"...And protect us from evil, Lord, whatever form it takes," Mr. Carpenter said with his head bowed and eyes closed.
Sid looked around the table. His father at one end, brothers and sisters, a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, and Zach, his best friend. They were all bowing their heads and holding their hands as his father prayed over the Thanksgiving dinner.
Sid looked down at Zach's hand. It was soft and delicate. He had a sudden urge to slide his thumb across Zach's fingers but ignored it. He glanced up and saw Zach looking at him. He rolled his eyes and they both smiled. Or maybe Zach had been smiling at him when he looked up? He ignored that, too. They were both just waiting for the ending.
Sid bowed his head again before his father finished the prayer so no one at the table would notice. He wasn't religious like his father was, but he didn't feel the need to be rude about it. He would go through the motions and his father would be happy and everybody would get along.
Zach wasn't technically part of the family, but he and Sid had been best friends for as long as either of them could remember. Sid knew Zach's family was broken but never really asked all the details. He knew Zach lived with his mom in a run-down house a few blocks away. Zach's father occasionally came into town but Zach did his best to avoid him.
Sid and Zach had gone to the same schools growing up. When they were kids, they would sleep over at each other's houses almost every week. When they were older, Zach would ride his bike over to Sid's house and they would hang out. They would play video games and listen to music in Sid's bedroom. Or, if Sid wanted to get away from his family's stringent rules, they would head to Zach's house. Sid's mother hadn't liked him going over to Zach's house at first but she relented over time and now didn't bother saying anything about it. Since Sid's family was better off than Zach's, they spent most of their time at Sid's house, anyway.
Since he was over so often, the Carpenter's tended to treat him like family and had invited him to their Thanksgiving meal. Zach's dad was in town, and his mom wasn't much of a cook, so it all worked out.
"Amen," Mr. Carpenter said.
The rest of the family echoed him and then dove into the huge meal they had all helped prepare. The room was full of talking and laughing as the family got caught up with one another. It was the first time they had all gotten together in recent years. Once his older siblings had started getting into college it had become harder to get everyone together but they had all managed to take the time this Thanksgiving.
"Sid! Zach!" one of Sid's uncles yelled over the din, "You boys got any girlfriends, yet?" He chuckled along with several others but Sid's father just looked at them silently from across the table.
"No, sir. Not yet," Sid said with a smile. He wanted a girlfriend. Just as much as the next high school senior. But he couldn't imagine trying to go out with anyone while he was living at home. His dad was way too uptight.
"Ha, when I was your age, I had a girlfriend in every class! I had to write down their names to remember them!" He laughed and some of the cousins laughed but Sid's father didn't look amused.
Sid's parents were born about fifty years too late. They were alright most of the time, and he loved them, but they were definitely out of touch, especially about girls. Sid's father was always going on about the clothes women wore on TV as if they should be wearing dresses that went down to their ankles. And that was when the TV wasn't on some old preacher talking about people going to hell.
"What about you, Zach?"
"Oh, no, not me," Zach chuckled, looking down at his plate.
"Not even one?" the uncle asked.
Zach chuckled, again. A light, beautiful laugh. "No," he said, "Well... there was someone, but I don't think they know it."
Sid hadn't realized Zach was into anyone. Zach had never said anything about it even though Sid had often told Zach about the girls he liked or fantasized about. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember any time Zach had talked about any girl like that. Sid thought it was strange, considering how popular Zach was. He had always assumed Zach had a lot more experience with girls than he did. Maybe Zach just didn't like talking about it? Sid glanced over to find Zach staring back at him. Sid swallowed as he looked at Zach's deep brown eyes. Their gaze lingered for a second before they both looked away.
Sid's uncle was laughing again and boasting about his accomplishments from decades ago while Sid kept his head down and hoped no one would notice him for a moment. He had gotten a boner and his stiff cock was pushing against his underwear and dress slacks. He tried not to think about it so that it would go away. He glanced around the table so that it would seem like he was paying attention to the conversation but tried not to make eye contact with anyone. When he looked at his father, though, Mr. Carpenter was frowning at him grimly.
He was looking back down at his plate of food when Zach nudged him.
"Dude, did you see that trailer for Lord of the Rings?" Zach said.
Sid looked at Zach again. His friend was grinning and Sid felt like he had just been rescued. He glanced around and saw his father talking to one of his aunts and his uncle was doing lame magic tricks for some of the younger cousins.
"Yes! Oh man, just a few more months!" Sid laughed excitedly and Zach joined him.
They slipped into a familiar conversation about video games, action movies, and fantasy books.
*** *** ***
Sid leaned back in the old office chair in his room as the green Xbox menu popped up on the screen and he selected the Music tab. He scrolled through the handful of CDs he had ripped onto it and chose Century Child by Nightwish. He punched the volume on the TV till it was a good level and then turned his chair back around to his desk. He pushed the power button on his old Compaq and dialed into the internet.
"Geez, man, when are you gonna get rid of that thing?" Zach asked him.
"When I can afford a new one," Sid said, turning to his friend and laughing. "My dad won't even get cable internet so there's not much of a point anyway. Teachers shouldn't be allowed to assign homework the first day after winter break."
"For real," Zach agreed.
Zach was laying on Sid's bed reading a fantasy novel. He was on his side, propping himself up on one elbow. His t-shirt had gotten pulled a little and exposed his hip. The edge of his snug, red briefs showed just above the waistband of his jeans. A lock of his dark hair had fallen across his face but he didn't seem to care.
That lock of hair annoyed Sid. He didn't know why. He knew he wouldn't want his hair falling in front of his eyes all the time, and he assumed Zach would feel the same way, but Zach just laid there with his pretty hair hanging over his pretty face. He supposed it didn't make much sense to be annoyed at Zach's hair. He supposed Zach could choose to fix it if he wanted. Still, the more Sid looked at it the more he wanted to get up, walk over, and brush the lock of hair away from Zach's face.
Zach was lucky. When they were younger Sid had always assumed he had a better life than Zach. He lived in a nicer house and both his parents were around and nobody was drunk or high or anything like that. Now, Sid felt like Zach was the lucky one. Zach was pretty and smart and funny. Sid wished he looked like Zach. Or that he was as cool or as popular as Zach. If he was in Zach's place he knew that he would have had a girlfriend by now. And he probably wouldn't have been a virgin.
Zach didn't seem to like any of the girls at school. He didn't even talk to Sid about girls even though they all seemed to get along with him. He just hung out with his little circle of friends, Sid most of all, and that was it.
Sid sighed. He couldn't stay annoyed with Zach. Zach was his favorite person. Even if he let his stupid hair fall all over his face. Maybe because if it. It was cute. Like, girls would think it was cute, he told himself. Girls would swoon over Zach if he ever gave them a reason to think he was interested.
