Chapter Twenty [Flashback]

Okay, patient and astute reader, no more fast forwarding. This was where things got interesting. I want to paint a picture, so you can enjoy this almost half as much as I did. Sadly, this day was literally the highlight of my entire existence prior to the paint party.

It was the night I fell irrevocably in love with Jerome Williams.

The day of the hotel party was probably the most excited I had ever been for anything in my life. I wanted nothing more than to have a sleepover with Jerome, but we weren't heading to Cedar Rapids until later on in the evening. I still had the day and a home game to suffer through. It was grueling. I hardly slept at all the night before, but I managed to shut my eyes for a few hours in the afternoon.

The timing was less than ideal.

The plan was for Jerome, Josiah and me—the three forwards on our soccer team—to go to the hotel after we ran up the score on these mouthy try-hards out of West Branch. It was a rival town, about a twenty minute drive southeast of Solon. I was our center, so the pressure was on. I was never good at talking trash nor was Josiah, so we were glad Jerri had us covered. He wasn't Juice yet, but he was born with more than his fair share of swagger.

Jerome showed up at my house, unannounced, a few hours before kickoff to practice during my impromptu afternoon nap. Mom let him upstairs without giving me a heads up or anything. And Jerome, of course, sashayed into my room like he owned the place. It was the end of July—literally the hottest run of summer days—and Mom wasn't one to blast the air conditioning. I was sprawled out on top of my covers wearing only these white boxers with red kisses all over them.

I opened my eyes to Jerome's deep brown topaz gems staring down at me as he sat patiently on the edge of my bed. We were good enough friends that it didn't freak me out. I laid perfectly still, wondering why and how long he had been staring. I parted my lips, but that must've been his cue to speak.

The first thing he said short circuited my brain. "And I thought you only had to chop wood in the morning."

He smiled at me, all dimples and teeth, then gave my head a playful shove as he stood up. I wasn't lucid enough to be embarrassed. That changed when he pointed below my waist and did this annoying fake laugh.

"What's that? A ha, ha!"

"You said, 'be ready to bone those fools from West Branch'," I said with a shrug, not missing a beat. Once again, at the strangest times, I was good at thinking on my feet. Right then, I was Harry Potter with the Luck juice.

Jerome's smile folded in on itself. It took my mobility with it. "Nah, save it for someone special. Those fools ain't worth it."

He grabbed my red soccer shorts off the floor and held them out in front of me. They had three white stripes down each side. He was already wearing his stripes for the game. I reached for my shorts, but he pulled them away.

"Promise me." he asked—no, demanded.

He looked sullen, which could only mean he was jealous. Right? I was at a loss again. I had no idea how to take this. I had no idea how long this boy had been in my room staring or snooping around before I woke up. There was what I wanted to believe, but I had no way of knowing. I looked into his eyes, more hopeful than ever. My heart handed him the remote to control it forever.

I said, "Yeah, I promise Jerome."

He let go of my shorts and they landed on my face. He didn't look away for a moment as I took my sweet time getting dressed in front of him. There was so much I would've said or done differently if I could've gone back to that moment, but as lame as it might sound, right then, I felt like we had gone all the way.

I headed downstairs a lot more confident about where I stood with him. I wasn't bold enough to make a move, but any time I had an excuse to touch him, to slap his arm or to flick his ear even, I took it. And he gave back just as much.

Mom drove us to the Solon Recreation Area where the game was to be held. Strangely, there wasn't much recreation there. It was a slew of baseball diamonds and soccer fields on otherwise undeveloped land behind the high school. Solon Ball Fields?

Our game was on played on the only youth soccer field which happened to be cornered by a pair of baseball diamonds. It gave off the illusion that we'd drawn a sizable crowd. Despite lacking in sleep, I played my best game ever. It was a dream, Jerome and I were perfectly in sync. Josiah played pretty good too, I guess. I scored the final goal with a 'tweener' that curved through the goalie's legs to complete my first and last hat trick. The game itself, wasn't close. We beat them six-nil and Jerome channeled his future Juice-level trash talk up until those West Branch fools fled to their bus.

That day was the highlight of my existence before we ever stepped foot in the hotel.

Mom dropped us off at Josiah's and we rode in his parents' suburban to Cedar Rapids. Josiah's younger brother and two sisters sat in the row ahead of us while I sat in the back row between him and Jerome. I fell asleep as soon as we started moving. I would've enjoyed talking his ear off on the ride, but in hindsight, I know I took more pleasure in Josiah teasing me about being conked out, leaned up against Jerome's chest for the entire half hour.

We stayed at the Mariott, which seemed kind of frivolous for a sleepover, but I wasn't complaining. I had Jerome to myself, well almost. We ended up sharing a room with Josiah since his friend canceled on him, leaving three of us and only two beds. I hoped to God Jerome wouldn't argue that it'd be least weird for relatives to sleep together.

After we swam for a couple hours, it was time for the moment of truth. We went back to our room to sleep, which was the main reason I'd invited Jerome in the first place. Josiah entered our double room first—he had the key card. He strode over to the bed next to the window and laid his things out on it without a second thought. I let Jerome in ahead of me and meandered in the doorway while I waited for him to choose a bed.

I had it all planned out. As long as he set his things down on the open bed, the decision would be left up to me. I'd say, "Well, I invited him and it's your birthday, so it makes sense that I should have to sleep with him." In my head, it was the smoothest, most low-key provocative thing I'd ever say in my life.

I never got to say it.

Josiah knew too much about hotels. "Hey, should I call up the roll-away?" he asked.

The roll-away? What the hell is a roll-away, I thought. I mean, I could follow basic context clues, but I didn't think they had a place in classy hotels. A Motel 6, maybe, but not the Marriott! I stood mortified as I waited for Jerome's response.

"Nah, I'll bunk with him," Jerome gestured to me with an elbow, "That bed is huge. It looks mad comfortable right about now too." He rubbed his hands together and dove on top of it. I don't want nobody to miss out. Sides, he don't move an inch when he sleeps."

I could've sworn I had melted into wax, right where I stood in the doorway. Jerome wanted to sleep with me. Sure, he used the word bunk, but we both knew good and well there wasn't a single bunk bed at the Marriott. I'm not sure how long it took for my body to turn back into skin and bones, but somehow I made it into bed as a hopeless teenager again.

My heart was almost to the top of this epic thrill ride and I hoped it was at an end, but the Jerome Corkscrew Skycoaster had one final drop. It was at breakneck speed.

As my head rested comfortably against a lush cream pillow with an insane thread-count, two dark feet sliced through the air and landed beside it. Jerome was sleeping head to foot with me. That was the most heterosexual, borderline homophobic, move he could've pulled right then. I was beside myself. I had half a mind to call for the roll-away. Jerome or not, I didn't want to smell the pungent odor of chlorine that lingered in between his stupid toes all night. My heart sank as Josiah raced over and turned out the lights, bringing our night to a close.

Nearly a half hour later, when Josiah started snoring, I felt a rough pairs of hands slide across my stomach, right above my navel, as Jerome wrapped his arms around me. He decided to join me at the head of the bed. Yes, that night was the highlight of my entire existence. Cuddling was all it was and I didn't want anything more than that. All I knew was, I had never slept so well before or since.