Page 50 of Theoretically Straight

“Terrible horror? Now you’re talking my language,” Oliver says, getting up from his chair. He sits down on the opposite side of the stairs, dipping his feet in as well. “Have you seenDeath by a Thousand Nails?”

“Uh, duh. Wren made me watch that at their thirteenth birthday party. Freddy chickened out halfway through and missed the ice cream cake. Poor thing.”

“Why can’t y’all ever talk about stuff I like,” Elise complains, paddling herself closer to the conversation.

“Because you only watch anime and troll AO3,” Oliver replies.

Elise glares at Oliver. “There’s horror anime, you know. It would bring all of our interests together.”

“LikeI Love You, Seymour Shura,” I say before I think better of it. “Um, but you have to be okay with yaoi. It’s about this guy whose boyfriend ends up turning into a monster at night and killing and eating criminals. It’s very bloody, but also kinda camp. They released the first season of the sub a few weeks ago.”

Elise perks up at the idea. “Ooo! I’m adding that to the list!”

“I’m in as long as there’s blood and guts,” Oliver adds.

“Tons,” I assure him. I look over at Theo, but he’s back in the deep end again, staring off into space. Damn. I was hoping that I could gauge his reaction. Maybe get an idea for where his head’s at.

The door on the back porch opens and Kora waves at us. “Pizza’s here! I’ve got it set up on the table when y’all get hungry.”

Oliver bolts first. “I’m starving!”

Harrison helps Elise off her float, and the two of them share a smile that makes my stomach flip. Theo is still floating in the deep end, oblivious to the rest of us, so I grab one of the inner tubes and toss it at him. It lands perfectly around his head like a giant game of ring toss, and he sticks his neck through to look at me.

“Pizza’s here,” I say, motioning towards the rest of the group.

“Oh. Sweet. You go ahead. I’ll be there in a second, okay?”

I nod, and he sinks back into the tube so I can’t see him anymore.

Something is definitely up with him, but he obviously doesn’t want to talk about it right now. Maybe some lunch will change his mood.

Man, I’m in trouble.

I had fully convinced myself that I was fine. I had convinced my friends—and myself—that inviting Caleb over was perfectly normal and there was nothing else going on and that I really did believe that he was a good fit for our gang. The stuff I felt at Saint Catherine’s and last night during the movie was directly correlated to the spooky vibes. This pool day would prove that. I could finally put this fear to rest, knowing that Caleb and I just accidentally trauma bonded over a haunted church, and we’re just supposed to be great friends. That’s all.

And then I saw Caleb again in the bright afternoon sun, with his curly copper hair and freckles dusting lightly across his face and down his arms. I saw him smile at me as I greeted him, almost tackling him in a hug before I realized I was dripping wet from the pool and he was still wearing a shirt.

But now he’s not wearing a shirt. And I can’t stop staring.

I swallow it down as best as I can, staying submerged in the pool and acting as casually as possible. I think I’m doing okay until Elise uses her trademark subtlety to get my attention.

“Psst,Theo!”

I roll my eyes and swim over to her float. “Elise, this counts as being weird.”

“Were you about to hug him?” she asks, lowering her massive sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to give me a look. “How long have you guys been hanging out, exactly?”

“For the love of–” I grip her float tightly and lean in closer. “Drop it. Please. We can talk about it later.”

“Oh my God,” she whispers a little too knowingly, causing a spike of terror to shoot down my spine. “Oh yeah, wedefinitelywill.”

“Please be normal,” I plead with her, stealing a glance toward Caleb to make sure he can’t hear us. Oliver’s attention is on Caleb now, a mischievous half-smile on his face, which means he’s about to say something stupid.Shit. I turn my attention back to Elise. “Please.”

She raises her eyebrows at me one last time before pushing her sunglasses back up on her face. “This isn’t over, Theo Briggs.”

“Welcome to Briggs’ Oasis,” Oliver says to Caleb. “It’s going to ruin any community pool for you, so enjoy your last few moments of plebeian joy before you’re corrupted by the luxury.”

“Shut up, Oliver!” I shout, quickly distancing myself from Elise, thankful that at least Oliver isn’t being a problem yet. “You’ll have to ignore him, Caleb. The rest of us do.”

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