Author's Note: Yet another chapter for you
guys....the next one will be a big and good one ;)
After cleaning up I came
back to the living room. Rene was still sitting on the couch looking at
the wall in front of him. I went and sat besides him. He looked pale as
ever. I wanted to hug him and kiss him. That would make him feel better.
Who needed Elliot?
"So...You wanna..tal"
"No." he said blankly.
"O-K-A-Y" I said.
Just then the door bell rang.
"I'll get that." I said.
I opened the door. A tall guy was standing in front of me.
"Yes?"
"Hi...I'm Elliot..."
Part 8
"Can...I come in?" Elliot said.
I wanted to ask him why he had called Rene and interrupted our lovely
noodle fight.
"I guess so" I replied.
I was dazed. Elliot went beyond my imagination. He was definitely more
than six feet tall, had shoulders of a baseball player. He was wearing a
tight white t-shirt on which his bountiful muscles were clearly marked.
Still when he smiled I could spot a boyish charm in him. Elliot. No
wonder he was Rene's bf.
"Well...I can push you aside and come inside...but I suppose you wouldn't like
that?" he said.
"Ah...I'm sorry..." I said clumsily making way for him.
Rene stood up bewildered, as soon as he saw Elliot.
"EL! What are you doing here? I told you..."
"...to stop calling you, and I did. Now, won't you be nice and introduce
me?"
"Jesse...this is a bastard...Bastard...this is Jesse..." Rene
stated flatly and irritated.
I still couldn't process Elliot's physical appearance. I figured Elliot
must be twenty three or twenty four. Standing next to him I felt, well
SMALL. Rene was sulking. He really didn't want Elliot here...or maybe he
didn't want me here? Laura was calm and composed. She was looking at each
one of us as if she were watching a freaking play.
"I think we need to talk..." Elliot said looking at Rene.
"Ohhh, please fuck off..."
Elliot shrugged and looked at me.
"Hi Jesse...nice to meet you," Elliot said warmly, extending his hand.
His hand shake sealed his persona - firm, simply perfect. Masculinity
defined Elliot.
"Now could you excuse us..." he said, putting his arm around Rene's
shoulders. "Hey Laura...why so quiet..."
"Oh Elliot, you know me..." she responded smiling at me strangely. She
really didn't like Elliot for some reason.
I didn't like him for a sole reason – he had his heavy muscular arms on
my RENE!
They left quietly and went into Rene's room. As Elliot closed the door, he
looked back at me with a blank face.
"I think we need to talk... Hi Jesse...nice to meet you... Now could you excuse
us... Hey Laura...why so quiet..." Laura said mimicking Elliot as she put her
puny arms over my shoulders, smiling.
I laughed. "You sure hate him don't you...?" I asked.
"No that's you...I just think he's a little weird" she said.
As we made our way to
Laura's room, I was wondering – What was going on between Elliot and Rene?
Whatever it was, I was happy the Rene/Elliot love boat wasn't sailing
smoothly.
I sulked. How could I think like that? How could I be so selfish?
We sat on Laura's bed. It brought back memories...my first kiss, to a girl
that is. And shortly after that I had interrupted Rene's masturbating
session in the bathroom.
"So how long have they been going together?" I asked.
"Oh Rene has known Elliot for a long time..."
"How long?"
"VERY long..."
"I repeat...HOW LONG?" I demanded frustrated.
"I think more than six years Jesse."
I felt as though she had dropped a heavy hammer on my head.
"That's...very long...very very long..."
"I told ya...but they've been going together for about a year now I think..."
"Ah..."
"Or was that three years?" she said.
"What?!"
"Just kidding Jesse..."
"Funny...so any idea what's going on between them?"
I suddenly remembered the silly fights I used to have with Andy.
"Nope...but I
think...Ah...never mind."
"WHAT?"
"I think you two..."
"Yeah...?"
"I think you two would make good partners?"
"Really?"
"No...Haha...I seriously don't know Jesse...I mean Rene is what? Twenty two,
you're twenty, Elliot's twenty four and me? I feel eighteen..." she
grinned.
"What's this got to do with you? Or age?"
"What I meant is, don't goof around with Rene. Elliot will squash you like
a fly."
Squash you like a fly.
"Elliot doesn't scare me!"
"He won't scare you,
he'll just finish you!"
"Shut up! I'm going to get some water"
I left Laura's room and walked to the hall when I heard voices. I peeked
into the living room. I could see Rene and Elliot walking towards the main
door. Rene had a huge smile on his face. As if I were meant to see this,
before closing the door Elliot kissed Rene right on his luscious lips. I
wanted to leap across the room and push Elliot right then, but I knew who
would fall first on the ground. I couldn't look anymore, I hid behind the
wall. Realization had suddenly struck. My Rene belonged to someone else.
When I was back to
Laura's room, she immediately knew that something was wrong. Even though
she repeatedly asked me what had happened, I couldn't tell her. I just
wanted to forget what had happened. After telling her I wasn't feeling too
well, I left Laura's place and ran back home.
Six years was no joke. Elliot must have been Rene's childhood friend...they
must've been like Andy and me. The kiss had sealed my fate. It wasn't a
soppy, wet hard one. It was a short one...the one you give someone you love,
to someone who knows how much you love him. As soon as I left Laura's, I
became more upset about the whole thing. I didn't know why. Willow was at
home. Her eyes were wet.
She was rubbing the scar on her forehead. The one she had got while
playing ball with street kids. I knew there was no point in "talking"
to Willow. She was a tough girl, at least she made everyone believe she
was. She had borne a lot in life and that had made her totally
self-reliant. Then there were times when she would break down and the gay
guy (me) would be right there to lend a shoulder to cry on.
"So...what's up...?" I asked.
"Ah...nothing...what about you?"
"Oh I met the great Elliot today..."
"Who?"
"Rene's fucking boyfriend..."
"Oh! Is he a total weirdo like Rene?"
"Rene isn't weird!! Although...yeah...Elliot's a little weird I guess"
"How long have they been going together?"
"Six years..."
"What?"
"I mean...I don't really know, I think about a year...they've known each other
for six years"
"Woah..." she said.
Silence.
"So..."
"So what?" she said.
"Say something!"
"What should I say? Go elope with Rene!"
"You know the usual make your friend-feel-better-stuff."
"Sorry I'm not in the mood Jes..."
"I know", I said, "you were crying."
"No I wasn't!" she said. "Ohhhh...fuck my self respect. I was..."
"Haha"
"Never mind that...so is this Elliot guy cute?"
"He is more than cute...he's a total stud."
"Hmm...are they serious?"
"I guess so."
"Well, then I think it's time to forget Rene ..."
"What? But why? I love him!"
I love him...hearing it coming from my mouth felt strange. My
attraction to Rene was growing every time I looked into his eyes. There
are some things in life you just can't stop, no matter what you do; you've
no choice but to accept it. Why would I want to forget someone who makes
me so happy?
"Because he is taken and you're gonna get hurt..."
"He's not taken...he's just not available for the time being."
"Jesse there are some things you just can't have, no matter how badly you
want it..."
"Why? What have I asked for? I've let go of Andy. I'll not let go of Rene.
I've already given up too much...it's not fair..."
"I still don't understand how you let go of Andy just because he moved
away..."
"Andy wasn't gay."
"You don't know that!"
"Let's not talk about him okay..."
"Okay..." she said, "Lets talk about me then...You know I was telling
you...that you have something so many others don't have...that you know what
you want?"
"Yeah..."
"I want that Jes...I want that..." she choked.
I sat besides her and put my arm around her shoulders. "You have me..."
"It's tiring Jes...just tiring. You live this fake life making yourself
believe you can live alone following a blind path...and suddenly you feel so
lost. You feel so alone...so empty. As if you've no idea what the fuck
you're doing..."
"Hey Will, you know you're not like this...now come on, I want to see the
strong Willow who has endless optimistic thoughts going on in her head..."
"I don't know Jes...I just feeling fucking empty..."
"You know you can't help that Will. We just learn to live with it. You
never know who you are going to bump into next. So it helps if you always
carry a smile on your face."
Willow smiled at
me. "You don't think I'll be lonely forever do you?"
"Not if I'm around."
"Thanks...Jesse...I don't say that enough"
"You don't have to...now shall we get some ice-cream and watch some lousy
movie?"
"I would prefer booze."
"Haha...so it's ice-cream and booze!"
As I lay wide awake on
my bed that night, I thought about Willow. I really wished she would meet
a nice guy. But would that make her happy? A boyfriend would mean more
problems and more heartbreak. I knew how difficult it was to find genuine
love, whatever that meant. Maybe it was just studies that stressed her
out. Just a mood swing or just a test to see if I still love her! Whatever
it was, she seemed better after she got some booze.
Suddenly life seemed so depressing that I felt like running away from it,
of course, taking Rene along with me. I was sure Elliot would chase and
kill us, if we did that. Maybe we all needed a change - A change that will
recharge our lives. I suddenly knew what we all needed to do.
I woke up Willow at
seven and she almost bashed me up. But I couldn't contain my excitement!
She agreed to my plan in an instant, even though it meant missing a couple
of classes. Next, I called up Laura and she was game too. She told me Rene
was at a friend's place and gave me his mobile number.
It wasn't easy calling him. The last time we talked on the phone, things
were different. For one, we were two gay guys talking like straight ones.
I finally dialed his number after four failed attempts.
A drowsy voice answered, "Hello?"
"Rene..?"
"Yeah..whoz this?"
Your grandma!.
"It's Jesse."
"Jes...what's it like? six am?"
"It's nine Rene."
"Ohhh fuck it's nine? I've got class! I'll call you later...ok?"
"Hey wait...we're all planning on a long weekend trip, leaving town tonight
and skipping Friday classes. Are you in?"
"Hmm...I don't know man..."
"Come on!"
"What the fuck, we'll make it!"
"Cool! I'll call you
later. Bye"
We'll make it? What the fuck?
For the next five minutes I sat analyzing what Rene had just said. We'll
make it. Who is we? I knew it could mean Laura & himself. Or...it could mean
himself and Elliot. Ohh...why was Elliot ever born? He seems to exist only
to make my life miserable.
I started for the university thinking about my plan & the possibilities.
And there were no Elliots in it.
After thinking about a
dozen destinations, we finally thought of Wilmington Beach. After
finalizing everything, I was very excited about the whole trip. And then
Rene called.
"So we're going tonight?"
"Yup."
"Jesse...can I ask you something..."
"Yeah.."
"You don't mind right..."
"Don't mind what?"
"I mean Elliot coming..."
"I don't have a problem..." as long as you're with me.
"Thanks man."
"OK...I've got to pack...see you tonight"
"Bye"
So Elliot was coming with us after all. I suddenly didn't want to go, but
I knew I had to. I had to do it for Willow. There was no looking back.
Willow and I were
standing at the train station waiting for Laura, Rene and you know who.
Part of me wanted to go back home and sleep!
"I really needed this, Jesse," Willow said.
"I know."
"Why aren't these people here yet?"
"I've no idea..."
"OHH!...I see them!"
Laura & Rene were running towards us.
After taking a deep breath, Laura spoke, "Are we late?"
"You will be in five minutes..." I replied smiling.
Rene looked incredibly sexy with his cute back pack, carrying a navy blue
bag. I could pounce on him right then and rip apart his clothes. I smiled
at my own evil thoughts.
Someone was missing.
"Where's Elliot?" I asked, curious.
Rene spoke, "Ohhhh...his mother fell sick, he won't be coming...I'm really
sorry Jesse..."
Fantastic! My dream trip was going to come true...
To be continued...