Backdoor Boy

12

It wasn't long before a black car pulled up in front of the diner. The window rolled down and a boy with short, black hair flashed Ray and Mikey a wide grin. "Hey!"

Ray helped Mikey to his feet and the two crawled into the backseat. Frank turned around and held out a hand to Mikey. "I'm Frank," he said. "Nice to meet you!"

Mikey gave Frank's hand a light shake and smiled at him. "Mikey," he said. "Nice to meet you, too."

Frank turned his attention to Ray. "How was work?" he asked.

Ray shrugged. "Same old."

Frank turned around again and threw the car into drive. "How's your girlfriend?" he asked, his smiling eyes peeking at Ray in the rear-view mirror.

"She's fine. She misses you. Says we all need to hang out soon." Ray leaned forward, placing his hands on the passenger seat. "How's your mystery man?"

Frank blushed. "He's fine, thank you," he answered curtly.

Mikey glanced between the two friends. Am I missing something? he thought. Why did Ray call him Frank's "mystery man?"

As if he had read his mind, Ray turned his gaze to Mikey. "He still won't tell me his name," he explained. "He'll tell me everything about the guy, except who he is."

"How come?" Mikey asked.

"W-Well we're both still closeted," Frank said. "I mean, I'm out to friends and stuff, I don't really care about that. But I'm not out to my family. He isn't out to anyone. I just don't think it's my place to go telling people who he is, even if he is my boyfriend."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you two are using the 'boyfriend' word, huh?" he said.

Frank laughed (although it was more of a boyish giggle). "Yes, we are. But enough about that. What do you guys wanna do?"

"We could see a movie or something," Ray suggested.

Frank popped up in his seat. "Oh, I've really been wanting to see that new horror movie!" he exclaimed. "The one about the haunted doll? I know it's cliche, but I love shit like that."

Mikey's eyes lit up. "Oh, me too!" he said. "Did you see that one that came out a few years ago about the doll cult? It was insanely cheesy, but it's honestly one of my favorite movies ever made." He and Gerard had watched it once while sipping vodka stolen from their parents liquor cabinet. While the plot was ridiculous, it was just ridiculous enough to actually work.

"Dude, yeah!" Frank cried. "That movie is so great! My boyfriend actually showed it to me the other night."

Mikey grinned. "Your boyfriend sounds cool," he said. He turned to Ray. "I know we saw that one already, but would you wanna see it again?"

Ray, who had been grinning at the interaction between the two, just shrugged. "Yeah, I don't care," he said. "You guys seem really into it."

"So then that's that," Frank said, matter-of-factly. "We'll see it!"

Mikey laughed. He really liked Frank already; he could see why he and Ray were such good friends. I really think he and Gerard would get along, Mikey thought. Frank seems like the type of person who could... Get him to open up a little.

After the movie, Frank decided that he was quite tired, and took Ray and Mikey back to the diner before saying goodnight. The two stood in the parking lot for a few moments before anyone spoke.

"Frank's really cool," Mikey said. "I like him." He turned his face upwards towards the sky. It was late, and most of the town's lights were out, creating a clear sky filled with stars. He took a slow, deep breath, eyes closed, and felt the summer air around him. When he came back to reality and turned to Ray, he noticed that Ray had been staring at him. Mikey blushed. "W-What?" he asked.