Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 00:13:27 EDT
From: Blue4Clue4@aol.com
Subject: Music to my Ears (for the high school section)

Authors Note: Hi everyone, name's Scott. This is my first attempt at a
nifty story, so cut me some slack, maybe just a little. Anyway it's a fun
little story, and this is just the beginnings, so any thoughts,
questions, comments, ideas would be great. Pass them on to
Blue4Clue4@aol.com ( I know, my little brother picked it)

First things first, I owe a huge thank to my friend, if I may call him
that, Justin for giving me the inspiration to actually submit.

And to Leo...you know what you do. My Shawn is lucky to have your name.

Disclaimer: If you are offended by stories that have homosexual themes,
then this ain't the place for you. Also, if you're too young, get your
virgin eyes outta here. So really now, I'm not lying here's the
story......

MUSIC TO MY EARS

Chapter One-- Working Class Hero

My eyes burned open to the new day. As I glanced over to the clock, I
stretched my arms above my head...good morning...and rose from my warm
nest. Clad in only flannel boxers I started towards the hall for a "hey
lazy slob let's get going and wake the fuck up" shower. On my way out, I
saw my twin brother Jarred sleeping soundly sprawled like a cat, he's the
weird twin. As I entered the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of myself in
the crooked mirror, 'I really should fix that' I thought to myself. I
slowly slid my boxers down and started to remove my left foot. Then the
phone ring. With a short sigh I made myself decent and lifted the
receiver.

"Hello?" Not too convincing, hell, I'm not a morning person.

" Um yeah, is Scott there?" the man, I recognized as my boss, he wanted
something. "Yeah, hi Scott, hey we're kind of short-handed today, could
you come in for a few hours?"

"Um sure thing Greg, I'll be there in about half an hour, cool?"

"Yeah, kid, see ya then."

I clicked off the phone. Greg's a cool enough guy. I work at this guitar
shop, it's ample work and pay, plus I love music, so you know, job plus
fun equals good times. Today was different though.

After a quick warm shower, I made myself presentable, threw on some jeans
and a t-shirt, and wrote a note for my brothers. I got to work with about
five minutes to spare and checked in with Greg.

"Scott, you've got a lesson at two, so if you could just work the floor
until then and maybe fix Jackson's guitar that would be great. When
you're all done with that, you can go."

Okay, so my name is Scott. I'm 17 years old and I live with my older
brothers Ross and Barrett. My twin brother Jarred, was just spending the
night, as he does a lot. Plus, there are three younger ones, Joshua
Bradley, and Wesley but they live with our parents. I had a falling out
with them and managed to get my ass booted out, but that's another story
all together.

I started wandering the shop, and saw this guy browsing some catalogs off
in the corner. He kept looking up at me, his eyes, they seemed so
familiar to me, and yet I'd never seen him before. I went over to help
him, maybe give him a couple of pointers in choosing a guitar, but I
guess he had other ideas.

"Excuse me sir, you think you could give me a hand." He drawled in a
slight southern accent.

"Yeah man, what's up? How can I be of service" Yeah, sarcasm is my forte.

" Um, hi. I play guitar-well-
no-shit-but-anyway-I'm-not-one-for-you-know-finding-a-good-one-
and-I-just-thought-that-you-could-you-know-help-me-out." Geez, this guy
talked a mile a minute.

"Hey sure man, so what are you looking for, the name's Scott." I stayed
calm, thinking maybe, just maybe it would wear off.

"Yeah, um, maybe a Gibson or a Desanto..I'm *cough* Brian."

"Okay, well, that's a huge range, you're going to have to be a little
more specific." I tried to maintain a calm, joke-like demeanor, he just
seemed so damn nervous.

We launched into guitar talk, and after a little while he picked out a
nice cherry-red Desanto electric. He kept looking at me, and I found his
glances so comforting, like I've known this guy for years. His eyes
started to wander, up and down. Was he checking me out?

I strolled over to the counter to ring him up. I went through all the
normal procedures and told him the guitar would be in in a couple of
weeks. He placed the deposit for the order and started to walk away. I
guess I was reading his signals correctly, because he pivoted back around
and opened his mouth to say something, but swiftly closed it.

" Is there something else?" I asked, kind of unsure.

" Well, um actually.." He started to mess with his baseball starter cap
removed it and ruffled up his brownish hair.

"Um, what else can I possibly do for you?"

He smirked, kind of laughed if off. " Actually, I thought that maybe, um
you know..we could get together sometime and have lunch, you seem like a
cool enough guy."

"Oh yeah, um sure, but why, if I can be so bold?"

" Well, to put in blankly, you're pretty cute.."

I cut him off and started to cough, and choke. I think he got the wrong
idea. He turned to leave.

"No, Brian, wait..hey man, hold up a second" I tried to catch my breath
and started to go after him.

" I um, sorry, that really caught me off guard, but yeah sure, I'd love
to. Here's my number", I scrawled it quickly on his hand. "So I'll talk
to you later then."

"Yeah okay Scott, definitely." Damn, he was sweet, he was really going to
call..or so I hoped.

The rest of the day went on, normally, lessons and repairs. I headed home
to find all of my brothers engrossed in some movie.

"Hey, kid, how was work?" Ross asked.

"You know, same old same old, I have some tabs to write, so I'll catch up
with you guys a little later on." I kind of trailed off. Our family,
well, rather our brotherly relationship, never kept secrets and we could
all read each other too well.

" Scott, SPILL IT!!" That's my brother Barrett, he's a psycho..ever seen
the movie IT? Yeah, that clown..that's him, kind of-- less cannibalistic.

"Damnit guys..nothing happened, I went to work, I came home. This is the
part when I go write..."

"SCOTT I will tie you to a chair..don't test me boy.." He couldn't even
say it, he was laughing so hard at himself.

"Yeah, Rett, the joke's no longer funny when you're the only one
laughing." Jarred stated blankly, he always brought Barrett back to
Earth.

"Okay fine, you're such pushy boys..." I laughed it off and started on my
story of meeting this guy named Brian.

"Alright for now...I'll get the rest, eventually." Barrett was pleased,
although he knew something else was there, I guess he knew when to stop
pushing.

I left for my room. Reality is so good, and no way that just happened.
I'd waited so long to find someone for me. It had been years since my
last relationship experience. I was rusty, unsure but excited. It's only
a dream Scott, and nice as it maybe your alarm clock is about to go and
wake you up to your boring reality and.....

"RING, RING, stop. "

"SCOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S The hottie from the guitar shop!! Get your ass
in gear little man!!!!!" Note to self, Barrett has about 15 minutes of a
meaningful life left to his name. To plot a murder...

"Um, hello?" I tried to be cool, but after that mighty fine introduction,
most of my hope had been lost.

"Hey Scott, this is that hottie from earlier today."

I about melted, but I just shrugged and forgot about the whole thing.

"Hey Brian, I didn't think you would call..."

"Why, you think I'm just some cocky prick? Course I was going to call,
but it's hard enough to get away from my friends even for four seconds to
take a piss." He paused "sorry that was probably a little bit too much
information there, but anyway. Would you like to grab some dinner
tonight, and maybe if things go okay, you might want to come back to the
hotel and hang out..."

"Um, yeah the dinner sounds fine, but I don't know about after. I just
met you, can we maybe just slow this down a little but?"

"Oh yeah man, sure, didn't mean to scare you, it'll just be friendly"

"Wait Brian, I, um, I'm gay, and at the moment a little confused about
your intentions.."

"Takes one to know one I guess..me too."

"So you mean, like a date then?"

"If you want to call it a date Scott, go for it. I'll see you at seven
then."

"Okay Brian, sounds like a plan" I quickly gave him directions to my
apartment and hung up the phone.

My head started to do 360s and I thought about throwing up. No, I
wouldn't, but hell, I have a date tonight with a man that I'd barely met,
but already felt something for. I ran to the bathroom for a shower and
managed to avoid the brotherly interrogation on the way. I quickly
dressed in a pair of khakis, white t-shirt and a black sweater, and of
course a clean pair of boxers..you never know right? At this time, the
buzzer rang and Ross buzzed him up. He was in my apartment and I ran to
greet him and he gave me a huge hug. My little brother Josh, seemed a
little uneasy, but he was barely into puberty and the idea of being gay
was still a bit much for him. Nonetheless, he supported me and loved me
as his brother even if he didn't understand. Brian waved hello and I did
the normal introductions and we left on our way.

TBC-------

So what did you all think? This is my first attempt at a nifty story, so
any constructive criticism would be HIGHLY appreciated. Send it along to
Blue4Clue4@aol.com (yeah I know my six year old brother picked it) If it
sucks, just please tell me..give it a chance though, the story is yet to
unfold. Any ideas will be considered and I will answer all e-mails, so
don't think your wasting your time. So thanks for reading, and until next
time.. keep it safe.

Scott

Sticks&Strings