[As much as I'd like to say otherwise, this story is entirely fictitious. If this offends you or if you are not of legal age to read this story, then please do not read any further. This story contains possibly graphic descriptions of consensual sex and masturbatory fantasies between males. None of this is based on any living person and any similarity to my actual job at a movie theatre is completely coincidental. Really, I mean that.]
Chapter 6 -
The summer in Los Angeles is always kind of interesting as it comes in waves. There are waves at the beginning and end of the season where the heat is just unbearably hot. Times when going to the beach is your only salvation from the unrelenting sun. This is even more obvious in the valley where you have to add at least ten degrees to whatever temperature you might see in the nightly news. Ninety degrees may sound hot, yet doable (it's a dry heat you know), but one hundred just crosses the line. Saturday was one of those days.
"Dad, do you think you can give me a ride to work? It's too hot out to bike all the way over there," I asked while he read the morning paper.
"Did you mow the lawn like I asked," he said flipping down his paper to look at me. My blue t-shirt was drenched with sweat.
"Um, yeah," I said as I wiped my brow off and heading to the refrigerator for some iced tea. "I need to take another shower because of it." It's true, I did. I felt like a wet dog where no matter of shaking could dry me, and I probably smelled even worse. Of course, I did masturbate in the shower earlier, and would probably do it again. I masturbate a lot. I am seventeen.
"Ok then. I'll have mom pick you up when your shift is done too," he said as I chugged half a Snapple and headed back upstairs to the bathroom.
My dad drove the family SUV into the parking garage of the mall and headed towards the second level where the department store entrance was. I quickly directed him back down the ramps to the bike rack where Craig was already waiting. A smile broke on my face as soon as I saw him which brought my dad to question.
"So who is that guy," he said slowing the car to a stop by Craig.
"Just a co-worker, we're gonna go see a movie before work," I said unbuckling my seat belt and reaching for the handle.
"Why would you meet at the bike rack," he asked, confused, as I popped the door open and hopped out.
"It's a long story. Thanks for the ride, see you later," I exclaimed and slammed the door behind me. My dad gave me a confused look, then glanced over at Craig. Craig gave him a little wave and my dad smiled then drove off. "Hey boyo, what's up?"
"Boyo? What's that? It sounds Irish," he said standing up from the wall he was leaning against.
"I dunno, it's a term of endearment or something. My grandmother would always use it." Now that he was standing I could see he was hiding something behind his back. "What're you hiding," I asked and pointed to where his hands were.
"Oh, this?" He pulled out two hot dogs on a stick and smiled at me. "Just a snack," he said as he bounced them around and made them dance a little. I smiled a stupid smile. We headed into the mall, munching on our snack along the way. The small talk just flowed out of us and I seemed as comfortable as I had ever been with another person.
We picked up two tickets for the movie and headed inside where we found Shannon as the ticket-taker. She glared at us and raised an eyebrow as we walked past her and down the hall to our theatre. It was pretty slow for a weekend and the theatre was pretty empty. An elderly couple sitting near the front, a mom and daughter off to the side, and some kid sitting in the second row. Craig and I headed up the stairs about three-quarters of the way back and sat in the center. We talked all through the commercials and previews and couldn't help but whisper sarcastic comments back and forth to each other during the movie. It wasn't a terribly exciting movie, though Matt Damon is always fun to look at on screen. Or in pictures. Or on TV. He'd probably be nice to even read about. My point is, the guy is fucking hot. End of story.
During one of the car chase scenes Craig moved around in his seat and found his leg touching mine. We sat there for a few minutes, with our legs running parallel, and I mustered up the strength to push my leg against his and move my foot around the back of his to rest on the other side. He looked over at me and I continued to look forward as the car chase continued on screen and filled the theatre with loud noises and edgy techno music filling our ears. In the corner of my eye I could see him look back at the screen, probably smiling. He picked up his drink, which was resting in the cup holder between us, and took a drink, then set it in the cup holder on the other side. Matt Damon's car started heading for the edge of a cliff, swerving uncontrollably when he was suddenly broadsided by another car which sent a jump through most of the audience. As I jumped I could feel Craig's hand suddenly land on top of mine. I froze in my seat, unsure of what to do or where to look. I slowly untensed my fingers and Craig took the opportunity to wriggle his fingers in between mine so they interlocked. We held each other's hands for the rest of the movie and I was probably the happiest boy in the world.
The work gods were against us as we didn't end up working the ticket-taker position together that night. The slow business at the beginning of the day was made up for during the hellish evening as about two thousand people came in to see movies. Craig got pulled to work behind the snack bar while I stood, alone, at the ticket podium despondently tearing tickets. Every so often I would look over towards the snack bar to what Craig was doing and a few times I would catch him looking back at me as he was scooping popcorn or cheesing up some nachos. We couldn't even take our dinner break together `cause the manager made Craig cover my position when I went on my break. Of course, I took the opportunity to ask the question that was on my mind all night.
"Do you think you could give me a ride home after work? I live close by and-"
"Yeah, no problem," he said interrupting me and patting me on my back as I headed to the break room. Once I was out of sight from him I ran to the locker room, grabbed my cell phone to tell my mom the wonderful news. Well, wonderful news for me at least, she was just glad she didn't have to drive out later to get me. The rest of the night could not go by fast enough.
We shuffled like zombies back to the parking lot after our shifts. My feet were killing me after standing in the same spot for seven hours and Craig was beat after running around like a chicken with its head cut off helping customers. We piled into his Jetta and gave a long sigh of relief. He popped the clutch, shifted into reverse, backed out, and started forward for the exit. We didn't say much on the drive to my house. I just spouted off a few directions, where to turn and what to look for. We were either too tired or we simply didn't know what to say to each other.
It's amazing how much changes after you hold hands and make your intentions clear.
The car pulled up in front of my house and he put it in park. He let go of the shifter, shut the engine off and turned his headlights off. The parking lights were still on which left the soft blue lights of the dashboard instruments illuminating the interior. Craig shifted around in his seat and turned towards me. He looked conflicted or concerned, but I could tell words were coming.
"Chad, um, listen," he said, then paused for a second and looking me in the eyes. "I'm not sure of what to say," he garbled and then looked down, "or what to do." He was downright vulnerable and, well, scared.
"I'm just as confused as you are," I said turning my head away from him and looking ahead down the street. Some sprinklers were going off a few houses down.
"I'm not confused, Chad. I know how I feel," he said strongly and adamantly, almost shocked at what I had said.
"No, so do I," I whipped my head back around at him and looked him in the eyes, "I don't know what to say or do either," I confessed as I turned in my seat to face him. It took a second but I soon realized I had just confessed, albeit vaguely, how I felt about Craig. "I've got no clue what to do," I trailed off and looked down.
Craig looked at me, then side to side, and back at me. He brought in his lower lip as if he was thinking, running his tongue over it, and coughed quietly. Before I could realize what was happening Craig was leaning over and pressed his lips against mine. The kiss was soft and quick and he backed off for a second but moved in again with more force. We kept kissing and our mouths soon opened a bit and I nudged my tongue into his mouth the slightest bit. He returned the motion as our kissing continued and he slowly moved his hand to the back of my head. He slowly ran his fingers through my hair, up and down, and our kiss became the slightest bit more passionate.
Our lips finally separated and we both opened our eyes to find each other looking each other a bit stunned at what had happened, but relieved at the same time. He dropped his hand from behind my head and I leaned back in my seat. Regardless of any and all my past romantic experience, this was now my first kiss as it was the first one that had anything behind it. I smiled and chuckled to myself and Craig did the same. I glanced at the clock to find nearly fifteen minutes had passed and realized I should head inside before my parents noticed I was still gone.
"Oh, man, I need to run," I said leaning forward and putting my hand on the door. "Not that I want to." I opened the door and the lights came on to show Craig's smiling face. He was leaning forward with his arm up against the steering wheel. I opened the door and put one foot out on the ground. Stopped. Then leaned over and gave Craig one more good kiss on the lips, then got out of the car. "Good night boyo," I said leaning down looking into the car.
"Good night Chad, I'll see you later," he said and smiled as I closed the door. He drove off just as I opened the door. I closed it behind me, leaned back on it, slid down to the ground and brought my hands to my face. I thought over the entire night, smiled like an idiot, and laughed. Forget what I said earlier, I am the happiest boy in the world right now.
[Well? Multiplex84@yahoo.com]