AN: Well, here it is! Like I said, this is really just story starting crap, so nothing that interesting. I was a little impatient so if you notice any mistakes I've missed, please point them out to me.

Honestly, you don't even really need to read the first story if you want to read this- so to all of you who haven't read Coffee's Addictive & So is She, you can read this and forget about reading my other story if you don't feel like it. I'm not updating this one as often as I usually update. A new update will probably come out twice a week because it's going to take time for me to write. Okay, I'm done. Thanks for reading and I hope you love it!

Chapter One: And So It Begins...

Ronnie was sitting in the front seat of his best friend’s car as he watched her run from suitcase to suitcase, frantically checking if they had everything. Usually he would have found it extremely funny, but not today. Not in the past couple of weeks really. He hadn’t been himself lately and it showed. Anybody who knew him could see he wasn’t in a good mood. But, his two best friends hadn’t been able to figure out what was wrong with him even though they had tried many times.

Nothing’s wrong, Ronnie had said every time Aly and Casper asked. But he couldn’t have thought of a bigger lie. Something was definitely eating him and the only reason he hadn’t told Aly about it was that she couldn’t have possibly helped him. It was beyond her control and even with the help of Casper; it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

He huffed and rubbed his eyes before putting his Chanel glasses on again. Ronnie couldn’t believe that he had actually agreed to go on this trip. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to be with Aly and Casper, because he loved them dearly—he just didn’t want to leave since coming back would mean their last year of high school. The last year that he would probably see Aly and Casper. He didn’t want to depart with them. Those two were the best friends he’s ever had.

But that wasn’t the only reason he was in a terrible mood. Actually, going away for the summer had nothing to do with his mood. The thing that was gnawing away at him slowly and painfully was he was sick of his one-night stands and occasional fuck buddies. He was sick of the parties where he didn’t know who he would wake up with in the morning since the alcohol picked for him. He was sick of being known as the boy-slut. And he was sick of not having someone to care for him like Casper cared for Aly.

Ronnie had never really been into relationships before. He had usually been fine with the frequent random guys he did it with, but not anymore. Yeah, he’d had crushes before but nothing was ever serious. Now though, Ronnie wanted someone to love him, to look at him like Casper looked at Aly, to smile at him like Aly smiled at Casper. He’d never had a boyfriend before and for the first time he really wanted one. He wanted it more than anything else in the world.

“Ronnie! Hello!!” Ronnie snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Aly’s concerned expression.

“What?” Ronnie asked a little snappish making Aly blink in surprise.

“I think we’re ready.” Aly told him, tilting her head to the side. “Will you tell me what’s wrong? I don’t want to see you miserable on this trip. It’s supposed to be fun.”

“I’m fine,” Ronnie grumbled, looking away from her over at Casper—who had just come out of the house with a bag slung over his shoulders. “How are we going to fit all this in your car?”

“I’m magical, remember?” Aly teased, smiling at him before turning to look at Casper. Her eyebrows came together, “Wait...what’s in that bag?”

“It’s a surprise.” Casper gave a mischievous smirk, the two silver rings on his bottom lip glinting, and Aly started to mutter under her breath. She walked away to pick up the luggage on the other side of the driveway, tying to ignore him. But Ronnie knew her better than that. She was really trying to resist jumping him. Ronnie smiled a little as Casper caught his eye, both of them exchanging knowing glances.

“You know she’s really finds that smirk hot, right?” Ronnie asked Casper, whispering so Aly couldn’t hear them. Casper chuckled.

“That’s why I did it.” He whispered back. “I was hoping she would get the hint.”

“And what would that be, boyfriend dearest?” Aly asked standing next to the driver’s seat door with her arms crossed. Ronnie glanced over at her then back at Casper, smirking to himself.

“Aly, calm down. We are just going on a road trip.” Casper said walking over to her and wrapping her in his arms. “You've checked the bags five times each. We aren’t forgetting anything.”

Ronnie nodded, “Yeah. And if we are we can more than likely pick it up in any store.”

“Exactly.” Casper agreed, placing a kiss on Aly’s forehead. “Come on. We’re finally ready. Let’s leave.” Ronnie watched as Casper opened up her car door for her. But Aly didn’t get in. She just stared at the seat then back up at Casper.

“Aly!” Ronnie said suddenly making her jump. But he didn’t care since he had just realized something. “We aren’t going to crash, okay?”

Casper turned toward her looking slightly surprised. “Is that why you’re trying to stall?”

Aly looked up at him with a guilty expression. “I don’t like driving on the highway.”

Ronnie smiled at his two friends as Casper took Aly in his arms again. They were so cute together, but not only that—they belonged together. That had been crystal clear to Ronnie the day Meagan had come back to their school and given Aly hell. Casper had been so intent on keeping Aly away from her and making her feel better. But, even though Ronnie had seen that Casper was right for Aly, she hadn’t. Not at first, at least. It had been a roller coaster ride with all the mixed up feelings, but everything worked out in the end. Obviously.

“Come on love birds!” Ronnie shouted at them after they began kissing. “We’ll get stuck in traffic if we don’t hurry up!”

The broke apart, Aly looking away from Ronnie, blushing as Casper looked at her with an amused smile. “Okay.” He said tugging Aly to the car. “If you don’t want to drive I’ll do it.”

“No way!” Aly said snapping her head toward him and looking at him like he had just said the most ridiculous thing ever. “How many times must we go over this? It’s my car! Only I can drive it!”

Casper and Ronnie shared a look then started laughing. Casper just shook his head before he pecked her on the cheek then climbed in the back seat. Aly looked at him then Ronnie before sighing, sitting down in the driver’s seat. Ronnie smiled at her as she started the car and turned her iPod on. She seemed to calm down once she was behind the wheel and pulled out of the driveway with her usual recklessness. Ronnie laughed a little bit before his mind wandered to the trip ahead of him.

Maybe this vacation would be good for him.

--

“Ronnie!” a distant voice called to him as he was slowly pulled from his sleep. “Honey, we’re at a gas station.”

Ronnie blinked his eyes sleepily and tried to focus on Aly. Had he really fallen asleep that quickly into the ride? He couldn’t remember much and looking at the dashboard said it was half past one. He must have because not only had his glasses fallen off, but he could also feel the mark the seatbelt had imprinted on his face. Ronnie grumbled and put his sunglasses on, freeing himself of the car afterwards.

“Where are we?” Ronnie asked Aly as they walked into the gas station together.

“North Carolina,” Aly said as she held the door open for him. He gave her a small smile as he walked past. “We’ll be in Florida by early tomorrow morning if we don’t get stuck in traffic.”

“You mean you haven’t gotten us lost yet?” Ronnie asked her incredulously, teasing Aly. She gave him a look before walking away. Ronnie laughed a bit, “Where’s your sense of humor love?”

“I left in back in Ohio,” Aly threw over her shoulder before entering the restroom. Ronnie smirked at the closed door before going over to the coolers. He browsed at all of the drinks, trying to figure out which one he would rather waste his money on. There were just too many choices. Ronnie tried to think of what Aly and Casper would have suggested to him, hoping that might help.

Aly would have told him to get the Starbucks drink in the glass bottle and Casper would have said a Snapple—but neither of those sounded very good at the moment. Finally, with a sigh, he picked up an Arizona iced tea and brought it to the counter. He looked out the window as the girl behind the register rung him up. Casper was leaned up against Aly’s car, filling the gas tank. But that wasn’t what Ronnie was interested in. It was the way that Casper kept glancing at the bag he had brought with him. The one that had the surprise in it—whatever the surprise may be.

He grabbed his drink, muttering a quiet thanks to the girl before heading out to the car. Casper noticed him almost immediately and acknowledged him by nodding his head a bit. Sighing, he managed to send his friend a small smile as he sat back down in the passenger’s seat. After just resting his head back with his eyes closed for a few seconds, Ronnie sat back up and opened his iced tea. After taking a sip, Ronnie watched Casper chew on his snakebites as he stared inside the gas station window at Aly taking her sweet time. Suddenly, Ronnie couldn’t stand the silence.

“She’s gonna come out here with nothing but a drink, you know. Even after spending all that time in there.” Ronnie said in a knowing tone. Casper only chuckled. He knew very well that Aly wouldn’t be able to make up her mind and she would come out a little bit aggravated because of it.

And she did just that. Aly walked out of the building a little over five minutes later with nothing but a Mountain Dew. Both boys could see her shoulders dropping as she huffed, and both boys tried to keep from laughing at her when she approached them. Ronnie watched as Aly chewed on her bottom lip, looking at the driver’s seat thoughtfully. He began to wonder what she was thinking about. She couldn’t possibly still be nervous about driving on the interstate, could she? Not after she had driven over six hours already.

“What’s wrong?” Casper asked, his voice neither impatient nor mocking. Ronnie often thought about how differently Casper acted around Aly than when it was just Ronnie and him hanging out. He was always so gentle and caring, only picking on her when she wasn’t going to get annoyed—which was a very difficult thing to tell, but Casper had gotten it down.

“I’m sick of driving,” Aly admitted grudgingly. “Will you drive?”

Ronnie stared at her, shocked. For the two years that he had know her, she had made it crystal clear that no one was to drive her car except her. NO ONE!! And yet, here she was, asking someone else to drive it. Ronnie couldn’t believe it, and from the look on Casper’s face, neither could he. But he just smiled and leaned down a bit to kiss Aly on the top of her head.

“Of course, sweetheart.” He said before climbing into the driver’s seat. Aly smiled at him before hopping into the back seat and laying down with her eyes closed to take a nap. Casper looked back at her, lovingly, and then turned forward again. He started the car and pulled out of the gas station back onto the interstate. Once they were in the middle lane, Casper turned up the music a bit and nothing was said for a while. But after ten minutes of silence, Casper knew Aly would be asleep by now so he turned to look at Ronnie who felt his gaze and looked at him back.

“What?” Ronnie asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Tell me what’s been going on with you.” Casper said, truly wanting to know. He was worried about his friend. Ronnie was usually so hyper and fun, but lately he was just sitting around staring into space with a grumpy look.

Ronnie glared at him from behind his Chanel sunglasses. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t even want to think about it. But Casper and Aly would just keep asking him what was wrong until he did. Ronnie mentally grumbled to himself. Those two cared too much about him. Why couldn’t they just leave him be? Ronnie turned his head away to look out the window again, “Nothing’s been going on.”

Casper scoffed, “Don’t give me that bullshit. Both Aly and I can see something is definitely bugging you. And you’re refusing to tell us what it is.” Casper paused as he switched lanes. “We want to help you, you know. And maybe you’ll feel better if you talk about it. So, come on. Tell your red-headed friend what’s wrong.”

Casper shot a smirk over in Ronnie’s direction and Ronnie shook his head. He really didn’t want to talk about it. But he knew that his two friends would probably never stop asking if he was okay until he did. So, he sighed heavily and looked back at Casper. “I’m sick of being a boy-slut.”

Casper brought his eyebrows together, “Well...um...then stop?” Casper felt as if he had just jumped into a lake that was deeper than he thought it was going to be. He was feeling a bit awkward, but Ronnie was finally talking. He needed to keep him talking. Casper wanted the fun Ronnie back and the only way to do that was to get rid of his problem.

Ronnie couldn’t help but let out a small laugh because Casper looked a little uncomfortable. But his smile faded when he began to speak again. “It’s not that easy...and there’s something else...”

“What?” Casper asked, trying to hide how weird he felt. He thought Ronnie should be having this conversation with Aly, not him. She could have helped him so much better than he could. But Aly was asleep and Casper had asked, so there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“I want a boyfriend,” Ronnie said, forgetting that he initially didn’t want to talk about his problems. “Like, a serious relationship for once.”

Casper sent him a surprised look, “Are you serious? That’s what’s been making you a whiny bitch lately?”

“Yeah,” Ronnie replied, not sure whether he should be offended or not. Casper laughed a bit and Ronnie decided that yes, he should be offended. “Why’s that so funny?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Casper said, calming down. “It’s just that you’ve always seemed to be fine with just...” He scrunched his eyebrows together, looking for the right word. “You’ve always seemed okay with just screwing around, yah know?”

“Yeah, well...I guess seeing you and Aly together made me jealous.” Ronnie admitted. “I want something like you two have.”

“Aww,” Casper teased, sending Ronnie a look. Ronnie just smirked at him, giving him the finger. Casper chuckled, “You can’t have what Aly and I have.”

Ronnie looked at him, confused. “Why not?”

Casper smirked, “Cuz you ain’t straight.”

“I meant like a gay version of what you have.” Ronnie laughed but got serious again. “But, really. Watching you two makes me see what I’m missing.”

“So, you’re telling me you want love?” Casper raised his eyebrows at Ronnie without looking away from the road.

“Yeah.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Casper told him. “Maybe you’ll find some guy when we get to Florida.”

Ronnie snapped his head in Casper’s direction. He hadn’t thought about that. He had been too busy wallowing in self-pity to even think of a way to resolve his own problem. It had taken Casper all of five minutes to do it for him—and he was straight! Ronnie smiled at his friend. “That would be awesome. Thanks!”

“No problem,” Casper said coolly.

The sat in silence for another ten minutes or so, Ronnie feeling the best he had in a few weeks. And now that he wasn’t constantly thinking about his problem, a question had worked its way into his mind. He couldn’t believe that he was actually wondering this. It was such a strange question for him to think about, but there it was. And he knew it wouldn’t go away until Ronnie asked it. So, Ronnie took a deep breath and turned to Casper.

“Have you and Aly had sex yet?”

The car swerved slightly as Casper’s head shot over to look at Ronnie then back at the road. Ronnie giggled a little at Casper's expression but he was expecting an answer and he raised his eyebrows at Casper to show him that, nudging him in the arm a bit.

“C’mon. I’m waiting.” He said, and Casper looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

“No, we haven’t.” His tone was surprisingly calm and it sounded as if he was completely fine with it. Ronnie looked at him incredulously, unable to believe it. Those two had been dating for ten months already and it was obvious that they were in love. So why hadn’t they had sex yet?

“Why not?” Ronnie asked, unable to keep his curiosity at bay. Casper chuckled, quickly looking at Ronnie with a smug look.

“I thought you were supposed to be gay.”

“I am,” Ronnie defended. “But I’m also curious.”

“Okay then.” Casper smiled. “If you wanna know then here: Aly and I don’t really need to have sex to prove we love each other. Just being together is enough for us...Does that make sense?”

“Not really,” said Ronnie truthfully. “But I’ll pretend like it does.”

“Good,” Casper chuckled again. “Anything else you wanna know before I remember that personal questions make me feel uncomfortable?”

Ronnie smirked at his remark, but there was indeed another question he wanted to ask. “Do you want to? Have sex with her, I mean.”

Casper didn’t answer him. He just kept looking straight ahead, biting his piercings. And that was enough of an answer for Ronnie. He let out a small laugh.

“Maybe this summer,” Ronnie teased, lowering his sunglasses and winking at Casper. “I have one more question.”

“No,” Casper said. “I’m done with personal crap.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with that.” Ronnie told him. “What’s in that bag of yours?”

“What bag?” Casper asked, pretending to be innocent but the smirk on his face told Ronnie he was onto something.

“You know, the one with the ‘surprise’ in it.”

“Oh, that bag!” Casper chuckled. “Take a look for yourself.”

Ronnie smiled as he reached in the back seat, grabbing the bag. He watched Aly’s face as he pulled it up into his lap, praying that he wouldn’t wake her up. And he managed it, smiling triumphantly as he began to unzip the bag. But he was disappointed when all he saw was clothes. It had definitely felt a bit heavy for a bag that only had a change of clothes in it. Ronnie looked up at Casper, raising his eyebrows a bit. Casper just smirked though.

“Under the clothes.” He said and Ronnie nodded. He reached his hand into the bag and was shocked when his fingers touched something cold and glass. Ronnie wrapped his hand around it and pulled whatever it was out of the bag. His mouth dropped as he looked at the bottle label. No freaking way! He looked over at Casper with an excited grin on his lips.

“Vodka?” He laughed and Casper nodded his head, smugly. “How the hell did you get this?”

“Well, I know a guy...” Casper said vaguely and Ronnie nodded, not needing him to say anymore. “And there’s also a bottle of Smirnoff in there as well.”

“You sly fox,” Ronnie kidded. “Do you honestly think Aly’s going to be happy about this, though?”

Casper took a deep breath, “No, but if things started to get out of control, I planned on playing with my snakebites with my tongue and that should make her forgive me... or at least make her forget her name.”

Ronnie burst out laughing, “Genius!”

“Why thank you,” Casper said sincerely. “But, seriously, I hope she’ll have an open mind about it. It’s not like I want her to drink. It’s more for you and me. I know how she feels about underage drinking.”

Ronnie just nodded and put the bottle back in the bag, covering it up with the clothes. He set the bag at his feet then rested his head back against the seat. The two boys continued to talk, mostly about what they wanted to do that summer. They talked for a couple of hours, short silences becoming longer and longer until they weren’t talking anymore. But it didn’t matter because the silence wasn’t awkward. It was one that could be had between really good friends.

--

Around six o’clock, Casper pulled into the parking lot of a diner. Aly had woken up about an hour previous, complaining that she was hungry, so they had spent some time looking for a suitable restaurant to eat at. The one they had chosen was nice looking with an old fashion appearance. It seemed to be family owned, as Aly pointed out as the three of them walked up to the building and entered it.

A woman about thirty greeted them and showed them to a booth. Ronnie moved to sit on the inside and Aly followed him into the same seat, across from Casper. Ronnie couldn’t help but notice that the waitress gave him a curious look when they sat down. He didn’t care though. He was used to people looking at him strangely because of the way he dressed. It was obvious to anyone to see that he was gay from his clothes. And that was the point. Ronnie had no problem with it—he wanted people to know he liked guys. That was who he was.

“All right, honey, what would you like to drink?” The waitress asked Aly. Ronnie watched as she pursed her lips, reading over the menu quickly.

“Root beer, please.” She said and the waitress—whose nametag said Liz—nodded.

“What about you, darlin’?” Liz looked at Ronnie with a smile.

“Um, lemonade please.” He told her and she scribbled it down on her notepad before looking up at Casper, expectantly.

“I’ll have iced tea, please.” Casper told her.

“Okay, I’ll be right back with your drinks!” Liz said happily and walked off.

Ronnie picked up his menu and began looking through it. He had no idea what he wanted to eat. In fact, he wasn’t particularly hungry. But he decided on something in the end. Setting his menu down, he looked up at his two friends and rolled his eyes. They were staring at each other from over their menus, completely oblivious to everything going on around them, just smiling at each other. Ronnie cleared his throat, making them jump.

“Where are we?” He asked.

“Don’t you pay attention?” Aly asked, her eyes shining. Ronnie grinned slight and shook his head. Aly sighed, “Georgia, about two hours from Florida.”

“Great!” Ronnie exclaimed. “So, we’ll be at your aunt’s soon?”

“Probably sometime around one in the morning.” Aly answered as Liz came back carrying a tray of drinks. She smiled as she set them down in their appropriate places, putting three straws on the table afterwards.

“Are you ready to order?” Liz asked as she reached for her notepad. The three friends looked at each other and nodded. Liz nodded herself and looked at Casper.

“I would like the wings with fries, please.” He ordered and Liz wrote it down.

“A cheeseburger and fries for me, please.” Aly said, and then it was Ronnie’s turn.

“I’ll have the grilled turkey sandwich, please.” Liz nodded and put her pad back in her pocket.

“Your food will be ready shortly,” She said collecting the menus before walking off.

The three sat in silence for a moment, taking that time to sip at their drinks. Aly began to play with a piece of her hair that had escaped her ponytail. Ronnie watched her, thinking about all the possible ways she would react when she found out about Casper’s alcohol. He hoped that she wouldn’t flip out—which she probably wouldn’t since she had never seemed to care if Ronnie drank at parties. She just told him that she would kill him if he did anything stupid, like drive. Ronnie smiled to himself. Aly had always told him that he could call her, not matter what time it was, if he needed her to pick him up. And she never lectured him unless he was wasted out of his mind and did something like take his clothes off in public.

“What are you staring at?” Aly asked him, her lips in a half smile and her eyebrows questioning.

“Oh, nothing really.” Ronnie said, turning away. “I was just thinking how good of a friend you are.”

“Aww!” Aly cooed as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. “You’re so sweet!”

“I know,” Ronnie replied and Casper laughed.

Aly let go of Ronnie and took another sip of her root beer. “What do you guys want to do first when we get to my aunt’s?”

The two boys thought for a moment. Neither of them really knew, mainly because they didn’t know what they could do. There was the beach, yes, but how many times could they go there without getting sick of it? What else was there to do?

“Well, it’s not like I wanna do something the day we get there.” Casper said. “We’re all probably going to be exhausted. But maybe after chillin' for a day or two, we could go to the beach?”

“I like that idea,” Aly said thoughtfully.

“But what else is there to do?” Ronnie asked. Aly looked at him, smiling.

“My cousin told me about these clubs that have a night for fifteen year olds to nineteen year olds.” She said happily. “We could figure out what nights and do that.”

Ronnie grinned, “I love the sound of that!”

“Can we go to some amusement park?” Casper asked. “Do we have enough money for that?”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Aly gave him a look. Of course they had enough money. She had made sure of it and so had her aunt. Casper gave her a sly look and shook his head.

“Spoiled brat,” he joked and Ronnie laughed. Aly pouted a little until Casper leaned across the table and kissed her. Her lips twisted into a shy smile as she blushed. Ronnie rolled his eyes again, noticing that Liz was walking over to them with another tray carrying their food.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” She said as she placed the plates in front of their respective person. “Enjoy your meal! Holler if you need anythin’!”

“Thank you,” Aly, Casper, and Ronnie mumbled, digging into to the food. It was surprisingly delicious, making Ronnie forget that he wasn’t even really hungry.

They ate their meal, talking in between bites about random things. It didn’t take long until they were full or finished. Casper had polished off all of his wings and fries, while Ronnie had left only a bit of his sandwich left. Aly, on the other had, had half her cheeseburger left. Ronnie noticed that Casper was eyeing it and he couldn’t believe that he was still hungry. Aly noticed it too, and she pushed it towards him with a grin. Casper smiled at her and picked up the burger and ate it in three bites. Aly and Ronnie just watched him, slightly shocked.

“How do you stay so skinny?” Aly asked in awe. Casper shrugged as he swallowed the last bite. Ronnie snorted a bit, drinking the last of his lemonade. Right as he set his glass down, Liz came over with the bill and set it down on the table then walked away with a smile. Aly began to reach for the bill but Casper snatched it before her fingers could touch it.

“I’m paying,” He told her. “Save your hard earned money for shopping.”

Aly stuck her tongue at him and got up to go to the bathroom. Ronnie got up as well and headed to the gentlemen’s restroom. He was pleased to find that it was very clean as he relieved himself, washing his hands afterwards. Ronnie looked himself over in the mirror for a moment after drying his hands. His hair was still in the messed up style he had put it in that morning—straight on the sides with choppy bangs almost covering his left eye and spiked in the back. Ronnie ran his fingers through the shorter hair, nodding when he was satisfied with the result. He checked his eyeliner, making sure it wasn’t smudged then straightened his t-shirt that clung to his skinny torso. It was pink—his favorite color—and had a winky face on it, with the words ‘Yes, I’m awesome’ underneath. Ronnie turned around in the mirror to look at his butt, making sure there was nothing on his backside. Nope, everything was good! He smirked as he admired his own ass in his very tight black jeans. Finally content with his appearance, he left the bathroom.

Aly and Casper were waiting for him by the door, whispering to each other about god only knows what. Aly noticed him first and waved at him. Ronnie sped up a bit, casting a glance at the other people who were giving him curious looks. Yes, I know I walk like a girl, he though to himself. Now stop staring and eat your food, you hicks. Ronnie flipped his head a bit, to get the bangs out of his face, stopping in front of his two friends.

“Are we ready?” He asked and Aly giggled.

“No, are you ready?” She teased. “You take a longer time in the bathroom than a girl!”

“Sorry,” He said, smirking. “I can’t help it if I’m in love with myself.”

Casper and Aly laughed a bit and the three left the diner. It was past seven and the sun was low in the horizon as they got back on the interstate. Aly was driving once again, with Casper in the passenger’s seat and Ronnie in the back. She had put the top up on her car before they set out, since it was getting chillier. And it was taking Ronnie a long time to get used to being in her car with the hood up. He had barely been in it when it was up and the lack of light was strange to him.

“Let’s play a game,” Aly said after while of just listening to her music. Ronnie squealed in excitement.

“What kind of game?” He asked eagerly. Aly made a thoughtful noise.

“I guess it really can’t be called a game.” She said. “I was just thinking that we could take turns telling secrets about ourselves no one knows.”

Casper groaned and Ronnie laughed happily. “I’ll play!”

“Casper?” Aly cooed, sending him a cute smile and batting her eyelashes, playfully. Casper looked at her dazed for a moment, sighing and nodding his head.

“Okay,” He said somewhat breathlessly and Aly giggled in delight.

“Yay! Who wants to go first?”

“I will!” Ronnie volunteered. “Hmm... Let’s see. Aly, you might know this one, I’m not sure, but watching really hot guys licking ice-cream cones turns me on.”

Aly giggled and Casper gave him a weird look. “No, I did not know that.” Aly said, amused. She looked over at Casper expectantly. “Your turn.”

“What?” He exclaimed, “No, you can go.”

“Fine,” She pouted a little but a smiled came back to her lips as she thought of something to tell them. “When I was in eighth grade, I kissed a girl.”

“Seriously?” Casper looked at her, jealousy in his eyes. “Who?”

“Not telling you that.” She said, looking slightly disgusted, “I kind of regret ever doing it so that information is staying with me.” She sighed then quickly looked over at Casper. “Now, it’s you turn.”

Casper groaned again, but began thinking. Ronnie waited, wondering what secrets Casper had that were probably embarrassing for him to tell even Aly. After a minute or two, be finally spoke. “I’ve willingly watched gay porn before.”

Aly burst out laughing and so did Ronnie. “Why!” Ronnie exclaimed through giggles.

Casper blushed so deeply that Ronnie could see it in the fading light. “I was just curious...”

“When did you do this?” Aly asked, trying to hold back her laughter. Casper bit one of his lip rings.

“A couple months ago...” He admitted, blushing even more. Aly snorted.

“So?” Ronnie asked, unable to restrain himself.

“So, what?” Casper looked back at him.

“What did you think?” He raised his eyebrows at him with a smirk on his face. Ronnie was enjoying this game—probably a bit more than he should.

“I think I’m straight.” Casper said, turning back around and facing out his window. Aly reached out to him and ran her fingers through his barely short hair, soothingly.

“It’s okay, love, I’ve watched lesbian porn before.” She told. “That counts as another turn for me, just to let you know.”

Casper turned to look at her, with a look on his face. “And what did you think of it?”

“It was...interesting, but not for me.” Aly said thoughtfully. Casper narrowed his eyes at her, making her smirk. “Hey, don’t fret, that was way before I started dating you. I’m straight, don’t worry.”

“Is it my turn, yet?” Ronnie whined. And Aly told him it was. Ronnie smiled wickedly, “You know Craig Smith, right? The captain of the soccer team?”

“Yeah,” Casper and Aly said together.

“Well, we all know that he’s straight as a ruler, but...” Ronnie grinned maliciously. “I managed to get him drunk enough to fuck.”

Aly yelped elatedly, “No freaking way!”

Casper was howling with laughter. Him and Craig didn’t exactly get along and now he had black mail against him if Craig ever tried to mess with him. “When the fuck was this? Dude! Does he even remember it?”

“It was last November, and yes, I’m pretty sure he remembers it.” Ronnie sighed happily, leaning back. “But I’m sure he hasn’t told anyone. I mean, who would believe that he would do that even if he was really, really cocked off his ass. Some would just think that he undoubtedly fell for my amazing charm.”

“Most likely.” Aly said, agreeing with him. “Casper darling, it’s your turn again.”

Casper mumbled something under his breath but didn’t refuse. “I’ve been caught jerking off by my mother...”

Aly giggled, “That’s rich—I mean. Aww, you poor thing!” Aly tried to keep her smile away as Casper glared at her, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. But Ronnie didn’t care about Casper’s humiliation though. He thought it was hilarious and continued laughing.

“Hey, Casper. Here’s some advice for you: Lock your door!” Ronnie giggled, falling back on the seat and clutching his stomach. Aly snorted, trying to hold back her laughter.

The three of them kept playing for a couple more hours, laughing at each other’s embarrassment. But it was okay. They all knew that they could trust the other two with their secrets. Not one of them would tell another soul even if they suddenly weren’t friends anymore. Besides, they all knew that they would stay friends for the rest of their lives. Even if college did separate them, which they grudgingly knew, they would make sure their friendship lasted. No matter what.

Ronnie fell asleep sometime after ten, only to be woken up by Aly hours later. She was in the passenger’s seat, which made Ronnie realize that they had stopped while he was sleeping. He sat up, rubbing his eye groggily. He squinted at the dashboard to read the time. It said one thirty-two and he groaned loudly. Ronnie’s body was aching and he really wanted to be in a bed. Aly gave him a sleepy smile.

“We’ll be at the house in ten minutes,” She said tiredly.

And in ten minutes, Casper pulled into the driveway of a big house in a suburb. There were two palms trees in the front yard, swaying slightly in the breeze. Ronnie slowly got out of the car, grabbing his bag with his change of clothes in it. Aly and Casper got out of the car as well, taking their bags with their clothes in. None of them wanted to spend time lugging their suitcases in at the moment. All they wanted to do was collapse in a bed and sleep until midmorning.

Ronnie’s eyelids were heavy as he watched Aly pull the key out from under the welcome mat in front of the door and opened it. And even though Ronnie was very tired, he couldn’t help but notice how nice and huge the house was. But because he was so exhausted, he decided that he would admire it later and he followed Aly through the house over to where the two guest bedrooms were. She silently pointed to Ronnie’s room before her and Casper walked down a hallway to the bedroom they would be sharing.

Once in his temporary bedroom, Ronnie dropped his bag on the bed and fell onto it, sighing happily. He blindly tore through his bag and found his pajamas—a pair of flannel pants and a large t-shirt—and changed. After a bit of struggling, he managed to get his clothes on and he pushed his bag of the bed with his foot. Ronnie felt around for the top of the covers and yanked them down violently so he could climb under them. He smiled into the soft pillow, very comfortable where he was. And he fell asleep in a matter of minutes.