Disclaimer: The usual rules apply here. If you aren't legal in your area to be reading material(non erotic, mind you) about homosexuals and the activities they may or may not participate in, then please don't read. This story has been copyrighted and is not to be used elsewhere in any way without the express permission of the author (that would be me). For everyone else, enjoy!
Wayward People
Chapter Thirteen-"Next"
You ever get those feelings like maybe you're being watched? Like maybe people knew something about you didn't want them to know but you didn't know what?
I don't see how you can't after that movie with Jim Carrey....
Still, it was like something was...amiss.
And I had no idea what.
My brother and I had always had an interesting relationship.
We rarely fought and whenever we did, we always made up within a half hour.
Granted, lately we'd been having more serious issues, stemming from Evan to Troy, but we managed to work those problems out as well.
A lot of people would find it strange how Max, being the younger brother, acted more like the older brother the way he was always looking out for me, but I actually liked it.
I respected Max a lot more because of it. But not just for that.
I respected him for a lot of reasons actually.
But even with all of that, Max had never before acted the way he'd been acting lately.
Whenever I was around, or showed up when I had not been previously, Max would grow suspiciously quiet around me. Like he was mad at me for some reason.
Only, it didn't feel like that.
It felt just like I said before. Like he knew something about me I didn't want him to know.
I had panicked a little when I actually stopped to think about what things he could know about me.
About my crush on Troy.
Or about how I was dating Pete.
Or about how I'd found out that Reverend Thomas was gay...or whatever the hell was up with him.
Then I realized that the only way Max would be able to know those things would be if he read my journal, which he hadn't.
He couldn't have.
I mean, I made sure that my journal was perfectly blended into the bookshelf next to my bed so that it would just look like one of the many stories I'd written.
Besides, Max wasn't a snoop.
If anyone was a snoop, it was my mom. But I'd most definitely know it if and when she ever read my journal.
Still, I had a weird feeling.
I didn't like having these weird feelings, but given the reason I had them, I couldn't exactly tell anyone about them.
Technically I could tell Pete.
But I didn't want him to start worrying about the possibility of being outed.
Besides, I think maybe I'm just being paranoid again.
That happened a lot nowadays.
I just had to push those feelings aside for the time being.
"Okay so I'm thinking of trying something new," my mother started, as she placed another plate of eggs on the table.
Immediately did Troy, Max and I all grumble and groan.
I think I even heard my dad groan.
We all knew what was coming.
"Evelyn, don't you think we should have a reprieve from having to help with another community event?" my dad asked.
"You make it sound like it's something horrible," my mother replied. "They're always for a good cause."
Yeah. Something that always benefited our church and its gay reverend.
"I don't know," Troy started, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. "I think I actually kinda like having all these events."
Max, my father and I all looked over at him.
"Not the manual labor part, of course," he replied.
"If you listen to these sour pusses, you might get your spirit broken," my mother replied, having a seat at the table. "But I think your work ethic is pretty impressive actually."
"Oh yeah, great grades just like Mikey," my dad replied. "I know your parents have to be proud of you."
"Thank you sir," Troy replied. "I believe they are, yeah."
Maybe. I wondered if Troy had actually talked to his mother since she'd called.
Or step mother rather.
That was what he told us she was.
"Well, I did so I was thinking of something new," my mom continued. "Of course you'd get bored with the same thing every year."
"Finally, you take your own advice," my dad spoke.
My mom flashed him an annoyed glance.
"Maybe we could skip it this year, mom," I suggested. "Don't you think you work hard enough?"
My mother continued to fix her plate as she let out a sigh.
"I haven't even told you all what the event is yet," she said.
"Okay let's see," my dad started, wiping his mouth with the napkin around his neck. "It's November. Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks.....I'd say it's about time for one of those charity events again. Am I right?"
Max and I tried to keep from laughing as my mother looked over at my father.
"You like being sarcastic don't you," she asked.
"You know you love that about me," my dad smiled.
Still though, he was right. Usually before Thanksgiving or Christmas there was some kind of charity event we had to contend with.
Of course, maybe this time would be like the carnival and mom would get some of the teens at school to help plan it so it wouldn't be as boring as it always was.
Not this teen of course. I'd rather save my strength for whatever would be next months big event.
"Well, you can knock it all you like but it's not getting any of you out of helping me," my mom replied.
And sadly, I think we kinda all knew that.
I at least knew it.
"Alright so you said you wanted to do something new," my dad replied, pouring some syrup on his pancakes. "Let's hear it."
My mom finally looked like she'd perked up.
"Well, I was speaking with Sarah Elrod and we got to brainstorming and figured that instead of the usual auction and raffle, why not do something that really makes a difference."
Okay, why did this suddenly sound like more work?
"Like what?" my dad asked.
"A food pantry," my mom replied.
I looked over at my brother and Troy.
"A what now?"
"Well, Sarah spoke with Clarice Samuels-"
"Chanel Five news, Clarice Samuels?"
"Yes, that's the one. She's agreed to cover the event on the local news."
"So," I started. "We're feeding the homeless-"
"Who'll eat free-"
"And everyone else in town-"
"Who'll have to buy a ticket to the event. Have to raise money somehow."
"You still raffling stuff away?" my dad asked. "Cuz there's some stuff in that basement down there that I'm sure would love to have a new home."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," my mother started. "Goodwill. You know you get tax write offs for any donations."
Like my dad the daytrader needed a tax write off.
This was all sounding...like more work. Just like I thought.
I mean, ravaging out the basement once a year for a few raffle items was a lot different than playing waiter to an entire town full of hungry people.
And that's if I was lucky enough to get stuck with that one task only.
Knowing my mom, I'd probably have to help set the thing up and serve the food.
"Sounds all well and good and all," my dad started. "But are you sure you can handle all the extra coordinating?"
"Oh sure," my mother replied. "And when I have a bunch of willing helpers to help with everything else-"
"Willing?" my dad spoke.
"You want to sleep on the couch tonight? You keep pushing it," my mom replied.
And that was about as far as most of the `fights' they had went.
They were playful like that and in my eyes perfect.
I wanted to be just like my father whenever I had a family.
Although, with my new found declaration of sexuality, I wasn't sure what my future looked like.
"So what do you all think?" my mom asked.
Well truthfully....
Couldn't be truthful though. I didn't want to hurt my mom's feelings, not that she'd probably care. She'd make me help either way.
"Sounds great, mom," I replied, smiling at her.
Sounded like some more damn work!
I guess the only good I could say that came with the awkward feelings I was having around my brother was that I hadn't seen Evan much at school.
That was good.
Of course, if it wasn't one thing, it was always another.
Why couldn't everyone just get along?
"So I'm gonna be on t.v.?" Sienna asked, upon hearing about the charity event. "I wonder what my good side is..."
"You're kidding, right?" I asked. "You're like the most gorgeous girl in school."
Which was true. Sienna was very beautiful. And if I wasn't gay....who am I kidding, I still wouldn't have a chance with her.
There was a moment where she actually flashed me a strange look.
I'd actually suspected before that maybe she really did know about me somehow, and given the way she looked at me just then, I was starting to believe more and more that she did.
Even though we'd become really close over the past couple of months, I was still hesitant to tell her.
I mean, I actually was becoming less and less afraid to tell her what I deemed my biggest secret. The only thing was, I couldn't tell her unless Pete wanted me to.
I was still in a relationship with someone and I couldn't just do things without talking to Pete first.
"You think we should be on a payroll or something?" Pete asked. "I mean, I know it's volunteer work but as many events as this town has I really think we should be getting paid to help out."
Couldn't agree with him more.
"It's too bad everything's over," Sienna replied. "With nothing for the cheerleaders to cheer to, I can't use practice as an excuse to get out of work."
I wish I had an excuse I could use. Maybe before I graduated I'd actually participate in some form of an extracurricular activity.
Who knows?
"Let's see...we have the girlfriend who's obviously confused where her integrity lies," Evan started. "And then there's everyone else...enough said."
He was with Andrew, Sadie and surprisingly Max.
Ordinarily I would have been annoyed that he was here.
He was always just around the corner, lurking and waiting to torment me somehow.
But he was with Max, so it wasn't like I could just leave.
"Evan, I don't talk about your friends, do I?" Sienna asked.
Evan looked highly amused at that statement to the point where he honestly looked like he was trying to hold back from laughing.
"Big difference there Sienna," he started. "You know Andrew and everyone else. Not very many scandals there, are there?"
"What are you talking about?" Sienna asked.
Okay, that was when he looked over at me with that same strange amused gaze.
I noticed Max looked uncomfortable.
Normally he was always ready to look out for me whenever Evan and he were around me.
But now he actually looked like it was me he didn't want to be around.
Like I was the one who was causing him problems.
"You know, I'd be willing to try to get along with Mike here," Evan started, putting his arm around my shoulder. "For you."
Instantly I noticed Pete and Troy tense up, looking like at any moment, either one of them would throw Evan into the next hallway.
I noticed Sienna glance over at me briefly before she uncrossed her arms and looked back over at her boyfriend.
She looked vulnerable right then.
Maybe I'd never see what she saw in him, but I was certainly seeing that she would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt every once in a while.
"Really?" Sienna asked, sounding like a little girl hearing that about Santa Clause for the first time.
"Wait a second," Pete started.
Evan looked over at Pete.
"How convenient you come to his defense like this," Evan started. "You're a good....friend, you know that?"
I noticed Max looking over at me again.
Pete glanced at Evan for the longest before he turned to me.
"You don't actually believe this idiot, do you?"
I looked over at Sienna who along with everyone else was looking over at me.
There was a mixture of looks, but the one that looked most common was one of waiting. Everyone was waiting for me to speak up.
"I..."
"I know this seems a little...left field," Evan started. "But I just figured, if everyone's willing to piss me off to be friends with you, there must be something....special about you. A reason why."
Okay....
This whole thing was just strange.
And completely random.
"Mike....he's lying," Pete spoke up. "Don't you see that?"
"Evan," Sienna started. "Come on....are you really being serious?"
Evan put his hands on Sienna's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"Of course babe," he replied. "I'd never hurt you."
"Oh give me a break!" Pete exclaimed.
Even with all this going on, my thoughts were still focused primarily on Max. I wanted to know what he was thinking right now.
I wanted for him to guide me.
Tell me that Evan was lying. That this wasn't real.
"So what do you say, Mike?" Evan started. "You gave Troy a second chance. Why not me?"
Troy looked pissed just then but he didn't say anything.
It wasn't the same thing.
Was it?
I mean, Troy lied to me. Humiliated me. And kept things from me.
But, he'd claimed that it was just a part of who he was. That it almost couldn't be helped.
He was trying though.
But it happened.
And Evan....
Evan was worse.
He had to be. I couldn't just be friends with him.
But....
"I..."
"Not a chance in hell," Pete spoke up for me.
I wasn't surprised that Pete was objecting this all as much as he was.
He, as my boyfriend, didn't like seeing me hurt just as much as I didn't like seeing him hurt.
He was just trying to protect me. I understood that.
But Max....
I thought he was supposed to do that?
At the very least, it would have been nice to hear something he had to say.
I had to know....
"Max..." I started.
Max looked up at me, looking...strange.
Not pissed, not uncomfortable...just...strange.
No one said anything.
I think they were all smart enough to know not to interrupt or get in the middle of whatever we had going on.
Not that anyone really knew what we had going on.
But Max just stared at me.
I guess deciding what to do or say.
"I have class," was what finally came out of his mouth.
He left like he was being put out and didn't want to stick around anymore.
I noticed Evan smirk a little as he watched Max go.
"Well," he started, looking over at me. "Get back to me."
He patted me on the side of my shoulder before he, Andrew and Sadie all left.
I was still trying to figure this all out.
What was wrong with my brother? Why did I feel like whatever was wrong with him was my fault?
"Mike..."
I just wanted my brother back.
"Mike..."
Pete was shaking me.
"You okay?
"What? Yeah...I'm-"
"So quick to call him a liar, huh?" Sienna spoke, sounding pissed.
Pete looked over at Sienna.
"Just like you're so quick to jump on his side huh?'
"There shouldn't be any sides, Pete. He's my boyfriend!"
"What does that say about you then?"
Sienna just stopped, still looking pissed.
"Getting to class doesn't sound like such a bad idea," she said.
"Yeah you do that," Pete mumbled, watching Sienna leave.
What was happening?
This was all my fault. It had to be.
Max, Evan...Sienna and Pete....it had to be my fault.
"Come on," Pete said. "Let's go to class."
With everyone at odds like this, I dreaded having to work so closely together on the upcoming charity event project.
"You'd think I was Satan trying to buy his soul or something," Evan started, taking a seat at his assigned computer spot.
Max took a seat right next to Evan.
"What was all that about?"
"What?"
"Back there," Max replied. "You actually wanna be my brother's friend?"
Evan smiled.
"Yeah, why not," he replied. "Everybody else wants to."
"That's bullshit and you know it," Max replied.
Evan didn't reply.
Instead he just started watching as the other students began pouring into the class.
"This doesn't have anything to do with what we found does it?" Max asked.
Evan looked back over at Max.
"Oh yeah...that."
"You know, I know what you were talking about...and you're wrong," Max replied.
Evan turned in his chair so that he could face Max better.
"Really?"
"We shouldn't have been in his room in the first place," Max replied. "And now I feel all.....weird about it."
"You feel weird for no reason, Max," Evan replied. "Come on, be real. You think Mike's gay don't you?"
"Shhh!" Max replied, looking slightly around at students passing by to get to their seats.
Evan grinned and turned completely around in his chair and back, facing Max again.
"I just figured I'd smooth things out," Evan replied. "You know, try to help you out."
"Really?" Max asked, sounding skeptical.
"Look, there's nothing really wrong with your brother...other than his taste in male friends," Evan replied. "I guess I just like picking on him."
That statement had Max looking at Evan weird now.
"What?"
"Nothing...just....you've never really wanted to be Mike's friend before," Max replied. "It would be nice if we could all be friends.....if only I could get past...."
Evan licked his lips and looked down before suddenly looking back up.
"So all we have to do is prove ourselves wrong," Evan replied.
"What?" Max asked.
"We didn't exactly read any of the other journal entries," Evan replied. "Maybe it really was a story. Or maybe he was just thinking about something else."
"So you're saying you don't really think Mike is...."
"There's only one way to find out," Evan replied.
Max raised and eyebrow.
"You have to get me that journal," Evan replied.
I guess I was thinking that with a little more time, Max would start to ease up on this weird grudge he had against me.
But that wasn't the case.
If anything he was worse.
He'd spent the past two weeks looking me over as if he was trying to figure out something. Come to some kind of conclusion.
Once again, I had to consider the possibility that maybe he knew I was gay.
It seemed logical.
But then, with the way he was acting, it didn't.
I mean, if I'd found out Max was gay, obviously I'd be supportive given my own situation but I'd also talk to him about it.
Give him at least some indication as to whether or not I was okay with it.
There was no real way to tell whether or not he knew anything at all.
And if having problems with my brother wasn't bad enough, I had to deal with a multitude of other people.
Starting with Evan.
That offer he'd extended to me, the one about us starting over, had been mulling over in my mind all two weeks.
Evan had been doing whatever he could to tip the scales in his favor.
Offering to let me sit with him at lunch.
Offering to help teach me a few things about football.
Offering to help me get a girlfriend.
Actually, that was the weirdest thing.
He was so insistent with the last thing.
Almost like he really wanted to see me get a girlfriend.
And of course Pete still hadn't agreed with him, so he was always around trying to deter me from Evan.
That in itself had caused a rift between Sienna and Pete.
They argued at lot.
Sienna seemed to be of the thinking that Evan was genuinely serious about wanting to be my friend.
Her loyalty to her boyfriend was impressive.
And Pete was obviously of the thinking that Evan was just a snake in the grass with ulterior motives for wanting to be my friend.
His loyalty to me, his boyfriend, was also impressive.
It was because of that reason, the loyalty issues, that had caused the rift between the two of them.
Troy, however, was surprisingly quiet during this whole ordeal.
Everyone seemed to have an opinion on what I should do, but if Troy had one, I certainly hadn't heard it.
It was almost like Evan had asked him the question, and he was trying to determine what to do.
Either way, the tension between all of us had been pretty bad, made worse having to help my mom and others with the charity event.
I guess working was slightly a good thing this time around.
While it did mean working in close confines with everyone at odds like they were, it also helped me to take my mind of what was going on.
If I was busy, I couldn't be bothered to think about any of it all.
That was kind of what I wanted.
To not have to think about any of it. As long as I didn't have to think about any of it, I didn't have to deal with it.
I think that in itself was what had made the tension between everyone worse.
It was like in a way, all I had to do was say the word and all of this would be over.
In other words, once again, everything centered around me.
It was all my fault.
"Ooh no, not there," my mother spoke, stopping me from setting a pan full of food on a table. "That's where the reverend and his guests will be sitting."
I let out an annoyed sigh.
The pot was heavy and I'd been working all day.
I thought the common consensus was that you don't have to work on a holiday.
Yet, here it was Thanksgiving day, and I'd been working since before the sun was up.
"I'm sorry honey, but this event has to be perfect," my mother replied, looking over a clipboard full of paper. "We are going to be featured on tomorrows evening news, after all."
Whoopty freaking do.
"Well then where do you want me to put it mom?" I asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as I was.
"How about the kitchen," my mother replied. "I think the cooks need to give everything a final check over anyway."
And in this place, I didn't even know where the kitchen was.
But before I could even question her, she was off to torture someone else with some more work.
I was actually having trouble with the pot I'd been assigned to.
Who did she think I was, The Hulk?
I had nowhere near as much muscle as I'm sure the woman thought I did.
I had just about dropped it all when from out of nowhere, Evan rushed up beside me and helped me by grabbing the leaning side of the pot.
"Whoa, whoa...lemme help you there," he said.
I wasn't about to object just because it was him offering. My damn arms were about to fall off!
"Thanks," I mumbled, surprising myself.
"No problem," Evan replied, grabbing one handle while I took the other.
The two of us started towards the kitchen, him leading.
"So I guess you've been avoiding me these past couple of weeks," Evan started.
I looked over at him.
"I noticed you haven't been around as much either."
"I was giving you your space," he replied. "I figured it make it easier for you to wrap your head around actually being my friend."
I wanted to go so far as to say that Evan sounded sincere. But I'd learned from previous experience that he was good at `sounding' sincere.
"I just thought it'd help," he added.
Not having to put up with him for two weeks certainly was a nice little slice of heaven, but it had far from helped anything.
"So what exactly do you want with me?" I asked.
I mean, there had to be a reason why he just up and all of a sudden wanted to be my new special friend.
"Can't a guy just wanna make a few changes in his life?" Evan replied.
I had to say, he made sense in a lot of ways.
I for one could relate to having to make a bunch of changes in my own life.
But him?
I didn't say anything else.
I just let Evan keep leading me towards the kitchen.
Once we were inside, one of the cooks directed us to where to put the pot.
"Ugh," I mumbled.
I couldn't help it. I was just glad to be rid of the damn pot.
"So, has Max helped any in your decision?" Evan asked.
Great. He had to help my mind wander to a subject I didn't want to think about right now.
Max.
"He's been....busy," I replied, moving towards the back of the kitchen.
I wasn't really thinking. I guess I figured I had business in here or something.
The place was actually pretty large.
Mom was treating this whole thing like some huge event. Bigger than any of the others we'd ever had before.
I guess she really was expecting big things.
Evan was following me, I finally noticed, as I turned into a corner that had flaps for doors, which led back to another hallway of the main building.
"I wanna help you, you know," Evan said from behind me, trying to catch up.
That, I found extremely hard to believe.
So far all he'd done for me was to be that one guy in life that I hated more than anyone else.
And now he wanted to be friends with me.
How strange.
"I mean, I don't know with what, but I figure this could be a good place to start what with the holidays and all," Evan replied. "Like...the spirit of charity and all that."
So he was expecting for me to be charitable and accept his offer to be friends just because of what time of year it was?
"Look, Evan, I'm sure you really mean this and all," I replied, turning around to face him. "But I kinda have a lot on my mind right now."
"Oh sure, right," Evan replied. "No, I totally understand. I just want you to know that I'm serious about the wanting to be your friend thing. I think it'd be good, you know?"
No I didn't know, and I was actually starting to feel like I enjoyed Evil Evan' a lot more than this sappy Good Evan."
At least I knew where the other one stood.
This guy was just unbelievable.
Evan smiled at me before turning around and heading in the opposite direction from which we had just came while I just stood there thinking.
I wasn't sure what I was thinking about really.
I remember a time when my only problem was trying to get past writers block for my stories.
And now, I had plenty of problems.
"Oh hey, there you are," Pete spoke, surprising me.
I turned around to face him.
He was surprisingly wearing a friendly smile.
Then again, I don't know why that surprised me.
He was usually in a good mood.
"I saw Evan coming out of the kitchen just a second ago," he started as he got closer to me. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine," I replied.
But I wasn't.
With all the problems I had right now, I wasn't even sure which one to deal with first or where to start with any of them.
"Getting a break then too, huh?" he asked. "Your mom is like Stalin, man."
"Yeah, I'm used to it," I replied, finally relived that I could be able to think about something else.
"Everybody's really stressing out over this whole thing," Pete replied. "I mean, we have three of the local homeless shelters full of people coming to get fed, not to mention everyone else in town. And then there's the media..."
Yeah, I was hoping that wouldn't turn into a problem for me either.
"Okay dear, I will,"
Pete and I turned around to notice my dad backing into the same room we were in from the other side.
He obviously had been talking to my mother.
"Dad?"
He turned around and smiled.
"Oh hey son," he replied. "And Pete. How's it going?"
"I'm okay Mr. Carson," Pete replied, shaking my dad's hand. "Just relaxing the muscles before I'm off to do some more heavy lifting."
"She's got you guys doing a bunch of work too huh?" my dad asked.
"Yep," I replied with a sigh.
"I'll tell you what," my dad started. "Why don't the two of you go find Troy and Max so you can get ready. I'll cover for you guys."
"How are you gonna explain the absence of four of moms most worked slaves?" I joked.
"I'll tell her that her people have been let go," my dad replied.
I just smiled at his little joke before turning to face Pete.
"You'd better find em quick though," he said. "You know how your mom likes to check on a person eight times a minute."
"Thanks Mr. Carson," Pete replied.
"No problem," my dad replied. "Now go already!"
I didn't have to be told twice.
Pete and I turned around and headed back down the hall to look for Max and Troy.
When we found Troy, he was helping some of the older ladies get some of the table sleeves in order.
We could tell he was thankful we'd come because he looked completely bored.
Max on the other hand actually looked annoyed that I'd showed up.
He claimed that he was setting the food up on the table but it really looked like he was watching Sadie, who was arguing with Andrew about something.
I may not have known what was up with him, but I did know that he hadn't asked Sadie out yet.
Pete dropped us off before he went home to get himself ready.
Max walked straight past Troy and I, up the stairs, and into the bathroom to take a shower without saying a word to either of us.
"We don't have to wear like a suit or anything do we?" Troy asked as we walked up the stairs. "Because I don't even think I have one."
"I don't think so," I replied. "It's not like we're going to church."
"So are you okay?" Troy asked once we reached the hallway.
In the background I could hear the shower water starting.
"Max still won't talk to me," I replied. "I have no idea what that's about."
"Well you and me both," he replied. "But Max seems like the type of guy that just needs time to cool down before he talks to anyone so he won't get into any arguments."
Which was true. Max really hated confrontation and tried avoiding it whenever he could.
But this had gone on long enough really.
Max had never gone this long without talking to me before.
I actually had no clue what to do.
"I wanna say give him some time, but that might be pushing it a little," Troy spoke with a smile.
I could tell he was trying to put me at ease, and to some extent it had worked, but I was still trying to understand what little I could actually.
"Well, I guess I'll go pick out my outfit," Troy said. "What kind of clothes do you wear when you're eating with two hundred homeless people?"
I just shrugged before heading into my own room.
As soon as I was in, I just plopped down on my bed.
I felt overwhelmed. With my thoughts and from having to do so much work all day.
I almost didn't want to go back.
I mean, I wasn't looking forward to anything and this was Thanksgiving day.
I was supposed to be counting my blessings and thinking about what I had to be thankful for, but that was the furthest thing from my mind.
I didn't even know if I had anything to be thankful for, actually.
My life was a train wreck just waiting to happen.
A house of cards ready to be blown down.
And I was afraid that I wouldn't be prepared once my world did come crashing down.
I managed to pull myself together, however, and threw together a decent outfit before taking my own shower after Troy.
It hadn't taken any of us that long to get ready and Pete had shown up not long after either.
Troy, Max and I had been waiting in the living room, trying to keep ourselves from going to the kitchen to get something to eat.
I felt so awkward not being able to talk to my own brother.
I had to try something.
"Max...I-"
"That's Pete right?" he started, standing up.
"Why won't you talk to me? What did I do?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder.
He looked down at where my hand was before looking back up at me.
"Guys....we should go," Troy spoke, trying to hold the peace.
I just pleaded with Max with the look in my eyes, hoping to convince him to talk to me about whatever was bothering him.
But after what seemed like forever, Max shook my hand off of his shoulder and started up the stairs.
"Max...where you going man?" Troy asked.
"I'll be right back," he replied. "I just gotta grab something."
Pete purposefully took the long way back to waste as much time as possible so that we wouldn't have to be there as early.
I hadn't really realized how much time we'd wasted until we'd parked and arrived.
Once I saw my mother and father, fully clothed in nice outfits along with everyone else, I realized that a lot of time had gone by.
It was almost time to start, evident with the news reporter and her camera man getting ready near the back of some of the tables set up.
"Aren't you glad we don't have to do any serving?" Pete asked, as we looked around.
I definitely was glad, as there had to be nearly six hundred people in attendance.
Max left us almost as soon as we'd gone a few paces.
I wanted to go after him but Troy stopped me.
"He'll come to you whenever he's ready to," he said.
"Hello Troy, Michael, Peter...." Reverend Thomas spoke upon seeing us.
I noticed Troy glare over at him but Pete was smiling just as usual.
"Reverend Thomas," he replied.
"You boys did some fine work here," he replied, looking around. "The place looks great."
"Well, we were just three of the many," Pete replied.
Reverend Thomas looked over at me, the slight smile he had on his face looking more knowing.
I still didn't know if he knew about Pete and me and given everything else I was having to deal with, that was the last thing I wanted to think about.
"Well, I'll leave you boys to yourselves then," Reverend Thomas replied, before he walked away from the three of us.
We hadn't been alone but three seconds before my mom came up with some lady.
I think she was the news reporter from Channel Five.
I didn't watch the news much, so she was barely familiar to me.
"Boys, I want you to meet Clarice Samuels," my mom spoke. "The reporter from channel five."
Bingo.
"Right, you're the one that always has the stories before everyone else," Pete said.
"Well, that is my slogan," Clarice replied.
"Clarice, this is my son Michael, and his two friends Troy and Peter," my mom spoke. "Troy is actually staying with us this school year as an exchange student from Canada."
There she goes again telling people stuff they didn't ask to hear. None of her business in my opinion.
"It's nice to meet the three of you," Clarice replied.
"You ever thought about doing a story on a local high school baseball team captain?" Pete asked.
Clarice and my mom had a good laugh at that one.
Hopefully it wasn't the bad kind of laughing.
"I should probably find your father," my mom spoke. "I want to introduce him to Clarice here."
"I think he's at the snack table," I replied, recalling where I'd seen him earlier.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" my mother mumbled before she and Clarice left the three of us alone again.
"She's a lot paler in person," Pete said.
"At least now I get to go back and say I met a genuine American television personality," Troy replied.
Now he was talking about when he would go back.
What else was coming?
"Dude I've never seen turkey that big before," Evan replied. "You think I should steal one for leftovers?"
Max hadn't even been aware that Evan had seen him coming.
The two of them were in the kitchen in a relatively abandoned part of the back area.
"And you look even worse than when I left you," Evan replied. "Or when you left me...whatever."
"I got the stupid notebook," Max mumbled, pulling it from the inside of his jacket.
Evan looked more serious as he watched Max open it.
"I've been telling myself that it's wrong," Max replied. "I mean, he's my brother."
"But he's not mine," Evan replied, taking the notebook from Max's hands. "Want me to read it to you?"
Max sighed.
"I can't do this anymore," Max replied. "Keep this to myself. I have to talk to him."
"You can't do that," Evan objected.
"Why not?" Max asked.
"You're his brother," Evan replied. "He looks up to you."
Max looked down.
"You tell him you stole his private notebook from his room and found out he may or may not be gay......."
"So what do I do?" Max asked.
"Just...let me handle this," Evan replied.
Max looked up at Evan.
For a moment, he almost could have sworn that he detected a gleam in Evan's eye.
The same one he always had whenever he was up to something.
But he decided to ignore it.
He figured it would be better that way.
"I'm gonna go find Mike," Evan replied. "We have some bonding to do."
Max just sighed and slouched back against the wall behind him.
So far things had gone....okay.
I mean, it was Thanksgiving dinner so I don't know what I was supposed to have been expecting.
It was just like every other year, only it was a lot more crowded and louder.
The food was great, but I wasn't a very picky eater so food was always good to me.
I was just glad I didn't have to eat with mom and that Clarice lady.
She'd probably focus all her attention on me and tell her all kinds of embarrassing stories.
Since I wasn't around to remind her, she probably was leaving me out of her mouth for once.
"What's that drug they put in turkey that makes you sleepy?" Sienna asked.
"Tripto something," Troy replied.
"So why hasn't Pete passed out yet?" Sienna asked.
It was true that Pete had eaten the majority of the turkey that had been allotted to our table.
I'd never really seen him eat that much before, but I guess since he wasn't fat and showed no signs of getting fat, I didn't have to worry.
It just meant that I had a healthy boyfriend.
"Okay," Pete spoke. "Now I'm full."
"Now? Now you're full?" Sienna asked. "What about twenty minutes ago after you had thirds?"
"What can I say, I like turkey," Pete replied.
"Hey, something we have in common then," Evan spoke.
I was actually trying to forget the fact that he was sitting with us.
I'd been doing a pretty good job too until he opened his damn mouth a second ago.
"Now, stuffing," Pete spoke.
"More like, I'm stuffed," Sienna spoke.
"I'm not a big fan of the stuffing deal," Evan replied. "What about you Mike?"
I had to give him credit, he certainly did seem like he was trying his best to convince me and everyone around him that he really did want to be my friend.
I had been given no reason not to trust him other than from previous experience.
I was basically going from what I knew, which was exactly what Evan was stressing I not do.
He wanted to be given a second chance, just like I'd given Troy a second chance.
Troy and I had had our ups and downs but nothing too serious outside my irrational moment of throwing him out.
I guess I was supposed to be looking at that situation in regards to the one with Evan and use that as some kind of starting ground or example.
Maybe I was being hypocritical not giving Evan a chance.
Maybe that's what Max wanted too.
It would make things easier if I could get along with Sienna's boyfriend and Max's best friend.
Then there wouldn't be that big of a ridge between friendships.
Maybe I had to give him a chance.
It was Thanksgiving after all.
"Eh...it could be better," I decided to reply.
Things were silent for a few moments before Evan smiled all of a sudden.
"That reminds me," he started. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What?"
"Yeah...it's....well, I mean..."
"No way," Pete objected immediately.
"Pete!" Sienna exclaimed.
In what I actually thought was a good idea at the time, I agreed to go talk with Evan.
It was actually to keep from having any more fights started.
All it was was just a little chat. It couldn't do any harm.
Evan looked over at Max who stood up and left.
I guess that was my fault too.
I followed Evan to the back where we'd talked earlier in the kitchen.
It wasn't empty, but we were in the same area so it was like we were alone.
"You know, I really think I get you a little better now," he started.
"Max......"
Max just kept walking.
"Max....please...stop," Sadie pleaded.
Max sighed and lowered his head.
Moments later he felt Sadie on his side.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You've been acting strange for a while now."
Max sighed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention," Clarice started as the room grew quiet.
Pete looked around.
"You know, I think I'd better go find-"
"No I'll go," Sienna replied, standing up. "I wanna see if they really can be friends."
Being his good friend, Pete obliged but he didn't feel too good about it.
He watched as Sienna stood up and left, leaving him alone with Troy and Sadie's boyfriend Andrew.
Neither of which were people he was particularly fond of.
"I should probably go find Sadie," Andrew replied. "Before some dude hits on her."
Pete and Troy watched as Andrew left, leaving them alone.
Troy cleared his throat and looked over at Pete.
"What?" I asked.
"Yeah," Evan replied. "I mean, I always thought there was something about you that was different. And then I found out what it was."
This didn't sound to me like any kind of `let's be friends' speech I'd ever heard before.
I watched as Evan pulled out some kind of notebook and flipped it around.
"Wanna read the dedication I got planned for you?" he asked. "You should be familiar with the material."
I found myself examining the notebook in his hands a little more closely.
There were a lot of notebooks on the planet.
I don't think anyone had one someone else didn't have, so it would be silly to think someone had your particular notebook based on its look.
But I wasn't being silly when I saw that Evan actually had MY notebook.
Not just any notebook, but my journal!
"Ahem....having a boyfriend is actually hard work," Evan spoke. "Pete and I are getting even closer."
"Give me that-" I said through gritted teeth, reaching for my notebook.
But Evan just pulled it back.
"Makes for damn good reading material, don't you think?" he asked.
"Evan, give me my journal back. Now!" I demanded.
How in the world.....I didn't even want to think about how he'd found it.
I just didn't want him to do what I thought he was about to do.
"Now Mike, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share all your deep dark secrets to the world?" Evan asked.
"Evan-"
"Shut up, fag!" Evan shouted before punching me in the stomach.
I instantly fell to the ground from the force of the punch.
This had to be the worst one yet.
"And the best part is," Evan started, as he leaned over me on the floor. "I get to say I told you so."
He stood up and turned around, heading for the area we'd come through, leaving me powerless to stop whatever was coming.
"How do you decide what's wrong and what's not?" Max asked.
Sadie sighed.
"I guess it depends..."
"What if you know if you've done something wrong and you didn't do anything about it?"
"Max...what are you talking about?" Sadie asked.
"And so I would like to thank all of you for doing this for the community," Clarice replied, starting a thunderous clap throughout the whole area.
She'd just turned around to get off the stage when Evan walked right past her and over the microphone.
"That's Evan," Troy spoke. "Without Mike."
"What's he doing?" Pete asked, getting concerned.
"Excuse me everyone," Evan started. "Can I have your attention please?"
Troy and Pete exchanged glances, both feeling overwhelmingly worried in that moment.
My stomach hurt like hell.
I could barely breathe, let alone say much.
From my position on the floor, I noticed Sienna's smoothly shaven legs rushing towards me on the ground.
"Oh my god! Mike are you okay?" she asked, bending down trying to help me up.
I couldn't really respond, for multiple reasons.
All I knew was that in that moment, I felt like crying.
I realized that was actually what I was doing when I felt tears streaming down my face.
I guess the pain in my stomach had caused me not to notice.
"What happened?" Sienna asked.
I still couldn't reply.
I could hear Evan trying to get everyone's attention outside over the microphone.
Apparently Sienna heard it too because she stopped and listened for a second.
She took another look at me before she helped me up and over to a nearby chair.
"Listen, Mike I'm gonna be right back okay?" she replied.
I just looked down.
I couldn't face her.
Any minute now she'd know that I was a despicable fag dating her best friend.
She'd hate me for it and she'd hate Pete.
Then Pete would dump me and probably kick my ass.
He could even get away with trying to say that he wasn't even gay. That I tricked him somehow, and people would probably believe him.
My world was over now.
"I'd like to dedicate a....piece of writing to someone," Evan continued. "It's actually very interesting really. None of you are gonna believe it."
Pete stood up.
Troy looked over at him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"He's up to something," Pete replied.
Troy had to agree.
"You all know Michael Carson right? Mrs. Carson's son, pillar of the community?"
Sienna walked onto the stage.
"Well he's actually-"
"Evan!"
Evan stopped and looked over at Sienna.
"Not now Sienna, I'm busy."
Sienna stormed over to Evan, took the notebook from his hands, and stared him down.
"Sienna....what...."
Sienna just stared him down.
"Sadie...I think I screwed things up for my brother," Max sighed.
Saide put her hand on Max's shoulder, forcing Max to look up at her and into her eyes.
"I'm here for you Max, you know that right?" she said.
Max all of a sudden felt different.
Compelled.
He closed his eyes and leaned in, kissing Sadie who surprisingly kissed him back.
"Oh...uh...I'm-"
"We should probably get back before Andrew comes looking for us," Sadie replied.
Max didn't say anything as he led Sadie back to the main hall.
"We're kinda live right now, babe," Evan replied. "So if you could kindly hand me my notebook back."
"I can't believe you," she replied. "You're just as bad as they say you are!"
"Wait, no Sienna-"
"Were over!" she shouted.
Evan looked shocked for a moment before he let out a sigh and turned back to the microphone.
"Well in that case...listen up everybody!"
Andrew grabbed Max and turned him around.
"What you think you can get away with kissing my girl or something?" he asked.
"Andrew it was-"
"Stay out of this Sadie," Andrew spoke.
"Andrew, look, I'm sorry," Max replied. "It just happened."
"Oh yeah?" Andrew spoke. "Kind like THIS..."
He puchned Max in the face and jumped on top of him.
"Kinda like this just happened!" he shouted.
"Andrew stop it!" Sadie shrieked.
"What the hell....." Troy spoke, turning around.
Everyone turned around.
Their attention had been diverted from Evan on stage to the fight that was happening at the back.
"Are you getting this?" Clarice asked her cameraman.
I had barely managed to stumble back out into the main hall.
I noticed that everyone seemed to be paying attention to something that was going on in the back.
It didn't matter though.
Either way, this was the worst Thanksgiving ever.
YahooGroup (w/ advanced chapters of the story): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/
Personal email: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com
Copyright 2005