Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 09:59:52 -0500
From: music teacher <musicteacher2002@hotmail.com>
Subject: "This is the Night" chapter 15

Disclaimer:  I have an overactive imagination, the result of which is this
story.  I do not know Clay Aiken or any other celebrities mentioned in this
story, and I do not intend to imply anything about their true sexualities.
Simply file this in the "Wouldn't it be nice...?" portion of your mind.  Also,
if you are under legal age to be reading this sort of stuff (18 in most
areas), then leave now.  All the rest of you who ARE of age, please enjoy my
little mind trip away from the land of reality.

***

CHAPTER 15

***

Soon after I got back from my week on the American Idol tour, it was time
for school to start.  I was actually very happy to get back to the routine
of being in school.  Yes, it meant that I got to see less of Clay, but that
was OK.  He, too, was busy putting the finishing touches on his album.  I
had the pleasure of being able to go in and watch him record one day.  If
the song I got to hear was any indication, the album was going to be
terrific!  Of course, I may be slightly biased...

After almost two weeks of this routine, though, Clay and I began to miss
each other very much.  We talked on the phone every night, but over those
two weeks, we had seen each other maybe three times.  This began to put a
strain on our relationship.  The best example of this strain comes from a
phone conversation we had one night.  We were supposed to have gone out to
dinner, but Clay had gotten home late from the studio.  He called when he
got home to apologize.

"I'm *really* sorry, Randy," he said.  "For some reason, we couldn't get
that last track laid down correctly."

I sighed.  "It's ok," I said, though he and I both knew it wasn't.

"Have you eaten yet?  I'm starved."

"Yeah, I heated up some leftovers," I told him.  "I had no idea how late you
would be, so I couldn't exactly wait around for you."  As soon as I had said
that, I regretted it.

"Well, I'm sorry," he said, getting defensive.  "We needed to get that track
done right if this album is going to come out on time!"

"I know," I said, ashamed at myself for getting so snippy.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said.  "I'm just really stressed.  My voice sounded
awful today."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry.  I know how important this is for
you."

He sighed.  "Isn't stress fun?"

I laughed.  "No," I said.  "And Clay?"

"Yes?"

"Don't EVER say your voice is awful," I told him.  "You have the most
beautiful voice I've ever heard."

"Thanks," he said.  "I guess I was just having an off day today."

"It happens to everyone, babe.  It will be fine, and the album will be
phenomenal.  I know it."

"Thanks," he said again.  "Well, I think I'm going to turn in, so I can get
up and do all this again tomorrow!"

"I have one more lesson plan to finish up, and I'm going to bed also," I
told him.  "Goodnight, Clay.  I love you."

"I love you too, Randy.  Goodnight."

I know that conversation wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but
at the time, it really scared me.  I hate silly arguments, because it's
always been my experience that they turn to something bigger, and spiral out
of control.  The next day after school, I headed over to Scott and Paul's
house.  I needed to talk to someone completely removed from the situation.
They were glad to help, but needed some things cleared up.

"You and Clay have really gotten close, eh?" Scott (the Canadian) observed.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that myself," Paul said.  They both looked
directly at me, eyebrows raised, and I knew Clay and I had been figured out.

"Yeah, well..." I stammered.  "You, uh, might say that we're...uh..."

"Yes?" they both said, leaning forward.

"...in love," I finished.  They were speechless.  "What?" I said, "You
obviously knew that was coming!  Don't look so surprised!"

"We just weren't expecting to hear *you* say you were in love!" Paul said.
"That's great!"

"I'm so happy for you!" echoed Scott.

For the next while, I vented to Scott and Paul my frustrations about Clay
and I leading such separate lives.  I told them pretty much everything about
our relationship (leaving out certain intimate details, of course).  When I
was done, Scott looked at me carefully.

"It seems to me that your relationship really grows every time you two are
either alone or on a trip or something," he observed.

I thought carefully, and then agreed with him.  "You're right."

"Labor Day weekend is coming up, right?  You two should get away somewhere,"
Scott said.

I considered the idea.  "My family always has a big barbecue on Labor Day
weekend," I said.  "We could go there."

"Sounds good," Scott said.

"As long as you two get *some* alone time," Paul supplied.  "You need that,
too, for sure."

And so it was that a week or so later, Clay and I were on the road, headed
to my mother's house for the holiday weekend.  Clay had agreed that the time
away would do us good.  The record company took some convincing, though.  It
seems Labor Day weekend was the target date for the start of the promotional
junket for Clay's album.  Clay went round and round with the execs, finally
winning his argument when he told them that he was just plain tired, and
needed a weekend off to relax.  When he got back, he said, he would be ready
to give 110% to promoting the album.

Clay and I pulled into my mother's driveway around noon on Saturday.  We
walked inside and were greeted by my mother.

"Hi, I'm Mary," she said as she held the door open for us.  I kissed my
mother on the cheek and introduced her to Clay.

"Mom, this is Clay," I said.  I know, I'm brilliant with introductions.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs..."

"Mary," my mother interrupted pleasantly.  "Call me Mary."

I showed Clay upstairs, and we put our stuff in my room.  We wouldn't both
be sleeping in there, though.  My mother knew about me, of course, but she
did not know that Clay and I were dating.  Even if she did, we wouldn't be
sleeping in the same room.  Clay began to look around at all the different
plaques and pictures that were still on the walls of my room.  As he did so,
he had an odd smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing," he replied.  "It's just kinda fun seeing what you were like in
high school."

"Yeah, I was a BIG dork," I said, wrapping my arms around him from behind.

"Was?" he teased.  This smart-assed remark got him a well-deserved smack on
the stomach.  "Lucky for you," he continued, turning around, "I always went
for the dorky type."  He kissed me quickly on the forehead and went over and
sat on my bed.

"So are you sure you're ready for a weekend at my mother's house?" I asked
Clay.

"Definitely," he told me.  "I can't wait to meet the rest of your family."

I chuckled.  "Alright then.  All I have to say is, careful what you wish
for..."  And with that, I took him by the hand and pulled him off the bed.  At
the doorway, I dropped his hand.  Here goes nothing, I thought to myself.

We walked into the living room, where my mother was watching television.  I
sat down on the couch next to her, and Clay sat in the recliner on the other
side of the room.  There was some gardening show on - I wasn't particularly
interested, but we watched, anyway.

At the commercial, my mother finally spoke.  "Clay, you look familiar.  Have
I seen you somewhere before?"

Clay blushed, and was just about to open his mouth to speak when we heard
the garage door go up.

"Rachel's home!" I practically shouted as I bounded down the stairs to greet
her.  Rachel is my older sister, and one of my best friends.  I had not seen
her for almost four months, which is very rare.  My family usually gets
together on all of our birthdays and major holidays, but since I was out of
town on my birthday, that wasn't possible this year.

When I saw my sister walking up the driveway, I walked out to greet her.  We
gave each other a big hug, and chatted in the driveway a bit.  Weird as this
may seem, it was customary for us to do this.  Usually we discussed Mom, and
what kind of mood she seems to be in.  Don't get me wrong, we both love our
mother dearly, but she has mood swings like you wouldn't believe!  These
driveway chats serve as sort of a pre-visit conference.

"I brought a friend home this weekend," I told her.

"Really?  Who?" she wanted to know.

"It's a surprise," I told her with a mischievous smile.

"OK..." she said.  She was obviously wondering what I was up to.  I just
laughed, because she was about to get the surprise of her life.  Rachel was
also a huge Clay fan during American Idol, and was going to love me forever
for giving her the chance to meet him.  I helped Rachel carry her stuff into
her room, and followed her up the stairs.

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Yep, that was the desired reaction, all right.

"Oh my God, you're Clay Aiken!" she said, searching for a place to sit down.

"Last time I checked, anyway," Clay said, winking at her.

"How do you...when did you...what the hell?!"  My sister was cracking me up.
I'd never seen her this star struck.

We explained how we had met, and that we'd become good friends, and hung out
quite a bit.  When I mentioned that Clay and I were "good friends," I
glanced at Clay, and he gave me a knowing smile.  He could tell it made me
uncomfortable to...well, not *lie,* exactly, but rather hide the truth from my
sister and mother.

"I *knew* you looked familiar," my mom said.  "Now we have entertainment for
the barbecue, huh?"  We laughed, and continued watching TV.  After the
program (whatever it was) was over, we heard the oven timer beep.  Mom
pointed Clay toward the downstairs sofa, where he would be sleeping, and
told us all to go wash up for dinner.  Rachel went down to her room to
unpack while Clay and I went to the bathroom to wash our hands.

"You know," Clay began, "if you want to tell your family about us, you can."

"What?  Nah, that's ok..." I said rather unconvincingly.

"Randy," he said, looking at me in the mirror.  "I saw how uncomfortable you
were telling them we were just good friends.  It's OK.  If you trust them, I
trust them."

"OK," I relented.  "If you are sure..."

"I'm positive."

We finished washing our hands and went to the kitchen, where we helped Mom
set the dinner table.  Rachel came upstairs just as we were finished.  This
was a game we became quite good at as kids.  We would get to the table after
it was done being set, and then leave the table to "go to the bathroom" or
"do homework" right as it was time to clear the table.  My parents weren't
stupid, though - they knew fully what was going on.  They just let us get
away with it, most of the time.

We sat down, said grace (something Mom *never* does unless there's company),
and began eating.  Mom had fixed a meatloaf (one of my favorites) and au
gratin potatoes (one of Rachel's favorites), with Jell-O and rolls on the
side.  It was a wonderful meal, and we were all stuffed by the time it was
over.  Toward the end of the meal, Clay and I gave each other a look, and he
nodded at me.

"I'd like to make a toast," I said loudly, raising my glass of diet Pepsi.
Everyone else did the same with their respective drinks.  "To everyone here
at the table.  I'm very glad to be spending this weekend with all of you.  I
have the best family and the best boyfriend I could ever ask for."

"Boyfriend?!" my sister asked.  I set my glass down, as did Clay and my
mother.  Rachel, in a bit of shock, kept hers raised.

"Yes, boyfriend."  I reached over and grabbed Clay's hand.  He squeezed mine
in support.  "We have been together for a few months now.  We're completely
in love, and I can't imagine my life without him," I said honestly.

"Wow..." said Rachel.  "Congratulations, then!"  I let out a huge breath I
didn't even realize I'd been holding as she continued the toast she had
interrupted.  "To everyone at the table, and all the love we share!"

We clinked glasses.  Well, more accurately, Rachel, Clay, and I clinked
glasses.  Mom's glass didn't exactly make a clinking noise as it slammed
down on the table and she got up and walked out of the room.

***

Wow, another dramatic ending!  Will Mary accept Clay as her son's boyfriend?
  How might this affect Randy and Clay's relationship?  Stay tuned to find
out!  Thanks as always to Lee for being my editor - you rock.

As I mentioned last chapter, I am moving this weekend, so it may be a bit
before the next update.  Hopefully it won't be TOO long!  I *might* be
motivated to write the next chapter a little more quickly if I know that
there are people out there who want to read it.  If that's you, write me at
musicteacher2002@hotmail.com to let me know!