“Woowwww!!” Scott marveled, completely captivated by the scale of the sprawling water park before him. “This place is giant!”
“You think so, bud?” Kai ruffled the boy’s hair, delighted to see him so full of spunk and ready to tackle the interesting challenge of navigating a public space, so exposed and with nary a hint that he’d once occupied a body that would have garnered attention of a much different kind than what they were all getting now.
The camera crew, standing in place of the house’s plentiful assemblage of hidden cameras, brought down upon them not just the eyes of the digital audience but also the stares and interested pointing of the waterpark’s normal clientele on a day such as this. While Ernesto and his older roommate made a beeline for the tallest slide in sight, giving the watchful film crew a run for their money as they struggled to keep up with their rambunctious subjects, Kai and Scott were busy taking in the sheer majesty of the place.
It was clear to Scott that a part of Kai’s hesitancy to jump right in on their splash-filled adventure was his apprehension about his soon-to-be-revealed penalty. The third grader wanted very much to interrogate the older boy; how had he let that last challenge get so out of hand? He’d proven himself much smarter than this just the day before, outmaneuvering Scott in almost every conceivable way, but to fail a children’s cereal box challenge? With the camera crew in tow, though, there would scarcely be an opportunity for Scott to broach that topic discreetly.
Scott tugged on the boy’s arm. “What should we do first?”
“Hmmm… I guess we-” but he was stopped.
“HELLO KAI AND SCOTTIE!” The familiar voice rang loud and clear from a phone held by one of the film crew that had approached the boys. “I SEE YOU TWO HAVE TAKEN TO PARTENERING UP TODAY, AND THAT MAY BE JUST WHAT YOU NEED KAI!”
“Oh boy…” Kai gulped.
“SCOTTIE, I HOPE YOU’RE READY TO BE THE BEST LITTLE WINGMAN—ER, WINGBOY—YOU CAN BE! BECAUSE KAI’S CHALLENGE IS TO SCORE ONE PHONE NUMBER! AND IT’S GOTTA BE FROM SOMEONE AT LEAST 16 YEARS OLD!”
“Heh,” Kai scoffed. “I can do that.”
“I HOPE YOU CAN, LITTLE FELLA! BECAUSE THE PRICE OF FAILURE IS A BLAST BACK TO THE PAST. TO BE PRECISE, OUR AUDIENCE POLLING SHOWS THAT IT WOULD MAKE THE MOST SENSE TO PUT YOU ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH YOUR LITTLE COMPANION!”
“No problem, Barrie. Just you watch me.” Kai’s expression and tone positively oozed confidence. His charisma, even as 12-year-old, would certainly carry him far... but to woo a teenager four years his senior? Scott had his doubts. Beyond that, more than he cared to admit, he kinda didn’t really want to see Kai hitting on anyone else… Especially not other boys, who would be much bigger and more confident than him. A small, indignant voice in his little boy brain wanted nothing more than for Kai to flounder in these benign, faux-romantic pursuits, if for no other reason than to make Kai more available to him as a fellow 8-year-old.
Scott shook himself out of the absurd line of thought. Was he really going to sabotage his only real chance, at least right now, of obtaining the tech! Jesus! The tech! How had his focus been stolen away from his mission’s sole objective for so long so that he was actually thinking of throwing away his one 5’ hope for victory?
“YOU’VE GOT 6 HOURS, KAI! GOOOOOOOOOD LUCK! BARRIE OUT!” The crewmember put away the phone and returned to the rest of his team.
“You think you can do it?” Scott asked, curious to see if Kai’s camera-ready confidence was more an act than not.
“I dunno, man.” Kai scratched his head. “Someone my age? No problem. But no 16-year-old in their right mind would ever give a preteen their number.”
“We could just ask them directly and explain the circumstances.” Scott suggested. “They’d probably believe you with the film crew and all.”
“Yeah? Or they might just as quickly wanna see the consequences of my failure.” Kai was quick to shoot down the idea. “You already know how much this audience loves to see regression. You were definitely briefed on that if the agency is worth half their salt.”
Scott’s head sunk as he felt himself falling back into his Kai-dolizing ways. “So… you’re gonna actually try?”
The older boy nodded. “It’s my best shot to start… But maybe we can try your idea if things get desperate.” He patted Scott on the back, perking the boy up. “Now let’s start out easy with some of the smaller slides. We can scope out any potential phone numbers while we’re waiting in line.”
Kai gestured for Scott to follow him, leading him to their first slide of the day.
…
As the two waited in what looked to be a 20-minute line, Kai nudged his little companion. “See that group of girls up there?” He pointed discreetly to a group of four girls about ten people ahead of them in line. “They look like they love an island boy.”
Scott blushed. “What?! How can you tell?” His tone grew more flustered. “Plus… I thought you were—”
“Gay?” Kai finished. “I am, but I’m gonna have to try for as many numbers as I can, and just think stats, brudda. How many gay teen boys do you think are at this waterpark right now? Compare that to the number of straight girls. Easy math.”
“I guess you’re right.” Scott agreed, and it somehow softened the blow of Kai’s challenge: at least he’d be mostly hitting on girls, which made it feel like Scott still held a special place in Kai’s heart as his guy… Scott sighed inwardly, hoping that this schoolboy crush of his wouldn’t persist once he and Kai had their manhood restored.
“Wish me luck. I’m heading up there.” Kai poised himself for a fist bump, which Scott readily acquiesced. He watched as his big, confident roommate budged past some confused and irritated park-goers.
Scott, as much as he tried, couldn’t quite get a good look over at Kai in his attempts to win the girls’ affection, seeing that he was just about the shortest kid in the line. He caught glimpses of the girls’ faces, but nothing looked too promising. A suspicious, raised brow; an adoring wide-eyed stare; what looked to be a stifled laugh… Scott wondered what was going on up there, but his curiosity would soon be sated, as a dejected Kai returned solemnly to his rightful place in line.
“How’d it go?” he pried.
“Uhhh…” Kai patted the boy’s head. “We’ll find other people… someone’ll give…eventually.”
Scott, still entertaining his feelings for the rival agent, wasn’t sure if he wished for that to be true.
…
Four slides, one wave pool, and more than enough embarrassing flirtation fails later, it was time for lunch. The foursome had convened at a burger joint in the park, Jackson and Ernesto having caught wind of Kai’s unfortunate challenge from a Barrie call of their own
“You know, it really doesn’t matter how you get the number,” Ernesto explained, taking his time to chew before speaking. “I think Scottie has a point. Just ask someone.”
Jackson hadn’t the patience to swallow his food before jumping in. “Yah, dude! Hel—heck, if I’d been aged up to 16, I’d give you my number just to help out.”
“You know that would only be helping the competition, right Jax?” The jock’s roommate all but rolled his eyes out of his head. “Not that NGA wouldn’t have thought of that, though. They definitely wouldn’t have allowed you to count for the challenge.”
Kai put down his double cheeseburger long enough to consider Ernesto’s point. “Yeah, I guess it’s worth a shot, but think about what the audience would want. A victory like that, by technicality? After a stunt like that, what do you think my next penalty would be?”
“They’d probably make you younger than even me,” Scott realized, grasping Kai’s stance on the matter a bit more now.
“Right, and then I’d be even worse off,” Kai replied. “I have to honestly try, up until the end. If the audience sees that I’ve given it my best shot before giving up, I’ll probably be better off.”
“Good luck, bro. Lemme know if you need a better wingman than Mr. Pipsqueak.” Jackson nudged the youngest boy, not meaning any offense.
Kai smiled down at the boy beside him. “I haven’t really asked Scott to help me much actually. It’s not his problem.”
“Or you just don’t think it’s a cool look to have a little brat attached to your hip while you’re chatting up the teens,” Ernesto smirked. “Isn’t that right, Kai? He’d tank your chances even more than they already are.”
“No, no, uhhh… it’s not that!” Kai stumbled on the defensive. “I just…”
Scott put down his handful of fries. Was that really it? Had Kai considered him a burden this whole time? Was he seen as merely the uncool, dependent younger brother tagging along on his super cool big bro’s day at the waterpark? Agent Redfield, the 40-year-old, would surely be unphased by such a miniscule categorization, but this suddenly seemed like the most horrible, identity-defining monument to his pathetic smallness in 8-year-old Scottie’s eyes. Kai was just… so cool! He was cool and confident, ever since Scott had laid eyes on him, and Scott was no more than just an awkward, runty third grader to him. As best he could, he held in these very big feelings of shame and mortification.
Kai must’ve seen something wrong in Scott’s face. He put a reassuring hand on the boy’s back. “Scott, it’s not like that. You’re so cool! We both know what you’re capable of. Don’t listen to him.”
Scott merely nodded. He appreciated that Kai had made a full-hearted attempt to assuage the boy’s worry, but he felt deep down that Ernesto was probably right. He sat out the rest of the conversation, munching idly on his fries as the other boys discussed their plans for the rest of the day.
…
Just about 6 hours had flown by when Kai and Scott had made it to the top of the line at the highest waterslide in the park, a gargantuan, epic bookend to their eventful and unexpected day trip. The two boys in their trunks had each tanned a bit; though, the changes were markedly more visible on poor, pale, little Scott, whose fairer complexion necessitated an even more substantial application of sunscreen than the other boy. The two had helped each other apply the sunblock at the start of their watery adventure, and Scott couldn’t help but picture that same scenario playing out long after this absurd reality show had ended, when he and Kai had successfully swiped NGA’s secret age tech. Except, instead of some noisy family waterpark, he envisioned the two of them lying tranquilly on a secluded beach in Bali, or even the Maldives. The two antipolar agents would have long ago set aside their differences, instead reveling and rejoicing in their shared experiences that only a handful of people would have lived at that point—at least until the feds could reverse engineer the tech for public benefit. Kai was even so skilled an agent that Scott was sure he could put in a good word for him at the agency, and the man could leave behind his days of being a conniving corporate dog. On top of being one of the only men in the world who could understand Scott’s day to day, Kai was one of the only men who had shown Scott—at least what the younger boy believed to be—genuine affection and compassion. His burgeoning feelings only blossomed more and more as the hours ticked on with Kai at his side.
“Scott, look at those two back there!” Kai pointed to a pair of shirtless teen boys, just several feet behind them, each with a different silicone pride wristband. “This might be my last shot! I might even take your advice this time.”
Boys?! Uh oh… Scott had gotten so used to Kai trying and failing to score girls’ numbers that he’d almost forgotten that Kai had only been acting that whole time… But if Kai were to flirt with these guys? Would that be real? He was Kai’s guy! Kai had no right hitting on other boys… But Scott was just so small, and he knew he couldn’t really compete, and he knew even more that Kai’s age depended on his success here and that Kai likely wasn’t even interested in two teens (he was 30 after all). However, the jealousy within him boiled up until it was all he could feel.
Scott turned to one of the camera crew who’d followed them up the stairs. “What time is it?”
The man showed Scott his phone. They’d arrived at 12, and the clock read 5:58PM. Kai sure was cutting it close as he called out to the two boys. He gestured for the two of them to come up and cut in line a few places. Looking a bit confused, but nevertheless interested in the filming situation, the two approached Kai and his young roommate, who now stood just behind one other person in line.
“Hey, guys. I know this is sudden, but I’m on a reality show, and I was wondering if I could get one of your numbers. I saw your wristbands and figured you could maybe help me out.” He really had gone for the desperation ploy, much to Scott’s surprise, but it didn’t sit right with him that Kai was cozying up the two older teens. All he needed to do was hold out for one more minute, allow the scenario to play out naturally, and Kai could salvage his age… but a devious plot popped into Scott’s mind… He and Kai were now the first in line, and the lifeguard was surely about to position them for their turns. Finally, for the first time all day, Scott felt a semblance of agency. Sure, Kai might be mad at him afterward, but one little push aaaannnndddd…