Page 23 of Pride High

Omar’s dark eyes shone in response. “Isn’t it great? And look!” He grabbed the liner notes of a cassette and began reading from it. “‘The Girls of Porn!’ ‘Love is a Fist!’ There’s literally part of this tape that samples some guy taking a shit. It’s amazing!”

Anthony laughed and grabbed the insert so he could check out the cover art, which featured a sickly clown. “Mr. Bungle?”

“Yeah! Have you ever heard of them? It’s the same lead singer as Faith No More.”

“Huh,” Anthony said, distracted by how the singer was now doing an imitation of the Wicked Witch of the West. What a bizarre album!

“And dude!” Omar said, jostling him in his excitement. “What about GWAR? You’ve been holding out on me. You’ve heard of them, right?”

“No,” Anthony admitted grudgingly. Who was this girl, and how did she know more about music than he did?

“They’re this insane band who dress up on stage, like meat monsters from another planet or something. Silvia showed me a bootleg of one of their concerts. They did a fake decapitation on stage and spewed fake blood all over the audience!”

“Classy,” Anthony murmured, but he had to admit he was curious.

Omar turned the music down completely when the next song featured women moaning in sexual ecstasy. He used the silence to drop a bombshell. “I’m in love.”

Anthony’s stomach sank. “What?”

“I’m in love with Silvia. She’s the most amazing girl I’ve ever met.”

“Because she knows a few bands I’ve never heard of?”

Omar chuckled. “More like because she’s gorgeous and seems to really get me.”

Anthony stopped himself from pointing out that he knew Omar better than anyone, including his own family. “Does she love you back?”

“Hell if I know,” Omar said. “I’m not sure where to take it from here. I could ask her on a date, but to do what? A movie and dinner?”

Anthony shrugged and sat on the edge of the mattress. “I don’t know. What’s she into?”

“Uh…” Omar turned one of the canvas chairs to face him and sat. “She likes music.”

“What kind?”

“I dunno,” Omar said, jerking a thumb toward the stereo. “Stuff like that, I figure.”

Anthony sincerely doubted that any woman thought “The Girls of Porn” was a charming theme. He could be wrong though. “Did you ask her?”

Omar threw his head back and groaned. “So obvious. Duh! You’re way better at this than me.”

“I have even less experience than you at this point.”

“Then you’re a natural. I totally should have asked her more questions. Fuck! She probably thinks I’m a self-centered asshole now.”

“You aren’t,” Anthony assured him.

“Maybe. I can’t believe I didn’t think of something so basic.” He sat up straight. “Hey, you should ask Mindy Beaumont out. Or anyone else you like. You’d have no trouble landing a girlfriend, I know it. Then we could go on double dates.”

He would rather stay home and watchDouble Dare. “I’m still considering my options,” Anthony said vaguely. “You don’treallylove her. Do you?”

“I guess not,” Omar admitted. “But this could be the start of it. You know? Like, maybe I’m falling in love.”

They were odd words coming out of his best friend’s mouth. He talked about girls all the time, but usually about how hot they were, or how horny he was. This was something new, and Anthony found it unsettling. “So this is the big news you wanted to tell me the other day?”

The smile slid off of Omar’s face. “Oh.That.Umm. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Except…”

Anthony waited patiently. They never held anything back from each other.

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