Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:07:03 -0700
From: Samuel Forte' III <fallenangel595@hotmail.com>
Subject: finding andrew-chapter 15

** This story is a true story, telling of people and events that have taken
place in the last three to four years. I have the consent of the others who
are involved to use them, but no last names will be used for privacy
reasons. This story will focus around two people as they stumble upon each
during high school and find themselves falling for one another. They are
able to survive the trials, tribulations, and difficulties that are thrown
at them and from each other until everything comes to an abrupt end...All
rights to this story are mine (lol well it is based on MY experiences) so
no copying or publishing without my consent!**


			      Finding Andrew
		      Chapter 15 - A Change (Summer)

     I ended up jogging to the movie theater since it wasn't too long. I
saw Andrew pacing back and forth nervously in front of the ticket lady. He
was so caught up in his thinking he didn't even see me coming as he bumped
into me.

"Oh, sorry Sam. Didn't see you coming."

"Obviously. I'll spot the tickets and you get the food. Deal?"

"Sure." He said smiling. I purchased our tickets and we made our way to the
snack counter.  Large popcorn, a box of Junior Mints (for me), a pack of
Red Vines (for him), two medium Sprites and we were on our way. We were the
only people in there since it was late...didn't seem that late to me, but I
was very surprised by that.

     As hard as I know this is to believe, we actually sat and watched the
movie. No "other" stuff took place. We were both big Spidey fans so we just
enjoyed it. After it was over, we made our way outside to see his brother,
Jason, waiting. He face soured as our eyes met. It was the first time that
we had seen each other since the incident at lunch. He ran towards me until
Andrew stepped in front of me.

"Leave him alone. Things are cool."

"NO! Get out the way!" Andrew continued to stand in front. He asked me to
give them a minute which I was more than happy to do. I went back inside
and hit the arcade. A few minutes later he popped his head in.

"Things are cool. You can come back outside." I nodded and followed him
outside. We both got in the car. Andrew insisted that I sat in the back
which I agreed to. I really was going to do that anyway. I was kind of
surprised to see that we were headed to his house first. Jason pulled up in
the driveway and kept the car on.

"Get out Andrew. Sam, move up front. I'll take you home." Andrew hesitated,
but got out. I move up front and said good night to Andrew. He nodded and
ran inside. Jason backed out and headed towards my house. It was quiet the
first couple of minutes, but I knew that wouldn't last too long.

"I should really kick your ass for what you did to Andrew...BUT, he told me
what happened between the two of you before that."

"HE TOLD YOU?" I was shocked. I didn't think Andrew could have told him. We
were both worried about keeping stuff to ourselves.

"Yea, everything. Everything." He sounded very calm which made me even more
nervous.  Could be cool with "us" or was he really mad and just trying to
sound cool about it? I really got nervous when he passed my house and made
his way to a nearby park. Once in the parking lot, he shut off the
power. We sat there in silence before he began to speak again.

"Look, this is all a little too much for me at the moment. Andrew just told
me all of this while you were in the arcade. I don't know what to make of
it. I don't know how to deal with it, but I do know this. He is my brother
and I'm going to stand by him no matter what.  The same goes for you. As
long as you are with my brother and keeping him happy, we don't have any
problems.  I'm just going to need some time to get my head together. I take
it no one else knows about you guys?"

"Only two others. Mario..."

"The guy who..."

"Yea...And Justin knows too."

"Ok. You two are going to have to give me some time to get used to this.
This isn't something that I was expecting. Umm, have you guys done
anything?"

"..."

"I'll take that as a yes." Even in the dark he could have seen I was
blushing. My face was very red and you could feel the heat pouring from my
face. "Have you guys..."

"Jason!"

"Ok, ok. Just curious, that's all." He laughed as I sat there in disbelief.
He started the car and took me home. I said thanks and quickly went to
sleep. I was in no mood to think about the events of the day.

     The last week of school was uneventful. Finals, cleaning out lockers,
nothing exciting.  The summer would bring an interesting change. First, I
got my first car. A baby blue, '93 Ford Probe. It ran good and helped open
my freedom and also made it easier to hang out with Andrew and Justin (he
moved downtown at the end of the year). I picked up another job, working at
Albertsons. Lastly, I went out for the football team. So we'll talk about
the football team for a little bit, since some stuff happened that would
effect my last year of high school.

     I would pick up MJ everyday on my way to the summer practices. I don't
know if I mentioned this, but I have had surgery on my left knee on two
separate occasions. So I wasn't exactly thrilled about going out for the
team, but MJ did a pretty good job of convincing me along with some of my
other friends. Early on stuff was pretty easygoing.  Lift weights (I hold
the 2nd highest squat in school history with 460 lbs), run drills,
conditioning, nothing too difficult. The problem was that one guy kept
getting picked on by the team.  Over the weeks of practice, I learned that
his name was Shaun. He was a junior and I knew that he and MJ were pretty
good friends. He was smaller than most of the team, but he was a hard
worker. In my opinion, he should have been the starting quarterback...but
my school loved to play favorites. He didn't have the strongest arm, but he
was definitely the better player.

     Things started to change around the fifth week. We would talk on
occasion, but he seemed really shy when around me. I didn't get why then,
but figured it was just because of the stuff he heard about me. Even
though, I didn't play football my middle two years, everyone knew that I
was a really good receiver. I rarely dropped passes, wasn't afraid to go
over the middle (which is why I get hurt so much), and that I didn't
complain about not getting the ball.  The only guy who was better was
Pat. We were both tall, but he dropped fewer passes (next to none) and he
was a little faster. We were lifting weights on a Tuesday, when I heard
Shaun yelling at his friend Danny about something outside. I took a break
and headed out to see what was going on. I was surprised to see Shaun on
the verge of tears (he rarely showed those kind of emotions). I was
confused at what was going on, but once I saw his car I got the picture. He
was happy to have gotten a new stereo for his car. Some of the seniors
thought it would be funny to throw water balloons as he was coming into the
parking lot. He had his windows down, and one hit the stereo and ruined it.

     Danny felt bad, but he was the type of guy that followed the crowd.
They were best friends, but he would do anything to help his "image". I
ended up taking Shaun home and explaining to his dad what happened. His dad
would have words with the coach as I followed Shaun to the place he got the
stereo. After explaining what happened to them, they were cool and said
that they would replace it for free since it he had gotten it just the day
before. Shaun mumbled a thanks as I left when his dad got there. I didn't
know that taking the right side would cause me so much trouble.

     See, Shaun was a very quiet guy. He had his close friends male and
female, but he went out of his way to not talk to too many people. A loner
in every sense of the word. I, on the other hand, was much more open with
people so I took it as a challenge to become friends with him. It took
time, but it did eventually happen. We worked together in drills, lifting
weights, and became road buddies on our scrimmages away from home. The
problem was that the majority of the team didn't like him. Why, I still
don't know to this day. People who sided with him had to suffer the wrath.

     The next day at practice, everyone gave me evil glares. The coach
pulled me aside to thank me for helping out Shaun the previous day (he
didn't come that day) and that the rest of the guys had got the proper
punishment. I couldn't help, but grin when I walked back in the weight
room. Some guys still talked to me, but most didn't. We headed out to the
field to do some drills. That day we would be doing scrimmages (7-on-7). I
saw exactly how things would be for the rest of the summer. It was supposed
to be two hand touch, but I definitely didn't get that treatment. Once I
was kneed in the nuts. Another time, I was practically clotheslined, and to
add to that, I ended up having to sit out after getting hit in my bad knee.
I was pissed, but I knew that I couldn't just stop. I was going to stand up
for Shaun even if he wouldn't for himself. Our starting quarterback
Christian, even went out of his way to try to make me look bad. Throwing
bad passes on purpose so I couldn't catch them, throwing the ball before he
was supposed to. I got used to and ended up being the starting receiver on
the left side. Pat was the other of course.  Shaun became the backup to
Christian much to the team's dismay. At times throughout the summer, I had
to confront other guys about bothering him, but as long as I was around
they would leave him alone.

     MJ, didn't like the fact that I was so protective of him. I'm just a
protective kind of guy. I don't like to see anybody get picked on.
Especially when they didn't have a reason to. The end of the summer would
be a breaking point with the team. My hard work and willingness to help the
younger guys got me a lot of respect with the players (even if they
wouldn't admit it) and the coaches. I usually stayed a little after
practice to help the guys who played my position on offense or defense (on
defense I played safety). Christian was in a bad mood and for whatever
reason, decided to throw the ball and hit Sean in the face with the
football. His face turned red as he threw it back hitting Christian in the
back of the head. Christian charged at him and would have hit him if I
didn't get there first. As he cocked back to hit Shaun, I hit him with a
left right in the jaw. He dropped to the ground and then people came to
separate us.

"You want to pick on somebody? Pick on someone your own size punk." His
buddies took him away as I stood there a little shocked by my outburst.
Shaun looked up at me and said thanks as he walked away to his car. Nick
and MJ were surprised by what happened as they made sure that I was calm
before I got in my car to leave. Christian was the face of the team, so I
knew that the coaches would take his side. I was basically forced to drop
off the team.  Shaun, MJ, Danny, and Nick were upset that it came to that
as were many others (hey, they want to win games), but I had to do what was
best for the team and for me. So that's how my senior year of football
ended.  Pat would tear his ACL and the coaches begged me to come back. Even
Christian came to my house to try to convince me to come back. I really did
want to play, but playing like this would mean I gave in to their
demands. I sat out and watched my peers go 2-10 for their worst record in
over 17 years. Little did I realize how siding with Shaun was going to
cause so many problems my senior year...

*****************************************************************************

Chapter 16 - Shaun, Andrew, and Luke