Serpentine Walls (16 page)

“Right.”

“An extremely boring open book,” Aidan added, looking at the Rotunda with a small smile.

“I don’t believe that for a minute.”

“Your faith in me and my non-boring-ness is touching.” Aidan gave him a fond glance.

Pete did a mental shrug as they crossed University Avenue. He didn’t get Aidan’s insistence on characterizing himself as “boring,” but he was done arguing about it.

“Let’s go in here,” Aidan said, stopping at Max’s Diner.

“Cool.”

Pete waved to Sadie as they headed to a booth in the back. After Sadie took their order for coffee, Aidan settled into the booth and stretched out his long legs, his feet grazing Pete’s.

Goddamn, Aidan looks hot
. Pete cleared his throat. “How was your Thanksgiving?”

Aidan rolled his eyes. “The usual. Big formal affair with the parents and the grandparents, and of course, a few VIPs. My father treats everything like it’s a diplomatic summit.” He added in a patrician accent, “Money and politics, my son, it’s all that matters.”

“Is that what he says?”

“He doesn’t say that out loud, but that’s who he
is
. My mother can’t deal with it. She just drinks.” That fleeting look of pain Pete had seen before crossed Aidan’s face. “And yours? How’d it go at the house of Morgan?”

“Oh, it was a laugh a minute. Let’s see….” He counted off on his fingers. “Absentee father, depressed mother, sibling squabbles. Yeah, you know, the usual.”

“Sounds as happy as mine.”

“I couldn’t wait to get out of there, man. I went to Georgetown with my friends one night. That was the only thing that made it bearable.”

“Your friends?”

“Yeah, the old gang from high school.” Pete accepted a mug of coffee from Sadie. “You met most of ’em at Matthew’s parties. John, Brian, and Angie?”

“Oh, right. You were all in high school together? Nice.”

Aidan had a look on his face that Pete would almost call wistful, except what did Aidan Emery have to be wistful about? He was probably out with a different guy every night.

“How’s the play going?”

“
Sweeney Todd
? Good, so far. I love how dark and grisly it is, and the music’s to die for.”

“You’ve seen the movie, right?”

“Of course. Johnny Depp—I want to be him when I grow up.”

“And I want to be Tim Burton. I love his movies.”

“Yeah, and then we can make weird movies together.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Pete lifted his coffee mug, and Aidan did likewise.

“So, how’s your movie coming along? Still need an actor?”

“Parker is playing my main character, but I have an opening for his best friend that he’s in love with, if you’re interested.”

“Cool. I’ll do it.”

“His
straight
best friend.”

“Jeez, dude, I can play straight.”

Pete laughed. “I know. I was just trying to rile you up.”

“So does he tell his friend he’s in love with him?”

“Not really. He tells him he’s gay, though. And the friend is surprised but okay with it.”

“Like you and your friend John. When you were fourteen.”

Pete stared at him. “Wow, I can’t believe you remember this stuff.”

Aidan smiled, and they were quiet for a minute as they drank their coffee.

“Were you in love with John?” Aidan asked.

“What? No. Never.” Pete picked up his napkin. “I’ve never been in love, I don’t think.”

Aidan glanced away. “I think you’d know if you had been.” He looked lost in thought.

Pete waited a moment and then asked, “So, you’ve been in love?”

Bringing his attention back to Pete, Aidan nodded.

“Really?”

Aidan raised his eyebrows. “Yes. Is that so surprising?”

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t see you as the type.”

Aidan scanned him with his green eyes. “What makes you say that?”

Pete could feel himself blushing. “Oh. I—uh, well—I mean, you… I see you out with lots of different guys, so I just assumed….”
Ugh, shut up
. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What are you sorry for?” Aidan said. “To me, being in love doesn’t necessarily mean commitment. And I’m not into commitment to one person. Not right now, anyway. Life’s complicated enough.”

“Oh.” Pete felt on more comfortable footing now. He nodded sagely. “Yeah, I agree. I’m not into commitment either.”

Aidan appeared skeptical. “You’re not?”

“Naw. Angie keeps talking about ‘The One’ and how we’re going to meet our soul mates this year. I don’t even know what she’s talking about.”

“Hm. ‘The One,’ huh?”

“Yeah. I don’t believe in all that crap.”

Aidan’s phone buzzed, and he looked at the screen. “I’m late for a meeting.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Thanks for having coffee with me.” Aidan grinned at him as he slid out of the booth and picked up the check. “I’ll pay.”

“Okay,” Pete repeated and watched Aidan stride away. “See you later,” he called and sat back with a sigh.

A
WEEK
later, Pete left the band room after U. Singers rehearsal and was heading down the hallway when he spied Matthew playing piano in a practice room. He knocked on the window, and Matthew looked over, breaking into an enormous grin when he saw him and jumping up from the piano bench to open the door.

“Hey there!” Matthew said. “Where ya been hiding?”

“Nowhere special.” Pete was so happy to see Matthew, he couldn’t stop smiling. In fact, they were a pair of grinning fools as they beamed at each other.

“Have we really not seen each other since we got back from Thanksgiving? Come in and tell me about yours, and I’ll torture you with show tunes.”

Pete entered the room, dropping his backpack to the floor. “First, I’m trying to forget about Thanksgiving, and second, why show tunes?”

“Thanksgiving forgotten. As for show tunes, I love ’em, and they’re fun to sing. I use them as a stress reliever, especially now with classes ending and exams to grade.”

“Cool. I’ll sing with you.”

“Yessss.” Matthew rubbed his hands together with an evil cackle. “I knew I could snare you in my show-tune web.”

“Dork.” Pete came and stood next to Matthew, looking at the stack of sheet music and books on the piano. “What have you got?”

“Everything. Let’s start with my trusty Rogers and Hammerstein book. I wanna hear you belt out ‘Some Enchanted Evening.’” He opened the book to the right page and played the introduction with a flourish while Pete prepared to belt.

They ran through the rest of the songs from
South Pacific
, laughing and hamming it up, and then started in on
The Sound of Music
. By the time they finished an over-the-top rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” Pete’s stomach hurt from laughing, and he was in a better mood than he’d been in for a long time.

“Dude, we rock so hard! We are show tunes, hear us roar.” Matthew offered his hand for a high five. “What a workout. I’m sweating.”

“Dude, we gotta do this again. It’s a lot cheaper than therapy,” Pete said, laughing again at the absurdity of it all.

“Therapy? What do you need therapy for?” Matthew stood up from the bench and started gathering his music.

“Nothing, now. Want to get some dinner?”

“Sure. Let’s hit The Virginian.”

“Excellent.” Pete watched as Matthew finished stuffing his music into his messenger bag.

“Were you at U. Singers rehearsal earlier?” Matthew asked as they ambled down the hall.

“Yep, and then octet. We have our winter concert the end of next week.”

“Oh, good. I’ll come.” Matthew pushed open the door to the outside.

“You don’t have to.” Pete gazed around at the Grounds, all lit up in the winter evening, and was filled with a sense of well-being.

“Why not? I love choral music.”

“I wish you were in U. Singers with us. It’d be fun to have you.”

“Aw, that’s sweet, dearest.”

“Shut up.”

Matthew chuckled, and Pete had this insane urge to hold his hand as they walked along the Colonnades, shoulders bumping.
Friends
, he reminded himself.
Just friends
. He remembered making the exact same walk with Aidan a week before, and almost laughed at the irony. He was hanging out with the two hottest dudes at school and seeing no action from either of them.

“How’s studying for exams coming?” Matthew asked as they crossed University Avenue.

“Okay. Right now, I’m working on my final paper for Nineteenth-Century Lit.”

“What’s it about?”

“The use of imagery in
Middlemarch
.”

They entered the restaurant and found a booth, and the waiter came by and took their orders.

Once the waiter left, Matthew leaned forward. “Did you ever see that Masterpiece Theater miniseries they made out of
Middlemarch
?”

“No.”

“It’s pretty good. You should come over sometime and we’ll watch it.”

“You have that?”

“Yep. Why?”

“I don’t know, I’m just… most of my friends aren’t into nineteenth-century literature.”

“Really? They’re missing out, son.”

“Yep, they totally are.”

“But back to this century: your movie. How’s it going? Is everything on track for you to start filming after we get back in January?”

“I think so.”

“Have you got the rest of the cast?”

“Almost. Aidan’s agreed to be the best friend.”

Matthew raised his eyebrows. “Emery’s deigning to be in your film? Lucky you.”

“Lucky? He’s been in yours, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Aidan has loads of offers to be in student films. He’s actually picky about who he says yes to.”

Pete frowned. “Then why—? Oh, maybe because it’s about a gay guy?”

“Maybe.” Matthew seemed to be watching him closely. “Or maybe he’s into you.”

“
Into
me? What, are we in
Sex and the City
now?”

“Shut up, I
love
that show. I have the box set.”

“Dude.”

The waiter showed up with their meals.

“Seriously,” Matthew continued as they started to eat, “you have to come over and watch it with me. That and
Middlemarch
.”

Pete laughed, relieved that they were off the subject of him and Aidan. “From
Middlemarch
to
Sex and the City
? You’re too much.”

Matthew paused, the fork halfway to his mouth. “And that’s, what? Bad? Or good?”

“Good.”

“Oh. Okay, then,” Matthew said, looking pleased as he took his bite.

“G
OD
,
Pete, y’all sounded great!” Angie gave him a hug.

“Thanks.” The lobby of Cabell Hall teemed with friends and family of the University Singers giving them congratulations after the winter concert, and Pete felt a momentary pang that his mom hadn’t been able to attend this year. He loosened his tie and scanned the crowd. “Did John and Cleo make it?”

“Yeah, I saw them, and they’re coming to the party. Brian too.”

“Good.” Gazing around the lobby, he spied Aidan talking to Professor R, an odd tenseness to their body language. As he watched, Aidan wheeled around and walked away while Professor R stared after him.

“Too bad Jed is sick,” Angie said.

“Yeah. He said he was bummed to miss it, although I don’t think choral music is really his thing.”

“Oh, there’s Matthew! Does he have a date? Oh shoot, Pete, I thought he was gay.”

Pete turned to see Matthew approaching with a woman at his side. He looked even more handsome than usual in a navy sweater that brought out the blue in his eyes. His companion was an attractive brunette, elegantly dressed, and seemed older than the rest of them, perhaps due to her fancy outfit.

“Hey, guys. Awesome concert, Pete,” Matthew said. His friend nodded in agreement, her face open and friendly.

Well, of course
, thought Pete.
Matthew wouldn’t go out with a bitch.

“Wasn’t it?” Angie smiled at the woman with Matthew. “Hello.”

“Oh, let me introduce my friend, Allison. Allison, this is Pete and Angie.”

After exchanging greetings, Allison said to Matthew, “I’m going to run to the restroom. Be right back.”

“She’s really pretty,” Angie told Matthew.

He laughed, following Allison with his eyes as she walked away. “That she is.”

“Hey, why don’t you guys come to Eric’s party? We’re all going,” Angie said.

For some reason, Matthew glanced at Pete with a question on his face.

“Yeah, come, man.” Pete swallowed down an absurd feeling of disappointment that Matthew had a “date,” if that’s what she was. But that was nothing compared to how bummed he was that Matthew apparently was straight.

He said “friend,”
his mind reasoned,
maybe that’s all she is. And what do you care? You—

“Coming to Eric’s, baby?” murmured a familiar voice in Pete’s ear.
Aidan.

“Yeah.” Pete’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see a text from Jed.
Sorry I missed concert. Can we get 2gether tmrw?

“Peter, the music was simply superb.” Professor R had come up to stand behind Aidan, who immediately walked away. “Well done.” His smile seemed designed to direct the full force of his charm at Pete, but as soon as Aidan left, he glanced in his direction.

“Thanks, Professor R,” said Pete, head spinning at the sudden onslaught of male attention. The soundtrack in his mind started up:
It’s raining men, hallelujah, it’s raining men
….

And then he noticed Angie. Matthew and Allison had moved on, and Angie was staring at Professor R with the oddest expression—angry, almost defiant. Professor R missed the daggers she was throwing at him because he was still gazing across the lobby in the direction Aidan had gone.

“Angie?” Pete put his hand on her arm, wondering why she was so mad at Professor R. He wracked his brain, trying to remember if she had been upset about something from their Film Aesthetics class, but came up with nothing. She met his gaze blankly, like she was coming out of a dream.