Follow Me
Ian rested his head against the headrest as he stared off into the distance towards the rows of darkening houses and trees that passed them by. Beside him in the driver's seat, Anthony held down a small smile as he looked from Ian beside him, back to the dimming road as the sun began setting. "I just need to stop at a gas station and pick up a six pack then I'll show you where we're going," he smiled to his friend.
Ian continued his gaze out the window and saw the street lamps illuminating the pavement. "Sounds good."
It wasn't too cold of a night, but it was just right for what Anthony planned in his mind. He looked over to Ian and smiled warmly. "I hope you like it," he said with a small hopeful grin. They stopped at the gas station and Anthony bought a 6 pack of a high quality bottled hard cider, knowing the cheap beer just wouldn't cut it this time. Tonight was gonna be special.
He came back and placed the bag in the back seat, shutting the door and starting up the car. "What'd you get?" Ian asked looking behind his seat.
"Cider," Anthony answered, not being able to hold down his smile.
"Is it...?" Ian gleamed.
"Don't!" Anthony warned back.
"It makes me feel so good! I wanna have more Dixon Cider!" Ian sang loudly and Anthony joined in.
"If I don't get enough I'll beg and plead 'cause girl you know just what I need!" They both laughed as they thought back to their music video. "Ah man, that was a fun shoot."
"Yeah," Ian sighed reminiscing. "I love thinking back to all those stupid-ass things we did."
Anthony gave him a knowing smile and nodded as he began driving again. "Then you're gonna love where I'm taking us. Or maybe you won't depending on how you look at it. I'm not sure..."
Ian looked at him. "Alright, enough of this mystery crap, Anthony. Just tell me where we're going." Anthony shook his head no. "Come on, man!"
"Be quiet dude! We're almost there. God!" He feigned annoyance and Ian slumped into the seat.
"You're being a little douche canoe, braw. Why ya gotta be a douche canoe?"
"Hey look, we're here!" Anthony cut in, changing the subject. He pulled his car into a parking lot and Ian looked at him like he was insane.
"Dude. Why the fuck are we ihere/i?"
"Because memories."
"No really, you're joking, right?"
Anthony shook his head. Ian laughed and sighed.
"We can't even get inside."
"We'll jump the fence."
Ian turned to him in shock.
"You're fucking kidding me." Ian saw Anthony's lips curve into a smile. "You're serious. Okay then. I'll roll with it, but I mean, explain to me iwhy/i are we at our old middle school?"
"Ian, the less you bitch and moan, the better. Now help me with the beers."
Ian laughed. "You little rule-breaker. Just imagine what your mom would say if she knew you'd be doing this."
Anthony was finishing loading the beers into his backpack and handed it to Ian who still was in disbelief over the fact that they were about to break and enter in their old middle school, and drink alcohol on school grounds. They definitely could get arrested for this.
"Probably the same thing your mom said to me last night. Now come on, bitch." He began walking quickly towards the closed gate of the school.
Luckily for the two of them, it was summer break and school was out until fall. It was an open campus lined with trees and grass on the inside, not the typical indoor hallways that other schools had, so it was easier to break into than a locked building. Ian hurried after his taller companion, the clanking of bottles slightly muddled by the blanket in Anthony's backpack for them to rest on once they were inside. He wondered why Anthony wanted to revisit the school they first met at, but he decided Anthony was just feeling nostalgic. Ian soon found himself in front of the gate, linking his hands together tightly to form a step for Anthony to hoist himself over the gate.
"Great plan, but how am I gonna get over the fence when you're on the other side, genius?"
Anthony stretched his leg muscles and readied himself for the climb. "I'm not leaving you on the other side, dumbass. I'll sit at the top of the fence, you hand me the backpack, then I grab your hand and pull you up. Okay?"
Ian mulled over the scheme in his mind. He imagined Anthony losing his balance at the top and plummeting towards the concrete on the other side, shattering his bones instantly and being completely out of Ian's reach, much to his horror and dismay.
Anthony rolled his eyes. "I know that look, Ian. I'm not gonna fall to my untimely death and leave you with a stack of bills and unedited iIan is Bored/is."
Ian found his humor in these kinds of situations to actually be a little comforting. He rolled his shoulders and ran a sweaty palm through his fringe. "Alright, whatever man. I'm ready." He clasped his hands together once more forming the space for Anthony's foot. He lowered himself, allowing Anthony to step on the appendage platform and Ian counted. "One, two, three!" He used his strength to boost Anthony upward while the taller man clamored his way to the top of the fence. He was always surprised at how light Anthony was, despite how many videos they've shot where Anthony was required to ride his back.
Ian laughed inwardly. iRequired/i was an interesting choice of word considering he wrote most of the scripts. It was always fun writing in things just to see how far Anthony would go. Of course Anthony would relish every moment to get him back by writing a script that countered his and thus it became an ongoing back and forth battle between the two to see who could make the other squirm more.
"Ian!" Anthony called from above the daydreaming YouTube actor.
"Huh?"
"I said, throw me the backpack and gimme your hand!"
"Oh. Okay." Ian lightly tossed the backpack towards Anthony's outstretched hands and he managed to get a nice hold on it.
"Oh shit!" Anthony exclaimed as he suddenly gripped the fence tightly with a look of terror on his face.
"Anthony! Oh fuck!" Ian cried out in horror.
Anthony smirked and laughed at him, letting go of the fence and showing he was perfectly balanced. "You're so gullible," he chuckled.
Ian frowned. "That's not fucking funny, man."
Anthony laughed louder. "I'm sorry, Ian," he apologized with a grin. He put his arms through the straps of the backpack and held out his hand towards Ian.
"Yeah, sure you are," Ian laughed back bitterly. He clasped Anthony's hand and with his free hand pulled himself up towards the top with his devious friend. Ian dug his shoes into the fence to force himself up and before he knew it they were both at the top. "Now what?" Ian asked as both were on the fence. Anthony handed him the backpack again and before Ian could even blink Anthony had hopped down towards the bottom, landing with a thud and a grunt. "What the fuck, dude?!"
"Hand me the backpack," he called up. Ian obediently did as he was told and Anthony set it down against the fence. "Okay, can you jump down like I did?"
Ian looked down to where Anthony and the backpack were. He figured it was about 7 or 8 feet and a sudden feeling of dread began looming through his body. "I... I'm not sure..."
"I'll catch you if you fall," he heard Anthony say. Ian expected him to have that same mocking grin from before but Anthony looked completely sincere. He knew he had to put aside the humor when he sensed Ian was really terrified. Ian wouldn't admit to it, but Anthony had known the boy since the sixth grade and he knew Ian's deer-in-the-headlights look anywhere. "Come on, man," he said holding his arms out. "You'll be fine." He knew he wasn't as fit as his friend but he was willing to pour all of his trust in him if he made a fatal mistake.
Ian sucked in his breath and nodded. "Alright. Here I go." He turned on the fence with his back towards Anthony and tried climbing down, hardly able to gain any type of grip. "O-oh..." he cautioned as he made his way down. His heart was pounding in his chest as every possible horrific scenario projected itself in his brain.
And it was then that Ian lost his footing.
He came straight down with a yelp and every thought and feeling in his mind ceased to exist except for utter panic.
"UFF!" he heard as the wind got knocked out of his lungs. Groaning, he was quick to realize that his best friend had broken his fall. Also he was now lying on top of him in a very compromising position. "Urg... dammit Ian, if you wanted to fuck me this hard you should've at least bought me dinner first," Anthony groaned from under him.
iLeave it to Anthony to make light of this kind of situation, once againi/, Ian thought to himself. He tried turning around and realized it now looked like he was straddling him. "Well, now it looks like you're just begging for it," Anthony joked.
Ian grunted and rolled off of Anthony onto the cold sidewalk below. "Shut-up, dickwad."
Both boys groaned as they struggled to get vertical. Anthony brushed the dust off his pants. "Well anyways, that was definitely not what I thought would happen." He picked up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "You alright," he asked Ian who had just gotten on his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little woozy."
Anthony looked around. "We better hurry before anyone sees us."
"I thought you said they were on break," Ian echoed his previous words.
"Yeah but, I just don't wanna get caught and thrown out after all the trouble of breaking in."
"Makes sense," Ian shrugged.
"Follow me." Anthony began walking towards the courtyard, down a slope that send memories flooding back into Ian's mind as he followed close behind.
"Whoa, this is really trippy," Ian breathed in awe of the scenery. "Hardly anything's changed. It's like stepping in a Tardis and going back in time."
"You've been hanging out with Mari too much. All that Doctor Who time travel stuff's rubbing off on you, man," Anthony joked.
Ian ignored his comment and continued to marvel at his surroundings. The tree where he and his small group of friends would hang out at every lunch was still there. There was an old park bench that he had carved the word "funkmonker" into. He walked over and inspected it, finding the lopsided scratch marks still intact. "Haha, I can't believe it's still there," he laughed to himself.
"Ian," Anthony called out pulling him out of the memory. "Look." He pointed to the main campus office. "Come on." They hurried to the window and peered inside the darkened office. "I can't really see much but it looks like they finally upgraded to flat screen monitors," Anthony observed.
Ian chuckled as he looked on the desk. "Look. Mr. Haynie's still the principal here."
"No fucking way," Anthony quickly said. "Well, I'll be damned."
Ian laughed again. "I seriously can't believe how little's changed, dude."
"Yeah..."
They walked over by the vending machines near the far end of the campus. "At least these are running."
"Dude, those things are probably 4 months old."
Anthony laughed at him. "After all the expired crap that's been sitting in out garage that we've eaten on Mailtime inow /iyou're worried about expiration dates?"
"When you put it that way..." Ian fed the machine a dollar and some change. "A-6," he murmured pushing the buttons. The machine clanked and whirred and a bag of chips came down into the bottom slot. "Awesome! Sour cream and onion!"
"Hey, if you start blowing chunks then you better face away from this general vicinity," Anthony warned while waving his arms in a circle around him.
Ian grinned and tore open his bag of chips. "You know you want one," he sang waving it in Anthony's face.
"Sick dude, get it away!" Anthony laughed, shielding his face. Ian grinned evilly and stepped closer.
"Do you hear that? It's saying ieat me, Anthony! I wanna be inside you!/i"
"NO!" Anthony cried out running away as Ian chased him with a chip. "I don't want it Ian!" he panted as he ran past their old math classroom. "Ian...!" Anthony finally collapsed on the soft cool grass, and gave in as Ian tackled him. "Noo! I-Ian, haha, quit...!" Anthony lay on his back, the last traces of wild laughter winding down to just small chuckles as Ian lay next to him.
"You idiot! You're still wearing the goddamn backpack! The beers are probably all shaken up now," Ian panted as he tried to catch his breath.
"Here, lemme see." Anthony pulled out a honey crisp apple cider bottle and held it out in front of him. Ian watched as he twisted off the top and the frothy white foam came overflowing over his hands onto the grass below with Anthony desperately tried sucking it before he lost most of its contents.
"What'd I tell ya?" Ian chortled as he sat up and took one for himself.
"I'm gonna laugh when it happens to you too," Anthony smugly shot back.
Ian cocked his head and smiled, twisting the top off and holding a perfectly full beer in hand. He giggled and took a sip.
"What th-? How the hell did you do that?!"
"Life Hacks. And the Konami code." Ian grinned as he took a long swig.
Anthony scoffed and pulled the blanket out of his backpack. "Cheater." Ian grinned at the accusation. Anthony laid the navy fleece blanket down and with a heavy sigh plopped himself down on it and looked up at the emerging stars. Only the hum of the nearby lamp posts and the sound of Ian munching those chips still could be heard. "You're still eating those?"
"They're good!" Ian exclaimed, dropping crumbs on his jeans.
Anthony closed his eyes and breathed softly, resting his hands behind his head. He felt Ian move from the grass to the blanket next to him. They sat in deep thought, drinking their hard cider, and listening to the soft sounds of the night around them. Crickets began to chirp and a bat squeaked up above. Ian sighed softly and scooted more onto the blanket.
"Do you remember when we got in trouble for climbing the tree and trying to hop on the soda machine?" Ian softly asked.
Anthony smiled and laughed. "Yeah, haha! Man, we did the craziest shit back then."
Ian grinned and sighed contently, looking up at the shimmering stars above the two boys for a while longer. He placed an empty bottle in the backpack and pulled out another, handing one to Anthony. "I have to admit, dude. I didn't think this was a great idea but I'm actually enjoying myself."
A small smile danced onto Anthony's lips and he turned to him. "Dude, I told you you'd love it." He chuckled softly, but kept his eyes on Ian, looking at his friend's peaceful face. Ian's cheeks were beginning to turn pink from the lowering temperature, but his face fell into an overall serenely placid gaze as his deep crystal eyes studied the dark wisps of clouds blanketing the stars. His hair was a bit disheveled, giving him a messy carefree disposition which Anthony found to be rather endearing on him. Anthony felt a calming warmth begin to fill him, like a comfort he rarely ever felt before and he couldn't tell if it was because he was on his third beer or if Ian was the one causing it.
"It's getting cold," Ian whispered with a twinge of discomfort. Anthony didn't give any thought into what compelled him to immediately shift closer to Ian, pushing their shoulders together. Ian didn't question it, nor did Anthony press him to because neither felt a need to. Ian slipped his arm around Anthony and they both leaned back on the blanket, absorbing the warm familiar heat from one another. "This feels nice..." Ian sighed quietly. Anthony slightly adjusted his position, allowing Ian to rest his head on his chest and Ian pressed an ear on him; his heartbeat lulling him towards serenity. Anthony pulled him closer and leaned his head over Ian's, relaxing into the other and melding into one. He had never felt as happy as in that night he shared with Ian laying on a blanket in the cool night air and he knew he would be overcome with joy each and every time he would remember this night because this was the night he became sure Ian felt the same way. For a brief moment in their lives they had reached a pinnacle where both had found the closest thing to pure contentment they've ever felt in all their years of knowing one another.
It was then they knew they had something very special that night.