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 Twenty Two-"Look What You Brought To This Town"
"Ugh, look at Maggie Daniels....god didn't she wear that outfit yesterday?" Janet asked.
"I don't know but she really shouldn't have had it on then either," Shannon replied. "It's hideous."
So this was what popular life was like?
"Watch this," Janet whispered.
She walked over to Maggie and stopped her.
"Maggie, great outfit, where'd you get it?" she asked.
Maggie smiled and looked herself over.
"Oh, I got it on sale at Ross," she replied. "Fifty percent off! Why, you gonna go?"
"No," Janet replied with a sigh. "I just wanted to know what store never to shop at."
Maggie stared at Janet who was trying to keep from laughing then over at Shannon and the rest of us.
She honestly looked like she was about to cry but she just said nothing and walked off.
"God, that was the ugliest f'ing outfit I've ever seen in my entire life," Janet spoke, rejoining us.
"Two words, Good Will," Shannon laughed, along with a few of the other girls.
I thought that was all one word?
These people really were just as horrible and caddy as I'd imagined they were.
And now that I was supposedly one of them, I was getting to see first hand just how bad things could get.
"Ugh, I completely forgot we had a test in physics," Evan moaned. "I got wasted last night."
"And the night before, and the night before, and the night before," Andrew replied.
"Shut up retard," Evan replied.
And it was obvious that he really meant it.
Andrew pursed his lips and didn't say anything more.
"Mike you're really good with physics right?"
I looked over at him.
"Uh yeah," I replied.
Only because I spent my time studying not getting wasted or making fun of homely fat girls and their outfits.
"Quick, what's the theory of relativity all about?" Evan asked, looking through his book.
I was going to respond when Janet turned me around.
"Mike, what are you doing for spring break?" she asked.
When she asked, a few of the girls and couple of the guys were quiet and looking my way.
I'd only been hanging with them a week.
Did they honestly think I was close enough to them to want to go on a spring break vacation with them?
I didn't care for them.
Hanging with them gave me something to do and it kept me from having to hear Troy or Sienna's mouths about how I was choosing to deal with Pete's death.
At least I wasn't pretending like he never existed in the first place like they were!
"Um, I-"
"Leave him alone Janet," Clark spoke, putting his arm around me. "I already told you, the guys and me are going down to Johnson's lake and spending the week camping."
Now who would wanna do that?
"Clarky, I thought we were going out of this stupid town for once?"
"You and your frilly little girlfriends can go ahead and be my guest," Clark replied. "But we're guys. None of us care about going down to tan on the beaches in Mexico."
Could any of their parents even afford to spend a week in Mexico?
No one really ever went anywhere in this town. I just assumed.....
I looked at Clark's arm around my shoulder and let myself free.
The jocks sure were a bunch of touchy feely people.
And they were the ones calling everybody else fags!
"I don't know what my plans are yet," I said.
Although, we might have been going to Canada.
I almost hoped we were going to Canada just to see what Troy's reaction would be.
He'd probably run around like a chicken without its head trying to keep all his lies in order.
"Damn, I can't fail this test," Evan spoke. "I'm already on house detail. My parents just stay on my case now."
With good reason.
As I was finding out, these were some bad little kids.
None of them, apparently, paid attention in church.
Because if they did, we obviously wouldn't be having these problems.
Or they wouldn't have been having their self induced problems.
"Ugh, well I should get to class," Janet spoke. "Come on Shannon, we can talk about Rena Matthew's and her ugly hairstyle."
And with that, the parasites were gone.
I had since given all the groups of people an animal classification.
They were all, after all, animals.
They deserved classifying.
Evan and his group of friends were the parasites.
They weren't happy, and as long as they weren't, they were determined to suck the life out of anyone who was.
Just like a parasite.
It was probably the reason why I didn't mind hanging around them.
I had no life for them to suck out, and they knew it.
"Listen, Mike, I don't know if I ever apologized for that.....well, what went down between us," Evan started, as he put his backpack on his shoulders.
No Evan, you would never be forgiven for that.
You were a jackass, we both knew you were a jackass, and that was the end of it.
Besides, I didn't like him getting all...soft on me.
If I wanted soft, I'd go find Sienna and Troy.
I wanted to be around these people for the one and only fact that I hated them.
I didn't feel good about myself, and this was the only way I knew how to counter that feeling.
"Oh, we got that new teacher guy next...Paul," Evan spoke as he, Clark, Andrew and I started down the hall.
So we did, so we did.
Paul seemed like a good enough teacher.
He was a lot different than Mr. Jacobs, but everyone seemed to like him so far.
He was a happy man, and I didn't like happy, but for some reason, with Paul, I liked happy.
Was that weird?
"I hope he doesn't make us talk about our feelings again," Clark spoke. "I swear man, the guys a fucking queer."
That was their answer for everything.
Somebody falls down the stairs and breaks their neck-they had it coming because they were queer.
Somebody gets an A on a test when all of them get F's-they were queer.
Everybody was queer for the stupidest reasons.
Then again, I was dealing with stupid people.
Andrew tried to get in between me and Clark as I was in the middle of Clark and Evan but Evan just shoved him aside.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Evan spoke, sounding pissed. "Don't be dumb all your life Andy, man."
For a best friend, Evan sure was mean to his.
Then again, that didn't surprise me as he was mean to everyone.
Except me, apparently.
Or at least me lately.
"So anyways, about Spring Break," Evan started.
"China?"
"Diplomatic relations-"
"Ah, you didn't ring the bell-"
Clark ran over to the bell and tapped it running back.
"Okay, diplomatic relations," he repeated.
Paul looked down at his note card.
"Yep!"
Everyone on my team cheered excitedly.
We were tied now.
We didn't get all the smart people, so it was kinda up to the people on the team that actually studied, like me, to get all the questions right.
This was a weird game though.
We always played games with Mr. Jacobs.
Nothing like this though.
Paul knew what he was doing, apparently, and I had to give him credit for it.
"Okay, next up, Troy and Mike," Paul replied.
Troy was on the other team.
I think he actually wanted to be on whatever team I wasn't.
And I knew why.
Troy certainly wasn't a fan of me spending time with Evan and his friends all of a sudden, which was hypocritical coming from him.
He and I hadn't talked much since I'd started hanging out with them either.
Max didn't help either, as he was with Troy.
The two of them were pissed at me and I knew it.
I think I actually kind of liked having people angry with me.
Like I wanted them to be angry with me for some reason.
For the game though, with me being against Troy, the two of us had to face each other as the question was read.
"Okay, so there's an oil crisis in Iraq and all of a sudden several of the worlds countries are vying for an opportunity to buy shares in all Iraqi oil companies," Paul read. "What policies would you enact to keep the problem contained and isolated in an effort to keep it from running away?"
Troy and I stared at each other.
Well, he was more glaring at me.
My team was talking behind me and Troy behind his.
"Well," I started, after ringing the bell. "We'd definitely have to prevent the media from letting word spread. They'd try to use the constitution as backing to run stories, but we'd sue in level courts in order to get subpoenas."
Everyone's eyes were on me.
"We'd have to get subpoenas for the UN members in order to keep them from going crazy as well," I continued. "Otherwise they could make up any stories they wanted to and we'd have no choice but to believe them."
Troy just glared at me.
"Troy?" Paul asked.
"Uh...."
Ha!
How'd he like them apples?
"Do you have a response?" Paul asked.
"Um..."
"Come on Troy, open your mouth already!" Evan mumbled from behind him.
He actually looked a little uncomfortable.
I wasn't aware this subject could do that to him.
It was just an imaginary oil crises.
He stayed looking for an answer until suddenly the bell rang, taking us all off guard.
Everyone must have looked up at the clock, including me.
Time really did fly when you were having fun!
"When Andrew manages to answer something and you don't, you know you've done something wrong," Evan mumbled.
I walked back over to my desk and gathered my things.
That was true. Andrew had answered his question correctly.
Although, I suspect it was made purposefully easy just for him.
"Yo, I got that test next period," Evan started, gathering his bag next to me.
Troy walked over to the other side of me and started getting his stuff together.
"Walk with me to class so I can cram," Evan replied.
Troy, I noticed, seem to be shooting me a `don't do it' look with his eyes.
Maybe if he hadn't looked so pathetic, I might have declined Evan's `offer.'
I put my backpack on my shoulders and started out of the class with Evan.
"If two protons lose an electron level...."
"Troy...uh, you mind staying a sec after?" Paul asked.
"I need to-"
"It'll only take a second," Paul replied.
Troy let out a sigh and dropped his bag, taking a seat.
Paul waited until everyone was out of the room before speaking.
"Sorry if I put you on the spot back then," he started. "I really figured you know the answer to that question."
"I just had other things on my mind, you know?" Troy sighed.
"One of those days huh," Paul chuckled. "Don't you just hate em?"
"Yeah," Troy replied.
"Listen, if you ever need to talk," Paul started. "I'm around."
Troy looked up at Paul, eyeing him for a short amount of time.
"Thanks," he replied awkwardly, reminding himself to never take him up on his offer.
I'd moved back in, which meant I was back to being the after school chauffer again.
I didn't mind.
I just didn't enjoy it either.
Max and Troy tried every so now and then to at least try to start up some kind of conversation, but I no longer considered myself a conversationalist.
And apparently, they didn't like the answers I was handing out to their questions.
They were chatting about something behind me, and I was still annoyed, trying to tune them out as we all walked to the front door.
I knew exactly what I was going to do.
Grab a snack, and go to my room.
No more freaking talking!
I fished out my keys and let out an annoyed sigh as Troy and Max laughed about something behind me.
I turned the lock and stepped inside, jetting to the kitchen.
I was going so fast, I nearly missed them.
"Where's my grandbaby?"
I stopped, furrowed my eyebrows, let out a deep breath and walked backwards until I was visible from the living room.
"Michael!"
There was a set of arms around me.
Why were there a set of arms around me?
"Grandma, you're gonna choke him to death," Max chuckled.
That she was, so I politely pulled myself free.
Nana?
Nana was here?
Why was she here?
"Oh, and Maxwell!"
Now it was his turn to get hugged to death.
I looked over at Troy who was looking amused with the situation, but a little confused.
"Look at you both, getting so handsome...and tall!"
"Is Gramps here?" Max asked.
"He's around here somewhere with your father," Nana replied. "Oh, and this must be Troy."
All of us turned our attention to Troy who had a smile on his face at first, which then was replaced by a look of confused shock once Nana started hugging him.
"Such a handsome young man," she spoke, once she let him go. "You're the one from Canada, correct?"
"Yes ma'am," Troy replied.
"I'm old but not that old," Nana replied. "You can call me Linda."
She wasn't even that old really. I think she was like 53.
My parents weren't that old either. They were still in their 30's.
My dad's parents were possibly the greatest people I knew.
They were always so fun.
Always buying us things, or taking us places.
And they were always going places to.
If they were here, which I wasn't sure why, then they must have just gotten back from Tahiti.
Nana reached into her pocket and pulled out three fifty dollar bills.
"Here, but don't tell your grandfather I gave you this," she spoke in a hush-hush tone. "That way, he'll give you more."
See how cool she was?
I guess an added bonus was the fact that unlike my mom's parents and my own, they didn't attend church.
I think they might have believed in God, but they celebrated Halloween, so....
As much as I was glad to see them, I still wondered what they were doing here.
"Uh, so what are you doing here Grandma?" I asked.
"I'm surprised you even had to ask me that," Nana replied. "What, your mother didn't tell you?"
All of us shook our heads.
"Isn't someone turning seventeen next week?"
I actually had to think about that for a moment before I realized that she was talking about me.
I was turning seventeen next week.
I'd nearly forgotten.
No, I HAD forgotten.
Things like birthdays just didn't seem as important to me anymore.
"Your birthday's next week, Mike?" Troy asked.
"Yep," Max replied. "I already know what to get him."
Despite the fact that we were at odds, I was surprised Max still felt the need to get me a birthday gift.
Not that I cared anyway.
Stuff was all just stuff.
"Oh, you're all home," my mother spoke, coming into the living room with all of us.
"Gosh Evelyn, you didn't mention how much older the boys look now," Nana replied. "It seems like just yesterday they were both running around in diapers."
My mother laughed as she looked us all over.
"They're both growing up to be...fine young men," she spoke.
I looked over at her.
Okay Jane the Homebody....I really didn't want to be messed with right now....
"And you've met Troy right?"
"Oh yeah, yeah," Nana replied. "I officially have a new respect for all Canadian men."
"Linda," my mother mumbled, looking down.
"I'm hungry," Max spoke, walking towards the kitchen.
And for some reason, that's where we all wound up.
Troy and I took a seat at the table, Max started looking through the pantry, and Nana and my mom stood over to the side, just kind of watching us.
"So how was your flight Grandma?" Max asked.
"Non stop service from Tahiti to Nevada....long," Nana replied. "But the gentlemen next to me let me borrow one of his...PFP's and we had it out on Madden football. I tell you, some people just don't have much game."
"PSP grandma," I corrected her.
"Oh right, yeah," Nana replied. "And I started thinking, you like games right Mike? Maybe I'll get you one for your birthday."
"Grandma that's me that's into games," Max replied, pouring himself a glass of milk. "Mike doesn't even know the difference between a GBA SP and a Nintendo DS."
Actually, I didn't even know what the second thing was.
"You still have a few months before your birthday Maxwell," Nana replied. "I'll keep that in mind though."
"Sweet," Max spoke. "I'm getting a PSP."
Which he pretty much was.
Our grandparents liked to spoil us, which was kinda the only time we got spoiled because our parent's certainly didn't do much of that.
But since we lived in such a simple town, we had simple tastes.
We weren't as high maintenance as say, maybe someone from L.A. or something.
"Michael did your mother also forget to tell you about the party she's throwing you?" Nana asked.
What the fuck?
A party?
I didn't want a party.
I hated social functions.
I even hated them when I had Pete and now that I didn't......
"Well if it was a surprise party, the surprise is out now," Max said, taking a seat at the table.
"No, it's not a surprise," my mom replied. "I want you guys to know ahead of time so you can invite some people."
Invite what people?
Who did she think I knew that she didn't already know?
"Wait, so this is like a real party then?" Max asked. "Where we can invite people over? As many people as we want?"
"Well the party won't be here of course," my mother replied. "And remember, it is your brother's party."
A party I didn't want.
"So you're staying all week Grandma?" I asked.
"Yep," Nana replied. "Aren't you bursting with excitement?"
I laughed along with her before jumping a little when the door to the backyard came flying open and my Grandpa came walking in with my dad.
He had a cigar hanging from one side of his mouth as he was talking about something loudly.
"I tell you, you put a new engine in it, you'd have yourself a sports car," Grandpa said.
"Dad...."
Grandpa turned around and looked at my father.
"Oh right," he spoke, taking the cigar out of his mouth and stepping on it outside. "I always forget you don't enjoy a good Cuban."
My dad and grandpa walked into the kitchen and shut the door behind them.
"Ten four!" Grandpa barked, causing me and Max to jump up.
Max ran upstairs to his room and I followed.
It was kind of a tradition we had.
He always liked to see how much taller we'd gotten since his last visit by marking our heights on the edge of our door frames.
He did Max first then me.
"You boys been drinking coffee?" he asked. "Stuff stunts your growth this young."
"Gramps stop joking, you know I got taller," Max spoke.
Gramps held his hand up high.
"And?"
Max jumped up to reach it.
Both my grandpa and father were tall guys. My grandpa used to be a lot taller, but you kinda shrink as you get older.
Now he was just as tall as my dad, which put him somewhere around 6'2.
"Eh, you'll get there," he grumbled, then he turned to me. "And you...getting closer."
He said that while ruffling my hair, something he always did.
It kinda tickled which caused me to chuckle.
"So you'll be seventeen next week," he said. "Only one year away from becoming a man."
Grandpa was a man's man.
He went hunting and golfing in his spare time.
He even still played basketball and football.
He took Max and I to a strip club once when we went to visit.
We didn't go inside of course, but the fact that he even had taken us just proved he was one half of a cool pair of grandparents.
"Got yourself a girlfriend yet?" he asked.
Uh oh.
I noticed Max look over at me with a worried look.
Apparently, my parents hadn't rushed out and told them just as soon as they'd learn their oldest son was gay.
I guess in a way I was relieved.
But then I got angry again.
Why wouldn't they tell them?
Did they still think I was going to change?
Is that why they didn't feel like they needed to tell anyone?
Because they hadn't accepted that I was gay?
"Uh...not exactly," I decided to reply.
And I wasn't sure why.
I guess maybe I was leaving it iffy so that I could segway into that whole topic if and when the time came.
It wasn't their fault they didn't know.
And for a few moments, I had actually thought I was going to be able to get along with my parents.
But as I clearly saw now, that wasn't going to happen.
"Play any sports yet?" he asked.
"Um...not really," I replied.
Actually, not at all.
Gramps kind of looked at me for a while before he went `huh' and crossed his arms.
"Well it's not too cold out there," he spoke. "Maybe after your homework I can show you how to throw long-arm so you can join the football team next year."
With Evan Parker as the captain?
I don't think so.
"Sure Gramps," I replied.
I hated to disappoint him.
"That's my boy," he spoke ruffling my hair again while taking out his wallet.
He handed me and Max two hundred dollar bills.
"But don't go telling your grandmother about it," he spoke, putting his wallet back in his pocket. "Or she'll start making me take those damn old person pills again."
Max and I laughed as I put my money in my pocket.
Who needs a job when you can make 150 dollars in less than twenty minutes?
"So is that kid down there any good at sports?" Gramps asked.
"Troy? I don't know," Max replied. "Troy doesn't really talk a lot about himself. He's good at Madden though."
"Madden? That's the game your grandmother wiped the floor with some college kid in," Gramps replied. "I might have to pick that up for you while I'm here."
Max already had that game.
Or maybe it was last year's version.
When you come out with the same game with the same name every year, it's a little hard to keep track.
"We'd better get back down there before the homing device your grandmother had implanted in my brain when we got married explodes," Gramps replied.
Max and I laughed while following him back down the stairs.
"How tall are you son?"
Troy looked around.
"Me? Oh...I don't-"
"And nobody started a chart for you?" he asked. "What kind of ship are you running son?"
My dad looked a bit put on the spot just then.
"Troy's a transfer student from Canada, Bill," Nana replied. "He's only staying with them until the end of the year. I told you this already."
"What, you saying I forgot?" Gramps asked walking over to the fridge. "I don't have Alzheimer's yet Linda. I'm not that old."
Neither of them looked old either.
Then again, my dad didn't look 36 either.
I guess it was in their genes.
"Oh you'll have it next year," Nana replied. "If you don't start taking those pills I told you to."
They always joked around like that, kind of like the way my dad liked to joke with my mother.
Only, just like her personality would lead you to believe, she never really got it.
"Well, I should start with dinner," my mom said, heading over to the sink.
"I'll help," Nana spoke. "I wanted to show you this recipe I learned while taking a cooking class down in Belize."
"She thinks she knows how to cook like Emeril since she took a couple of cooking classes," Gramps spoke. "We should get out of here before she blows something up."
Gramps, Max, Troy, dad and I all made our way into the living room.
"So what's new here?" Gramps asked, taking a seat in the easy chair next to the sofa. "Please tell me you managed to introduce this guy to a few people MaxMan."
His nickname for Max was MaxMan and the one he had for me was MikeIke.
"Mike's got a whole bunch of new friends now," Max started. "Don't you Mike?"
He was looking over at me with a bit of a haughty look.
I wasn't in any kind of mood to be messed with.....
"Really? Like who?"
"You remember Evan right? And all of his friends?"
"Your best friend Evan? MikeIke your friends with Evan?"
Grandpa knew Evan well because he'd been around the past few times they visited.
And that was how he knew Max had plenty of friends.
Because I never had anyone over when he visited.
They all even played football once.
"Well, he's not actually-"
"They just started hanging out, it was kinda sudden actually," Max spoke. "But, I'm sure he's happy. We all know what kind of person Evan Parker is."
I just stared at Max who had a slight evil gin on his face.
Little sucker just WANTED me to try knocking out his teeth, didn't he?
Fucking sweater monkey.
"I always liked that kid," Gramps said. "He's got a good throwing arm on him. Which reminds me, you play sports don't you Troy?"
"Uh, I did, back home sir," Troy replied.
"Who's he talking to? Sir is for old people, it's Bill, man," Gramps replied.
"Right, sorry," Troy chuckled.
"We're gonna have to get a game going here sometime soon," Gramps spoke. "Guarantee I'll wipe the floor with ya if your dad's as rusty with his game as I think he is."
Dad was a sports guy.
But he was more basketball than football.
He tried to get me to play a lot with him, but I always declined.
I didn't really spend a lot of time with my father.
Max was closer to him than I was.
"Baseball." Gramps suddenly announced.
"Huh?" I asked.
"I just thought....you'd be perfect for baseball...a little too scrawny for football, but you were always good with hitting the ol ball."
Always good at that?
We played baseball when I was like....eight.
"Too bad you don't know anyone that plays baseball," Gramps spoke. "You could learn a thing or too from em."
Why was he talking about baseball?
Baseball only reminded me of Pete.
And I didn't like being reminded of Pete.
"Um....I'm sorry I....I think I'm gonna go start on my homework now," I said, getting up quickly. "Excuse me."
"Wait, did I say something wrong?"
"Don't worry about Gramps," Max spoke. "It's nothing."
As I walked into my room and shut the door behind me, I could feel the tears falling from my eyes.
Why was Pete gone?
Why couldn't I be gone with him?
I wanted another chance.
I wanted to tell him that I was sorry and that I loved him back and that I'd never abandon him again.
But I couldn't do that and I knew that I couldn't do that.
I just wished that I could.
Dinner thus far had been kind of quiet on our family's end.
While my grandparents went on and on about their travels around the world, the rest of us remained relatively quiet.
And I suspected that all had something to do with me.
I was completely aware by now that my parents hadn't told either my grandmother or grandfather about me.
I myself hadn't told them about me, but not out of fear.
I wasn't sure what the reason was yet but I most certainly sure that whatever my reason was, it was a lot more complicated than the simple reason my parents hadn't told them.
They were ashamed of me, plain and simple.
They probably were only celebrating my birthday because I'd be one year closer to 18 and that was the year they were waiting for.
So they could be rid of me for good.
Max and Troy had their own problems with me and I had problems with them.
They were a couple of stupid little trolls who got on my nerves more times than not.
Restraint was not stabbing someone with my fork.
Of course, I wasn't that violent, but restraint was keeping me from acting it out in my mind.
"So Mike, you want anything special for your birthday?" Gramps asked.
"He wants a PSP Grandpa," Max replied.
"No you want a PSP Maxwell," Nana replied. "Didn't we already discuss this?"
"You don't drink do you?" Gramps asked.
"Dad," my dad spoke.
"What? I got a few bottles of expensive liquor from France when I was down there."
"Maybe we could try to get one of your books published," Nana said. "You still write, don't you?"
I looked over at my parents.
Thinking about the thing I no longer felt like doing only reminded me of my journal and how my parents had violated my trust by reading it.
Okay, so Evan told them I had one.
He told them what was in it like the thieving jackass that he was.
But they didn't have to read it.
They may have been my parents but they should have known better.
It wasn't like I was high on drugs and made horrible grades.
Those two reasons alone were enough to tell them they had no real reason to read my journal.
"Actually I don't, anymore," I replied.
I thought I'd put that out there.
My mom and dad exchanged looks.
"Didn't you use to write in those little journals too?" Nana asked. "You still do that?"
Like I was stupid enough to still keep a journal.
Everyone was lucky my parents seemed to stop reading once they had all the proof they needed that I was gay.
Anymore and they would have known about Reverend Thomas, my crush on Troy, that time Max came home more wasted than Courtney Love on a Saturday night...lots of other damning stuff.
"I can't really do that anymore either," I replied. "Too many trust issues."
I guess that was enough to crank up the tension in the room.
Even my grandparents knew that something had to be going on.
"What?" Nana asked.
You know, I don't really know why I wasn't telling them about me.
I had no reason to fear telling them.
They were fanatics like my parents.
They couldn't kick me out either.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that not telling them was only doing my parents a favor because it helped them save face.
And the LAST thing I cared about, at least anymore, was how they looked in someone else's eyes.
They'd already shown me that they didn't care what I thought about them.
So why should I care what they think about me?
"Shall I read to you verbatim the page that got me into this mess?" I started, dropping my fork on my place.
"Michael," my mother mumbled, not even bothering to look at me.
"Why not, mom? Why not tell the world!"
"Mike, come on, don't be stupid," Max spoke.
Now he wanted me to jab that fork into his throat.
I looked over at him in shock of how he was suddenly being.
Don't be stupid?
Not him too.
Then again, he'd been lost to me for a while now.
Couldn't forget that HE gave Evan the journal in the first place.
"If we must," I started. "For starters, I'm gay."
Silence.
Wow, I liked the attention.
I got to do all kinds of things with it.
"What-"
"And my parent's put more stock in the guy with the good throwing arm's word than their own sons."
Now that I think about it, Evan did have a good throwing arm.
I'd at least been to one football game.
But that was getting off subject.
It was like, once somebody pushed me into `let's be a jackass' mode, I couldn't be turned off manually.
I just had to keep going until I ran out of power.
Like that bunny.
"And then they kicked me out of the house, and I had to go stay with Reverend Thomas-you remember him right? Oh wait that was before I ran away."
"Ran away?!" Nana gasped.
"And then my boyfriend died but I didn't really want to believe he was dead even though it's his own fault for not telling someone he had cancer and then...and then....."
I stopped.
I no longer thought this was funny.
That was like a hurricane of information for someone to digest in such a short amount of time.
What, exactly was I supposed to do now?
I had even started to rise out of my seat while talking, but I had since realized it and settled back down.
For some reason, I couldn't look at anyone then.
Especially my grandparents.
As far as I was concerned, I had a right to be upset with any and everyone in this town.
But they were innocent in all this.
And I hated to disappoint them.
I probably shouldn't have said anything then.....
Silence.
So preferred anytime but now.
And now I just wished someone would say something.
"Um.......that was.....a lot," Nana started.
I looked over at her.
"Gay huh?" Gramps started.
I looked over at him.
"Dad, mom," my dad started.
He seemed to be reaching, although I got the impression it was because he was slightly afraid of what might happen.
"Well the boy doesn't like sports and hasn't had a girlfriend all his life, what did ya expect?" Gramps spoke.
And he sounded calm.
Not violent.
Not angry.
But....calm.
"What?" my dad asked.
"I can't say I'm surprised," Gramps started. "Would've wanted MORE grandchildren eventually but you still have Max for that. You aren't gay are you son?"
"Me?" Max asked. "No, no I have a girlfriend."
"Good for you," Gramps replied. "Now that Mike's short a companion you might wanna look into finding him a new one. You know how he can be when he doesn't hang around people his own age."
Wait a second...when was the screaming going to start?
Or the yelling?
Throwing of dishes?
"So...you don't...hate me?" I asked.
"Michael, you're our grandson, how could we hate you for your sexual tastes," Nana replied. "At least you're a handsome young man. That way you can find yourself an equally handsome boyfriend."
"With a good throwing arm," Gramps added. "There's gotta be at least one gay guy on Earth that can throw a football."
Well this was just strange.
"Evan can throw a football, can't he Mike?" Max spoke, looking over at me with a strange look. "And you two are friends now."
"That boy isn't gay," Gramps spoke. "I used to work with a gay guy. Now that guy was gay."
"If we could please suspend all of the...sexual preference talk until after dinner," my mother started. "Linda, would you like some more peas?"
Peas.
Brussel sprouts.
Asparagus.
Who the hell ate any of those things and actually enjoyed them?
And that was just getting off subject anyway.
I was....cleared.
Why was this so different?
My own parents, the people who had raised me since birth, couldn't accept me being gay, and as far as I knew still couldn't.
Yet my grandparents, who I only saw roughly three or four times a year, maybe more, accepted me just like that?
Maybe I should have been living with them all along.
"Means you gotta eat more," Gramps started. "Don't those gay folks like to look cut? You're already kind of scrawny as it is."
"So how about those Nicks?" my dad started, trying to change the conversation.
He and my dad kept going back and forward while Nana and my mom started talking about what flowers mom wanted to plant out front in the spring.
I looked over at Troy and Max who seemed to be glaring at me.
"Something I can help you two trolls with?" I asked.
"When are you gonna drop this thing you got going with Evan?" Max asked.
They both seemed to really want to know the answer to that.
I wanted to toy with them.
The new me, if there really was a new me, wanted to mess with their minds.
But mostly, I just felt like I didn't owe them any type of reasons for my behavior.
I seem to even remember a time when BOTH of them were friends with Evan against my best wishes.
And did either of them listen to me?
No!
Because trolls don't listen.
They just glow in the dark and dye their nappy happy hair all the colors of the rainbow.
These people weren't my friends, my brothers, mothers, fathers....anything anymore.
They were people who I happened to always have to be around.
"You can get that happy ending out of your head right now," I started. "Because I'm a changed person."
"Mike-"
That was the tone.
The one people always used to belittle me.
I'd been through too much and come too far to go back to being somebody else's stepping stone.
"Sorry, but I guess it's my turn to be Evan's new best friend."
I was nowhere near ready to call myself Evan's best friend, let a lone a friend at all.
But since they seemed to be so against something they'd done themselves, of course I wanted to consider it.
And who was gonna stop me? YahooGroup (w/ advanced chapters of the story): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/
Personal email: crossingboi2004@yahoo.com
Copyright 2005