A Strange Start to a Friendship - 2. Am I Building a Friendship, or Singing a Whitesnake Song - Is This Love?

Monday

Today, I rode my bike to the hospital since I wasn't in as much of a hurry as yesterday. I also didn't feel like running. I was awake half the night thinking about Cory. I couldn't get the picture of his naked body out of my mind. Not just his penis, but the whole package, face, chest, abdomen, legs. He had to be one of the most gorgeous boys I had ever seen. I guess knowing he was gay helped a little. Back in Indiana, there were a couple boys I suspected were gay, but if Cory's a 10, and I think he is, none of those boys was more than a 5 or 6. I take a deep breath before I walk into his room; trying to calm myself. He's in a regular room now, not the ER.

"Hey Cory."

He brightens the room with a beautiful smile. Yep, I'm smitten.

"Hi Roy. Thanks for comin... What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. I didn't sleep well last night. Don't worry about it. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. I've been up and around, and I have a limp. The doctor says that will probably go away as the sprain heals. Headaches aren't as bad, or as often. Definitely going home later."

"That's great. You'll have to give me your address, I can come by after dinner."

"Really? That'd be great."

"Really, like I said. I want to be friends."

"Oh, speaking of friends, my roomate is Ted. Ted, this is Roy; the boy who saved my life."

"Hi."

"Hi. I wouldn't go that far. It was 85 degrees, you weren't going to freeze to death or anything."

"An animal could have gotten me while I was passed out."

"You'd be the first person in history to be killed by a squirrel."

Cory and Ted laughed.

"There's coyotes around too, you know."

"Really? I didn't know that. But then I don't know much about the area."

"Mr. Roy?"

"Just Roy, Ted. Yes?"

Ted looks like he's about ten.

"How'd you get so big?"

"I work out, weights and things like that, plus my father's even bigger than I am. So, some of it comes naturally."

"Oh. I wish I was big."

"You have lots of time. You'll grow."

"I hope so. How old do you think I am?"

"I'd guess ten."

"I'm almost thirteen. I'm very small for my age."

"Well, like I said, you still might grow bigger."

"Maybe."

Shit, the kid was depressing me.

"Why are you in here?"

"Appendicitis. They had to take out my appendix. I should be able to go home tomorrow."

"That's good. Do you live nearby?"

"Not too far away. Why?"

"My little brother is twelve and a half. If you live close, maybe he'll go to the same school as you."

"I go to Lakeside Middle. Where does he go?"

"I'm not sure, we only moved into Cumming a couple weeks ago."

I take a look on my phone.

"That's the closest one to our house, so that's probably where he'll go."

"What's his name?"

"Roger. Roger Patterson."

"Thanks. I'll look for him."

"I'll mention you to him. What's your last name?"

"Milkins."

"Making a note of it in my phone. Going into 8th grade, I'm guessing?"

"Yes. He can call me if he wants."

Ted gave me his cell number.

"I'll let him know. Nothing wrong with making new friends."

"Thanks. I'll let you talk to Cory now. I didn't mean to hog your time."

"It's OK."

I kind of felt sorry for the kid. Undersized, probably picked on. Roger takes after mom more, so he's not real big, but he's still probably a little bigger than average. I pull the chair up closer to Cory's bed so we can talk quieter.

"Have you lived here long?"

"My whole life. I was born in this hospital."

"That's cool. I've moved twice now. I think this might be it. Dad's some kind of executive here at the hospital. We moved once before when he got a promotion. Started out in Kansas, moved to Indiana when I was twelve. Now here."

"You've gotten to see different places. That must have been nice."

"Yeah, I guess. Leaving friends was the worst part."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't have many friends. I don't think anybody would miss me if I moved. I know there aren't many kids I'd miss."

"You've got one for sure now."

"Thanks. I hope so, anyway."

"You do. I already like you a lot."

"I'm not sure why. Nobody else seems to."

"Geez, stop knocking yourself. Guys should be knocking down your door to be with you. You're gorgeous, don't you know that?"

"Gorgeous?"

Oh, shit. I wasn't even thinking.

"Um. Yeah. A guy can think another guy is good-looking."

"You didn't say good-looking."

"OK. Damn. You can't tell anybody, please. Nobody knows."

"That you're... like me?"

"Yeah."

"Your secret's safe with me. Do you want to be, you know, more than just friends?"

"We'll start as friends and see what happens. Like I said, I like you, I like your looks. It's possible. But I have to be careful. I want to be on the football team, jocks tend not to like having, um, guys like us around."

"I like your looks too."

"Thanks. Um, so do you like sports?"

"A little. Baseball, mostly. But if you teach me about football, I'll come and watch your games."

"I can do that. I'm not too crazy about baseball. Too slow. I like hockey too."

"I don't know anything about hockey either."

"I'll teach you that too. Maybe you, me and our dads can go see the Gladiators together, that's the local minor league team."

"I, um. I don't have a dad anymore."

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry."

"You couldn't know."

Do I ask what happened? Maybe I'll just let him tell me when he's ready. I guess he's ready.

"He was a marine. Killed in Afghanistan when I was four."

"I'm sorry about that. But you should be proud of him. He was protecting our country."

"I am, I just wish I remember more about him. But mom tells me stories, has a lot of pictures."

Got to move this into a happier place.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah, a sister. She's thirteen. She never knew him."

"That's too bad. Hey, maybe you can set her up with Ted. Hehe."

"Or Roger. We could double-date."

He barely whispered the last part of that.

"Yeah, um, probably not. Like I said before. Nobody knows. Just you and me."

"OK. Was just a thought."

"No worries."

We continued chatting about nothing and everything until it was almost time for me to go. Dad usually comes home around 4:30, eats with us, then goes back to work for another two or three hours, depending on how busy he is. He said his hours will stablize after he's here a little longer. That'd be good. I like doing things with him, hopefully I can include Cory in some of that.

After I got home, at dinner, I told Roger about Ted, and Cory's sister, who I guess I'll meet later. If I just talked about other boys, well, they'll get suspicious. Dad said Roger and I should come over to the hospital one day at lunchtime; he'll show us around the areas the public doesn't usually see. We agreed Thursday would be a good day. Any day was good for us kids, but we had to keep dad's schedule in mind. I mentioned that Cory lost his dad in Afghanistan, maybe if we catch a hockey game some time, we can bring him. I made a point of saying he is my only friend at this time.

"You'll make more friends when school starts. That's only a couple weeks away."

"Hopefully. Actually football tryouts are a week before that, so I'll meet a bunch of guys then."

"Cory's the boy you found in the woods?"

"Yeah, dad. Lucky was going crazy barking at something, it was him. It wouldn't surprise me if Lucky startled him. But, there was a broken branch. And he could have been hurt worse. He said there are coyotes around too. He thinks I saved his life."

"Well, you helped him either way. He seem like a good kid?"

"Yeah. I spent quite a bit of time with him at the hospital. Keeping him company, heck, having him keep me company. He's lived here all his life. He told me a lot about the area."

"See if you can bring him to lunch on Thursday, it'll make us a foursome."

"Sure, I'll ask him."

"You'll want to warn him that your dad's a giant."

"Ha. Yeah, I mentioned that to him. Not those words, just that you were a lot bigger than me."

"And he has a sister around Roger's age?"

"Yeah, I'm going over his house later, so I'll probably meet her. He lives on Apple Blossom."

"That explains why he was in the woods. Put in a good word for your brother."

"Dad. I don't need to worry about girls yet."

"You will sometime. Maybe she'll be pretty."

"Mom. Help?"

"He's got plenty of time yet, Roy. Look at Roy Jr. He hasn't done much about looking for a girlfriend either."

Gee, thanks, mom.

"They'll all be fawning over the new guy in school that's going to be a football star. You watch. He'll have one by homecoming."

Good luck on that one, dad.

"Yeah. Maybe. I'll want to focus on school and football for a while. Not to mention fitting in."

"You'll be fine. You two boys help your mother clean up. I've got to get back. I think after the end of this week I can try to work more normal hours. It's helpful that it's about a four minute drive, if the light is red. I can always get back over there quick if I have to. Have fun at your new friend's Roy. I'm glad you've got someone to hang out with, you were a little mopey up to now."

"I'll try. See you later."

Great, here a little over two weeks and it's 'why don't you have a girlfriend yet?' He didn't actually say that, but I read between the lines. And he wants me to fix Roger up with Cory's sister, who I don't even know yet. Definitely have to keep anything that happens with Cory, boyfriend-wise, quiet. Did I really just think that? Boyfriend? Feels good. But scary at the same time. Seven o'clock, I hop on my bike and head to Cory's house.

Ding dong.

"Hey Roy. Thanks for coming."

"No problem. Nice house."

"I guess. Mom says it's paid for, so we'll be staying. Come on, say hi to mom and my sister, they're in the TV room."

"Hi Mrs. Stone."

"Hello, Roy. It's nice to see you again. This is Beth."

"Hi Beth."

"Hi Roy. Are there any more at home like you?"

"Beth!! She's at that age, turning boy crazy."

"It's OK. I did mention to my brother Roger that Cory had a sister. I didn't know how cute she was though."

"You think I'm cute?"

"Yeah. A little young for me obviously. Roger's 12 and a half. He's already friends with the Crandall twins."

"I know them from school. I guess they're OK. Kind of weird."

"I think that's just a twin thing."

"OK, Beth has drooled over you enough. Let me show you my room."

"The king requests my presence. I will bid you ladies adieu for now."

"Have fun."

We get into his room.

"Bid them adieu? Really?"

"It jumped into my head. Nice room. Who's that?"

"Ronald Acuna Jr. He's the Braves best player, maybe best in the whole league."

"I guess he's your favorite player? Four posters?"

"Yeah. Plus the photo on my desk."

"Signed? A copy or a real autograph?"

"It's real. I'm in the fan club and he went to a meeting once. I don't go to many, they meet near the stadium. It's hard for mom to take me too much."

"That's pretty cool. You got to meet a superstar."

"Yeah, it was great. I tried not to act like a fanboy, but it was awesome shaking his hand. Gave me goose pimples."

"So, I have competition if I ever wanted to be your boyfriend."

"No, he's a dream fantasy. You're ahead of him in line. Hell, you're first in line."

"Nice to know."

"Really? Cool. Want to see my spreadsheet on his stats?"

"You sound excited about it, so why not?"

He really analyzed everything about this guy.

"That's pretty impressive. You going to be a statistician of some sort?"

"Maybe. I like numbers. Want to play a video game? It's not the newest console, but some of the games are still pretty cool."

"Sure. Pick your favorite. Unless it's baseball. You'd probably kick my ass."

"If I kicked it, I'd kiss it to make it feel better."

"Um. OK."

"Too much? Sorry."

"So, Roger and I are going to meet my dad for lunch on Thursday at the hospital. He said I should invite you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mentioned your dad and that we talked a lot."

"Cool. Let's go ask mom now. I'm sure she'll say yes."

"Hey mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Roy's dad invited me to meet him with Roy and Roger for lunch on Thursday. Can I go?"

"Where would you be going?"

"My dad's an executive of some sort at Northside, so I'd guess we'll just be eating in the hospital cafeteria. He wanted to show Roger and me around."

"I think that will be fine. Make sure you say thank you, Cory."

"I know. Thanks."

We headed back up to his room played a few more games. I even let him beat me in baseball. I guess it's better playing it, even as a video game, than watching it. Once it started getting late, I said goodbye to Cory and the ladies.

"Can you take my picture and show it to Roger?"

"Sure, Beth. I can't make any promises, he's not quite ready for girls. You know how immature boys can be."

"Yeah. Some are really babies. But if he's nice like you..."

"That's enough, young lady."

"Sorry, mom. Sorry, Roy."

"I'll let you slide this time."

Cory came outside with me to say goodbye.

"I won't ask for a kiss, but can I have a hug goodbye?"

"Sure, I can do that. I'll even bend as far as letting you give me a kiss on the cheek."

"Oh, God. That'll be awesome."

"You got it bad, kid."

"I know. But I'm willing to wait until you're ready for more. Thanks for becoming my friend."

"You're welcome. Likewise."

We said goodbye. He kissed my cheek, after checking the windows and the street. I had to adjust a boner when I got on my bike. I don't think he'll be waiting for more very long.

Next up - "Getting Closer, and Football"