Page 19 of Pride High 3: Yellow
Ricky forced himself to focus on those copper-colored eyes, which remained confident and calm. “You’ll be fine. Do you hear me? The cookies turned out a little stronger than I expected, that’s all.”
Ricky’s eyes widened. “Am I going to overdose?”
Diego laughed. “I’ve been exactly where you are now plenty of times. Enough to know that you’ll feel fine again soon. Trust me, okay?”
Ricky nodded. Except when Diego released him, he felt so woozy that he had to sit down. “Are you sure I’m not having an allergic reaction?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m sure. You just need to get your mind on other things.”
“I don’t like this song,” he complained. “It’s weird.”
“It’s a commercial,” Diego said, turning off the radio.
“Oh. I think I need to lie down.”
Ricky crawled on his hands and knees toward the sleeping bag and struggled with the zipper.
“Here.” Diego moved to help.
“I don’t want to ruin our night,” Ricky murmured while watching him unfold the sleeping bag. “I want to be with you.”
“I’m right here,” Diego said.
Ricky rolled onto the padded surface. “Yeah, but I want to bewithyou,” he said, pulling on Diego’s arm.
“Okay.” Diego stretched out next to him, holding him from behind. “Just think happy thoughts,” he said. “I know that sounds lame, but it works.”
Ricky clung to the arm that was pressed against his chest, his hand wrapping around Diego’s wrist. He couldn’t help thinking of the burn marks that the handcuffs had left there. “Do you still feel like running away?” he asked.
“Sometimes,” Diego replied after a moment of silence.
“I’d go with you,” Ricky murmured.
“I don’t think you’d like that.”
“I would,” he insisted.
“You have a nice family,” Diego said. “And a nice home. But maybe we could take a trip down to El Paso together. You could meet my grandma.”
“What’s she like?”
“Normal.” Diego said the word with longing, which just about broke Ricky’s heart.
“I’ll be your family,” he said. “If you need me to be.”
“Happy thoughts,” Diego reminded him. “Forget about me. Do you like the candles?”
“Yeah!” Ricky said. Especially around the edge of the cave, where it was darker. The flames there were almost like little stars if he blurred his eyes. He watched them twinkle, Diego’s chest swelling and contracting in even breaths. Ricky tried matching him, breathing out each time Diego breathed in. Soon his eyelids felt heavy and so he closed them, content to imagine a swirl of stars surrounding the sleeping bag as they drifted through the cosmos together.
CHAPTER 4
February 14th, 1993
Cameron pulled into his driveway and put the station wagon in park, but he didn’t turn off the engine. The evening had been a success. After walking around downtown, they had dinner at the Garden of Eatin’, a vegetarian restaurant that Cameron was beginning to think of as their special place. Afterwards they went to a bookstore where a local band played. They had sipped coffee while listening to music, leaning close on occasion to murmur words into each other’s ears. Everything had been perfect. But he was worried it wouldn’t last.
“Let’s go to your place instead,” he suggested.
Anthony shook his head. “My parents made my brother and me promise not to come home before ten. You can imagine why. I prefer not to.”
