My Name Is Connor

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I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I haven't had time to write something like this in forever so it was pretty fun. Other stories by me include One or the Other, Gavin's Got Game, Hayden's Story, Shawn's Turn, Teddy Bear, and the After Party. The first five are found here in the gay highschool section and the latter two are in the gay college section. If you do enjoy reading this, you can contact me at wah.stories@yahoo.com.

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My name is Connor Phillips. The past year for me has been very unforgettable to say the least. Most of those memorable things, though, were the kind of memorable things you don't want to relive. To be honest, though, I probably wouldn't change the past year if I could. It's made me into who I am today and that's something I'm proud of.

Everything started halfway through my first semester as a sophomore. It was a Friday afternoon and we had just finished one of our final rehearsal of the 2009 rendition of the musical Fame. I had the honor of playing Marco, the one role I knew I was born to play from the moment I watched the movie. Our first live performance would be in a week and we had tech rehearsals and dress rehearsals we still had to run. Usually this would be dead week but the leadership in the drama club has been lacking so we are running far behind.

Ms. Dennis, the clubs faculty supervisor, was a theater education major back when she was in college. When she first came to Clay Central, there wasn't a theater program so she was teaching English. After a while, the school finally got one and ever since Ms. Dennis has been in charge. Recently things have started to slip her mind so we can't really rely on her for coordinating rehearsals anymore.

As for the president of the drama club, Macy Handshoe, she did absolutely nothing. The only reason she wanted to be president is so she could land the better roles and have something to put on college applications. There were times where I could have considered her a friend but since I had to pick up her slack, I despised the girl back then.

Then there's me, the vice president. I try to keep everything in order but it's hard sometimes. With at least fifty high schools running around, singing and dancing, it's hard to find out who is where they are supposed to be and if they are doing what they are supposed to do.

Thankfully I had my right-hand woman with me who kept me under control. Spencer and I have been best friends since the dawn of dinosaurs. From head to toe, the girl is never dressed down. She is probably one of the most feminine girls I've ever met, which works for the both of us since she's my fake girlfriend.

The thing about us is that we are both gay. She's extremely feminine so no one would ever question her sexuality. I'm 6'0, 170 pounds, and mildly athletic so no one really questions mine either. It's just easier for us to say we're dating so people aren't always asking us if why we're single and trying to hook us up.

"Just breathe, Connor. Everything's going to be alright." Spencer put both of her hands on my shoulders and was looking me in the eyes.

I was having a panic attack because I wanted the musical to be a hit and although I knew what I was doing, that didn't mean that everyone else knew what they were doing. "This next week is going to kill me. You know that, right?"

"I won't let it. I need you as much as you need me. I could never replace you."

"I don't know many guys who'd want to be your fake boyfriend anyways."

For that, she slapped me on the shoulder. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Everyone would want more than must fake with you. They wouldn't settle for just a little bit when there's so much more to love."

Spencer just smiled. "Good answer. Now -"

Before she could say something, a bright light from the balcony was casted on us. We both looked up and we could barely see the short figure jumping up and down, waving her hands like a maniac; Lauren. Lauren and Spencer have been a thing for about six months at this point. Unlike Spencer, Lauren is somewhat masculine and you can tell she wears the pants in the relationship, mainly because she doesn't wear skirts or dresses.

Lauren is a year above both me and Spencer and she has been the tech manager for every performance I have been a part of. During our production of Wicked last spring, Lauren and Spencer began to hang out all the time. Spencer told me that it was because as the lead actress, she needed to talk to Lauren and make sure the lighting and sound was right. Of course when she said that, she meant the two of them were making out in the janitor's closet. I eventually caught the two of them and at first it was awkward but now Lauren has become immersed in our group.

"Nevermind. Gotta go. It's our anniversary." Spencer kissed me on the cheek and headed towards the auditorium doors.

I couldn't help but be happy yet jealous at the same time. I'm happy that Spencer has finally found someone that she can talk to, there's on so much a fake boyfriend can take. But at the same time, I'm jealous because she has someone special and I'm single. I want someone who I can sneak a kiss from in public and cuddle with as we watch a movie and give me a shoulder to cry on when someone dies in the Walking Dead. But no, I'm as single as it gets excluded the whole fake girlfriend thing.

I began to put props away that people had left out and ushered people to the nearest exit, to most of us, the auditorium was home so when rehearsals were over, most people just stuck around and chilled. Last year I wouldn't have minded but as the leader of the club at the time, it bothered me.

"Connor. Where is everyone?" Ms. Dennis asked me as she walked into the auditorium. She seemed more lost than ever. "Doesn't rehearsal start in fifteen minutes?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Rehearsal was at three, it's almost five."

"Huh. I must have switched my doctor's appointment with rehearsal. I must apologize to poor Darlene, after sitting in the office for an hour I said a few choice words to her. What are you still doing here?"

"I was just cleaning up. I can head out if you want me to."

"Yes. I must be leaving, I apparently have a doctor's appointment in fifteen minutes."

With the help of Ms. Dennis, the two of us did a last sweep through to make sure the auditorium was clean. We then headed out the doors that led outside and she locked the auditorium up. I looked up to the sky and could see dark clouds rolling in. Great.

"Where's your father at?" Ms. Dennis asked. She knew he was usually the one that picked me up.

"He called earlier and told me he would be running late, that's why I decided to clean up some."

"Well that was really nice of you. Tell your parents that they have a wonderful son, will you?" And with that she was gone and I was left alone.

I hated lying to her, but I had to. My dad left my mom at the beginning of the school year. He told her he just couldn't take being a father anymore and walked out. For the first month, my mother was gone too, but she had left us mentally and not physically. It was up to me to take care of Elle, my little sister, and make sure things were working out. Thankfully my mom bounced back after that first month and I was able to go back to my regular life as a teenager. It still scares me that she may revert back at any time and I don't know if I could handle that.

Since I didn't have a car at the time, I walked the three miles home from rehearsals. My dad was usually the last person to show up anyways so no one suspected a thing about my dad's departure. The only people who had any idea were Spencer, Lauren, and Roger, the fourth person in our group. Although they knew he was gone, I didn't tell them I was walking home from rehearsals, they didn't know about my mom's mental breakdown so they all thought she was now taking me home.

When the rain started, it was just a light sprinkle. I didn't mind it since it was soothing. After a minute, though, it became a downpour and I was soaked in seconds. I quickly darted into the closest gas station to wait for it to calm down some. The man behind the counter gave me a weird look when I entered. Everyone else in the gas station was dry so I could understand why he would stare at the kid dripping everywhere in his store. I pretended to glance around the gas station as though I was actually planning on buying something.

"Connor?" I froze at the sound of my name. The voice was familiar but it couldn't be who I thought it was. Sure enough, when I turned around, I was face to face with Troye Sparks.

"Hey. Troye."

"How have you been? We haven't talked in years."

"Yeah. We haven't." Back when I used to swim in elementary school, I met Troye. The two of us bonded very quickly and even Spencer was jealous of how close the tow of us got so quickly. Since Troye was a year older than me, he was a grade above me. When he entered middle school, he decided it was "too gay" to hang out with elementary school kids so he ended our friendship. I was devastated. It hurt a lot. He was my best friend in the entire world and he kicked little fifth grade me to the curb. Thankfully I had Spencer there to pick myself back up.

When I got to middle school, I had hoped we could become friends again, but Troye had become a jock in the year we were apart. I tried hanging out with the jocks but I was never concerned with last night's football game or whether or not Becca Farley was actually a C cup. Spencer and I eventually found our calling in the drama club at our middle school and ever since then, it's been our lives.

"So?" Troye just looked at me with his adorable smile. Did I mention that when I realized I was gay, I formed a crush on Troye and it has yet to fade?

"Huh?"

He chuckled. "How have you been, man?"

"Oh! Yeah! I've been good I guess. Lots of drama club stuff, you know. It's kept me busy. How's the whole basketball thing?" At Clay Central, basketball is everything to everyone besides those in the drama club; that put us at the bottom of the totem pole but we didn't care.

"It's amazing. Coach is thinking about putting me in as a starter for this upcoming game."

"Wow!" I wasn't really impressed since I wasn't even really sure what a starter was, but he looked happy so it made me happy.

"You should totally come to our game on Saturday. It's at 2 and it's at our school so it's not like it's too far away."

I quickly summoned my inner actor. "Oh. So this is just about promoting your game? I thought you actually wanted to talk to me."

"No! I do!" He put his hand on my shoulder. I felt a jolt of electricity and my head shot up, catching his eyes. He quickly moved his hand away. I immediately yearned for his touch again; I guess a crush lasting four years does a decent amount of damage. "It's just...basketball is easy to talk about for me, you know? It's kinda like how you and Broadway are. I'm pretty sure you could strike up a conversation with anyone if you knew they were into Broadway."

"That is true, but why would you think I was into basketball?"

"I know you're not. I just thought you were interested in me." My eyes bugled and he realized what he had said. "Interested in me as in like, you know, friends and stuff. We were friends at one time so I was hoping you'd get happy about knowing that I was happy. That kind of stuff. I didn't mean the other kind of interested in me. You're tapping Spencer anyways so that doesn't even apply to this situation."

I shuddered. He could see the look of discomfort. I had to say something. "I don't like to refer to it as `tapping.' Her family is pretty religious so the most we've done is make out, she doesn't want them to disappoint them."

"Damn, dude. That must suck."

"Yeah it does."

We both just stood there in the gas station with an awkward silence which felt like an hour but was probably only three seconds.

"It's pretty bad out there." Troye finally said, nodding his head to the window. I looked over and it was even worse than before. Great.

"Yeah. I had to run in here to get out of the rain."

"You were walking?"

Shit. "Yeah. Rehearsal ran late and Dad's at work so I gotta walk home." Sadly lying had become such an easy thing to me. I had been lying to my friends, lying to my teachers, lying to myself. It didn't even take me a second to think of this one.

"I can give you a ride. It's no big deal."

"We live on opposite sides of town though."

He just smiled his winning smile. "Your point is?" I tried to think of something to say but I knew I wasn't going to win. "Now come on, I didn't get to park under the awning so we're going to have to run."

I followed Troye out of the gas station and we quickly ran to his car, I knew which one was his because my eyes would occasionally follow him as he was heading to his car after school. Of course he had trouble with the keys so it took us a few seconds to get into his car. Once in, I looked over at him and he was just as drenched as I was. He smiled and shrugged, I couldn't help but think he was the most adorable guy I've ever met.

"You still live in the same house, right?"

"Yeah."

"I really loved that house. All the adventures we had down in your basement." The two of us lived down there when he visited. My favorite game was Avalanche. We would pretend to be mountain trekkers who became stuck in a cave due to an avalanche. When it was time for us to sleep, Troye would hold me close and tell me everything would be alright. Looking back, that should have been the sign I was attracted to the boy since I loved that part of the game.

"Yeah. We really did didn't we?" I looked over at him and could see that he was also reminiscing. Probably wasn't thinking about what I was thinking about but I had come to terms with that a long time ago. If Troye was gay, I think I would have known.

"Where's your room at now?" Troye asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"You have a little sister now, don't you? Your house only has two bedrooms upstairs."

"In sixth grade we converted the basement into a bedroom so I live down there now. It's a lot nicer than what it used to be. It's like my own apartment now."

"Well maybe I won't get a splinter next time we play Spiderman." Next time? I thought him taking me home would be the last time we talked. Did he really want to try being friends again? "What did your parents do when they saw what we did to the toilet down there?"

Before the basement was redone, the toilet down there did not function. Troye and I thought it would be a good idea to use the toilet's tank as a trash can for our healthy snacks that we our moms would bring down to us in the middle of a play session. "Let's just say I was in a lot of trouble and my mom was glad you weren't around then because she would have found a way to ground you too."

Troye just laughed. "Man. You and I. We really were a dynamic duo."

The rest of the ride to my place, we just caught up on each other's lives. Of course I didn't tell him about my dad but I did tell him some other things. He told me that his family was doing great and that his brother had graduated college this past year and now had an apartment of his own. I still remember hanging out with Troye's older brother Marcus. He was pretty cool, he never treated me or Troye like kids, he let us do whatever we wanted.

After Troye pulled into my driveway, he quickly got out of his car and ran up to my porch with me. The two of us were just standing there, looking at each other. He was smiling and I was blushing. It kinda felt like we had just ended a date but I knew I couldn't lean in and kiss him. Just them my mom opened the door.

"Troye!" She wrapped her arms around him. "You're so big now! Come in, please."

"Connor?" He just looked at me, as if he needed my permission as well. I just shrugged and he took that as a yes.

We went in and my mom shut the door behind her. I could smell food in the kitchen and just then realized how hungry I was.

"I'm going to go change and give you two some time to catch up. I'll be back up soon." I darted down the stairs and found myself something clean. It felt so nice to be dry and warm again. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be cold and wet with Troye than warm and dry by myself any day. Maybe I could have the best of both soon.

I jogged up the stairs and as I was nearing the top, I shouted out for Troye. "If you can find something that fits, you can change into something of mine!"

At the top of the stairs, I was able to see two figures on the couch, one holding the other as they seemed to cry. Troye must've asked about dad. I walked over to them and Troye just gave me the death glare.

I slid in and took my mom as she cried. Troye got up and went down to my room. He didn't say anything to me. I knew he was pissed. I couldn't worry about him though. I had my mother to worry about at the time. She needed me more than I needed to explain why I lied to him.

After a while, my mom finally stopped crying. "I'm so sorry. I ruined everything. He asked about your father and I tried to keep my composure but I couldn't. I'm so sorry, Connor."

"It's okay, Mom. It's not your fault. I should have told him."

She looked at the door leading to the basement. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Yeah. I'll go check on him."

"Okay." Mom got up and wiped the tears from her face. "Ask him if he'd like to stay for dinner. It'd be nice to really catch up with him."

"I'll ask. Don't be surprised if he storms out of here in a couple seconds though."

I got up and slowly walked down the stairs to the basement. Sitting on my bed, wearing one of my v necks and my sweats for my fat days, Troye looked more hurt than anything.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm still not comfortable with talking about what happened."

"You made me look like an ass."

I expected him to say something like that. But for some reason, I flipped. "I'm so sorry that I didn't feel like sharing the most pain I've felt in a long time with a guy who suddenly wants to be friends again after ditching me for popularity five years ago!"

He just looked at me with disappointment. "Not cool."

"It's true! You and I haven't talked since I was in fifth grade! Even if I didn't have problems trusting people, why would I trust someone like you?!"

He just looked down at his feet. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. I will do anything to get your trust back."

This intrigued me. "Anything?"

He looked up at me and there was this look in his eyes. At first I thought it was lust but since I've never had sex with a guy I would have no idea what that look was. "Anything."

I so badly wanted to suggest something sexual, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words. I decided to ask the next best thing. "Will you come to the show on opening night?"

"You know you are really pushing it, right?" I could see a grin forming on his face.

"It's going to take a lot to regain my trust." I walked over to where he was and he stood up. I didn't realize how close I had gotten. I could lean in and kiss him if I wanted to. His face was just a few inches from mine.

For a second, a very brief one, I thought I saw him leaning in a bit. He then maneuvered around me. "I really need to go. My mom is probably putting my face on the back of a milk carton as we speak."

I smiled. "Okay. I guess I can go to your game too."

"Sit at the half court line. There's where I'll be making most of my shots from." He winked and I began to melt. "When is your musical exactly?"

"It's at 8 so you don't have to worry about them overlapping. I'll save you a seat in the front row just in case."

"Good. I'll need it. I may need to read up on what I'm getting myself into before I show up. I don't want to be too confused.

"It's pretty straight forward, even a jock like you should understand it."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Troye grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll see you later? Maybe some time next week before the big day?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

"Make sure you do my laundry, I don't want them to get all moldy. I'm not as big as a slob as most jocks."

"I'll remember that."

"Okay. See ya." He then went in for a hug but quickly changed it to a handshake. I was so totally hoping for a hug but we're not little anymore so hugging may not be the best for a big jock like him.

"Bye." And with that, he was gone.

I just stood there in utter awe, thinking about how amazing the past hour had been. Troye Sharp. He was back in my life and sexier than ever. I decided to clean up and stop thinking about him before some problems rose up. I picked up his pile of wet clothes that he had slung into the corner and noticed something. There was a pair of boxers in the pile that weren't that wet. I don't wear boxers. I couldn't help but smile.

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Every time I read a story on Nifty, I never read the top part, so just in case you are like me and only read the bottom portion if you liked the story, here is my email again: wah.stories@yahoo.com. If you email me, please state what story you're referring to. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day. :)

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