Ash watched with intense curiosity from his bed in the corner of the living room as the human boy dashed straight past him like he did every day after school before yawning and curling back up. Closing the door behind him, Ray kicked off his shoes and wriggled down his socks, letting them flop onto the hardwood floor. As he was taking off his shorts, the black card fell out of his pocket—oh yeah! He picked it up and rushed into the kitchen where he picked up the phone. By now, Jonah’s phone number had become simply a mastered gesture of his hand on the keypad.

“Wassup?” Jonah greeted after the first two rings.

“I have so much to tell you and I have crazy news!” Ray exclaimed, hopping onto one of the bar stools and loosely dangling his legs.

“Well, that sounds abnormally exciting! What happened?”

“So, remember that kid Lucas from camp?”

“Er, the super gay one who was always singing?”

“I guess, yeah,” Ray said. How did Jonah know he was gay? “Well, apparently, he goes to my school, so I sat with him and his friends at lunch!”

“Neato! Were they nice?”

“Yeah, mostly. Lucas asked if I could go over to his house this weekend! But he thought I put Paris’s dick in my mouth for some reason.”

“Oh, yuck!” Jonah said, laughing.

“I know! Oh and also, this other kid Nico, apparently he has a boyfriend who’s in college! I didn’t even know that was possible!”

“That’s… a little strange. So you’re telling me this ‘crazy news’ is that you made friends?”

“No, even crazier. So I was sitting with Lucas on the bus, and when he got off at his stop, he dropped something. It’s a little black card, and get this: it’s got the symbol on it!”

“Wait, the symbol from Paris and Griffin’s—”

“Yup!” Ray squeaked.

“Wow, so the club is real after all?”

“I guess so!”

“Holy crapwaffles, you gotta send me a pic!”

Ray grimaced and hopped down from the seat. “I can’t…”

“Oh, right,” Jonah said, clicking his tongue. “Dang, it would’ve been so helpful for researching. Well, why don’t you tell me everything that’s on it then?”

Ray ran into his room to retrieve the card. “There’s not a whole lot, it’s basically a black card with the symbol written in gold, and there’s some number on it. Two-thousand, two-hundred and sixty-one.”

“That’s it? What could the number mean?”

“I have no idea!”

“Hmm, this might sound crazy, but do you think Lucas could be a spy for the Omen Rose sent by Paris?”

Ray scrunched his face up. “I didn’t even consider anything like that!”

“Well, why don’t you ask him about it?”

Ray hopped onto his bed. As much as he’d love to finally get to the bottom of it all, he also didn’t want to annoy his new friend by snooping around his secret club. “Maybe it’s best to not let him know we’re onto him,” he offered.

“Hmm,” Jonah said, followed by three tapping sounds. “Didn’t you say he invited you over to his house?”

“Yeah, he said I should come over this weekend.”

“Well, go! And then you can investigate from inside his house!”

“Ohh, I didn’t even think of that!” Ray said, smiling widely. Jonah was brilliant.

“Yeah! Just go and look around for clues. If he’s a part of this, he’s gotta be hiding something.”

Ray was getting jittery with excitement. “This is such a good idea! It’ll be like we’re secret agents!”

“Like a real-life Mr. Strawberry Man comic!”

“Exactly!” Ray smiled. He loved it when Jonah referenced Mr. Strawberry Man. Ash bumped his face into Ray’s arm again, so Ray picked him up, carried him into the hall, and closed the door behind him. “Oh yeah, and, um, how’s your mom doing? I never asked when you had to go the other day.”

“Oh jeez, Ray. Well, she’s back in the ICU again, and I probably won’t get to see her until this weekend.”

“Oh. Sorry. That stinks.”

“At least I know she’s okay when she plays me back on our chess app.”

Ash was meowing and scratching at the door, so Ray gripped the phone closer to his ear. “You guys play chess together? That’s so cool! I haven’t played in forever.”

“Yeah, but she’s going easy on me ‘cause she’s actually way better. She used to be in a chess club in high school.”

The scratching continued, and Ray turned to scowl at the door. “Holy crud, I gotta go! Ash is being super weird right now.”

“Aw, alright. That weirdo cat. See you, space cowboy!”

Ray wasn’t quite sure why Jonah always thought he was a space cowboy, but hung up and whipped his head angrily towards the door. “Ash!” he growled, leaping down from the bed. “What do you want?” He stomped over and ripped the door open, but blinked when Ash wasn’t there. Instead, he was over at the strange black door in the hallway, scratching at the bottom of it. “What’s up with you?”

Ash glanced over at him, then back at the door, and went back to scratching. Ray walked over and picked him up, hugging him to his face, the warm fur tickling his cheek.

“Dad said that’s a storage closet, remember? There’s nothing in there.” He set the cat down, who went straight back to clawing at the door, and sighed.

Stepping up to the door, he grasped the peculiar golden handle that seemed to curve and slither like some kind of metallic snake. He jiggled the handle, but it was locked, just like it always had been since they moved in. They both looked at each other.

“Is there something in here?” he asked the cat, who responded by turning away to lick himself. “Dummy,” he muttered, letting go of the handle.

Back in his bedroom, Ray was quick to disrobe completely, leaving him stark naked with a stiff and bulging erection. Though it was his daily routine to masturbate as soon as he got home from school, he was feeling much hornier than usual for some reason and flopped onto the bed with a content sigh. Grasping his boner with several fingers, the tugging commenced. Since running out of lotion just a few weeks prior, he found the absence of it completely adequate. In fact, there was something sharper and more focused about it—one less layer between the manipulations of his hand and the pleasure he could generate.

As he rubbed his stiff dick, he conjured up images of naked boobs and “pussy holes”. Jonah had once used that phrase when describing some internet website—apparently a slit that girls had that was just as pink as the tip of his dick, but all wet so he could easily slide it in. He pictured just that, sliding in and out until he exploded inside her with a tingling orgasm. The thought made his body feel hotter, his head foggier, and the familiar sensation start to grow.

He pictured a brand new girl: a petite and skinny blonde girl with tan skin and supple breasts, wearing a revealing bikini. As he began to strip off her top in his mind, he noticed that she didn’t actually have boobs at all. She had small nipples, kind of like his, and… wait a second! As the girl tugged down her bikini bottoms, he realized he was picturing Nico! A rod of turgid flesh flopped out of the bikini similar to his own, with a slightly visible pink slit at the end that stared in his direction. Beneath it, a small, velvety knapsack of skin, loose and somewhat wrinkled. The small glimpse he had of Nico’s balls during gym must have burrowed away in his mind, but why was it slipping out now? Why was he picturing this, and better yet: why was he still masturbating? Doesn’t matter—too late, who cares.

Toes curling, pleasure raced up his dick, and he tugged down as hard as he could, grimacing as a big orgasmic eruption battered his small body. He kicked out one leg inadvertently while grabbing the sheets with his unoccupied hand to keep himself grounded. Bit by bit, the orgasm pounded through him, sending his eyes rolling back behind his eyelids, and he spat out heavy breaths until finally he fell back, crumpling as the last few drops of euphoria trickled away and his regular brain function returned. Boy, that was a good one. Better than usual!

At dinner, Ray asked his mom if he could go to Lucas’s house.

“Didn’t I tell you you’d make friends once people got to know you?” she said, loading up Ray’s plate with dumplings and rice from the takeout boxes scattered across the table. “Anyway, you know we have the farmer’s market and other shopping to take care of this weekend. If you’re on top of your homework and it’s okay with his parents, then maybe Friday evening.”

“Okay!” he said gleefully.

She set the food down in front of him, and he scarfed it down his food while his parents discussed the big Canucks game. Snore! He excused himself to his room, snagging a fortune cookie for dessert. The fortune said he’d soon be reunited with an old pastime, but it also said his lucky number was thirteen, so how trustworthy could it really be?

While he brushed his teeth, he thought again about Nico’s apparent lack of underwear. Wasn’t he scared about his shorts getting pulled down? That would be so embarrassing! Though, now that he thought about it, the thought of going to school without underwear was strangely alluring, although highly dangerous. It’d be fun to do something naughty that nobody else knew about.  As he slipped into bed for the night, he shuffled the underpants down his legs and tossed them across the dark room into the hamper. This was going to be a fun week.

The table was a warzone as Ray approached with tray in hand. Nico and Lucas were yelling at each other, while Finn watched them quietly with a suppressed grin. Ray hesitated for a moment, and a slight breeze tickled the inside of his shorts. 

“It literally doesn’t matter!” Lucas shouted at Nico, who was glaring at him with furrowed brows.

“Um, what’s going on?” Ray asked, casually sliding into an empty spot next to Lucas, but nobody paid attention to him.

“It does! You’re evil!” Nico yelled back at Lucas.

“It is also bad luck,” Finn added, slowly shaking his head.

“You’re bad luck,” Lucas said, throwing an annoyed glare at the uncaring Finn.

Ray cleared his throat. “What are you guys talking about?” he asked a bit louder.

“Oh. Hey,” Lucas said and they exchanged a fist bump.

“Lucas killed a ladybug and now Nico is going to execute him,” Finn explained.

“Bruh, he’s fine!” Lucas said, leaning back. “I just had to flick him away because he landed on my pasta. He’s like an inch big so who even cares?”

“Murderer!” Nico shouted.

“Ladybugs are not one inch big, are you on drugs?” Finn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lucas ignored him and turned to Ray. “What’s up?”

Ray cleared his throat and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. “So, um, remember when you asked me on the bus if I could come over?” he asked.

“OMG, you can?!” Lucas shouted, excitedly grabbing him by the shoulders.

Ray grinned sheepishly. “My mom said yes if it’s okay with your parents.”

Lucas’s smile doubled in size, and he pulled him into a hug. “Stunning!”

Nico groaned from the other side of the table. “Aw man, are you guys doing blowjobs without me?”

“No!” Ray quickly responded, annoyed.

“Jealous that we’re getting action before you?” Lucas said, grinning.

Nico scoffed. “I got a blowjob on Monday, ya dumb virgin.”

“Bullshit,” Lucas retorted. “From who? Your mom?”

“From my sexy boyfriend, and I even cummed in his mouth!” he reminisced with a smile.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Shut yo ass up, I jizz in my right hand every night. It’s nothing to be proud of.”

Ray found it difficult to keep up with his new friends. The conversations were so rapidfire, the subject matter so disorderly. Were the things they said even real? Did Nico actually do these things with a grown-up? That would be like Ray having Cameron as a boyfriend, and that would be weird. Maybe Cameron would have more insight…

“Why don’t you believe me that he’s real?” Nico yelled at Lucas. “You even met him that one time!”

“Oh, in your dreams!” Lucas said, closing his eyes. “You are not going out with that hunk from the beach. That guy barely wanted anything to do with you. Besides, he could date whoever he wanted; he’s not gonna pick some skinny little ho like you.” He opened one eye and looked at Nico. “No offense. You still got a nice body, doe.”

Nico flipped his fluffy golden hair out of his eyes, tightening his fists under the table. “I’ll prove it to you. Somehow.”

“I’ll bet you this whole thing that you’re full of shit,” Lucas said, smirking as he shook his small tin of lemon candy that he seemed to always be carrying around.

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

The sharp grass tickled the bottoms of Ray’s legs, and he sat up, straightening out the bottoms of his shorts to ensure nobody would be able to see up them. Lucas was reclined beside him in the grass with Nico laying in his lap, rubbing Nico’s legs while he rested his chin on his shoulder. Ray watched them through the corner of his vision, enthralled by their brazenness, as the outdoor intercom summoned cheerful students to the freedom of the weekend. William Lynch, Ava Phillips, Elijah Swift…

“You’re too skinny,” Lucas said, brushing his fingertips along Nico’s ankles. “How much do you weigh?”

Nico sighed contentedly through closed eyes. “Like eighty pounds,” he purred.

“Bitch, you need a burger!” Lucas said, shaking him by the ankles with each syllable.

“Burgers are unethical and are bad for our planet,” Nico recited without opening an eye.

“You’re unethical,” Lucas mumbled, sliding his hands up Nico’s legs, slipping them into his shorts until he froze and ripped them out. “See! You’re not even wearing underwear, ho!”

Nico grunted apathetically. Ray crossed his legs at the mention of Nico’s lack of underwear and pretended to sift through his backpack while Lucas went back to massaging Nico.

“Logan Lake,” the man’s voice rumbled over the intercom, jerking Nico to attention.

“That’s him!” he cried, glancing around rapidly. “Told you,” he said and turned to flick Lucas on the nose.

“Ow! Yeah right,” Lucas said, “Why would they call his name if he’s picking you up?”

Nico opened his mouth to reply, then scrunched his eyebrows and frowned in confusion. “Er…” He squinted and looked out at the line of cars.

Ray tried looking himself, but it was hard to discern anything in the sea of cars. His eyes wandered until they fell upon a handsome guy in an SUV talking with a school staff member. Was that him?

“Nico Florakis.”

Nico facepalmed and jumped to his feet. “Because he’s an idiot,” he mumbled, gathering his stuff while Ray and Lucas broke into laughter.

“Hi, Logan!” Lucas called out, flapping his hand in the vague direction of the cars.

Nico kicked him in the leg. “Pay up,” he demanded.

“Fuck, alright, you win. For now,” he said and handed his candy tin to Nico, “but you owe me real proof next time,” he called after Nico, who was trotting towards his chariot.

“See you Monday!” Ray called after him, waving.

Nico turned to give them both a small wave before disappearing into the mass of kids and cars. Lucas scooted over and patted the ground between his extended legs.

“Come sit with me!” he said. “I’m cold now.”

“Um, sure,” Ray said and shuffled over to take Nico’s old spot in Lucas’s lap.

The warmth of Lucas’s body was friendly and welcoming, but Ray was still intensely conscious of his lack of underwear. He just hoped Lucas wouldn’t reach up his shorts like he did Nico. Going commando was fun at first, but boy was it stressful. Had Nico been internally freaking out as much as he was?

Lucas seemed to sense his anxiousness as he cupped his hands over his shoulders. “Man, you need to loosen up,” he said, pressing his thumbs into Ray.

“Huh?”

“Your shoulders are so tense! It’s like massaging a two-by-four.”

“Sorry,” Ray mumbled. “Why do you guys like giving massages so much?”

“Because,” he said, drumming his fingers on Ray, “it’s fun for the whole fam! Plus, you have nice, soft skin. I just need to… take care of… this… knot,” he grunted.

“Ow!” Ray yelped.

“Oops. Hmm, let me try something.” Ray stared ahead nervously as Lucas straightened himself out underneath him. “Okay, close your eyes.”

He did. “Why?” he asked, then shivered as he felt Lucas’s gentle breath against the invisible hairs on his neck. After a few tense seconds, he felt a faint knock against the back of his head.

“Crack an egg on your head, let the yolk run down, let the yolk run down,” Lucas sang.

Ray could feel Lucas’s fingers tracing down his hair, neck, and shoulders, and shivered again. What a bizarre sensation.

“Crack an egg on your head, let the yolk run down, let the yolk run down.”

“What are you doing?” Ray asked, unable to keep his giggles from surfacing, which caused Lucas to grin in turn. “What is this?”

“Crack an egg on your head, let the yolk run down, let the yolk run down!” He was practically shouting now, and when Ray burst into laughter and fell out of his lap, Lucas joined him, and they fell over in the grass, clutching their stomachs as their bodies wriggled with laughter.

“That was so weird!” Ray said between giggles. “What was that?”

“See? You’re loosened up.”

“Lucas Boyer!” the intercom called out.

Lucas sat up, eyes wide. “She’s here! Let’s go!” he said, leaping to his feet and dragging Ray along with him.

Ray’s backpack landed on the small polka dot rug with a thud. Lucas leapt onto his oddly-low-to-the-ground bed, sighing into a pillow as he stretched out his arms and legs. Ray, unsure what to do with himself, stood at the side of the bed and peered around the unfamiliar room. It was much bigger than his tiny closet room, with mostly empty white walls save for a single painting, a tile floor that appeared dusted with trace amounts of sand, and a messy desk nestled in the corner. He was honestly expecting more character from a room like Lucas’s; even Ray’s walls were covered with his colorful drawings and stickers.

“Thank fuck it’s the weekend,” Lucas murmured, then flipped onto his back. “Only a billion more weeks like that to go.”

“I know! Ending every week with a double block of Mr. Nilis is going to make me go crazy. Why can’t it be summer again already?”

“Totally,” Lucas said, then sighed dreamily. “I just wanna be at camp again.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ray said, looking awkwardly away. “I guess it was fun while I was there.”

“You’re so lucky you got to do stuff with Paris,” Lucas said, taking off his socks. “I would’ve killed for that.”

Ray glanced at him suspiciously through the corner of his eye. “So… you never did anything with him yourself?”

“Oh God no, I was too nervous to even go up to him!”

It seemed weird that they could be part of the same club, yet Lucas was too nervous to go up to him. Lucas took out his phone and after a few seconds, Teenage Dream by Katy Perry started blaring from some kind of wireless speaker that looked more like a red brick covered in tiny holes. He bobbed his head, smirking at Ray who could only return an awkward smile.

“Katy Perry,” Lucas stated as if he were addressing a class as a teacher, “basically the demigoddess of pop.”

“Oh, I know her from, um… she did I Kissed A Girl. Right?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “That song sucks though because kissing girls is stupid. Right?” he asked, throwing the question to Ray with his eyebrows.

“Um, maybe?”

Lucas chuckled and put his phone down. “Okay, I gotta take a huge shit, so just sit back, relax, and let the music fire you up,” he said and trotted out the door.

As soon as his footsteps disappeared down the hall, Ray scrambled over to Lucas’s phone. If there was a clue anywhere in the house, it was most likely on that phone.

You make me feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream ♪
The way you turn me on, I can't sleep ♪
Let's run away and don't ever look back ♪
Don't ever look back ♪

Cringing at the awful generic lyrics, Ray clicked the button on the phone, illuminating the screen with an image of Lucas and his little sister Bella who he’d met during the car ride. On top of it was a PIN entry with a number pad, something he had certainly not accounted for. What would Lucas use as a passcode? Ray didn’t know a whole lot about him, except for, well, he was gay. Did all gay people always use a certain passcode or something? Probably not. He’d have to look for a hint.

He made his way over to the desk in the corner. Light filtered through the window beside the desk, illuminating small dust particles in the air. Half of the desk was covered in magazines, binders, and a computer monitor, while the other was home to a lamp and a small mirror. He sat down in the little desk chair and sifted through all the crud, but it was mostly schoolwork and nothing truly useful.

Opening one of the desk drawers, he began rifling through the disorderly contents: a pair of binoculars, a stapler, a bunch of different colored Sharpies, a broken pair of scissors, a travel-sized bottle of lotion, a sheet of notebook paper with a bunch of random words written on it, a—wait.

He grabbed the paper and placed it flat on the desk beneath the light from the window. Among the various scrawlings were gems such as penis321 and eatmad0ng, but one of the writings stood out to him: the simple 4-character code 2628. Typing in that code into the phone worked like a charm, and the phone clicked onto a new screen full of rectangular icons. The only problem was now Ray had no idea what he was looking at, nor where he needed to look. If only Jonah was there to help him out; he always knew what to do. Although…

Ray tapped the icon that looked like a phone and punched in Jonah’s number. After several rings, he picked up.

“Um, hello?”

“Jonah! It’s me!” Ray said in a loud whisper, his eyes darting over to the bedroom door. “Lucas is in the bathroom and I figured out the code to his phone. What should I look for?”

“Oh jeez, Ray, way to put me on the spot!” he groaned. “Let me think for a sec… is that Katy Perry?”

“Yeah, it is, just, hurry!” Ray said, urgently tapping his fingers on the desk. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“I know, I know! Alright. Um, check his photos! Maybe he has some pictures of the club.”

“Um, okay. How do I get to that?”

Jonah quickly explained how to get to the photos app.

“I see…” Ray squinted at the grid of photos, “a picture of nachos.”

“Really, Ray?” Jonah griped.

“What? That’s the first picture, and then there’s…” He glanced at the next few photos. “Oh jeez,” he said, wincing and tilting the phone away. “I probably shouldn’t be looking at this.”

“Why, what is it?”

“It’s…” Ray opened one eye to the point-of-view picture of Lucas in his bed wearing only a pair of green boxer briefs. “Personal stuff.”

“Oh. That’s okay then, we can look elsewhere.”

“Like where?”

“Gosh Ray, I don’t really know.” He thought for a second. “Hey, do you have that card with you?”

“Oh. Yeah, I do,” Ray replied and rushed over to take it out of his backpack. “What about it?”

“Take a picture of it, and text it to me. I can do a reverse search on it.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t worry about it. Oh, and be sure to delete it afterward!” he stressed.

“How do I do that?”

Jonah sighed and quickly went over the simple procedure. “Once you delete it, just keep an eye out for anything else suspicious. That’s all I can help with.”

“Okay…” Ray said. He’d hoped Jonah had a plan, but Jonah seemed as unprepared as he was.

“Good luck, detective!”

They exchanged farewells, then Ray switched over to the texting app and started a new chat with Jonah’s phone number. He pressed the camera button like Jonah said and held the card up to take a picture. As it was sending, the sound of running in the hallway alarmed him and he quickly closed out of the app and tossed the phone on the bed. Shoot, what was he supposed to be doing again?

Lucas opened the door and cocked his head. “Er, why are you staring at the wall?” he asked with a giggle.

“I was just, uh,” Ray stammered, looking around, “looking at this,” he said, gesturing to the framed oil painting on the wall. It depicted a woman in a bright red dress standing on a rocky cliff overlooking a vast ocean colored by the vibrant sunset above.

Lucas frowned. “Oh, that. Mom forced me to put it in here,” he said, coming over to stand next to Ray.

“Did she paint it?”

“No, I think it was from a yard sale,” Lucas said, stepping back and putting one hand on his hip and the other on his lower lip as he stared at it for a moment. “Mom calls it To The Sea, by ‘Artist Unknown’,” he said, making air quotes.

Ray looked closer at it. Though you could only see her back, her stance was relaxed, hopeful, and longing, almost as if she’d finally reached her destination at the end of a long journey, but there was still so much more for her to see. The sunset painted the sea and sky in vivid shades of salmony pink and golden orange, filling Ray with a strange sense of peace even if the primary focus of the painting was the dreaded ocean.

When Ray turned back to Lucas, he had already left to retrieve his phone from the bed. The music abruptly changed to an older-sounding song that Ray didn’t recognize. Lucas walked slowly towards Ray, swishing his hips with mock seduction while the opening notes of Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis played in the background.

Ray giggled. “What are you doing?”

Lucas held out a hand. “Dance with me, bitch.”

“I don’t know how!”

Ray nervously took his hand. Lucas led him straight into the melody, twirling him around by the tips of his fingers, his head swaying purposefully with the music like a conductor directing his orchestra.

“Just follow my lead,” Lucas assured him. His fingers crawled up Ray’s under they were holding hands, and swayed steadily with the rhythm. 

Ooh, it seems like a mighty long time ♪

It had been a mighty long time since Ray had danced with someone like this, and he felt both out of practice and lacking confidence. He tried his best to keep up with the dance, mirroring Lucas’s movements, but his spirit wasn’t in it. Glancing up, he found himself staring into Lucas’s eyes, and sheepishly looked away. Lucas continued to lead, his hands warm and confident, guiding them gracefully through the leisurely dance moves. He showed Ray how to perform a turn, leading him under his raised arm into a perfectly measured spin.

“How do you know how to do this stuff?” Ray asked.

Lucas grinned. “You pick up a few things when you’re constantly dragged to your sisters’ dance classes.”

You stopped by to say hello to me ♪
Remember that’s the way it used to be ♪

Ray let out a shaky breath. It was nice to feel this close to someone again, especially after his mostly isolated summer, but he still sensed a profound emptiness deep inside him. There was a time in his life when he danced happily and freely, but that truly felt like a lifetime ago. Despite that, when Lucas gave Ray’s hand a little squeeze, the hormones inside him stirred, and he felt a certain part of him stiffening inside the thin constraint of his shorts. His heart racing, he bent his hips backward to avoid any kind of unintentional contact. Stupid, stupid hormones. Lucas was still dancing happily, fully ignorant of what was happening to Ray but still aware that something had changed.

“No, not like that!” he said, reaching around Ray’s back. “Like this!” he said, and thrust Ray forward, stabbing himself in the hip with Ray’s prominent issue. He gasped, widening his eyes. “Holy. Shit. You have a—”

“No!” Ray shouted, pulling away. “It’s—”

He was stalling for an excuse when they were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Standing there was Bella, his little sister who had ridden in the car with them.

“OMG, you guys are listening to Hello Stranger?” she shouted in much the same way Lucas would, charging excitedly into the room.

“Bella, get out!” Lucas shouted, letting go of Ray and stomping over to her.

“Why?”

“Because I have a friend over! And we’re… busy!”

“I wanna dance too,” she pouted, planting her hands on her pink tights.

“No! Later,” he said, and ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind her. “Way to kill the mood, huh?” he said to Ray, putting his hand in the shape of a gun to his head.

“Uh, yeah. But seriously, I didn’t have a, um, it wasn’t—” Ray stammered.

“Dude, it’s fine.”

“But it wasn’t my, like, m–my shorts have this thing—”

“It’s not a big deal!”

Ray blinked, forcing himself to look at Lucas.

“Boys like us are supposed to get boners all the time,” Lucas continued.

“Yeah, but—”

“And if you wanna know the truth,” he said, inching closer to Ray until he was whispering in his ear, “I’m hard right now.” Ray smiled sheepishly and looked down at Lucas’s shorts, but they didn’t look tented or anything. Lucas followed his eyes and smirked. “The only difference is, I’m wearing underwear.”

“But I am wearing underwear!” Ray lied, turning red.

“No you’re not.”

“I am!” 

“Show me, then,” Lucas suggested, biting his lip as he waited for Ray’s response.

Ray groaned. He’d been in this exact situation before with Paris, only this time he didn’t have any underwear to show. Still, it seemed different this time: friendlier, less demanding. “How did you know?”

“Because when I looked back at you in the car, you had a huge bulge,” he said, tapping the front of Ray’s shorts, “right here.”

Ray turned his hips away. “Sorry.”

“You don’t gotta apologize! Sheesh, Ray, you’re so worried all the time. You gotta relax or your head might explode one of these days.”

Ray looked down at his socked feet. “I can’t help it!”

“Uh, yeah you can! Step one, stop giving a fuck. Step two, chill TF out. Step three, live a happy stress-free life.”

As if it were that easy, he thought. “I’ll try,” Ray said noncommittally.

“And I know what you’re thinking. Lucas, that sounds like baloney,” he mimicked in a deeper tone that sounded nothing like Ray, “but if you stop worrying so damn much, even just for a day, you’ll realize you’ve been wasting all your brain power on a buncha nothin’. Then we can dance together with boners and you don’t have to freak out. Mic drop.”

Ray smiled at him. He knew Lucas meant well, but there were plenty of important things for him to be worried about.

“Oh yeah, and another thing. Once you learn to stop worrying, I’ll get to see more of that cute smile, Mr. Marlow. Now,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Wanna go play chess in the playroom?”

Ray perked up. “That sounds awesome!”

“But why?” Ray groaned over the low rumble of the car’s engine.

“Because you can’t,” his mom said as firmly as her grip on the steering wheel.

“Why?”

She sighed. “Just… because legally, you can’t. Not until you’re thirteen.”

“But Lucas got to sit in the front!”

“Believe me, Ray, if it was his mom and not his sister driving, it’d be a different story. If this boy is going to be a bad influence, I don’t want you hanging around him.” The car came to a stop and she looked in the back. “And another thing, I don’t want you going anywhere without an adult around. I know you know better, I shouldn’t have to tell you this.”

“But his sister’s sixteen! She’s basically an adult.” Ray’s mom scoffed, so he tried harder. “She even made us toaster strudel when we got to their house.”

“Is that all a parent is to you? Someone that gives you snacks?”

Ray groaned, and the car started moving. “I didn’t say that,” he said. Clearly, a parent was just someone who liked to take a good time and turn it into a bad time.

He leaned against the window, resting his cheek on the glass. Well, Lucas’s house yielded no clues about the Omen Rose, but on the bright side, Lucas wasn’t a spy at all. In fact, he was actually a kind cool friend who actually seemed like he cared about Ray, maybe as much as Jonah seemed to. But then who could the card belong to? All he had to go on was that it was someone on his bus. He’d have to reconvene and discuss it with Jonah.

As the houses flew by, he thought about Jonah and his family, and how much fun it would be to be a part of it. He’d have a phone, a new awesome and fun sibling he could hang out with every day, a mom who liked to go on adventures, a two-story house…

The adventurous woman from the painting popped into his head again. Why was the painting so captivating? It was just like the Omen Rose club; he couldn’t let it go. The world was so interesting, full of secrets and mysteries that Ray hadn’t even begun to solve. He took his sketchbook out from the seat pocket, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth. No mystery could elude the Dream Team.