TWO AFTER THE AFTERPARTY

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c. May 1994

"All right, all right! Congratulations Hawks!" the co-captain of the football team shouted as the team flooded off the field. Jeremiah Skyes was only a sophomore, but that didn't stop his teammates from patting him on the back and congratulating him on the win. After all, he was the one who scored them the winning touchdown, something no underclassmen had accomplished in a long time. "Afterparty at my place!"

"Hey, you going?" asked Ellis, one of his teammates, approaching Jeremiah and slinging his arm around his shoulders as the team made their way into the locker rooms.

Jeremiah shrugged, "I don't know, I mean, I got like a curfew and shit."

"Oh, come on," Ricky, another one of his teammates chimed in, "Dude, you practically won that shit for us, just come celebrate for a bit. You earned it!"

Sighing, the boy knew he would have to cave in, "All right, all right. One hour that's it!"

"Whatever you say, champ," Ellis laughed as all the boys began changing out. Jeremiah had only been playing since freshman year, but he showed natural talent as he rose through the ranks faster than anyone had in the past. He was fairly scrawny, but he was a hell of a runner. They all finished changing out and Jeremiah walked with Ellis to his car as they drove to their co-captain, Eric's, house for the party.

Contrary to what his team was infamous for, Jeremiah had never once attended a party in his year and a half of high school. Entering the house with blaring music and kids already drinking themselves to death, he was utterly terrified. A drink was pushed into his hands and without thinking he took a sip, gagging at the bitter taste of cheap beer but swallowing anyway. His teammates had scattered, but most of the attention was on Ellis attempting the kegstand in the middle of the room. God, Jeremiah was far too out of his element. Chugging the rest of the drink, he navigated his way to the kitchen where the music was a little bit quieter and he could at the very least hear himself think. Pouring himself another drink, he sighed and leaned against the counter.

Another boy entered the kitchen, but it wasn't anyone from his team. In fact, it wasn't anyone Jeremiah had ever seen before. Furrowing his brow, he got the boy's attention by asking, "Hey, you go to South?"

"Yeah, I transferred at the beginning of the year. I, uh, I'm here with a friend who is much more of a party animal than I am," the boy said with a measly smile, grabbing a drink for himself before leaning against the island opposite of Jeremiah. "The name's Sam. Sam Wilson."

"Jeremiah Skyes," he introduced, holding out his cup in a sort of "toast" fashion before taking a sip, "So, not a partier?"

"Nope, and I get the idea you aren't either, huh?" the boy, Sam, commented, a small quirk in the corner of his lips forming into a half-smile, "I can tell by how much you wince whenever you take a sip of that. So, why are you at a party if you look so uncomfortable just being near one? A friend drag you too?"

The blond shook his head, looking out into the main area where everyone was already far too wild for his taste. "Nah, I'm on the team, actually. You might have seen me if you went, I scored that last touchdown."

"The padding makes you look bulkier than you are," Sam observed to which Jeremiah scoffed.

"Yeah, that's kinda the point."

"Oh, you know what I mean," Sam shrugged, a small laugh spilling past his lips. Jeremiah found it odd, but he liked the sound of the other boy's laugh. It was loud but still gentle in nature. Not obnoxious, simply joyful. He wouldn't mind hearing it again. "So, Jeremiah, I hate it here. You hate it here. Wanna get out of here?"

Jeremiah shrugged, almost blushing at the question alone, although he didn't know why. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Literally anywhere but here, if I'm being honest," the boy laughed, nodding towards the exit, "So, what do you say?"

"Yeah, fuck it, let's go," Jeremiah laughed as he followed the boy out the front door, expertly avoiding any questions from his teammates as the two boys burst outside into the cool night air. The blond took a deep breath, away from the blistering smell of sweat and alcohol, "Oh, I already like this so much more."

Sam laughed as he nodded down the street, the two walking side by side with no destination in mind, "Yeah, me too. My friend is definitely gonna kick my ass tomorrow, but she can deal. I think she just wanted to get me drunk, honestly."

"Why would she want that?"

"It's gonna sound so conceited," Sam prefaced with a gentle chuckle, "But she's like... definitely into me. My mom wants us together more than anything, for some reason she always wanted me to settle down with a nice little white girl in a small town like this. Anyway, fairly sure she wanted to get me drunk so I'd finally let her make a move."

"What? You're not into her?" Jeremiah asked with a small laugh, curious as to where the boy was going with this. He pulled a pack of cigarettes one of his teammates had bought for him out of his pocket and pulled one out. Offering one to Sam, the boy refused. Shrugging, he lit his own, asking, "You mind? I can put it out."

Sam shook his head, "It's cool, just not my thing. And uh, no I'm not into her. I barely know her, for one, I mean, I've only been going here for like a month and we're super new to town. That's what I tell my mom, at least, to get her off my back."

This piqued Jeremiah's interest more than he would admit as he took a drag from the cigarette and waited for the boy beside him to continue. When Sam neglected to elaborate, Jeremiah decided to prompt, "If that's what you tell her, then I'll admit, I'm curious. What's the real reason?"

Sam shrugged, a small chuckle emitting, "Well, the real reason? I've never been really into girls in the first place."

"Ah, late bloomer?"

"Not quite," the boy spoke, his voice teasing as if waiting for Jeremiah to bite. "More into boys if I'm being honest. Particularly, scrawny blonde ones with a nicotine problem."

Jeremiah stopped in his tracks, a sly smile on his face as he put the pieces together, "You followed me into the kitchen on purpose, you sly dog."

Sam laughed and shrugged, his eyes glued to the concrete beneath their feet as they faced each other underneath the night sky. "Ah, am I that transparent?"

"Yeah, a little bit." Jeremiah should feel weirded out, shouldn't he? He had never met a boy that liked other boys before, not in a small town like this where Jeremiah had been born and raised.

"You're not freaked out." It wasn't a question, but a statement. A challenge.

"Not particularly, no," Jeremiah laughed, "What is this? The 70's? This town is small, but the people aren't all hicks and assholes."

The boy shrugged, now meeting Jeremiah's eyes for the first time that night, "Forgive me if I think there might be another reason. Am I right?"

That was a question Jeremiah certainly didn't know how to answer. Somehow he knew it wasn't a no. So, Jeremiah opted for the best answer he could muster, "...Maybe."

so either every other chapter or every few chapters is going to be a flashback to the development of Jeremiah and Sam's relationship and certain events that happen and this one, obviously, is how they met!