Disclaimer: The following story contains activity that would be considered of homosexual nature between consenting college students. While none of it crosses into a gratuitous nature, if such material is offensive to you or you are not of the legal age to read such material in your area, please do not. Other than that, please enjoy the story!
The Living Years
Chapter 13 "Along Came a Stranger"
"I keep telling you people, the world needs me," Jesse spouted. "I'd never try to off myself."
"Jesse, you jumped into a fifty foot deep lake," Grace said. "You were underwater for a full three minutes."
"Ever consider that I might have been swimming around?" Jesse asked, offhandedly. "Private swimming lessons with Michael Phelps'll give you that kind of endurance."
"Oh please," Noah sighed, tossing aside a magazine he held in his hands.
After Jesse's little display of bridge leaping acrobatics and underwater endurance, Noah and Shawn ended up fishing him out of the water looking a little blue.
Sure Jesse had woken right up by the time they got to the hospital claiming to be fine and none the worse for actually passing out underwater, but obviously being at a hospital, the doctors weren't going to let him just leave.
So he'd been forced to stay overnight and everyone else had been forced to worry about their friend until they could all come back the next day for visiting hours.
Which is exactly what happened.
Everyone was surrounding Jesse's hospital bed. The very bed he was trying to get out of while they were trying to keep him in.
"You know when you pass out like that you lose brain cells, boy," Grace said. "Just sit back down."
"I have too much to do today. I have to get the working crews together to start on my apartment," Jesse replied, taking an IV needle out of his left arm. "The invitations already went out."
Everyone exchanged glances as Jesse worked to free himself from all the equipment attached to him in an effort to leave.
"So, what you're just gonna leave?" Shawn asked. "You pass out underwater, the doctors tell you they want you to stick around for observation, and you....what? You leave?"
Jesse stopped with all his fidgeting and looked over at Shawn.
"Don't get crass with me bloke who refused treatment for his bruised eye," he replied. "We all have our problems. Mine are just a little more important."
"What about family? Shouldn't they know about you being in the hospital?" Zoey asked.
"My family members are sharks love," Jesse replied. "They'd have a field day with this. And then so would The Enquirer."
"So what, that's it? No one is supposed to care about you getting hurt and being in the hospital? Not even you?" Zoey asked, as Jesse got out of bed and started buttoning up his shirt.
"Believe me, you all should care, WE all SHOULD care," Jesse replied. "But the reality is, life goes on and I have a smashing party to plan and oversee. So if you don't mind, I think it's time we find a way to get out of here."
"What like playing secret agent?" Shawn asked.
"You really don't have a lot going on up there, do you?" Jesse asked incredulously as he stared at Shawn.
"Alright, look," Noah started. "No one's breaking out of any hospitals alright. This is stupid."
"Can we make up secret agent code names?" Zoey asked. "I always wanted to be a Hilda."
"Sweetheart, I don't think that's quite the name you want to associate yourself with," Jesse spoke, slipping on his shoes.
"What kind of secret agent name do you think would sound good on me?" Trey asked.
Grace looked over at him.
"You can be Clyde," she replied. "I'll be Bonnie."
"Bonnie and Clyde weren't secret agents," Shawn said. "Were they?"
"Oh my god, what the hell is this supposed to be?" Noah asked, putting a hand to his forehead as he let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
"Where's my mobile?" Jesse asked, looking around. "Has anyone seen my mobile?"
"I wanna be an Alex. I've always thought that was a cool name," Shawn spoke.
Everyone was talking. Jesse was looking for his cell phone. Noah was trying to figure out why a bunch of college students were talking about playing secret agent like they were in the third grade. There was all that commotion, yet no one really bothered to pay attention to the fact that not only had Jesse's doctor entered the room but also so had two other people.
They finally all stopped talking though, when they eventually noticed this.
"Mom? Dad, what...what are you doing here?" Shawn asked, feeling hugely confused as to why his parents were standing before him.
His mother, however decided against answering any questions for the time being, as she rushed over to him and hugged him, before letting him go and brushing some of his hair from his face to get a better look at his bruised eye.
"I can't believe you got into a fight, Shawn," his mother spoke, looking him over.
"Mom, I've been in fights before," Shawn countered.
"With Ben, and you didn't turn out looking half as bad," Shawn's mother responded.
"What are you guys doing here?" Shawn asked, briefly looking over at his father, who he noted didn't look too happy. "I didn't call you."
"The hospital did, when you came in last night," Shawn's mom replied. "They told us they let you go but then called when you came in this morning."
"That's America for you, right there," Jesse replied, sitting back on the bed behind him. "Never heard of the word privacy if they didn't want it."
Shawn was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The last two people he wanted to deal with were his parents. Especially about something he considered to be none of their business. He was 18. As far as he was concerned that made him an adult when it came to a lot of things, this particular thing included. And then they had to get called.
He didn't know what to say to them. So instead he crossed his arms and let out an annoyed sigh, looking away from his mother who looked around at everyone with a smile.
"So," she started. "Aren't you gonna introduce us to your friends?"
Shawn looked over at her for a few seconds before letting out another sigh and looking first over at Trey then at everyone else.
"Uh, yeah," he started. "That's Trey, that's Zoey. Next to her are Noah and Grace and Jesse's the pale British guy sitting on the bed over there.
"Oh, so I'm the pale British bloke now then?" Jesse asked, semi annoyed.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Wright," Zoey spoke up, in a voice that would suggest she was the perfect little angel. "I like parents. Parents love me."
"Do they now?" Shawn's mom asked, amused.
"Absolutely," Zoey replied.
"If you go for that whole artsy freaky thing, then yeah," Grace added.
Shawn looked over at his dad. He wasn't saying much. But that didn't surprise him. He and his father had never really gotten along. He blamed his dad for that. When he was younger, his dad had gotten involved with what he now considered to be a religious cult. He'd always had to endure everything that went along with it and all it's stupid beliefs and teachings that made it impossible for him to have even the most normal conversations with his father.
After they stopped going when he started high school, Shawn considered it too late by then. He'd already found out all the things he wanted to know about life elsewhere. Things like how to talk to girls and about sex. Things a son usually talked about with their fathers. This all combined with his fathers insane work schedule also meant that he was never even really around much for them to talk to begin with.
Shawn usually just did his best to avoid his father whenever he could, and it had worked the past four years of his life.
And then someone had to go and call him.
"Maybe you guys should go," Shawn started. "I'm fine. Everyone's fine. You don't need to worry."
"Right, we'll just forget about that five hundred dollar hospital bill we have to pay now, huh?" his father quickly chirped in.
His father was like that. Very cynical and negative. Rarely was he happy or did anything fun or nice. He was too busy worrying about money lately. And this was probably going to somehow wind up being his fault. Actually it was his fault. He didn't need to fight Noah. Like that made a difference though. His dad probably would have blamed him for being on the receiving end of an eight car pile up on the freeway if it ever happened.
"Shawn, I'm your mother. I'm gonna worry."
"Yeah well it's like I said, you don't have to and we were actually about to go anyway," Shawn started.
"I agree with that statement," Jesse suddenly spoke, up hoping out of bed.
"You just wanna leave without being discharged," Zoey said, looking back at Jesse.
"If I bought this sodding infirmary I could discharge us all," Jesse replied.
Shawn was feeling rather awkward and uncomfortable. His parents were here and he loved them but they were his parents and he didn't want to see them. He was a college student now. He was supposed to be trying to learn not to want to see them all the time like he was accustomed to. It had been working so well before.
"Well, okay, we're fine so you can go now and I guess I'll see you guys at Thanksgiving or something," Shawn started.
His mother stared at him as he looked between her and his father.
Everyone else just stared at the situation unfolding before them not really knowing what to do or say.
"Is everything okay Shawn?" his mother finally decided to ask after a few moments of deafening silence.
Shawn didn't look over at her as he let out another annoyed sigh.
He thought he was being pretty clear in his actions and facial expressions what he wanted to see happen. Which was for either his parents to hit the road or for he and everyone else to leave. He wasn't really sure what was wrong with him. He'd always at least been able to tolerate his mother. She had, after all, played a very active role in his life in and outside their home all his life.
But now it just seemed like the very fact that she and his father were there was smuggling to him. Like he couldn't breathe and wouldn't be able to until he was out of his current situation.
"Can we go now?" Shawn asked.
"I've been ready to leave for ages now," Jesse spoke up.
"Shawn," Trey started.
Trey wasn't really sure what he wanted to say or what he even should say. He was pretty sure that Shawn's reaction to his obviously caring and concerned parents both being here for him was more than a little off key.
But what could he really say about it? It wasn't his place, he figured.
Shawn looked over at him and he didn't continue his sentence. He decided against it.
"Fine then," Shawn said, starting out the door.
"Shawn," his father spoke.
Shawn stopped and turned around to look back at his father who, as Shawn expected, said nothing before turning back around and going right out the door and down the hallway.
There was silence in the room for a few moments before Noah let out an amused chuckle and crossed his arms while Jesse finally decided to speak up.
"Temperamental little bloke isn't he?" he asked, gathering his things as he too started for the door.
"It was nice to meet the two of you," Zoey said as she and everyone else each started towards the door.
Trey lingered for a moment. Shawn's parents were in the room. Concerned for the son who just coldly blew them off. The very same son he knew he had feelings for. Despite what had happened, his feelings were still strong. Unfortunately, also because of what happened, things seemed a little more complicated now.
He wasn't sure if he should try to smooth things over or not. Shawn was his friend. A friend he had feelings for.
But they were Shawn's parents, not his.
And Noah noticed his lingering, as he stopped outside the door and turned back to face him standing in the doorframe.
"Trey?" he asked.
Trey looked over at Shawn's parents.
"Um...I'm sorry," was all he could think to say before he turned around and exited along with Noah.
Shawn was in one of his moods again, Trey noticed.
After leaving the hospital everyone had pretty much decided they'd more or less had enough of each other for one weekend and had decided to go their separate ways. It was a little hard convincing Noah to leave Trey's side, though, as Noah figured Shawn wouldn't exactly be in the best of moods after the whole hospital scene. But Trey convinced Noah that he'd be fine and that he should spend the rest of the day relaxing before school tomorrow.
But, Noah was right because Shawn was in one of his moods.
It was strange that it happened, Trey thought. Because he thought they were starting to go away. He was starting to identify them as a part of Shawn now, though. That didn't mean he didn't want to talk about what happened.
Shawn opened the door to their room and walked straight over to his side, throwing his keys atop his side of the desk and turning down his small desk fan from high' to medium'. The rooms had been hot during the day lately, as Trey took that to mean the R.A.'s wanted everyone to be out and about still.
Trey shut the door slowly and just watched Shawn.
Shawn wasn't doing anything in particular. It was almost like he didn't know what to do. Instead he looked around the room, at the floor in particular in which had started to get dirt again from his lack of tidying skills.
He scratched his stomach from outside his shirt and looked from left to right. He could tell that Trey was watching him. He just felt too ashamed to look him in the eyes at the moment.
Trey stared at Shawn for a few more seconds before letting himself fall back on his bed. He wanted to talk to Shawn, he just wasn't sure where to start.
Shawn in turn sat back on his bed, still looking down at the carpet.
Trey looked over at Shawn deciding that starting at all was better than thinking about it.
"You didn't have to be like that you know," he said.
Shawn looked up and over at him with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.
"What?" he asked.
"I mean they're your parents. Their only child was in the hospital, can't they care?"
Shawn looked down again. He wished he could tell Trey exactly what he felt he wanted to hear. But the truth was, he wasn't even sure why he'd done what he did.
"Is everything okay? With you and your parents I mean?" Trey asked.
Shawn looked back over at him.
"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "I mean, I'm cool with my mom. I don't even know why....."
Trey stared at him for a few seconds before speaking up.
"But you're not cool with your dad?"
Shawn didn't reply.
He didn't really want to talk about his dad. There were definitely issues in that area.
Trey just continued to stare at him.
He noticed this.
"What do you want me to say, Trey?" he asked, semi defensively. "I mean, I didn't call them. I didn't want them there. But they were, there. And that stuff happened and now it's over. Can we just move on and forget about it? Please?"
Trey nodded.
Although, he was starting to wonder about some things now.
Shawn was Shawn, he knew that by now. But while Shawn was Shawn with all of his moods, Noah was Noah with no stress added. They were two completely different people and he was starting to realize that even more now.
Issues just came with the territory when it came to Shawn, he also knew that by now. But he also knew that he didn't exactly care for a drama filled life and if this was how things were going to be with Shawn, maybe he should start considering more closely his future with Noah.
At least things were simple there.
Noah was sitting on his bottom bunk bed tossing a small red ball against the wall to the right of him as Jeremy sat at his computer playing some game as usual.
Jeremy had been talking about various things that didn't interest Noah off and on since he'd come back to their room, and Noah had been doing all he could to ignore him for the most part too. He'd even started tossing the ball against the wall harder in an effort to drown Jeremy's talking out some.
But when Jeremy reverted to the level of a three year old by calling his name over and over he finally caught the ball and turned his attention to him.
"What, WHAT do you want Jeremy?" he asked, a bit more harshly than he intended to.
Jeremy's neck snapped backwards as he made an annoyed cat-like sound in his chair.
"Edgy much?" he asked.
"Bothering me much?" Noah shot back.
"Hey, I'm not the one who got into an urban street brawl downtown and came back with a bruised left eye to show for it, okay," Jeremy replied.
Noah sat back, wondering why Jeremy had decided to bring that up as he turned back to his computer desk and looked around.
"You miss all kinds of things when you random bridge fight," Jeremy said as he lifted up a medium sized brown box and placed it on the ground next to the bed Noah was lying on.
"What's this?" Noah asked, sitting up.
"This," Jeremy replied. "Could be a box of underwear from grandma. Or a ticking time bomb from China set to explode when the box is opened."
Noah frowned at Jeremy's stupidity.
"But, I'm guessing it's from one of your family members since the last name matches up," Jeremy replied.
Noah let his feet fall over the edge of his bed as he examined the box. It was from Bryce. And he suddenly remembered something that he instantly wished to forget.
Jeremy made a few clicking motions at his computer before turning in his chair to look Noah and the box over.
"So aren't you gonna open it?" Noah asked.
He frowned. He didn't really like surprises. He didn't understand why Bryce was sending him anything. It had been a long time since Bryce had given him anything that wasn't a problem in one form or another and wasn't really expecting this time to be any different as he started to open the box.
After a few moments, he'd gotten it open and saw right away what was inside, more than a little shocked.
"What's that?" Jeremy asked as Noah struggled slightly to get it out of the box.
"It's a guitar amplifier," Noah replied.
But he quickly realized that it wasn't just any guitar amplifier. It was nearly the best money could buy. He wanted to question how Bryce, having absolutely no job to his name, could afford to get him anything, let alone something worth more than three month's rent for his dorm room. But then he quickly remembered how Bryce could easily convince any girl of anything. He'd probably met some store clerk and the rest went down from there, he was sure.
It almost pissed him off to a degree to getting the thing. He wasn't sure what he'd done recently that would suggest that he was the least bit friendly with his brother. It had been a long time since either of them had been friendly with each other.
But, he did need an amp for his electric guitar. The fact that he hadn't had an amp was the very reason he'd been using his wooden guitar only and not both. He wasn't about to think too much about the negative.
"So what is it like your birthday or something?" Jeremy asked, passively.
Noah frowned again, glancing briefly over at him.
"Actually yeah," he replied. "It is."
His birthday wasn't until Thursday really, but he wasn't making a big deal out of it. He hadn't really celebrated his birthday in nearly three years. The first two of the three years he'd went to a bar to play pool with Kaz and Sabrina. This year he'd almost forgotten about it entirely.
It just wasn't as important to him as it once was.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me dude," Jeremy started, actually sounding somewhat upset. "I could've got you something."
"It's not until Thursday and don't worry about it," Noah replied. "I don't really care."
"You don't care you're still alive?" Jeremy asked.
That was probably about the only thing he cared about concerning his birthday.
"Still, I gotta get you SOMETHING at least," Jeremy said, killing an elfish looking creature on his computer game.
Noah looked over his gift, feeling more than a little confused.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about his brother not only remembering his birthday, but getting him one of the most expensive things he'd ever received in his entire life. What was it supposed to say about how much he cared about him? He wanted to think it said a lot but he knew better.
It was probably best if he didn't open the gift after all.
Jesse was rich and loved to let people know it. He took delight in the fact that he had more money than nearly everyone he came into contact with. He got a rush out of it. A thrill.
It was that very thing that had led his father to hire 24/7 bodyguards for him when he started school back in London. He'd contested them all his life without oblige until the day he finally moved away for college, where he was free of all the detail his father forced on him.
He'd been enjoying every minute of his newfound freedom so far. At least, up until last night.
Staying in the hospital had been one of the worst experiences he'd ever been through in his entire 18 years of living. He'd never once been to a hospital, as no one in his family had ever needed such extreme care, nor had he ever witnessed anyone die. So by default, he didn't like his stay the previous night.
But it wasn't just that.
He didn't get very much sleep because he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.
All night he tossed and turned back and forward, occasionally getting up and walking around the room to make sure that everything was okay.
That was the main reason he wanted to leave the place so badly earlier. Sure, he had a party to plan but he knew himself well enough to know that he could plan a event hours before said event and have it be the best party in the world. He just wanted to leave to shake that feeling of being watched.
Only it didn't quite go away.
He'd gotten a limo to take everyone home and afterwards back to his apartment, which he'd had renovated for him to live in until it was completely finished within the next couple of days. After everyone had been dropped off, the feeling resumed. It was like someone was following him and he couldn't tell who. At least, that was the way it felt to him.
And then upon returning to his apartment, he felt like someone was watching him through one of the many windows that he had yet to get an interior decorator to cover with blinds of some sort.
So he'd pretty much decided that he was going to seek out company.
The school was only about five minutes away from his apartment. He lived close enough to still be considered living on campus, but he didn't feel like making the effort to go all the way back to find someone familiar.
He didn't really need someone familiar anyway. He just needed someone around so he didn't feel like such a target.
That was his entire thought process as he'd took the elevator down a floor and walked over to the first open door he could find. It was a college student only apartment, so a lot of the doors were kept open for hours at time.
The one he'd happened inside was empty, which said a lot about what kind of safety the people who owned the place felt they had to leave all their stuff unguarded.
But he hadn't come to steal anything. No, he just needed some kind of temporary sanctuary until his feelings of constant paranoia subsided.
He got the feeling, though, that one way or another, he was going to find out exactly why he felt the way he was feeling whether the reason behind was good or bad.
And that was something that actually scared him.
It didn't surprise Trey that Shawn had decided not to go to class the next day. They each had morning classes all week long and were usually both awake getting ready in the mornings but the fact that Shawn had still been asleep when he got up told him all he needed to know about his plans for the day.
He would have thought Shawn was just oversleeping if it hadn't been for the fact that he'd woken up three times to keep putting his alarm clock on snooze while he was getting ready before finally unplugging it.
Trey figured there was probably more going on with Shawn than he even knew about but he wasn't going to try and talk to him so early. He couldn't anyway as he had class to get to anyway.
Psychology to be exact.
For some reason, Trey wasn't really looking forward to seeing Grace as much as he usually was. The two of them hadn't talked since the whole incident on the bridge and he just knew that Grace was going to want to talk about how what happened was his fault because he couldn't sort out his feelings.
Or something along those lines.
He just didn't want her to talk about it, that was all.
So he was surprised when he got to class that she didn't bring it up. Instead she greeted him with a warm smile as he took his seat.
"Why are mornings so good to you?" Trey asked, noting how vibrant Grace seemed to be.
"Didn't I tell you? I got an in with the man in charge," Grace replied.
Trey laughed as he took his backpack off and let it fall to the ground in front of his feet.
"So how's Shawn? Did you guys talk?" Grace asked.
Trey shrugged.
He tried to talk and didn't really get anywhere.
"Shawn's in one of his moods," he decided to reply. "I hate those."
"Hate's a strong word, Trey," Grace said.
"I'll say it then," came the unfortunate voice of Dro, who happened to be standing to Trey's left in the aisle of stairs. "I hate yo fucking pussy ass."
"Boy gone somewhere," Grace spoke, sounding semi upset. "Don't nobody wanna see yo ass this damn early in the morning."
Or ever, Trey thought.
Trey was only passively looking over at Dro who seemed to be glaring at him and definitely not leaving.
"Dro, go away!" Grace exclaimed.
Trey was definitely glad Dro couldn't really do anything what with the nearly hundred people all around and taking their seats in the class. Not to mention the fact that if he somehow, in his own fucked up twisted little way was trying to win Grace back somehow that he was definitely choosing the wrong way to go about doing it.
It took a few moments but Dro finally let out an annoying growl before heading up the stairs to find somewhere else to sit.
Trey wasn't sure what, but something had possessed him to ask.
"Do you still love him?" he asked.
He was almost certain it wasn't really any of his business but he was hoping to get an honest answer anyway.
"After cheating on me, lying to my face about it and nearly killing you? I don't think so," Grace replied.
"Good," Trey replied, looking back at Dro who was taking a seat and still glaring at him. "Because he really gives me the creeps."
Grace looked back at her former boyfriend.
"Yeah," she replied, with a sigh "Me too."
Jesse hadn't been aware that he was even sharpening a pencil anymore as his mind had been lost in thoughts of who could be stalking him and all the possible implications of such a thing.
He was only reminded of the task he was absentmindedly completing upon hearing the dreadful voice of someone he despised.
"So are you gonna start sharpening your finger now?" Sierra asked, standing behind Jesse at the pencil sharpener near the front door of their Music Theory class, an annoyed and impatient look on her face.
Jesse looked down to notice the once brand new pencil he'd started sharpening had become nothing more than an unusable nub.
Being back in reality, he also now had his wits about him.
"Judging from the looks of those obviously un-manicured fingernails of yours I'd say you do that sort of thing quite often," he said.
"I know your game," Sierra spoke, squinting her eyes at Jesse. "I learned all about your type in my profiling class."
"Where they no doubt are teaching you how to interact with the general public," Jesse sighed.
"You're one of those highly antagonistic types," Sierra replied. "The kind of guy that has to take everything positive about a situation and then fuck it all up."
"Well congratulations are in order then," Jesse replied. "I'm so happy that I could help you pass Basics of Life 101"
He started back to his seat before stopping after realizing for the first time something that Sierra had said. He sighed, turned around and slowly trudged back over to her still sharpening her own pencil.
"So profiling class, you say?" he started. "I bet they teach you how to spot the suspicious types as well, yeah?"
"Oh yeah, we have a whole chapter on you and how to deal with self righteous jackasses too," Sierra replied.
"So are you just incapable of at least pretending you're something a bit more serious or what?" Jesse asked, standing back a little.
Sierra abruptly stopped sharpening her pencil and glared over at Jesse.
"What do you want Dies Friendless and Alone?" she asked.
Jesse let out a deep breath, still not really sure why on Earth he'd decided to confide in Sierra before looking both ways and pulling her out the door next to him and into the hallway.
"It's always the aggressive ones who're the biggest assholes," Sierra replied.
"They all tell you that to your face then after that special climax session?" Jesse asked.
Sierra started back into the classroom.
"Alright, alright," Jesse called after her.
She stopped and turned back around, clearly not happy but somewhat intrigued.
"I'm all ears as long as whatever sob story you have to tell me isn't gonna be repeated on the five o clock murder story update," Sierra replied.
Jesse fought the urge to reply to that statement and instead decided to talk about what he really needed to talk about.
"So I'm going to assume you know a thing or two about stalking," Jesse started.
Sierra pursed her lips as Jesse clarified.
"Stalkers," he started again. "From that profiling course of yours?"
"The unwashed of the nation's favorite pastime," Sierra replied. "What about it?"
"How would one, hypothetically speaking of course, be able to tell for sure if he...or she, was being followed?"
"Someone's following you around? Geeze, they must don't have a life."
"I said hypothetically. There's a she involved in this hypothetical remember?"
"And a he," Sierra added.
Jesse sighed as Sierra shuffled a bit and tossed her hair over her shoulder.
"Well you know that Truman show, Big Brother is watching feeling we all get at least once a month?" Sierra asked.
Jesse held his tongue on that comment as well.
"I'd say it's a million times worse. Some people can't even function. The crazy ones even think those Area 51 aliens are gonna get them."
"How does one make it go away?" Jesse asked.
"Wow, you're really interested in this aren't you?" Sierra asked. "Don't tell me you're gonna start paying people to stalk you again. Don't you get it, no one cares you're a semi celebrity here."
Jesse was finding it increasingly difficult to carry on this conversation and was finally about to speak up when he noticed Noah approaching the classroom and decided he'd had enough.
"My new near favorite person!" he said, putting an arm around Noah's shoulder as they entered the classroom. "How is everything?"
Truth be told, Jesse was far from the mindset that involved thinking of Noah as one of his `near favorite' people but he was higher up on that list than Sierra was, who wasn't even on it.
"Um, get off of me," Noah spoke as they walked up the stairs to their seats.
"You and that quiet bloke shagging yet?" Jesse thought he'd ask.
Not that he cared.
"What?" Noah asked, taking off his backpack. "Why were you talking to Sierra? I thought you two couldn't stand each other."
"Someone's trying to kill me," Jesse replied. "If you like, I could let you be my personal bodyguard for free. So many people want the privilege."
"I'll pass, thanks," Noah replied taking his seat.
Jesse took a seat next to him.
"It's really strange. Back in London whenever I thought someone was following me I just assumed it was one of those twelve year old Harry Potter nutters and completely ignored it."
Noah sighed, realizing that he was, whether he liked it or not, part of the conversation with Jesse as he started taking out his books and pen.
"You Yanks have a bunch of crazy people here," Jesse said, as Sierra passed in between him and Noah to get to her seat. "Case in point."
"Well that's too bad," Noah said. "What are you gonna do about it? Go back to London maybe?"
"Why did it sound like you actually want that to happen?" Jesse asked.
Noah shrugged offhandedly as he looked up at the front board to see what had been written on it.
"Well, I don't know what I'm gonna do if the feeling doesn't go away," Jesse said, sitting back in his seat. "I might just have to come stay with one of you and your Scooby Doo gang pals."
"So, you think some crazy lunatic is trying to kill you and you wanna lead him straight to one of us?" Noah asked, looking over at Jesse incredulously.
"Hey, no one ever said friendship was pretty," Jesse replied.
Or permanent, Noah thought, very much so wishing Jesse would indeed decide to go back to London soon.
Trey was avoiding going back to his room at all costs. He knew how Shawn was. If he didn't go to class, which had pretty much been the first couple of weeks before they started hanging out, he generally stayed in their room all day long. He'd only ever leave to eat, and then maybe to go out some time past midnight, not coming back until a good 3 or 4 in the morning.
He and Shawn may have been friends now, but he wasn't some entirely different person. He still preferred not to have Shawn lounging around all day in the room while he was in it.
Besides, he wouldn't even know where to begin when it came to trying to talk to him so he figured the best thing for him to do would be to just forget about it all for the time being. He had other friends.
He Zoey, Grace and Noah were all in the Ark Hall cafeteria enjoying lunch and talking. Trey had always been a quick eater. In and out mostly because he couldn't stand the fact that he'd always had to eat alone. But ever since he'd started making friends, he'd been enjoying hour or more long lunch and dinner retreats that always were enjoyable to him.
As it was, they'd all already been in the cafeteria for half an hour talking about various things.
"That boy is so damn crazy," Grace chuckled, stirring the spoon around in her milkshake.
"I mean, what makes him think we'd want to be around him when the hired assassin he thinks is after him comes to collect?" Noah asked.
"At least he's on that shtick and not the whole `oh my god I just saw two guys kissing' thing," Trey said.
"Don't they call kissing snogging over there?" Zoey asked.
Trey shrugged.
"He actually asked me if you and I were...you know...yet," Noah replied, looking over in Trey's direction.
Trey didn't know if it was possible for a black guy to blush, but if it was he was sure he was doing it. He was already starting to realize that he'd want to explore the possibility of a relationship with Noah more than Shawn. Talking about it in such detail like that made it a little more uncomfortable for him.
"Maybe that could be my birthday present, huh?" Noah grinned, completely not serious.
He'd made the comment not even realizing the full implications of what he'd said.
"Wait, it's your birthday?" Zoey asked. "How come I didn't know about this?"
Noah's grin faded as he looked across the table at Trey and Grace and over at Zoey next to him.
He hadn't been intending to tell anyone about his birthday. He figured if they asked about it, it wouldn't be until after Thursday, in which case he'd be able to tell them all that they missed it already.
He just didn't want anyone making a huge deal over it. That was all. He hated birthdays because all they did was remind him that he was one year closer to the year he'd die, whenever that was going to be. He just saw the negative in it all, something most people rarely stopped to think about.
"Uh...yeah, it's Thursday," he replied, not really wanting to. "Just don't worry about it. It's nothing special."
"So your nineteenth birthday is nothing special to you?" Zoey asked. "Shit, in some places people are worshiped on their birthdays."
"Okay then, I guess all of you should get to your knees then," Noah joked.
"Ooh, un uh that floor is probably nasty," Grace replied in horror.
"Besides, some of us getting on knees would mean something completely different," Zoey grinned looking over at Trey who was so embarrassed he had to look away from everyone.
"Look, guys really, I don't want you to make a big deal about it," Noah replied. "It's just another day I managed to stay alive, and another day I'm a year older."
"You sure are a darkened soul aren't you Noah?" Zoey asked.
"And yo ass might not even be alive next year to see another birthday," Grace added.
"Now who's the darkened soul?" Noah asked with a grin.
"I'm serious boy," Grace said, with conviction. "The reason why birthdays are special is cuz you never know which day is gonna be your last. Might as well celebrate the most special one among them."
"Or you could just treat each day like it's gonna be your last and move on," Noah replied, sitting back in his chair. "At least that way you break even."
"Yo ass ain't even right for that," Grace spoke, distaste evident in her voice.
Noah looked over at Grace who seemed to be a little upset, over at Zoey who seemed not to want to look at him either and over at Trey who had more than enough embarrassment for one hour before deciding something.
"Well I can tell I'm not the favorite of the group anymore," he said, getting up and gathering his things. "So I'm gonna go set up my new guitar amp and enjoy my guilt gift. Life's too short you know."
After Noah was nearly at the exit, Grace decided to look up and watch him leave before looking over at Zoey.
"How his ass ain't even gonna celebrate his own damn birthday?" she said.
"Some people are born jaded," Zoey replied. "I should know."
"But at least you celebrate your own birthday," Grace replied.
Trey wasn't really sure what to say about it all. First he had Shawn acting all unnecessarily weird on him and now Noah. He hadn't the faintest idea what was causing any of it but he knew that he had no idea what to do about it all.
"We should do something to change that boys mind," Grace spoke.
"What you mean like throw him a party or something?" Zoey asked.
"Exactly," Grace replied.
"Whoa, guys, wait," Trey spoke, leaning forward and turning to his left to see Grace and Zoey both. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea. What if he gets mad?"
"He can't get mad if he doesn't know about it," Zoey replied.
"Oh hell yeah girl. I'm liking this surprise birthday party thing," Grace replied.
But Trey wasn't. He may not have been able to get a handle on things but he did know Noah well enough to know that a surprise birthday party probably wasn't going to go over to well with him.
The last thing he wanted to do was to upset Noah in any way. Things were going too well with him to mess things up.
"Everybody loves a good party," Zoey said, with a smile.
"Why do I get the feeling I'M not going to like this good party?" Trey asked.
"Shut up boy and help us plan," Grace spoke, as Zoey took out a notebook and pen.
Jesse had finally figured it out. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before but he was thinking of it now and it made perfect sense.
Why would some random stranger want to kill him, the celebrity that he was? He figured out that it wasn't random.
No, it was Amber.
Amber was a jealous psychotic bitch who Jesse knew was crazy enough to either be the one following him or the one to hire someone to do it. Either way, he'd come to the conclusion that it was her.
It had to be.
She was the craziest person that he knew.
Which was exactly the reason why he'd decided to crash the sorority house. Since he was no longer living in it, he had no qualms in doing such a thing. In fact, he figured it'd be pretty fun.
He marched right into the sorority house, straight past all the quizzical looks plastered on all the girls faces he passed and forced himself inside of what he once considered his room as well as Amber's.
Amber, who was inside sitting at her computer, turned around and sighed when she saw him, before turning back to her computer.
"Join a frat did you?" she asked. "Because those guys like to come in here pretending they're lost too."
Jesse stood where he was for a few seconds before shutting the door behind him and walking further into the room.
He had a storm of emotions running through him and didn't know quite where to begin.
"FYI in case they didn't teach you the basics in Revenge Seekers 101, if you're gonna try, don't make it so obvious," he started.
"What are you talking about Jesse?" Amber asked, sounding awfully uninterested.
"I know you've been following me around, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that I've already been down that long narrow road with you."
Amber turned around in her chair and crossed her arms, staring at Jesse.
He waited for her to say something but when she didn't he decided to look around.
The place looked the same, minus all of his stuff. She hadn't really changed anything.
He'd been so determined to run Amber into the ground he hadn't even noticed that the shower water had been running in the bathroom and had just stopped.
An eyebrow rose as he looked in the direction of the closed bathroom door.
"Who's in there then? Blind Ambition?" he asked.
"You don't get to come in here and ask me questions anymore Jesse," Amber replied. "Actually, you don't get to come in here at all."
"Yeah, you pretty much made that clear at the Let's Sell All of Jesse's Earthly Possessions convention you held last week," Jesse replied.
All the while he was talking, he couldn't help but to be highly curious and suspicious as to who was in the bathroom. He was even mildly jealous.
"I think you should probably go Jesse," Amber replied. "I'm one finger away from dialing emergency."
"It's come to this now has it? You holding such little esteem for me?"
"You made that decision not me."
"Yes because you were obviously too daft to make it yourself."
Jesse was going to continue when suddenly the bathroom door opened and out popped a face he never in a million billion trillion years expected to see coming from out of it of all places.
"Much better than the Ritz," the guy spoke. "I should probably ring them about their hot water problems. Oh...okay then."
Jesse realized that this was a moment that he actually felt at a loss for words in as he felt himself being stared back by a half naked near mirror image, albeit older, of himself.
"Search completed then," the guy spoke.
Amber looked between Jesse and him before speaking up.
"You two know each other?"
"Remember the brother I told you I came here to look for?" he asked. "This is him."
"Nicholas," Jesse spoke, distastefully.
He hadn't seen his older brother in nearly seven months. Nicholas was the very definition of a male party boy. He'd completely skipped going to university when he graduated school three years previously, instead deciding to globetrot around the world spending his fathers money.
Which brought up his anger at his father for forcing him to go to college when his own brother hadn't had to do it himself.
Yet, here he happened to randomly be, in Amber's room of all places, dripping wet with water that glistened from the fading sunlight pouring in from Amber's blinds.
And suddenly he realized that he had the wrong person when he assumed Amber had been the one following him. It all made sense now. Even if he still was mostly otherwise confused.
"God, I should probably get clothed, huh?" Nicholas spoke, leaving Jesse still at a loss for words.
Tuesday and Wednesday had passed by rather uneventfully for everyone. Shawn still was acting strangely and Noah seemed to be avoiding having to talk about his birthday at all costs. And Jesse was strangely non existent, something everyone could safely say they were a bit relieved of for the time being.
By Thursday, Noah was a mixture of happy and upset that no one had bothered to bring up his birthday. He was happy because it meant that his friends cared enough to respect his wishes. But it also bothered him a little that no one at least wished him a happy birthday, just to say they remembered.
He knew he had no one to blame for that but himself though so he tried not to worry about it too much.
By Friday, everyone was feeling excited for the birthday party they were keeping a secret from Noah, as they'd decided to throw it on a Friday instead of a Saturday since more people would be around to attend on a Friday over a Saturday.
The only person who seemed not to be excited about anything was Shawn, which Trey had noticed and had decided that he was going to try to do something about it as he got ready for class.
Shawn had been up literally all night the previous night. He was on his computer doing various this and thats, something that still seemed to keep Trey awake for hours at a time at night, before he finally decided to quietly watch a movie around six in the morning, an hour before Trey had to officially get up. Of course, he pretty much already was up and had been thinking about what he wanted to say to Shawn.
Shawn was lying at the foot of his bed with his hands propped up behind his head so that he could see his computer screen, which he'd moved so that it was facing him while Trey was standing at the mirror above their sink buttoning up his shirt, thinking about all kinds of things.
He finally decided to just start speaking, getting out whatever he could get out.
"We're having a birthday party," he started, turning around to look at Shawn. "For Noah. It's a surprise party."
"Good for him then," Shawn replied, not even bothering to look away from his movie.
Trey stared at Shawn's head for a moment before walking over to his side of their shared dresser to retrieve his lotion.
"So you don't wanna tell me what the fight was about. You don't wanna tell me why you hate your parents-"
"I don't hate my parents," Shawn quickly cut in.
Trey looked over at him still not looking at him.
"Right," he replied.
A few moments passed as Trey continued to get ready before Shawn suddenly sat up and paused his movie with the remote that came with his computer.
"You know, you don't get to judge me for it either," he said. "I mean, my issues...I don't HAVE to talk about them."
Trey looked over at Shawn.
"Shawn don't you get it? You're being weird now. It's like something's wrong and you won't let anyone help you. Maybe you SHOULD talk about them."
Shawn sighed and looked down at his bare legs. He was wearing nothing but a loose pair of boxers as usual and had his bedspread messily strewn over his bed where it only partially covered him.
He looked over at his fan and turned it off before looking over at Trey who had started to put on his sneakers.
"You really think I'm being weird?" Shawn asked.
He'd been doing some thinking of his own as well.
He wasn't stupid. He could see what was happening right before his very eyes. Trey was falling for Noah and no matter how much he tried to be the guy that Trey could like, it didn't seem to be working. He didn't have to go completely out of his way and transform into somebody he wasn't to impress him, but the guy he'd become lately was somewhat of a stretch from the guy he really was.
His problems, he figured, probably all started with Ben beating the crap out of that guy that tried to kiss him. The old him would have sided with his best friend, not ended a friendship that had spanned the course of his entire lifetime.
The old him wouldn't have found his parents to be annoying in the presence of people he never would hang out with in high school. It was like he'd become a different type of friend in his new self.
The old him wouldn't have kept a neat room, or went to bed on time or went to class every day. He did those things for Trey. Or at least tried to. And Noah, who wasn't his roommate, who he didn't see all the time was being himself and he was winning.
He could see it.
So he figured if Noah could be himself and get away with it, then he could go back to being his old self and figured that Trey could either take it or leave it. He didn't want to say he was done jumping through hoops to please Trey, because most of the time he enjoyed his new self. But if Trey wasn't going to take notice, then he wasn't going to bother.
It didn't make a difference anyway.
"We all do," Trey replied.
Shawn stared at him for a few moments.
He realized he was being overly moody. He could fix that.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you," he replied.
Trey looked down.
"What time's the party?" he asked.
If it was over it was over.
There was no use going back.
"So get this, he actually flew all the way from Brazil just because he got wind of my condition in the hospital," Jesse started.
He and Noah were back in their Music Theory class where Jesse had instantly started talking Noah's ear off since he'd walked through the door one minute previously.
"So there are two of you here now?" Noah asked. "Can a person find such bad luck in one lifetime?"
"I mean, I'm not even that close with my family members," Jesse continued, completely ignoring Noah's comment. "We're the modern day Addam's family, just with lots and lots of money."
Noah sighed as he once again realized that he was stuck having to listen to the guy that he and his friends had unfortunately decided to show a little kindness to and were now completely stuck with.
"I haven't seen the bloody bloke in a good seven months and now he decides to come out of the woodwork? You know he actually tracked down that psycho Amber and got her wrapped around his finger" Jesse spoke incredulously. "I'll have nothing to do with whatever scheme he has cooking up now, I can tell you that much."
"If you're gonna tell us your life's story every time we see you can we at least charge you something?" Sierra, butting in, asked. "Guy with lots and lots of money can afford it, right?"
"Go stuff a Big Mac into your gob and leave me alone orphan Annie," Jesse shot back. "I'm trying to have an intelligent conversation with my...companion here."
"Oh, sorry my mistake," Sierra replied. "When you said intelligent I thought you meant der de did funk de winkle, or your caveman speak I keep hearing."
Jesse decided not to respond to that as he once again turned his attention back to Noah.
"This is the last thing I ever wanted to ask you of all people, but you have to let me hang out with you today," he started. "My brother has all these insane plans for the day. He wants me to show him around and that's never a good sign."
"Why?" Noah asked, mildly curious.
"He might decide to stay here," Jesse replied. "I told you he never went to college right?"
"You really don't like your brother huh?" Noah asked.
Although, he couldn't really blame Jesse as he didn't exactly like his own brother very much for lots of reasons he didn't really care to think about.
Still though, the possibility of having two Yorkshire's running around bothering him for the rest of the year was very unsettling, at best.
"Look, I'm in class until three," Noah started. "After that I'm supposed to be hanging out with Grace, Zoey and Trey. I think we might go see a movie or something. I don't know."
"Your uncertainty isn't very cushioning for me," Jesse replied. "That's perfect."
"Take it or leave it," Noah replied, somewhat wishing he'd pick the option to leave it.
Jesse thought about it a moment.
His brother wasn't his favorite person by a long shot. Truth be told, even though his feelings of being followed and watched had subsided, he still didn't exactly feel safe. He knew better than anyone that his own brother wasn't exactly trustworthy. That coupled with the fact that he already seemed to know Amber, who wasn't against plans of revenge he figured he was far from safe.
All the more people around him he could get that were familiar to him at any one time, the better.
"Alright then," he finally replied. "Looks like you've got yourself a new best mate."
"Yeah, I don't think so," Noah replied plainly as the talking in the class began to die down with their professor entering the room.
For the most part, Trey Zoey and Grace had managed to keep Noah from thinking that they were up to something by keeping him otherwise busy.
The four of them had all eaten lunch together before heading to the on campus arcade to play a few video games and shot a few rounds of pool. They'd had so much fun doing that stuff that the time they'd set aside to go see some sort of movie had pretty much flew out the window.
Jesse hadn't left Noah's side since their first class together either. They didn't share the same two classes after Music Theory but that didn't matter to Jesse as he tagged along to Noah's classes with him. At some point, Jesse was almost certain that he'd seen his brother in the back row at one of the classes flirting with some girl. But he wasn't sure.
Either way, he was doing his best to avoid his brother, who'd called him exactly twelve times since he'd left him changing at Amber's room. He figured his brother would get bored soon and leave. At least, that was what he was hoping.
"You think we should see that movie now?" Noah asked. "It did just come out today so it's probably gonna sell out quick."
"Okay, but let's drop by Fratenity Row first," Zoey spoke up without further elaborating.
Noah looked over at her with a curious grin on his face.
"Fraternity Row? What are you going butch or something?" he asked.
"And with that final blow to her self esteem she finally had the justification she needed to slit her wrists in-"
"Shut up," Noah chuckled, playfully shoving Zoey as the four of them walked along outside. "But seriously, why there?"
"I'm going to a concert with my boyfriend tomorrow and a guy there supposedly has our tickets," Zoey lied.
"Tickets? Concert? Invite?" Noah joked.
"Yall know you just gonna get a hotel room and do the freak nasty," Grace added.
"This isn't Pretty Woman, I have my standards," Zoey replied.
"We know," Trey laughed.
Jesse wasn't really paying attention to the banter between the four of them for he was too busy paying attention to all the people they passed. For some reason, ever since his brother had unexpectedly and unwontedly shown up, he'd figured every passing guy with end the slightest resemblance to him could very well have been him.
It wasn't that he was afraid of his brother. After all, he had nothing to fear. His brother wasn't that much bigger than he was and was only an inch or two taller. He'd never think Nicholas could hurt him and even if he tried, he had the huge advantage of being a third degree black belt over him anyway.
He was mostly worried exactly why Nicholas was here. His brother was far from trustworthy. He used to con him out of his weekly allowance his father gave them for years before he realized what was happening. That was only the first in a long line of offenses his brother had committed. He'd even been arrested four times, for mostly stupid things like streaking and smoking pot, but had had his record erased thanks to their family having the money to do such a thing.
Bottom line, his brother was trouble and he knew he wouldn't just pop in to see him. He hadn't even been aware his brother knew where to find him, but he had and now he had to deal with it, no matter what else was going to come along with that.
The chatter amongst them all continued until they reached Fraternity Row, a section of the university where nearly all of the various fraternities were located, which was a good ten minutes away from where they'd started walking.
"You know those campus buses are free right?" Noah asked. "Just saying."
"You enjoyed that walk," Zoey replied. "Admit it."
"I didn't," Trey laughed as they started up the steps leading to a rather large frat house, painted a light green on the outside, and otherwise very nicely decorated.
Jesse looked around.
"Another one of these places huh?" he asked. "What are we going to a party or something?"
Zoey, Trey and Grace tensed up as they started inside.
There was a front door which led into a smaller entry room before there were two larger doors that led into the actual frat house.
"Wait, god I stepped on something," Zoey spoke, leaning over to look at her foot.
Noah tried looking through the glass window into the frat house, which was completely dark and silent.
"What the hell kind of frat house ISN'T having a party on a Friday night?" he said, looking around.
"Why is it so dark in there? What's going on?" Jesse asked suspiciously.
"Nothing Jesse, just shut up and go," Grace spoke with a fake smile through gritted teeth.
Jesse looked through the glass, feeling a bit uneasy. He was half expecting his brother to be inside with a band of hired thieves shoving t.v.'s and computers out the back door.
"Maybe we should come back another time-"
"Shut up and GO THROUGH THE DOOR JESSE!" Grace exclaimed again through gritted teeth actually shoving Jesse through the front doors.
Everyone stepped inside and stood in the dark no longer than two seconds before every light in the house came on and people jumped out of nowhere shouting the words surprise' and happy birthday'.
Noah was more than a little caught off guard. He hadn't been expecting this at all. It was actually really nice to see how much his new friends cared about him.
"I can't believe you guys," he spoke, a huge smile on his face.
There was no way he could hide his shock and surprise and no way he was going to make them feel bad for planning a party he wouldn't have wanted otherwise.
"Wow, what do you know? Someone actually cares it's your birthday," Jesse spoke. "Congrats. What are you 18? 19?"
"Yeah," Noah replied. "I don't suppose you bothered to get me a gift then."
"I'm gift enough if you have to ask," Jesse replied. "But I'll write you a check. How's a thousand sound?"
Trey left the group in an effort to go look for Shawn, who'd promised to show up. So far he didn't see him and other than who he showed up with, he would have been the only person he recognized.
He was a little sad at the possibility that he wasn't going to show up at all.
Jesse meanwhile had started to mingle when he saw his brother, something he had been hoping against hope not happen.
"God, now you're stealing invites to MY parties too?" Jesse greeted his brother. "What's next, am I gonna wake up and find I'm missing a kidney courtesy of the Nicholas Band of Thieves wagon?"
"You're a bit of a sour puss you know that right Jesse?" Nicolas asked.
"And you!" Jesse started, turning his attention to the person who happened to be standing right next to his brother. "What are YOU doing here?"
"Well I WAS hoping to have fun," Amber replied. "Maybe you should go so that stays on track."
"You wish dear," Jesse replied. "I have issues-"
"I know-
"To attend to," Jesse finished before pulling his brother away from Amber and away from the crowd.
"So you liking the party so far?" Trey asked Noah who was helping himself to some of his birthday cake.
Noah replied something that Trey couldn't understand what with his mouth being already full of cake.
Trey giggled and wiped some of the cake crumbs from around Noah's mouth, who moved back and forward making it harder for Trey to do so.
Shawn, who'd just entered the party, was watching from the front door Trey and Noah's little playful display, instantly feeling worse than he did before he stepped foot inside.
He wasn't that surprised however. He'd already expected to see that happening. He'd already seen it happening, just not as clear cut. The two of them might not have fully realized what was going on between them but he could see it.
More than anything it pissed him off. Jaded him to the point where he no longer felt like there was a point in getting to know Trey. His whole reasoning for wanting to do that in the first place came after he realized he had feelings for him. And since that was going nowhere, their friendship might as well follow the same path and also go nowhere.
He didn't have to be someone he wasn't anymore.
"Would you lighten up, Jesse? God, aren't you supposed to be the YOUNGER sibling?" Nicholas asked, all the while his eyes followed an attractive girl passing by. "Try to have some fun every once in a while."
"I can't because I'm too busy worrying about what crime my OLDER brother is busy committing!" Jesse replied. "Shit, can't for ONCE you decide on what age you want to grow up so the rest of us can finally relax?"
Nicholas crossed his arms and let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes at his brother.
"You're right," he started.
"What?" Jesse asked, surprised.
"Who better to learn responsibility from than my reliable younger brother?" Nicholas asked, putting an arm around Jesse.
"Wait a minute, I wasn't talking about-"
"I just might have to stick around here to let a little of you rub off on me."
"What?!?"
Noah had gathered Grace, Trey and Zoey together around the kitchen. The party had turned out to be a success. Well over 80 people had shown up. Of course, most of them were strangers who only barely knew each of them but that counted. At least, they hoped it counted.
"Just wanted to say I appreciate you guys throwing me this bitchin party man, like right on totally rad," Noah joked.
"I mean I know it's not Jesse and a pig cooking in the foyer Hawiian beach theme thing but we do try," Zoey spoke.
"Yes, yes we do," Grace added.
"Thanks," Noah replied, looking over at Trey who sheepishly grinned at him.
"Uh oh, love connection time," Grace said.
"Really? So it's not called party hook up time?" Zoey asked.
"Come on girl," Grace spoke, dragging Zoey off.
"So no Shawn huh?" Noah asked, with a nervous grin.
Trey preferred not to talk about him at the moment. He was nothing but a disappointment lately. He agreed to come to Noah's party. Looked him in the face and swore that he'd come. But of course that was all a lie because Shawn was too immature to get over his petty differences with Noah to just be happy for him on his own birthday.
That said a lot about Shawn's character and Trey was starting to realize that not all people changed. Whatever feelings he thought he had for Shawn were slowly starting to weaken if it was even possible.
He almost didn't care Shawn hadn't come.
Shawn meanwhile had been doing his best to avoid running into Trey and Noah by staying in the back rooms away from everyone. He hadn't even been totally surprised to find his former best friend Ben at the party either.
No, that hadn't surprised him much.
What had surprised him was what he finally had decided to do after thinking about it since he'd realized his friend was at the party.
Ben was talking to some random girl about some random thing before Shawn decided to walk over to him.
He noticed Ben looked surprised to see him, then a little nervous as if he was expecting him to start another fight. But he was far from thinking about that again.
"Shawn...." Ben spoke. "Hi..."
Shawn stared a Ben for a few moments before finally making up his mind.
"Can we talk?" he asked.
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Copyright 2006