My Paradise: Chapter 3

The sun was setting behind the roof tops as I walked out of my house. The clouds on the sky were colored bright orange. I was mesmerized by the colors on the sky for a moment before I remembered why I was out there in the first place. I started to walk down the street in the direction of the library. I saw two girls at the other side of the street. I remembered their faces from the bus, so I knew they went to my school.

“Hey, it’s that new kid,” one of the girls said with a low voice as she looked at me. They probably thought I couldn’t hear them, but I did.

“I almost feel bad for him,” the other girl said, lowering her voice. “He doesn’t have any friends around here.”

I narrowed my eyes, feeling rather annoyed. I did have friends! Just not around this area yet! I wanted to shout that out to them, but I decided it was better if I held my tongue. I shook it off as I kept walking further and further away from them. I looked around, thinking I should’ve been able to see Andy by now. I stopped and turned around to see if I had missed anything. Maybe I had been so mad with those girls that I completely forgot to look for Andy?

I suddenly heard something in the bushes behind me. And all of the sudden I was attacked from behind. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. I fell to the ground with someone on top, pushing me down. I managed to turn my head enough to see who had attacked me.

Andy laughed. “You should’ve seen that reaction, dude!” He got off of me and helped me back up, pulling me to my feet by my arms.

I was still in shock. I couldn’t move, couldn’t say anything. I just stared at him.

“At least I know you’re not good at wrestling or anything,” he said and snickered. “You looked like you were about to do the rain dance!” With a small laugh, he recreated the reaction I supposedly had made. He looked at me in silence for a moment, his grin fading. “What? I didn’t scare you that bad, did I? Oh, come on! Lighten up! It was a joke! I used to do that with my friends back in Maryland all the time.”

What was I supposed to reply to that? That I honestly thought my time had come? That I was so scared I was about to piss my pants? I forced out a small, insecure laugh. “Heh, yeah. Good one, dude.”

He grinned again. “Come on, let’s go for a walk around the neighborhood.”

I had to admit, Andy was everything I wished I was. He was never afraid to do anything stupid, like tackle his new friends. When we walked by some girls, he started to flirt with them. He really knew what he was doing, though to me, the whole thing seemed so bizarre. I was mad at myself for being so shy. I hardly even looked at the girls he flirted with. It could never be natural for me to walk up to some girls I had never seen before and start complimenting their hair and eyes, then their butts. No, I could never be that insane. I’d end up having the girls slapping me or give me weird looks. But Andy… Andy had everything under control. He girls giggled and flirted back with him, seemingly flattered.

I was hanging out with Andy for a couple of hours that night. He found out that I was actually a very funny guy. At least he told me that. I made him laugh. He was cracking me up as well. We were getting along perfectly. He also told me his grades weren’t that bad, so I knew he’d make an effort in order to get our English paper as good as possible.

I walked Andy home to see where he lived. It was a nice two story house with a pretty garden.

“Nice place, dude,” I said and smiled.

“Hey, thanks,” he replied and grinned. “My mom is a flower freak. She needed a nice garden she could work with. Plus my dad always wants to have the best house on the block. A nice house includes a nice yard. My parents are crazy. You’ll love them!”

I laughed a little. “I bet. But I have to get going now, since it’s school tomorrow. Got to try to get up a little early. Are you taking the bus tomorrow?”

“I might… I was thinking about it,” he replied. “It’s a lot more social than riding with my mom, that’s for sure.” He scratched his dark hair.

“Alright, maybe I’ll see you on it tomorrow, then,” I said with a content smile.

“Peace out, Josh!” He held up two fingers in a peace sign and hurried up the stairs to his house.

I walked down the drive and headed home. I felt like Andy and I were getting closer by the minute. Things were really going my way. I missed having a friend like Bradley around. Andy was a bit more insane than Brad, but he was still friendly.

…

Andy and I made a deal about when we would start working on our paper, at school the day after. We would have another day off where we weren’t forced to start, then we would get working on it on Wednesday. It was now Tuesday. Nicky begged me to come with her home after school, so I made a phone call in order to get my dad to pick me up at Nicky’s place later on.

During the long break at school, I was able to let Andy meet the girls.

I poked Andy’s shoulder. “Hey, there they are!” I pointed in the direction of the three girls once I had his attention.

“Hey, they’re gorgeous!” he blurted out, his eyes wide.

I snickered. “Yeah, I know. Come on, dude! Time for you to meet them!” I headed towards them. They were sitting on the grass outside, looking at some papers, probably notes from one of their classes.

Nicky looked up. When she saw me, she smiled happily, her eyes full of enthusiasm. “Josh!”

The other girls looked up and greeted me as well. “Who’s your friend?” Lucy asked.

“Girls, this is Andy,” I introduced. “Andy, this is Nicky, Jenna and Lucy.”

“Wow, Josh really is good at choosing the right friends,” Andy said and winked at them.

Lucy giggled. Jenna smiled. Nicky looked at me, a little confused.

The five of us hung out during the breaks we had. Andy seemed to get along just fine with Jenna and Lucy. Nicky didn’t say much, which surprised me a bit. But I suppose people have their bad days too.

After school, I took the bus home with Nicky. I was surprised to see her house. It was really beautiful. They even had a pool out in the back. Her bedroom was in the basement.

“I like to have my room down here because I can play music as loud as I want,” she said and grinned. Then she pointed over to a drum set in the corner. “I try to play… Hence that I said I try to play.” She giggled.

I snickered. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I couldn’t play the drums to save my life. I used to know how to play the guitar, though.”

She looked at me. “Wow, really?”

“Yeah, but I only knew how to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’, so it wasn’t much to brag about.”

We both laughed a little. She then offered me to sit down. We sat on her bed and talked for a while.

“So, what do you think about Andy today?” I asked and smiled.

She frowned. “I honestly don’t understand what you see in him.”

I got a confused look on my face. “What?”

“I mean, he’s a player,” she answered and picked up a teddy bear from next to her pillow. She put it on her lap and held her arms around it. “Can’t you tell? He flirts, and he has those stupid cliché lines that only makes me wanna hurl. He might be a good friend to you, but he’d never be a good friend to me.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked. “Maybe it’s just his way of getting to know you. You know, using those stupid lines.”

“I doubt it,” she muttered. “Almost all guys are the same. Especially when they act like he does. But you’re not like him and that’s what I like about you. You’re not stupid and feel like you have to make goofy lines to make us laugh. You’re just…you.”

I smiled gratefully. “Well, I’m glad you like me for who I am. But you know, most girls like guys like Andy.”

“That’s because they’re blonde, stupid bimbos!” she exclaimed. “It means they have no sign of a brain what so ever! A normal girl doesn’t want that. They want the sensitive guys. Guys that show a little emotions now and then.”

“I’m a sensitive guy?” I asked, feeling really stupid.

“Uh… Yes, Josh,” she replied, smiling.

You can probably tell I was insulted. I didn’t want to be a fucking sensitive guy! I wanted to be tough! So I figured it was time to show fewer emotions. I had to work on how not to seem so shy. The only question was how.

…

I sat down by the computer and stared at the screen. Then I started to type. I started to write down all the good parts about me, then the bad parts. I knew what I had to change. I had to become more like Andy.

There was a knock on my door. “Josh?” Mom poked her head inside my room. “What are you still doing up? You have school tomorrow.”

I looked back at her and knew she had found out I was still up since I was listening to music. It wasn’t on loud or anything, but if you walked by my door, you’d hear it. “I’m going to bed in five minutes.”

“No, you’re going to bed now,” Mom said, sternly.

“Alright, three minutes,” I said.

“One minute.”

“One and a half?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Deal.” Then she smiled. “Goodnight, sweetie.”

I smiled back. “Night, Mom.” I wrote a bit more on my list, then I saved it and went to brush my teeth for the night.

I went back to my room once I was done in the bathroom. I got under the duvet and rested my head on the pillow. I knew tomorrow would be a long day. Andy and I were gonna work on that paper. Hopefully we’d get a lot of work done then, so we would have more time off. I don’t like to be hanging behind with things. I like to finish them there and then, so I won’t have to worry more about it.

Once I got comfortable, I drifted off to sleep. The voices on the radio woke me up the next morning. I registered that they said it was going to be sunny all day, the temperature being at a good 86 degrees.

I sat up, scratching my head and yawning. Then I got out of my bed and changed my underwear and socks, before putting on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, still listening to the radio. I turned it off as I left my room. After fixing my hair in the bathroom, I hurried downstairs to get some breakfast. I wasn’t late or anything, but sometimes I get an energy kick in the mornings. Though they’re rare.

Mom had made me and my siblings some toast. The kitchen was empty at the moment.

I had some of the toast Mom had made and sat down by the table, grabbing a comic that my brother had brought in there. While eating, I started to read it.

Jessie entered the room shortly after. “Hey,” she greeted me.

I looked up at her. “Hey.”

“How was your date yesterday?” she asked, grinning.

I swallowed the food I had in my mouth, frowning annoyed. “It wasn’t a date! I was just hanging out with her over at her place. Nothing happened, alright.”

“Fine, fine,” she replied, still grinning. She helped herself to some toast and sat down by the table. “So, what are your plans today?”

“Why do you need to know?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

“I’m just asking, jeez!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to hang out with Tommy tonight.” She smiled proudly.

“Good for you…” I muttered, my attention directed at the comic. “I’m going to work on my English paper together with Andy.”

“Oh?” she asked. “Why don’t you work on it with Nicky?”

I looked up from the comic again. “She’s not in my English class, dummy!”

“Like I was supposed to know that!” She tossed her long blonde hair behind her shoulder.

This was a typical morning, I would say. Jessie and I snapped at each other. Theo ran around the house and played with the dog, knocking a plant over eventually. Dad was cheerful as always, heading off to work. Mom yelled at Theo for running inside the house. Yup, nothing out of the ordinary.

I left the house and went to the bus stop. I sat next to Andy on the bus, as he had started to take it with us. We chatted about different things, not really getting into a serious conversation. We joked and laughed a bit, though.

The school day went by kind of slowly. I was with Andy and the girls during the breaks and lunch. I had decided not to tell Andy that Nicky didn’t like him. It was between her and me. Andy didn’t need to know that at all. It was up to Nicky if she wanted him to know that or not. Of course, he could probably tell by the way she didn’t talk to him much.

At the end of the day, Andy and I got on the bus back home.

“So, where do you wanna work on our paper?” I asked him. “My place, your place, the library?”

“It’s all the same to me, dude,” he replied. “I still haven’t seen where you live, though.”

“Alright, so you wanna be at my place, then?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure.” He smiled.

So then that was settled. We got off the bus outside my house. I led him inside and quickly showed him around.

“Just make yourself at home,” I said. “If you’re thirsty, you can get something from the fridge. If you’re hungry, there’s probably something up in one of the cabinets you can eat. We have some pop tarts and stuff.”

“Cool,” he said and grinned, looking around.

“Come on, let’s go up to my room,” I said and led the way up there. I opened the door. “Welcome to my space.” I walked inside and turned back to watch him as he stepped in.

His eyes quickly went across everything. “Wow, cool!” He pointed at a poster above my bed. “Metallica, way to go!” He pointed at another one. “Blink 182! Awesome! You have great taste in music, Josh, my friend.” He grinned at me and walked further into the room.

I bowed lightly. “Why, thank you.” I snickered. Then I nodded over at my computer. “My workspace, dude.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, still grinning. “So that’s where you download all your porn?” He cracked up.

I laughed as well. “Yeah, of course!”

“Heh, I like your room,” he said, taking a seat on my bed.

“Gracias, dude,” I replied and walked over to my computer, turning the screen on and moved the mouse to get the screensaver away. I opened the Internet and started to search for some facts we could use for our paper.

“What, are we starting already?” Andy asked surprised.

I looked back at him and shrugged. “Might as well.”

“Okay,” he muttered, not seeming too happy about that.

We worked on the paper for a while before we took a break. I must admit, Andy was acting strange. I still enjoyed his company, however. I figured I just had to get used to him, so I decided not to let it get to me. He was probably slightly insane, but most of the time, I found that part of him hilarious.

Andy was lying on his back on my bed. “Hey, Josh?”

I was sitting up by my pillow, resting my back against the wall. “Hm?”

“Truth or dare?”

I snorted, finding that question rather bizarre. After all, we were getting a bit old for that game. But I played along. “Truth, dude.”

He didn’t look at me. He was just staring at the ceiling. Then he asked the question: “Have you ever kissed a guy?”

I let out a snicker. “No way! I’m straight.” I scratched my arm. “Truth or dare, Andy?”

“Uhm… Truth,” he replied, still staring up at the ceiling.

“Did you ever have gay fantasies?” I couldn’t help but laugh a little once I had asked that question.

Andy didn’t reply right away. He remained silent for a moment, then he opened his mouth. “Maaaybe… I have thought about it before, though I didn’t really have any fantasies.” He finally looked at me, his eyebrows lowered. “But that doesn’t make me gay!”

I looked back, smirking. “No, I didn’t say that.”

“Wipe that smirk off your face, man!” he snapped at me.

This was the first time Andy had ever acted touchy about something. He was always joking about everything, but he did not enjoy joking about gayness. I figured that was alright. I wouldn’t like to be accused for being gay either.

He turned his head back and looked at the ceiling again. “Truth or dare?”

“Hmm, I’ll just go with truth, since it’s the easiest,” I replied.

“Have you ever thought of having sex with your own mother?”

“Shit, don’t be gross!” I cried out. “No, I haven’t. Man, that’s just sick!”

Andy was now holding his stomach, laughing. “You sound fucking hilarious when you freak out!”

“Maybe so, but that question was stomach turning!” I wrinkled my nose. “Fuck… So… Truth or dare?”

Andy had stopped laughing now. He still smiled, though. “Truth, then.”

“What is your deepest secret?” I asked. “A secret you never planned on telling anyone?”

He looked at me. “If I’m not planning on telling anyone, why do you suppose I’ll tell you, smartass?”

“Because I actually asked,” I replied, grinning at him.

“Hah, yeah! Of course I’d tell you! Pfft, how stupid to you think I am?”

I laughed. “You have to follow the rules of the game. No lying, no chickening out.”

He sighed. “Fine… I… I’ve… I mean, I… I’m a virgin…”

I looked at him, expressionlessly. “Yeah, so? I’m a virgin too.”

“Well, it’s easy to tell that you are a virgin, dude!” he said. “But people always think I’ve had sex with tons of girls! Admit it; you thought so too, right?”

I had lowered my eyebrows at him, finding what he said about me rather insulting. “Well, yes, I suppose I thought you had been having sex since you were thirteen or something.”

“Exactly!” he exclaimed. “That’s why people always think of me as a god!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”

“Back in Maryland, I used to always manage to date the prettiest of the prettiest, you know what I mean?” he explained. “And all the other guys said I had to teach them how to get laid so often. But the thing is… I never had sex with any of the girls I was out with.”

I nodded, understandingly. “Well, I assumed you were a player,” I said.

“I am a player with girls!” he exclaimed. “Just leaving out the sex part.”

“Alright, alright,” I said, raising my hands to show I wasn’t going to argue about it. I looked over at the computer. “Maybe we should get back to work?”

Andy sat up. “Yeah, sure.”

…

The bed was moving. I moaned and pulled the blanket over my head as I realized what was going on.

“Wake up, wake up!” Theo chanted while jumping on the bed. “Mom said you have to wake up! You overslept!”

So I had. I registered I had less than 10 minutes to get ready for school as I looked over at the radio clock. I sat up quickly. “Shit!”

Theo laughed. “You said the S-word!”

“Theo, get out of my room!” I shouted and pushed him off the bed.

The little boy landed on his feet, still snickering at what I had said. Then he ran out. “Moooom, he’s up!”

I grunted annoyed and got out of my bed to get dressed. I hurried up and ran out the front door to catch the bus. I ran all the way there as I saw that the bus had already arrived, letting people on. I made it, panting heavily. I walked on and found Andy near the back.

“Got yourself some morning exercise, I see,” he said, smirking.

I was still breathing heavily and practically fell down on the seat next to him. “I hate to be rushed in the morning! I usually don’t have that much energy when I just got out of bed.”

He laughed. “When did you wake up?”

“Ugh… About 7 minutes ago…”

…

We decided to keep working over at Andy’s place today. We went over to the library to get some books since we didn’t think we got enough from the Internet the day before. Plus we figured that since we had books, we could now sit outside in the sun. We settled outside on the trampoline with the books we borrowed and our notebooks.

I found out Andy had a younger brother who so badly wanted this trampoline. So their parents had bought their sons one for their enjoyment.

“Theo’s been begging Mom and Dad to buy him a trampoline, too,” I told Andy as I scribbled something down in my notebook.

“Yeah, little brothers are a pain in the ass,” Andy replied, chewing on his pencil. “They beg and beg, and finally they get everything they want.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” I muttered. I looked around us at the books. “Blah… Wanna take a break now? All this stuff is boring me so much I feel like falling asleep.”

“Hey, no snoozing, Sleeping Beauty!” he said sternly. “I can get us something to drink, though. I’m thirsty.”

I nodded and watched him as he got off the trampoline to get us something to drink. He returned shortly with some cans of soda.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a little of everything,” he said. “I got some coke, some Dr. Pepper, some Sprite and some Fanta. Make your pick.”

“I’ll go for the Sprite,” I replied, shoving the books away from me so I could get more comfortable.

He handed the can over and took the coke for himself. We both lay down on our backs and looked up at the blue sky. I took a sip of my Sprite every now and then, having to sit up a bit to drink, in order not to spill anything. Andy did the same.

“Joooosh..?”

I smiled. “Aaaaandy?”

“Truth or dare?”

“This game again, huh?” I snickered.

“Yeah, we never did any dares yesterday,” he replied.

“Alright, fair enough,” I said. “Truth, heheh.”

“You wuss!” he exclaimed. “Fine! I’ll be cliché-ish, then, since I’m running out of questions. Are you in love with anyone right now?”

“In love with anyone?” I repeated. “Nah… I don’t think so, actually.” I glanced over at him. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare!”

“Alright, spin around 15 times. Then run in a straight line from here to the porch.”

“You’re on!” he said, getting off the trampoline. He left his soda on the grass and started to spin around.

I sat up and watched him, laughing a little.

Andy almost lost his balance while spinning. But he managed. Once he had counted to 15, he started to run towards the porch. He stepped over his own feet and fell flat on his face before he got that far.

I burst out laughing.

“I’m alright,” Andy said, waving one arm in the air. Then he got up and walked back to me. “It didn’t work as well as planned, Josh.” He sat on the trampoline again with his soda can in his hand. “So… Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” I replied, grinning at him.

He looked into my eyes for a moment without saying anything. Then he opened his mouth and said with a calm voice: “Kiss me.”