GFD: Fanboys - 11. Chapter 11

I didn't want to look like garbage today or be some kind of lethargic zombie all afternoon, but I was so excited about going to Navy Pier with Parker that I really couldn't find a way to calm myself down for long enough to go to sleep. I was practically vibrating with joy all night long. There were a couple of times when I actually giggled out loud to myself, and I'm pretty sure that I'm well on my way to an irreversible state of utter madness.

That can't be a good thing, right? Maybe it's worth it. If I can find a moment alone to maybe keep everybody else's eyes off of us for a minute or two...I'd LOVE to be able to kiss Parker right by that anchor! That would be, like...a miraculous dream come true. I can't think of anything more amazing than that.

Well...I take that back. Hehehe! I kind of thought about ONE thing that might be more amazing. Twice last night, and once this morning! But, for now...I think I'd be happy with just a kiss and some quality time spent with my favorite boy in the world. At least for now. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself just yet.

I swear, once I showered up and got my hair all dried and combed to perfection...I began to overwhelm myself with thoughts of what clothes I should wear. I even kept smelling my forearm multiple times to make sure that the scent of my body bath gel was still lingering the way I was hoping it would. I don't know if it was going to survive an entire trip to the comic book store, and a bus ride, and a train ride to get downtown Chicago...much less a rather extended walk towards Navy Pier from there...but if I could savor just enough of it for Parker to catch a hint of it later on...then it will have been worth it. So I made sure to scrub it as deeply into my skin as humanly possible without rubbing myself raw. Hope this works.

Red boxer briefs? I'm thinking red boxer briefs. Definitely. The ones with the black band. And a deep red shirt to match, and some black jeans. Oh, and black ankle socks! No wait...are my RED ankle socks clean? YES! These, and my black sneakers! Low tops, so a bit of the red shows up a bit at the top. I put them all on, smoothed them out, and then stood in front of my bedroom mirror...

I like it! I think it looks SICK! I wish I could throw some Comicality purple in there somewhere too, but I'm gonna leave it at black and red. Maybe a black baseball cap? Nah, I want him to see my hair. I spent too much time on it to cover it up now. Besides, I want him to run his fingers through it. Hopefully while kissing me. Hehehe!

Alright, it's close to time to go. I'll stop off and grab some candy sweets or something on the way to the comic shop. Something that won't make my breath all gross and leave crumbs all over my shirt and fingertips. The whole point is to impress. No mistakes. Checked my teeth, made sure that I had my wallet on me. Twenty seven bucks and eight cents. That's at least enough for some popcorn on the Pier, and maybe an icy cone or something. I didn't tell Parker to bring any cash, so I hope it's enough for the both of us. Bus fare...train fare...house keys...ok! It looks like I'm ready to go. And it looks like my bath gel is still holding out so far. Everything should go perfect, as long as I don't run into any shirtless skater boys out there today. I'll knock them over the railing and right into Lake Michigan if I have to! Dead serious!

I barely gave my mom a wave and a shout before charging out of that house like the roof was on fire. No distractions. I want to get there a little bit early, just so I have a chance to relax and pull myself together before my sweet prince arrives. Hehehe, this is going to be SO much fun!

I couldn't help but notice how blatantly bright Gary's smile was the second he saw me walk through that door, ringing the bell above. He was helping two other boys at the time, but beckoned me over anyway to keep me from getting too involved with anything else before he got a chance to talk to me. And then, as they went shopping for stuff, he simply looked me in the eye and grinned as he folded his arms on the display counter.

"What?" I asked, and his smile widened. "WHAT?!?! What did I do?"

"You ran out on me last time, you know? I'm not going to let it happen again."

"I didn't 'run out on you', dude. What are you talking about?"

"Are you gonna just make me come right out and ask you? Because I definitely will."

"Hehehe, it might help a bit with the fog of confusion building up in my brain right now. Sure."

"Fine." Gary said. "What's this thing going on with you and Parker? Huh?"

"Awww, man...it's just...it's barely anything at all. We're just hanging out and stuff." I said, trying to keep a straight face. But, even if that could have been possible...my deep blush would have easily given me away.

"Hanging out and doing what?" He asked, playfully battering his eyes at my clumsy attempts to hide my little secret from him. "You meet, you talk..."

"We met here! We just happened to both be here for GFD merch, you know that."

"You go to the store together..."

"That was all your fault, Mister! I owe you a shot in the nuts for setting me up like that." I told him. "Besides, lots of people go down to the corner store together. It's not symptomatic of a big sweeping romance or anything..."

"Who said anything about romance? I didn't mention any romance. Is that what we're talking about now?" He grinned.

"Gary..."

"Parker said that you took him to the skater park? The one at the underpass? You've gotta like somebody a whole hell of a lot to take them to the underpass." He began to snicker to himself, and I gave him the finger for making fun of me. "And...before you even suggest that this was just another one of your normal, every day, teen boy activities...remember that I am well aware of the fact that, at some point during your 'hanging out' routine...at least kiss was shared. A KISS, Kevin!" Damn! I kind of forgot about that part. "So, are you going to come clean? Or am I just going to have to ask Parker directly when he gets here?"

"Who said anything about him coming here?" I said.

Gary looked me up and down, and he said, "No offense, kid...but I can't even remember the last time you put this much thought into an outfit just to come this dingy basement comic book kingdom of mine. I was your age too not all that long ago, you know? I may not be into guys, but I know gorgeous when I see it. Nobody is looking at a boy like Parker and thinking, 'WOW! I sure wish he was my friend!' Hehehe, so give it up, already. If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Just know that I know what's going on here. Alright?"

What can I say? I mean, Gary had caught me red handed. And I can't even say that I felt all that weird about it. Besides, I've had this insane build of rainbows and sparkles bubbling up inside me since I first laid eyes on him...and it's been dying to get out ever since. I didn't really have anybody to talk to about it, and I certainly couldn't say everything that I wanted to say to Parker without it sounding really creepy and weird and screwing up what little progress we've made so far. So why not just come clean, right?

I didn't realize that I had been thinking about it for as long as I had been until Gary stood back up and said, "Alright. Suit yourself. I'll ask Parker what HE thinks, instead."

"NO NO NO NO NO!!!" I said, pushing my hands out and going into a mild panic over the idea that he'd embarrass me any further about any of this. "I'll talk! I am! This is me talking!"

"Hehehe, I was just kidding, Kevin. Geez, loosen up."

"It's ok. I just...I'm so new at this kinda thing. I'm sort of walking on a tightrope here when it comes to knowing what to do about all this." I said, and I smiled to myself with a little sigh. "I've got so many feelings swirling around in my head right now. It keeps me dizzy."

Just then, one of the boys came back up to the counter and asked, "Say, do you have any copies of the 'Shelter' graphic novel series?"

"All out. But we've got more on order. Should be here by next weekend for sure, k?" Gary told him, and then turned his attention back on me the second he walked away. "Alright, so...dizzy feelings. Gotchya."

"Yeah, I really didn't mean for any of this to happen. I wasn't ready." I said, my knees getting so weak that I now found the need to lean on the display counter myself. "Is it freaky that I can't seem to ever stop thinking about him? Like ever?"

"Doesn't sound all that farfetched to me. You like him. I get it. You wouldn't be the first kid with an intense crush on somebody they find attractive and get along with. To be honest, as long as you've been coming in here, I'm surprised that it hasn't come chasing after you until just now."

"Yeah, but...I mean, what do I do now?" I whimpered.

He gave me a weird look. "What do you mean? Just keep doing what you've been doing so far. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You already got shared common interests, exchanged numbers, went out skating together, and shared your first kiss. It doesn't sound like you need any help to me."

"But I never know if I'm doing any of this stuff the way I should be doing it. What if I mess up?"

"What if you do?"

"What if he changes his mind about me?"

"What if he does?"

I grunted out loud. "Gary...you're not being much help here, you know that?"

"Hahaha! Calm down, Kevin. There's no formula to this sort of thing. Nobody knows how this stuff works their first time out. We all just have to lean back on whatever few instincts we've got and hope for the best. You're in the trenches now, buddy. You can't take any shortcuts. You've gotta ride the roller coaster the same way we all did when the love bug burrowed itself deep in our hearts. Real life isn't always like 'Gone From Daylight'...but if you hang in there, and you guys make it work, you'll look back on how it all started, and it'll definitely feel that way. Justin and Taryn 2.0. You'll figure it out, k? You'll see." Gary said. He wasn't really teasing me, but I could tell that he was getting a kick out of watching me squirming so helplessly when it came to my first boyfriend ever. "Where are you guys going today?"

"I kinda...well...I thought it might be cool if we went out to Navy Pier for a bit. You know...to the anchor and stuff." I said, bashfully. Wondering if he was going to think that was cheesy or something.

"Really? And that was your idea?" Gary asked. I nodded slowly and he almost looked proud of me. "Damn! Look at you! The big romantic, emotionally manipulating your new beau with a trip to one of his favorite places on Earth! Hehehe, that's smooth. You've got swag, junior." He patted me on the shoulder as I exhaled with relief. "You'll be sure to get more smooches for that little strategic move on the chessboard of love. Mark my words on that one. See? And you thought you were going to need some help on your date."

"Well, hehehe...I doubt that he's going to think of it as an actual date or anything. We're just...you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...you're just 'hanging out'. Whatever." It was then that Gary began digging around in his pocket, and took out a ten dollar bill. Then he opened up the register and got two fives instead...handing one of them to me. "I wish it could be a bit more, but I need enough gas money to get home. I've been letting the auto go a little long without any juice, and I'm still two days away from payday. But, for what it's worth, here's a fiver for the struggle. Get that boy some jelly beans or something. Look like a boss for once."

"You don't have to do that, Gary. Honestly. I've got some cash on me." I said.

"Not from me, you don't. Besides, you and Parker alone are about to make me employee of the month in this joint. So I owe you for the positive boost. Just make sure that you invite me to the big gay wedding when you two get older. I hear they're the most fun you can have without risking a prison sentence." He shoved the money into my hand, and I smiled to thank him for the extra funds. It was then that the same boy from before called out to him from one of the aisles.

"Say, do you guys have the 'Shelter: Miles To Go' anime on Blu-Ray?"

Gary secretly rolled his eyes. "Really, dude? Are you even in the anime section? Everything is in alphabetical order."

"I don't see it!"

"Oh my god! A, B, C, D...you remember the alphabet right? It's set to the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' theme? You're not even in the right section..." He went over to go help, making me giggle a bit as the poor kid just needed a little bit of guidance. Geez! Employee of the month, indeed.

But as he went over to give them a manageable amount of crap for not being able to find stuff on their own in the store, I heard the bell above the front door ring...and Parker came walking in. I couldn't believe how quickly I began shaking the second that I caught sight of him. Gosh, I hope he can't, like...visibly SEE that! I looked down, and I think my shirt was pulsing slightly with every throbbing pulse of my excited heart. God, that boy's beauty was like rocket fuel for the senses. I never get tired of staring at him.

"Hey, Kevin..." He said, shyly smiling at me before turning away to hide his grin. "I thought I might come a bit early, just to make sure that I didn't make you wait or anything."

"Oh. M'kay." I said, a bit choked up now that we were standing face to face again. "I mean, that's cool. I just...popped on by, so...it's...you know, whatever."

"Cool." He said.

I had to push myself a little bit, but I moved forward and gave Parker this really awkward, two armed, hug. It was SO weird! It like...pinned his arms down at his sides, and my nose bumped his shoulder, but...at least I tried to make it look natural, right? "It's...good to see you, Parker."

I let him go, blushing furiously as he giggled softly to himself. "You too. Today should be fun." Then he looked down and straightened out his shirt for me to see. "You see? It says, 'I love you because you saved me.' I figured this would be the best one to wear to the Pier."

Oh no!!! As I looked at his shirt, I noticed him looking at mine, and I suddenly cringed from not having worn a 'Day-Hard' fanboy T-shirt of my own today! UGH!!! Why didn't I think of that??? It's not like I didn't have half of my closet devoted to them! Of COURSE he'd be wearing a fan shirt! Ugh, I'm so stupid!

"Oh...oh man, I didn't know that we were going to...ummm...well, I wasn't sure if you wanted to display..." I stammered.

"It's ok. I thought you meant...well, I just figured..."

"Well, I would have worn something similar to what you were wearing if I knew that..."

"It's fine. Seriously. I was just showing it off because..."

"I thought that maybe after that douchebag at the skater park..."

"Who cares what he has to say about anything? I had already forgotten about that asshole."

"Yeah. Good." I smiled, and we both just stopped talking for a few seconds until we cracked up over the fact that we had been babbling and stumbling over one another for the past minute or so, just from being so nervous about all this. We decided to take a deep breath to calm our nerves, and I finally spoke up to see, "Your shirt is kick ass, Parker. I mean that."

"I will admit...you do look pretty hot." He smiled. "I'm digging the whole black and red from head to toe thing you've got going on here."

"I should have worn my black 'Comicality' T-shirt instead. It's got a little purple in it."

"You look fine. Just like you are." He smiled, causing me to melt inside in an instant. I'm not used to having people say things like this to me, much less one of the most beautiful boys walking the Earth's surface. It takes a lot of getting used to. "So...you wanna go, or…?"

"Oh! Yeah! Totally! I'm ready if you are!" I said giggling back as I struggled to hold myself together so I didn't make any bigger mistakes than wearing the wrong outfit. Sighhhh...I should have planned better. If I had gotten more sleep last night, I might have been able to figure things out before leaving the house.

"Hi, Gary!" Parker waved, and he smiled at us with a wink. I'm guessing to wish us well on our journey even deeper into the quagmire of infatuated bliss that we were headed for. God, I hope I'm doing this right. I don't like this 'being in the trenches' thing. Not all by myself.

I wish I had as much confidence in myself as Gary did. But, like he said...there's no formula for this kind of thing. I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and...you know...

...Figure it out.