Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 02:52:14 +0000 From: Darren C Subject: Life Starts Again Disclaimer: You know the rules, if you are underage, or offended by homosexual relations, this is not the story for you, and begs the question of why you are looking through the archives. This story is a complete work of fiction and none of the characters actually exist. I have drawn portions of my life into the story, was well as my friends lives, but ultimately, this story is just made up. Chapter One: Can't Tell You Everything Justin Ellis was a new student at SDRHS and wasn't at all enjoying what little time he had spent there. His classes had already started a week before he arrived, today was Tuesday and his schedule was B, C, D, and A or, Math, History, English, Free. He walked slowly down the hallway looking for room 109 where his math class was, still very disoriented with the design of the school he had shown up a minute late to class. The teacher, a tall young man with blond hair and blue eyes stared at him for a moment curiously. "Can I help you?" He asked. "Uh- Is this Math 12 Academic?" Justin asked in almost a whimper. "Yes, Did you just get transferred into the class?" "Uh- yeah, sorry I'm late, I'm new here and didn't know exactly where to go." "Please take a seat and I'll issue a book and calculator in a moment. I hope you've learned what we will be covering in class today, but if you need any help, feel free to ask me or anyone else." "Thank you" Justin walked over to an empty desk in the middle of a row besides a window and took a seat, pulling out his binder from his backpack and opening it to a fresh sheet of loose leaf. After he was issued a book and calc. He began the assigned work; the class was really boring and no one spoke through the duration, which bugged him, as he wanted to at least get to know a few people. The math work wasn't that difficult either, he had learned some of this last semester from his friend Gordon, but nevertheless he worked away and did his best. As first period came to a close, he asked the teacher which way it was to the history room; the teacher had pointed him down the hallway and gave a few quick directions before going back into the class. Justin was still uneasy in this school and strode quickly through the crowds, making it just in time to get a good seat near the front of class. When the room had finished filling with people the teacher stood and began class, with neither Justin nor the teacher having to be introduced, as they had met the day before when Justin picked his schedule up from Administration. Mrs. Pick was a very beautiful young woman, tall and thin, every guy's dream, and well, everyone except him. Half way through class the guy sitting next to Justin looked over and asked if he knew where to find the map of Germany in the geography book. The guy was very good looking, not a drop-dead hunk but had pleasant features, he had relatively defined muscles with a smooth face, blue-gray eyes and short chestnut brown hair, he had an innocence about him that was appealing, Justin figured he had to be popular with those looks alone. Stunned only for a moment Justin gathered himself, and spoke. "Uh yeah, its right..." He flipped through a few pages quickly and stopped at a page. "...Here, page sixty one" gesturing towards the European section of the book. "Thanks, I'm Drew by the way" He replied with a smile on his face. "I'm Justin, Nice to meet you" "So you're new to the area, aren't you?" "Yeah, my father just got a job transfer and we moved last week, though today is my first day" "Really? What are your next two classes?" "Umm, I have English and a Free. You?" "Political Science and a Free" He said, looking at his schedule. "Hmm, as you're new here, you probably didn't know that we have to stay in the Cafeteria or Library during our frees, did you?" "No, where is the best place to go?" "Café. Most definitely; as you're new here you are welcomed to join me if you want. I don't have any frees with my friends, and could use the company" Drew had turned back to his work and was writing something down, most likely related to the topic and Justin just sat in his seat and stared at his paper in awe. His first day was going well, not only had he slipped into both classes easily, but also he made a friend, a cute one at that. He quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind. `None of that, that's how you got yourself into trouble the last time' He thought to himself. It was hard to admit to himself that he was gay, even his parents accepted it better then he did, but it didn't matter, new school, new life. When the bell rang for recess Justin walked slowly to the cafeteria to see what the menu was, for such a vivacious school, their menu sucked, and not seeing anything he liked, walked out into the huge; double-story lobby and took a seat on a bench in a quiet corner and started to draw. This was his pass time, he had always preferred the imaginative worlds created in his mind over the harsh cold world of reality, at least in his universe he could go back in time, or visit distant worlds. What could be more fun then that? Next class was easy enough, though Justin didn't like English, he never had any problems passing it, and so he simply did his work, stayed quiet and waited for the bell to ring at lunch. They were told to read a book; he didn't remember the title, only that, with every passing chapter, Justin felt the urge to shoot himself to end the boredom. Even lunch would be boring, he had no groupies to hang out with, and he didn't want to track down Drew, for fear of looking like a puppy without an owner and scaring him off. So he would sit alone again at the bench and draw some more. He had always been told he had a talent for drawing, but Justin didn't see it at all, in fact, he hated almost all his pictures. No matter how hard he tried, none of them ever looked exactly like he had imagined and it frustrated him that he couldn't even draw one picture that resembled the image in his mind. When his free period came around he headed back into the cafeteria and stood, waiting for Drew to come through the door. It took a few minutes, but eventually he saw Drew slowly walking towards the doors, when he finally reached the cafeteria Justin couldn't help but slap a huge grin on his face. "Hey Drew." He said kind of shyly. "Hey Jus' how are you?" Drew inquired. "I'm fine, little bored. I see I've adopted a nick-name," He said as they both walked over to a table and took a seat adjacent from each other. "You don't mind do you? I just tend to speak before I think" "Not al all, I have so many nick-names as it is." Justin laughed and looked over at Drew. "And what about you, how are you?" "Not to bad, have a little CALM work to finish before I go home, too bad I don't understand it..." He sighed. "Oh? Let me take a look, I took the course last year so I might be able to help." "Really? Thanks." Drew replied as he opened the binder and slid it over to Justin. After skimming over the paper in the binder for a moment, Justin looked up and smiled, "Its simple enough really, badly worded, but simple, you have to make a visual representation of a topic that is uncommon in everyday life" He said. "Then you must write a page about why you chose the topic and how the picture represents said topic" "Wow, that was... err... is simple!" "I did one of these before, actually, I still have it with me" Justin dug through his backpack and found his old copy of the assignment. "Here it is, as you can see, the picture can be anything you want, my topic was trust and on the back, is why I chose to make my topic trust and how the picture represents that." "That is an awesome picture! Impressive!" Drew exclaimed. The picture was well done, it was a vast network of chains, small, large, but one, the one in the middle and the largest was broken. It was shaded and had a little blue coloring for added effect, but it was nothing, anyone could draw a chain. After thirty minutes of working on his assignment, and casually talking with Justin, drew put his work away and said he would finish the drawing at home later on. Justin was becoming very comfortable with Drew and unfortunately, attracted to him as well. Both were unusual because Justin wasn't a very social person, and had restricted his personal life to fantasies, where he was in complete control. "So, what are you interested in?" Drew asked out of the blue. "Well, I like to draw and write. As well as bike and swim, not to good at much else. What about you?" "Wrestling, hiking, video games and roller-blading." He replied. "May I see some of your drawings? If they're anything like that CALM one, you're very talented." "I don't see why not. I have them all separated into categories," Justin sighed as he looked through the binder. "Its all here, all my work since I was five" Justin handed him the binder of work with one hand as he slipped a folder of art into his book bag with the other. Drew flipped through the images admiring the skill and effort put into each one. Not having this much talent, he was a little jealous. He set down the binder and closed it. "This may sound weird after only knowing me for what, two hours and twenty minutes, but do you want to come over to my place after school?" "I cant, my parents are expecting me to unpack some of my boxes tonight, maybe some other time?" "Well, how about this, I come over to your place, help you unpack some stuff, and then we can work on whatever homework we have...then maybe play a few games?" Justin screaming an ungodly `YES" mentally, he hadn't had a friend over in so long that he had forgotten what it was like, but not wanting to sound desperate he simply replied, "Sure, sounds good" It was a great day after all, he made a friend and was having him over the first day they had known each other, could the day get any better? Then the bell rang for them to go home, so the answer was yes. Both of them walked out of the cafeteria and to the bus, the ride being short was a blessing as the kids were rowdy and irritating, this is why Justin was antisocial, he couldn't tolerate people who acted so immature, but at least he wasn't alone, even Drew seemed to be in mental agony from the kids screaming, talking and throwing things. When Drew and Justin stepped off the bus, Drew's jaw dropped to the ground. "You live here?!" Referring to the two story blue house that sat between two fields. "Yeah. I don't like it, too large for us, it'll be hard to furnish all the rooms." Justin laughed. "Actually, its perfect for us as we have too much stuff, hard to believe we crammed it all in our last home..." he said as he opened the front door and led Drew in. "Who's there?" asked a voice coming form another room. "Just me mom, oh, and a friend from school." Justin replied, walking into the dining room to see his mother setting up the china cabinet with Drew following close behind. "Oh?" She said as she turned around to face them. "Its nice to meet you, I'm Mrs. Ellis, but you can call me Beth." She held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it. He took her hand and gave it a polite yet strong handshake, "I'm Andrew, but I prefer Drew, It's nice to meet you Mrs. Ell...err...Beth." "I hope you will be joining us for dinner tonight" she said with a tone that translated to "you're staying and I wont take no for an answer". "Sure, that would be great..." Drew said before Justin started to push him out of the room. Justin was so embarrassed; his parents were like modern hippies without the drugs and sex... thankfully. "Ok, time to go unpack my things now, come on Drew" he said in a weak embarrassed laugh. This was going to be a long night, his mother was already plotting something, he could tell. When they got upstairs to Justin's room, he closed the door and turned back to his guest. "Sorry about that... She's just really...disturbingly happy..." "Not a problem, really." Drew looked around at the huge room and the boxes upon boxes that surrounded the walls. "I suppose we should get started then... there has to be at least thirty boxes here" "Forty-two actually...but who's counting?" Justin and Drew unpacked as many boxes as possible in an hour before finally taking a break; most of the things they unpacked were Sketchbooks, posters and clothes. They also found the computer and unpacked that and hooked it up, he was surprised how easily things went with someone else there to help him, after testing the computer to make sure it didn't explode they both took a seat on the bed and looked at each other quizzically, as both knew they still had homework to start and were getting hungry. Neither had to say a word, it was almost telepathically transmitted that they were both dreading homework. Taking his binder from his backpack Justin looked over at Drew and set some of his work across the bed. "We had better get started, or we'll never get anything done. Have you finished the History assignment?" He asked. "Uh, no...I'm almost done but I'm still having problems with the maps" He replied, embarrassment almost choking him. "Not a problem. I'm not great with maps, but I'm sure I can help. How many questions do you have left?" "Just the last one, what are the co-ordinates for the city of Berlin, and give a brief history of the region." With both of them working at it, they were able to quickly find the answer to the question and get their History homework out of the way, they were about to start on other homework when Beth knocked on the door and asked them to come downstairs for dinner. As long as Justin could remember, Beth had made the best food he had ever ate, she never took cooking lessons, but she had a great memory and had an entire cookbook memorized. Along the way she explained that Justin's father would be late once again getting home from work and that she wasn't finished unpacking the kitchen and dining room, her tone had suggested an apology to Drew, who really didn't mind at all. When all three of them got downstairs Beth told them that they were having chicken fettuccini with fried green peppers. "Wow, sounds fancy, my mom just usually cooks a breast of chicken and potatoes" Drew exclaimed as he took the seat Beth ushered him to. "No, not really fancy, but we've all traveled a lot and just kept all the recipes we've came across that peak our interest" Beth replied happily as she sat down. Dinner was long and boring as Justin's mom interrogated his new friend and chatted his ear off with stories of the places they had visited on vacation and the occasion business trip, though Justin never went on those trips. As the conversation progressed Justin noted that his mother was steering the conversation towards Drew's personal life, knowing that she was trying to find out if he was gay or not, irritatingly Justin said nothing hoping she had enough self-control not to mention that her son was gay. He wasn't going to lose his friends again, not like the last time and before Beth had a chance to get him into the compromising position of `what's your sexuality' Justin interrupted them both. "Mom, I don't mean to interrupt, but as both Drew and I are finished, we should really get back to our homework, still a little more to do..." "Oh my, I'm sorry sweetie... You two go do your homework," She said before turning to Drew. "I'm sorry for chatting your ear off Hun, It's just we don't have company very often and I tend to ramble when we do..." "Its alright, I mean, I learned a lot tonight. Not only about you but the places you've all been to. And thank you for supper, it was delicious" Justin and Drew cleared their plates and glasses from the table and put them in the sink in the kitchen before heading back upstairs to Justin's room to do homework. "Jus', I have a big favor to ask you" Drew said as he closed the door behind them. "Uh...would you help me draw my picture for my CALM work?" "Shouldn't you attempt it on your own first?" "Well I was hoping that maybe you could teach me to draw also..." Drew blushed; making Justin aware that it was difficult for Drew to admit he couldn't draw, and this was his way of saying it. "Ok, if I teach you to draw, I'm going to have to sit beside you and guide your hand, but I wont do it all for you" "Well, I wouldn't make you do my work for me, I just need help getting my idea onto paper" "Alright. Grab the other computer chair there and pull it up to my desk, oh and don't forget your CALM work, cant do anything without that." Drew pulled up the chair and began to tell Justin what he wanted to draw. It was a complicated picture, especially for a beginner. So Justin took a little time to explain that he should do a rough sketch of what he would like the finished work to look like, and then add pieces or subtract the pieces that didn't fit with the theme. After watching him sketch out a very rough picture, Drew began to do just that, and reworked the picture until it was `perfect'. "This wont do... I need a good copy but I can't draw it the way I see it. This sketch helps, but I can't do it." "That's where I come in...and remember, I'm not drawing this thing for you...I'll just help you." With that, Justin took Drew's arm and slid under him until his right shoulder was underneath Drew's right armpit, Drew momentarily holding his breath. "Does this make you uncomfortable? If so, I can teach you another way, but it's a little more time consuming," "No, it's fine" Justin slowly took Drew's hand with the pencil and slowly sketched the lines out for him, teaching him the rhythmic movement's of the wrist to help him create the picture... after a while Justin stopped guiding Drew's hand and let him draw on his own. It was during this time he had realized just how big Drew was compared to him. `I fit under his arms' Justin thought to himself. `He's so big. Cute too' His thoughts began to wander and he once again shoved them back into the darkness of his mind. How could he keep these thoughts at bay? How could he finally feel normal? It was about twenty minutes later when Drew sat up straight and took a long stretch before looking down at his work. He wasn't destined to be the next Picasso but it was good enough for his school project. "I'm impressed Drew. You did that on your own. Most people whine until I cave in and guide their hand again" "That's a cheap way out...I was just glad you could help. Thanks" Drew blushed again making him look cuter then ever. "Anytime. Wow, it's almost seven, can't believe how fast time went. Do you want to stay the night? You did say on the bus you lived on the other side of town, it's quite a drive from here. Mom wouldn't mind and dad wouldn't care anyways as he's rarely home anymore." "Sure. If you really don't mind." "Not at all, you can either sleep on the couch, my bedroom floor or, and I'm being generous here, my bed" "With or without you?" "Which would you prefer?" Justin said without thinking before he spoke. "Ha ha, well...you are cute" Drew replied, still chuckling. "Ok smart-ass, you can have the bed, I'll take the floor" The night went by without a hitch and both Drew and Justin slept soundly. Drew's clothes were washed that evening and they had unpacked a few more things before heading off to bed. Justin couldn't remember the last time he had someone spend the night at his place, but was enjoying the company while he had it. End Note: I know its a slow first chapter, but I promise that Chapter two is better. I am just trying to get a feel for these characters. Im 90% sure that I will post Chapter 2 and only 50% sure about posting Chapter 3. I have them already planned out, but depending on reader interest...you get the point. Please email me with comments / questions.