Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 12:50:56 -0600 From: Kit Darling Subject: A Rose Among Thorns *DISCLAIMER* This story contains depictions of male on male, graphic sexual interactions. The characters are highschool aged and sometimes have unsafe sex. ALWAYS USE A CONDOM! This is a complete work of fiction and any similarities to persons or events is purely coincidental. Enjoy the story and any feedback is welcome. CHAPTER 1 There I was, Corrigan Rose, walking down the hallway holding the hand of Moon Valley High's very own bad boy. The whole town of Moon Valley, Louisiana knew of his bad reputation. I could feel my cheeks burning as everyone in the hallway turned to see us. Most people were just surprised that Logan Black was holding the hand of another boy. He was known far and wide for his ability to get into almost any girl's pants. We stopped at my locker and I slowly put in the combination, knowing that everyone was watching to see what would happen next. I turned to Logan and he smiled before leaning into me and pressing his cherry flavored lips to mine. Okay so maybe I should back up. The weirdest thing about this whole situation is that I'm probably the absolute last person that Logan Black would ever even consider talking to. He's usually the kind of guy to go around making trouble for everyone. Smoking behind the school, getting wasted on a Wednesday, those are the kinds of things that Logan Black does. So this whole thing happened last week. I was standing in my room talking to my best friend Nolan. He's been my absolute best friend since fifth grade when he beat up Johnny Clapton for smashing chocolate pudding into my pretty blonde hair. We tell each other everything and of course I made the huge mistake to fall in love with him. Of course. Like, how absolutely cliché of me. Peggy Lee was spinning some sassy song on my record player while I gathered the courage to tell Nolan how I felt. Then I did the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life. He stood up to hug me because tears were streaming down my face. I pulled away from him just enough and then I went for it. I pushed my lips hard on his. I felt him get incredibly tense and I panicked a little. He tore backwards and pushed me away. "What the hell, Corrigan?!" I watched him raise his fist to punch me and I gasped. He turned and grabbed his backpack before making a beeline for the door. "Nolan, wait! Please, I'm so sorry!" I heard him go down the stairs as fast as he could and then he was gone. I stood in my room thinking how stupid I'd been. My life was over. There was no way Nolan would ever talk to me again. I noticed that he'd left his letterman's jacket. I put it on and laid down on my bed, sobbing. The next day I worked up the courage to go to school. I had Nolan's jacket in tow. I walked up to him cautiously. "Here, you left this at my place." I held out the jacket and Nolan grabbed it and stuffed it into his locker. He turned away from me. "I'm sorry, Nolan-" I began but then he cut me off. "Save it, Dude, that wasn't cool. I'm still a little miffed about it. Let's just pretend you never did it. I'll probably be fine by the end of the day but I need some space to think for right now." "I understand. It was a bad choice. I had just gotten in a fight with my boyfriend before you came over and I wasn't thinking straight," I lied right through my teeth. I had no boyfriend. There was no fight. I was just stupid enough to think Nolan may like me back. "Boyfriend? I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Nolan turned and eyed me. You didn't know because I don't have one, I thought. "Oh yeah, well we've only been dating for like a week. I read once that you shouldn't say the name of your man in the first week or it will jinx it," I was hoping that my story was believable enough that Nolan would forget all about how I kissed him. "Who is it?" He eyed me suspiciously. I panicked as I had no idea what to say. And that's when I noticed Logan Black walking down the hallway. "It's Logan Black..." why did I have to say a real life person? Why couldn't I have just made someone up? "Logan Black? Like ladies man Logan Black?" "Yep, that one. Here he comes now. I need to go see him," I rushed away and basically left skid marks on the ground with how fast I took off. Before I knew what I was doing I leaped into Logan's arms, wrapped my legs around his waist and planted a kiss right on his mouth. Nothing could have prepared me for what would happen next. Logan's body went rigid. Oh God this was a huge mistake. He's totally going to beat my ass like a drum. All of a sudden his arms wrapped around my waist and he kissed me back. Then I climbed down from his tall figure. "Thank you," I whispered. "You're welcome," he smiled and then I took off and went to class. Logan is in my algebra class and I was relieved to see that he was skipping today. Now what was I going to do? I had to figure out a strategy. I had lied to Nolan because I was stupid and kissed him. Logan was surprisingly chill about me kissing him but I'm one hundred percent sure that he won't do that again. He has a reputation to uphold. On my way out of the classroom I was grabbed roughly and dragged down an empty hallway. "What was that this morning?" It was Logan. I felt sick. My stomach lurched and I felt like I was going to pass out. "I uh... It was... I made a big mistake and I tried to fix it but that just made me make another mistake." "So what's the story then," Logan backed up and crossed his arms. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt and his pecs were bursting through. A flannel button up way tied around his waist and some tight jeans tucked into combat boots. "It's not important," I looked at my feet. "I think I deserve to know since you dragged me into this." "I kissed my best friend and it freaked him out so I told him that you and I have been dating for a week and that we got into a fight and I was emotional and wreckless and now we are made up and that's why I kissed him and then had to kiss you," I said the whole thing in one breath. I gasped for air when I finished. Logan kinda stood there and stared at me thinking about the whole thing. "Why me though?" "Because you were the first person I saw and I panicked." "So are you trying to make him jealous? Or were you doing it simply to explain why you kissed him?" "I don't know I guess... kinda both?" He put a hand on his chin and cocked his head at me. "I'm in." "What?" "I'll pretend to be your boyfriend." "Wait... What? That's not necessary..." "Well people were starting to think I'm predictable. If I have a short gay fling, they'll never see it coming. Also, to be honest I never really liked Nolan and this will be a great opportunity to get under his skin." "So you want to pretend date me?" Logan nodded. I eyed him suspiciously. He ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes. He was incredibly handsome. This could be a great way to get more respect around here, dating the school bad-ass. Really all we'd have to do is hold hands or something and I'd just talk about him and make up stories about him to tell Nolan. "Okay..." I said reluctantly. "Well I think we need to come up with terms and conditions or like... A contract." "What do you mean? Like so that I don't kiss you again?" embarrassment burned my face again. "No so that I know you will kiss me again. We gotta make this believable. I want us holding hands and at least one public kiss a day." "Logan are you pulling my chain? If this is just something you can use to make a sick joke on me-" "Dude, I'm not like that. I've beaten some ass in my day, but trust me, if I wanted to get your goat, I'd have it." I watch him to see even a flicker of wicked intentions. When I've decided this is legit I pull a pen and paper from my backpack. I scribble "Logan and Corrigan's Dating Contract" at the top of the page. "Rule number one, we can't tell ANYONE about the contract." "Rule two, Logan will be picking Corrigan up for school every morning and they will hold hands in the halls and share at least one kiss everyday." "Do you really think it's believable if you suddenly become boyfriend material and no longer a player?" I asked him looking up from the contract. "You've changed me? I'm a better person since I started dating you? No one will see that coming." "No one will believe that. No one in their right mind is going to believe that someone as plain as me could make someone as hot as you change." "Excuse me? You are far from plain, Corrigan. There's no way I'd date an ugly guy." I rolled my eyes. "Rule number three, Logan will not flirt or hook up with any girl as long as we are `dating'." "What? Why not?' "What if someone were to find out that you were cheating on me? I'd have to break up with you and the whole charade would be over. And you wouldn't very well be changed if you were hooking up with some random slut." He shrugged his shoulders in agreement. "Rule four, Corrigan is expected to attend every party that Logan goes to." "Logan, my daddy probably wont let me go to parties that are really late." "Dude, you are probably the kind that goes home and knits scarves instead of going out to be with friends. I bet your dad would be excited to see you making friends. He knows you're gay right? I'm sure he will also be excited that you have a boyfriend." "That's true I guess. Except the knitting. I do not knit." That's a total lie. I knitted the cute fox print sweater I was wearing right then. "Rule number five, Logan is expected to get Corrigan flowers at least once a month and write a note to him every day." "Flowers and a note? People are gonna think I'm gay- oh... Fine but don't expect anything extravagant." "I don't, I just want to be treated well by my boyfriend. That reminds me, how long is this thing gonna go on for?" "Till Christmas break?" "Oh..." For a minute I was thinking this solved my prom problems. "Or till Prom?" I was stunned it was like he'd read my mind. "Like after prom we break up?" "Sure." "Rule six, Logan must formally, cheesily, or extravagantly ask Corrigan to the junior prom." "Oh c'mon. This deal is mostly me bending over backwards," he poked me in the ribs, "Fine. Rule seven, Corrigan must help Logan pass that damned French class. If I don't pass, I can't be on the football team anymore." "Now remember this whole thing will have consequences." "Like?" "Well everyone is gonna think you are gay. You'll probably get a lot of guff for it." "So what? I'll kick the ass of anyone who steps to me. Or you. Anyone gives you grief tell me and I'll whoop `em." I blushed, "I think this looks good." I signed my name at the bottom and handed it to Logan. He signed his name and I folded up our contract and stuck it in my backpack. "I gotta get to class." Logan stood up and grabbed my hand and I stood too. "We start tomorrow?" "Deal." Logan leaned down and turned his face. "What are you doing?" "I expect a goodbye kiss, Boyfriend," my face got red again and I got on tip toes and kissed his cheek. *AUTHORS NOTES* I know that nobody really reads this part but I feel that it's important to say that there will be no sex in this story until chapter five. I wanted to set up the plot and characters before they start getting jiggy with it. Another important thing to know is that the town the characters live in, is not real, as far as I know. I am in the search for an editor and anyone interested should definitely email me. Lastly, I will try to submit a chapter every week. Don't count on it though as things come up and I go through writer's block. Thanks for reading! -Kit Darling