Page 9 of Something Like Winter

“So do I, but no one ever gets anywhere with her. She’s a prude.”

“Or maybe none of you guys have the right moves.” Banter. It was so damn easy.

A cocky smile spread over Darryl’s face. “All right. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

They went to join the others on the couch, Darryl telling people to move over, making room for Tim to sit next to Krista. When Tim put his mug on the long coffee table, he noticed it was more than half-empty. That explained the warm feeling inside.

“Hey,” Tim said, focusing on Krista. She turned bright red, like he had asked to see her panties.

“Hi,” she managed.

Stacy leaned forward on the couch to get a better view of him. “So, Mr. Tim Wyman, where exactly are you from?”

Tim managed to meet her gaze, but only just. “Kansas.” He could see her tallying the points in her head. Had he been from somewhere cool, say California, he would have earned more.

“Trying out for any of the teams?” she asked next.

“Yeah. Not sure which, though.”

“How about football?” Bryce said.

Right. Like Tim was looking forward to getting crushed beneath him during practice. Tim had given football a shot in freshmen year and hated it. People in Kansas were fanatics about high school football, especially the teachers. While it was an easy way to get good grades—since failing meant the team lost a player—Tim hated the intense pressure. Basketball was out too, since being six feet tall didn’t amount to much on the court. That left cross country in the fall, which they probably wouldn’t care about, but in the spring…

“I’m thinking about baseball,” he said.

“Wait, there’s a baseball team?” Darryl said sarcastically.

Stacy played off this, sounding bored. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of one.”

“Trust me,” Tim said, looking her in the eye. “When I’m on the team, it’s all you’ll ever hear about.”

Most people chuckled at his joke, but Stacy’s eyes lit up with scored points. Darryl hopped up to get more drinks, and the rest of the party was much more relaxed. Tim was in. For now. They would never stop watching and judging him, but that was high school. The wine flowed like wine, and so did the depth-charged beers. Considering he had skipped lunch, every beer felt like two, maybe four including the whiskey. Soon enough, Tim had his arm around Krista, and she was either flushing or giggling in response to everything he said.

At some point Darryl’s parents were mentioned, which was the alarm that sent everyone scurrying for their cars. Tim knew he shouldn’t drive, but he couldn’t crash at Darryl’s place. The streets were a distorted blur, and he managed to get lost a few times, but an army of exhausted guardian angels guided him home safely. The last of them helped him up the stairs and to his bathroom. Tim barely managed to get the toilet seat up before he puked his guts out.

All in all, a fairly normal first day of school.

* * * * *

“Timmy!”

Krista Norman darted down the hall and put a hand on his arm. Funny how first impressions could be so wrong. Last week Krista had seemed so shy. Now she never stopped talking. Not that Tim minded much, since it meant less effort on his part. Usually he would daydream about other things while she rattled on.

And Bryce, who had seemed so big and scary before… Well, he was still both those things, but he had warmed up to Tim, probably because he’d kept his distance from Stacy. And maybe Bryce didn’t worry about Tim getting anywhere with Krista, since more people than Darryl had since told him she was a prude. That was fine by him. Horny as Tim might be, he still felt shell-shocked from the rape rumors in Kansas.

“Hey, faggot!” Bryce rumbled.

Tim looked up and followed his gaze. The intended target was obvious, since he was the only guy standing still as everyone else hurried to class. Brown eyes stared at him from below perfectly styled blond hair, and for one moment, Tim thought of Corey.

“He really is, you know,” Krista said in a stage whisper.

The guy’s face turned red, but he seemed more angry than embarrassed. He glared at Bryce, even though he was skinny enough to be crushed by one of those ham fists. Then he waved sarcastically at Krista, imitating her snobby body language. The guy had guts! Finally he looked at Tim, as if he was still unsure about him. Tim returned the wave, which didn’t seem to please him, since he spun around and stalked off down the hall.

“Who was that?”

“Brian Bentley,” Krista said, rolling her eyes.

“No, it’s Benjamin,” Bryce corrected, “as in bend over!”