Too Broke For Afterlife - Chapter 134

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When coming out of the cave, I’m relieved to see Clemens, Walter and Nox sitting under a tree, next to the lake.

“You made it!” I yell and run over. Judy has trouble keeping up behind me.

“Hey, there you are. We’ve been waiting.” Walter smiles at us and scoots over to make some space.

Cameron never really cared about basketball. Not that he thinks the sport is boring or stupid, he just always had his head full of football and baseball, he never tried to get involved with basketball as well. Now he wishes he would have because the way Kaz played today with such passion and talent, Cameron would love to act smart in front of him and talk about different techniques and strategies.

The team ended up winning and he was tempted to walk over to Kaz and congratulate him but the red head immediately was surrounded by friends and team members so Cameron decided to wait until the party later.

He took a shower, chose an outfit (leather jackets for life) and then Sonny and him made their way to the party.

The guy throwing it, as far as Stan understood, is a friend of one of the basketball players who doesn’t go to the boarding school and his parents went away for the weekend. The house, located on the other end of the small city, is more of a mansion and when they arrive, people are already standing around in the front yard with those red plastic cups in their hands.

There are girls as well which gives Cameron a surprised feeling. The only women he had seen in the last seven days were his teachers and that latina in the supermarket. Sonny seems excited. Of course.

“So Cam, what’s your mission for tonight?” “Mission?” Have a beer, dance a bit and not getting puked on. “Mine is to get the phone number of a cute chick. Yours is to seduce Kaz, ey?” “What? No?” Sonny throws a grin at him through the strands of his messy blonde hair. “I can help you, if you want to.” “Dude, I’m not trying to hook up with him. Okay? I just want to have some fun.”

They reach the front door and Cameron wants to open it but Sonny grabs his shoulder. “Actually, there is something I need to tell you. About Kaz. I-” The door opens and some guy steps out. “Welcome, welcome! Don’t stand there, come in!” He pushes them through the door before Sonny can continue.

The loud music and smell of beer immediately clog all of Cameron’s senses. He actually doesn’t like parties. At least not the kind where he barely knows anyone. He doesn’t think that Seth is here either, he wasn’t at the game after all. “Sonny! And…Cam, right?” Cameron recognizes the boy that is walking towards them. He doesn’t remember his name though. Tyler? Taylor? “Sup Ethan.” Woops. “You came, nice! Want something to drink?” “Yeah sure.” He can handle one. Ty- Ethan finger guns at them and then turns around, getting something to drink.

Cameron leans closer to Sonny. “What were you about to say? With Kaz?” His friend seems nervous. And Sonny is never nervous. He is probably the most positive person Cameron has ever met. “I…okay but you have to believe me that I didn’t mean to-”

“Here you go, guys. Drink quickly though, it’s the cheapest stuff we could find so it doesn’t taste that great. But it gets the job done anyway. Hey, we’re about to play spin the bottle, you should join.” Spin the bottle? How old are they? 12? Cameron can’t stop himself from groaning. Luckily the music is loud enough to conceal it. “I don’t think I-” “Yeah sure, why not?”

Sonny grabs Cameron’s arm with an evil grin on his lips and pulls him with him while following Ethan. Cameron mouths a ‘fuck you’ but the blonde just winks at him.

After pressing themselves through sweaty bodies and misplaced furniture, they finally reach the kitchen. It is big and impressive just like the rest of the house and a group of people is already sitting in a circle on the floor.

“You came!” Someone puts a hand on his shoulder and when he turns around he looks into Kaz’ face. Of course. “Yeah, we just arrived and already got forced to play embarrassing games designed for 12 year olds who haven’t had their first kiss yet.” Kaz chuckles. He seems a bit drunk. Not the kind of drunk where you slur, can’t stand straight and talk nonesense but the one where you start to relax and giggle about stupid things. Like Cameron’s jokes. “I like your humor. Let’s sit together so we can talk shit about the others’”. Cameron turns around to Sonny who wiggles his eyebrows and gives him a thumbs up. This guy. Unbelievable.

They sit down and start talking about the basketball game. It’s the first conversation with Kaz he is having this year that does not make him feel nervous or embarrassed. And that is nice. He likes the passion in his voice. Kaz really seems to love that sport. Then he asks Cameron about football and how it’s different here from his old highschool and at no point during Cameron’s endless monologue he seems bored. But then the game starts and Cameron sends a quick prayer up into the sky, hoping it will save him from being forced to do embarrassing things. Sonny sits across from him and they throw funny faces at each other from time to time but there is something else in his eyes, he looks worried.

Cameron wonders what he wanted to tell him about Kaz. But if it was something urgent or bad he would have done that days ago, right? Sonny is his best friend after all.

He’d trust him blindly.

The bottle turns and turns and the people who it lands on either have to answer embarrassing questions or do even more embarrassing things. Cameron isn’t paying much attention. His eyes are glued to the bottle instead, hoping to activate some sort of magnetic field that makes sure it won’t land on him. Wait, glass isn’t magnetic, is it?

“Oooh, Cam’s turn!” Shit! ‘Just ask me a question. Ask me about the last time I peed my bed. Or how often I jack off. Just please don’t make me make out with anyone.’

The boy who spun the bottle of doom leans over to the guy sitting next to him. They whisper, probably trying to figure out what would ruin Cameron’s life the most. He looks over to Sonny, who does what he is best at. Wiggling his eyebrows.

“We’re nice and you’re new so we’ll leave you a choice.” Oh god, no. No choices please. That’s even worse. “The circle is a bit cramped so why don’t you…take one of the people sitting next to you on your lap for the rest of the game? So we all have a bit more space.” Fuuuck.

Cameron looks to his left where a girl is sitting. The boy next to her puts his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t even think about it.” Cameron looks to his right. No no no no no. Kaz looks unimpressed, then he sighs. A few people hold their breath, some girls giggle. He gives him an apologetic look. Kaz robs over and sits down on Cameron’s crossed legs. He wants to die. But Kaz doesn’t seem to be bothered that much. Well it’s easy to sit on a guy’s lap when you don’t have a crush on him.

Kaz’ warm back leans against his chest and Cameron is tempted to put his arms around his waist but manages to hold back. The red curls brush against his throat and cheek. It feels familiar. Like the one time at the campfire, where they had shared their first kiss.

The game continues and everytime the bottle lands on them they take turns. Luckily all Cameron has to do is tell his most embarrassing secret and try to burp the alphabet but every second he spends with these drunk primates he can feel his brain cells shutting down one by one.

Sonny seems to be having the time of life. Of course. There’s nothing in life Sonny can’t be excited about if he just tries hard enough.

Kaz’ eyes are glued on his phone, probably hoping the screen would suck him into another dimension.

Half an hour has passed already and Stan debates with himself whether he should just get up and leave or not. But getting up isn’t that easy when there is a 17 year old boy sitting on your lap. Then the bottle lands on him again. “Your turn,” Kaz mutters, his eyes still glued to his phone.

“Spin for a kiss.” The girl giggles. Cameron, annoyance growing in his head, wants to imitate her giggle but holds back. He looks around the room. He doesn’t want to kiss any of these idiots. Especially not in front of Sonny and Kaz. Sadly he is too much of a pussy to say no and leave. Kaz robs away so he can lean forward and grab the bottle.

His hand is shaky as he turns it. And it turns and turns and he tries the magnetic eyes trick again. Too late he remembers what that has caused last time. And just like last time it lands on him again.

“Jesus fucking Christ! This game is rigged!” “Dude.” Kaz raises an eyebrow. Sonny giggles. Someone whistles flirtatiously. And Cameron wants to die. He looks over to Kaz and whispers “I’m sorry, this was not my intention.” “I know, don’t worry,” he mumbles back and shrugs his shoulders.

“5 seconds, no tongue. Unless you want to, of course.” Haha, yeah right. Cameron feels a bit helpless while leaning forward. Kaz does the same and then they are kissing.

Cameron would like to say that this is the most magical kiss ever, the fullfillment of all his dreams.

But it’s not.

It’s an awkward kiss as part of a retarded game for teenage girls. It’s sloppy. Kaz’ lips taste of beer. And when they pull back again, both want to cringe themselves into the ground.

Fuck life. He finally gets to kiss real Kaz again and then it goes like this? God must be playing a sick game with him. Cameron looks at him from the corners of his eyes. Kaz is blushing.

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With the second beer in his hand, moving his head to the beat of the music, Cameron tries his best to forget the embarrassing kiss.. After he had left the game, Sonny followed him and at first they were chatting and dancing together but then his friend started a conversation with some girl and now he’s gone.