Boys Boys Boys

Gimme Pride-2

Pride officially starts at one in the afternoon. By quarter till, Shawna’s vendor booth is mostly set up. Shipping crates line the back of the booth—each article of clothing Shawna has with her, she brought in every available size, so they’re stored in the crates waiting for customers’ requests. If business goes well, Shawna says she’ll need all the help she can get keeping up with orders.

As Chip finishes stocking one of the racks near the front of the booth, Shawna peers past him into the crowd. Every time he looks out, she yells at him, but she keeps doing it, too. He knows she isn’t seeing what he sees, though. She’s looking for…”Where’s Jenny already?” she asks, glancing at her watch. “I thought you said she was coming.”

Jen is Chip’s best friend and a self-proclaimed fag hag, though she once told him she hated the term. “It sounds like I’m old,” she complained. She’s fifteen, too, but two months younger than he is. “I like fruit fly instead.”

Whatever she calls herself, she’s late. When Chip told her Shawna agreed to take him to this year’s Pride, Jen practically begged Shawna to let her help out, too. For twenty bucks apiece, Shawna’s getting pretty cheap labor. With Chip in one of her sexier suits, modeling to entice the men into the booth, Jen’s supposed to wear a cotton candy pink two-piece, which might be part of the hold up. What if her mother caught her in the bathing suit and refused to bring her to the event?

She’d call if she wasn’t coming, Chip assures himself. Half the fun will be hanging out with her today. Shawna’s great, really, but she’s much too old to really get Chip. Jen will giggle over the cute gay boys with him, or act silly trying to draw in customers, or dance when the stage across the park starts rocking. Jen is fun, that’s why they’re friends. If she doesn’t come, he’s going to be stuck listening to Shawna b***h about sales and the heat—and worse, his laziness—all damn day.

When his sister turns back to the small table where she’s set up a register, Chip glances over his shoulder. No sign of Jen. “I’m sure she’s on her way. She should be here soon.”

Someone claps their hands over his eyes, blinding him. “She’s here now,” Jen croons in a high, sing-song voice. “Party over here!”

She draws the last word out into two syllables. Now Chip catches a whiff of her sugary perfume, and he spins around to catch her in a tight hug. “Jenny girl! I told you she’d come.”

From inside the vendor booth, Shawna throws them a disgusted look. “I thought the whole point of inviting you was that you’d wear the pink tankini.”

For the first time, Chip notices Jen’s jeans and button-down shirt. “Jen!” he cries, more hurt than upset. “Now I’m going to be the only fruitcake prancing around in my undies. You said—”

“I am,” Jen assures him. Unbuttoning the shirt, she reveals a hot pink tank top beneath it. Her perfect blonde curls tumble over her shoulders as she shrugs off the shirt. “Jeezus, Chip. I said I’d wear it and I did. But if my mom saw me in it, she wouldn’t have let me out of the house.”

Chip turns away as Jen unzips her jeans, but not before he catches a matching pink bikini bottom through the open fly. “Well, strip already,” he jokes. “We still have a few minutes before Pride starts and I want to see what else they have here before Shawna actually makes us do some real work.”

“Looking fabulous is real work,” Jen reminds him. She kicks her shed clothing into the back of the booth and takes a moment to adjust the black pumps she wears. Then she gives Chip a once-over, a stern look on her face. “Can I just say you look hot in those bottoms?”

Chip grins. Coming from a girl like Jen, that means the world. Jen’s popular without even trying—she’s nice without being fake, rich without being snooty, and too damn pretty for her age. Frosted hair, spiral curls, tanned skin, flawless makeup…Jen knows what looks good. And Chip knows he’s had it easy in school because of her.

Looping his arm through hers, he calls to his sister, “We’ll be back!”

Before Shawna can answer, the two teenagers prance out of the vendor booth and head down the cobbled walk of Richmond Park to scope out the city’s annual Gay Pride festival.