Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 03:37:42 -0700
From: Jeffrey Venzuela <jtvenz72@gmail.com>
Subject: I Shall Believe - Chapter 14

___________________________________________________________________________

Warning:  If you don't tolerate or approve of the gay lifestyle please
leave now.

This is pure fiction. No one in this story is a real person, living or
deceased. Any similarities is just a coincidence.
___________________________________________________________________________


	It was the Saturday morning and Alex was pacing around in her
room as she tried to call Ivan's home number. The phone kept on ringing
and ringing until it reached the voicemail.

Alex sighed but spoke anyway. "Hey, Ivan. It's me again, Alex. I don't
know how many messages I've already sent you but you have to pick up.
I need to talk to you."  After the message she looked at the phone, exhaled
deeply through her nose and tried the number again.

At Ivan's house, the phone's ringing and Alex's voice could be heard as
Jesse and Ivan quietly ate the breakfast Jean had made for them before
she left for the diner.

As Jesse chewed on his food, he took glances at Ivan who was nonchalantly
eating the pancakes and bacons from his plate as if the noise from the phone
was nonexistent.

The phone stopped ringing, then Ivan's voice could be heard telling the
caller to leave a message. After the beep, they heard another message
from Alex. "Ivan, I just want to know if you're doing okay. I mean, hello,
you haven't picked up the phone yet since last night. Don't tell me you're
still sleeping? Are you ill or something?" Alex said from the phone.

After swallowing his food, Jesse began complaining. "Dude, aren't you going to
answer that? Her voice is getting annoying by the minute."  Ivan didn't respond.
Instead, like the phone and Alex's messages, he ignored Jesse.

Jesse narrowed his eyes at Ivan and stood up. "Fine. If you're not going
to answer the phone, I will." He made sure to give Ivan a mischievous grin
as he passed by his seat on the way.

Ivan quickly swallowed his food and said, "What are you planning to do?"
He looked at Jesse who was already running for the phone.

"Hello, Ivan's residence." Jesse chirped after picking up the phone. Ivan
watched intently as Jesse listened to the other line. "It's Jesse."

Ivan saw Jesse make a horrified expression. "What do you mean I sounded
like a girl earlier?" That brought out a laugh from Ivan. Jesse gave him a dirty
look and cleared his throat. "I just, ah, my throat's a little sore." He said
in a deeper voice.

Ivan nodded at him condescendingly and said, "Right."

Jesse flashed him a fake smile as he listened to the phone. "Oh, he's
fine." He said. "He's actually, uhm, up in his room."

"What?" Ivan mouthed.

"Yeah, he's definitely awake. You know, just between the two of us..."
Jesse's mischievous grin showed again which caused Ivan to stand up
from his chair.

"I think I heard him moaning behind the door." Not liking where Jesse
was going, Ivan ran to the phone. Ivan tried to grab the phone but Jesse
ran from him.

"I think he's jacking off." He said, stifling a laugh. Jesse put his encircled
hand over his crotch and started pumping as though he was masturbating.
Ivan shook his head and threatened Jesse with a serious face.

"Uh, you know what, Alex. He's now walking down the stairs. Here he is."
Jesse rolled his eyes and handed Ivan the phone. "Did you wash your hands?"
He said loudly, making sure Alex heard it on the other line.

"Haha. Very funny." Ivan said to Jesse.

"What was that all about?" Alex asked on the phone.

Ivan explained simply that it was just Jesse being himself. Alex didn't comment
any further and asked how Ivan was doing.

"I'm okay, much better now actually. Guess I was just really tired yesterday."
He said.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, of course." Ivan replied brightly.

Alex was convinced by his answer. "Okay. So listen, Michael and I are going
to meet for brunch. Do you wanna come with?"

Ivan politely declined, explaining that he and Jesse were already having their
breakfast at the moment. Alex said she understood and both said their farewells
before hanging up.

Ivan walked back to the kitchen to continue eating his breakfast. He sat
down and stared at the food as he thought of Alex and Michael having
brunch together.

Michael and Alex would be in the café downtown, sitting across each other,
just staring at each other's eyes, smiling. They would talk about their plans for
the rest of the day as they ate and then Michael would notice a tiny piece of
what they were eating near the corner of Alex's mouth. He would reach
across the table and wipe it with his finger which would cause her to blush.
The two of them would be caught in the moment, just looking at each other
until they leaned closer to each other and finally shared a kiss.

Jesse finished his breakfast with a grin. "Ah, now I could die." Jesse looked
at Ivan, already expecting his usual sarcastic comments but his friend was
motionless on his chair, staring at the half-eaten pancakes and bacon.

"Ivan?" Jesse called for him softly. "Ivan." He repeated louder. That seemed
to catch Ivan's attention.

Ivan looked over at Jesse with a surprised look on his face. "Are you okay?"
He heard Jesse ask him.

"Yeah." Ivan said, confused by himself. He couldn't understand the pain
he was feeling. He should be happy. He should be okay with it all. But his
feelings wouldn't go away. He needed to make it stop, to get rid of it even
just for a moment.

"I was just thinking..." Ivan started. Jesse asked Ivan what was on his mind.

Ivan wasn't sure if it was a good idea but he decided he needed to do
something so he continued. "Remember when you told me that at least
one of your friends always throws a party on Friday nights?"

"Yes." Jesse replied, wondering where this was going.

"Is there any chance they might throw one on a Saturday night?" Ivan asked.

"Yes, I think so." Jesse answered, now fully understanding the situation.
"Why?" He questioned, just to make sure he was reading Ivan correctly—
That he was really extremely affected by Michael and Alex.

"Nothing." Ivan responded with a smile. "It's just... It's pretty weird actually
but I think I want to go out tonight and just have fun."

"Okay. Just let me go and call one of the guys." Jesse wasn't sure if this was
a good idea but there was nothing else he could do at the moment but be
there for his friend.


Alex excitedly prepared for her brunch with Michael. She knew it was just
a casual date but she also knew that it was really the small things that count.
She heard Michael's jeep honking outside the house. Michael had just arrived.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled as she played with
her hair a little.

As she hurried out of her room, she saw her mother waiting for her by the
stairs. Beth had a serious expression on her face but that only meant that
she was sober, at least for the time being.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked her.

"Michael and I are having brunch." Alex answered. Beth just stared at her
and then went back to her room without saying another word.

Alex walked outside the house, thinking that at least her mother didn't
have vodka for breakfast. She went inside the car and greeted Michael.
"Hey." She smiled, leaning in for a kiss.

Michael met her lips and let the kiss linger before pulling away. "Good
morning." He said.

"You could say that to my mom." Alex said with a scoff.

"Everything alright?" Michael asked, trying not to sound so worried.

Alex nodded with a smile. "Yeah. She actually asked me where I was
going today."

Michael was surprised. According to what Alex had been telling him,
Beth barely talked to her daughter except when she needed her
to get something for her.

"That's great!" Michael genuinely felt happy for her.

 "And get this, not even a hint of alcohol on her breath. It seemed
like she went to sleep last night without drinking anything." Alex couldn't
help but smile.

"No wonder you're glowing." She heard Michael say. All of a sudden she
was back in junior high, with her stomach feeling butterflies.

"I just feel like things are now turning out for the good in my life. I mean,
my mother just really talked to me and now I'm getting to spend the
entire day with the most handsome boyfriend on earth." She chuckled.
"This is a great day." She looked at Michael and held his hand. Michael leaned
in for another kiss before he started driving.


Having just finished from drying off after his shower, Ivan was clad only in
his underwear and was going through his dresser when a fresh looking
Jesse barged into his room.

"What the fuck?!" Ivan shouted as he rushed over his bed to grab the sheet
for cover. "I told you to come back here after an hour and a half!" He
shouted. Jesse tried not to laugh at Ivan's mortified face.

Ivan started breathing deeply to calm himself before he spoke again.
"Okay. There's this thing called knocking and everyone else is doing it,
why can't you?"

Jesse gave him a look that asked if Ivan was serious. "Dude. Because
they're everyone else, not me. I'm Jesse." He answered as if it was
already the obvious.

Ivan had to admit, Jesse had a point but then it wasn't the whole point
of the conversation. Ivan shook his head wildly. "Can you just leave me
for a moment so I can get dressed?"

"You said you wanted fun!" Jesse walked to the bed near Ivan. "Let's just
say this is a prerequisite." He pulled away the protective sheet sheltering
Ivan's body. Ivan quickly covered the bulge in his crotch with his hands.

Jesse sighed. "If you want to go to one of our parties, you have to get used
to seeing other people's bodies and other people seeing yours." He explained.

"But—"

"Or do you want me in my underwear too so that you'd be more comfortable?"
Jesse asked in a serious tone.

 Ivan slowly dropped his hands to his sides and went back to his dresser to
get his clothes. He was surprised by Jesse howling and saying, "Someone's
packing."

Ivan gave him a dirty look and put on a pair of jeans. After zipping up, Jesse
commented again. "I'd tap that ass."

"Jesse!" Ivan scolded him. "What are you doing?"

"What? Did I offend you? Because a lot of guys will certainly hit on you
at the party tonight." Ivan looked at him questioningly but Jesse shrugged.
"That's just how it goes."

Jesse could see the doubt in Ivan's eyes which was actually what he
was aiming for, to make Ivan realize that those kind of parties really just
weren't for him.

"Or maybe we shouldn't just go the party tonight. Especially, if you can't
handle this kind of small stuff." Jesse controlled himself from grinning
as he watched Ivan consider his words.

"You know what?" Ivan started.

Jesse failed to suppress a smile.  "What?"

"We're going to the party. I don't care about all the other things. All I want
to do tonight is have fun and I would even go to that party naked if that's
what it takes." Ivan spoke with triumph. He really felt like he could go
through with it.

"Really?" Jesse asked.

"Maybe not the going naked part." Ivan admitted to which Jesse chucked.
"But we will go. That's for sure."

Their conversation was interrupted by Ivan's phone ringing on the night stand.
Jesse looked at Ivan to ask if he should check who it was and Ivan nodded.

"It's Jean." Jesse said as he handed Ivan the phone.

Jean started by telling that a lot more customers were coming to the
diner that morning than she had expected and then asked if the two boys
could lend her a hand. "Sure." Ivan said. After thanking him, Jean hanged
up.

"You don't have any other plans for today, right?" Ivan asked Jesse.

"I thought we're just gonna hang out here." Jesse said.

Ivan suddenly realized that maybe Jesse wouldn't like to go to the diner
to help. Come to think of it, taking people's orders and cleaning up after
them really didn't seem to be Jesse's thing.

"There's a slight change of plans." Ivan announced. Jesse raised an eyebrow in
response. "We'll still hang out but we are gonna do it at the diner." Ivan tried
to make it sound vague so that Jesse would go with him.

"Sure. Is it alright with Jean?" Jesse asked.

Ivan chuckled. "Yeah. She actually invited us to come over."

Jesse smiled. "Sweet."

When the two boys arrived at the diner, Jesse wasn't so sure if they could
stay there. The diner was packed with people. He could see Jean approaching
them.

"Thank god! Save me from these hungry savages." Jean greeted them as she
hugged them both. Jesse didn't get what she said but smiled in return anyway.
"You two could just wait on tables, simple job." She handed them a pen and a
pad each.

"Ivan already knows the basics so just ask him if you have questions." She
said to Jesse before leaving them.

"Yeah, right. Like I would spend my Saturday working as a waiter." Jesse
chuckled and looked at Ivan. But he saw Ivan's apologetic face and he
knew instantly that they really were going to do the job.

"Unbelievable." Jesse shook his head.


Ivan suddenly felt bad about not telling Jesse what was up before but he
had really felt like he had no choice. "Remember, you still owe me two favors?"
He asked sheepishly and hopefully.

Jesse thought about it for a moment. He sighed, "Alright. Now you only
have one left."


Alex was surprised when Michael pulled the car over for brunch. It wasn't
where she had expected that they'd be going but still, the place was special
for her—for the three of them actually, including Ivan.

"Wow. I haven't been here since, like, junior high." Alex remarked as they
walked towards Jean's diner.

"Really? Well, you're missing out. The food has really improved since Jean
went to Europe for cooking school." Michael said. He opened the door
for the two of them.

"It must have. Just look at all these people." Alex said as she walked in.

Michael scanned the place for an empty booth and found three guys
walking away from one. Alex, however, found Ivan.

"Look, there's an empty table right there." Michael said to Alex, pointing
to the spot.

Michael took her hand but she stopped him. "Wait. Ivan's here."

Michael followed Alex's gaze and found his best friend, waiting on a
table with a couple in their fifties.

"Hey Ivan!" Alex called him.

Ivan heard someone call his name. He looked around the place and finally
saw Alex waving at him and standing beside her was Michael, holding her
hand.

Michael saw Ivan's eyes go to their entwined hands and immediately
let go. He used the hand to wave hello. "Hey." He greeted.

Ivan smiled at the two of them and went back to listing the orders
of the couple at the table.

"C'mon." Alex grabbed Michael's arm and they went together to
the empty booth three tables to the right of Ivan.

After he was done taking the couple's order, Ivan went behind the
counter and took a quick glance at Michael and Alex's table. Alex saw
him and gave him a smile.

Ivan decided to keep himself busy. He went to another just emptied table,
and rigorously began cleaning it. After putting the dirty dishes in the back,
he stole a glance from behind the counter again at his two best friends.
It looked like they were ready for someone to come and take their order.
Ivan desperately looked for Jesse and found him walking away quickly
from a table.

He immediately intercepted Jesse and spoke to him. "Hey. I need you
to wait on that table over there."

At first, Jesse didn't understood why he had to cover for Ivan but when
he followed Ivan's eyes, the situation became clear.

"Right now?" He asked. Ivan nodded yes.

"But I have to go to the bathroom. My bladder's about to explode." Jesse
fidgeted uncomfortably as he talked. "I gotta go. Sorry." He said before
hurrying to the employees' bathroom at the back.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ivan whispered to himself.

"What's the matter?" Jean asked from behind him.

Ivan casually glanced at Michael and Alex's table to hide the fact that
he was talking about them. Jean saw the two of them and told Ivan,
"Don't worry. I'm on it."

"Thank you." Ivan said with a relief. He started waiting on another table
and tried to focus. He maintained a safe distance from his best friends'
table and tried to manage the new people that came in.


Alex was talking about what she would like to do for the rest of the day
when she noticed Michael staring at Ivan. She stopped herself and smiled.
"He's really sweet, isn't he?" Michael looked at her questioningly.

 "Ivan. Jean said that she just called him last minute for help and now
here he is helping her. That's just typical Ivan, right there." Alex chuckled.
"And I was afraid he had changed after what happened last year."

Michael was looking at Jesse and saw him slap Ivan's butt as he passed by.
Ivan jumped a little in surprise but then seeing it was just Jesse, he rolled
his eyes.

"Don't be so sure. He brought his new friend along." He pointed out.

Alex had noticed it before and she had to ask. "What is up with you and
that guy?"

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked back.

"Well, you just seem to really hate him." Alex answered.

Michael tried to explain but he really didn't know how. "Look, I don't
hate the guy. I just really don't want him around Ivan. You should hear
what others say about him."

Alex just shrugged. "In fact, I have. So the boy has a bad rep. But it's
just your usual cutting class and some cheating here and there. But
aren't you forgetting something here Michael, it's Ivan we're talking."
She put a hand over Michael's hand on the top of the table. "He can
take care of himself."

Michael stared at Alex and realized that he was going too far with
the whole thing. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Alex smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay." She leaned in for a kiss
but this time, Michael didn't meet her.

"What's the matter?" Alex asked, confused with Michael's lack of
response.

He looked at her apologetically. "It's just that Ivan's here. Don't
you think it's a little weird?"

Alex pondered on Michael's question. "Maybe a little. I mean, he's
like our little brother and here we are making out in front of him."

Michael chuckled. "Yeah. Something like that."

Ivan had seen and heard some of the parts of that whole interaction. He
felt a little guilty that he had felt happy when Michael refused to kiss her
in front of him. But he couldn't help it because somehow, it gave him this
tiny ray of hope.

He continued working , avoiding his friends' table. Fortunately with the
busyness of the diner, the next thing he knew Alex and Michael were
saying goodbye to him. Once the door closed behind them, Ivan sighed heavily.

After lunch hour, the crowd began to thin out. Jean thanked Ivan and Jesse
for their help and told them she and her regular employees could handle it
from now on. Before the two boys left, Jean served them free late lunch
and gave them both some money. Ivan told Jean about the party later and
she allowed him to go and to just sleep over at Jesse's if it got late. Both
boys left the diner satisfied, Jesse with his new experience as a waiter and
Ivan with his new found determination to go to the party later that night.

______________________________________________________________________________

Here's another chapter for all of you. I worked on it faster to make up for
the very wait you guys had. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks again to Mr. Dennis S for editting my work and for those who aren't still
members of the facebook readers' page, We have lots of room for you guys. If you
want to join, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ISBreaders/

Thanks! Keep on reading :)