Egos and Sides (In highschool) --Discontinued--

Chapter 26: A casual hang out....?

Sitting in my backyard was: Chase, Jameson, Gloria, Patton, Robbie, Logan, Oopsie, Wilford, Roman, Jackie, and Poppy.

Why did my brothers invite all these people on a school night? I don't know. The only people I accounted for were Chase and Gloria.

The three of us sat on one of my quilted blankets on the grass in the corner.

Jameson, Patton, and Robbie were chatting at the picnic table in the middle of the yard.

Logan, Oopsie, and Wilford were... I dunno. My brain couldn't comprehend it.

Roman, Jackie, and Poppy were singing songs from Hamilton. At least, Roman and Poppy were.

"So... Virgil, is this a party or something?" Chase asked.

"No. I don't even know why most of these people are here."

We all got to work, and finished within an hour.

I asked if Gloria or Chase wanted to leave, they said no, because some real fun was brewing up.

"It is?" I was clueless.

"Haven't you been listening! They've been debating for the past five minutes to play spin the bottle or truth or dare."

"Both sound equally entertaining," I admitted. "But not for me," I added.

"Hey! You three dorks, wanna play?" Roman called.

"Sure!" Chase and Gloria exclaimed.

"Fuck," I muttered.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked, gazing at me.

"Now if I back out, I'll look bad." The idea of that made me cringe into my hood. "I'll play, too."

Roman looked shocked. "You sure?"

"Yee." There goes my only chance of escape.

We ended up playing spin the bottle. Gloria, who was on my right, went first and ended up sending it clockwise. The rules were, if you landed on sibling you could respin, and kissing on the cheek was allowed (if you were a wimp, the wimp part was heavily implied.)

Here's the summary: (spinner/spinette)

1. Gloria/Patton (On the lips)

2.Roman/Jameson (on the lips)

3.Logan/Gloria (On the cheek)

4. Patton/Jameson (On the lips-- gotta kiss the homies goodnight)

5. Jameson/Oopsie (On the lips)

6. Robbie/Roman (On the cheek)

7.Chase/Jameson *respin* Chase/Logan (on the cheek)

8.Poppy/Robbie (on the lips)

9. Oopsie/ Gloria *respin* Oopsie/Patton (on the lips)

10.Jackie/Chase (On the lips)

11. Wilford/Logan (on the cheek)

Lastly, was me. I was genuinely surprised I hadn't kissed anyone yet. Everyone was giggly and embarrassed, but still tuned in. Reluctantly, I took the stupid plastic water bottle in my hand.

I spun it, and my heart pounded in my chest as it went round and round and round.

Once it started slowing down I was on the brink of collapse. It stopped. I looked up at the person "fate" had selected.

I met eyes with Chase. Oh my god. Can I back out, respin... Pretend this never happened. Oh my goodness. I was about to bolt, but Chase began approaching. His gaze was a little hypnotic. Am I hallucinating? I must be hallucinating.

I was panicking so much that I didn't notice Chase in front of me until he murmured, "Virgil, are you okay? You can back out if you want."

My chest was so tight, and my thoughts were moving to fast that I acted on the first thing I thought. I gotta do it, I'll look like a coward if I don't!  In one fluid movement, I stepped up to Chase and smacked my lips on his.

First, my mind went blank. Then I thought, oh, this...this is nice. A warm tingling sensation filled me up from head to toe. WHOA!  What the hell is going on? I broke away from Chase.  

Slowly, I met his eyes.

He had a big grin across his face, and this time, unlike many previous times, it reached his eyes. 

I was so panicked the I turned and fled all to the safety of my room. What was that? I couldn't explain it. Kissing Chase felt safe, and comfy. It felt right. But what did "right" feel like? I always considered myself ace, so I had no past experience with attraction.

I sat in stiff contemplation for about ten minutes, until Roman busted into my room. "I'm surprised you did it, Romeo!"

I roll my eyes. "Did you just come in here to bother me?"

Roman decided to get straight to the point. "Everyone is leaving, it's about to rain. And no one's gonna take your shit inside for you."

I really didn't want to run into Chase again. "Can't Patton just-?"

He silenced me with a hand. "I am tired of everyone getting Patton to do everything for them. Go. Now."

"Go. Now," I mocked, pulling my hood up. As I exited my room, I push past Roman and hoped with every molecule of my being, Chase wasn't outside.

He wasn't. Jameson was, but Chase was nowhere to be found. Dismissing that, I scrambled to pick up my books, and bolt into the house. And guess who I ran into? Chase. 

I should've hoped he wasn't inside too. I immediately tried to pull a 10,000 IQ strat: distraction. "What were you doing in here?" I asked.

"Using the bathroom." His gaze shifted to mine, and he straight up asked, "Yo, was kissing me really that bad?"

I turn away. Because of how pale I was, I knew he would easily notice my completion change to tomato red. I stared at a random pen on the floor behind him.

"Oh." Was all he said. "So...it was more than just a kiss for the homies then?"

All this beating around the bush was gonna make me collapse. "Just spit it out Chase, what are you trying to say?"

"I liked that kiss. A lot," He paused. "Guess I have some things to figure out. I always thought I was straight. But after that, I'm definitely leaning towards bi."

I was gonna melt right there. This conversation was turning my poor popsicle body into a puddle. "Uh-huh. Chase. I'm not in the mood to sort this out right now. I'm freaked out!"

"Why? Was that your first kiss? It wasn't even anything spicy...."

"Yes! You-are-the-first-person-I've-kissed! Can I go now?" I worked up the courage to look at his face.

"Are you sure we shouldn't talk about it now? The longer we put it off, the more complicated it'll get. And I don't want anyone getting hurt." He pouted, and his blue eyes filled got a little watery.

No, no, no! How am I supposed to walk away from that? "I still... don't wanna talk," I managed.

"Okay. I respect that. But if you try to forget about this it'll really hurt my feelings. We can't avoid this forever."

"You're right, but for now, I'm going to have to, or I'm gonna friggen implode!"

"Can I at least, hug you?"

"Only because you asked for consent."

We wrapped our arms around one another. I rested my head on his chin.

Chase was warm and strong and....and...

Perfect. ❤️️

"Quit thinking like that," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing..." Nothing? Everything ❤️️? What the hell? Quit that, stupid brain!

I was definitely gonna have sort my mess of emotions out before I see him again.