Brian and Carey

by Colin Sherman

  “You look great,” Carey said quietly.

  “Thanks.” Brian did a double take when he finally noticed Carey standing next to him. “Wow, yours fits perfectly.”

  “You don’t think the sleeves are too short?”

  “No. You want the shirt to peek out at the cuff.”

  Carey laughed. “Thanks.” He wasn’t about to argue with the fashion plate.

  “If you want to take those off, I’ll help you put them back on the hangers,” the shop girl said, making them feel like she was trying to hurry them along.

  As Carey walked back into his dressing room, he didn’t notice the way Brian’s eyes followed.

  ◆◆◆

  “Oh, Carey, you look so handsome,” Jeannie Reid exclaimed as he came down the stairs. “Doesn’t he look handsome Malcolm?”

  Mr. Reid smiled. “A chip off the old block.” It was an ironic statement, considering Carey looked just like his mother, not his father.

  “Let me get the camera. I want to be ready when Brian and Robin come over.” Jeannie quickly ran up the stairs.

  The bell rang, and before anybody else could make a move, Michelle was at the door.

  “I’ll get it!” she yelled.

  Robin walked in wearing a full-length, pale yellow halter dress. Her hair was swept up into a loose bun with ringlets around her face. She wore more make up than usual and even had her nails done for the occasion.

  Carey blinked. “Wow.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she smiled.

  Jeannie came back down the stairs, camera in hand. She gasped when she caught sight of Robin.

  “Oh, you look beautiful.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Reid.”

  “Carey, don’t you have something for her?” Jeannie asked.

  He had forgotten about the corsage.

  “Oh, right.”

  He went to the refrigerator and took out the clear plastic box.

  “I wasn’t sure if you had one, so I got you this.” He held it out for her.

  “You got me a corsage? Thank you. But I didn’t get you a boutonniere.”

  “That’s okay, I got one for myself. Don’t feel bad. We didn’t even talk about it.”

  “Go ahead honey, put it on her,” Jeannie urged. She began snapping pictures to mark the occasion.

  After the corsage was on her wrist, Robin took out the single carnation to pin in Carey’s lapel.

  Brian walked in just as they finished. His bright pink bow tie and cummerbund were hard to miss. He wore eyeliner and lip gloss, but relatively subtly. He had his hair trimmed earlier that day, so his curls were under control. A smile grew on Carey’s face as he watched him shake his father’s hand. But when his father turned away from Brian, he rolled his eyes.

  “We should take pictures outside by the bushes,” Mrs. Reid suggested. “Come on.”

  Brian, being closest to the door, went right back out, followed by Robin.

  “You look nice,” he told her. “Yellow is not an easy color to pull off. But with your olive skin tone, it’s great.”

  Robin laughed and thanked him, returning the compliment.

  After what seemed like thousands of pictures of Carey and Robin in various poses, and all three of them together, Robin suggested a few of just Brian and Carey.

  They stood awkwardly next to each other for the first few.

  “Come on, act like you like each other,” Robin joked.

  Carey could feel himself blush and wanted nothing more than to run away. But Brian, being theatrical as he was, began to strike poses. Before long, Carey had relaxed enough to not appear so stiff and uncomfortable. Unlike Brian, he wasn’t fond of having his picture taken. Robin’s parents came outside to take a few photos of their own, as did the Stricklands.

  At one point, Brian’s hand brushed his and Carey felt a jolt go straight to his heart. He hadn’t realized how nervous and excited he was for this night. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he pretended it was only he and Brian going together.

  When the family paparazzi was finally finished, Carey, Brian and Robin got into Mrs. Reid’s minivan and left to pick up Todd, then Amy. They were subjected to similar picture taking torture at the other two houses.

  Because Carey had only a junior license, Todd drove them all, as he was already eighteen. On the way to the country club at which the prom was held, Carey sat in the front passenger seat wishing he was in the back with the others. Brian, Robin and Amy were mainly complimenting each other on hair and make-up and such. But Carey still would have rather been sitting with Brian.

  Arriving at the country club, the group found the table they were sharing with three other students Carey knew from band.

  Carey made the introductions. “This is Sharon, Josh and Ashley.” Then he pointed out the others by name. Once everyone was introduced, they took their seats. Carey made sure to sit between Brian and Robin. Amy took the other seat next to Robin, then Todd, then Sharon. Josh and Ashley hesitated. If Carey had to guess, it seemed that Josh didn’t want to sit next to Brian, but Ashley wanted to sit next to Sharon.

  Sensing the awkwardness, Brian joked, “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”

  “Uh, I um . . .”

  “I don’t hit on straight guys.”

  Josh blushed and stammered, “I didn’t think you would.” He sat down next to Brian. “Sorry.”

  “You’re not the first the person to be uncomfortable around me,” Brian said. The others watched the exchange in silence.

  “It’s cool,” Josh said. “I’m cool.”

  Carey worried how the rest of the evening would go. If necessary, he was willing to switch seats with Brian, so Josh was more at ease.

  He needn’t have worried, though. Brian was in typical form, being the life of the party, or in this case, prom. He was able to engage the girls in conversation, talking about fashion and make up. And he knew enough about music theory to join Carey and Josh in their enthusiasm for the music program. Josh found that he and Brian even had some common interests. Brian wasn’t into sports in general, but he liked to watch tennis. They talked about the exciting Wimbledon matches of the past few years.

  As the eight of them became more at ease with one another, Carey was pleased that his two groups of friends got along pretty well. Josh no longer appeared apprehensive sitting next to Brian. And Carey couldn’t help notice that Todd’s chair had been slowly, but steadily moving closer to Amy’s. He smiled, thinking Todd’s earlier protests of mere friendship were halfhearted at best.

  The food was decent, and the D.J. played mostly good music. They danced between courses, but sat out all of the slow dances. Until, near the end of the prom, Todd finally whispered something into Amy’s ear. The pair of them got up and walked to the dance floor. They danced, holding each other closely.

  Robin raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Whoa, when did that happen?”

  “I think maybe it’s been coming for a while. He bought her a corsage that matched her dress and everything,” Carey told her.

  She looked at her own corsage.

  “It was Todd’s idea. I can’t take credit.”

  “They look cute together, don’t they?” Brian smiled.

  Carey shrugged. “I guess.”

  A throat cleared behind them. Brian looked up to see Mark standing there.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Brian answered.

  “You look great tonight,” Mark said.

  “Thanks. You too.”

  “Do you, um, want to dance?” asked Mark.

  Brian glanced at Carey, then the other kids at the table.

  “Go on,” Sharon urged. “There aren’t going to be too many more slow songs.”

  “Aw, that’s so cute,” Ashley giggled.

  “Okay,” Brian said reluctantly. He looked at Carey again, who looked a combination of jealous and dejected.

  He wasn’t the only one who noticed. “What’s wrong?” Sharon asked Carey.

  “What?�
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  “You don’t look happy that Brian is dancing with him.”

  “Oh. They were going out for a little while, and Mark wasn’t exactly nice to him. I just don’t like him is all,” Carey explained. He wasn’t about to explain that he was insanely jealous because he wanted to dance with Brian.

  “Come on, dance with me,” Robin said, pulling Carey out onto the dance floor. She put her arms loosely on his shoulders, and he gently put his hands on her hips. Almost another whole person could have fit between them.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because the boy of your dreams is dancing with the boy of your nightmares?” she joked.

  “I don’t think Brian is going to go back out with him. They’re too different,” Carey said. “I’m mad at myself for not having the nerve to ask Brian to dance.”

  He and Robin had spoken during the week about his admission to Brian that he not only liked boys, but him in particular. She was sympathetic but couldn’t quite put herself in his shoes. Her best advice was to give Brian time to sort out how he felt. Carey had years to process his feelings, he should give Brian at least a few weeks.

  Following her advice, Carey hadn’t brought up his revelation at all, though he’d been dying to know what was on Brian’s mind. Seeing him dance with Mark felt like a punch in the gut. He saw Mark lean in close to say something to Brian.

  “Maybe I’m wrong. They look pretty cozy,” Carey said.

  “Well, anyone watching us might think the same thing.”

  “Huh?” Carey turned his attention from Brian to Robin. She sure did look beautiful. It would have been so easy to fall for her. She lived right across the street, they had so much fun together, and he never felt self-conscious around her. She was smart and funny. And she got along well with his other friends. It would have been so easy to fall for her if he hadn’t already fallen for Brian. Hard.

  If he had any doubts about the way he felt for both Brian and Robin, they were solidified there on the dance floor. With a pretty girl in his arms, a breath away, all he could think about was Brian across the room.

  “Carey, I’m sorry things haven’t gone how you’d like them,” she said. “It seems like they never do for teenagers.” She chuckled and glanced over at Robbie Crenshaw with his arms wrapped around a senior named Sabrina.

  “You could do a lot better than him,” he told her.

  “Yeah, I’ve got a whole line of guys waiting to date me.”

  “You should,” he said. “You’re great.”

  “If only everyone was as easily impressed,” she laughed.

  The second slow song ended, and the tempo picked up. Robin and Carey decided to go back to the table. On the way, Carey had to force himself not to look at Brian and Mark again.

  “Where are Todd and Amy?” Robin asked as they sat down.

  “I think they went out to the lobby or something,” Ashley said.

  Carey didn’t pay much attention to the rest of the gossip. He’d resisted spying on Brian and Mark long enough and turned slightly in his chair so he could see them. They had left the dance floor and were talking in a corner. He saw Mark smiling and cocking his head, but Brian had his back to Carey. His imagination started to get away from him.

  “We should be going soon,” he blurted out.

  Everyone at the table stopped talking and stared at him.

  “I mean, it’s practically over and it’s gonna be a mob scene getting out of here. Besides, we have to be at the high school by eleven fifteen or we’ll get locked out.”

  Josh nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s twenty of eleven already. Maybe one of you should go look for Todd and Amy.”

  “I’ll go,” Robin volunteered.

  Brian came back to the table alone.

  “We’re going to get going soon,” Carey told him.

  “Oh, okay.”

  The others at the table were standing and gathering their things. Carey glanced at Brian with a small smile, then quickly looked away. His phone in his pocket buzzed. It was a text from Robin.

  “They’re waiting for us in the lobby,” he told everyone. “We need to grab Amy’s purse and Todd’s bow tie.”

  Once at the after-party, Amy and Todd wandered off by themselves. Ashley and Sharon met up with other friends from band, but Josh hung out with Carey, Brian and Robin for a while.

  The four of them changed into the casual clothes they kept in the car, then enjoyed a moon bounce and a magic show. Brian also got his face painted. when Josh made several attempts to get Robin to talk about herself, she shyly gave short answers. But Josh was persistent. Eventually, he was able to tear her away from Brian and Carey for a movie in one of the other rooms.

  Left on their own, the boys tried their hands at the gaming tables. They played poker, craps and roulette.

  “Good thing we weren’t playing with real money.” Carey laughed.

  “Yeah. Remind me never to gamble for real,” Brian agreed. “What do you want to do next?”

  Carey yawned and looked at his cell phone. “Wow, no wonder I’m so tired. It’s three thirty-eight.”

  “Are you crapping out on me already?”

  Yawning again, Carey answered, “No way. Let’s go play volleyball.”

  Brain laughed. “You know we won’t be any better at that than gambling.”

  They saw Sharon and joined her team. Brian was correct about them not being any better at volleyball. But they had fun while it lasted, which was only about twenty minutes.

  Afterward, they had a few snacks and some coffee to keep themselves up for the next hour or so. Part of the deal included in the after-party was that all students had to stay in the building until five in the morning unless they had permission ahead of time from a parent. Hardly anyone ever left early.

  Carey suggested they go to the movie room to wind down a little. Spotting Robin and Josh in the dimly lit room, he motioned for Brian to follow him. They found a little space next to the newly formed friends. But had to sit close together to fit.

  “Have you guys been here the whole time?” Carey whispered to Robin.

  “No,” she whispered back. “We listened to karaoke for a while, had some pizza and played video games. We came back here because we were getting tired.”

  “Us too.”

  She smiled and nudged him. “Having a good time?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “It hasn’t been weird at all. We had a lot of fun.”

  “Shh,” someone behind them chastised.

  Carey tried to get comfortable in the small space. His legs were too long to stretch out in front of him, so he had to sit crossed legged like Brian. Their knees touched and overlapped, but it couldn’t be helped. He gave Brian a sheepish smile.

  A few minutes later, he felt something brush his hand that was resting on the floor. He looked down to see Brian’s hand there too, pinky to pinky with his own. Carey didn’t know if he should pretend not to notice, or acknowledge it. He figured it was most likely just an accident due to the cramped space in the movie room. The movie became a blur as all he could concentrate on was the hand next to his.

  Just when Carey started to relax about it, Brian’s hand moved. This time there was no doubt it was purposeful. Slowly, Brian’s fingers crept over top of Carey’s until most of his hand was covering the other. Almost imperceptibly, Brian’s shoulder moved closer until it brushed Carey’s.

  Carey stole a glance at his friend. Brian didn’t look back, but kept his attention squarely on the big screen. But he had a grin on his face that didn’t correspond to the action in the film. Carey’s heart sped up and he could feel the grin on his own face. He was thankful the room was so dark, thinking he and Brian must look like a couple of fools.

  ◆◆◆

  “Carey. Carey.”

  Carey started awake and was disoriented at first. He looked up to see Robin’s face looking down at him. He blinked.

  “It’s time to go,�
�� she said.

  “Huh?” He realized his head was cradled in her lap and sat up suddenly. “I’m sorry. I guess I fell asleep.”

  “It’s okay. A lot of people in here did,” she chuckled.

  He looked over at Brian’s spot. “Where’d he go?”

  “He went to find Amy and Todd. They were texting a meeting place.”

  He looked on the other side of Robin. Josh was gone too.

  “Did Josh leave?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  Grinning, he teased, “So . . . what’s going on there?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged and looked away.

  “Do you like him?”

  “He’s nice. I had fun,” she admitted. “He’s kind of forward, though.”

  “He’s a good guy. Trust me,” Carey said. “He’s just a go getter, you know? Josh is really smart, too. I think he wants to be a doctor or something. You should definitely go out with him.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “I doubt he’ll even call me. We were just having fun. Come on, let’s see where the others are.”

  As they stood and stretched, Carey took out his cell phone. Five-seventeen. Within seconds, he received a text from Brian.

  “They’re going to wait for us at door 13,” Carey told Robin.

  As they made their way out, so did hundreds of other kids. They found Amy, Todd and Brian and went out to the parking lot.

  “It’s going to take forever to get out of here,” Todd said.

  “Yeah, whose brilliant idea was it to have six hundred students all trying to leave at the same time?” Amy added. She and Todd were holding hands.

  They all climbed into the van, except this time Amy opted to sit in the front withTodd. As there were only two exits to the school, it did indeed seem like forever to get out. People trying to make a left out of the parking lot only made it worse. By the time they dropped off Amy, then Todd, it was nearly six o’clock. Luckily, the remaining three lived on the same street.

  Carey pulled into his driveway, and Robin got out.

  “Thanks for the ride,” she said. “It was fun guys. Call me later. Bye,” she called as she walked across the street.

  “Do you want me to drive you to your house?” Carey asked Brian.