Out of a Dream - 4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

My eyes focused on the road uneasily. The only sound was the roaring from the open windows. As fast as I exhaled, the wind violently ripped the smoke from the car. I looked over toward the passenger seat to see Wyatt staring out the window. He hadn’t said anything yet, either, and I wasn’t even sure if I was supposed to be dropping him off at his house or if he wanted to hang with me for a while. I pulled into Heather’s driveway and came to a stop with a sigh.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Heather said as she stepped out. I watched as she walked around to Wyatt’s open window and gave him a hug through it. “Don’t worry about it. Nick’s a nice guy, he’ll come around.” Wyatt gave her a strained smile and returned her hug.

“Thanks, Heather,” he said. We waited until she got inside, and then pulled out to leave.

“Josh,” Wyatt started. I took my eyes off the road long enough to lock eyes with him for a second. “Can we go to your house for a while?”

“Sure, I’ll take you home when you need to go,” I said. Wyatt’s hand found mine, and stayed there until we got to my house. I opened the door and pulled him toward the couch. We sat down, and his gaze fell to the floor.

“What am I supposed to do, Josh?” Wyatt’s voice cracked as he spoke, and I pulled him close to me. My hand ruffled his hair as I thought about what happened in the park.

“Don’t worry about it, Wyatt. I’ll talk to him, and like Heather said, I’m sure he’ll come around,” I told him. He let his face rest against my chest as I reclined against the arm of the couch.

I felt his body shake slightly every now and then. It worried me that he was so upset by this. I knew that Nick was his best friend, but I’d hoped that everything would have worked out fine immediately. The fact that all I could do was to hug him and hope for the best ate at me. I wanted to be able to take his problems and beat the hell out of them, make his life perfect, fix everything. It didn’t seem like I could do that with this particular one.

***

After I took Wyatt home, I sat in my room for a while thinking about what I could do. It didn’t seem like I could say anything to Nick that would instantly fix everything. Killing or beating him wouldn’t help matters. Frustration set in, and I decided that I should just talk to Nick tomorrow before health. I fell asleep thinking of things I could say to make it all okay again.

The next morning, I got to school ten minutes early, just in case Nick got there early. His parking space wasn’t too far from mine, and I could see that his car wasn’t there yet. I sat in my car until the bell rang, waiting for his car to pull up. Sitting in the car didn’t seem to be accomplishing much. My patience was nowhere near virtuous, either. A quick glance revealed no administrators or teachers close by, so I cranked the car and headed toward Nick’s house.

The road crept under the car slowly. My foot controlled the speed, of course, but it seemed as if a different force entirely controlled my foot. I didn’t want to have to face Nick. It was as though I’d done something dirty, committed some grievous act of foul play in claiming Wyatt as my own. Taking his best friend away, I was sure that was how Nick would see it. He would hate me for it.

The slowly creeping road turned a different shade as I left the city limits and went into lands claimed by the county. The change in color suggested a shift in mood. Asphalt black confidence became washed out gray anxiety. The car took a final turn onto gravel before stopping.

I got out and walked over to the door. Nick’s home was impressive, just as Wyatt’s was, obviously implicating the wealth it housed. I knocked briskly, five times; polite though insistent. I heard the shuffle behind the door just before Nick opened it.

“Josh, what are you doing at my house?” Nick asked me before I could say hello. He looked surprised, almost afraid. I wondered for a fraction of a second if he was as nervous as I was now that we were face to face again.

“Hey Nick, listen,” I started. His face hardened quickly into a generic mask and I sighed. “I know you don’t want to see me right now.” I looked down as I said it, and caught sight of Nick’s pajama bottoms. My face flew back to stare straight at his with a wide-eyed look.

“Nick, why are you wearing Hello Kitty pajama bottoms?” I asked. He turned red.

“Shut up, bitch, they’re my sister’s, mine are in the dryer,” he replied. I cracked a smile, and then a laugh. “Fuck you Josh, it’s not that funny!”

“Yeah it is, you have kittens on your jammies!” I cut back the laughter, and I noticed that he hadn’t managed to keep from letting a smile slip. “Look, can I come in? I really need to talk to you, even though you don’t wanna talk to me.”

Nick gave me a hard stare before moving aside and letting me step inside. I slipped off my shoes at the door at Nick’s gesture toward the corner where his own lay. The polished hardwood floor seemed to radiate luxury through the layer of fabric that separated me from it. I couldn’t resist sliding a couple feet across the smooth wood in my socks while Nick’s back was turned. He turned around and gave me a look before he kept going into the living room. As he went he took an extra powerful step and slid a couple of feet himself.

He stopped after that, and I held my breath, waiting for what he would say to me. Though Nick and I hadn’t ever been very close, we’d known each other for a long time, and it seemed as though his actions had been more reminiscent of our slight friendship than of the problem he was dealing with now. As he sat down on the couch and I followed suit, he looked over to me.

“Is he mad at me, Josh?” he asked. I let out the breath I’d been holding and smiled.

“He’s not mad, he’s afraid,” I told him.

“Can you tell, well, actually can you pick him up from school and give him a ride back here? Parents took my keys since I’m playing hooky for today,” Nick said. I nodded to him. “I didn’t know how to deal with it, Josh. He’s my best friend, it was kind of unexpected. I’m sorry.”

“No sweat, he’s your best friend,” I said with a smile. Nick looked up at me and met my eyes solidly for the first time.

“He’s your,” Nick started, and furrowed his eyebrows, “boyfriend, now, though.” I nodded to him. “Josh, do me a favor? Well, two things?”

“What?” I asked.

“First off, be good to him. Second, if it ever happens, please God don’t tell me about the sex,” Nick said, laughing.

“How do you know it hasn’t already happened? You know he has a spare key to your house. His parents were at his so we came over here. Your bed is very comfortable, by the way,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at him. He punched me on the shoulder playfully and we settled into normalcy quickly. The rest of the morning and early afternoon went by with the aid of the cartoon channel and a trip to my house that ended with both of us being a little red eyed and easier to amuse.

At around three that afternoon, I got back in my car to go fetch my boyfriend. I caught myself humming and smiling for no reason. It was nice, though, having everything working out. It was especially nice since I’d expected Nick to blow up at me when I showed up at his door.

I pulled into the parking lot just in time to see Wyatt and Heather walking my way. I waved him over, and Heather was already rummaging through her purse with the cigarette between her lips. I tossed a lighter into her open purse as they got close.

“Hey Josh,” she said as she climbed into the back seat and Wyatt in the front.

“Going home, Heather, or sticking around with us for a while?” I asked. She took a light drag on the cigarette and blew out the smoke slowly as she weighed her choices.

“I’ll stick around. It’s boring at my house, and my cousin’s there right now anyway,” she said.

“Okay, but we gotta go to Nick’s house,” I said. Wyatt’s eyes went wide as he looked over to me. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off. “Everything’s fine, I went and talked to him earlier and he wanted to talk to you, Wyatt.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, chewing his bottom lip.

“Don’t do that, you’ll make them all chapped and rough,” I said. If I hadn’t been driving, I’d have kissed him.

“Jeez, guys, get a little gayer will ya?” Heather said from the back seat.

“You know all I want is your sexy body, Heather,” Wyatt said, reaching back toward her chest. Heather raised an eyebrow, and then raised the lit cigarette.

“Go for it if you feel lucky,” she said, laughing. Wyatt stuck his tongue out at her and turned back around. In a few minutes we’d made it to Nick’s house. Wyatt went inside while Heather and I sat outside on the step for a couple of minutes. I thought it’d be a good idea to give them a little privacy while they talked about things.

“What are you doin’ tomorrow?” Heather asked while we waited.

“Not a damn thing. School and then just whatever,” I said.

“Okay, well, you and Wyatt wanna come to a party? If you can find an excuse to be gone all night then it’ll be fun, you know everybody that’ll be there,” she said.

“Oh, sure,” I said, looking down at my hands. “Hey, can I have a cigarette?”

“Sure, ya fuckin’ bum,” she said with a smile as she handed it over. “Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna give a shit about you and Wyatt being together. If you don’t wanna tell them, don’t. I’ll be there to take care of anybody if they do happen to have a problem.”

“Thanks, Heather,” I told her.

“No problem, ya sexy bitch,” she said as she flicked the butt of her cigarette toward the road.

Wyatt and Nick came outside seconds later, both looking no worse for wear. I assumed everything had gone well and that if Wyatt wanted me to know anything he would tell me later. Otherwise it just wasn’t my business. We all sat and talked for a little while, not doing anything in particular.

Eventually I chauffeured Heather to her house, and Wyatt over to his. I walked him up to the door and stole a kiss.

“Thanks, Josh,” he said. I smiled at him and decided to steal Heather’s line.

“No problem, ya sexy bitch. Heather said something about a party tomorrow. You wanna go?”

He looked worried for a minute; I assumed he was thinking the same thing I was. “She said it would be okay, but we could just keep it to ourselves if you wanted.”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t know if I want anybody else to know yet, but I’ll think about it,” he said.

I nodded back. “Okay, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you, Josh,” he said. I grinned.

“I love you, too. Bye,” I said, and had trouble not skipping on the way back to the car.