Angst

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not write about frank sexual situations, nor do I have any desire to.

This is a story about teen love and discovery. Still though, it is a gay work of fiction.

If such work offends you or you are not old enough to read in your area, then do not continue reading.

Please do not copy and paste onto another website without emailing me first. In most cases I'd be glad to let you post on another site, as long as you ask first!

Angst Episode 34 "The Ultimatum"

"Uh...morning son," Gino's father said meekly.

Gino said nothing as he moved past his father and over to the breakfast that the cook had prepared for him.

"Morning sweetheart," Gino's mother spoke, coming into the kitchen and kissing Gino on the forehead.

"You going to work?" Gino asked.

"Got a nine thirty deposition to head up," Gino's mother replied. "The D.A's been working on this case for months."

"Off to face her twenty hour work day. What else is new?" Gino's father said sarcastically.

"Well, I did find out the man I'd been married to for seventeen years would rather bang some oversexed twenty-one year old frat guy than his own wife," Gino's mother shot back. "That new enough for you?"

"Mom....."

"Don't worry sweetie, I'm okay with you being gay," she said. "Your father on the other hand...."

"Hey you know this isn't about me all the time," Gino's father spoke. "And at least I've cut down my hours at work to spend time with my son."

"Oh not this bullshit again? Tell me, are these hour cutbacks because Lucille fired her hot assistant and now you cant stay late fucking him or because you'd rather get better acquainted with your son's male friends?"

"Mom, please," Gino pleaded.

Gino's mother flashed her son a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," she said, walking over to her son. "Just remember that I love you and you'll always have me."

She flashed Gino's father a glare before grabbing her briefcase and heading out to her Jaguar, leaving Gino with the father he didn't really want to be around anymore.

He looked over at his father for a moment before turning his attention back to his food.

"Son, please talk to me," his father started. "I know you're upset with me but-"

"Could you pass me the jelly?" Gino said in a cold, flat tone.

His father stared at him with sadness in his eyes before passing him what he wanted.

"I love you too you know," he said. "And I wanna make things better between us."

"Oh, you're gonna go back to work and leave me the hell alone?" Gino asked without looking up at his father.

Gino's father sighed and looked down at his own breakfast. All he knew was that he needed to find a way to reconnect with his son.

"What do you think?" Jordan asked.

"Well," I started, while continuing to look over his paper. "You misspelled the word 'you're' eight times and the pacing is a bit off. And I get this...weird creepy vibe that you're a little too obsessed with the swim team."

"I knew it. I'm a failure," Jordan replied, slouching in his seat.

"No Jordan, what you need is better source material to work with," I replied, moving back over to my computer, which was right next to his. "Stuff like pieces on the school's new awning and it's decision to start serving low fat milk aren't gonna exactly inspire a person to do their best."

"You're right," Jordan mumbled unenthusiastically.

"Well then why does Stephen keep giving you crappy stuff to write about?" I asked. "I mean, you should ask him to give you more inspired stuff."

"Well I would, but I think Stephen might be punishing me," Jordan replied.

"Punishing you? For what?" I asked.

"Sleeping with his girlfriend last year," Jordan replied.

I looked over at him.

"Allegedly," Jordan added.

"Right, well I'll talk to him and see what I can do," I replied.

"Speaking of the devil," Jordan mumbled looking towards the door.

I looked up to see Stephen carrying a tray of cappuccinos from the student lounge.

"Okay, so I picked up some brain juice," he said, handing the cups out.

He handed me one and took the last one for himself.

"Um...what about me?" Jordan asked.

"And what exactly would you need brain juice for? We're the ones holding this paper together, not you." Stephen said, as he took off his coat and walked over to his own computer

I looked over at Jordan who was mouthing the words 'asshole' and 'jackass' to himself, and got up and walked over to Stephen.

"Hey listen, I was thinking this months paper could be a special edition," he started. "It could be like...gee... I don't know...last month's edition of the paper that I wanted to get out but didn't because you didn't find a scandal...."

I rolled my eyes as he continued.

"Along with this months edition, put together."

"Just as long as I don't have to write double the articles," I replied.

"Well you wouldn't if you'd finally write about that scandal I've been trying to get you to cover," Stephen replied.

"You know, you could always start one for me and then I'd just write about it," I said.

"Interesting idea, although somehow I don't really think everyone in school is gonna be interested in hearing about the sordid details of my un interesting life," Stephen replied.

"Ah, so there are sordid details huh?" I teased, sitting on the edge of Stephen's desk.

"Not really, unless you wanna count the time I accidentally walked in on Ms. Andrew's naked," Stephen replied.

"You saw Ms. Andrews naked?!" I asked, eyes widening with disbelief.

"Yeah, it was last year before the winter concert.....and I gotta say, I see why every male teacher in school wants her."

I'm sure she was quite a sight. A might even found the news more exciting if I was straight. It was amusing at best.

"So we missed you yesterday," Stephen started. "Did you come down with one of those seven hour flu bugs we all get at least once in our high school careers?"

Thinking about yesterday got me even more upset. Chris was just lucky that J.T. hadn't punched me in the face hard enough to leave any evidence of such a thing. Although, my stomach did still hurt a little.

"I was taking some time off," I decided to reply.

"Uh huh, with Christian Murphy?" Stephen asked.

I flashed him a shocked look.

"How did you-"

"I'm friends with one of his friends," Stephen replied. "Don't worry, I don't know much about anything that happened. Besides, it's not my life and he's not my friend, thank god."

I was starting to wonder just what kind of friend Chris was supposed to be myself, actually. Since I'd met the guy, I'd found that he was nothing but grief and heartache. And confusion, among other things. I guess the only reason his bad qualities had been in the back of my mind was because they were overshadowed by his good ones. Whenever I had a problem with my friends, a serious problem, he was always convincing me to give them a second chance. Which proved that he wasn't altogether selfish.

Until yesterday, when he showed up and asked me to help him find out some information about his stolen car. Of course, I had no idea that I'd have to go undercover and take on an alias. And I also had no idea that I'd get my ass nearly kicked before the end of the day. Or that the end of the day was when I'd finally meet back up with him after he abandoned me.

The worst part was, Chris didn't seem to be sorry that any of it happened. He seemed more thrilled to get his car back. Which was why I had made the decision to just ignore his ass. For the time being anyway. I mean, I knew we'd have to talk eventually.

That would have to wait until the feeling in my stomach returned, however long that would be.

"Yeah well....I'm off to go look for a story to write about," I said, heading towards the door.

"A good one. You forgot that part!" Stephen called after me.

He looked over at Jordan.

"What are you staring at?"

"I wanted cappuccino ," Jordan mumbled turning back to his computer.

"And so anyway, I told him that if actually wanted a shot with me he was gonna have to chop off the so three years ago Justin Timberlake afro and then try looking in a mirror again," Michelle said to Krystal as she rummaged through her locker.

"Hey have either of you seen Adam?" I asked.

"Why, you plan on kissing him again?" Michelle asked.

I wasn't sure what to say and noticed that Krystal looked a bit uncomfortable. Probably as uncomfortable as I felt.

"I don't know where he is," Michelle replied. "But hey, before you go let me ask you....would you go out with Collin Daniels?"

"Basketball Collin Daniels?" I asked. "I don't know....he seems a little too Justin Timberlakeish for me."

I didn't really stick around to talk more as I left them to look for Adam. I really needed to talk to him about his dilemma with his mother and to see how he was doing.

"See, I told ya," Michelle replied, looking into her locker mirror while putting on lipgloss.

I found Adam at his locker and was lucky enough to find him without Vanessa once again. And realizing that I needed to take whatever time I could to be alone with him, I decided to hurry up to him.

I noticed once I got close enough to him that he still seemed to be feeling down, as he was slouching into his locker, headfirst, not really moving at all.

"Hey," I said cautiously.

Adam turned from his locker to face me and smiled a little, although he didn't put on the same fake smile he used with Vanessa. Probably because he knew that I'd see right through it.

"Hey," he replied.

"Ah, so sorry I missed you yesterday. I was hoping we would get a chance to talk," I started.

"Yeah," Adam replied. "Don't worry about it."

"So how are things? At home, I mean?"

Adam sighed and shut his locker.

"My mom's still acting weird," Adam replied. "I hate how paranoid it seems like I'm being."

"Adam, you're not being paranoid," I replied, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Your entire world could be changing."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Adam chuckled in a sadistic tone.

I was really worried about him and hoped that he wouldn't do something stupid like run away again, like I'd been told he'd done in the past.

I wanted him to know that I was here for him and ready to help him with anything he needed. Ready to help him face this situation head on.

"Have you....talked to her about anything?" I asked carefully.

"What would I talk to her about?" Adam asked. "I mean how would I even be able to bring it up without her at least suspecting that I might actually be....."

I noticed Adam stop when he got there.

"Might have been gay," he finished.

I knew why he started the sentence the way he did and he knew it too, which was why he changed it. We both probably felt the same feelings for each other. But now that Adam had a girlfriend and was committed to their relationship....and too, his problems with his mom now......

"I don't know what to do," Adam said, sounding completely depressed.

I felt bad because I didn't know what to do either. I desperately wanted to help but Adam had put things nicely when he said that there really was nothing we could do without tipping his mother off. If she had read the note, then I'm sure it was enough to give her some suspicions. But for all she knew, I was straight and so was her own son, so she'd have suspicions, but no proof. And as long as Adam kept dating Vanessa, she'd eventually forget all about the note, and probably just think it was a joke or prank or something.

At least, that's what I hoped would happen, anyway.

"So, I guess you just have to act like there never was a note," I said after a long silence between us.

"I guess so," Adam replied.

It pained me to have to say that because I didn't want Adam to act like there wasn't a note. I wanted Adam to have read what I had to say. But there was no way I was going to write him another note. Not after the mess he was in now.

Maybe it was a sign anyway. Maybe it was a sign that was supposed to be telling me that Adam really was straight now. Or at least really wanted to be. And that the feelings he had for me now and the feelings I had for him were supposed to just die off and we were never supposed to have them anymore.

Maybe we were supposed to move on now. Like we just weren't meant to be, I guess.

"Well, I guess....I guess we should just drop it then," I said, trying to keep the sadness I was feeling out of my voice.

"Yeah, I guess we should," Adam replied.

I didn't want to but Adam's happiness meant more to me than my own and if him needing to be straight was what was going to make him happy then I just had to let him be straight.

"A father son camping trip?" Adam's father spoke, as he opened the fridge to get a beer.

"Yes. Honey I think it'll be perfect," Adam's mother replied.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Adam's father replied, shutting the fridge and walking over to the table to sit down.

"And why not? Brandon and Gino's father's have already worked things out between them and now it's your turn to agree," Adam's mother replied.

"And what the hell do I even know about these kids' fathers, huh?" Adam's father asked. "What the hell are the three of us supposed to talk about for an entire weekend?"

"I don't know, whatever it is guys talk about," Adam's mother replied. "It'll be the perfect opportunity for you to get to know their fathers and for you to bond with your son."

Adam's father sighed and moved his beer aside for the time being.

"The boy is eighteen years old, I think it's a little too late to be trying to bond with him."

"No, it's not, but it will be. Adam's gonna be going off to college soon and what's gonna wanna bring him home to pay us a visit? I wanna see my grandchildren Carlos!"

"You'll see them, Ellen. Because Adam'll have em with his old lady and dump the little brats with us to babysit while they go fuck at some elegant hotel somewhere."

"Carlos, language," Adam's mother scolded. "And I'm afraid if you don't have this weekend with your son, there might not be any grandchildren."

Adam's father stared at his mother with a confused gaze.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Adam's mother thought about the note she'd found and the fact that her son's best friend was gay and possibly had been his.......

"You need to have this weekend Carlos," Adam's mother spoke. "And when Adam gets home, you sit him down and make him understand that the two of you will be going camping this weekend with Brandon, Gino, and their fathers."

Almost as soon as those words had left Adam's mother's mouth did she and his father hear him coming in through the front door.

Adam's mother stared at his father with a stern look.

"Carlos...."

"Alright. Fine," he mumbled. "Adam, get in here!"

Adam swallowed hard and slowly made his way to the kitchen

When he saw his mother standing in front of his father, the strange looks on their faces....a million and one things flashed through his mind, at the top of which was that he was about to be thrown out.

"Sit down, will ya," his father spoke, once he was in the kitchen.

Adam decided that he didn't want to do anything to make his father any angrier than he probably already was and took a seat quickly. Probably a little too quickly.

"Okay so...your mother and I were talking...and she thinks it'd be best if you and I......go on a camping trip with your two friends and their dads," his father said.

Adam looked up at his mother with a confused stare.

"A camping trip?" he spoke.

"Yeah, look I don't want any arguments about how you'd rather spend time with that girlfriend of yours or-"

"Okay," Adam cut his father off. "It's fine with me."

Adam couldn't grasp why they'd planned some kind of camping trip but it beat having to defend his father calling him a sick perverted faggot.

"So...what's for dinner?" he asked, suddenly feeling a lot better.

Gino flicked on a light in the living room and nearly jumped ten feet in the air when he saw his father sitting on the couch.

"What the hell!?" He said. "Were you sitting in the dark?"

Gino walked over to the table where the mail was kept and began going through it.

"Son, we need to have a talk," his father started.

"Uh, no we don't," Gino replied. "We got all our dirty little secrets out last week, remember?"

"Son this is serious here," his dad said, raising his voice.

"Really?" Gino asked, sounding amused. "Don't tell me....you're getting married again. Only this time, to a guy."

"Gino-"

"You know dad, I'm honestly kinda glad you're gay," Gino started, as he walked over to where his dad was in the living room and took a seat. "Because you've shown me how my life will turn out if I make all the wrong choices like you did."

"You can hate me all you want but I'm still your father and I still pay the bills around here-"

"No you don't. You don't even live here anymore-"

"Gino shut up and listen to me!"

Gino found his father raising his voice at him so amusing that he sat back and decided to hear his father's swan song for the umpteenth time.

"I know that I messed up in not telling you or your mother that I was gay," his father started. "But that doesn't mean that I never loved the both of you."

Gino said nothing and watched his father as he continued.

"I always wanted the best for you, which is why I worked my ass off to get to where I am today," his father continued.

"Yeah, gay and divorced with a son," Gino quipped.

"I know you blame me for you being gay yourself-"

"No actually I think that's mom," Gino cut him off.

Gino's father sighed and looked down for a moment before looking back up.

"What the two of us need now is a chance to reconnect and get back the bond we had before....before your mother and I got divorced."

"Dad, there was no bond before," Gino said, this time taking things more seriously. "You and mom were both never around! Ever! I know more about the butler and his seven kids than I do about you!"

"Well then I want to get the chance to form a bond now! I want to make things right!"

"Too little too late wouldn't you agree?"

"Would at least give me the chance to try?"

"And how are you gonna do that dad? Throw a couple grand at me like you usually do?"

"No.....by taking you camping with me this weekend," His father replied.

Gino watched his fathers face carefully for a few moments before replying.

"You can't be serious?"

"Why not? You used to love going camping when you were younger-"

"We went camping one time dad, and I seem to remember you leaving early to close the deal on a business merger."

"Gino, this is different. It's all about you and spending time with you," his father replied. "And you have my word that I won't leave."

"It's a nice gesture, but no thanks," Gino replied, getting up. "I can think of ten million other things I'd rather do."

"Gino sit back down!"

"What are you gonna do if I don't, beat me?" Gino asked.

It was hard to keep from laughing at that last statement, as he knew that his father would never lay a hand on him. Hell if anything, Gino could probably take his dad and win if that happened.

"This isn't just about the two of us, you know," his father spoke. "Your friends Brandon..and Adam, they'd be there with their dads too."

Gino turned around and faced his father.

"Brandon's going?" he spoke.

"And Adam. And their fathers."

Gino didn't hear the part about Adam and his dad. Just the part about Brandon. And if he was going, then of course he'd go.

"Oh, well why didn't you say that in the first place?" Gino spoke.

I showed up to school feeling a lot happier than I had the previous day. For starters, it made me feel good to know that Adam was happier. It completely showed today and he didn't look down at all.

He was probably happy for the same reason that I was. Because we'd spending the weekend together. Sure Gino would be there along with all of our fathers but all I really cared about was getting to share a tent with Adam in the wilderness.

The thought alone had put a goofy smile on my face that hadn't left since I'd heard the news in the first place.

"Camping?" Krystal asked. "Do either of you know how to camp?"

"I'll have you know that we've been camping before," Adam replied. "Besides, what the hell is there to know about camping anyway."

"Well there's remembering to pack a lot of bug spray. How to start a fire oh and of course how to set up some god awful tent," Michelle replied.

"Which is why no one invited you miss pink princess," I said.

"I still don't get why you have to have some father-son camping trip just to prove you have a bond," Alex replied. "Their your dads, there's an automatic bond there."

"You're just jealous that you're not going," Gino spoke, joining the group.

"Hey Gino," I said.

"Looks like we have three happily horny guys," Michelle replied. "Now tell me, who shares a sleeping bag or will there be one large bed for the three of you?"

"Oh my god, somebody put a lid on this girl," I said.

"Would it be selfish of me to hope that you cancel and stay home with me?" Vanessa asked.

"Don't worry baby, it's just one weekend," Adam replied. "You can last without me for one weekend, can't you?"

"Well," Vanessa started, wrapping her arms around Adam's neck. "If I got a really nice going away present the night before, I might be able to hold out."

And then I watched as the two of them kissed. And kissed. And kissed. And fucking kissed.

I swear the girl was like a vacuum always trying to suck in a kiss whenever she could.

"Anyways, as long as you guys are gonna be gone for the weekend, maybe us girls should have our own little thing," Michelle said.

Vanessa broke the kiss with Adam and turned around while Adam put his arm around Vanessa's shoulder.

"Not a bad idea actually," Krystal replied. "It'll give us a chance to talk about them when they're not around."

"Wait, don't you guys do that anyway?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, but not for an entire weekend," Krystal replied.

"Wait a second so the four of you are gonna be spending the weekend at Michelle's...talking together, sharing secrets together, and sleeping together?" Alex asked.

"Basically, yeah," Jade replied. "Why?"

"Wait a minute I just got a mental image," Alex said, looking up into the air.

"Oh god, gross," Jade said, slapping Alex playfully on the back of the head.

"What? I'm only human," Alex grinned.

"A perverted one," Jade said.

I missed this. My real group of friends. The group of friends that didn't include Chris and everything that came with him.

And so far I'd done well to avoid him. I was sure he'd been trying to find me but if he ever did catch up to me, I'd have nothing to say to him.

"Oh so what's going on here? You interviewing Michelle for your school's sluttiest girls article or something?" Stephen asked, as he walked up and stood beside me.

"Shoo junior, don't bother me," Michelle replied, making waving motions with her hands.

"Hey man, picture this. Four hot girls, together, having a pillow fight in their sexy pajamas," Alex said. "Now there's a story."

"I take it the four of you are having a sleepover," Stephen replied.

"Yeah, but I don't really think that's any of your business," Jade replied, staring over at Stephen.

"Say that again? I don't think I felt the ice all the way over here," Stephen replied.

"Well this is awkward," Alex said.

Everyone watched as Jade and Stephen stared each other down with looks of pure dislike.

I was just starting to hope that someone would say something soon when Michelle answered my prayers.

"So it's settled then," She started. "While the three of you are off answering the call of the wild, the four of us girls will be talking about which one of you guys has the smallest dick....among other things," Michelle giggled alongside Krystal.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Alex asked.

"Oh you can come too Alex," Michelle spoke in a strange tone. "Make sure to supply the maxi pads, I might hit that time of the month."

"Oh hell no!" Alex exclaimed. "I'll just do something with some of the guys from the team or something."

"Oh boy, and I was so looking forward to spending time with an actual football hero," Stephen said sarcastically. "I guess I missed my chance huh?"

"Who are you again?" Alex asked.

"See, this is why I need friends in my own grade," Stephen mumbled, walking off. "I can't work with seniors!"

So we all pretty much had something to do this weekend. Some people more interesting things than others and I was definitely excited.

I was excited for all of about three seconds up until I saw Chris headed my way.

"Shit.....uh..." I panicked, looking around. "I'll catch up to you guys later...."

I was looking for a place to duck myself into to chill out until Chris was gone. The journalism room! That'd be good.

"Hey, Stephen, wait!" I called after him, rushing to catch up to him.

Stephen slowed down a little but didn't stop for me.

"Don't tell me, you changed your mind and you want me to come after all?" he asked sarcastically.

"So about the latest edition of the paper," I found myself saying without really thinking.

I kept glancing back every now and then to see if Chris was still coming but couldn't tell as there were too many people in the hallway blocking my vision down the hall.

The journalism room wasn't far from where I had been and Stephen and I arrived back inside in no time.

Stephen walked straight over to his computer to check his email while I shut the door behind us and let down the blinds in the windows that surrounded the doors.

When I turned around, I noticed several of the other kids staring at me suspiciously. And I realized that it was a highly suspicious thing to do in shutting the door. The door to the journalism room always stayed open. And I hadn't even known the blinds could even close until I tried a second ago.

So basically, people knew something was up.

"Hiding from an ex?" Jordan asked once I walked back over to my computer. "Because if you are, this room's not really a safe place. Too many projectiles. Believe me, I know."

I disregarded his statement and loaded up my computer, pretending like I had work to do. And even if I really did have work to do, there was no way I'd be able to concentrate. At least not with me worrying about Chris at the current moment.

"Hey, did you talk to Stephen about getting me better stuff to write about?" Jordan asked.

"What? Oh I-"

I was gonna make something up but stopped once I saw one of the kids in the room opening the door and letting the blinds back up. And as soon as she did that, I saw Chris standing outside the room with his back to the glass windows. It looked like he was talking to someone who was obviously shorter than him as I could barely see them. What I did manage to see however was the little whore point inside the room and Chris turn around, only to catch sight of me and enter the room.

"Dammit," I mumbled, turning my attention back to my computer.

I began typing away furiously, although I was sure that I wasn't spelling any actual words on the screen.

Chris walked right over to me and sat on the edge of my desk.

I didn't look up, however.

"You're avoiding me," he started.

"Are you really that paranoid?" I asked, still not looking up at him.

"Look, I said I was sorry-"

"NO!....no, you didn't!" I exclaimed, looking up at him.

Chris sighed and looked down and when I looked around, I noticed a few people staring at us.

"Can't we just-"

"Talk about it? Like you always wanna do after you screw things up with me?" I finished for him.

"Look, I was handling some things..I didn't mean to leave you. And I probably wouldn't have if you hadn't left me in the first place!"

"What a one track mind you have Chris. For a minute there, I almost believed this wasn't all about you!" I exclaimed, getting out of my seat and walking over towards the back of the room.

Chris looked around.

"Yeah...he went that way," Stephen pointed towards the back.

Chris got up and slowly approached me, my back turned to him.

"You don't exactly make it easy to be friends with you," he started.

"Oh really? So now it's my fault?" I asked, turning around.

"No, I'm just saying.......I hate fighting with you," Chris replied.

I let out an annoyed chuckle while slowly shaking my head.

"So those guys back there had a lot to say about you," I said. "How much of it was true?"

With my asking of the question, I noticed that Chris's look seemed to glaze over, almost like he wasn't even in reality anymore.

I was intrigued, to say the least, and found myself wanting to know more, but my anger with him superseded all of that.

And I wasn't sticking around to hear him out. Not today anyway. I passed him and started back to my computer.

"We need to set up some time to talk. Maybe like this weekend-"

"Can't. I have plans with my friends this weekend," I said, realizing that I might have sounded just a tad too harsh.

I realized it because Chris looked a little hurt. But I was much too upset to care about his feelings and just walked out of the room, not wanting to even look at him anymore.

Chris looked over at Stephen.

"It's true. Camping and a sleepover," Stephen replied.

"You're having a sleepover?" Jordan asked.

"No doofus, get back to work," Stephen replied, keeping Chris in the corner of his eye.

I pretty much spent the rest of the week avoiding Chris as well. Not that he went out of his way to try and talk to me either. At first, he seemed a little sad that I had stopped talking to him. But by Friday after noon, not only did he look pissed but he almost got suspended for fighting some guy, probably because he wasn't thinking straight, thanks to me.

But the hell if I cared. I mean, I did care. Chris was a good friend when he wanted to be. The problem with that was that he should have been a good friend to me period, not when he felt like it. And he shouldn't have had problems with my friends.

A while ago, I decided I was just going to have separate sets of friends because I had reasoned that not everybody gets along. And while something like that could work in Ryan's case, I realized it couldn't work for Chris anymore. My friends had warned me all along to stay away from him but I didn't listen. And now when he was starting to get me into trouble, I finally saw why they had the problem with him, only, I still had yet to see why he had a problem with my friends.

Chris didn't want to tell me. Sure Alex and the rest of my friends hadn't given me a reason for their mutual dislike of Chris, but they also hadn't gotten me into any trouble like Chris had. So the way I saw it, they didn't owe me an explanation because I could see for myself where they where right. Yet, how was Chris right to have a problem with my friends, especially Alex? That was what I didn't see.

And what I didn't want to think about was Chris on my camping trip with my dad and friends. Because I wanted to focus on how much fun I'd be having this weekend.

"Okay, so you packed the tents right?" Adam asked.

"Tent Adam, as in one," I replied. "Gino brought some big ass luxury thing, so I guess we'll all be sharing that."

"Load it up in the Durango," my dad spoke, whizzing past me to attend to the rest of the stuff.

This whole camping experience seemed like it was gonna be a lot of fun. I wasn't sure how excited everyone else was, but I was excited enough for those who weren't. That is, if anyone wasn't.

"Hey son, you want shotgun or-"

"Shotgun?" Gino asked, setting a sleeping bag into one of the cars. "With you?"

"Yeah, I thought maybe-"

"Dad we have two cars and six people," Gino replied. "You can ride with the other dads."

"Gino, I thought-"

"Oh it's okay Mr. Liongson," I reasoned. "It'll give you a chance to get to know Adam's and my fathers."

I could tell that Gino's dad really didn't want to but for his son's sake, didn't put up an argument.

Which was good anyway because I wanted to ride up front with Adam and spend some time with him, even if Gino would be along for the ride.

"Alright," my dad said, closing the trunk to the Durango. "I think that's everything."

"Anybody bring any beer?" Adam's father asked.

"Dad!" Adam mumbled.

"What? Just asking," Adam's father replied, walking around to the Durango to get inside.

Adam walked over to the other car and got in the front while I walked around to the passenger side.

"Let's hit the road," I said.

Michelle opened her front door to see Krystal, Jade and Vanessa standing in front of it and let them in.

"I brought snacks," Krystal said as she stepped in.

"Good because I totally forgot to go shopping," Michelle replied.

"So you said your mom and dad were gone?" Jade asked.

"At some charity benefit," Michelle replied. "I doubt they'll be showing their faces here anytime this weekend."

Michelle led the girls to the living room as she walked into the kitchen to put the snacks away.

"God it's cold outside," Jade shivered as she took off her winter coat.

"I know, can you imagine? The boys camping out in this weather?" Krystal spoke.

"Well I mean, it's not that cold, really," Vanessa spoke, taking off her own coat. "It's still in the fifties."

"It gets pretty cold at night out in that forest," Michelle said, walking back into the living room with four drinks. "Hope they're keeping each other warm at night."

Vanessa looked down. That was exactly what she was worried about.

"O.C. time!" Michelle exclaimed.

"I mean....I could've sworn they were behind us," Adam spoke, looking around.

Being winter, it was already getting dark outside and it was nearly six. Granted, Adam did make a couple of wrong turns, but we got here nonetheless.

Only, I wish I could say the same for our fathers.

"This is bad," I said. "Should we call them?"

"I say we let em find their own way," Gino mumbled. "Male bonding at their age is hard to come by."

I knew that Adam and Gino didn't particularly like their fathers but I had no problem with my own and was actually kind of worried about him.

"Okay, we'll give em like ten minutes," I said, jumping off of the picnic table and heading back towards the car. "So who knows how to set up a tent?"

"We need the air pump.......which is in the Durango, shit!" Gino exclaimed.

We had a tent, but nothing to set it up with. We didn't have the flashlights, or the food. Basically, we had some things, but without others, we couldn't do much of anything at all.

"Man! I gotta pee! Brandon come with me," Adam spoke.

"Wait, I'll come too," Gino said, hoping off of the picnic table.

"No, somebody's gotta stay here to watch the stuff," Adam replied. "That'd be you."

I think Gino was upset. I mean, I couldn't tell, he was in the shadows and it was kind of dark. But somebody did need to stay behind in case our dads arrived, and I'd rather it have been Gino than me.

"Don't worry, I don't think the mountain lions like the taste of fresh Asians," Adam joked.

"Ha ha, just hurry up and come back," Gino replied, sitting back down.

Adam and I left the main part of our camping site and started walking along the main road towards the restrooms.

Once we'd gotten a good two minutes or so away from Gino did either of us start to say anything.

"So....is any of this looking familiar to you?" Adam asked.

"Um.." I started looking around.

I was still having those familiar senses. Like I could totally feel that things had happened or that I'd been to certain places before. I just couldn't remember it.

"Here," Adam started. He made a cut through a large stack of bushes and pointed towards a campsite, currently occupied by some other campers.

"That's where we all stayed last time....well, not stayed...we left the same day," Adam replied. "It's also the same place where Ryan threw up three times, so I don't think it'll ever be a good idea to camp there anymore."

Adam and I laughed as we started back down the main path.

"So did I used to like camping?" I asked.

Adam put his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

"About as much as we all did," he replied. "Not counting Michelle because we both know it's impossible for her to like anything."

We walked in silence for another minute or so before I noticed Adam look ahead at something and pull me over towards where one of the lakes were.

"What's going on?" I asked, as Adam continued to pull me.

"Over here," he started. "Over here is where you saw your first snake."

"Snake? Really?"

"Yeah. You were so scared I had to put you on my back and carry you out."

Wouldn't anybody be afraid to be up, close, and personal to a snake? Well, I guess I remembered the fact that I was afraid of snakes because I sensed the area as being familiar.

The area itself was truly beautiful. As it was, it was getting darker and darker and the sun was beginning to set behind the lake, the reflection it was giving off the water captivating both Adam and I.

For a moment, I felt like I could stand with Adam forever just watching the sun set off the lake. That was until I heard a hissing noise.

"Uh...Adam," I started, frantically looking around.

I must have looked really silly because Adam started laughing so hard he almost fell. I had to grab him to keep him from falling, which he found even more funny after I said that I didn't want him to fall on a snake.

"Come on," he said, turning around.

"What...you, want me to get on your back?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not you big baby," he laughed.

I don't know why I hesitated but I did. For all of about two seconds once I heard the hissing again.

"Okay," I replied.

"So...we were going how fast again?" Brandon's dad asked, staring at the officer that had pulled him over.

Gino's father looked behind them.

"Sir, have you been drinking?" the officer asked.

"Of course not officer," Brandon's dad replied.

Adam's father sunk down in his seat a little and looked out his window while Gino's rolled his eyes.

The officer turned on his flashlight and started to look inside the car, starting towards the back.

"This is your fault, you had to stop for beer!" Brandon's dad exclaimed.

"Will you relax, we'll be fine. I threw those bottles out the window a few miles back." Adam's father replied.

Gino's dad watched the officer carefully as he looked in the back.

Meanwhile, however, another cop car pulled up slowly beside the other one and Brandon's father looked into the rearview mirror, watching him as he got out.

"Another one?" Brandon's dad said.

Adam's father turned around.

"Shit," he mumbled.

"I hope the boys are okay," Gino's father said.

"What are you, the mother and the father?" Adam's father spoke. "They're teenage boys in the wilderness, of course they're fine!"

Brandon's father watched as the cop that had pulled them over talked with the new cop that had arrived and was starting to get nervous.

"You okay?" Adam's father asked.

"Somethings wrong," Brandon's father replied.

"What?" Adam's father said, turning around.

He watched as the first cop walked back over to the car.

"Littering's a crime you know. Especially when the bottles you throw out the window slam into the windshield of a cop car," the first officer spoke.

Brandon's father sighed angrily and looked over at Adam's, who shrugged apologetically.

"Okay so next question," Michelle started. "You're in a committed relationship when you find out your partner has a secret past you don't know about. Do you, a, kick him to the curb? B, try and work out your differences? Or c, have lots and lots of sex to take his mind off it."

"Michelle!" Jade exclaimed.

"What? It should be a choice," Michelle replied.

"Okay so I think it's time we move on to a different game," Krystal started, with a sly grin.

"Oh god, I know that look," Vanessa sighed.

"So do I," Jade replied. "Her 'it's time to play truth or dare' look."

"You know me so well," Krystal replied.

"Truth or dare huh?" Michelle spoke, flipping her hair. "I'm game."

"Me too," Krystal replied. "Vanessa? Jade?"

Jade and Vanessa exchanged glances before either one of them made a reply.

"Alright," Vanessa replied. "Who's first?"

"You're still here?" Chris spoke, setting his track bag down.

"Working late on the paper," Stephen replied. "And I take it you were running a few laps around the track?"

Chris wiped some sweat from his forehead and walked over to Stephen.

"You know this is the closest I've come to you in the entire time you've been at this school," Stephen replied.

Chris sat on the Stephens desk.

"You're the one who's always so weird," he said, picking the unopened bottle of water off of the desk up and opening.

"What if I was gonna drink that?" Stephen asked.

"What if you were?" Chris replied, taking a sip of water.

Stephen sighed with annoyance and turned back to his computer.

"What are you doing in here anyway? Trying to get the inside scoop on the friend that no longer talks to you?"

Chris flashed Stephen a serious gaze.

"What does...does he tell you stuff?" Chris asked.

"About as much as he tells that idiot friend he convinced to work at the restaurant with me," Stephen replied.

Chris knew that Stephen was talking about Jade.

"She took off work today to go have some sleepover," Stephen replied. "Now that's dedication for ya."

"You must be into her," Chris smiled, getting off the desk.

"What? No-"

"Sure," Chris replied, walking over to his bag and picking it up to leave.

"I'm not into her!" Stephen objected.

Chris continued to ignore Stephen as he put his bag over his shoulder. He turned off the lights and turned back around.

"Prove it then," he said, turning to leave.

Stephen stared at his bright computer monitor for a moment before turning it off and rushing to catch up to Chris.

It was almost eight thirty now, and still no sign of our fathers. We tried calling them but their phones must have been off or something because they weren't picking up.

Adam and Gino didn't seem the least bit concerned or worried, as they'd started a fire and told a few jokes, basically changing the subject whenever I did bring their fathers up.

One thing I did happen to notice though, was they way they seemed to be fighting over me. In subtle ways at least. For one thing, it seemed like the other was always trying to hold my attention over the other. I couldn't answer a question Adam had asked me without Gino asking his own questions.

And then when we'd decided to sit around the campfire and talk, Adam had sat to my left and Gino to my right. They both kept finding little ways to touch me and both kept trying to get the other to go off and do something.

It didn't bother me so much as it did baffle me. At least on Gino's part. As far as I knew, he wasn't gay. I just figured he was desperate for attention. And I could understand that. I guess I had been too into Adam for the past few weeks and only talked to Gino if he talked to me first.

Still though, there was another feeling I was starting to get. The feeling that we weren't all that close before I lost my memory. We really had nothing in common other than our friends and our love of Japanese cartoons. And we got along alright. It's just...something was telling me that before all this, he and I were more or less acquaintances rather than friends.

I wasn't going to let that feeling on to Gino though. It scared me enough and I didn't wanna scare him with it.

Just when I decided I wanted to try calling my dad again, bright lights shone in my face and I knew it was them all pulling up.

Adam and Gino looked up but didn't get up to go see any of them until I did.

The first thing I noticed when they got out of the car was that none of them looked particularly happy at all. They looked a mixture of pissed and tired.

"We brought food," my dad said in the voice he normally used whenever he was tired and annoyed.

He handed me a few McDonald's bags while Adam's father carried the drinks over to the picnic table.

None of them spoke much, as they worked to set up the individual tents. And once they were set up, I noticed that they looked like they were getting ready for bed or something.

"Dad-"

"Long story. I'll talk about it in the morning," was all I got out of him before he got into one of the tents and zipped it up.

Gino, Adam and I watched as their own fathers did the same thing, not saying a word.

"Okay...." I said, walking back over to the camp fire. "Weird."

"New category. Men," Michelle spoke, in a giddy voice.

Krystal and Jade giggled as Vanessa sighed and adjusted the pillow behind her back.

"Are we gonna knock or.."

"You said they were having a sleepover right?"

Stephen and Chris moved from the front of the house over to the back where the living room windows were located and peered in, watching the girls.

"Ummmmm, Jade. Truth or dare?" Michelle asked.

Jade thought about the question for a moment before replying.

"Well.....do you have feelings for that hot little junior, Stephen?"

Chris and Stephen exchanged glances as they waited for Jade to answer.

And she was about to before both boys heard a low growling behind them. They turned around slowly, only to be faced by two giant guard dogs.

"Uh...shoo dogie," Chris spoke.

It didn't work though as both dogs began barking furiously.

"Run!" Chris screamed.

"What the hell?" Michelle spoke, jumping up.

The other girls got up as well and looked out the window, watching as Chris and Stephen attempted to outrun the dogs. Only, Michelle's house was set on a large piece of property surrounded by a gated fence, the only exit being from where they came.

"Oh god," Michelle sighed heading towards the front door.

"Hey Jade, isn't that-"

"Stephen," Jade finished for Krystal.

Michelle opened her front door as Chris and Stephen ran up to it, and whistled for her dogs to come.

Once they were near her she ordered them to sit and crossed her arms, glaring at Chris and Stephen.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" she asked.

Michelle was soon joined by Jade and Krystal.

"Um...well we," Stephen started.

"Hoping to get a booty call. You offering?" Chris replied.

"Uh," Michelle snorted.

"Stephen-"

"Wait a minute.....let's say you picked dare," Michelle started, cutting Jade off. "I dare you to kiss Stephen."

"What?" Jade and Stephen asked simultaneously.

Both Jade and Stephen exchanged glances.

"I'll take my chances with the dogs," Stephen replied, storming off.

"Yeah and I'd rather kiss them!" Jade exclaimed, storming off as well., Krystal running after her.

Michelle stood staring at Chris.

"Now about that booty call-"

Michelle slammed the door in Chris's face.

"So......tomorrow then?"

A/N

If you haven't been to my YahooGroup or emailed me, then you don't know yet that school has recently started for me again, so my updating schedule is going to be even more erratic than it has been. To stay up to date with any and all new announcements, just visit my Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/. Or just email me directly at: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com. Feedback is always appreciated and of course, you'll always get a response.

Copyright 2005