Page 5 of The Golden Boys

“Looook what you’ve done, Jules!” I scream toward the sky, unable to hold in a smile when she belts out a laugh.

“But wait, you seriously have this dude saved in your contacts as ‘The Mistake’?” She’d seen that before I hit‘ignore’.

I decide not to answer herorhim. Meanwhile, her red mane quivers with a head shake.

“A little harsh, don’t you think, BJ?”

“About as harsh as you continuing to call me that, after I’ve asked you not to on countless occasions.” I conveniently ignore the rest of her comment.

“Yes, we’ve discussed it, but after over a decade of friendship, I think I’ve earned the right to discreetly call you ‘Blow Job’ for a cheap laugh,” she argues. “Now, stop trying to change the subject.”

Busted.

“You know from the bazillion texts he’s sent he’s not calling about a you-and-him thing, so why not pick up? Put him out of his misery, maybe?”

In theory, Jules is one-hundred percent right, but she’s forgetting something. I have no interest in speaking to or about Hunter. He’s made his bed, now he’ll lie in it.

Alone.

“How far is the Uber?” I ask, instead of continuing this conversation.

Jules clearly doesn’t want to drop it, but she knows I’m stubborn, hard to push once I plant my feet.

“Five minutes away.”

Cool. Pretty sure I can avoid a resurgence of that conversation for five measly minutes.

We stand at the edge of the road in silence, which is unlike us. Her stare is burning a hole through the side of my face, now that she’s frustrated I’ve shut down.

“Fine, we’ll talk about something else,” she concedes, and then releases my arm to cross both hers over her chest. “Tell me what you thought of tonight.”

I’m not quite sure what she’s getting at, so I shrug. “It was fine, I guess. Bunch of spoiled rich kids smoking weed and drinking. Just like the south side, there’s just bigger houses and money.”

She rolls her eyes, which means that isn’t the answer she was looking for.

“Do you think you’ll, you know, be okay?” I don’t miss the genuine concern in her tone when asking. “Most of these people will be your classmates at Cypress Prep. Guess I just need to know you’re cool with the change.”

“CP is a means to an end,” I answer with a sigh. “It’s an opportunity, and I don’t get many of those, so … carpe diem and whatnot.”

I fall silent when my thoughts shift tohowI lucked up on said opportunity. As much as I don’t want to think about my brother right now, I have Hunter to thank.

“You’re always so evasive,” Jules accuses, which isn’t a lie.

“And you love me just as I am.”

“Mmm … more like Itolerateyou just as you are. Big difference, BJ.”

The set of headlights heading our way brings a sigh of relief to my lips. It’s the first step to there being an end to this night. I’ve had my fill of pretending I fit in here, had my fill of pretending my life hadn’t been turned upside down this year.

In so many ways.

All I want is to go home, enjoy summer break, and revel in the last stretch of normalcy I’ll have for a while.

With the clock winding down, I better enjoy it while I can.

* * *

@QweenPandora: As expected, the party was epic. Thanks to the north side’s favorite triplets, TheGoldenBoys! No one called the cops with noise complaints, no random acts of violence were committed, and only one idiot nearly drowned. Any way you slice it, that’s a win! Hats off to our hosts, KingMidas, MrSilver, & PrettyBoyD.

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