Ethereal | RJ (HSMTMTS)

Part 11

EJ's POV

Birds chirp all around, landing down in puddles to splash before lifting off again. The mountains create a hazy line between where the sun hits and where the shadow shades. It's cool out this morning, but Ricky insisted that he wouldn't need a coat, so he shivers beside me as we walk down the sidewalks of Stale. 

"Are you cold?" I ask. 

"If that would be admitting defeat, then no," Ricky replies. "I am not cold."

He's obviously cold. I can see the goosebumps on his arms, and he has them held tight to his body, attempting to absorb that warmth. While he walks, I start taking off my letterman jacket, and Ricky looks at me with a smile when I throw it over his shoulders. 

"Thanks," he says. 

Now I'm cold, but that's better than him being cold, and honestly the cute smile on his face makes it worth it. 

But when I look ahead again, my eyes go to the Jeep rolling down the opposite side of the street. I try to look away, but they've already seen me, and the car pulls up across the centre of the road, against the cement by me and Ricky. Ricky doesn't know them, so he turns, perplexed by the person rolling down their window to look out at us, but I just step around him, trying to think of a story for why he's wearing my jacket. 

"'Sup, EJ," Chris says, resting his elbow on the door. 

In the passenger seat, Damion gives me a nod. They know about Ricky. Well, they know he's my friend. They also know that, for the past month, I've been spending a lot less time with them, and they know that I broke up with Freya a while back. So I don't want them piecing the parts together. Anxious to just get them away, I put on a bright smile and try to act casual. 

"Not much," I respond. "What's up with you?"

Rather than answer, he looks at Ricky, saying, "Hey, it's the skater kid. But I haven't seen him with his skateboard in a while."

"Uh, yeah, he's been walking," I say. 

"Yo, you should bring him to hang out with us," Damion speaks up. 

"Dude, you should," Chris agrees. "Harley's having another party tonight. Bring Skater Boy, and he can meet the homies."

My initial reaction is no, but Chris keeps pushing. 

"Come on. The guys are starting to wonder if you've died or something because of how little you see them anymore."

I would be fine to go on my own, but bringing Ricky just seems a little risky. I bet Freya will be there, and I haven't even spoken to her since we broke up. But then Chris looks at Ricky and asks him directly. 

"You should come tonight."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ricky responds.

He looks at me, and when he sees my worried eyes, his fall under a similar fog. Unfortunately, it's too late to back out, because Chris starts his car again, shouting to us as he takes off again. 

"Cool! See you later!"

When he turns the corner at the end of the block, Ricky steps over to me with a puzzled expression. 

"What?" he asks. 

"I just didn't think you'd want to go. All my friends will be there, and we can't—I mean I'm not—they don't know that we're dating or even that I'm gay."

"Well, we don't have to tell them," Ricky responds. "We'll just be friends. Besides, it'd be chill to meet some more people here."

I suppose he's right. There's no reason why we can't just pretend to be friends for the night. It can't be that hard anyway.