Who did I get stuck with?

Unstuck?

We kicked off our shoes at the entryway and Ivan followed me to my room upstairs.

"Hey, bro, how's the boyfriend?" I said, ruffling my little brother's perfectly slicked back hair as we passed him in the hall.

"I told you, we are just friends." He insisted, straightening his hair.

"Kesesese, sure." It was a strange laugh but it was my laugh.

"Is your brother gay?" asked Ivan, dropping into his usual chair after I'd shut my bedroom door.

"He's 20 years old, never had a girlfriend, that makes him gay." I picked up my old Nerf ball and tossed it to Ivan, "He just needs to admit it."

"You know even if he was gay." He said, tossing the ball back to me as I plopped on my bed. "You teasing him like that would only make it harder for him to admit it, even to himself?"

"Really?" I tossed the ball in the air before throwing the ball back to Ivan.

"Pretty damn sure." He threw the ball back.

"Ooh. A damn. You must be serious then. You never swear." I said, trying to spin the ball on my finger tip only to have it spin off and have to go retrieve it.

This was basically how we spent our summers, especially now that Antonio was seeing someone. Just Ivan and I sitting around doing nothing in particular.

"Hey Gil, I got to tell you something." said Ivan, his voice growing more serious.

"Go ahead, shoot." I said, getting up from where the ball had wandered.

"You remember that university I was telling you about?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was accepted."

"Oh... I thought you couldn't afford to go there?"

"Apparently I did well enough last year they offered me a free ride."

While internally I was screaming, "No! Don't go! My other friends are crazy!" What actually came out of my mouth was, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Said Ivan a little unenthusiastically.

"Hey, we should go get a drink to celebrate!"

"Sure, but let's get a cab. I'm tired of being the designated."

Now just because I had discovered alcohol doesn't mean that I had discovered my limit. By my 6th beer I was beginning to say things that I otherwise wouldn't have.

"What is up with your hair, man. I mean, like, what color is it? Silvery... beige... platinum. I mean, what is it!"

"You're one to talk. You're 22 years old and you have white hair." Meanwhile, 7 shots of vodka in and Ivan is still completely sober.

"The ladies love it!" I said, showing expert coordination as I raised my pint into the air, splashing its contents onto the person behind me. Of course, I would have the luck of sitting behind a rather large Turkish man who was not in a humorous mood.

"Sarhoş aptal!" He shouted, grabbing my shirt as he jumped to his feet.

Of course I wasn't going to let this stand, but before I had even reacted Ivan was on his feet.

"Very sorry. My friend got carried away. I'll get you another drink and we will be on our way."

"I don't want another drink. I want this punk's hide mounted on the wall!" said the guy, yanking hard on my shirt.

"You're not going to want to do that." He moved between me and the other guy, and I noticed something for the first time. When Ivan stood to his full height, he was intimidating. "Let him go."