Warning: This story doesn't contain any sex. It's the story of gay teens. None of the characters are based on real people, nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.
Let me know what you think of the story by emailing me at Hnstskr4@aol.com
I want to thank everyone who has emailed. I also want to thank those who have read the story. It means a lot hearing from you. Please continue reading! There is a lot more to come. I own all rights to this story. Chuck B.
I've got such a great response to the story and would love to hear from everyone who reads it.
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Copyright © 2010
Characters Mentioned In This Chapter Seth - Seth is the main character. He is 17 at the start of this story. Charlie Thompson – Seth's Dad Sean Thompson – Seth's Uncle, Charlie's brother Evan Thompson – Seth's 17 year old cousin
Chapter 6 State Park
Dear Journal,
It's March 7th and my dad and I have been up since 6:00 am. Dad wanted to make sure that we had a big breakfast. He wouldn't tell me what's going on, but I know that it means I'll be going with him somewhere. Knowing my dad, it's probably some sort of church business. There's no clue what time we'll be back, so I won't get anything done today. I can hear Dad moving about downstairs, so maybe I'll grab my backpack and see what he's up too. Bye Journal!
I managed to sneak downstairs without disturbing anyone. The phone was up to Dad's ear, so I assumed he's talking with someone, but no clue who he's talking to.
"Sean, I think we should go check out the campsites before we actually have our fall camporee. Are you free?"
There was silence. Uncle Sean must be talking to Dad at the moment.
"I think that's a great idea. It would give the boys a chance to see each other. I told Seth that I wanted him to go somewhere with me, I just didn't tell him where. I think he'll be excited to go with us."
To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to giving up my Saturday. I bumped something on the table and Dad looked at me. He took the phone away from his face.
"Do you want to go with me to the state park?"
"Ummm... okay!"
I'm still not sure I want to do this, but maybe I can take advantage of being out in nature to refocus a bit. My sketch pad, a pencil, and my camera are already in my backpack, so all I need to do is grab my coat.
"So why are we rushing off to the park?" I asked, pretending not to know anything about his phone call with Uncle Sean.
"Uncle Sean and I want to check out the campsites in the youth area before we show up for our fall camporee in two weeks."
"You want to preview the sites to see which one to grab?"
Dad chuckled a bit, "Something like that, now let's get going!"
I'm kind of excited about getting a chance to snap some pictures to make sketches from, I need some fresh material to use for inspiration."
Dad opened the door and I followed him out to the car. We got into the car and in a flash we were driving down our street. I know a lot of kids prefer to sit in the back seat when their parents are driving them around, but I don't like doing that. It gives me better control of the radio if I sit up front. Dad gave me a look out of the corner of his eye, and I knew he was going to throw some weird question at me.
"Are you okay, Seth? You've been kind of quiet lately."
How do I tell Dad that I'm gay and that I've been struggling with dreams of my best friend? I'll just have to tell him a little bitty lie.
"I'm fine, Dad. Just been busy with my art and writing, so if I've seemed kind of distracted, that is why. I'm sorry."
Dad gave me a glance again and said, "Oh!"
My hand turned on the radio and then I turned to a station that I wanted to listen too. Closing my eyes, I blocked out the scenery of houses and businesses and just listened to the music. Suddenly, Dad's voice revived my eyes.
"I should have told you to sit in the back."
"Why?"
"I'm picking up Uncle Sean and Evan."
Great, now I have to put up with that stuck-on-himself cousin of mine.
"Dad, I'll get out of the car when we get there, if that's okay with you."
Dad laughed!
"Well, I didn't expect you to just get out in the middle of the highway."
"Thanks Dad, for not making me get out of the car as we drive down the highway."
Dad chuckled to himself as we continued on our way. Again, I closed my eyes and just listened to the music as the car drove down the street.
Being inside a car always puts me to sleep, usually just in time to arrive at our destination, Uncle Sean's house. Dad gives the horn a honk and then he waits, but no one comes out. He opens up the door and heads up to the front door. I can see his right hand opening the screen door and his left hand knocking at the door. After a few seconds, my Aunt Karen opens the door. They talk for a minute or so and then Dad walks back to the car. He takes out his cell phone and dials a number.
"Sean, where are you guys?"
"Oh... okay. Well, where do we want to meet?"
"Hey sounds good, we'll meet you at Duncan Shelter."
"See you later bro."
He gets in, does his seat belt and then we're off.
"Where are they, Dad?"
"Uncle Sean wanted to talk to Evan so they headed out about ten minutes ago."
Well, I am going to take the time to work on a project.
My right hand unzipped my backpack and took out my sketch pad. Flipping through the pages, I came across a picture of Scottie clipped to a page of the pad. I'm a little worried about the bumps in the road affecting my drawing, but I can always fix them up a little at home. Grabbing my pencil and eraser, I go straight to work on getting the basic shape added to the paper. There is no way that I'll finish this, but I can dream. Right? I'm always surprised at how time flies when I'm drawing. Seems like I just got started, but we've already made it to the park. Dad pays the ranger our park entrance and then off to the shelter we go. I stuff my pencil and sketch pad back into the backpack and then I get out of the car. Just as I was about to walk to the shelter, my eyes caught a glimpse of a squirrel digging in the dirt. Retrieving my camera, I hurried to get a picture before it took off running in fright. Now, I need to catch up to Dad.
Dad had made it to the shelter, and I was just about to step under its roof.
"Hey Uncle Sean, Evan!"
Uncle Sean always gives this huge hug that feels like it's going to envelope me. Evan steps up and we exchange a high five.
"So are we ready?"
My uncle looks at Evan and me to see if we're ready to start our little hike. As he looks at me, he asks, "Seth, is all that stuff really necessary?"
"Yeah, I'm gearing up for a new art project for school. I'm going to do a nature collage, sketched out on paper. So yeah, I need it."
I've heard Uncle Sean make comments to Dad about my interest in art. He seems to think that I need to have more focus on my athletic ability. Dad looks back at me and gives me a wink. I think it's his way of saying good job. Evan looks at the camera and asks, "Why do you have it?"
Hmm... didn't I just tell his dad what I was going to do for school?
"I'm going to take pictures with it, and then when I get home I'm going to sketch them out on paper. Trying to come up with a nature collage."
He still didn't seem to have a clue.
"I'm doing an art project for school."
"Oh, okay!"
Again Uncle Sean has a chance to show his slowness.
"Is Seth's picture taking going to slow us down?"
Dad didn't even give me a chance to say anything.
"No, he won't slow us down. We're going to the campsite and he's going to go and snap pictures for his project."
Hopefully, that will be acceptable for Uncle Sean. Really, what the heck is his problem today? As Dad and Uncle Sean start walking towards the youth campsites, Dad turns around and looks at me.
"We'll meet you back here in by 10:00 am."
Looking at my watch, I realize that I have an hour to snap as many pictures as I can catch.
"Evan, are you coming or not?"
"No... I'm going to hang with Seth!"
Great! He'll slow me down. Heading towards the swamp trail, I come across the first of many plants of skunk cabbage. I snap a couple pictures. I caught a few of the last flowers and a picture of the leaves as they unfurled. Actually, things are pretty quiet, except for the sounds of the geese honking from deep within the swamp. It's been getting warmer and warmer over the last two weeks. Nature is really awakening. I'm loving this little hike. As we move along the trail, I've noticed that Evan seems a little low today. He just seems a bit off. He's really not himself.
I'd want to know what's going on, but I've got to do it tactfully, otherwise he might explode.
"Evan, you want to talk?"
"Nah!"
Well, no reason to push it.
"Hey Seth, do you mind if I look at your sketches?"
He flips through the sketch pad. We continue along the trail as he thumbs through it. Occasionally I glance at him and I can tell that he is genuinely impressed with what he's seeing. Hope that he can't see how proud I am right now.
"Knew that you were in art class, but I didn't know that you were this good. Guess I've never paid attention."
"Well, it's all a work in progress, to be honest."
"Work in progress or not, you're good. How does your art fit in with the whole photography thing?"
"Well, I take pictures with the camera and then transfer them to my computer and then print them out and then select the best ones to sketch out on paper."
"I don't understand how I didn't know this about you."
"Don't know, been doing this for forever practically."
Wow... didn't expect him to be this interested in my talent.
"So... how goes your team?" I ask.
"We're doing good, really good. We might even make it to state."
It's pretty cool; he's usually just going on and on about sports or wanting to play video games.
He continues his search through my sketch pad as we move along the trail. I snap a few pictures of the woods and the plants. It should be an interesting shot since it's just the barren trees with all their branches intermingling with the vines and other plants in the forest. Suddenly, he stops.
"What... you write poetry too?"
He must have found one of the small pieces that were intended for my eyes only.
"Beautiful heart, beautiful soul, how I wish that you could be mine. Alas, we will never be because you just don't see me in your heart, so I sit here hurting because mine feels like it might explode when you are near."
It's not much of a poem. It's inspired by Scottie.
"I keep learning about you. I knew that you kept a journal, but I didn't know you wrote poetry. Hmm... I think it's strange."
"Why?"
"Only weird people write poetry!"
Really? I thought expressive people wrote poetry.
"Am I weird?"
"Don't know, but you could be!"
He didn't answer my question.
"Well, do you think I'm weird?"
"I said that I don't know!"
Suddenly he went from being okay to being ticked.
This sudden change in emotion is a bit scary. I have no clue what I did or what I said. Why is he so hostile? You know what? I'm going to ask him what the heck is going on with him.
"Why so hostile dude?"
"Dad lost his job! He had told someone at work that homosexuals are evil and the cause of the all the garbage going on in the United States. Someone overheard him and Dad got written up for it?"
Wow... fired for having an opinion. I don't agree with what he said, but still, that doesn't seem fair. Wonder if Evan is being honest with me. He still looks plenty mad to me.
"Ends up that Dad's big boss is a freaking gay guy. I swear that if I ever meet this guy, I might just plant my fist into his face. It's all their fault that he lost his job."
"Wow... a little bit much don't you think!"
I understand being angry about Uncle Sean losing his job, but to carry on like that is just plain stupid.
Evan grabs me with both fists and looks like he might just punch me.
"Why do you care cousin?"
"I just think you're over-reacting."
I also think you're a stupid bully.
"You can't go around bashing people's faces just because your dad lost his job."
He released his grip on my shirt and just looked at me. He has a slightly different look to his face. I wonder what's going on in his head.
"I was told that Dad just got laid off, but then I overheard Dad and Mom talking about it. They said he was fired because he hates gays."
Somehow that just doesn't sound right.
"Are you sure it's not because of the economy?"
"Look, Dad and his boss have never seen eye to eye on this gay thing. My dad has tried to tell him that he needs to repent, but he won't listen. Really, all this guy needed to do was repent.
Wow... how stupid can you get? Guess I'm choosing to ignore him for the rest of this hike.
We were almost to the beach, so I thought it would be a great place to take some pictures. Even though I don't want to be alone with Evan, I need to grab a few more pictures. No worries, I'm not afraid of him. I'm just a little pissed off right now. He needs to grow up. He's quiet now, but I know he's ticked off. We start hiking up the sand dune. As we near the top of the dune, I turn towards the woods and snap my camera. I then turn towards the lake and take four shots. Evan is quiet as he watches me. I went to take more pictures when two guys walked by holding hands. As they walked by, I heard Evan say "Fags!" under his breath. I turned towards him with anger burning in my eyes.
"Do you have to talk like that?"
"What do you care?"
"I don't want them thinking bad of me."
"Whatever, let's go!"
Now he seemed even more upset. I don't know, maybe he's expecting me to just go along with the hate. Once again he's quiet. We backtracked our way back to our parents. Luckily, he made the return trip without running his mouth. By the time we got back to the cars, our dads were already back. My dad opened the door and I quickly got into the car.
"Sometimes, he can be a pain!" I said to my dad as I closed the door.
"Who?"
"Evan, he doesn't think at all."
Dad gave a weak smile and then said,
"He sounds just like his dad!"