Date: Sat, 6 May 2006 10:47:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: aero17justin@yahoo.com
Subject: Against the Grain: Chapter 1

Note: This story is not true by any means, nor based on any real situation;
however, the people in this story are in fact real people, but names have
been changed to protect those mentioned and myself. All comments or
suggestions can be sent to: aero17justin@yahoo.com

Chapter 1: Swear to Shake it Up

	As my alarm clock went off at 6:15 am, I rolled out of bed
wondering why my alarm clock had gone off so early. I usually do not wake
up until 7:15 am, as I don't have to arrive at school until an hour later
than anyone else -- the joy of having too many credits and being able to
have first period off! But as I stumbled across my room, I stepped on a
book and slipped; I hit the ground hard. Dazed and confused, I picked it
up: The Princeton Review: Cracking the AP U.S. History Test. Oh yeah, I had
my AP exam this morning. I wondered how I forgot, as I took the day before
off to study for about seven hours straight.
	I keep going until I reached the bathroom. I turned the water on,
went to the bathroom, put my contacts in, and stepped out of my boxers and
stripped off my t-shirt. Just like everyday, before I stepped in, I turned
on my IPOD and got in the shower. I let the warm water cascade over my
body, hopefully waking me up in the process. I stepped out, got dressed,
ate breakfast, and headed off to school. As far as I knew, today would be
totally normal other than my exam.
	As I reached the parking lot, I turned off my car and walked up to
the school, stopping to talk to friends and other people I knew who would
be taking the exam today as well. Because I was late, I went straight to
the library and sat down. Trying to get in a few more minutes of study, I
opened my book that I had fallen on earlier and immersed myself in the
history of the United States. I must have been concentrating pretty hard,
because I didn't even notice someone had walked up behind me.
	"You know, there's no point studying now; if you don't know it now,
you won't know it for the test, moron!"
	I turned around smiling. There was only one person who talked to me
like that: my best friend Keith. He and I had been best friends since
eighth grade; we always laugh about how we hated each other in seventh
grade, yet we didn't even know each other. He and I had been through so
much together the past four years. In eighth grade, we met for the first
time and became best friends; in ninth grade, I had come out to him,
thankfully, to a lot of support from him; in tenth grade, we had a falling
out after I had a huge fight with the girl that liked him, because I liked
him too; and now this year, we reunited and we're back to being as close as
ever.
	"Yeah, well, at least I know something! You'll be the one crying at
the end of it because you'll fail it miserably!"
	Failure; I definitely knew what that was like. After Keith and I
met in eighth grade, I had fallen head over heels for this kid. Words
cannot describe him at all. He is the nicest, sweetest, most caring guy I
have ever met; he always knows when I need someone to talk to and he never
has problems coming to me when he needs help; he is supportive and funny,
with that mixture between manly maturity and boyish immaturity. I didn't
know what my feelings were for him, but I always thought I truly did love
him. After I told him I was gay, he also found out I liked him. Much to my
utter surprise, he had not ended up hating me or hurting me or anything, he
was really cool with it and it made me love him even more. But part of my
always kept saying that if I waited, I'd get him; but the rest of me knew
he would never be mine.
	I really wanted to talk to him more, but they had to start the
test. However, the seating arrangement had him sitting in front of me, so I
couldn't complain, because he liked to turn around and mouth something or
smile or make some face to get me to laugh. He knew how stressed out I was
about this test, so getting me to laugh would be a Godsend, and he knew how
to do it.
	Now I won't bore anyone with the details of the exam, mostly
because I am not allowed to talk about it, but I will say afterwards, I was
mentally drained and exhausted. Keith could tell and I really appreciated
the hug he gave me afterwards as he told me I had done a great job and
probably passed with flying colors. The rest of the day went by quickly, as
the exam encompassed first through fifth periods, so I only had to endure
sixth and seventh.
	After seventh period, I always meet up with Keith and lot of my
other friends, including Keith's girlfriend (Remember that falling out in
tenth grade with that girl who liked Keith? Yeah, they started going out
shortly after that). Everyone was pretty excited because not only was it
Friday, but it was Cinco de Mayo, and the party had manifested itself in my
backyard. I got going pretty quickly so that I could get everything ready;
in reality, I really wanted it to be perfect for Keith. When Keith approved
of something I did, I always felt like I was on Cloud Nine; I had this
obsessive need for gratification when I did something.
	I had finished getting everything ready in my backyard for the
party: coolers were iced down, cups and sodas were out, the streamers and
pinata and sombreros were arranged around, the music was going, and the hot
tub was warm and bubbling. My backyard looked like one you would see in
Home and Garden; we had a beautiful pool and attached hot tub, rocks around
the pool with trees and plants, a gazebo in the side corner -- my backyard
was home to many parties. Shortly after, everyone began arriving, and the
food was brought out. We dug in and sat around, eating and drinking and
talking. We swam and sat in the hot tub and as the evening progressed, we
found ourselves sitting the gazebo talking.
	I wasn't sure what I was expecting to happen that night, but what
happened surprised me. Closer to eleven-thirty, only Keith, his girlfriend,
and I remained. We were talking about stuff that had been going on at
school and out of nowhere, Keith and his girlfriend start fighting. This
wasn't unusual, but most of the time, there was more than just me around to
see it. Normally, they just fight, make-up, and then that's it, its over;
sometimes there's a week or two long breakup, but against, not unusual for
them. What happened next surprised me, as Keith's girlfriend, obviously
very upset, proceeded to smack him in the face, proclaim their relationship
was over, and storm out of my backyard.
	Keith was stunned. He had tears in his eyes, but refused to let him
fall. I knew he was strong, but something like this tends to get one pretty
far down. So I did the only thing I could do, I pulled into a hug, trying
to reassure him everything would be okay. I didn't think things would get
that shook up at my party....