Page 67 of Pride High 2: Orange
Ricky hesitated. “The scriptwriter wanted to keep this part poetic because it’s… You know, romantic.”
Diego scoffed. “It sounds gay. Nothing personal.”
Ricky wanted to get personal. Especially about that subject, because ever since they’d started hanging out after school, there hadn’t been any flirtatious comments or advances. Which was so frustrating that Ricky was beginning to miss Diego making jokes about paying him for a blow job. Maybe that was all it had been to him. A joke.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about it. The play would debut in a couple of days. They wouldn’t be able to stop to rewrite lines while he was on stage in front of an audience.
“Whitney hates this scene too,” Diego added.
Ricky sighed. “Then at least drop the part about the groomers. That sounds too modern.”
“Cool.” Diego scribbled some notes on his copy of the script.
Ricky waited until he had finished before reading the next line. “‘Perhaps a kiss will carry the weight of my convictions.’ But if we’re changing this scene, Whitney would probably say something more like, ‘I don’t care if you believe me. Pucker up!’”
“Yeah, that’s good!” Diego said. “Write it down.”
Ricky complied while thinking obsessively about the next part. He licked his lips before consulting the script, as if he couldn’t remember what happened next despite it being telegraphed. “And then she kisses you. Have you umm… Practiced this part yet?”
“Nah,” Diego said dismissively. “I talked to Whitney about it. This isn’t a first kiss for either of us. We already know how.”
“Oh. Who have you kissed before?”
Diego shrugged. “You want a list or something?”
Ricky nodded, causing him to laugh, even though he was perfectly serious. A list would have been great! At least then he could see if any of them had been guys. Of course Ricky could simply ask. Then again, he was almost afraid to discover the truth, in case he was disappointed. And besides, he reminded himself, the clock was ticking. They were here to run lines.
So of course Diego tossed his script aside in disdain. “Let’s do something fun,” he said.
“You need to memorize your part.”
Diego cracked his knuckles while glancing around the bedroom as if searching for a distraction. “I’ve got the gist.”
“So what’s the next line? No peeking! Pretend it’s opening night and you’re on stage.”
“I slip Whitney some tongue and say…” Diego’s cinnamon eyes locked onto his. “‘You’ve tamed the beast inside of me and awoken something much more powerful.’”
“I have?”
“Yeah. Wanna be my queen?”
Ricky stared. Then he managed to squeak, “Okay.”
Diego grinned. “I actually like that line. About taming the beast. Even though it also sounds gay as fuck.”
Ricky scowled. “Stop saying that like it’s an insult! It doesn’t even make sense. I don’t talk that way andI’mgay.”
“Good point,” Diego said. “My bad.”
“Why do you do that?” Ricky pressed. “Like before we were friends, when you were always making jokes about me eating your ass or sucking your dick.”
Diego laughed, like he still thought it was funny. The smile slid off his face as Ricky continued to stare him down. Then he shrugged. “I thought you were fake.”
“Huh?”
“Fake,” Diego repeated before looking toward the window with a scowl. “Half the people at our stupid school don’t know how good they’ve got it. The other half are in denial about just how bad everything is. Pretty much all of them are desperate to fit in and be accepted, even if it means pretending to be something they’re not.”
“Like me?”
