“Kinda like a bar mitzvah, but for…Christians?” CK asked.
Skyler scratched his head before continuing. “Yeah, I guess it’s like a Christian version…at least it was for their church. I learned from the McMahons that Catholics get baptized at birth, but the Tinsdales are part of some kind of whack-a-doodle non-denominational Bible church that requires its kids to get baptized at twelve or thirteen.”
“Oh. Did you get baptized?”
“No. Despite what Rebecca thought she was teaching me, I didn’t believe in it at all. What they taught in Bible class was ‘love your neighbor,’—which is the right message—but what they taught me at home was your neighbors are the wealthy and good-looking suburbanite people. You should ignore everyone else.” Skyler finished loading his t-shirts into a bureau drawer. He stood up and stretched, looking over at CK who was listening intently and sitting on the bed, hands frozen in time over a half broken-down box.
“Needless to say,” he continued, “Rebecca wasn’t pleased with me. That was probably my first strike.”
“The first?” CK asked.
“Yeah, the second came a couple of months ago.” Changing the subject, he asked, “How far do you usually run?”
CK smiled and answered Skyler’s question. “I run four to ten miles a day. I’m on the track team. I’ve done swimming and a few other things but running is what I like best, aside from lifting weights.”
“I figured as much, based on your build,” Skyler said absent-mindedly.
“Aw, thanks, you think I look good?” CK teased. He took a moment to flex his biceps and grunted.
Skyler panicked. “I, uh, I didn’t mean it like that,” he stammered, turning beet red. He closed the bureau drawer he had just filled with clothes. Can I trust him? Should I trust him?
“You can relax, man, you’re home. I mean, I know this is a new place and all, but, uh, you can, well, never mind. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Hey, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m gonna give you shit cuz it’s what I do. I’m not trying to be an ass, really.”
You’re cute when you’re nervous. Skyler smiled and tapped his head. “Okay, message received.” But not really. Why are you giving me shit?
The boys chatted and finished hanging up Skyler’s pants in his closet. They arranged his sweaters and gym clothes on the closet shelves and set Skyler’s other belongings around the room. Neither CK nor Skyler saw Dale poke his head in briefly. He smiled as he watched the boys get to know one another and then continued on his way.
When they finished breaking down all the empty boxes, CK stacked them near the doorway. Skyler pulled out the modern chair at his desk and collapsed into it. He picked up a tennis ball that hadn’t found a home yet and tossed it to CK, who sat down on the bed. He caught the ball and flopped onto his back. He started tossing the ball up in the air above his face.
“That’s it, I’m done for the night,” Skyler declared. The room looks fine for now. Eventually I’ll redecorate and make this place more my own.
“Dude,” CK answered. “We got a lot done tonight.” He caught the ball one last time and then gestured to the open space of the room. “Correction, we did awesome.”
“For sure.”
“Catch!” CK tossed the ball back to Skyler. He sat up and looked at Skyler, grinning. “My dad said I had to wait until tomorrow, but I’m not going to.”
“Okay,” Skyler said, bemused. Now what are you going to do to me?
“Time for Twenty Questions! I want to get to know you. If we’re gonna be foster brothers, we might as well get to know each other, like real brothers would. I’ve never had a brother or sister, so I think you being here is really cool.”
Seriously? Twenty Questions? I’m flattered, but that’s not weird at all…completely normal, I’m sure. Skyler chuckled and said, “Um, okay…Thanks. I can deal with that. But, you know it’s not fair if I’m the only one getting grilled.”
“That’s fine,” CK said. “I’m down for answering your questions. Toss the ball back.” Skyler gently lobbed the ball over to CK. “Excellent. Since I now have the ball, I’ll be asking the first question.”
“What? You tricked me!”
“Did not.” CK responded, laughing. “First question, what’s your favorite color?”
“Blue,” Skyler answered. But you knew that already. He put his hands up and gestured at the room. “You clearly knew that one, cuz that’s the color you guys painted my room.” He held out his hand and said, “The ball?”
“Fair enough,” CK said, chuckling and tossing the ball.
“Your question, what’s your favorite food?”
“Mom’s Chicken Parmigiana. It’s the best, ever,” CK answered.
“I can’t wait to try it.”
“Hey, speaking of mom, mom and dad are probably in the living room reading or something, do you want to stay up here or go out on the back deck? I bet it’s still really nice out.”
Skyler lit up and said, “Yeah! Your deck is awesome.” Since it’s hot out, maybe I’ll get to see you shirtless. Skyler! Stop thinking like that. Awkward much?
“Our deck,” CK corrected. He jumped off the bed and walked out into the hallway, grabbing some of the collapsed boxes.
Skyler followed behind with the rest of the flattened boxes. Their bare feet slapped the wooden stairs as they headed down to the kitchen to grab a soda before heading outside. In the living room, on the light blue sofa, Liara had snuggled up against Dale and was reading a book while Dale scrolled through something on his iPad.
“Whatcha guys up to?” Liara asked, looking up from her book. Dale lowered the iPad and looked at them.
CK paused in the doorway and piped up, “We finished unpacking Skyler’s stuff. We’re gonna chill outside and get some fresh air.”
“Good for you guys. Skyler, I hope you feel more settled now that you’re unpacked. Let us know if you need anything.”
“I do, and I will, Liara,” Skyler said. “Thanks.” The boys continued into the kitchen and headed out to the garage where they walked over to the recycling container and stacked the flattened boxes.
“Mixed-path recycling,” CK said. “We don’t have to sort and separate out glass, plastics, or papers.”
“Oooh, that’s so much easier” Skyler answered. He smiled when he saw his road and mountain bikes suspended from the ceiling of the garage near other suspended bikes. He had wondered where they went. Dale must have hung them while he was napping. Damn, these people don’t waste any time!
They walked back into the kitchen and headed to the refrigerator. CK opened the fridge and surveyed its contents. “Water, juice, Pepsi, or Sprite,” CK announced, looking back at Skyler.
“Pepsi would be great,” Skyler said. He walked over to the glass slider door and surveyed the deck where they had eaten dinner. The moonlight illuminated the backyard and revealed lawn chairs, sculpted walkways and gardens, and an illuminated pool. Skyler tilted his head with curiosity. A pool? Sweet! How the hell did I not see the pool earlier during dinner?
He had never lived anywhere with a pool before, and since he loved to swim, the pool was a fantastic surprise. The ice maker’s auger crunched loudly and broke the silence in the kitchen as CK filled their glasses with ice. The noise brought Skyler’s mind back to the kitchen. He turned and scrunched his eyebrows in amusement as his eyes landed on CK, who, caught up in his own world, shook his hips and danced to some unheard song while the glasses filled with ice. Skyler started to laugh out loud but tried to cover it with a cough.
CK spun his head around with a surprised look on his face as if he had been caught red-handed. “So what,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I like to dance.” Then he fist-pumped the air and sang out, “I keep dancing on my own.”
“You like Robyn?” Skyler asked.
“Yeah, you know her stuff?”
“Yup, I like dance and techno myself. You know why she’s dancing on her own, right?”
CK
paused. His faced looked very serious as he thought about the question. He looked at Skyler and said, “No, why?”
“Because,” started Skyler, pausing for effect. His face widened with excitement as he over-exaggerated CK’s fist pumping. “She keeps punching everyone away,” he exclaimed, laughing and clapping his hands as he enjoyed the awkward joke.
CK shook his head as a smile came over his face. “You dork,” he said, and handed Skyler a glass. They grabbed two cans of Pepsi and headed out to the poolside deck.
As they settled into lounge chairs, Skyler spoke first. “When did the pool get here?” Skyler asked. “Cuz I never saw it at dinner. I love to swim!”
CK chuckled. “I promise you, the pool was here at dinner. You can go whenever you want cuz Dad keeps it ready to go. Bear in mind, if you hear voices in the pool after nine or ten at night, it’s probably mom and dad, and they’re skinny dipping. Might not wanna come out here.”
Skyler shot CK a surprised look. “Seriously?” he asked.
“Yeah, mom and dad are very…healthy that way, if you catch my drift.”
“Mmmm. What way?”
CK lowered his drink and looked into Skyler’s eyes. “Sex, Skyler. They like to have sex.”
“Oh,” he responded, and thought for a moment. “Wait, in the pool?”
“Eeew, gross, I hope not!” responded CK, laughing.
“Me too.”
“I get the feeling I might have scandalized you. Did I?”
“Well, a little. The Tinsdales were probably the most nonsexual people I’ve ever met. I had learned about sex in school, but when Stephen sat me down to have the sex talk, it was like he didn’t know how to talk to me about it. It was weird and awkward. I was grossed out by it all, actually.”
“Why’s that?” CK asked, taking a sip of his Pepsi and swirling the ice cubes around in the glass.
“Um, well, it…sucked. It was right after my twelfth birthday. Puberty had started about six months before, but they didn’t know that. Being told what I was supposed to, or rather not supposed to do with my dick was uncomfortable. Maybe it was the Bible verses that accompanied everything. ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’ and all that stuff. Religious people don’t like sex, I think. It was nasty, hearing about vaginas and all that.”
CK smiled and said, “Those are fun.”
Skyler rolled his eyes and looked away. “Gross,” he retorted.
“That’s a strange reaction,” CK said.
Skyler’s eyes opened wide and he looked back at CK. “I was twelve, I wasn’t ready to hear about them from Stephen or other church people, that’s all.” Skyler looked away. Crap. I like CK, but I’m not sure if I should trust him or the new parents. The last thing I want is a repeat of the Tinsdale’s mess.
“Well,” CK said bringing the conversation back to his parents, “Sex is a part of their life, I guess. It’s a good thing the guest room and linen closets are between their room and our rooms. Filters out any noise.”
“Whoa! Aren’t you supposed to be grossed out by the idea of your parents having sex?”
“I suppose so,” CK answered. “Don’t get me wrong, the conversation we’re having right now is because you’re going to be living here, and you should know what to expect. It’s not like I talk about this with my friends. They’d totally expect that to gross me out but I’m kinda glad my parents have a great sex life. I think I’d be worried if they didn’t. Something would be wrong with their relationship, and I’d start thinking a divorce was coming.”
That makes a lot of sense. Skyler nodded and sipped his Pepsi.
CK continued, “I was raised with the notion that sex is good and healthy. I think you were raised to think it’s bad or dirty. For me, sex is a special part of life, but you need to be responsible about it. But my parents never told me I couldn’t have sex, or not to jerk off, or anything like that. Just no baby making until it’s time, and you’re with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. In fact, my dad made sure I had condoms when I turned 15.”
“And did you use them?”
“Yeah, I did several times over the past year. I had a girlfriend. We broke up though. She turned out to be a real bitch. She goes to our high school, so…yeah. I guess you’ll meet her, eventually. I apologize in advance for that.”
“Cool,” Skyler said, pausing awkwardly. “Not about the bitch part, though.” They laughed together. Skyler continued, “I didn’t agree with the Tinsdale’s beliefs about no sex. And I’m glad I wasn’t raised with those beliefs from an earlier age. I can’t imagine how chaotic my life would be today.”
“You’ll find my parents are pretty chill. Like, they know I’ve had sex. I’ve talked about it with my dad. I think my mom might be a bit more concerned, but there are no off-topic or awkward topics with them. It’s something I’ve learned to appreciate, and something I’ve noticed most of my friends don’t have with their parents. Sometimes on Saturdays, if we’re all staying in, dad will let me drink a beer with him. He says he’d rather have me learn what alcohol does to me here at the house than make some stupid mistake on my own, like at a party, and do something I’d regret forever.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Skyler. “That would so not fly at the Tinsdale’s. I think the only booze they drank was the fake church wine and that was pretty gross tasting.”
“Aren’t you glad to be out of that shit-show?”
“For sure, for sure.” Skyler took another sip of Pepsi and CK scratched his face. “My parents will probably talk to you about sex at some point, to try and understand where you’re at with it.”
“Oh joy,” Skyler said. He wondered what that conversation would be like. If it was anything like CK was suggesting, it would probably be pretty chill, but he was still uneasy about the whole prospect of talking about his gay sex life with his non-parent parents.
“So, have you had sex?” CK asked.
“Uh…” Skyler stammered. How do I answer this?
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Skyler smiled. “I haven’t had sex. I’ve fooled around though.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
CK nodded. “Okay, back to Twenty Questions, then,” he said, smiling devilishly. “Tell me your biggest pet peeve.”
Skyler rolled his eyes and nodded and took a deep breath. The warm air was fragrant with colorful flowers someone had planted around the pool decking. The moonlight tinted the flowers with a light blue hue as they gently swayed in the breeze.
“That’s easy. Chew with your mouth closed. It’s gross when people chomp food or gum like a cow. Close your mouth.”
“That’s a good one,” CK said, looking off into the starry night.
“What’s yours?” Skyler asked.
“Oh gawd, Um…” CK thought to himself. “I’m not sure I have one.”
“You have to. What thing do people do that drives you nuts?”
“I guess it’s the same thing I do myself sometimes. I hate it when I get together with my friends and they’re all on their cellphones. Like, why bother hanging out if we’re gonna sit together and text other people? I’ve made a big deal about it and you won’t notice most people on their phone around me.”
“Okay.”
“Seriously though, our cell phones are like permanent extensions of ourselves, like we’ve become cyborgs.”
“Uh-huh,” Skyler said, smirking.
CK smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. “Question 3. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?”
Skyler thought for a moment before answering. “Play this game with a dude,” Skyler said, dryly.
CK burst out laughing and said, “Yeah, I know, it’s weird. I’m trying to get to know you.”
“Why don’t you ask me something directly then?”
“Well, I kinda was,” CK said and brushed his hair off his forehead, “I guess you should tell me what you like to do and stuff like that.”
“That’ll
be a lot easier,” Skyler said, laughing. “But first, can we go in the pool?”
“Hell yes,” CK said. He quickly put his glass down on the table between them and jumped up. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” he yelled out, pulling off his tank top.
“But I don’t have…” Skyler said.
“You don’t need one,” CK called out, pulling off his shorts. “You’ve got underwear on, right?”
Wait, are you going to strip off? Oh, you’re not. Skyler saw CK’s orange trunks in the moonlight.
“The deep end’s on this side, and it’s twelve feet deep,” CK yelled.
Skyler stood up as the splashing of CK’s cannonball soaked the deck in front of him.
“We’re gonna be brothers, dude,” called back CK when he surfaced. “We’re gonna share a bathroom and shower, it’s not like you’re never gonna see me in my underwear. Be freeeeeeee,” he jokingly yelled and pushed away from the wall, swimming under the surface of the water.
Brothers. I guess you’re right.
He pulled off his t-shirt and then pushed down his khaki shorts. Standing in his boxers, he took a deep breath and ran toward the pool and executed a forward flip into the water.
The cool and refreshing water rushed passed him as he submerged from the flip. Uncoiling himself, he swam upward and cleared the water from his eyes when he surfaced.
“Dude, you are jacked,” CK said, treading water not far from him. “Your abs are tight.”
You’re checking me out now?
“So are yours,” Skyler said. The moonlight was bright enough for Skyler to have seen CK’s toned muscular figure when he ran toward the pool.
“Good to know you work out. We can add you to the family plan at the gym.”
“Really? That would be awesome.”
“Yeah, the gym we go to has everything. You can do weights, cardio, racquetball, basketball, kettle ball, swimming, even yoga, if you’re into that. I prefer to do my running outside. I can’t stand watching Oprah re-runs on the TV’s in front of the treadmills.”
The Climb Page 13
