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 5 "Going Up"
Noah couldn't see anything. It was too dark. His feet were cold. Probably because he wasn't wearing any shoes, he noticed. He didn't even know where he was.
"Hello?" he called out.
Not longer than a second after the words had left his mouth did a light click on above him. It was like some kind of spotlight. And he was standing in the middle of some kind of basketball court.
He didn't play sports anymore. Something was going on, and he didn't know what.
He couldn't see anything other than what was directly in front of him, which just so happened to be nothing. He wasn't sure whether to stay put or to start walking.
"Um...."
He stopped when all of a sudden he heard the low strumming of a bass before the start of some drums and another bass.
Someone was playing music somewhere.
"Hello?"
A familiar song started. One that he recognized from last night at the show he'd gone to see with Zoey. The only difference was that the lyrics had changed. Instead of being about losing the girl the main singer loved, it was about losing the guy he loved. He wasn't even aware that he was gay. He didn't seem gay.
Noah shook himself out of his temporary trance and started towards the sound of the music, which instantly grew louder. But Noah realized that it wasn't because he was getting closer to the source but because the source itself started playing louder.
That was about when two names were used in the lyrics. His own name and Trey's name.
Noah was panicking and started moving faster. There was no way he was in love with Trey and sad because he lost him. There was no way that he could be gay. And there was no way he wanted a song about any of it either. The band just needed to stop playing. Pronto.
"Stop it!" Noah shouted, trying to find the band.
He thought the music was coming from one area but as soon as he got close it seemed like it up and moved to another area. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but he was getting increasingly frustrated.
This was all one gigantic mess and he knew it.
He kept turning whenever the source of the music kept changing, and every time he turned the music changed locations.
"Okay, not funny!" he called out.
That was about when he heard an audience laughing.
But not the `normal' kind of laughing. This laughing sounded like the cheesy pre-recorded kind you'd hear on an equally cheesy sit com. Like some kind of laugh track, leaving him wondering what the hell was going on.
"What the..."
The music continued and when he screamed for them to shut up and stop playing, another pre recorded audience track was cued. Only this time, it was one that was booing him.
"I wanna wake up now!" Noah shouted.
As soon as the words left his mouth did all the lights in the room flicker on, and all of a sudden things changed. He saw the band from last night centered in the middle of the court, but in the stands and even on the sidelines were tons of people clapping a cheering like they were watching a really good game or something.
Cheerleaders were dancing in one corner and a mascot was prancing around manically in the other. Noah was worried that all the attention seemed to be focused on him, as there was no game to speak of going on.
Noah kept looking around the unusual scene until his eyes stumbled upon a most troubling sight. Being lowered from the ceiling was a cage with someone shouting on the inside. The band started playing again, this time the type of music you'd hear at a circus.
All of a sudden the room went from looking like a typical basketball game scene to that of a circus scene, complete with clowns and gigantic elephants. Deciding he'd had enough, Noah started towards where he thought the exit was but stopped when he noticed people in the stands were throwing things at him. After that the lights dimmed until there were only two on in the entire area. One focused on him and the other on the cage, which was lowered all the way.
The band started playing again, but this time the lyrics were talking about telling someone they loved him'. Tell him you love him' was what they were saying.
Noah couldn't help but to wonder who was in the cage and upon closer inspection, noticed that it was none other than Trey. He looked like he was passed out, even though he was almost certain that he'd heard someone shouting in the cage earlier. Seeing Trey looking so fragile and damaged welled up the very feelings inside of him that he was trying to suppress.
"Fuck it," he mumbled, before deciding to go see if Trey was okay.
That was when everything in the room disappeared and something started buzzing loudly.
It kept buzzing until Noah couldn't take it anymore and decided to shut his eyes and cover his ears. When he opened his eyes he nearly jumped back when he realized Jeremy was staring him directly in the face, a little too close.
"Having a bad dream, we're we?" he asked.
Noah realized that he was panting, like he'd been running or something. And his shirt and hair were damp. Looking around he could tell that it was morning and that it was raining outside.
"I would have woken you up but I couldn't remember if it was sleepwalking or nightmares where they say not to wake the person up," Jeremy replied. "It's both isn't it?"
Noah threw a pillow at his still buzzing alarm clock, causing it to fall to the ground, stopping it from buzzing.
"Crazy alcohol consumption on a diet of concert nachos and hot dogs can't be good for you," Jeremy spoke, turning back to his computer. "Then what would I know? I never go anywhere."
Noah didn't usually get drunk. He did drink, but never allowed himself to get drunk just because he hated the way he felt the next morning. Today however, he was feeling fine, aside from feeling panicked behind his crazy nightmare.
He rubbed his face and hair before letting out a deep sigh and forcing himself to get up, allowing his feet to carry him over to the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror, trying to figure out his own thoughts.
"Must have been some nightmare too," Jeremy replied. "You looked worried. In your sleep."
"You watched me have a nightmare?" Noah asked.
"It was interesting," Jeremy replied. "Like watching a movie or something."
Noah frowned before making a mental note to not get ever get drunk again. It led to nightmares that he didn't want to deal with and weird roommates watching him have them.
He didn't know what any of it meant, but he also knew that he wasn't about to try and figure it out either, as he had class to get to. And before that, he seriously needed to shower.
"The worst nightmare I ever had was when I thought they shut down the online servers to-"
Noah tuned Jeremy out, something he was becoming adept at doing whenever he started talking about his silly little video games.
He turned away from the sink, feeling more determined to forget about the nightmare, however strange it was, and to focus on class.
He needed some stability from now on.
Trey sat in his bed, staring at his alarm clock. It would be going off at any second, and he was debating whether or not he was going to allow himself to get up, or to just lie in bed all day.
He liked Grace. He really did. She was a nice person who he had the feeling he'd be able to care about and become great friends with down the line. That was the reason why he was struggling so much with what had happened at the party the night before.
He didn't like Dro for several reasons the two most important reasons being that he knew Dro didn't like him either and that he scared him. And after last night, he'd made both reasons all the more prominently clear to him.
Dro had so obviously been in the throes of passion with a girl that so obviously wasn't Grace when he'd walked into that room. That only made him feel bad for Grace. And the fact that he felt bad about that and concerned for her well being was tearing him up on the inside. He didn't know whether or not he wanted to tell her about what he'd seen or if he was even supposed to.
Yes, Dro had threatened him and he knew that Dro probably wouldn't have a problem beating
the shit out of him if they ever had a serious problem, regardless of what Grace would think. But he was still conflicted about what to do.
He wouldn't be able to talk to Grace until lunch, as he didn't have Psychology today, but he did want to at least see her. Seeing and talking to her always made him feel better.
Thinking about her was even starting to make him feel better until he looked over at Shawn, who was brushing his teeth at the sink, and suddenly grew conflicted for different reasons. The way he saw it, he almost had a kind of reputation to uphold to and protect. Shawn probably saw him as a neat and tidy nerd who always went to class and always studied hard. He wondered what he would think of him if he actually skipped, something he'd never even think he'd consider doing.
Part of him wanted to skip class, just to show Shawn off. But he realized skipping his classes wouldn't do him any good, even if he hadn't been doing much work in any of them all week. And he wasn't about to give Shawn anything else to pick at him about.
Yesterday it was `why didn't he go out?'
If he skipped class it would be `why didn't he go to class?'
He got up and sat on the edge of his bed. He wasn't tired but he tried looking like he was to make it seem like he just got up. He could see Shawn glance over at him in the mirror before bending over to spit in the sink.
He got up and walked over to his closet-cabinet trying to figure out what outfit he wanted to wear.
Shawn stopped the water in the sink and walked over to retrieve his backpack.
"Have fun?" he asked, not because he cared, but because he wanted to know if somebody like Trey really could have fun.
Trey looked over at Shawn.
He'd had fun up until the whole deal with Dro, but he knew what Shawn was getting at, so he knew what his response had to be.
"Yeah, actually," he replied.
"Gotta say, I was shocked when you didn't come back before twelve," Shawn spoke, tossing his backpack on his back. "But then again, the fact that you came back at all is....well, nothing."
Trey hated when people did that. Opened their mouths and started to say something because they clearly wanted people to hear it and then didn't finish it, because they clearly wanted people to inquest as to why.
Trey wasn't gonna do that. He was just gonna let Shawn be the little jack ass that he was being and forget about him. He had other things to deal with and worry about.
"Well, the fact that I went out at all before twelve instead of staying here is...well, nothing," Trey spoke.
Shawn stared at Trey for a few seconds before heading towards the door.
Trey stared at himself in the mirror happy for managing to ruffle Shawn's feather's once again.
"I don't do rain love," Jesse spoke, watching on the edge of his bed as Amber scrambled to get ready for class.
"I thought it rained like all the time in London," Amber replied.
"Let me put it to you another way then," Jesse started. "I'm indoors when there's rain. You don't wanna know my theory on it."
"I got my own theories you know," Amber said, looking around for her shoes. "And I think you just wanna be lazy and mooch off somebody your whole life."
Jesse snorted at Amber and crossed his arms.
"Don't be daft," he replied. "I don't...'mooch' off of people."
Amber rolled her eyes at Jesse as she bent down to look under the bed for her shoes.
"Honestly, if Id've known it was gonna chuck down I'd have stayed in cleaning today, not on a good day like yesterday," Jesse spoke, looking out the rain soaked window.
"Do you even have classes today?" Amber asked.
Jesse laid back and thought about it.
"Well I did do a bit of class shopping when I was about Monday....I could find a couple more to suit me today if I wanted," he replied, debating whether or not it was something he wanted to do. "But then there's the whole searching through the rain deal."
"Well, I wouldn't mind it if you cleaned some more," Amber spoke, after finally finding her shoes.
"I bet you fancy me cleaning that hideous side of your closet, yeah?" Jesse asked.
"But...there's nothing wrong with the closet," Amber spoke, sounding confused.
"Right love, other than the clothes and shoes, I'd say there isn't a bit of anything wrong with it at all."
Amber pouted at Jesse who smiled at her and patted her atop the head.
"Tell you what, I'll get out and try and do SOMETHING today, for you," he spoke.
He may have found Amber to be incredibly dense, but he couldn't deny the fact that he was growing attached to her.
She smiled at him and stood up.
"Well now, off you go," Jesse replied, shooing Amber towards the door.
Jesse waited for the door to shut before he fell back on the bed, thinking.
It was raining like hell outside and he just promised that he'd find something to do.
"I'm a bloody moron," he groaned, pulling a pillow over his face.
Noah found himself being undeniably paranoid at the prospect of running into Trey again, especially after his nightmare. All he could think about when he was walking around campus to get to class was whether or not he'd see Trey again.
He kept telling himself he didn't want to but then he kept agonizing over the fact that not seeing him pained him a little. He hated the hold Trey seemed to have over him and he was trying to find a way to overcome it.
And that way was to just avoid everything altogether. After all, if he never approached the subject at hand, there would be no subject to worry about. And it wasn't like he didn't have anything else to do with his time and life besides worrying about the only guy he'd ever kissed in his entire lifetime.
Having nightmares in the first place were having affects on him as it was. He was feeling overly tired. He never really liked to sleep in class, especially in classes where he knew no one and risked not being woken up when it was over. But he also realized that it couldn't be helped sometimes, and this was one of those times.
He wasn't feeling very interested with what was going on this particular class anyway, and decided to slouch over in his seat and take a nice little nap, considering there was still about an hour left to go in class and he was in the back of the class anyway.
It wasn't that hard for him to fall asleep. Of course, he was surprised with how quickly it seemed the nap took when he found himself waking up, to his horror, in an empty classroom.
"Shit," he mumbled jumping up.
He started gathering his things but stopped when he heard the door to the brightly lit classroom open and shut and saw a familiar, but surprising face walking towards him.
"Why're you being like this?" his friend Kaz asked, as he approached him.
"What?" Noah asked, starting back with his things. "And what are you doing here anyway? Thought college wasn't your deal."
"It's not," came the voice of is other friend Sabrina who had entered the room and was approaching him now as well.
Noah stopped and stared at his friends curiously, yet cautiously.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked.
Kaz jumped atop one of the desks next to Noah while Sabrina stood in front of him, strangely eyeing him.
"What?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable.
"See, I always knew you'd change one day, " Kaz spoke. "I knew you'd start thinking like one of them."
Noah looked over at the silent Sabrina before turning his attention back to Kaz.
"Them? What-"
"As long as you feel all weird like you do, you're never gonna be able to sort this shit out," Kaz spoke. "Not proper anyway."
"And he's not even a fucking loser!" Sabrina added.
Noah was trying to wrap his head around what was going on and after staring his friends down for a few moments, he realized that they were here because he was having another nightmare, one less nightmarish than the one before.
"Okay, I'm gonna go wake up now," Noah mumbled, turning away from his friends but stopped when they both all of a sudden appeared in front of him on the other side.
"What the...."
"Dude, why're you been such a little dick-"
"Leave him a lone Kaz. If he wants to avoid it all and live with the consequences, that's his decision."
Noah eyed Sabrina.
"I'm not avoiding this I'm just.....ignoring it."
"Ha!" Kaz snorted. "Let's see how far that gets you."
"It's gonna get me plenty far, thank you," Noah replied. "You'll see, I'm gonna be completely okay."
And feeling done with the whole deal, Noah got on top of one of the desks, let out a deep breath and shut his eyes, before allowing himself to fall backward.
When he suddenly shot upwards and noticed everyone around him gathering their things because class was over, he realized that it had worked and he had snapped himself out of his nightmare.
He actually felt good about the second one because he knew that he would be okay if he just ignored the situation. It wasn't like his entire world revolved around Trey and he just HAD to talk to him.
But then...he couldn't ignore the fact that he'd had not one but two nightmares regarding him within a relatively short amount of time. The evidence was against him and was hard to deny. It seemed like someone, somewhere, was trying to tell him that the very thing he didn't want to do was exactly the thing he needed to do.
And he could already tell that if he continued to ignore Trey, he was going to suffer from mysterious nightmare number three before the day was over.
As the room emptied and Noah sat with all his thoughts, he realized that he had a decision to make. And unfortunately, he had to make it before the end of the day.
"He sounds like my kinda guy, actually," Ben spoke, reaching for the ketchup across the table. "I mean, you keep talking about him like he's some kind of loser but I disagree totally, dude."
"Because you've spent more than three minutes in his vicinity right?" Shawn asked, sarcastically.
"Look, all I'm saying is that it's getting a little old," Ben replied, sprinkling salt on his fries. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's just you?"
Shawn took a moment to study his best friends face to see if he was serious before responding.
"What?" he asked.
"Look, you and I done our fair share of messing with losers back in high school," Ben replied. "So I think I'd know when I saw him."
"Oh what so it's just in my mind then?" Shawn asked. "Like I'm just making this whole thing up? I'm crazy now!"
"Shawn-"
"And what would you know anyway?" Shawn asked. "Not like you care with all your parties and ass chasing."
"I do go to class you know," Ben replied, stuffing his mouth full of hamburger.
"When you remember," Shawn mumbled before taking a sip of his soda as he watched Ben eat.
"Why is this such a problem to you?" Ben asked. "You weren't all...dramatic in high school."
"He's the roommate from hell!" Shawn exclaimed.
Ben chuckled at how naïve he thought his best friend was being before leaning in closer to him, still eating.
"Me and my roommate? Totally cool," he spoke, biting the end of a French fry. "We got our shit together the first day."
"And you don't think me and Trey have?" Shawn asked.
"It's obvious nether one of you talk to each other," Ben replied. "I think things would be a lot better now if you'd have tried to make an effort at all. And don't bullshit to me about how you did, because we both know you didn't."
"What are you, some kind of shrink now?" Shawn asked, a bit pissed Ben.
Ben just grinned at Shawn as he continued eating his lunch.
"All I know is that there's nothing that's gonna make me wanna talk to him," Shawn replied, sternly.
Trey was still nervous over the prospect of telling Grace about her boyfriend's infidelity and had been thinking about it all day. On the one hand, he knew that he didn't really know either Grace or Dro very well, so it might not even really his place to get involved. But then he kept thinking about how much he wanted to keep building his relationship with Grace and knew that he didn't want to start by keeping secrets from her.
Regardless of who Dro was and what happened, he knew that when it came down to it, he felt more compelled to tell Grace the truth. And the fact that he was compelled to do so only told him that he owed Grace the truth.
It wasn't hard for him to spot her, as she and all of her friends sat in the same area everyday for lunch, generally around the same time as well. She'd spotted him even as he was heading towards her, and immediately felt more apprehensive as she was waving him over.
If he could take comfort in anything it would be in the fact that Dro, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen. Neither were half the people that usually populated the area.
"Hey," Grace greeted Trey with a smile on her face. "Good thing I don't have another class, it's bad out there."
"Yeah, it seems like the rain just got worse all day," Trey replied as he took a seat next to Grace.
"So sorry you had such a bad time at the party yesterday," Grace spoke. "I mean, I'm assuming you had a bad time since you wanted to leave so bad."
"No it was okay....I-"
Trey stopped and looked down.
He wasn't really sure how he wanted to start, but he knew he had to.
"It wasn't Dro's ass was it?" Grace asked. "Shit, I bet that's what it is, huh?"
"Listen, Grace....I think....I think maybe something might be...I don't know going on," Trey started. "I guess between Dro and....other girls."
"What are you talking about Trey?" Grace asked, all seriousness in her voice.
Trey was really struggling with trying to get it out. The whole thing was hard just because he didn't know whether or not what he was doing was the right thing.
"At the party...I walked in on him and...some other girl," Trey started again. "It kinda looked like...."
Trey stopped to allow her to fill in her own blanks.
Grace stared vacantly at Trey for a few moments before she looked to her right, staring at the rain soaked windows at the end of the table.
"Well, I don't know what to say," she spoke calmly.
Trey wondered what Grace was going to do. She honestly looked the type of upset a person gets when they're really angry or sad and are doing everything they can to contain it.
"I have to talk to him," Grace started all of a sudden, standing up.
`What? Grace-"
"Look Trey, I know Dro's not exactly a gentlemen but he's always......I just have to talk to him."
Trey watched as Grace gathered her things and started towards the exit. Not wanting to let her deal with it all by herself, he jumped up and followed.
"And what are you gonna say?" he asked, joining her at her side.
Jesse thought he could handle the rain when it was sprinkling lightly, but as he was walking around campus trying to find something to do, it started to get worse and worse to the point where he would have gotten soaked if he hadn't ducked into the closest building he could get to, which to his horror, just so happened to be the infamous Ark Hall he loathed so much.
He was almost more willing to brave the thundering rain than to have to stay in Ark Hall. Sure, it was the most populated of all the dorm halls. And sure it was regarded as the most popular among them all, but those were two of the reasons why he didn't want to have to stay. The more people there were, the better chance he stood of getting terribly upset at another stupid American loser ticking him off somehow.
He preferred comfortable surroundings and the fact that he was at the zoo of a dorm Ark Hall hadn't done much to detour his faith.
"Oh god..." Sierra mumbled, after having passed Jesse and turned around recognizing him. "You stay here?"
Jesse, at first didn't realize that Sierra was talking to him. But once he did, he crossed his arms, ready to take on his first stupid American.
"Do I look like someone who doesn't have any taste to you?" he asked. "Of course I don't stay here. A bloke would have to pay me first."
"Hey, I stay here!" Sierra replied. "And what, did the cardboard box you really stay in start to get so soaked in the rain you thought you'd chill out in here?"
"Jesse!" Amber called from across the way.
There were two entrances to Ark Hall. One in the front near the cafeterias and one in the back near the parking lot. Jesse had entered from the front in hurry behind a rather large group of people. Amber was behind another crowd trying to get to Jesse.
Jesse was hoping to avoid Amber for the day, and he certainly didn't want to be around Sierra any longer than he had to be, and decided to avoid the both of them by heading straight for the elevators directly right of him.
"Hey, nobody walks away from me!" Sierra exclaimed chasing after Jesse, who also noticed Amber heading towards him.
Trey meanwhile was trying to get Grace to calm down a little bit as he followed her to the elevators as well.
"Grace, where are you going?" Trey asked.
"My cell phone's back in my room," she replied. "I'll feel better if I just talk to Dro."
"Grace...."
Trey just barely missed Jesse rushing past him to stand in the corner next to the second elevator while Grace and Trey waited at one.
The two elevators everyone were waiting for suddenly opened and everyone already on them started filing out, squeezing past them and bumping into them all kinds of ways. It was utter chaos and no one really knew what was going on.
Jesse though had seen Amber trying to get to him and quickly shoved Trey out of his way to get into the elevator that she wasn't going to be in.
"What the..." Trey muttered, feeling confused.
He couldn't see Grace, but figured she was still in the same elevator they'd been facing and waiting to get onto it, so he just got inside, walking right past everyone inside without bothering to look up.
"Wait, wait no....no wait...." Shawn started as the doors shut.
Trey looked up and immediately became pissed once he saw Shawn staring at him but he also grew concerned when he didn't see Grace.
"Awww...no Jesse," Amber pouted as the elevator started up a floor.
"You'll get over it," Zoey, mumbled, upset that she had to share an elevator ride with the same stupid girl that got her wet the previous weekend.
Trey and Shawn stared at each other, each with different mixed feelings but everyone had the same feeling once they felt the elevator suddenly stop in mid climb.
The lights overhead flickered and dimmed and the power that could be heard on the inside as they climbed died down slowly, revealing the elevator had lost power.
Everyone stood quietly for a few seconds expecting things to go back to normal but when they didn't, Shawn, who was the closest to the floor buttons started pressing the buttons and even the emergency button, but to no avail.
"What the hell is this?" a guy who was in the elevator with them all muttered out loud.
"Oh my god, I'm claustrophobic," Amber cried. "I have to get off! I have to get off!"
She started pounding on the elevator door while Trey and Shawn glared at each other, realizing they were stuck with each other once again.
"Bloody brilliant!" Jesse muttered aloud. "It figures you people would even screw up your own bloody lifts!"
"The power went out because of the storm, jack ass," Noah grumbled.
And he wasn't in a particularly good mood either. He'd made up his mind that he had to talk to Trey and had come to Ark Hall to find him because he remembered that being the dorm that Trey had signed up for. He wasn't sure how he was going to look, but it didn't matter anyway, as he was currently stuck in an elevator with the most annoying person he'd ever met.
"Stuck in an elevator with God's fucking gift to humanity," Sierra spoke. "Why couldn't lightning have just struck me?"
"Oh really? Really, that's just lovely...make this about you when we're ALL stuck on a frickin lift!"
Noah sighed and slowly fell to the ground with his back against the elevator wall, as he realized he was trapped in an elevator with TWO of the most annoying people in the world.
"I just wanted to call my boyfriend," Grace spoke, sitting next to Noah. "Imagine how I feel."
Jesse pushed a girl sitting near the elevator buttons aside to try the emergency button, which Noah had already tried, a few more times.
"Hello? Can you people out there hear me? We're stuck!" he called out.
"Yeah, I think all the people waiting around for the elevator know that," Sierra said, sarcastically.
"Too bad one of those people can't be locked in here with you then," Jesse mumbled, turning to place his back on the elevator door.
Sierra chuckled to herself and shook her head slowly.
Jesse frowned at her.
"Having a laugh at my expense are we?"
"Thanks for admitting you think it's all about you," Sierra replied. "Oh and that there's a valid reason to laugh at you."
"You know what-"
"Ugh, can the both of ya'll shut the hell up? Shit!" Grace shouted.
Jesse and Sierra quieted down but still continued to stare at each other.
"Thanks," Noah said.
Grace looked over at Noah.
"No problem," she replied.
"Noah," he said, holding out a hand.
"Grace."
Trey looked around as he leaned against the left side of the elevator. He always like studying his surroundings and seeing as how he was trapped and had enough time to do so, he made good use of his time and used it to study the people around him.
Near the elevator buttons standing with his arms crossed with an annoyed look on his face was Shawn. Going into this already he had someone he could say he'd never want to be trapped in an elevator with, and unfortunately he was.
Directly behind Shawn was a good looking white guy with a white Abercrombie shirt, blue jeans, nice arms and build and curly blonde hair, sitting with one leg pulled up and the other stretched out, throwing a small rubber ball back and forward between his hands.
Next to that guy was a dark haired white girl with black glasses and a large art tablet, sitting with both her legs pulled up to her chest. She actually looked really artsy, and that was obvious from the portfolio thing she had. She was the closest to him.
In the very front of the elevator was a blonde girl with tanned skin and pink matching outfit standing up but facing everyone looking stressed out and panicked. He didn't know anyone other than Shawn, but he felt he'd rather get to know any of the other people any day of the week. And he was probably never going to get another opportunity to find himself trapped in an elevator, which outside of Shawn being around, wasn't that bad, so he figured he'd take liberties he normally wouldn't.
"You....like to draw?" he started, directing his comment to the artsy looking girl next to him.
She looked over and up at him and then down at her portfolio, shrugging.
"Yeah," she replied. "Well, it's always been something I've been interested in. If I can make a career out of it, it'd be like getting paid to draw stuff so...yeah...."
Trey felt at ease with her, almost like the way he felt with Grace and allowed himself to sink to the floor so that he could talk better with her.
"I'm Trey, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.
"Zoey," She replied, shaking Trey's outstretched hand.
"God is there enough oxygen in here?" Amber asked looking up at the dim lights on the ceiling of the elevator. "We're gonna die in here! This is gonna be my coffin!"
"God, that's worse than going to hell for me," Zoey said. "Dying in here with her."
Trey chuckled as he looked over at her.
"You know her?" he asked.
"Not really," Zoey replied. "But I think her names Amber, if I remember right."
"Yeah....yeah...I'm gonna die in here," Amber replied, looking around.
Trey looked back over at Zoey.
"I see what you mean now," he replied, suddenly feeling that being trapped in the elevator with Shawn wasn't as bad as being trapped with Amber.
He glanced over at Shawn who looked away from him and turned his attention to the guy in the corner.
"What's up man," he started. "I'm Shawn."
"Barry," the guy replied, slapping hands with Shawn.
Shawn glanced back over at Trey who had been looking over at him and looked away before grinning a little and started up a conversation with Barry.
"It's not so bad right?" Grace said. "I mean, at least I got to eat before."
"That makes one of us," Noah said.
"How long do you think it's gonna take for them to get us out of here?" Grace asked.
"With the storm bad enough to cut power in the building like it did, I can't say for sure really," Noah replied, looking over at Jesse who was clawing at the elevator door with his keys. "But let's hope it's not too long."
"Some people can be bad luck, you know," Sierra spoke out loud. "Maybe being near you caused this."
Jesse stopped scratching at the elevator door and glanced over at Sierra incredulously.
"This from the girl who wishes for bolts of lightning to strike her from above," he spoke.
"Maybe you should stop talking," Sierra said. "You're already wasting enough of our oxygen just breathing."
"Yes," Jesse spoke sarcastically. "Yes that MUST be it."
Noah rolled his eyes and sat back, looking over at Grace.
"It's like the arranged marriage from hell," he said. "Only somehow, we're in hell with them."
"Some people just don't know how to act," Grace replied. "Like my boyfriend apparently."
Noah stared at Grace confused as he turned towards her a little more.
"Something happen?" he asked.
Grace looked over at Noah briefly before looking down and sighing.
"Sorry," Noah spoke. "I shouldn't have-"
"No....it's okay," Grace replied. "Just....you think you know somebody. You think you know yourself, really. I mean, I should know if he's not the kind of guy who likes to stay faithful. If I even knew myself well, I'd know and not have to hear this shit from a friend."
Noah nodded slightly.
"Well you know they say bad news always travels fastest," he said. "It's probably not you at all."
"That's what I was trying to see for myself," Grace replied. "Before this happened."
Noah looked down, not knowing what to say after that.
"I should have let Trey stop me probably," Grace said. "Hell, I probably wouldn't even be here if he did."
Noah tensed up once he'd heard Grace mention the name Trey. He knew that she very well could have been talking about another Trey. But the names were the same and mentioning the name only made him think about the Trey that he did know and the fact that every second he spent trapped in the elevator was another second he and Trey wouldn't be able to talk about their kiss.
"Nothing I can do about it now," Grace sighed, fiddling with the strings on the sides of her jeans.
Noah looked away suddenly feeling conflicted.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Sierra exclaimed, over the grumblings of everyone else.
Jesse had started kicking frantically at the closed elevator doors, which had actually caused the entire elevator to rock slightly, making it perfectly obvious to everyone they were still suspended between floors.
"I'm getting out of here," Jesse replied still kicking at the door. "I don't have a death wish like you."
"Oh what the FUCK ever, okay!" Sierra objected furiously. "Stop it before you kill all of us!"
Jesse stopped, stared at the elevator doors for a moment and then turned to face anyone.
"Well then, do any of you wankers have a bloody better idea then?" he asked. "Let's see the wheels in those brilliant minds spin."
Noah looked up at Jesse with an annoyed look.
"Just sit down and shut up and wait for someone to get us out of here," he groaned.
Jesse obliged but didn't look too happy about it.
"That's if they get us out in time," he said. "That's all I'm worried about."
Sierra fell to the ground as well, and things in their elevator grew oddly silent.
"So are you a freshman?" Zoey asked.
Trey had been sitting, mostly trying to pay attention to what Shawn was talking about with Barry and whether or not he was describing him as the roommate from hell when it was just the opposite. He was a bit relieved to have someone to actually talk to now.
"Yeah," he replied. "You?"
"Sophomore," Zoey replied. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I generally don't hang out with a lot of freshman. Keeps me grounded I guess."
"Understandable," Trey replied, not really understanding at all.
"Well there is this one guy," Zoey replied. "He's a freshman. Pretty cool actually. He's been acting a little weird lately. I think he went to go talk to some guy about something...I don't know."
Trey smiled a little before looking over at Amber who was rocking back and forward with her knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs.
"Is she gonna be okay, you think?" he asked.
Zoey looked over at Amber.
"I guess some people like the attention," she replied. "She knows we're not gonna die."
Amber, who'd heard Zoey's comment and stopped rocking.
"Just because you're in love with me doesn't mean you need to make fun of me," she spoke.
"In love with you? What are you mental?" Zoey asked, staring at Amber incredulously.
"I bet they'd never let you into a sorority," Amber mentioned casually.
"You can take comfort in the fact that you're right for once in your life," Zoey replied. "Because sororities generally DO exclude people with I.Q's higher than-"
"You know what-"
"What-"
"Hey, guys-"
Trey watched as Zoey and Amber got into a tense argument. The two of them were what stood between him and Shawn, who was laughing at something Barry had said, who was pointing over at him.
He looked away and thought about whether or not Grace was okay and if she had got onto the other elevator and if it had stopped as well.
They seemed like easy simple thoughts for him to think about. The far cry from thoughts he kept pushing back. And with Shawn in the elevator with him, it was hard for him to forget about them.
"Shut up...shut up!" Zoey shouted, turning away from Amber and back towards Trey.
"Yeah you BETTER turn around!" Amber growled, speaking to Zoey's turned back.
"So, what were you up to before we got stuck in here?" Zoey asked, resuming conversation with Trey.
Trey looked up at her and started.
"I was helping a friend," Trey replied. "At least, I think she's my friend."
"You think? You don't even know?" Zoey asked.
Trey sighed and looked down.
"It's...complicated," he said, barely audible.
He hated having to explain why something as simple as starting a conversation with someone had always been so hard for him just because it seemed like a problem only he had. It didn't seem natural to him to be so petrified of people, but that was the way it was for him and he had lived with and gotten used to it, as much as it sucked to say.
"Well you know, as long as were kinda not going up, I have time," Zoey replied.
Trey studied the gentle expression on her face before shuffling a bit and turning towards her a bit more.
"Well, it's a little hard for me to...talk to people," He started.
"I wouldn't have guessed," Zoey said.
"Yeah well being trapped in an elevator brings out things in you I guess," Trey replied. "But because it's hard for me to get stuff out...I kinda miss out on a lot of things, especially with people, leaving me friendless."
"You seem like a nice guy to me," Zoey said. "I can't see why you wouldn't have any friends."
"It happens," Trey replied. "Trust me."
After Trey said this he looked over at Shawn who looked away from him in an effort to pay attention to the story Barry was telling him.
"Well listen, if you want, I'll be your friend," Zoey spoke.
Trey looked over at her skeptically.
"What about your freshman rule?"
"I already broke it once. One more time won't hurt."
Trey smiled at Zoey smiling at him before Amber interrupted.
"If you're done with your Full House moment, maybe you can start thinking about how to get out of here," Amber spoke. "You too guys."
Shawn and Barry stopped talking and looked over at Amber.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're fucking hot?" Barry asked.
"Uck," Amber spoke, rolling her eyes at Barry.
"I tried the emergency button already....nothings working," Shawn spoke, looking over at the button panel.
"Cheap ass elevators," Amber mumbled. "That's why I insisted on the first floor in the sorority."
"So you can be more `go team go' right?" Zoey asked mockingly.
"Don't you have like some goth emo concert you can be at?" Amber asked.
"Can't," Zoey argued. "Remember there's this thing about me kinda being STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR!"
"Oh don't start with me again. Because I'll-"
"Guys, we just need to calm down here..." Trey spoke, which actually worked. "We just...have to be calm."
"Or not talk at all right?" Shawn mockingly asked. "Isn't that what you're used to? Not talking to people?"
Trey looked over at Shawn glaring at him before looking back down.
"This is how you wanna spend this experience?" Zoey asked. "Saying stuff like that-"
"Just shove off alright, this doesn't have anything to do with you," Shawn replied.
"Don't tell her to shove off!" Trey exclaimed.
"Dudes, this is like really intense shit," Barry spoke.
"Go ahead...just keep wasting my oxygen," Amber mumbled, blowing a fallen strand of hair from her face. "See if I live to see tomorrow."
"So my boyfriend might be a cheating ass fool and I can't even make sure," Grace sighed. "Please tell me you don't have your own girlfriend problems."
Noah looked down at the ground, feeling a bit nervous.
"Relationship problems, yeah," he replied. "Girlfriend...."
Grace stared at Noah before coming to a conclusion.
"What are you like....gay or something?" she asked, the last part barely audible.
Noah just looked down.
Grace came to her own conclusion but didn't say anything.
"I've been having these....nightmares," Noah decided to start instead. "And I think they're telling me that I need to work out my issues. That's what I was trying to do before this."
"Well, what kind of nightmares?" she asked.
Noah looked briefly up at the dim ceiling light before shrugging and picking at the elevator floor.
"Weird ones," he replied. "Let's call em that."
"And you think they have something to do with your relationship issues?"
Noah sighed.
"I think I have a lot of issues I need to work on," he replied. "Let's leave it at that."
"Well, I know it may seem like it but I'm not really a shrink," Grace started. "But take it from someone who's been through her fair share of drama before, whatever signs you think you might be getting, it's probably a good idea not to ignore them."
Noah didn't reply.
He knew that Grace was right and he had even reached that conclusion himself, even though he'd previously been doing whatever he could to avoid it.
"I bet you spend loads of time `trapped' in elevators," Jesse taunted, looking over at Sierra. "Why haven't you figured a way out of here yet?"
"You're a little asshole, you know that?" Sierra replied.
"Nothing little about me sweetheart, let me assure you," Jesse spoke, making licking motions with his tongue sticking out.
Sierra rolled her eyes and stood up, staring at the elevator doors.
"Just so you know, if the time comes when we have to start thinking about food, you're first to go."
"Oh come off it already, you aren't gonna EAT me," Jesse spoke, as if it were the most absurd statement he'd ever heard.
Sierra ignored Jesse as she looked around.
"Despite what you think, I can't say that I actually have been stuck in an elevator before," she said. "What about you guys?"
Grace and Noah exchanged glances before responding.
"Nope," Grace replied. "Noah?"
"Uh...no, I haven't," he replied.
"Oh but you have kissed another guy before, right?" Jesse replied, deciding he was bored enough to want to entertain himself.
Noah immediately tensed up, looking around at everyone's faces in horror. He always knew Jesse was a jackass, but he didn't think he was that much of one. That was obviously something he didn't want to talk about with other people and here Jesse had made it the sole new topic everyone else in the elevator seemed to be interested in as their faces stared over at him.
Even Grace seemed interested in the answer.
"What are you...doing?" Noah got out, staring over at Jesse.
"Oh don't get upset," Jesse spoke, as some sort of consolidation. "Think of it like your Vegas...what happens in the elevator, stays in the elevator."
"Yeah but that didn't happen in a fucking ELEVATOR did it Jesse?" Noah barked, through gritted teeth.
"Wait, so you really did kiss another guy?" Sierra asked. "Are you gay or bi?"
"Neither, I...." Noah stopped and looked down, trying as hard as he could not to grab and pummel Jesse's face in.
"Noah, it's okay," Grace spoke, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We don't care. Right people?"
"No, it's pretty hot actually," Sierra replied. "A gay guy in a threesome would be oh so sweet."
"What are you, mad?" Jesse asked. "He's a fucking bloody queer!"
"Stop," Grace spoke. "You don't have to be a jackass. It's mean."
"I'm absolutely gutted, really," Jesse replied sarcastically. "That's okay, you four girls can have girl chat while I think of ways to save my life."
Noah started towards Jesse but was held back by Grace, who after staring him in the eyes, managed to get him to settle back down.
"Wow, this hasn't been all that bad at all," Sierra replied.
No one said anything.
"So who was the guy?" she asked.
Noah looked over at her.
"What?" he asked.
"That you supposedly kissed. Who was he?"
Noah looked away from her, once again realizing that each passing minute in the elevator was one that he couldn't talk to Trey about the kiss.
"Oh....um," Noah started, not really knowing what he should say or do.
"Seventeen bottles of bear on the wall!" Shawn and Barry sung in unison, moving on two `sixteen' in their count.
"Maybe they associate the close confines of an elevator as pirate quarters," Zoey spoke.
Trey grinned while glancing over at Shawn.
"So you think that friend of yours is okay?" Zoey asked.
"Who Grace? I don't know...probably," he replied.
"You have a girlfriend?" Zoey asked.
That was about when Trey tensed up. He'd never had a girlfriend and up until a few days ago had never had a friend either. He already knew Zoey had a boyfriend, as she'd told him that was the reason she was in Ark Hall. She was extremely outgoing and very outspoken, more than what Trey wished he could be most of the time. And even though he felt mostly as ease with her, he still felt a little weird answering certain questions.
"No," he replied. "I don't."
"But you have to be interested in somebody right?" she asked. "Come on, let's make good use of what could be our last day on Earth.
Trey knew that she was joking but still felt apprehensive about the whole thing. Even if he told her that yes, he was interested in someone, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her that someone he happened to be thinking about and interested in was a guy.
"I......well, there is...someone," he replied.
"Okay, now we make progress," Zoey spoke, sounding excited. "Guy or girl?"
Trey was taken aback by the question. He'd assumed that Zoey would assume that he was straight and that there was no way that he could be interested in a guy. But what he was more surprised with was the way she'd asked the question. Almost like she wouldn't have cared if he said it was a guy.
"There was...this guy," Trey started, not really sure why he felt comfortable enough to tell Zoey about Noah and their kiss. "My suitemate during the summer orientation session. We kinda kissed and I don't know....I feel conflicted about it and him now."
Shawn had been singing loudly with Barry partly to pass time and partly to annoy Trey, but once he'd heard the stuff about the summer orientation session come up he stopped caring about what he was doing entirely and found himself trying to pay attention to the conversation that Trey and the girl he was talking to were having.
"You like him right?" she asked. "What's his name? Maybe I know him."
Trey looked down and sighed.
"That's okay, you don't have to," Zoey replied. "But if we get out of this, be prepared to be pressed and pressed until the truth just spills out."
Trey looked up at Zoey, a little amazed.
Already he had one friend, although he could be losing her after she talked to Dro on the phone. But now it seemed he'd made another.
"You mean that?" he asked.
"Sure, why not?" Zoey replied. "You're the most normal person I can say I was ever trapped in an elevator with. At least, out of the four of you."
Trey looked over Shawn, who once again looked away from him and turned his attention back to Barry.
"Thanks," Trey replied, smiling, before looking back over at Zoey and suddenly feeling a lot better.
"Dude, let's get up and start jumping," Barry all of a sudden suggested.
"What?" Shawn asked.
"Wouldn't it be fucking rad?"
"If you wanna die," Shawn replied. "We're suspended in the air four floors up. And if the elevator is old enough to break down in the first place, it's old enough to cause sudden and instantaneous painful death."
Barry stared at Shawn blankly.
"What...so is that a no then?" he asked.
"Do you guys feel that?" Amber asked.
"What?" Zoey asked.
"We have like no oxygen left," Amber replied. "I can tell."
"Right," Zoey replied. "You can tell we have no oxygen because you've stopped breathing right?"
"Are you making fun of me again?" Amber asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Because if you are you can go to hell."
"Sadly even that seems more appealing that a minute of speaking to you," Zoey replied. "How a person manages something like that......"
"Okay that's it," Amber started, jumping up. "It's rumble time!"
"Rumble time? What are you twelve?"
The words had barely left Zoey's mouth before Amber grabbed Zoey by the back of her head, pulling her by her hair into the ground and jumping on top of her.
"What the hell, get off of me!" Zoey shouted, kicking Amber off her.
"Alright!" Barry cheered with glee. "Take your top off...blonde girl!"
Trey and Shawn exchanged glances, each trying to decide what they should do.
"Personally, I prefer my torture to be limited to the bed," Jesse spoke. "Also, this is the worst day of my life."
"Join the club," Sierra sighed, leaning against the elevator door.
Noah was feeling more than ready to leave the elevator, even though Grace had made it perfectly clear that no one would care if he was actually interested in guys. But that didn't matter, because he was still trapped in an elevator with the worst possible person.
"I'll tell you, when this is all over, I'm never coming back to this sagging place again," Jesse spoke. "I'm used to a certain standard of living."
"Probably one that doesn't include getting stuck in elevators right?" Sierra asked.
Jesse agreed.
Grace looked over at the girl in the elevator who hadn't really said anything the entire time they'd been stuck.
"You don't talk much do you?" she asked. "I mean, I'd talk my head off to get through something like this."
The girl looked over at Grace with a calm smile.
"I've been through this before," she replied.
Jesse's head snapped in her direction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa....what?" he asked.
"Yeah, these elevators break down at least once a week," the girl replied. "Although, it's never taken them this long to get me out before."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Jesse asked.
"I was afraid you guys would think it was me. Bad luck or something," the girl replied.
"Now why would we think something like that?" Sierra asked sarcastically before all of a sudden falling to the ground when the elevator doors opened and the light above them got brighter along with the power being restored.
Noah looked up in surprise, realizing that the power was back to normal and he and everyone else were now free to leave.
"That only took an hour," Grace spoke, allowing herself to be helped up by Noah. "But it wasn't that bad."
"Yeah," Noah replied, realizing things could have been a lot worse, especially being trapped in an elevator with Jesse. "It really wasn't."
As they all got off the elevator they stopped and stared in amazement as two girls fell out of the other elevator and were busy fighting each other.
"Oh god that's Amber," Jesse spoke, rushing over to help break up the fight.
"Zoey?" Noah mumbled before following suit.
"And another thing, no one likes hooker hair!" Zoey exclaimed, grabbing Amber's hair.
The two girls continued screaming and shouting before Noah and Jesse each pulled them away from each other.
"What happened?" Jesse asked.
"That dyke started it!" Amber exclaimed.
"Not a dyke," Zoey argued. "But even they'd call you a pinhead!"
"Calm down, Zoey," Noah spoke soothingly, which actually worked somewhat.
Trey looked over and spotted Noah, who noticed him as well. The two of them locked eyes before Noah decided that he was going to finally talk to Trey. That was about when Grace got between the two, greeting Trey.
"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.
Trey looked away from Noah.
"Yeah, I'm good," he replied. "What about you? Everything go okay in there."
"Yeah," Grace replied. "Bet you're happy, getting to see bitches fighting."
Trey chuckled at Grace before starting to say something at the same time as her. He stopped ans let her go first.
"Look, about Dro...I know that I just met you but there's a reason why I wanted to get to know you," she said. "So if you say you saw my boyfriend with another girl, then I believe you."
"Really?" Trey asked, surprised.
"I still wanna talk to him about whatever shit happened, but yeah, I do," she replied.
Trey felt relieved that he hadn't lost a friend.
"Hey, you haven't seen my room yet have you?" Grace asked.
Trey nodded.
"Come on, I play a mean game of Madden," Grace replied, pulling Trey past Noah he watched Trey walk past him before turning his attention to Noah.
"Bet you probably think I'm some kind of freak now huh?"
"I wouldn't use that word exactly.."
"Shut up," Zoey replied, slapping Noah in the chest playfully. "Come on, I'll let you play me a couple of those swan songs you write."
"Hey they aren't swan songs alright," Noah spoke as he and Zoey headed for the stairs, just to play it safe.
"Come on Jesse, let's go," Amber said, before looking around and realizing that he had somehow taken off without her realizing it.
"So dense," Sierra spoke, next to Amber.
"Me or Jesse?"
"Yeah that's it," Sierra replied. "Both of you."
Amber watched in confusion as Sierra left her side.
"Hey dude, wanna go see if that hot blonde chick is into us?" Barry asked.
Shawn was a bit distracted, as he had heard some pretty disturbing things between Zoey and Trey. The most disturbing of which was the fact that he now knew that Trey had feelings for Noah. He knew Noah was their suitemate, as Jesse had told him about him. And he had seen him get off the other elevator, as he still remembered what he looked like. Noah was here. Trey was here. And more problems for him were here right along with them
"Look, no offense, but I think maybe you should fuck off," Shawn replied, more harshly than he wanted to.
Hearing those things let him know that he now needed to come some conclusions on his own about himself and about Trey.
He had been trying to keep from thinking certain thoughts.
But knowing Trey had feelings for Noah suddenly made him feel more aware of the way that he had been treating him. And if things ever came down to a point where Trey would have to choose either of them, he'd want the decision to be him.
Him and only him.
I apologize for the lack of updates here on Nifty. I've been taking somewhat of a break in order to have chapters up more regularly. Forgive me while I try to play catch up.
In other news my Yahoo Group is currently under construction. I will be leaving the links to the finished advanced chapters of The Living Years up until I need to move them later next year (but only into a new folder) feel free to stop by and check out the progress:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/
Personal email: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com
Copyright 2006