Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:30:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Decade <femtoka2@yahoo.com> Subject: Ever After 27 Disclaimer: This is a story about gay people...if you can't read it or don't like gay people, leave. Go...bye. But if you like it, read it and write to me. Chapter 27: Haunted As I walk down the isle, passing all the pews, I am confronted with fear. It engulfs me and I become it...whatever that means. I walk to the confessional, which is odd because confession is a catholic thing. I'm not catholic. I ignored the small detail and continued to the confessional. As I sat down, I looked forward, careful not to make eye contact. "Hello, child." a voice came through the divider. "Where's Pastor Haynes?" I asked, startled. "He is out sick, he needs your prayers." the man said, " What is your confession?" "I've confessed so much already, so I don't have anything. I just need to confess how scared I am. Lately I haven't sleep at all and I've been grouchy and..." "Why child?" he asked. "Harmon, the guy who shot up our high school, he's up for parole. I've had nightmares on and off for years. The worry that he's gonna pop up and kill me. I mean, then there's a part of me that wonders when he's going to hurt my friends. Or what used to be my friends." I shrugged, " So, wait, who are you?" The little door thing swung open and Harmon stood in front of me, " An old friend. - - - - - - - - - - As I sat up, I realized that it was a dream. I was happy that it was just a dream. Albeit a creepy one, it was still just a dream. I stood up and walked downstairs to get a cup of coffee or something. As I rounded the kitchen, I found Eric still at the kitchen table. He was sitting under one puny light and...doing paper work? I flipped on the light switch that lit the entire room. "Hey, Senior, what're you doing up?" Eric asked, looking at his watch, " It's like three in the morning." "Got thirsty." I said, walking to the fridge, " You?" "The club." he sighed, " It's not all fun and games, like clubs are meant to be." he said, looking at me oddly, " Ewww, you're sweating pretty bad, what's up?" "What?" I asked. "It's not that hot, what's the deal?" he asked. I grabbed a sprite and sat at the table, " I've been having a particularly hard time actually staying asleep." I confessed, " Yup, it's the kind of dream that isn't." "Huh?" he asked. "Nightmare. The same one, over and over. You'd think I'd learn when I go through it the first time." I chuckled, sipping my sprite. "The one about that Harmon guy?" Eric asked, " Look, no way he's getting out of prison. He walked into a school, shot three people and tried to kill you and Marco. Hey, has Marco even heard?" "No...well, i don't know. I haven't really talked to him." I said, " Ever since we..." I paused. Eric looked at me, his eyebrow raised, " Ever since you what?" "Not important." I smiled nervously. Eric studied me, " He...you...I'm gonna kill him!" he said, standing, " When?!" "Last year. Prom." I said quickly, " Wasn't his idea, it was mine and you're not gonna kill him!" "I thought you were dating Davis!" Eric said loudly. "Shhh! And we were on the outs and I was just...really lonely. He was my best friend and..." I trailed. "Do you love him?" Eric asked. "Yeah, of course." I said. "I meant, are you in love?" he asked. I thought about it. I had been. I had always been, but I got over it a long time ago. He was friend...not 'friend'. Was he? I shook my head, " I had a crush. We had sex and I told him that I wasn't going to mess our friendship up." Eric groaned and sat down, " I'm not supposed to know this...have you and Davis...eh, umm..." he asked. "No. There was playing, but..." I stopped. "Playing?" Eric asked. "Gym Fun." I said, " Don't ask." "My little brother's a ho." he chuckled. I chuckled, " No, I would never take your mantle." I smiled, " Besides, I've only slept with two guys...made out with three, four if you count Ballard..." I slapped myself, literally. "Kipton?!" Eric asked, more angry about this one, " You and Kipton? Is that why you and his lil' sister are hanging out? You and him having a casual thing?!" "No....no. We kissed once. The there was a wreck and we had to get back to normal." I explained. Eric groaned, " So, if you wouldn't have been in that wreck, then you and him would have had sex?" he asked. I thought about it. I was drunk. Ballard was drunk. There was sparkage, so yeah. Things would have gone pretty far, so, what did that mean? Was I really a ho? NO! I wasn't. I'm not! It's...I...Was I in love with all these guys? Back to square one. I feel sixteen again, " Yeah, but...it's different. I'm different. I was in a place that wasn't exactly light bright. We're all just friends." "Does Archie know?" Eric asked. I shook my head, " Some stuff, but some stuff I'd rather he not know." I said softly. "Do you love him?" Eric asked. "Yes." I said. "Do you want to marry him?" Eric asked. I paused. "You don't, do you?" Eric asked. "I'm young." I said, " I just, I said I would and now I regret it. I want to be with him, but the rest of my life? I don't think so. I don't even know what I'm eating or wearing tomorrow." "Did you tell him?" Eric asked. "No." I said simply. "You should." Eric said, looking at his watch, " We should both go to bed. Mom and Dad said they have something important to tell us in the morning." "Right." I smiled, " Later." I said, going back up to my room. - - - - - - - - - - Hannah sat on the bed, looking through her collection of pictures if she and Adaen at her house, listening to music. She remembered that day, it was just after school and they had decided to skip the next day because of the test they were going to have. "You okay, honey?" Zack asked. "Yeah, I found pictures." Hannah said, putting the pictures in the box, and sliding them under the bed, " What's up?" "Dinner, your parents house." Zack said, trying to jog her memory. Hannah slapped herself, " Sure. I didn't forget, I was just..." she said, chuckling. "You forgot." Zack chuckled, " It's okay, but come on, you know how your mom is about us being late." "Good, I've got great news. We both got into Southeastern...although it's in Oklahoma, not far." Hannah said. "Yep." Zack smiled, kissing her forehead, " We should go." Hannah nodded, grabbing her coat as they left. - - - - - - - - - - As we all assembled in the living room, I wondered what could be so important that we had to get up early. I waited, wondering what news this could be. Was this the 'we're kicking Hope' out or was it the 'the world's coming to an end' talk. If it had to be either, I hoped it would be the Hope one. Personally, I was convinced it was the hope thing. "We have something to tell you." Mom smiled. "OH god, you're pregnant!" Hope blurted. We all looked at Mom and Dad. "No! No, but good one." Dad smiled, looking at Mom, " We aren't, are we?" "We're leaving." Mom said, " We will be back for your graduation, Adaen, but there's a research grant that is needed from our company and we have to go." The room was silent. I could hear Hope, planning a party. "You just got back. Hell, I just got back, can't this wait?" I asked. "No, sweetie." Mom said, " I wish it could, we tried everything to get them to let us stay, but we can't." "It won't be that long, a month at the most." Dad said, trying to make me feel better. "But..." I said. "It's not a choice, sweetie." Mom said softly. "It never is." I said angrily, " I knew that you wouldn't be back to stay, I just thought it would be longer, not shorter than last time." "Aid." Eric sighed. "No, when are you leaving?" I asked. "It was very Short notice." Dad said. "How short?" I asked. "We leave in about an hour." Mom said. "An hour?! Really? Why not now?!" I asked, walking to the door. "Where are you going?" Mom shouted. "I need air. There's air that I need." I panicked, " Have a nice flight." I said, slamming the door. - - - - - - - - - - As Marco got off the plane, he felt tired beyond belief. As he made his way out of the gate, he heard some shouting. As he turned, he saw me screaming at the flight attendant. Marco chuckled to himself and walked over to the scene. "OKAY, LOOK, I really need to be on the next flight out of this Hell hole!" I screamed, slamming my hand on the counter, " Don't you care that I really need to get out of here? Of course you don't. What should I expect from people, idiot!" "Sir." the lady said. "I meant me." I groaned, putting my head on the counter, " I'm just having a really bad....life. I need to get out of here." "Or you just need a friend." Marco said behind me. I turned to see his scruffy chin and his long hair, all the way down to his shoulder, and hugged him, " Wow, I've been missed." "I'm so happy to see you!" I cried. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Everything." I said, not letting go of him. We headed to the Airport Lounge and took seats. He smiled at me from across the table and I couldn't help but smile back, " So, how was the college tour?" I asked. "It was everything I already knew. I'm going to college, just still not sure where." Marco smiled, " So, why're you trying to flee the country?" "Not the country...I just needed to leave." I smiled. "The question is still why?" Marco asked. I shook my head, " Mom and Dad are leaving. Fiancee' problems. The guy who shot us possibly leaving jail." I said casually. "I heard." he said, " I figured if he gets out of jail, Hell will come to Earth, so it won't matter." "I don't know, I mean..." I looked at him, " We've been talking and I haven't even asked how you're doing." Marco sighed, " I'm alright. I'm just a little unsure that it happened." he said. "I'm confused too. What happened? You two were...when I left you two were getting married and when I come back, there's no baby, no marriage, and she's dead." I said, very confused. "What about you, you leave an angsty seventeen year-old and come back a more mature, yet still not mature eighteen year-old who is leaving again." Marco said. "I don't know. I guess I've just made mistakes." I said. "Like us?" Marco asked. "No." I smirked, " That wasn't a mistake. It was a surprise. The mistake was not telling Davis immediately after we had sex." "Next you'll know." Marco said, clapping his hand over his mouth, " I didn't mean it like that." "I know what you meant, sorta." I chuckled, " Not exactly going home, so I need to find somewhere to stay." "You can stay with me at the apartment." Marco said, " It's pretty clean and It's free." "Thanks." I smiled. Marco smiled at me and looked past me, " uh oh." he said. I turned and looked at the T.V. and saw that Harmon had escaped from jail. "Oh shi..." I said nervously. - - - - - - - - - - Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please give me some feedback because that's how I get started. Short chapter, but it's putting some stuff out there. So, I want you guys to tell me how I'm doing.