Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 08:41:37 -0500 From: music teacher Subject: "This is the Night" chapter 3 Disclaimer: I have an overactive imagination, the result of which is this story. I do not know Clay Aiken or any other celebrities mentioned in this story, and I do not intend to imply anything about their true sexualities. Simply file this in the "Wouldn't it be nice...?" portion of your mind. Also, if you are under legal age to be reading this sort of stuff (18 in most areas), then leave now. All the rest of you who ARE of age, please enjoy my little mind trip away from the land of reality. *** CHAPTER 3 *** "So you're gonna call him back, right?" Lee was hanging on my every word. I had planned to call him when I got home from lunch with Clay. After I got Clay's voicemail, though, I just kept driving - right out of my apartment complex parking lot and straight to Lee's house. He had just listened to the message. "Well, yeah, but...I dunno..." I said, still not quite believing my own story. "What's not to know? You like him, right?" "Of COURSE I like him. That's the problem. I've already come close to making a fool out of myself so many times! If we hang out any more, he's going to figure out that I like him. And then he'll think that I'm just another obsessed fan that is just interested in being friends with a celebrity." "My, my," Lee said with a chuckle, "Your imagination really gets the best of you sometimes. Have you even stopped to think that maybe he likes you, too?" "What? There's no way..." "Oh really? I'd say that voicemail is pretty strong evidence," Lee said. "He just wanted to see if I wanted to hang out again. No romantic overtones there," I said, though I wasn't quite convinced of what I was saying. "Then why did he call immediately after leaving the restaurant?" asked Lee with a smirk. "Maybe...well...he could have...aww, crap, Lee! Now I've got a whole *other* set of issues to deal with!" I began pacing the living room. "Randy, will you RELAX?" Lee said, half laughing, half exasperated. "The important thing is to just be calm. Just be yourself. Apparently he likes that...for some reason." "HEY!" I said, snapping out of it. "Just making sure you were paying attention." "Thanks, Lee. I don't know what I'd do without you. Ooh! I have an idea!" I said, spinning around to face him. "Uh oh...those are the four worst words to hear, outside of `We need to talk.' Let me hear it." "Why don't I invite Clay over to watch movies with us? That way, you can be here to make sure I don't act stupid!" "Hmm...that's kind of a big job, don't you think?" Lee said, and then immediately grabbed a throw pillow as a shield. I rolled my eyes. "Are you in or not, smartass?" "Alright, I'm in. Besides, maybe he'll see that he should *really* be with me," he said, grabbing the pillow again. I was too quick for him this time. Beating him over the head with the pillow, I said "Bitch, you better not! Clay is MY man!" Then, for good measure, I tickled him. He of course, retaliated, and the grudge match of the century was on. Minutes later, when I (of course) emerged victorious, we were both out of breath. "Thanks...Lee...I...appreciate...it," I said. "Anytime," he said, and then collapsed on the couch. He lifted his head and said "Don't you have a phone call to return or something?" "Oh! I should do that!" I jumped up, grabbed my phone and dialed Clay's number. "Hello?" Well, here goes nothing. "Hey, Clay, it's Randy." "Hey man, what's up? You sound out of breath!" I guess I still hadn't *quite* recovered. "Oh...yeah...I'm at Lee's. We kinda got into a fight..." "Oh no! Is everything OK?" he asked, concerned. "Huh? Oh! Yes, everything's fine. It was, uh, a tickle fight," I said sheepishly. "Ohhhhh, gotcha," he said, laughing. "So what's up?" "Not much. I just got your message." "Cool. Sorry if I seemed too eager, I just..." "No! It was really...sweet," I said, pushing the envelope just a bit. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you'd like to come over to my place tomorrow and watch a couple of movies with Lee and I." "That sounds great! I'd love to!" said Clay excitedly. "Awesome!" I gave him directions to my place, we agreed on a time, and hung up. "Well," I said, turning to Lee, "he'll be here at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon." "Great!" said Lee, "This is going to be lots of fun." He had a strange look on his face, almost like he was planning something. That could be trouble. *** When Clay arrived the next day, I introduced him to Lee, who still looked like he was planning something. Regardless, Lee was on his best behavior, and he and Clay got along well. We sat down to watch the movies. I had chosen the American Pie movies because we had found out during our lunch conversation yesterday that we both enjoyed them very much. Besides, they weren't movies that you had to pay close attention to, which meant we could talk. I sat on one end of the couch, while Clay sat in the recliner across the room (damn it!). Lee then had no choice but to sit on the other end of the couch. Midway through the first movie, Lee jumped up. "I need a glass of water. Anybody else want anything?" "I'll have a diet Pepsi," I said, not breaking my concentration. "What do you have?" Clay asked. "Why don't you come and decide?" Lee said, and that scheming look returned. So off they went to the kitchen. Lee came in with his glass of water and my Diet Pepsi, followed by Clay, who had a Diet Pepsi of his own. Lee quickly handed me my soda. Then, just as quickly, he ran over and sat in the recliner. When Clay saw this, he gave Lee a strange look, though it was much more polite than the look *I* gave Lee. "What?" Lee asked innocently. "You didn't call seatbacks!" "Oh, OK, I see how it is," Clay said, playing along. He then sat next to me. Not on the other end of the couch, but NEXT to me. "Hi," he said, smiling at me. At least he didn't wink. "Hi," I said, trying to find something brilliant to say. "Nice choice of beverage." Well, I'm nothing if not smooth...can I crawl into a hole now? But Clay just grinned at me. "Thanks." We continued watching the movie. When it was over, Lee all of a sudden said, "Oh man! I can't believe I forgot! I have to go take my cat to the vet!" I quickly caught on to his little game. "The vet? It's Sunday, Lee." "I know...but he's been really booked, and Nova needed an appointment, and this was the only time he could get in and...and...I gotta go!" Lee was out the door almost before he finished his lame excuses. "I can't believe he did that!" I was fuming. "What? He forgot. It happens." Clay defended Lee. "There was no vet appointment! He just wanted to..." I stopped myself. Crap, how was I going to dig myself out of this hole? "He just wanted to...what?" Clay asked, his curiosity piqued. "Um...he just wanted to...leave. Yeah." Oh, great save, Randy. You're REALLY doing well here. "Oh. Did he not like me? I hope that's not it..." "Oh my gosh, that's TOTALLY not it! He thinks you're great! You have to believe me! He was just trying to get us together..." "What?" Shit. "Uh...I said he thinks you're cool..." I turned and walked away from Clay. "After that." Clay moved quickly and was now standing right in front of me, looking at me intently. "He, uh...was trying to, uh...get us together," I said, looking at the floor. "Oh." His tone was unreadable. He walked away from me. "Clay, you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with this. I didn't even know he was going to leave today!" I pleaded with him. "So you didn't want to be alone with me?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or relieved. "Well, no...yes..." I took a deep breath. "OK, confession time." "OK..." Clay was confused. I didn't blame him one bit. "Here goes. I, uh...I like you, Clay. I like you a lot. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you thinking I was just some crazy fan. I've had a great time getting to know you, and it would be a shame to lose that." "We don't have to." "That's nice of you to say, but now that you know I'm no different than all the other fans who want you..." I started to say, but my lower lip started to tremble. Damn, I was hoping I could get through this without being a wimp. "Hey," he said forcefully, causing me to look up at him. "You ARE different from them." "How?" "Because I don't like them. At least, not in the way that I like YOU." He was looking at me with those eyes, staring right into my own eyes. "What?!" I asked, not sure if I heard him correctly. Clay just smiled. "I said..." But instead of repeating himself, he tilted my head up and placed his lips on mine. They stayed like that for a couple of seconds, and then he pulled back gently. "Oh," I said with a little smile. "I wasn't sure if I had heard you correctly." He smiled at me, his beautiful eyes crinkling. "Then let me say it one more time." We looked at each other, and leaned in. Our eyes closed and our lips met, and it was like the world around us froze. We stayed like that for a bit - our lips not even moving - just enjoying the moment. I then opened my mouth just a tiny bit, and Clay responded by doing the same. My arms wrapped around him, and my hands traveled up his back. His hands, which had been on the sides of my face, ran down my arms to my waist. His tongue licked slightly at my mouth, so I opened my mouth further to accept it. Our tongues explored for a bit before we slowed things down and eventually pulled apart. "Wow," I said, eyes still closed. I opened them to find Clay looking down at me. "Yeah. That was...wow." He agreed with me. "I'd, uh...like to do it again," I said, blushing. So we kissed again, less tentatively this time. We were really starting to get into it, and I *really* wanted to continue, but I pulled away. Clay looked at me, somewhat confused. "I would love to continue with this, but I'm afraid of not being able to stop. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but I have to teach in the morning," I told him. "I completely understand," he said. "It's a little soon, anyway. I like you, and I like where this is going. But I'm in no hurry. I'm not going anywhere." I got on my toes and gave him a peck on the lips. "Good. Me either." "So I should probably go..." he said. "Do you want me to call you tomorrow?" "That would be great," I said, smiling. We shared a not-so-quick kiss and then reluctantly said our goodbyes. After he left, I shut the door and just stood there, amazed at what had transpired. I turned around to see Lee standing there. "Told ya so!" he said. *** That's it for another chapter! Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Thanks to everyone who has written in! As always, please send your comments and/or suggestions to musicteacher2002@hotmail.com Thanks yet again to Lee for being my editor for this chapter! Speaking of Lee, there's still time to vote in my poll! With whom should Lee hook up? The choices are Ryan Seacrest, Jim Verraros, or Simon Cowell. There are two candidates running neck and neck, so your vote could make the difference! The poll will close as soon as Chapter 4 is posted, and the winner will be revealed in an upcoming chapter (I'm not sure which one because I'm still writing it!). Stay tuned!