Chapter 7 – Loyalty to a Child
I stealthily make my way out of my chair without anyone at the table recognizing me. As stressed out as this whole situation is making me, I decide to turn on a smile as to not alarm Nate as I approach him.
"Hi there Nate!" I gleefully greet him.
"Ummm… hi?" He replies, still confused about what happened before. I still can't stand and talk with him. We're in clear view of my friends.
"Hey, Nate. How about I go buy you and me each a smoothie? Does that sound good?" I ask the young boy. Kids are so easily bought, so I have to use that to my advantage.
Nate's face immediately changes to a smile. "Yeah. That sounds great!" Nate shouts as he runs ahead of me to the stools lined up next to the smoothie shop.
"One raspberry smoothie please!" Nate shouts with anticipation.
"And I'll take blueberry!" I add to Nate's sentence. Nate then sees me taking a seat next to him and his face then changes back to the way it was before.
"Why were you…" I quickly take my hand and shove it over his mouth. I don't want the guy making our smoothie to hear what he was about to say.
"kmmmphing eee boi." Nate continues from underneath my hand. I then make eye contact with the man serving our smoothies.
"Ahaha, kids these days." I snicker as I remove my hand from his mouth.
"Look buddy. Let's talk all about it at that table right there. Just go take a seat over there and I'll bring the smoothies." I point to the only table that is isolated, yet not in the sight of my friends.
"Okay!" Nate shouts as he runs yet again.
"That'll be $8.50."
"Alright, here you go." I quickly take the smoothies and run to the table as the guy behind the smoothie counter looks at me, still confused about what I'm up to. I guess hanging out with a kid isn't really a regular thing to be doing let alone covering his mouth.
I hand Nate his smoothie. "Okay, now you can talk." I sigh. I know this conversation will linger if I don't get it over with and I'd rather him not blurt this out in front of anyone.
"Why were you kissing a boy on the lips?" Nate asks with a tone of disgust behind his voice. I guess he was taught by his parents to react this way. Either way, this kid already knows enough of my secrets with the whole bathroom scene and I think he can handle the truth.
"Okay, first I need you to answer this. Did you tell your parents about what happened yesterday?"
"Well..." He hesitates for a moment as he looks to the ground. Oh no! Did he say something?
"I told them all about our game room experience." He tries to change his face to a smile.
"No… I mean about the whole bathroom thing." I shamefully ask. He must not have seen the whole scenario as that big a if he needed a reminder.
"Oh, of course not. I told you that I wouldn't." He exclaims in a proud tone. How cute. He takes pride in his ability to keep a secret.
"Okay, well I will answer your question, if you promise not to tell anyone again."
"Anything for you. I won't tell anybody."
I take a deep breath. Most people wouldn't ever tell a kid the truth in this kind of situation, but I feel like I can really trust Nate. Despite his age, he's a really cool kid.
"Well I was kissing a boy because I like boys. I'm in love with him." I say as if it is not big deal.
Nate then stops sipping his smoothie and looks up. "But my friends told me that boys are supposed to kiss girls." Nate replies curiously.
"I guess they are, but when you get older you may end up in love with a boy." I point out. I feel Nate should know my honest opinion. Not some made up crap that keeps a kid "pure".
"Hmmm. Well most of my friends are boys and I find girls annoying. Does that mean that I am going to be kissing boys when I get older like you?" Nate asks. It's so cute how he thinks of love as nothing more than kissing.
"You're still too young to know for sure. When you get older you will find out. Don't worry about it for now." I wink at him.
"That makes sense. So why did my friends tell me that I am only allowed to kiss girls?"
"Well, some people think it is bad for a boy to kiss a boy, but I think that those people are wrong."
"So my friends lied to me?"
"Well they didn't exactly lie to you. They just told you what they want you to do. I think that if you end up not wanting to kiss girls, then you can try kissing a boy even if your friends say no. It is your decision to make when you get older." I explain to the seven year old. Most people would think I've gone insane telling a kid this kind of thing.
"Well, I'd better get back to my friends now. They are probably wondering where I went." I state as I take the last sip of my smoothie. "And remember, no telling your parents about this discussion." I remind him.
"Of course not. You told me not to tell, remember?"
"Oh, right. Well see you later!" I say as I walk away.
"Bye!" Nate shouts at me.
I run back to my table to find that Becky is no longer there. I guess she left at some point or another.
"Welcome back. You just missed the whole explanation." Cody keeps me up to date.
That's good. I didn't want to come in during it and be lost anyway…
"Well… I was wondering if you still want to go to the prom with me?" Zack says to Violet. My whole body begins to shake. Zack is asking Violet out to the prom? But she's… yuck! Then again, it shouldn't be my concern who he asks out.
"Sure Zack. But it isn't like you to have such uncertainty when you ask a question. What happened to the overconfident Zack from yesterday?"
"I'm just a little worried that Harvey might ruin our prom night since he'll be there is all."
"Don't worry Zack. Becky will make sure he doesn't hurt you. Even if she doesn't want to protect you, she will if I want her to." Violet smiles at him.
"No, it isn't that. It's just that I don't want you to get hurt. I'll be fine…" Zack mentions as he turns toward me and Cody.
"What do you guys think we should do?" Zack asks the two of us. I turn toward Cody, wondering if he has a plan. I have no idea how to get Zack out of that whole mess. Then again, if me and Cody go to the prom, we'll have problems of our own. I never really thought of any of this…
"Okay… I guess I'll have to tell you guys now. I was kind of keeping this a secret, but I was actually planning to have my own little prom dinner with Luke because most of the people that will be there do not know we are dating. I'm afraid of what they might think…" Cody admits. Wow… he was really going to go through the trouble of cooking for me? That's so nice of him.
I then look up at Cody to find that Violet is hugging him. Why is she all over him? It's not like he asked for a hug, and if he needed one then that's my job.
"So, do you guys want to join us for dinner? Then you won't have to worry about Harvey." Cody says, trying to be happy for them despite his disappointment for ruining the surprise.
"I'd love to. How about you Zack?" Violet asks as she releases her hug.
"Sure. I'd love to." Zack smiles for the first time in this conversation. That was so sweet of Cody. Making his brother happy at the cost of ruining his surprise. He's so thoughtful sometimes.
Zack then walks over to Cody and also gives him a hug. "Thank you buddy." Zack whispers in his ear.
"That's what brothers are for," Cody states with a proud smile on his face. He deserves to be proud. He is a really great brother!
After the meeting, Cody and I decide to head our separate ways back to our rooms to get our bathing suits on and then head to the Jacuzzi to relax. Zack goes to Violet's room to help her pick an outfit to wear to prom. I have been dead set against Violet lately, but at this point I feel like if Zack wants to be around her, then I can't stop him. I still have a problem with her being around Cody, but as long as she doesn't make a move I'll just have to deal with it.
I reach the Jacuzzi, discovering that Cody is already in it.
"Hi Cod…" I pause as I look next to Cody to find Nate. He just seems to be appearing out of nowhere these days.
"Hi Luke. I was talking to this kid while I was waiting for you and he told me that he knows you. Is that right?" Cody smiles as he looks back at Nate.
"Well…" I start as I look down.
"Sure is!" Nate interrupts me. "We were hanging out in the game room the other day! He's so awesome."
"I agree with that statement." Cody hints to me.
I take a seat beside Cody in the Jacuzzi and squeeze his side.
"Stop! That tickles." Cody laughs as he pushes himself into Nate to get away.
"Ha ha you guys are funny. You're really great friends, huh?" Nate asks as he splashes me to stop me from tickling Cody.
"Luke, don't do that. He might find out…" Cody whispers to me about the tickling.
"Don't worry Cody. I told him about us already." I mumble back.
"YOU WHAT!" Cody yells back.
"Don't worry. I trust him. He hasn't told anybody."
"Well… if you trust him… I guess it's okay. I want you to tell me next time you decide to tell someone though." Cody warns me.
"What's going on guys?" Nate questions us.
"Nothing. Cody just didn't know that you knew that secret from before is all."
"Oh… of course I know about what you did in the bathroom. I was right next to you after all."
CRAP. I didn't mean that secret. Oh God… now how do I get out of this one without giving away to Cody that I am keeping secrets from him?
"In the bathroom? Luke, what is he talking about?"
"Well…" Nate starts to answer for me.
"Nate, he asked me. I will answer." I interrupt his truthful response for one that would not ruin my life.
"You see Cody, he saw us kissing. THAT is the secret I'm talking about." I say as I glare at Nate.
"You know? The kiss when we were in the bathroom, and you washed your face off last night." I whisper to Cody.
"Ohhhhh." They both state simultaneously. Whew. Barely got out of that one.
"Well then. Since nobody else is around and he knows… is it okay to kiss?" Cody asks.
"It's up to Nate. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable." I answer, looking at Nate.
"I don't mind. Luke said it's okay, so I think it's okay." Nate smiles.
Me and Cody both bring our heads together for a moderately long kiss. For about half of it, Nate is watching with the same face he made the first time he saw us, but once Nate and I make eye contact in the middle of the kiss, he begins to smile.
Once the sun begins to set, we say our goodbyes to Nate. Cody gives Nate a little kiss on the cheek to say goodbye which I find absolutely adorable. Nate is startled by the kiss at first, but then acts as if he is more accepted because of it. Cody and I then decide to head back to our respective rooms.
"Bye Coderific" I wink at him in the hallway.
"Ummm... Luke…"
"What is it C…" I ask, but am interrupted by Cody shoving his face into mine. My eyes bulge open as Cody gets more passionate about this kiss than any before. A few seconds into it, Cody begins to slowly stick his tongue out. Is he finally willing to go to the next level? I open my mouth, as does Cody and we continue for what is the best kiss of my life.
After a minute or so, we separate. "I love you…" Cody blushes as he walks into his room and closes the door.
I stand in the hallway, completely silent. Is this a dream? No. Definitely not. That kiss I had with Zack in my dream felt nothing like this. This was… too good for words. Oh, Cody. What would I do without such an amazing boyfriend?
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter where we skip a few days to the prom! ^_^
As always, PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!
