Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 02:26:17 +0000 From: Darren C Subject: Life Starts Again Chapter 2 You know the drill... If you arent of age, or are offended by homosexuals or the relations between them, turn back now. Thank you. Chapter Two: Rain It had been a week since Drew and Justin met and things were going well, Justin had been introduced to Drew's other friends, and he had plenty of them too. There was Joel, Chris, Rob, Matt, Jake, Ryan, and Melissa, Joanne, Katie, and Lauren. Matt didn't seem to like Justin much but it didn't bother him as Melissa and Lauren made up for that. Both were intelligent and very beautiful girls, both blonds, though Lauren's hair was longer and she was taller, Melissa was also a very kind and honest person, speaking her mind and you could tell just by looking at her that she didn't care what gender you were, if she had something to say, she'd say it. Lauren was more reserved and laid back, letting things go over her shoulder without a care in the world; and then there was Joanne, she was kind to everyone, which made her easy to get along with. She had short burgundy hair and deep-brown eyes, she was average size and about as tall as Justin himself. Joel and Chris were twins, but had different styles, which helped Justin tell them apart, Rob was tall and built, with a chiseled jaw, while Ryan was similar in build to Justin, but shorter. Matt was average sized, skinny and had an enflamed ego. In that week he had learned a lot about Drew, he once dated Katie, but they broke up, managing to stay friends. He liked the colors Green, Red and Blue; his favorite foods were Lasagna, French Fries and now Chicken Fettuccini. He was good at racing games but not FPS ones. And loved to watch movies, anywhere, with anyone, anytime. The only down side to meeting his friends were that a few seemed homophobic, specifically Matt and Ryan, who had made quite a few remarks about "Queers", Though Drew voiced his opinion that it wasn't their business, neither listened to him and always continued on with their conversation. "So how are things going?" Joanne asked as she took a seat beside Justin. "Not bad, little tired...had a lot of Math work to do last night so I didn't get to sleep until two or three am. You?" "I'm great, though to be honest, I'm getting bored with these guy's" She whispered. "They can be so boring sometimes. Its like they forget about reality and zone out... makes me was to scream sometimes" She gave a slight giggle. "Well...when they get talking, they just don't seem to stop..." "Boys suck. Except you of course, you're not a guy, you're Justin, there's a difference." She gave him a wink, something she had done every time she told him that. "And you're not a girl either, you Joe' there's a difference" Justin retorted with a laugh. "Want to go for a walk with me?" She asked, giving him her best pouty face. "Ok, sure. But lets not be gone too long its still cold outside" He said, standing up. "Guy's we'll be back in a bit, just going to stretch our legs" Justine explained as he and Joanne walked off. "Hurry back" Drew grinned. "...Or don't" Added Matt. "I'll be back as soon as possible just for you, Matt" Justin chimed in return. As Justin and Joanne rounded a bend outside the school, she pivoted quickly, grabbed him by the arm and pushed him against the wall. Talking a quick look around the area to make sure no one was there she returned her gaze to Justin. "Ok, no bullshitting anymore, spill" "Excuse me?" Justin was confused and startled not knowing what she would do next. "Drew. You like him a lot. It's easy to tell your gay... I just want to know why you haven't told us...we let you into our personal lives; you can at least do the same." "I don't think you could understand" He replied as he looked away from her. "You don't know that..." "You want to know why?" Justin sighed and placed a hand over Joanne's, silently asking her to release her grip on him, as she did he began again. "I haven't said anything because of what happened at my old school. My secret came out in a very... unnerving way to say the least. My art folder was stolen from me by some friends as a joke, they took the time to look through it and found private pictures I had drawn... to ad to my embarrassment, they photocopied the pictures, wrote my name all over them and put them all over the walls..." Justin held back tears as he gathered himself to go on. It had been a while since he thought about that day, he pushed it so far back into his mind that it was almost like it was happening all over again, as if that one moment were replaying the harsh reality in which he existed. "They told me they couldn't be friends with a queer, a faggot, and so on, about a month after that, I started to get beat up, at first I was just shoved into lockers, something I could handle with ease. Then one day someone beat me up so badly I went to the hospital with a broken rib and arm. The guy who did it was expelled and we had charges pressed, but he told me if I stayed, he'd come back for me. My parents, knowing I was gay before I did told me we were going to move, have a fresh start. It was about two weeks later when the transfer request went through at my dad's office and we would have to move here to this town, and here I am, with the promise that I wont ruin my new friendships with everyone by telling them I'm queer. I don't want to suffer the same problems I had at my old school, I don't want to lose my friends..." "You think that Drew is that shallow to actually hate you because you're gay? If anything, he'll be more ticked that you didn't tell him you were" "It's not about Drew though, it's about me and my life...I cant take the chance of all this shit happening again" "I promise, this will stay between us. But to be honest, I think you should tell Drew...and protect that art folder of yours...Matt and Ryan may try something similar." "Thanks for... listening... but can we go back in now? Its cold and frankly, I need to sit down before my legs give out on me" "You just want to ogle Drew some more, don't you?" She said with a nudge to Justin's arm. "Its cold...but yeah, I do..." "Where did you two go to? And what were you doing?" Winked Drew. "Joe' and I went for a walk, and we had a little talk too... What's it to ya!" Justin joked. "Sure..." "Drew...don't start, or I'll have to beat you up, and you don't want to see my wrath!" Joanne said, holding up a fist. "I'm scared now" He replied sticking his tongue out. "Ok children, calm down or I'll send you to opposite ends of the cafeteria" said Chris. When it was time for Justin to go to History class at the end of lunch, he got up and started to walk by himself, telling Drew he'd see him in class, He liked walking by himself as it gave him time to think about things that had been on his mind without interruption, though he also liked having company too. This time as he walked down the hall, he clutched his artwork tighter in a paranoid fashion, remembering what happened the last time, but he didn't get very far before Drew caught up with him and gave him a pat on the back which almost sent Justin jumping from his skin . "Hey, you shouldn't walk to class alone!" Drew said. "Wow, I must have gave you a scare, you look like you saw a ghost. "I don't need a bodyguard, I can take care of myself, I am a big boy now" Justin joked. It seemed that all he did now a days. He could never say how he really felt or what he really thought, every time his mind would become overwhelmed with a joke and he would say the first that came to mind. "However, you did startle me, I was deep in thought so I didn't except that.." "I know... hey... you're holding your art folder in a death grip, lighten up or you'll crush all the pictures." "I just don't want it to fall on the floor, you know, get my pictures all dirty" What a pathetic lie, no one could have said something more idiotic in all their life, but he had said it and would have to hope that Drew bought the excuse. "Why not leave it at home then?" Drew had a feeling there was more to the story then not wanting to get his pictures dirty, but left it at that. "Cause I like to work on my art when I have free time and I have quite a bit in school so I figure I should have it with me" Justin explained as they entered the history room. Taking their usual seats, Justin continued to explain to Drew about his artwork. "Its basically my life, one of the few ways I can express myself, they are also filled with memories, so its important that I know where they are at all times." "That's cool. I guess I'm the same way with friends. They're my life, I express myself through them and need to know where they are all the time." Justin merely cocked and eyebrow; shook his head and placed his folder in his backpack before pulling out the History assignment that was due. During class without Justin's knowledge someone had slowly taken his backpack and opened it, looking through the various pockets until they had gotten to the art folder. `Ah, just what Matt wanted' he thought to himself. `Hmm, better take just a few out, so he doesn't realize that anything is missing'. He flipped through the few he took in a disgusted look; all the pictures were of men in various poses, some nude some barely wearing any clothes. He slid the backpack back beside Justin's seat with the art folder in it, as he browsed the images again knew that if these didn't crush Justin's reputation, nothing would. He tucked them away inside his binder and went back to work as if nothing happened. "Drew" Justin said. "Yeah, what is it?" "Mom asked if wanted to come over for dinner tonight, said you were good company, that and she thinks you're cute." "Well I am...and sure as it is a Friday." "Sounds good" Class went by quickly and everyone darted out the door as the bell rang for the end of the day. Justin didn't have to hurry, the buses wouldn't leave for another ten minutes and he only lived a short distance from the school as it was. Taking his time walking he let himself drift back into thought. His thoughts were always of his friends now, planning events and wondering how they were doing, the only person he didn't bother to think about was Matt, who hadn't like him from the beginning. Whatever, it wasn't important, right? As he moved towards the doors to the school he saw Matt leaning against the beam that held the upper-lobby level up, looking right at him and smiling. Justin always untrustworthy of someone like Matt just smiled back and tried to figure out what was going on in that warped little mind of his, but shrugged it off when he couldn't think of anything. As he walked out of the door he noticed that it was not only raining, it was an out-right down-poor; requiring him to dart for the bus in a futile attempt to stay dry. "So sweetie how was your day?" Beth asked as Justin walked in through the door. "It was good, you'll be happy to know that Drew is coming over tonight and umm, lets see, handed in my report for History, took a walk with Joanne at lunch, Read a book in English and Slacked off in math because the sub' didn't have a clue what he was doing" He replied, counting off the things he had done on his fingers. "Besides the slacking off, I'm glad you had a good day. Will Drew be staying the night again? I think he should, he's very polite and you two look so cute together" "MOM!" Justin snarled. "He's straight, and I haven't told him I'm gay...besides... you saying I look cute with someone is just creepy" "Hunny, lighten up. I honestly don't get the impression that he'd hate you if you said you were gay. And you do look cute together... even if he is straight" "No offence mom; but I just don't think you'd understand." "You think I've never slept with a woman?" "OK! No! Bad mother! Bad! Too much information, way to much information!" Justin covered his ears and walked out of the room. That always worked on Justin, whenever Beth had mentioned her `experimentation' he would drop the subject on the spot, that alone made her laugh every time. Justin went upstairs to his room and logged onto his computer and MSN while he waited for Drew to arrive. Morgan was the only one online so he messaged her. Jus says: Hey Morg. Morgan says: Hey, how are you? Jus says: good, looking forward to the weekend, you? Morgan says: I'm great. Why are you looking forward to the weekend? Jus says: `Cause Drew is coming over. Morgan says: Don't drool over him; he might suspect you're interested. Jus says: Har Har. Morgan says: Don't deny it, you want him; want him so badly. Jus says: We're friends, nothing more. Jus says: Besides that... Joanne now knows I'm gay; she confronted me today. Morgan says: ...So you told her...but you wont tell Drew... Jus says: Wow...you do understand. You're just the smartest little thing ever! Morgan says: HEY! Don't talk to me like that; I know where you live! Jus says: Oh no! I'm scared now! ;) Morgan says: Whatever you say hunny =P Sorry, I gotta go now, Dinners on. Jus says: Later, enjoy. Morgan says: Have a goooooooood night. Without any homework to do it was going to be a long and uneventful Friday night until Drew arrived... He took out his art folder and began to work on the image he had recently started, a man in his mid twenties posing naked with his back to the `camera', looking over his shoulder smiling, he had been working on this for a week now, on and off of course, and was finally getting the level of detail he wanted, in a strange way, the image looked like an older version Drew with the smile, but besides that, they had very few similarities. Justin worked on the image for hours, avoiding supper and his parents all together, he was so committed to the image to care about food or conversation right now, he worked on the image so much that he eventually fell asleep with the picture in hand. When he woke up he realized he had been sleeping for a half hour, was freezing and still very exhausted, though he didn't understand why. He sat up to help him concentrate and get his mind organized when he heard tapping sounds on his window, the tapping was fast and loud; it was still raining. The wind howled like wolves in the distance and Justin went to the washroom and took a quick shower, got dressed and headed downstairs to get something to eat. "Good evening mom" he said, walking into the kitchen. "Good evening, you could have slept some more you know, I doubt Drew will be coming over because the roads are unsafe to travel on" "Yeah they look pretty bad, but I'm still hopeful that Drew will be able to make it..." "Well yes, I hope that he can make it too... as you seem to have some energy you can help with the unpacking of the office supplies" "Oh joy, oh bliss, my life is complete now" He stated sarcastically. "Hey, it wont kill you to unpack another room besides yours" "I know, but I don't want to unpack... I mean my god; we've lived here almost a month now and are still unpacking, you'd think we'd have been finished by now" It was about five o'clock when there was a knock at the door, which was odd because Justin had figured that Drew wasn't coming. Justin went to the door and slowly opened it revealing Drew, soaked to the bone in his clothes. "Drew, c-come in...what are you doing out in the rain like this?" Justin said voicing his concern. "Two reasons, the first being; I don't break promises. And the second being, we need to talk" The tone in Drew's voice sent a shiver down Justin's spine as if someone had walked over his grave. "Alright, fair enough. But before you do anything...strip. I'm not kidding. Come with me to the laundry room and take off all of you wet clothes, grab a towel and we'll take a look and see what I have that might fit you, got it?" Before Drew could reply, Justin had grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the laundry room, pushing Drew in and shutting the door he waited. "It must be really important if you needed to walk in the rain" "Believe me, it is..." Drew stepped out of the laundry room wrapped in a towel and proceeded to head upstairs to Justin's room, not saying one word to his friend. Justin couldn't help but admire Drew's body along the way, As just passed the living room he asked Beth if she wouldn't mind washing and draying Drew's soaked clothes, the darted up the stairs after him. He got to his room and closed the door, Drew standing by the window, Justin walked over to his dresser and took a look inside to see what was there that could fit Drew. "Hmm, well, here's a package of boxer briefs, they're unopened so you can have the pair you take... now lets see... I have a tee here you might fit into, its two-times to large for me so it should fit you fine... But I don't have any pants that'll fit you... way too tight." "You'd like that wouldn't you? Actually you're probably enjoying this sight right now, me in nothing but a towel... when were you going to tell me?" He turned about to face Justin, who was in shock, a lump forming in his throat so he couldn't respond. It came down to this, he would either admit it or deny it, and both could irreparably damage the relationship they had. "When were you going to tell me that you were gay?" "Joanne Told---" "Joanne? She has nothing to do with this. Matt showed me the pictures you drew, you know, the gay couples, naked men, etc. Granted I'm equally mad at him for doing that, but you betrayed my trust by lying to me" "To...To be fair. You never asked." Justin spat out. "And the reason I didn't tell you is because I was afraid that what happened to me at my last school would happen all over again, if not with you, then with Matt or Ryan or someone else! I'm tried of people calling me faggot, or getting beat up over something I can't control! I didn't tell you cause I didn't want to ruin our friendship! Don't you get it!?" Justin was overcome with anger and sadness at the same time, tears now pouring down his cheeks. "I just wanted to feel the slightest bit normal for once in my life... but you can't understand that, can you? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I had my reasons..." "You were afraid of me hating you? I don't hate you, I just... I just don't like people keeping things from me." He walked over to Justin and gave him a hug, a tight embracing hug. Justin shivered at the cold damp skin he was pressed against. "Promise that from now on you'll tell me everything?" "I promise...."Justin buried his face in Drew's chest, "and yes, I do like you in a towel" He said weakly, his voice cracking for a moment. Drew laughed and hugged a little tighter before releasing Justin and looking at him, his face pale and exhausted, as if the years of torment, all the pain he ever suffered had rushed back to claim him. "See, was it that hard to say?" "No, not really. Not now that I know you are ok with it. But you'd like to hear the story wouldn't you?" "Yes, but you can do that in your own time... when you are ready, ok?" Justin just nodded, still afraid that this was too good to be true. Was this just a set up, a plot to make him suffer more? No. He had to shake that thought and begin to put more trust in people; after all, it wasn't Joanne who had done this, so his trust wasn't misplaced. "Now about that folder, lets see what else you have in there, `cause boy you have talent. Come on; show me what you've drawn. Please?" Justin couldn't resist the slight charm Drew had and nodded in agreement, taking him over to the bed where his drawings lay. ------------------------------------------- Notes: I liked this chapter better because we got to see a little bit more of Justin's past and how he feels when interacting socially. But I did feel this chapter was to quick for its own good, but you my loyal fans asked for a second chapter, and this is the best I could do, so I hope you enjoyed. Remember, you're always welcomed to eamil me!