Boy Next Door

Warnings: a little slashy action and a bit of father-son angst

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Chapter Three: Polly Want a Cracker?

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Kyle opened the door and waved me in first. The front door led immediately into the living room, and once there my eyes instantly went to the curio cabinet in the far corner. As though guided by some unnatural force, I dropped my backpack against the wall and walked towards the wooden and glass case, gazing at the trinkets inside with childlike wonder. It was an entire collection of small statues of unicorns. The magical horses were of all shapes, sizes, and colors and were placed neatly and systematically on the glass shelves.

“Those were my mom’s,” Kyle said from behind me.

“Were?”

“Yeah.”

He hesitated and I glanced up at him to see him smiling sadly at the pale carpeting.

“She died last year. In a car accident on the way home from work. I think that’s why dad looked so hard for a new job. He wanted to get away from Iowa, like he could get away from the memories. You can’t though…” He chewed his bottom lip, and it looked as though he were holding back tears. “They follow you wherever you go.”

“Oh, Kyle, I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

He glanced at me and blinked away the moisture in his eyes. “It’s not your fault or anything. Stuff like that just…happens.”

“Yeah…”

I raised my hand to put on his shoulder, but it wavered in mid-air. I finally reached out to him, but my hand still hovered above his shoulder. He sniffed, rubbed his eyes, and laughed.

“It’s okay to touch me, you know. I’m not radioactive.”

I smiled. “I know, it’s just, I have a hard time comforting people.”

He returned my smile, staring at me with amusement in his eyes. It relieved me to note that the sadness was already leaving him, if only to be buried somewhere deep inside. It was unnerving for me to see him anything less than happy; I didn’t know how to act around people who actually had problems to deal with.

“Well,” he said and placed my still-hovering hand on his shoulder for me. He then wrapped his arms around my torso and pulled me to him in a strong embrace. “How’s this for comfort?”

My breath hitched in my throat as I felt his breath on my ear. Oh God, oh God… Something of an embarrassed, strangled noise came from me, and I felt as though my entire body was on fire. I felt every part of him that touched me, felt every strand of silky brown hair that brushed against my face.

“K-Kyle…”

He pulled away, grinning at me in an almost obnoxious sort of way. He gave me a hefty couple of pats on the shoulder, and I wondered briefly if he was aware of what he was doing to me. I stood in front of him, my face no doubt bleeding red with embarrassment, and he watched me shift nervously.

“You want a soda?” Then he smirked. “Some cold water?”

My skin burned another ten different shades of crimson and he laughed again, brushing his unruly hair from his face. I averted my gaze from his chocolate eyes, before I drowned in them, before I subjected myself to an emotion that I had reserved only for that one special person.

“No, really, do you want a soda? We have Sprite.”

I figured a drink would help me calm my raging hormones, so I nodded, wordlessly accepting his offer. I didn’t trust my voice yet. Kyle turned and walked towards the kitchen, motioning over his shoulder for me to follow him. We padded across the carpet and onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. I stood around uselessly as he rummaged through the refrigerator. He pulled out a can of Sprite and handed it to me, then grabbed a bottle of Gatorade for himself. Leaning against the counter, I watched him chug his drink, a lazy smile on my face. There was something captivating about him—something in the way his curly hair dropped almost to his shoulders, the way his piercing eyes watched you with an intensity that appeared to be so natural to him.

After downing a little more than half the bottle, he turned to me. “What do you want to do?”

“Uh…” Have sex? “I dunno. What do you wanna do?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “We could talk about you.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” he said, giving a friendly smile in response to my confused expression. “Since I dragged you to that long-ass track practice this afternoon, I’d like to know what you like, you know, since it seems you’re not into sports.”

I fidgeted uncomfortably, tracing my finger over the top of the soda can.

“Well…I like art. I like to sit outside and sketch things from nature.”

I stopped, uneasy, not wanting to talk about myself anymore. Kyle propped himself against the counter next to me, watching me with that hypnotic intensity.

“Go on,” he prompted.

“Uh, yeah, it’s really not that interesting.”

“It is to me.”

I licked my dry lips and stared down at the counter. “That’s really all there is to know, I guess. I’m not full of surprises or anything; I’m just your average guy.” I laughed nervously, “Sorry I’m not impressive.”

“Hey, of course you are.” Kyle punched my lightly in the arm. “You just don’t seem to notice that. Why do you think I wanted to sit with you out of anyone else?”

“Because that was the only place to sit?”

He laughed. “No, Ryan, because out of all the others, you really stood out to me.”

“Why?”

“Dunno…something about you, I guess.”

We were silent after that, drinking our beverages quietly. Some birds had built their nest in the chimney; I could hear the small babies crying out in little birdie talk for the food that their parents had yet to bring them. It reminded me of the bread crusts still in my backpack.

“Tell me something else about you.”

I gave him a sidelong glance, annoyed but mildly thrilled that he was interested. I racked my brain for something he might want to hear.

“I have a bird. A parrot. Her name’s Polly. She likes crackers.”

His smile widened. There was yet another silence between us, and I couldn’t help but notice that Kyle was still staring at me. I didn’t want to meet his gaze, because I knew that as soon as I did, I would say something incredibly stupid, and I would hate myself for the rest of my life.

“Anyone ever told you that you have such beautiful green eyes?”

“What?”

As soon as I looked up, his fingers were on my cheek, holding my face gently as he pressed his lips to mine. It was awkward at first, with my surprise in the way and all, but soon we melted into one another, my eyes slipping shut as his mouth moved against mine. His right hand was still on my cheek and the other was in my hair, as I shyly draped my arms over his shoulders. Our bodies shifted, and I could feel the strength of his athletic body press against me.

“Kyle…” I whispered breathlessly.

My open mouth permitted him entrance, and I shivered as his warm tongue probed the insides of my mouth. Gripping him tighter, I crushed our bodies together, wanting to feel every inch of him. My heart was racing as we kissed, and I hoped that he didn’t notice my trembling. The hand on my cheek fell to my shoulder, and his long fingers softly caressed the skin of my neck.

When we broke apart, I ached for more of the intimate contact. His hands fell away from me and I reluctantly withdrew my arms from his neck. My attention refocused slowly, but once I had gathered my bearings, I saw that his eyes stared deeply into mine and a mischievous smile played on his lips.

“First time?”

I felt myself cringe a little. “Was it that bad?”

He laughed, “No, it’s just that you seemed a bit nervous.”

“Oh.” I shrugged and admitted shyly, “Yeah, it was my first kiss.”

“Oh, really?” he asked, looking genuinely surprised. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re so darn cute!”

An eccentric grin broke out onto his features, and he laughed as he pinched my cheeks. He noted my short grimace and made up for the tease with a light kiss to my lips. I smiled.

“Are you always this hyper?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“All the time.” His grin widened. “So…you wanna watch a movie or something? I have a little while before I have to start on dinner.”

“You cook?”

“Sort of. It’s never anything, you know, spectacular or anything, but I get by. Dad eats it. Anyway, since he gets home late sometimes during the week, I volunteered to do dinner on those nights.”

“Oh. Well, I could help if you want me to.”

“Yeah? Thanks, I’d like that.”

He gave me another pretty smile, and I felt like a nerdy schoolgirl talking to the captain of the football team. After a second that felt like a blissful eternity, he pointed to my soda and asked if I was done. With an absent nod, I watched him toss the empty can into the trash, along with his empty Gatorade bottle. He turned and walked into the hallway, expecting me to follow. I trotted behind him as he walked on to the den.

He motioned for me to sit on the sofa as he continued to the rack of DVDs against the wall. He asked me if there was anything particular that I wanted to see, and I gave a vague shrug, not caring what we watched as long as I watched it with him. We settled on the movie Cellular, and once he had pushed the disc into the player, he settled down next to me.

I was glad I had already seen the movie in the theater, because I barely noticed the actions taking place on the screen. All that registered was Kyle’s close proximity. At some point in the movie, he had stretched his arm on the back of the couch and the tips of his fingers brushed the shoulder of my shirt. With a casual glance in his direction, I saw that his attention was solely on the movie; he hadn’t noticed the touch at all.

The pictures on the television went by in a blur, and before I really knew what was going on, the ending credits were scrolling over the black screen. The sun had already sunk below the horizon; it was almost eight o’clock. I wondered if I should be at home, but I quickly dismissed the thought, the anger at my father returning. The animosity must have shown on my countenance, for I saw Kyle frown at me in concern.

“What was that?”

“Huh?”

“That look. You seemed mad. Did you not like the movie?”

I shook my head. “No, that’s not it. It’s…nothing.”

He stood from where he crouched in front of the DVD player, the worry never leaving his eyes. He replaced the disc into its case and walked over to me.

“You sure?”

I looked away from him, to the floor. “Yeah.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his sympathetic gaze linger on me for a long moment. He suddenly sighed in defeat, letting the subject drop, since I wasn’t giving him a real response.

“Hey… Is that your cell phone ringing?”

I glanced up at him in confusion, not hearing anything. Standing up from the couch, I rushed to my backpack that was still against the wall of the living room and realized, yes, my phone was ringing. I looked strangely at Kyle, wondering how he had heard it when I didn’t. He shrugged innocently in reply. I answered the cell phone on the fourth ring, panicking as my house number appeared on the small screen.

“Hello?”

“AND WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??!!” my mother screeched over the line. “This is the sixth time I’ve called you! Get home right now!!”

I held the phone away from my ear, cringing at her high-pitched tone. I recognized it as one of worry and fear for my safety. Calmly, I responded into the receiver.

“It’s okay. I’m at Kyle’s house. He lives right next door.”

I could tell even without seeing her that her demeanor had significantly relaxed, but she was still on edge.

“I’ll come home right now, if you want,” I said.

“Yes. Yes, that would be nice. I’ll be watching for you.”

“Okay. Bye.”

She said good-bye and we hung up. I stared apologetically at Kyle, and he smiled, scratching his arm a little sheepishly.

“Sorry I kept you so long.”

“No, that’s okay. I didn’t want to go home. I’m really glad I came. …I’m sorry that I won’t be able to help you with dinner though.”

“Hey, it’s all right. I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

I nodded and he told me the time he would be leaving for school in the morning. I agreed to be outside then, and he grinned, telling me he’d be waiting. He walked me to the door and watched me as I cut across the grass of both of our yards, up the small walkway to my own front door. When I arrived, my mother immediately opened the door for me, grabbing me into a tight motherly hug.

“I was so worried! Why didn’t you tell me you had a new friend?” she asked, the two of us walking into the kitchen.

“I just met him today. He said he would take me to and from school.”

My dad was sitting at the table, the newspaper in his hands. He glanced up at me shortly, a contemptuous scowl on his lips.

“Is he your new boyfriend?” he asked caustically.

“Fred!” my mom shrieked, glaring at him for his rudeness.

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood to hear his shit, and quickly walked out of the kitchen. I uncharacteristically ignored my mother’s calls and continued up the stairs to my bedroom, where Polly sat in her cage. She squawked at me as I entered the room.

The bright-feathered parrot made me smile when no one else could, talking the nonsense she had picked up from me over the time that I’d had her. I quickly refilled her bowl with water and fished out the bread crusts in my backpack. I closed the door to my room and opened the cage, allowing her into the open. She flapped her wings and circled the room a few times before settling onto my forearm, staring hungrily at the food in my hand. Offering the crusts to her, she pecked at them greedily.

I sat on my bed with a sigh. I could hear the familiar argument erupt between my parents downstairs. Polly flapped her wings in agitation.

“Idiots!” she squawked and I grinned, stroking her feathers.

As Polly ate the last piece of bread, I listened to the heated discussion going on below me, amplified by the air vent.

“Why else would that faggot stay over at some boy’s house that long?!!”

“Honey, we don’t know—”

“You know it, I know it, he knows it! Might as well stick a sign on the kid’s head! Bring Ian downstairs to sleep with us. Don’t want that thing infecting our little boy...”

Determined not to let my father’s words affect me, I tried to devote all my concentration on putting Polly back into her cage. She fluttered about, not wanting to go in, but finally resigned and perched on top of the small swing hanging from the top. She turned around with her head tilted innocently at me.

“Fuck you, dad,” she recited.

With a cynical laugh, “You took the words right out of my mouth, Polly.”

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