X-Kid

One of the Boys

Luna sighed contentedly beside me as we sat in the usual spot, waiting for the boys to arrive. I rolled my eyes unintentionally, hoping she didn’t see. “Thinking about Alex again?”

“Of course,” she grinned. “He’s so gorgeous, and nice, and just...amazing.”

“What are you waiting for? Just ask him already,” I said, a pang of annoyance in my voice. As much as I loved both Luna and Alex, I was sick and tired of hearing them gush over each other.

“I’m waiting for him to ask me,” she explained. “I don’t want to jump the gun or anything.”

The boys took this opportunity to burst through the doors, causing me to jump. “Congratulations, girls,” Alex shouted. “The two of you are officially invited to Rian’s house after school to watch us jam.”

“Really?” Luna asked hopefully. “That’s gonna kick ass.”

I quickly shot a text to my mother, asking to hang out with friends after school. She would probably say yes, but I had to double check. I never knew with her. “Yeah, sounds fun.”

“You know,” Rian said, sitting down between Luna and I. “This will be the first time we’ve all hung outside of school.”

“Yeah, and there’s not a better place than your parents basement,” Jack commented.

“Where else would Jack masturbate?” Alex joked.

“Oh god,” I replied. “The mental images are awful.”

“Come on, Nora,” Luna grinned. “You know you’d pay to see that.”

A blush crept across my cheeks and Jack giggled and hid his face in his hands. “Anyway,” Zack said to break the awkwardness. “We’ll all walk to Rian’s after school. It’ll be great.”

My mother sent a reply that said ‘yes’ and I smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”

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The rest of the day passed by slowly as each class dragged on, including Biology. Jack and I were both still a little awkward about Luna’s comment, but we continued with our usual hilarious banter as the hour progressed. We discussed the after school plan and where to meet. I couldn’t help but think about how nice it was to have guy friends again. Luna was wonderful, sure, but sometimes, I liked being one of the boys.

But since Luna had talked so much about Alex recently, I found my thoughts wandering to Jack a lot. I tried to shake them away since I wasn’t quite over Drake, and that wouldn’t be fair to anybody.

The 6 of us met at the place we eat lunch before heading out the doors and walking to Rian’s house, which was only a block or two away. His mother greeted us as we all entered his house, but gave Luna and I a confused look.

“Hey Mom,” Rian said. “This is Luna and Nora, they’re some friends of ours. They came to watch us play.”

She smiled and then we all pounded down the basement, where a drum set and 3 guitars were set up. Luna and I sat down on a couch that was down there as the boys got in there places and began playing. They played some Green Day, Blink, and Nirvana and we watched intently. Alex shot winks at Luna, making her blush, and Jack made silly faces at me.

At one point, he licked the pick he was using and threw it at my face, grinning as he pulled another out of his pocket. It landed in my lap, so I picked it up and dropped it down my shirt. “Guys let’s take a break,” he said, sounding flustered and running up the stairs. The boys shrugged and followed him, leaving me alone with Luna.

“I can’t believe it,” she commented, looking at me incredulously.

I grabbed the pick from where it fell. “Can’t believe what?”

“Jack was flirting with you...and you flirted back...” she replied.

“Making faces at each other is flirting?” I asked.

“That, and the pick thing. I may have been looking at Alex, but I saw everything,” she mentioned.

“We’re just screwing around, Luna. It’s no big deal,” I defended.

“Maybe you were, but Jack was really nervous when he went upstairs,” she pointed out.

The boys returned, water bottles and a plate of cookies from Rian’s mom in hand. Jack didn’t look at me as he handed me a bottle, and I suddenly felt bad. Had I really embarrassed him that much?

“Jack,” I said. “Here’s your pick.”

He shook his head. “Nah, you keep it.”

“Come on, it may have been down my shirt, but it still works,” I replied with a nervous laugh.

He grinned sheepishly. “Consider it a gift then, so you’ll keep it.”

“Fine,” I said, shoving it into my pocket. “Your fly’s down by the way.”

He blushed and quickly turned around to fix it. Luna wiggled her eyebrows at me and I stared at the floor, biting my lip. Everyone was now wondering why I was looking at Jack’s crotch, when even I didn’t know the answer. Thank god Zack and Rian chose to broke the silence at that moment.

The fact that I embarrassed Jack never left my mind, even as I returned home. When I was safely alone in my room, I took the pick out of my pocket and cut a hole in it, putting it on a chain and making it a necklace. I wondered if Jack would like it.