Kieran & Drew (6 page)

“Art.”
“Ugh. Mr. Trinder?”
“Yeah.”

“I hate that guy; he made me stay behind class once and wouldn’t let me go until I could draw a perfect circle. Fucking Nazi.”

“Yeah, I don’t like him much. Kieran neither, actually.” “So, you guys know each other from just art class?”

Drew felt himself grow warm and turned away. He plucked a flyer from a stand and pretended to study it. It advertised the date and time for some sort of comic-book signing in a couple of months’ time. He shoved it into his pocket. “Pretty much. He mentioned a movie and an author I liked.” He shrugged. “We both like the creepy shit.” He looked at Matt and made a scary oogie-boogie face, laughing when Matt glared.

“I don’t know how you can like that stuff, man.” Matt shivered. “I had to sleep with my fucking lamp on for a week when you made me see that
Paranormal Activity
movie.”

“That’s because you’re a pussy.”
“No way. You have to betwisted in the head to like that shit.” “What shit?” Travis asked.

They turned around to see Travis standing behind them, his arms full of comics, and Kieran beside him, suppressing a smile. “
Stuff
. I said stuff,” Matt amended quickly.

 

“No,” Travis said in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying his brother’s discomfort. “You said
shit
.”

 

“Am I gonna have to beat you up?” He crouched and grabbed the front of Travis’s shirt, making his brother giggle. “Huh?”

 

“Not if you buy me this one.” Travis nodded to one of the comics he held.

“That’s called bribery.”
Drew grunted. “That’s called keeping your little brother quiet.” “Fuck.” Matt sighed.

“I’ll have this one too, please.” Travis preened. Both Drew and Kieran laughed.

“I like this kid,” Kieran said to Drew.
“Oh for—” Matt began.

Drew put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Dude, stop while you’re ahead.”

 

Matt took the two comics, messed up his brother’s hair, and then told him to put the rest back while he headed over to the counter to pay. “Find anything you like?” Drew asked Kieran, feeling oddly nervous when it was just the two of them.

 

Kieran shrugged, but he looked to be enjoying himself. “Not today. You?”

“Uh. No….” He laughed.
Kieran gave him a knowing look. “Not your kind of thing?” “Not really.”
“Well, at least you have good taste in movies.”

“We’re going to see a movie?” Travis asked, now back and smiling at Kieran.

“Uh….” Kieran hesitated.
“We hadn’t planned on it, Trav.” Drew nudged the kid.

“Planned on what?
Here
….” He handed a plastic bag to his brother. “Take this, you little gangster.”

 

“We’re going to see a movie!” Travis literally hopped from one foot to the other.

“What?” Matt looked between Kieran and Drew. “You just fleeced me for two comic books; I’m not taking you to the movies as well.” He looked up at Kieran and Drew again. “Which one of you assholes put that in his head?”

“You said
asshole
!” Travis chimed happily. “We get to go see a movie!”

 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

 

Travis threw his hands in the air in triumph. “And now I get popcorn!”

 

“This kid has a life of crime ahead of him,” Drew stagewhispered to Kieran.

 

“Look, let’s just go get something to eat for now, yeah?” Matt dragged his brother by the back of his T-shirt out of the store.

They made it to the burger house, but fries and a Coke weren’t enough to satisfy a nine-year-old who had his mind set on what he wanted. Travis’s insistent pleas had them standing outside the movie house, looking up at the dot-matrix text of what was showing.

“Oh man!” Kieran grabbed Drew’s arm unconsciously and shook it. “They’re showing old Hitchcock movies!”

“You like the old scary films too, huh?” Drew asked, feeling unexpectedly pleased as Kieran gripped his arm, and disappointed when he dropped it.

“Yeah, I love them.” He looked at Drew. “I never thought I’d meet another weirdo my own age who likes old cinema like me.”

“I love scary shit and old shit. Hitchcock, Frank Capra films….” “Look!” Kieran pointed at the billing. “They’re showing
Rope
.” “No, no. Let’s see
The Birds
.”

“Um, when you say old
scary
movies… how scary are we talking?” Matt asked, playing it casual. His brother leaned against his leg, munching on popcorn. He nodded down at Travis. “You know, because of the T-man.”

Drew snorted. “Yeah, because of
Travis
.” He looked at Kieran, grinning. “Matt’s actually a throwback from the eighties. He loves all those corny films where the kids wear oversized sweaters and legwarmers.”

“Oh, oh!” Kieran laughed. “Films where the guys hold boom boxes outside the girl’s bedroom window, and walk across the football field with their fist in the air?”

“That’s it!” Drew laughed.
“You both suck, you know that?” Matt griped.

“D’awww,” Drew pouted, slinging an arm over Matt’s shoulders. “Are widdle us being mean?”

Matt shoved Drew’s arm off of him and nudged Travis in the butt with his knee for laughing. “Say what you like, but I’d rather be a throwback than a freak who watches the kind of shit you two do.”

“You know…,” Kieran began. “Statistically, as teenagers we’re supposed to be into action junk, like
Transformers
or something.” He laughed when both Drew and Matt shivered dramatically.

“Fucking Michael Bay
.
He gets a pass on the first
Transformers
film, but not the second or third,” Drew stated with utter authority. Matt laughed. “Yup. Getting rid of Megan Fox? Dumb. And dare I mention
Pearl Harbor
?”

 

“I think
Team America
summed up that movie quite well—” Drew began.

 

“What’s
Team America
?” Travis asked.

Matt immediately pointed a finger at Drew, shutting him up when Drew grinned wide and opened his mouth to speak. “It’s nothing, kid,” he said to Travis, and then to Drew: “He is
not
seeing that film. I’d be grounded for a week, so don’t go getting it into his head.”

“What is it?” Travis chimed impatiently.
“It’s nothing; it’s just a film with puppets.”
“Like with Kermit and Miss Piggy?”

“No, it’s by the guys who make South Park,” Matt provided with waning patience.

 

“Cool!” Travis tugged on his brother’s arm. “I want to go see that.”

Matt groaned. “We can’t, it’s not showing. But there’s others….” He looked at Drew and Kieran. “So this bird film, I don’t suppose it’s animated, with an after-school-special vibe?”

“Well,” Kieran answered, “
The Birds
is about this woman that turns up at this place called Bodega Bay, just as these bird attacks start happening….”

“Bird attacks?” Matt asked hesitantly.

 

“You okay there, Matt?” Drew asked in a teasing voice. “You’re looking a little green.”

“Soon enough the birds are killing everyone,” Kieran continued with relish. “You know, swooping down at them in the thousands and poking their eyes out and stuff. It’s awesome.”

“Sorry, Matt.” Drew grinned. “It’s not quite
Pretty in Pink
.” “One of these days I’m going tobeat you so hard, Anderson.” “I want to see the bird movie,” Travis whined.

“No, you don’t.” Matt said firmly, glaring at both Kieran and Drew when the pair cracked up. “Look, they’re showing the new Chipmunk movie, you want to see that?”

“Yeah!”

The relief on Matt’s face was unmistakable. “Thank fuck,” he muttered, and shoved Drew when he started to crack up. “Okay, looks like your movie’s a little longer than ours, and I’ll have to get him home after this so….”

“Yeah, cool. We’ll say ’bye here, then. I have to get back after this too. You busy tomorrow?” Drew asked while messing up Travis’s hair with both hands.

“I’m free in the afternoon. Meet you at the usual place?” “Sure thing. Bring your mitt.”

“Cool.” Matt purposefully knocked Kieran’s shoulder with his own as he shepherded Travis past them over to the separate ticket booth. “Good to meet you, Kieran. See you at school, yeah?”

Kieran smiled, looking a little surprised, but nodded his head yes. “Yeah, see you around.”

That left the two of them. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Drew gestured for Kieran to go first toward the ticket booth.

They bought their tickets and then Drew asked, “So, how far have you gotten with the storage room?”

 

“I haven’t even made a dent.”

 

“Yeah, you might be at that for a while.” Drew grinned. “Does Mr. Trinder have you clearing it out every day?”

 

“More or less. Though he hasn’t come to check on me once. I’ll be clearing that room out after graduation at this rate.”

 

“What are you doing after graduation?” Drew nodded at the concession stand. “You getting anything?”

“No, I’m good.” He showed his ticket to the usher and waited a second for Drew to do the same before continuing. “And I’m getting out of here after graduation,” he said with conviction.

“Where are you headed? Have you had any offers come through yet?”

 

“No, I’m still waiting but I’ve applied all over. Washington, Michigan, everywhere.”

 

“Whoa, you really do want to blow this joint.”

 

“Yep. Where do you like to sit?” He nodded out at the sea of empty seats. “Looks like we have a choice.”

 

“I like the back. What do you want to major in?”

 

“I was thinking English Literature. My plans haven’t really extended past just getting out of Keys, really. What about you?” Drew smiled. “I want to be a fireman.”

 

“Seriously?” Kieran asked as they took their seats. “That’s so cool.”

 

Drew nodded. “Yep.”

 

“I thought for sure you’d want to do something with baseball, you’re so good at it.”

 

“Thanks, but nah. I enjoy it and all, but I’ve wanted to be a fireman ever since I was a kid.”

 

“Where are you thinking of going?”

 

Drew was quiet for a second. “The local community college. Here. In Keys.”

 

“You don’t want to get out of here?”

 

Drew shrugged. “Family commitments kind of have me glued to Keys for the time being, plus, I kind of like Keys, so….”

Unsure of what to really say to that and not wanting to pry, Kieran nodded. “I see. Well, I’m sure the fire department here could use more men.”

Drew nodded. “I hope so.”

The room darkened, and they eased into a comfortable silence as the trailers began. It was kind of cool, Drew decided, being here with Kieran in an empty theater and watching an old film they both happened to admire. He couldn’t help but think that this would have been a great first date. But even as he thought it, some squeamish, straight-laced and eager-to-please part of him rebelled against the idea.

Part of him wanted to do what seemed to be a rite of passage for all other guys his age. He wanted to lay his arm across the back of Kieran’s chair and have Kieran rest his head close against his shoulder. Or even just reaching across the armrest and taking Kieran’s hand would have felt both natural and arousing for him. Instead he sat in this empty theater, barely paying attention to the film with every sense hyper-aware and preoccupied with Kieran sitting so close.

The whole afternoon had been a tug-of-war with what he wanted. He’d wanted to hang out with Kieran today to test the waters with Matt. He wanted to know what his best friend thought of Kieran, but at the last minute he almost lost his nerve. Kieran was actually funny and sort of cool in his own way, but he was also kind of hot and completely frustrating to Drew at the same time. He wanted to put his hand on Kieran’s leg in the dark theater, but then horse around with the guy like he was Matt in the daylight so no one would look at them weird. There was no manual, no set-out rules of conduct, and it wasn’t something he could ask Matt about.

He’d told Kieran it wasn’t dinner and a movie, and where were they now? He was about to finish school having never truly kissed someone he’d wanted to kiss or touched someone who honestly made him hot under the collar. It didn’t feel fair. So… fuck it.

With his heart in his throat and staring straight at the screen, he slowly inched his hand off of the armrest until the back of his hand touched Kieran’s. He felt Kieran start, sensed Kieran turn his head ever so slightly to look down at their hands and then look back at the screen.

Glad that Kieran didn’t look right at him or say anything, because he knew he’d lose his nerve if that happened, he knew that all it would take was one movement, one movement and he’d have Kieran’s hand in his. He stared ahead at the screen, turned his hand, and then touched his palm to Kieran’s. He threaded their fingers together.

He felt another involuntary jerk in Kieran’s hand, but then he was relaxing, and there it was. They were holding hands. It sounded so juvenile and simple but felt so dangerous and out of bounds. He let his thumb gently rub against the side of Kieran’s hand, took a breath, and chanced an embarrassingly inhibited look at Kieran.

Even in the dark, he could see the blush in Kieran’s cheeks and the pleased smile that he was trying to tamp down by biting his lip. The second Kieran looked at him, he felt a strange mix of panic and amusement rise up, something that must have been identical in Kieran’s mind, because they both looked back at the screen at the same time, smothering nervous grins.

He didn’t know if this had been his plan from the start, or even what his intentions would be outside the movie theater, but for right now he didn’t care and allowed this one small thing; just for now he didn’t let go of Kieran’s hand.

CHapTEr FOur.

K
IERAN felt as if everything he did was in slow motion and seemed to be merely a reverse countdown from when it had happened. Two hours since Drew knocked him on his ass by holding his hand. Twelve hours since Drew—
bam
, out of nowhere—held his hand. Sixteen hours, forty-eight minutes, and thirty-two seconds… and so on. He went about clearing the storage room in a daze, or, to be more accurate, he didn’t so much clear as sluggishly move the mess from one place to another.