Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 00:35:48 -0700 From: Fortis Frater <amidoingitwrite@gmail.com> Subject: three simple words 19 Here's chapter 19 guys! Sorry about the minor delay. I've got midterms and quizzes coming up, oh my! Remember to donate! And ask before reposting/stealing-I mean borrowing- from me!~ *Note those asked me about html. I tried it at first, but then I thought against it. I mean, I have to transfer 14-15 pages worth of plain text into html, and on top of that, proofread it in that format. Let me tell you, it's not easy lol. And I tried using an online converter, yeah... Not the greatest of results. So... I'm sorry to those who wanted HTML, but I think I'll be sticking to simple text format. Sorry~* |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~| Chapter 19 "Dress Rehearsal "Don't forget about tonight!" Carrie reminds me as everyone gets into their respective cars. See, we all had to stay after-school on this particular Thursday to get all the props ready for the Homecoming game tomorrow. The good thing is, we've already finish prepping; now, all we have to do is have a dress rehearsal later tonight with the band, chorus, dance, and the princesses. I wave back with my back to her, acknowledging her as I get into my car. I pull out and follow Joey and Heather's car, with Bryan, Carrie, Matt, and Caleb in the car behind me. Chris's cell phone goes off, signaling that a text message has arrived. "Carrie just texted me, telling me to remind you that it's at 8:00 sharp," he reads off the phone. I sigh deeply and tap my fingers on the wheel as I get onto the road. Good God why am I so irritated right now?... It's like I have all this pent up energy just waiting to explode out to someone. "Annoyed?" Chris asks while giggling, noticing my sour mood. "Slightly..." I growl, "Sorry if I snap at you ok? It's just that..." "It's ok," Chris replies, "I know how frustrating it can be trying to work with idiots at times. Man, how can a team of student leaders be so stupid? I mean, it's not hard to move something a little to the left so that people won't trample it." I sigh again. "Well, we have time before we have to come back here. So what do you want to do?" Chris's phone goes off again. He unlocks it with a swipe of a finger and reads the message. "Uh actually... Heather just texted me, saying that we should get something to eat before getting there. She asks if 6 works." "...Sure..." I respond. "Ok... hold on. Lemme just tell her..." he trails of while tapping his fingers rapidly on his phone. "...Dylan... says... ok. There, done. Now you were saying?" "When we get back to my place, I'm going to hug the air out of you," I glower back. "Ok, I enjoy cuddling, but squeezing the air out of me sounds kinda rough, don't you think?" "You know what I mean..." I pout back. "And besides, we're almost there. See, just two more turns and we'll be back at my house." "Don't you mean your parents' house?" Chris corrects me. "Again, you know what I mean." Chris ignores me and taunts me with his giggles. I shake my head disapprovingly and park the car. We grab our stuff and head towards the house. "Oh hi Chris," my dad greets us from the yard. "Hi~ Mr. Wolfe!" Chris gleefully replies. "Hey Dad," I nod. "Jeeze Dylan. From the look you're giving, I'm assuming something bad happened?" "Nah, just some high amount of work I need to finish for Carrie's sake." "Oh yeah... I remember you saying something about helping Carrie with homecoming..." he murmurs while recalling the details. "Which reminds me, have you ask that special someone to homecoming yet?" he nudges. Chris couldn't help but snicker at the comment as I roll my eyes. "So you have," my dad concludes. "So, when am I going to meet this special person?" he hints at, poking his elbow at my hips. "Well, if she were to meet you, I think the first thing she'd do is run away," I taunt back over Chris's snickering. "That's a bummer," my dad replies, "So who are you going with?" "Chris of course," I smirk. "Shame... hindering Chris's full potential," my dad shakes his head. "Hey, he asked me, not the other way around," I hold up my hands in defense. It is true... Chris did technically ask me out. "Ok," he breathes out mockingly. "Come on Chris, we need to get ready." Before my dad can interrogate me with any more questions, I grab Chris's hand and lead him into the house. Thankfully, my mom was too busy vacuuming the house to notice me sneak in. I lock my door behind me, toss my backpack to the side, and pounce onto the bed where Chris is. We tussle for a bit and eventually settle with his back resting on top of me and my arms around his stomach. "What was that all about?" he asks after settling down. "What do you mean?" "You know... telling your dad about us." "Oh... I was poking fun at him. That and I was trying to figure out how he'd react to the fact that I'm being with you." Chris flips around and rests his cheek on my chest. "And what did you conclude?" he murmurs. "...I can't tell yet," I sigh. "Are you going to tell them?" he asks innocently. "Eventually..." I stroke his back affectionately and give him a peck on the forehead. I don't know why, but I've been extremely annoyed at life. It's like, something's missing. But whenever I'm near Chris, all those troubles and feelings disappear. It's so weird... One minute, I feel like punching something, but as soon as I get Chris into my arms, everything in me melts away and I feel so happy and relaxed. After a few minutes of silence with my boyfriend, I sigh deeply again and rest my hands on Chris's bubble butt. I turn us too our side and Chris squirms around, eventually flipping his body so that I'm spooning him. "I want you..." I whisper into his ear while rubbing his sides. "Me too..." he mutters back and then purrs like a kitten. I really do want him right now... but we promised each other to slow down after last week's bunny-fest. Gah this is why I'm so frustrated! I haven't been able to have some quality time with Chris between all this work and time away from him. And it doesn't help with the fact that I haven't been sleeping with him these pass four days. "Dylan...? Can you fuck me?" Chris mumbles out of the blue, snapping me out of my sexual frustration. "What was that?" He sits up and turns around. "Can. You. Fuck. Me." he punctuates. "I wish I can," I sigh, "but we promised to slow down remember?" He sighs and slumps his shoulders. "But four days' been too long," he whines. "I know... but..." Oh who am I kidding? I need him. Now! I sit up on the edge of the bed, scoot my legs under Chris so that he's sitting on me, and kiss him hard on the lips. He tenses for just a moment before he moans through our passionate kiss and interlocks his fingers behind my neck. In return, I place my left on his hips, rubbing his sides slowly while my right hand invades into his shirt, squeeze those delicate nipples of his. We break our kiss and Chris lets out a raspy breath, "I thought you said to take it slow..." I pull him in for another tongue-action kiss. "Yeah, but like you said, four days it far too long." I raise his arms up high and tug off his shirt, exposing that hairless, lean body of his. Oh my god, he's so damn sexy! That twink-like body of his... It makes him seem like a god! I twist us to the left and place Chris back onto the bed. He leans on his arms, forming a 90 degree angle with his elbow. I rip off my shirt and toss it onto the floor next to Chris's. I get on top of him with my knees around his thighs and lean down to give him another kiss. "Fuck!..." he hisses, "I need you inside of me, now!" "You didn't lube up did you?" I grunt, struggling to yank off his pants. "No... I thought we weren't going to do anything... and the lube's back at my place." "It's fine... we can always use a rubber." Without a moment to lose, I pull out a condom from my bottom drawer and bite the tip. I shrug off my pants, rip the wrappings off, and unroll the pre-lubed condom on. "Ready Chris?" I question while pushing his knees together to his chest. "Yeah-Ahh!..." he shudders in surprise as I slowly press my cock into his ass. Sorry, but I couldn't wait... I was too horny at this point. "You alright?" I ask once I was all the way in. "Yeah... just warn me next time before you do that," he grimaces, stressing the before part. "Sorry... but you know..." "Yeah I understand... Now fuck me hard big boy," Chris flirts. I slowly pull out, and then force myself back in. "Ah..." I sigh in relief and pleasure, "how I missed that tight ass of yours..." "Ah... faster Dylan... I want to your fuck the cum out of me," Chris moans. "Sh Chris! What if my parents hear?" I hiss. "...Sorry... ah... uh..." As I'm fucking him, I spread his legs just a little so that they can rest on my shoulders. I bend myself all the way down so that my stomach's grinding up against his thighs. I slow myself down to that of gentle strokes and rock my body with every intrusion. "Ah... uh... Fuck you Dylan!-Ah, Sss... I said I wanted it faster... not slower..." Chris protests. "Yeah I know... but I want this to last..." I give him a quick kiss as I continue to rock my body.. "Besides... you look cute like that... with your arm resting on your forehead... and your head tilting a little to the side... It's smoking hot..." "Whatever... just fuck me. please!" he begs. "Alright... ruin my fun..." I pout. I erect myself up, grab both his ankles, and pull them far apart, exposing his hard cock for me to see. I then gradually start pumping my hips like an automated machine in and out of Chris's love tunnel. "Ah... Oh!... Oh yeah, that's the spot!... Uh!... Hmm..." Chris moans in pleasure. "Mmm... Ah! Sss..." I let go of his ankles and place my hands next to his shoulders while arching my back. "Oh god... Uh... Ah! Shit!... Chris..." My hips vibrate at an even faster pace than before. I bite my lower lips and squint my eyes, trying to concentrate. My head jerks around, as if I'm in a discomforting situation. But instead, I'm actually really in between the two. I can feel the amazing feeling of my dick rubbing against Chris's tight ass muscles. But at the same time, I'm in agony, trying so hard to get that tingly feeling of an orgasm. "Ohhhh Dylan..." Chris gasps softly, "I'm... I'm gonna cum!" At the end of his sentence, Chris's body shudders and shoots his load all over his body. Damn! His first two shots were thick, and full of sperm, reaching as far as his chin. That's going to be juicy to slurp up afterwards. His latter shots though, never make it pass his sternum. But still, he splurged a ton onto his stomach. He finishes his orgasm and his arched-back slumps down back onto the bed. Although he's done, his ass still keeps squeezing my dick, driving me over the edge. "Oh god Chris!..." I hiss, "Shit! Your ass is even tighter now! Shit!... shit-shit-shit-shit- shit! Ah!..." Unable to hold that feeling any longer, I suck in a sharp breath and spew my load, although it did feel weird having it slime around my cock since the condom blocked my babies from going inside his ass. Wave after wave, my dick continues to wriggle for about another two minutes before my orgasm stops. My body falls over Chris's and I slowly pull out my dick. With all my remaining strength, I roll over to the side so that Chris can put his legs down. Being as careful as I can to my sensitive dick, I pull out the condom and look at it. Damn that's a lot of cum; it's a shame that Chris didn't get to feel it in between his legs... Then, an idea flashes before my mind. I lean my body on my left arm and smile impishly at Chris. "What's with that look?..." Chris notices. Out of Chris's sight, I flip the condom inside out by sticking my finger into it. I grin at Chris for the second time and stick my condom coated finger into his mouth, causing him to taste my slimy cum. The move catches him by surprise as he chokes and gags a little. "What are you doing?!" he sputters. "What?... I thought you'd might like some of my cum. I mean, it's gonna go to waste if it's left in here right? Here, have the rest of it." I unroll it off my finger and place it in his hands. I then kneel in between his legs and begin slurping up his delicious cum off his stomach. "Mmm..." I moan as I lick up his stomach. "Your cum mixed with your boy musk and that layer of sweat... it's so delicious and such a turn on Chris..." "Hmm..." he sighs before curiously looking at the condom I gave him. He rolls it around again and shoves it in his mouth, sucking out the remaining cum I produced earlier. I finish cleaning up the mess he made, pull out the condom from his mouth, and share the nastiest cum kiss we've ever had. Our tongues slap each other as we desperately try to get a taste of our own cum in each other's mouth. However, all I can taste is that plastic-like flavor from the condom in Chris's mouth. Still, I enjoyed kissing him. Soon though, we break out French kiss for the need of some oxygen. "That was intense..." he pants. "I know..." I puff back. "And I think I found out why I've been so frustrated lately..." "Why's... that?" "It's sexual frustration..." I state. Chris forces his body to cooperate with him and rolls over so that an arm and leg and wrapped around me. "What do you mean?" he asks while nuzzling his face onto my shoulder and chest area. "I didn't have any release since Sunday. I don't know; I guess jacking off by myself won't cut it anymore Chris." "So... what you're saying is that I'm like a drug to you now," he states while showing me his beautiful blue eyes of his. "Basically," I smile back and mess up his hair for the umpteenth time. "Hey!..." he protests. "You know you love it," I grin back "But I need to look good for the ladies," he whines. "Psh... I'm all you need," I tease back. "I guess..." "Wow!... You guess..." I pout while pulling myself up. "Ok fine... you are all I need," he exasperates. "That's more like it," I grin. "And besides, I prefer my boyfriend's hair a bit more on the messy side," I whisper as I lean forward and kiss him on the cheek. "It's really sexy-looking." "You're just saying that so you have an excuse to mess up my hair," Chris huffs while crossing his arms. "What? No... It's true Chris," I say in defense, "You really do look good like that." "If you say so..." "Aww... don't be like that Chris..." I plea. He gets up off the bed, but I stop him by wrapping my arms around him and drag him down. "What are you-Hey!" I slip myself around him, turn around, and pin down his wrists next to his ears. I grin at him and lean down to kiss him again. He resists at first, probably trying to prove a point. Soon after though he warms up to the idea and opens his mouth. "Feeling better?" I smile warmly at him. "Wasn't it you who was feeling frustrated?" he smugly asks. "Yeah, but you helped me fix that problem. So now it's my turn to help you." I lean down and kiss him again. "Mmm..." he moans from the touch of my tongue pressed up against his. "Cuddle me again and I'll forgive you..." I let go of his wrists, not that it matter to him at his point, and smush my body onto his. I then squeeze my arms in between the bed and his back and flip us around to that I'm below him now. Adding one last touch, I scoot us back to where the pillows are and sigh contently as I squeeze Chris's bubble butt affectionately. "Thanks Dylan..." he sighs contently. "No problem Chris." "...But no more messing up my hair," he puffs his cheeks. "We both know that's not gonna happen," I grin back. He sighs deeply again, but instead of leaving this time, he just closes his eyes and breathes through his stomach. I stroke his back again and I'm rewarded with the cutest purrs and coos. "I love it when you do that..." he mutters, barely audible for me to hear. I grunt softly in response and continue to massage his back gently. We just stay there for about ten minutes before I stop massaging his back. Chris opens his eyes and gives me a quick kiss. He looks at me again and blushes before getting up and off the bed. He picks up his boxers and pulls up. "So... what do you want to do now?" I ask while sitting at the edge of my bed. "I don't know..." he responds while struggling to pull the shirt over his head. "Here... lemme help you with that." I stand up and guide the opening to where Chris's head is. As soon as his face pops up, I sneak in and quickly brush my lips pass his. "That's for stealing a kiss from he before," I grin at him. He just flash that cute smile of his at me and shucks on his jeans. "Oh yeah Chris. Where did you put your jacket?" I ask while covering my naked body with clothes. "It's in my backpack since it got hot at around lunch." I finish pulling up my pants. "Oh ok. Just remember to bring it with you tonight since it's probably going to get cold." "Ok," he pips all jolly-like. "What's gotten into you today?" I ask. He just grins at me. "Oh I don't know... probably just some after sex high or something." "Sure it is..." I reply sarcastically. "In any case, what should do now? I mean, we do have about two hours to kill before we meet up with the rest of the guys." "I don't know... do you have any homework?" Chris asks me. "I'm a senior Chris... you know, senioritis?" I remind him. "Yeah... but don't you have a personal statement due in like three weeks or something?" "Yeah, so?" "Don't you think you should start it?" Chris asks, implying heavily that I should get started. "...Fine... but then what are you going to do?" I ask. "You have a laptop... I can probably find something to do in the meantime while you're typing up that awesome 500 word essay," he responds grinning. I shake my head at him and fire up the computer. While I'm waiting for the screen to load, Chris flips open the laptop and sits on the bed with his back up against the pillows. I sigh at my energetic boy and return onto my screen. I couldn't help but giggle a little at the thought of Chris. I guess I need him more now than he needs me. I mean, as soon as I released my pent up energy, I'm back to my normal self. Oh if only you knew Chris... Anyways, I have a personal statement to write... it was something about my world right? ...What the hell am I going to write about? "...I give up!..." I groan as I shut my laptop close and lean back onto my chair. I made progress, I guess... I mean, having the outline of the two essays is something, right? When was this due again? I sigh deeply and turn around and see Chris curled up in a little ball with the laptop to his side. Poor little guy... must've wiped out when I was busy typing. Ah... he looked so peaceful, so calm, so... cute... I glance on the bottom corner of my computer's screen for the time. Wow! How time flies! It's already 5:30! I flip open my phone and sure enough, I've missed about five messages, all from Heather... Jeeze, and you call me the nitpicky one. Anyways, I reply to the messages telling her that we're getting ready to go. I turn off the screen of my computer and scoot over to my sleeping beauty. I secretly take a picture of him and lean down to give him his wake up kiss. His eyes flutter a little and groans at the kiss as he adjusts his body around a little. "Come on Chris..." I sway to him gently, "Your true love's kiss should've woke you up." "Nnn... five more minutes..." he mumbles while scooting his butt further away from me. I notice the laptop right behind him and quickly pick it up so he doesn't smash it with his body. I set it down on the piano and return my attention to Chris. "You know... I seem to remember a certain way to wake you up. Want me to remind you of those certain ways?" I taunt as I creep slowly towards him. Chris sighs and slowly pull himself up, only to fall back down into an awkward position. I rest my hands on my hips and give him the 'really?' look. "...Nnnnn..." Chris struggles as he forces himself up. "Tell you what, you get up, and you can sleep here tonight," I propose, in hopes of getting him up this way. "Ok..." he yawns. Slowly, he robustly uses his arms to push himself up. With his eyes closed, he flashes a goofy smile at me and slumps his head forward. Sheesh, even I'm not this bad. Well, he manages to get up eventually and somehow make it to the bathroom to relieve his bladder. Meanwhile, I grab all our stuff: keys, wallets, and phones. I put on my jacket and shove Chris's belongs into his before carrying it with me. "Mom! I'm heading out to help with homecoming!" "Ok dear! Are you eating dinner with us or no?" she yells back. "No! Heather wanted a get together." "Alright! Have fun sweetie!" "Hehehe... she called you sweetie," I hear Chris giggle behind me. "Shut up..." I scoff at him and throw his jacket at him. "Oh yeah..." I remember, "Mom! Chris's staying over tonight! Just letting you know!" "Ok son," my dad replies from behind Chris. "Jeeze... all this shouting is giving me a headache." "Sorry." "It's fine," he replies to me. "And shouldn't you be going? It is 5:40 now..." "Oh you're right! Come on Chris! We've got to get going." Without another word, the two of us dash out the front door and into my car. "So uh, where are we going to eat?" Chris asks as I turn on the engine. "Heather said Fridays." "On a Thursday night?" "Ironic, isn't it?" "Mhm." The ride itself was pretty uneventful. Chris was still groggy, so he decides to nap, not that it'd matter much since the entire drive lasted about oh I don't know... fifteen minutes? More of less... You know what they say, power naps and whatnot. Anyways, I park my car in the parking lot and shake Chris awake. "Hey Chris, come on sweetie, we're here." "Ok..." he yawns back, stretching his arms. "Wait... did you just call me sweetie?" I snicker at him. "Payback bitch!" "Dick wad," he scoffs back, playfully punching me in the arm. We look at each other and giggle some more. Oh god... I feel like a twelve year old again. We get off my car and head into restaurant. "Hello. Party of two?" the waiter asks. "I think my friend made a reservation for uh..." I quickly count the number of people in our group, "eight." "...Party for Heather?" the waiter replies after looking in the book. "Yeah that's it." "Right this way." We follow the man down the walkways until we saw our friends sitting at a rather large booth, chatting amongst themselves. "Hey guys," everyone greets Chris and I. "Hey," I reply while sitting down. I scoot in a one seat so that Chris has room. Absorbing the scenario around me, I notice that all couples are sitting next to each other. All except Matt and Caleb. Just what happened between the two? Or rather Matt?... Hmm... "So uh, where's the menu?" Chris asks. Bryan hands him one and Chris quickly opens the booklet and peers into the options. I lean over and glance at it with him. "Hmm... do you want to share something Dylan? Or would you prefer to have something for yourself?" Chris asks. "Hmm... want to share a pasta?" "Sure." He flips to the page. "Oo-oo-oo! Let's get this one," Chris whispers gleefully, pointing at his choice of selection. "Hmm, Shrimp Chicken Cajun Pasta... Sure Chris." He smiles back at me, sets the menu down, and we join into the conversation. "Like I said, we need move it then," I catch Carrie say. "Wait what?" I interject. "What are we talking about?" "Carrie just wants to change something small on the prop for tonight," Matt answers me. "Change what exactly?" I ask cautiously. "The place for the fireworks that the staff members will be setting off," Carrie explains. "We didn't know about this before, but the school is planning on moving the old tool shed into the fireworks location." "Fuck..." I cuss out softly. "Why now?..." "It's not now..." Heather brings up. "They're just afraid that there might be future problems when they do move the shed over. Something about making it easier to mow the field or something." "Alright... so where can we set off the fireworks then. I mean, that thousand dollars asset has to be used up since we can't keep it." "That's what we're trying to think of right now," Joey states. "Hmm..." everyone grumbles to themselves in silence. Our waiter comes over and we quickly place our order. "Hey, what about the JV baseball practice field and staff parking lot?" Chris brings up. I quickly envision a map in my head of where Chris is talking. "Yeah... that could work," I nonchalantly state. "They're adjacent to each other... although the field is a bit far." "Yeah, but we can set the skyrockets on that field while we let off the ground ones in the staff parking lot," Chris explains. "It actually does make sense," Matt states. "What Matt said," Caleb fortifies. He looks over at Matt, but Matt simply ignores him. "Hmm, I'll have to ask ASB staff members," Heather states, "but it should work. Damn Chris, how are you so smart?" "I try," Chris blushes. "Well you keep that up; Caleb's going to be needing it," Heather smack-talks/compliments. "Hey!" Caleb calls out. Before anyone can say anything though, our waiter comes back with our food. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry," Joey announces. He then picks up his burger and takes a huge bite. "Wow... and you don't even wait for us," I jokingly sneer. "Stop being such a slob," Heather scolds him while flicking her hand on Joey's shoulder. "Er cernt herlp it," Joey replies with his mouth full before taking another bite. "And stop talking with your mouth full. It's disgusting," Heather continues scolding. "So, how long have you two been married?" Bryan asks, breaking the two from their little argument. Joey swallows and speaks clearly for once. "Like you're the one to talk... Carrie!" Oh boy, words have been thrown. "Excuse me? Who's winning homecoming queen again?" Carrie argues. "Whatever, at least I have class Joey," Bryan retaliates, "and what does homecoming have anything to do with this conversation?" Might as well drag everyone into this. "Guys, guys please... can we just all stop arguing and agree that Chris and I are the best couple out of all of us?" The four look at me for a bit. "Nah," they all recite in unison. "Wow... I'm hurt guys," I pout. While the married couples continue bickering away like the best of friends we are, Chris scoots up to me and speaks softly, "Well I think we make a cute couple." "Yeah I know Chris... I was just testing Matt and Caleb. Look specifically at Matt. Throughout this whole conversation, he's only spoken once." "What does it mean then?" Chris asks while taking a bite out of our pasta. "It's like, he's trying to avoid Caleb as much as possible... I'll talk to him at the end of dress rehearsal." "Ok," Chris smiles. "Now let's enjoy the rest of our food in peace and enjoy the show our lovely friends put up." "Too bad we don't have popcorn," Chris states. "Yeah... but we have pasta, so it's a fair trade off." "I guess," he replies after swallowing another bite. "Man that was good," Joey compliments while rubbing his stomach. Heather gives him a dirty look with her eyes, but I guess he didn't notice. "Anyways... let's get the waiter for our check," Bryan says. "Oh waiter!~" I sing out while fanning him over with my hand. "Check please." "Split check or no?" he asks. "Uh, yeah. Sure," I respond. "Just a moment." He leaves back to the stand and begins punching in the commands for the papers. "Oh yeah! Just to make sure guys, we've all bought our tickets for homecoming right?" Carrie asks out of the blue. "Yeah, we got ours," I reply. "Us too," Heather adds. "Caleb?" Carrie asks, "...Hello... earth to Caleb." "Huh? What?" Caleb snaps out of his daydreaming. "You guys bought your homecoming tickets right?" Heather repeats for Carrie, "If not, we can sneak back into the office and buy some for you." "Oh... we've already got ours..." "Hmm... HMM!... Ok, I'll have to talk to Matt tonight then... Something really bad must've come up for Caleb to be this down... I should know, almost nothing can destroy that little bastard's heart and mind. "Ok, I have eight checks here," the waiter comes back with a stack of bills, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Just leave them here, we'll attend to it ourselves." I thank the man and take the stack off his hands. "Nothing needed to be packed?" he asks. "Nah, we've finished everything." "Ok, I'll be back for the check later." And with that, he whisks off to check up on another table. "Ok... here you go. Here you go... Here you go... Here... And... this one's for us," I mumble as I pass out the pair of checks. Bryan, Joey, and I pull out our wallets and place some Jacksons and Lincolns in the trays for our significant other and ourselves. Meanwhile, Matt and Caleb separately pay their bills. Sigh... whatever it is you're thinking Matt, I swear, I will knock some senses into you if I have to... The waiter returns shortly after and picks up all the trays filled with money. As fast as lightning, he dashes off to the cash registrar and returns with exact change and receipts in two minutes flat. Wow, talk about fast. We all pitch in to tip the man and head out the doors and back to school. At the main entrance though, I tug Chris and Carrie aside for a brief second. "Carrie, I need a favor. You're involved in this too Chris," I speak softly so that nobody else can hear. "Sure, what is it?" she asks. "I need you to buy another couple homecoming tickets and hand them to Chris." "Why can't I just give it to you?" Carrie asks, "Did you forget to buy them?..." "Nah, we've already bought ours," I said. "I just need two extra tickets for somebody. Think you can do that?" "Sure... although I'll need them to sign the waiver and terms of agreement," she points out. "That's fine. Just give that to Chris too." "Alright." She turns around and runs up to Bryan's car. Once she's out of earshot, Chris nudges me. "Why do we need more tickets?" "It's a hunch, but I'm pretty sure Caleb and Matt didn't buy their tickets yet." "Because of Matt?" he asks. "Yep, so just in case..." I nod slowly as we walk to our car. As soon as I unlock it though, Caleb dashes over and stops in front of Chris, panting from the sudden usage of energy. "Oh hey Caleb," Chris greets, "why are you here?" "Can I... go with you guys?" he gasps out. "Sure," I reply, "Lemme guess, Matt." He looks down, still trying to control his breathing, "Yeah... Chris told you right?" "Yeah. Get in, we'll talk on the way." We pack into our car and drive off onto the main road. "So... what do you think is Matt's problem?" I ask after a few moments of silence in the car. "I... I really don't know..." Caleb responds, as if in defeat. "You will help me figure out what's wrong... right Dylan?" "I'll see what I can do, but I need to first find out if it's you, or some other problem." "What do you mean?" Chris asks. "I mean, Matt might be going ignoring Caleb just to protect him from something. Or maybe, something's come up with his personal life and Caleb's presence is only going to make it worse." "So... you're telling me that it's my fault that Matt's acting this way?" Caleb accuses. "Maybe, maybe not..." I sigh. "Look, the only way to figure this out is to talk to him... privately..." "And yes, I know Caleb..." I notice his mouth opening to speak from my mirror, "He refuses to talk to you, so I'm going to do it on your behalf." "...Thanks Dylan..." he mutters. "One more thing," I bring up, "You guys didn't buy your homecoming tickets, am I right?" Ever so slowly, Caleb nods his head in shame. "Ok, well I've already told Carrie to buy tickets for you guys later tonight. Just pay me back when you the chance, ok?" "Then why do you need me to get the tickets?" Chris asks, "Why not just get Caleb to get it?" "Well for one thing, Caleb doesn't have that kind of money, so I'll need you to pay for it with my debit card. Since Carrie knows you, she won't require an alternate ID. Can't have you're mom freaking out over this kind of stuff, right?" "Yeah... I guess..." Chris sees it in my perspective. "And also, I need Caleb there, hiding in the shadows to listen in on the conversation." "Why?" Caleb asks. "Because, I might miss something that only you two would know. I don't know every single detail of your lives, so this is where you come in." "Oh ok..." "Oh and one more thing," I add on, "Don't come running out if you see me slapping Matt's face. Sometimes... he just needs someone to knock some senses into him..." "Ok... try not to be too rough on him..." Caleb agrees. "Ok!... And we're here guys. Showtime," I announce as I park my car in the parking lot. Since we all left at the same time, we all get there at the same time. With Bryan's car on the left and Joey's to the right of mine, we all squeeze out in between the tiny spaces in between the cars and walk over to the football field. Throughout the entire walk though, I noticed Matt deliberately walking on the other side of Caleb with everyone else in between the two. "No, no, no!" someone shouts as we reach the vicinity. "Reset to page four!" "Ah jeeze..." Heather face-palms, "That's Mr. Lawrence with his bad temper..." "Lemme guess... he's mad because someone didn't hit his spot on the charting..." I guess. "Most likely," Bryan replies. We all sigh, shake our heads, and head into the field. Since we had about 15 minutes before the rehearsal starts, the eight of us hop onto the very top flight of bleachers and sit down, enjoying a preview of our band's field show. "So Mr. Director," Joey begins, "Who gets what job?" "Hmm... Joey, Matt and two others will help move the biggest prop over to the center. Everyone just grab a corner and follow my directions." "Who's going to be the other guys then?" Bryan asks. I glance over at Caleb and see him tense up a little. "I was thinking someone from ASB. I mean, half of them aren't even doing anything, so why not." "What about Chris and Caleb?" Joey asks. "I need Chris to help me with the story line, and Caleb... just look at his toothpick arms man. Do you think he can lift anything?" I joke. "Ha. Ha. Very funny," he replies back. Although I notice him relaxing a little, probably thankful that he won't be next to Matt for the time being. "So, Caleb gets the awesome privilege of bring forth the throne," I instruct, "that means you'll have to dress up as a butler." "What?!..." he whines. "Aww... Caleb gets to be all fresh and clean for once..." Joey jokes. "Shut it," he grumbles, not happy with the fact that he has to wear something fancy. He glides his eyes towards me and I secretly give him a wink. He rolls his eyes back to their original position and sighs. "Alright I'll do it... but I'm changing five minutes before halftime; I don't want to be in a suit for the entire day." "That's good. That is, if you don't mind changing in a room full of girls," Carrie grins. "Oooo... Caleb's getting some!" Bryan laughs. "Oh shut it..." "Anyways!..." I state to bring the attention back to me, "As I said. Chris, you're with me." "Like always," he grins back. "Heather, you'll be in charge of the light crew. Make sure they don't mess up on anything." "Ok, that's fine," she states. "And Bryan..." I smile devilishly at him. "What?..." "Try not to feel embarrassed when we all laugh at you," I snicker. He reaches over to punch me in the arm. "Dick." We all share a laugh, only to get a dirty look from Mr. Lawrence. "So, everyone knows what they're doing?" I ask. Everyone nods in agreement. "Ok then, who wants to die and tell Mr. Lawrence that it's time?" "I'll do it..." Matt volunteers. He gets up and walks over to the band director. Meanwhile, everyone else gets up and starts heading down to the field, where everyone else is gathering. Once at the bottom, I drag Carrie aside once again. "I forgot this, but we also need a pen and waiver." "Mmk," she replies and joins the group with the other princesses and princes. Strange, Brandy isn't here yet... Ah well, she'll come eventually. "Chris, I need you to tell Choreo and brighter side to get ready," I instruct him to do. "Ok." With Chris being busy, I then walk over to our drum major's stand. "Hey Dylan," he sighs. "Tough day huh Nick." "Yeah... Lawrence is giving us such a hard time... you know, with competition coming up and all," he replies. Despite being drum major and a great musician, Nick looks nothing like the stereotype. In fact, he's pretty cute with his pitch black hair in an bowl cut style. And the fact that he's wearing a black V-Neck really compliments his lanky body figure. If you ask me, I'd tap that and get some from him. To bad he has a girlfriend... "Bummer..." I state, "anyways, mind telling the band to get into formation?" "Sure." He stands up and calls the band to attention. "Band 'Ten Hut!" "Pride!" everyone on the field responds. "Alright! I need everyone to line up for half time concert formation! After that, we'll tell you what to do... Go!" The 150 members scramble around, trying to get into position. In about two minutes, I see a beautifully shaped box extending from the left 35 to the right 35. Nick climbs down his stand and walks with me over to the first hash mark. "Ok freshman and new members! Since this is homecoming, we need to make one small change to our halftime concert formation. Section leaders, please help after Dylan finish explaining the directions!" Nick shouts out to the brass section. "They're all yours Dylan." "Alright! I need everyone lined up on the hash mark line to squeeze out, leaving the space between the 45s clear for the prop!... Yeah that rights, you gotta touch the person next to you," I joke. "And... good! Perfect you guys! Joey! Bring in the prop to see if it fits!" Joey waves his arms up high in the air and carries the prop over with Matt and two other guys. "We're good to go Dylan!" Matt shouts. "Alright!" I yell back. "Your turn Nick." "Alright band! We need to do a dress rehearsal on this! So line up at the west goal post and do what we normally do for half time concert formation, follow the person in front of you!" "I'll meet you over there yeah?" I ask. "Sure, gotta go help the princesses, am I right?" he teases. "Yeah... well that and I gotta tell Chris to get the script ready." "You mean... your boyfriend?" he teases by flustering his eyes at me. "Yeah..." I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. "Hey, I'm ok with you being gay," he says, "It just means that I have a higher chance with the ladies." "But aren't you with that one girl?" I ask. "You mean Stephanie? Yeah... but seriously, I support you." "Thanks Nick... it means a lot to me," I trail off. "Anyways, I gotta go get the band ready... you know how stupid people can be." "Tell me about it..." I roll my eyes. We go off our separate ways and as soon as I get to where Chris is, he pounces on me and wraps his arms around my waist. "I missed you..." he says with his face being covered up by my shirt. "Sorry Chris, but I had to get the set ready," I apologize to him. "Ok... but I didn't know where to go after telling them, so I went up to the ASB crew to get the script for us." "Oh ok, lemme see it." He hands me the papers and I glance at it. "Once upon a time... but the kingdom needed peace... king died... princesses needed to marry to become queen... yadda yadda yadda... winner is ___. Ok, I think we've got this." "Hmm?" Chris mumbles, still refusing to let go of me. "Here," I pry him apart and give him his part of the paper. "You get to start," I grin. "Ok..." "Oh hell no!" I hear a shrilly voice scream in our direction, "How come he gets to be here?" "Oh boy..." I mumble to myself. That voice can only mean... "Huh?! Tell me!" Brandy demands of me. "Who and what are you talking about?" I ask. "Him," she jeers. "Who?" I ask again, annoyed that she still hasn't acknowledged Chris. "...Chris..." she flatly states. "Oh... Chris... you mean my boyfriend? Yeah, he's helping ASB with homecoming," I explain to her, making sure that she heard Chris being my boyfriend. "How?" "Well let's see... I was asked to help with ASB since Carrie is participating-" "No not that! I mean why is he here?" "If you waited like a few seconds, I would've told you..." I sigh. "Carrie personally asked her friends to help her since this year's workload was bigger. Well that and because she can't be announcing who's the winner, so she needed someone else to do it." "Why would she care? I've already won," Brandy jeers and then walks away. "I don't know Brandy! We'll have to wait and see tomorrow!" I shout back at her. "Man can she be a handful at times..." "It's ok, as long as you have me," Chris reminds me while getting closer to me. "Yeah you're right... Now look over your part and wait here for me while I go tell Nick to get started." "Alright." He then buries his head deep in the papers, studying the parts. Meanwhile, I run down the football field and meet up with Nick. "Hey Nick," I call out. "We're ready to go." "Ok." "Joey, Matt! Get ready!" I shout to them, who are on the track field. "Ready when you are!" Matt shouts back. "Band "Ten Hut!" Nick commands the band. "Mark time hut!... Resume, hut!" And with that, he leads the two lines down the back field. Once at the fifty yard line, he turns a sharp right and marches all the way up to the front hash mark. The two lines then split up on the hash line while Nick continues marching forward to his podium, which has been moved off to the side so that the audience can see. Following behind the last band member is Joey, Matt, Andrew, and Brad with the wooden castle prop. They set it down and hide behind the gate to avoid being spotted. Right behind them is Caleb with the throne, which is now hidden behind the castle too. Finally, behind Caleb is the group of 12 dancing girls from Choreo along with the princesses and their dates. In the front, our highest level of chorus gets into formation and forms a little arch in between two light stands. "Band... halt!" Nick shouts with the drum taps to conclude the tempo. "Band parade rest!" He gives me a thumbs up and I look around. Heather gives me an approving nod from behind me, Joey and Matt wave their arms out at me, and the rest of the ASB crew give me approving looks. "Ok," I tell Chris, "So how it goes is the band, chorus, and Choreo get one round of pure music going. Then the band will loop the song for god knows how long. During the loops, you'll get to start on the speech." "That sounds simple enough," Chris replies. "Mhm." I then turn towards Nick, "Start whenever you're ready." "Horns up!" he commands. "One... two... One, two... (three, four)." As Nick conducts the music, the chorus begins singing along with the melody and the group of dancers flourish out onto the mini "stage." They perform majestically to the sound and music filled with spins, twirls, and magic... It never seizes to amaze me how wonderful music is... Soon though, the dancers finish their routines and they each pick up their equipment and flutter into an arch formation with one arm gesturing towards the doorway of the castle prop. Nick dims down the music volume and the singing stops. Chris clears his throat and begins, "Once upon a time, there was a kingdom far off into the lands. There lived a king and queen, who did everything they could to ensure peace and happiness on their land." On cue, two members of ASB come out holding hands and greet the imaginary audience, just how a king and queen would do. "But then one day, a neighboring land waged war on the peaceful kingdom. The king, growing weary and old as time went by, could not bare to last another war. Just when all hope was lost, the five princesses of the kingdom came up with a plan to help end the king's suffering." "These five, brave princesses decided to sacrifice themselves and each marry a prince of a neighboring country," I pick up where Chris ended. "In doing so, the surrounding kingdoms and lands would gain eternal peace and happiness. In the end, the five courageous princesses were married off into other kingdoms. They were... Princess Mandy Ellington and her prince, Randy Hernandez." The two couple step out of the castle prop's gate and walk proudly onto the field. She gives a few waves and then backs up to the left side. "...Princess Gloria Fenn with her loving prince, George Layman." Gloria and her date walk out much like how Mandy did. She twirls around, showing her imaginary dress for the time being, and takes her date's hand and walks over to the right. "...Princess Brandy Parr with her date, David Anderson." Huh... who's David Anderson... I've never seen him before at school. Oh god... did Brandy ask a guy from another school to go to homecoming with her? Oh this is gold! I'll have to make fun of her at homecoming! Anyways, she does her strut and walks up next to Mandy. "...Princess Alice Eve with her prince, Howard Baker." Like the girls before her, she timidly glides out and walks down the imaginary walkway. At the end, she bows shyly and walks over to Gloria's side with her date. "And finally... Carrie Taylor with her prince charming, Bryan Harris." Carrie walks out of the castle prop and slowly reaches the walkway, taking every moment to wave and smile at everybody. I glance over at Brandy, who's fuming at the sight of Carrie taking her sweet time. Oh Brandy... Carrie eventually finishes and walks over next to Brandy with Bryan by Carrie's side. "With the marriages bound and sealed, the kingdom maintain peace for many years," Chris continues again. "But then one day, the old and weary king grew ill and passed away." The ASB member who played as king shows up again and flails around dramatically. Since it was our first time watching it, we hadn't grown an immune system to it, so we were all trying to contain our laughter. He finally falls to the ground, and the queen runs over and weeps on the body. They then quickly stand up and get out of way as Caleb walks forward with the throne chair. He places it right in the center and gestures his hands at it while walking off to the side with the crown in his hands. I quickly regain composure and continue the story, "With the king's funeral ending, his reign came to an official end. With no rightful heir to the kingdom, the princesses decided to nominate one of them to become the future queen of the land. They all worked hard and endlessly, trying to gather as many votes as possible for the citizens..." Nick stops the music for dramatic effect. "With final vote counted, the decision was made... This year's homecoming queen for 'The Kingdom Far, Far Away' is none other than... Christopher Tanner!" I announce. The ASB crew cheers lamely as I rush Chris up onto the stand and place him onto the chair. Caleb then places the crown on Chris's head and claps profoundly. "Ha-ha, very funny," Chris grunts. "Oh come on, even I know that it's always tradition to have a random guy go up here for practice," Caleb states. "And besides, you'd make a fine queen," I tease. "Yeah-yeah... here you go Caleb." Chris scoots off the chair and hands him the tiara. "So guys, rerun or no?" I shout across the field. Nick and Heather talk to each other and come to a conclusion. "No, I think we're good!" Nick replies. "Alright," I yell back. "Well then... clean up guys!" Nick shouts from his podium stand, "Five minute break band!" With everyone helping, we managed to finish packing up everything in about five minutes. I look over at Carrie and nod. She gets the memo and walks over to Chris with me to buy the ticket. "Ok, here's my debit card, and when you get the stuff, bring it back to me. Ok Chris?" I tell him. "Yeah." "I'll be under those bleachers, ok?" "Mmk." With those two on their way, I motion Caleb over and tell him to hide somewhere after I drag Matt over. He nods and I go looking around for Matt. I spot him at the gateway going towards the practice field. I pull him aside and lead him under the bleachers. "So Matt... want to tell me what's going on?" I ask him once we reach under the bleachers. "What do you mean?" he asks. "I mean, you've been purposely avoiding Caleb for the pass few days," I accuse of him, "Why is that?" "...I don't know what you're talking about..." "Oh please Matt, you think I can't notice it; have you forgotten who you're talking to?" I then sigh deeply. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you, but Caleb's been worried sick over this. He's even asked me to talk to you because you refuse to see him." "...That bad huh?..." Matt realizes. "Yeah, it's that bad..." I agree with him. He sighs deeply and leans onto a pole, only to slide his back down and sit onto the floor. "It's... my parents..." "Oh?" "Sit down... this is gonna take a while..." he warns me. I nod and sit down next to him. "So... what about your parents?" "Some time ago, I naturally brought up the topic about gays with my parents at dinner time. Guess what they said..." "...All gays should burn in hell, or something like that, right?" I reply sadly. "Yep, basically... I was so mad and fed up with it that I just left after that dinner and went straight to Caleb's house. But when I got there, I immediately thought about what my parents said..." "So that's why you've been avoiding Caleb? Because you're afraid of your parents finding out or something?" "Something like that..." he sighs, "I guess... I'm just scared about my future is all. I mean, where will I go if my parents disown me or something? It's not like Caleb's told his parent's either..." "Matt..." I sympathetically state and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't Matt me," he shrugs off my hand. "You're Mr. Know-it-all. Why don't you tell me what to do? Huh?" "Matt... I'm sure there's a way... I mean, maybe one of us can open a room for you and Caleb to stay in for a while, while we sort it out... If it does come to that that is..." "...Would you do that for me?" he asks, with a glimpse of hope in his eyes. "Sure... And not just me too! I'll do everything in my power to help you guys. Bryan, Joey, hell, even Carrie and Heather can help you. I mean, what are friends for right?" "Yeah..." he states somberly and gets up. "Sorry that I was acting like a douche bag..." "Don't apologize to me... apologize to your boyfriend." "I don't know if I can face him though... after what I've done to him..." "Hey, don't sell yourself short." "Dylan!" Chris shouts as he comes towards me. "Here you go..." he panting from the sprinting. "Thanks Chris... Here Matt, now's your chance to fix this." "What is this?" he asks, opening the envelope. "Homecoming tickets for you and Caleb. Don't worry, you can pay me back whenever. But for now, go and patch things up." "O-ok... where is Caleb anyways?..." He looks around the area. "Caleb!" I shout, "You can come out now!" Ever so slowly, Caleb peeks out of his hiding place and walks over to Matt. "Matt..." he begins. "No Caleb... Let me..." Matt crosses. "I'm... I'm sorry for the way I've treated you..." "Let's give them some room Chris," I whisper into his ear. He nods and I take his hand to leave. Thank god everyone's gone by now except for the band, who's going to stay until 9. |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~| Such a happy end... Right guys?