"Trevor," Chad said, making me pull my gaze away from Sebastian.  "You're going with us to Glen's house after practice, aren't you?"  Mrs. Anderson turned around to see who was talking, but we both acted casual.  She went on with her lecture.

     "No, I'm busy after practice," I whispered back.  Instinctively, I looked across the room at Sebastian and he smiled when our eyes met.  I smiled back playfully.  I was head over heals in love with Sebastian.  I couldn't wait to see him after practice.  I looked over at Chad and saw him looking down at his book vacantly.  He must not have heard me respond.

     The bell finally rang and Sebastian walked right up to me.  I was hoping Chad would leave, but as usual, he stuck around to talk to me.  "So, you're coming over after practice?" Sebastian asked me, his voice so quiet I could almost not hear him.  He obviously didn't like talking in public.  I didn't mind though.  I thought it was cute.

     "Yeah," I said.  "I should be over a little after five."  Sebastian shot Chad a look and then walked out of the room.  I turned back to Chad who was definitely upset.

     "Okay.  What the hell is going on?"  It appeared that my little charade was over.

     "What do you mean?" I asked annoyed.  Chad had no right to dictate who I could hang out with and I knew that was what bothered him.

     "You're not going to Glen's house because you have to study Algebra with that geek?  What's going on?"

     "Sebastian's not a geek," I said quickly.  Chad was starting to piss me off.  I didn't like getting into arguments with other players on the team, but no one was going to talk about Sebastian that way.

     "Whatever," Chad said and walked out the door.  I tried to think if I had been neglecting the team, but this was going to be only the second time I was hanging out with Sebastian.  Chad's behavior was completely uncalled for.

     I was going to have to confront him about, I figured.
 
 

     I sat down at the lunch table next to Vanessa and she looked over and said, "Hi sweety."  She leaned over and kissed me and I quickly looked over at Sebastian's usual table.  He was sitting there eating and reading his book as usual.

     I sat at the table eating for a while as everyone else screamed for attention.  I wanted to go over and sit with Sebastian so bad.  I thought about it for a while and then thought, fuck it.  I was crossing a million social barriers, but I didn't care.  I stood up with my tray and Vanessa looked up at me.  "Where are you going?"

     "I'm going over to sit with my friend Sebastian."  A few people at the table watched me curiously, but none so much as Vanessa.  She seemed absolutely horrified at the prospect of me sitting somewhere else.

     "What for?" she finally asked in amazement.

     I shrugged my shoulders.  "I don't know."  With that, I walked over and sat across from Sebastian.  He looked up and gave me a look of surprise that almost beat Vanessa's.  "Hello my prince," I said smiling.

     He smiled when he realized I had come to stay.  "Hey, Trevor."  He was beaming now, unable to hide his joy.  "How are you?"

     "Pretty good," I responded.  I began to eat my lunch as if I sat here everyday.  Sebastian closed his book and folder his hands in front of him.

     "So, do you think you understood the Algebra lesson a little bit better today?"

     I put my sandwich down and took a sip of my milk.  "To be perfectly honest, I don't think so.  I was studying something else last night."  He blushed a little when he caught my hidden meaning.

     Before I knew what was happening, Mike and Vanessa sat down on each side of me with their trays.  I couldn't believe this was happening.  "Thought you could lose us, hey Trevor?" Mike said loudly.  He stuck his hand out toward Sebastian.  "Hi.  I'm Mike," he said.  That was Mike for you.  Too outgoing for his own good.

     "Sebastian," he responded, taking Mike's hand quickly and then letting it go.  I looked over at Vanessa and realized Mike had put her up to this.  She definitely didn't want to be at this table.

     "So how did you meet Trevor?" Mike asked, his voice booming.  I figured Mike's outgoing personality was scaring Sebastian, but Mike was a good guy.  He wouldn't embarrass Sebastian to bad.  Hopefully.

     "Well," Sebastian said nervously.  "He was in my Algebra class and..."

     "Trevor's my little math whiz," Mike said, messing my hair up with his hand.  Mike was the type of guy who didn't have time for someone else to complete their sentence.  You couldn't help but like him though.

     Vanessa's friend who always sat across from her was the next visitor to our table.  She sat down right next to Sebastian and started talking to Vanessa, not even bothering to introduce herself.  I have my own little following, I thought.  I was about to find out how right I was.  In no time at all, the table had turned into a circus.  People from my original table were migrating to the new one and before I knew it, everyone was here.  And me and Sebastian were right in the middle of the mad house.

     I had never seen Sebastian look so frightened.  I felt bad for bringing this down on him.  He wasn't the type of guy that liked being in large groups like this.  "Hey, Trevor," he tried to say over the crowd noise.  I leaned in so I could hear him better.

     "Yeah?" I asked.

     "I have to get class," he said.  I had never seen him leave lunch early to get to class so I knew he just wanted to get away.

     "Okay," I said.  "I'll see you after practice then."  Sebastian stood up and grabbed his backpack and walked out of the cafeteria.  Once again, I was at the table with a lot of the football team and their girlfriends.  So much for my brilliant idea, I thought.

     I thought I heard some of the guys at the end of the table talking about Sebastian, but I looked down at them and they started talking about something else.  It was probably just my imagination.  Finally, the lunch period was over and we all filtered out into the brisk afternoon.
 
 

     The snow that had fallen the night before had melted instantly when it had hit the ground and the next day you didn't even know it had fallen.  Football practice went just like every other day, but I could tell Chad was definitely upset.  He dropped most of my passes and always came back to the huddle complaining that I had thrown bad ones.

     I was going to talk to him about it after practice, but he was gone as soon as the coach dismissed us.  I figured I would just talk to him tomorrow in class.  I went straight home to shower and change and rode my bike over to Sebastian's.  I was surprised when I saw three cars in the driveway instead of just two.  I figured one of his brother's friends must have been over.

     I rang the doorbell and his mom once again answered.  "Hi, Trevor," she said, taking my jacket again.  "Sebastian and Shannon are up in his room."  Shannon?  I headed up to his room and found the door slightly open again, so I pushed it open and walked in.  There was a girl laying on the bed flipping through a magazine and she looked up when I walked in.  She instantly got up when I did.

     "Trevor McClain?" she said in amazement when I walked in.

     Sebastian walked over and said, "Trevor, this is my friend Shannon."

     I shook her hand, but she still had the same perplexed expression on her face.  She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes.  She was rather beautiful.  "Have we met before?" I asked.  It was kind of embarrassing having to ask that all the time when someone recognized me.  Sometimes I met people at parties and totally forget about them.

     "Oh," she said, suddenly realizing how she must have looked.  "Sorry.  I've just heard so much about you."  I looked over at Sebastian and he just smiled.  I wondered if she meant she had heard a lot about me from Sebastian or just from school.

     "Hey, do you want to go to a coffee shop that me and Shannon go to sometimes?" Sebastian asked me.  Shannon was still giving me the same disbelieving look as she had when I walked in.  She was just trying harder to hide it.

     "Sure," I said.  We went downstairs and Sebastian ran off to tell his mom we were leaving.  Shannon still wasn't taking her eyes off me and I started to feel uncomfortable.  She wasn't seeing right through me like Eric had, but she definitely knew something I didn't.  Sebastian came back to the front door and we grabbed our jackets and headed out to her car.

     "I'm really sorry about what happened at lunch," I said to Sebastian before we got in.

     "It's no problem.  You're just a popular guy.  It's not your fault."  The way he said it wasn't my fault that I was popular made it sound like there was something wrong with it.  I was a bit confused, but soon we were on our way.

     I didn't say much on the ride there because I was too in shock at how open Sebastian was with Shannon.  In school, he seemed like he was quiet and reserved all the time, and while he was still no where near being like Mike, he was open and carefree with Shannon.  They joked and talked about everything they could think of.  They seemed to share many inside jokes and I could tell they had known each other a long time.

     "You're pretty quiet today," Sebastian said, looking back at me from the front seat.

     I shrugged my shoulders in response.  "I'm kind of tired."  To be honest, I was actually hoping it would just be me and him hanging out today.  Last night had been one of the most intense nights of my life and I just wanted to do it again and again.  I didn't think I would have the chance with Shannon around.

     We finally arrived at the small coffee shop at the edge of town and went in.  I was surprised how many people were there that late in the afternoon.  There must have been ten other people there, and the place wasn't that big to begin with.  It would have been interesting to see how packed this place got on a Friday night.

     We took a small table by the window and Sebastian quickly went off to get our drinks.  Me and Shannon just sat there at the table in silence for a while before she began.  "I'm really sorry about the way I was acting at Sebastian's house.  I just can't believe you're the one he's been talking about."

     I was kind of uncomfortable talking about this with someone I had just met.  I began to wonder just how much she knew.  "Oh, he talks about me a lot?  All good things I hope."  I said it casually, attempting not to place any blame on him.

     "You have no idea," she said.  She leaned in so no one else would hear.  "He's completely in love with you."  My face must have visibly gotten flushed because she giggled a little.  Sebastian was telling people about us?  I was slightly hurt by the fact, but I figured he wouldn't just run off and tell anyone.  He and Shannon must have been closer than I had guessed.

     Sebastian came back with three drinks and set them on the table.  A look of concern crossed his face when he saw me.  "Is something wrong Trevor?"

     "No," I said quickly.  I opened one of the magazines on the table and began flipping through it.  I was going to have to talk to Sebastian later on.  Just because he was out to some people didn't mean he had to out me to them too.

     Sebastian and Shannon continued their playful conversation from the car and I hate to admit it, but I was getting a little jealous of her.  They were so close and I wanted to have that with Sebastian.  After about fifteen minutes Shannon excused herself and left for the bathroom.  Sebastian quickly leaned over and asked, "How do you like her?"

     "She's great," I said, still looking at the magazine.

     He must have realized I was upset because he stopped talking and instead grabbed the other magazine on the table and began looking through it.  As upset as I was, I couldn't stay mad at Sebastian long.  He was to damn cute.  I put my magazine down and leaned across the table.  "Does Shannon know about us?" I asked seriously.

     Sebastian looked up from his magazine.  "Yes," he answered slowly, unsure what my reaction would be.

     "Look Sebastian, you can't just go around telling people about us.  You may be out and all, but..."

     As I spoke, it appeared that Sebastian was about to break into tears so I stopped myself.  I didn't want to hurt Sebastian, my angel and my love, regardless of how disapproving I was of his action.  I looked around the room to make sure no one was looking and I reached across the table and put my hand on his.  "I'm sorry," I said.

     "No," he said softly.  "I'm the one that should be sorry.  I shouldn't have told Shannon about us without asking you first.  It's just that Shannon is my best and only friend.  We share everything together.  I just wanted you to meet her so you could like her just as much as I do."

     "I do," I said quickly.  He was looking down at his magazine again, too ashamed to look at me.  My hand was still on his and I began to run my fingers across his soft skin.  I wished to god that we were back on the street where we had first connected.

     I saw Shannon coming back to the table and I instinctively drew my hand back.  "Hey guys, I hate to say this," she said, "but we need to be going now.  My mom just paged me and said I had to do some stuff around the house."  We went out to her car and once again the two of them started their mindless banter that only good friends could enjoy.  I was definitely a third wheel when Shannon was around.

     We pulled up into Sebastian's driveway and we all got out.  "Trevor, did you want me to give you a ride home?" Shannon asked.  I looked down at my watch and realized what time it was.  As much as I wanted to stay here with Sebastian, I really had to get home.

     "Yeah.  Could you?  That would be great.  I'll just leave my bike here and get it later."

     We both said good-bye to Sebastian and got in the car.  He stood at the top of the driveway as we pulled out and I couldn't take my eyes off him.  His hands were clasped together in front of him and he just stared at us without going inside.  It looked like something was bothering him, but now that I thought about it, there always seemed to be something bothering him.

     "I hope you're not upset that Sebastian told me about you two," Shannon said.

     I looked over at her before looking back out my window.  "No, I'm over it.  You seem to be very close with Sebastian.  I trust you."

     "Yeah, we're really close." she said, her voice trailing off.  "Sometimes I feel that I'm all Sebastian has left."  She said it quietly, like she was speaking to herself but I had just overheard.  There was also something about the way she had said it that expressed that there was some underlying meaning.  "Well, now there's you too," she said quickly after she had finished.

     I pointed to where my house was she she pulled up into the driveway.  "Thanks for the ride," I said and started to get out.

     "Trevor," Shannon said, stopping me.  I looked back over at her.  She was looking right at me with the gravest look in her eyes.  "Take care of him," she said.  She was really worried about something and I couldn't figure out what it was.

     "I will," I said.  It was making me uncomfortable taking advice on relationships from this practical stranger.  I opened the door and stepped out and she pulled the car out of my driveway and drove off down the street.

     There was something about the way she was trying to protect Sebastian that didn't make sense.  She was treating him like a delicate piece of glass that would break if I squeezed to hard or didn't handle right.  Standing there in my driveway, I began to remember my encounter with Sebastian the night before when I had tried to kiss him.  He had said something that I hadn't really thought about at the time.  He had said, 'I can't have my heart broken again.  I won't be able to handle it.'

     Something had happened to Sebastian that Shannon knew about and it scared her to death that it would happen again.  I wondered who had broken Sebastian's heart.  Who could do that to such a wonderful guy?  At that moment, standing at the top of my driveway with the sun setting in front of me, I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to not hurt Sebastian.

     I would give my life to protect him if I had to.