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. ___________________________________________________________________________
The Bonfire Ceremony had been a tradition in their town for as long as Michael could remember. His father used to tell him that the bonfire symbolized a cry for help to the God above; like a prayer for Him to bless the town and the players, shower them with good luck, and lead them to victory. That was why it was always held the night before the homecoming game. Every year, Michael and his father had always gone together until this year, when his father died.
Michael was talking on the phone with Jesse on the other line. "So, what did he say?"
"I already told you, Jesse. I'm not going!" He heard Ivan's voice in the background at the other end.
"Did that answer your question?" Jesse asked.
Michael sighed and said, "Yeah."
Once she saw Michael hang up, Alex approached him. "So is Ivan coming?"
Michael shook his head sadly as he stared at nothing in particular. "No."
Alex rubbed his back as she tried to comfort him. "I'm sorry. You want me to talk to him?"
Michael looked at her and tried to smile. "No, it's alright."
Alex nodded and said, "Okay. But you know he's just probably worried about Andy seeing you two together right? And besides, it's best for him to stay away from Andy as much as possible."
"I know." Michael mumbled.
Meanwhile at Ivan's, Jesse stood quietly besides Ivan's bed as he stared at his friend who was just laying there.
"What?" Ivan asked, annoyed.
"You do know that this is the first time Michael won't have his father by his side at the Bonfire." Jesse said in a serious tone.
Ivan sat up and glared at Jesse. "Great. Make me feel guilty, why don't you? And besides how did you even know about that? It's not like you've been to every bonfire to see them together."
"Michael told me about it." Jesse said.
Ivan was a little surprised Michael had told Jesse about his past, especially something so personal. The two must have been really growing close as friends, Ivan thought.
"How's he doing?" Ivan asked.
"If you really wanna know, why don't you go to the bonfire and ask him yourself?" Jesse said as he walked to the door. "We're all gonna be there." Jesse added before walking away.
Ivan sighed as he let himself fall back on the bed. He didn't know if he should go. He knew it would be the right thing to do for Michael but Andy was surely going to be there.
The lake was alive that night. It glowed with the torches that had been planted everywhere by the committee in charge. Alex was just checking on the final details when Michael joined her. They walked together around the lake.
"Well, well. If it isn't the golden couple." Andy said as he walked towards Michael and Alex.
Michael who had been holding Alex from behind, walked ahead to meet Andy. Alex followed him. "What do you want?" Michael asked, his temper rising.
Andy smirked at him. "Relax, big guy. I just walked by to see the two of you together with my own eyes."
Alex took steps towards Andy. "Now that you've seen us, you can keep on walking." She said, sounding as angry as Michael.
Andy laughed. "Oooh. Feisty. I bet she's the same in the bedroom, huh, Michael. Isn't that right?"
Before Andy could even look at Michael's direction, Michael was already in front of him, clutching the neck of his shirt.
Also surprised by Michael's action, Alex tried to pull Michael away from Andy. "Michael, stop it. He's not worth it."
"What seems to be the problem here boys?" The three looked to see Principal Allen walking towards them in her usual skirt suit.
Not wanting to get into any trouble, Michael let go of Andy.
"Yeah. That`s what I thought, tough guy." Andy whispered.
"Mr. Gilner?" Principal Allen asked again once she was in front of the two boys and Alex.
"Nothing, Principal Allen. No problem here." Michael shrugged.
Andy grinned and put his arm around Michael's shoulder. "Yeah. Michael was just helping me get some dirt off my shirt. Wasn't he, Alex?"
Alex smiled at the principal. "Totally." She said with a chuckle.
Principal Allen looked at them like she knew exactly what was happening. "The program is about to start. Mr. Gilner, I think Coach Reed is looking for his players."
It was clear to Michael that the principal's statement was more of a command so he just went ahead and looked for the coach.
With Michael gone, Alex just wanted to be away from Andy. "I'll be with my squad." She said to Principal Allen.
The principal just nodded at her. Andy had also started walking away when the lady called out to him. "You better not be starting any trouble Mr. Pearson."
Andy turned with a smirk on his face and raised his hands on surrender. "I'm not, Gina."
Jesse was sitting inside his car across from the Pearsons' residence on stakeout. Michael, Alex and he planned to wait for thirty minutes before breaking in. If Jesse went in too early, there was a chance that the Pearsons could come back for something they had forgotten. So the three were making sure that the Pearsons were all at the bonfire before they execute their plan. When exactly thirty minutes had passed, Jesse called Michael. "Are they already there?" He asked on the phone.
Michael scanned the place for Andy and his parents. "Yep. They're here."
Jesse walked across the street to Andy's front yard. He lifted up the stone beside a garden gnome to get the spare key that he had seen Andy hide earlier. "I've got the key. I'm going in. I'll call you when I find anything." He told Michael before hanging up.
Back at Ivan's, Jean arrived to see Ivan sitting in front of the TV, flipping through the channels.
"Hey, pumpkin. What are you still doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at the bonfire tonight." Jean said as she walked towards Ivan.
"I didn't feel like going out tonight." Ivan answered plainly.
"Okay... All your classmates and friends are out there by the lake having fun, and you choose to stay here and watch TV?" She asked.
"What can I say? I'm a loner." Ivan said.
"No, you're not. You have friends. And I bet they're missing you right now." She said as she sat down beside him.
Ivan smiled and said. "Nah. They'll be fine."
"You sure about that? Because if I can recall it correctly, Michael had been going with David every year. That boy surely could use the company of his closest friends tonight." Jean said.
"He's got Alex." Ivan said with a little jealous undertone. However, he hadn't done it intentionally. It had just come out. "Jesse's with them too. And of course, his team." He added lightly to mask the tone he had earlier.
However, the tone was not lost to Jean. The woman smiled understandingly at Ivan. "You know, pumpkin, even though it's been always the three of you— you, Michael, and Alex. You and Michael have always been the closest." She said.
Ivan knew that Michael needed him right now. He could feel it. But that didn't change the fact that Andy could see them together and that could lead to a really dangerous consequence. Also, Jake's secret was at stake and Ivan couldn't do that to Jake.
Ivan's thoughts were interrupted by Jean's tapping on his shoulder. "Hey, where's your head at?" She asked.
"The right thing to do." Ivan said.
Back at the Pearsons' Residence, Jesse had just found Andy's room. Searching for it hadn't been hard actually since the door had Andy's name on it. Now, the only thing Jesse needed was to access his computer.
"This is too easy." Jesse chuckled as he saw what must be Andy's laptop on the bed. Not only was it open, his email account was also signed on. While he commanded the computer to search for all video files, he browsed Andy's email. He had just found the one that was sent to Jake and Ivan in the Sent folder when his phone started ringing. He took his phone from his pocket and answered.
"Did you find it yet?" asked Michael from the other line.
"Yeah. I'm deleting the email right now." Jesse said as he clicked the delete command.
"Alright. Just make sure you find if he still has copies on his computer and delete them too." Michael said.
"I'm on it, boss." Jesse replied with confidence before hanging up. He checked to see if the searching process was already done. It wasn't. He decided to look at the results that were already done and found that most of the videos on Andy's laptop were all gay porn.
"You dirty little boy." Jesse said as he snickered. Once he was quiet again, he noticed a sound coming from the doorway to Andy's room. It sounded like a growling. He turned his head to look and saw a big dog, which after seeing him looking, started barking. Even though surprised, Jesse tried to look calm in order to not agitate the dog any further. He stood up slowly and tried to quiet the dog.
"There, there big guy." He tried to keep his voice from shaking. Looking at the size of the dog, he realized he'd be in serious trouble if it attacked him. "I'm Andy's friend."
The dog seemed to calm down a little. Jesse smiled and said, "Yeah. He's my buddy. Just like I'm sure the two of you are buddies." He checked the computer to see if the video of Ivan and Jake had been found. Unfortunately, it still hadn't. Instead, more x-rated videos filled the screen. Jesse rolled his eyes and uttered, "Porn freak."
Suddenly, the dog started barking again.
"Woah, woah. I thought we were cool already." Jesse said in a careful tone, almost whispering. "C'mon, be a good boy. Who's the good boy? Who's the good boy, huh." He had started baby-talking the dog and it seem to calm him down. However, from the right hallway, walked in another growling dog, almost identical to the first one.
Totally caught off guard, Jesse took a step back. "Oh, boy." He uttered under his breath. Jesse thought of how to escape from the room in case the dogs suddenly were to go after him. He could open the window but he would have to jump a long way since Andy's room was on the second floor of the house.
The dogs started barking again, making Jesse's heart pound rapidly in his chest. Jesse slowly took a step backwards, up to the bed. His phone suddenly rang. That seemed to alarm the dogs, causing them to suddenly run in Jesse's direction.
"Shit!" Jesse said as he slipped backwards off the bed and quickly to the door. The dogs were closing on him, but just in time he grabbed the knob and closed the door. He could hear the dogs thumping on the door and barking from the other side.
"Oh shit. Oh shit." Jesse said as he tried to calm himself down as he exited the house. There was no way he could go back in there without being torn apart by those two monsters.
Meanwhile, the bonfire was just about to be lit. The people had already gathered around. The coach, Principal Allen, Michael and his teammates were grouped in front and beside them were Alex and the rest of the cheerleading squad. Michael was nervous. Not just because of the speech he was scheduled to give but also due to the fact that Jesse had not yet returned his calls.
"Tonight," Michael begun, "as is our tradition, we call to the heavens. This fire will symbolize our prayer and our passion to win the game tomorrow. But tonight, I would also dedicate this as my prayer to my father, David Gilner. May he watch over me and to the rest of the team, tomorrow at the Homecoming Game." Everyone was silent as they watched Michael move the torch he was holding, close to the towering bonfire. When it finally touched the oil covered wood, the bonfire blazed.
Everyone started clapping and Michael just stared at the fire. He was saying his silent prayer to his father. When the fire settled, he was surprised. There was Ivan on the other side of the flames, smiling kindly at him. He smiled back at his friend and quickly walked his way around to him.
"Hey." Ivan greeted him. He watched Michael as he walked in his direction. The flame brightened up half of Michael's face while it shadowed the other side. Ivan thought He was like a beautiful Renaissance painting.
"I thought you weren't coming." Michael said.
"And miss out on you lighting the bonfire?" Ivan said, finally meeting him. "I just realized how badly you must be missing David right now."
Ivan saw Michael's face soften up with appreciation. However, he didn't expect it when Michael hugged him.
"Thanks, Ivan." Michael said sincerely.
Ivan didn't know what came over him, but he surprised himself when he said, "Anything for you."
"Hey, you came." Alex appeared beside them. The two boys separated, allowing Alex to hug Ivan. "Thank you Ivan. This really means a lot to Michael."
"I know." Ivan nodded.
Then, Alex moved to hug Michael. He gladly welcomed her into his arms. She sighed and said, "Your dad would be so proud of you."
"Thanks Alex." He said.
"Well, well, well." They heard someone clapping towards them. "Isn't it just a love feast in here." It was Andy.
Michael and Alex were quick to step in front of Ivan.
"Just walk away, Andy." Michael said through gritted teeth.
"Go away." Alex warned.
Andy laughed. "So you're protecting him now? How mighty and courageous of your friends. On the other hand, how queer of you, Ivan." He chuckled at the end of his sentence.
"You son of a—" Michael was about to charge Andy but Ivan was quick to hold him on the shoulder.
"He's not worth it, Michael." Ivan said.
A phone suddenly rang and Andy fished for his from his pocket. "What's up?" They watched Andy talk on the phone. "I'll meet you there." Andy said with his devil smirk.
"Well, this has been nice. Let's do it again sometime." Andy said and then left.
After regaining his composure, Ivan suddenly remembered Jesse. "Where's Jesse?" he asked.
Alex and Michael looked at each other. "He's at..." Michael stammered. Fortunately, he was saved by his phone ringing.
"Hello." Michael said to his phone.
"There were dogs in his house! They chased me so I had to get out. I'm sorry." Jesse said from the other line.
"Were you able to do it?" Michael asked which caught Ivan's attention.
"Where is Jesse, Alex?" Ivan asked curtly. A theory was quickly forming in his head and he wasn't liking it.
"Uhm... he..." Alex didn't know of he should lie to Ivan or if it was finally time they tell him their plans.
"He was at Andy's." Michael finally revealed.
"What? What's he doing there?" Ivan asked, obviously upset. By the looks of guilt on Michael and Alex's faces, he already guessed what had happened.
Ivan shook his head. "You two sent him there to delete the video, didn't you?"
Alex immediately defended the two of them. "Jesse volunteered to do it. He knew that it would be suspicious if I or Michael went missing in the middle of the event."
"Okay..." Ivan started to regulate his breathing and tried to calm himself down. "Okay. Was he able to do it?" He asked after taking a last deep breath.
Alex looked at Michael for him to answer the question.
"No." Michael said shamefully. "But he was able to delete the email from his sent folder where the videos where attached but it turned out that there were dogs in his house. They never had them before so Andy must have brought them home from college."
"What? Is Jesse okay?" Ivan was starting to panic again.
Seeing Ivan's reaction, he went over to him to calm him. "He's fine. He's fine. He managed to get away just in time."
"This is what I was afraid would happen. He could have been hurt, Michael!" Ivan said, genuinely concerned for Jesse. "And I'm guessing since he wasn't able to erase the video from the computer itself, he left the computer on too."
"He did." Michael admitted.
"Great. That's just great." Ivan said. "I told you guys not to do anything."
"Ivan, don't worry. Jesse said he already has it under control." Michael tried to reassure him.
"What's he planning?" Alex asked. Ivan was about to ask the question but Alex beat him to it.
Michael thought if he should tell the two about it. But given the current situation, it might just upset Ivan more. "He wouldn't say." He answered.
"I am calling him right now." Ivan said, dialing his number on his phone.
Jesse's phone rang a few times but then it went to voice mail.
Ivan let out a forceful breath and said, "Voice mail."
Alex and Michael also tried calling Jesse but both of them also got the voice mail.
Andy followed the address that was texted to his phone. As he went closer to the house, an image of a boy got clearer and clearer. "Come on in." The boy grinned.
Andy followed boy into house. "Nice place." He said with a look of admiration as he let his eyes wondered.
"This is my aunt's. They're out on a business trip for the week." The boy explained.
"Still, I wouldn't mind living here." Andy said.
"Well, you haven't seen the basement-slash-rec room yet." The boy said with his signature grin.
"Really? Wanna tell me what's so special about it?" Andy asked.
"For starters, they have the usual large pool table, plasma TV, stereo, all the game consoles you can think of, a pinball machine, a dart board..."
"Sounds..." Andy began; but he didn't want to please the boy who obviously was bragging. "Boring."
"I wasn't done yet." The boy's grin grew bigger. "They also have a large leather couch."
"What's so great about that?" Andy asked, mocking him. "They have a naked Jesse on that leather couch." He answered playfully.
"So care to show me that couch now, Jesse?" Andy asked, now totally turned on.
"I thought you'll never ask." Jesse said with his usual grin.
Finally, I had the time to work on the story again. So, how did you guys find the Chapter 21? What do you think is Jesse's plans for Andy?
Thanks again to Mr. Dennis S for patiently editing my work. For those who aren't still members of the facebook readers' page, we have lots of room for you guys. If you want to join, here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/ISBreaders/
Thanks! Keep on reading :)