Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2016 12:36:43 +0000
From: Chezdon <chezdon1997@gmail.com>
Subject: Innocence Waning, Chapters 19

Chapter 19

"I think I will just have a chicken burger today. What are you thinking?"
Austin is standing next to me in the back of the queue at Nandos fiddling
with the button of his shirt where hungry lunchtime patrons are salivating
on the floor in anticipation of ordering nourishment. He crosses his arms
suddenly and turns to face me.

Austin quickly moves the blond strands of hair that is covering his left
eye. "The first words you say in what, fifteen minutes, are asking me what
I am going to bloody order? Your supposed best mate was about to beat the
shit out of you. Your fucking shirt is torn, your chest is scratched up and
red thanks to that psycho and you casually walk here with me and the first
thing you can say to me is that you want to order a fucking chicken burger?
Do you know what fucking sauce you want too?" I have never seen Austin so
serious or so menacing as he leans closer to my face and raises his
voice. "Fuck Chezdon!."

The hungry and thirsty office workers who are standing both in front of us
and behind us take a sudden interest in Austin's rant. "What do you want me
to say Austin? That I am hurt? Bothered? Of course I am. I just can't put
my emotions into words at the moment and I really don't know what the fuck
to say." I put my hand on Austin's shoulder and he jerks it away abruptly.

"Don't touch me! You know, fuck it." Austin groans and then looks away from
me. A large gap has developed between the patrons in the queue that are not
paying attention to our conversation and those that are in front of us. The
nosey adults get the hint and move closer to the register so we can shuffle
closer in turn. "If you don't want to talk Chezdon, I will. I am pissed."

"Why are you pissed off? He tried to punch me. Not you! Look what he did to
me. What do you want me to say? Give a detailed commentary of what you saw?
What everyone saw? Well mate, if you are pissed off, let me assure you that
I am too. You shouldn't be pissed off at me though." I start to roll up the
sleeves of my shirt after unbuttoning the cuffs and then take off my tie as
I start to speak yet again. "Honestly I really don't know what to say. I am
gobsmacked. Just really gobsmacked."

The couple standing in front us shuffles reluctantly closer to the cash
register to begin the process of placing their order. "Do you remember the
first time we were in this place this week?" Austin reaches over and tugs
my shirt. With the top three buttons missing, I assume he doesn't want me
to look like I am going clubbing. "I sure do."

"Of course I do. It was one of the greatest days of my life since we
started to officially see each other after lunch that day. You are like my
first boyfriend and that moment will be with me for the rest of my life."
The woman standing behind Austin in line coos and puts her hand on the
shoulder of the man standing next to her who looks bored and hungry.

"To be honest Chezdon, after we decided to actually be boyfriends and date
and of course spend the night together, because I was so unprepared for the
events of the day, I had left my pills at home." I hear the woman behind
the cash register beginning to sort out the transaction for the couple in
front of us. We will have to order soon. "I felt happy for the first time
in years and it was a natural happiness for the first time, in well,
yeah. Years. I loved the feeling. I needed the pills to keep interested in
living day-by-day and improve my mood, but when I woke up with you, I felt
a normal teenager and the fog that had been burdening me, I mean,
overwhelming me for years had actually passed." The couple in front of us
in line walk away with a receipt in hand and the server behind the till
asks how she can help us. "What I am saying Chezdon is that I haven't taken
a pill since Monday night. It has been nearly seventy-two hours, three
whole days since I have taken one but right now goddamnit I feel like I
need one."

"Mate, you can go in front of us." I wave at the couple who are standing
behind us waiting to order and motion to them to cut in front of us. "What
do you mean pills? I didn't know you took pills. What sort of pills?"

"Antidepressants. Prozac. There is a lot you don't know about me
Chezdon. The reason why I am saying all of this is because I need a
boyfriend that makes me feel safe. You do a good job of that and I think my
new relationship with you has made me feel something that I haven't felt
since I was nine years old. Alive." The woman standing next to her hungry
dining companion is asked what she wants to order and quickly says she will
have whatever the guy is having so she can continue to eavesdrop on us. "I
really like the feelings that I have now. The feelings of being a normal
teenager. I actually notice what it is like when my heart beats faster when
I see you or think about you during the day. I haven't had feelings like
this, really. I have never had them before and I don't want them to end. I
want to stay off the fucking pills but I need you to put an end to all of
this fucking drama as it is stressing me out. So you can stand there
gobsmacked about what Jayden did and only talk about your lunch, so
hopefully what I said filled the void and it makes it easier for you. Now
will you fucking order your chicken burger?" Austin smiles and points at
the girl behind the cash register who is staring at me.

"Welcome to Nandos, can I take your order?" The attendant asks in a
monotone voice.

I order food and beverage and Austin does the same. The break in the
conversation gives me time to consider everything that Austin said. I
realise that I have been a selfish dickhead carrying on the way that I
have. I am responsible for the convoluted mess with Jayden and of course
the unneeded excitement with James earlier in the week. I walk towards the
only empty table which is next to the couple who ordered before us. The
woman looks excited that she will be able to continue to eavesdrop on our
conversation. I begin to speak again as we sit down on the wooden chair. "I
am sorry Austin. I really am." I twist off the cap of my Coke and take a
long drink all the time meeting Austin's gaze. "You always seemed to be so
normal and so funny. I never would have thought that you of all people had
to take pills for depression of all things."

"If you had parents like mine, you would take Prozac too." Austin gives me
a wry smile and adjusts his hair again. Sweat stains are beginning to form
on the cotton fabric under his arms. I have never seen Austin sweat before.

I smile and begin to swirl the Coke in the plastic bottle like I would do
wine if I had a glass of it right now. "It will all be fine Austin. It is
amazing that you are not taking the pills though. I really have to ask a
stupid question but what was it like to sit here say a month ago when you
were on them compared to right here and right now?" I find his leg with my
foot and rub it gently. He doesn't move it away. "What I find interesting
is that when I drink wine it lowers my anxiety because the world has just
become too vibrant, fast and colourful and I want to slow it down so I can
appreciate it. It almost seems like you experience the polar opposite."

"Using you word, colourful." Austin opens his bottle of Sprite and takes a
drink. "Up until Monday, my life felt like an old black and white silent
movie and now there are rich and exciting colours and plenty of CGI
animation and everything is happening in surround sound. I like this life
much more."

"After today, when I am done with your parents, we can live this great and
colourful life together. I can't wait Austin." I give Austin a very wide
cheeky smile and he begins to blush and looks at his lap. The woman sitting
next to me coos again and I catch the gaze of the bloke that she is with
and he simply rolls his eyes. "I guess I should talk about Jayden."

"Well it would make sense about right now." Austin looks up at me and then
at the woman sitting next to us and smiles.

"Obviously Jayden is confused and jealous of us on more levels than one. I
realise it didn't help me giving him shit in class yesterday or even today
for that matter and I guess in the end that is why I was apologising so
much after he tried to hit me." The server comes over and places food on
the table next to us but this does not distract the woman from
eavesdropping. "Thanks by the way. You saved my pretty face."

"You are welcome. I can't have anything happen to that face of yours, it is
the only reason why I am attracted to you. It certainly isn't your hair
today." Austin grins and swirls the carbonated beverage around in the
bottle.

Our food is delivered and because of that our conversation pauses so that
we can stuff our mouths with protein and carbohydrates, the woman at the
table next to us also begins to eat her lunch and speak to her dining
companion about the horrific traffic in the general area. After I swallow a
spoonful of coleslaw, I look up at Austin. "So Austin, have you had sex
with a girl?" My eyebrows shoot up and Austin begins to blush and play with
the chicken on his plate. He did intrigue me by saying there is so much
about him that I don't know earlier.

"Yeah I have." I fumble my bottle of Coke but catch it before it rolls off
the table and on to the floor. The woman sitting next to us tilts her head
toward us again. "Just once, it was with my sister's friend. Do you want to
know the juicy details?" I nod. "Fine then. It was last year. She had been
putting the hard word on me for a while so I said that we should do the old
fucky at a prearranged time. Romantic hey?" Austin smiles and looks at the
chicken on his plate once again and uses his fork to move it around. "She
came around to my house one Friday night. My parents thought she was just
around to wait for my sister to come home, so we ended up in my room. She
got undressed. I found the DVD for The Perks of Being a Wallflower and
quickly advanced it halfway thinking if I saw Logan Lerman, you know the
guy from the Percy Jackson movies, that I would get in the mood and I just
imagined fucking him, so I got a boner and put it in her. It didn't last
long. Maybe a minute. Anyway, she took the old filled condom off of me and
went to toss it in my toilet. I took that as an opportunity to hide the
other condom that she brought around. I shoved it in one of my shoes so
when she came back and wanted to go again she couldn't find the condom and
I was let off the hook. She knew I wasn't into it, and that my friend is
when I knew one hundred percent that I would much rather fuck a guy." The
woman sitting next to us laughs and I give her a death stare. She puts her
hand over her mouth. "What about you?"

"Yeah, like you, just once." I drink the rest of the Coke and set the empty
bottle on the table. "I suppose you want the story?" Austin nods rapidly. I
look at the table next to us. "Do you want to hear the story too?" The
woman looks mortified and shocked. The man simply says "sure mate."

Austin chuckles and then chews on the leg of chicken.

"It was a couple of months ago and I was at the birthday party for that
chick that Jayden was or is or supposedly seeing." Austin starts to speak
before he fully swallows a morsel of chicken and starts to cough.

"Oh Jesus, Chezdon." Austin's eyes go wide. "Jesus."

"Well, the party carried on and then everyone left. I actually left with
Jayden. We got to the tram stop and then I realised that I left my keys at
that chick's place, so I had to go back and get them. The tram turned up
then and Jayden got on it and I walked back to her house. So I knocked on
the door a few times and she finally opened it. She was pretty drunk and
just assumed that I came back to give her my dick as her birthday gift. I
told her that I just wanted my keys. So I went into her place, remembering
I left them on the table in the living room. It only took a few seconds
after walking in that she had her hands all over me and groping me and
shit. Anyway, we ended up on the floor. Just know that I am not proud of
this." I look around at the three people watching and listening and then
take another bite of my chicken burger.

"And?" Austin demands.

I swallow and drink some more Coke before continuing. "Despite my telling
her no a hundred times, I finally got into the mood and decided to give her
what she wanted. So I pulled her pants off and got out my old boy who was
ready and willing to go. I tried to put it in her but it didn't fit." The
woman sitting next to me starts laughing. A new look of shock appears on
Austin's face as he is interpreting my words in the sense that I did not
intend them. "No, not because I am as huge as a baby's arm, but there was
something actually inside her. I found a thread and pulled on it and out
came a bloody tampon. I was like what the fuck!" Austin starts to
giggle. The bloke at the table next to me has a smile on his face and
nonchalantly eats his fries. "So she wanted it, so I put it in her after
that. Like you Austin, I started thinking of the boys in 5 Seconds of
Summer so I really got going. A couple of minutes later she closed her eyes
so I stopped and got my keys and left.

"So you didn't finish the job?" Austin is chewing on his tongue and has a
smirk on his face. "This is hilarious Chezdon."

"You haven't heard the half of it. Anyway, the next day I see both her and
Jayden at the tram stop. Jayden was getting the tram home and she got on
the tram to the city with me. She then she started telling me what a
dickhead Jayden is because after they had gone out for so long and all he
could ever do is grope her tits, he picked last night when she was drunk to
fuck her. So she gets all worked up saying that a girl knows when someone
cums in them and she knows that the bastard didn't cum in her, or on her
and she didn't think he even had worn a condom because she didn't have any
and she knew damn well that Jayden didn't carry a supply on him. She then
calls him an animal for half-fucking her and then tops it off by
rhetorically asking me what kind of animal fucks a girl when they are on
their period. She said she was so mortified when she woke up, found her
tampon had been taken out and thrown over near the television willy-nilly
and she was grateful to god apparently that she woke up before her mother
found her on the floor half naked."

The woman sitting next to me gasps and the man starts laughing
hysterically. Austin licks his lips. "Only you Chezdon. Only you. My wild
boy. You are a wild animal!" He starts to laugh loudly which causes heads
to turn and stare.

"After that she obviously didn't want to have anything to do with Jayden,
but since Jayden is obviously gay, or very confused, I just chalk it up to
the vagaries of the teenage experience." The bloke at the table continues
to laugh and the woman swats him on the shoulder and says it is not that
funny before they both get up and leave flashing me an amused look on the
way out.

"So in the meantime you beat off to the members of 5 Seconds of Summer and
I have Logan Lerman to dream about. Now we sit here telling ridiculous
stories." Austin wipes his mouth and tosses the serviette on his plate.

"I hope we are telling each other ridiculous stories for a long time
Austin. That and creating a few of our own." I smile, wipe my mouth and
toss my serviette on to the table.

"Me too. You know what?" Austin smiles. "I forgot that I wanted a pill when
you made me laugh and I feel just fine now. Hell, I thought I was going to
have a panic attack earlier."

I stand up and pick up my bag and Austin follows my lead. This time he lets
me put my hand on his shoulder and I kiss his cheek. "I won't let anything
happen to you mate. I really like you."

"Me too." Austin smiles. "I really like me too!"

I laugh and ram my shoulder into Austin as we walk out of Nandos. "Do you
want to hang out after school?" We start walking back to Melbourne Grammar
and I notice the traffic that the woman sitting next to me was previously
complaining about. It is backed up so badly even the tram cannot pass
through the intersection.

"I would love to, but I have my therapy session every Thursday afternoon. I
will see you tonight at my place though. I know that will be all fun and
games." Austin drops to his knees and begins to sort through his backpack.

"Therapy?" I stop next to Austin and tie a shoe that was becoming loose. He
finds a lightweight jumper in his bag that has the school crest on it and
tosses it at my head.

"Yeah, I have been going to the shrink since I was thirteen. Do you think I
can talk to my parents about what goes on in my life? It is really
helpful. Everyone should see one. Don't worry Chez, I am not crazy." We
both stand up. "Put that on, you can't go back to school with that torn
shirt looking like a rent boy." Another reference to being a teenage
hooker. Great. I unbutton yet another white shirt that has been ruined by
Jayden, take it off and drop it on the ground. The four girls in the Toyota
Corolla that are stuck in traffic on the street next to us start to leer
and shout at me. "Take it all off!" one yells. I smile and put on Austin's
jumper and pull the sleeves up as far as they go. "Let's go." Austin
commands authoritatively and gives a dirty look to the girl that was
shouting from the stationary car and I have to jog briefly to catch up to
Austin.

"Hey!" I walk at a faster pace to keep up with Austin's gait. "I was
thinking earlier that it seems that you have changed a bit over the
week. Do you think it has anything to do with you not taking those pills?"
Austin brushes his hair from his eyes and clears his throat. "You just seem
more matter of fact. Not so much a spectator to life's events if that makes
sense."

"Without the pills, naturally I feel like I have had ten coffees at any
given time. It is great." Austin shoots me a toothy smile and licks his
lips. "Gotta go. Will message you later." Austin swings his bag from one
shoulder to the other and walks away, stopping once to turn around and
raise his right hand to me once more, before quickly walking down the
footpath, obviously concerned that he will be late for class since his next
one is at the other side of campus.

The remaining hours at school once again drag on as a feeling of dread
begins to fill my now grumbling stomach. Why I am hungry again is anyone's
guess but the persistent droning of the voice of the Economics lecturer
gives me a headache. Whilst he carries on about supply and demand and draws
a graph with his back turned to the class, I take the opportunity to search
my bag for some pain relievers. Finding the tray of white pills that I took
from Shaun, I pop one out of the protective foil and wash the pill down
from the warm water bottle that has been in the bottom of my bag for
weeks. My thoughts turn to my mother where I try to put together a
flowchart in my head of how to play things out this evening with her and
once I come to the conclusion that I have no idea what is in store for me,
we are dismissed for the day.

For the first time in days I walk out of school without any pomp and
circumstance. Walking to my usual tram stop on St Kilda Road, I decide to
listen to the radio and put my headphones in my ears and get lost in the
moment walking and then waiting for the tram to screech to a halt in front
of me.

Leaning on the side of the tram carriage with my shoulder against a pole
gives me the stability I need to focus my attention on my phone and respond
to text messages and then check social media without having to worry about
the sudden stopping or starting of the tram knocking me down. Someone taps
me on the shoulder that I previously didn't notice was standing in front of
me as the inanimate object in my hand has my undivided attention for many
minutes. I look up slowly and methodically yet deliberately remove the
earbud from my right ear and catch the gaze of an unfamiliar young
man. "G'day." I simply say to the brown-haired teenager.

"Hi." The lanky teenager who is taller and skinnier than me says. He
doesn't go to my school as I would probably have noticed him around and he
is not dressed in a school uniform. He looks towards two girls that are
seated toward the rear of the tram and they giggle and then proceed to have
a conversation. Is this boy really going to try to set me up with one of
his friends? The tram screeches to a halt at the next stop which makes me
use my strong leg muscles and prevent from being thrust forward. The lanky
boy in front of me reaches up and holds on to the overhead handles. "You go
to Melbourne Grammar right?"

I look down at my right tit at the crest of our school, which is emblazoned
on the shirt that is on loan from Austin. I feel like saying something
smart-arse, but I hold it in. "Yep. I do. You don't do you?"

The tram makes an annoying dinging sound before disembarking from the
stop. "No, Melbourne High of course." He laughs and I don't know why it
would be funny. The tram jerks suddenly which causes me to lose balance and
I step on the boy's foot and he shouts. It is then I notice that he is
wearing thongs to accompany his skinny blue jeans. "Owww! Shit!" He screams
which makes some commuters look at him and his girlfriends at the back of
the tram laugh.

I feign some concern. "Sorry mate. Are you okay?" The boy doesn't seem too
phased in the end and after bending down to make sure his foot didn't get
pulverised by my heavy show and seeing there are no abrasions, he stands
back up and holds on to the handles that are attached to the ceiling of the
carriage. "Sorry about that. The tram driver must be on his learner's
license." I laugh which makes the boy laugh.

"I'm alright. Hey! My friends and I have seen you on this tram heaps and
they are making me come and talk to you." I wedge myself back against the
side of the carriage and the safety pole that most people would normally
hold on to, but I don't bother. "My name is Brody." He then points at the
girls that are snickering. "The one with the purple hair is Gemma and my
other friend is Sarah." I give them each a big toothy smile and wave.

"G'day Brody. Chezdon." I extend my hand and proceed to shake his. He
doesn't apply much pressure to my sweaty hand which strangely doesn't
surprise me. "What are you up to on this fine day?" Pleasant conversation
seems to be what is required on this short journey back to Southbank.

"What a cool name. Chezdon. I really like that." Brody smiles at me and
then I notice his face start to blush. He starts to massage his neck and
looks at the floor of the carriage. "I just wanted to say that we see you
on this tram occasionally and we thought that we might never get the chance
again to see you. So, um. So please don't laugh, and I don't know if it is
your thing or not, but I think you are really hot and I was wondering if
you would want to hang out sometime." His blue eyes move from looking at
the carriage floor and then directly into mine briefly before looking at
his friends who have their hands covering their mouths. The professionally
dressed man standing next to me at least is focused on reading the
newspaper on his tablet and is not interested.

I unlock my phone and hand it to Brody. "Call yourself so we can stay in
touch." He takes my phone and finds the dialling application and calls his
phone. I see it vibrating in his hand. "Yeah, maybe some time we can."

"Cool. Here you go. You got a text from Jayden McKenzie." He hands me back
my phone and I lock it and put it in my back pocket. Being tired of
fighting, I decide to check the message from Jayden later. "Do you live
around here? Is that guy your boyfriend?" So many questions from this
stranger.

"Yeah, I live in Southbank. Actually I am getting off at the next
stop. What about you?" I casually pick up my bag and rest it on my shoulder
as I prepare for the tram to convulse and come to a halt, not knowing how
to respond to his query about Jayden.

"Richmond. So not very far. Just going to get the train at Flinders. Maybe
you would want to see a movie sometime?" The boy is persistent and I like
that. I start to wonder how much younger he is than me as I catch a glimpse
of his armpit through his shirt sleeve when his arms are raised up over his
head holding on for his life gripping the handles as the tram screeches to
a stop. It appears he is just starting to sprout armpit hair so he should
in my professional estimate be fourteen.

The tram doors glide open with a thud and a few commuters begin to
disembark into the covered tram stop that I am very familiar with. Not
being in the mood for study or just sitting around and thinking of my
impending visit with my estranged mother, I decide to be equally as bold as
Brody. "Sure mate. How about right now?" I smile and walk off the tram and
onto the platform. Brody runs out of sight and in roughly five seconds runs
and hops off the tram before the doors close with his backpack and a
skateboard. "You know you could have pressed the button on the door and
they would have stayed open?" I ask him inquisitively taking a few seconds
to check out the lanky boy with floppy brown hair.

"Where is the fun in that?" Brody smiles. "Hold on, I need to text Gemma to
tell her I am going to hang out with you. She should know if I end up
floating in the Yarra river dead that she should send the coppers your way
at Melbourne Grammar." Brody's laugh infects me as he types out a message
on his iPhone and I start to chuckle. I follow his lead and read the
message that I received from Jayden after taking a deep breath. My
curiosity once again gets the best of me.

 Jayden McKenzie: I really want to talk to you, but in person and I will be
honest with you. Hope you will be with me. See you tomorrow. -J

I lock my phone and slide it back into the safety of my arse pocket. There
is no rush to deal with Jayden and it concerns me that my so-called friend
now wants to have a deep and meaningful conversation. The feeling of
concern quickly morphs into confusion as I am at a loss at what Jayden will
say if he wants to honestly talk about our recent fights and our shared
sexual experience. I drift off for a few seconds staring up the tram line
that runs to the centre of Melbourne which gives Brody the opportunity to
wave his hand in front of my face. "Earth to Chezdon. Come in Chezdon."

"Sorry dude. Do you want some food? My shout." We walk across the tram
lines and through the tram stop on the other side of the tracks before
waiting for the light at the pedestrian crossing to change. "I would kill
for a burrito right now."

"Can you get Mexican food around here?" He drops the skateboard on the
ground and it makes a thump as all four orange wheels hit the asphalt at
the same time.

The light changes green. Traffic stops to let us cross. Brody hops on the
skateboard and pushes off gently. "Yeah man, there is a Mexican place at
Southgate. Do you want to go there?" He ollies the skateboard and leaps up
the kerb and stays balanced. A pair of tourists quickly run for cover and
one nearly drops her selfie stick and phone. "You are good. Can I have a
go?"

"You board?" A look of glee forms on his round face as he stomps hard on
the rear of the board, kicking it up into the air which he deftly catches,
and hands it to me.

I drop my bag on the footpath and take my phone out of my pocket and put it
in the top compartment of my bag. I haven't ridden a skateboard for a year
so I suspect that I will end up on my arse. "Not for a while, but I used to
all the time." I drop the board on the ground and push off and quickly get
some speed. I try to do a kickflip but fail but I still end up on my
feet. I grab the board again and push off for the second time and attempt a
heelflip and almost nail it and fortunately keep my balance and land on my
feet once again. Brody looks impressed nonetheless. Finally, I take off
quickly on the skateboard and attempt to ollie onto a wooden bench. As I
didn't have enough speed, the skateboard flies into the air and I fall back
onto my back on the concrete and shout in pain. My ego is bruised more than
anything after I stand up and dust myself off, avoiding the stares of the
annoyed public that are walking past.

"Wow! that was cool. Impressive. Are you sure it has been a while? You are
a natural mate." Brody walks over to me and hands me my bag and I hand him
his board back. "Why did you stop skating?"

"I got in trouble for stealing a mobility scooter and that was one of the
things that was taken from me. I just never bothered skating again. My
father threw my board down the rubbish chute he was so pissed off and I
just never got another one." Brody starts laughing as he hops on his board
again and we big in to walk towards the Southgate food court.

"You mean one of those electric scooters old senile people drive around to
the shops and stuff?" He pushes off slowly again and we travel at the same
pace. He towers over me standing on the board and it makes me feel
self-conscious. Brody puts his hand on my shoulder so he can use my
momentum to stand on the board and travel with no effort.

"Yeah mate. It wasn't my smartest move. It was left outside of the
newsagent whilst the owner was inside shopping so I decided to take it for
a joy ride. The old woman who owned it didn't find it as funny as my mates
and I did, so she called the cops and I had to do a please explain to my
father." The memory of the incident amuses me even to this day as Jayden
shouted words of encouragement to me and egged me on at the time. "So I was
punished and my old man threw away my skateboard."

"That is fucking funny." I end up pushing Brody a few times so he can
lazily drift to the entrance of Southgate and then wisely hops off the
board and walks inside the food court with it. I point out the Mexican
place which is next to the Subway franchise and we agree to get a couple of
big fat chicken burritos. We languish for a while in the food court and
talk about life and times where I learn that he has three older sisters and
is the youngest in his family and is in fact fourteen. After finishing
eating, we decide to go back to my apartment to play video games and watch
a movie.

Arriving at Eureka Tower, I enter my home and notice that the car keys are
all missing so both Daniel and Mel are either out working or entertaining
themselves elsewhere. Brody follows me to my room after commenting on both
the view of Melbourne from so high up in the sky and then marvels at the
collection of wine. "Do you like wine?" I ask without having the intention
of providing my thoughts on the beautiful fermented grapes and how I enjoy
drinking them out of a glass.

"I have never had wine. I have had beer a few times though." He pulls a
bottle from the rack and looks at the label and then repeats the process
for a different bottle. I consider opening a bottle but decide against
it. I know it is going to be a long night and despite having no motivation
to go see Lord Voldemort, I know that it will only be worse if I am drunk
so opt to be responsible like the young adult that I am. I walk towards my
room and Brody follows. I let him pass me and close the door and then toss
my bag next to my desk and begin to take off my shoes and socks, discarding
them on the pile of dirty laundry that never seems to get any smaller.

Brody sits on my unmade bed next to me. "Let me see your foot." Confused I
raise my bare foot up in the air in front of him and he grabs it. "You have
such a soft foot." He quickly scratches its sole which causes me to jump in
place and giggle. Still holding my foot, he gets up off my bed and squats
down and begins to suck on my big toe. I am shocked at first and then catch
his big blue eyes staring at me whilst he suggestively brings my big toe in
and out of his mouth repeatedly and I feel my cock being recalled to life
in my trousers.

I interrupt the slurping sounds that Brody is making as he sucks on my toe
like a vacuum with slurp up spilled rice on the floor. "Come on mate, that
is enough." I use the strength in my leg and pull my foot away from Brody
and my big toe from his mouth. He licks his lips. "I am not really into
that." I quickly try to rationalise why anyone would want to suck a dirty
toe attached to a smelly foot.

Brody follows me back on to my bed and rests on his elbows next to
me. "Your boyfriend must not like sucking on your toes then. I am sure that
he likes sucking on this." He quickly places his hand on my thigh whilst he
is speaking and then attempts to grab my cock, which has blood rushing into
it. Instinctively wanting to do one thing and live in the moment is
superseded by thoughts of Austin and doing the right thing. "He isn't as
good at it as I am." Brody gives me a wicked smile and grabs my legs as I
shuffle back and put my head on my pillow before pushing myself up and
resting against the headboard.

"Just stop mate. I think you should go." My words flow out of my mouth and
convey one wish by my flushed and hot face and the bulge in my trousers
would be communicating other desires. "I am flattered though." I try to
play to Brody's ego to diffuse the awkward situation that could quickly go
out of control if I allow it.

The lanky boy grunts, clears his throat and rolls onto his back. After
pausing for a few seconds, he undoes his buckle and then unbuttons his blue
skinny jeans and unzips them. He stumbles up holding on to my bed and puts
his hand down the front of his boxers to adjust himself. "Look what you do
to me!" He quickly pulls his small hand out from his black boxers and
smells it whilst looking around my room and then zips up his jeans and
fastens the belt once again whilst I just watch the random event play out
in front of me. "I guess I can understand, you don't want to cheat on your
boyfriend." Brody picks up a framed photo of Jayden and I that is perched
on my desk and looks at it. "He has no problem cheating on you."

I shuffle to the side of my bed, grateful that my penis has decided to
begin the process of going into hibernation. I quickly adjust myself when
Brody is paying attention to the framed photograph. "That guy isn't my
boyfriend, he is just a mate." I stand up and take the photo frame from him
and glance at it quickly. The memory of being at the cricket last summer,
which is where the photo was taken floods my mind and a smile forms on my
face. I put the framed photo back on my desk and glance at Brody who has
started to look around my room again.

 "That is the guy, the one in the photo that sent you a text earlier right?
Jayden right?" Brody sits on my bed again and his floppy hair at first
covers both of his blue eyes until he moves it to the side. His insight
into my world creeps me out as why he would bother associating the two
really unnerves me and for a quick second I wonder why he would even
care. "It should be no surprise then how much your mate likes cock. He has
given a few blowies that I will not forget." Brody laughs and scratches his
forehead.

I pick up Brody's skateboard and bag and motion towards my bedroom door by
looking toward it. "I reckon it is time to go mate. I should probably do
some school work."

"Awww. Come on, Chezdon. I thought we were going to watch a movie. I am
sure you have some hot porn we can watch." Brody leans back and starts
rubbing his bulge through his jeans. "Your mate Jayden sure likes his
porn. I watched some with him whilst he sucked me off." He starts to laugh,
obviously having amused himself whilst I decide on a way to move him along.

"Naw, I am not really up for it mate. Maybe another time. Let's go." I walk
towards my bedroom door and open it. I hear footfalls behind me as Brody
follows me through the apartment and towards the front door. I grab my keys
and open the door and watch him go into the corridor. I want to make sure
that he leaves the building, so I press the button to call for the elevator
and hand him his bag and the skateboard.

"Okay, I will ring your friend Jayden. He will be up for watching a movie."
Brody nudges me with his elbow in my side twice and winks at me. He drops
this skateboard on the carpet and steps on it. "You look at me like I am
talking shit or something?"

Sometimes saying nothing says more than trying to verbalise anything, so I
stay quiet and wait for the elevator to arrive. Brody quickly yanks his
iPhone from the rear pocket of his skinny jeans and starts swiping at the
device frantically. The familiar ding indicating that the elevator has
arrived sounds and the doors open. I quickly walk into the elevator and
Brody pushes off on his skateboard and glides inside. I press the button to
take us to the ground floor and remain silent.

"See." Brody extend his arm and thrusts his iPhone only centimetres from my
face. I see a photo of Jayden attached to a contact card with his mobile
number. He brings the phone back toward him as the elevator quickly
descends to the ground floor. Mixed emotions begin to overwhelm me and my
knees begin to feel weak, like they are going to collapse against the wait
of my torso. Brody continues to swipe at his phone and thrusts it once
again in my face. This time on the screen, a shirtless photo of Jayden is
taking a selfie in what is indeed his bathroom at home is on display for me
to see. My eyes then dart up at the LCD display as the elevator comes to a
stop at level eight. The doors open but nobody gets into the
elevator. Brody then returns to swiping like a maniac on his phone and
after the elevator continues its journey to the ground floor and the
numbers on the LCD start counting down from ten, Brody again thrusts his
phone into my face. "Press play."

I reluctantly press the play button on the video that he has queued up. The
video quickly starts out with a shirtless Brody panning to Jayden with his
bare arse exposed. The elevator comes to a halt on the ground floor and the
doors open at the same time the video cuts to Brody inserting his penis
into Jayden's butthole. "I have seen enough. Turn that off." Other
residents waiting to get into the elevator with bags of groceries look
irritated and I quickly walk out into the lobby of the building. Brody
follows on his skateboard.

"Don't act so surprised Chezdon." Brody puts his backpack on his back.
"Anyway, I will zip. Later." Brody slips his phone back into his pocket and
sets off on his skateboard through the lobby of my apartment tower and then
deftly passes through the revolving door. Like Austin earlier, he stops to
turn around and wave at me however it is more like a signal that he won a
game of shock and awe for the day. I didn't think things would get any more
awkward, but they now have.