Why the Straight One? - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

"Is that why you backed your car in?"
"Yes! Isn't it so funny?"
"It's the best thing I've seen all year!"
"I bought it for Jay, but he said it would take away from his look he's going for."
"I could see that. I can't even imagine seeing that on a motorcycle! I think I would crash because I was laughing so hard."
"It doesn't exactly apply to me since I am bi, but I had it so I had to use it."
"It works anyways. Besides, when's the last time you even looked at a girl?"
"Hmm, that's a tough one. Not in a while. I think I'm leaning more towards men in recent years, but I'm open to anything really."
"He means that." Jay chimed in from his spot on the couch. He'd been so quiet I almost forgot he was there. But Jay was always the quietest out of the three of us. I've been told that I have a rather outgoing nature, and Cameron was never one to stop talking, so Jay usually didn't stand out the most out of us.
"I understand your open nature, but that last guy was way too old, Cameron." Cameron grinned at him.
"Yes, but the older ones have way more experience."
"Dude, stop! I don't want to hear about that! Wasn't he like 50?"
"Eww! Cameron, seriously?" I consider myself a pretty open guy, but that's weird.
"Jay, stop lying to Alex. He was on 39, he just had more grey hair then you expected. He was kind of cute, but it only lasted for a few weeks, so whatever." Cameron flopped down on the couch next to Jay.
"Let's talk about something else." The mention of age gaps made me think of Elliot, and right now, that was way too depressing of a thought.
"Okay! Let's talk about that hot as fuck prince named Raymond!" Cameron fell over, his head landing on Jay's leg, staring dreamily at the ceiling.
"That man is God's gift to the human race." Jay shoved him off, and he fell to the floor, but didn't make a move to get up. In fact, he looked quiet content to daydream from the floor.
Maybe now is a good time to tell you a bit about them. Cameron isn't exactly short, but he's not exactly tall either. He's the kind of person who can eat anything and still look like he's a long distance runner.
He's pretty good looking, I can honestly admit that, and there's something about him that attracts people. It's in the way he carries himself, and something about his eyes. He's charismatic and charming, and has never been in a serious relationship for as long as I've known him.
Which is since he was twelve. I was only ten, and yet we were in the same grade.
My parents put me in early, because they were going through a divorce at the time, and wanted me to not have to be around as much while they worked things out. He got sent down a grade when he failed a bunch of his subjects. He failed because he slept during almost all of his important classes.
At first I thought he was really weird, until one day he found me crying in the bathroom (I cried a lot during that stage of my life) and stuck around to comfort me. After that, we were fast friends.
I met Jay when I was fifteen, and winning him over was much harder.
At sixteen, Jay already had a full sleeve of tattoos on one arm, smoked cigarettes when the teachers weren't looking, and was considered the school bad boy. He was taller than me, and looked like he was constantly working out. But he never lived up to that name. In fact, I'd never seen him do or say a mean thing to anyone.
Still, when I got assigned to do a project with him for science, I was terrified. I told myself that there was no reason to be frightened, but that didn't seem to help.
Through that project, I got to know him, and introduced him to Cameron, who was still in my same year of school.
They formed an instant connection, and I was sure that they would become a couple. Unfortunately, Cameron liked being single and able to mingle a little too much.
Even so, they became so close that Jay told him about his abusive father and horrible family life. The tattoos weren't a rebellious act of a teenager, but the attempts to cover scars left there by his father's hand.
Cameron helped him quit smoking and eventually, discover his passion to be a tattoo artist and help others hide their own scars and express themselves through ink.
These two were made for each other. I'm just waiting for the day for them to realize it.
"You're drooling." Jay remarked dryly, and Cameron sighed.
"I know! I was just thinking of what he looks like shirtless."
Just then the door opened, and in walked Thomas. He stopped abruptly when he saw us sitting there, Cameron laying on the floor between us.
"What's happening here?"
"Nothing much. We're just talking about shirtless men." Cameron propped himself up on his elbow, and looked at Thomas with an entirely straight face.
"Oh, okay." I knew he was extremely uncomfortable, but he managed to hide most of that. "Well, carry on, I'm just passing through."
He walked towards the bedroom, and must have been thinking he was almost home free, when Cameron called out.
"Hey, Prince!" Unused to being addressed in such a way, he turned abruptly, and looked at Cameron.
"Yes?"
"Could you look out that window right there, and tell me what hat bumper sticker says." I shot him a warning glare, but he continued nonetheless. "I can't read it from here, and I thought you'd have better eyes."
Thomas looked at him suspiciously, and even shot me a glance, but he walked towards the window. I think he was trying his best not to offend my friends, and really appreciated that.
"It's easy to read from here. It's says, 'I'm so-" he tiled his head to the side, and smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "'I'm so gay, I can't even drive straight.'"
"Why, Thomas! I never that I'd hear you say that. After all this time!" I held my hand to my heart dramatically.
"Welcome to the club." Jay added.
"Oh yeah, I thought it said something like that." Cameron may back down on his back. "That's my car, by the way."
"Then why-" He looked at Cameron and shook his head. "Never mind."
"He just wanted to hear you say that. Don't pay him any attention, that's just what he wants." Jay kicked Cameron, who rolled further away from him instead of getting up.
"I see."
"Why don't you join us? We don't bite, and I promise we won't talk about shirtless men with you." Jay gestured to the couch, but Cameron suddenly woke from his reverie, and jumped on the spot next to Jay.
"Or you could sit by Alex." Thomas looked around, trying to find a good reason to leave probably, but surprised me when he sat down next to me.
"So, we are Alex's best friends, and if we hear that you have been not treating him the—"
"That's not what this talk is." Jay cut through Cameron's beginning sentence.
"Oh, I thought this was protective best friends talk."
"No, that can come later."
"Okay, sounds good. Wait, is this about..." he whispered in Jay's ear, and Jay shook his head furiously.
"It's nothing like that, Cameron! I will do the talking for us." Cameron nodded, and turned his gaze to Thomas, who was sitting rather awkwardly next to me, awaiting his fate.
"This is simply a time to get to know each other, since we know almost nothing about Thomas, and Thomas doesn't know about us. So, we will start with asking a question. Any question at all. You start, Thomas."
Thomas looked startled to be called first, and he had to think for a while. Then a light came into his eyes that I didn't quite like the look of.
"Okay, maybe you don't know the answer to this, but it's worth a try. Have you ever heard Alex snore? He's convinced that he doesn't."
Jay and Cameron started laughing, and I glared at Thomas. A few weeks ago, I don't think he would have asked something like that of people he didn't know. I think I was rubbing off on him.
"Yes, he does! One time when I was getting over a breakup, I stayed at his house, and I could hear him snoring all the way from the guest room." Cameron sentence was almost unintelligible because he was laughing so hard. Almost.
I blushed furiously, and I think Thomas was enjoying finally not being the only awkward person in the room.
"There is your proof." Thomas pointed to Cameron. "Now I don't have to use that voice memo I recorded last night."
"Wait-what?" I turned on him quickly.
"Yeah, I might have recorded you snoring to prove to you that you do. But I don't need it anymore."
"So you are going to delete it?"
"Oh, so you admit that you snore?"
"No I didn't! Just delete whatever you recorded last night." He was smiling now, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Only if you say that you snore." I glanced over at my friends who were watching our interaction with grins on their faces. Traitors.
"I will if you swear that you will delete it."
"You have my word." He placed his hand over his heart to emphasize the point.
"Okay, fine, I guess I snore." I mumbled, not quite liking to admit it, even if I couldn't control it.
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." I glared at him, and he grinned in return. This man was seriously strange.
"I snore." I almost yelled, and he nodded.
"I know that, Alex. You don't have to tell me."
"So delete the recording."
"Here's the thing." He stood up, and walked towards the door. "I didn't record anything. You've been hustled."
Before I could react, he opened the door and ran out.
Fine, two can play at this game.