2. Six Feet Under the Stars #2
“There!” Chris pointed up ahead to where the main bonfire was raging, and that’s when Dustin saw her.
The Blasian girl with medium brown skin, sharp eyes, and long braids pulled into a high ponytail.
She was dressed in a white cropped hoodie that showed off her star-shaped belly button piercing, and a black denim miniskirt.
Her feet were bare, but some guy trailing behind her looked to be carrying her heels for her.
Despite the fact that all the attention was on her, she was completely zoning out as if she hadn’t heard a word of it, “Chloe’s here!
I should’ve known she wouldn’t miss this,”
Dustin knew Chloe Li all too well. Daughter of a locally famous fashion designer, Kochiyama High’s number one it girl…
and Chris’s ex-girlfriend. They’d known Chloe since elementary, but she and Chris only started dating in Freshman year, only to break up in the middle of Junior year.
But Chris hadn’t stopped peacocking in an attempt to get her back ever since.
“Bro, leave that poor girl in peace for one night, I’m begging you,”
Chris gasped in overdramatized horror.
“Excuse me?! You expect me to just let her walk away from all this?” Chris gestured up and down his body.
Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“You’re good at so many things, why can’t ‘respecting boundaries’ be one of them?”
“Fuck off Twinkula, I’m going to talk to her,” Chris said, playfully shoving Dustin, “you gonna be cool without me, right?”
Dustin’s eyes drifted to the ever-growing crowd of increasingly inebriated seniors and felt that uneasy feeling return. He choked it down and offered a casual nod; he wasn’t about to ruin Chris’s moment.
“Go for it. I’ll find the middle ground between the computer nerds and the theater kids and hang out until you’re done,”
“I don’t know bro, I’m feeling kinda shaky. You know what I’m gonna need if this is gonna go smoothly,” Chris smirked, before raising his hands high in the air, palms to the sky, “please, give me your energy,”
Dustin chuckled as the scene from Dragon Ball Z flashed in his mind; Goku drawing energy from the lifeforms of the universe to boost his Spirit Bomb.
It was the nerdiest shit of all time, and something only someone as effortlessly confident as Chris could pull off without plummeting down the social ladder…
So of course Dustin raised his hands in the same fashion without thinking twice.
“My energy is yours sensei. Just don’t use it for nefarious purposes,”
With that, Chris pulled him into a quick hug and made his way toward his target.
As soon as his twin disappeared into the sea of kids around the bonfire, Dustin found a smooth rock to sit down on.
He was close enough to still feel the bass from the Yung Joc song thumping in his chest, but far enough that no one would really notice him.
Maybe he’d move in closer a bit later, but for now he was content to just vibe near the water’s edge and enjoy the music from afar.
Or at least, that was his plan…
“You realize the party’s over there, right?”
The sudden deep voice made Dustin flinch so hard he almost slipped off the rock, but he regained his composure and turned around…
only to see none other than James Zhang himself standing over him with a beautiful, carefree smile etched on his face.
He was notably shorter than Dustin was, likely around 5 '6 or so, but what he lacked in stature, he made up for in pure presence. He’d always been a force to be reckoned with; chaos in human form that bounced between extracurriculars like the world’s sexiest pinball.
Dustin envied that energy; the ability to try on any hat and then ditch it at a moment’s notice for whatever else struck his fancy.
He wasn’t even 100% sure when his obsession with James started.
It could’ve been back during their Freshman orientation, when he saw that brilliant 10,000-watt smile lighting up the auditorium from halfway across the room.
Or maybe it was Sophomore year during Culture Day, when James showcased his mixed heritage by cooking up a Filipino/Chinese fusion platter that made Dustin realize how hot being a good cook was.
Regardless of when the crush started, Dustin never thought anything would actually come of it. They’d never even had a full conversation; the only time they’d ever even sort of interacted was… Junior Prom.
The worst night of Dustin’s life.
It was only then that he realized that he’d just been standing there, dumbfounded for like ten uninterrupted seconds.
He tried to form words, to think of a witty reply, but he was totally disarmed.
The way James just stood there, existing with the firelight glowing against his soft, glowing skin.
Completely unbothered by the sea breeze ruffling his loosely curled hair; it was magical.
“I… uh, y-yeah. I know. I was just, getting a bit of fresh air,” Dustin stammered.
“Really? You guys just got here though,” James said, raising a curious eyebrow, “you’re more socially awkward than I expected,”
Dustin just blinked dumbly at that. It wasn’t an insult; James just threw it out there like the casual observation it was. But still, Dustin wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
“Oh, uh… well, what makes you say that? Is it because you know my brother? Because trust me, me and Chris are nothing alike,”
“Oh no, it's not that. I remember Chris from when we were both on the dance team in Freshman Year, before he became the big basketball star.
And yeah, you guys are two different donut flavors, that's for sure," James said with a chuckle, "I used to watch you guys, your band, Colorful Trauma? You guys were fucking tight. But seeing you on stage singing? I don’t know, I guess I just expected you to be a bit bolder in person. I’m kinda digging the Cobain vibes though,”
There it was; the feeling like someone had just detonated C4 next to Dustin’s head, just by uttering a simple name…
Colorful Trauma.
That past incarnation of himself that he’d buried alongside his eyeliner pencil when he fully committed to swimming and trying to get into a good college. The band that he and Bailey poured their souls into, before the night it all came crashing down.
Memories ran through his mind at top speed.
Arguing with Chris in the pouring rain as they left the Junior Prom afterparty. A sudden head-on collision. Dustin pulling a limp, bloody boy out of the passenger’s seat of the other vehicle and giving him CPR…
“I… uh… I haven’t thought about that in a while,” Dustin mumbled, his voice wildly uneven. James’s eyes widened.
“Shit, bad memory huh? Sorry man, I didn’t mean to…"
“It’s fine,” Dustin cut him off, more sharply than he intended, “seriously don’t sweat it,”
“Uh, okay,” James said, looking nervous for what was likely the first time in his life, “well, I didn’t come over here just to make you uncomfortable. I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to…”
Before he could finish the sentence, a bright spotlight hit both of them like a burning accusation.
Dustin’s hands flew up to shield his eyes, as James instinctively stepped in front of him.
He barely had time to process what the hell was going on, before he heard the slurred scream of one of his fellow students.
“COPS!”