Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2017 12:29:37 -0600 From: Kurt King <kingkurt1339@gmail.com> Subject: The New Life of Cal King Chapter 3 This story may contain sexual acts between males, persons below the age of consent, and relatives. If this offends you or is illegal for you to read where you're at, please close this website and go elsewhere. This story is fictional and entirely the work of the author's imagination. And resemblance to persons, places, or things, real or fictional, are entirely coincidental, and any views stated do not necessarily reflect those of any companies or organizations which do exist in real life, nor necessarily reflect the views of the author. This story is the property and copyright of the author, do not share, reproduce, repost, or any other such act which is illegal to do without the author's permission. Don't forget that you can always contact me to give me feedback! I can be found at kingkurt1339@gmail.com, and I do my best to respond to every email if I can! Any comments, questions, or suggestions are always welcome, especially as I'm constantly changing events that happen in the story, and will be publishing other stories! My other story can be found at the folowing link: NLXK: http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/the-new-life-of-xander-king/ As always – don't forget to donate to Nifty at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html to keep the archive free! This story is not a quick jack-off story. If you are looking for that, you would be best going to another story. If you are interested in not just the sex, but also the lives of the characters and their romances and dramas, then read on, and I hope you enjoy it! In the last chapter, Cal went to his second day of work, and he had a customer yell at him for serving the wrong sauce when she didn't specify which one she wanted, just sent him to get her food, and he also dealt with a small case of homophobia. Anyway, on to the story, and I hope you enjoy it! Chapter Three. [Cal] I wake before any of my siblings, take a quick shower, then get dressed and go to the kitchen to make breakfast. It's just cereal, but I know that as soon as they hear the clattering of it in the bowls, they'll wake up and come rushing out. Sure enough, as I'm getting the milk out of the fridge, all three of them are sitting at the table, waiting. I sit down with them, and we eat breakfast. Then I check to make sure their homework is completed (which I know it is, since I had them finish it yesterday, but I check to make sure it goes into their backpacks if it got taken out for studying). After that, I have them get dressed, and I walk them to their bus stops. There are two bus stops for them, since they're in two different schools, the elementary and middle schools. Travis can be left alone, but the twins have to have an adult at their stop before I can go. Thankfully, there's always one there when I get there with them, the mother of a boy in their grade who's overprotective of her son. Not many people know it, but she's got mace and a stun gun hidden in her purse, as well as a handgun. After making sure they're alright, I begin the walk to school. We live too close to the high school for the bus to come to our house, but that's fine by me. Today is the same as always. Another day, another class. The only time anyone talks to me is my seventh-period, my Foods and Nutrition II class. Next year, as a junior who's taken F&N I and II, I'll be able to take Culinary Arts, the more advanced version of the class. "Today," Mrs. Guch, or Mrs. Grouch, depending on who's talking. "We're making pizza dough, which we'll use to make pizza tomorrow. Has anyone here ever made pizza from scratch before," I raise my hand. "Other than Mr. King, that is." The class laughs. I've made almost everything this class has made, something she learned quickly last year, when I was a freshman. "What kind of yeast did you use?" She asks. "Instant," I answer, and she nods. She starts prepping in my kitchen, showing us how to make the dough properly, including me in the demonstration. My kitchen's right next to hers, and the class is used to her grabbing me, since I know what she's talking about and have done most of it before. The demonstration over, we all put on our aprons and then get to work prepping the dough. I'm on dish duty this time, though I help just as much with making the dough as I do on washing the dishes, mostly because my kitchen struggles without my input or assistants. They're not stupid, they're just in the class for the 'easy credits'. When school lets out, I head home and get started on my homework. Need to work extra hard, now that I'm working, to make sure my grades stay up. The twins arrive home first, and I have them put their things in their room while waiting for Travis, who shows up fifteen minutes after the twins. Once they're all home, I take the three of them with me to go shopping. We walk there, it only takes us fifteen minutes. "I'm not going to be around as much," I say as I'm picking out loafs of bread. "With my new job and everything, so Travis, I'm counting on you to make sure they're fed before I get home. When I work on school nights, I should be home by nine-thirty, at the latest, though I won't be scheduled past eight, so I'll probably be home by eight-thirty. I'll check your homework then, and then get you all into bed. I'll still make breakfast for all of you in the mornings, but the amount of fresh food we eat's going to go down, with me not being home to cook." "I can cook!" Travis exclaims. "Only a little," I ruffle his hair. "You can cook some. Do spaghetti tomorrow. Go simple, though. I'm going to cook all the ground beef tonight, then put it into the freezer. Just reheat it in the microwave, dump it into a skillet, add the sauce, and allow to simmer. We'll also be doing a lot of crockpot meals from now on, so don't worry about cooking too much." "Crockpot meals?" Henry asks. He's noisy again today, and I wonder if there's something going on with Greyson. "What are those?" "Where you stick something in a crockpot," I say. "And let it cook all day. Since the rice maker is fairly easy to use, it's fine for Travis. Just turn off the crockpot around five, that's when you should be eating, anyway." We finish up our shopping and start the walk home. When I get there, I get to work putting the groceries away, getting the twins and Travis started on homework as I start the ground beef. While that's cooking, I prepare the crockpot meals, sticking them into bags to be put into the freezer. Dinner today is leftovers from what I brought home from work, which we eat the rest of, then I work on my homework before getting the boys to bed. I finish up my homework, then head to bed, letting Travis know I'll only be home for a minute the next day before I head to work. He just nods and mumbles, and as soon as I'm in bed, he's in my bed, too. In the morning, I make everyone pancakes, and as soon as the smell hits the air, they all come running faster than they did the day before. They love breakfast, but they love hot breakfast better than cereal. Today, we make the pizza. I throw the dough a little bit, after Mrs. Guch asks me if I've ever done it before. I learned how to do it to entertain my brothers, and the texture is way better after it's done when thrown than it does if it's not thrown and just pressed into the pan. The pizza ends up tasting amazing, and our class barely gets everything cleaned up before the bell rings. Lucky for some of them, we've gone over before, and when we do, missing buses happens. I'm glad I live within walking distance of school. I head home, getting the boys started on their homework and getting changed, leaving fifteen minutes before my shift starts, as David called me on my way home to ask me to come in. I go to the break room and hang up my jacket, grabbing my hat and apron and pull them on. When I turn around, Garret's standing right behind me, causing me to jump. "A little warning next time!" I exclaim. "You just gave me a heart attack." "Did they enjoy it?" He asks. "Yeah," I answer. "Thanks." "You're welcome," he dips his head to me, then leaves, and I'm left wondering what just happened. My shift starts, and I get on the floor just as the bell rings. It's a group of four high school girls. They're all wearing designer clothes, and I don't recognize any of them. According to Emily, most of our guests are from wealthier families than I am, and from better schools than mine. She just doesn't know she told me that. "Hello!" I greet the customer. "Welcome to the Wolf's Dragon. My name's Cal. How can we help you today?" "We've never been here before," one of the girls, who seems to be in charge, says. One of the other girls is staring at me intently. "So we're trying it for the first time because Tanya's boyfriend said it's a good place to eat at. I want to know if the food here is, like, healthy." "All of our fruits and vegetables are fresh," I say. "And the meat comes directly from the farms to here. Everything is organic, and we use only the finest quality of ingredients. Our dairy comes from one of the best organic farms in the area, and even our water is purified so well, you wouldn't need a filter to remove anything from it, and it's so soft that it never leaves spots on our dishes." "Yeah, but, like, are they, like, healthy," she says, moving her head as she talks. "You can be organic but not healthy." "Indeed, so, ma'am," I say. "We don't fry anything here, and our foods are made with only the best of organic, fresh products. The food here is quite healthy, unless you go into our dessert menu, which is filled with a variety of sweets. Would you like a table?" "Like, yeah," she says. "Why else would we be here?" "To request food to-go," I answer. "Or to cater, to find out if we're hiring for a position, see if we just need an extra pair of hands for a day, to ask what kind of menu we have, or because you think we're a laundromat. Will it be just the four of you, or will there be more joining later?" "Just the four of us," she says. "Right this way," I grab four menus and sets of silverware, leading them to a table. "What would you like to drink? If you want the healthiest option, I'd go with water, everything else is either soda or contains sugar and/or fat." "Like, what kind of drink contains fat?" "Whole milk, two-percent milk, skim milk," I answer. "Skim milk less so. Fat-free milk is usually fat-free, though might contain less than half of a percent. Any drink using milk or yogurt as its base will also contain fat, unless you order it fat-free, but those also come with sugar in them, typically as a result of their ingredients, not due to it being added in." "Like, give us a bit to decide, like, will you?" "Sure," I say. "Let me know when you're ready." The girl whose gaze was fixed on me stays on me as I go about my job, leaving only a few times, such as to check the menu. That group of girls is kind of noisy, and I can hear them from the other side of the room. And make out every word they're saying. I stop by a couple more times to see about their drinks, and they give me their orders the second time, but have no idea what appetizers they want. "...and then he just, like, walked off!" The girl in charge of the group says as I approach them. She's talking about this boy she tried asking out. "That's just, like, totally unbelievable," I say when I return to their table, doing my best to imitate her way of talking and gesturing. "Are you, like, going to let him talk to you like that?" "Excuse me," she waves a hand around. "This is, like, a private conversation." "I could, like, hear you from the other side of the room," I mimic her movement, and her group tries not to laugh. "So I totally thought it was, like, an open conversation." "What are you, gay?" She asks. "What are you, straight?" I ask, and her group loses it, including the girl who's been staring at me since they arrived. "Are you ladies ready to order your meals yet? If not, we can start with appetizers." "Don't you sass me!" The girl snaps, then glares at her friends. "It there ain't sass, it ain't class," I say. "Would you like a salad? Our salad of the day is-" "Why would you think I want a salad?" The girl demands. "Are you calling me fat?" "On the contrary," I answer. "I simply assumed that, in order to keep your form, you'd prefer something lower in calories and fat, and our healthiest item on the menu that fits that description would be our salad of the day. Judging by your previous comments about wishing for healthy foods, I was able to reinforce that assumption that you'd prefer a salad over any of the other items. Though to be honest, our entire menu is healthy to start with, so anywhere you'd like is a good place to start, but most have more calories than the salad." "I'd like a salad," she says. "Very well, then," I say. "Which kind? We have four, not including the salad of the day." I get their orders taken, and their volume level drops for the rest of the time they're here. That girl doesn't stop staring at me, and it kind of creeps me out. "Okay," Emily approaches me after the girls leave. "I have to say, you handled that group pretty well. I know you say this is your first job, but are you sure about that? You seem like you've been working with people a lot longer." "I go to a public school," I look at her. "Have to learn to deal with difficult people. By the way, Table Twelve's drinks are looking empty." She smacks me in the back of the head, then goes off to help her customers. The rest of the shift is pretty uneventful, and at the end of it, I've made eighty-seven dollars in tips. Tonight was a slow night, and I actually got a sizable tip from the girls, though since the twenty was under the staring girl's plate, I'm not sure how I feel about it. When I get home, Travis is helping Henry with his homework, and Greyson is nowhere to be seen. I find him in his room, already asleep. Yeah, there's definitely something going on, the twins never go to bed separately. I go to tuck him in, and when my hand brushes his arm, it's burning up. I grab our thermometer, use an alcohol pad to clean it off, then get it in his mouth to take his temp. One-oh-three-point-two. I go to the bathroom and run a bath of cold water, grabbing ice from the freezer and dumping it into the tub, the other two watching me, a little confused. Greyson was probably hiding that he wasn't feeling good. We don't have a lot of ice, but I hope it's enough to help. I turn off the bath, then pull back Greyson's covers. He's wearing, as usual, just a pair of shorts. I strip them off of him so he's in just his briefs, pick him up, and carry him to the bathroom, setting him into the tub. "Cold!" He wakes with a start. "Stay in there," I say, and he nods, shivering, then falling back asleep. Greyson's fever doesn't break until three in the morning, but as he's getting out of the tub, he pukes. Thankfully, I managed to get him to the toilet, first. Unfortunately, that means he can't go to school tomorrow. Sorry, today. I wouldn't want him to, anyway. I get my brother dried off and into bed, then head to bed myself, waking when Travis smacks me for not turning off my alarm. I prepare cereal for everyone, realizing that I forgot to take one of the crockpot meals out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. Sandwiches for dinner tonight, I guess. "Hello," I say when the secretary answers the phone. "This is Cal calling." "Oh, hello, Cal!" She greets me. This secretary is pretty friendly. "How are things?" "Not bad," I answer. "Apart from Greyson. He's apparently been sick the last couple of days, and his fever didn't break until early this morning. He's also vomited a couple of times, so he's going to be staying home from school." She says she'll let his teachers know, and then I get Henry and Travis to their bus stops before going back home and checking on Greyson, who's still asleep. I wake him up, and he looks at me, confused. "You're staying home from school today, okay?" I say, and he nods. "You need to tell me you're sick before it gets to that point, Greyson. I've put some instant oatmeal packets on the table, when you're ready to eat something. Nothing other than that, okay?" He nods. "Okay, good. And remember, if you start feeling bad again, go next door. I've already let Mrs. Helen know you're sick and might be coming over. If you feel like you need to go to the hospital, call 9-1-1, and when the EMT's get here, tell them to call me at school, okay?" Once that's settled, I head to school, getting my homework down in the time I've got left before classes and in my other classes, when I've got a few minutes. Would have had it done yesterday, but I was too preoccupied with Greyson. Greyson's asleep when I get home, but I wake him, asking him to stay away until bedtime. He just nods, then curls back up on his bed, so I tickle him until he gets up and goes to the living room to watch T.V. I get some of my homework down, and Henry brings Greyson's missing work home with him. Work tonight's pretty fun. Though it's slower than yesterday (which is weird, for a Wednesday), and I make a total of thirty-seven dollars in tips. As I'm getting ready to leave, Garret hands me another bag. "Tell him to feel better," is all he says before he hurries back to the kitchen. How did he know my brother's sick? I get home to find all three of them watching T.V. on the couch. They all look at the bag expectantly. Greyson's got a fever again, but not as high as it was before. I go to put the food away to find that Garret gave me a few different soups. I reheat some of one in a bowl and give it to Greyson, telling him to eat it as I get the others in bed. Once his food's gone, I get him in bed, put a crockpot meal in the fridge, and then get the rest of my homework done, checking on everyone before heading to bed, myself. I keep Greyson home on Thursday, am called in due to it being busy, and that night, Garret sends me home with more soup, telling me to tell him to feel better. Seriously, how does this guy know that Greyson's sick? He's gone before I can ask, back to work as soon as he's given the bag to me. Friday, Greyson feels well enough to go to school, so I get him dressed and ready with everyone else. He's still quiet, though, probably still recovering from the illness that hit him. The pace at work picks up a lot, and we're pretty slammed. Today is when the next fun event happens. Not long after my shift starts, I seat a pair of blond-haired, blue-eyed boys about a year younger than me, who are clearly a couple. They flirt quite a bit, and tease each other a lot. They're both kind of cute, to be honest. The girl who was staring at me all through her meal on Tuesday shows up, too, along with her boyfriend, who's apparently that hot Cam guy from Saturday. Dammit, of course he's straight and taken. I seat them, and then Emily grabs me as I'm going to grab Table Eight's appetizers, the gay boys. She tells me that they're in here every Friday for a date, and to not be surprised by how much Zack, one of the boys, puts down. I'm not prepared for that. He orders enough food for six people, while boyfriend only orders enough for two. The boyfriend's apparently a soccer player, while Zack does martial arts and not much else. They're actually pretty friendly and love chatting, though Zack's a fair bit quieter than his boyfriend. As I serve others, a lady I seated a few minutes ago grabs me. "Please don't touch the staff," I say as politely as possible. "To ensure that we don't drop yours, or anyone else's, food." "Sorry," she says, glancing at the gay boys sitting at the table beside hers. "Can you please ask them to leave?" "Pardon?" I ask. "Their kind don't belong here," she gestures to the two boys. "They shouldn't be allowed out in public. Why would your owner let them be here? You need to ask them to leave, before they corrupt the rest of us." "Ma'am," I say. "The owner, David, is happily married to a man, so I don't think he has an issue with allowing two gays to eat here. Also, if you didn't notice the sign on the window, it said that all are welcome, and even listed gays and unicorns as accepted people in the specified list. May I ask you if you enjoyed your meal?" "I did," she says. "Though now that I know that this place is run by one of their kind, I won't be coming back." "That's fine," I say. "Our lesbian head chef and two gay chefs would probably appreciate not having a homophobe in the building. And we only have three chefs. Are you ready to pay?" She pays, but leaves no tip. That's fine, I would have given it to the chefs anyway. When Zack and his boyfriend leave, they pay for their meal. Do they really spend over a hundred dollars here a week? As I'm clearing their table, I have to stop and grab Emily pulling her behind the counter. "What?" She asks. "Those boys," I show her the tips, and she laughs. "What?" "They're heavy tippers," she says. "They both typically pay about twenty-percent of the cost of the meal in tips, making it about a forty-percent tip. On nights where there's hate that's dealt with quickly and easily, they give a bigger tip. Zack and Jake are two of our favorite customers, because they're always so polite and kind. It's why I told you to tell them it's theirs in the kitchen - so they'd expedite their meal and give them bigger portions." Cam and Tanya finish up their meal a few minutes later. They're both friendly, and Cam pays, leaving a tip at the same time. It's a hefty tip, too. "Before we go," Cam says while we stand at the register. "Mind if I ask you something?" "Depends on the question." "Are you gay?" "I don't think," I say. "That my sexuality is any of your business." "Do you go to Lakeview?" "And if I do?" "Then be careful," he says. "I'm a twin, and my brother looks remarkably like me. He's also out and proud, and with your looks, he'll probably start flirting with you on his first day, which is when he moves here next month. If you're not gay, it'd be best if I warned him. If you are, be careful, because he's aggressive with the flirting until he gets a date, when he sets his sights on someone. He usually waits a few days in a new town, but...as soon as he sees you, he'll go right for you, and Tessa agrees." "Plus," Tessa says. "We've both got functional gaydars." And then they leave, having told me that they know I'm gay without me ever telling them, and that I'm going to be flirted with by an openly gay guy. School's going to be a pain starting sometime next month. Tonight's a huge night for me, in terms of tips. It was busy, too. Two hundred, twenty-six dollars in tips. As I'm getting my tips, David hands me my paycheck from Saturday as well. "Sir," I say after checking it. "Isn't minimum for hosts two thirty-seven?" "I don't believe in that nonsense," he waves a hand. "We use high-quality foods, we have high-quality chefs, and our prices are comparable, yet we have enough business to pay minimum to everyone. I'm not going to skimp on that just so I can get a fatter paycheck." "Minimum for a minor is seven seventy-five," I say. "Adults is fifty cents more. This is neither of those." "Nine an hour is starting," he says. "Now go home and get some rest, you'll be here bright and early tomorrow. You've been doing good so far, just make sure you don't cross a line anywhere. Have a good night, and get some rest." "Thank you, sir," I say. When I go to leave, Garret's waiting with another bag. "Glad to hear he's better," he hands me the bag, and then goes back to the kitchen. Okay, dude. That's seriously creepy. How the hell do you know how my brother's doing, Garret? "What's that look for?" Emily asks me as I'm leaving. "Garret," I say, and she lifts an eyebrow. "He seems to know how my brother's doing. He was sick the last few days, and Garret knew that. He also knew, somehow, that my brother's good today." "What grade is he in?" "Fourth." "Does he go to Lakeside Elementary School?" She asks, and I nod. "Garret and Braden have an adoptive son who goes there, in the fourth grade. People tend not to notice Garret, so he's probably seen you with your brother before, and their son talks a lot about his classmates, especially when they get sick, usually with Garret's brother, our shy dishwasher. Probably how he knows." Oh. That explains it. "What's his name?" I ask. "Nolan Hunters," she answers. "I'll ask if they know him," I say, then head home. When I get home, Travis is watching T.V. while the twins are playing chess at the table. "Got food today. Also, do you two know a boy named Nolan Hunters?" As soon as I say that name, their faces light up and Henry starts talking about him. I've never heard of this kid before, but they're all apparently friends. "Whoa, there, boys!" I laugh. "How come I've never heard about this friend before?" "Well," Henry says as their faces turn red. "Um...Nolan has two dads. Everyone says that's bad and make fun of him for it. We want to hang out with him, but we thought you wouldn't like that, because he's got two dads instead of a mom and a dad." "Let me get this straight," I say. "You never mentioned a friend to me because you thought I wouldn't like him because he's got gay dads?" They both nod. "Have you ever heard me say a negative thing about gays?" They shake their heads. "Have I ever given any indication that I don't accept someone because of who they love?" They shake their heads. "Haven't I always told you to accept someone for who they are?" They both nod. "And don't you know I'm gay?" They both nod. "Please give me your logic on your thoughts of my thoughts of his parents." They look at each other and think, then look back at me and shrug. I roll my eyes. "His dads work at my job," I say. "Both of them. Also, I'm going to be leaving in the morning, and won't be back until sometime tomorrow night. Do you two think you can behave for Travis tomorrow?" They both nod, and I put the food in the fridge, getting my brothers to bed before working on what's left of my homework. At the same time, I'm wondering what kind of line David's talking about. He really needs to be more clear on that. ~~END OF CHAPTER THREE~~ Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! As always, feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, etc. is welcome! I try to reply to all emails. Trivia bit: the Zack and Jake I mentioned are from the first romance/erotica I ever wrote, and Zack's story is one of the three options given as a possible next King to be written, to those who've been reading NLXK. Mrs. Guch was inspired by a real person, but isn't based on her, and Mrs. Helen, to those who've been reading NLXK, is Sam and Sean's mother. Thanks for reading, and look forward to Chapter 4!