Hey, welcome to the Westpoint Tales - a series of stories set in a small New Zealand town over a time-span of 150 years.(This one's in 2005.)All the usual disclaimers apply - this is Nifty. If you shouldn't be reading this, then don't.
Jason and Jordan's tale - 15
Next morning, Sandie and Dawn waited at the corner, but time went on and there was no sign of Jason.
"Come on Sandie. We've got to get moving or we're going to be late. He's obviously not coming."
"I guess you're right. Let's go then. Do you think that Jason and Jordan have had another fight?"
"Probably. They're on a real see-saw ride, those two. They're either madly in love or they're fighting. There's no half-measures there."
They hurried off to school and Jason came along a couple of minutes later. He waited a while, until the town clock told him that it was getting late. The girls were not coming, or, more likely, they'd given up on him and already gone. He continued on his way to school, alone.
He crossed Brigham Street and was about to cut through the Square when a car pulled up in front of him and three youths got out and accosted him.
"Where're you going, Pretty Boy?" One spoke, the other two just leered menacingly.
The three of them were older youths, about nineteen or twenty or so, but still dressed in the rough teenage uniform - baggy jeans, slung extra-low on their hips, tight t-shirts and grubby, oil-stained beanies on their heads.
"I'm just going to school, don't want to be late."
"School's for losers, Pretty Boy. Why don't you come with us for the day? We'll give you a good time, much better than school."
"Yeah, Queer Boy," one of the others grabbed his own crotch and thrust it towards him. "You'll have a great time. We hear that you like to suck cock - we've got plenty of that for you."
"Yeah. Come and see what it's like to suck on men's cocks. You'll never go back to little boys' ones."
"I . . No. . .I can't. I don't want to. I've got to go to school. Let me past."
Jason was terrified. How could this be happening to him in broad daylight? Someone was walking up behind him; he turned hopefully but was disappointed to see that it was Janice Carver looming up. She might even help them.
"Hey, Janice," the leader greeted her. "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Fuck up Briggs. I go to school when I want to. What are you doing here?"
"We're just collecting the fairy here, and then we're taking it for a ride."
"Oh, you are, are you?" Turning to Jason, she asked, "McDonald isn't it? Jason McDonald?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Jason McDonald." He was so nervous he was nearly crying.
"You're a gayboy, Jordan Taylor's boyfriend?"
He took a deep breath and thought. 'Oh, whatever. This can't get much worse.'
"Yes I am," he replied. "Jordan's my boyfriend. So what?"
"So this," she replied and she turned and punched the nearest youth in the mouth, knocking him backwards. One of the others stepped forward, then collapsed in agony when she kneed him in the nuts. The other backed off with his hands raised.
"Now get this, Goons," Janice spat at them. "If I ever hear of any of you bothering this kid again, I'll fucking kill yez. Stay the hell away from him. Now get!"
They didn't hesitate, the three of them rushed back into their car and they sped away.
"Pussies!" She stood and watched them go.
"Wow, Janice. Fantastic. Thanks."
"No problems, Kid. Anytime. Now go to school. Tell Jordan I said "hello", okay?"
"Yeah. Yes I will. Is Jordan a friend of yours then?"
"Yes, Jordan's a friend of mine - a good friend. Now get."
"Right. Umm, are you not coming to school today, Janice?"
"No. You can find your own way. I've got a dentist's appointment."
"I see. Well, good luck with that then."
"No problems," she smiled. "We've got an arrangement, the dentist and me. He hurts me and I'll hurt him. See you, McDonald."
She walked on up to the main street and Jason hurried off to school. "Wow!"
He arrived at school a little late. Not seriously, just enough that there was no time for mucking around as he went through the locker-room routine and got to his first class. He was the last one to arrive.
Jordan was there, but he was already sitting with someone - a new kid. He looked around and took a seat by himself, across the other side of the room and a couple of rows further back than Jordan and his partner.
Throughout the lesson, Jason didn't have the foggiest idea what the teacher was on about. He was too busy concentrating on Jordan and the new kid. They didn't seem to be paying much attention to the teacher either.
They were continually whispering and grinning at each other. They nudged each other several times with their elbows, and when he saw Jordan drop his hand down and squeeze the other kid's thigh, Jason felt like his heart was breaking.
The kid put his hand down and did the same back to Jordan, and a tear fell from Jason's eye. Damn! He was such a girl. He knew that his new life was too good to last, but he had hoped that it would last longer than this.
He didn't even know the kid's name, but he hated him already. Sitting there, talking and laughing with Jason's boyfriend - his ex, his once-was boyfriend. Bastards.
How could he? Well, easily he supposed. Jordan was really good-looking and he was a great guy. He could have anyone he fancied and he was way too good for Jason. He'd always known that. He should never have let himself get so wrapped up in someone who was so out of his league. It had to happen. It couldn't last.
He'd hoped that it would, at least, last a little while before Jordan found someone better, someone more deserving of him, and he moved on.
Looking across at the pair of them, Jason really couldn't blame them. Who wouldn't want Jordan? And, this new kid was - well he was bloody gorgeous! He was stunning, a beautiful, beautiful boy. He wouldn't be surprised to hear that he was a model or something. But what was he doing in Westpoint High? Apart from chatting up Jason's boyfriend - his ex-boyfriend, that is.
The class ended and he was out of there. Last one in and first one out. They didn't have the next class together so at least he wouldn't have to suffer through another hour watching Jordan with his new boyfriend.
At the morning recess he was back in his favourite hiding place, in the library. He could've gone out and hung with the girls and everybody, but he didn't want to. He just wanted some time out, alone with his misery. He wasn't alone for long though, Jordan came in and flopped down in the seat opposite.
"Hey."
"Hey, Jordan," he sighed.
"What're you doing in here? I've been looking for you everywhere."
"I'm just reading. What do you care?"
"What? Look, Jase, what's wrong?"
"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. Everything's sweet, Jordan. I know it's over, you don't have to tell me. I saw you with the new kid. I hope he's good for you."
"It's over? What's over? Us? Oh. I see - the new kid. That's what you're thinking. Jason I'm sorry."
"Sure you are. You're always sorry. It's all right, Jordan. I always knew that you wouldn't stick with me for long. I'm just not in your class."
They sat looking at each other and, (Dammit!), tears ran down both their faces.
"That's what you think? Fuckit Jason. You're wrong, you're so wrong. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Look, the new kid, Kieran, he's not new. Well, he's new to the school and new to Westpoint, but he's not new to me. I've known him all my life. It's his first day here and I got stuck with the job of showing him around, that's all."
"Didn't look like you were complaining about it."
"Of course I'm not complaining about it. He's an old friend and, yeah, I love him."
"You love him. But . . .what then? What about us? Me, I mean."
"Nothing about us. Nothing's changed, I still love you. Of course I love you. It's different, that's all."
"You do? You love him but it's different. I'm sorry Jordan. I'm really sorry, but I can't do this. I'm not sharing you with someone else, I can't. There he is now," he nodded miserably towards the doorway. "You'd better go, he's looking for you."
"He is?" Jordan looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, right. Look, stay here, I'll be right back. We haven't finished this and I haven't finished with you, no way."
Jordan got up and went across to the beautiful blond boy and brought him back to where Jason was sitting.
"Right then. Time for you two to meet. Jason McDonald, this is Kieran Taylor."
"Taylor?" Jason asked, rising to his feet. "Kieran TAYLOR?"
"That's right, Taylor. Kieran's my cousin."
"Your cousin? So he's . . . "
"He's my cousin, as in his dad's my uncle and my dad's his uncle, they're brothers, twins actually, and my Grandma is his Grandma. We're cousins. Always have been, always will be."
"Oh. So you're not?"
"Of course I'm not, you idiot." Jordan took hold of his hand and squeezed it hard. "Kieran - Jason's my boyfriend. He's a bloody idiot, but I love him."
"So you're the famous boyfriend? I've been hearing all about you. " Kieran smiled and offered his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Jason."
"Umm. Yeah." Jason shook his hand, then looked back at Jordan. "Oh Jordie, I am a bloody idiot, aren't I?"
"World's biggest, but I love you. Don't ever change."
They embraced and kissed briefly, but separated when the librarian coughed and frowned at them.
"Okay, not here but we'll continue this later."
At lunchtime they gave him no choice and Jason was eating out in their usual place with the girls and a couple of their boyfriends. Jordan and his cousin came along and stood looking down at the group on the grass.
"Hey Guys. Sandie, Tommy, Brenda, James, Nettie, Brian, Dawn and Jason, of course. Meet the new kid, first day today. This here's my cousin - Kieran Taylor."
"Your cousin, Jordan?" said Sandie, looking up. "Really? Hey, Cousin Kieran."
"Oh wow!"said Nettie. "Oh, wow, wow wow! Please tell me he's not gay, Jordan. Please say he's not gay."
"Nettie my friend, this boy is so straight he couldn't sit down to pee if he tried."
"Thank you God!" she beamed. "Kieran, Hey. Welcome to Westpoint. Sit down. Please sit down and dazzle us with your beauty."
"Shut up Nettie. Leave him alone. Take no notice of her, Kieran. They're dreadful teases this lot, all of them."
"Who's teasing?" Nettie asked. "I'm perfectly serious here. Sit down, Kieran. I think I'm in love."
"Shy little thing, aren't you?" Kieran said with a grin as he sat down beside Nettie. "Hey Guys, nice to meet you. Jordan says nice things about you."
"That proves nothing," said Sandie. "Jordan says nice things about everyone, even Janice Carver, and that's not easy to do."
"Come on, Sandie," Jordan protested. "Janice is not that bad, she's just a girl."
"Yeah, and the Pacific is just an ocean. So, Kieran, tell us about yourself. You're Jordan's cousin? What brings you to Westpoint?"
"Yep, we're cousins. Our dads are brothers - twin brothers. Uncle Bill moved back home to Westpoint, so my dad decided that we had to as well. They grew up here and now they're going to grow old together, in Westpoint."
Brenda said, "It must be so cool to have a twin brother, no matter how old you are."
"Yes it must," Nettie agreed. "Let's stop mucking around here and cut to the chase. How many brothers have you got, Kieran? How old are they, and where are they?"
"Um, none." A shadow crossed Kieran's handsome face. "I've got no brothers or sisters, I'm an only child."
"None at all?" Nettie said. "Well that's wrong. Good breeding stock like your parents should be made to have lots of beautiful children. The more the better."
"Nettie, drop it," said Jordan. "Kieran had an identical twin brother, he died a couple of years ago."
"Oh shit! Sorry, I didn't know."
"That's okay, Nettie. You didn't know."
James asked, "What does your dad do? And where are you living?"
As the conversation flowed on, Jason pulled Jordan aside. "Jordie?"
"Jase?"
"Um, about Janice. I've got something to tell you."
"What? Are you in love with her now?" Jordan grinned.
"No! be serious. She saved my butt this morning."
"Good for her. What happened?"
Jason told him what had happened on his way to school and Jordan reacted with anger.
"The Bastards! The bloody bastards! It's a pity that Janice didn't kill them. Come on, Jase, we're going to the police."
"No we're not. Sit down Jordie. The police wouldn't do anything, nothing happened."
He took Jordan's hand and held it. "Nothing happened, Jordie, thanks to Janice. She was great and it was all because you're my friend. Thanks."
"Thanks? I'm not just your friend, Jason. I'm your boyfriend, I love you and if any bastard touches you, I'll kill them. We won't need Janice, I'll do it myself."
"Yeah!" Jason grinned. "But it's good to have her on our side. Really good."
"Yeah, it's good. I knew that Janice was all right. We owe her for this, we owe her bigtime. Jase, I don't want to sound like I own you or anything, but you've got to be more careful in future. Don't walk to school on your own, don't go anywhere on your own. If your friends are not around, take the dogs. Ring me and I'll come and get you. Anytime, anywhere, ring me."
"Jordie, settle down. I wish I hadn't told you now. It's not that bad, this is Westpoint not a big rough city."
"No. But it happened anyway, didn't it? It can happen anywhere. You could have been raped, Jason. You could have been raped."
"But I wasn't. It didn't happen, thanks to Janice. Those guys won't be back, she'd kill them."
"Janice can't be everywhere. I'm getting a car. I'll get my driver's licence and I'm getting a car. We'll both get licences, we're old enough, and we'll get a car. Bugger walking everywhere."
"Okay, we'll do that. It'll be fun to do it together. I was thinking too. I might go to self- defence classes - karate or judo or something."
"Good idea. I'll come with you there too. We'll do it together. After school, we'll go to the information office and find out where to go."
"Right. We will. Thanks, Jordie."
They sat quietly for a minute, thinking, then Jason said, "Jordie?"
"Yeah, Jase?"
"Thank you, Jordie. It's SO good to have someone who cares about me."
"Of course I bloody care about you, I love you, you Dork!"
"Yes, you do. That's so cool. I love you Jordan Taylor. I love you so much!'
"I love you more than that. Don't you ever forget it."
"I don't forget it, but sometimes I have trouble believing it. It just seems too good to be true."
"Well it's true. Believe it Jase."
They kissed briefly, gently, but Brenda protested. "Bloody hell. Settle down you two. Get a room or something."
Jason whispered in Jordan's ear, "I've got a room. You want to come around to my place after school?"
"Do I want to? What a dumb question. If both my legs were broken, I'd crawl around there. Faster than you can walk too."
"Cool. But look after your legs. I've got plans."
"So have I, Jase. So have I."