Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:19:12 -0700
From: americas 1stborn <americas1stborn@gmail.com>
Subject: Curious Condition Ch. 1 Revision

Curious Condition
-----------------
Chapter One

This is a revised version of chapter one. I had some helpful emails that
pointed me to some areas that needed improvement. Particularly the
dialogue; It should be easier to understand who is speaking to who.

For this revision, Special thanks to:
	Ashley Hardic
	SpoX
	Bobby Michaels
	Josh

The usual Disclaimer, charachters are imagined and based off of the
author's life experience. Likeness to events and people are coincidences
and unintentional.

This story contains sexual interactions between underage boys. Do not read
this and proceeding volumes if this is offensive to you or illegal where
you live.

-----------------

Jace looked out of the window. Pale flakes floated gently to the ground,
blanketing what bare ground remained. It was cold by the window. Jace
breathed, fogging the window. He raised a finger, and made a frowning face
the moisture. It was still early for him, ten o'clock, on a saturday. The
counselor would be here any minute. Moments earlier his mother had come in
his darkened room, light had burst upon him and his covers removed from
where he lay, in underwear and a dark shirt.

	"mmm...go...away," jace murmered, his face buried in the pillow.

	"Get up, Mr. Reiner will be here soon, and you're not showered or
even dressed," fatigue was in Mrs. Talbot's voice. She, in fact, was naive
of the exact reasons the psychaitrist had suggested this specific counselor
to meet with her son. Doctor Veagan asked her to be patient, and that Jace
would tell her in his own time what was wrong.

For a long time Jace's grades had been falling, he had become argumentative
and seemed disinterested in anything with family. He was once close to his
older sister, Taylor. But now, when she called he refused to talk to
her. When she visited he said as little as possible and avoided her. Once
in a while she would catch a glimpse of her little Jason, the sweet boy he
had once been. Something was different now, and that is why she had gone to
a psychaitrist. All this flashed through her head as she looked upon 15
year-old Jace.

	"I'm up, I'm up...get out..." Jace mumbled. The door closed.

Outside the black suv was negotiating slick turns on the snowy dirt road
that lead to the house on the edge of a small town. As the vehicle came to
a stop and parked a few meters away, Jace began to wonder if he should have
put pants on. Outside a young fit looking man stepped out of the Vehicle.

Jace glanced at a mirror at his left. He stood about one and one half
meters tall, from his head to his bare feet. He wore only a pair of gray
boxers, and a black pocket t-shirt. His hair was uncombed and his mother
would make a big deal about it when she saw that he hadn't changed or tried
to clean up. He had been outside the whole day before. Out in the woods,
where it was quiet. His face was smudged with soot from a fire he had made.

Knock Knock. Jace didn't move for a long time, finally just as Mr. Reiner
was about to knock again, he went and opened the door.

	"Hey," the man smiled broadly, "you must be Jason."

Jace rolled his eyes just enough to let the man see him, turned and left
the door, letting it swing wide. He threw himself down into his chair next
to the fire place. Mr. Reiner poked his head in.

	"May I... come in?" Mr. Reiner asked.

	"Yes," Jace muttered. A second later he asked, "Where's your tie?"

He liked to tease them, putting his eyes on them as much as they did to
him.

	"I thought all of you wore ties," Jace added.

	"A tie? Jason, I'll wear a tie next time, if you'll wear pants,
how's that for a bargain?"

Mr. Eric Reiner was experienced with these kinds of kids. He new just what
to say to throw the boy off his 'i don't care attitude.'

Jace was taken back, my pants? He wrinkled his forehead,

	"I don't care about if you wear a tie or not, and... i can wear
whatever i want."

Mr. Reiner sat down on the couch across from him. Jace's mother came in and
gave Mr. Reiner a glass of water.

	"Thank you for coming Mr. Reiner. I hope you can help
Jace... reconnect," said Mrs. Talbot.

Jace glanced at his mom, then back at Mr. Reiner. He was not happy that she
would think him 'disconnected.'He was fine afterall. He didn't all of this
'conseling and psycho-whatever,' he would work out his problems alone. He'd
done that for a long time before the counselors got involved a year ago.

Mr. Reiner read the boys expression and looking back at Mrs. Talbot said,
"I'm just here to get to know Jason...'

	"Jace," Jace interupted in a raised voice. His mom glared at
him. Slightly humbled Jace said softer, "uh... just call me Jace, ok?"

	"Jace, okay," Mr. Reiner nodded. Looking at Jace's mother again,
"I'm here to get to know Jace," he glanced at Jace with a quick smile. "And
see how I can help him make some- important choices."

Oh great, jace thought, we're gonna talk about feelings... ughh.

	"Mrs. Talbot, I'd prefer to visit with in private, do you mind?"
Mr. Reiner said.

	"Of course, not." Mrs. Talbot walked over to Jace touched his arm,
leaned and kissed him on his head and whispered, "let him in, Jace, let him
help you." she had tears welling up as she left. Jace followed her with his
eyes, and for a moment wished things were the way they were before all
this.

Tick..Tick..the clock was all that broke the silence between the
two. Mr. Reiner bit his lip and was about to speak when Jace asked,

	"Why'd you come to my house. Usually I have to go all the way to
Sudbury to meet with you."

	"Well, jace," Mr. Reiner said, "Doctor Veagan and I decided that
you would be more," he paused, glancing over the boys very casual
condition, "comfortable at home."

	"Hmm... good," Jace responded just as casual as his appearence. "I
didn't get your name."

	"Just call me Eric."

This surprised Jace. Doctors were always very profesional and didn't seem
to really care about you. Maybe Eric was different. Maybe he was a good guy
after all, and not some last ditch effort by all the Doctors. Jace decided
to talk with him, just get to know him, nothing important. He wouldn't dump
his crap on this guy. Not until he really thought he could trust him. Maybe
not even then.

Eric tilted his head to one side, as if gauging what the boy was
thinking. The boy has honest eyes. His unkempt appearence is more a sign of
internal turmoil than simple bad hygene or attitude. These things were an
outward manifestation of an inner conflict. Hold on, Eric, he told himself,
you don't have him figured out yet. Wait until you know some more, and then
make your diagnosis. He liked Jace, so far, he seemed like every other
emotionally detached teenager, just sorting out new feelings and emotions
and having it tear your world apart before piecing it back together. Eric
noticed Jace's tongue sliding from side to side touching the bottom of his
top, front teeth, then ran over his lower lip before he spoke. Nervous
habit. He was thinking, but what about?

	"If we're gonna talk, I... I want to go to the bonus room," Jace
said.

	"Sure, but what's the bonus room?" Eric got up and followed Jace
through the warm front room into a cooler kitchen and then into an enclosed
patio at the back of the house. The house was mcuh larger than he could see
from the road. It must have a second story, and maybe a basement too. The
patio was colder, nearly as cold as outside. The lack of wind made it
tollerable. The room was large, nearly four meters by ten. The floor was
carpeted on one half the other had a table and chairs and was covered by
linolium. From the door in the middle of the room, Jace turned right and
lead Eric to some cushioned wicker chairs. There were two chairs and a
couch. A old, stained, and crumpled blanket lay on the couch as if someone
had been sleeping there. There was even an equally old and filthy pillow
complete with pillow case. Situated in the ring of furniture was a wood
burning stove with a likeness of Benjamin Franklin on it.

Eric sat down and Jace set up a fire. Smoke poured out at first,

	"You need to open the flue," Eric said.

	"Oh yeah," Jace said, taking care of the problem, "this was my
dad's dad's. He bought it brand new."

	"It's very cool, Jace," Eric said. He tried to sound as interested
in Jace as possible. The boy seemed willing to talk and Eric didn't want to
ruin his resolve.

Jace finished and sat down on the couch, pulling the blanket over him. He
didn't quite lay down, he just leaned against the arm of the couch,
stretching out. The room began to warm up. The view from the room was
beautiful. The room looked out over the back yard covered in snow and 10
meters further became a forest of large trees evenly spaced. The snow fall
had gotten heavier making it impossible to see far into the woods.

Jace watched him gazing at the beauty. He swallowed hard.

	"There's a pond Back there, in the trees. I go swimming there
sometimes. And I built a tree house. You can see far. I put a rope up,
too. To swing on, into the pond," said Jace. He studied Eric's reaction. He
seemed to not even hear, too busy looking. Jace pursed his lips. Try again,
he thought.

	"It's hard to find. I even get lost sometimes. But no one else has
ever been," Jace said. Would it kill you to look at me! Finally Eric spoke.

	"When I was ten, my father took me out by myself into our
woods. Alone." Jace raised his guard immedietly, he didn't like where this
was going. Eric turned and looked at him in the eye. Not harshly, or
accusingly like the others, just- looked at him. Jace returned his gaze,
cautiously.

	"Jace, I am seventh of nine kids. Time alone with my father was
precious, if not unheard of. In those ten years I had spent only a few
moments alone with my father. He talked about all sorts of things, but i
couldn't figure out where we were going. It seemed like we'd been going in
circles. Finally we stopped by a huge boulder." Eric smiled, remembering,
"I mean this thing was huge," he motioned with his hands. "And it really
had no business being in the middle of indiana," He's from America, Jace
thought.

	Eric Continued, "I remember touching it, and how cold it was, all
covered with moss. We stood there for a while not saying anything, then Dad
knelt down, and whispered to me, "Son, this world is big, and sometimes we
can feel very small. Now, tell me, a boy of ten, could you climb this big
guy alone, get over it to the other side?" Of course, I said I couldn't
climb it, not alone.

	My Dad said, "Then why would you even want to try?"

	"Well maybe we shouldn't," I said.

	"We are going to climb this rock," Dad said, "together. On the
other side of this monster, this thing in our way, is something wonderful."

	"He pushed me and I pulled him, and together, Jace, We made it
over. When we got to top, I heard the sound of falling water. We walked
another few steps and the ground in front of us dropped away, revealing a
towering waterfall, maybe thirty feet high. At the base was a clear pool of
water. Perfect for swimming.

	"That whole ten years this had been there, and my dad knew about
it. Why he chose that moment to show me, and why he even showed me instead
of anyone else, I don't know."

	Jace sat listening intently. He was drawn into Eric's voice, his
honesty. He hardly realized he was staring, and that Eric had stopped. Jace
blinked, relaxed, and then shifted his weight awkwardly in the silence.

	Eric looked up. "You know, Jace, I learned something then. That in
life, we run into boulders, problems, and we can't get over them
ourselves. We want to get to the cool refreshing water on the other
side. To let it wash over us, to be at peace from a long journey."

Jace felt his penetrating gaze, and looked away, outside, anywhere. He felt
like Eric could read his mind.

	"But, Jace, we can't do it alone. We are not always strong
enough. We need people, we need friends, and family, we need to feel-
loved."

Jace blinked hard. His face was hot, he thought he would cry. What was
going on! Tears were coming. He blinked again, sniffed hard. He got up
fast, throwing off the blanket, he walked quickly out of the bonus room
wiping tears with the collar of his shirt.

Mrs. Talbot watched painfully as jace scrambled up the stairs to his
room. She didn't know what to think, she hadn't seen him cry for the
longest time, years even, and after one visit with this Mr. Reiner he was
reacting! She ran to Mr. Reiner her own tears flowing. He stood as she came
in. Mrs. Talbot ran into him hugging hard, and bawling.

	"It's okay Mrs. Talbot, He's fine, I think I just touched a
cord. Found a soft spot. I'm not really not sure what it was that triggered
it," Eric said.

----------------

Jace threw open his door, then slammed it, and locked it. He flung himself
on the bed, clothes were everywhere, the place was a mess. He was crying
uncontrollably. Truthfully, what had gotten to Jace, though he was still
unaware, was how Eric understood why he went to the pond so much. He went
there to get away. Leave behind these problems. His own house was the worst
reminder, his room, his clothes, it all reminded him. His sobbing slowed,
and he was able to calm himself down.

He could hear mom and Eric talking, probably in the kitchen. The air vents
in the old house carried the sound to every room. It was unintelligible,
but for now the focus was off of him, and he was alone. He could hide his
face from the world.

After a few minutes Jace got up and stripped off what little clothing he
had on. He threw on the floor. He started for the washroom, for a shower,
but looking back at his clothes scooped them all up, smelling pairs of
underwear and boxers to see if they were any clean pairs mixed in. He saved
two and threw them in a drawer. The others he stuffed in a basket near the
door.

He and Taylor had shared the bathroom, but now that she was away from home
he had it to himself. He locked both doors and turned on the hot water. He
let it run till it was as hot as he could stand. Then he stepped in and
shut the curtain. Closing himself off to the world. He pulled the lever
that shut off the faucet and turned on the shower. Then he plugged the tub,
and carefully sat down.

A memory flashed, Jace remembered slipping in the tub. blood running down
the drain.

The shower head was aimed to high, the water hit him in the face. He got up
and adjusted it lower, now it hit him in his chest. He pulled his legs up
tight to his body, held them with his arms. This was another place he could
think. The pond was quiet, here the water drowned out every sound even his
own sobs. He rested his head against the wall, his wet hair splayed over
his face.

Focus. What just happened. He closed his eyes. Thought back to the many
visits with doctors. What were they after? He knew of course, but Jace
wanted to solve his own problems, to be in charge of his own life. He hated
the thought that someone else could have control of him. Maybe that's why
he pushed away his mother and sister.

He'd cooperated today, and look what it did. He felt embarressed, But what
did he care, this was just some guy that would probably never want to come
back to this house again. Jace opened his eyes.

	"What do I want," not realizing he spoke aloud. He looked up at the
falling water. His face was thoughtful, "A water fall," he answered.


End of Chapter One.

This is my most successful story yet. And it just keeps evolving in my
head. This is not as sexual as most of the other stories here. I've written
a few like those. But this time, However, I feel a special kinship Towards
Jace Talbot. Many of his experiences will be very much like my own,
although, the story will be largely fiction. Particularly his coming of
age, struggle of same sex attraction, spirituality, and simple wanting to
belong. I would like to hear from you.

americas1stborn@gmail.com