Read Online Boy in a Band (A Morgan Mallory story) by Lisa Loomis - Free Book Online

“What?” I asked, not sure what she was referring to.
                  “You know what? Tell me about the picnic. You were so excited to go, but haven’t said anything about it. I assume Mathew was there?”
                  I smiled and Gayle narrowed her eyes at me.
                  “I haven’t even met him, and you are over the top.”
                  “I’m not,” I laughed.
                  “Are too,” she said.
                  “I definitely like him, I mean as a friend,” I corrected.
                  I’d pictured him kissing me, almost could feel his lips on mine at times.
                  “Oh, bullshit as a friend. I knew it!” she said, doing a little cheerleading rah- rah with her hands.
                  “You want to kiss him,” she taunted. “You want to kiss him, don’t you, Morgan?”
                  “Fuck off. I hate it when you turn out to be right.”
                  I told her about the picnic and what happened with Mathew.
    “Sounds like he likes you too,” Ga yle said.
                  “You think that’s what his actions mean?”
    “Morgan , he squeezed between you and Bobby in the Jeep, he asked you to go to the creek, he said you had pretty hands, and I agree with Bobby, that was so lame,” she laughed.
    Gayle had a great laugh : it was deep and real. I waited for her to go on. I was hoping what she was saying was true, that he liked me, that I wasn’t reading the signs incorrectly.
                  “He sat with you at lunch, after he ‘accidentally’ fell into your lap, then he sought you out to say good bye. Yeah, I think he likes you.”
                  Wouldn’t that be grand. I also knew us being more than friends wasn’t practical.
                  “Gayle, he goes to another school. I will only get to see him occasionally. I don’t think there is much hope in that one,” I said.
    It bummed me out that what I was saying was true. It wasn’t like he lived around the corner either, in order for us to be together ever, it would be when our parents got together.
                  “Let get some booze together for the weekend,” I said. “Catch a buzz.”
                  “You get it. Your parents have more liquor than mine, and they get into it more. I don’t think they're as likely to notice it missing.”
                  “Probably not, let’s plan on Friday night at the creek. Ditch the other kids.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” Gayle said.
     
    My mom and Ann were becoming good friends. With my dad gone so much, we went over to the O’Conner’s often. Sometimes it would be a short visit, Ann and mom sharing a drink or two, and sometimes it would be for an entire evening: more drinks and often including dinner. No matter what, I always hoped Mathew would be around. When he wasn’t, I felt let down. Sara, Pat, Sam, Mathew, and I would play tag, kick ball, or tether ball in the O’Conner’s backyard, and every now and then, Mathew and I would make physical contact. Some of it I was sure was planned and some the nature of the games. The best was when Mathew and I would go to his room or the garage, and he would play his guitar.
     
    “Let’s go to my room and not tell them,” Mathew whispered in my ear.
                  We were playing hide-and-seek outside in the dark, and Mathew had pulled me with him into a cramped space behind the pines and juniper.
                  “Okay,” I answered quietly.
                  I desperately wanted out of there. I could imagine the spiders and bugs that were in those bushes. The only reason I stayed was that I was cramped in that small space up against him. I had my chest to his back and as I pushed into him more then I needed to I could feel his heart beat. I wanted to