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I nodded. “What did you guys do?”
“Regular things.” He shrugged. “We went out to eat, went skateboarding a lot, swimming at my house.”
I shoved into him with a shoulder. “You didn’t invitemeto come swimming, you jerk.”
His eyes widened mockingly. “Oh, I don’t know, probably because you own a pool the size of a small ocean, so what do you want to come swimming at my house for? Besides, you didn’t invite me to your place either this summer.”
“Yes, I did!” I shouted with a laugh. “But you were always busy with work or whatever else.” I guess I now knew thatwhatever elseequated Neil freaking Summers. I felt lied to. “Traitor.”
“It was nice,” he said over me, and I immediately took it back. Jax deserved a nice summer with Neil. I just had a million questions about what that summer had looked like.What things did they talk about? Did they hash out their history or skim over it? Were Neil’s parents in on this reunion, or had Neil made this decision on his own? Did it have anything to do with why he seemed different this year?My list of questions was quickly compiling, but I didn’t know where to start.
I didn’t have to. “He apologized,” Jax dove in for me. “Not that he had much to do with any of it. But he said he felt bad for the way his parents have treated me, and that it was time he started making his own judgments about people, based on their character and not who they do or don’t love.”
Okay. Wow.
Something was happening inside my chest that I refused to acknowledge—feelings coiling around thoughts, but I willed them away.
I curled my hand over Jax’s arm and gave it a squeeze, meeting his eyes. Eyes that looked a lot like Neil’s even though they weren’t technically related. “That’s really cool, Jax. I’m glad for you.” It felt like we were in the middle of the most intense conversation we’d ever held—probably because it was. We both had a way about laughing off the serious, but this was different. This was pretty huge.
“And the rest of the family?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It’s getting better.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah,” he said, letting out a sigh as he relaxed into his seat, repeating, “Yeah.”
My eyes lingered on his profile. He had a long, slightly upturned nose, soft cheeks, and eyelashes any chick would kill for. His features were nothing like Neil’s sharper and more chiseled ones, but he was attractive in his own way. Attractive enough that I’d hit on him two minutes after we first met. We decidedfriendswas the best alternative, considering first, we were both amazingly awesome, and second, we had the exact same taste in boys.
It was a few months into our friendship before I figured out that him and Neil were family. They’d come into the theater one evening, and Jax ducked down behind the counter so fast he almost took me down with him. Details were sprinkled in after that.
Jax’s mother was married to Neil’s father’s brother. (Say that tongue twister out loud.)
Jax’s family was religious, too, but they kind of followed their own path—one of more faith and less judgment.
And once upon a time, Neil’s parents hadn’t treated Jax all too well when they found out he was gay.
Call me judgmental, but it hadn’t surprised me. Not at all. Not because they were religious, but because of who they were as people. It aligned with the sneers I remember being directed my way at seven years old.
“So, I’m having a Halloween party.” Jax averted my attention entirely, coming out of left field. “Want to come?”
“Do I want to come?” I scoffed. I could’ve strangled him. “Of course I want to come. It’sHalloween,” I said. It was the only reason I needed. I mean, besides the obvious fact that Jax was my friend and you could find me at any party I was invited to. Even some I wasn’t invited to, really. But… Halloween!
Movies were my favorite thing in this world—yes—but Halloween was an awfully close second. Like, two lovers attached mid-bang, kind of close second. Followed by caffeine and hot Cheetos, in that order.
Because… what wasn’t there to love about Halloween? Ghosts, goblins, vampires—all the monsters—all the best thriller and horror movies, dressing up, eating ungodly amounts of candy without being judged for it. (Not that it stopped me any other time of year, but that was beside the point.)
All the black things. And fall—sure, we only got a cool breeze and brightly colored leaves for about two weeks out of the year, but I was here for it. It was the best time of year.
Anyone who disagreed could fight me.
Chapter 7
Confessional
“I’m just going to come out with it,” I said a few days later.
Neil looked up at me from his notebook, and his eyes caught mine—like a mouse in a trap.