Warning: If you don't tolerate or approve of the gay lifestyle please leave now.
This is pure fiction. No one in this story is a real person, living or deceased. Any similarities is just a coincidence. ___________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 10
People were already leaving at Michael's and Jean still hadn't returned. Ivan had Michael call Alex to check if she was still there but Alex told him Jean had already left earlier that evening. Ivan was starting to worry so he asked Michael if he still needed him to be there.
"No. You've done so much for me already." Michael answered.
"Well, are you gonna be okay for the rest of the night?" Ivan asked again.
"Yes, Benny. I'll be fine." Michael said, pretending to be impatient.
"Okay. I'm going." Ivan said and went to the door. "But call me if you need anything." He added before closing the door behind him.
Ivan tried calling Jean's cell phone but it went straight to voice mail. He called his house before going inside the car, thinking that Jean must Be there by now. However, there was still no one answering so he decided to drive by the diner. It was closed. He passed by the cemetery too but there was no sign of her there either. There was one place left to check, her apartment, but I Ivan didn't know exactly where it was. So, having run out of ideas, he gave up and went home.
On his way to his room, he noticed the door of his mother's room was slightly open. He went to the door to open it completely and saw the lamp on.
"Ivan." Jean who was sitting on the bed looked up from a picture she was holding. "I didn't hear you come in."
"Yeah. You didn't hear me calling on the phone either." Ivan said in a light tone.
"I was in the shower." She reasoned.
Ivan walked further into the room and noticed Jean's tear streaked face. Ivan was immediately by her side. "Jean, what's wrong?"
Jean handed him the picture and Ivan looked at it. "It's a picture of you and Mom during high school." Ivan stated.
Jean nodded. "Turn it around." She stood up to turn the overhead light on for Ivan.
After the light illuminated the whole room, Ivan saw what was behind the picture—Jean and Rose's handwriting.
"Those are rules that we made for our friendship." Jean explained. "We wrote that in our junior year in high school."
"Pull up the other's hair when throwing up after drinking too much." Ivan looked at her with an amused smile as he read it out loud.
"Your mother always had to do that for me." Jean sat down beside him on the bed and looked through the list with him. Jean pointed to a rule in the lower half of the picture. "Look out for each others' children in the future." Ivan read.
"Yeah." Jean went silent. "After I found out I can't bear a child, your mother sat me down for a couple of hours to talk. She had us renew our rules and plans for the future, especially mine. That was when she was still conceiving you. Before she ended our talk, she told me that she'd make sure that you would grow up thinking of me as your second mother."
"And I do." Ivan said as he touched her arm.
Rose was looking at her distraught best friend, trying to find any way to make her feel better. "Jean, I will make sure that this child will grow up and look at you as his second mother."
"Really?" Jean asked still unable to fight back her tears.
Rose nodded as she smiled. "You'll be his godmother."
"Thank you." Jean whispered, afraid her voice would break. Rose hugged her.
"Now, one more thing." Rose said and broke of the embrace. "If anything happens to me..."
"What are you talking about?" Jean interjected, already not liking her tone.
"When I get too busy with work, or get sick, or..." Rose tried to smile before she continued. "Even die."
"That's not going to happen." Jean said in a matter of fact tone.
Rose held her hands firmly. "If, Jean. Just in case something bad happens to me, I want you to look after him."
"Of course I will but you're forgetting your husband here." Jean said.
"Let's just take him out of the picture. If it happens just promise me you'll be there for this child."
Jean nodded. "I will."
"And you will adopt him." Rose added.
Jean's voice rose in surprise. "What?"
"You will adopt him." Rose repeated.
"But he's you're child." Jean reasoned.
Rose was running out of patience. "I'm dead and he's alone."
"For god's sake Rose, this is crazy." Jean said standing up.
"Do you want my child to be alone?" She challenged.
"Of course not." Jean answered in a low voice.
"Well, there you have it." Rose stood up and went beside her. "I just don't want you to be alone when that moment comes." She squeezed Jean's shoulder.
"Thank you. That really means a lot." Jean smiled at Ivan as her eyes watered. "Because I'd like to adopt you."
Ivan was surprised. "Oh," was all that he managed to say.
Completely expecting his reaction, Jean quickly added. "But you don't have to give me an answer right now. Think about it for a few days or weeks." Jean paused, not sure if she wanted to hear herself say it but she decided to continue. "And it's okay too if you don't want it to happen. I mean, I understand. I'm not really parent material and—"
"No!" It came out a little louder than Ivan intended. He lowered his voice. "It's not that. You just took me by surprise, that's all."
Jean was relieved but she didn't want to show Ivan how much this meant to her. So to not influence his decision, she just decided to change the subject. "It's getting late. You still have school tomorrow."
Ivan smiled and nodded. He got up and stopped when he reached the door. "I appreciate it though—you wanting to adopt me. That means a lot." Jean just nodded.
The next morning Ivan woke up to the familiar smell of Jean's cooking. He went down to the kitchen and noticed the bag by the front door. "You're leaving today?" He asked Jean who was still busy making waffles.
"Yeah. Like we talked about, I'll stay here for a week and then I'm out of your hair." Jean replied and got some plates for the waffles.
Ivan thought that he would miss the smell of breakfast every time he woke up as he sat down. "Here you go." Jean said as she put down two plates full of waffles and eggs on the table then came back with two cups of hot chocolate.
Jean removed her apron and hung it on the hook beside the window. "I'm gonna go, Pumpkin." She said to Ivan.
"Wharft?" Ivan asked with his mouth full. Jean raised her eyebrow. Ivan chewed and swallowed before speaking again. "What?"
"I still have to open the diner." Jean answered.
"But what about all this food?" Ivan inquired.
Jean chuckled. "Oh. I forgot to tell you. Jesse called and said he'd drop by for breakfast."
Ivan nodded and stood up. "I guess I'll see you around then."
"Yeah." Jean smiled at her. "Come here." She gave him a hug. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." Ivan replied.
"Bye." She said as they separated. Jean tried to smile before picking up her bag and leaving. Ivan stood in front of the house and watched her drive away. He felt a sudden wave of sadness.
Completely unaware of his surroundings, Ivan didn't notice Jesse creeping behind him. Jesse covered Ivan's mouth with his hands as he held his chest with his arm. Ivan tried to scream but the hand over his mouth prevented him from doing so. He was struggling to free himself when he heard a familiar laugh from his attacker. The hand was removed from his mouth and Ivan turned around to see Jesse laughing from behind him.
"What the fuck was that for?!" Ivan shouted as he tried to stop his body from trembling.
Jesse thought it would be funny but Ivan clearly wasn't amused. "Dude, calm down. I was just messing around."
Ivan stopped himself from continuing. Instead, he took deep breaths until he felt his body calm down.
"Sorry dude." Jesse said as he put a hand on Ivan's shoulder.
Ivan took one last deep breath before answering. "Whatever. Just don't do it again." Ivan walked to the door. He stopped to look behind him and saw Jesse's confused face. Ivan tried to smile. "Come in. Breakfast is getting cold."
Ivan tried to lighten up the mood as he ate breakfast with Jesse but despite his jokes and funny stories he could see Jesse was still bothered by what happened. "I'm sorry how I reacted earlier." Ivan said.
"It's okay. I just don't understand why you reacted that way." Jesse replied with a thoughtful face. "And look at you. You're still trembling." Jesse's gaze went to the fork Ivan was holding. It was shaking along with his hand.
Ivan tried to think of an appropriate answer. "Too much slasher movies?" That earned a smile from his friend. Jesse then asked about how it went with Michael yesterday and Ivan filled him on the details all the way to school as they rode together in Ivan's car.
When they arrived at school, Jesse was back to his cheerful self again especially after both of them caught sight of a handsome face with a very lean body that they had never seen before in their school.
"Oooh, I swear to you it is blasting right now." Jesse said as he watched the new boy run his hand through his jet black hair.
Ivan turned to look at his face. "Eew. Really?"
Jesse nodded wildly. "Tell me you felt it too."
"No. Sorry. Unlike you, I'm not that horny to just shoot anywhere in my pants." Ivan said.
Jesse roared with laughter. "Oh my god."
"What? I wasn't the one that was `blasting' a few seconds ago." Ivan quoted with his fingers.
"I was talking about my gaydar, you perv."Jesse's laugh subsided into chuckles.
"Oh." Ivan started to blush. "Well then, I, uhm, didn't really pick up on anything other than the fact that he's part Latino." Ivan said.
"Are you kidding me? Just look at him." Jesse gestured over to where the boy. However, he was no longer there. Jesse sighed. "Ah, dude. We just lost him."
Ivan patted his back. "Don't worry. Maybe he's on our lunch period." Ivan's eyes were caught by a man entering the building. "There goes my cue. I gotta go. See you at lunch." Ivan said as he left Jesse and went to follow the man.
Later that morning, Michael was surprised to be pulled out of his class. He was informed that the coach had called for him in his office. Michael wondered what was it that the coach needed to talk about and why he didn't just bring it up when he was at his dad's commemoration.
He knocked on the already open door. "Hey, coach. You wanted to talk to me?"
"Sit down." The coach gestured to the chair. After Michael did, he continued. "You're playing tonight."
Somehow, Michael had mixed feelings about this. He knew that this was probably because his father died and the coach felt bad for him so he'd let him play.
"You do know that I'm still getting D for English Lit, right?" Michael said.
"I know." The man frowned. "But it doesn't matter now. You're playing tonight." He added.
Michael immediately opposed. "If this is because of Dad—"
"Your friend Mr. Brody talked to me this morning." The coach revealed.
"Ivan?" Michael asked, unsure of what he heard.
"Yep, he told me he will start tutoring you if you'll start playing tonight." He continued.
Michael was surprised to hear what the coach had just said. Was Ivan really starting to let him back in his life again?
"Now go back to class." The coach commanded.
"Thanks coach." He said before leaving.
The coach shook his head. "Thank your friend." And as he was about to walk away, the coach called him back.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Take care of that kid. He's a friend worth keeping."
He nodded. "I know." Michael said then left the office.
Michael looked at his watch and noticed that his class was almost over so he just went straight to the cafeteria. He sat at a table and waited for Ivan so that he could thank him. He was just so excited. He couldn't believe that he would be playing again and more importantly, Ivan was back in his life again. A few minutes later, the bell rang and he saw Alex walking in.
"Alex!" Michael called. Alex looked at his grinning face as he waved her to come to him. "Ivan told the coach that he'll tutor me if I play tonight." He said once she was in front of him.
"Wow." Alex said, surprised. "He's finally going to let you play? Congratulations!" She came closer to him and hugged him.
With his stomach growling, Ivan rushed to the cafeteria. He was so hungry. However upon entering the room, he saw Michael and Alex in an embrace and a reaction deep inside him stopped him in his tracks. His foot was glued to the floor and he couldn't take his eyes off of them.
"Ivan!" Michael shouted in his direction after seeing him. Ivan quickly tried to smile.
"Hey guys. How's it going?" Ivan asked when the two approached him.
"Thanks to you, I'm really great!" Michael couldn't help the excitement he was feeling. Ivan immediately caught onto what Michael was saying.
"The coach told you, huh." Ivan said.
"Well yeah!" Michael chuckled and surprised Ivan by hugging him. "Thank you so much Benny." He whispered in Ivan's ear.
"Awww. How cute." The two boys separated to see Jesse. "Dude, I hate to break the bromance but I need you." He said, talking to Ivan.
Michael took a step forward. "If you don't mind, `Dude', we're in the middle of something here."
"Unfortunately, so am I and this requires Ivan." Jesse pulled Ivan to his side.
"And we're going to celebrate me playing again tonight and that needs Ivan because he made it happen." Michael said pulling Ivan back to his side.
"Celebrate?" Ivan asked Michael.
"Yeah." Michael nodded. "I will take you and Alex out to lunch. Or maybe even for the rest of the afternoon."
Jesse smirked. "Expecting Ivan to cut school for you? What a good friend."
"Do you have a problem?" Michael was quickly in front of Jesse.
"Okay." Ivan squeezed his way in between the two boys as Alex tried to draw Michael back. "You two need to calm down. I'm sorry guys but I'm going with Jesse." Jesse proudly put a hand over Ivan's shoulder.
Michael looked surprised but quickly hid it. "Okay."
Alex was quick to think. "Maybe we could just celebrate after the game? I'm pretty sure the team is going to win it now that Michael's playing."
Ivan nodded as he looked at Michael. "That's great."
"So we'll see you after the game?" Alex asked.
"Yeah." Ivan noticed Jesse squeezing his shoulder. "I'll see you guys later." Alex waved at him while Michael just nodded.
Jesse was still dragging Ivan by the shoulder when they reached the quad. "Okay. What's this thing that requires me and where are we going?" Ivan removed Jesse's hand from his shoulder.
"We're following new guy." Jesse pointed to the guy they had seen earlier that morning.
"Can't you just stalk him alone?" Ivan asked.
"Exactly, dude!" Jesse said. Ivan looked at him strangely. "I need you so that I won't look like a stalker. It will just look like the two of us happened to hang out wherever he is."
Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Dude, don't let me play the friend card." Ivan chuckled.
"C'mon Ivan, you're my friend, aren't you?" Jesse said with wide eyes, trying to look innocent.
Ivan laughed. "Alright!"
"Awesome, dude! Now, see..." He directed Ivan's face to where the guy was standing. "He looks like he's looking for a table."
"Then why don't we just sit at a table and ask him to sit with us." Ivan suggested.
"Great idea." Jesse praised.
They quickly found an empty table not far from the guy and tried to look as if they had been sitting there for a while. Jesse was about to call him but he started walking towards the building.
"Target on the move." Jesse whispered to Ivan.
Ivan stifled a laugh. "Roger that."
They followed the boy into the building and tried to maintain a close distance. They passed a few halls and the boy was still oblivious of the two following him. Finally, he went inside a room.
"Should we go inside?" Ivan asked Jesse.
Jesse nodded. "But we have to make sure to look like we're really going there and we didn't see him go inside."
Ivan nodded and the two took a deep breath before going inside the door. There were quite a number of students inside, both boys and girls. Some were actually gay, the two noticed. Near the door beside were a few students including the new boy. Ivan and Jesse went beside the boy.
"I'd like you to welcome the new members of the Gay and Straight Alliance!" Ivan and Jesse leaned back and saw Randy Karch clapping as he said, "Welcome to the group."
Randy saw the two of them and approached them. "What are you two doing here?" All eyes were immediately on them.
Ivan elbowed Jesse's side. Jesse cleared his throat and said, "We came to join the alliance."
Ivan looked at him in surprise. Jesse gave him a look. "Yeah. We want to be an ally." Ivan stifled a laugh with a smile.
"After what the two of you said to me? I don't think you're ready." Randy said.
Ivan was about to tell him that he deserved it but Jesse stepped on his toe.
"Actually, we also came to apologize for that." Jesse said, trying to look sincere.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Ivan went with Jesse's statement. "We felt so bad about it. We realized that we..." He gestured to himself and Jesse. "Had no right to judge you."
"Dude, totally." Jesse nodded. "Everyone has the right to be whoever he wants to be and you," He gestured to Randy. "You need to be praised and be respected for being a shiny example of being out and proud."
Randy blinked as he digested the speech the two made up. "That's really..." He paused to gather his thoughts. "That's really nice of the two of you."
Ivan and Jesse smiled and told him it was nothing. "Okay then, welcome to the Gay and Straight Alliance!" The people in room started clapping.
"Can you believe that Jesse? We just became an ally." Ivan said with a stiff smile.
"Can you believe Randy the queen just bought that?" Jesse whispered to Ivan with the same smile. Jesse saw the new guy clapping at the two of them and his smile became genuine as he shrugged his shoulders.
A girl went and gave Randy `I'm An Ally' buttons. "To make your membership official." He pinned the buttons on each of the new members' chest. The last two were for Ivan and Jesse.
"Uh, Randy? Can't we pin this on our bag or something?"Ivan asked.
"Of course, you can." Randy smiled. Ivan and Jesse was about to put it away but Randy was quick to stop him. "But for now as new members, you need to show your dedication to the alliance and more importantly, you need to show the world that you are a proud ally." Ivan and Jesse looked at each other as they nodded.
"Now go out there and make the alliance proud." Randy said as he flipped his hands.
A special thanks to Dennis S for quickly editing this chapter. I had some free time so I used it to write this chapter. I hope you guys like it. Also, I already made the facebook group. There are now six members of the I Shall Believe Readers, including me. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/ISBreaders/
I hope you guys join. We could get to know more about each other there. It'd be nice to know more about my readers and most of all, we could talk about the story and the characters in it. I guess that's it. Keep reading and feel free to join the group :)