Come Christmas Steve

Come Christmas Steve Chapter 11 No Solutions

We pulled our jackets back on and went to visit Calvin the computer geek. I kept trying to think of where else Steve might have gone. I'd decided to not only bring the thumb drive but also Tom's old computer. It was tucked under my arm as I walked and I had to keep a small part of my mind focused on keeping it there.

"There's probably no link between this thumb drive and Steve taking off," I said out loud as I trotted to keep up with Whittaker's long stride. "Still, it will be good to know for sure."

"Maybe not, but you did say that Steve acted strange when you caught him putting it there. I've been thinking about Steve's note. What do you think he meant by saying he wasn't worthy of you? Has he ever talked about anyone else that he might ... umm, be having a relationship with?"

"What? NO! What are you suggesting?"

"I'm sorry. I know you don't want to think about it, but there's something I've been considering. When he found out about us having, you know, sex together, he took it pretty calmly. I was just wondering if maybe he was cheating on you, too, and that's why he didn't make a big deal of it. If he is, then maybe he's with that guy."

"No. No, I can't believe that. Steve wouldn't do that. He was just forgiving ..." I paused and then stopped dead just before crossing the street to the apartments where the computer geek lived. "Todd," I muttered.

"Who?" Whittaker asked turning back to look at me.

"Todd, the guy in Steve's English study group. When I met him, he knew so much about me and he asked me right out if Steve and I were 'partners' and Steve jumped in and answered by saying we were partners in crime."

"The guy in the nice Camaro? Wow. Doesn't seem like Steve's type, but there's no accounting for taste, right?"

"Why would you think he wasn't Steve's type? He's everyone's type. He's gorgeous - black hair styled up nice, sharp dresser, broad shoulders, firm square jaw with a slight afternoon shadow, perfect smile. He's Mr. Vanity Fair."

"That's not him. The guy I saw was as tall as me, only skinnier, and had bushy, curly blond hair. I remember thinking he looked a little like a Q-tip. They seemed to be having an agitated conversation before Steve got into the car."

"I'm confused. If it wasn't Todd you saw, then Steve lied to me about going there to study. Why?" I felt more and more uneasy. "Something's going on. None of this adds up. And if it wasn't Todd, who was the guy you saw him with?"

As we crossed the street, I prayed that Steve was okay and I hoped that Calvin could decrypt the drive. "Whittaker?" I asked "D'ya think Steve was cheating on me the whole time with that Q-tip guy? Do you think I was just a sideshow for kicks?"

"No. No way. I saw how he looked at you and I know all the things he told Jensen when you two were broken up. He loves you. I know he does. I know I put the idea in your head about him cheating on you and I still think that may be possible, but not because he didn't honestly love you. A weak moment maybe, like you had with me, or an old flame possibly, but he loves you just like he said in his note."

"God, this is so confusing." I rapped on the door to the apartment. I was about to knock again, when the door swung open leaving my hand poised awkwardly mid air. A rounded, zit splotched face appeared attached to a pudgy body clad in a wrinkled t-shirt and a pair of black athletic shorts that fit poorly.

"You the guys with the encrypted drive?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm Shane and this is Whittaker. We're friends of Jensen."

"Hmm, whatever. Where's the drive?"

"Here." I fished the drive from my pocket and handed it over.

Calvin snatched the drive and wheeled around leaving the door open behind him. We took that as an invitation to follow him and I pushed the door closed behind me as we entered. We walked past the small living room with nothing but oversized pillows in it to sit on and a large flat screen attached to a gaming system. The kitchen area was a mess with piles of fast food wrappers on the counter and a stack of unwashed dishes in the sink. Calvin pulled the door closed to his very messy bedroom but not before I got a glimpse of the mess. Calvin may have been a computer genius, but he was also a complete slob. The second bedroom was filled with fold up tables covered with computer equipment. He had four machines and six monitors. He sat in the cockpit chair and plugged the drive into one of the desktop style machines under the table. Soon, the files appeared on one of the monitors.

With a few quick taps, Calvin was examining the properties of the files. "Hmm," he said. Calvin absentmindedly fingered a large and sore looking zit on his neck while he studied the files.

"What?" I asked.

"Common encryption suffix on the files. Could be one of several free encryption programs using 128 bit encryption. Obviously, the person wanted the files protected but didn't know how to do it professionally. The bank I work for uses 512k encryption. I should be able to break it, given some time. I got your number, I'll call you when I'm done."

"Oh. I was hoping you could open them and let me know something tonight. It's kind of important," I said with clear disappointment in my voice.

Calvin bristled. He jerked the USB drive from his machine and flipped it to me. "Tough luck, dude. I'm busy and that takes time. Good luck. You can find your way out, right?"

I gripped the drive in my palm and suppressed my flash of anger. "Please. I, I'll pay you. My roommate is missing. I'm really worried about him and think he may be in trouble and there could be a clue on this drive. How much would it take?"

Calvin stared at me for a minute and I stayed locked on his gaze. "Expound," he finally said. I stared back blankly until he said with a condescending roll of his eyes, "Fill me in on the details."

"Oh. Well it's kind of a long story."

"Give me the short version," he said a bit exasperated.

"Steve is my roommate. We're both freshmen. We became good friends and I found out he was an orphan and grew up in a boys' home. He was at school on some kind of scholarship or by some person paying his way. I'm not real sure about that. He didn't use a cell phone or a computer except to occasionally borrow mine to get assignments. I caught him hiding this drive under his mattress the other day and then I gave him this computer as a gift for ..." The words, Valentine's Day, caught in my throat. "Umm, for a special occasion and he said he wouldn't accept it, or couldn't, and he refused to give me a reason why not. Then I told him I put a Facebook on it for him and that really freaked him out. Steve said he had to get it deleted but still refused to tell me why and so I left with Whittaker here to go play pool. When we got back, Steve was gone along with all his stuff. He left a note with no real explanation. I'm worried about him and I'm hoping there's a clue on this drive. Please, if you can help us find him, please try."

Calvin continued fingering his large pimple while he contemplated my story. "Is this the Steve who lived with Jensen for a while after having a fight with his roommate?"

"Yes," Whittaker confirmed. "I'm Jensen's usual roommate."

Calvin let a smile creep out in spite of an apparent attempt to suppress it. "I might help you but I will want something for it."

"How much?" I asked cautiously, hoping it wouldn't be too much.

"My normal fee for something like this would be five grand."

I gasped out loud. "Dude, I don't have that much money."

"Didn't think so. I don't really want or need your money anyway. But there is something I do want from you," he said.

"What?" I asked.

Calvin looked up at Whittaker then back at me. I didn't get the drift at first until he motioned with his head for Whittaker to leave. "Whatever you want, you can ask in front of Whittaker. He's Steve's friend too."

"Ooohh, cool," Calvin said. "All right then. It's blatantly evident that you and this Steve guy are gay, am I right?"

I nodded. There was no point denying it.

"Thought so. Pretty obvious. So, I'll decrypt the drive for you if you get naked with me and have some gay sex. I want to fuck your cute ass." I swallowed hard. I didn't answer and Whittaker jumped in before I could find my voice.

"That's sick, dude. He just tells you that he's worried over his missing lover and you want him to have sex with you to help find him."

Calvin stared blankly at Whittaker and shrugged. "That's my price. You can take it or leave it. But, if you're not going to take it, then you do need to leave. I really am busy."

"I'll do it," I blurted. "Whatever it takes to find Steve and make sure he's okay."

"No man. I'll do it. I know you made a commitment to Steve after what happened while you were split up, and that's pretty much my fault. I'll fill in for you," Whittaker offered. Turning to Calvin, he said, "You can fuck my ass instead."

"No offense, red, but I'd really prefer Shane here over you."

"Maybe I could change your mind on that," Whittaker said and in one quick motion, he popped the button on his jeans, zipped down and slid his pants and boxers off down to his knees. He swung his hips slightly to cause his incredibly long dick to swing like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. Calvin's eyes widened and a wicked smile crossed his lips. He involuntarily licked his lips as he stared at Whittaker's enormous offering.

"Okay. Sure. I'll let you swap as long as you agree to going all the way with me. I want to fuck you and I wanna get fucked by that monster also. Do you agree?"

"Agreed. When do you want to get together and do it?" Whittaker asked.

"Now, dumbass. I'll get my algorithm cracking programs working on the drive files while we fuck. I'll get multiple cracking tools running simultaneously on different files. Chances are, if we crack one, we crack them all. Those programs can take a long time to run so we should have plenty of time to fuck around. You can go back down the hall to the bathroom and get showered while I get this started. Then go in my bedroom and just toss all the shit off the bed onto the floor. Lay naked on the bed and work your dick up into a boner and I'll be in as soon as I'm done getting things started here."

I saw that Whittaker was caught off guard by that, but he didn't back out. I don't think he was expecting to have to perform his sacrificial offering that very night.

"What about me? What can I do while you're, umm, collecting your fee? Should I monitor anything?"

"I don't really give a fuck what you do? You can sit here and masturbate for all I care. That laptop on the end there is my porn machine. It's not on the main network and it has exceptionally strong firewall and malware protection on it. You're free to surf on it if you want but don't touch anything else in here or I swear, I'll cut your nuts off," Calvin stated.

"Do you wanna come in and watch us fuck?" Whittaker asked. That surprised me but since he'd watched Steve and I do it, I wondered if he was trying to be fair. More likely, he liked watching us and liked the idea of being watched. I also wondered if he was a little nervous about being in there alone with Calvin, who was a little weird to say the least. Whittaker added, "If it's okay with Calvin, that is."

"I'm cool with it if you want to," Calvin agreed. "In fact, I think I'd like it as long as you get naked while you watch. I really want to see you naked, dude. You're a fucking cutie."

"I guess I could watch," I agreed. I saw no harm in doing that and in fact, I didn't think it was such a bad idea to have someone else in there with Whittaker. I was still a little worried that when it came right down to getting fucked up the ass or being asked to suck Calvin off, Whittaker might back out. I didn't want that to happen and have Calvin freak out and stop helping us. I decided I'd offer to step in if I had to.

Calvin plugged the USB drive in and out of several computers and tapped away at the keys. One by one the monitors were filled with incredibly fast scrolling strings of data that I assumed to be systematic password guesses.

I heard the shower running and wondered what was going through Whittaker's mind. I wondered how much of a sacrifice he was really making on my behalf and how much he was really into doing it with Calvin anyway. It occurred to me that if Steve really had run off with another boyfriend, they were probably having wild sex together. That would mean I'd end up being the only one in our little group to not be getting any Valentine's Day sex. It seemed kind of ironic. None of that would matter as long as I could make sure that Steve was safe.

Between starting up the decryption processes on the various machines, Calvin would leer at me, undressing me with his eyes. It creeped me out how infatuated he was with me. I'd never experienced that kind of thing before. I supposed hot guys and sexy girls dealt with it a lot, but I never considered myself to be all that attractive and I wondered what it was about me that attracted Calvin. He was definitely not my type and didn't cause any tingling in my loins at all. In fact, it was just the opposite. I thought it was probably good that Whittaker was filling in for me because I'm not sure I'd be able to keep it up while doing it with him between my lack of interest in him and my concerns over Steve.

The shower shut off and shortly after that the bedroom door opened. When Calvin heard the door, he seemed to quicken his pace on the decryption process. He pulled the drive from the last machine and set it on the desk. Then he stood and asked me if I was coming in for the show. I shrugged and said, "Sure, I guess."

"Cool. Let's go." I followed him as he bounced into his messy room. I pulled a desk chair out and sat down beside the bed where Whittaker was lying stark naked. His dick was still soft, so I guess he couldn't have been too excited about what he was about to do. Maybe I misjudged him. Maybe he really was sacrificing himself on behalf of me and Steve. Calvin, on the other hand, was totally boned before he even pulled his shorts and boxers off. His four-inch dick whipped upward as it broke free of the waistband. He was completely shaven bald and with his smallish dick and balls, he looked disturbingly young.

"Are you going to be able to get an erection in that big dick? Because if not, it's useless and I want Shane to do this instead," Calvin whined as he stood over the bed stroking his small dick.

"Once we get started, I'll bone up. Don't worry about me, I've got full control of my monster," Whittaker bragged. "It does whatever I tell it to do."

"All right. I hope so. Let's get started then. I want to suck on your dick to begin with. That'll help get your boner going. Spread your legs." Whittaker complied and Calvin slipped between them taking the long snake in his hands and pulling on it. Calvin looked over at me and said, "If you're gonna stay in here, I want you naked like I said. Otherwise, leave."

"Okay. I'll get naked if you want." I stood up and pulled off my clothing, folded it and laid it neatly on the desk. Calvin never took his eyes off of me while I stripped and he moaned an approval when I exposed my semi hard dick. I sat back on the chair and slowly stroked my dick into an erection while I watched Calvin turn his attention back to Whittaker's large dick. He used both hands to stroke it and as it began to harden up, Calvin started sucking on the tip of it causing Whittaker to moan. Watching it happen was giving me a solid boner, the kind that you can feel all the way up your ass. It was the kind I only ever got when I was with Steve. The experience of watching a live porno performance was a bit like going to a theatrical production instead of a movie. There was also a certain naughtiness to it that enhanced the experience for me more than I anticipated.

I gripped the base of my dick and stroked it slowly, avoiding the sensitive glans in order to prolong and enhance the experience. My eyes were glued to Calvin's mouth working the tip of Whittaker's large tool. He was focused only on the tip and I could tell Whittaker wanted him to take more of it by the way he tried to push up into Calvin's mouth. Finally, Whittaker simply made the request, "Suck down on it as far as you can. I want to face fuck you."

Calvin pulled off and sneered, "I don't care what you want. This is my party. You're the $5,000 whore here and I'm the John. We do what I say we do."

"Whatever. Are you a natural born asshole or did you get specific training for it?" Whittaker asked.

"It's definitely learned behavior. I learned all about being an asshole from the best. Guys like you basketball jocks and the "cool crowd" in junior high and high school. I took enough shit for being a computer geek choirboy to last me a fucking lifetime. Now that you guys need something from me, it's my turn to set the rules."

"Wow! Bitter!" Whittaker said, "Big assumption that I'm a basketball jock and part of the cool crowd just because I'm tall. Truth is, I'm awkward as hell and I hate playing basketball. I got my share of shit in high school too, so fuck the sympathy shit, cuz I ain't got any for you. What someone else did to you hasn't got shit to do with me. You're making a conscious choice to be an asshole here for no good reason, and honestly, I feel bad for you about that. You're the real loser in that fucked up game. If life gives you a pile of shit, you can either sling it at people like a zoo ape or go in the manure business. I found out that all that bitter, get even with the world shit just makes you more bitter and miserable. The way you get even is by overcoming it and being the better person. Your way of thinking is why the world is constantly at fucking war. Shit! Some of the fucking radicals in the Middle East are still pissed over the Crusades for God's sake. Generations of American Indians are still living in poverty on the reservations. I don't get that shit. Get over it already and take advantage of the opportunities you have now. So fucking what if you were harassed in high school by stupid ass jocks. They'll all be janitors in the companies we own someday. In the end, nerds and dorks rule the world if we don't get caught up in the whole getting even, pity party shit."

I was expecting Calvin to blow up and call it all off. He'd quit sucking on Whittaker and Whittaker's dick had even started to soften during his little rant. Calvin just stared at Whittaker while he carried on.

"Yeah, sorry I assumed you were a basketball jock," Calvin finally said. Then without another word, he stroked Whittaker back up to full hardness and slipped his mouth over the tip. This time, however, instead of stopping just over the ridge of the tip, he kept going. Just short of half mast, I could see that Calvin had taken all his mouth allowed. To my shock and Whittaker's immense pleasure, Calvin arched his back and tilted his chin and kept moving slowly down Whittaker's massive pole. He kept going, slowly and steadily, further and further until he'd taken it all the way to his pubes like some sort of circus sword swallower. Calvin had put both hands on Whittaker's raised knees for support and leverage and was practically bent in half at the waist to accomplish this amazing feat. Whittaker simply gasped, wide eyed as he watched his dick completely disappear into Calvin's gullet.

As carefully as he swallowed it, Calvin pulled himself off the bulging pole. He licked the tip as if tending to a melting ice cream cone before plunging back down onto the thick hot pole again. Time after time, he swallowed and pulled back off the stiffened pole until Whittaker was actually crying in ecstasy. "Oh my god, Oh my god," Whittaker kept calling out as Calvin worked his magic.

After a dozen or so deep throated dives, Calvin pulled off and said, "Let's sixty-nine." He climbed over Whittaker's leg and positioned himself over Whittaker's face and then resumed his deep throat excursions from the opposite direction. Without complaint of any kind, Whittaker began voraciously sucking Calvin's small dick and suckling his hairless, tender balls. Calvin squirmed in delight when Whittaker took in his dick and both balls, obviously working them with his tongue. I was sweating from watching it. I desperately wanted Steve's dick up my ass right then, pounding my magic spot. I looked around for something to shove up there but nothing was available.

"I'm gonna blow my load, swallow it," Calvin commanded.

"Umm-kay," Whittaker agreed. Whittaker began sucking Calvin's dick double time while Calvin pushed himself in and out of Whittaker's hungry mouth. The look on Whittaker's face told me he was in that sexual zone where the mental discomfort over what he was doing had shut down and been tucked away. He was in the height of a glazed frenzy when Calvin pulled off Whittaker's dick, tossed his head back and literally screamed.

"Fuck yeah! Take my cum! Suck me dry, you bitch!" He shoved his groin hard into Whittaker's face while he unloaded into Whittaker's mouth. He gripped and squeezed Whittaker's dick with both hands until his knuckles turned white while he unloaded his creamy spunk.

I stood up almost involuntarily and walked over to the edge of the bed for a close up of the climax. My own orgasm peaked while Calvin was cumming into Whittaker's mouth and I started to moan in pre-orgasmic euphoria. Calvin turned to watch me jacking my dick and reached out to me. He gripped my forearm and pulled me up onto the bed. I took the cue and crawled on my knees over to him just in time to spew my hot load onto his face. He blinked away one shot that landed on his forehead and ran down into his eyes. The remainder of my load splattered over his cheeks and into his gaping mouth. When it was all over, Calvin pulled his sensitive dick out of Whittaker's mouth, grabbed my head and pulled me into a kiss, smearing the remnants of my own cum onto my lips and cheek. I pulled away and wiped my face on his bed sheet. Calvin grinned and rolled over onto his back, leaving Whittaker the only one left to climax and cum.

I sat back on my haunches and panted. Calvin retrieved a condom and lube from a nightstand and deftly rolled the rubber as far down Whittaker's stiff pole as it would go. Then he lubed it up and lubed up his own asshole. He gripped behind his knees and pulled them up to his chest, "Finish yourself off by fucking my ass," Calvin offered.

Whittaker rolled quickly into place and pressed himself into Calvin's welcoming cavern. He stopped at halfway and allowed Calvin to relax a bit, before plunging all the way into his soft bowels. Once Whittaker was fully buried, he began slow pumping at first and only briefly. His pace quickened with each stroke and soon he was furiously fucking Calvin like a dog in heat. Calvin's pudgy belly jiggled like cafeteria Jell-O from each plunging jab delivered by Whittaker.

With each frantic thrust, Calvin screamed out in crazy abandon. "AH! AH! AH! AH! AH!" he yelled in an ever increasing pitch until Calvin grabbed his revived dick and jerked it frantically to a second orgasm, spilling his second load of cum across his belly rolls. As Calvin's body flinched and quivered, Whittaker went off. Whittaker rammed himself deep into Calvin's ass and groaned, emitting a deep and guttural sound that was almost inhuman. Then, Whittaker collapsed on top of Calvin and Calvin let go and dropped his knees. Calvin pushed against him and Whittaker extracted his still hard dick, being very careful to bring the condom with him this time.

"Holy shit! That was one fantastic fucking!" Calvin muttered.

"Yeah," Whittaker gasped.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"How'd you learn to deep throat like that?" Whittaker asked.

Calvin rolled over and retrieved a long, double sided dildo from his nightstand. "I saw it being done on a porn site and wondered if I could learn to do it. So I bought me one of these to practice on. I never expected to find one like yours to actually do it in real life."

I'd never seen anything like the dildo and I wondered who would use such a thing. Then it occurred to me that it was probably for lesbians who wanted to fuck each other at the same time with it. I wondered if I was right or not and made a mental note to check it out. I didn't want to just ask and sound stupid in front of Calvin, who already intimidated me with his crazy amount of knowledge.

After a long period of refractory and post orgasmic reflection, we made our way to the bathroom and cleaned ourselves up. We all stayed naked while we checked on the progress of the decryption.

"You might as well go. I have work to do. I'll let you know when or if we get a crack," Calvin said.

"Wait. How long?" I asked.

"Can't tell. A day or two or maybe three or four. If we don't have anything after four days, I'll just pull the plug."

"I thought ..."

Calvin cut me off. "I never said it would be done tonight. It happens when it fucking happens. I'll tell Jensen when it's done. Now get dressed and go. I have work to do."

I slumped. After all that, I still had no answers. "Please just call me directly when you find something." I wrote my cell number on a pad of paper.

"Sure." Calvin took the paper and stuck it to his corkboard. "I'm sorry about your BF, dude. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything." I smiled appreciatively and left to get dressed. Whittaker followed. Before leaving, we stepped back in to say good-bye. Calvin was working on some hairy computer problem for the bank and was a little annoyed we broke his concentration. He waved us off without speaking.

Neither of us spoke until we were about half way across campus. "Whittaker, that was a nice thing you did for me, volunteering to take my place with Calvin."

"No big deal. I knew you wouldn't want to have to do it, so I offered, but it turned out okay. I enjoyed doing it with the porky little asshole. That fucker really knows how to suck a dick."

I laughed. "I wish you could have seen your face when he first went all the way down on you. It was priceless. You were like ..." I bugged my eyes out and dropped my jaw as far as it would go.

He laughed at me, bumped my shoulder and said, "You're exaggerating."

"No, I'm not. Once you started doing sixty-nine with him, you went into this sort of glazed stare like some kind of zombie or something - totally zoned out."

"Well shit, it was amazing. You have no idea."

"I'm actually glad I got to witness it or I'd think you were lying if you told me about it later."

"Yeah, it was actually cool having you in there. I was glad you were. That was pretty hot how you shot your load on his face. Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know. You think that was wrong of me. Do you think Steve will be mad about it? I was just kind of under the influence of the endorphins, you know?"

"Yeah, I totally know. Orphans of all kinds are hard to resist, right?"

"You mean like Steve? Yeah. God, we still don't know anything. I hope he's okay. I'm so worried," I said sadly.

"I'm sure he is. We'll figure this out in the morning. Let's go get some sleep. I need it and I'm sure you do."

We got to the dorm and I was overcome again with sadness looking at the emptiness of Steve's side of the room. I stripped to my boxers and climbed into bed. Whittaker offered to cuddle with me if I needed it, but I told him no. I really preferred to be alone in my bed but was glad he was there in the room. It made it feel a little less empty. I suddenly realized I'd left Tom's old laptop over at Calvin's place. "Whittaker, I left the laptop over there. We'll have to go get it tomorrow."

"Umm-hmm."

I wasn't sure it even registered with him, but I knew I'd remember. I drifted off to sleep praying silently for Steve's safe return.

The next morning, I woke to find Whittaker dressed and ready to run. "Coming? It would do you good."

"I don't think so. I'd just be sad that Steve wasn't with us." Whittaker just stared at me for a while in a disapproving manner. "Oh, all right. Give me a minute." I got up and pulled on my running gear. I followed him out and it turned out that running really did do me good. I felt better and more hopeful after the run and I was thinking more clearly about things.

"Whittaker," I said as we stripped for showering.

"Yeah?"

"I think we should sit down and I should just start thinking of every little detail I can remember that Steve told me and maybe, with your logical mind, we can come up with some clues."

"Good idea. I'm busy until lunchtime. Does that work?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you in the cafeteria."

"Jensen will probably be there. Is that okay?"

"Sure. He'll probably want to help us."

"He may want to brag about his sexual exploits from last night, though," Whittaker suggested.

"Maybe, but we'll listen politely for a little bit and then tell him we need to work on finding Steve. He'll be okay. If not, we'll just come back here and do it."

"Okay, cool." Whittaker pulled me into a hug. "By the way, I'd prefer we not talk about my night in front of Jensen." His naked flesh pressed firmly against mine as he added, "Don't worry, Shane. We won't quit until we find out what's going on with Steve. I promise to help you until we do."

"Thanks. You're a true friend." We wrapped our towels around us and we made our way to the showers. Afterward, Whittaker headed back to his dorm and I returned to my half empty, lonely room. I made my bed as well as Steve's bed that Whittaker had slept in. I gathered up Whittaker's running clothes and stuffed them under my bed to give back to him later. Then, I got on my computer and googled the boys' home that Steve was raised in. I read the mission statement and thought about it. It affected me. "Our mission," it began, "is to raise public awareness of the needs of homeless children in our community. We provide for the physical and emotional needs of the underprivileged, delinquent, and neglected boys we serve in a loving and caring environment." Steve was certainly underprivileged and he had been neglected, but was he delinquent? No, I concluded. He couldn't be. It wasn't in him. I closed down the laptop and headed out to my first class. I decided to be late for my second class and go stand outside Steve's English classroom in hopes of seeing him or at least being able to speak to Todd.

My first class drug on and my mind wandered to what I would say if Steve did actually show up to his English class. I also pondered over and over the mission statement from the boys' home. From the tidbits of information that Steve had allowed himself to share about the home, it was not always such a loving or caring environment. It seemed fairly harsh and cold once he joined the older group. What would that do to a person? When the lecture was over and students were filing out, I realized I hadn't gotten one single thing from the lecture. I decided I better borrow some notes from someone the next time we met.

I rushed off to the English department and found the classroom. I peeked inside and neither Todd nor Steve was there so I waited just outside the door. I recognized the two girls in the study group as they walked in chatting together. Todd followed a little bit later and was by himself. "Hey, Todd," I called as he approached.

"Oh, hi Shane." I was surprised he remembered my name. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you've heard from or seen Steve. Is he staying with you?" The look of legitimate confusion told me all I needed to know.

"No. Why would he be?"

"He left last night without saying where he was going. I'm worried about him."

Todd looked perplexed. "Why does it worry you that he was gone for just one night? Maybe he just stayed over at a friend's house or something."

"No. He doesn't have any friends, besides me and you and a couple guys in our dorm. Besides, he packed up all his things. He didn't just leave, he moved out."

"Oh, wow. That sucks. Did you have a quarrel or something?"

"Not really. A disagreement, but nothing that should have caused him to move out on me. Like I said, I'm really worried about him. If he shows up or contacts you, would you call me please? Here's my number."

Todd took it. "Sure. Hey man, I'm sorry. I know you two were tight. I'll let you know if I see or hear from him. I hope I do hear from him, actually. He still has part of our English project for this class. We need it."

"Thanks. If I find him, I'll remind of the assignment. Well, Cya."

"Yeah sure, later." Todd scurried into the room and slipped into the first empty desk since the professor had just started her lecture.

I headed over to Calvin's to retrieve Tom's laptop. I had to knock three times and was about to give up when the door jerked open. "What?" Calvin looked like he'd just woken up. He was in his wrinkled boxers and ankle socks but otherwise naked. His blond hair was matted and uncombed. He rubbed his eyes and without waiting for me to tell him what I wanted, he said, "It isn't done yet. I told you I'd call you when it is. You woke me up."

"Sorry, but I left Tom's laptop here last night. I'd like to get it back please. I didn't know you'd still be sleeping."

"Okay, whatever." Calvin walked off leaving the door open as he'd done before. I let myself in and closed the door. I was halfway down the hall when he came out of the computer room with the laptop. "Here. What did you call it? Tom's laptop? Who's Tom?"

"It's kind of a long story. Tom's my brother who attends law school at Dartmouth. He got a new computer and he gave this one to Steve, my roommate. But it didn't turn out so good because I surprised him with it and I put a Facebook page on it for him before I gave it to him. He was upset over that and said he had to get the Facebook page off and cancelled as soon as possible. He stayed behind to do that while Whittaker and I went over to the student center to play some pool. When we got back to the room, Steve was gone.

"Yeah. You told me that last night," Calvin said with a little annoyance. Then he asked, "So did you check?"

"Check what?"

"Jesus, dude," Calvin whined. "Did you check to see if the Facebook is deleted or not?"

"No. It never occurred to me. I guess it is. I mean, that's why he stayed behind."

Calvin had taken the laptop and turned it on. When it finally booted up, he asked for the log in password. I typed it in for him and after the Microsoft jingle played, he said, "The Facebook icon's still there. What's the password?"

"Oh my god," I muttered.

"That's a lame password. Is it like OMG or spelled all the way out? Caps or lowercase?" Calvin groaned.

"No. No, that's not the password. It's just that I realized he never asked me for the password and I never gave it to him. He couldn't possibly have gotten past the sign in screen."

"So what is the password?"

"Umm, SSLUVSSF. All caps."

Calvin furrowed his brow. "What's your last name?" he asked me.

"Steele."

"Steve's last name starts with an F, I bet."

"Yeah, it does."

"How cute." He said the cute part in a derogatory, mocking manner. "Not very secure but definitely cute."

When Steve's page loaded that I had created for him, Calvin grinned at me, "He's hot. No wonder you wanna find him so bad." He studied the page and then announced, "Well, he only had one single friend request. Some guy named Simba, the Child King. No picture." Calvin tapped a few keys. "Simba sent your BF a private message." Calvin chuckled. "Listen to this."

"Are you fucking nuts? Now is not a good time to start breaking the rules. Contact me in the usual way. Tonight!" Calvin read aloud.

"What the hell does that mean? Did Steve reply?" I asked.

Calvin stared at me like I had just asked if the earth was flat or if Al Gore had invented the internet.. "No, dumbshit. He couldn't access it because he didn't have a password, remember? He never even saw this."

"Oh. Yeah, huh? Shit."

"Do you know who this Simba guy is?"

"No idea."

Calvin clicked away furiously at the keys and in a short time, Simba's page was displayed. He had a couple hundred friends and multiple posts that revolved mostly around gay themes. There were no pictures of Simba or any real obvious clues to lead us to his identity or how he might know Steve. When Calvin grew bored with it, he showed me how to get in to Simba's page and then closed down the laptop, wishing me luck.

"This Simba guy seems to be your best clue about Steve's disappearance. I'd focus on that if I were you."

"I agree. I'll have Whittaker go over his Facebook page with me thoroughly and see if we can find any clues."

"Yeah. By the way, tell Red that if has any hard drive problems pop up, I'll be happy to service them for him. Anytime." Calvin grinned as he licked his lips.

"Uhh, sure. I'll let him know. How much longer before you might crack the code on the thumb drive?" I asked.

"I told you already. There's no telling. It could happen in the next five minutes or five days. Or ... never. I had to back the search off to just two computers working on it because I needed the others for real work. Speaking of which ..." He waved me off toward the door.

"Okay. Thanks."

He didn't respond. He just waved an acknowledging hand at me. I headed off toward the cafeteria to share my newly discovered knowledge with Whittaker and probably Jensen.

I arrived a little bit late. Whittaker and Jensen both had their food and were seated at a corner table. I dropped the laptop off, started it booting up and went to get my rations. I settled on the spaghetti and added Ketchup and Tabasco sauce to it in order to juice it up and spice it up a bit. Otherwise, it's pretty bland. When I got to the table, Jensen was in the middle of spilling his guts about his Valentine's Day exploits. Whittaker was grunting at appropriate intervals to show polite interest. My arrival at the table caused him to abandon his tale of conquest in favor of asking about Steve. "Any progress on finding out about Steve?" he asked sincerely. I was glad he didn't insist on finishing with relating his sexual exploits. I wasn't in the mood to hear it, really. Whittaker looked equally relieved, although I knew he would eventually hear all about it at some later time. Jensen seemed to love talking about his sex life as much as he liked having it.

"Nothing too major," I responded. "The encrypted files on the drive still aren't cracked. Calvin did manage to get into the Facebook page that I set up for Steve and there was one message sent to it from a guy known as Simba. Basically, this Simba guy cussed Steve out for having a page and told him to contact him right away in the usual manner, or something like that."

"Whoa. That's big," Whittaker said. "So Steve is probably with this Simba dude, but why would he care if Steve had a Facebook. What's the bfd about having a Facebook?"

"That's the mystery, but whatever it is, it's probably the key to finding out what's happened to him," I said, stating the obvious.

I navigated to Simba's page and together we scrolled through the messages and followed links to his friends. It was obvious that Simba was gay and a bit kinky. We spent a good forty-five minutes scouring the pages until we struck gold. NumbNutz, who seemed to share Simba's interest in unusual sex toys, was also a student at Montana State. The only problem was how to find him. Whittaker clicked on Numbnutz' page and when it opened, I gasped.

"It's him!" I seethed.