Living Years

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 7 "Everybody Wants Something"

Trey never thought he'd end up thinking it, but he was actually glad that he was back at school. He'd been counting on the weekend being his escape from the week. But as it turned out, his weekend was just as problem-full as the week itself.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he'd actually come face to face with one of the guys at school he hoped never to have to see outside of school. And then, he had. The worse of the two in fact. It was like he got no escape anywhere he went. Go home, face Dro. Come back to school, face Shawn.

And speaking of Shawn, he was surprised to find Shawn missing when he got back to his room Sunday afternoon. He'd half expected him to have stayed on campus for the weekend. After all, Trey had it on good authority that just about all the other kids in school stuck around for the weekend.

That information didn't do him any good, however, as it would only matter if he cared a thing about what happened to him over the weekend. It was like a continuum. At school, under the torture of his roommate, he wanted to go home. And when he got there, he just wanted to come back.

For some reason though, he found himself a little sad to see that Shawn wasn't in the room when he awoke to get ready for class. Even though Shawn was a less than ideal roommate, there was a certain comfort in having another person in the room with him. It made him feel less lonely, even though they were far from friends.

And now that he was alone, he felt a bit sad.

Then again, he didn't see what was so new about that. He spent most of his life feeling that way.

He had just gotten around to brushing his teeth when he heard a key being turned in the door and Shawn walking through it.

He stopped mid brush to stare at Shawn, who stood holding the door open staring at him.

Trey felt a little on display with Shawn's sudden appearance. He usually slept with his sweatpants and shirt on because he wasn't quite comfortable doing otherwise, as he always felt like he was being watched. Since Shawn hadn't been in last night, he decided to forgo both, deciding to sleep in his boxers. And now, Shawn was staring at him standing at the sink near-naked.

He let the toothbrush hang in his mouth as Shawn closed the door slowly and walked past him, not saying anything.

Trey watched him from the sink mirror as he spit into the sink and finished brushing his teeth.

As he walked over to his cabinet to get his days outfit out he looked over at Shawn who seemed to be doing the same thing.

He couldn't exactly say that he knew much about Shawn other than his annoying tendencies but he normally always looked like he had this air of confidence about him. But today, he didn't look too well at all. In fact, he actually looked like he hadn't slept in a while.

Even though he couldn't really stand Shawn, that didn't mean he was against trying to stand him. It wasn't like he wanted to have a nightmare of a roommate all year long.

So he figured he'd try to see what was wrong. The way he figured, it was at least worth a shot.

"Um....are you okay?" he asked.

Shawn barely looked over at him but Trey noticed that he tried putting on a reassuring look.

"Yeah, sure," he replied. "You uh...have a good weekend?"

Trey was surprised that, given how tired Shawn looked, he didn't snap at him. Not only that, but that he had actually asked him a question in return. He was so shocked that he almost didn't know what to say. But he decided that if Shawn was trying to turn tides with him, then he should try as well.

"It was...interesting," he replied.

"Yeah," Shawn replied. "I know the feeling."

Trey watched as Shawn peeled off the shirt he was wearing and removed a towel from his cabinet.

"Uh, so get any sleep yesterday?" he asked, hoping Shawn would talk about why he wasn't in last night.

Trey noticed that Shawn suddenly looked preoccupied, like asking him the question brought up some kind of bad memory or something.

"Not really," he replied. "But I've operated on less fuel before."

"Well the day's still young," Trey suggested. "You could always stay in and catch up on your sleep."

"I guarantee you that if I stayed in here alone today I wouldn't be sleeping much," Shawn replied. "Besides, I'm fine. Really."

"Okay then," Trey replied, as he slipped his shirt over his head.

"Although I could use a shower," Shawn smiled, passing Trey and entering the bathroom they shared with two other people.

Trey almost couldn't believe that they'd both been civil enough towards each other to share a meaningful conversation. It was like going home for the weekend and going through whatever he had gone through had changed him somehow.

And even though he could tell what had happened hadn't exactly been good, he was happy that it was enough to cause Shawn to want to talk to him.

He already written Shawn off, thinking the two of them were going to have a rough year. But now he was actually optimistic that things were beginning to look up for the two of them.

And that was something he could say that he was actually excited about.

"And a little Buddhist palm and a little high uppercut mixed with a little low high kick-"

Amber clipped and giggled giddily on the futon mattress while Jesse made karate motions in front of her.

"God, I think a guy who knows karate is so sexy!" she spoke.

Jesse, arms still in mid air, dropped both of them quick and straightened himself out.

"Yeah well Armani's never been attire to do it in," he spoke, as a disappointed Amber stood up.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to go back to class," she whined. "The weekend was so fun I almost don't want to."

"Yeah, we did have a pretty fun weekend didn't we love?" Jesse asked.

After their little misadventure on Friday night with Lucky and his friends, both Jesse and Amber had decided to rent some movies that Jesse hadn't seen, as per Amber's request, and turned in earlier.

Then on Saturday, Amber took Jesse to Six Flags, his first visit to an amusement park, where they spent the entire day. When it closed, Jesse paid the park attendant to keep it open for an extra hour so that he and Amber could ride whatever they wanted to without having to wait in any lines.

On Sunday they visited a spa, something they both agreed they needed and got back late that night, completely forgetting about the woes and frustrations of their freshman year thus far.

Now that their dream weekend was over, it was time to get back to reality.

And for Jesse, the reality included doing whatever possible to encourage Amber to stop whatever growing attraction she had for him mid growth. Amber was the first girl that he could say that he actually cared somewhat for, which was a first since he didn't normally care about anyone but himself.

At the same time, however, he wasn't used to having attachments, especially to girls, and didn't want to explore the possibility of a relationship for that very reason.

He could tell that Amber was falling for him. The way he saw it, that wasn't such a hard feat. He just cared enough to not want to see her get hurt. He knew the kind of guy he was wouldn't be the best thing for Amber right now.

Or ever.

"Probably should've had my lie down earlier last night," Jesse replied. "I'm still knackered."

"Huh?" Amber asked.

Jesse was about to tell Amber to just forget it when there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Hide!" Amber exclaimed.

"What?" Jesse spoke, confused. "I can't just-"

"Yes you can," Amber replied, pushing Jesse towards the bottom of the futon. "You have to hide."

"What? You mean under there? Absolutely never!"

"Jesse-"

"Amber? Is everything okay in there?" called the voice of Amber's sorority friend Stacy from outside the door.

"Oh, uh yeah Stacy," Amber replied. "One sec, okay?"

"Okay..." Stacy replied, a little worried and confused.

Amber continued to struggle with trying to push Jesse under the bed, who was doing everything in his power to prevent such a thing.

"Amber, this is ridiculous-"

"Shhh...just get under there!" she whispered, before Jesse finally relented once he heard the door to the room opening.

Amber spun around quick to greet Stacy.

"Oh, Stacy, hey....didn't hear you coming," Amber replied.

"Yes you did, you told me to hold on a sec," Stacy objected.

"Oh," Amber replied. "Well I didn't know it'd be you."

"You said my name," Stacy replied.

"Uh, so what's up?" Amber asked, removing some hair from her eyes as she took a seat on the bed.

Stacy looked around.

"Was that stuff always here?" Stacy asked.

Amber rubbed the back of her neck nervously without even looking to see where Stacy was pointing.

"What stuff?" she asked, with a nervous grin.

"This," Stacy started, walking over to it.

But Amber quickly stood up, deflecting her path and changing the subject.

"Hey so I hear you broke up with Conner," she started.

Stacy sighed and took a seat in the middle of the futon mattress, not realizing she was practically sitting on Jesse.

"You know, I'm starting to think it's just me. Is it me?" Stacy asked, shuffling around on the mattress.

Amber hesitated for a moment before deciding to stay standing to respond to Stacy.

"Um, what?"

"All the guys I date turn out to be gay!" Stacy exclaimed. "I mean, am I some guy repellent or am I just stupid?"

Jesse, under the bed did his best to refrain from commenting on the situation as Amber tried to think of something to say to console her friend.

"You know, I always wondered why he had nothing but Madonna and Britney Spears on his ipod," Amber said.

"He said it was just good dancing music," Stacy replied. "Oh god, it is me! I'm stupid! I'm both!"

Amber cringed a little as Stacy fell back on the bed, bending it in even further, as she let out a mournful sigh.

"Ugh, I'm over men," Stacy replied. "I mean it. I'm through being gay guys' closet enthusiast."

"Stacy, I'd love to talk about this some more with you, but I really gotta-"

"Right, get to class," Stacy finished for Amber as she stood up. "I forgot what I stopped by for anyway."

Amber walked Stacy to the door, shutting it behind her once she was out as Jesse pulled himself from under the bed.

"Two words for you love, never, again," Jesse spoke, as he dusted himself off.

"Should've cleaned under there too last week huh?" Amber teased.

"You know, maybe it's just an English thing but I thought girls bums were supposed to smell like sweet lavender," Jesse replied. "Is it any wonder the poor lass is a bloke converter?"

"Wait...you smelled Stacy's ass?" Amber asked.

"More like it smelled me," Jesse replied. "Does the girl ever say no to the crumb cake?"

"Stacy's not even fat," Amber replied.

"Tell you what, we'll throw you under that futon and call her back to talk," Jesse replied. "See if your story changes then."

Amber stood a bit off put with Jesse's rude behavior.

"Well, class awaits," Jesse spoke. "And I can bet there's at least one person in one of them that wants an autograph too. I hear they fetch a good squid on Ebay."

But for some reason, Amber found herself attracted to that rude behavior. Girls did after all like the bad boys.

"Ahhhh!" Noah exclaimed

"Ahhhh!" Jeremy shouted, jumping away from Noah's face.

"Jesus Christ!" Noah panted, trying to catch his breath. "What the hell were you doing?"

"They say a person's breathing gets shallower and shallower until they stop breathing before they die," Jeremy replied. "I wanted to see if you were still alive."

Noah frowned at him, annoyed, before looking over at his alarm clock.

He'd already missed his day's first class and had about half an hour before his next one started.

"Just like sleepwalking, it's not good to wake a drunkard," Jeremy replied. "Something about cutting off oxygen to the brain and putting them permanently into a coma."

Noah forced himself to get out of the bed and walked over to the mirror in front of their sink shirtless as Jeremy turned in his computer desk chair to watch him.

Noah looked himself over in the mirror.

"I'm not a drunkard," Noah replied.

"Pass out without liquor often, do you?" Jeremy asked.

"What?" Noah asked, turning to face Jeremy.

"Yeah, I decided to venture the world outside these walls for a change and got back late yesterday to find you sprawled out on the floor next to the door outside," Jeremy replied. "Your key was still in it too, by the way. Thank god no one decided to come in here and pull a Wynona Rider."

That information shocked Noah. He hadn't even been aware that he'd drunk so much the previous night. But he knew why. He was still trying to forget what happened between him and the guy from the bar Friday.

He'd had sex before but never with another guy. He had never even thought about having sex with another guy, let alone actually wanted to do so. But he was feeling so bad about not talking to Trey and screwing things up with Zoey that he felt vulnerable enough to give in to his feelings.

He'd be lying to himself if he said that he hadn't been thinking of Trey during his encounter with Matt Friday. It was probably the reason why he'd gotten through it all. And then afterwards the shock of what he'd done came rushing to him and he was all of a sudden right back where he left off.

"That cute girl you're always with saw you too," Jeremy replied.

"Zoey?"

"That's her name! I so wanted to think Zelda since it's the only name I know that starts with a Z," Jeremy replied. "Although, it's the name of an eleven hero in a Nintendo based-"

"Jeremy, what'd she say?" Noah asked.

Jeremy squinted his eyes at Noah and crossed his arms.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling you don't appreciate me very much," he said, crossing his arms.

Noah let out a sigh.

"I really don't have time for this right now-"

"As savage as a meat fly, truth being stranger than fiction," Jeremy spoke, turning to face his computer. "Although, that girl has a potty mouth on her let me tell you."

"Great," Noah muttered aloud.

He knew that he didn't set out to have a bad year and ruin the only friendship he had so far. But he was so used to being misery and its company that it just kind of happened. And now that he'd made the two biggest mistakes of his life, he knew that he wanted and needed to undo everything and make things right again.

Which meant that he had his work cut out for him.

"Look, I gotta get to my next class," Noah started, as he peeled off his sweatpants and grabbed a towel. "But I appreciate you getting me in here last night."

"Oh I had help," Jeremy replied, grinning coyly at Noah.

Noah wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be getting out of that statement so he disregarded it entirely.

"Well, I'm really not a drunkard," he replied.

"I know," Jeremy replied. "Just like Jon Stewart isn't funny and Zelda, ZOEY...dammit, ZOEY, isn't mad at you."

Noah stared at Jeremy's back for a moment before ducking into the bathroom and started the shower water.

"Wait...Shawn wait!"

Shawn quickened his pace as he cut across the Union Square stairs to get around to another pathway, Ben quickly following from behind.

"I've been calling you," Ben started, as he forced himself to keep up with Shawn.

Shawn just kept walking, annoyed, looking straight ahead.

"I've been ignoring you," he replied, harshly.

"But, not now huh?" Ben asked.

Shawn didn't respond.

"Shawn, can you just wait a second so we can talk?" Ben asked. "Please?"

"What is there to talk about Ben?" Shawn asked, trying to keep his anger to a minimum. "We go out to have a good time and you nearly kill a guy!"

"I didn't nearly kill-"

"I talked to Pugit," Shawn cut Ben off. "He said that guy had to go to the hospital. He said he needed fifty eight stitches and that if we ever show our faces in that club again we're going to jail!"

The way Shawn felt now, he almost wanted to risk going to jail himself just to see Ben get punished for what he'd done.

"What did you think it was cool to do that? Thought you'd be a tough guy? A big man!"

"That fag kissed me Shawn!" Ben objected, as the two of them rounded the corner leading to the science lab. "Okay? He got in my face, and kissed me. I would've bit his tongue off if he tried sticking it down my throat."

And Shawn actually believed that Ben would have done that without caring too.

"What's wrong with you Ben?" Shawn asked. "Don't you care about what you did?"

Shawn stopped walking and abruptly turned to face Ben.

"Why do you care so much?" Ben asked. "A couple fags hit on us and I beat the shit out of the one that tried to make out with me."

Shawn sighed and crossed his arms, looking away from Ben as people passed them to get to class.

"I thought you'd have my back with this," Ben replied.

"No, I draw the line when you start trying to kill people, Shawn said.

"Or maybe this isn't about that."

Shawn raised an eyebrow to Ben

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe you feel sorry for the little fag. Is that it? You feel sorry for the fucking queer that tried to stick his tongue down my throat?"

Shawn wanted to outright object and yell at Ben for even asking him the question, but something was holding him back.

Something was causing him to not just think about the person that Ben had beat as a random guy, but as a random gay guy. He had the feeling that had one of their straight friends pulled the same joke on him, he wouldn't have thrown any punches. Get upset a little, yes. But he wouldn't have put a guy in the hospital.

But because the guy had been gay.....

And now he was thinking twice.

"You know, I thought you knew me better than that," Shawn started. "I thought I knew YOU better, but I guess not."

Ben eyed Shawn with apprehension.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Shawn wasn't really sure himself. He was still trying to figure a few things out. But he knew one thing for sure. Until he sorted the whole thing out, he was done with Ben.

"Tell you what," Shawn started, pulling up the part of his backpack that was hanging off of his shoulder. "Why don't you go figure it out?"

He didn't stick around for any further comments from Ben even though that hadn't stopped him from calling after him. He just had to let go of the ugly past and try to start something new in the present.

Something with Trey.

Trey wasn't looking forward to anything. His life was in shambles. Or at least, that was the way he felt.

At home, his mother had decided to let a local thug wannabe rent out the upstairs apartment. At school he couldn't seem to get along with his roommate or make friends with people who actually believed anything he had to say.

He knew he lived a sad existence. It was easier to deal with that knowledge while he was just a face in the crowd of many when he lived at home. But now that he was away from home and even more on his own that before as a face in an even bigger crowd, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness that he always felt but tried to ignore was glaring him right in the face.

He could honestly say he tried. He hadn't come to school deciding to be a jackass to Shawn, even though their being roommates was less than ideal. And he hadn't tried to come between Grace and her boyfriend. But it all happened, and he didn't have anything to show for it.

Which was why he hadn't even bothered looking around to see if Grace was in the cafeteria when he arrived inside. If she was going to ignore him and what he had to tell her, then he was going to do her one better and ignore her right back.

He knew where she and all the other people she ate lunch with sat everyday. In what he considered the `black' section, the section where the black people only seemed to sit. And he decided to ignore that section altogether to go sit somewhere else.

He didn't even bother looking to see if Grace was in the cafeteria and decided to go get in line to get some of whatever was being served, standing behind a girl who looked a bit impatient to be waiting in line.

"How long does it take to shuck some meat and potatoes on a plate?" he heard he say, immediately wishing he'd picked another line as she turned around to face him.

"I hope you aren't too hungry," she said. "No one seems to care that we are."

Trey noticed how she put extra emphasis on the last part, but wasn't sure what to say as she stared at him curiously.

"Let me guess, freshman right?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," he replied.

"I'm so good like that," the girl replied. "It's a skill that's taken me only a year to perfect."

Trey moved up when the girl did as the line moved, and stood awkwardly as the girl turned back around to face him.

"I'll give you three chances to guess my name and I'll give you a hint," the girl spoke. "It starts with an S and may or may not have something in common with a drink."

Trey had never been one to guess a riddle, as they never really interested him. This was another time where a riddle didn't interest him.

He looked away briefly, almost as if to alert the girl to his lack of interest in her or her name. But when she didn't turn away, he frowned and took a guess.

"Sarah?"

"Close enough...it's Sierra," she replied. "Like that drink. Which isn't even good by the way, but I learned to like it. You never know what day will be your last."

"Interesting," Trey found himself mumbling.

And weird, he thought

"I guess I'm just still trying to get over being stuck in an elevator," Sierra continued. "In case you didn't hear, the elevators broke down last week and a bunch of people were stuck in them for an hour. I could've died, you know?"

"Wait, you were in one of the elevators?" Trey asked.

Trey had a feeling that Sierra was the type of person that would tell anyone anything as long as they let her, but at least this was something he could take interest in.

"Uh huh," Sierra replied. "Stuck with this annoying British guy reminding me exactly why I don't date British guys. But there was this really cute emoish guy in there with me that I'd totally go for-"

"That's nice, you're up," Trey cut Sierra off, as she was next to get her `meat and potatoes'

"Oh," Sierra replied, turning around to get her food before standing to the side as Trey got his.

He looked over at her slightly to confirm whether or not she was actually waiting for him to get his food before turning to face her. He wanted to just leave and pretend he didn't see her anymore, but he was a little afraid of blowing her off, and decided to see what you wanted.

"I figured I'd let you sit with us today," Sierra spoke. "You're cute."

Trey wanted to turn her down. He wasn't exactly in the mood to make friends anymore. His experiences with that sort of thing had proved to never lead to anything good or meaningful for him.

But again, he didn't want to blow her off. And she was another person who had been through at least one thing that he had been through; being stuck in an elevator.

Trey followed Sierra back to her table, which was full of mostly girls and a couple of really preppy surfer looking guys, all of them being white. It was a little awkward for him as he didn't know many white people let alone hang with any of them.

To their credit though, no one seemed to mind him sitting with them. In fact one of the guys even greeted him warmly before going back to talk about The Murderers or The Killers or whatever group he'd thought he heard them mention.

"You play basketball....?" Sierra strayed

"Trey," Trey replied. "No, not really."

"Too bad," she replied. "You look like a basketball player."

"Really?" Trey asked, feigning interest, once again regretting his decision to stand in line behind Sierra while wondering what someone more interesting was up to.

As Trey sat wishing he was anywhere else Jesse was being dragged along by Amber, also wishing that he were anywhere else but the god forsaken place where he'd had so many bad experiences ranging from being stuck in elevators to watching guys with guys, Ark Hall.

"Would you stop acting like it's the end of the world and just come on," Amber spoke as she grabbed a tray and some silverware.

"In this place, it could very well be the end of the world," Jesse replied, also grabbing a plate and tray. "If the lifts can break down, kitchen appliances can go haywire and next thing you know..."

"Oh stop it," Amber spoke as she got in line.

Jesse looked around.

"What is it about this place you like so much?" he asked. "I mean the décor is absolutely dreadful. Do thank the decorator for me."

"I don't know, this place has a certain charm to it," Amber replied.

"Is it because you want to see what tragedy will befall us for stepping foot in here this week?" Jesse asked. "My money's on the ceiling collapsing on us ten minutes from now."

"My mother says never to talk ill of death," Sierra replied, leaning in to whisper the next part "It'll get you."

Jesse eyed Amber with an amused interest and when she didn't get off of him after having whispered her bit of insanity, he slowly peeled her off of him.

"I don't know why you won't just let me order in," Jesse replied. "I'm not against an endless supply of sushi and leg of lamb."

Jesse was referring to how he'd ordered breakfast, lunch and dinner for he and Amber the past week. All the fancy food he was accustomed to eating at home he had delivered to the dorms. He was used to a certain way of living and had thus far been a long way away from that in his short time at college.

"Unlike you Jesse, I'm not rich," Amber replied. "I can't keep making excuses as to why I keep getting food from Italy or China delivered everyday."

Jesse snorted in disagreement as he moved up in line with Amber.

"Besides, that's not what the college experience is all about," Amber commented.

"Oh yes, I suppose I should get used to the whole getting stuck in lifts with queers and lunatics deal then huh?"

There hadn't really been a single thing Jesse could say would make him want to stay at his school let alone in the U.S. in general. He got whatever he wanted at home without having to lift so much as a finger because he was treated like the celebrity that he was.

But he didn't want to prove his father right about him. His father always said he'd never amount to anything. It was the reason why he wasn't leaving the company to him when he died or retired. Unfortunately, that privilege had gone to someone even lazier than him, but he didn't want to think about it.

He was here now, and no matter how not enjoyable of an experience he was having, he could at least have something to have something to tell his kids one day if and when he ever settled down. Kids that he'd make sure wouldn't have to go through any of the stuff he'd been through already.

Jesse looked down in disgust as his `lunch' was plopped down on his plate. It wasn't like the food looked or smelled bad. It just wasn't food that he was used to, which automatically made it seem foreign to him.

"Don't worry, I don't know what it is either," Amber spoke. "But it looks good."

"So does candy," Jesse replied. "Would you eat that too if you didn't know what was in it?"

"Um, sugar is in candy. Everyone knows what that is." Amber replied. "Duh, Jesse."

Jesse rolled his eyes at Amber.

"Come on, let's go sit," Amber spoke, pulling Jesse along.

Jesse felt like someone's hyperactive kid the way Amber was dragging him along and not letting him out of her sight. He liked her well enough but if she was going to behave as possessively as she was, then he was going to have to figure out what he was going to do about it. Attachments were never uncomplicated matters.

While he had managed to have a few good times thus far, they were far less exciting than the things he'd get into back home. He was feeling more then a little bored. He was ready for some kind of excitement. He was ready for SOMETHING to happen. Anything at all.

"Oh and to your left we see the world's biggest jackass, breaking the previous Guinness record, a title which belonged to Adolf Hitler himself, which Jackass number two emulates to a degree," Jesse could hear a familiar voice saying about him as he and Amber looked for a seat.

He was just about to offer up a rebuttal to the statement when Amber stopped abruptly, placing a hand on her hip while holding her tray to her waist with the other hand.

"What did you call him skank?" she asked, sounding pissed.

Sierra narrowed her eyes at Amber before sitting back in her chair, slightly amused with the situation that had been presented to her.

"No that's okay," she spoke. "You can keep that title for yourself. I'm good thanks."

Amber tossed her tray atop a nearby table, not even flinching as some of its contents fell to the ground.

"You know, you're just jealous that I have a hot boyfriend while you still count on the vibrator under your pillow to get off," Amber spat out.

Sierra shot up.

"What did you say to me bitch?"

"Whatever whore! Take the drama St. Elsewhere," Amber spoke. "Some people just wanna eat."

"We can tell," Sierra replied. "It apparently all goes straight to the ass!"

Jesse laughed at the situation, clapping as he moved to find a seat.

That was about when he spotted another familiar face, one he'd rather see less than Sierra's.

"So, how are things with you and that boyfriend of yours?" he asked, looking down at Trey. "You know they banned gay marriage here right?"

Trey looked up. It took him a moment but he remembered Jesse as being the annoying British guy with whom he'd played suitemate to over his summer orientation weekend. He hadn't been expecting him to come back, but there he was, standing before him.

He wasn't sure what to think about seeing him or about the comment he'd just made, so he didn't say anything at all.

"Sorry I missed the wedding," Jesse spoke, sitting backwards in a chair and leaning over to grab a piece of toast off of Trey's plate. "I make a good best man when I want to be."

"Can you go away please?" Trey mumbled. "I don't have anything to say to you."

"As long as you're a good listener right?" Jesse asked. "Don't females generally want that? Wait....are you the female of the pair?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Trey replied, awkwardly.

"That's bullocks!" Jesse objected. "I have an ace memory, I assure you."

"Remember how I didn't talk to you then either?" Trey asked.

"Oh cute," Jesse replied. "So let me ask you a question. Are you a top or a bottom?"

Trey jumped up.

He'd never been one to start a fight with anyone. Mostly because no one ever talked to him long enough to ever be angry enough with him to want to fight. So he wasn't very sure he'd be able to win a fight if he ever found himself in one. And he usually stayed pretty calm so he never found himself wanting to start a fight.

But Jesse was exactly what Sierra said he was. World's Biggest Jackass.

And he wanted to kick the shit out of this jackass.

"What's this? You wanna fight me?" Jesse asked, regarding Trey, amused. "Let me just say right now that Jesse Yorkshire is a lover, not a fighter. And just to clarify so you don't get confused, a HETEROSEXUAL lover not a-"

Trey grabbed Jesse by his shirt collar, forcing him up.

"You must both really like me," Jesse spoke, not the least bit intimidated by Trey. "You both love to fight over each other about me."

Trey let go of Jesse when he heard this bit of information. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Jesse had to be talking about Noah. And he knew that Noah was here at the school. Which meant that all four of them were here. Himself, Shawn, Noah and Jesse. All at the same school.

Nothing about that realization meant anything good for him. Nothing good in the least.

It has caused him to forgo thinking about raising a fist to Jesse temporarily.

Unfortunately, it hadn't done anything to convince Jesse to lay off the subject.

"You know, I hear families with two dads and two moms just end up screwing up the kids," Jesse spoke. "You know? In the head? Is that gonna be your future? Are you gonna screw up some poor kids-"

Trey cut Jesse off when he grabbed him again and raised his fist. He hadn't even thought about holding back this time. He was about to knock Jesse out, or at least attempt to do so, before he noticed Grace appear behind Jesse.

He hesitated, holding his fist in the air as Jesse chuckled at him.

"Either you go or not," Jesse replied. "But you know that lie people tell people about being a black belt to get out of having to fight someone? You should know it wouldn't be a lie in my case."

Trey was barely paying attention as Grace walked over and stood next to him.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"About what?" Trey asked, letting go of Jesse.

Grace was about to respond when Jesse rushed past both her and Trey to pull Amber away from Sierra who looked like she had been ready to get into a fight over him.

"Trey?" Grace spoke, bringing his attention back to her.

Trey frowned at her before walking over to get his tray and backpack.

"I don't wanna talk to you," he said, gathering his things. "You wouldn't take anything I had to say seriously anyway."

"I'm sorry okay," Grace spoke, following Trey as he carried his tray over to the loading rack. "It's really complicated and I just wanna explain-"

"Explain what? That you think I'm a liar? That you actually think I'd lie to you?"

"In my defense, I have only known you a week," Grace replied.

Trey snorted as he set his tray down and turned to head towards the exit.

"I guess that was a week too long then, huh?" he said, moving through the revolving bars that led to the outside of the cafeteria.

Grace followed, determined to make Trey understand what she had to tell him.

"Trey, I still wanna be friends with you," she continued.

"Great way to show it then," Trey replied.

"Trey!" Grace called as Trey left her to head out the front main doors en route for the library.

He couldn't talk to Grace when he was still upset. And he had more important things on his mind anyway.

Noah fought Jesse over him? He wasn't sure what Jesse meant by that or what he thought of it.

All he knew was that he had a lot to think about.

Shawn was a bit pissed that he had an exam on Wednesday when school had JUST started. He'd only been in school one week. The way he saw it, that wasn't nearly enough time to learn much of anything at all. Definitely not enough to have an exam. Sure the fact that there was only going to be a weeks worth of information on the test meant that it would be easier to get an easy A. But it brought up the question, why have the test at all? Sometimes he just didn't get the education system.

He wasn't planning on having to come to the library for at least another few weeks. No one but nerds studied in the library anyway. But only serious nerds studied the second week of school, which meant the library was practically empty.

He was sitting in the very back of the front section at a table that seated four people, facing the front so that the view of everyone coming in was easily accessible to him.

He didn't study very well. Sure he considered himself smart, but the only way he made it through his senior year last year was because just about everyone copied each others homework. And when it came to tests, they took so many, it was always easy to remember the information from test to test, so they were never really a problem. He never really HAD to study, so he wasn't really sure he could do it.

He was trying but his focus was going everywhere at the moment. He was thinking about how he was supposed to be able to get past Ben nearly killing a guy just because he was gay. Or if he even wanted to.

There was that and then there was Trey. He wasn't quite sure why he was thinking so much about him, but he was. Before, he didn't want to try to get to know him because for some reason, he was really annoyed with him.

But suddenly, it was like that was all he wanted to do, get to know him. And he wasn't sure what would be the best way to go about something like that.

He'd been so wrapped up in thinking that he hadn't noticed Ben approaching him.

"Cooled off yet?" Ben asked, standing at the head of the table.

Shawn looked up from his books, annoyed upon seeing Ben.

"What are you doing here?" Shawn asked, wishing he were anywhere else.

"I know people," Ben replied.

Shawn wasn't sure how that statement was supposed to make sense but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting as far away from Ben as possible.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Ben sighed and took a seat across from Shawn.

"Look, I'm sorry okay," he started.

Shawn looked over at him curiously.

"I had a feeling that was what you wanted to hear."

"What I wanted to hear?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I know how good you are with people and everything," Ben replied. "You always did care about everyone. Even when we were ragging on them."

"What so you apologize to the guy you DIDN'T beat up and that's supposed to make everything okay?" Shawn asked.

Ben stared at Shawn for a few moments before responding.

"I just thought-"

"Now you think! What about before?"

"I don't know what I was thinking but can you blame me? Some guy KISSES ME and I'm supposed to just take that?"

Shawn wasn't going to deny that the guy at the club had been in the wrong but it paled in comparison to all the reasons why Ben was wrong now.

"Look, I'm studying right now," Shawn sighed. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Will we though?" Ben asked.

Shawn sighed. He wasn't sure. But anything to get rid of Ben right now.

"Sure," he replied.

"Cool," Ben spoke, standing up. "Now I gotta get the hell out of this place. Libraries creep me out. Surrounded by all these nerds. Who knows what kind of nuclear weapons they're in here thinking up."

Shawn watched as Ben left before noticing that Trey was also in the library.

Having his awkward, unwanted chat with Ben, for some reason he was thinking differently. He wanted to be in a good mood, and he wanted to start by trying to make things right with Trey.

He didn't see why now wasn't a good time to do so.

He stood up and walked all the way to the end of the section he was sitting in, standing before Trey's table, who for some reason, hadn't looked up at him.

"Uh...hey," he started. "Strapped with a second week exam too, huh?"

Trey looked up.

"Uh no I...just needed to get away from someone," Trey replied cautiously, careful to not sound bitter.

"I know what you mean," Shawn replied. "Funny how we pick the library for that huh?"

Trey was about to respond before Noah, who neither guy had seen coming, greeted him.

"Hey, Trey!" Noah spoke. "Remember me?"

Trey looked over at Noah, feeling nervous and excited all at the same time upon seeing him.

"Yeah, yeah definitely," Trey replied. "Seen the British guy lately?"

Shawn tensed up upon seeing Noah.

For one thing, Noah was the guy that he'd seen Trey kissing way back during their weekend orientation session. And if that wasn't enough, he also knew that Trey had some kind of feelings for him.

He wasn't sure why, but for some reason, none of that phased him. He still wanted to try and get to know Trey. Noah wasn't about to intimidate him.

"Uh....you're the guy from orientation right?" Shawn spoke, making his presence known.

Noah looked over at Shawn, at first as if he hadn't know he was there previously but then changing to show that he wasn't about to be intimidated either.

"Yeah," he replied, holding out a hand. "I'm Noah."

"Yeah, I remember," Shawn replied, taking Noah's hand to shake. "Shawn."

"Right, yeah," Noah replied.

And then that was where no one said anything, both Shawn and Noah standing before Trey searching for something to say while Trey searched for a way to make his very awkward situation less awkward.

If that was even possible.

"Uh, so you guys should sit down," Trey spoke, offering them a seat.

Noah and Shawn exchanged forced `happy' looks before having to sit down next to each other across from Trey.

But offering Noah and Shawn a seat hadn't done anything to dim the awkwardness of the situation.

All three boys looked over at each other, not knowing where to start or what to say first.

"So..." Noah started.

"So..." Shawn also said.

And suddenly Trey felt a lot like the monkey in someone else's middle.

"Trey, come on!" Grace called out. "I really want to talk to you! Boy open up this door!"

"You know, I think when the door doesn't open after the twentieth loud bang it might actually mean that, gasp, no one's there," Zoey spoke, as she approached Grace.

Grace took her hand away from the door and looked over at Zoey, not really sure what to say.

"But by all means continue," Zoey stated. "I figured out a while ago that if you're desperate enough, the banging starts sounding like an old Journey song."

"Sorry," Grace spoke. "Did I wake you up or something?"

"Me? No, I don't sleep before six," Zoey replied. "Besides, I stay in Statham Hall, so I'm not in Kansas anymore I guess."

"Visiting a friend?" Grace asked.

"Your friend actually," Zoey replied. "But apparently, he's out being a charmer somewhere. Probably telling someone about how he saved my life on an elevator one time."

"Wait....you were on the elevator that day?" Grace asked.

Zoey adjusted the specs on her face.

"Yeah," she replied. "Why, were you?"

"Yeah," Grace replied. "Worst damn experience ever, let me tell you."

"Nah, it wasn't that bad," Zoey replied. "I mean, sure I did almost slap the tan off some plastic sorority pledge-this wannabe, but I at least had Trey to keep me company. He's pretty cool. For a freshman."

Grace agreed.

"Although, I need to stop making friends with all these little freshman," Zoey replied. "I draw the line at Trey and Noah, who I may be taking off my list."

"Wait, did you say Noah?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, you know one too huh?" Zoey asked. "And here I thought that name was reserved for old men who build arks for God. Silly me."

"You two having problems?" Grace asked.

"You could say that," Zoey replied. "What about you and Trey?"

"Yeah..." Grace nodded, scratching the back of her head. "You could say that."

Zoey pressed her lips together tightly while fidgeting with her watch before deciding something.

"You know, how about we say that and some more over a couple of salads down at the quad?" Zoey replied. "You hungry?"

"You buying?" Grace asked, grinning.

"Only if you say yes," Zoey spoke. "My boyfriend's been working on some huge painting masterpiece all month. I wish he'd finish so I can see him longer than five minutes."

"Trey thinks my boyfriend cheated on me," Grace replied.

"You win," Zoey stated, as the two girls started for the elevator.

"Can you believe some people?" Amber fumed. "I mean seriously, you're Jesse Yorkshire."

"That I am love," Jesse replied, watching Amber walk back and forward past him as he sat on the futon couch. "That I am."

"I mean, who does she think she is?" Amber asked.

"Are you still on about that?" Jesse asked. "It happened a good two hours ago."

"I could've kicked her ass," Amber spoke, not really paying attention to Jesse. "I've done Cardio Barre!"

Jesse doubted that Amber could kick anyone's ass, let alone Sierra's. Both Sierra and Amber were petite girls, but Sierra seemed more brutish to him than Amber did. Plus, she was smarter which automatically gave her an advantage.

Still, he had to at least give Amber some credit for trying to stick up for him the only way a girl could in that situation. Although, having two girls fighting over him was nothing new. In fact, it hadn't been that long ago he had four girls fighting over him.

"I find it best just to not associate with loons," Jesse spoke. "People start thinking you something of a nutter yourself."

"She's looney alright," Amber replied. "In the head!"

"So you get over it," Jesse spoke, picking up a copy of Entertainment Weekly laying across the futon and starting to skim through it. "Let's not waste our precious remaining brain cells on the lass."

"What if I don't wanna get over it?" Amber asked, still obviously upset. "What if I wanna beat some ass?"

"Wanna keep it down there G.I. Jane?" Jesse asked. "The last thing I want is for that bloody mate of yours to come back in here asking questions about stuff that doesn't concern her."

Amber let out a sigh and took a seat next to Jesse on the futon.

"You're right," she spoke, wrapping her arm around Jesse's. "I just want everything to be okay with you and between us."

"Us?" Jesse asked, looking over at Amber.

Amber just let her head rest on Jesse's shoulder as Jesse tried to keep from losing his temper regarding her.

"Let's get something straight right now love," Jesse spoke, forcing himself up, which caused Amber to fall face down on the futon. "There is no `us'."

Amber sat up and removed some hair from her eyes while staring at Amber.

"God do you ever think about anything?"

Amber flashed Jesse a look of confusion.

"Jesse....I don't-"

"You didn't need to have a row with that dimwit earlier," Jesse clarified. "You're all about trying to keep me all to yourself. You don't care about people finding out about me being here because we'll both be in trouble are you?"

Amber looked down.

"And then this...obsession you have with me....it's old...it's boring...move on!" Jesse exclaimed. "Just...please, try to see what's in front of you for once."

Amber didn't say anything as she just sat watching Jesse look at himself in the mirror.

"So what I'm just supposed to let people be mean to you then?" Amber asked, trying to keep her own anger and hurt from showing.

Jesse didn't even bother turning to face Amber as he replied to her.

"What did you do BEFORE you met me?" he asked. "Honestly, I know how to take care of myself. And apparently, that seems to be the only way to go."

Amber didn't say anything else as Jesse entered the restroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Wait...so why don't you believe him?" Zoey asked.

She and Grace had been having a pretty nice time having chef salads in the quad while chatting.

"I don't know," Grace sighed. "I guess...I guess I don't want to believe him."

Zoey took a sip of her water before pushing aside her mostly empty salad bowl.

"Well, I can't blame you for that," she said. "I think it's in all girls' nature not to completely trust a guy."

Grace grinned. She could tell that Zoey was trying to make her feel better. And it was working a little.

"But there are those few good guys that you find yourself wanting to trust with all your heart," Zoey continued. "I like to think those kinds of guys exist. Somewhere."

Grace played with her salad on the tip of her fork, looking down.

"You think Trey could be one of those guys?" she asked.

Zoey sat back in her seat and folded her hands. She looked around at some of the passing students before giving Grace and answer.

"I think we have to let the guy speak for himself," Zoey replied.

Grace stared at Zoey.

"It's just...Dro and I....we've been together for so long...it's like, I'm built to trust him," Grace said. "And then someone like Trey comes along and changes things and...I don't know..."

"Well I only talked to him for an hour," Zoey replied. "But he doesn't exactly seem like the plotting scheming type to me. And believe me when I say this, I doubt he's trying to come between you and your boyfriend."

Grace was a bit confused by the statement, but she felt at ease with Zoey. It went a long way towards convincing her that Trey wasn't the bad guy she was trying to make him out to be.

"What about you and Noah?" Grace asked, deciding to turn the tables on Zoey.

She noticed Zoey's look turn to one that would suggest she was feeling a bit uncomfortable, which was a change from the air of confidence she's exuded all evening.

"What about us?" Zoey replied. "Also, there's no us."

"You know, I'm not the right person to hand out advice on guys, obviously, but if there's anything I seem to get about you is that you're all for cutting people slack and giving a person a chance," Grace said. "Am I right?"

Zoey didn't respond but Grace could tell that she was right.

"So talk to him," Grace said. "You say he won't talk to you, talk to him. Make him listen. At least TRY. I don't think you're ready to give up on him yet."

Zoey thought it over before sitting forward.

"You know, this was nice," she said. "Makes me wonder why I don't have more black friends."

"Yeah," Grace replied. "I'm a bit lacking on the cracker front myself."

Zoey chuckled at Grace.

"Girl, just playing," Grace giggled. "You're cool."

"Yeah," Zoey replied. "You too."

"Wait, so, you two were in the same elevator that day?" Noah asked.

He, Trey and Shawn had spent the past hour making small talk. It took about an hour before anyone really started talking, but once the talk started, it hadn't stopped.

Noah was actually starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of being friends with Trey. He had been having his doubts regarding the whole situation, but he was starting to find that it wasn't that weird at all.

Trey and Shawn exchange nervous glances.

"Yeah..." Trey started, still looking over at Shawn. "We were."

"AND you're roommates?" Noah asked, sounding a bit shocked at all the coincidences.

Trey and Shawn exchanged further nervous glances before Shawn straightened up in his seat and cleared his throat, before responding.

"Yeah well up until now I guess you could say those would be considered bad things," he started. "But let's just say the weekend was the perfect time to have an epiphany."

"About what?" Noah asked, looking confused.

Trey was confused himself and turned to Shawn to try and get a read off of him.

"Well I decided I had two choices really," Shawn started. "Either I could be a jackass and have a shitty time here or I could try and get along with everyone and enjoy college."

Noah looked over at Trey who was looking over at Shawn with a slight smile before clearing his throat and leaning forward.

"Well, that's cool," Noah spoke. "They do say the first year is the hardest year. Why not make things less complicated by making as many friends as possible?"

Trey was feeling a little confused by everything.

While he wasn't going to even try to deny that he and Shawn had got off to a terrible start thus far, the fact that he was seemingly willing to change so suddenly was cause for concern for him. He wasn't sure whether or not to really believe Shawn. But he didn't want to not believe him either.

He didn't see any reason why he wouldn't want to be friends with Shawn, if in fact he really was being sincere.

And with Noah in the picture, that only made things more complicated, and he wanted less complication, more normalcy.

"So since we're all trying to make friends here, what do you guys say to being friends with each other?" Noah asked.

Shawn looked over at him.

"What like, the three of us?"

"Yeah," Noah replied. "I mean...that's okay with you, right Trey?"

Suddenly, Trey found two sets of eyes staring at him, waiting for him to confirm to both of them that he accepted the terms of their new friendship.

There was Noah, the guy he'd had strong enough feelings for to kiss over the summer. And then there was Shawn, the guy who had caused him so much frustration already while still managing to have some kind of hold on him.

He almost felt like they wanted him to choose one of them, not both of them.

But he was already confused with his feelings. The last thing he wanted to do was complicate things by starting off on the wrong foot with either of them when they were all trying to start fresh.

"I guess..." He replied, still a little unsure.

"Good," Noah replied.

"Great," Shawn spoke.

And looking over the two of them, while it did excite Trey to some degree that he was finally on track to making friends for once in his life, he had a feeling that things were going to be far from good' and great'.

"Yeah..." he sighed.

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 (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