Being True (33 page)

“Thanks.” I hadn’t believed my words to be anything special, just honest and straight from the heart. But from the sound of all the sniffles as I spoke, I had strummed the heartstrings of the audience. That had been unexpected, but my time at this school had been such an experience, I had to share what I’d learned from my classmates, my mom, and the Castillos, from Rance, and from Javi.

Being true to who we were and what we wanted in life was the only way to truly succeed. And when life got rough, as it inevitably would, we had to look back at our years here, remember where we came from and what was in our hearts at this moment, and then use that knowledge to move forward, whether it was in baby steps or giant leaps.

“Have you decided where you’re going to college?” he asked.

“UT.” As valedictorian, I was granted automatic admission to every public school in the state, and with the scholarships I’d been awarded to the University of Texas in Austin, I’d be able to pursue my dream of becoming a lawyer at one of the best schools in the state without further bankrupting my mother.

“Awesome!” he said, and we bumped fists again. “I’m off to Louisiana State next month. My dad went there, and I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

Like mine, Enrique’s father had passed some years ago. He understood the need to keep the memory of his father as close as possible. “Good for you, I hope you enjoy Baton Rouge.”

“I will,” he said with a wink. “Those Cajun girls be nasty.” He chuckled and went on his way, leaving me standing there shaking my head and laughing.

I proceeded on, cutting through the surging orange on my hunt for Javi. I ran into Oscar instead. Quite literally. He’d been dashing through the crowd and bumped right into me. He apologized before realizing it was me he’d practically mowed down.

“No worries,” I said. I tried to move past him, but I didn’t get far. His hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glanced at him.

“I don’t like gays. I think it’s gross, and it goes against God, but you’ve got balls, Tru. And I respect that.” He then continued his mad dash through the crowd to whatever or whoever waited for him on the other side.

I stood there for a few minutes, stunned. Maybe it was possible for everyone to change. Tolerance sure beat bigotry any day. Perhaps that was a lesson Oscar had learned. Whatever it was, it made me smile.

“There’s my future UT buddy,” Alison shrieked behind me.

When I turned to face her and Stephanie, who naturally was at her side, she squealed and gave me a big kiss. Her affection for me had grown over the past few weeks, and when she’d learned we’d both be going to UT, it had gotten worse. She practically hung all over me and declared me her college BFF, which pissed Claudia off something fierce and also made poor Stephanie frown more. Stephanie didn’t have the grades to get into a four-year university, so instead she was getting a full-time job and starting community college in the fall. She’d been following Alison for over four years. How was she going to handle choosing her own path now?

“I’m
so
excited we will still be seeing each other come fall,” Alison said before giving me another peck on my cheek. “We are, like, going to do
everything
together.”

I quietly sighed. Alison had become a good friend and a great gay ally, but she was a little much at times. She was better in small doses. “I can’t wait to see what August brings.”

“I hope you guys have fun together,” Stephanie said, pouting.

I put my arm around her. “You can come up and visit.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling her too,” Alison said with an eye roll. She was apparently tired of Stephanie being such a downer. “Are you and Javi coming to Heather’s party tonight?”

“I think we might drop by,” I answered, even though I already knew we were likely not going to make it. Javi and I had already made other plans.

“You better!” she said after delivering a wet kiss on my lips. “Before I go, you know what we gotta do, right?”

I groaned inwardly. “Take a selfie?”

“Damn straight!” She took the picture before tugging Stephanie through the orange swarm.

After she left, I stood on tiptoes, trying to see if I could get a bead on where Javi was, and saw Claudia making her way toward me with a big-ass grin on her face. All day long she’d worn that smile, partially because she was happy to get away from the majority of our classmates, but mostly because she’d finally decided on making journalism her career. She’d be going to Texas A&M University, which was about a three-hour drive from Austin.

Being without each other every day was going to take a major adjustment.

“I’ve been looking for you all over!” she said once she finally parted the sea of Cheetos. “And who do I see you talking to but your new BFF, Alison.” She arched her left eyebrow and stuck out her tongue.

I’d likely be teased about this for the next four years of my life, if not forever. “You know no one can replace you in my heart.”

She sighed. “What have I told you about mushy crap, Tru?”

“Don’t hate me because I love you.” I hugged her and gave her a big, fat kiss. But instead of pushing me away or calling me a dumbass, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.

“I love you too,” she said with a sniffle. We held each other for a few minutes, knowing our lives were rapidly changing. We also knew high school friendships sometimes didn’t last the distance college placed between best friends, but we’d both promised the other to do our damnedest to keep that from happening to us. And as Claudia knew, when I made a promise, I kept my word. She pulled out of the embrace and smiled. “Dumbass.”

I laughed. Some things would never change.

“I take it you and Javi are skipping the soiree at Heather’s?”

“Most likely,” I said with a nod. “I’m sure you are too.”

She lifted her nose to the air with great satisfaction before saying, “I’m actually going.”

“What? Claudia Zamora is going to a high school party by herself?”

“Well, it’s time these bastards get a glimpse of what they’ve been missing all these years.” She unzipped her gown. No oversized T-shirt hid her body. She wore a tight black mini-skirt with a purple V-neck button-down blouse, which naturally had a huge skull and crossbones on the front. The more things change, the more they stayed the same.

“Damn!” I said. “You’re smoking!”

“I know,” she replied with a grin. “And pretty soon so will everyone else.”

“But why the change? You’ve always enjoyed being different from everyone else at school.”

She zipped up her gown and replied, “I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. Trying not to fit in is not being true to myself. And it’s just as bad as trying to become what everyone else wants you to be. You taught me that.”

I pulled her into my arms again.

“My look may have slightly changed,” she said as she smacked me on the back of my head. “But I still don’t do mushy.”

I quickly released her before she hit me again. For a little thing, she had a heavy hand. “Yeah, well, I still love you,” I said as I rubbed my head.

“I know you do,” she grinned. “Now you go to your man while I get myself to that party.”

“I’ve been trying to find him.” I once again surveyed the crowd.

Claudia sighed in exasperation. Why was she always so frustrated with me? She grabbed my head and turned it to my left, pointing across the room.

Javi stood by the side door, his robe slung over his shoulder and a full grin stretched across his face. Had he been watching me this whole time?

Claudia kissed my cheek and gave me a gentle shove in his direction. “Go get him,” she said. “Just don’t forget we have plans next weekend.”

I blew her a kiss. “I can’t wait.”

I set my sights once again on Javi and the night we’d been anticipating for far too long.

J
AVI
AND
I stood at the reception desk of the San Antonio Marriott on the Riverwalk. Thanks to Claudia’s cousin, Brian, we had a room booked for the evening, and we planned on using graduation money we’d been raking in to pay him back. But as we got closer to the front of the line, Javi’s fidgeting started to get out of control.

He’d begun by constantly shifting his weight from one leg to another. It then progressed to moving his overnight bag from his right shoulder to his left and then back again. When it progressed to long, irritated sighs along with all the hopping back and forth, it was time to calm him down. “Will you stop?” I asked him. “You look like a two year old who has to pee.”

He grinned down at me. “Well, I do have to pee.”

“I told you to go before we left the convention center.”

“I didn’t have to go when we left the convention center,” he said, grazing his thumb along my jaw. The burning desire in his dark brown eyes almost made me strip him naked right there.

When I spoke next, my voice had gotten low and husky. “Well, we’ll be in our room in a few minutes.”

“I know,” he said. He placed his hand at the curve of my back. “Why do you think I can’t stand still? I’ve been waiting for this moment for months.”

God, me too!

“I can help the next guest,” the twenty-something Hispanic man at the counter announced. As we headed to where he stood, I couldn’t help but hope he was gay. It would make checking in to our room a lot less awkward, and judging by the guy’s perfect hairdo, manicured nails, and the high pitch of his voice, all signs seemed in our favor.

“We have a reservation under Castillo,” Javi said.

The man entered the information in his computer as he grinned. He’d most likely figured out why we were there. “I see from my notes that the room has been taken care of by Mr. Zamora, and we have been instructed to give you whatever you two may need.” When he gazed back and forth between us, his smile widened. “But I’m assuming you have everything you need already?”

Javi’s cheeks turned scarlet red. “Yes,” he mumbled.

The man nodded as he asked for Javi’s driver’s license. After stroking the keyboard a few more times, he handed back the license, processed our keys, and told us our room number. “Enjoy your stay,” he said before we turned and went down the corridor to the elevators.

“He knew, didn’t he?” Javi asked.

“Yup.”

“Good,” Javi said. The embarrassment from before had vanished. On his cheeks burned an entirely different emotion. “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

I pressed the up button and leaned into him. His breath rushed hot against my face. “I am yours,” I said. “And after tonight, you’ll own every part of me.”

A tortured groan escaped Javi’s lips. He reached around me to push the up button five more times. “Hurry up, dammit!”

When the elevator finally arrived, Javi and I dashed inside and hit the button corresponding to our room number.

Once the doors shut, Javi dropped his bag and enveloped me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head as I nuzzled into his chest. I’d never felt so loved or safe in my life. In Javi’s arms, I was Superman, invulnerable to anything the world might throw at me.

“You do realize our parents know what we’re doing tonight, right?”

I nodded. “They didn’t quite buy my story for some reason.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that you can’t lie worth shit,” Javi said in pretend annoyance. “Who comes up with such an elaborate tale?”

“What was wrong with it?” I’d given it thought for days. I’d told my mom, and also mentioned it over dinner a few nights ago at the Castillo’s that Heather Barnes was throwing a big graduation party. That certainly wasn’t going to raise suspicions since that was what Heather was known for. Then I’d said Heather’s mother was doing some home renovation that had knocked out the landline and even interfered with the cell tower somehow. The entire place had become like a dead zone, which was why we might not be able to call them or why they might not be able to contact us. It had seemed like the perfect answer to everything.

“Are you serious?” he asked as the door opened on our floor. He grabbed my hand and led me down the hall. “That was a taller tale than Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. They saw through it right away. The rambling didn’t help either.”

“I don’t ramble.”

“Of course you don’t. You just speak real fast and make no real sense when you’re trying to cover something up.”

“I do not!”

“Oh, yes you do,” Javi sang in reply as he inserted the key and opened the door.

My response died in my throat when I walked into the room. It wasn’t that it was anything grand or spectacular. We couldn’t exactly afford five-star accommodations. Still, it was a nice room with a huge wooden desk and armoire with a flat screen television sitting on a swiveling console. From the window, the San Antonio skyline stretched in the distance. The view was quite lovely, especially with the low rumble of the Riverwalk traffic below.

What I couldn’t believe was that the room was decorated in mostly burnt orange. It was everywhere! On the couch, on the funky wallpaper that covered the wall opposite the bed, and on the bed. Was this disgusting shade of orange going to haunt me until the end of my days?

“What?” Javi asked with a snicker.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I glared at him, hands on my hips. He knew how much I detested this color.

He replied with a devious giggle as he tossed his bag onto the couch. “Maybe.”

“How?”

“When I was researching hotels in our price range, I took a look at all the rooms to make sure I found the right one.” He held his hands wide and gestured to the entire area. “And when I saw this, well, how could I pass it up?”

I dropped my bag to the side of the king-sized bed. “I don’t know if I’m in the mood anymore,” I said, being difficult and loving it.

“Aw.” He crossed over to me. He pulled me against him and ran his hands up and down my back. “I think it’s perfect. We never would have met if it weren’t for the old orange and white.”

He had a point. The color was awful, but it had managed to bring me to the man I loved. “Fine. I forgive you.”

The smile on Javi’s lips gave way to a seductive grin, and the hands that had been patting my back in comfort now massaged my flesh in need. “I’ve been waiting for this for so long, I can’t believe it’s finally here.”