What Am I Doing?

Image of Set Stories Free - 2018
Image of Short Story
I looked up from my copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because I heard a series of taps on my window. I rose from my bed and walked across the room to the window, where I peeked out of my deep blue curtains.

It was my best friend, Damien Brown. I waved down to him and he started grinning. I laughed to myself as I opened the window.

“Meet me at the front door,” I called down. I had been in love with him ever since our freshman year of high school and now that we were two years out, I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to see him as much. I mean, even before that, he only thought of me as a brother, at most, but I could still hope. I practically ran down the stairs and almost fell. I opened my front door to reveal Damien standing there in the pouring rain that I had failed to see a moment ago. It was one o’clock in the morning, yet he looked as perfect as ever. The street light several feet away illuminated his muscular figure as he towered over me in the doorway. He pulled me into a tight hug. Okay, something isn’t right. Damien never hugs me when he sees me I thought myself.

“Can we talk?,” Damien asked, his voice almost a whisper. I nodded and gestured to the stairway that led up to just about every room and my house. He shook his head. “Let’s walk.” I nodded in agreement and pulled my black converses on and threw my purple hoodie over my black t-shirt.

We walked in silence for about five minutes. Suddenly, Damien stopped under a street light, the light shining on his dark skin and short, chocolate brown hair.

“Katrina broke up with me,” he said, tears obviously welling up in his eyes.

“O-Oh, that’s terrible,” I said, trying to comfort him. I’ve always been a shy, awkward kid and Damien was one of my three friends so, as can be assumed, I am not good at comforting other people.

“Yeah,” he said, letting out a small laugh. “But, oh well. Her loss. I just thought I should tell you that, but it’s not why I came here. I have to ask you something.” I felt my heart skip a beat. Yes, I knew he was as straight as a ruler, but I could still hope he would admit he liked me, too.

“Do you wanna go skydiving with me and a couple other guys? I know stuff like this isn’t really up you’re ally, but I still wanted to ask,” he said, looking a little nervous. It was true. He wasn’t lying, I, Mason Williams, was not the one the one to be brave and courageous.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” I blurted out without thinking. What am I doing? I thought to myself.

“Oh, wow. Okay, see you at five tom- well, tonight,” Damien said. I suddenly had an extremely unusual urge - well, unusual for me, that is - and I followed it because it was very overwhelming and I pulled his flannel until his lips collided with mine.

I suddenly realised what I was doing and instantly regretted it. What is with up with me right now? I thought as I quickly pulled away and put my head down.

Before I could think, say, or do anything else, I felt a sudden warmth on the side of my face. I slowly looked up and saw that Damien had put his hand on my cheek. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips onto mine. When he pulled away, I looked at him in shock.

“B-But, you.... you’re.... you’re straight,” I stammered, making him laugh.

“I thought you were straight,” he said, still laughing. I smiled and grabbed his hand and looked at my pale hand on his darker one.

“You wanna stay at my house tonight?,” I asked, looking up at him.

“Why not?,” he said, smiling gently. Okay, yeah, I’m crazy tonight. I’ve lost it my thoughts were interrupted by Damien putting his arm around my waist. But maybe it was worth it. We eventually made our way back to my place, where we fell asleep on the couch while watching The Lion King.

We awoke around ten o’clock that morning to a loud bang. The sound had came from my falling onto the floor.

“Oh goodness, are you okay?,” Damien asked, jumping up to help me.

“Yeah,” I replied as I took Damien’s extended hand. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he said as he winked at me. “We’d better get ready.”

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“We can stay here if you want,” he offered.

“Nah, we’re good,” I said, giving him a small smile. We went out to McDonald’s for lunch and got back at about two.

“Three more hours,” Damien called from my kitchen. “You still good?”

“Yep,” I called back. “I’m going to go get a shower!”

“Alright!”

About an hour later I finally got out of the shower. I pulled on pair of black, ripped skinny jeans and a slightly loose black t-shirt. I stared at my small complexion through the bathroom mirror. My long, black hair framed my face and stopped at about my shoulders, my deep blue eyes stared back at me. I exited the bathroom and went into the living room where Damien sat reading.

“You up for a game of Jenga?,” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Heck yeah,” he said as he grabbed the game. We played until about four thirty. We gathered our belongings that we were going to take with us and headed out.

As we stood in front of the plane, I was starting to have even more second thoughts, but I shoved them aside as I pulled on the equipment. I squeezed Damien’s hand as the plane ascended. After several minutes, we reached our jumping destination. Damien and I were up first, as you needed a partner and Damien had done this before.

“One,” he said as he looked into my eyes.

“Two,” I added as we took a step forward.

“THREE!,” we yelled in unison as we jumped out. For a second, everything stopped.

“NOW!,” Damien yelled to me as we pulled the strings on the bag on our backs, releasing the parachutes. I let out a loud laugh as we softly hit the ground. Damien pulled me close to his body and planted a soft kiss on my lips. Suddenly, I felt like I could do anything and all it took was a little courage.
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