Will goes to a party with Sonny's friends, Dustin and Kareem. He's been avoiding them, turning and walking in the other direction every time he sees them, but now? He tells them that he's finally free. And it's true. Since Will confronted his mother and told her what he saw, he's felt ten pounds lighter. He's so light he feels like he could almost float away.
There's still the other secret, the one that gnaws at him constantly and makes him spit at his image in the mirror. But Will doesn't have to come out of the closet to Dustin and Kareem. They already think that he's gay. Will's not sure why, but that seems to be happening a lot lately. Maybe he's not as good at acting straight as he thinks.
The party is at the house of these two older guys Will doesn't know, Julian and Pete, and it's obvious from the way that they casually hold hands while Will is being introduced by Kareem that they're a couple.
"Do you want something to drink, Will?" Dustin asks, and he has to lean close to Will's ear to be heard over the music. Will can feel the other boy's breath on his skin. It makes him uncomfortable but also excited, like his stomach is melting, like he's on a rollercoaster and the car has just plunged down a steep incline.
"Yes," Will says. He doesn't know what to do with his hands. They're fluttering and fidgeting nervously like they have a mind of their own. "I'll have a beer." He needs something to take the edge off of his awkwardness, and at least then he'll have a bottle to hold.
There are hardly any girls in the apartment, and it seems everywhere Will looks there are guys paired off in couples, laughing, talking, dancing, and, in one case, kissing. He tries not to stare.
"Hey, Will. I see this cute guy from my Spanish class over there," Kareem says, waving at a tall, handsome guy with black framed glasses. "You okay if I leave you for a second?"
"Sure," Will says, "I'll be fine. Go ahead."
"Thanks, man." And Kareem is gone. Dustin still isn't back with the drinks, and Will finds himself suddenly embodying the cliché, alone in the crowd. He spots an empty loveseat across the room and almost runs in his eagerness to claim it. He sits down with relief, not sure how much longer his legs would have held him up.
Will closes his eyes for a second, tries to calm himself. He wonders if Sonny's coming to this party. Seeing Sonny's smile always has a soothing effect on Will. Maybe Will should text him?
"Hey." Will can feel someone sit down on the loveseat beside him. He opens his eyes and there's Dustin. "Here, take your beer," he says, "I almost dropped all this." Will accepts his drink and notes that, indeed, Dustin's having a hard time holding onto his own beer and…
"Are those jello shots?"
Dustin grins at Will. "You bet they are. Where's Kareem?"
Will looks around. "I don't know. He just went to talk to some guy from his Spanish class but now I don't see them anywhere."
"Oh, his crush! I bet Kareem pulled him off to someplace a little more private to, um, talk." Dustin raises his eyebrows and holds Will's gaze for a few seconds too long. Will looks down at his lap, feeling heat rise to his face. He takes a swig of his beer, swallows carefully, before he can look up again.
"Are you blushing? That is so cute." Dustin squeezes Will's shoulder. Will can feel how warm Dustin's hand is over the fabric of his shirt before he pulls away. "Anyway, it's too bad, because I got jello shots for all three of us."
"It's okay," Will says, "I'll do two."
"Look at you! I would have never guessed you were such a party animal." Dustin puts his own beer down, then takes Will's. "So, what's your poison? I have red, green, or orange."
"Green." As Will reaches for the shot, his fingers brush against Dustin's. He hadn't thought it was possible for Dustin's smile to get any wider. Will takes the shot, tips back his head, and swallows it. His mouth is filled with the bittersweet sting of vodka and lime and he can feel the cold burn trickle down his throat.
"Whoa, there." Dustin's touching Will again, this time on his knee. Will can feel himself starting to get hard. "Slow down. I wanted to take that first shot with you. But here, take this orange one. We'll do the next one together."
"Okay." Will says as Dustin hand him his second shot. "What should we toast to?"
"How about… to a fun night with new friends?"
"Sounds good." Will holds up his orange jello shot in its little plastic cup, Dustin holds up his red one, and they tap them together as if they were glasses of champagne.
"Cheers," Will whispers, and then gulps down the alcohol.
Dustin is practically in Will's lap this at this point. It's probably the furniture. Will might have been overly generous to think of this as a loveseat. Really, it's more a chair and a half. But it's okay. Will takes another sip of his beer. He's starting to feel a tiny buzz, enough that he doesn't mind being pressed thigh to thigh, arm to arm, against Dustin.
"So Sonny says you're really into music," Dustin starts.
Will interrupts him. "Oh my God! That reminds me. I totally forgot to ask you, is Sonny coming tonight?"
"Um, I don't know. He said he wasn't sure when I talked to him earlier. I guess we'll find out if he shows up later. So, uh, what bands do you like?"
They talk about music through the rest of that beer, and a second one, plus another round of jello shots brought by Kareem when he passed by with Spanish Class Boy. By now Will is more than buzzed, well on his way to tipsy.
Dustin leans in, close enough that his face is only inches from Will's. "Do you wanna go fool around somewhere?" He asks, and Will is drunk enough that's he's not shocked at Dustin's brazenness.
"I don't know," Will says, and then in one small movement Dustin's lips are against his, soft and warm. Will hears a quiet, stifled moan, and is shocked to realize it's coming from his own throat. Dustin runs his tongue along the seam of Will's lips. Will opens his mouth to let him in.
"Hey, Will! Dustin!" The voice is familiar, but Will doesn't even process it, just realizes, all of a sudden, that he's kissing a guy, right where anyone can see. He pulls away fast, wipes his mouth on his sleeve. He looks up and there's Sonny.
"Hi, Sonny," Dustin says cheerfully. "I guess you decided to come after all."
"Yeah," says Sonny. "I did." He takes a sip of his drink, something that looks like cheap wine in a Solo cup. There's a look in his dark eyes that Will can't place, but it's definitely not happy. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have interrupted you two. It was rude. I'll catch you later, Will." He turns and starts to walk quickly away.
"Sonny!" Will jumps up after his friend. "Sonny, wait!"