Chapter 27: Mud

"So what are you up to?" Travis asked me over the phone.

"Oh nothing," I said as I zipped up my hoodie. "I'm going to the pier to hang out with Jacob in a little bit. We haven't hung out in a while so we both thought we could just hang out sometime."

"You don't wanna spend the night with little ol' me?" he asked with a pouty voice.

"I just hung out with you all afternoon babe," I laughed. "Plus, I think it'd be good for Jacob & me to start being close again. I miss him being my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend," he whined.

"YOU are the love of my life, the Sun to my solar system, & every other corny thing we said to each other on Valentine's Day. Besides, I need a best friend to talk to about you."

"You talk to Chris about us."

"He's my brother. It's not entirely the same. And I need someone to talk to about HIM."

"You got me for that," I could hear him smiling through the phone.

"Travis, I need more than just the two of you. I love you guys but I'm not feral ya know," I chuckled. "I need at LEAST a third human to talk to. Anyway, I gotta go. I don't wanna be late."

"All right. Love you."

"I love you too."

**********

"Thanks," I said as the man handed me my cotton candy.

Jacob & I continued walking along the pier, where wave after wave of people walked around us, all looking to entertain their nights, just like we were.

"So c'mon, tell me. When did you know?" Jacob asked as he bit into his hot dog.

"What do you mean?"

"You know..." he looked around, "when did you know?"

"Ohhh." I appreciated him not saying it out loud in front of all these people. "I guess...about a year before I met Travis. My first crush was on Bobby Polk."

"Yeah? He's kind of cute," Jacob said.

"Yeah. And we had the same gym class together freshmen year so I got to sneak a peek at him when we got changed."

Jacob's eyes widened. "You stared at his junk? Without getting caught?"

"No, not his junk, just his abs."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And his chest. He had the nicest sized pecs & abs. I think I was too scared to have even THOUGHT of possibly looking at his crotch. The idea of someone catching me...ugh. Don't even wanna think of what they'd think of me."

"You gotta learn to not care what they'd think."

"Well, I know THAT argument, but I simply mean getting caught looking at another guy," I smiled.

"Oh, haha."

"For a while, I started looking at guys differently & I remember thinking 'guys are NOT supposed to be thinking of other guys this way'. I'd notice how their hair was, their eyes, how athletic they were...everything that a girl is supposed to see in a guy."

"Well what stood out about Travis when he arrived?" Jacob asked as we made our way out onto the long dock & away from the major crowd.

"Physically? I mean he's just my type, but at first, I guess there really wasn't anything special. It wasn't until I started to get to know him for a little bit that I saw how beautiful he really is."

"He seems pretty nice."

"He is," I smiled to myself, feeling all warm. "I want you guys to get along really well."

He looked confused. "Connor, we don't know each other that well. I mean don't get me wrong buddy, I have nothing against him & I'd hope he has nothing against me, but we just don't know each other. We don't have anything in common as far as I know."

"You have me in common."

"That's not enough to sustain a whole friendship," Jacob laughed.

"Yeah but it's enough to START one."

"Connor..."

"Really dude, I think you guys would get along. Travis can tell you how amazing I am now, & you can tell him how amazing I was as a kid," I grinned.

He rolled his eyes.

"All right, well...if you can manage to get us all together at some point & find something for us to talk about, then I'll give it a try. How's that?"

"You're the best!" I beamed at him. He chuckled.

When we made it to the end of the pier, where we were all alone with no one else out this far, we walked to the very edge & sat down, our legs dangling over the side. Far away, we could see the reflection of the moon bouncing off the soft ripples of the water. Looking over the edge, the dark water calmly swooshed back & forth 15 feet below us. The loud cheers of the crowd of the people were now a peaceful background song.

"Remember when we used to come out here & sometimes we'd be in the water underneath & scare the crap out of people who were up here?" Jacob said.

"Yeah...that one couple where we made the guy scream like a girl," I laughed.

"That was so funny hahaha."

"Who else was with us?" I asked.

I saw Jacob shake his head. "No one."

"I mean all the times, not just that one."

"I know. No one."

I turned to look at him. "What are you talking about? Of COURSE there were other people with us when we did it."

He shook his head again. "No. You & I talked about scaring people so much that the whole gang started to know our stories by heart. They probably knew what we did so well that whenever we all talked about it, it seemed like they were there too."

"So...it was just you & me?" I asked.

Still looking out at the water, Jacob nodded.

"Huh..."

We were both quiet for a moment.

"I wish I could go back & fix things," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean go back...& fix things between us."

"Oh, Connor you don't have to..."

"No, really. I don't even have a real excuse as to why I let us fight & then drift apart. What did we fight about anyway?"

"I don't remember. And if I don't remember, then it couldn't have been important, now could it?"

"I guess not..."

I felt Jacob throw his arm around my shoulder.

"So what about you?" I asked. "When did you know?"

"Eh. Couple years ago I guess."

"So probably a little before me haha."

"Yeah."

"Who was the first guy you ever liked?"

At that moment, I felt Jacob slowly pull his arm away from me.

"Oh...um, well..."

"I thought I'd recognize that head of hair anywhere," a voice said from behind us. We turned around to see Travis walking up to us.

What was he doing here?

"What are you doing here?" I asked as walked up to me, knelt behind me & gave me a hug & kiss on the cheek.

"Eh. Thought I'd swing by & say hey." He turned to look at Jacob. "Hi Jacob, what's up?"

"Nothin'," Jacob replied.

"You guys don't mind if I join ya, do ya?" Travis said.

"Uhhh no...of course not..." I stuttered, still surprised that Travis was here. He moved to sit on the other side of me than Jacob, an arm snaked around my waist & holding me close to him as I felt him plant some kisses on my neck.

"Missed ya," he whispered in my ear.

I glanced over at Jacob, who was looking down at the water.

"Yeah...missed you too," I said.

Don't get me wrong, I loved being with Travis, but something about this just seemed...

...intrusive.