Chapter Thirty-Two

Travis couldn't help smiling as he took in the gym. White and yellow fairy lights lined the north wall, accompanied by silver and gold streamers on the western wall. On the eastern wall were tables with punch and finger foods and silver and gold balloons that had "Prom 2017" on them. And against the south wall was a huge banner with, `An Enchanted Evening,' printed large across it.

"You did this all for me?"

Josh smiled, his ears going red. "I had help from Brianna, Rachel, David, and Jason. But yeah." He reached into a bag, pulled out a white rose, and affixed it to Travis's lapel. Then he pressed a few buttons on the remote he'd pulled from his pocket. A strobe light turned on, bathing them in rainbow-colored lights.

"Someone went all out," Travis said, enjoying every second of it.

 "When it comes to you, there's no expense I wouldn't spare," Josh said, leaning in. 

When Josh's cologne hit Travis, he couldn't help sighing, content to stay like that forever.

"Shall we?" Josh said, cuing up the music. 

They danced the night away to songs by Rihanna, Darude, Drake, The Weekend, Future, and other hits of the day, along with oldies by Savage Garden, The Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and other boy bands. Josh had also added some of Travis's favorites, and they moshed, limbs flailing as they moved to the music.

"Whew!" Travis said, plopping down on the bleachers and wiping sweat from his forehead as My Plague by Slipknot finished. 

Josh handed him more napkins. "You okay?"

 He nodded. "Just need a second to catch my breath."

 Josh paused the music and got him a glass of punch. 

"Thanks," Travis said, taking a sip and pausing. "You spiked the punch?"

 "Of course; it's prom law." Josh laughed. "Don't worry, I only put like one-third of a fifth of vodka. So, having fun?" 

 Travis didn't have to think before he answered, "Fuck yeah!"

Josh whooped. "My man. You ready?" He held out his hand, looking like a puppy waiting for a treat. Finishing his drink, Travis rose, and Josh restarted the music.

As the night progressed, the music changed from high-energy pop and EDM to slower R&B music.

"May I have this dance?" Josh asked, slurring his words a bit as Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney started. Shrugging, Travis agreed, but he wasn't prepared when Josh came in close and wrapped his arms around Travis. He began a dramatic lip-sync that was the most adorkable thing Travis had ever seen. 

When the song transitioned to Stand by Me, they paused and smiled. He wrapped his arms around Josh, pulling him closer for a slow dance. The heat of Josh's body against his filled Travis's head with butterflies, and he longed to kiss the older boy, yet he still wasn't sure whether Josh returned his feelings or if this was a prank.

The song ended and transitioned to what he'd later learn was Yours to Hold by Skillet. As it played, Travis thought over his feelings for Josh, seeing him anew. Hands tremoring, Travis lifted Josh's head, leaning in close. Josh's breath blew warm against his skin.

He found want in Josh's jade eyes. Travis traced his thumb across Josh's lips.

"Please," Josh begged, his lips quivering.

 Though Travis wanted nothing more than to kiss Josh, he couldn't bring himself to close the distance between them. Then he remembered Grams' words to him:

"Inside us all is the ember of a hero, a phoenix waiting to rise from the ashes of our fear."

 He held Josh's gaze for what felt like forever. Then he pressed his lips against Josh's, kissing him long and hard, only stopping when the fairy lights blew out from the burst of energy pouring off him.

"Took ya long enough," Josh said, hitting him on the arm before pulling him for a slower, gentler kiss. Travis melted into Josh's embrace, reveling in the comfort and joy he found there. He didn't know what the future held for them with school starting next week and his symptoms worsening, but that day, he learned an important lesson: bravery isn't the absence of fear. It's facing what terrifies you head-on. Because on the other side of fear is hope, is love.

Between kisses, they planned how they'd spend every second possible together before school started, neither of them daring to mention Travis's health. That could wait for another day.

***

 The next morning found Travis, Josh, David, Jason, Rachel, and Brianna cleaning up the gym.

"So," Jason began, "you ever gonna tell me who the lucky lady was? `Cause I bet money this was a panty-dropper."

Josh shot Travis a dreamy look. "Who says it was a girl?"

"LOL, funny, JJ," he replied, shaking his head.

"Dude, I'm gay and in love with Travis."

Jason stopped and looked from Josh to Travis and back. Then he laughed. "Good one, JJ."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Miller, Josh isn't joking. And . . ." He paused, conflicted over whether to say his next word. After two heartbeats, he said, "I love him, too."

Jason's jaw dropped. "Dude, you two are together for real?"

"Yep," they said, smiling.

Jason faltered. "I never would have guessed. When did this bromance happen?"

"Well . . ." Josh explained the events of the summer, leaving out the bits about Travis's powers. 

David congratulated them and told Jason to pick his mouth up off the floor.

"You knew?" he said, raising his voice.

Brianna, hands akimbo, shook her head. "We been knew. What took y'all so long?"

An argument broke out over who knew what and when.

Travis put a stop to it by shouting, "Everyone shut up! It doesn't matter who knew first. You all know now."

"Yeah," Josh said, reaching out for Travis's hand. "And I'd appreciate it if you let us decide who else to tell."

Travis agreed, not so much caring who knew about them but more so for solidarity. They resumed cleaning and finished by noon, grabbed lunch at Leo's Coney Island on Woodward, then dropped Travis and Josh off at Josh's house.

"What now?" Josh said once they were alone.

"We make the most of our time."

"Yeah," Josh said, placing butterfly kisses on Travis's lips.     

Travis pulled away. "Josh?"

"Yeah?" he said, looking concerned.

"No matter what happens. I'm glad to have met you. You've given my life meaning."

Before Josh could reply, Travis pulled him in for another deep kiss.

They pulled apart, gasping for air. "I could get used to this," Josh said with a big dopey smile. 

"Me, too."

***

Travis and Josh staggered along Josh's driveway, laughing in between kisses. Every night since Josh's prom for two, they'd met up to talk, drink, and make out. Tonight, they might have overdone it. Travis held up Josh, taking a deep whiff of his hair, as he keyed in the gate code. He couldn't help himself and pinned Josh against the gate, kissing him as he copped a feel on Josh's ass. 

"We should stop," Josh said, pulling away.

"You're no fun," Travis whined before he pulled him in for another kiss.

Josh moaned into his mouth but broke the kiss. "Much as I'd like to spend all night doing this, tomorrow's the first day of eighth grade." 

"Right. Night."

Travis hugged him tight and Popped to the park to train.

***

The next morning, Travis slumped in his seat on the bus, nursing a migraine that could down a rhino. He attempted to drift off when Josh asked him to sit with him and his friends. He shrugged and complied, noticing the stares everyone gave him as they passed. Sliding in by the window, he gave Henry, Lance, Mitchells, David, and Jason an anemic, "Hey."

Mitchells looked at him sideways. "Since when does Turner sit with us?"

Josh cut him a dirty look. "Since he and I became friends over the summer."

Mitchell's face scrunched up. "Right. You guys had to do community service cause of the fight last year."

Josh nodded. "Speaking of which, what's your schedule like?"

Travis brought up his calendar app. "Homework from 3:30PM-5:00PM, community service from 5:00PPM-8:00PM except on Mondays when I have Dr. Dull's class and therapy. You?"

"About the same. Hey, we should do our homework together, so we finish faster."

"Right. and we should volunteer at the same places, so we can carpool." By which I mean teleport. 

They carried on making plans until Mitchells cut in. "It's cool you guys are friends and all, but what about the Squad?"

Josh looked from Mitchells to Travis. "I mean, I guess we can all do our homework together." "And we can hang out alone before bed?"

I have to train, but that's workable.

With that solved, they chatted along with Josh trying to include Travis in the conversation, but he was content listening to podcasts on his phone. In no time, the bus arrived at school, and they piled out, heading for the gym to get their schedules and locker assignments. As Travis entered the gym, he smiled, remembering the night he and Josh kissed for the first time.

After getting their schedules, they compared, and by some miracle or abomination of the scheduling gods, he and Josh were in all their classes together and had the same lunch period.

Josh whooted. "Sweet! I'll go check with the Squad."

As Josh walked away, Travis felt a pang of jealousy, knowing there were things they would never share. Before his emotions got the better of him, he stuffed them in their boxes, locked them away, and took three deep breaths to center himself.

Josh returned, telling him they all shared three classes together--Math, English, and Science. Josh said he'd create a group chat on What's App, then showed Travis how to create an account. With that done, they went to their first class: History.

Travis's headache intensified as the day progressed, and the only other time he'd felt like this was when his powers first activated. Acting on his hunch, he raised his mental barriers. His headache dulled to a small throb at the back of his mind. He'd been so busy with Josh the past week that he hadn't trained at all. He had to be more diligent; he couldn't afford a slip-up. 

Everything was fine until lunch.

Travis had become accustomed to kissing and touching Josh for hours on end, and now he was fiending for a hit of his ginger teddy bear. At the end of their last class before lunch, he hauled Josh to the nearest restroom and pulled him into the handicap stall.

"What the--mmmmmm," Josh moaned as Travis kissed him, running his hands over his body. They stayed like that, lips smashing into each other as they copped a feel. It was only when the tardy chime sounded that they pulled apart.

Josh, panting, wiping the spittle from his lips. "That was an epic win."

Travis took a puff from his inhaler. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have done that. Anyone could have seen us or walked in on us."

Josh flashed his cocky smile. "We'll just have to be extra careful, right?" 

Travis socked Josh's arm playfully. "Yeah. You go out first. Then I'll follow in a bit."

Lunch was interesting. Again, Josh tried involving Travis in the conversation, but he wasn't into it and chose instead to do their History reading assignment.

"You were a real conversationalist back there," Josh said.

"I know the Squad means a lot to you, but we don't have anything in common."

"You have me in common."

Travis sighed. "For your sake, I'll try being more gregarious."

"That's all I'm asking."

***

When Travis arrived home from community service on Wednesday, his mother told him his probation officer left a message that she wanted to meet with him Friday after school. A pit of dread formed in his stomach. He'd completely forgotten about her.

He popped his dinner in the microwave, and when he'd finished eating, he told his mother he was going for a walk. In actuality, he was going to train. After sleeping in and almost missing the bus twice already, he decided it was better to train before he visited Josh at night. 

The night air was cool against his skin when he Popped to the park, but that was to be expected as they were moving into September; Monday was Labor Day, and soon enough, it would be his birthday. Grams had said she would fly in to spend the weekend with him, and Josh had been hinting at a special present for him. Travis had told him he needn't give him some lavish gift; their being together was gift enough.

He put the drone in stationery mode, and it hovered 30 meters above him, recording him. Tonight, he worked on manipulating earth and water, combining them to make mud. Then he focused on transmogrifying the mud into metal. 

He levitated the mudballs around himself, imagining them turning into ball bearings. One by one, they turned from brown to grey, grape-sized globes of metal. Buoyed with joy, he next pictured them elongating into arrowheads. Once they had formed, he flung them into a nearby tree with a telekinetic blast. Though crude in their design, they penetrated the tree trunk.

Yawning, he sat and meditated, picturing a pinprick of light. Next, he imagined the point of light expanding outward, filling his whole body. The air pressed on him, but he continued until the point of light was as big as the Sun. Then he squashed it down into himself. 

His body shook as the energy inside him fought to get out. Taking a deep breath, Travis visualized the energy flowing to his hand. Outstretching his right arm, a wave of liquid warmth flooded it. He willed the energy to form a ball. He opened his eyes, and a tennis ball-sized orb of blue energy was cradled in his palm. He held it until he got light-headed and snuffed it out. Travis decided he'd done enough for the day and Popped home to finish his homework. After he finished, he watched YouTube videos until it was time to get ready for bed. Once he was sure his parents were asleep, he Popped to Josh's.

"Hey," Josh said, stifling a yawn as he curled up with Benji, his plush Bengal Tiger.

Travis kissed him on the forehead. "You look adorable, ya know that?"

Josh laughed him off, and they talked about their day, but the mood changed when Travis brought up the impending meeting with his probation officer.

Josh crawled into Travis's lap, running his hands through his hair. "You scared?" 

"A little, but if they send me away, I can always teleport back here anytime I want."

Josh planted a kiss on his lips. "Me likey." 

 "Me, too. But I just wish I could go back in time and stop myself from making that mistake, ya know?"

  Josh nodded. "If I could, I'd go back and make it so I never bullied ya and instead befriended you sooner, so we could have gotten together way before now."

Laughing, Travis said, "Stop it. You're gonna give me diabetes with all this sweetness."

"It's true. I feel like such a douche canoe for the way I treated you."

Travis rested his head on Josh's shoulder. "But that's in the past. And now you're stuck with me. Du bist mein Ein und Alles."

"Huh?"

"It means, `you are my one and all,' in German."

"Oh. Back at cha. And ya know I love you, right?"

Travis gave him a ghost of a kiss. "Yes, and I love you too. Nothing you do or say will ever change that." 

"Promise?"

"I swear," he said, then broke into I Swear by All 4 One. 

When he was done, Josh cuddled him close. "You're my cinnamon bun."

Travis agreed, running his hands through Josh's hair, breathing deeply of his natural scent, feeling at home in his arms.

Author's note: Woo, woo! All aboard the feels trains. Next time, Travis's PO hands down her ruling, Agent Andersen drops some truth bombs on Travis, and he and Josh take their relationship to the next level.

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