Over the three weeks of that winter break, Ivan and I learned a lot. I learned about the accident that lost him his eye. I learned to not question my own sexuality. I learned that Annabeth (nickname, not her real name) —my girlfriend since July— dumped me for some community college douche who then dumped her during his spring break in Ft. Lauderdale. I learned to accept Ivan as my new best friend. And I learned enough to convince me that Ivan would probably end up living life as a 100% gay boy, just as soon as he graduated and could get the hell out of Dodge.
By February, I was dating Mallory, and I set up Ivan with Liz so that we could double-date. Unlike Mallory, Liz paid attention in church and I'd never heard of her going beyond holding hands. Therefore, she was safe for Ivan, and after a month of their dating, his reputation rose as all the other guys assumed he'd cracked her code. Liz, of course, worshiped him as the respectful boy he was.
Their eventual breakup was like a hellstorm.
Now, I've written other stories about me and Annabeth and me and Mallory, but I know damn well that you guys are looking for something else. So here it is, straight from me to you.
Yeah, sure. Ivan and I still messed around during our last four months of high school. The way I figure it, between Christmas and graduation I soaked him at least two dozen times. Sometimes we'd get a little therapy session in before dinner, other times we'd sleep over after taking our dates home.
We saw this old movie where two con men use hand signals with each other. We adopted the double wink and the itchy nose. If one of us double winked at the other and then glanced at someone, then it was like saying, "S/he could be had." If it was the double wink and a glance up at the sky, then it was an invitation to launch a rocket later. The nose on the finger meant that you agreed.
As our nascent Model Congress was adjourning its last session of our senior year, I gave Ivan the double wink and glanced over at Jake. I knew that Ivan had his 'nads in a twist for him, and suspected that (with a little help from me) the two of them would find each other for at least one therapy session. Ivan surprised me by giving his head a quick shake no.
Then Ivan gave me the double wink, tossed his head way back and stared up at the sky. We'd soon discover that the two words to best describe our upcoming summer were to be long and hot.
J. Erik Cuchaço
2018
YOU ARE READING
Model Citizens
General Fiction[completed] [about 9000 words] August 2019 This is the first Wattpad story created from the teenage journals of JE Cuchaço, who grew up for a while in Kentucky, before moving on after high school and college. If you've ever listened to the Mortified...
