on my pear phone with earbuds. In the middle of drawing, I stood up to use the bathroom. When I came back a few minutes later, Violet was in my room and she was looking at my drawings. "Hey! What're you doin' in here?" I shut the sketch book and tried to shove her out.

"I was just returning those colored pencils I borrowed," my older sister raised up her hands in defeat and handed me yellow and blue colored pencils. Pushing her wasn't too hard since I was four inches taller than her and stronger.

"Oh, thanks," I blushed and set them on my desk.

"Also, I see you drew some shirtless boys with abs..." She re-opened the sketch book. My face turned pink like a cherry.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE THAT!" I stammered in embarrassment and closed the book again.

"You're bi... aren't you?" She smirked.

"No..." I crossed my arms. "I dunno what yer talkin' about."

"The shirtless anime boy drawings say differently, Aedan..."

"Get outta here Violet!" I hid the sketch book under my bed before shoving her out the door. I took a deep breath... Wait... she could tell others. I stepped back into the hallway. "Um... Vi...?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yeah?"

"You'll keep that a secret... right?"

"Sure..." Violet shrugged.

End flashback...

My friends couldn't help but chuckle at my story, and I guess I came out to them too. Ian blushed a little bit at me being bisexual. Nina was a little surprised, but was supportive.

"Um, so, Ian, um, truth or dare?" I asked. Ian wanted a dare. I thought for a minute of what I should dare him to do. "Um, do twenty pushups while singing your favorite song!" I said to the cute boy at my right.

Ian got down on the floor and began doing pushups while singing Hotel California by The Eagles. "Dude, that was amazing," I laughed when he got back on the couch after doing twenty. "Your turn."

"Uhhhh, Jake... truth or dare?" Ian asked my best friend.

"I don't like the dares I've been hearing... so truth!"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Ian's face got excited. "Um... Who was your first kiss? Y'know, if you've had that yet..." I blushed at that question... because I had kissed him, like, two months ago...

"Ummm..." I saw Jake blush too. "I have had my first kiss." I silently glared at him to not say anything specific. "As to who it was... it was Aedan."

"WAIT WHAT?" Everyone else exclaimed. I felt my face get warm with blushing.

"Dude..." I groaned. "You weren't supposed to say anything."

"Aedan, the game is TRUTH or Dare...I can't LIE..." Jake sighed and then explained what happened that early December morning.

I got up and ran to my room where I changed into pajamas and curled up in bed and cried. I was so mad at Jake and I was mad at myself for doing it. I heard a knock at the door. "Go away, Jake," I sniffled.

"It's me," I heard Nina's voice. "Can I come in?"

"Mhm..." I squeaked. I stayed hidden under the blankets when I felt Nina sit on the end of the bed.

"Um. Can we talk?"

"Mhm..." I squeaked again and pushed back the covers.

"Hey, cutie," she ruffled my shaggy hair.

"I'm really sorry, babe..." I sniffled.

"As you should be," Nina said. "You cheated on me again..."

"I know... I'm a really sucky boyfriend," I sat up and wiped some tears from my face. "I'm really mad at myself. I... I don't even know how to explain it!"

"Aedan, I can't trust you anymore..." Nina explained.

"No no no! Not again!" I pleaded. "Can I have another chance?! Please?" How is she so mature and I'm... not...? Why is it more emotional this time than back in August? Being in middle school sucks ass!

"Not right now, but maybe later. We can stay as friends, though?"

"Um, okay, maybe. I'll try." I curled back up under my bed, continuing to be a hormonal mess of testosterone. I felt simultaneously like wanting to cry myself to sleep while also feeling angry enough to punch through a wall.

"Bye, Aedan," she stood up and walked out of my room, leaving me to my demons.

March 9 2018

Basketball season was over. This week, we lost in the semifinals for the state tournament for 8th Grade Boys Basketball, which was held on the Yale campus down in New Haven. It was cool because we got a few days off from school to compete. Today was the Friday before Spring Break, and the boys' basketball teams finally got to have an end of season sleepover lock-in. We were all in the boy's gym at school. I arrived at 6PM as the sun was going down, and the boys were all playing basketball on the court. I was wearing my black sweatshirt and blue sweatpants. I joined them for casual games of knockout and HORSE. The seventh grade team was there too, acting like total dorks.

Anyways, afterwards, there was pizza for dinner. I had like 4 slices. We ate in the gym while playing Xbox games for a while. I changed out of my normal clothes and put on some baggy black and red basketball shorts and a blue long sleeve t-shirt for sleeping, leaving my socks on. I rolled out our sleeping bag next to Ian's. "Hey, um, I don't think I ever properly apologized for ruining things between you and Nina," Ian blushed. "I'm really sorry."

"Um, it's fine, Ian," I plopped down on my sleeping bag. "It wasn't your fault. I made a mistake."

"Girls are irrational anyways," Ian sat down on his sleeping bag. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Haha, yeah," I laughed. "Boys are actually loyal."

"Um, I'm kinda glad you came out though." Ian smiled. "I'm glad you trusted us."

"Same..." I leaned back. "And, you're not the only gay person on the team."

"Mhm..." Ian mumbled, stretching, and his shirt flew up a bit, allowing me to get a glimpse of his abs.

"Yo, Aedan!" Connor came over with a boy who looked like him, his seventh grader cousin, breaking me out of my trance.

"Hey, Connor... and hi Chase," I lazily waved at the two boys.

"You were so awesome in the tournament Aedan!" Connor smiled enthusiastically.

"Oh, thanks," I blushed and rubbed the back of my neck. "You too!"

Chase and I connected over a Pokemon game on the 3DS and I showed him some of my progress on the small handheld console I had packed away in my backpack. Meanwhile, Connor and Ian talked about their history project due next week about the Compromise of 1850. I got up again to grab a can of soda and some popcorn. "Dude, I'm bored..." Chase whined. "Enough Pokémon."

"Chase it hasn't been that long," I stuffed some popcorn in my mouth. I looked over at Connor for some help with the annoying younger boy, but he was still talking to Ian. "Uh, Chase, how was seventh grade's basketball season?"

"Not good," the twelve year old boy fidgeted with his fingers. "We didn't make playoffs like you eighth graders did."

"No shit, bro?" I took a sip of Sprite before burping. "That sucks dude. I'm sorry."

Chase took a bite of a cookie. "You like football?"

"Uh, only watching, not playing." I responded honestly.

"Same. You look like you could play though." Chase tilted his head to the side. I laughed a little bit, as I'm not nearly as muscular as most of the boys on the football team.

Not long later, the adults noticed most of us were looking jittery from sugar and junk food and let us roam the school. Chase went off to play hide and seek with his 7th grade teammates, while Max, Brandon, Connor, Dustin, and I went out to explore the spooky dark hallways. The other 8th grade boys wanted to toss a football in the halls, but the chaperones quickly nixed that idea. So, the others decided to go around and scare the younger boys. I grabbed a couple cookies to take with me to eat and put on some slide sandals before I left with my friends. The halls were actually kind of creepy at night with the lights off.

"This is kinda scary," Max said as we went around a corner in the 8th grade hallway. I took a big bite of snickerdoodle cookie.

"Looks like this is a dead end," Connor shined his flashlight at the far end wall.

"I'm getting scared too..." I muttered. Max and I were younger than the other boys with us, who had turned fourteen in the fall semester.

"It'll be less scary if you give me a cookie," Brandon grabbed the chocolate chip cookie as I popped the final bite of snickerdoodle.

"Hey... I was gonna eat that!" I whined and tried to grab it back from him. Brandon stuck out his tongue at me and took a bite of the cookie.

"Can you two stop bickering and stuffing your faces for a minute?" Connor asked. "I think I heard footsteps."

We all got silent, and I heard the footsteps. Connor pointed his flashlight in the direction they were coming from. There was someone with a mask and a black hood concealing his face. Max trembled with fear and latched onto my arm. I wiped my hands on my shorts to get rid of crumbs. I felt my heart race and I hid behind Dustin. Behind us, I heard a door open. I turned around to see a few more hooded figures, but the sweatshirts looked familiar. Max and I gasped. "Who are you?!" I asked. No response. "AHHHH!" I charged at one of the figures, tackling them to the carpeted floor.

"Ow!" I heard a familiar voice yelp from behind the mask.

"Shit..." another familiar voice from another hooded figure tried to kick me off of his comrade. I tumbled to the floor, and was pinned down by the two figures.

"Aedan! Don't give in. Kick and punch!" Max yelled to me before the first hooded figure put a gloved hand over the boy's mouth. One of the hooded figures sat on my legs to prevent me from kicking while the other maintained a tight hold keeping my wrists on the floor.

"Get off them, you idiots!" Connor said.

"Let's split. Tell the teachers our guys got ambushed." Dustin said. "We'll get backup to rescue Max and Aedan.

"Wait... we got the wrong guys..." the masked figure holding Max removed his hood and mask. Connor illuminated the figure and revealed him to be Vincent.

"VINCENT?" The five of us exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Vincent hushed us. "We thought you were seventh graders."

"You couldn't tell?" Connor laughed.

"It's dark in here," the hooded figure sitting on my legs revealed himself to be Hayden, the quietest boy on the 8th grade team, on account of his lack of English fluency.

"And to be fair a lot of us have the same damn voice." Jason revealed himself as the identity of the figure holding down my arms. "We're in a game of capture the flag against the seventh graders."

"The flag is over there in the middle of this hall. Some kid took off his shirt as the flag. The seventh grader's base is nowhere to be found," Vincent said. The fourteen year old had black lines on his cheek in sharpie. Vincent led us to the 8th grade base in room 807, a history classroom, and the room Hayden and Jason had come out of.

"You're back..." Ian said.

"With new recruits," I smirked. I grabbed a black dry erase marker and gave myself some black stripes on my cheeks.

Ian ran over and hugged me. "So glad you're safe!"

"I have supplies," Max took some gummy worms wrapped in a paper towel out of his large sweatshirt pocket.

I pouted and stuffed my hand in the pockets of my shorts and grabbed a handful of gummy worms which I shoved in my mouth. "You're not the only one who can smuggle in supplies." Max's stash was a lot more than mine of course.

"Dude, we have plenty of supplies," Matt Fayette, a ginger haired 8th grader, revealed a stash of, like, fifteen bags of chips.

"Recharge your energy, and we'll check to see if the coast is clear." Greg said.

"We may be able to win this war with our new help. Was seven of us against ten of them. Now we stand a chance." Ryan said.

As I was eating my Sun Chips, I felt a buzz from my pear phone in my shorts pocket. Hayden looked over at me while I pulled out my phone. "Who text you?" the quiet boy said in broken English. He had moved to Connecticut from the Dominican Republic in sixth grade.

Hey Aedan, I hope you're having fun. Miss u...

"Um, it's Nina," I stammered, awkward as hell. Silence fell over the quiet dark room. Everyone on my team knew.

"Hey, we all here support you, bro," Connor patted my back.

"Yah, we all love ya, Aedan," Dustin smiled, and all eleven other boys dogpiled me. I was glad they all supported me. We were a team after all. Both on and off the basketball court.

Connor got up off of me and walked up to the closed door and glanced out the window with icy blue eyes. "Guys, the seventh graders are literally nowhere in sight. Now's our chance to capture the flag."

"We'll need a fast runner to go in. And some people on the sides for backup in case they attack." Greg explained.

"Who's the fastest runner?" Max asked meekly.

Everyone turned to me. I blushed. "Me?"

"We'll back you up," Hayden said, and Dustin nodded.

"Well, here goes..." I plucked off my flip flops, as it would be easier to run without them.

I ran with my socks on towards the flag, which was tied to a vertical wooden beam in the hallway. I jumped up and grabbed it, sliding a little on the tile floor before turning around back to base.

"HAHA!" Vincent cheered. "Nice going, Jackson!" he fist bumped me as I slid up to the door in my socks.

"Where's the seventh graders?" Ian asked.

"Doesn't matter, we won!" I cheered. "We should find them and rub it in."

"We have to show good sportsmanship," Ian reminded me.

"Right," I saluted. "Do we know where their base is?"

"We don't know," Vincent nodded. "We'll meet you back in the gym. Good luck, soldiers."

Ian and I walked in silence before laughing. "That game was actually, like, a ton of fun."

"Hey, guys," a seventh grader came out of room 817. "You got the flag...?"

"Mhm..." I nodded. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"They abandoned ship when the 8th grade army gained new soldiers. I am all that's left. They said they were going back to the gym for safety."

"Whose shirt is this, bro?" I asked.

"Chase's..." he laughed. I laughed too. "I'm gonna head back," the seventh grader took off. Ian and I sat down against the wall.

"I really appreciate you coming to this team thing," Ian blushed. "After what happened this week..."

"It's been so much fun tonight. Don't make me sad, Ian," I wiped a tear that dripped from my jade green eyes. "I... I should be happy my dad is in prison... But... I'm just sad." it felt weird opening up to a boy like this, to feel vulnerable. It went against everything he taught me about being masculine. But I was never enough for him. I can't be strong emotionally. I show too much weakness. I'm too much of a damn pansy to shoot a deer on a hunting trip! I sobbed. "And... I still don't know why... he's in jail for thirty years..."

Ian hugged me. It felt nice to cry into his chest. "Aedan... he's your dad... It's... okay to miss him..."

A little past 1AM, Ian and I entered the gym again. I had dried off my face. The seventh graders were playing football in the open area of the gym and eigth graders were playing Uno. "Yo, Chase," I called out. "Here's your shirt back!" The younger boy blushed as he caught the navy blue shirt I tossed to him and he pulled it back on over his head. Ian and I joined the Uno game until it turned into us just talking about girls, Spring Break plans, video games and the NCAA March Madness. I eventually opened my sketch book and worked on some drawings while eating some Jello.

We talked more until around 3AM while I drew. "Boys, it's been a long night, I'm going to bed. The sun will be up in like 4 hours," Brandon yawned. Connor nodded sleepily. Ian got into his sleeping bag, which was next to mine. I was utterly exhausted. My sugar high had worn off when we returned to the gym after Capture the Flag. I made my way to the restroom to brush my teeth and empty my bladder.

"Goodnight, Aedan." Ian ruffled my hair as I pulled off my shirt to get comfy for bed as I got into my sleeping bag. Why the hell did he do that?

I had little trouble falling asleep, despite the giggling restless seventh graders, my racing thoughts about Ian, and also heartburn from binge eating junk food all night.

I woke up around 10 AM, my stomach hurting. The sunlight came in through the large gymnasium windows. My bangs were covering my eyes. I groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and yawned. What the hell happened last night? I groaned. Connor was awake, looking at his phone, and Dustin, Max, and Kyle were groggily getting up too. I got out of my sleeping bag, my Nike Elite shorts sagging a bit, showing off the waistband of my boxer shorts. I went to the restroom to take a dump and also, uh, pleasure myself. My morning wood, and seeing Dustin and Ian shirtless for multiple hours was too much for me. I then got "dressed" by pulling my hoodie on over my bare chest. There was some breakfast in the cafeteria for us. I decided to go easy on my stomach this time and eat a hard boiled egg, some juice, and some toast. My mom came to get me at noon. "How was your little sleepover?"

"Mom, it's not a sleepover. I'm too old for that!" I whined as I climbed into the passenger seat. "And it was fun..." I buckled myself in.

"You had no problem using the term sleepover when you were thirteen..." mom chuckled. "And you look tired."

"Yeah we were up until, like 4AM," I brushed the bangs out of my face. "It was a nice distraction."

"I know, sweetie," mom kissed my forehead and I blushed, hoping none of the other boys saw. "You've matured so much this year and grown up."

"Yeah... about that..." I muttered before talking about all the crazy stuff we did last night and the enormous amount of calories I ate.

March 14 2018

Kensington, Vermont

I stood at the top of the bunny hill and latched my skis onto my boots. It was my first time skiing and I was nervous. Jake and his parents invited me up to their cabin in Vermont for a couple days during the week-long spring break. The trail ahead had a shallow slope, but there were so many trees I could hit! "I dunno about this Jake…" I said, strapping my helmet on, which is Jake's that he let me borrow.

"You'll be fine," my blond friend explained. "If you fall the snow is soft. The lodge is at the bottom of the hill. I'll meet you down there. I'll be behind you the whole way down."

"Okay..." I gulped and used my ski poles to push off. I was soon going down the slope in a straight line. I didn't want to try turning at all, and risk breaking my legs. I reached the bottom where the slope became flat. "HOW DO I STOP?!" I called out. No response. "JAKE?" I saw a girl ahead of me talking to a boy and I was headed straight towards her. "Watch out! I cain't stop!" I called out in my southern drawl.

"Twist both your skis to the right or left!" The teenaged boy called out.

I tried that, and I began slowing down but I definitely tumbled into the soft snow. "Oof!" I yelped.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" The teen girl came over to help me up.

"Mhm... I sighed. "I am, now that you rescued me," I smirked, removing the goggles from my eyes.

"Oh, please, that was not a serious tumble..." the boy crossed his arms. "Don't flirt with my little sister, kid."

"Oh, hush. He's cute." she reached down and kissed my cheek. I blushed. "You want a soda?"

"Uh, yes, please," I nodded and got up to follow her, and stuck my tongue out at her brother.

That night, Jake and I were hanging out in the hot tub on the back wooden deck of the cabin. I was sore from skiing and snow tubing earlier. Snow tubing is more fun of course. Skiing was just terrifying! Anyways, the hot water was relaxing on my sore muscles, and it was nice on a cold night.

"Aedan, I've been meaning to ask... where did you go after you skied down the bunny hill?" Jake asked, splashing some warm water on his face.

"I ran into a girl and we went to get some juice," I answered plainly. "I'm sorry if it felt like I ditched you. She was real cute though," I smirked.

"Nah, I'm not upset," Jake shrugged. "I figured something like that happened." Jake explained. My cheeks blushed. I have been getting more confident with girls, and I've been flirting with them at school the past few weeks. "Did you get her number?"

"Naw, dude," I rested my elbows on the edge of the tub and rested my shoulders and back against the wall, with foam in the hot tub dancing on the surface. "It sucks. It was just one date. I got a kiss though."

"Oh, um, that's cool," Jake's cheeks flushed. "Just, umm, be careful. You're getting a reputation as a bit of a player. I'm glad you're getting more confident in yourself though. Unlike me..."

"A player? Don't all boys our age flirt?" I asked, "And I can show you."

"Yeah. But you do it a lot... like, ten girls in the past 3 weeks," Jake said. "You're letting it get to your head."

"That's horsefeathers comin' from you, mister I've NEVER had a girlfriend... and MISTER I like to ruin my BEST FRIEND's relationship! You're just jealous that I can get a girlfriend and YOU CAIN'T!" I angrily stood up. Jake covered his eyes. I looked down and realized I was exposed. I blushed and quickly grabbed my towel to wrap around my waist before stepping out of the hot tub. "Gawd it's cold..." I muttered, quickly running inside. Jake sighed.