Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:22:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: David S <john_mateo418@yahoo.com>
Subject: john and mateo chpt 13/college

Hey guys in response to your e-mails I'm changing the introduction to my
chapters. No longer will I apologize for the grammatical and spelling
errors. I don't have an editor,

so I proof read all of this by myself. As I've said before this story
will move rather slow. All the e-mails are great. Thank you all for
taking the time to write. As I've stated many times, your e-mails are
what keep me going. All comments are welcome. The addy is
john_mateo418@yahoo.com (under score between john_mateo) Please write and
tell me if you like my story. I hope to hear from you.

The usual disclaimer don't read this if you're too young or it's
against the law where you live. This story is about gay men.

Thanks guys and now on with the story of John and Mateo



XIII



John rushed out of the dorm room. He was late. Professor Graham had
called, waking him up from his sleep. Last night's festivities ran
rather late into the night. After dinner He and Mateo along with their
parents went to a coffee house near campus. Being so close to the campus
it was opened 24/7. There they ordered coffees and sat and talked. Before
they knew it, midnight struck. They all agreed it was time to leave. John
and Mateo said their good byes and left to go home. The Villasenor and
the Clarks agreed to meet in the morning for breakfast and then spend
some time together. There was an art gallery in town that housed many
fine works of art. Both Anita and Shelia agreed that they both would
enjoy seeing the gallery.

John ran for his truck. He carried his music bag and his tux. He could
still hear Professor Graham's voice. "John! Where are you? We need you
here to begin the rehearsal." John immediately had shot up in bed. Still
a little groggy he looked at his clock. "Shit!" He had said seeing that
it was nearly 10:00am. He jumped out of bed naked as the day he was born.
He quickly apologized to the professor and said that he'd be there as
soon as he could. He rushed through his morning rituals of showering and
shaving. He removed the peach fuzz from his chin.

When he arrived at the music building he was ushered to one of the many
dressing rooms. He felt kind of funny seeing his name on the door. He
walked in to see a beautiful arrangement of flowers sitting on a small
table near the mirrored dressing table. He hung the tux in the closet,
and walked over to the flowers. He noticed a small envelope with a card.
He opened the small envelope to read it: "John, Wanted to let you know
that we love you! Break a leg. Mom and Dad."

His face spread in a smile as he reread the card. "Oh my gawd, that's
so sweet." he said. He wiped the tears from his face.

There was a knock on the door. "John it's professor Graham, may I come
in?" He walked to the door and pulled it open. Professor Graham was an
older man of about 60 years. He had white platinum hair and blue piercing
eyes. His upper body was round, while his lower body supported his torso
with two thin legs. He was for the most part a calm man. But there were
times when John saw his face turn a dark crimson when he was angered. He
was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt. "So glad you could join us." He
gave him a sly smile, " I thought maybe you were getting cold feet."
John blushed, "I'm so sorry Professor, I over slept. The alarm clock
didn't go off. I hope I didn't hold up things too much." The professor
smiled, "No not at all. Actually it turned out OK anyway. It seems one
of the spots in the ceiling blew and they needed to power off the stage
lights to replace it. So you're lucky this time. John grinned
sheepishly, "Cool." He smiled, "I mean for me of course, not for
you." Professor Graham chuckled, "We'll be ready on about 15 minutes,
if you'd like you can hang out here. I'll send someone down to get you
when we're ready." John nodded his understanding, "Thanks Professor."
He said as the he opened the door to his room. "I'll be on time, I
promise." Professor Graham chuckled as he left the room. "OK, I'm
counting on it. See ya in a little while."

A few minutes passed when there was another knock on the door. John
opened the door to see a huge flower arrangement with legs. There was a
voice that came from behind it. "John Clark?" it questioned. "Yes I'm
John Clark." The flowers turned to reveal a short man with glasses.
"Delivery." He said as he handed the flowers to John. "I have another
one in the truck, be right back." He returned moments later with a
smaller flower arrangement. John signed for the flowers and gave the man
a five dollar tip. "Thank you sir. Enjoy the flowers." He said as he
tipped an imaginary hat and left.

John closed the door and looked at the beautiful flowers once more. He
found the card on the smaller one. It read: "John, Hope all goes well
tonight. Knock `em dead. All my love, Jacob." John had a grin from ear
to ear. He looked at the larger flower arrangement. It was from Mateo's
parents. The words were in Spanish. "John, Gracias por todo que tu haces
en la vida de nustro hijo. Dios te bendiga. Con amor. Rafael Y Anita
Villasenor."

Underneath was the translation. "John, Thank you for all you've done in
our son's life. God Bless. With love, Rafael and Anita Villasenor."
John's eyes began to moisten as he reread the note. He was touched by
all the support he felt around him. He felt like the luckiest guys in the
world. To be surrounded by the love of family and friends was an awesome
thing.

His phone rang. "Hello?" With caller ID John already knew who it was.
"Hey Guerito. I snuck out of training to give you a quick call. How are
you?" John's heart sped up. "I'm good now that I hear your voice. I
was almost later this morning." John heard an intake of air. "Oh shit I
thought I reset the alarm clock. You looked so peaceful sleeping this
morning I didn't want to wake you. I went for a run this morning and
when I got back you were gone, so I figured you got up on time. I'm
sorry babe." John chuckled, "It's cool babe. Professor Graham called
and woke me up. No sweat. There was some kind of technical problem with
the stage lights so it held up the rehearsal anyway." Mateo exhaled,
"Oh good. So tell me what's on the agenda today?."

John said, "Well I have rehearsal from whenever to 4pm and then I have
this dinner with the orchestra and music committee. Then they have this
cocktail gathering for the alumni, they want me to meet and mingle with
some of the people there. Then the concert. I'm afraid I wont be able to
see you until after the concert." John could hear the disappointment in
Mateo's voice. He wanted to cry himself. "It's cool babe. I'll see
you tonight after the concert. I'll be in the front seat, cheering you
on." There was a pause in Mateo's words, "I love you so much John."
John's voice cracked, "Oh babe, I love you too. I wish I could see you
at least for a few minutes before the concert." Mateo echoed John's
wish. "Me too baby. We'll celebrate afterwards, OK?" John smiled,
"OK, can't wait." They said their goodbyes and hung up. As John was
closing the phone there was a knock on the door. A male voice called out,
"John they're ready to start the rehearsal." John called out, "OK be
right there." He grabbed a bottle of water from his bag and left for the
stage.









* * *

The rehearsal went well. They did two full run-throughs and ironed out a
few more winkles and details. John preformed perfectly both times. He was
glad that he had that talk with Jacob earlier in the week. He felt ready
for tonight's performance.

* * *

The orchestra and stage staff were treated to a dinner by the university.
They went from the music hall to another room in the building. The
caterers set up tables with mounds of steaming food. John hadn't realize
that he hadn't eaten yet. His stomach grumbled when he smelled the food.
He ate his dinner of chicken and rice and a few servings of veggies. He
sat with the string section of the orchestra. Over the past week he'd
become friends with a few of them. They all complimented John on his
performance of the piece and wished him well tonight. He thanked them all
and soaked up all the good vibes in the room. About five o'clock he
returned to his dressing room to dress. He needed to be at that cocktail
meeting at five thirty. He took a quick shower in his dressing room and
dressed in his tuxedo.

At five thirty he walked into a room located next to the performance
hall. He was greeted at the door by a couple of women. Immediately he was
recognized, "Oh! John Clark is here." The taller woman said to the
shorter one. "Go run and tell Professor Graham." The ladies became
frazzled, their blue tinted white hair catching the lights as they rushed
to greet him. One of the women smiled at John and raced by him muttering
something about finding the professor. The other stood before John with a
gleam in her eye, with her red lipped mouth forming a croaked smile.
"Hello John, my name is Hildegard Buckley, class of 1966, it's very
nice to meet you." John smiled as he returned her hand shake, "It's
nice to meet you too Mrs. Buckley. She glowed, " I am looking forward to
tonight's performance. I've heard nothing but good things about you
John." He again smiled, "Thank you. I'll do my best." She smiled,
"Well here comes Professor Graham I better get back to my job. It was a
pleasure meeting you young man." Once again the pair shook hands and
Hildegard Buckley returned to the door to resumed her job of "greeter".

The professor and John made the rounds of the room twice. He was
introduced to many of the alumni. John shook so many hands he wondered if
his arm would fall off. He met so many people from all walks of life.
Doctors and lawyers seemed to make up the majority of alumni in the room.
The professor told him as they walked that the people in the room were
largely responsible for the facilities in the music department. Without
their financial backing, many of the programs would have been
discontinued many years ago.

As it neared 6:30 John was finally able to free himself from the alumni
and return to his dressing room. He double checked his clothes. He made
sure that he was ready for the performance. He washed his face in the
sink. After he was finished he sat on a little couch in the room. As he
sat, he fingered the piece he was to play tonight on his knees. The
fingering was flawless and John felt very confident. He took several deep
breaths to calm his nervousness.

A knock came to his door. "5 Minutes John!" The voice shouted out.
"OK!" Was John's only reply. He left the small room, ready to face the
world.

As he neared the stage he could hear the audience in the concert hall.
All the voices mixed together in different stages of conversations. It
sounded like the place was packed. John edged his way over to the side
stage. There were other members of the orchestra peeking out. He managed
to peek out at the audience without being seen. He was right, The place
was filled to capacity. His eyes quickly scanned the hall. People were
dressed in their finest.

He looked to the front row to see his family and friends. Everyone was
there, Mom, Dad, Rafael, Anita, Jacob, Chris, Gino, PT, and Mamma Anna.
John didn't see Mateo. Where was he? He furrowed his eyebrows. He looked
at his watch. "Five minutes." He said under his breath, "You have five
minutes Mateo." John took one more look out at the audience. He was
starting to worry when he heard a voice behind him, "Looking for
someone?" He turned to see Mateo. He was dressed in the same tuxedo John
wore. He looked beautiful as he stood there with a gleaming smile. John
almost ran to him. "Mateo, I thought you weren't gonna make it." Mateo
smiled, "I wouldn't have missed this for anything baby. You look great
in that tux. Almost good enough to eat." John giggled, "Well you're
looking mighty sharp too love. We're wearing the same tux." Mateo
chuckled, "Yeah I went and saw our friend Tyson at the tux shop. He told
me about the confusion with our tuxedos." John's eye's lit up. "You
mean that was your jacket I tried on?" Mateo smiled, "Yup, it was mine.
By the way, Tyson sends his best wishes." John smiled, "Yeah he was a
nice guy."

John cocked his eyebrow, "How did you get back here?" Mateo snickered,
"I have my ways." John hadn't noticed that Mateo held his right hand
behind his back until he brought his hand from around him. He held out a
single long stemmed red rose. John took the rose and smelled it
fragrance. "Oh Mateo, Thank you." Mateo smiled as he took John in his
arms. John melted when he felt his lovers arms surround him. Mateo
whispered in his ear, "I'm so proud of you John. I love you." At those
words John tightened his embrace around Mateo's body. "Oh babe I love
you so much. I love you, I love you, I love you." Without a second
thought of who might be looking they kissed. The kiss was amazing, those
who did see it only smiled. They separated as the kiss ended. "I better
get going before this things starts. I don't want to miss any of it."
John nodded his agreement, "Yeah, you better get going. Thanks again
babe." Mateo grinned, "I'll see you after the show." He blew a kiss
to John as he walked away. John felt all the nervousness leave his body.
He was ready to do this.

At that moment John heard the applause. "Ladies and gentlemen, fellow
alumni, we want to welcome you to tonight's Quarterly Alumni Concert..."
As the speaker went on John watched as the members of the orchestra made
final adjustments to their instruments. Strings and bows were tuned and
tightened, reeds were adjusted, and valves were blown clean. Everyone was
ready. "And now, without further delay, may I introduce to you the
members of the Anderson-Buckley symphony orchestra." Again there was
applause as the heavy curtain lifted. The stage lights went up as
Professor Graham made his way to the podium. When he finally reached his
destination he stepped up on the platform and was handed a microphone.
"Good evening and welcome. Tonight we have a very special treat in store
for you. We have, making his first public performance ever, John Andrew
Clark." At the mention of John's name there was applause. John smiled
from the side stage as he heard the hoops and hollers from the front row.
As the applause died down Professor Graham continued, "Ladies and
gentlemen, will you please help me in welcoming John Clark to the stage.
Once again the concert hall was filled with applause as John walked out
onto the stage. He walked out carrying his rose. He walked to the podium
and shook hands with Professor Graham. John leaned in, saying something
into his ear. The professor smiled and nodded to John. He turned to the
stagehand near the stage and asked for the microphone back. He handed it
to John and stood back. The concert hall became still as John began to
speak.

"Thank you. I'd like to say a few words, First I'd like to thanks
those who supported me in my life. My parents, Shelia and Adam Clark, my
piano teachers Jacob Finley and Edward Marrs, and my family and
friends." John looked down into the audience, "But there is someone so
very special to me and I would like to dedicate this performance to
him." John's eyes sparkled, "Mateo, this is for you." He blew a kiss
to the front row and to his love. Applause again arose from the audience.
Mateo smiled and blew a kiss to John as he wiped the tears from his
cheeks. John placed the rose on the piano and sat behind the huge
instrument.

The music began. The wonderful full melodies filled the corners of the
concert hall. The adagio and allegro of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 26
in C Major filled the ears and hearts of the audience. John sat at the
piano. His eyes were closed as he listened to the music. He loved the
sound of the violins, his body moved to the sound. He still had a few
minutes before he would actually start to play. As he sat there he
thought back to that day in the practice room. That day seemed like years
ago rather than a few weeks. How he felt with Mateo in the room. This
young man who filled his empty world. He unknowingly smiled as he
remembered so many things. The laughter and tears they both shared.

The time was nearing. The familiar phrases of music let him know that it
was time that he played. John readied himself. He took a deep breath as
his fingers touched the keys of the piano. His body moved with music as
his fingers flew up and down the black and white keys. The music
enveloped him as it always did. His eyes closed , lost in the spell of
music. His body reacted to every phrase of music, every "crescendo",
every "dolce". His head kept time with the music. His breathing was
shallow. His heart beating to the rhythm of the musical wonder. He felt
the music rushing through his veins. His mind totally focused on the
emotions of the piece. The piano became a living soul. It's own heart
beat. It's own emotions. It's own voice. It came alive under the touch
of John's hands. The music filled the hall, touching hearts and lives.

Mateo watched in amazement. His mouth dry. The hair on the back of his
neck stood up as he listened. Once more he felt as he did that day when
he was alone with John. He couldn't help the tears that rolled down his
face. The music spoke to his heart. He saw his lover. His soul mate. His
John. As he sat there, others around him felt the same way.

People listened to the wonderful music. They unknowingly took deep
breaths trying to understand what they were feeling. The music drew them
into it's mystery.

John's hands flew up and down the keys. He was feeling confident as he
played, no doubts or worries. He was having so much fun.

The orchestra played him on. They played for John. Their own bodies
moving to the music.

Finally, the final crescendo of the orchestra exploded into the hall.
Bows danced upon strings and horns sang out triumphantly as the piece
finally ended. Professor Graham stood there red in the face, breathless.
His white hair matted to his head with sweat. There was a moment of
silence. Then the hall erupted in thunderous applause.

The audience stood, cheers and shouts of "BRAVO! BRAVO!" The front row
was no exception as John's family and friends cheered. John stood from
the piano and took a bow. He smiled, taking another bow. He turned to
Professor Graham shaking his hand, "Wonderful! Excellent! John." He
almost shouted over the applause. "Thank you!" John said as he pumped
his hand. John then turned towards the first violin. He shook hands with
him as well. The orchestra clapped as well. He turned towards them all
and shouted a thank you to them. They responded with more applause. As it
was rehearsed earlier, John left the stage as the orchestra and the
professor took their bows. A minute later he walked out again. One more
hand shake and bow and he left the stage.

The words echoed from the audience, "Encore, Encore."

With a panicked look Professor Graham walked off the stage, "John please
tell me you have something else to play." He looked like he was going to
pass out. "Oh god I didn't even think about an encore." he looked at
John with pleading eyes.

"Oh yeah, I have something I can play. I've played it before and I
reviewed it with the advice from my teacher. Just in case this would
happen." The professor's face lit up, "Thank god, I'm glad one of us
is thinking." Without another word he walked out on the stage. "Once
again ladies and gentlemen, John Clark." John walked out to the non stop
applause. He sat at the piano. The clapping finally died away. The
professor stepped up to the piano, he held the microphone away from his
mouth. "What are you going to play John?" John took a deep breath
relaxing his body. "I'm going to play, Fantaisie-Impromptu, by
Chopin." The professor turned to the concert hall. "Ladies and
gentlemen once again, John Clark with Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu."



* * *

As with all good things, the concert came to an end. After the second
performance John received a second standing ovation. Minutes later after
all the applause and bows things finally calmed down and John was able to
breath. Professor Graham thanked him one more time as others lined up to
speak with him. John was able to pull himself away and leave the stage
area. He went down into the concert hall to find his family and friends.
When he finally reached them he was gathered up in the smiles, hugs, and
back-slaps. His parents glowed with pride as their son hugged each of
them. He received hugs all around. Mamma Anna smiled through her tears as
she hugged and kissed John's face. Anita Villasenor also hugged John as
Rafael pumped his hand. All his friends surrounded him congratulating him
with hugs or handshakes.

Everyone knew what John was thinking as they cleared a path for him
leading to Mateo. He still sat in his seat watching all the activity
around him. John walked up and smiled down at his lover. He smiled in
return. Mateo stood up, standing there with that funny silly smile. He
was at a loss for words as he looked into John's eyes. A single tear ran
down Mateo's cheek. John leaned up and kissed the salty tear away. He
held Mateo's face in his hands. No words were needed between them. As it
was that day in the practice room, once again the love they held for each
other surrounded them. Their eyes locked, they came together once more.
The world faded away. They held each other. Their lips coming together in
a passionate kiss. No sound, no world, just John and Mateo.

Hey Guys, Well that was the concert. I hope I did good.Thank you all
for reading my story. I'm going to be taking a little break and do some
thinking on where I want the direction of the story to lead. So, please
give me a little time to get my thoughts together. If any of you have
any suggestions I'm always open to them.

Again thank you all for reading and being an encouragnement to me.

Yours,

David S