sboy2010’s Neighborhood

What set you apart from the rest of the kids at school? 
Submitted by jks.

Being gay and my constant obsession with music--everything was a song with me.

Triple-C! Triple-C!

At last, the day had finally arrived. I had permission for work-leave, and my friend Jessica had already arrived at my workplace before 12.

I was going to ! It was finally time to meet Collin, the guy I had been talking with over Myspace for the past month. Jessica, Stephany, and Katie, the three self-appointed members of my "Boyfriend Committee," were waiting for me in Jessica's car when I got to work.

"Are we ready?" asked Jessica. We nodded. "Then let's go."

On the drive there, I was drilled by the three girls on what to say and what not to say, and how to read his face so that I knew what to do next.

"Remember," said Stephany, "he's probably going to be the more submissive one, so the ball is going to be in your court. He'll want you to be in charge of this gig, so be sure to be calm, composed, and confident."

"Remember," added Katie, "you're not going to want to say anything stupid, so the best policy is to have your whole monologue planned out beforehand."

"Wait," I said. "I thought the whole point of this was for us to get to know each other better." I screwed up my eyebrows. "So if it's a monologue, he's not going to be able to say anything."

"Believe me, honey," said Stephany. "Men are not very good at sharing time, so if you dominate the whole conversation, it won't give him the chance to dominate it. And then, it'll also keep him from saying something stupid, so he'll be more than grateful."

I held my head. "This is really confusing. You say men aren't good at sharing time, yet I'm a man, and you're telling me to dominate the whole conversation. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Just remember," sighed Jessica. She gave me an exasperated look at my lack of understanding. "Triple-C: Calm, composed, and confident."

"Triple-C," I repeated. "Calm, composed, and confident. Calm, composed, and confident."

"Good," Katie reassured me, patting my knee. "You'll do just fine."

"And just in case you don't," added Jessica, "here's my cell phone. We'll text you periodically with what to say."

Calm, confident, and composed. I felt about as calm, composed, and confident as a mouse in front of a ravenous tiger. But I was determined to make this a great day. It had taken weeks of planning, a leave slip, and finagling of my three friends to go with me. But their wish to see me safe and secure outweighed any hesitation they had. I felt a little guilty about not feeling so guilty about using their care for me against them.

When we arrived at the Starbucks in , I took a deep breath before being pushed into the building by Katie. Looking around, I spotted someone who looked like the pictures from Myspace.

It was then that I was gripped with an attack of uncontrolled panic. I grabbed at the hands of Katie and Jessica, who were unfortunate enough to be standing beside me. "     !" I was able to squeeze out.

"    ??!!" Katie was incapable of speech, due to my crushing grip on her hand, but she was able to let out a strangled question.

"Cy, Triple-C! Triple-C!" Stephany hissed in my ear. "You're not being calm, composed, and confident!"

Reluctantly I released my vise of death on Katie and Jessica. Jessica crumpled onto a chair, weak with the loss of blood flow to her hand, while Katie held up her hand to inspect for any damage. Aside from the fact that it looked like a herd of elephants had used it for kickball, she couldn't see anything amiss. "I hope this thing still works," she muttered.

Taking several deep breaths, I approached the table where Collin was sitting. Too late I realized the welcoming party had followed me. I began gesturing frantically at them, hoping they would take the cue to go sit down somewhere else, but they misinterpreted it as a requested for a whispered recital of, "Triple-C! Triple-C!"

"Hi," I said, coming to the table. "You must be Christopher."

I had been holding the cell phone in my hand as I walked up to him, and it started buzzing. It was an open-faced phone, and glancing down I saw the message, "U wr suposd 2 sa smthng witty!"

Collin looked up at me. "Hey, what's up?" He smiled one of the most bedazzling smiles I have yet to see in this world.

I tried to discreetly seal my lips shut. His smile was so brilliantly white that I was afraid that I hadn't prepared well enough for this meeting: 20 minutes of teeth-brushing, 15 minutes of flossing, and 7 Crest whitening strips suddenly didn't seem sufficient once he opened his mouth.

The phone buzzed again. "Cmplmnt him on sumthn!" There was a pause. "Bsds his smile!"

I looked at his hair—a golden array of springy curls that threw the sunlight in different directions. "You have beautiful hair," I told him.

Collin reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks," he grinned, looking slightly embarrassed. "Most people think it's kinda ugly."

I gasped. "No, no! It's great! I wish I had hair like that."

And from there on, the conversation moved smoothly and naturally. I received a couple more text messages, but finally shut the phone off, hoping he'd notice it as a gesture of courtesy.

He did. Once I had turned my phone off, he reached into his pocket and turned his own off. Then he grinned at me with those pearly whites. "I know what those text messages said," he whispered.

Panic gripped at my stomach again. My toes curled and uncurled in nervousness. "Oh really?" I was able to gasp out.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Mine said the same thing." He pointed to a group of girls sitting three tables over. They giggled and waved. "That's my Boyfriend Committee. I can't meet anyone without their approval."

I pointed to my own Boyfriend Committee. "That's mine." Jessica, Katie, and Stephany giggled and waved. Then they looked over at Collin's group. After a couple of moments, the two groups got up and rushed towards each other, giggling with delight. They all went outside and sat at the tables under umbrellas.

"They're probably planning the wedding," Collin laughed. He had the most adorable laugh in the world.

"I think this is seriously going to cost me," I joked. We laughed. "How about we go on a walk, maybe see the ?" I asked.

"Cool, let's go," Collin answered.

Walking out of the Starbucks, we sauntered down the sidewalk, taking our time and not really going anywhere in particular. What happened next was a blur. I remember trying to pass side-by-side with an old woman and her poodle, and brushing hard against Collin, and our hands found each other and intertwined. I also remember somehow finding ourselves in front of the Capital Building, and suddenly we were in each other's arms, our lips sealed to each other. Other than that, I can't remember any details.

When we got back to the Starbucks, arms around each other's waist, our two separate Boyfriend Committees acted like they were best friends since elementary school. But it was time to leave—I'd only asked for two hours off from work, and I needed to hurry back. "I'll call you," Collin whispered in my ear.

"And I'll call you," I whispered back. We kissed again, and Jessica said, "OK, quit making the rest of us feel left out!"

"Triple-C!" Stephany added. "Triple-C!"