Gina and Susie were both looking at me expectantly, "I said it was ok, but if all you guys wanna do is stare this is gonna be really boring."
"Take a chill pill, Ari," Gina said and we all laughed. "Fine, I'll start."
She looked at each and every one of us, as if she didn't already know exactly who she was going to interrogate. "Dante."
He looked at her, smirking. "Yes, Gina."
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth." He didn't even hesitate. I was starting to regret bringing those two together.
"Are you Ari's boyfriend? If so, why?"
"Hey," I interjected, "first of all, those are two questions. And second, of all…"
"What do you think, Ari?" Dante teased. Though I could tell there was a hint of doubt in his voice.
"Yeah, he is." I surprised myself by saying that. It was like the words jumped out of my mouth without me having time to stop them.
Susie smiled at me, it was a kind smile. So kind it was almost sad. "I'm so happy for you, Ari."

I didn't know why that short sentence meant so much. But it did. Some things just carry meaning within them. It was the first time that someone that was not my mom or dad. Or even the Quintanas seemed to not only be ok. But actually happy for our relationship. Perhaps it was a glimpse of hope, perhaps that was it. I guess I was a little bit lost in my head at that moment because Dante touched my arm. "Ari'?" I'm here, Dante.
He then turned to Gina. "And as for your second question. Because he is the greatest guy in the universe."
Susie sighed. And I remembered that day, when he came back from Chicago. He asked if there were going to be rules for us. How much had changed since then. And yet how little. 'Buffalo shit, Ari. I have to refrain from kissing the greatest guy in the universe.' I guessed summers were like that, they change everything and yet they remind you of what remains.
"Ok, ok." Gina looked at us. "We get it you're so cute. Barf me out! But let's get down to the real juicy stuff."
"What are you talking about, Gina?" I asked.
"You'll see," both girls answered in unison. Damn, were those girls something else.

And I guess it could be easy, I guess that some things were uncomplicated. I was still trying to get used to that. The rest of the game consisted of Gina and Susie trying to get as much information about us as possible. They tried to be subtle, but that wasn't their strong suit. They wanted to know about everything, how did you know that you loved Dante? "because the Ari I know sure as hell wasn't in touch with his feelings," Gina said. And we all laughed, we laughed because it was true, but also because it wasn't. The very fact that we were talking meant that it wasn't.
"So," I said, trying to change the topic, "this game is turning more into an interrogation…"
"So what?" Dante smiled. "We are a complicated pair to understand."
I could tell Gina was rejoicing herself and could hardly contain it. "See, Ari? I think Dante's good for you."
"I'll drink to that," Dante said.
"With what? We don't have anything to drink with." Susie looked puzzled, she was so quiet I sometimes forgot she was even there. Maybe that made me a bad friend, but a part of me knew there was so much more hiding inside her. I wondered if I'd ever figure her out.
"I know," he touched her shoulder, "but eventually I will."
I could tell she didn't know how to react because her face was stuck between a smile and a question, which I found very funny.
"You're so full of shit, Dante." Gina punched him softly. "I like you for it. We all are, but you're not afraid to show it."
"That's right, I don't hide my shit. I wear it with pride," he said.
And we all laughed again, and again, and again, we couldn't seem to stop. It was all laughter around me. The stars were so beautiful, it seemed to me that they had never been more beautiful.
"No light pollution." I found myself whispering while I squeezed Dante's hand.
"No light pollution."

I wondered if the stars were shining just for us, how beautiful was that? I also wondered if they weren't. Maybe we were just insignificant specks in the universe. For some that reason felt even more beautiful, like there was nothing expected of us. Like the universe asked for nothing but for us to contemplate its beauty. I couldn't help but think that if the universe was so vast and beautiful as Dante taught me, a boy kissing a boy couldn't matter. I guess I was trying to convince myself. And having the universe backing me up did help.

It was starting to get cold so I took out the blanket that I had in my truck, it was the same one of the night I asked Gina and Susie to come with me to the desert. "So I can get drunk," I had said. That was sort of true, but most of all, I think I was just lonely. Missing Dante. Missing the boy I once was. Gina looked at me knowingly, sometimes I got the feeling that she could read my thoughts. Gina didn't make me feel unknowable. She made me feel transparent.
"Good thinking, Ari," she said.
I smiled, "no, good thinking, Gina. I can't shake the feeling that you somehow predicted this."
She laughed, like actually laughed. I liked that about her. When she laughed, her whole body moved, she was happy. And so was I.
"Well, Ari. That's what girls do: good thinking." Then she gestured toward me. "I can't say that I saw this coming."
Dante lifted an eyebrow.
Susie looked at him amused. "But I didn't ask for the blanket back because I was hoping you'd invite us again."
Dante was still looking at Gina quizzically, she looked at him back. It seemed to me that they were having a whole conversation without us.
Susie was looking at them too, "Dante?" she asked tentatively. "it's just that Ari is… Well was you know sort of…"
"Sort of what?"
Susie's face reddened. "Umm, a bad boy?"
I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Me? A bad boy? Susie thought of me as a bad boy? But Dante was the one that seemed beyond himself. He was convulsing from laughter. Finally, he mustered up enough seriousness to sputter out, "I really need to start hanging out with you girls, there's so much more I wanna know."
I wasn't too keen on the idea, "Don't listen to them, they are so dramatic."
"Oh yeah?" Susie looked at me, "And was it not dramatic to walk around the school all sullen with a 'no one understands me' face?"
"I did not…"
"Oh my god," Dante said, "I know exactly which face you are talking about."
"Also," I could tell Gina was delighted in what she was going to say, "Ari once told me that birthdays were the greatest tragedies or something."
"Okay I'm gonna stop you right there, there's no way I said that." I could feel my cheeks burning.
"Oh Ari, you are a talkative drunk."

Gina and Susie couldn't seem to get out enough stories about how I was so dramatic. But somehow I didn't mind. I simply couldn't. Happy Ari was new to me, but I liked being that person. In a way I felt more like Dante. And I couldn't explain it, maybe it was faith, maybe it wasn't. But Dante made a better question, that was for sure.