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The Storm Incident - Chapter 7
Josh had just had sex for the 2nd time in his life. Now cuddled up next to Johnny, his cell phone began vibrating furiously. Josh groaned at the thought of moving away from Johnny. He climbed over the backseat and up to the passenger's seat. Extracting the phone from his pants, a cheery voice rang through the earpiece.
"Josh, is everything okay?" asked Mrs. Berger, almost shrieking into the phone. "Um... yeah, why?" Josh replied. "It's five o'clock! Where the heck are you? Do you know how much time this wasted?!" she shrieked. "Well you see, something came up-"
Johnny grabbed the phone pressing his finger to Josh's lips.
"Yes, hello, Mrs. Berger? This is Josh's father. Sorry about that, you see something just came up - a family matter- and apparently it didn't get relayed to you. I'm sorry how this may have inconvenienced you, and I hope it will never happen again in the future," Johnny said in as fatherly a voice as possible. "Oh, I see, is there any way Josh will be able to make it back to band tonight?" "I don't think that will be possible. In fact, he won't be back until after 1pm tomorrow. Sorry about the short notice. If it helps any, you can just blame my mother-in-law." "Ha... I know how it is. Okay, thanks for clearing this up. I've gotta go, the band's getting rowdy. Bye."
And with that, Johnny hung up the phone. Josh stared in disbelief at what Johnny just did. Johnny flashed his trademark half-smile at Josh, causing them to both burst out laughing. "Wow Johnny, just... what would I do without you?" Josh asked. "I'm not quite sure. So, what exactly do you want to do now, seeing as we've basically got the entire day to ourselves?" Johnny inquired. "Wait a second, aren't you going into space tomorrow?" "Yeah, it's not that big of a deal, just some research for some moron. Something about cosmic storms or something, you probably wouldn't understand." "Oh really, try me." "Okay,"
Johnny had no idea what they were doing. Almost always he either read the mission plan on the drive down to Von Doom Enterprises or after takeoff. While this was incredibly risky, so was Johnny Storm. While one might have easily concluded that he was just a big dumb jock, quite the contrary was true. Johnny Storm possessed the highest standardized test scores when he was in 9th grade in Math and Science in the state of California which was quite a feat, especially since the test was geared toward high school seniors that were going to major in Chemistry, Biology, or Quantum Physics.
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea what we're doing. I haven't even touched the mission plan yet," Johnny replied, "do you want to get something to eat or something?" "Um... I dunno, sure?" Josh replied. "Exxcellent," Johnny said evily. "So where exactly do you want to go?" asked Josh "Hmmm... I have just the place in mind." "Works for me. Let's get a move on." Josh paused, "Perhaps pants?" Johnny shrugged. "Whatever works." Josh blinked several times. "Probably would be for the best though." "Okay then..." Josh said. He moved over to the passenger door, opening it and jumping out completely naked.
Now outside the car, Josh surveyed the damage, his clothes scatted all about the forest floor. Johnny approached Josh silently from behind, silently at least until he stepped on a branch, causing it to snap. Josh spun around quickly and found Johnny less than 6 inches away from him.
"One last thing," Johnny said. "What's that?" Josh asked. "I love you." And with that, Johnny and Josh's lips locked together, Johnny's strong, muscular arms bringing them closer together.
Ten minutes later after a rather intense make-out session, Josh and Johnny were fully clothed and driving off. Talking almost constantly since getting in the car, the couple was finally getting to know each other a bit better.
"So you moved here from Michigan to get away from the mob? Shit you're a badass!" Johnny exclaimed. "Yeah, pretty much. You should see the problems that I ran into the last time I was in Italy," Josh said. "No shit, no shit. Okay, this is kind of personal now, but ha-" "Okay, we've just had sex two times. I don't think you really need to worry about catching me off guard or insulting me or making me feel uncomfortable." "Okay, well sorry, but have you told your parents yet?" "Told them about what?" "The fact that you're gay?"
Truth to be told, Josh had never really bothered telling his parents. It's not that they already knew, just more that he was afraid of what their reaction might be. He figured his mother wouldn't really care that much, but his father, being a true republican at heart, probably wouldn't take the news so well. Josh concluded that it was probably best to just wait it out and just go with the flow.
"There's something I'm going to say right now, and that's that there's never really been a time where I've felt it necessary to be so open about my sexuality, and I don't exactly see the point of being so open since it usually causes more harm than good, not that I'm against coming completely out, you know? It's just that... well if I found 'the one', and it mattered to them that we were out, then I probably wouldn't have that big of a problem with it. I don't know... just..."
Josh realized a long time ago that this would probably bring a lot more problems onto him further in life. Alas, he would deal with them when the time came, not now during high school where grades mattered most. A stupid decision, yes, but it worked for the time being, where being accepted in high school was high on one's list of priorities.
"I see," said Johnny, "and who might 'the one' be exactly now?" "Oh, you know, tall, dark hair, blue eyes, good in bed, has an awesome personality, you know," Josh said with a shit-eating grin on his face, "but fame? No, fame doesn't matter one bit to me. If for some reason that yo-, erm, 'the one'- became wildly famous, I'd still love them just as much as before. But would I love someone just because they're famous? While yes, fame is nice, the only problem is that your life is constantly under speculation by other people, ya know?" "First off, I completely agree with you about the whole coming out thing. I mean, sure, a lot of people are really annoyed by that, but realistically do you need to tell everyone that you're gay when something comes up in a conversation that would sort of hint at wanting a 'straight' response? And how can you even categorize people into 'straight,' 'gay' and 'bisexual' anyways?" "Exactly!" Josh yelled, "oh, whoops, sorry about that. Got a bit excited."
Josh looked over at Johnny; he had the biggest grin on his face. Johnny, stopped at a red light, and looked into Josh's eyes.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Josh asked. "...I'm not exactly sure what you're thinking, but go on," Johnny replied. "I know this sounds... crazy, but I don't know, it just seems like... it seems like we're made for each other, or something," "You know, I was thinking the same thing too." "Awww... how cyoote!" "...Shut up."
Suddenly, The Killers' "Somebody Told Me" began wailing. Johnny, digging around in the door pocket of his car, retrieved his cell phone. The incessant wailing grew louder as Johnny pulled the phone out of the door pocket and glanced at the Caller ID.
"Yeah?" said Johnny into the receiver, "I see, I'll be there shortly."
Johnny hung up the phone and glanced over at Josh.
"I know this totally blows but I have to go back into work. Something about some pre- flight diagnostics or something," said Johnny
Josh looked up at Johnny with his big, sad, hazel eyes; tears welling up and starting to drip down his face.
"Okay okay, look, I'll work something out. I'll get you into the observation booth at the launch site. Is that okay? We can talk to each other and stuff," Johnny replied. "Yeah, that works. But where exactly do I meet you then?" Josh asked. "Um... I'm not entirely sure, but it's just a quick drive up the coast. I'll know tonight and I'll call you with the information later, okay?" "Yeah, that works."
Johnny drove back to the high school, holding Josh's hand the entire time. They exchanged passionate kisses as Josh exited the car.
Josh wandered over to where his car was parked, seeing Johnny speed off into the sunset. An interesting day this had been for both Josh and Johnny. Josh, brought back to reality by the blasting racket of the marching band practicing several hundred yards away, got into his car and drove home. He arrived home to an empty house, his parents out for the night, would probably return late that night. Josh dug through the freezer, ripped a Lean Cuisine out of the box, and threw it into the microwave. Hunting through the phone book on his cell phone, Josh called his best friend from Michigan, Caitlin. After a few rings, she picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Caitlin said. "Hey Caitlin, how's it goin'?" Josh asked. "OHMIGOSH JOSH! I HAVEN'T TALKED TO YOU IN FOREVER!" Caitlin shrieked into the phone. "Yes, yes, we haven't. Thought I might just call you to see what you're up to." "Oh well do I have the juiciest gossip ever!"
Josh now remembered why he rarely called Caitlin on the phone - she loved to talk. Caitlin was known to talk for hours on end and totally forget that the other person was even listening on the other end. To pass the time, Josh opened up the kitchen terminal and checked his email.
"And I was like 'Oh my god Ian, don't be thinking I'm going to want to suck you off!' and I slapped him! And he got sooooooo pissed!" said Caitlin as she continued rambling.
No email, as usual. Josh quickly opened up the User History information window on the Terminal and checked on what his father had been using the system for.
"And then she fucked him! I don't believe it! You'd have to be really fucking desperate to have sex with that! His penis is like not even that big. It's so disgusting! Anyways, so Josh, what's up with you? Made out with anyone hot yet?" Caitlin asked.
"Nothing. Good," Josh thought. His attention turned to watching the plastic tray with his food in it spinning around in the microwave.
"Josh?! Hello?!" Caitlin shrieked into the phone. "What? Oh, sorry. You'd be surprised. Heh, heh." Josh said. "What?! What?! TELL MEEEE!" "Caitlin, I've gotta go. I'll talk to ya later. Bye." "What?! NOOO DON'T HANG UP THE PH-"
Josh snapped the phone shut just as the microwave beeped as his food was finished cooking.
After a small dinner, Josh turned on the TV and melted into the couch. Suddenly, in the middle of watching an episode of Desperate Housewives he had TiVoed, Johnny called Josh and gave him directions to the launch site. Josh wished Johnny a goodnight and caught up on the rest of Desperate Housewives before going to sleep at 10pm.
The next morning Josh woke to the garage door closing and his mother pulling out of the driveway. Josh eventually meandered his way downstairs to find a note written to him by his mother.
"Josh- Late night last night & work early this morning = BAD!!! I'll see you tonight @ 9 Ð Band, right? Call me if anything comes up
Mummy Dearest"
"What. The. Fuck." Josh wondered out loud. Clearly his mother must have a migraine this morning or she'd never had written something as cracked up as "Mummy Dearest." Josh glanced up at the clock. It read 8:33.
"Fuck!" Josh yelled. Take off was at 9:30, and it took half an hour to get to the launch site.
After scrambling around for 25 minutes, Josh jumped into his car and sped off to the launch site.
Now at the launch site, Josh noticed a space shuttle. Upon further inspection, the space shuttle did not have a US flag on it. It had the flag of the Soviet Union, and a more tapered body and pointed nose. After passing multiple security checkpoints, Josh finally arrived at the building complex. A tall, sexy, blonde haired man escorted Josh from his car to the observation room.
The room was quite large. One entire wall was a gigantic window that looked over the launch area. Another wall, opposite the window, was covered with large plasma monitors with all kinds of readouts and live video feeds of various angles of the launch pad, along with a few hallways. A few other doors facing Josh, he assumed, led to other parts of the complex. About 6 nerdy-looking technicians wearing white laboratory coats had their eyes glued to the monitors, while 10 other people were gazing outside the window. A particularly attractive female was staring out into space. She looked very similar to Jennifer Garner; she could have easily been her twin. When the door slammed shut behind Josh, everyone in the room stared at him for a minute, before resuming what they were doing before. After a few minutes, Josh wandered over to the window. There, directly in front of him, was the spacecraft that was to take his lover into outer space.
"Might I ask why they're using a Soviet spacecraft?" Josh asked the attractive woman. "Hmmm? Oh, yes, you see, Boeing wouldn't sell them a space shuttle, so they ended up buying one of these things from Soviet Russia when they U.S.S.R. broke up," she said. "Ah... thanks." "Don't mention it. Hey, why are you here anyways? Aren't you a little young to be here?" "Um... yes, you see... um... I find spaceflight very amusing, so I...um...called ahead and got in to watch the launch. I'm Josh by the way." "Oh, that's interesting. Oh how rude of me, I'm Rachel. And you're probably wondering why I'm here, aren't you?"
Another door to the observation room opened, and the sexy blonde walked in.
"Is there a Josh here?" he announced "Yes," Josh replied. "Come with me."
Josh followed the blonde out of the room and down a long hallway with lots of doors. Eventually, the blonde stopped at a door, swiped his security pass, and pushed Josh inside.
"I'll wait for you out here," the blonde replied, and shut the door.
Josh turned around to see Johnny's smiling face.
"Hey there!" Johnny said. "Oh my god you have no idea how much I missed you," Josh replied. "Oh, but I do."
Johnny locked his lips onto Josh's mouth, wildly kissing, fondling Josh while doing so. This continued for several minutes until the door blew open.
"Johnny are you rea-..." said Johnny's sister, Sue Storm. She quickly noticed the two of them making out and turned a deep red, looking away. "Sue I'm kind of bus-" Johnny said. "Sorry!"
Sue slammed the door shut. Johnny and Josh looked at each other in amazement. Johnny stood up.
"I think I've gotta go," said Johnny, looking disappointed. "Oh... okay," replied Josh. "Look, I'm going to make this up to you 150% when I get back, okay?" "Okay."
Johnny walked toward the other end of the room.
"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," Johnny replied, flashing his sexy smile.
And with that, Johnny exited the room, leaving Josh alone. He turned around and walked out the door, the blonde escorting him back to the observation room.
The observation room was abuzz with activity. The 6 scientists watching the monitors had changed into 12, and everyone was watching out the window. Josh heard Johnny's sexy voice crackle over the loudspeaker in the room.
"All systems are check, we are ready for takeoff," Johnny said.
Within a matter of minutes, the countdown was down to the seconds. The shuttle lifted off the ground and disappeared into the upper atmosphere. After a few tense minutes, the loudspeaker crackled to life with Johnny's voice booming out of it. Something about entering orbit. Everyone was cheering in the background while Josh seemed to become invisible. People started to leave the room, but Rachel lagged behind the mob. She stopped to talk to Josh.
"So Josh, about why I was here," she started. "Yes, why exactly are you here?" Josh asked. "You know that Johnny Storm character?" "How could I not? Heh." "Yeah, he's my...my boyfriend."
Josh could have sworn that his jaw hit the floor. In fact, it probably did.
Wow. What is this, almost a month and a half later and I finally have another chapter up. What can I say, about damn time.
Questions or Comments? Drop me a line at p3n3trat1on@hotmail.com