The amount of nerves that Stardust was feeling over this little get together was actually ridiculous. He’d changed his outfit three times already and none of them were quite right. This was nothing more than just hanging out with a friend, what did it matter what he wore? Apparently it mattered a lot. So much so that Stardust had to stay away from the kitchen because the temptation to call and cancel just to eliminate the stress was so great. He finally settled on a oversized t-shirt and skinny jeans, fighting with his hair until he just tied it up into a messy ponytail. At this point he was basically out of time, it was the only way he even made a decision.
The sound of the doorbell only sealed his outfit’s fate. It beckoned him down the stairs, asking him to open the front door. Any other time and he would have hidden upstairs until whoever was had given up and left but this time he knew who it was behind the door and he actually wanted to see them. Tugging the door open Stardust cursed at the state of his own outfit. Cori was in a t-shirt and jeans as well but the way they hung off of him looked about ten times more fashionable than Stardust felt. Maybe it was the light scarf he’d accessorized with, or the bracelets and bands around his wrists. Either way he looked too good to be hiking, which was a plus at least, unless Cori was the kind to ruin brand names with mud.
“H-hey.” Stardust stumbled over his words. This was not good. Cute boys held the power to take away his ability to speak, there was no way he could last a whole trip out with Cori if he was going to mess up every word. “Uh, my dad made up some snacks and left water bottles? If we need?”
“Oh cool, water and snacks are perfect. Need a hand with them?”
“No, I’m good.” The bag that had been left for him at the door really wasn’t all that heavy, it was mostly just trail mix and a couple of rice krispie squares. Stardust was pretty sure the squares were homemade, his dad had shuffled about in the kitchen for longer than usual the night before which was really sweet. He’d have to thank him for it when he saw him later that night.
It turned out that Cori had a car, or at least access to one. Stardust would have to ask how old he was, to be driving on his own already, he must have been at least a year older. Stardust had the first half of his license but couldn’t get the second until next year. He didn’t really want to ask though, in case it turned out Cori was older than he’d suspected. Not that a number would change the crush that he was clearly quickly developing but it would determine if it was safe to proceed or not. The peach haired teen tended to be overly cautious about everything, he couldn’t just let loose the way teenagers were expected to. Even as he slid into the passenger’s seat next to Cori he was questioning himself.
“Okay, so I just got my G2 last week, I took the classes so I should be not terrible. I promise.” The driver grinned over at Stardust, helping soothe some of his worries. If he only just got it then he was probably sixteen like Stardust was, maybe seventeen, that was a better number than twenty five, at least at this wouldn’t involve jail time for anyone. That was always good thing.
“That isn't all that reassuring.” Stardust was only joking, smiling over at him. “I haven't even gone for my G1 yet. No time for the extra classes.”
“Really? Because up here there's really nothing else to do.” Cori started up the car, eyes on the road as he spoke. That was a relief to the teen passenger, a lot of his friends who were just starting to get their licences were bad for looking at their passengers while they spoke. It always made him wary about getting into the car with them. Even just as Cori drove down to the first intersection it was clear he was a careful driver. The classes had paid off.
“Unfortunately I decided to spend my summer hanging out with dorky nerds instead of learning to drive.” Stardust hoped that he hadn't just offended Cori with his playful teasing. A cheerful laugh from the driver cleared up his worry however, the older teen didn't mind being referred to as a ‘dorky nerd’. “Actually I just have no access to a car back home so I figured I'd save up for the classes until I’ll actually need it.”
“That’s smart. As a dorky nerd I endorse that plan.” Cori was still chuckling over that statement, Stardust was pleased about that. It was helping him relax.
He had no idea where his new friend was taking them, he’d lost track of the twists and turns they’d taken already. Still Stardust stared out the window, trying to take it all in. At one set of lights he spotted a sign that made him frown a little bit. He wasn’t sure why it surprised him but it had, he’d not thought small towns would have self proclaimed psychics like the city did. Wouldn’t word of mouth have spread around information on how much of a scam those people were?
“A psychic. Really? Even up here?”
“Why? Interested in knowing your future?” Cori was still joking, his tone light enough that it made Stardust soften just a little.
“No way. Those guys are frauds. I'd rather keep my money thank you.” He'd not been able to tone down his choice of words but at least his tone wasn't razor edged either. Still, despite his attempt to sound less rude, there was still a silence that hung in the air after his reply died. The teen glanced over at the driver, to see if he could read his expression. He couldn't. Cori’s smile had faded just a little,and he looked pensive but that could have been because he was focused on the road, pulling through the intersection when the light turned green. Somehow Stardust had still said the wrong thing.
“He's a little famous around town for being more right than most psychics.” Cori seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “Although people who go see psychics usually just want their decisions confirmed as the right one.”
“Or sometimes it's because they don't want to assume responsibility for their actions.” Stardust countered the point, looking back out the window. Cori was probably looking for somewhere to turn around now, to take him back home. “My mom is one of those people. She spends every penny to have someone tell her what to do.”
“Oh.” Cori glanced over at his passenger when they reached a stop sign, greeted with the sight of a small peach ponytail. “Well, psychics that are willing to help perpetuate that are frauds. They really shouldn't be milking someone like that.”
That helped Stardust calm down a little, his body language relaxing as he turned back to look at Cori. “Sorry. Just, hard with my mom or whatever.”
“Naw it’s cool. Hopefully the park helps clear those bad memories.” As he announced their end location he turned into a little parking lot.
This wasn’t like what got called a park back in Stardust’s city, those were just little bits of green with various pieces of playground equipment for kids to use. Little areas where kids could try to get some exercise while their parents rested on nearby benches and gossiped. This was definitely not that. There was no sign of playground equipment, just a lot of trees and a large grassy area that was currently occupied by a couple of dogs and their owners playing fetch and generally running around. There weren’t a lot of cars in the lot, Cori had his choice of anywhere while his passenger stared out of the window in surprise.
“This is so not a park. This is way too big to be a park. A park is like, swings and slides and shit.” Stardust informed him of that fact when the car engine died and seatbelts came off.
“There’s that too. If we go to the swings you’ll need to watch your language though, in the summer there’s usually kids here at all times.” Cori just seemed amused by Stardust’s bewilderment, grabbing the bag of snacks from him when they met at the hood of the car. “Come on. I thought it would be nice to go for a walk, then we can swing.”
This place was huge, Stardust couldn’t figure out how people didn’t get lost here. Cori seemed to know exactly where he was going, which was straight into the treeline. There was a path there, unpaved but trampled down more than enough to be clear. It wound around the whole of the park, branching off into smaller trails in more than one place, mimicking the trees all around them. Stubborn rocks and old roots seemed to find their way all over the path, something that the citydweller had to watch for constantly while Cori avoided them without trying. It wasn’t hiking but it was a little more that what he would have called just a walk at home. At least it wasn’t muddy in many places, there were a few damp patches of dirt but they were easy to avoid. In fact he would have had to really try to go through some of them. Even with all that added effort this was more fun than he would have expected it to be.
They chatted a little as they walked, though it was mostly Cori talking and Stardust adding little replies here and there. It wasn’t that the older teen wasn’t giving him a chance to speak, it was just that Stardust was too preoccupied to offer a lasting subject of conversation. He was a little more talkative when they got to a little clearing. It was still under the trees but it had a little bridge over a tiny stream and it was a little more flat than the rest of the path had been. About halfway over they both paused, watching the stream flow beneath them.
“So, do you have a girlfriend back home?”
The question startled Stardust out of the brief daydream he'd been having. Putting his chin on the palms of his hands he still somehow managed a small shrug. He knew what this question was, it was a subtle way of trying to see what he was all about and which way his interests swung. For a while he'd lied about it,made up a fake girlfriend but he'd since admitted to himself the truth and after that it was hard to stay in the closet. “Are you asking if I have a girlfriend for real or are you just trying to subtly ask me if I'm gay? Because I'll tell you right now it's not subtle at all.”
Cori just stared at the other teen for a moment, clearly trying to decide if he was being serious or not before he laughed. Laughter was exactly the opposite of what Stardust wanted to hear, making him push off of the railing he’d been leaning against, turning to head back to where they’d come in. He didn’t get very far, Cori grabbed his wrist to stop him from escaping entirely, the laughter dying out.
“Hey now, come on, don’t leave. I’m sorry I just, I was trying to subtly get some information from you but it wasn’t that.” At least he was being honest, or seemed like he was being honest enough that Stardust turned back around to face him.
“Then what? What were you trying to weasel out of me? I don’t like games, just ask me outright.”
“If you were single. I wanted to know if you were single or not.” Cori’s admittance wasn’t what Stardust had expected it to be and it left him speechless. He just started at the other teen, searching his face for an explanation or reason for this kind of joke. Stardust didn’t get the appeal to bullying, didn’t see how it could make anyone feel good to make fun of someone else but he also couldn’t see that kind of viciousness in Cori’s expression yet. In fact he still just looked amused as he raised his eyebrows at the intense stare. “Well?”
“Well what?” Stardust had been lost enough in his thoughts that he’d not put it together yet, what Cori’s question really was. He needed it spelled out to him.
“Well are you single or not?”
“I’m not. Why?” Stardust was still on edge but being completely rude to Cori was probably not the smartest idea. After all he had no way home if Cori decided to just leave him at the park. With no cellphone and no change in his pockets for a payphone he would be stuck here for who knew how long.
“Because there’s a party going on this weekend and I wanted to ask you to be my date. Wasn’t going to get my hopes up about it if you weren’t single though.” Stardust hadn’t met anyone who was this up front, this blunt about things before, at least not in person. Text on a screen was always more straightforward than face to face conversations. “So, you are single. Will you be my date?”
“Your date. For a party?” Stardust repeated the words back, mostly because they’d taken him so by surprise that he needed to stall, to give his brain a chance to comprehend the question.
“Yes. My date for the party. We’re a small town, not really a huge social pool to pick from so even gay kids like me get invited. Not that the host really cares all that much. She knows I know about her little trip to the other team last summer anyway, so she’d probably invite me just to keep my mouth shut.”
Hearing Cori refer to his sexuality so easily, so opening actually helped soothe some of Stardust’s nerves. He wasn’t in the closet either but he’d figured out here it would be so much harder to stay safe and stay out. If Cori didn’t find it too dangerous to just say it out loud then maybe he didn’t have to worry too much about it. It had been just the right thing to say to get the peach haired boy to consider it.
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll be your date.” He’d have to talk to his dad about it, if only just because he was pretty sure a party would mean coming home after the mentioned curfew.
“Really? Great! The party is on Saturday. It’s starts at like, seven or eight but it’s not really going to start until nine. I was thinking I could pick you up around seven thirty, we could grab something fast to eat before we go? Like burgers or something?” Cori seemed so excited about the idea of food first that Stardust wasn’t going to tell him he couldn’t really afford it. He could probably swing french fries or something, he was pretty sure his dad wouldn’t mind lending him a couple of dollars for that. He’d figure something out.
“Sounds good. Saturday, seven thirty ish.” Stardust agreed with the plan, trying to shove the butterflies in his stomach out of his mind. He was too excited for this, too please over how things turned out but it was hard for him to not be happy about this turn of events. Cori was really cute and really sweet, hopefully he wouldn’t turn out proving Stardust wrong.
“Perfect. Now, what do you say we find out if the swings are free?” The rest of the afternoon felt like a dream to the newcomer. He'd never expected to have a summer like this, not that he would ever admit as much to his mom. He was still mad about her sending him up here, he just wasn't so miffed to be here anymore.
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