Bosom Buddies Ch. 08

I went home, closed the door to my room, and, to my unabashed horror, started crying.

It felt like someone was wringing my insides like a damp rag, squeezing the tears out of me. I slept maybe twenty minutes the whole night. Woke up feeling hung-over despite having nothing to drink. I didn't bother shaving or even combing my hair before I left for school. I threw on a baggy old t-shirt with a picture of Galactus on it.

Whatever.

During lunch, I purposefully avoided my best friends. Instead, I caught up with some of the guys I knew from AV club. They were good guys. We'd had some fun times together.

I skipped my usual run with Amy and went for a stroll by myself. Bought an issue of Playboy. Went home and jacked off to the centerfold. Turned on my Nintendo 64 and finally unlocked the invincibility cheat in Goldeneye. Felt like a champ. I'd been working on that for like two years.

Around eleven o'clock at night, Amy and Corrine knocked on my door. They looked gorgeous, as always. Unbelievably sexy without even trying. Put the centerfold I'd bought a few hours earlier to shame.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

The two beauties exchanged a look, and then Corrine gave me a hug, squashing her ridiculous breasts against me. She met my eyes:

"You really need to ask somebody to prom."

I sighed, "I know. But I can't deal with this tonight. I'm sorry. Listen, you're both my friends and I don't want to hurt either of—"

"No, you listen," Amy interrupted. "You NEED to ask somebody to prom. And that somebody needs to be Liz."

I blinked. It was about the last thing I expected to hear from Amy. I turned to Corrine, but she just nodded her agreement.

"What are you guys talking about? Liz is going with Josh Peterson!"

Corrine smiled at my frustration. "Then change her mind."

"Maybe I don't want to change her mind."

I shrugged off Corrine's hug, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Amy grabbed me by the shoulders and swung me around to face her sparkling green eyes.

"For one of the smartest guys in school, you are a real fucking moron about some things, you know that? You're in love with her, Ian. And she's in love with you. And it's beautiful and real, and BLATANTLY FUCKING OBVIOUS to everyone but the two of you! I've never had that. Corry's never had that. People get married and have children without having what you and Elizabeth have. Just look at my parents—they can't stand to be in the same city as one another."

I was incredulous. Amy was the ninja grand master of casual relationships. She was contemptuous of romance in all its many gooey forms. This was the same girl who'd bragged that she didn't have boyfriends, just guys she "fucked more than once." And she was championing everything she rallied so hard against. My eyes broke from hers and dropped to the floor.

"I've had lots of amazingly hot sex," Amy smiled, "with lots of amazingly hot guys—but I've never looked at another person the way she looks at you."

All of a sudden, I realized just how tired I really was. With choked words, I muttered, "But she's gonna leave."

"So?" Corrine asked. "You think it's going to hurt LESS if you pretend like there's nothing there? Take it from me, that doesn't work. You remember what you told me, the night I dumped Steve? All friendships end. Whether by death or by distance."

"But—"

"There's no such thing as 'Happily-Ever-After,' Ian. Just 'Happily-As-Long-As-We-Can-Manage.'"

Amy and Corrine both closed in for another hug. The warmth of their bodies cleared my mind, and I actually cracked a smile.

"Okay, okay."

"Say it," Amy commanded.

"I'm in love with Elizabeth."

They cheered for me.

(To be continued)