Four and Counting Down

Zoe

Dallon and Shaun enter the kitchen long after me and Kristina are done talking. They don't even look at us, they stare at only each other. They're both breathing heavily, Shaun's lips are puffy, and Dallon's eyes sparkle with hope, joy, and love.

Oh Fuck. I think with a capital F. Dallon is in some deep shit. I'm certain that though Shaun cares about Dallon, but he I don't think he loves him they way he's loved. Not that it couldn't change.

Dallon clearly isn't aware of this. He's literally blinded by his happiness. But I won't tell him, even though I should. I won't be the one to ruin what might be the only time he's ever been truly happy in his life. Instead I say:

"Who wants pizza?"

We all do.

I put down five pieces of pizza. I usually don't eat so much, but I'm in good company, and I don't see why the hell not. I drink seven cups of root beer. And Dallon ate and drank more than me, he must have been burning a lot of calories in the bathroom. I tell this to Kristina, and she giggles. She has a beautiful laugh, like a chiming bell.

Kristina brings out a big poster board. She and Shaun are in charge of decorating and designing it. We'll all write it, but I'll edit everything and check grammar. Dallon was going to assemble the power-point we had, and then I would edit it, and Kristina would beautify it. We work for a couple hours, and actually start bonding. We laugh, listen to music, and Dallon and Shaun have foot sex under the table while we eat pizza.

Eventually Kristina's brothers arrive home from some sports practice. They're both tall, well muscled, and have wavy brown hair. One has the same forest green eyes as Kristina, while the other's eyes are a shade of soft brown. They both saunter into the room, sweaty and laughing. They stop once they realize it's full of people they're not familiar with.

"Hey Ryder, Nikolai." Kristina greets them. I'm not certain whose who. "Guys, these are my brothers." She continues. "Brothers, this is the squad." I start at this. I've never been part of something collective before. Kristina gestures at us around the kitchen, rattling off our names. "That's Shaun, Dallon, and Zoe." Nikolai, or was it Ryder, looks at me, and keeps looking. I stare right back at him, and he flushes lightly, the color almost unnoticeable on his caramel skin. He looks away, and locks his gaze on the floor.

I brush my hair back from my face, and tuck it behind my ears. I might have some fun with that one. Of course I did have a current relationship with a certain special someone. I smile at the thought of him. One of the brothers, Nikolai/Ryder announces that he's going to take a shower. His voice is smooth, like honey. He exits the room, probably not wanting to hang out with use any longer than what's socially acceptable. The other brother snatches a piece of supreme pizza, and follows his twin out of the room. I don't blame them for leaving, Shaun disgusts me as well.

I say this to him, and he squeals loudly, obviously offended. Dallon looks up from eating, cheese hanging from his mouth, assessing the threat. Realizing that it's just Shaun being gay, he goes back to eating.

Shaun huffs, and sits down, like a bratty child.

"So." I say, "Whose house are we going to next." Dallon swallows his pizza rather loudly.

"That sounds like and invitation." Dallon challenges, I shrug, unfazed.

"Alright, my house it is, I'll text you losers the details later." Shaun nods, and then realizing that he has just agreed to being a loser, begins protesting obnoxiously.

We continue dutifully working on the speech, we make a lot of progress, and after awhile, I become incredibly bored. "Hey guys," I begin getting an idea. "Since we've gotten a lot of the project done, I suggest doing something else when we meet at my house." Kristina arches a single elegant eyebrow in a quizzical expression.