Miguel waits for her to speak, but as the seconds pass his eyes begin to wander on Caro. He watches her fingers splitting apart the rainbow colors on the tips of her hair, explaining the alternating faded sections. He lets his eyes linger on her smooth thighs and stares at the soft skin of her neck poking out her green hoodie, the vellum contour sparkling under the sun.
He re-shifts his weight, both from sitting on a hard surface for too long and to re-accommodate his growing erection mercifully hidden under the folds of his shirt. He coughs.
Caro glances back at him and raises an eyebrow. Miguel diverts his gaze. He joins his hands in front of him and grinds his knuckles together.
"I-I'm sorry you're stuck with me all day. We can call it the day if you want… That way you can return home."
Caro shakes her head and moves closer, wiggles him by the shoulders in a playful way "No! No way! This is just a hiccup! We'll figure it out!" she laughs "And I don't feel like I'm stuck with you! Escorting you for these past few weeks while you visit houses has been very... entertaining."
He laughs, his face burning "Yeah, it has its moments..."
"I would hope so!" Caro says with a laugh, releasing him. Miguel's body trembles slightly from missing her touch "There's all the sex you're having for starters...!"
He rolls his eyes, she laughs. Once she stops another awkward silence falls between them.
A couple of yellow birds land on a tree nearby, catching Caro's attention. She raises her phone to record them while Miguel scratches his head, gathering up his courage.
"And… Do you...? Do you want to have sex?" he finally asks, then realizes what he just said and hurries to add "At some point I mean! With someone you fancy! Not like... right now!"
They both laugh. Caro puts her phone down and lifts her body an inch off the bench.
"I would hope not! These things are sticky!"
The two laugh again, but the awkward silence soon returns. Miguel's knuckles keep turning and twisting as his forearms rest on his skinny knees.
"Yeah, I'm curious how it's like…" Caro murmurs, looking up at the blue sky while brushing her hair with her fingers "I mean... it seems fun!" she shrugs "And if a penis feels HALF as good as my bunny vibrator, I guess it's worth it." she smiles "Especially with the right person…"
Miguel nods, knuckles rubbing hard against each other.
"And do you... Have anyone in mind? You have a... 'right' person you want to have sex with?"
Caro shrugs and holds her knees, balancing herself.
"I have some prospects... There's this girl on my street that has asked me if I want to share her boyfriend." she shrugs "He's kinda bland, but he's cute." she giggles, clicks her tongue "But I'm not sure I want to have sex with him as much as I want to have sex with her. And beyond that, she says she's still not sure if she'll grow up to be queer… in which case, what's the point?" she shakes her head "Other than them, there's this guy from Iran I met in Wiki School that's pretty up-front about asking me. We'll probably have sex someday."
"Oh! I see... Iran uh…?" Miguel murmurs, his knuckles pale "He sounds, um, cool."
"Yeah, he's cute. Oh my God, those eyelashes! You get lost in his eyes." Caro giggles and shrugs again "But he's sixteen and mom says I have to wait two more years until I can accommodate a grown-up penis." she huffs "And even then, I don't think we'll be a couple. I mean..." she leans closer to Miguel and whispers in a conspiratorial way "When he asks me for nude pictures, he wants them to be, like... real."
"Uh?"
"Yeah, yeah! He wants... 'real' photos of me. No filters, no avatars, nothing at all! I'm supposed to just..." she lifts her phone to take a selfie "Aim it at my pussy and click send!" she clicks the screen, tilts her head "Uh, the phone was recording..."
"Oh wow!" Miguel says with a laugh "That's... old school."
"Ha-ha, yeah!" Caro says pocketing the phone "He has many old-fashioned quirks like that. It's as if he still lives at the start of the century or something."
"Yeah! Like... the thirties?"
"If not older!" she says with raising enthusiasm "I should ask him if he uses a face-mask when he goes outside!" she pumps her arm "Gotta watch out for that corona!"
Miguel laughs "Or the pedophiles! He better carry a gun to protect himself from them! Oh, and the zombies! There's always zombies in the movies from that time for some reason..."
Caro gasps, both hands over her mouth. Miguel's eyes open wide as well.
They look at each other and smile.
"The sequel!" they chant in unison.
"Corona infested...!" says one.
"...Zombie pedophiles!" finishes the other.
They break in all-out laughter, drawing even more curious looks by nearby pedestrians. A few even suppress smiles as they walk past, infected by the kid's horse laughter.
When their laughs eventually die down, they're both sweaty and bent in pain from their aching stomachs. Miguel smiles at Caro who smiles back. They hold their gaze for some seconds before sudden self-awareness forces them to avert their eyes.
A family of five with minimum clothing passes by. Two adults in speedos carrying surfboards followed by a row of nude toddlers. Miguel turns and looks at Caro with an excited look.
"I know what we can do! Let's go to the beach!"
Caro's smile vanishes. She straightens her body and pulls her green hoodie further down.
"The beach? At this hour!?"
But Miguel has already stood up and jumped out of the bench. He raises his bike off the dusty soil with a big smile.
"No, no, you don't get it! It's the perfect time! There's always money to be made at the beach at this hour. It's how I found my first clients! And with the money we make, I'll take you to eat to a place that will KNOCK your socks out!"
Caro looks unconvinced, steps off the bench with hesitant steps "I-I don't know Miguel... It's really hot today and only getting hotter. We don't have anything to shield ourselves from the sun… How exactly do you earn money at the beach?"
"You'll see!" Miguel says with a grin turning his bike around, the maneuver momentarily exposing his brown butt under his white shirt, freezing Caro in place "And don't worry about our deal! You won't have to do anything sex-related. Just keep an eye out." he hops on the bike "Come on!"
Caro doesn't move at first, still struck from glimpsing the boy's bubble butt.
She shakes her head and hops on her bike, giving him chase.
To be continued…