The Little Mistakes (boyxboy)

Chapter 2

It was probably a good thing that my parents were already planning on sending me away from home. Because the other night when I’d gone out with Eryn and Garner, we’d gotten into major trouble.

We’d walked from our street, which was over by the South Hill walk, down to the waterfront road. Of course since we’re young and dumb seventeen year olds, what did we do? We went to the marina, well after after midnight, and thought it would be a good idea to skinny dip. Yeah, twenty minutes later when our loud noises and Garner’s barking had attracted attention, none other than a cop car pulled up.

The minute two male police officers stepped out of the vehicle, we knew we were screwed. We quickly pulled our clothes back on over our wet bodies and were forced into the backseat of the car along with a soaking wet chow. Let me remind you how big and furry those dogs are. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best experience.

The cops dropped Eryn off first. I could hear his mum screaming up a storm from the car. She definitely wasn’t happy. It was a school night for him, after all. I was sure he’d end up grounded for the next month at least.

Then I’d been taken home. I wasn’t even nervous. I didn’t care about upsetting my parents. I’d had a fun night before the police had shown up. That was all that mattered to me. I wanted to make the most of my last few days at home.

I remember I had held tightly onto Garner’s collar when the nicest of the two cops had dragged me up to the front door. He’d rung the doorbell and nothing had happened. He rang it again and then, slowly, I saw lights coming on inside the house.

The door had finally swung open, revealing my apa in his pajamas. A second later, my dad walked up without only his pajama pants on. He took one look at me, our dog, and the cop who was holding onto my shoulder, and his expression turned to fury.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” he had yelled.

I had smiled cheekily at him. “Hey, dad.” Garner barked happily once before bolting into the house, between my parents. “Hi, apa!”

“Get your ass in there right now,” my dad had said, stepping aside and pointing angrily inside the house.

The cop had let go of me and I happily obliged. I stood behind them for a moment to listen in.

“Oliver, quit,” apa had said. Then he turned to the officer. “What did he do this time?”

“We caught him and his friend down at the waterfront swimming naked,” the cop said. “It’s a clear violation of the law to swim there at any time, the middle of the night, being of no exception. Not to mention the public nudity is another offense.”

My dad groaned. “Yes, we know. Clearly if he’d told us what he was going to do, he certainly wouldn’t have followed through with it. He’d have been locked in his damn room.”

“Please,” apa said, lightly smacking my dad on his chest to shut him up. “Officer, we apologize on our son’s behalf. Is he going to be in any serious trouble?”

“My partner and I are willing to let both of the boys off with a warning. But if this ever happens again, there will be consequences.”

“Thank you so much,” apa said.

“I suggest you keep a better control over him. Being out there at night is highly dangerous. Have a good night.”

The officer had swiftly turned on his heel and walked back to his vehicle. My dad shut the door and turned around. I took a deep breath. He definitely looked furious. Apa wasn’t too far behind despite his calmness while speaking to the cop.

I plopped down on the couch. Garner barked and jumped on top of my lap, nearly crushing me in the process.

“You have got to be kidding me!” My dad had yelled. “Naked, Caise? Are you serious?”

“Oliver, shush,” apa had said. “There are three other kids trying to sleep right now and they have school in the morning.”

“If this one had been sleeping in his damn bed, we wouldn’t have this problem, Connor!”

“If it makes a difference, I can just jet on down there right now,” I’d offered.

“Oh you really are something,” my dad had grumbled. “Go away, I don’t want to see you until tomorrow. And you’re grounded!”

I stood, pushing Garner off of me. I mock saluted my parents before running down the stairs. I smirked to myself as I heard them grumbling after me. Just when I was about to go into my room, I heard my parents talking some more. I paused, and strained my ears to catch their words.

“I seriously cannot deal with him anymore, Connor,” my dad had muttered.

“I know, babe. But he’s not in any major trouble.” I heard my dad interrupt with a loud scoff. “If anything, he’ll be in the states in two days. I’m sure Marck will be able to straighten him out. You know how he is.”

“Yeah,” my dad had said. “I know he used to be a hard ass. But look at all the problems he and Kristian are having with Patrick. I swear this little trip isn’t gonna do anything for Caise’s behaviour.”

“We’ll never know unless we try,” was the last thing I’d heard apa say before I’d walked into my bedroom.

Their comments hadn’t rattled me at all. I knew how they felt about me. I was too much of a mess to deal with. So it hadn’t upset me at all to hear those things. It just got boring listening in on the same conversations time after time.

Now I was changing into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I was leaving tomorrow, and I had planned to go to Bushy Beach tonight. Of course, my parents had grounded me. And Eryn’s parents had grounded him. But after hours of pleading, fighting, and begging, I had convinced my parents to let me have this last night here in Oamaru.

So they’d agreed to let me go out at eight, but I had to be back by eleven so there weren’t anymore run-ins with the police. And I didn’t even know how, but my dad had managed to get Eryn’s parents to let him go with me. I may not like my parents a lot of the time, but sometimes I had to admit they were kind of awesome.

“Garner!” I yelled, walking out of my room.

I heard paws running across the floor above me. I smiled, he was always so hyper and excited to go somewhere with me. I patted Crow’s head as he stood next to me while we waited for Garner to get down the stairs. Crow basically followed me everywhere. He was probably more of my best friend than Eryn was.

When Garner reached us, I pulled his leash out of my back pocket and hooked it to his collar. I started towards the back door down here in the basement.

“I’m leaving,” I yelled loudly so my parents could hear me from the floor above.

“Alright,” my dad called back. “But you better leave your phone on. And make sure you’re here by eleven or else.”

I scoffed. Yeah, okay. What else could they really do? Either way I was gone for five months starting tomorrow. There wasn’t anything they could do. It’s not like they could ground me once I got back tonight. We’d be driving three hours to the Queenstown airport in the morning anyway.

I opened the door and let the dogs run out in front of me while I shut it once more. I jogged around the house, holding onto Garner’s leash, and we made our way to the bottom of the street. As usual, Eryn was already there waiting for us. He was always so eager to get out of his house. Even if it meant he had to stand outside waiting for fifteen or more minutes.

I greeted my best friend with a small hug. Then we started to make our way to the beach. We chatted crap along the way. Eryn also kept throwing sticks a ways ahead of us and we laughed, watching Garner chase after them enthusiastically.

A half hour later, we dropped our rucksacks on the sand. There weren’t very many people around. I spotted a few couples together, though. Most definitely they were just there to have some stupid romantic date watching the sun go down. I shook my head. People were moronic.

I tied Garner’s leash around the trunk of a tree. He and Crow started to play a little. I smiled, watching them. They were the only other beings that I liked besides Eryn. It was going to suck when I didn’t have them anymore.

I turned around and found Eryn pulling a blanket out of his bag. I joined him and pulled a black fleece blanket out of my own. We set them down and spread them out next to each other so we could sit or lay on them.

Once we were all situated, I sat down and leaned my back up against the tree I’d hooked Garner too. He bounded over and started trying to lick at my face. Eryn and I had a good laugh. Crow made his way to Eryn and nuzzled up to him. Eryn began to give him a nice petting as I playfully wrestled with Garner.

A couple hours passed by with nothing much happening but the usual. We talked about school and our parents and our siblings. Eryn was seventeen like me, but he’d only just turned that two months ago. I was in the same year as him at school because my parents started me later.  Eryn had an older brother and one younger sister. We talked about how much we disliked everyone and everything. We were such unhappy people that it wasn’t even funny anymore.

“I hate this place sometimes,” Eryn said.

I took a swig from the bottle in my hands. Eryn had paid a kid downtown this afternoon to buy us some beer. He’d smuggled them all over town in his backpack today. I was quite surprised and impressed with him.

“Trust me, I know,” I answered back, staring at the sky.

Garner was sleeping with his head in my lap. He was snoring lightly and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Eryn was lying on his side a foot away from me. Crow was laying on his back, probably sleeping as well, while Eryn petted his stomach.

“No, like I’m serious, Cay. I really hate living here sometimes.”

I frowned at my friend. “Are you okay, bro?”

Eryn shook his head. He looked at me as he took a drink from his own bottle. “People are always staring at me and giving me crap. I swear if those guys at school mess with me one more time, I am never going back there again.”

“Eryn, come on. It’s only a term and a half and it’s your last year. You have to graduate.”

He shook his head. “I just hate it. People are so cruel these days.”

“Well duh. But you’re strong,” I said. “We’ve managed this far, haven’t we?”

He gave me a look. “Yes. We. Not me, by myself. How am I supposed to manage without you?”

I sighed. “She’ll be right,” I said, trying to make him feel better. I drained my bottle and threw it away from me. I heard it hit sand somewhere with a thud. “I need you to do me a favor, though.”

“What?”

“You really have to keep an eye on Bradley.”

“Done.”

I gave him a serious look. “No, I mean it. You know how he gets teased sometimes because of our parents.”

“That doesn’t happen often. He’ll be alright.”

I snorted. “The only reason he doesn’t get the shit kicked out of him every single day is because people are terrified of me. Eryn I really need you on this.”

Eryn got to his knees and crawled over to me. He sat down at my side. “You know I’ll keep him safe.”

“You’ll probably get into more fights than you already do,” I cautioned. “And you’ll probably end up grounded a lot more. Once I’m gone, the guys at school will start up on him right away. I can sense it.”

Eryn touched my arm. “Calm down. I can handle it.”

“Yeah, but I’m just saying. He’s kind of a nerd. And a wimp. He needs you. I swear to God if he gets hurt, though, I’m going to kill you,” I said.

Eryn reached out and put his hand over my mouth. “Cay, shut up! I told you. I’ve got this covered. She’ll be right, okay?”

I relaxed into his touch. His words were comforting, yet I was still worried. Bradley was my baby brother. He was just sixteen but only a year below us in school. Even though he annoyed the hell out of me, I loved him. I wanted what was best for him. And as much as I hated to admit it, part of the reason I didn’t want to move to America was because I’d be leaving Bradley to a pack of hungry wolves. Ones who hated him.

Eryn smiled and dropped his hand. I handed him another beer. He was probably going to start getting a little drunk soon. Eryn was so funny when he drank. He was one of those guys who talked a lot. It was pretty entertaining for me.

“I’m really going to miss you,” he muttered, his bottle still pressed against his lips.

I frowned at the sand around me. “I know. I don’t want to go.”

“I really really don’t want you to go, Cay.”

I turned my head to see my best friend staring at me. I crinkled my brow. He was so weird sometimes.

“You know, I love you?” he asked. He sounded bewildered.

I almost laughed. “Yeah, duh.”

“Like, I mean I love you a lot,” Eryn insisted.

I patted him on the shoulder. “Chur, bro. We’ve been mates for like twelve years.”

“But no, I think I love you more than that.”

“Eryn, you’re just drunk. We should get you home,” I said.

Eryn shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said. That’s when I first noticed the slight slur in his voice.

“No, you’re not.”

Eryn swiveled his head to look at me. “Are you mad?”

I shook my head. “No. Why would I be?”

“I just told you how I felt about you.”

“You didn’t tell me anything. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Cay, I’m not lying. I’ve fancied you for a little while now,” he said quietly, averting his eyes downwards.

“What?” I asked.

“See, you’re mad.”

“Shut up, I’m not mad.” I groaned. “Well I mean, now I’m kind of irritated. But, seriously. How long are you talking?”

“Just a few months,” he shrugged. “Beginning of winter I guess.”

“And when we went swimming naked the other night?” I asked.

“I’m really sorry. I’m disgusting. An awful mate.”

I frowned and pulled Eryn closer to me. He rested his head on my chest and put his arms around my waist. I felt so uncomfortable. This was weird. Eryn was being weird. He’d never done anything like this before, I couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“You’re straight, though.”

“When have you ever seen me with a girl?” I didn’t say anything. “Oh that’s right. Never.”

“Eryn, don’t be stupid,” I scolded. “You don’t like me. You’re straight.”

“I’m not, though,” he said. “I never really have been.”

“Bro, you’re only saying this shit ‘cause you’re pissed. And because you’re gonna miss me.”

“I’m not that pissed,” Eryn argued. “I’ve only had like three--no, four drinks.”

“You had five beers,” I said. “Plus half of one of mine. You’re out of it.”

“Can’t you just accept it? I mean, you might be straight, but I like you. I am going to miss you. I’m going to be so sad when you leave tomorrow.”

I glanced down at him. He was squeezing me tightly in a hug. “Shit. Don’t cry. I don’t want a stain on my shirt!”

“I’m sorry,” he sniffled.

I sighed. “I didn’t mean to yell.”

Eryn sat back and pulled his hands up to wipe his eyes. I looked down at my shirt and brushed at it, checking to see if it was damp. That’s when I felt his hand close around my jaw. Then he tilted my face and pressed his lips to mine.

He had a strong hold, but I managed to shove him backwards after a few seconds. I spit at the sand and wiped my mouth. “What the hell!”

“Why can’t you just let me have this?” he asked. The tears were coming back. I swore. “You’ll be gone tomorrow and I won’t see you for nearly half a year.”

I looked at him, somewhere between disgusted and concerned. By this point I wasn’t even sure if my life was real anymore. This just had to be some sort of a joke. It was too insane not to be.

“Eryn, no way. I don’t like you like that,” I said firmly.

He sobbed loudly. “Please, Cay. I just--I need you right now. I hate everything in my life. I just want to be close to you.”

The tears streaming down his face broke my heart. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never really seen him like this before. I mean, yeah he wasn’t the ugliest person in the world. But he was a guy! I didn’t like guys like that. Plus, he was my best friend. There had to be some sort of rule about this. Like that you weren’t supposed to kiss your best friend unless it was on the cheek. And their grandma just died or something.

I knew I was going to regret it as soon as the words slipped out of my mouth. But I said it anyway. “Alright,” I said slowly and cautiously. “Just one kiss. I mean it. I have to get home before my parents kill me.”

Eryn sniffled once more. Except now he was staring at me like I’d just given him the best prize ever. His eyes were so bright, shining in the moonlight because of the tears that were still there. He leaned forward, but didn’t kiss me right away. Instead his lips brushed at mine when he said, “Thank you.”

Then he closed his eyes. His lips were pressing firmly against mine for the second time ever. It was the weirdest sensation. I’d only ever kissed one girl, twice. I was only twelve, too. Ever since I’d become a giant asshole, nobody ever wanted to be near me. Not a single girl ever wanted to date me.

I found my mind spinning as Eryn kissed me desperately. God, it was so bizarre. Despite myself, I somehow let my guard down and my eyes fluttered shut. I almost hated myself when I realized that Eryn wasn’t just kissing me anymore. But I was kissing him back. And it wasn’t the most horrific thing in the world.