Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:21:27 -0400
From: jaden.scott@adelphia.net
Subject: Lover's Lane, Chapter 10

This story is a work of fiction.  It depicts a romance between two
consenting adult males and may contain some descriptions of sexual acts,
again between two consenting adult males.  If you are not of legal age to
read this kind of story, please leave now.  If you reside in an area where
reading stories that include sexual situations between two consenting adult
males is illegal, please leave now.  This story is for entertainment
purposes only.  Any similarity to any person(s) living or dead is simply a
coincidence.  The author retains all rights to this story.  It cannot be
reproduced in any form without expressed written permission from the author
(me).  Please contact the author for any requests. Copyright 2005.

Feedback (and criticism) is ALWAYS appreciated and welcome.  Please respond
to this story at: jaden.scott@adelphia.net I look forward to hearing from
all of you and I will respond if you write to me.  Thanks to all of you who
have written so far with your encouraging words.  I have appreciated every
one of them.  Jaden

**Please watch for changes in POINT-OF-VIEW.  They will be coming more
frequently, so I want everyone to be prepared and pay attention.**

LOVER'S LANE

by Jaden

>From the end of Chapter Nine (Jaden's POV):

Let's concentrate on becoming his friend.  I will be satisfied if I can do
that.  Jaden and Lane--good friends, maybe best friends.  I like the sound
of that.

CHAPTER TEN: BASKETBALL, PART 1

**PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS NEXT SECTION IS BEING TOLD FROM LANE'S POINT OF
VIEW.**

Nick and I walked onto the outdoor basketball courts at the local park and
scanned the area for our friends.  It was two o'clock on Saturday
afternoon--time for our weekly basketball game.  Jaden and I had parted
ways soon after finishing our run that morning.  I knew I was going to lose
the bet that we had made, but having that knowledge didn't make me feel any
better when it actually happened.  I was a competitive person--I didn't
like to lose.  I guess losing to Jaden took some of the sting out of my
defeat--plus now I owed him a dinner.  We hadn't set a day or time for the
dinner when we were together today, so I figured we would talk about it
after one of our work-out sessions next week.  We had agreed to meet at
6:45AM in front of the student gym on Monday morning.  For the first time
ever, I was actually looking forward to a Monday morning!!

I saw the rest of our friends on the far end of the park near our favorite
court.  Nick and I hurried over to them.

"Hey Nick, Lane.  Right on time.", Stu greeted us.  Nick and I bumped fists
with all of the guys.

"How's it hanging, Stu??  Ready to suffer another year of humiliation as I
whoop your ass on the court??", Nick asked, an evil smile forming on his
face.

"In your dreams, Garvey.  But--who knows??  Maybe you will have a chance of
beating me this year.  I mean--you can't miss ALL of your three-point shots
like you did last year.  I don't think that's statistically possible.
Still we are talking about YOU, so I guess anything can happen.", Stu shot
back at Nick.

'And let the games begin', I thought to myself.  We hadn't even started
playing yet and those two were already going at it.  They both loved to
trash talk, especially to each other.  This was our third year playing this
weekly 3 on 3 game, and Nick and Stu NEVER played on the same team.  They
were good friends off of the court, but on it, they were fiercely
competitive with each other.  Neither of them were like that with the rest
of us.  I asked Nick hundreds of times about his rivalry with Stu and why
Stu got his competitive juices flowing, but he never gave me any clue as to
why they wanted to beat each other so badly.  The rest of us were there to
have fun, so we didn't mind that Nick and Stu were the team captains each
week.  In one of our earliest games, Nick and Stu had almost come to blows
over who would get to pick first to make teams.  After some negotiation,
they had agreed to a coin toss. with the winner getting the first pick.  In
reality, all the coin toss did was determine whose team I played with.  I
was the best player in the group, and the team I was on won about 90% of
all of the games we played.

"OK, girls, let's settle down now.", Tim cracked at the two of them.

I looked around and noticed that we only had five players.  Our regular
sixth player had graduated at the end of last year.  Nick had said that Stu
was going to try to find another guy to play with us.

"Hey Stu, were you able to find another player to join Us?", I asked him.

"Fuck no.  I asked all of the guys in my house, but everyone was going to
the damn football game today.", Stu replied.

"That sucks.  I guess we'll have to play two on two then.  One guy will
have to sit out each game.", I said.

"If Stu's playing, then I'm playing.  End of story.  One of you other guys
will have to rotate out.", Nick boldly declared.

"You'll have to sit out a turn just like the rest of us, got it Nick??",
Clint said.  His tone was very harsh, completely out of character for him.

"OK, Ok--you don't have to take my head off.  Geez--let's get started.",
Nick responded.

Nick looked over at me and raised his eyebrows while tilting his head
toward Clint.  Something was going on with him--it wasn't like Clint to
raise his voice to any of us.  I just shrugged my shoulders and turned my
attention back to the rest of the guys.

Stu won the coin toss, so I found myself on his team this week.  Nick
picked Clint to play with him, leaving Tim to take the first break on the
bench.

We played a bunch of games over the next two hours.  Eventually, we played
through every combination of guys possible with the only exception being
that Nick and Stu were never on the same team, of course.  I was happy with
my play today--my team had won all the games we played in except for my
pairing with Tim.  Tim had alot of heart, but he wasn't the greatest
basketball player in the world.  He could, however, kick my ass at any
video game we played together--I guess everyone has their own individual
talents.

After we were finished playing, we sat down on some metal bleachers that
lined one side of the court we had been playing on.  Clint seemed to be in
a much better mood now than he was before we started playing--maybe he was
able to let out some of his frustrations on the court.  I made a mental
note to talk to him later on and see what was troubling him.  I would offer
to help him out in any way that I could.  The great thing about my group of
friends is that when one of us was in need, the others would all pull
together and make an effort to help out the ailing party.

"We really need to find a sixth guy to play with us.  I didn't enjoy
playing two on two as much as I do our usual games.", Tim commented.

"That's because you were required to actually play today, instead of
letting your two teammates carry your sorry ass.", Stu grumbled.

"Fuck you.", Tim shot back at Stu.

"I agree with Tim.", Nick spoke up.  "Can't any of you guys think of
someone you can ask to play with us??"

Everyone was silent for a moment, so Nick continued.

"You asked EVERYONE at your frat house, Stu??"

"Hey, I'm just a frustrated as you are, Nick.  And--I did ask everyone, but
no one was interested.  I don't know, maybe next week I can ask again and
one of them will change their minds.  I don't understand why anyone would
want to go watch our suck-ass football team anyway!!"

"Tim??  Clint??  Can't you think of anyone--maybe someone in one of your
classes??", Nick asked again.

Both guys reiterated that they couldn't think of anyone they could ask.  I
had a real dilemma going on inside of my head.  Should I go ahead and
reveal the fact that I knew someone who MIGHT want to play??  I wasn't sure
if Jaden would say yes if I did ask him.  I hadn't asked him to come today
because I didn't want him to feel like I was asking him to do too many
things with me so quickly after we met--that might scare him off.  The
other thing to consider was that I was going to raise some
suspicions--ESPECIALLY Nick's--if I mentioned Jaden to the guys.  I really
wanted Jaden to play with us, and if I didn't say anything now, one of the
other guys might eventually find someone to play with us and then I
wouldn't be able to ask Jaden.  I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers,
and hoped for the best as I made my decision.

"I might know a guy I can ask.", I said as casually as I could.

Nick turned his head so fast to look at me that I thought he was going to
give himself whip-lash.

"Really?? Who is it, Lane??," Stu asked me excitedly.

"Just a guy I met while I was out running this morning.", I lied.  "We
talked for a few minutes after we both finished running.  His name is Jaden
and he seems like a cool guy."

Nick was studying me very intensely.  I knew that I had to look at him and
hold some of his stare, otherwise he was going to see right through my lie.

"Do you think he'll want to play??", Tim asked me.

"I'm not sure, Tim.  I just met him this morning and we only spoke briefly.
He looked pretty athletic, so he might be interested.", I said.  I was
trying desperately to remain nonchalant about this whole subject.

Nick was still eyeing me.  I was starting to get unconfortable under his
gaze but I vowed that I wouldn't let him break me.  He finally stopped
staring and asked,

"How do you know that you'll even see him again to ask??  You only spoke to
him for a few minutes, right??  What are the chances of you bumping into
him again next week??  His voice was full of suspicious tones.

He was good, I had to give him that.  He was setting a trap, hoping I'd
fall right into it.  Luckily, I've known Nick for a long time, at least
long enough to anticipate some of his moves.  I was able to come up with a
lie, oops I mean answer, almost instantly.

"We talked about working out and exercising, that sort of thing.  I'm
pretty sure he said that he works out at the student gym.  I'm can't be
completely sure I'll run into him this week, but if I do, I'll ask him if
he wants to play with us.", I replied.  I felt good about my
answer--hopefully Nick would buy my story.

"Sounds good, Lane.  Hopefully you'll bump into him, but if not, let me
know by Friday at the latest and I'll ask around my house again.", Stu said
to me.

Everyone seemed to accept my story about Jaden with no problem--except for
Nick.  I could tell by the look he had on his face that he wasn't
completely buying my whole story, but thankfully he let it slide for the
moment.

"OK, it's time for me to take off.  I need to get home and shower because I
have a date with my beautiful lady tonight!!!", Nick exclaimed.

'Me too' was spoken almost simultaneously by Clint, Tim, and Stu.  They all
started to laugh, Nick included, once they realized what had happened.  I
forced a smile to appear on my face, but inside I felt very alone all of
the sudden.  They all have dates tonight which means I'm stuck home alone
watching a movie or playing a video game.  I quickly realized that I needed
to act happy and normal--if any one of them thought I was upset or
depressed, they would be asking me to join them on their dates tonight.  I
really hoped they wouldn't ask--I hated to be the third wheel.  In my group
of friends, I had been the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth wheel at
various times.  I really didn't feel like going through that tonight.

Nick, Tim. Clint, and I headed back to our house while Stu went to his
fraternity house.  Nick kept looking at me during the entire walk home, but
he didn't say anything to me, even though I knew he was extremely curious
about Jaden.  Since Zach, I didn't talk about guys anymore, so I knew that
he knew it was a big deal that I said anything at all about Jaden.  I was
hoping that he would leave me alone for a few days.  I needed to figure out
the mystery of the alluring Jaden Scott and exactly what my feeling were
for him.

**SWITCHING TO JADEN'S POINT-OF-VIEW**

The next week seemed to fly by and, before I knew it, it was Friday
morning.  It was hard to believe that it had only been one week since I had
met Lane.  While the week seemed to go by pretty fast, I was starting to
feel like I had known Lane for alot longer than that.  I thought back to
the events of the previous week.

As usual, I spoke to my parents on Sunday night.  I would speak with each
of them individually at least a couple of times each week, but on Sunday
nights they would call me together so we could have a family discussion.  I
did not mention anything about Lane to either of my parents that first
Sunday night.  I wanted to wait until I had my emotions under control (or
at least under better control) before I spoke to them about him.  To be
honest, I wasn't sure what my parent's reaction was going to be in regards
to Lane.  I had not made any friends since "IT" had occurred, so my initial
instinct told me that my parents SHOULD be very happy that I was (finally)
starting to make friends again.  I definitely didn't want to reveal that I
had some strong feeling for Lane.  My parents had been awesome in accepting
me when I made my declaration that I was gay.  However, we had never spoken
about it again, mostly because the issue never came up.  I was still afraid
of what my parent's reaction would be toward me if they heard me talking
about a guy that I liked, or actually saw the two of us together.  I
figured we would all have to go through a period of adjustment.  Of course,
sometimes I felt like we would never have to deal with this situation
because I would never be ready to date anyone.

Lane and I had not seen or talked to each other that Sunday, and I have to
admit I was actually happy to have a Lane-free day.  I needed the time away
from him--especially because it gave me a chance to come to terms with my
knowledge that Lane had a girlfriend, or at least that he was straight.
When I finally did see him, I found that I had a difficult time figuring
out how to act around Lane, at least for the first few day of the week.  My
lack of social skills became more and more evident to me as each day
passed.  I felt so awkward everytime I was around him, which led to me
feeling stupid for acting so awkward, which caused me to become acutely
aware of my awkwardness.  It was a vicious circle.  For his part, Lane
either didn't notice or didn't let on he knew I was struggling.  He never
made fun of me and always played off an awkward moment for a laugh.  He was
really amazing.

Why did he have to be so amazing??  My mind was jumbled with mixed emotions
which, for me, was par for the course.  I was really starting to like Lane,
and I was having fantasies that involved us being together, which was
something I kept trying to tell myself I wasn't ready for.  I let myself
accept the fact that I found him physically attractive.  I think I could
have handled feeling that way with very little long term problems.  His
personality was just so...electric, however, that I found myself being
drawn to him.  It was like I was a moth that couldn't keep away from the
flame.  I couldn't help myself--the more of a three-dimensional person he
became in my eyes, the more I wanted him.

There was a part of me that was slamming on the brakes as hard as possible.
First of all, he was straight AND had a girlfriend.  True, I knew that he
had never once said those words directly, but he did talk about 'Kelly' at
the track last Saturday I had convinced myself that she had to be his
girlfriend!!  I think a part of me needed Kelly to be his girlfriend
because, if she was, then that made him unavailable for me.  Plus, I was
still dealing with my own personal shit.  The sexual abuse I had suffered
as a young boy acted as a powerful determent.  It made me NOT want to view
Lane as a potential 'relationship material'.

For the first time in years, I started to wonder again how different my
life would have been if I had never gotten into that car with Leon.  Who
would I be right now??  What would I be doing in my life??  Would I still
be here, in this exact same college, taking the exact same major, dealing
with the exact same situation??  Would I have even met Lane??  Everything
happens for a reason, at least that's what my mother taught me.  What was
the reason I had to suffer through something as horrific as I did??  Was
there a 'silver lining' in my situation, something good I could find that
happened as a result of the ordeal that I had endured??  I felt compelled,
at times, to try and find a something positive that resulted from my
kidnapping and molestation.  Up until now, I hadn't been able to come up
with anything, but I was starting to believe that meeting Lane just might
be the 'something good' I was searching for.

I was CONFUSED and feeling very unsure of myself and my emotions.  I hoped
(desperately) that, in time, I would be able to see things more clearly. to
see this situation in black and white.  Unfortunately, everything seemed so
gray to me, and, as a result, I was drowning in a sea of my own mixed
emotions.

George sulked around the apartment as I got ready to go to the Student Gym
on Friday morning.  He had always hated it when I went someplace without
him, but I was starting to suspect his bad moods weren't simply for that
reason.  George seemed to be getting increasingly more excited to see Lane
on the days we met to go running.  It was so simple for George--he liked
Lane and he had no problem showing his affection.  I could learn alot from
my dog.

The gym was more crowded than it usually was that morning.  Lane and I met
by the front door of the gymn and went inside.  After storing our bags and
checking in, we pushed ourselves through an unusually intense work-out
session.  Lane was noticeably more quiet than he normally was.  I tried not
to be too concerned about his mood, but by the end of our work-out I was
starting to become nervous that he was mad at me for some reason.  I wasn't
sure if we were good enough friends yet for me to ask him if anything was
wrong, so I kept quiet.

After we finished our workout, we walked to the point where each of us went
separate ways to get back to our homes.  I hadn't worked up enough courage
to ask Lane where he lived, but a logical conclusion was that he lived on
one of the streets near to me.  He never asked me where I lived either.
Just as I was about to say goodbye to Lane, he started speaking.

"So, Um...I was wondering...are you free tomorrow afternoon??"

My curiousity was instantly peeked.  Was I free for Saturday afternoon??
My heart started pounding in my chest--what was he asking me??  Is...is
he...is he asking me...out??  Like....on a..a..date??

"Tomorrow?? Afternoon?? I, uh, I don't have anything planned right now.
Why...why do you ask??"

One of the longest seconds of my life was the second it took him to answer
my question.

"Well, a group of us--some of my other friends--we get together and play
basketball on Saturday afternoons---we like to play 3 on 3 but our sixth
player graduated last year so we are missing a player and last week we had
to play two on two and none of us really liked it so all of us were trying
to find someone to join the game and I was wondering if you'd like to come
and play...with us...tomorrow...afternoon...at the basketball courts over
in the park."

All of that came rushing out of his mouth in one incredibly long run on
sentence.  I wasn't sure if he was ever going to stop talking!!  He seemed
so nervous to be asking me--I thought it was so cute!!  Dammit Jaden!!
Stop thinking this guy is cute!!  And, wait a minute--what did he just
say--some of his 'other' friends??  Does that mean, like, we are FRIENDS
too??

"You're asking if I want to play basketball with you and your friends??"

"Yeah, but don't feel obligated.  I'm not sure if you like to play, but I
thought I'd ask."

What to do, what to do.  I wasn't sure because I hadn't picked up a
basketball in YEARS, let alone played in a game.  In fact, I thought, when
WAS the last time I played basketball??  I wasn't sure of the exact date,
but it was before "IT" happened, so it had to be at least 11 or 12 years
ago.  Do I remember how to play the game??  I didn't want to go out there
and make a total fool out of myself, especially in front of Lane!!

On the other hand, he did ask ME to play, so I guess that meant he WANTED
me to play, which meant that he wanted to hang out with me in a different
setting and do something else with me besides working out.  Of course, the
black cloud of doom felt obligated to show up right at that moment and
chime in.  What if I'm the last person he has asked??  I mean--what if he
has asked EVERYONE else that he knows, and now I'm his last choice because
all other options failed??  What should I do??

I must have hesitated too long in answering him, because Lane suddenly
said,

"If you don't want to play, that's cool.  I just thought you might want to.
You definitely look athletic enough to play in our game.  Not that it's
rough or anything, but we do like to be competitive."

"I'll play."

I'm not sure exactly why I agreed to play.  All of the sudden I heard the
words coming out of my mouth.  I wasn't sure if I really meant them, but I
didn't want to take them back and risk looking like an idiot in front of
Lane.

The thoughts I had after I agreed to play were obliterated by the look of
happiness and the huge smile that broke out on Lane's face when he realized
I said yes.  If that's all it took to see this expression on his face, I'd
play basketball with him for the rest of my life.

"You will??  Awesome!!", he said excitedly.  "The game starts at 2PM over
on the outdoor courts at the park unless it's raining then we play on the
indoor courts over at the recreation center and you'll get to meet the
other guys they are really great and I'm sure you'll like them alot so if
you have any questions about the game we can talk tomorrow at the track."

I got another run-on sentence, but I didn't care because he seemed so
thrilled that I was playing.  I wish he'd stop being so damn adorable!!

"It will be alot of fun, I promise.  Whoa, look at the time!!  I've got to
get going!!  I'll see you tomorrow at the track, OK??  Catch ya later,
dude!!"

And with that, we bumped fists (I was learning some things hanging around
with Lane) and he took off running down the street.  He never gave me a
chance to respond to anything he had just said in the last few seconds.  I
don't know--maybe he didn't want me to change my mind.  Regardless, I
thought to myself, 'Where did all of that come from??'.  I'd never seen him
act like that--so nervous and unsure of himself--in the short time that I
knew him.

I couldn't help but smile at his antics--and I found myself staring at him
as he ran down the street.  He's certainly making my life much more
interesting.  I was really glad that we met.

SHIT!!  I'm going to be playing basketball!!  With Lane and his friends!!
I really hope I can pull it off or at least keep myself from looking
ridiculous.  I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

TO BE CONTINUED

I have received a number of comments that say the story is moving at the
right speed and an equal number of comments that tell me to move it along a
little bit faster.  All I can say is I'm trying to be true to our two main
characters as I pace out this story.  These two characters--especially
Jaden--have been through some traumatic things.  I don't think I do them
any justice by having them get together too quickly.  Even though we are on
chapter 10, please remember that only two weeks of real time have passed by
in the story.  Please be patient with me--I'm trying to position these two
characters so they are ready for something more.  It will take some more
time, though, so be prepared.  Jaden

Be on the lookout for Chapter 11 coming very, very soon!!!

FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK---This is lifeblood for us writers, so please
drop me a quick line.

Remember, I have a new e-mail address.  Use: jaden.scott@adelphia.net
Thanks, Jaden.