This year his big day was on a Sunday, meaning his relatives were all free to turn an otherwise private celebration into a circus. Ben was glad for it this time. Not only did it mean more gifts, but it helped keep his mood high. He hadn’t talked to Tim since their argument, which tore at his heart, but lately he was feeling better. Much of this was due to Allison, who had temporarily thwarted the ban against their friendship and was able to attend his party.
“This is supposed to be a date with Ronnie, so I expect you to put out,” she teased him upon her arrival.
They needed this day together. The talent show had recently been pushed back until the end of the school year. The reasoning behind this was that freshmen might feel excluded from entering since it was too early in the year for them to have adjusted. Mrs. Hammond was distraught, but Ben and Allison were relieved because they still hadn’t chosen a song. The downside was the loss of their private time in the auditorium.
Presents took top priority in the Bentley family, even preceding the traditional cake and candles. So far Ben had received clothes from his parents, a wad of cash from his grandmother, a new Discman and CDs to go with it, a journal he could write in that he would probably never use because it wasn’t electronic, and a couple of PlayStation games from his sister. He didn’t have a PlayStation yet, but he could tell from his mom’s sly look that he was only two months away from getting one.
Allison bought him a suit jacket they had discovered at a secondhand store earlier in the year. The jacket had been too expensive for him at the time and was missing most of its buttons. Not only had she sprung for it as gift, but she bought some suave new buttons and put those home ec skills to use by sewing them on. The end result was retro-chic and delightfully unique. He couldn’t wait to wear it when the weather became cooler.
Ben’s mother was about to light the candles on the cake when the doorbell rang. Thinking a relative had arrived late, Ben ran to answer it, happy to leave all the fuss behind for a moment. His heart lurched when the door opened to reveal Tim. Of course he had been invited, but that was before they had fought. Even before their falling out, he hadn’t expected Tim to actually show up.
“Hey!” Ben said, not masking his surprise. “Uh, come on in!”
“That’s okay. I just wanted to bring this by.”
Ben looked down to see a thin present about three feet tall. Unless it was the largest book in the world, Ben guessed it might be art or a framed poster.
“Oh, hi!” came Mrs. Bentley’s voice from behind. “I was wondering when you’d show up! Come in and grab some cake.”
“No really, I--”
“Come on, don’t let Wilford get out the door or we’ll never see him again.”
Tim stepped inside, his posture shy and stooped. Ben’s mother shut the door behind him to finalize the deal, winking at Ben on her way back to the kitchen.
“Time to meet the family,” Ben chuckled. “The extended version, too.”
“Great,” Tim said, trying a sheepish smile.
They stood there, considering each other before Ben was called back into the dining room. Tim followed and was soon assaulted by a slew of greetings, handshakes, and even hugs from some of the older ladies. Introducing Tim to Allison was surreal, since they were the two people closest to Ben and yet their paths had never crossed. Tim seemed unsure how to behave around her, but her knowing smile said that she already knew all of Ben’s secrets.
“Wait, everyone!” Mrs. Bentley declared. “We have one more present before we light candles.”
“No, you can open it later,” Tim said. “Really,” he added desperately when Ben took it from him.
“That’s all right, we’re in no hurry,” grandma crowed.
“It’s just something I--” Tim began as Ben started ripping the paper away. Whatever he had planned on saying was lost in his throat.
The wrapping paper fell away to reveal streaks of red, orange, yellow, and pink. The painting was abstract, a war of hot colors interlocking and swarming together. In their midst was something that looked very much like a heart. Two hearts, actually, overlapping so close that they appeared as one. Ben thought it was beautiful.
“Isn’t that gorgeous?” Ben’s mother praised while clapping her hands together. “Did you paint that yourself?”
Tim opened his mouth to answer, but Ben’s sister spoke first.
“It looks like someone barfed up paint on a canvas.”
“We should have cut your tongue out at birth,” Mr. Bentley scolded.
“It’s just something I found somewhere,” Tim said dismissively. “You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want.”
“I love it!” Ben said.
Mrs. Bentley took the pressure off Tim by lighting the candles and coercing everyone into singing Happy Birthday. Ben smiled, content to let others sing for a change. Allison finished off with an extra verse sung diva-style, which sent everyone into fits of applause when finished. Deciding what to wish for was easy. Ben knew exactly what he wanted as he blew out the candles.
There was little time to catch up with Tim. Ben was caught in a whirlwind of relatives who wanted to know what he had been up to, offer advice on what he should do with his life, or simply hear him sing. While he was holding court with them, he tried to keep an eye on Tim, who was being cared for by Allison. Already she had heroically steered him away from Karen and their equally boorish cousin. If he wasn’t mistaken, Tim was beginning to relax in her presence.
As the party wound down, Ben suggested to Allison that she call Ronnie and they all head down to Houston to check out some of the haunted houses. He didn’t bother asking Tim what he thought of the idea. It was his birthday after all. As the last of the relatives left, Ronnie showed up and whisked them all away in his beat up old SUV.
Tim clammed up again in Ronnie’s presence, no doubt worrying about their relationship being exposed to yet another person who went to their school. This didn’t last long. Ronnie found a football game on the radio and soon they were talking the indecipherable language of sports. Allison and Ben exchanged glances and rolled their eyes before laughing.
Ronnie and Tim kept the sports talk going as they stood in line at the Horror Hotel, one of Houston’s newer haunted houses that Ben had never visited. Allison and Ben stood behind, arms linked together as they pretended to be dating each other. They hoped by doing this that they would make Tim and Ronnie look like the gay couple. They even attempted to trade knowing looks with a few other people in line.
The haunted house was really good, much better than those in previous years, utilizing just the right amount of scare coupled with humor and creativity. Allison could really scream, too. As the group wound their way through narrow corridors strewn with cobwebs, Ben jumped more in response to her shrill exclamations than from the monsters.
As original as the Horror Hotel was, there were still many of the same staples found in every haunted house, such as the pitch-black maze. These always stirred up claustrophobia in Ben, but his fear dissipated when Tim put a hand over his mouth and pulled him aside. They stumbled along the wall until reaching a dead end, the voices of Allison and Ronnie fading away as they sought their way out. Ben found himself pressed up against a wall, Tim’s voice tickling his ear.
“I broke up with her.”
“With Krista?”
“Yeah. You were right. It’s you I like and it’s you I want.”
Before Ben could respond, Tim’s mouth was on his. They pawed and groped at each other in the dark, their bodies pressing together. The hardness of Tim’s pecs was soon joined by the hardness in his pants. Ben reached down for his zipper when someone bumped into them from behind and screamed.