Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:11:58 CDT From: D Man <d_man116@hotmail.com> Subject: That's Life- Chapter 3 That's Life Disclaimer: The following story is just fiction. It does not imply the sexuality of anybody in this story. If you are underage, please do not read the story. If this type of story offends you or your city does not allow this material, please stop. If you pass, then go on and read. If not, how am I supposed to know. Author's Note: Thanks to all the people that have visited my webpage and read this story. A bigger thank you to the people that have emailed me about the story. If you haven't, what's stopping you. d_man116@hotmail.com. That's about it. On to the story. Previously: Kyle was surprised. He had known about the game, but he never learned about the rape. He was enraged. He wanted to bring justice for Darryl, but there was nothing to do. He had to do something though. Maybe tomorrow would bring a better day. Through all that thinking, Darryl had fallen asleep again. This time he looked peaceful. Maybe he could finally get a decent sleep. Kyle turned off the light and went to bed. Tomorrow was certainly going to be a good day for Darryl. He was going to make sure it was. Chapter 3: The Next Morning The sun crossed the horizon and shined into Darryl's room. The morning birds could be heard singing their delightful tune, not exactly delightful in the eyes of Darryl. He was still tired and wanted to sleep longer, but now that he was awake, he couldn't go back to bed. He looked at the clock next to his bed. It was 7:25 in the morning. He couldn't believe it. He never woke up this early on any day. The earliest he had ever gotten up since college started was 9:00. He got out of his bed. It was time for a shower. He really needed it. Last night had been the worst night ever for him. His shirt clung to his body from all the sweat he perspired. He walked past Kyle's bedroom and heard some talking. He just ignored it and went straight to the bathroom. He didn't want to eavesdrop again. He entered the shower and turned it on. He let the water cascade against his body and just stood there. He enjoyed taking showers. He would just stand there and relax. He was in there for about thirty minutes when he heard some banging against the door. "Hurry up. Some people still need to use the bathroom." "I'll be out in a second." Darryl quickly took the rest of his shower. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "You can have the bathroom now, Kyle." Darryl walked to his bedroom when he ran into Josh. His towel fell off. "Sorry about that. I should have been watching where I was going." Darryl reached down for his towel, but he couldn't hide himself before Josh saw all the scars. "What happened?" "It's nothing." "You can tell me. I just want to help you." "I said it was nothing. Why does everyone want to help me? There are a lot of people out there with bigger problems. I can handle my own by myself." Darryl walked into his room and slammed the door. He collapsed onto the bed and started to cry into his pillow. "Why am I crying? I shouldn't be crying. I am too strong for that stuff." He gathered himself together and got dressed. While Darryl was dressing, Kyle had finished his shower. Kyle walked out of the bathroom to see Josh standing there with a puzzled look. "What's wrong, Josh?" "I don't know. I just saw something that I shouldn't have." "And what was that." [Kyle asks in a teasing manner.] "I just saw Darryl naked." "That's nothing. Why don't you put your jaw back up before I start to get jealous. You better get into the shower before we are late." Kyle went to the bedroom to get dressed. Josh just still stood there. Why didn't he tell Kyle that he saw all those scars? Maybe he would have a possible explanation. Josh had his own idea, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusion. Wouldn't want to be stuck on an island. Darryl finished getting dressed and left his bedroom. He would act like nothing had happened. He put up his guard once again. "Hey Josh." "Umm… Hey Darryl." Josh was really confused now. Darryl just walked by like nothing had happened. If only he could get into the kid's mind. If he could, then he would actually know what was going on. All Josh wanted to do was help. That was his only motive in life. Was to help others. He had helped people since the beginning, but there were times when people denied his help. He remembered this one night very well when someone turned him away. Kyle jumped on Josh before he could reminiscent on that night. "You know if it wasn't for me, you would miss every appointment in your book. Hurry up. We don't want Justin and Lance to come beating down on our door. By the way, where's Darryl? "He's in the living room, I think." "Alrite. I am going to talk to him. And you better go take a shower and get dress. We have to get out of here by 10:00. That leaves you about an hour. And we all know you have to make yourself look beautiful because we know you need it." "I thought you liked me for my already good looks." "Nah, I'm in it for the money. Why else would I choose a pop singer? You know I could do better." "I'm hurt." "You'll be hurting even more if you don't go to that shower right now?" "What could you possibly do, little man?" "You keep that up and you'll start getting to know your hand a little better." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going. Who knew I was going out with an dominatrix?" "It hasn't hit that point yet, but we'll see." "I can't wait." Kyle walked out to the living room to see Darryl watching some television. Darryl's face seemed placid, but what was really going on in his mind. "Hey Darryl. What are you watching?" "Just some cartoons." Even though Darryl was 20, he still had the innocence of a child. One of the many reasons why Darryl and Kyle have been chatting for so long. Kyle had taken the role as Darryl's protector and confider. "Cool. I can't wait for you to meet the guys. They are really cool." "They betta be or this month is gonna suck." "It will be." Kyle wanted to bring up yesterday's encounter, but he was afraid how Darryl would react. The whole dream had finally become a reality to him. Perhaps this day would make him become a little opener and maybe saner. "I'm ready. Let's go." "Ok Josh." "Let me grab my bag first." "Hurry up then." "Ok." The guys jumped into Kyle's cherry mustang. It was Darryl's dream car. He wanted to get one of these days, but college wasn't really letting him get it. Oh well. They drove to Justin's house. There were already two cars parked in front of it. "Look, Lance is already here. Who's car is that, Josh?" Kyle knew what everyone in the group drove, so the car puzzled him. He had never seen it. "That's TJ. I invited him to join us. I thought he would get along with Darryl." "Thanks, Josh, for thinking of me." (He is trying to be nice to me. He is sure confusing me.) The guys got out of the car and went straight to the door. Darryl was taking his time. He didn't really want to meet the guys. He didn't know how much they knew about him. And if they didn't know anything, he was going to make sure they wouldn't. It was already hard enough for Kyle and Josh to know. He tried to keep to himself for eighteen years, but that all change when he met Kyle. "C'mon Darryl. They want to meet you." "You act like they are going to bite you or something." "I'm not really scared of that. I'm just scared what fate has in stored for me now." [He whispers to himself.] All three of them finally approach the door after dragging Darryl with them. Josh knocked a couple of times before the door was answered. "Hey JC. Hey Kyle. Who's your friend?" "This Darryl. The guy that I have been telling about all week. Remember, he was going to visit. Well, he's here. Geez, Justin you need to work on your memory. By the way, this is Justin." "Hi Justin." "Whatever you say Kyle. If anyone needs to work on their memory, you should work on your boyfriend." [Justin gasps.] "Shit. I forgot. Darryl doesn't know yet. I'm sorry Josh. I didn't mean to." "You know you and Kyle are so much alike. You guys can't keep a secret. Luckily, Kyle already rat it out, so you're not in trouble this time. But you guys better watch out. TJ doesn't know yet." "Alright. Hey! I don't want to be like Kyle. That would mean it was the end of the world." "Very funny, funny man." "I know I am. Lance and TJ are inside." "Let's go." Darryl didn't want to go inside the house. He was too scare what he was up against. He was a coward and was proud of it. "Get your butt inside or I'm going to have to hurt you." Darryl was too stubborn to listen. If he didn't want to go inside, then he wouldn't. "Fine, it's your lost." "You guys go inside, and I will talk to him." "Ok Justin. Maybe he will listen to you." "I'll try. Hey Darryl." "Hi." "Why don't you come inside?" Darryl just ignored Justin. He did exactly what Justin said, but still ignored him. As he walked in, he tripped Justin. Everybody except Kyle saw Justin fall on his face. Kyle entered the room and saw Darryl standing there. "That was quick. What did you say?" [Justin walks in] "Nothing really. [sounding masculine] You just have to plant your feet to the ground and show who's boss." "I believe your face saw the ground more than your feet did." [TJ teased him.] "By the way, why did you trip him, Darryl?" "He was getting on my nerves. He was treating me like a baby. Again I don't need a babysitter." (The only guy that I thought I could relate too because he was the same age as me turn out to be just like Josh.) "Again?" "Let's say he isn't the only pop star that thought they had to be my babysitter." "Oh O." [Both TJ and JC and said at the same time.] "You don't think he" (JC) "I think he did." (TJ) "Oh great. No wonder he has given me the cold shoulder lately." "Time to make amends older bro." "I will. I will." Lance and TJ introduced themselves to Darryl. Darryl acknowledged them with a hi. Everyone started to fool around. They were waiting for Chris and Joey to show up. Chris and Joey arrived about twenty minutes later. The guys decided to hang around before they would head out to the mall. Everyone was starting up conversations with Darryl, but he wasn't much of a talker with them. At the end, everyone gave up. It was time to head to the mall. They divided up into two groups, so they wouldn't have to take too many cars. In the first car it was Josh, Kyle, Darryl, and TJ. In the other car it was Chris, Joey, Lance, and Justin. Josh and Kyle were talking about their plans next week, so TJ and Darryl just sat there ignoring each other and the couple, too bad TJ didn't know they were a couple. Kyle was changing the dial to find the oldies station. "I can't believe you still listen to the 70's stuff." "Don't mess with my rock. It's better than your so-called music. I like to listen to everything. That was the biggest BS I have ever heard." As Josh and Kyle were arguing about the station to pick, TJ changed it to an alternative station. "Now this is more like it." "Is there actually life in that body of yours after all?" [TJ asks teasingly.] This was the first time that Darryl had a true smile on his face, and TJ was the one that caused it. Meanwhile in the other car, the guys were having a discussion mainly about Darryl. Something that Darryl would be angry about if he ever found out. He hated to talk about people behind their back, so he hoped other people would do the same thing with him too. Authors Note: The following conversation will have a letter next to the quote to indicate who is speaking. C- What did you guys think of Darryl? Jo- He's pretty quiet, but we don't really know much about that. I wonder what's up with that. Ju- He's rude too. C- Just because he tripped you that doesn't make him rude. He probably had his motives. Kyle says he had a hard life. Ju- It doesn't mad if you have a hard, simple, or happy life. You still got to be kind. Wait a minute, how did you guys know he tripped me? Jo- Lance told us. Ju- Thanks Lance. L- It's not my fault you treated him like a baby. Ju- For the millionth time, I didn't treat him like a baby. I told him that he was welcomed to come in, and he shouldn't worry. I bet you that he's just trying to get attention. L- Whatever you say. Ju- You know Lance, we haven't heard an opinion from you about Darryl. L- Don't be picking on me. Chris hasn't said anything about Darryl either. He just brought up the question. I'm not going to judge him just yet until I get to know him. Ju- I will tell you this much, I don't trust him. He is nothing but trouble. C- How come I feel you are right about this, Jus. Jo- That's because he hasn't bleached his hair lately. Ju- Shut up. L- I don't like where this is going. [He states this to himself.] Back in the other car, the guys were laughing away. TJ was telling stories about JC when he was a kid. All the stupid things that JC ever did. Darryl was laughing so hard that he had to hold his gut. Some tears could be seen too. Kyle was glad to see his friend laughing. Josh was happy to see Darryl open up a little, to show some emotion besides sadness. TJ was just the third person, but he was still happy. The guys arrived to the mall. They all decided to go in groups of two, so they wouldn't cause a big commotion. The guys immediately picked their partners. Chris went with Justin. Chris knew he had to control the boy's spending. Kyle and Josh decided to get together despite the fact that Darryl was his friend. Tyler found that odd that Kyle chose Josh over Darryl. Tyler decided to go with Darryl because he thought he would be able to give him some company. That left Lance and Joey together. They all entered the mall to get some shopping done, right? That's it for now. Please email at d_man116@hotmail.com and tell me what you think. Any feedback, both good and bad, is still good. I tried to lighten the tone from the last chapter. I hoped it work. The next chapter will be out really soon and its longer.