Reversing Roles

Chapter 11

Joey pulled up in front of Bruce Willis's large, mansion-like house, with Grayson sitting anxiously in the passenger seat, beside him, that next night. Before exiting the car, both boys stared in awe at the house, silently gawking. It was like a palace! The whole car ride over, ever since Joey had picked Grayson up in his father's new Subaru, Grayson had been fidgety and nervous. This was his first high school party, so he didn't know what to expect. Would it be like how all the movies portray them as? He also didn't know whether to bring anything or not, like you would at a family gathering, so he had quickly grabbed the unopened box of Favourites from his pantry. Bright lights leaked through the large, ceiling-to-floor windows and loud music blared through the walls.

"Wow...." Joey said, breaking the silence. "You know, I still can't believe YOU got an invite to Bruce Willis's party. No offence."

"Just because you say, 'No offence,' it doesn't mean I'm not offended," Grayson stated. Joey rolled his eyes, mockingly.

"So, who invited you? You still haven't told me."

"Just.... a friend," he replied, chewing on his thumbnail. Joey eyed him, suspiciously.

"Like who? You don't talk to anyone popular enough to get an invite," Joey laughed. Grayson raised one eyebrow, accidentally tearing open the box of chocolates he'd been fiddling with, due to nervousness.

"Funny."

"But, seriously. Who?"

"A friend."

"Right.... Oh, was it a girl friend?" Joey wiggled his eyebrows, like Grayson's mum or dad might, whenever they'd detect his crush.

"N-no."

"Oh my, God, it was! Okay, lemme guess-" He was acting like such a girl. "-Katie Lawrence? Nah. Jessica Byers? Nope. Lilly Trescott? Ha, no way. What was I thinking? Was it-"

"It was Alyssa King," Grayson mumbled, keeping his eyes fixed on the now open box, sitting in his lap. He hungrily eyed the Picnic that laid untouched, on top of the pile.

"....Who?" Joey asked, slowly. Grayson exhaled.

"Alyssa King." Joey stared at him dead in the eye, for a solid minute, then burst out laughing. Grayson frowned. "What?" he demanded.

"Alyssa? Alyssa King?"

"That's what I said," he sassily responded, matter-of-factly.

"You're on meds, Mendes," Joey struggled, snickering some more, and shaking his head.

"I'm really not."

"Um, I think the fuck you are. You do realise that Alyssa King is the toughest girl in school, right? Have you even spoken to her before? Have you even made eye-contact before?" Joey kept laughing. Grayson huffed and squared up.

"Do you not remember? Alyssa was the girl that Josh Mason had slapped on the ass, in the cafeteria. I was the one who punched Josh because of it," Grayson slowly explained. Joey stopped laughing, everything rushing back to him.

"Oh my, God," he whispered. "I do remember."

"See? There you go." Joey tilted his head and chewed on his gums. It was obvious that his mind had travelled back to that day.

"But, to be fair, Josh has slapped a lot of girls on the ass. It can be tricky to remember who he has and hasn't assaulted," Joey admitted. Grayson grimaced.