More Than Friends

Two

Connor and I joined his friends, Danny and Aiden, who had apparently been in the backyard waiting for us this whole time. To be completely honest, I already knew they were there, but hadn't bothered to say hi or anything. I had nothing against them. I just didn't know them that well yet, only having met them a few weeks ago. 

"Connor! Ben! It's about time you two showed up!" Danny cheered, as he pulled up another two lawn chairs he'd been saving for us. "Aiden and I were beginning to worry."

Somehow I doubted that, looking over at Aiden, who casually looked the other way.

  

Of his two new friends though, Danny was so far my favorite. He always seemed to be in a good mood, always with a smile on his face, whether he was messing around or flirting with a girl. He looked innocent, but I had quickly figured out for myself that he was a real player. Nonetheless, he seemed like a kind person. 

Aiden, on the other hand, always seemed to be serious and uptight about everything, at least when I was around. The first time we met, he barely spoke a word to me. Connor reassured me that he was just always like that, but something told me that wasn't really the case, whether Connor was aware of it or not. Call it intuition, but I got the feeling he did not like me.

They were both so different from the kind of people I would have expected Connor to become friends with. Back in the good old days, Connor and I were both such dorks. He was the scrawny, pale geek who only hung out with the quiet, fat loser kid, me. Things had changed. Now he was some kind of stud that hung out with other guys like him. Danny, with his sun-kissed blond hair, deep blue eyes and bright welcoming smile, just looked like he was born to be in the spotlight. I even had to admit that Aiden was hot, despite always looking kind of angry and pissed. His dark-brown, wavy hair and deep, thoughtful eyes gave him an air of mystery.

Connor himself had gone through a huge metamorphosis. He'd gotten tall, broad-shouldered, found a new stylish wardrobe and grown into a man. He had changed his entire image, so well, I hadn't even recognized him when we first met up again after five years of being apart. All I had done in that time was lose some weight. Now I was just a quiet loser.

  

"So Ben, what do you think?" Danny asked me, trying to get me into a conversation. "Fun party or what?"

"What." I answered, sarcastically.

"What?"

"I mean, yeah. Fun party, I think." I answered, feeling stupid. "I'm not much of a 'party' guy, to be honest."

"I'm sure this isn't your first, right?" Connor asked, hoping to make me feel a bit more comfortable.

"Actually, it is." I answered, my face beginning to burn up. 

They looked at me like I was kidding and laughed, before realizing that I wasn't. Then I heard Aiden laugh for the first time. It only made me feel more lame and pathetic than I already did when hanging around with them.

"Hey, don't worry about it buddy." Connor reassured me, ruffling my hair with his enormous hand. "It's no big deal. Just kick back and enjoy yourself. There are plenty of hot girls here too, if you think you're up for it."

"Good point," Danny agreed, getting up and walking up to a one of them, quickly pulling her into the crowd to dance, like there was nothing to it. 

Aiden also got up and left before I even realized he had.

I looked around at the girls Connor was talking about, but I wasn't interested. I guess losing some weight hadn't been the only way I had changed since Connor had left. Lucky for me, I had also discovered that I was gay. I was pretty open about it, for the most part. Most people actually didn't care or bothered to know. It also wasn't like I had ever gone out with another guy before either, at least not formally. Usually, unless I said something about it to someone, no one would suspect I was gay to begin with. Like Connor, who I hadn't been able to tell yet.