“Bailey! Heads up!” The black and white soccer ball collided with a fourteen year old boy’s head before swishing into the goal. Caleb ran up to his friend, blonde curls bouncing.
“I didn’t mean it literally!” he laughed.
“Yeah, I know,” Bailey grinned, “but that’s how I took it.”
“Well, it was a nice shot,” Caleb admitted.
“Thanks. Y’know, I’m really hoping for midfield this year.”
“You say that every time tryouts roll around.” Caleb rolled his eyes, retrieving the ball and beginning to juggle it on his feet and knees. “You know you’ll get whatever position you want.”
“And you’ll be starting offense. Again.” Bailey laughed, “What you get for being good, I guess.”
“Says the MVP.”
“Aw, shut up.” Bailey reached over with his foot and stole the ball from Caleb. He kicked it repeatedly into the air, higher each time. “You were close last year.”
“Not even!” Caleb tried to take it back, but missed. “Dammit.”
“You would’ve had it if I’d gotten suspended one more time.” Bailey was juggling the ball on his head now, watching it carefully.
“If you’d gotten suspended, I would’ve been dragged down with you,” Caleb jumped up and snatched the ball out of the air, “as always.”
“Oi! Handball! Foul!” Bailey protested loudly. “Dammit, Caleb, you’re not a goalie!”
Caleb stuck his tongue out at him. “We’re just screwin’ around in your backyard, Bai’ – does it really matter?”
“Guess not – ‘screwin’ around,’ huh?” He grinned. Caleb blushed deeply.
“Not what I meant!” he nearly shouted.
“Chill!” Bailey choked out through his laughter. “I’m just teasing you.”
Caleb didn’t smile back.
“Hey… Caley, you okay?” Bailey reached for his hand, concerned. Caleb pulled away and bit his lip.
“Just because I came out to you…it doesn’t mean you get to make fun of me,” he said softly, hurt. “You know I haven’t even told my brother yet.”
“Oh, sweetheart!” Bailey pulled him into a hug. “I’m not trying to make fun of you! I just thought it’d be easier – y’know, if we didn’t act so sensitive to it. Joking about it might make you feel more…normal. Not that you’re not,” Bailey scrambled to cover himself, “but – shit, I’m just sticking my feet in my mouth, huh?”
Caleb laughed softly. “Just a bit, Bai’. But that’s okay.” He blushed. “You’re kinda cute when you’re trying to make me feel better. I appreciate it.”
“I’m cute?” Bailey smiled, making Caleb redden further. “Well, thanks, doll. You’re not too bad yourself!”
Flustered, Caleb swatted him away. “You better not do this at tryouts. You’re distracting me too much – I’d be lucky to even make alternate.”
Bailey sighed. “You’ll be fine,” he said soothingly. “Just relax. You know you’re brilliant – at least, you know I think so.”
“Thank you.” He pulled the brunet boy into a hug, and received a gentle one in return.
“Any time, sweetie.”
—-
“What was that, Lindsey?”
Lindsey Brennan swallowed her mouthful of strawberry-banana smoothie. “I said, how’s the preparation for tryouts going? I think that’s the only thing you two’ve been talking and thinking about lately…”
“Not the only thing I’ve thought about,” Caleb mumbled under his breath, stealing a glance at the boy beside him before quickly staring back down at his drink.
Lindsey grinned and rolled her eyes. “Other than the obvious, I mean.”
Confused, the Bailey in question looked back and forth between his two best friends. “Am I missing something here? I feel like I’m missing something.”
“Caley just reeeeally loves his peach smoothies.” Lindsey winked at the blonde boy, and he blushed.
“Yeah,” Bailey sighed. “I’m definitely out of the loop. You guys suck.”
“Well, I know Caleb does—”
“Lindsey Brennan,I will end you!”
The threat was empty, and they all knew it. Lindsey laughed the hardest, almost causing smoothie to shoot out her nose.
“Aw, gross!” Bailey grimaced. “The thought of Caleb ending anyone isn’t that funny.”
She gave him a look. He cocked his head, pictured it again, and chuckled.
“Okay, maybe it is.”
“Why is it so hard to believe that I could be badass?” Caleb pouted.
“Maybe because your sweet widdle face is just so goshdarn cute!” Bailey cooed, reaching across the table to playfully pinch Caleb’s cheek.
“Ha ha, very funny.” He shoved Bailey’s hand away and stuck out his tongue. “What is this, National Bash Caleb Day?”
“It’s a biweekly holiday,” Lindsey remarked.
“Celebrated with smoothies, confetti, and loving disses,” Bailey added.
“Confetti?! How am I missing the confetti?” Caleb exclaimed. “I might be halfway okay with this if there were pieces of paper rainbow floating through the air!”
“Of course you would be,” Lindsey gently teased.
Bailey laughed, “Insert gay jokes here!”
“You guys are so flippin’ mean to me.”
“We tease because we love, sweetheart.”
“Lies, all of it.”
“Need me to prove it?” Bailey blinked, blue eyes wide. “I’ll kiss you if need be.”
Lindsey choked once again on her drink, effectively distracting the tallest member of their group from his suddenly speechless and red-faced admirer.
“Damn, girl, what’s the matter? Can’t handle suckin’ on a straw?”
“Go to hell, Bailey,” she coughed, still trying to contain her laughter.
“That’s not very nice. Why don’t you like me, Linds? I thought we were friends!”
“Bailey, Bailey, Bailey,” she cleared her throat and tried to smile sweetly. “It’s because I love you, and once you love someone, constantly liking them is optional!”
“You use that on me all the time, Bai’,” Caleb chimed in. “That rule’s practically your life’s philosophy.”
“Whatever.” Bailey rolled his eyes. “Damn, I drank too much. Gotta go piss. Don’t leave without me.”
“Gross.” Caleb watched his friend walk off, making a face at the back of his head. “Vulgar much?”
“Y’know, sometimes I wonder why I don’t have many female friends…and then I remember the reason is you two. You’d probably scare them all away,” Lindsey quipped, returning to her smoothie.
“Uh-huh…”
Lindsey raised an eyebrow, looking up to see a distracted Caleb still stealing glances at Bailey until he was out of sight. “So…are you going to tell him?”
“Tell him what?”
She cleared her throat and lowered her voice slightly to mimic him. “Oh, Bailey O’Donnell, I’m so madly in love with you! Whisk me away so we can be together forever and make sweet, sweet lov—!”
Caleb cut her off with the dirtiest look he could muster. “Not funny, Lindsey,” he growled, offended. “Not even on the same level as funny. Other than you, Bailey’s my best friend, and…if I told him how I really felt, it could screw everything up. I can’t do that. Plus, he doesn’t even swing that way…”
Lindsey gave him a skeptical look but decided to keep her mouth shut on the subject. “So you’re just going to keep pining from afar?”
“If that’s what it’ll take to keep our friendship safe, then…then yes.” The blonde sighed in disappointment.
“Hypothetically—”
“No, Linds. End of discussion. I’m not telling him.”
“Alright, alright… Sorry. But just so you know, you two would make an adorable couple.”
“For the last time, I – oh wait shut up he’s coming back.”
Bailey looked back and forth between Lindsey and Caleb, feeling as though he could physically touch the awkward silence. “Um… Something happen while I was gone?”
“No nope nothing we’re fine I’m fine we just—”
“Ahem.” Lindsey gave Caleb a look, shutting him up. If you don’t want him to find out, then don’t be so obvious about it! “Conversations go out every twenty minutes, Bailey. Didn’t you know that?” She stood up and slung her Sharpie-decorated messenger bag over her shoulder. “Let’s go, boys.”
Still confused, Bailey tossed his empty Styrofoam cup into the garbage and followed her out. Caleb lagged a little, relieved that he hadn’t blown his cover. The last thing he wanted in his life right now was drama.
—-
Caleb and Bailey spent most of their Saturday nights together, lying on the hill behind the elementary school, looking up at the stars. Tonight was no exception.
The blonde yawned loudly, stretching out before pulling his knees back up to his chest. “I love this, Bailey. Being up here and just watching the stars. It drives my mind wild. I mean, you start thinking about how endless the universe really is, and then you start thinking about how that could be a metaphor for life, and how there are endless possibilities for your future, and suddenly you’re hit with inspiration! Like, hey, I can do anything with myself and—” Caleb paused, glancing at his friend beside him. “Sorry, I’m rambling again. The two cans of Pepsi are kicking in.”
Bailey chuckled, “Remind me again why I let you have so much caffeine and sugar?”
“Honestly? I have no idea,” Caleb admitted. “Me bouncing off the walls should send you running far, far away.”
“But it doesn’t,” Bailey grinned. “I’ve stuck with you for over five years, baby – don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Caleb felt his heart flutter. It was as close to a declaration of love as he figured he was ever going to get. But looking into Bailey’s clear, bright, blue eyes, he could at least pretend his fantasies were coming true.
“I don’t, either,” he said weakly. If Bailey noticed how distracted his friend was, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he lay back on the grass and rested his hands behind his head.
“Look at the stars, Caleb,” he sighed happily. “They’re so pretty tonight.”
“You say that every week.” Caleb lay next to Bailey, paying more attention to the russet-haired boy beside him than to the sky.
“Except when it’s cloudy,” Bailey pointed out. “Anyway. I say it because it’s true every week.” A faint smile touched his lips. Caleb knew that look, and prepared himself for one of Bailey’s own rambles.
“The stars are just…they’re almost magical, Ca’. It’s all science and physics and chemistry, but still. They’re out there, millions and billions and trillions of miles away, burning so hot and bright that everyone here can see it. Yeah, some people choose to ignore them and their beauty, but it doesn’t make them any less real.”
He paused for breath. “And another thing. They’re so far away, that even when one burns out, it takes a long time for us to see that it’s gone. Like, legit earth years. I just think that’s so amazing. How something can be gone, but it takes so long for us to be able to perceive it. Hell, for all we know, the Big Dipper could be burned out already. It could disappear tomorrow. But not really tomorrow, because it’d be missing already…” Bailey sighed. “I’m not making much sense, am I.”
“You’re making perfect sense,” Caleb murmured, lulled by the sound of his voice.
“Were you even paying attention?”
“Of course!” he exclaimed, smiling unconvincingly. “Of course I was.”
“What did I say?”
“You were talking about…the stars. And them burning out and us not knowing for a while or something.”
“Close enough,” Bailey laughed slightly. There was a comfortable silence. Caleb tried to count the stars, wondering which ones were already gone.
He gave up. “So, you know the eighth grade dance is coming up next week, right?”
“Yeah, I remember.” Bailey’s pale skin almost glowed in the dim light, making his freckles stand out.
“Are you gonna ask anyone?” Caleb asked, trying not to sound too apprehensive.
Bailey looked indecisive. “I dunno. Maybe. Haven’t really decided yet.”
“Who…who is it?”
“You’ll see!” he laughed, grinning widely at Caleb’s inquisitiveness. “That is, if it even happens. I’m so scared of rejection.”
“What are you talking about?” Caleb propped himself up on his elbows. “There’s not a girl in the world who’d say no to you.”
“Well, thanks for the encouragement, darlin’.” Bailey smiled at Caleb, and the blonde boy’s stomach did flip-flops. “But still. We’ll see.”
“I’d better be the first person you tell, whether or not it happens.”
“Believe me, Caleb,” Bailey smiled to the stars, “you will be.”
