Page 10 of One More Dare
Talking with Porter made me realize just how shortsighted I’ve been. We haven’t met up again yet in person, but I’ve been texting him whenever I can think of an excuse to help show him I’m not the asshole he thought I was. I’ve enjoyed all our interactions—apart from maybe the first one—so it’s not like it’s been a hardship.
“Ready?” Nathan asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, was just letting my parents know the plan.”
“Still can’t believe they’re cool with you taking the whole team to dinner. My parents would freak,” he says, shaking his head as Cam and Decker approach.
“I’m really lucky they’re generous,” I agree as the four of us head toward my car. “Oh, I almost forgot, if you guys want a ride to campus before the game, it’ll have to be around noon. I’m meeting Porter after his class.”
“Am I supposed to know who Porter is?” Cam asks from the back seat after we’re all in.
“He’s my debate partner for my public speaking class. He’s the guy I was talking to on the stairs at Bo’s party,” I add to Nathan as I pull out of the lot and head to the downtown area of campus.
“Are you friends with him?” he asks, sounding surprised.
“I’d like to be.” Now that he’s opened up a bit more during class, he does seem really cool. I leave out the part about how I’m trying to win him over and make up for running over his bike freshman year. “But for now we’ve just been working on our assignment.”
“Just the two of you? In public?”
“Uh, yeah,” I answer, confused as to why he’s being weirdabout this. Again. “I met up with him at the coffee shop he works at last Sunday, but tomorrow I think we’ll just go to the library after his class. Why?”
“Isn’t he gay? Aren’t you worried that people will think you’re on a date?”
I’m driving, but I still aim my best “what the fuck” look Nathan’s way as I respond. “Dude, what’s your problem? No, I’m not worried about that. I didn’t think about it at all, but who gives a shit if they did?”
“It’s just…” He trails off for a moment, sounding more concerned than upset. “I don’t want anyone giving you a hard time, that’s all.”
He sounds like he’s just looking out for me, but I meant what I said to Porter. Love is love. “If anyone wants to say something, that’s their problem, not mine.” My parents would be appalled if I ever treated someone differently based on their appearance or sexuality. I’ve grown up around all sorts of people and never thought twice about who someone is.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a gay friend,” Cam muses from the back seat. “Does that make me a bad person? Maybe you can introduce us sometime.”
I can’t help but smile at Cam’s reaction compared to Nathan’s. “How about I work on being friends with him first?”
“How about you hang out with me more before you start adding more friends to your rotation,” Decker adds to Cam.
“Don’t worry, Case. You’re irreplaceable.” I watch as the two of them smile at each other in the back seat. Decker doesn’t live with us, but he might as well. He’s been begging Cam to move into a different house senior year so he can have a bedroom. “But seriously, it’d be fun to meet him.”
I don’t think wanting to befriend someone because they’re gay is exactly the best reasoning either, but at least he isn’t homophobic. Not that I thought he’d be. Cam has told us he’shad to deal with his fair share of racist comments in the past because his dad is White and his mom is Black, so I’d be surprised if he turned around and judged people.
“Porter is so much more than his sexual identity, though,” I remind them all. “His sense of humor is great, and he’s very smart with a lot of empathy. I really would like to get to know him more.”
I feel Nathan staring at me, so I quickly glance his way to take in his furrowed brows and wide eyes, but Cam speaks up before I can press him on it. “Wait, you said this is for Public Speaking, is Mrs.Fredricks still teaching that?”
“Yeah, she seems really chill.”
“Damn, bro. You’re putting in way more effort than I did last semester. My partner and I emailed each other a couple of times with talking points, but that was it.”
“You know I like to give everything one hundred percent,” I remind him in explanation. But if I’m being honest with myself, it’s because I want to spend time with Porter. There’s something about him that just makes me want to know more, and I feel like I’m already making great progress on him changing his first impression of me.
We park near the entrance to Scooters, and as we get out, we see some of the other guys from the team. Cam starts chanting, “Wings on Will, Wings on Will.” As we all laugh, any tension left over from the questions about Porter is forgotten.
“Remember, no alcohol,” I remind the team, still smiling as I hold the door open for everyone. We need to win tomorrow, and it’s one of our few team rules not to drink twenty-four hours before a game.
Every single guy from the team shows up. It’s a huge bill to cover for thirty-six hungry athletes, but I don’t mind. Neither will my parents. As I look around all the tables our team takes up, appreciating how happy they all look, I can’t stop thinking about how we wouldn’t all be here if Porter hadn’t inspired me toinvite everyone. He’s already had a positive impact on my life after only a few conversations.
I can’t wait to see what happens when we actually become friends. I just need to figure out how to actually make that happen. I intend to keep my promise to him, and know I have a lot to make up for.
7
