It was a typical Friday afternoon. The sun was menacing, but we're safe, Larry and I under the shade of an old Molave tree where we just had our lunch. I abducted him from the Larry Fan Club earlier at the library when I thought he was about to split his face in two by smiling incessantly at them. I leaned against the tree and he lied on the soft Bermuda grass, half-asleep listening to my Walkman. He developed a kind of liking to my playlist.
"Do you have plans for the weekend?" He asked, eyes half-opened. His squeaky voice dragged in his throat.
"None."
"Wanna hang-out with me?"
"Where?"
"In my room."
"What are we gonna do in your room Larry?"
"Things."
"What things? Like smile rehearsals?" I chuckled.
"My smiles aren't that bad you know!"
It's perfect.
"Your little Larry Fan Club sure likes it."
"Don't be jealous. You know I only have one best friend."
"And who would that be?"
"Florante Ariza."
"Did he consent to that?"
"He sure doesn't mind."
"Well, he does."
He rose and opened his eyes into tiny slits.
"Florante Ariza, do you mind being my best friend?
"Yes, I do mind thank you for asking."
"C'mmon man, you're hurting me here." He playfully rubbed his chest like he got stabbed there. What an idiot!
"Larry Davis if I become your best friend, half the girls at school would wage war against me."
"The war had been won."
"You can't possibly win a war you do not actively participated in."
He laughed and shook his head. "So, you're coming over this weekend, right?"
"Fat chance!"
"Please? Mom and dad wanted to meet you." He yanked the hem of my shirt gently. I felt a weird thing boil at the pit of my stomach when he did that.
"Don't drag your parents into this." I shut my book close.
"But they do!"
"I'll think about it." I stood first and pulled him up.
We fist-bumped before we parted ways at the crossroads; one leading to the city where he lived, the other to the hills where I lived. The sun painted the sky with blood as it retreated west. I looked back at Larry as I walked home. His elongated shadow stretched and touched the tacit blades of grass by the river.
"See you tomorrow!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"You wish!"
I bet he smiled. But I could no longer see it from where I stood.
YOU ARE READING
"Florante and Larry and The Last Days of Summer"
Teen Fiction(Updates weekly every Friday, 12:00 am) Florante Ariza builds a wall and distances himself from the people around him. Larry, the witty, funny, big-mouth Larry crashes in head-first onto Florante's walls and throws a party! Boy meets boy. Boys be...
