Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 02:26:17 +0000
From: Darren C <daryncolemane@hotmail.com>
Subject: Life Starts Again Chapter 2

You know the drill... If you arent of age, or are offended by homosexuals
or the relations between them, turn back now. Thank you.


                               Chapter Two: Rain


It had been a week since Drew and Justin met and things were going well,
Justin had been introduced to Drew's other friends, and he had plenty of
them too. There was Joel, Chris, Rob, Matt, Jake, Ryan, and Melissa,
Joanne, Katie, and Lauren. Matt didn't seem to like Justin much but it
didn't bother him as Melissa and Lauren made up for that. Both were
intelligent and very beautiful girls, both blonds, though Lauren's hair
was longer and she was taller, Melissa was also a very kind and honest
person, speaking her mind and you could tell just by looking at her that
she didn't care what gender you were, if she had something to say,
she'd say it. Lauren was more reserved and laid back, letting things go
over her shoulder without a care in the world; and then there was Joanne,
she was kind to everyone, which made her easy to get along with. She had
short burgundy hair and deep-brown eyes, she was average size and about
as tall as Justin himself. Joel and Chris were twins, but had different
styles, which helped Justin tell them apart, Rob was tall and built, with
a chiseled jaw, while Ryan was similar in build to Justin, but shorter.
Matt was average sized, skinny and had an enflamed ego. In that week he
had learned a lot about Drew, he once dated Katie, but they broke up,
managing to stay friends. He liked the colors Green, Red and Blue; his
favorite foods were Lasagna, French Fries and now Chicken Fettuccini. He
was good at racing games but not FPS ones. And loved to watch movies,
anywhere, with anyone, anytime. The only down side to meeting his friends
were that a few seemed homophobic, specifically Matt and Ryan, who had
made quite a few remarks about "Queers", Though Drew voiced his opinion
that it wasn't their business, neither listened to him and always
continued on with their conversation.

"So how are things going?"  Joanne asked as she took a seat beside
Justin.

"Not bad, little tired...had a lot of Math work to do last night so I
didn't get to sleep until two or three am. You?"

"I'm great, though to be honest, I'm getting bored with these guy's"
She whispered. "They can be so boring sometimes. Its like they forget
about reality and zone out... makes me was to scream sometimes" She gave
a slight giggle.

"Well...when they get talking, they just don't seem to stop..."

"Boys suck. Except you of course, you're not a guy, you're Justin,
there's a difference." She gave him a wink, something she had done
every time she told him that.

"And you're not a girl either, you Joe' there's a difference" Justin
retorted with a laugh.

"Want to go for a walk with me?" She asked, giving him her best pouty
face.

"Ok, sure. But lets not be gone too long its still cold outside" He
said, standing up. "Guy's we'll be back in a bit, just going to
stretch our legs" Justine explained as he and Joanne walked off.

"Hurry back" Drew grinned.

"...Or don't" Added Matt.

"I'll be back as soon as possible just for you, Matt" Justin chimed in
return.

As Justin and Joanne rounded a bend outside the school, she pivoted
quickly, grabbed him by the arm and pushed him against the wall. Talking
a quick look around the area to make sure no one was there she returned
her gaze to Justin. "Ok, no bullshitting anymore, spill"

"Excuse me?" Justin was confused and startled not knowing what she
would do next.

"Drew. You like him a lot. It's easy to tell your gay... I just want to
know why you haven't told us...we let you into our personal lives; you
can at least do the same."

"I don't think you could understand" He replied as he looked away from
her.

"You don't know that..."

"You want to know why?" Justin sighed and placed a hand over Joanne's,
silently asking her to release her grip on him, as she did he began
again. "I haven't said anything because of what happened at my old
school. My secret came out in a very... unnerving way to say the least. My
art folder was stolen from me by some friends as a joke, they took the
time to look through it and found private pictures I had drawn... to ad to
my embarrassment, they photocopied the pictures, wrote my name all over
them and put them all over the walls..." Justin held back tears as he
gathered himself to go on. It had been a while since he thought about
that day, he pushed it so far back into his mind that it was almost like
it was happening all over again, as if that one moment were replaying the
harsh reality in which he existed.

 "They told me they couldn't be friends with a queer, a faggot, and so
on, about a month after that, I started to get beat up, at first I was
just shoved into lockers, something I could handle with ease. Then one
day someone beat me up so badly I went to the hospital with a broken rib
and arm. The guy who did it was expelled and we had charges pressed, but
he told me if I stayed, he'd come back for me. My parents, knowing I was
gay before I did told me we were going to move, have a fresh start. It
was about two weeks later when the transfer request went through at my
dad's office and we would have to move here to this town, and here I am,
with the promise that I wont ruin my new friendships with everyone by
telling them I'm queer. I don't want to suffer the same problems I had
at my old school, I don't want to lose my friends..."

"You think that Drew is that shallow to actually hate you because
you're gay? If anything, he'll be more ticked that you didn't tell him
you were"

"It's not about Drew though, it's about me and my life...I cant take
the chance of all this shit happening again"

"I promise, this will stay between us. But to be honest, I think you
should tell Drew...and protect that art folder of yours...Matt and Ryan may
try something similar."

"Thanks for... listening... but can we go back in now? Its cold and
frankly, I need to sit down before my legs give out on me"

"You just want to ogle Drew some more, don't you?" She said with a
nudge to Justin's arm.

"Its cold...but yeah, I do..."

"Where did you two go to? And what were you doing?" Winked Drew.

"Joe' and I went for a walk, and we had a little talk too... What's it
to ya!" Justin joked.

"Sure..."

"Drew...don't start, or I'll have to beat you up, and you don't want
to see my wrath!" Joanne said, holding up a fist.

"I'm scared now" He replied sticking his tongue out.

"Ok children, calm down or I'll send you to opposite ends of the
cafeteria" said Chris.

When it was time for Justin to go to History class at the end of lunch,
he got up and started to walk by himself, telling Drew he'd see him in
class, He liked walking by himself as it gave him time to think about
things that had been on his mind without interruption, though he also
liked having company too. This time as he walked down the hall, he
clutched his artwork tighter in a paranoid fashion, remembering what
happened the last time, but he didn't get very far before Drew caught up
with him and gave him a pat on the back which almost sent Justin jumping
from his skin

.

"Hey, you shouldn't walk to class alone!" Drew said. "Wow, I must
have gave you a scare, you look like you saw a ghost.

"I don't need a bodyguard, I can take care of myself, I am a big boy
now" Justin joked. It seemed that all he did now a days. He could never
say how he really felt or what he really thought, every time his mind
would become overwhelmed with a joke and he would say the first that came
to mind. "However, you did startle me, I was deep in thought so I
didn't except that.."

"I know... hey... you're holding your art folder in a death grip, lighten
up or you'll crush all the pictures."

"I just don't want it to fall on the floor, you know, get my pictures
all dirty" What a pathetic lie, no one could have said something more
idiotic in all their life, but he had said it and would have to hope that
Drew bought the excuse.

"Why not leave it at home then?" Drew had a feeling there was more to
the story then not wanting to get his pictures dirty, but left it at
that.

"Cause I like to work on my art when I have free time and I have quite a
bit in school so I figure I should have it with me" Justin explained as
they entered the history room.

Taking their usual seats, Justin continued to explain to Drew about his
artwork. "Its basically my life, one of the few ways I can express
myself, they are also filled with memories, so its important that I know
where they are at all times."

"That's cool. I guess I'm the same way with friends. They're my life,
I express myself through them and need to know where they are all the
time."

Justin merely cocked and eyebrow; shook his head and placed his folder in
his backpack before pulling out the History assignment that was due.

During class without Justin's knowledge someone had slowly taken his
backpack and opened it, looking through the various pockets until they
had gotten to the art folder. `Ah, just what Matt wanted' he thought to
himself. `Hmm, better take just a few out, so he doesn't realize that
anything is missing'. He flipped through the few he took in a disgusted
look; all the pictures were of men in various poses, some nude some
barely wearing any clothes. He slid the backpack back beside Justin's
seat with the art folder in it, as he browsed the images again knew that
if these didn't crush Justin's reputation, nothing would. He tucked
them away inside his binder and went back to work as if nothing happened.

"Drew" Justin said.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Mom asked if wanted to come over for dinner tonight, said you were good
company, that and she thinks you're cute."

"Well I am...and sure as it is a Friday."

"Sounds good"

Class went by quickly and everyone darted out the door as the bell rang
for the end of the day. Justin didn't have to hurry, the buses wouldn't
leave for another ten minutes and he only lived a short distance from the
school as it was. Taking his time walking he let himself drift back into
thought. His thoughts were always of his friends now, planning events and
wondering how they were doing, the only person he didn't bother to think
about was Matt, who hadn't like him from the beginning. Whatever, it
wasn't important, right?  As he moved towards the doors to the school he
saw Matt leaning against the beam that held the upper-lobby level up,
looking right at him and smiling. Justin always untrustworthy of someone
like Matt just smiled back and tried to figure out what was going on in
that warped little mind of his, but shrugged it off when he couldn't
think of anything. As he walked out of the door he noticed that it was
not only raining, it was an out-right down-poor; requiring him to dart
for the bus in a futile attempt to stay dry.

"So sweetie how was your day?" Beth asked as Justin walked in through
the door.

"It was good, you'll be happy to know that Drew is coming over tonight
and umm, lets see, handed in my report for History, took a walk with
Joanne at lunch, Read a book in English and Slacked off in math because
the sub' didn't have a clue what he was doing" He replied, counting
off the things he had done on his fingers.

"Besides the slacking off, I'm glad you had a good day. Will Drew be
staying the night again? I think he should, he's very polite and you two
look so cute together"

"MOM!" Justin snarled. "He's straight, and I haven't told him I'm
gay...besides... you saying I look cute with someone is just creepy"

"Hunny, lighten up. I honestly don't get the impression that he'd hate
you if you said you were gay. And you do look cute together... even if he
is straight"

"No offence mom; but I just don't think you'd understand."

"You think I've never slept with a woman?"

"OK! No! Bad mother! Bad! Too much information, way to much
information!" Justin covered his ears and walked out of the room. That
always worked on Justin, whenever Beth had mentioned her
`experimentation' he would drop the subject on the spot, that alone
made her laugh every time.

Justin went upstairs to his room and logged onto his computer and MSN
while he waited for Drew to arrive. Morgan was the only one online so he
messaged her.

Jus says: Hey Morg.

Morgan says: Hey, how are you?

Jus says: good, looking forward to the weekend, you?

Morgan says: I'm great. Why are you looking forward to the weekend?

Jus says: `Cause Drew is coming over.

Morgan says: Don't drool over him; he might suspect you're interested.

Jus says: Har Har.

Morgan says: Don't deny it, you want him; want him so badly.

Jus says: We're friends, nothing more.

Jus says: Besides that... Joanne now knows I'm gay; she confronted me
today.

Morgan says: ...So you told her...but you wont tell Drew...

Jus says: Wow...you do understand. You're just the smartest little thing
ever!

Morgan says: HEY! Don't talk to me like that; I know where you live!

Jus says: Oh no! I'm scared now! ;)

Morgan says: Whatever you say hunny =P Sorry, I gotta go now, Dinners on.

Jus says: Later, enjoy.

Morgan says: Have a goooooooood night.

Without any homework to do it was going to be a long and uneventful
Friday night until Drew arrived... He took out his art folder and began
to work on the image he had recently started, a man in his mid twenties
posing naked with his back to the `camera', looking over his shoulder
smiling, he had been working on this for a week now, on and off of
course, and was finally getting the level of detail he wanted, in a
strange way, the image looked like an older version Drew with the smile,
but besides that, they had very few similarities.

Justin worked on the image for hours, avoiding supper and his parents all
together, he was so committed to the image to care about food or
conversation right now, he worked on the image so much that he eventually
fell asleep with the picture in hand.

When he woke up he realized he had been sleeping for a half hour, was
freezing and still very exhausted, though he didn't understand why. He
sat up to help him concentrate and get his mind organized when he heard
tapping sounds on his window, the tapping was fast and loud; it was still
raining. The wind howled like wolves in the distance and Justin went to
the washroom and took a quick shower, got dressed and headed downstairs
to get something to eat.

"Good evening mom" he said, walking into the kitchen.

"Good evening, you could have slept some more you know, I doubt Drew
will be coming over because the roads are unsafe to travel on"

"Yeah they look pretty bad, but I'm still hopeful that Drew will be
able to make it..."

"Well yes, I hope that he can make it too... as you seem to have some
energy you can help with the unpacking of the office supplies"

"Oh joy, oh bliss, my life is complete now" He stated sarcastically.

"Hey, it wont kill you to unpack another room besides yours"

"I know, but I don't want to unpack... I mean my god; we've lived here
almost a month now and are still unpacking, you'd think we'd have been
finished by now"

It was about five o'clock when there was a knock at the door, which was
odd because Justin had figured that Drew wasn't coming. Justin went to
the door and slowly opened it revealing Drew, soaked to the bone in his
clothes.

"Drew, c-come in...what are you doing out in the rain like this?" Justin
said voicing his concern.

"Two reasons, the first being; I don't break promises. And the second
being, we need to talk" The tone in Drew's voice sent a shiver down
Justin's spine as if someone had walked over his grave.

"Alright, fair enough. But before you do anything...strip. I'm not
kidding. Come with me to the laundry room and take off all of you wet
clothes, grab a towel and we'll take a look and see what I have that
might fit you, got it?"

Before Drew could reply, Justin had grabbed him by the arm and dragged
him to the laundry room, pushing Drew in and shutting the door he waited.
"It must be really important if you needed to walk in the rain"

"Believe me, it is..."

Drew stepped out of the laundry room wrapped in a towel and proceeded to
head upstairs to Justin's room, not saying one word to his friend.
Justin couldn't help but admire Drew's body along the way, As just
passed the living room he asked Beth if she wouldn't mind washing and
draying Drew's soaked clothes, the darted up the stairs after him. He
got to his room and closed the door, Drew standing by the window, Justin
walked over to his dresser and took a look inside to see what was there
that could fit Drew.

"Hmm, well, here's a package of boxer briefs, they're unopened so you
can have the pair you take... now lets see... I have a tee here you might
fit into, its two-times to large for me so it should fit you fine... But I
don't have any pants that'll fit you... way too tight."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Actually you're probably enjoying this
sight right now, me in nothing but a towel... when were you going to tell
me?" He turned about to face Justin, who was in shock, a lump forming in
his throat so he couldn't respond. It came down to this, he would either
admit it or deny it, and both could irreparably damage the relationship
they had. "When were you going to tell me that you were gay?"

"Joanne Told---"

"Joanne? She has nothing to do with this. Matt showed me the pictures
you drew, you know, the gay couples, naked men, etc. Granted I'm equally
mad at him for doing that, but you betrayed my trust by lying to me"

"To...To be fair. You never asked." Justin spat out. "And the reason I
didn't tell you is because I was afraid that what happened to me at my
last school would happen all over again, if not with you, then with Matt
or Ryan or someone else! I'm tried of people calling me faggot, or
getting beat up over something I can't control! I didn't tell you cause
I didn't want to ruin our friendship! Don't you get it!?" Justin was
overcome with anger and sadness at the same time, tears now pouring down
his cheeks. "I just wanted to feel the slightest bit normal for once in
my life... but you can't understand that, can you? I'm sorry I didn't
tell you, but I had my reasons..."

"You were afraid of me hating you? I don't hate you, I just... I just
don't like people keeping things from me." He walked over to Justin and
gave him a hug, a tight embracing hug. Justin shivered at the cold damp
skin he was pressed against. "Promise that from now on you'll tell me
everything?"

"I promise...."Justin buried his face in Drew's chest, "and yes, I do
like you in a towel" He said weakly, his voice cracking for a moment.

Drew laughed and hugged a little tighter before releasing Justin and
looking at him, his face pale and exhausted, as if the years of torment,
all the pain he ever suffered had rushed back to claim him. "See, was it
that hard to say?"

"No, not really. Not now that I know you are ok with it. But you'd like
to hear the story wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but you can do that in your own time... when you are ready, ok?"
Justin just nodded, still afraid that this was too good to be true. Was
this just a set up, a plot to make him suffer more? No. He had to shake
that thought and begin to put more trust in people; after all, it wasn't
Joanne who had done this, so his trust wasn't misplaced.

"Now about that folder, lets see what else you have in there, `cause
boy you have talent. Come on; show me what you've drawn. Please?"
Justin couldn't resist the slight charm Drew had and nodded in
agreement, taking him over to the bed where his drawings lay.

-------------------------------------------
Notes: I liked this chapter better because we got to see a little bit
more of Justin's past and how he feels when interacting socially. But I
did feel this chapter was to quick for its own good, but you my loyal
fans asked for a second chapter, and this is the best I could do, so I
hope you enjoyed.
Remember, you're always welcomed to eamil me!