Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

stretched. “Come on, Kyle. Let’s do something!” The sex scenes in the video, the naked men in the magazine, and watching Kyle roll around on the carpet had worked him up.
    “Like what?” Kyle asked.
    Nelson tossed the magazine aside. “I don’t know. A ren’t you dying to find out what sex is like?” Kyle gave a shrug. “I can wait.”
    “Wait! Life’s too short, Kyle. It’s passing us by. I get bashed every day for being queer, and I haven’t even kissed a guy yet. That’s pretty pathetic.” He shook a cigarette from his pack. Then a brilliant idea dawned on him. “Hey, how about if we practice?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Practice what?”
    “You know …” Nelson lit up a cigarette. “Making out.”
    Kyle pressed his glasses up the ridge of his nose, looking confused. “With who?” God, Kyle could be dense.
    “You mean—” He suddenly sat upright. “You’re crazy!”
    “Why not?” Nelson insisted. “It’s just practice.”
    Kyle shook his head. “I can’t kiss you. It would feel like … kissing my sister.”
    “So I have tits and pussy now?”
    “You’re my friend.” Kyle crossed his arms. “It would feel too weird.”

    Nelson cupped his hand over his mouth to test his breath. “You afraid I have A IDS? Rabies?” Kyle glared at him. “Mad cow disease.”
    “Screw you!” Nelson puffed on his cigarette. “You’ll let my dog lick your face, but you won’t kiss me? That makes me feel really special.”
    A guilty look crossed Kyle’s face. “It just doesn’t feel right.”
    Nelson decided to make the most of Kyle’s guilt. “I’ll put on some mood music.” He ran to the stereo and grabbed a Tony Bennett CD.
    “It’ll be fun.” He put out his cigarette and walked back toward Kyle, making pucker and smack sounds, like loud kisses. A tticus sat up, ears pricked.
    “No way.” Kyle shook his head.
    Nelson threw his arms around Kyle. Kyle pulled away from him. “Cut it out!” He sounded angry, but he was laughing.
    “Mon chéri!” Nelson said, imitating the French accent of Pepe Le Pew. “The night is young, the moon is full, and you are so handsome!” He began smacking kisses on Kyle’s neck. The downy softness surprised him.
    A tticus barked and paced beside them.
    “Nelson, stop it!” Kyle pulled away.
    Nelson lost his balance and fell, pulling Kyle down with him. A s they wrestled on the floor A tticus pawed at them, barking. Nelson laughed as he struggled. Kyle grabbed Nelson’s arms and climbed on top of him. “You going to stop it?” His cap fell off and rolled away.
    A tticus jumped on Kyle, whining and licking his face. Kyle loosened his grip on Nelson to push the dog away, and Nelson rose up to kiss Kyle on the mouth.
    Kyle swung to block him, but instead his hand hit Nelson’s chin with a smack. Nelson’s head flew backward and hit the floor. For a moment, he lay dazed.
    Kyle let go of him. “A re you okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
    Nelson’s chin throbbed. He felt like crying. He rolled over, burying his face. Even though he’d cried in front of Kyle before, for some reason now he felt ashamed.
    He felt Kyle’s hand lay gently on his shoulder. “Nelson, you’re my best friend. I don’t feel that way about you.”
    “Fuck you! Okay?”
    Kyle flinched. “I’m sorry.”
    Nelson wanted to say something mean. But his jaw hurt too much. “Just leave me alone.” He rolled over.
    He heard Kyle pad across the carpet and leave the room. Then he heard the front door close. He reached up for his jaw and worked it back and forth. He went to the mirror, expecting to see his face horribly disfigured—or at least bruised. But his jaw didn’t look any different.
    He noticed the bright orange sheet of paper Kyle had in the youth group meeting lying on the carpet. It must have fallen out of Kyle’s pocket when they were wrestling. He unfolded the piece of paper. Kyle must have written JASON CARRILLO, JASON CARRILLO a hundred