TORPEDO ✓

in the sky like a red balloon

FOR ONE WEIRD REASON OR the other, half of the school--mostly seniors--were invited to a college frat party but nobody is complaining. Soon enough, it will be them inviting high schoolers into their party. Graduation is just but a mile away from now.

Some trippy Doja Cat song plays in the background, strobe lights crawl all around the scenery and bodies shimmer under neon florescence like Micheal Jackson's diamond gloves.

"Now are you gonna drink or not?" Giovanni jeers, grinning at the other boy.

"Still no."

"Come on, don't be a prude." Gio waves the bottle in Dorian's face but the latter doesn't move.

"It's soda or nothing. Even I've been watching my sugar levels these days; my mom keeps saying I won't be able to get it up at the age of twenty-six."

Gio makes a face. "Firstly, who talks shit like that with their parents. Secondly, diet sodas exist for a reason--"

"And thirdly?" Dorian snidely remarks. He's hit resolution long since he stepped into this place. He's been alcohol sober for such a long time and besides, church is tomorrow. He can't afford to be tainted on holy grounds. Yes, he's an avid churchgoer.

He used to be. Long ago

"Thirdly, you really don't believe that shit, do you?"

"I want to," replies Dorian as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"See, being honest doesn't take so much from you. Now I need that energy on this bottle of vodka."

Dorian flicks the blonde's forehead. "No is no."

"Ow!"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to get me drunk on purpose."

Gio collects himself, an amused smile on his face; expectant. This is where he shines the most. Dirty jokes and shameless flirting like a peacock. "What do you mean? I have no idea."

"Of course, you don't." Dorian spins on the barstool, now facing the party. Elbows on the counter and eyes on dancing sacks of hormones with a smug smile on his face. "You've always wanted to get in my pants."

"Hey! I'm glad you're finally coming to terms with it."

"What?" Dorian's mind game really bounced back.

"Look at you. All grown up. Some weeks ago, you weren't able to pronounce "dick" without choking on it."

"Stop!" Dorian's skin is black as night but he still blushes.

"No." Gio pushes his stool closer to the other boy. "Let's talk about how to get better in oral english. We'll start by exercising your throat--"

Dorian stares long at Giovanni. His hair tousled into a tired bun, eyebags tinged with purple; makes him look like a budget Jack Sparrow.

"Just stop. Dude," Dorian breathes, "don't you have a shred of shame in that lanky body of yours?"

Gio slyly pours a jug of cocktail into Dorian's now empty cup. Dorian only shakes his head and pours it back where it came from. Not even a single drop of anything other than H2O.

Even if it's just mere party cocktail, only heavens know what it has been spiked with. His taste buds and sanity are really not interested in finding out. Especially not when he's this mentally unstable sexuality-wise.

"Don't gimme that look. Here we were, talking about how graduation will feel, what book club to sign up next, how to protect panda babies from extinction and prevent global warming."