Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 00:41:50 -0400
From: Anthony Tony <tunistony@aol.com>
Subject: Starting Over- Chapter 10

Disclaimer: this story is my from my own imagination and is completely
fictional.


email: tunistony2@yahoo.com


By: Tony


Starting Over


Chapter 10




 To say this was unexpected would be an understatement. Which was ironic
because everything that's been happening to me lately has been, very much,
unexpected. But this -- maybe I should explain the situation.


 It was a regular day and everything was fine, for once, so I actually
believed that I was going to have an uneventful, but normal, day. A day
that I've been craving because things have been properly crazy lately. So I
was just walking down the hallway going to the library to meet Cole for
lunch, since we agreed that the library was a nice secluded place to have
our lunch break in peace.


 Either way, I was walking towards the library when suddenly these three
guys stood right in front of me like they'd been waiting for me. The
obvious leader of the group, stood out from the other two. He was basically
right in my face when he decided to stop and looked me right in the
eyes. He seemed eerily familiar.


 The leader spoke, "You probably don't remember me. So let me introduce
myself, I'm Vincent, but my friends call me Vince. You can call me
Vincent." He exuded an odd amount of confidence and I felt like I was being
confronted by a mob boss with his henchmen on either side of him. They just
stood at attention like they were ready to pounce at any moment.


 I was baffled to say the least, "I'm sorry -- uh... Vincent. I don't
know--" he cut me off with a hand.


 "Sorry, let me finish the introduction. I'm Vincent Luciani." He said with
a pointed look.


 It instantly dawned on me why he looked so familiar... he's Ava's
brother. Of course, they both have that commanding presence and the loyal
followers by their side.


 Wait, Oh shit he's probably confronting me because... "You're Ava's
brother, right?" I tried to play innocent and not let on that I knew why he
was here.


 "That's right, Ava's my little sister. And frankly, I don't like how you
hurt her yesterday. She came home looking very upset, so I asked her who
did I need to beat up in order to make her feel better. And she told me
that you were the one responsible for making her cry. Now, she didn't tell
me to beat you, but I have the liberty to do whatever I please. So how
about you tell me." His calm manner of speaking is more unsettling when his
words are getting more threatening. It's like he jumped out of a mafia
movie or something. And the silent guys in the back aren't helping.


 "Look I didn't mean to upset her I just -- it's just that we broke up
recently and I think she's taking it badly." I said defensively. I really
didn't want to get into another fight. I'd probably be expelled this time.


 "You seem like a reasonable guy, Matt. But here's the thing, when you fuck
with my family, then I gotta fuck with you. That's only logical, isn't it."
He said with a cold look in his eyes. I guess the 'looks that could kill'
run in the family.


  I gotta find a way to get out of this. "I see your point but, I can't
help that she's upset about the break-up."


 "We both have places to be so how about I make my point. I'm her older
brother and I need to look out for her. Now you have a younger sister,
don't you?" He says everything as if he already knew the answer.


 "Yes... I do," I said hesitantly, how does he know about Christine?


 "Well then, as older brothers we have to look out for our sisters. It's
our duty. We can't have some fuckboys coming into their lives and messing
with them. We can't allow that or else we'd be failing at our duty, you
see."


 He did have a convincing argument. Wait, did he just call me a fuckboy?


 "I get what your saying." I muttered. He's kind of persuasive.


 "See, we're on the same page now. So, in that case you can't, in all good
conscience, hurt her. Am I right?"


 He has a way of wording things that makes you want to agree with him. "I
guess you're right."


 "Thank you for seeing my point of view. So you'll go to the dance with her
then." He looked satisfied and was about to walk away.


 Wait, What?! "No, wait, I still can't go with her even if I wanted to."


 He looked a bit pissed off by that, "And why the hell not?" He asked with
his mouth tight and an eyebrow raised. The guys behind him looked like they
were waiting for his signal to beat me.


 "Because I'm not allowed to go to any school events including dances. It's
part of my punishment that the principal gave me." I felt relieved to have
an actual excuse to give him.


 He didn't look pleased though and he got even closer to me (if that's
possible) and looked me up and down like he couldn't believe me. "What did
you do to get that punishment?"


 I looked down sheepishly, "I got in a fight with Kevin Lawrence,"


 "Oh...I thought he was your friend. You're ruthless, I respect that," He
put his hand on my shoulder in a 'buddy way'. "You and me are cut from the
same cloth. But regardless, you're going to the dance with her." He
finished in a stern tone and looked at me in a way that said 'this is
non-negotiable'.


 "I don't think you get it. If I show up there I could be suspended again
or possibly expelled." I said with a scowl. This dude was getting on my bad
side and making me ready to fight.


 He cuffed the back of my neck with his hand and gripped it tightly. He did
it so quick I was taken by surprise. "Look, I've been nice enough to hold
back my anger, but my patience is running thin. Now, you'll go to that
fucking dance with my sister. I don't care if you have to dig a hole under
the school in order to get in. This is the first and last time I will warn
you about this. Or the next time we talk I won't be so nice. Got it," He
said as he squeezed the back of my neck for good measure and then slammed
my head back against a locker as he released me from his grip.


 Then he left with his boys following behind. I don't even know why he
brought them, he could obviously handle himself. I rubbed my neck and
looked down the hall where they had just turned the corner. All I could
think was: I'm fucked!


                                                                                                      *
* * * * * * *


 I was disoriented for a moment because I couldn't believe what had just
happened. I was knocked out of my daze by a presence behind me.


 "So you met Vince, I see," I turn around and Kevin is standing a couple
feet away from me. He looked tired, but I wasn't sure why.


 I was hesitant for a second, "Huh, yeah. Well apparently I'm supposed to
call him 'Vincent' since I'm not his friend." I said with a smirk.


 He took that as a cue as he walked closer to me and smiled, "Trust me, no
one's his friend."

 "I'm guessing you've encountered him before."


 He shrugs, "Yeah, once or twice. Both times pertaining to Ava, of
course. That's the only person he truly cares about."


 It's weird but oddly comforting talking to Kevin, or maybe it's just
familiar. "Well, surprise surprise. He cornered me to talk about Ava as
well."


 "Oh yeah? What was he confronting you about?" He asked curiously.


 I wasn't sure if I should tell him. "He was mad that I broke up with Ava
and he requested -- well more like demanded, that I take her to the dance."


 Kevin looked shocked, "You broke up with Ava?"


 I laughed sarcastically, "Yeah, so now you can have her."


 He looked confused then offended, "Dude, you know I would never do
that. Believe it or not, I was never trying to get with Ava or steal her
away. Don't believe everything you hear."


 "I guess I, especially, can't believe everything people say." I rolled my
eyes, I wish that wasn't true.


 "Yeah, I guess. Also, no offence, but Ava's a little... too much. If you
know what I mean." He said with a hint of a smile.


 I genuinely laughed, "Yeah, I've noticed."


 We stood in a comfortable silence before he spoke again. "Why were we even
fighting in the first place?" Kevin remarked quietly.


 I looked him directly in the eye, totally serious, "Because you're a
homophobic asshole."


 He took a defensive step back, "Whoa, man, not this again. Come on, what
do you want me to do. You want me to apologize for something that happened
months ago?" He held up his hands in frustration.


 I waved my hand in dismissal, "Whatever man, you don't have to
apologize. Just know that I'm not over it, okay." I made a move to walk
away when he stopped me.


 I looked back at him with a 'what?' expression on my face. "Matt, you
can't just leave it like that. We've been best friends since we were
kids. I'm not gonna let you're accident and some guy get in between us. We
gotta talk about this. You can't just leave me hanging man... I miss you."
He said the last part in almost a whisper. He looked kind of broken. He
seemed genuine.


 "Okay, fine we can talk about it." I said in a huff. I'm stubborn, sue me.


 "Are you just mad because I was mean to Cole? I didn't even think you
talked to the guy outside of your Chemistry class."


 "It's not just that, it's everything you've been doing lately. First you
start insinuating that he'll sleep with anyone because he's gay. Then you
come up to me at detention and whisper some shit about Cole not being as
'innocent' as he appears. What the fuck is that? I can't trust you anymore,
you seem like you're always scheming and I just don't need that right now."


 "Jesus Matt! Maybe I am fucking 'scheming' because I'm losing my best
friend. I-- I'm losing you and I'm not sure why. I understand that you
don't remember your life before the accident, but dammit, I'm tired. All
the guys on the team keep asking about you and they think that we still
talk... that we're still friends. They don't realize that you've totally
shut me out and I don't know what to say or do. So..." He looked like he
was trying to find the words to convey his feelings. "If you wanna hang
with this Cole kid, fine. I'm fine with it and I'm sorry for what I said
about him and what I did to him a long time ago. I just want to make amends
with you."


 I want to be mad at him and stand my ground but I can't. Even if I don't
remember our friendship, he sure does and he obviously needs his friend
back.


 I instinctively went to hug him but I hesitated for a second. I wasn't
sure if that was something we did, but before I could totally pull away he
met me halfway and hugged me tight. It wasn't one of those one armed 'bro
hugs' either, it was with two arms tightly wrapped around each others
bodies, bone-crushingly tight, type of hug. But it was nice.


 When we let go I looked at him sternly, "Look Kev, we can be friends
again, as long as you stop lying to me and just be honest. No more
scheming, okay?"


 He smiled, "Okay man, no more scheming, I promise."


____________________________________________________________


 I wasn't sure why I was doing this or if it was even the right thing to
do, but it's too late it's happening. I should recap: The past few days
have been great. Me and Cole talk all the time now and we've been getting
along perfectly. There hasn't been a fight yet, which has been the longest
so far (that I can remember). Either way, it's been so great that I thought
I should surprise him. I'd never been to his house and he never really
invited me but I thought maybe I should jump the gun and see him at his
house. Maybe we could even have some alone time, something I wouldn't be
able to get at my own house.


 So now I'm currently standing at his front door, I just rang the doorbell
and I'm waiting for a response. The longer I wait the more I'm doubting
this was a good plan. Then the door opens and not only is Cole not standing
there but it's his brother, looking angry. Now I know this wasn't a good
idea.


 I kinda forgot he had a brother...again. "Hey, Dave, is it?" I said
nervously.


 He did not look pleased, "What the fuck are you doing here?"


 Yikes, I thought he'd be over it by now. Before I could say anything Cole
came from behind Dave. He looked even more confused than Dave.


 "Dave why are you being so rude--" Then Cole caught sight of me and his
face changed. I couldn't tell what he was feeling but it didn't look
happy. He looked over at Dave, "I got this,"


 Dave looked hesitant, "Are you sure?"


 Cole waved him away, "Yeah, it's fine,"


 Dave went back inside and Cole quickly stepped onto the porch and shut the
door. "What's going on?" He asked quickly.


 I laughed to lighten the, clearly tense, mood. "Why do you look so
panicked? Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to see you outside of school and I
thought I'd surprise you, so... surprise."


 "Why didn't you call or text me first. Usually people don't just show up
unannounced. Especially when those 'people' are still hated by my brother."
He looked at me pointedly.


 "Are you mad at me?" I asked seriously.


 "No, I'm not. I'm just flustered, you caught me off guard. I mean -- you
can come in, of course. It's just I still haven't explained to Dave our
situation so, just be cool about it."


 "Hey, look at me, I'm always cool." I said while putting on false
bravado. If only he knew how tense I was at the moment.


 He smirked, "Okay," He opened the door and motioned for me to follow him
in. I walked in after him and Dave was sitting on the couch and he was
looking at us curiously while somehow still glaring at me.


 Cole saw Dave's expression, "Davey, wipe that look off your face. Matt
apologized, okay. It's over." Wow, Cole sounding like a commanding older
brother. I like when he's assertive... it's a turn-on.


 "Shut up, I can look any way I want. And don't call me Davey." Well, he
had the whole 'bratty younger sibling' thing, he reminded me of my sister.


 "Come on Matt," Cole said while pulling me by the arm.


  "Where are we going?"


 "My room," He said quickly.

 Those two words instantly made me move faster. "Okay," I probably had the
biggest smile on my face.


 He looked back at me as we went up the stairs and he had a suggestive
smile on his face.


 Oh, I'm in for it.


 As soon as I stepped into his room, he swiftly shut the door and pushed me
flush against the door with his arms around my shoulders and his lips on
mine. All I could do was stand there in shock for a second before
recovering and returning the kiss.


 I pushed him back a bit so that I could look at him, "Whoa, where did that
come from?" I asked breathlessly.


 He smiled up at me with his arms still firmly around my neck, "I guess I'm
just happy to see you." Well, talk about an attitude change. He was making
my forget my own name.


 He started kissing me again, his lips felt so good against mine. I almost
forgot why I was here. Ooh, what did he just do with his tongue and how can
I get him to do that again...


 Then I remembered why I really came to see him. I needed to tell him
something. I, reluctantly, had to pry his mouth off of mine for a
second. "Hey," I said but he ignored it and went right back to kissing me,
when he gets going its hard to stop him... I don't mind though. But before
we started something that we couldn''t finish I had to tell him something.


 I tried again by turning my head, "Hey, Cole, I do need to tell you
something though." He seemed distracted since he was looking at my lips the
whole time but he stopped. "I didn't get to tell you this a couple days
ago."


 I moved away from being pressed up against the door and pulled him over to
his bed and sat down next to him.


 "Is everything okay?" He instantly looked concerned. The one thing I hate
about him is how much he worries.


 "It's nothing too serious I just thought I should tell you."


 There was a beat of silence. "Okay, are you going to tell me then?"


 "Yeah, I'm getting to it. I'm just not sure how to word it."


 He rolled his eyes at me and sighed, "Ugh, just tell me already." Okay,
he's getting way too comfortable with me.


 "Well, the other day, I had an encounter with Vince... or I guess
Vincent." I looked over at him expectantly.


 His face was scrunched in confusion, "Is that name supposed to mean
something to me?"


 "Vincent Luciani... Ava's brother."


 His eyes opened wide in recognition, then he looked a bit scared. "Oh no
what did you do?"


 Okay, I wasn't expecting that, "What do you mean 'what did I do'?" I was
slightly offended.


 "No, I just mean -- Vince only approaches people when they've wronged him
in some way, otherwise you don't really see much of him. He's very
mysterious."


 "I didn't really 'do' anything per say, He was just mad that I wasn't
going to take Ava to the dance and then..."


 "There's more?"


 "Yes, there's more. There's always more with me. He basically demanded
that I go to the dance with her. By any means necessary. I was trying to
refuse but he had his goons with him and he's surprisingly strong."


 "Did he hit you?" Cole asked hurriedly while touching my face.


 "Yeah, but I'm fine he just slammed me into a locker. But the look in his
eye was not something I'd want to fuck with. I don't know, but I might have
to go to this dance with her." I said with a sigh.


 Then I caught a glimpse of Cole he was visibly drawing into himself and
looking crushed. I was very confused to say the least.


 "Cole, what's wrong?"


 He looked at me accusingly, "You want to go with her, don't you?"


 "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"


 "Because you're not putting up much of a fight. Vince tells you to go with
her and now you're just gonna go?" His voice was raising with each word.


 "Look Cole you weren't there, he was really intense--"


 "I don't give a shit!"


 I recoiled at his outburst. He never sounded like this. "Cole what's going
on?"


 He stood up and started pacing the room, "I never know what it's going to
be with you Matt. Which is sometimes interesting and even exciting at
times. But it's times like these when I really hate the drama that
surrounds you."


 I was a little hurt by that. He made it sound like I was a
burden. "Sorry," I said quietly while he kept pacing the room.


 He heard my response and then looked at me. Then he came over and knelt
down in front of where I was sitting and looked me in the eyes. "You don't
have to be sorry. It's just me. I guess I'm insecure when it comes to
Ava. After all, she was your girlfriend. How can I compete with that."


 I grabbed his face in my hands, "If you think that you're competing, you
are sadly mistaken. There's no competition... you already won." I smiled at
him then kissed him gently on the lips and he responded generously.


 What I thought was a simple kiss of reassurance turned into kissing a lot
and some heavy petting. Soon Cole was lightly pushing me back at first I
didn't realize what he was doing and I thought he wanted me to stop. I
looked at him confused for a second then, with more force, he pushed me
back completely so that I was laying down on the bed.


 Now I understood what he was doing and happily obliged. I gave him a
mischievous grin as he swung his leg over my hips and got on top of me and
then went back to kissing me. Shirts were starting to get pushed up while
pants were being drawn down. We were getting carried away for sure. It
seemed like nothing could stop the connection between me and Cole right
now. I was caressing his backside as he moved on top of me. I wanted to get
more of him so I flipped him over so that I was on top of him now,
straddling his hips. I sat up a bit, pulled away from him, and looked at
him with lust-filled eyes as I took off my shirt. This was actually
happening. Then, we went back to passionately kissing. I was addicted to
his lips.


 We were right in the middle of all that when I heard, "Oh shit!" followed
by a, "What the fuck!"


 I was disoriented from my current arousal state but I was harshly pushed
back into reality when Cole was pushing me off of him and I looked over and
saw Dave standing in the doorway, looking: shocked, disappointed, and
furious. All I could do was lay there, on Cole's bed (shirtless) and with a
blush, say, "Um... hi."


 Cole quickly zipped his pants back up and put on his shirt frantically. He
looked over at Dave still standing there, so he went over to his door, "Can
I have some fucking privacy! Geez," He yelled as he slammed the door in
Dave's face.


 It all happened so quickly that I didn't know what to do. I looked at him
hesitantly while he still stood at the door with his back turned from
me. "Uh... what should we do?" I asked hesitantly.


 He turned around and looked at me blankly, " We are not going to do
anything. I'm going to talk to my brother and you're going to stay in here
until I figure out how bad this situation really is." Then he looked at me
like he was seeing me for the first time. "And can you please put on a
shirt." Then he walked out the door.


 I stood up with a sigh and looked for my shirt. It happened again, someone
walking in on us. I guess we really should be more careful. But this felt
different. Cole seemed like he was properly freaking out. I know it's
probably very embarrassing to have a sibling see you in a compromising
position like that but I thought that Dave knew that Cole was gay.


 I sat on Cole's bed in thought but then I was getting antsy and Cole was
taking awhile, so I decided to snoop a bit. I cautiously walked out his
room and heard them talking in the room next door. I went towards the door
and saw that it was ajar. I peeked in and saw Cole and Dave standing in
Dave's room looking serious.


 I heard Dave continue to talk, "Why don't you get it, he's using you,"
Dave looked at Cole with a stern face.


 Cole seemed offended, "What is that supposed to mean, huh? That no one
like him would actually want to be with me?" He scowled.


 Dave put up his hands, "No, not at all. I mean... You know how him and his
friends are. They like to play around with people and manipulate them, just
for the fun of it. His girlfriend does that all the time. Oh yeah and by
the way, he has a girlfriend, Cole. What the fuck are you doing."


 "Dave, it's complicated and I don't want to get into everything right now,
but I can assure you that he isn't with her anymore. Also, I really don't
think he's playing with me. He seems very genuine."


 Dave rolled his eyes, "Oh that's rich. He seems genuine? He's friends with
the same guys that always mess with you. Heck, he even messed with you, if
you don't remember."


 "Oh, trust me I remember, Dave. We even talked about it and I let him know
that he can't go back to acting like that or we're through. But after the
accident he changed, you can see that."


 "You're so naive Cole. You know what everyone at school says? They're
saying that they think he's faking his memory loss to get out of his
previous responsibilities. They think he's using it as an excuse to have
some fun and try some new things and maybe even fuck around with different
people who aren't Ava.  And frankly I'm starting to think they're
right. And now my own brother is getting caught up in Matt Ellis's fucked
up life."


 Cole was silent for awhile and I was worried that he was starting to
believe Dave. Then he spoke calmly, "Maybe you shouldn't listen to
everything people say." I was proud of Cole for standing by his
convictions.


 Dave sighed, "You can't honestly tell me that you think he just suddenly
turned gay. Come on, he probably just heard the rumors that you were gay
and wanted to try something new and he knew he could get to you easily
because he's your lab partner. He's probably doing this for an easy lay."


 I wanted to slap him at this point. Even though he looked like he
instantly regretted it when he saw the hurt on Cole's face. "I didn't
mean--" Dave stuttered.


 "Fuck you Dave! You think he's with me because I'm easy. Wow!" Cole turned
to storm out the door and I quickly moved from sight. But he didn't come
out the door, I peeked back in and saw that Dave had pulled him back.


 Dave backtracked, "Wait, you know that came out wrong, but I'm you're
brother. I'm just concerned and I don't want to see you get hurt."


 "Oh Davey," then he hugged his brother and ruffled his hair.


 Dave looked embarrassed and pushed Cole away, "Don't call me that." He
said with a blush.


 Cole smiled, "Dave, I'm your older brother. You don't have to look out for
me. That's what I'm supposed to do for you. I can take care of myself."


 "No, we look out for each other. And right now you need some protection
from jerks like him."


 "Hey, don't call him that. You don't know him like I do,"


 He scoffed, "Obviously not,"


 Cole pushed him, "That's not what I meant. No I can tell he's different
then how he used to be, yet I can tell that he's still being himself. It's
like the accident didn't change him it just modified him... or something. I
don't know, but he's a good guy and I really like him."


 Dave looked he just realized something, "Oh, is that why he was yelling at
you in the parking lot about those other guys that he thought you were
fucking?"


 Cole looked embarrassed, "Yes and I thought we agreed never to bring that
up."


 Dave looked at him sincerely, "He feels really strongly about you then?"
He phrased it as I question but I knew he meant it as a statement.


 Cole smirked, "I think so,"


 "So are you guys dating now?"


 Cole looked down thoughtfully, "I don't know, but I just really like being
around him and he makes me feel... good." I smiled at that.


 Dave seemed to understand as he nodded his head in recognition. Then Cole
turned his head slightly to look at the door and he looked at me through
the crack and smiled. I guess he knew I was standing there the whole
time. I just smiled back sheepishly. Then hurried back to his room before
Dave noticed.


______________________________________________________


To Be Continued...


email: tunistony2@yahoo.com


Thanks guys and hope you like it.
:) Tony