Hey guys. I should warn you that I'm gonna be slowing down a bit on ALR, so don't be too mad if I don't get another chapter in by next week.
On the plus side, I might be doing some culinary summer classes which would be absolutely wonderful. Something for me to do over the summer. ^_^
This story (A Love Reawakened) and all of its parts, components, etc., are copyright of me (ddrarrow_reborn@yahoo.com) and are not to be stolen, reproduced, slightly altered and claimed as one's own work, and so on. Please don't steal my stuff. If I find out that you've been copying my works, I will use Bolt 2 and fry your ass. (Final Fantasy reference! Go nerdy me!)
This story is completely fiction. Meaning, this story is completely fiction.
Additionally, there is no erotica in this story. Go somewhere else, pervs!
A Love Reawakened
Chapter Three: A Quick Little Flight
The flight to Virginia was somewhat unnerving. I always kept my iPod with me so I could chill out some when I got antsy. I was always thinking ahead; what if Virginia was worse than California? What if I end up in one of those conservative neighborhoods where they'll start up a witch hunt to find the queer kid? What if...
...No. I don't need to be thinking like that now. I just need to chill out and listen to some tunes... That's all...
[M][U][S][I][C] is my anti-drug.
'You could have been all I wanted,
But you weren't honest,
Now get in the ground.'
Man... I really hope that Virginia is better that California...
"Hey, dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"Where exactly in Virginia are we gonna be living in again?"
"We'll be moving into Arlington. Don't worry, son. Although Virginia was part of the Confederacy, Arlington is rather Democratic as opposed to the more southern parts of Virginia."
"Okay, dad. Thanks."
"You're welcome, son."
'Hang on to the glory at my right hand,
Here laid to rest; is our love ever longed?
With truth on the shores of compassion,
You seem to take premise to all of these songs...'
==========
"Stephen..."
"...Yeah, Jake?"
"My parents have decided to move away."
"But why?"
"It would be for the best. They say that it would be better to be away from all of this drama here. I agree with them too. I'm going to miss you a lot, Stephen."
"I'm going to miss you too, baby."
"Don't call me "baby", Stephen. Please don't call me that. You know I don't like those names."
"It's just a term of endearment."
"But still, they just sort of annoy me, that's all."
"But still, I love you."
"And I love you, too. I love you a lot. Ever since you saved me that day, I've always thought, "Could he be the one?"."
"Jake... What will I do without you?"
"We'll both have to move on, Stephen. But if our paths cross once again,"
"Then we'll get back together?"
"Maybe. Not necessarily as boyfriends, but we'll still be friends."
"I understand, Jake."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
==========
"...You miss him, don't you, Jake?"
"Yeah, I do, mom. But I'll be strong. No, we'll both be strong."
"Okay, son."
I stared out of my window for a while. (I dunno if it's a gift or a curse that I'm in the window seat. I mean, the view is nice, but it's impossible to hold in a turd for six hours!) Flying was a rather surreal experience for me, since I'd never gone flying before. Looking down at the earth from up in the airplane was actually kind of frightening, but alluring at the same time. I still had some feeling for Stephen, but that was because he was, well, sort of my first. I wonder what he's doing right now...
==========
"We'll still write, right?"
"Haha..."
"I'm serious here, Jake... We'll still write to each other, okay?"
"Of course. I'll still need you, but in a sort of different way. I just need someone to talk to, someone to make me feel less lonely. I know this is gonna be hard, Stephen. Hell, it's gonna be hard for me too, but we'll just have to move on. Sort of like that All-American Rejects song."
"Move along, move along,"
"Like I know you do."
"Hahah... That was kind of strange."
"Well, yeah. It was actually something Josh and I used to do before he, well..."
"Yeah. You told me all about this. Don't worry. You'll never have to see him again. Never."
"I hope you're right, Stephen..."
"I know I'm right. I doubt that you'll ever end up having to see each other ever again. He'll never hurt you. I promise."
"Stephen... You know you can't possibly do that..."
"But it doesn't stop me from saying it, now does it?"
"No, I suppose that it doesn't..."
"Exactly. You know what?"
"No, I don't, but go on..."
"We should stop worrying about the future and focus on what's happening now. You'll be leaving soon. Let's spend your time here as the best time of our lives!"
"Sure! So, what should we do first!"
"Err... Honestly, I dunno."
"Let's just spend time together. You know, let's just be close for now."
"Alright. If you say so."
We sat on Stephen's bed and cuddled for the rest of the day. I'll never forget his touch on my skin.
==========
"We are currently flying over Dulles International Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronic devices for our landing. The current time is 5:38 PM, February 12th, 2007."
"C'mon, son. We'll be landing soon."
"Alright, dad."
"You nervous?"
"Of course."
We all fastened our seatbelts and waited for our descent to Virginia. I was nervous, but at the same time, I was hopeful and excited. I would be landing towards a better life... Nothing could be worse that what I went through back in California... But still... I was leaving behind Stephen...
==========
Stephen and I were standing at the airport terminal. He wanted to bid me farewell one last time. Honestly, I wanted to see him one last time before I left as well.
"Stephen, I'm going to miss you very much."
"I'm going to miss you too, Jake. Promise that you'll write to me?"
"Of course. I'll never forget you, buddy."
"You Canadian!"
"Whatever, "Mr. I-Moved-From-Quebec-To-Live-In-California"!"
"Hahah... That was harsh, man."
"Hey, you deserved it! Anyways, I'll miss ya lots."
"And I will too. You know what? I brought something for you, Jake."
"What is it?"
"Uh... Here it is! It's yours to keep; something to remember me by."
Stephen had pulled out a necklace from his pocket. It was turquoise, and hanging from it was a small medallion. One side had the letter "S" engraved in it, while the other had the letter "J" engraved in it.
"Stephen... It's... It's beautiful! How much did you spend on this!? I mean... You really shouldn't have... You didn't have to..."
"But I care for you enough that I bought you one. So now, it's like I'll always be there with you. You'll never be lonely like before. I'll be there for you, whether in body or in spirit."
"Oh, Stephen...!"
"One last time?"
"I love you, Stephen Rogers!"
"And I love you, Jake Johnson. Even though this has to end, you'll always have a place in my heart."
"And you in mine, as well."
"Alright, then. Now that that's over, don't you have a plane to catch?"
"Oh! That's right! I'll write to you later, alright!"
"Okay Jake! Have a safe trip!"
==========
I reached for my chest and held the medallion tightly in my hand. It was a symbol of our friendship, our togetherness.
"Here we go..." I said to myself. "We'll face this together, Stephen."
About thirty minutes after the plane had hit the tarmac, we went through customs and we finally exited the airport.
I'd best not bore you with the details of moving in, so I'll just cut out that chunk of time in the story and move forward a bit.
It was a chilly winter morning in Virginia. It was a far cry from the sunny warmth of California, where it never snowed. Today was the 13th. Today, I would be meeting up with my counselor at my new high school to get my schedule and everything. I was fairly excited since I would be able to start off with a clean slate, so to speak.
As my mom drove me up to the school, we passed a fixture that read,
"YORKTOWN HIGH SCHOOL"
So now I would be attending Yorktown High School, huh? Sounds a lot better than "Jacksonville Preparatory High School". That didn't even make any sense! What are we preparing for, college? What about the guys that don't want to go to college? That means that going to Jacksonville Prep would be a pointless endeavor, right?
The strange name of my old school aside, I was getting more antsy as we approached the building. I couldn't wait!
But I did. For all of the five seconds it took for us to park. Once my mom parked her car, we both got out and headed for the Counseling Office.
"Uh, hello? My name is Beth Johnson and this is my son, Jake. I registered my son here about three months ago, and you guys said that you have all of the paperwork done and everything, right?"
"Yes, that is correct, ma'am." said the Registrar. "If you'll just enter my office, we can finalize this and we'll be able to hand you your schedule, Jake."
"That sounds like a plan." I said.
The two of us entered the Registrar's office and sat down in two comfy armchairs. My mom and the Registrar began finalizing the papers and updating the attendance sheets for the teachers. Then, the Registrar handed me my schedule.
"Okay," she began. "The layout of this school is a bit strange, but you'll get used to it. Your first class is Art I. See how it says that your class is in Room 16? Well, any two-digit room number means that the class will be at the bottom floor, on the same level with the Auditorium and the Gym. A three-digit number beginning with "1" means that the class will take place on the first floor, which is where we are right now. A three-digit number beginning with "2" means that the class is on the second floor, and one beginning with "3" means that the class is on the third floor. Now, you may have noticed that your next class is Algebra II. See how the room number is A-360? Any number preceded by an "A" signifies that the class is in the "new building". We call it that because it is, in fact, a new addition to the school. You can tell which is the old building and which is the new one simply by looking around. If it looks nicer, then you're in the new building. Simple, right?"
"Yeah. That makes sense."
"Okay. So tell me the floor and location on each of your classes, Jake."
"Alright, ma'am. Art I is on the bottom floor of the old building. Algebra II is on the third floor of the new building. Latin I is on the second floor of the old building. Lunch is in the lunchroom. P.E. is in the gym, and Biology is on the first floor of the new building, as are my World History and English classes."
"Very good, Jake. One more thing that I should mention. Yorktown runs on a block schedule, meaning that your classes will run in their regular order on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. On Wednesday, we have what is called "Odd Block", which means that your first and seventh periods will take up double the time. So, first period will take up the spots for first and second period, and seventh will take up seventh and eighth. On Thursdays, we have "Even Block", where second and eighth period take the place of first and seventh period from the Odd Block."
"Okay..."
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it. That's just how it goes here at Yorktown. Now then, you don't have to come to school until tomorrow, so you can go home and recover from the jet lag a bit more, okay?"
"Alright. Thank you ma'am." I replied.
"Bye Jake. And welcome to Yorktown!"
I spent the rest of that day relaxing and helping with the general moving in process. Our stuff from California arrived, furniture and all, so we were able to put it all somewhere. I was busy unpacking my clothes when I remembered about Stephen.
"Hey, dad?"
"Yes, Jake?"
"Are we connected to the internet?"
"Actually, we are, son."
"Even the wi-fi?"
"Yeah. It's just like back in California. Everything's hooked up and ready to go."
"Alright, then."
I went over to my laptop (Yes, I have my own laptop, thank you very much.) and logged on to my email account. Already in the inbox was an email from Stephen.
++++++++++
Dear Jake,
It's only been about an hour and I already miss you a lot. It's tough, but I know that I can be strong and that I can get through this. Hopefully you can reply to this email as soon as you see it or we can chat on AIM or something.
Well, I'd better get going. Even though you're not here, the government is still forcing me to go to school and I need to study.
We'll chat later, okay?
-Stephen
++++++++++
Man... He's taking this a bit harder than I had expected... He's still mentioning me in every other sentence... But hopefully we can separate without anything bad happening...
But hell, I totally understand what he's feeling. I miss him too.
I finally decided that I would go on AIM and chat with him.
'hey stephen'
'jake!!! whats up? hows virginia?'
'im doing pretty good. i miss you a bit. virginia is nice. its... well, i dont see a KKK sect anywhere in sight, at least.'
'thats cool. i guess this means you read my email?'
'yeah, i did. you can be strong, i know you can.'
'i know. i have to be, or else ill just die of attachment.'
'exactly. but dont go overboard and erase me from your memory or something...'
'yeah, yeah... whatever.'
'well, i g2g. i need to sleep so i can get up early tomorrow for school. it starts at like 8:00 here.'
'k cya.'
I logged off and shut down my laptop. It was nice talking to Stephen. At least I wasn't alone like most kids who move away to a new place.
It was time to sleep. Tomorrow I would be getting up early to go to school!
...Or not.
I woke up the next morning with a mild fever. My mom didn't want me going to school until I was feeling better, so she called in and told the attendance office that I would be coming in late.
"Honey, you should just stay in bed. You should go get some rest. I'll be back in an hour and a half and then we'll see if you've gotten any better."
"Oh, alright..."
My mom exited my room and closed the door behind her. I finally dozed off to sleep for a bit. I had this strange dream, but I don't quite remember what exactly happened in my dream... Something about instant noodles, I think... Weird.
"Jake... Wake up, honey..." said my mom.
"Nnngh... I'm awake, mom..."
"Do you feel better now?" she asked.
"Uhh... Actually, I do feel better."
"See? Mother knows best, right?"
"Mom..." I whined.
"Well, you should start getting ready for school. I'll be waiting downstairs."
"Alright..."
She left me to get ready for school. I tossed the blankets off of my body and shucked off my nightshirt and boxers. Groggily, I made my way towards my new bathroom. It was cool, since in my old house, the bathroom was down the hall, but now I have my own personal bathroom.
I stepped inside my new shower and, well, took a shower. Duh. You don't take a bath in a shower or a bath in a bathtub, right?
After my totally non-erotic shower (Y'know, to make the point clear that there is NO sex in this story...), I went back to my room, refreshed, and threw on some clothes.
"Come on, Jake! We should get going in about fifteen minutes!" my mom said from downstairs.
"Alright, mom! I'm coming, I'm coming!"
I rushed downstairs and poured myself some cereal and milk. I then proceeded to stuff my face of what I guess was some store-brand version of Corn Pops.
"Jake, are you ready?" my mom asked.
"Mmmpffh..." I said through my stuffed face.
"Chew and swallow, young man!" she said sarcastically.
"gulp... Okay! Let's go!"
"Alright, then. You've got all of your stuff?"
"Yeah. I'll get my textbooks from the teachers, I think."
"Alright then. Get in the car and we'll get going."
The five-minute trip to my new school had me flooded with internal questions. What are the kids like here? Will I be able to make friends? What if someone has "gaydar" and outs me to the school?
Well, now wasn't the time for worrying. I just wanted to get through the day.
Once we got to my school, my mom dropped me off and I made my way to the attendance office so I wouldn't be in too much trouble. Once I signed in, I remembered that I had no idea what period it was.
"Excuse me, but do you know what period this is right now?"
"Well," the attendance office lady began. "It's 10:55, so we're right in the break between third and fourth period."
"Okay, thank you." I said politely.
I took out my schedule and scanned it down to my fourth period class. I had lunch right now, and the cafeteria was just down the hall. Convenient, huh?
I took about three steps into the cafeteria before I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that there was an ice cream truck outside.
"What the hell...?" I said to myself. You see, they never had ice cream trucks at the high schools back in California, and I hadn't seen an ice cream truck since I was... Well, probably nine or ten years old.
I backtracked my steps and went outside to the ice cream truck to get a soda. However, there was a line there already and I guess I'd have to wait in line like all of the other kids here...
I began to daydream a bit and I sort of spaced out for a moment, but only a moment. When my mind focused itself again, I was looking a bit to the right. There was some kid going behind a building. This really piqued my interest, since I don't think many kids would eat their lunch in seclusion.
I quickly bought a soda and then I followed this person to where he was. When I came upon him, he was sleeping on one of the benches there. I thought he was some hobo, but then I noticed that he had a backpack with him. I looked at it, and he had a couple of patches sewn in. One was Stewie, from Family Guy, and the other was the Evil Monkey, also from Family Guy.
I took a closer look and gasped.
His hair was long and black... His face was so... Peaceful, I guess. Maybe because he was sleeping.
Long black hair and that face...
This boy was, quite literally, the boy of my dreams.
Okay! Sorry that I took so long with this chapter, but I'm being held up by a few things.
All emails, including: comments, questions, suggestions, flames, and/or general chit-chat are to be sent to (ddrarrow_reborn@yahoo.com).