The taste of a boy's kiss

Chocolate

The skinny, dark-haired boy was sitting on the bed in his room, with his knees pulled tightly to his chest. Had he been looking up he would have revealed a pair of deeply chocolate-brown eyes, framed by long dark lashes. Right now they were shut though, as he was pressing his face into his thighs, quietly contemplating the events of the past few days.

The purple walls around him were covered with posters of David Bowie and Lady Gaga. Not the usual idols of a fifteen year old boy, but then again… he wasn't quite like other teenagers.

His cell phone lay next to him on top of the bed spread, ignored and observed at the same time. He stretched out his hand to grab it, and looked up from pressing his face into his knees. For what felt like the 75'th time that evening, he hit "re-dial" and put the phone to his ear.

One signal. Two signals. Lots of signals. Answering machine.

"Hi, you've reached Austin's phone, I'm probably busy right now, but leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible." Beep.

"Hey Austin… just leaving another message, don't really know how you feel about what happened… uhm, you know the…kiss. Maybe you lost your phone or something, uh, don't really know… probably not… Uhm, anyway, you can call me back. Uh, this is Justin".

Justin flipped back the lid on the phone, quietly asking himself why he bothered. He didn't even know what he would tell Austin if he ever got the chance to speak to him again. Everything had happened so fast; one minute they were rivals, the other they were kissing.

Kiss. Austin had kissed him. That sandy-haired white boy had kissed him; right after Justin had caught him making out with Lily.

And Justin was almost sure he wanted Austin to do it again. Almost.

He swung his skinny legs over the edge of the bed and walked out of his room. The scent of popcorn and candy apples filled his nostrils, reminding him that Aunt Betty was removing her braces today. He walked past his mother Hilda, who was decorating the living room Suarez-style. In the kitchen, Papi was busy cooking corn on the cob while trying to watch the latest episode of his favourite telenovela.

"You need any help, grandpa?" Justin asked, putting on his best fake smile. The cell phone was resting in his pocket, and he could have sworn he could feel it burn his skin through his pants.

Vanilla

Mom had made pasta carbonara, his favourite, and he had never tasted anything so disgusting in his life. Not that the food itself was bad; it was as perfect as ever. It was just that every bite seemed to grow to massive proportions in his mouth, and he was worried he might vomit right into his plate. Lost in thoughts, he poked the spaghetti around, unable to finish his meal.

Fifteen year old boys are said to have an unlimited appetite, but right now nothing tasted good. Not even the thought of the vanilla-flavored pie they'd have for dessert was sweet enough for him. The taste of Justin's lips against his was still haunting him, never wanting to leave, and making everything else taste like dust.

"Austin baby, are you alright?" his mother asked from across the table. Austin looked up from his plate only to meet the eyes of his family. His mother Megan shot a concerned look at his father, Pete, who shrugged. Maybe the boy's just not hungry.

His older brother and sister stared at him, perhaps wondering why their confident little brother had been so quiet the past few days, but not caring enough to ask. They continued to shovel their pasta into their mouths, the sight sending a ripple of nausea through Austin.

Carefully, he pulled himself together.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm just tired that's all" Austin lied, still not touching his food.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll grab something later if I get hungry. I just don't feel like eating right now" he replied, giving up the thought of eating just to make her happy.

His mother nodded, still not sure he was being honest with her.

Why the hell had he kissed him? It was such a stupid thing to do, and yet he couldn't remember anything ever feeling so right. Austin sighed; he'd been ignoring Justin's calls deliberately, but the sound of his voice had sent shivers down his spine. Justin still cared; Justin still wanted to talk to him. The question was, was that all Austin wanted?

"Mom, Dad…" he began, carefully picking his words. "If you thought you, uh, might like someone, but you weren't sure the person liked you back, what would you do?"

Once again, his entire family was staring at him.

"Well… I guess I'd go find out the answer" his Dad said tentatively.

"Be right back", Austin said, heading for the hallway and his red jacket. He could hear his parents calling out for him, but the sound of their voices died behind him as he stepped out through the front door.

Caramel

"Oh Justin, how cute!" Aunt Betty called out as she opened the make-up box Justin had gotten for her. Inside was lipstick all shades and colours; a celebration to her now perfect smile. She pulled the boy in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Justin felt himself leaning into the embrace like a child who is hungry for love. He pulled back though, not wanting his family to notice that he was desperate for someone to talk to. Papi and Hilda oohed and aahed at the gift, and Aunt Betty shot each one of them a bright white smile. This was her time to shine.

All of a sudden the door bell rang.

"Justin, can you get that?" Hilda asked her son.

"Sure", Justin said, and made a bee-line for the door. The party was in full mode around him, and cheerful Spanish tunes were making their way out of the speakers. Absent-mindedly, he opened the door only to reveal a sandy-haired boy his own age, wearing a big red winter jacket.

Austin.

Justin's jaw dropped to the floor. "Oh my God, he's here, he's really here", he thought, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Austin shot him a small one-sided smile, hands firmly placed in pockets and an ever-so slight look of hope in his blue eyes.

Nervously, Justin looked away to see if his family had spotted Austin, but they were too busy eating and drinking. In a single heart beat, Justin made a decision, and slipped into the vestibule, softly shutting the door behind him. He leaned back against the door, quietly regarding the boy in front of him.

"Hi", Justin breathed.

"Hi" Austin replied, leaning against the front door, hands still in pockets. "Can we talk?"

"I've been trying to call you" Justin said, not sure if it was an accusation or not.

"I know, I've just… I don't really know what to say. I don't know why I did what I did" Austin said, and looked down at his feet.

Justin wrapped his arms tightly around his chest, and looked the other way too.

"You kissed me" he mumbled, and suddenly the temperature in the otherwise chilly vestibule seemed to rise ten degrees.

Austin looked up, and Justin met his eye.

"I've been thinking and… I liked it. I wouldn't mind doing it again" Justin began, trying to find the right words to explain how he felt.

Austin pulled his hands out of his pockets, and raked his fingers through his hair.

I'd love to kiss you again too Justin.

"I've never dated a guy before" Austin said. Justin shot him a confused look.

"Who says we're dating?" he asked, not following Austin's line of thoughts.

"Wouldn't you want to try it… going out, I mean?" Austin asked him, challenged him.

Justin looked at the boy in front of him. Going out. Yeah. Suddenly, here in this emotionally overheated vestibule, that thought didn't seem so strange.

"Yes… I would like to try that" Justin giggled nervously as the mood unexpectedly lightened. Austin giggled too, feeling something he hadn't felt before. The world seemed softer, brighter, and Justin's laughter was adorable.

"Uhm so… I'll call you. I should probably get back home, my parents don't know where I am" Austin stuttered, feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the realization that he found Justin cute.

"Yeah, uhm, I'll talk to you later. Wait, I'll let you out" Justin said, and shot past his companion to open the front door. The latino boy turned around, suddenly finding himself face to face with Austin, who found himself thinking that maybe this wasn't the right time to find out just how very small this vestibule was.

Justin looked into Austin's big blue eyes, feeling his breath against his face. Austin softly put his hand on his arm, and they clumsily leaned in and pressed their lips together. It was wet and brief and hardly what you could call an experienced kiss, but it was completely spontaneous and so terribly erotic that both boys felt their hands shaking when they pulled apart no more than 2 seconds later.

"Bye" Austin breathed, and walked out through the door, leaving Justin following his red jacket down the road as he disappeared into the night.