Page 139 of Pride High 2: Orange

Ricky blinked a few times, unsure what to say.

“One of the Monty Python guys?” Omar prompted.

“They’re funny!”

“Yeah. I bet it’s really good. I caughtThe Adventures of Baron Munchausenon cable a few times and made it my goal to see all of his movies. Which is why I also rented…” He pulled out another VHS tape in a heavy plastic clamshell. “Time Bandits.”

“I’ve heard of that one!” Ricky said. “I love time travel stories.”

“Nice! And if we’re not in the mood to watch weird British movies, I also rented us a couple of video games. Although you’d think I’d be sick of playing them, now that it’s my job.”

“You’re so lucky,” Ricky said. “When you first mentioned working at Archie’s, I thought you’d be waiting tables or making pizza.”

“Maybe I would’ve, but me and the owner are tight.” Omar arranged two tall canvas chairs—the kind a director might sit in—by carefully angling them toward each other. “Have a seat, my man,” he said when satisfied. “Sometimes I like to pretend I’m on a talk show. Not the trashy kind. More like Larry King, where he interviews a guest one-on-one.”

Ricky gleefully plopped down in one of the chairs. This was his first sleepover since moving to Kansas, and he could already tell that it was going to be cool. He held out an invisible microphone to Omar, who had also taken a seat. “But surely, even if you’re friends with the owner, he wouldn’t pay you to do nothing.”

“Thanks for having me on your show, Ricky,” Omar said into the nonexistent microphone before leaning back. “And you’re right. Mr. Dandy relies on me to keep the arcade running. That’s not so hard. I basically have to unjam prize tickets, or give kids free tokens when the machines eat their money. I do some tech support too. If a game cabinet—as we call them in the business—gets all glitchy, you have to unplug it for a minute. Although most of the time, I just walk around and mess with the kids. It’s a lot of fun.”

“And where to do you see yourself in ten years?” Ricky asked, still in talk show mode.

Omar leaned into a corner of the chair so he could drape an arm on the backrest. “I’ll probably be running the place. Mr. Dandy isn’t getting any younger.” He made a face and shook his head. “Scratch that. My future is in Hollywood. I’ll be a bigshot director by then. Maybe I’ll even throw you a role.”

Ricky smiled. “I already like being Anthony’s replacement, now that he’s so busy with Cameron.”

Omar rolled his eyes. “No kidding! As soon as they started having sex, it’s like he never has time for me. To be fair, I did the same thing when I started dating Silvia. Even though we haven’t gone all the way yet.”

“You should have stuck with me,” Ricky teased. “I’m easy.”

Omar laughed. “Don’t try any of that when you’re sleeping in my bed tonight. I’m practically a married man, so keep your hands to yourself.”

“No promises,” Ricky replied.

“You’re not here because Anthony is busy though.” Omar nudged him with the tip of his socked foot. “We’re buds. I’ve been meaning to do this for ages.” That was flattering until he added, “Besides, I don’t like who you’ve been hanging out with lately.”

“What? Diego is nice!”

“Yeah, okay,” Omar said dismissively.

Ricky crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t understand why you guys can’t be friends like you used to.”

“There’s a damn good reason,” Omar said before shaking his head with a scowl. “Never mind. Anthony thinks we should let you figure it out on your own. Which I was cool with until… Hey, don’t take this the wrong way if it’s not true, but Anthony thinks you and Diego might be hooking up or something. Is he watching pornos in your parents’ bedroom with you? Is that what’s going on?”

“No,” Ricky said. “We haven’t done anything sexual.” He hoped kissing didn’t count, because he didn’t want to lie. Ricky simply didn’t want anyone getting involved before he had a chance to sort through his own feelings.

“I don’t think he’s gay anyway,” Omar said. “Not that I’m a good judge. Anthony sure flew under the radar.”

“Which just goes to show,” Ricky said, leaping on the point, “that sometimes you can have the wrong idea about someone.”

“Not when it comes to Diego. Trust me.”

Ricky growled in frustration. “What happened? How come nobody will talk about it? What was the worst summer ever?”

Omar seemed to hesitate.

“Tell me!” Ricky insisted. “I don’t care what other people think.Iwant to know. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“I can’t argue with that. You know about his dad?”