Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 14:17:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Smith <jsmithauthor@yahoo.com>
Subject: The New Kid, Josh Chapter 2

>> The usual disclaimer applies. This is Chapter 2 of The New Kid. I
decided to put a chapter out every week or so. Comments fuel my writing!
Send them to JSmithAuthor@yahoo.com Thanks!  -JS <<


"Hi, is this Mrs. Stevens?" Bryan asked with a quiver in his voice.

"Why yes it is. Who, may I ask, is calling?"

"This is Bryan Anderson; the one Josh told you about."

"Ah yes, I remember. Please, call me Kathy. What can I do for you,
darling?"

"I have some bad news regarding Josh. We were in an accident on the way to
the movie theater. Josh was knocked unconscious at first, but slowly
started to come around when the paramedics showed up. They put him in a
neck brace and took him to St. John's Hospital." Bryan almost couldn't get
the last words to come out because he was fighting back the tears.

Bryan put the phone back up to his hear in time to hear a thump, running,
and Mrs. Stevens screaming, "Rob! Damn it Rob, get off the computer and get
down here! Josh is in the hospital!"

"Bryan, thank you so much for your call. We'll be there as soon as we
can. If you need to get a hold of me, call my cell phone at 214.336.1126."
With that said, there was a click and Bryan closed his phone.

When he walked back over to where Kevin, the officer, and the other driver
were standing, he started to think of how he was going to explain this to
his parents. They warned him repeatedly about being a safe driver. His dad
was going to kill him.

"...and that's when the ambulance showed up." Kevin finished explaining his
side of the story to the officer.

"Do you have anything to add?" The officer asked the other driver.

"No, that pretty much covers it. There was a deer crossing the road so I
hit the brakes hard and they rear-ended me. There was no way to avoid it,"
he replied while looking over at Bryan. "And I suppose I owe you an apology
for going off on you earlier.  I was a little hot-headed because I just got
the car, but there was nothing you could do. Sorry about that."

"Not a problem. Sorry about hitting your car and threatening you earlier. I
just didn't want anything to happen to my friend," Bryan replied while
shaking his hand.

The officer finished the accident report and handed each of the drivers a
copy for their insurance. Just about that time the tow truck backed up to
Bryan's truck and started to hook it up.

Bryan's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID on the front. It was his
mom, and he wondered why she would be calling, if she knew they were going
to a movie and then straight to Kevin's for the night.

"Oh, yeah; I called your mom while you were on the phone with
Mrs. Stevens. I told her we were in an accident and that we needed a
ride. I didn't know who else to call because my `rents are out of town,"
Kevin said.


As the ambulance sped towards the hospital, the paramedic in the back with
Josh started to look him over. He found several abrasions on his arms but
assumed those were from the items in the car hitting him. When he reached
the skull he found a fairly large contusion on the back of the head.  He
looked at his watch and noted it had been 25 minutes since the initial
accident.

"Can you tell me what day it is?"

"Thursday?" asked a confused Josh.

"Not quite. It's Friday. Do you know what kind of car you were in?"

"I think it was a red truck."

This wasn't going too well; Josh had a hard time remembering what had
happened. The paramedic continued with the line of questioning.

"Do you feel like you're about to throw up at all?"

"Not really. I felt like it for a few minutes then it went away."

Gradually, Josh started to remember what had happened and it looked a
though his amnesia was going away.

"It looks as if you're going to be ok. You had a moderate concussion, which
would explain why you lost consciousness and why you had amnesia for about
35 minutes. You'll be sore from the bruises.  You also have a large bruise
on the back of your head. When you hit the airbag did your head fly back
and hit anything behind you?" asked the paramedic.

Josh knew what the mark was from, but he wasn't about to let anyone know
his secret.

"Uh, I can't remember. It was all a blur to me really. Why? Does it look
bad?" Josh asked as he avoided the man's eyes.

"It looks like something hit it pretty hard, but it also looks like it
started to heal. Are you sure you don't remember having this before the
accident? It could be very dangerous not to get things like this looked at
right away."

Josh didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want to tell the man what
really went on, but he felt like he had no choice. "I had it before the
accident, but please don't tell my parents. I don't want them to find out!"
Josh sputtered as he looked towards the wall.
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As the ambulance stopped in front of the Emergency Room, the back doors
swung open. One of the medics got out and slowly brought the stretcher's
front wheels to the ground. The second medic followed with the back and
locked them in place. Seeing as how Josh wasn't in critical condition, they
didn't rush to take him into an exam room.

Not long after the ambulance arrived, Josh's parents came through the
sliding doors. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens rushed to the nurse's station to ask
where their son was.
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"Josh, I'm going to need you to tell me what happened. How did you get the
nasty bruise on the back of your head? It looks like you fell on it somehow
and then didn't get it checked out by a doctor. Do your parents know what
happened?" Dr. Lasater asked while he finished checking the rest of Josh's
injuries.

"No!" Josh practically screamed at the doctor causing him to jump. "I mean,
no they don't know. And I'd like it if they didn't find out either. Isn't
there some kind of doctor -- patient confidentiality type thing that
prohibits you from talking with them?"

Josh was getting desperate now. He was frantically trying to think of a
cover story as to what really went on that night.

"Yes, there is such a thing as the doctor -- patient confidentiality, but
they have recently amended that, so if you are 15 or under then your
parents have a right to know. However, I can see that you don't want them
to know about it, and I'll respect that. I still need to know how you got
that bruise, though. You don't need to tell me the whole story, but tell me
how it happened."

"Doc, I trust that you won't ask my parents about what happened, so I'll
tell you part of it."
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As the tow truck drove off, Bryan and Kevin were left at the scene with the
last cop. Bryan was looking over both the accident report and the paper
that told him where his car was when his parents stopped behind the cop car
on the side of the road.

Not to his surprise, Mrs. Anderson rushed over and hugged him right
away. She moved back a step and checked to make sure he wasn't
bleeding. When she was satisfied, she brought him back to her chest and
started saying how thankful she was.

Kevin sat back and watched with amusement in his eyes until Mr. Anderson
came over. Without saying a word, he nodded to Kevin and held out his hand
for the officer to take. "Hi, Ray Anderson, and this is my wife, Meredith."

The officer shook the offered hand and replied, "Steve Rapp. I was just
waiting to make sure these boys had a ride. It was nice meeting you all,
but my shift was over about 30 minutes ago. So if you don't mind I'm going
to head off before I get a call from the wife. The boys can fill you in on
what happened."

With that the officer got back in his patrol car and eased back on the
road. The four of them watched as he drove off.

"Alright now tell me what the hell happened. How did you manage to get
yourself into a mess this time?" Bryan's arrogant prick of a father asked.

Bryan, never one to stand down to a confrontation with his father replied
in a rather bitter tone, "It wasn't my fault. The guy in front of me
slammed on his brakes for a deer and I didn't have time to stop so I
rear-ended him. The guy agreed that there was nothing either of us could
have done about it."

"That's bullshit and you know it. You were playing your damn music too loud
and didn't notice the car. This is so like you. You don't pay attention as
to what the hell you're doing and you make everyone else pay for your
stupid mistake."

"Dad, what the hell did you expect me to do?" Bryan's face was getting
redder with every word. "Did you want me to swerve off the road and into a
ditch? Because if I would have done that then I doubt neither Kevin nor I
would be standing here right now. It just so happens, that while you're
standing here taking all your anger out on me, one of my friends was sent
to the hospital. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Josh."

"Don't you walk away from me young man!" Mr. Anderson was beyond pissed
off. "Bryan, you get your ass back here right now! I'm not through with
you!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And that's basically what happened, doc. I didn't want my parents to find
out because they would start asking questions." Josh looked over to where
the doctor was standing taking in everything he just heard.  "So let me
get this straight, you were pushed by someone whose identity you don't want
me to know, and fell to the ground. When you tried to get back up, they
pinned you against the ground. And when you wouldn't do what they asked,
they bashed your head against the sidewalk and left you there.""Yeah, for
the most part that's what happened.""When your head hit the concrete, did
you black out?"  "I don't remember. I think I blacked out for a bit and
then woke up and looked around. I sat there for a good 10 minutes wondering
what happened before I started to remember. I guess I stood up too fast
because I vomited in the bushes right away." Josh looked up at the doctor
when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Dr. Lasater asked as he
walked towards the door."It's Kathy and Rob Stevens. Josh's parents. Is
my baby ok? Is he in there?" Mrs. Stevens asked as she held her ear to the
door, trying to figure out what was going on.Josh's eyes went wide when
he heard his mother's voice. "Oh God!" he thought to himself. "How much did
she hear? She can't know what happened. It would kill her". The doctor
opened the door and Mrs. Stevens tumbled to the floor. She got up and
looked around, embarrassed."It's nice to meet you both." The doctor shook
the Stevens' hands and went on to explain what happened. All the while,
Josh's mind was racing with questions. "Would the doctor tell them? How
much would he tell them if he did? Can I trust him? Do they already know?
What the hell am I going to do?"The doctor never mentioned anything to
Josh's parents about what went on behind the closed door. He kept his
promise, and for that Josh was forever grateful. Josh was cleared to leave
as soon as his parents stopped by the nurses' station to fill out any
additional paperwork.On his way out the door, Dr. Lasater gave Josh a
business card with his name and cell phone number on it.  "Give me a call
when you get a chance. I want to ask you a few more questions about what
happened that night. I want to get to the bottom of this."  Josh rejoined
his parents and walked out to the car, leaning on his dad's shoulder for
support. The accident had left him a little weak, and he didn't trust
himself to walk on his own just
yet.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This
was the first time Kevin had witnessed Bryan and his dad go at it this
much. Usually it's just a brief yelling, stomping away and mumbling under
their breaths. Not this time.  "No, Dad. You don't f**king understand!
Things go wrong outside of that perfect little world you create in your
mind. Shit happens. And in this case, something big happened. I was in a
damn car accident and you don't even ask me if I'm ok. You couldn't care
less about how the hell I am. You just take this as a chance to blow off
some of your steam. So you know what, go f**k yourself. I'll walk home."
With that, Bryan turned around with disgust in his eyes and started walking
down the road towards a gas station.Not knowing what to do now, Kevin
waited to see what Mr. Anderson would do next. When he turned and went to
the car, Kevin headed off to where Bryan was. Mrs. Anderson watched with
tears in her eyes as her husband of 20 years treated her son with such
disrespect. "Meredith, get in the car. We're leaving." Mr. Anderson said
while he started the car.Mrs. Anderson said, "No, Ray. I stand behind
Bryan's statement. Go f**k yourself." That being said, she followed Kevin
towards the gas station. Bryan was sitting on the sidewalk next to the
7-11 with his back leaning against the wall. When Kevin came over, he sat
next to him and put his arm around his best friend. "Look at it this way,
at least now you don't have to hear `the birds and the bees' lecture when
prom rolls around." Bryan smiled at the comment. Kevin always knew how to
turn a bad situation into a humorous one. The two had been best friends
since the second grade when Kevin moved in down the street. At the time,
Bryan had no idea what his sexuality was. Girls were still icky, and he
didn't know that the thing between his legs was used for anything but going
pee. But as time went on, Bryan started to notice his liking of the same
gender girls. It just seemed so natural to him. He didn't want to be gay;
he wanted to be just like everyone else. He wanted to like girls. But no
matter how hard he tried to push those thoughts out of his mind, it didn't
work. His best friend was becoming attractive to him.Those thoughts were
long gone now. When Bryan came out to Kevin, they worked through it .Bryan
valued the friendship more than anything and didn't want to put it in
danger by going after his straight best friend.

"I'm so sorry honey," Bryan's mom said as she sat down next to him. "I
can't believe I let him treat you like that for so long. I always promised
myself that I would put a stop to it, but I never had the courage to
actually do it. And I wanted to let you know that I've been thinking about
this for a long time, and I decided to leave your father.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How are you feeling, honey?" Josh's mom asked as she sat on the corner of
his bed.

"I'm doing better. The pills Doctor Lasater gave me help ease some of the
pain."

"That's good. You should get some rest soon. You've had a long day."

When Mrs. Stevens finished telling her son to get some sleep, the doorbell
rang. "Well who the hell could be coming around this late?" she thought to
herself as she went downstairs.

When Mrs. Stevens arrived at the front door, her husband was already
greeting the young man standing there. As the boy at the door extended his
hand to her, he smiled and said, "Bryan Anderson. Nice to meet you ma'am"

"It's nice to meet you too, Bryan. Would you like to come in?" Mrs. Stevens
asked.  Without bothering to wait for an answer, she ushered him to the
kitchen.

"So, what can we do for you, Bryan?" Mr. Stevens asked.

"Actually, I was here to talk to Josh, if that's okay with you. I feel bad
about what happened today, and I really wanted to apologize to him."

"Sweetheart, no one blames you for this. And he'll be okay in a few days,"
Mrs. Stevens replied."I know, but I really want to say sorry to him."

"Go on up the stairs, son. He should still be awake," Mr. Stevens said with
a smile on his face.

"Wow," Bryan thought, "why the hell couldn't I have a dad like this?" He
started daydreaming as to what life would be like if he had a different
father. "Well, at least I don't have to deal with him anymore. I just hope
Mom's okay after she went to talk with him."

"Bryan, are you okay? You drifted off on us there," Josh's mom said,
placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

Bryan jumped at the touch. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about some
things. Anyway, I better go talk to Josh before he turns in for the night."
With that, Bryan turned and started up the stairs.

When he reached the top, he realized he forgot to ask which room Josh was
in. "Oh well, I'll figure it out," he thought. He turned to the door on his
left and opened it, revealing a home-office. Bryan closed the door and
crossed the game room towards a small hallway with two doors. The first one
was a small linen closet, and he quickly shut that and moved on to door
number three.

He paused at the door when he heard a noise coming from inside the room. He
didn't think much of it and proceeded to open the door without
knocking. When Bryan opened the door, his eyes shot across the room to
where Josh was sitting at the computer with his 5 ½ inch cut dick in his
hand, stroking away. Josh jumped at the sudden intrusion and tried to cover
himself and close the window he was looking at.

"Oh, uh, sorry Josh. I didn't know you were, um... busy. I'll come back
tomorrow," Bryan said as he walked out of the room and closed the door
behind him.

When he was halfway across the game room, Josh came out of his room with a
bright red face and no shirt on. Bryan took the opportunity to look at his
swimmer's body with no hair to be seen.

"Bryan, wait!"

"Don't worry about it, Josh. I can wait until tomorrow. I'll see you then,"
Bryan. He practically ran down the stairs and out the front door. Before he
closed it all the way, he poked his head back through the door and yelled,
"Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Stevens! It was nice meeting you!"

Bryan closed the door and started making his way to Kevin, who was waiting
for him in his car. After the incident with his dad, they had takena cab to
the school so Kevin could grab it. After they dropped Mrs. Anderson off at
home, Bryan asked if they could go to Josh's house so he could talk to him
real quick.

"Bryan, wait damn it! It's not like you've never seen a guy naked
before. You take showers with the lacrosse guys every other day. And don't
act like you're embarrassed either. If anyone should be embarrassed it
should be me. So stop and talk to me. What'd you want when you came up
there?"

Bryan turned and looked him dead in the eyes and shook his head. "You just
don't understand. I came to apologize to you for what happened today, and
I'd like to talk about what happened, but I just can't anymore. I'll see
you tomorrow and we can talk about it then." Bryan turned and went to the
passenger side of Kevin's Xterra as his eyes watered. Without looking back
he climbed in and told Kevin to go.

Kevin noticed his best friend's mood and decided not to question him just
yet. He put the car into drive and left the neighborhood.

"So where to?" Kevin asked.

"Home." Bryan mumbled.


>>That does it for chapter 2. You'll see another one around Thursday or
Friday next week. Don't forget to comment(. NOTE: The yahoo group was shut
down... it was rarely used and it's easier to just post them here. Thanks!
-- JS <<