Band Camp (boyxboy)

Chapter 4

♫'Cause it's too cold

For you here and now♫

I'll admit it; I'd done my fair share of risky activities. Like, if you counted that time I accidentally killed a fish out of season or when I went ten km over the speed limit in a school zone when my flip flop got stuck under the pedal. Or that time I'd over-popped the popcorn machine, or when I-

Okay, so maybe I never did anything exciting or out of the ordinary. So when Sidney stuck one leg out the window, I was pretty confident I would vomit. I mean, sure, I talked about all these badass things I did that were probably a hundred times worse than this all the time, but that didn't mean I actually did them.

Since the dining hall was only one floor, sliding out the window and onto the ground wasn't difficult- it was keeping my balance on the ice that was difficult. Needless to say, I fell on my ass while Sidney laughed with no offer to help me up.

I dusted the snow off my fingertips as I stood back up, scowling at him. "Fuck off," I whined, but the comment didn't slow his laughter in the slightest.

I crossed my bare arms as a breeze engulfed us, and I suddenly realized how stupid this was. I could have been in a heated room with food, but instead I was out on the ice in a t-shirt making an idiot of myself.

"Are you cold, LogiBear?" I froze at the name and narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't care how hot Leigh was, at that moment I wanted to maim her until the only noises she could make were whistle tones for telling people –or at least Sidney- that was my 'nickname'.

"Call me that again and I will end you," I threatened, hitting him in the chest with my open palm. He didn't even look moderately surprised.

"What, all four feet of you?" He chuckled as he began to walk down the snow-covered path and I made a point of standing straighter than usual.

"I'm 5'9."

"Sure you are."

I can't explain exactly why I did what I did next. It was almost like all the years of being called short and having to stand in the front row finally came crashing down upon me and Sidney was just the only one to take it out on. I didn't consider myself short anymore, by definition I was average height, but I could still picture the class line up in my head by height where I was dead last, after all the girls.

And so, in a moment of uncontrollable rage that was completely unwarranted, I waited until Sidney had his eyes back to the path we were walking and then I just pushed him, hard. Not the joking kind of push, more like the I-hope-you-lose-a-tooth-and-choke-on-your-own-tongue kind.

I almost wished I could see his eyes as he started to fall forward because they were probably wide and confused as hell; I knew mine were. I grasped out, hoping that maybe I could catch him by the hood on his hoodie. I gave up that idea, even though I could probably have reached him before he hit the snow, because it probably would've ended with me falling on top of him, which was a chance I wasn't willing to take for Sidney.

Sidney's arm braced himself for the fall and it didn't look that painful, just shocking. He sat up, smiling at me, and I was so fucking confused in those seconds before I felt his foot collide with the backs of my ankles and I was yet again sitting on my ass in the snow.

"Don't fuck with me, kid," he said as he stood and dusted his pants and hoodie of snow. It didn't sound bitter or angry though, almost amused. I sat in the snow for a minute, watching him walk away completely unfazed.

After I had composed myself I was running to keep up with him again. He was heading towards a snowy hill, and as it became clearer that he actually intended to go up it I ground to halt.

"Where are we going?" I observed the surroundings. There were red and yellow tubes that littered the ground and I'd be fucking damned if I was going to go tubing in a t-shirt in -20 degree weather.

"There's an equipment shed at the top of the hill," Sidney called back to me as he began to trek up the hill. The temptation to turn around and go back was almost too much, except I was practically in the middle of the forest and I liked my fingers not amputated, mix that with the fact I was directionally challenged, and there I was following Sidney up the hill.

By the time I actually saw the shed I was shaking so bad I thought I might just keel over and die in the snow. It was fucking cold and now I was tired on top of that. Maybe if I got lucky I would get sick and lose my voice.

Sidney looked back occasionally to make sure I hadn't rolled back down the hill, though I doubt he would have gone down to get me regardless. My toes were completely numb in my Converse as he finally pushed the door to the shed open. It was hot inside, the sticky type of hot, and it smelled faintly like a gas that was probably noxious. There were deflated tubes, helmets, hockey sticks, some weird metal things in the corner, and just a collection of weird crap.

"Shouldn't they lock the door?" I asked, rubbing my cold fingers behind my thighs as I sat on a semi-inflated tube.

"They know that no one is stupid enough to climb the hill to get here." He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out miniature bottles of alcohol.

"What are you doing?" It wasn't that I was opposed to alcohol; in fact I was very pro-alcohol. Not that I got drunk a lot, but it was often the confidence boost I needed in a social situation. Or sometimes it led to really awkward situations. Like that time I told Chris I thought his Dad was hot. I thought Chris would be too wasted to remember it the next morning, but he did, and he hung it over my head all the time. I mean, most people would have started to question their sexuality over that but I decided not to dig too deep into it, and I also really didn't care. I liked people. People were hot. If I thought a guy was hot, why not try it with a guy? I didn't call it bisexual; I chose to call it open-minded. It wasn't like I was actively going out and looking for a guy to fuck; I was still very much into girls. The option was always there though.

"Storing it here for later," he replied as he shoved them in between shelves coated in dust. He raked stray curls from his eyes and then sat down on top of one of the shorter shelves.

I whined loudly, "We're coming back?"

"Yeah, there's this fire game... You'll see. This is the best vantage point, but it gets boring really fast."

The shed got silent after that, except for me leaning back on the tube and it making sounds like I was suffocating it.

Sidney started to talk but I beat him to it, blurting out, "So, have you been with any of the guys here?" I meant it to be like a casual guy-to-guy question, but even I knew it didn't sound that way.

"Why, you interested?" He said, jokingly flirtatious.

"Yes, I mean no- yes? I mean... I'm not interested in you, I'm-"

"Dude, no worries, I'm just fucking with you." He laughed and I dug my nails into my palm in a hope that my face wasn't bright red.

"Dude, it's honestly so great. Last year we played strip poker in the teacher's lounge and got completely drunk," he said casually, as if it was the weather and not everyone getting naked and drunk. And clearly avoiding my question.

"Strip poker?"

"Yeah, why? Are you shy?"

"Of course not," I scoffed and he looked at me skeptically. He made a really obvious motion towards my pants and I felt exposed even though I was fully dressed.

"I would say size doesn't matter but you'd probably push me in the snow again."

"I'd push you down the hill," I retorted.