Angst

Angst Episode 17 "The Breakage"

"It's not like you're ever around to spend time with him Luke," Gino's mother shouted.

"Oh so now everything is suddenly my fault huh Eve?" Gino's father shouted back.

Gino stood in his room looking in his mirror.

More fighting. They were always fighting.

"Luke I at least try. You....you're so impossible," Gino's mother shouted.

"You know what? I don't have time for this. I have a company to run," Gino's dad said.

Gino stopped spiking his hair.

No more fighting. It must be all over now.

He grabbed his backpack and headed down the stairs.

"Can I get you something master Gino?" the butler asked.

"How bout a new family," Gino replied.

"Gino sweetheart are you feeling okay?" his mother asked him.

Gino looked away from her.

"Why do you and dad keep fighting?" he asked.

Gino's mom gathered her briefcase.

"Look try not to worry yourself with our problems. Everythings fine," she replied.

For some reason, Gino didn't believe that.

"Why don't you take the Porsche to school today. That'll make you feel better," Gino's mom suggested.

Spend time with me my ass, Gino thought.

At this point, with everything that was going on his life, Gino figured nothing would make him feel better.

"Oh and don't forget I'm picking you up early for that consultation," Gino's mom said.

"Yeah, whatever," Gino sighed.

So Adam was this big mess lately. And not a very good boyfriend at present.

Like we we were making out yesterday when all of a sudden he stopped so he could talk about Gino behind his back, in which I stopped him.

And then he yelled at me for stopping him and caring about Gino too much.

When in all fairness, he was the one who brought it up. And apparently it was also he who had Gino on his mind while kissing me.

"So, where's Gino?" Adam asked walking up to me.

"Let me see if I'm getting this right. Gino was mad at me once upon a time for what I don't know, but it had something to do with you," I started.

Adam sighed and crossed his arms.

"And now you. Maybe you two would rather be the couple."

Adam straightened up a bit.

"I'm sorry okay. I don't know why I keep acting like this," he replied.

He leaned in and kissed me.

It had to be at that moment when Ryan showed up.

He started clapping.

"I give that gay kiss a.....9. Way to go," he replied.

"You should watch and learn. I'm sure somebody'll want you one day," Adam replied.

"Some girl you mean," Ryan added.

"Well if that's the species that'll go for you," Adam replied.

Well Adam was improving. At least he didn't try to beat Ryan's ass this time.

"What do you want with us today Ryan?" I asked.

"I'm sure that's your best fantasy huh? Having me want you," Ryan said.

"Fortunately, nothing I fantasize about is ever about you," I replied.

"Well, we'll see won't we?" Ryan cryptically replied.

Adam gave him a weird look.

"And actually I came to ask you if you've seen Gino," Ryan replied.

"Oh that's right. You two are best friends now right?" Adam asked sarcastically.

"So that's a no then?" Ryan replied.

"No that's a go fuck yourself asshole," Adam replied.

"But Adam, wouldn't you do a better job of that?" Ryan asked in a fake innocent tone.

Adam lunged for Ryan and almost had him until I held him.

"You get the fuck outta here right now!" Adam exclaimed, still trying to get at Ryan.

A lot of people nearby were getting quiet and starting to watch us.

"Look if you see him, tell him I was looking for him," Ryan replied.

Adam watched Ryan with a glare that scared me.

"Come on Adam," I said quietly.

Adam kicked his locker really hard and walked off without me.

"Adam!?" I called after him.

"I'll see you at lunch!" he called out.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, out loud.

Ryan was a problem. A huge one. One that I didn't have the time or patience to deal with.

And where was Gino anyway. He'd have called me if he wasn't coming to school today.

I couldn't hope for this disaster to end itself. I had to see if there was a way to end it peacefully. Peacefully for me, painfully for Ryan.

When I got to Social Economics, Gino was there.

"Where've you been?" I asked.

"I drove today. Something I haven't had much experience with," Gino replied.

I took a seat next to him.

I noticed he looked a little upset.

"Everything alright I asked.

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

If he said so.......

"Two weeks man. I get this fucking thing off in two weeks," Alex replied.

"I thought having to wear that, as you put it, reels in the ladies," I said.

"Yeah in pity. You can't fuck a girl right with a semi broken leg," Alex replied.

"Alex, don't tell me you tried to have sex with a broken leg," I said.

Alex looked away from me.

"Okay then I won't," he replied.

"So, could I get two volunteers. Preferably a guy and a girl, Ms. Brown said, bringing the class chatter to an end.

No one raised their hands. Would you volunteer for something when you had no idea what you were volunteering for?

"Fine. Let's go with Melody," Ms. Brown started.

Melody got up and headed for the front of the classroom.

"And Gino, you haven't done much lately."

Gino sighed and got up.

"Okay, so the situation is you're a married couple with children experiencing a few differences at the moment. Let's see how you two would work out the problems." Ms. Brown replied.

Melody and Gino faced each other.

"How come you never spend any time with me and the kids?" Melody started.

"I.......don't know......I'm busy?" Gino replied unsure.

"Busy. You're always busy! Too busy for us!" Melody shouted.

She was really getting into this.

"But, I......have a company to run," Gino replied, thinking back to this morning.

"Like my job isn't a important because I don't have 300 employees at my beck and call? I watch the kids!" Melody replied.

"No you don't!" Gino exclaimed.

"Wow.....I'll tell you what, why don't we pick all of this up tomorrow. It's almost time to go," Ms. Brown interrupted.

Gino sat back down shakily.

That got a little too real there.

"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" I asked Gino again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

The truth was, he knew where his parents marriage was headed and didn't want it to go that far.

"So, were you playing hooky this morning or what?" Ryan asked surprising Gino at his locker.

"What are you talking about? I've been here all day," Gino replied, placing a book in his locker.

"Yeah but not when I needed you. Or did you forget I need your help breaking Adam and Brandon up?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, you need to let it go. They're in love and it's not gonna happen," Gino replied.

"Have you not been paying attention lately or what?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, listen-"

"No you listen fag number 3," Ryan started cutting Gino off.

Gino stepped back a little.

"You may be willing to get pushed around but I'm not. I want Michelle back and Adam and Brandon broken up even more. So don't get on my bad side. Unless of course, you're cool with everybody finding out about your little secret," Ryan threatened.

Gino eyed him carefully.

Ryan walked off.

Gino slammed his locker shut and took off too.

This whole thing was just so fucking screwed up.

With Brandon and Adam. With Ryan and Michelle. With his parents.

"And once again you prove another one of my points Luke. Not listening to me!" Gino's mother exclaimed.

"You get on my case because you think I don't spend enough time with Gino. So I come to pick him up myself for once and you do this. Bite my head off!" Gino's father shouted back.

What the fuck, Gino thought.

His parents were arguing loud enough for him and everybody else in the school to hear. His dad had used his name, which meant that everybody knew they were his parents.

There was no playing this off. But he could put a stop to it.

"See, this is why I want the divorce," Gino's mom said.

"Really? I thought it was for my money," Gino's dad said sarcastically.

"Mom? Dad?" Gino asked, barely audible.

His parents turned around.

"Gino, honey......how long have you been standing there?" his mom asked.

Gino backed out of the office slowly. He was trying hard to fight back tears.

"Son, wait. We can talk about this," his father pleaded.

Gino turned around and started running.

He didn't know where he was going. But he knew that he couldn't stand to be at school any longer.

He climbed into his Porsche and sped off, tears now running freely from his face.

Life sucked. But he already knew that.

"Hey did you hear what happened with Gino?" Alex asked.

"What happened?" I asked.

"His parents were fighting in the office earlier and he took off," Alex replied.

"What were his parents doing fighting at school?" I asked.

"You're asking me like I'm supposed to know," Alex said.

"I think he'll be fine. He's just upset," Jade said.

"Or maybe he's just an emotional little bitch," Adam chipped in.

"Sounds like someone else we know just a few months ago," Jade replied.

We all knew she was talking about Adam.

"I never got why you two were fighting," Alex said.

"Yeah, it's like a constant battle for B's attention where you both think someone's gonna win," Jade added.

"I already did win. Somebody should tell him that," Adam said with a hint of gloating in his voice.

"It was never a game Adam," I said.

"I wonder though. I mean, Gino does seem a little bit more sensitive than most straight guys. And he does fight with his boyfriend a lot for his attention," Alex said.

"Alex don't even. Don't start making assumptions like Michelle did," I said.

"Yeah but Michelle was right wasn't she?" Alex replied.

"She didn't know that," I said. "Gino's not gay. I would've noticed something by now."

I guess we were gonna leave it at that. Gino wasn't gay. End of story.

Gino sped up as fast as possible and skipped another red light. What did he care if he was breaking the law by speeding and skipping lights on purpose.

So what if he got thrown in jail. He had rich parents. He'd get out in a heartbeat and they'd have his record expunged. But that wasn't what he was concerning himself with at the moment.

Life was hard. And with his parents splitting up, it was about to get even harder.

And it wasn't like Brandon was ever gonna give him the time of day. Gino seriously doubted Brandon would have been interested in him even if he knew he was gay.

And it wasn't like.......was that the......police?

Gino pulled over.

Great, he thought. Just what he needed. People got away with speeding and running lights all the time, but he had to be the one they got today.

"Well son, I'm sure you already know you've run a few lights. Plus you're speeding," the officer said.

Gino sighed.

"Step out of the car please," he said.

Well, he was going to jail.

I had to find Gino today so I could ask him about what happened yesterday. Was he alright?

I spotted Gino at his locker throwing things in.

"Hey, Gino...what's going on?" I asked carefully.

I didn't want to set him off.

Gino stopped to look at me.

"My parents are getting a divorce just like everybody else's parents. Adam and I don't get along, even though I try. Ryan keeps bugging me. And yesterday I had to go to juvenile court just so they could tell me I needed to go to 21 hours worth of defensive driving classes," he replied.

"Okay what...? Ryan's bugging you? And defensive driving?" I said.

Man, I see why Gino was upset.

Gino shut his locker.

"Look, I'm not sure I'm in the best shape to be around anybody at the moment, so I'm just gonna go."

"Oh.....right. Well, I guess if you want," I said.

If he needed time and space, then I'd be happy to give it to him. Just as long as he didn't run away.

"I'll see you in Economics class," Gino said walking off.

"Yeah..." I said.

Why was life so hard for the people I cared about? First Adam finding out Michelle was cheating on him with his best friend. Then Alex finding out that I was gay which led to him breaking his leg. And Jade almost getting raped.......Was it me? Was I unconsciously doing something to these people that made them unhappy. Made their lives train wrecks?

"Okay so Melody, Gino, why don't we pick up where we left off yesterday," Ms. Brown spoke.

Gino stood up and slowly walked up to the front of the class with Melody.

"So, you say I don't spend enough time with the kids huh?" Melody said.

"Yeah," Gino replied. "So don't get on my back."

"Look, I'm willing to try and work this out, if you are. Maybe with some counseling-"

"Counseling?!" Gino cut Melody off.

She'd struck a nerve somehow.

"I'm sorry but why pay some crackpot a thousand bucks a pop to tell us what isn't wrong with us when I can tell you what is," Gino started.

Everybody in the class had their eyes transfixed on Gino.

"Life sucks. It's not fair. Never has been and never will be. And the truth is, counseling isn't gonna work. Counseling doesn't work for anybody. All you get is 21 free hours community service," Gino shouted.

"Gino....what are you talking about?" Melody asked.

Gino looked out into the audience. Everyone had confused looks on their faces.

"Nothing," Gino replied.

He walked back to his seat.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

Gino looked over at me and said nothing.

Gino wasn't even sure if he knew himself.

"Defensive Driving. You are here because you're all bad drivers," Jerry, Gino's D.D. Instructor started.

"Actually I drive so-so. I'm here because I tried to run some old lady over for trying to steal my car," a boy in the class spoke.

"Come on man. That's low," Jerry said.

"You should've seen this lady. She was bigger than I was. I figured she'd survive if I ran her down. Or at the very least, deflate," the boy replied.

Gino and a few other people in the class let out a laugh.

"John, what am I gonna do with you?" Jerry asked, holding back a little laugh.

"I don't know, but I'll tell you what you ain't gonna do," John replied.

More laughter.

"Alright now we have to get to work. I want everybody to get a partner and get to know them well," Jerry replied.

Gino looked back at the John boy.

He was about his own age, white. Typical Abercrombie all American pretty boy.

"Partners?" Gino asked.

John got up and sat next to Gino.

"Neiman Marcus," John spat out.

"Huh?" Gino asked.

"It's where you got that watch. 750 dollars. It's where I got mine too," John replied holding up his.

"So you're-

"Rich? Pretty much. And I didn't really try to run over some old lady," John started.

John looked around and then leaned in closer to Gino.

"Actually, I just found out my parents wanna get a divorce and I don't know man....I lost it. I just got in my Jag and went 100 miles an hour," he replied.

Gino was finding all of this astounding. It was like John was his own self, accept hotter.

"Don't tell anyone," John said.

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret," Gino replied.

"Cool," John replied.

"John, you're gonna need these forms," Jerry called from his desk.

"Be right back," John replied.

Gino stared at John's back as he walked up to the desk.

It wasn't just his own life that sucked. John's was just like his. And if he could be positive about it, then so could he.

"Here, got you some too," John said handing Gino some papers.

Gino took them from John who was smiling.

"What?" Gino asked, grinning a little.

"You and me in here? Were gonna be trouble, I can already tell," John replied.

Yeah, Gino thought. Life didn't suck so much now.

A/N

Just wanted to give a shout out to my girl Maddy A. who just so happens to be the very talented writer of my favorite Nifty story "Around My Way" under the 'Interracial' and 'High School" categories so if you haven't checked it out, do so, I promise you'll love it. I also recommend two other great stories under the same category, The Log Way and Kayden.

I bet you wish two things right now: 1. That I add more sex to my chapters and 2. That I post them faster. Well I made a New years resolution to do both (in fact Ive made a few changes to Chapter 20 that I think everyone will like) and Im currently writting at least once a day as opposed to only on weekends. Of cousre, we all know how hard it is to stick to our resolutions.

Suggestions? Comments? Even complaints? send them to crossingboi2004@yahoo.com. I'll respond to every email, as always.