Chapter Four: The Manny-Marco Sextravaganza

Alex

After Craig was grounded for a month, the rest of the week went by without any real excitement. Craig's first meeting of Equality club was better than I thought it would be. We talked about being the sibling of someone who was gay. Marco, Craig, and a few other people had some things to say.

"It must not be all that hard," a guy said. "The siblings aren't the ones who are gay. They don't have to deal with being afraid to come out or with bashing or anything like that."

"You must be an only child then," Marco said. "I love my brother, and I've always been there for him. That means helping him out and sticking with him no matter what. But that doesn't mean that it's easy."

"I agree," Craig said. I didn't think he was going to talk at all, but he did. "It hasn't been easy being Alex's brother," he confessed. "Especially when she first came out. I had so many people coming up to me and saying shit to me about her. And I was around a lot when people made fun of her. I always defended her, no matter what; even if the person started saying crap about me."

"So what; that happens with everyone who's an older sibling, whether they're gay or not," Sean said.

"He does have a point," Spinner agreed.

"But it's not exactly the same," Craig argued. "Do you even have a younger sibling? Alex isn't even younger than me and I still look out for her. You're right, you should look out for your sibling, no matter what, but people were constantly threatening her every day. That doesn't usually happen to someone who's straight."

"He has a point too," Spinner said, getting a glare from Sean. "Or...not," he added quietly. I wasn't sure what was going on there, but I shrugged and shifted in my seat.

"So you're both partially right. There can be more than one view on the subject," I told them.

"Whatever," Sean said. He was obviously used to being right all the time.

"Why don't we take a break for a few minutes, and start on another topic after that?" Marco suggested. Everyone agreed and went their separate ways for a couple minutes. When we got back, Marco decided to bring up 'coming out' and what it meant to all of us. I knew that one would involve a lot of different opinions, but it's always good to see other peoples' sides of things too.

On Friday night, I got ready to go to the movies with Spinner. He was my "date" since we were going with Marco and Manny. That would definitely be interesting.

"Alex, your date's here!" Craig yelled up the stairs with an annoyed tone.

"Don't be jealous because you screwed up," I told him. "And don't wait up," I added, patting his cheek.

"Very funny. She has told you that she's a lesbian, right?" he asked, addressing Spinner. "You won't be getting any tonight," he smirked.

"Doesn't matter to me, I am gay," he replied.

The look on Craig's face was priceless. How had he not known? He must not have been paying much attention during Equality Club.

"Bye!" I shouted to my parents who were in the kitchen, making dinner. "Don't have too much fun," I told Craig, who narrowed his eyes at me.

I followed Spinner out to his car. Marco and Manny were in the backseat, all over each other.

"Okay, there are other people in here now," I said, trying to get them to stop.

"They can't hear you. They're in the 'zone,' Spinner said. "Might as well put some music on so we don't have to hear it," he suggested. I played around with the radio buttons as he pulled out of the driveway, finally settling on a station when we were halfway there.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" I asked over the music.

"If I did, do you think I would've invited you to the movies?" he asked, grinning.

"I guess not."

"I'm just kidding; friends always come first," he said.

"Yeah, if you're single," I joked back.

The worst place to sit in a movie theater is next to Manny Santos. And that's exactly where I was sitting. She arranged the seating so no one would be next to Marco but her. She hogged the armrest, shifted around in her seat about every five minutes, and constantly bumped her leg into mine in the process.

I whispered to Spinner once, not loud at all—I swear, she has supersonic hearing—and she practically screamed 'Shhh!' at me and glared.

To get back at her, I 'accidentally' held her hand when she took up the armrest again. She freaked out and ripped her hand away. Then she got as close to Marco as she could and started kissing him.

There was still a good half hour left of the movie, and they weren't stopping anytime soon. Since I'd already missed most of it, I didn't feel like sticking around anymore. With just one look, Spinner and I silently agreed to ditch.

"Never invite me to a double date with those two again," I said as soon as we were out of the theater.

"Sorry, it's never been like that before. My ex and I went with them all the time and we actually watched the movie," he told me.

"Who's your ex?" I asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Don't ask. I don't want to talk about it," he said quickly. "It didn't end well and I don't feel like bringing up bad memories."

"That bad, huh?" I asked. He nodded.

"How about you? Got any exes you want to talk about? Or complain about?"

"Just one. Her name's Ashley," I sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"Was it messy? The breakup, I mean. I don't want any details about…"

"I know what you mean, Spinner. I wouldn't give you details about that anyway. But the breakup wasn't messy, it was mutual. We both knew there was no sense in staying together when I was moving out of the country," I explained, sighing.

"You miss her, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah. I was just so used to seeing her everyday. And we always had a lot of fun. She was always there for me no matter what. It makes me feel a little alone here," I told him.

"Do you love her?"

"I don't know…maybe. I'm fifteen; I don't think I'll find a soul mate anytime soon. But Ashley is my best friend. And now I can't see her anymore."

"I know what you mean. You could always be best friends with the Ashley here, but she's big slut."

"No thanks," I said, laughing.

"You have me," he grinned, nudging me with his elbow.

"I know. And even though we've only been friends for a week, I love you to death. But I just wish I had a girl to understand me," I said.

"Don't worry, you'll find one," Spinner assured me.

"Yeah, and preferably one who's not a slut," I joked.

"Speak of the devil! Ashley Kerwin, how are you? Who's the new guy this week?" he asked.

"Shut up Spinner," Sean, that kid from Equality Club, said. He pulled Ashley closer to him and narrowed his eyes.

"Down boys," I told them. "Play nice."

"Ashley, this is Alex," Sean said, introducing us and ignoring Spinner.

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand. "I've heard so much about you." I tried not to laugh as Spinner made a face behind her back.

"There you guys are!" Marco's voice called from somewhere behind us. "Why did you leave before the movie was over? You missed the best part of the movie!"

"And you probably did too," I told him, earning a laugh from Spinner. Ashley and Sean walked away in the commotion but no one really cared. Spinner was still mad about something but he wouldn't tell me what.

"We're going to The Dot; do you guys want to come?" Manny asked. She wouldn't look at me though and had her arms crossed over her chest.

Spinner and I exchanged furtive glances. Marco was obviously making her ask to be nice. So we should be nice too, right?

"We'd love to come!" I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Definitely," Spinner added. Manny rolled her eyes and followed us to the car.

"Ellie!" Manny squealed as soon as we walked into The Dot. She threw her arms around the girl in question. All I could see was red hair.

"Who is that?" I whispered to Spinner.

"Manny's best friend," he told me.

"I wish you didn't have to work here," Manny whined. "Then you could have gone to the movies with us. It would have been so much more fun with you."

"The only movie I saw was 'The Manny-Marco Sextravaganza,' I joked. Ellie laughed and I saw her face for the first time. She was breathtaking. Her red hair shone in the low lights of the restaurant and her eyes were the most beautiful brown I'd ever seen. I didn't want to take my eyes off of her, but I also didn't want her to think I was a freak, so I shifted my attention to Manny. She was scowling right in my direction.

"That wasn't funny," she said.

"Yes it was!" Spinner and Ellie said at the same time.

"Why don't we sit down and look at the menu?" Manny snapped, walking away to a booth in the corner, dragging Marco along with her.

"I'm Alex," I said to Ellie as I walked by her.

"Ellie Nash," she said, shaking my hand. "I already met Craig," she told me.

"It seems like everyone has. He must be whoring himself around again," I joked. She laughed again. I loved her laugh.

"No, he's just in my music class."

"Eleanor!" a voice called from somewhere behind us.

"Gotta go; the boss is calling. I'll be right back to take your order." I watched her until she was gone, into the back of the restaurant, before reluctantly trudging over to the booth. I plopped down next to Spinner and grabbed a menu.

A few minutes later, Ellie was back, and I had to keep myself from staring again.

"I'll have a chicken basket," Marco ordered.

"I'll take a burger, medium-well," I said.

"And I'll have the same," Spinner agreed.

"Aw, you two must be made for each other," Ellie joked.

"Yeah, if they weren't both gay," Manny added. I rolled my eyes and made a face at her as she ordered.

"I'll have a salad, no dressing please," Manny said. As Ellie walked away, I decided to pick on Manny a little. Maybe she'd have some sense of humor.

"Why don't you live a little," I suggested. "Eat a french fry. But just one or you might gain a half a pound."

"Very funny. Sorry, but we can't all be pigs like you and still stay skinny," she snapped.

"It's called exercising. If you tried it, you could order something other than rabbit food."

"I do exercise. It's called cheerleading and field hockey," she sneered.

"Wow, and you haven't broken a nail? Amazing," I gasped, covering my mouth to feign surprise.

"No, they're all still here, especially this one," she said, sticking her middle finger up at me.

"Great comeback Manny, I haven't seen that one since third grade. Trying to bring things back into style? Like that shirt?" I asked. Spinner snorted and Marco was obviously trying not to laugh.

"That's enough ladies," Ellie said as she started putting plates down in front of us. Our fight had gone on the entire time it took for our food to be ready. Oh well, at least it helped pass the time.

"Aw man, it was just getting good," Spinner complained. Everyone laughed except for Manny, who was already picking at her salad.

As I took my plate from Ellie, our hands brushed together for a split second. I wanted that second to last a lot longer than that, but no such luck. Ellie smiled and walked away, leaving me starting at her back once again.

A/N: Thanks to the two people who reviewed last chapter, you know who you are. And to you, I apologize for taking so long to update, I've just been really busy with my new job. I hope you like it!