Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2015 16:43:52 -0500
From: Sean Ward <man_u_4_life@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Boys of White Oaks Chapter 3

This story contains course language and sexuality. It is not intended for
those under the age of 18.

>>>>>>

Adam sat on the front doorstep waiting for his ride to arrive. Having to
wake up this early was a rude awaking after a long summer of wasting the
days away sleeping in, and taking life at a snail's pace. The morning
sunlight glistened of the dew covered grass; the air had that first day of
school smell and feel, it was fresh and crisp, autumn was almost underway
Adam thought as he pulled up the zipper on his hooded sweater. His tranquil
moment was cut short by the sound of a crash that came from within his
house.  Adam sprung to his feet and stuck his head through the front
door. "Everything ok..?" Adam asked.

"Just fine!" Tina replied, she made her way out of the kitchen wiping her
hands on her pricey apron she'd bought at some French cookware store
downtown. "I just dropped a pan."

"It sounded like someone was being attacked." Adam said laughing. "Scared
the shhh... I mean crap out of me."

"You look so handsome." Tina said with a warm smile. "Are you nervous for
your first day?"

"I'm glad I got to meet some of the guys on the weekend, at least I'll know
some people... otherwise, yeah, I'd be pretty nervous." Adam replied

"Well I'm making that chicken casserole that Maria use to make for us, I
know how much you loved it. Figured we could have a family dinner tonight?"
Tina said sounding proud she was attempting this.

"Except, no one ended up in the hospital when Maria made it." Adam laughed.
He knew it was only a matter of time until Tina put out an ad for help
around the house; however he was interested to see how long this phase
would last for his Mom. "I was actually going to hang out with the guys
after school maybe, if that's ok?"

"I'll save you a plate." Tina said giving Adam a kiss on the
cheek. Suddenly, the smoke alarm nearest to the kitchen started to sound
off.

"Shoot!" Tina yelled, bolting towards the kitchen. "Have a good day honey!"

With perfect timing, Adam saw Nathan's Range Rover pull up his
driveway. Adam wasted no time getting to it. His worst fear was that his
mother would come back with a paper bag and tell him she made lunch.

"Thanks for the drive." Adam said checking out the luxurious
interior. "Nice ride..."

"Thanks... no worries....." Nathan replied sounding distant.

"You sound thrilled to be going back to school..." Adam laughed.

"Ugh..... I wish it was that." Nathan said. On closer look Adam noticed
that Nathan's eyes looked puffy and red.

"Is everything ok?" Adam asked putting his hand on Nathan's arm.

"I'm just so tired of it." Said Nathan, his voice was breaking as his eyes
welled up with tears. "Always feeling like second best."

"Boy problems?" Adam asked softly.

"Simon ended up staying in New York an extra night. He was supposed to come
home last night and have dinner with me this evening before he starts
University tomorrow...." Nathan wiped the tears away with the back of his
hand. "I keep trying to see him and it's like he doesn't give a
shit.... And then when I'm doing something else, he expects me to drop
everything to see him."

"Have you told him how you feel?" Adam felt badly seeing Nathan so upset.

"I could hear some guy in the background when I was talking to him; I just
wanted to get off the phone before I started an argument." Nathan said
sounding worried.

"I really think you should call him up and tell him how you feel....." Adam
said. "I'd be pissed if I was in your shoes."

"Yeah, be thankful you're not." Nathan said sounding more angry than upset
now. "Anyways... this is your first day of school, so let's make it
memorable."

>>>>>>

Adam was glad this school had a uniform, navy dress pants, white polo shirt
and black dress shoes. No guesswork in what to wear each morning, he was
certain going to school with people like Nathan; he'd look like an
underdressed slob. As Nathan and Adam entered the main doors to the school,
there was a frenzy of talking, as students who hadn't seen each other over
the summer embraced and caught up on their friends' lives. Soon though Adam
noticed much of the attention was on Nathan and himself. The two made their
way down the hall as the occasional person would whisper.

"What's going on?" Adam asked in a hushed tone.

"You, you're fresh meat." Nathan laughed. "And I'm sure a little bit to do
with me."

"What do you mean?" Adam asked curiously.

"Well, I'm sure you'll hear it eventually anyways." Nathan paused. "I
wasn't a really nice person a year ago. I was a total douche bag
actually... when the news started exploding with teens, mostly gay
committing suicide because of bullying, it really affected me and hit home,
I was a terrible person. I didn't want to be responsible for pushing anyone
to do that."

"That's great that you made that change. You should be really proud." Adam
said putting his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "So why are they acting so
scared and timid now?" Adam said as many of the students began talking and
embracing once more.

"They probably still think I'm that same asshole, scared to cross me..."
Nathan said as him and Adam reached their lockers. "Actions are louder than
words right? So now I've got to prove I'm a changed man."

"Our lockers are next to each other?" Adam asked seeing his locker number
was beside Nathan's.

"I thought it would be nice, we can meet here when we grab our books
between classes." Nathan smiled. "I guess you can say I pulled some strings
with my dad." Nathan whispered.

"See you're such a nice guy." Adam laughed. "I'm glad we met, coming here
knowing no one would have hugely sucked balls."

Out of nowhere, Adam felt a poke in the middle of his back followed by a
man's voice he knew and missed all too well. "Sucking balls isn't
necessarily a bad thing."

Adam was taken of guard and turned around to see the face he'd wanted to
see more than anything.

"Peter." Adam said with a big smile, he felt his face turning red
again. Peter raised his arm giving Adam a high five.

"So, are you going to look at me today?" Peter asked laughing, he was
obviously referring to the night at Nathan's house when Adam was so shy
around Peter and did anything to avoid eye contact. Peter light-heartedly
put his arm around Adam and pulled him in for a half hug.

"So guys, do we have any of the same classes?" Nathan asked, he was amused
by Adam and Peter's flirting.

"I have first period English..." Peter said checking his time table.

"Same here..." Adam said relieved he knew one person in the class. "Oh
wait... I have second period English and Biology first period." Adam said
as he looked closer, he felt a wave of dread come over him.

"Did I hear you say biology first period?" Marcus asked as him and Scott
walked towards the group.

"You heard correctly." Adam said sounding disappointed.

"Great, so do I!" Marcus said excitedly. "Guys I'm going to borrow Adam,
we'll see you all at lunch." Marcus said guiding Adam away.

"You can't keep him though!" Peter called out after them.

Marcus waited till they were out of the way before he began to speak. "I
just wanted to apologize about the other night." Marcus said. "I was kind
of a dick."

"What are you talking about?" Adam asked stunned, and trying to figure out
what Marcus was referring too. "I wasn't that drunk, did I miss something?"
Adam laughed.

"No... Just how Scott and I kind of put you on the spot, prying into the
gay thing at Nathan's." Marcus said sounding apologetic.

"Are you kidding?" Adam said smiling. "You guys helped me come out... I'd
probably be here today feeling ridiculously awkward, still completely in
the closet."

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Marcus said smiling and relieved
Adam wasn't upset. "I want us to be good friends and get off on the right
foot."

"Marcus, my man... We are more than ok." Adam said, he felt more at home in
his life than he had in a long time.

>>>>>>

"So just so I was clear on that, soccer tryouts have been pushed back to
Thursday at four o'clock. We apologize for the
inconvenience................ Now before I sign off, I want to welcome you
all back, for what I hope is your best year yet! My office door is always
open. Have a wonderful day." Principal Bradshaw's voice carried over the
P.A. system.

"We love you Nathan's dad." Scott whispered laughing to himself. "Where is
the teacher.......?" he said looking at the classroom door still no sign of
him or her. "Oh great, Marcus, look who walked in..." Scott said rolling
his eyes.

"No way..." Marcus replied looking towards the door. "Fuck my life."

"Who is that?" Adam asked turning to look at the guy who had walked into
class casually five minutes late, not that it mattered, the teacher was
still missing in action Adam thought. The student stood about Adam's height
and had a toned well defined build. He had male model looks, not like men's
fitness, but high fashion looks. His jaw line was nicely squared, like it
was cut from rock, his eyes were narrowed but Adam was still able to make
out a light almost honey brown color. His brown hair was parted neatly to
the side, not a hair out of place. He walked like he owned the place; he
gave of a cold, cocky demeanor.

"That would be Brent Van Straten......." Scott said in a hushed tone. "He
spent the whole summer after him and Peter broke up in the Hamptons at his
grandparent's summer home.......  apparently he was dating... more like
rebounding with the son of a Rothschild.

"Wait... That's Peter's ex-boyfriend?" Adam whispered. "He looks like a
douche bag."


"He is absolutely dreadful." Marcus muttered under his breath. "He's a
football jock. Usually they don't talk to us soccer guys, but Peter plays
both football and soccer so when they were dating Brent started hanging out
with us occasionally."

"If it isn't Scotty and Marcus..." Brent said as he pulled out the chair
next to Marcus and dropped his books on the desk with the loud thud. "How
were your summers?"

"It was great; I did two weeks in France." Marcus replied looking at Adam
like did he actually just sit next to me written on his face.

"I spent the whole summer in the Hamptons, it was amazing. I saw Simon out
there a couple times; we were at the same parities." Brent said opening his
note book and writing the date at the top of the page. "Nathan and him are
still dating right?"

"As far as we know..?" Scott replied, his voice sounded slightly
annoyed. Brent knew he hated being called Scotty and clearly Brent did it
to piss him off he thought.

"I'm glad they have that open relationship thing going on..." Brent laughed
"Because Frankie Grande and him looked pretty cozy..."

"Regardless, I wouldn't tell Nathan." Marcus said sounding upset.

"So who's your friend?" Brent asked leaning past Marcus to look Adam over
who was sitting between Scott and Marcus.

"I'm Adam." Adam said pointedly, he wasn't going to bullshit around and act
like he liked this guy, but he also wasn't going to start something on the
first day of school.

Brent looked Adam over before speaking. "You've got a nice build, thinking
of playing football?"

"The closest I came to football was rugby, other than that I'm a soccer
guy." Replied Adam, his tone was cold.

"What a shame." Brent said with a smug grin. "A strong body like yours
seems wasted in soccer."

"There are plenty of things physical strength is good for." Adam replied
giving Brent the same smug grin. And if this kid kept talking shit he would
be glad to show him through his fist meeting Brent's face Adam thought.

>>>>>>

Adam was beyond excited the day was finally over, his brain was numb from
all the information it was forced to digest after two months of it checking
out and going into standby mode. Adam was so busy with the stack of
homework his English teach unloaded onto him, that he spent his lunch in
the library so he could at least free up some time for himself in the
evening.

"Hello stranger!" Nathan called out, as he quickly walked to catch up with
Adam who was near the car park and determined to get as far away from
academics until the next day.

"I missed you guys at lunch, but honestly if I didn't at least make a dent
in my homework, I'd be doing it till sunrise." Adam said throwing his
backpack over his one shoulder.

"Don't even get me started." Nathan said understandingly. "I thought the
first day of school was supposed to be light, break us in slowly."

"Nathan Bradshaw, this wouldn't happen to be Adam Logan would it?" A man's
voice came from behind both boys.

"HOLY!" Nathan jumped; he was startled by the man coming seemingly out of
nowhere. "Coach you scared the hell out of me."

"I can see that." The man replied with a slight grin on his face. The man
had light blue eyes and a moustache that was lightly peppered with gray, as
was the hair on his head, from what Adam could see not covered by his blue
baseball hat. The man had his thick muscular arms folded across his barrel
like chest; each forearm had a dusting of dark curly hairs, hair also poked
through the top of his black tank top, his legs were also hairy, stocky and
thick. His black soccer shorts looked about a size too small.

"You're Adam?" the man asked extending his hand towards Adam.

"Yes sir." Adam replied, this man had a firm handshake, any harder and the
bones in his hands would have shattered Adam thought.

"I'm Coach Henry, I coach the soccer team." Said the man, his voice was
deep and very rugged, He sounded like one of those guys who did TV
voiceovers.

"Nice to meet you Coach." Adam said discreetly flexing his hand to bring
some of the blood flow back besides making sure he could actually move it.

"Nathan tells me are quite the athlete?" Coach Henry said sizing Adam up
head to toe. "In fact, his father Principal Bradshaw was very adamant I put
you on the team immediately."

"Well I certainly hope I can live up to that." Adam laughed nervously.

"I've seen your record." Coach nodded approvingly. "One of the best I've
seen."

"Thanks Coach." Adam was flattered.

"Nathan, I was wondering if you and Adam could run tryouts on Thursday? I
figure my captain and someone as gifted as Adam could stand to put some new
recruits through the paces?" Even though Coach Henry was asking, Adam felt
they were more likely being told.

"I was going to be there anyway, why not." Nathan said looking at Adam to
agree to join him.

"Sounds good, I have a couple good skill assessments we could use. Separate
the boys from the men." Adam laughed.

Before Coach Henry went to leave he gave Nathan and Adam a strong firm pat
on the shoulders. "Thanks boys." Adam felt like his shoulder almost
dislocated, was this guy actually a soccer coach or some kind of genetic
mutation with super human ability and strength. "Pleasure again Adam, it's
great to finally meet you."

>>>>>>

The Lighthouse was one of White Oaks finest restaurants, lobster and steaks
among a dozen of other sea food options that had Adam's mouth watering as
he glanced over the menu. Skipping lunch had him ready to devour whatever
was put in front of him. Maybe even his mothers cooking he thought. The
restaurant was designed to look like a lighthouse, like its name. It was
situated on the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. The view was
breath taking.

"I'll have the California salad with the chicken, and dressing on the side
thanks." Nathan told the waitress as she took each of the menus back from
the three boys.

"Certainly sir, I'll be back with your drinks shortly."  The waitress said
as she gracefully headed toward the kitchen, like anyone would expect when
you're paying $70 for a steak, not even including the sides.

"The steaks here are phenomenal, and you order a bunch of leaves?" Peter
said looking disgusted. "Are we dieting Mr. Bradshaw?"

"I've got new clothing to fit into... Simon went to Bergdorf's when he was
in Manhattan; he picked me up some stuff to show how sorry he was." Nathan
said checking his phone. "He wants me to call him... let me know when the
food gets here boys."

The two rolled their eyes and sat in silence until Nathan was out of
sight. "That Simon guy sounds like a total dick." Adam said shaking his
head. "Nathan seems like way to good a guy to deal with that crap."

"We've been telling him that for a while... You'll never change
him..... He's stubborn." Peter replied taking a sip of his lemon
water. "Besides, if you get involved... somehow you'll end up looking like
the bad guy and Simon comes out on top, a hero."

"That's a good point." Adam laughed. "I'll just stand by for emotional
support."

"So how was your first day?" Peter asked his face lit up with a handsome
smile.

"It was actually really busy; I worked though my lunch just so I wouldn't
be up to my eyes in homework." Though Adam didn't care if he lost out on
his lunch or not, at least it allowed him to spend time with Peter. This
guy he'd only met was now on the forefront of his mind all the time.

"Marcus told me you had the rare honor and privilege of meeting my
ex-boyfriend Brent?" Peter said making an awkward face. "He's charming
isn't he?"

"He's something alright... That's all I'll say about him." Adam
laughed. "What did you see in him?"

"Honestly, I guess I was just taken by his looks... we had a very physical
relationship... not a lot of talking or cuddling if you follow me." Peter
grinned. "Anyways I'm looking for more substance in my life, a guy who can
hold a conversation, has a good head on his shoulders and the physical
doesn't hurt either."

"Good luck finding a guy like that." Adam laughed. "I haven't dated anyone,
but from what I've heard and seen so far it's pretty shitty out there."

"I have a good idea where I might find a good guy like that." Peter said
looking down and fidgeting a little in his seat.

"Oh Yeah..?" Adam asked treading carefully. He was going to be devastated
if Peter had his eye on some other guy.

"I know you're really new to all this and this might be coming on a bit too
strong, and I totally understand if you're not comfortable yet..." Peter
began clearing his throat. "Would you allow me take you on a date this
Friday?"

Adam was stunned, literally stunned, was this even happening? On his face
he wore a smile and tried to remain composed, however inside it was like
the fourth of July, fireworks exploding.

"That would be great." Adam said he was suddenly feeling shy again but was
so excited all at once.

"My only requirement is you look at me." Peter laughed. "And I've been
thinking about that kiss the other night, I at least want one more of
those."

"I think that's fair enough." Adam said pretending to think about it.

>>>>>>

End of Chapter 3