Authors Note: This story is based on a true story, only the names, locations and events have been changed. I thought I'd try my hand dabbling at a real life drama as a break from Sci-fi. I hope you like it as much as you did The Angel. Maybe this one will have a bit more sex huh? Oh and one more thing, I should set the record straight that my name isn't Jason, nor is it Alex, or Matt, or any other name used in my stories.
Disclaimer: This story contains sexual contact of a homosexual nature between boys, some of which are under the legal age limit as well as bad language. If you are not of legal age to view this material then if you continue you're going to have to deal with the consequences yourself. However, I would like to point out that this age limit is completely discriminatory towards gay peoples. Why should a boy of the age of 16 and a boy of 18 not be allowed to show their love for one another in a sexual manner when a 16 year old girl and an 18 year old boy can? hm? The consequences are much larger for the boy and the girl anyway if you factor in the chance of teenage pregnancy. Unfortunately, even in the 'free world' we live under strict prejudice and discrimination, especially those of us who don't fit in to the so called 'norm' of social life. As for the sanctimony of marriage? To hell with it. Marriage is not about age, race, social backgrounds, or gender. It's about love. Lets show Bush what we got, huh? Lets send him packing!
What a Day
Let me start of by telling you a little about myself.
My name is Alex Logan and I'm 16 years old. I'm only 5'9" and I've never really considered my self to be 'hot' or anything. I've heard people say I'm cute, but never hot. I have pale-ish skin, dirty blond hair and very blue eyes. I recently splashed out to celebrate the end of school and got highlights though, so my hair looks blonder than it really is. It's sort of messy and crazy, but hey, that's how I like it. I'm definitely not muscular, I never have time to work out, besides, all the gyms where I live cost hell and a half to join so I'm reduced to crunches and pushups on my bedroom floor. I have a bit of a six pack, but nothing that compares to washboard abs. I guess my body is still that of a boy, not a man.
My mom came from a pretty wealthy background, but my dad (his name's Alan) was sorta proud, so he could never accept charity from her family. He reasoned he had made it so far toughing it out and had met a wonderful woman (my mom), so if his luck held, he could raise a family without help. He set up his own publishing company, which was now in its eighteenth year and doing fairly well. At least, well enough for us to live by. My mom (who's name is Mary by the way) went to law school at Harvard and she had got a job as a lawyer shortly after she graduated. She was nice as hell at home, but I had sat in on one of her cases and damn, she was a bitch in court! Early on in her career she wrote a book about bias and unfairness in the modern law system and published it through a small publishers which just so happened to be my dad's. They sort of fell in love during the editorial process and got married the following year. Her book didn't do too well. Although to her credit, she was only 28 when she wrote it, and hadn't had much experience of the courts yet. Otherwise, I'm sure it would have been massive and we would now be rolling in it.
We're not though.
We live in a four story house, although two of those floors don't really count. The basement has room for a wash/drying room, and not much else, and the attic is so crammed with boxes of junk that accumulated over the years that its pretty much impassable. Me and my brother never really lacked for anything, but we certainly weren't spoilt for choice either. Money certainly wasn't a commodity in our house, but we got by all right.
Anyway, for their eighteenth anniversary my mom had managed to save up enough money without my dad noticing that she surprised us all with a cruise in the Caribbean on one of those massive cruise ships. By the time she told my dad, the tickets were already booked and he couldn't do anything but complain mildly about it. Smart woman she is. hehe.
So here I was, sitting in the back seat of our Volvo Volkswagen, watching the scenery flash by and listening to my CD player. I heard you could tell about someone from the music they listen to. That saying must not apply to me though. I had Life For Rent, by Dido (god she's great!) playing now, but if you looked through my CD holder, you'd find everything from Hip Hop to rock, dance to classical, pop to punk. I guess I have a pretty damn diverse taste in music.
I'd said goodbye to the few friends I had back home and promised to bring them souvenirs, but sitting there, with my fourteen year old brother asleep in the seat next to me, I was hating myself. I knew I was gay. I'd known I was gay for about as long as I knew the meaning of the word. That wasn't why I hated myself though. No, I hated myself 'cause I was too chicken shit to actually do anything about it.
A kid back at my old school and come out earlier that year, and I had watched from the sidelines as he got taunted and treated like shit. None of my friends knew I was gay, and neither did my parents. Like I said, I was too chicken shit to do anything. But I was done with that school. In the autumn I would be starting at a brand new school. And now I made a decision that was going to change my life forever. I was going to embrace my homosexuality. No more hiding or pretending. I was going to be me, the real me, and I was gonna have fun! What better place to start out my new life than on a boat where no-one knew me and I probably would never see any of them again? I looked over at my brother. What would he think? Would he be disgusted? Would he hate me? And what about my parents? The subject had never really come up, so I was pretty much in the dark as to their opinions on the subject. I guess I'd just have to take it all in stride.
Such thoughts however were banished from my mind as we rounded the corner and the cruise ship came into view. Hell, I knew it was going to be big, but this thing was massive! It was larger than most of the office buildings back home, and that was only height-wise. You could fit two, three thousand people on it easy.
I prodded my brother awake and he was soon staring wide eyed at it out of my window. Me and my brother helped unload the car while my dad went off to see that our tickets and boarding passes were in order. But when my mom came back from parking the car, he returned, slightly red in the face.
"They double booked us!" he exclaimed. "They double booked our cabins and the other family got here first!"
My mother snatched the tickets and booking information from his hand and marched off towards the ticket office. My dad was about to follow after her, when I grabbed his sleeve and gave him a knowing look. Mom had the same look on that she got in court. She was going to get what she wanted or heads were gonna roll.
We watched from afar as she had a heated conversation with the ticket master, and then the manager emerge from a back office. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but the manager went very pale and had several assistants rush off on various jobs. After a few minutes, the assistants returned and said something to the manager, at which point he smiled nervously and handed my mother two keys to separate cabins. She returned to us grinning rather evilly and told us what had happened.
Apparently, all the economy cabins had been fully booked, so there were none left. My mom demanded we get what we paid for or she'd settle the matter in court. Of course, she had no real intention of doing anything of the sort, but it did explain the managers pallor. They had found two un-booked rooms in the First Class section and he was quick to offer them both to us. I told you my mom was awesome!
We dragged our luggage up the ramp and onto the ship and i got my first look inside. Velvet and brass furnishings everywhere you looked. Damn, i thought, this place is sweet! We found the elevators to our floor and went up. I looked at the panel as we were rising. This thing had twenty floors! It was frigging enormous. Although, it looked like you needed special keys to access the bottom two and top three floors.
We found our rooms and me and my brother took the larger one with two queen sized beds. It had an en-suite, a thirty-two inch flat screen TV on the wall and windows that opened out over the side of the ship. Our parents took the smaller room with a single king-sized bed. I say smaller, but the room was bigger than our entire living room at home.
As we were moving in I heard my dad say, "It's a blessing we got these two rooms, now we can have more fun of our own." He winked at my mom.
I stared at him in horror from our doorway.
"What?" he asked, looking at me. "We're not THAT old, we do still do it you know."
"Dad that is soooo gross!" I yelled. "I don't want to know about that."
My brother stood besides me in the door, stuttering. "You? what about me?! I'm only fourteen, this is going to cause permanent psychological damage!"
Dad looked at us seriously for a moment. "I'm not kidding boys, your mother and I expect to have a lot of private time on this vacation, so you're going to have to amuse yourselves for much of the time." He glanced between my brother and I. "Would a twenty each help?"
He handed us both a twenty dollar bill and then closed the door, sliding the bolt shut. I turned to my brother and we knocked fists. "Works every time" I grinned.
Inside our room, my brother laid claim to the bed closer to the door and flicked on the TV. In seconds, Teen Titans was flashing across all thirty-two inches of its screen. I flipped through a few of the leaflets on my bedside table.
"Hey Danny" I called across to my brother, "they have this Teen Scheme thing that starts tonight and then as events throughout the cruise."
He looked over at me. "Sounds lame. Prolly just a way for the adults to get rid of all the kids for a while."
I laughed. Yeah, my brother's great. "You're probably right, but it might be a good way to meet some more people our age to hang out with." And there might be some hot guys too! "Anyway, I'm gonna check it out later, you can tag along if you want."
He turned his attention back to the TV and I settled in to watch some too. We had time to kill before the Teen Scheme meeting. As I watched the cartoons flash across the screen, only one thought came into my head.
What's the deal with super-heroes and spandex? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it just doesn't seem like the most practical material for fighting crime in...
Before leaving we changed into out bathing suits, just in case the meet was boring, in which case we could split and go check out the swimming pools. When we got there, the room was filled with round tables each with eight chairs. A guy on a small stage with a mike was asking people to find a table and sit so that things could begin. I spotted a table with only six occupants and hurried over to it, Danny in tow.
There were three girls and three boys. The guys were a striking bunch, all of them older than me by at least a year. One was a typical blond-haired, blue-eyed jock. He sat looking smug with a curly haired brunette at his side. Sitting next to them was a darker, asian guy with sandy hair. He had very pretty features, but the blond on his arm was even more so. I may be gay, but I can tell a pretty girl when I see one. She could probably have been a cover girl if she tried. Sitting slightly apart from them on one side was a younger looking girl, maybe a year younger than me, with rich brown hair, cut about neck length. On the other side, with two seats in-between himself and the younger girl sat another guy with his back turned to me. He seemed to be scanning the rest of the room.
I cleared my throat nervously. "'Scuse me, do you mind if my brother and I join you?"
The guy who had had his back to me turned to look at me. I think I almost gasped. He was beautiful. And I mean BEAUTIFUL! He had a smooth, chiseled looking face with dark, almost jet black hair and slightly pouty, full lips. But it was his eyes that struck me. They were amber, like liquid gold. I could just see myself reflected in them, imprisoned in amber.
He shrugged casually, "Sure" and then turned back to scanning the room.
I took the seat next to the girl so I could have a better view of him. God he was sexy! The girl sitting slightly apart from the rest turned to me as I sat. She extended her hand.
"Hi, I'm Claire" she said.
I shook her hand and gave her mine and my brother's names. We soon struck up a little conversation as I watched the guy out of the corner of my eye. Apparently she was from Boston and, like mw, this was her first time on a cruise boat. Danny and I in turn told her some about us. I think he was a bit smitten with her. But before we could get past introductions and into real conversation we were interrupted by the guy with the mike.
"Hello, and welcome aboard the Catharine. I can see a lot of excited faces out there!"
I groaned quietly and Claire giggled.
"Well, it looks like we have a VERY exciting cruise ahead of us. The Teen Scheme has a number of fun events scheduled during your stay onboard, and many other activities can be found around the Catharine--" He went on in one of those annoying overly-excited tones and listed some of the 'main attractions' they had scheduled.
Claire leaned over and whispered in to me, "As soon as this guy shuts up, you wanna make a break for it with me? We could go swimming."
I laughed quietly, "Sure, Danny looks as bored as I am, so he'll have no complaints with getting out of here."
She looked slightly disappointed at the news that my brother would be joining us, and her smile faltered a little. Uh-oh, now I see what's up. I sighed inwardly. This girl thought I was cute and... well, you can guess the rest. I was suddenly very anxious that my brother join us, if even just to distract her from me.
The guy eventually stopped talking after reminding us that there would be dinner for us if we came back at seven. I quickly told Danny the plan to go swimming and he was on his feet in a flash. Myself and Claire rose and I heard the blond guy ask the others if they wanted to go to the arcade or play pool. The guy with the amber eyes (hm.. maybe I should call him Mr. Eyes... or Mr. Sexy. Er, no, better go with Mr. Eyes) told the others that he was a bit tired and was gonna go for a swim to freshen up. They seemed to be longtime palls or something similar. The blond guy rolled his eyes a bit and said something, but by that time Danny, Claire and I had moved out of earshot.
We soon found that 'going to the pool' was more of an adventure than we had first expected. It turned out that there were four separate pools in different parts of the ship, not including the indoor pool and spa. We chose the open-air pool on the highest deck and eventually managed to find it after nearly fifteen minutes. The pool was already getting crowded and when I looked back, the Florida coast was just a thin black line on the horizon.
We found three deck chairs near the pool and me and Danny shucked off our shirts as Claire pulled off her top and shorts to show her bikini underneath.
"Great minds think alike, huh?" She winked at me.
I laughed nervously. Could I possibly get in to a tighter situation than this?
She pulled out a tube of sun lotion from her bag. Yep, it just got worse. Claire gave me the tube and I started to rub it on my arms and front, then before I could stop her, she took the tube and started to do my back. I think my knuckles were white from gripping the deck-chair by the time she finished. This girl was getting altogether too friendly for my liking. And yeah, you guessed it...
"Can you help me out?" she asked, giving me the lotion.
Despite all my mind-talk in the car about being the real me and embracing my homosexuality, it was a lot easier to think about rather than actually do. I caught a look of jealousy on Danny's face that she had asked me, not him.
I tossed Danny the lotion quickly and stood. "Here, Danny, you help Claire, I'm gonna go get us drinks. What do you guys want?"
Danny looked at me in surprise, but when I winked, he grinned. Claire's freckled face was marred for just the barest moment by a frown before she grinned at me, "A Coke would be great, thanks."
"Yeah, can I have one too?" Danny chimed in as he moved over to help Claire.
I set off, thankful that I had managed to escape that little fix unscathed, so to speak. While I was waiting at the drinks bar, I looked around the deck (hey, I'm a people watcher, its just what I do!). I almost did a double take. There he was. Mr. Eyes. He occupied a deck chair facing opposite us, looking out across the stern of the ship. He had on a pair of those clear, but shinny sunglasses on. You know, the ones that seem like you should be able to see right through, but for some reason you can't. He was just lying in the sun, reading a book and he was shirtless!
God, he really was like a wet-dream come true. A tanned, well muscled chest and a tight six-pac. He even had a small, tribal tattoo on his shoulder, like a hollow sun with tongues of flame reaching out.
Some one snapped their fingers in my face and I looked away from gorgeous Mr. Eyes to see the barman had made the drinks already and was waiting for me to pay. I grinned sheepishly at him, paid for the drinks and carried them back to Danny and Claire.
Danny had finished helping apply lotion to Claire but was sitting uncomfortably on the chair with his towel over his lap. Wow, my bro had it bad for this girl! I sat down on the other side of Claire and sipped at my own iced tea. I think Mr. Eyes had the right idea, a good book would have been really nice. Especially since neither of my companions were being very talkative and Claire seemed to have her eyes fixed on me. Speaking of Mr. Eyes though, I must have struck some good luck today! What are the chances that he would choose, of all the different pools, the same one we had come to? God he was beautiful! I had a perfect view of him from where I was sitting. I could see the top half of his face over the book he was reading. His sunglasses hiding those glittering amber orbs as he casually turned the page every now and then.
After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, interrupted only by our sipping of our separate drinks and the laughs and splashes of children in the pool, Claire tried to fire up another conversation.
"You never finished telling me about where you guys come from back there." She said, meaning earlier in the hall.
So between Danny and myself, we managed to give her a pretty fast, but detailed description of our small hometown and background. Admittedly, it wasn't that hard. Our town didn't have a whole lot. Most people who lived in our town commuted into one of the larger cities we were crammed between.
"Wow, it sounds wonderful!" She said. "We've lived in Boston for as long as I can remember, and it drives me crazy! All the pollution and noise, your town sounds like a mini paradise to me..."
I suddenly realized she was reaching out her hand to put on my thigh. I slid sideways on the chair so I was only half sitting on it. Her hand missed me by inches and fell on the wood of the deck chair. Oh shit, I thought, now I have to do something so it wont be so obvious...
"Right," I said, quickly standing. "I think i'm gonna go for a swim, I'm getting a bit hot in the sun."
That was far too close! I was gonna have to break it to this chick soon. Real soon. If I didn't, she'd soon by trying to make out with me. My stomach felt queasy at the thought of it. I dived into one of the lanes, my goggles still clutched in my hand and let the cool water wash over my body. I kicked hard with my legs and swam close to the bottom, surfacing for breath only when I reached the other end of the pool. I tread water and swept the my hair back out of my face. I looked up quickly as I pulled on my goggles. Oh god! I was in the lane right in front of Mr. Eyes. He had his book lowered slightly so I could see all of his face from where I was. Was he watching me? No, don't be ridiculous, I told myself. He's straight no doubt. Damn those sunglasses! I wanted to see his eyes!
I pulled my goggles down over my eyes and braced my feet against the wall. With a heave, I launched off from the wall, still upside-down, air bubbles streaming from my nose as I cut through the water, just a few inches from the surface. My outstretched hands brushed the wall and I rolled underwater so that I was again reversed, before pushing off, this time on the surface and breaking into a crawl. After six laps my heart was racing and my limbs ached with a dull throb. I drew a few slow breaths before taking one large one and then diving backwards under the water. I used my arms to gently float my body about half the pools depth and held myself there until my lungs ached for air. I surfaced, gasping for breath, and looked at the clock. Damn, only thirty seconds. I know I can do better than that! Movement caught my eye and I looked over in the direction of Mr. Eyes. He leaned back in his chair again and raised his book to hide his face.
I started. He WAS watching me! More than that though, he had actually been worried about how long I was underwater. Well, in that case, I'm positive I can do better. I drew an even deeper breath, filling my lungs to their capacity and then sank myself to the bottom. I sat cross-legged on the bottom of the pool, looking up at the sky above me. I let out a few bubbles from my lips and mentally counted. Thirty seconds passed and my heart hammered, trying to coax every last ounce of oxygen from my blood. I pushed myself longer and farther than I ever had before, and I felt my eyes start to get dim. I launched myself off of the floor and came up for air, my lungs screaming for air. Before I had even regained my breath, I looked over towards Mr. Eyes. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, his book loose in is hands as if he had been about to dive in and fish me out. I grinned inwardly. Could this stud actually be gay? Not just gay, but interested in ME?
I did a summersault in the water out of pure joy and then swam leisurely back to my side of the pool. I planted my hands on the ledge and easily lifted my body out of the water. Another benefit of being light, swimming was a lot less work. I dripped my way over to Danny and Claire who were deep in conversation and shook my head wildly, spraying them with droplets. Claire squealed and Danny laughed. I grabbed my towel off the deck chair and dried myself off.
"Hey Danny," I said. "I'm gonna head back to our room to get a shower and wash off the chlorine. You should come back before dinner too so mom and dad won't worry."
"OK" he shrugged.
"You gonna be going back to the hall for dinner, Claire?"
She nodded.
"All right, we'll meet you there then. Laters" I waved as I slipped on my flip-flops and headed in. Well, Claire seemed to be getting to know my brother better. At least she want hitting on me anymore. I silently wondered if Danny had ever had a girlfriend before...
I ambled into the elevator and pressed the button for my floor. Someone squeezed in just before the doors closed. I didn't notice at first, but I looked up, and there was Mr. Eyes. Now wearing a t-shirt with holes ripped strategically in it to show off his chest. He clutched his book in one hand. I glanced at the title. It was 'The Vampire Lestat', by Anne Rice. I had loved that book! This guy just kept getting better and better.
But damn those sunglasses of his! I wanted to see his eyes again.
I tried to breath easily and not be too noticeable as I shot him glances out of the corner of my eye. The elevator felt like it took hours to descend the three decks to my floor. I stepped off and tried to walk normally, but I could almost feel his eyes boring into my back, monitoring my every step. I heard the soft ping of the elevator as the doors closed and looked back to make sure I was alone in the hall. I was. I broke into a run and careened down the corridor to our rooms. My parents had taken the 'Do not disturb' sign off the door, so I assumed they had gone out for a prowl on the ship.
I leapt into the shower and afterwards changed into some fresh clothes for dinner. Then I settled down to explore the range of our TV channels. To my amazement I found that we received Queer as Folk. I'd never seen it before, but five minutes in, I loved it! Michael and Justin were definitely the hottest of the lot. Shame they weren't together... that would definitely be hot.
Danny came back, fortunately just as Queer as Folk was ending, and he too jumped into a shower before changing. Then he too collapsed on his bed and we flicked through the channels, looking for anything decent to watch while we waited. The wait seemed to flash by, because soon, we were leaving a note under mom and dad's door telling them where we were for dinner, and heading out the door. We met Claire just outside the hall at nearly seven as promised and then walked in. The hall was still filled with tables, only now they were set up with plates and glasses for dinner. Again, I looked for a table that had three spaces for myself, Danny and Claire.
Mr. Eyes was scanning the room from a corner table with his group of friends from earlier. He caught sight of us and waved us over to come join them. I moved to comply but Claire grabbed my arm to stop me. I looked at her in surprise.
"We don't belong with them, Alex." She said. "They're different... and I don't get good vibes from those two couples."
"What's wrong with them?" I asked. "They seemed nice enough to me. Besides, that guy already invited us over, it'd be rude not to join them now."
When she hesitated I took her hand off my arm. "Whatever, I'm going to go sit with them. If you two can find another table with two spaces, then go ahead." I made my way over to Mr. Eyes and his friends and sat down next to him.
"Hi again." I said. The two couples nodded at me, but said nothing. Mr. Eyes had gone back to scanning the room. A few seconds later, I wasn't surprised to feel Danny and Claire join us at the table. I turned and smiled at them but Danny gave me a weird look. My smile faded. What was going on? Claire shot me a glare but then her smile returned to light up her face as she looked around the table.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, I looked around the table and realized I didn't know the names of anyone but Danny and Claire.
I raised my voice over the couples quiet conversation. "Hi, I'm Alex, I don't think I caught your names."
The blond jock guy looked at me in surprise and then broke into a grin. He extended his hand across the table and I shook it briefly. "Hi, my name is Chris. This is Rebecca," he said, indicating the girl on his arm who smiled at me warmly.
The asian guy extended his hand to me as well. I took it. "I'm Andrew, and--"
"And I'm Christina," the blond bombshell sitting next to him cut in, and extended her own hand to me. "But my friends just call me Tina."
I took her hand briefly. "My friends call me Lex," I explained.
Chris looked at me and grinned, "'Cause you're loaded like Lex Luther, right?"
I giggled slightly at the superman comic reference and then shook my head. "No, not really. At all actually." I said and then introduced Danny as my brother, and Claire as well. She frowned slightly at me, but not enough for anyone else to notice. What was her deal? I half turned towards Mr. Eyes, expecting him to introduce himself next, but he was turned away from me, his amber eyes still darting around the room. Chris caught the direction of my look and laughed.
"Oh," he said "and Mr. Antisocial-Nerves boy over there is Julian. But we call him Lynx on account of the insignia on his ring."
Mr. Eyed actually had a name! mmm Julian... What a hunk!
Julian for his part heard the last part of Chris's dialogue and covered his ring with one hand as if ashamed to display it. He smiled warmly but briefly before returning to his monitoring of the room.
OK... I thought, that was a bit rude. Is he looking for someone? Or maybe someone's looking for him? I didn't have anymore time to think about it though, because at that moment waiters emerged from a set of double doors from across the room carrying menus which they deposited before each person.
I opened my menu as soon as I was given it and I think my eyes practically bulged from their sockets. Man was this stuff expensive! I quickly scanned for the least costly section. The Pizza section surprise surprise. I looked up to see the same surprised expressions painted on Danny's and Claire's faces. I caught Danny's eye and gave him a warning look and mouthed the word 'pizza' at him. He nodded and then pointed out the pizza selection to Claire.
Eventually the waiters returned, and took our orders, starting with Rebecca and going around the table so Julian was last. They all ordered, expensive, French-sounding meals. I was glad to find Danny had caught on and ordered a margarita pizza, as did Claire. When I ordered my own Soho pizza, Julian smiled at me
"One of my favorites" he said with a flash of white teeth at me, before ordering one for himself as well.
The waiters took our menus, again leaving us in uncomfortable silence. Rebecca eventually leant past Chris to ask Tina, "You have your license yet?"
"No," Tina replied. "I'm taking my test the week after we get back."
I don't really know why I did it, but I suddenly proclaimed, "I got my license a couple of months ago."
Rebecca looked at me with new interest, as if I had suddenly done something to earn her attention. "Plane or Chopper?" she asked.
"What?" I asked confusion showing on my face.
"Airplane or Helicopter license?" She asked again.
I blinked. Maybe Claire had been right... But now Julian was looking at me interestedly, as if curious to hear my answer.
After a moments hesitation, "Er... no, just my drivers license." I stuttered.
All sign of interest quickly left Rebecca's face. I glanced at Julian. He was grinning widely. What the fuck? Was he mocking me? I felt my eyebrows start to frown, and then he did the most surprising thing. He winked at me. I was so startled, I completely forgot to be angry. I was mulling it over in my head still when the waiters returned with our meals. I turned my head to check out the other tables and was comforted to see mostly everyone else had also ordered pizza.
Halfway through the meal, Chris's private conversation with Rebecca raised in volume and spilled out onto the table, getting the others involved.
"Yeah," Chris was saying, "I swear this place gets cheaper each year. My parents only paid one thousand dollars for my suite this time!"
Only? ONLY?! I doubted our original room for the four of us had cost more than a couple hundred dollars total, and here was this kid bragging about how CHEAP his was. Claire was definitely right, we didn't belong with this crowd.
The others chimed in, proclaiming their rooms had cost equally 'small' sums of money. I must have made a noise, because I suddenly found all eyes at the table were on me.
"What about you, Alex?" Chris asked. "How much did your suite cost?"
"Ahh..." I shifted nervously. "We're not in a suite."
I felt, once again, their attention slipping away from me so I grasped madly at them.
"We were supposed to be in economy," I said rather too proudly. "But they double booked us. My mom though managed to gip them into bumping us up to First Class."
Rebecca, Chris, Andrew and Tina all looked at me in shock, then looked worriedly at Julian. He surprised us all I think by laughing loudly. They shot each other glances before digging back into their meals. I hunkered down, now ashamed of what I had said, and similarly buried myself in my pizza.
When the meal had finally ended and the tables had been cleared, all under Julian's watchful gaze, the same overly-excited guy from earlier stepped up on the stage with his microphone.
"Just a reminder of tonight's events" he said, his voice sounding tired and forced by now, but now less annoyingly excited. "Games will start in here as soon as the tables have been fully cleared. Karaoke will start at eight in the music halls on deck five and deck eight. And for you older guys out there, the bars will be opening at eight, with a last-drinks call at 2 am and clubs will open their doors at nine" He smiled almost impossibly wide. "Have a great night!" and then stepped down off the stage.
"Karaoke!" Danny looked at me pleadingly. "Can we? Canwecanwecanwe?"
I grinned. "Sure" I said, and then before Claire could stop me, "You guys wanna come?"
Julian turned to me quickly and grinned. "Sure"
"Wha?" Chris asked, startled and confused. "Why would we wanna go to the Karaoke?"
Danny looked at me again.
"Uh..." I scavenged desperately for words. "Because it'll be funny as hell?" I asked, as if it should have been obvious.
"Good call dude" Julian said with another flash of white teeth. He slapped me on the shoulder and fixed me with his amber eyes. I could just feel the amber flowing over me, once again incasing me. He turned back to face Chris. "Besides, the clubs don't open for another two hours, and it'd give us something to do." He paused. "Unless of course you wanna stay here and play games with the other kiddies?" Julian mocked.
"Fine whatever," Chris snarled. "We'll come."
"Great!" Me, Danny, and Julian all chimed in at once.
When we got to the Karaoke hall it was in full swing. Well, if you can call a few bad singers making tentative sounds into the mike 'full swing.' We found a table for all eight of us. Julian offered to get us drinks, cause he 'knew the guy at the bar.' Danny looked to me for permission.
I nodded. "Nothing strong. I'm not taking you back to the room drunk," I warned him. He glared at me and then we both ordered a Bacardi Breezer. Julian returned a few minutes later with a tray of drinks for our whole party. Like the judges off Pop Idol, we collectively groaned through the first few singers. And then, once the alcohol started to kick in, laughed through the ones after that.
Eventually, Julian offered to get us another round of drinks. Again, Danny looked to me for permission.
"No way!" I told him and then ordered a second Bacardi Breezer.
"What?!" Danny stuttered. "How come you get seconds and I don't?"
"Because," I said, tossing back the end of my first drink. "I'm seventeen and you're only fourteen."
He crossed his arms and sat back heavily in his chair. "You're not seventeen yet," he said, just loud enough for me to hear but no one else.
I shot him a look.
Once Julian came back and I had started my second drink, I caught Danny with an evil grin plastered across his face. My eyes widened in alarm and I set my drink down.
"Don't you dare." I warned him.
He just grinned evilly back at me.
"Don't what?" It was Julian, he leaned in next to me to be heard over the current bad singer.
Before I could make a save, Danny cut in.
"Go on Alex!" he said. "Show them how it's done."
"You sing?" Julian again.
"NO!" I said too quickly.
Danny snickered "Like hell you don't!"
I was about to kick him under the table, when the current singer finished and the DJ started asking around for volunteers. I suddenly found two pairs of arms pointing at me and making loud noises to get on stage. I looked between Julian and Danny before reluctantly standing. As I passed Danny I leant down and whispered to him,
"I'm gonna kill you later."
As I got to the stage the DJ handed me a list of songs they had the words to that they could play. I only knew one. Sound of the Underground by Girls Aloud. Not my favorite song, but it would have to do. I walked out onto the stage and the spotlight struck me. Loud whistling came from the direction of our table and I made another mental note to kill Danny afterwards. I saw Chris whisper something to Andrew and they both cracked up. Tina jabbed Andrew hard in the ribs though and he soon shut up.
The lights in the rest of the room cut off as the music started and two more spotlights fixed themselves on me.
'Disco dancing with the lights down low'
I started nervously into the mike.
'Beats are pumping on the stereo'
There were a few jeers from the crowd, but mostly just silence, no laughing like with the other people. I quickly gained confidence from this.
'Neighbors banging on the bathroom wall
Your sayin' crank the bass
I gotta get some more'
Now, no more jeers or cat calls were coming from the room, just silence. I opened my eyes as the song really got going.
'Waters runnin' in the wrong direction
Got a feelin' its a mixed up sign
I can see it in my own reflection'
The alcohol must have really started going to my head now, 'cause I started to get more and more into the song. It was sort of fun actually. Before I could stop myself, I was doing hand gestures as well.
'Summut funny's goin' on inside my mind'
I pushed my finger against my head and twisted it as I sang the line.
'Don't know what its pushin' me higher
Its the static from the floor below
Then its drops and catches like a fire
Its a sound I, Its a sound I know'
There must have been voice-backers in the dark on side stage waiting for a half-decent singer to come along, because my voice was suddenly joined by others as I got into the chorus. I faltered for a moment and turned to look at them before recovering and getting back into the song.
'It's the sound of the underground
The beat of the drum goes round and around
In to the overflow
Where the girls get down to the sound of the radio
Out to the electric night
Where the bass line jumps in the backstreet lights
The beat goes around and round
Its the sound of the under
Sound of the underground'
The voice-backers stopped singing and let me go on on my own. I was surprised, for a Karaoke joint, they were actually quite good.
'Chain reaction running through my veins
Pumps the bass line up into my brain
Screws my mind until I lose control
And when the building rocks I know Its got my soul'
Yep, I was definitely tipsy. I had by now started dancing a bit with the music. Waaay to effeminately, I could tell. But frankly, I was having too good a time at this point to give less of a fuck.
'Waters runnin' in the wrong direction
Got a feelin' its a mixed up sign
I can see it in my own reflection
Somethin' funny's goin' on inside my mind
Don't know what its pushin' me higher
Its the static from the floor below
Then its drops and catches like a fire
Its a sound I, Its a sound I know'
The voice-backers started in again, and we sang together through the rest of the song. The lights guys had obviously realized that the crowd was having fun with this song, cause they started in with the special lighting effects and lasers. We finished and I bowed to lots of clapping, whistling and more than a few catcalls. Someone shouted for an en-cour and I saw Julian's face shining through the crowd, his amber eyes caught a stray spotlight and gleamed for a moment. It was all the encouragement I needed.
Now, under normal circumstances, I would never have done it. But now, still tipsy and high, riding a wave of adrenaline, I moved to the side of the stage out of the lights and found the DJ. He said they don't usually take special requests, but since the room seemed to have enjoyed my last performance, they could make an exception. He told me he'd never seen people actually get up and dance in one of their Karaoke joints. I hadn't seen them, but apparently people had indeed done that.
They cut all the lights in the room, leaving only the soft glow from the table lamps. Before people's eyes started to adjust to the light, I ran back out on stage and stood ready at the mike.
The song started in with a heavy beat and I saw more then a few people start to move in their seats in time with it. Still with the lights off, I started singing.
'What on earth am I meant to do
In this crowded place there is only you'
The lights hit me full blast as I was mid line and I pointed out across the room. People probably thought I was just pointing for extra effect of the line. But I knew where I was pointing. A dead line towards Julian.
'Was gonna to leave now I have to stay
You have taken my breath away'
I guess a some of the voice-backers must have known the song because they suddenly joined in. As far as I could tell, it sounded just like the real song.
'Is the world still spinning around
I don't feel like coming down
It's in your eyes
I can tell what your thinking
My heart is sinking too
It's no surprise
I've been watching you lately
I want to make it with you'
With each 'you' of the song, I pointed out across the room towards Julian. I'm not sure when exactly, but at some point in the song I had started swaying my hips and sort of bouncing my body with the song.
The beat cut and the song went into a bit of a slow part. I brought my right hand up and sort-of gripped the my hair. With my left hand I traced imagined lines down my face and neck. Very erotic, I'm sure.
'Destiny has a funny way
When it comes and takes all your cares away'
I'd chosen the song, partly because I liked it, but partly also, because it reflected how I felt right now with my newfound freedom.
I started knocking my head sideways and moving in short jerks as the beat pulsed in again.
'I can't think of a single thing
Other than what a beautiful state I'm in
Is the world still spinning around
I don't feel like coming down
It's in your eyes
I can tell what your thinking
My heart is thinking it too
It's no surprise
I've been watching you lately
I want to make it with you'
The lasers and lights were spinning around the room in a stunning light display. This time I could see the people dancing. The song finally came to an end and I bowed to loud cheers before sliding off stage behind the curtains. I practically flew down the stairs, eager to get back to the table. I slowed though, not wanting to seem overly-excited. As well, though I had been pointing at Julian and hoping he would catch on, I was also nervous as hell and half-hoping he hadn't noticed. After all, I didn't even know if he was gay too.
I came up to our table from behind Chris, Andrew and their girlfriends. Chris was saying something loudly.
"Did you see the way he was moving up there?"
I was kinda proud actually. Then...
"What a fag!" he continued.
My world felt like it was crashing down around me. I stopped in my tracks. Julian caught sight of me past Chris' shoulder and called out my name in surprise. They all turned and looked at me, Chris with a slightly guilty look on his face.
I'd always been a bit too easy to cry and I felt my eyes starting to tear up. I couldn't take this! I didn't want to embarrass myself further in front of them, especially not Julian, so I turned and ran. Tears starting to trickle down my face I ran out of the Karaoke hall and out on deck.
"Oh way to go fuckwits," Tina scolded Chris.
"Sorry! I swear, if I'd known he was there I wouldn't've--" He started.
"What, so you'd still have said it in front of his brother?" She snapped at him.
Danny looked uncertainly between them, then stood. "I should go after him," he said.
Julian stepped in front of him. "No, it's OK, I'll go."
Before Danny could argue, Julian was already past him and heading in the direction I had taken. As he passed by Chris he bent in and in a harsh tone that carried to the rest of the table, he said, "One more word, just one, and I swear I'll throw you off this ship myself."
Chris gulped and looked about to apologize again, but Julian was already gone.
I was out on the deck at the end of the ship, head cradled in my arms on the railing when I heard someone walking towards me across the wooden flooring. I quickly wiped my tears away and sniffled.
"Alex?"
Oh god! It was him. Why'd it have to be him? Why not Danny why not anyone else? Just not Julian!
"Go away!" I told him.
He came up behind me and touched my shoulder with a hand. I shrugged it off. We were silent a moment and I listened for his footsteps moving away. All I heard was the breaking of waves against the sides of the ship. Then he asked what I had been hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't ask me.
"Alex is it true?"
I hung my head and shuddered.
He asked again "Are you g--?"
"YES!" I shouted. "I'm gay OK?! I'm a fag! F-A-G-G-O-T!" I snarled. "What are you gonna do now, bash me?" I braced myself.
His hands gripped my arm to turn me around and I closed my eyes, fully expecting a fist to connect with my face any moment. What I felt instead were a pair of lips lock firmly over mine.
I opened my eyes wide in shock and stared up into Julian's amber eyes. He pulled his mouth off mine and smiled.
"Now why on earth would I want to do a thing like that?" He asked me.
I stared at him and I felt my mouth fall open in surprise. He was GAY?! Why hadn't anyone told me he was gay!
"You better close your mouth or someone might try and stick their tongue in there," Julian joked.
"Y-you're gay?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"And you're cute."
I blushed.
He gently wiped the tears off my cheeks, never once breaking eye contact with me. I didn't want to breath, lest I blow him away, in case he was just a dream. Just then someone pushed through the double doors leading back to the Karaoke hall. Julian stepped away from me and turned, and I thought for a moment that it had all been a trick or something. Then I felt his hand tugging me along as he started to run.
"Come on dude!" he urged me and we started to run.
"Hey, are you O--?" someone called out to us but Julian and I had already run around the side of the ship and through a pair of doors onto a flight of stairs. He started laughing as we ran down the hall. I'm not really sure why he was laughing, and I'm not really sure why I joined him, but I did.
Julian jerked me to a halt by a window and looked down at the deck below. "Wanna go swimming?" He asked me mischievously.
"What? Are you crazy?" I asked, but he was still holding my hand and we tore off down the hall again, coming to a stop before the elevator. He pushed the button a few times hurriedly. There was a soft chime and the doors started to open. I quickly pulled my hand from his as they parted. We stepped on and joined two other guys on the elevator. Julian pushed the button for the level the pool was on and the moved to the other side of the small compartment from the two men and the doors closed. I was surreptitiously checked out the two men in case they had noticed the two of us holding hands.
One of them, the taller of the two by several inches had short, wavy blond hair. He was pretty muscular, with really defined features. He was sort of movie-star handsome and he looked like he was in maybe his late twenties. The shorter guy also looked several years younger, maybe just out of college. He had short, messy blond hair, a bit like how I wished I could get mine to look but never succeeded. I was still checking them out when suddenly the shorter of the two pressed his body against the taller and they kissed passionately. I stared at them, a bit surprised. They didn't look like the 'gay' type. The taller guy was still facing me and he saw me staring. I started to blush and he winked an ice-blue eye at me.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned. Julian wrapped his arms around me and kissed me full on the lips. I stiffened at first. He was kissing me in front of complete strangers! Then the ridiculousness of the thought struck me. They were kissing, why shouldn't we? I relaxed against him and opened my mouth slightly. His tongue darted in and touched mine and I shivered. I felt like an electric bolt had passed through me. The elevator came to a halt and chimed. We all broke apart from our respective kissing partners as the door opened.
The younger guy grabbed his boyfriend by the hand and tugged him off the elevator. "Come on angel boy," he said.
The other guy grinned, "Jason, I--"
The rest was lost as the closing doors blocked them from view. We started to descend again.
"That was hot!" I whispered hoarsely and stared at Julian.
He stared back. "You're telling me!"
The elevator stopped again and we stepped off. The hall was empty. Julian stuck his head through the door and checked out the pool area.
"All clear." He informed me.
"Julian, I'm not sure we should be--" I started to protest.
"Nonsense!" He grinned and kissed me again to shut me up before pulling me through the doors.
We slipped off our shoes and I was about to pull off my shirt when he came up behind me.
"Good thing you're not wearing fancy clothes."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"'Cause they're about to get wet!" Julian suddenly grabbed me around the waist and tossed me into the pool. I felt him dive in after me. I spluttered and splashed to the surface.
"Julian!" I shouted in mock anger.
I got no reply.
I turned in the spot and tread water. "Julian?" I started to panic, I couldn't see him anywhere. "Julian where are--"
I squealed loudly as he shot up from below and, gripping my waist hoisted me out of the water. My squeal turned to laughter in midair and then we sank underwater.
When I surfaced again, his face was mere inches from mine. Out of habit, I quickly back-paddled to move away from him. God, this was going to take some getting used to. He swam forwards at the same time though so the distance between us never shrank.
"So, Lynx? Can I call you that?" I asked.
He frowned. "No, I hate Lynx." He swam away from me a bit.
Had I done something wrong? Did my breath smell?
"But I though your friends..." I started.
"My 'friends'," he said as he heaved himself backwards out of the water so he was sitting on the edge of the pool. "Hardly know anything about me. They're all spoilt brats who no matter how hard I try to lose them, somehow manage to cling on. With the exception of Tink."
"Tink?" I asked as I slid up onto the edge beside him.
"Sorry, Tina." He explained. "I've called her Tink ever since she played Tinkerbell in a play in third grade."
Wow, could this night get any better?! He's gay, he thinks I'm cute, and I'm getting to find out about his past all in one night! "You guys go way back then?" I queried out loud.
Julian nodded. "She was my first real friend. The first one to see past all the--" he stopped suddenly.
"The what?" I pursued.
"Nothing." He said casually and then moved on. "Anyway I'm the only one who calls her that. I don't think even Andrew knows about her pet name." I watched him purse his lips and he looked deep at me.
I looked back, feeling the amber of his eyes ooze around me again.
"She calls me Jewels. I like Jewels." he told me.
"Can I call you Jewels?" I asked, still transfixed by my reflection in his eyes.
"Can I call you Cutey?" he quirked an eyebrow.
I shrugged and giggled, "Hey, whatever pushes your buttons..."
He laughed and then reached over and messed my hair, sending a spray of water out. His hand slid from my head and down my cheek where it cupped briefly.
"Hey, sorry about Chris back there. He can be a jerk." He said, and then after a brief pause "Actually, he is a jerk."
I laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't think you'd like me anymore if you knew I was..." I trailed off.
He nodded understandingly. "You have a beautiful voice, you know?"
"Thanks." Dammit, I could feel myself blushing. That's another thing I do too easily. Blush.
"I'm sure you've been told that before." Julian nudged me.
"Not by someone as hot as you though." I waited anxiously. Was that too much?
After a moment of silence, "You think I'm hot?"
"Gorgeous," I nodded and paddled my feet in the water nervously.
I felt his lips against my cheek and I blushed a deeper shade of crimson.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the warm night air. I turned to look at him again, and noticed the clock on the wall behind him. It was almost ten thrity. We'd been gone from the Karaoke hall for almost an hour and a half.
"Oh crap!" I exclaimed and jumped to my feet.
He stood too and looked about, not sure what had startled me.
"Danny!" I said desperately. "I left Danny and I promised Mom and Dad I'd have him back by ten." I started to run for the door, then skidded to a halt and came back to Julian. I looked up into his face. "Can I see you again?" I asked, hoping beyond hope that...
"Try and stop me!" he grinned and then kissed me briefly on the lips.
I felt like I was flying, as I ran back through the pool-deck doors and down the corridor. I took the stairs three at a time, descending the two levels to our floor. I was halfway down the hall to our room before I realized I was sans shoes. I had left them by the pool. Oh well, I thought, as I stuck my electronic key in the door, hoping the water hadn't damaged it any. I'll just have to get them tomorrow morning. I eased the door open a crack and saw from the light in the hall that Danny was already back and in bed. I closed the door quickly so as not to wake him and then went into the bathroom. I stripped and showered as quickly and as quietly as I could to get the chlorine off.
Back in my room I slipped on a pair of boxers and a loose shirt I liked to sleep in before crawling into bed. I lay on my side facing the wall and the window we had there. I felt like I'd never stop grinning. Tonight had been... amazing.
There was a noise for Danny's bed and then I felt someone crawling under the covers of my bed. That was kinda odd... Danny hadn't done that for many years now, and when he did, it was only during a thunderstorm.
"You all right?" I whispered in the dark.
His voice came back a bit scratchy. "Yeah."
"Sorry I left you like that."
"It's ok," he said, still sounding as if he had something in his throat. "Me and Claire hung out."
Silence.
"I got back before ten, so you won't get in trouble with mom and dad." He told me.
"Thanks." I couldn't help but smile in the dark. He was a good kid.
A minute or two passed.
"Alex?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are--" he choked up and then tried again. "Are you gay?"
I turned over so I was lying on my back, looking up and the ceiling. I could make out the fan on the ceiling spinning slowly in the light leaking through the window. I tried desperately to think, but my mind seemed to have gone momentarily blank.
Danny broke the silence for me, and any chances I had of denying it should I want to. "I saw you and Julian kissing." He said quietly.
"Yeah." I felt myself tearing up again. "Yeah, I'm gay. Do you hate me now?"
I felt him move closer to me and then his arms wrapped around me from the side. "You're my brother. I'll always love you, no matter what."
That was it, I couldn't hold them back anymore. Tears started running down my face, but not because I was sad. They were because my brother loved me and I was happy. "Thank you." I hugged him back.
Danny's voice drifted out of the darkness again. "Am I gay?"
I started laughing but then stopped. He was probably a bit weirded out, the last thing he needed was my laughing at him. I turned on my side so I was facing him in the dark. "Are you?"
"Well if you are then--" he started.
I rapped my knuckles lightly on his head. "Just 'cause I'm gay doesn't mean you are, dummy." I said. "It's not genetic." I paused. "I don't think..."
"Asshole."
"I have one..." I answered back wittily.
We both burst out laughing.
Yeah, things hadn't changed a bit.
"We need to talk more about this Danny, but can we do it tomorrow when I'm not so tired?" I pleaded.
He laughed. "All right, all right, I get the message. You want me out of your bed."
I felt him get up out of my bed. A few seconds later his mattress squeaked as he sank onto it.
"Night." he called out.
"Night." I replied.
I lay staring up at the ceiling fan slowly spinning. What a day. What a day... I made a mental note to get my shoes in the morning. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and sleep finally claimed me.
Well, there you have it. No angels, no devils, no magic or anything remotely fantasy-like. Fiction, but life based. I thought I'd give it a try. If you liked it enough to feel that I should continue it, then please email me and tell me at ArchangelMatthew72@Hotmail.com. Yes, still the same email address, still the same author. Any feedback you have would be much appreciated. Expect Part 17 of The Angel soon!