Lorenzo Masters has a dream--to be the first person in his family to graduate from college. At fifteen, he is already well on his way with a full ride academic scholarship to Clearwater University, but little does the freshman know he is about to get an education in life, love, and growing up. Morgan Everett on the other hand takes his academics very lightly, as do the other guys of House Orison, but everything changes when they find themselves the unexpected caretakers of an adorable and impressionable Lore. From mentorship to romance, each member of House Orison finds a way to deal with their newfound freshman fifteen.
Lore's first full day at Clearwater University is spent orientating himself to the new campus and his job at the Clearwater General Store run by the dubious Warren Wallace. However, he seems to have his work cut out for him when he meets up with one of his fellow employees and former bullies, Cole Greenberg! Classes are starting, tensions are rising, and it might take a bit more than good intentions to keep things from getting out of control for the youngest member of House Orison.
DISCLAIMER
The following story is completely fictitious and any resemblances to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. Just as in life, this story contains graphic scenes of love and hate, life and death, joy and sorrow, as well as sexually explicit scenes which may involve minors. If it is unlawful for you to view such media, or such material makes you feel uncomfortable, then please read no further than this warning.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I would appreciate any constructive criticism you have to offer me, but anything that lacks any form of redirection or remedy will be ignored. Also, anyone commenting on how I need to make things hotter and steamier between certain characters will be equally ignored. The sexual content of my stories, while present, does not make up the majority of the storytelling. Send legitimate questions or comments to: faretheeforeverwell@yahoo.com.
FRESHMAN FIFTEEN!? -- EPISODE TWO
The wonderfully tempting smell of fresh-cooked eggs, sizzling bacon, lovingly crafted crapes, and delicately sliced fruit wafted through House Orison, as Ian Black prepared a simple--he claimed--breakfast for his housemates. The plates were piled high with pancakes, waffles, and French toast, as well as a heaping side of hash-browns for the starch lovers. All in all, he was pretty satisfied with the spread he had provided, hoping to fit the taste and fill the appetite of each individual in his care. While he had a fairly solid grasp on what each member of House Orison did and did not enjoy eating, as was his duty as a nutritionist and the primary cook for the house, he still didn't know what the house's newest member, Lore Masters, liked to eat.
He figured he would play it safe and cover the basics.
"Damn, dude." Chase said as he wondered downstairs, the smell of delicious food and a morning practice his only motivations, "I think you went a little overboard, mommy."
"You think so?" the friendly redhead asked as he and Chase both surveyed the dozen or so plates of food an army might have trouble devouring. "I just made a little of everything. Besides, if we have any leftovers, I can always send them with you... maybe along with some cookies and cupcakes. I just got this new recipe I want to try out; it is supposed to have all the flavor of normal double-chocolate chunk cookies with only a fraction of the calories."
"Seriously, dude," Chase asked as he grabbed a plate and began filling it with bacon and eggs, "when do you find the time to cook all this stuff? Not that I am complaining, mind you."
The last part of Chase's comment was said while holding a piece of toast in his mouth as he filled up a glass with freshly squeezed orange juice and carried the glass as well as his heaping plate over towards the kitchen's only free spot, the dining table.
As a groggy Warren Wallace joined the group with a half-asleep mumble of morning and a b-line to the coffee maker, Ian prepared a small plate of the cowboy's favorites to ease his transition into the world of the waking. Artisan arrived a moment later appearing to be the most alert of the group, as if he had freshly awoken from meditation.
"Just some juice," Artisan said as he eyed the heaping mounds of food Ian had prepared. He quietly assumed the loveable cook had gone a little overboard on account of the newest addition to their house, and the enigmatic swordsman wanted to stay as far away from Ian as he could, knowing full well the dangers and temptations of the young man's cooking.
"Awe, but Art, you don't even want some coffee cake?" Ian said as he took a step to the right and revealed a small but heaping plate of coffee cake.
"Damn food Oni..." Artisan mumbled as he grabbed a plate and took a meager portion of his most favorite breakfast food.
After a while, Ian noticed both Morgan and Lore had yet to come down to breakfast. Being the caring and nurturing individual he was, Ian decided to go check on them. Moving upstairs and down the hall, Ian's first spot to visit was Lore's room. He figured he would give the newest addition to House Orison first dibs. However, after knocking and then opening the door, he peeked into Lore's room to find the bed empty and barely slept in. A flash of concern overcoming him, Ian hastily moved towards Morgan's room to alert the house captain to the missing Lorenzo Masters.
When he opened the door to Morgan's room, Ian stopped dead in his tracks.
"Hey ya... Ian." Morgan replied sheepishly as Lore continued to doze obliviously, half-naked in the young man's bed. It was almost a comedic sight, Lore had kicked the blanket almost completely off the bed and was currently holding Morgan's arm hostage as he snored silently. The boy's shirt had pulled up a bit, revealing his adorable belly, and a small bit of drool could be seen on his chin.
"Just wanted to let you know breakfast is ready..." Ian said as the hardy housemate began to close the door.
"No, Ian! Please!" Morgan begged as it appeared his one chance for help might be leaving him. "Please, it's not what it looks like. He came into my room last night because he was nervous about sleeping in a new place. We only snuggled! We only snuggled, I swear!"
"Only snuggled?" Ian said as he eyed Morgan critically.
"And I think I might have kissed him on the top of the head... comfortingly." Morgan admitted trying to squeeze each and every ounce of truth out of the night, knowing full well Ian's motherly intuition would catch any and every lie. "Also... he may have admitted he might love me... and I may have admitted that I might love him... but we didn't do anything, I swear. I think it was just all the emotions and stuff from last night spilling over. I bet he doesn't even remember."
Ian looked Lore and Morgan both over critically once more before his radiant green eyes narrowed on Morgan.
"You can't get out of bed, can you?" Ian observed.
"His grip is like an eagle's talon," Morgan admitted, "and he won't get up. I promised him I would be here when he got up in the morning and I think subconsciously he is trying to keep me to my word. Plus he has got to be the heaviest sleeper I have ever seen."
"I see." Ian said simply. "I got this one."
Ian moved inside the room and sat gently on the edge of the bed closest to Lore. Moving a hand behind the boy and around Morgan's captive limb, he began to rub the boy's back and leaned down so his head was only slightly removed from Lore's. As he continued to give Lore a backrub, he began telling Lore it was time to get up and that everybody was waiting for him to get ready for the day. His backrub turned into a one-handed back scratch, and Ian went on explaining what they were going to do today, all of the things they were going to see, all of the fun they were going to have, and to Morgan's surprise Lore let go of his arm and slowly turned over onto his stomach.
"Five more minutes... Nana..." Lore mumbled as he tried to snuggle back into bed while giving Ian better access to his back to continue his scratching.
"Lore," Ian said soothingly as he continued to scratch the boy's back, "I know Morgan is happy to have his arm back, but I think he would be even happier if you joined him downstairs for some breakfast with the guys."
A few moments passed before a still groggy, but awake, Lore turned his head and with a confused expression regarded the person giving him a back scratch. Ian smiled at the boy who, becoming increasingly more and more awake, turned to face Morgan, than back at Ian, before turning a bright shade of red and burying his face in the pillow.
"Morning, sunshine," Morgan said as he gave Lore a playful kiss on the top of his head, "Nana and I are going to go get some breakfast, you going to join us?"
An almost immediate grumble of Lore's stomach answered that question for him, but he was still reluctant to leave the relative safety of the pillow.
"I made bisects and gravy." Ian tempted.
A moment of silence passed before Lore raised his head and turned to Ian.
"Sausage gravy?" he asked hopefully.
Ian just gave Lore a Smile.
"Okay," Lore said as he began getting out of bed before pausing for a moment, "Umm, Ian? Can you a... not tell the other guys... I mean about me sleeping in Morgan's room last night? I don't want them to think I was afraid of sleeping alone..."
"As far as I am concerned," Ian said casually, "I found you in your room when I went to go check on you this morning. Besides, you are in college now Lore, which means you get to sleep wherever you want, with whoever you want, just make sure you are doing what you want and not what someone else wants. That is all I ask. So long as you are safe and happy, I don't care. I know, for a fact, you are safe with Morgan, I just want to know you are happy."
"I AM happy, Ian." Lore said a little oblivious to Ian's meaning, to which Morgan was slowly dying--thankfully out of Lore's line of sight.
Lore's obliviousness and Morgan's humorously embarrassed reaction told Ian all he needed to know; nothing had happened between the two during the night and while Lore may or may not have told Morgan he loved him, Ian knew Morgan wouldn't do anything to hurt Lore. His morning mommy mission accomplished, Ian gathered up Lore and what was left of Morgan's dignity, and escorted them both downstairs for breakfast.
"So," Professor Malcolm said as he wrapped up his conversation with the headmaster, "you decided to let Cole and Chris stay? That is a little surprising."
"Not half as surprising as the request," Headmaster Hodges replied with a chuckle, "Although, when informed of the mandatory 500 hours of community service, only Mr. Greenberg opted to see it through. Mr. Barber, like Mr. Peterson, will be taking a `year off' they said. I am sure, no doubt, at the expense of their parents."
"Kids nowadays," Malcolm observed as he sipped his coffee.
"Indeed, kids nowadays." The old man smiled. "We have a prime example here of two outstanding individuals. One of them, Mr. Masters, has an extraordinary capacity to empathize and forgive, and the other, Mr. Greenberg, has an equally extraordinary ability to face a daunting challenge his peer caved in to after a moment of consideration. We will have to see how Cole Greenberg fairs in his new environment."
"What about Lore?" Malcolm asked. "Should we keep him and Cole separated, just in case he tries something again?"
"I doubt that is necessary." The old man said as he set down his finished cup. "House Orison will be watching him very closely, yes, very closely indeed."
The old man smiled and chuckled a bit to himself as if he had just told a rather amusing joke. Professor Malcolm, faculty advisor for House Orison, was suddenly very nervous.
Lore reached in front of him and grasped the smooth handle of the shower and turned the water off. It had been a relaxing morning with a great big breakfast to kick off the day. He was excited because Warren had told him after breakfast and cleaning up that he would get to go for a `stroll' and see a bit of the campus. As the water dripped off Lore's naked form, he ran his fingers through his lengthy blond hair and swept it back to deal with later.
As the boy exited the shower, he glanced around the decent-sized bathroom and suddenly felt himself at a loss; he had forgotten his towels in his duffle bag. Looking around the bathroom and locating a clean hand towel, Lore carefully covered his front as best he could and eased open the door to the bathroom. Poking his head out the door to see if the coast was clear, he didn't see anyone so he quickly made a b-line for his room.
"Cute butt." The comment came from relatively close to the door Lore had just left.
Turning around quickly to the voice, Lore saw Morgan waiting on the other side of the door where Lore hadn't been able to check. As he whipped around he dropped the hand towel in surprise, revealing to Morgan, and the world, his nude self.
"Oh, man..." Lore moaned in embarrassment as he quickly covered himself with his hands.
"It's okay, Lore." Morgan comforted with a chuckle. "Not like I haven't seen one before."
"Yeah," Lore said still naked and dripping wet, "but not mine!"
"Here," Morgan said as he quickly dipped inside the bathroom and opened a cupboard to reveal a tall stack of towels, "you can use these if you forget yours again. I should have told you about those."
Throwing a towel to Lore, the embarrassed teen caught it with one hand, using his other hand to obscure his privates. Wrapping the towel around himself, he looked like he was more flustered than upset. As he got to the door of his room he stopped and turned around to face Morgan.
"You really think I have a cute butt?" Lore asked a little sheepishly.
Lore quickly ducked into his room with a giggle before a second balled up towel playfully hit his door.
The aroma of freshly cut grass; it was an intoxicating smell that carried with it a hundred wonderful memories for Chase Dunn. A dozen seasons of baseball practice spent honing his skills with his caring father had shaped Chase into the coach he was today, albeit as a coach to a loveable group of ragtag misfits ripe for their own heartwarming coming of age movie. As he overlooked the baseball field where his little warriors were currently milling about while warming up after a brief breakfast provided by Ian's leftovers, he noticed one warrior--his most troublesome warrior--not where he was supposed to be.
"Whit Riley, what are you looking at?" Chase shouted to the small dark-haired boy perched on the top of the fence that overhung the batting cage. That particular spot was the usual hangout for the youngster before practice.
"That blond boy is going someplace with the cowboy man!" Riley shouted back with concern in his voice.
Whit remembered all too well how the cowboy man had tricked him into confessing when he had broken the lock on the gate of House Orison when trying to retrieve a stray ball. That man was crafty and no-good; well, at least when Riley was trying to do no-good himself. The young boy immediately feared the cowboy man was luring the blond boy into some sort of trap.
"We've been over this, Riley, his name is not the `cowboy man,' its Warren..." Chase tried to explain to the youngster.
"He's the COWBOY MAN!" Riley shouted back defiantly.
All the kids called Warren the cowboy man.' Chase let the battle go, knowing full well he wasn't going to win this one. For his part, Warren didn't seem to mind the kids calling him the cowboy man,' and if anything appeared to be encouraging it. Chase mentally sighed.
"The blond-haired boy is named Lore." Chase explained. "He's fifteen and he is a part of House Orison now, so you treat him with respect."
"Lore's a girl name." Riley commented more out of ignorance than actually making fun of the kid. "He's pretty like a girl."
Riley's last comment almost went under Chase's radar.
"You think Lore is pretty?" Chase asked the young boy as he continued to give an appraising eye to the rest of his team who were busy warming up out of earshot.
"Well, duh," came the typical kid reply.
A few moments of silence passed and then Coach Chased suspected his little troublemaker was becoming a little self-conscious. Riley rolled himself onto his stomach above Chase, so he could look down at the young man through the chain link fencing of the overhang, his dark blue eyes almost pleading with his coach.
"Umm, Coach Chase," Riley asked, "you ain't gonna tell nobody I thought he was pretty, are you? I don't want them thinking I'm gay or nothing. They'll make fun of me."
"Don't worry, Riley." Chase assured. "Just because you think a boy is pretty doesn't make you gay. Just because you like a boy doesn't make you gay. And being gay isn't a bad thing, remember? We've talked about this stuff before. If it makes you feel any better, though, I promise not to tell anybody."
Chase found his lightly tanned skin blushing a bit as he thought about Riley having a little crush on Lore; he thought it was cute.
"You sure act weird when we talk about this stuff, Coach Chase." Riley commented with a smirk. "You think Lore is pretty too?"
"Well, Riley," Chase countered, "you could keep asking questions like that AND run laps, or you could just come down and have a normal practice with the team, for once. And for the record, yes, Lore is very pretty and I am not ashamed to say that."
"Is that because you are a switcher...a... switch hitter?" Whit asked obviously trying to get the newly acquired term right.
"Riley?" Chase said with a cautioning voice, "Are you asking, do I think Lore is pretty because I swing both ways?"
"Yeah," Riley said a little more enthusiastically than he probably should have, almost immediately regretting what he had said, "Sorry Coach Chase."
"Who told you that?" Chase asked more annoyed than anything. "Spit it out, kiddo."
"Jamal." Riley said fingering one of the older kids on the team. "He was saying he heard from some of the college guys saying you play for both teams, but I've only seen you coach. Were you any good on those other teams, Coach Chase? What position did you play?"
Somewhere in their talk about sexuality, Riley got lost and had assumed it had more to do with baseball. Chase silently chastised himself for mixing too many spots analogies into his talks with Riley, but was quietly thankful the youngster didn't have a full grasp on the entire situation. Ever since the boy's parents had been on the outs, he had been looking to Chase more and more as a role-model, and all of his typical ten year old questions seemed to be directed towards his mentor from baseball, to school, to sex and, surprisingly, sexuality.
"Trust me, Riley," Chase said as he motioned for the boy to come down and rejoin the team for practice, "I didn't get that much playing time on either team. Just forget about it and let's warm up, okay?"
"Still," Riley said as he took one last look back at Lore and the cowboy man as they disappeared down the way, "what is Lore doing with the cowboy man?"
That was a good question, Chase thought to himself as he gathered up the ten year old and escorted him back to the group, what was he doing with Warren Wallace?
What was he doing with Warren Wallace, Lore silently asked himself as he continued to walk with the cowboy stride for stride. It had been after their delicious breakfast and after Chase had made his way out, loaded down with a pile of food for his players, that Warren had told Morgan he was going to `borrow' Lore for a bit after his shower. As the two continued to walk side by side, the fresh air and a full belly seemed to be doing them both good as they enjoyed the early morning air. However, Lore couldn't help but wonder where they were wandering off to.
"Lore," the cowboy said after a while, "I wanted to let ya know about a bit of business we have left to finish up. As I said before, I am the proprietor of the campus store here at the university, and yawl be working for me this year."
"Yeah," Lore said remembering what Warren had said the night before and their brief talk this morning, "I guess I will be working for you. Is that what you are borrowing me for?"
"Yup," Warren said with a little bit of a grin, "Ya see, I had me an idea about how to make the most of your youthful resources while working for me. We are on our way now to get your new uniform."
"My uniform?" Lore asked a little confused. "I thought working at the campus store you just needed normal clothing and stuff."
"Don't worry yourself on the details, Lore," Warren said as he slithered a reassuring hand around the boy's shoulder, "Just let me take care of every little thing."
Morgan was worried. Lore had left with Warren almost two hours ago and he had heard nothing from either of them. When they had left, Morgan had seen that look in Warren's eyes, that plotting planning look. While Morgan trusted Warren to keep Lore safe and unharmed both safe' and unharmed' were subjective terms to Warren Wallace. As Morgan dragged Ian and Artisan down to the campus store with him to check on Lore and Warren, none of the guys of House Orison were prepared for what awaited them when they opened the door to the Clearwater General Store.
"Welcome," a smiling Lorenzo Masters said as he turned to the sound of the bell as the three young men entered, "how can I help you today?"
Morgan, Ian, and Artisan were rendered speechless.
Lore seemed to light up the old-fashioned general store, the boy's cheerful disposition contrasting with the rustic wooden shelves and earthy feel of the `trading post style' store. Lore wore a clean white apron and a brown and white outfit that seemed to scream frontier general store, but in a clean and polished way that reflected Lore's own innocent nature. The boy's blond hair had been tied back into a short ponytail, but his bangs had been allowed to hang down the side of his face, accenting his pretty features. He looked absolutely adorable, and Morgan had a sneaking suspicion that had been Warren's intent all along.
"Oh, hey guys." Lore said cheerfully as he recognized Morgan and the others, "This is the campus store I am going to be working at. Doesn't it look cool?"
Cool wasn't exactly the word Morgan would use to describe Warren's set up, but indeed with the addition of the new uniforms the entrepreneur had provided for the rest of the staff he saw milling about it had really come together.
"It sure does look cool, buddy." Morgan said encouragingly and as Lore gave a toothy grin he suddenly realized Warren's intent.
"Oh, my God, he is so cute!" a random underclassman said as she saw Lore with his apron sweeping the dusty hardwood floors of the store.
"I know," a second girl said, "he is totally adorable."
"I wonder if he is in high school yet?" the final girl in the group asked as the three milled about out of earshot of Lore, "He looks like he is twelve!"
"Now, now ladies," Warren said smoothly as he inserted himself amongst their number, wrapping his arms suavely over the shoulders of two of them, "ya be nice to my close friend Lore over there. He is new to Clearwater this year and this is his first job. Now, I know yawl didn't mean no offense, but he is a sensitive and bright fifteen year old boy who looks to me for guidance and nurturing. So please, go say howdy to him for me and make him feel welcome by purchasing a few minor items with his help."
Morgan thought he was going to be sick, but before he could confront Warren the three girls that had been listening to Warren's words appeared to be nearly in tears. Together the girls went over to Lore and immediately began talking with him, admiring his cute outfit and how lovely his hair was and asking him any number of questions. They were hooked.
"Well, Warren," Morgan said as he made his way up to the cowboy who was placing his signature hat back on his head, "you're a bastard."
"Yup," Warren said with a cheeky smile, "but a profitable one. That there is the fourth group of girls we've had in here in the last hour all scouting out Lore. He is a real babe magnet and so far sales have been great. The girls just can't seem to get enough eye candy, and because they get another chance to talk with him when he rings them up, they almost always buy stuff before they leave. And before ya get all preachy on me about dolling him up, I told him exactly what my plan was and he was completely okay with it."
"Lore was completely okay with it?" Morgan asked.
Warren thought back to two hours ago...
"So, if I wear this outfit and put my hair up like this... you really think Morgan will like it?" Lore asked Warren as the cowboy handed him his new uniform.
"Yup," Warren said confidently. "I'm sure he will love it. Just don't go making a big deal about it or answering a whole lot of questions and such; otherwise it might make him suspicious... I mean, he hates that sort of thing."
"Absolutely," Warren confirmed after a moment of quiet reflection. "Just don't go making a big deal about it or asking questions and such; otherwise it might hurt his feelings. You know, he really likes you, Morgan, and if you were to tell him looking nice and being liked was a bad thing..."
"Oh, no," Ian butted in, "Warren Wallace, you have done some pretty low things in your time to turn a profit, but this is by far the lowest, cheapest..."
"Hey guys." Lore said cheerfully as he joined Warren, Morgan, Artisan and Ian.
"...the lowest, cheapest price I have ever seen... strawberry liquorish..." Ian saved as he grabbed a pack of candy from a nearby shelf.
"You don't even eat candy." Morgan observed critically, but his comment was lost.
"Oh wow," Lore said eyeing the pack of long red liquorish. "Those are my favorite."
Almost immediately the section where the boys were standing was attacked by two or three groups of girls and when the dust had settled all of the strawberry liquorish, save for the pack of candies in Ian's hand, were gone.
"Lore," Warren cautioned, "didn't we talk about using the f-word around so many customers?"
"Sorry," Lore said sheepishly.
"Awe, that's okay partner," Warren said cheerfully as he made a mental note to back stock on strawberry liquorish and maybe set up a billboard of Lore's favorite stuff.
"Umm, this has happened before?" Morgan asked looking a little roughed up from the female hit-squad.
"Yup," Warren confirmed, "within the first hour we were flat out of bubblegum flavored tooth-paste, chocolate covered raisins, and Dr. Pepper. It wasn't until we sold the last Pixar movie we had in stock that we realized what was going on."
Lore blushed as Warren read out a list of his favorite things for all to hear.
"Well, I still don't know if I approve of all this," Morgan said a little curtly to Warren, "but if Lore is okay to go along with it, then I guess there isn't any harm being done. You just be sure to tell me if Warren makes you do anything you don't want to do, and I mean it."
"Thanks, Morgan," Lore said with renewed confidence as he gave his big brother a heartfelt hug.
Morgan suddenly felt every female eye in the entire store upon him. Looking around he could see each and every female patron of the general store caught in conflicted anguish, trapped somewhere between heartfelt joy at seeing such a tender brotherly moment and terrifying jealousy that they could not share in it.
"Well," Morgan said a bit nervously, "I guess we better get going. Now, I don't want him working too late, Warren. We only have today and tomorrow off, but then classes begin and I want him on a regular sleep schedule."
"Umm... I'm right here." Lore said with a bit of a playful scowl.
"I know," Morgan said reassuringly, "I just wanted to make myself clear with Warren since I know you will listen to him and be a great employee. Warren just sometimes forgets about things when he is in his store. Like, last year he spent the entire night doing inventory instead of studying for an important exam; took the test cold and with no sleep."
"Still got an A," Warren said cheerfully, "it was just a philosophy class. Those things are all cake walks."
"Really, Warren?" Artisan said dangerously as he spoke for the first time.
"I mean, it's a cake walk when you are as understanding and compassionate about logic, the humanities, and ethics like I am." Warren tried to save as he took a few well placed steps away from the swordsman philosophy major he had unwittingly angered.
"Alright, guys," Morgan finally chimed back in, "enough is enough, let's let Lore get back to work."
As the day wore on, the steady flow of customers continued and as Warren helped the other workers ring in sales and organized shelves, he left Lore to sweep the rather dusty floor of the store. Calling it `busy work' Lore had heard a number of customers comment how cute he had looked sweeping with the old-style bristle broom, and the boy had a sneaking suspicion that was why Warren still had him sweeping. While he was rather flattered by the comments he was receiving, he didn't think he looked like anything special. Still, it felt nice to be liked.
He smiled quietly to himself as he continued to work, replaying Morgan's reaction when he had entered the store and saw Lore in his uniform for the first time. He thought Morgan liked it, or at least he hoped Morgan liked it. The more he dwelled on it the more stupid he realized he probably sounded the night before, talking about `love loving' Morgan. It had been sudden, his feelings had all been right there, and he felt foolish for just blurting them out like that. After all, Morgan was a college guy and probably had someone special already.
The telltale ringing of the shop bell indicated another customer, and as Lore turned to welcome the new patron his voice fell short.
"Hey." The familiar voice said, but rather than a shout of anger or hate, it was quieter; as if treading nervously on unknown ground.
Cole Greenberg was a fairly intimidating individual; his short brown hair was spiked up and frosted in a stylish way that seemed to set him apart from his peers. With a few piercings in his ears and eyebrow, he looked less like an outstanding member of high society and more like a punk rocker in a polo shirt. His normally fierce looking emerald eyes seemed to be tinged with something Lore could only describe as nervousness. He was a wolf separated from his pack.
"A... hey, Cole," Lore said a little nervously as he unconsciously seemed to place the broom between him and the older boy, "how's it... what's up?"
"Look," Cole said as he looked around the store uncomfortably while absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head where he had been hit the night before by Chase's baseball bat, "I just... I'm sorry about... you know... everything. It... I didn't think Jon would actually do something like that, and I know we ain't had the... much of... we haven't been friends... but I never wanted... I'm sorry, okay?"
Even though the words were jumbled, Lore sensed a truth in Cole's words, as ill formed as they might be.
"Greenberg!" came a rather startling shout from Warren Wallace as he moved in and eyed the freshman talking to Lore, "You're late!"
Cole seemed to immediately stand on edge.
"Sorry, Mr. Wallace," Cole said as he addressed the upperclassman, "It won't happen again."
"It best not," Warren said as he moved in defensively, "just remember, ya owe me 500 hours."
"Yes, sir." Cole Greenberg said a little crestfallen.
"Umm, Warren?" Lore asked still a little confused, "What's going on?"
"Oh, that's right," Warren said as he thought about it a moment, "ya were changing when Malcolm came in and told me the news. When ya asked the headmaster to let Cole and Chris stay at Clearwater, the headmaster told em both if they wanted to stay they would have to complete 500 hours of community service to the university. Only one of em decided to tough it out, but to ensure he don't cause any trouble, Cole has been placed in my loving and caring hands."
"You asked the headmaster to let me and Chris stay?" Cole asked a little confused as he regarded Lore.
"You are going to be working at the campus store... with me?" Lore asked equally confused.
"Be careful what ya wish for, son." Warren said coyly as he addressed Lore while still eyeing Cole.
Lore suddenly felt very unsure of himself. He had really liked the idea of giving Cole a second chance at Clearwater, but he had assumed he would maybe see the older boy a few times a week in passing, at best. The prospect of having to work closely with Cole Greenberg and his 500 hours of community service caused the picked on nerd in his head to scream out in fright. Unfortunately, a bit of that internal anguish seemed to seep out into Lore's look, and Cole picked up on it.
"I see," the older boy said as he avoided looking Lore in the eyes, a bit of anger radiating from his person, "look, I just want to do my 500 hours and I won't bother you guys ever again."
"Good." Warren said as he placed a protective hand on Lore's shoulder. "And don't ya ever forget, we'll be watching you. One slip-up, just one, and ya won't have to worry about 500 hours. Ya got it?"
"Yeah," Cole said as he addressed Warren in a respectful but anger filled tone, "I got it.'"
After Cole arrived, Warren told Lore to go get changed and head back home. Warren figured Cole could pick up the slack, and while Lore changed out of his uniform, Cole changed into his. Neither boy said anything to the other in the backroom, but Lore could feel a sudden coldness from Cole that hadn't been present earlier and he didn't know why. As Lore was finished buttoning up his shirt, Cole had just placed his apron on and started walking towards the door out of the back room.
"It was nice..." Lore began as Cole existed the room without a word, "... you decided to stay."
Lore sighed to himself.
On the long walk back home, Lore seemed to take his time and a ten minute walk turned into a half hour stroll. He had a lot on his mind and he just didn't know how to feel. On the one hand, he and Cole Greenberg had never gotten along, but on the other hand he had sensed in Cole a genuine interest in being friends and then suddenly it was gone.
As Lore slowly wandered past the baseball field he had walked by on his way to work with Warren, he noticed a kid in the field throwing a ball up in the air and catching it over and over. Upon closer inspection he saw it was the dark-haired boy who had caused so much trouble the other day. He remembered the boy's name was Riley. How could he forget the way Chase shouted it? As Lore passed by, he found himself wandering closer to where the boy was playing catch with himself, and as he got closer the boy seemed to spot Lore. Almost immediately he stopped throwing the ball into the air and just waited for Lore to reach him.
"Hey," Lore said with a friendly smile, "you're Riley, right?"
"Yeah," the young boy said with the same torpid attitude he had given his coach the day before, "you're Lore. Coach Chase says you are part of House Orison so I have to listen to you, but you're just a kid too."
"Yeah, I know." Lore said a little embarrassed. "You don't have to listen to me."
"Oh, no you don't." Riley said defiantly. "If I don't listen to you then I'll have to run laps, Chase said so. But... you told me NOT to listen to you... so if I do listen to you... than I wouldn't be listening to you... awe crap... I'm going to have to run laps, aren't I?"
Lore found himself giggling at the boy's logic to which Riley gave a toothy grin.
"You're funny." Lore said as he suddenly felt a little better.
"Thanks, you're pretty." Riley said. "I... I mean..."
"Thanks." Lore said with a friendly smile as Riley turned three shades of red. "I've been getting a lot of that lately..."
"Oh," Riley breathed a sigh of relief. If he wasn't the only one who thought Lore was pretty, then it wouldn't be such a big deal, but still, he suddenly got a sinking feeling when he realized Lore had been told that a lot. "So, you probably have lots of girlfriends..."
"No, no girlfriends." Lore said with a chuckle.
"Oh, you have a boyfriend?" Riley asked a lighter shade of red coming to his face. "I know boys sometimes have boyfriends, especially really nice looking boys like you and Chase."
"Chase?" Lore asked a little surprised. "I didn't know Chase had a boyfriend."
Today was not Whit Riley's day.
As the younger boy simply fell backwards in embarrassment he let his glove and ball fall to the side. He was going to have to run laps, he knew it, Chase was going to find out Riley blabbed and make him run laps... or worse, kick him off the team. Just as he felt his heart sink the lowest it had the entire day, he felt the grass next to him move a bit and he turned his head to see Lore lay down in the grass next to him.
"It's okay, Riley," Lore said as he lay next to the boy, "I'm not going to say anything to Chase, promise."
"You really promise?" the boy said nearly in tears.
"Yup," Lore said encouragingly.
Both boys sat in silence for a few moments simply enjoying the feel of the cool grass and each other's company.
"Umm... Lore?" Riley asked a little nervously as he held back a sniffle. "Will you be my friend?"
"Sure," Lore replied. "I'd love to be your friend."
"Cool." The young boy said as he lay next to his new friend for a while longer and regained his composure.
Both boys seemed to soak in the early evening air, but it was getting darker out quickly. Riley seemed distracted to Lore, and so he moved a comforting hand over to the young boy's arm.
"You okay, Riley?" Lore asked.
"Yeah," the boy replied half-heartedly, "just thinking and stuff."
"Oh," Lore said as he allowed the boy to think and stuff a while longer. "Anything I can do to help you think?"
"No." the boy quietly stated as he retrieved his baseball and held it up in the air using its form to block out the budding moon. "My parents yell a lot. Not at me, but at each other. I guess they don't like each other or something, but then I don't know why they decided to be parents... if they don't like each other. Do your parents yell, Lore?"
"No," Lore said peacefully, "my parents don't yell. My mom and I argued sometimes, we still argue sometimes I guess, but I've never really talked to my dad much. I don't think they get along either, though. But, Riley, just because parents argue with each other, or even argue with their kids doesn't mean they don't love one another and it certainly doesn't mean your parents don't love you. I'm sure it would hurt them to know they are hurting you by arguing all the time."
"Yeah," Riley admitted, "that's what Chase says too."
"Well, there you go." Lore encouraged. "Chase is a smart guy."
"Yeah," Riley echoed, "he thinks you are pretty too."
Lore could almost hear the sound of Riley mentally face-palming himself as they both lay in the grass.
The next morning, Lore Masters felt himself start to get into the swing of things. He had opted to spend the night in his own room and although it had felt different he finally settled and got a decent night's sleep. He awoke on his own, earlier than expected, and decided to make the most of the morning and got himself ready for the day. As he arrived downstairs the gentle smells of food cooking wafted up to meet him and he found Ian working in the kitchen to prepare another glorious breakfast. Transfixed by the redhead's almost artistic flow as he mixed, poured, checked, and baked; it wasn't until the husky cook put the last of his creation into the oven to bake that he seemed to notice and regard Lore.
"Morning," Ian said cheerfully, "I didn't expect to see you up so early. You sleep okay?"
"Yeah," Lore said as he took a seat at the dining room table, "I think I am getting used to stuff here. It will just take a while before it starts to feel like home, I guess."
Ian gave Lore a warm smile.
"So," Ian said as he set his timer and poured two glasses of milk for the both of them, "What's it like? Back home, I mean."
"Oh, well," Lore began as he accepted the tall glass of cold milk from his housemate. "It is different, I can tell you that. For the last few years it has just been me and Nana, my mom's mom. We have a small bit of land and a pretty nice house. Everything in the house is run off solar power and a few backup generators, so we don't have things like internet or television or a phone. We have a radio that allows us to contact people outside, but mostly it is really simple and a little backwards I guess."
"Nah," Ian said as he sipped his milk, "sounds peaceful."
"It is for the most part." Lore admitted. "We just have the occasional big cat or wolf that wanders close to the house, so we have to be careful all the time, but the land has been in my family's care for five generations now, since my great-great-grandfather was given the land and told to watch over it. He swore he would and so would his children and his children's children and so on. I guess you could say it is a tradition in our family, but as it is... Nana and I are all that's left of that line of ancestors. Someday, when I am old enough, I will return home and watch over the land."
"Wow," Ian said as he set down his half-finished glass, "now that sounds like an adventure."
"It could be..." Lore said a little unsure, "but..."
"But what?" Ian asked a little concerned at Lore's apparent hesitation.
"Nothing." Lore said as he returned a weak smile. "Hey, I think I am going to go for a walk and explore the campus for awhile before I pop into work this afternoon, okay?"
"Sure thing, Lore." Ian said with a genuinely caring smile in return. "I'll pack you a little bit of a lunch for later. Just let me know if you need anything."
With that, Lore excused himself and decided to go get ready for a stroll in the early morning air.
The walk didn't seem to ease Lore's troubled thoughts and they seemed to overshadow the day as Lore put on his apron and got ready for his second shift at the Clearwater general store. Putting on a cheerful face, because he knew if he looked depressed it might tip Warren or the others off that he was worried about something, he bravely stepped into the store proper to face the day. As he did so, he immediately saw Cole Greenberg sweeping the endlessly dusty floor.
"Hey Cole," Lore said welcomingly to the older teen as he walked past.
"Hey." Cole said with minimalistic effort.
As the day wore on and he had to restock some of the things they had run out of the first day due to using the f-word so much, Lore asked if Cole could help him out.
"Sure." The teen said with little enthusiasm.
As they worked side by side, Cole said nothing and Lore seemed to prattle on about nothing just to fill in the silence. All in all, if felt very one sided.
As Lore helped out customers and rang people in, Cole would go and work in another area of the store, always staying busy and never giving Warren Wallace anything to complain about, but still to Lore it felt like the teen was mad at him; or at least avoiding him. Finally, as the work day came to a close around early evening, both Lore and Cole were free to go and they continued to change silently next to each other, Lore all but giving up hope that they could start a normal conversation and learn more about each other; so that they might become friends.
"Night." Cole said, unsolicited for once as he grabbed his bag and made his way towards the door.
"Good night, Cole." Lore said a little disheartened.
As the older boy left, Lore suddenly felt something inside of him breaking. He didn't know why or how, but it seemed to hurt more now that Cole didn't want to be his friend than it did when he bullied Lore with Jon and Chris. Grabbing his own bag, he decided he was going to confront Cole Greenberg once and for all, and as he made his way with determination to the door to follow Cole into the early evening air he never saw the other figure follow him out the door.
Cole Greenberg had been walking back towards the freshman dorms for about five minutes before he finally got irritated enough to whip around and glare at the empty park behind him. The nice secluded area seemed eerie, yet peaceful, and while its trees provided excellent cover for hiding, he quickly spotted the ill-concealed Lore Masters who had been following him.
"Your bag is showing." Cole said not amused by the young teen's antics.
Lore sheepishly and slowly revealed himself from his unsuccessful attempt at hiding.
"Sorry," Lore said a bit embarrassed, "I just wanted to talk to you."
"We don't have anything to talk about." Cole said a little irritated.
"Well, I think we do." Lore said a little irritated himself, "We work together for almost six hours and you say maybe a total of six words to me? I try to be friendly, but you just push me away and don't even make an effort."
"I don't make an effort?" Cole almost yelled back at the boy, "I'm trying as hard as I can to stay at this stupid school and classes haven't even started yet. Here is a little reality check for you, Mr. Perfect, I have nothing now! I have no friends, I have nothing outside of a job where my boss hates me and is actively looking for a way to fire me and get me kicked out of school, when classes start I am going to be dead in the water because I'm not exactly a brain like you, and the worst... the WORST is every single day I am here it is because someone I hurt took pity on me. I'm a fucking charity case now, on top of everything else!"
Lore just stood in utter disbelief and Cole's outburst.
"You want to know why I didn't say anything more to you than what I had to in order to do my job?" Cole asked rhetorically, "It's because I was told by our noble sheriff of a boss if I made you upset he would have my ass kicked out of school faster than I could say `tar-nation,' and I knew if I tried to talk to you, if I tried to apologize, or say I was sorry, or try to be your friend I would just get so pissed off it WOULD make you upset. You see, I can't help but fuck up, and now that Jon is gone there is no one to bail me out, and now that Chris is gone there is no one to talk to, and if I get kicked out than that means I have to go back home... and then it all starts over... it all starts again."
Cole looked into Lore's eyes with a fierceness that frightened him; they were eyes of defiance.
"I made a promise," Cole said dangerously, "probably the first promise I've made and intended to keep in a long time. When I was given this opportunity to get away from all that shit back home, I promised myself I would do everything in my power to make sure I didn't fuck it up, but I guess I should have known better. I just, I get so pissed off sometimes I want to scream, but I know nothing I say or do is going to change what I've done and who I've hurt."
Lore watched in stunned silence as the anger and rage from Cole Greenberg seemed to slip away almost as quickly as it had overcome him and the intense emotions the older teen had been radiating seemed to be replaced with a sadness.
"I have to admit..." he said with a defeated tone, "when Jon, Chris, and I were always picking on you back home, I didn't care. I honestly didn't care that we hurt your feelings, or made you cry, or even that we sometimes roughed you up. It was a game, a cruel ass game and with the three of us it was fun, but... the other night, when Jon was saying and doing all those things. When I held you back and saw him cutting your clothes off like that... I honestly expected at any moment he was going to stop and just give a big grin and say `got you' or something. It wasn't until he started talking about your body... what he wanted to do... I was afraid. I was afraid for the first time about what he was going to do to you, but more so I was afraid of what he would do to me if I didn't go along with him."
"Cole..." Lore said as the older teen seemed to radiate guilt.
"The reason I don't talk to you isn't because I hate you." Cole said and he looked to the boy with pain in his eyes. "The reason I don't talk to you is because I am ashamed of what almost happened, of what I almost allowed to happen, and I know nothing I say or do is going to take that back. I just... I don't know what to do anymore."
Cole turned away from Lore's eyes, those strangely beautiful blue eyes and seemed to pierce his soul. As he began to walk away, he felt his shirt snag on something. Looking behind him, he saw it was Lore who was holding the end of his shirt in a gentle hand.
"You can start," Lore said simply, "by getting to know me and for once letting me get to know you. Who knows, we might actually get along. If you are worried about grades and stuff, we are both freshman so chances are we are going to have some of the same classes, and as you may have noticed I'm somewhat of a prodigy when it comes to book learning and stuff, so I can help you out there. As far as being pissed off all the time, though, I think that is something you are going to have to work on yourself, but now that I know some of the reasons, I can understand."
It was Cole's turn to be stunned into silence.
"Listen," Lore continued, "I asked them to consider not kicking you and Chris out because I thought everybody should have a chance to reinvent themselves in college, not because I felt pity or because I felt sorry for you. In fact, up until a moment ago, I was still pretty mad at you, maybe a part of me will be mad at you for a while... I don't know. Either way, I asked them to give both you AND Chris a chance, but it was YOU that decided to take it and get away from Jon, it was YOU that decided to put up with 500 hours of community service, and it is YOU who is going to see it through to the end. That much I am sure of."
Cole scoffed a bit.
"How can you be so sure I can do it?" Cole asked.
"Simple," Lore replied, "because I will be in your corner, and if you need someone to help you get through this, please, let it be me. I want to see you succeed, Cole, I really do. It gives me hope that no matter what the circumstances, no matter how much is stacked against you in life, if someone has the will to work hard for something, they can earn it. This, Cole Greenberg, is your chance to earn something you want in life. Earn it and it is all yours and no one, not the headmaster, not Warren Wallace, not even Jon can take it away from you."
A few moments of silence passed before Lore let go of Cole's shirt.
"Thanks." Cole said as he felt the last of his anger slip away. "Hey, look, I got to get going. I have stuff to do before tomorrow; classes and stuff, you know? Anyway, just... thanks."
With that Cole Greenberg hefted his bag over his shoulder and began walking towards the freshman dorms, and after a few moments of watching him depart, Lore Masters gathered up his bag and made his way home to House Orison. As Lore passed by a rather thick oak tree, he thought he heard something, but it must have been his imagination.
In the shadows of that same oak, Warren Wallace put his tasers away and headed home himself, knowing full well the talking-to he was going to receive.
"And," Lore continued, "you aren't to harass Cole anymore, you got that mister?"
It was almost comedic the way the young teen was attempting to tear the cowboy a new one with a verbal lashing. He was obviously upset about Warren giving Cole such a hard time, but Lore was also understanding and forgiving, so long as Warren promised to be fare from now on.
"I got it." Warren said simply, his hands up in surrender. "Ya know, Lore, I have to admit ya were right."
"Wait," Chase said as he popped his head in from the hallway, "Warren is admitting he was wrong?"
"I didn't say that, now," Warren quickly corrected the athlete, "I'm just saying, Lore was right. He decided to give Cole a chance and even with all my criticizing, he's a decent employee. I will do my best to give him a fair shake, but ya still keep an eye on him, Lore."
"I know," Lore said quietly, "It's not like I can exactly put 4 years of hell behind me in a few days time, but I really want to try to move past it. I know I've made some mistakes... said some things I am not proud of, but in the end I've learned something from every mistake. Then again, I've always been fortunate to have great teachers in that regard."
Lore smiled and Warren knew everything was going to be okay.
The first week of classes seemed to fly by as Lore got accustomed to college life. He was taking mostly general education courses, and as luck would have it he had Cole Greenberg in his afternoon English class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. As Lore sat down in his desk a few spots removed from Cole, he offered a friendly wave and smile to which the brooding older teen begrudgingly reciprocated. Almost immediately Cole was pounced upon by a group of girls that had been eyeing Lore.
"Oh my God, you know that blond kid?"
"Are you two related?"
"Do you know each other from someplace?"
"Where do you guys hangout?"
"Haven't we seen you at the campus store?"
And a host of other rapidly fired questions assaulted Cole to which he replied little until he was saved by class starting.
Lore immediately felt bad for him and as the younger boy ventured a tentative glace towards Cole's seat he was met with a glare, but one far removed from the anger and turmoil from the night before. Instead it seemed to be saying to Lore, `you jerk, you did this to me on purpose.' Lore sheepishly smiled an apology in reply and kept his hands neatly folded for the rest of the period.
As the week progressed onward, Lore found his mind occupied by school work, working at the campus store, and getting to know his professors and classmates. However, during the quieter moments of the evening, his thoughts would return to Morgan and he would feel a little disheartened. After a whole week, Morgan hadn't said anything to Lore about seeing him naked or sleeping in his bed and since their schedules were so different, they rarely got to spend time alone with one another.
"Maybe he doesn't want me after all..." Lore said quietly as he double-checked his science homework one last time.
"Maybe who doesn't want you after all?" Morgan said from Lore's open doorway.
"Oh, Morgan!" Lore said as he turned red and shut his open text book with his hand still trapped inside. "Ouch!"
"Well, don't do it if it hurts, silly." Morgan chucked as he moved closer to Lore's bed and took a seat next to the teen and examined his hand to make sure it was okay.
Even though his hand hurt a bit, Lore didn't care if Morgan held his hand forever, but after making sure he was alright Morgan returned Lore his hand and ruffled the younger boy's blond hair.
"Hey, so I was thinking, tonight is Friday night, no classes tomorrow, so why don't we go out and get some ice-cream? I know you have work tomorrow afternoon and I have to do a patrol tonight, but that doesn't start for another few hours, so what do you say?" Morgan offered. "Just you and me."
"I'd like that a lot." Lore said with a smile.
As the two boys walked side by side, enjoying their ice-cream from one of the local spots, they talked about everything and nothing. Lore talked about work, his classes, and some of the people he had met. Morgan talked about some of his harder courses, a bit about some of his patrols from the past, and a little bit about Lore's own role in House Orison as a patrol captain. As the conversation transitioned from recruiting members for the sixth squad to the family like atmosphere of House Orison, Morgan began talking a bit about his family and what it was like back home.
"So, your family owns some land too?" Lore asked as they finally came to rest at the bench they had first met.
"Yeah, my mom and dad bought it a while back." Morgan explained. "I was too young to remember much about our cramped apartment before that, and my younger brother has never known any other home. It's not huge, but you can spend a day exploring it and there is a beautiful creek that runs right through it that my little brother and I like to go swimming in."
"Sounds nice," Lore replied with a delicate smile as he observed a bit of his ice-cream melting down his hand to which he made short work of its cold and sweet encroachment.
"Lore," Morgan asked as he wrapped an arm around the gangly youth, "what's bugging you? You've been worried about something all week. Is it Cole?"
"No," Lore admitted, "Cole hasn't bothered me and we actually talk to each other at work now. I'm not worried about him..."
"Oh," Morgan said with an agreeable nod, "So, does it happen to have anything to do with maybe me seeing you naked? Or the night you spent in my bed?"
Lore just slumped in his seat, feeling like his whole private world was on display for all to see.
"I'm sorry, Lore." Morgan said as he rubbed Lore's arm reassuringly. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad or embarrass you. I just... it's complicated."
"No, it's okay." Lore replied with a half-hearted grin. "It's because I'm too young, isn't it? You don't want a boyfriend who is five years younger than you are."
"No, that's not it at all, Lore." Morgan said with a bit of a chuckle. "Although, I'd probably get more than a few dangerous looks from those groups of girls that seem to fancy you if we started dating, and I do think you should wait a bit before you get into a really serious relationship, but can I let you in on a little secret?"
"What?" Lore asked genuinely interested.
"My first boyfriend was a senior in high school... when I was a freshman." Morgan quietly declared as he let his foot playfully bump Lore's. "Not even Warren knows, and he thinks he knows everything about me. His name was Allan and I honestly thought we were in love, but one day he just told me he was done being my boyfriend. No reason at all, and it hurt a lot... especially back then because I wasn't out to a lot of people. I guess what I am saying is, what you are feeling for me right now may be real love, but it also just might be a passing feeling. I am totally a hundred percent willing and open to be in a relationship with you Lore, but I don't want to see you get hurt... I don't want to get hurt, either."
Lore sat quietly and listened to Morgan talk. He had no idea he had a boyfriend before, and Lore stupidly realized he didn't know much about Morgan at all. Here he was feeling like he was in love when he hardly knew anything about him.
"I take it by your quiet, thoughtful, look that you are starting to understand what I am getting at." Morgan said passively as he savored some more of his ice-cream. "Still... it is only fair I tell you, Lore, that I haven't felt that sort of special connection with anyone since Allan... at least, not until I started to get to know you. I guess you just voiced your feelings before I had a chance to even really examine my own, but I want you to know I really meant it when I said what I said about love loving you."
Lore looked up at Morgan with budding hope in his eyes.
"Now, I'm not saying we are dating, but I'm saying I want to get to know you better." Morgan said with a slight squeeze to Lore's arm.
"I want to get to know you better too." Lore echoed.
"Just promise me one thing?" Morgan asked.
"Anything," Lore said honestly.
"Promise me you will follow your heart." Morgan said with a look of contentment on his face. "No matter what, if you follow your heart and are happy, I can be happy."
Lore seemed to melt into Morgan's embrace like the forgotten ice-cream slowly dripping down his hand and as the evening continued to wear on Lore couldn't help but feel lighter, as if the worry had been lifted by Morgan's words. Lore had to admit Morgan was right, or at least made a lot of sense, but the simple knowledge that he would be waiting for Lore if his heart lead him to Morgan gave him hope.
As the boys finished the last leg of their walk back to House Orison, both Lore and Morgan immediately sensed something was wrong. An unfamiliar car was parked outside of their house and in the light of the living room window they could see a lot of activity. Jogging the rest of the way and quickly moving inside, they were greeted by all of House Orison and an unfamiliar couple.
"Mr. and Mrs. Riley, what are you doing here?" Morgan asked the dark-haired pair as the older woman quieted her sobs with a handkerchief.
"Our boy didn't come home tonight," Mr. Riley said as Lore checked the clock seeing it was almost eleven-thirty. "We were hoping he had just come over here to see Chase or something."
"When did you see him last?" Morgan asked as he joined the group.
"This afternoon," Mrs. Riley said as she continued to sniffle, "We had sat him down and told him about the move and he got so upset he just ran off. He sometimes does that, and we thought he would have been back by now..."
"What move?" Lore asked a little out of the loop.
"Mr. and Mrs. Riley are separating for a while and both are going to be staying with relatives." Chase summarized with a bit of unpolished anger, "they asked Riley to choose who he was going to stay with. You don't just drop something like that on a kid and expect everything to be..."
Ian expertly locked Chase in a standing grapple and excused them both to the kitchen for a moment as he covered the emotional outburst from Chase's mouth with a hand.
"My poor little Whitric..." Mrs. Riley began sobbing again.
"Look, don't worry," Morgan said, "we know this area like the back of our hands, and if anyone can find your son it is House Orison. I'm sure he is fine, just cooling off someplace, but now that it is dark out we need to bring him home. Warren, Artisan, you two begin checking the neighborhood, I am going to have Ian and Chase start looking around at some of his usual hangouts; I'm sure Chase knows where to look. Lore and I..."
As Morgan turned around to explain his plan, Lore was gone.
Cole Greenberg didn't know why, but he had felt the need to take a walk. Maybe it was the last week of classes that had turned out not to be so bad, or the fact he was actually getting to know people, or even the fact work at the campus store was starting to become almost enjoyable. Either way, he felt a bit restless and found himself wandering around a pretty nice looking area of open grass. It wasn't until he saw the chain-link fence in the distance that he noticed it was a baseball field he was walking on. It was the soft sound of crying that caught his attention.
"Hello?" Cole asked into the darkness.
"Go away!" he heard a child's voice say.
From the pitch and tone he couldn't tell if it was a girl or a little boy, but as he walked closer he could see a small figure on top of the chain-link roof of the dugout. It was a little boy.
"I said go away!" the boy shouted as he turned around, and to Cole Greenberg's utter surprise he found himself face to face with his own 10 year old self.
"Ah!" the older teen yelped as he fell backwards onto the grass of the field.
"Oh, wow, did I really scare you that much?" the boy asked through the fence, his astonishment bringing him slightly out of his sadness.
As Cole looked more closely through the darkness he could see the boy was not his 10 year old self, but for that moment, that angry outburst had brought Cole back to a rather unpleasant memory of his own childhood.
"No!" Cole replied defensively. "I was... just trying to make you feel better."
"Oh," the boy accepted the answer, "well... thanks, I guess. I'm sorry if I did scare you, though."
"Well, you didn't," Cole insisted, "but what the hell are you doing out here so late? Where are your parents? Aren't they going to be worried about you?"
"I don't care." The boy said as the weight of the world returned to his young shoulders. "My parents told me they are moving away from here, away from each other, and they want me to choose who I want to stay with, but I can't. So I ran away."
"Oh," Cole said suddenly feeling like he had stumbled into more than he was up for. However, something deep down inside told him he had to push forward, even if he didn't want to. "So, you can't choose?"
"No, it's not that." the boy said, "I just can't stay with who I want to."
As Lore Masters approached the baseball diamond, he let his run slow into an easy jog. As he got closer he heard voices talking and rather than interrupt them he decided to get closer without letting them know he was there.
"I used to run away a lot, from my problems, that is." Cole said as he and Whit Riley shared a candy bar the young boy had brought with him as part of his `escape food.' "The only problem with that, Whit, is no matter how much you run, you can't run from a problem. You might think the problem is your parents, and sure you can run away from your parents, but they aren't the problem."
"They aren't?" the boy asked.
"Nope," Cole said as he broke off another piece of the candy bar and handed it to the youth who had exhausted his own share. "The problem is your parent's marriage, and you can't run away from a marriage. The good news is your parents are trying to resolve their problem. God knows I wish my parents would resolve their issues. Unfortunately, the bad news is in order for them to resolve their problem they have to make your life miserable for a while. It's a typical parent thing; it's stupid, but you'll get used to it."
"It's just not fair," Riley said crestfallen, "I want to stay with Coach Chase, but I know if I ask them they will say no. Even if they say yes, Coach Chase will say no too."
"Have you asked your coach?" Cole asked.
"Well... no." Riley replied.
"See, you are making assumptions about how people are going to act." Cole explained as he supplied Riley with another piece of candy. "I know I've made my fair share of assumptions in this last week alone. Let me put it to you like this, squirt, if you don't ask then the answer is automatically no, but if you ask you have a chance that one or both of them are going to say yes. So, you can either go back home, tell your parents what you want to do and see what they have to say, or you can mope about, make them worried, go home anyway, and eventually get carted off to who knows where."
"That makes sense." Riley said as he thought it over a bit while nibbling on chocolate.
With a clearing of his throat a ways off, Lore made his presence known to both Cole and Riley as he made his way to the chain-link fence they were both leaning on.
"Hey, Riley," Lore said nonchalantly, "we've been looking for you. Your mom and dad are worried sick that something bad has happened, and Chase is going out of his mind he is so worried."
Riley stopped in mid-chew contemplating the number of laps he would have to complete if Chase went out of his mind with worry.
"Lore, this is my new friend Cole." Riley said as he attempted in vain to change the subject. "He's a freshman just like you, and he..."
"Not so fast, `pal,'" Cole interrupted with an uncharacteristic smirk. "I think it is about time you faced the music, so with that, I hand you off to Lore here. Just remember what we talked about, okay?"
Cole Greenberg got himself up and handed the rest of the candy bar to a confused Riley before walking back towards the freshman dorms. For some reason he felt better, like a little piece of the anger he had been carrying around had been lifted; must be the cool night air, Cole thought.
"Wait," Lore said as he took a couple steps towards Cole, "that's it? You are just passing him off to me after your talk? Don't you want to come with us and let his folks know you found him and kept him company until others could find you? Don't you want to see how it all works out?"
"Sorry, Lore," Cole said as he waved goodbye without turning back around, "I'm not really up for dealing with House Orison tonight. Besides, I don't do `hero.' He will be fine with you, and I'm sure you will tell me all about it tomorrow, wont you?"
"Goodnight Cole!" Riley hollered into the darkness.
"Night, squirt." Cole replied as he disappeared all together into the night.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?" Professor Malcolm asked politely.
It was a bit out of the ordinary for the headmaster to call a meeting on Saturdays, especially so early, and the English professor had a sinking suspicion it had something to do with House Orison. It always had something to do with those boys.
"Yes," Headmaster Hodges began, "it seems last night we had a bit of drama at House Orison."
Professor Malcolm was less than surprised.
"As it were, Malcolm," the old man continued, "did you know we have a little league team through our community outreach program? They are quite the adorable little tykes, running around and enjoying themselves. Their coach, Chase Dunn, is one of our students. In fact, he is one of the patrol captains of House Orison, but I'm sure you know all about that. Anyway, it seems one of the player's on Chase's team, a Whitric C. Riley, will be staying with them until a bit of trouble involving his parents subsides. I know I can entrust you to make all of the necessary arrangement."
"Sir, with all due respect, a non-student cannot live on or in campus property." Malcolm said flatly. "Lorenzo Masters is an exception because he is a student, but this other boy isn't even a student. How am I supposed to justify this legally?"
"Oh, now that is very simple," Headmaster Hodges said with a slight grin. "You see..."
"I'm a patrol captain assistant!" Riley shouted happily to a scowling Artisan in response to his question. The young boy was freely bouncing around the living room as he shared the news with the brooding swordsman.
"What does that even mean?" Artisan asked with a bit of anger in his voice. "Chase, I blame you for all of this."
"What it means, Art," Chase said as he halted Riley's bouncing with a steadying hand on the boy's shoulder, "is that Riley is going to be moving in with us for a while, just until his parents get back from their break. It's all legal and taken care of by the headmaster. We are going to set him up on the third floor, the observatory."
"I swear this house is turning into a children's shelter..." Artisan said as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat, "next we are going to be bringing in stray dogs. And just who is he assistant to, exactly?"
"He's my assistant," Lore said defiantly, "as patrol captain of the sixth squad, Morgan and I have been talking, and it is about time I started getting my squad together. Everybody else has a squad made up of friends and acquaintances that help them on patrols during the week, and I am going to start taking my role as patrol captain more seriously."
"By appointing a 10 year old to be your assistant?" Artisan questioned.
"No," Lore said as he stood his ground, "by appointing the fastest base runner in the league and my friend to be my assistant."
"Okay," Artisan said as he gave Lore some credit for not backing down, "but who else are you going to get to join your patrol squad?"
"Oh, don't worry," Lore said as a childish grin came to his face, "I've got a few people in mind."
END EPISODE TWO