As I crept towards the playground, memories began to flood my mind of when me and Whiskey were kids. From wrestling on the slides, to playing "ninja" on the monkey bars, and of course, talking on the swing-set. When me and Tex were younger, it was our secret hideout. Well, it probably wasn't much of a secret, but you know what I mean. We would talk about our favorite dinosaurs, the teachers we hated, and just about anything that could be going on in a young boy's life. As much as I hate to admit being so attached to someone, we were practically inseparable. We had a lot of the same friends when we were young, and we still did. But there was always something unique about the friendship we had.
I inched my way to the view of the swing-set, and almost all at once, there he was: wearing his favorite pair of cowboy boots, and a nice, baby blue button-up shirt. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans that were actually not ripped to shreds; his jeans always had big gaps or holes in the front, so I knew he actually attempted to look nice for this occasion. He had a humongous belt buckle on that screamed "redneck", and the biggest smile planted on his face as soon as I arrived.
No words were exchanged at first; I took a seat next to him, and we both stared up at the sky full of stars. My eyes sneakily looked over occasionally at Tex, and he just kept looking up at the sky. He always had something to say, so it was weird to have him so speechless.
"Wow, this is both incredibly amazing and awkward at the same time," I muttered to him, earning a slight chuckle from Tex.
"Yeah; I had this whole plan and everything. And, well, as soon as I saw you walking up 'ere, I, um, well obviously the plan got thrown out the window."
"Well, what was the plan?"
"Well as soon as you walked up to me, I was gonna pull ya in, all seductive-like, and give ya a big ole' smooch, but unfortunately I chickened out."
"Hey man, at least you tried, I guess?" I laughed, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, I've got a plan B, so I'm thinkin' I'll be alright," He smiled, lowering his gaze towards the ground. "We should play truth or truth, like we used to."
"That's actually not a bad idea. Are you sure you don't want to include dares this time? We're adults now, I think I can handle a dare or two."
"Oliver, I know you. I'll dare ya to do something and you'll be a wuss like you always would be."
"Oh whatever; you would think of stupid dares that I couldn't do."
"You TOTALLY could've pantsed Mr. Martin! One-hundred percent."
"No I couldn't, dumbass! You're crazy!" We both laughed, as he leaned back into his swing, and started to swing back and forth. I joined him soon after, attempting to catch up to his height.
"So Tex, truth or truth?"
"Hmmm..." He drew it out for quite some time for comedic effect.
"Oh ha-ha, very funny. Whiskey, why did your family name you that?" I asked. After all this time, I never really knew the story behind why he got such a bizarre and unusual name.
"Oh, Whiskey? Yeah, you know how my mom and dad are alcoholics?"
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Do you hate your name for that?"
"Naw, not really."
"Oh, really? How come?"
"It makes me, me. It just doesn't bother me. I prefer Tex because it makes me sound like a badass, but I'm still Whiskey, yeah?"
"Huh. Yeah, for sure! That's awesome that you don't let it bother you."
"Alrighty, hotshot, my turn now. How come ya always act so nervous about everything? Ya don't seem to ever give yourself a break."
"I don't exactly know. I think I kind of get it from my mother? She can always be a little bit high-strung. I think I'm always nervous because I'm afraid of messing things up."
"Well, isn't that bound to happen no matter what? Messing up is kinda a part of life, innut?"
"Yes; however, I'm a perfectionist. If everything doesn't exactly go as I pictured it in my mind, I get all panicky. I don't know if it's a control thing, or what, but I want to know what's going to happen, and when it's going to. I play things out in my mind so I can prevent screwing up so much."
Whiskey shrugged, and shook his head at me in disagreement. "I don't think it's a bad way to be. You know me; I'm more of the laid-back type, but I outta think a lot more about certain things I do. But I think, with time, you should learn a thing 'er two from me; I think it would do ya some good to loosen up a lil' bit."
I paused for a moment. I had never really thought about how much I overthink everything in my life; from what I'm going to eat, to what time I should take a shower, to what I should say to get everyone to like me; I had always considered every little word I would say, and every decision I would make. It was something that had unknowingly shaped me into the person that I was.
It was in that moment, I decided to flip the script.
"Dare." I turned my head, and looked directly into his crystal blue eyes.
"I-I'm sorry?" He stuttered, his eyes parting from mine out of nervousness.
"Dare. I choose dare."
"Oliver, you never choose dare."
"Well I guess that is no longer the case. I choose dare. I'll do anything."
"Pfft, oh really?" He scoffed, giggling at how unbelievable it is that after over ten years, I'm going to accept any dare that he gave me. He swung for a little longer, his mind racing with endless possibilities. He could make me dance like a chicken, he could make me buy Arizona Iced Tea's for two weeks straight, he could make me do anything he could think of. But he had this look on his face that I had never seen before; he seemed lost in thought, yet dead-set on something he had in his mind.
He cleared his thought, and abruptly stopped the motion of his swing. I followed his lead, and halted my swing. He turned towards me, and placed his hand on my chin. I winced, not from fear, but from shock. "Oliver, I dare ya to kiss me."
"Oh, come on, Whiskey, that's ridiculous. What are we in, middle school?"
"See? I knew it! I knew you would chicken ou-"
"Who said I was chickening out?"
And with that, one of the most magical moments of my entire life happened. I took him by the hand, and lifted him up and out of his swing. When we locked eyes, as cliche as it sounds, time stood still. His gaze pierced through me, and took my breath away, almost as if the wind was knocked out of me. Everything after that happened so quickly, yet I remember the moment vividly. I wrapped my hands around his body, placing one on the small of his back, and the other on his neck. He had one of his dumb, goofy smiles on his face, as he pulled my body so that it collided with his. And slowly, and ever so slightly, his perfect, pink lips intertwined with mine.
The feeling is... indescribable. After falling in love with someone for almost your entire childhood, after sharing so many memories, after becoming so vulnerable with this person, I finally felt like my biggest dream had been fulfilled. I couldn't imagine in a million years that my best friend shared the same feelings as me. And then, with the first kiss, I knew that what we had was something that could simply not be replaced. I closed my eyes, and his lips entwined with mine, like tree roots getting twisted into one another. His lips were soft and sweet, so sweet that I couldn't easily pull mine away. His mouth, after a moment, pulled away slightly, only to be replaced with his teeth lightly nibbling my bottom lip. I uncontrollably grunted, as I panted in between each passionate kiss we shared. And all of a sudden, he pulled his head away from mine.
"Wow." I managed to whisper, still in awe of how amazing Tex is at kissing.
"Yeah, wow," Whiskey chuckled, running his fingers through my hair.
"Well, here's your truth question: am I a good kisser, Tex?"
"No," Tex responded. My mouth popped right open out of shock, as Whiskey began to laugh at his cruel joke.
"Fuck you, Whiskey" I yelled, punching him lightly in his arm.
"But for real: I am gonna replay this moment in my head fer eight hours straight tonight, Oliver. Or should I say, my boyfriend."
"Yeah, 'boyfriend' has a nice ring to it," I smiled, as I couldn't help to have laughter escape my lips.
"Shall I walk ya home, darlin'?" Tex asked, offering me his arm.
"Hmm, I suppose that's alright." I planted a light kiss onto his cheek, and accepted his arm.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The wind was whispering, as Tex and I briskly walked in the woods that connected the playground and my house. I gripped his hand as tight as I could, not wanting to let go of him, or the moment.
"So, what do ya wanna do tomorrow?" Tex interrupted my thinking.
"I don't know... I've always wanted to ride one of your horses, Tex."
"Oh really? A lil' city boy wantin' me to show 'em the ropes?"
"Look, just because I love the thought of New York City and don't have a southern accent, doesn't mean I can't ride a dumb horse."
"Hey, Tumbleweed ain't dumb!"
"I know, I know, he's a smart horse, yadda yadda yadda," I groaned, placing my head on his shoulder. "But do you think your dad would let me now? I know he wouldn't let anyone else near them, but we are much older now."
"Aye, it's worth a shot! I'm sure if they get boozed up enough one night we could sneak Tumbleweed and Grace out for a couple hours. I- Oh. My. God. Our racing spot!" He squealed with delight, as if he was a five year old getting a puppy for Christmas. He ran past me, stopping at a straight line of rocks, slightly larger than pebbles.
"Oh my god, I can't believe the rocks haven't shifted around," I remarked, amazed at the fact that our dirt-road-racing-track hadn't moved an inch for so many years. "I remember we would start at the pebbles, and race to my house and back to the starting line!"
"Haha, yup! An' sometimes, we'd take a nice lil pit-stop fer' lunch." Tex added.
"Wow, I never realized we haven't been here in years. Where is your old bike, anyway?"
"Pro'ly in some ole' abandoned junkyards, I'd imagine."
"Yeah, same here, honestly."
There was a brief pause, and I looked over to Whiskey. He had a perplexed look on his face, as if he was scheming. Before I could manage to get any words out to fill the silence, Tex pushed my chest, so hard that I nearly fell over. I scrunched up my face in anger, as I managed to keep myself from falling to the ground.
"Race ya!"
He sprinted through the woods, as I began my impossible attempt to catch up to him. I was never the one who was "in-shape"; I would usually dabble in video games and drawing, never exercise unless I was hanging out with Tex. It was not even ten seconds and I couldn't even see him, I only heard his laughter echoing off the trees. However, the sound of laughter was quickly replaced by something else.
In the distance, I heard a loud gasp from Whiskey.
"H-Hey! What are you d-" Tex couldn't even get his words out; I saw him drop, almost appearing lifeless.
Time froze. I froze.
I saw Whiskey falling to the ground, at the knees of a person. The person was wearing indescribable clothing; it was if it were a cloak, that was combined with the hazmat suits you see scientists wear when there's toxic chemicals to be tampered with. The headgear the person was using made their face indescribable, I could only make out their bright, glass-green eyes. The figure was holding a syringe, what I assumed to be what had made Whiskey pass out. I wanted to run towards Whiskey, but it was no use. It was as if my legs were frozen, rooted to the ground that I stood on. I tried to breathe, but my mouth just opened. I tried to scream, but before I could even try to, I felt a sharp pinch on my neck, almost feeling like a small bee-sting. My world went black.
*****
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