Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 16:20:16 -0600 From: Dan R Subject: Midwestern Beginnings: Chapter 1 DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real life events are purely coincidental. Don't read this work if you're under 18, and if the idea of homosexuality disturbs you--please, for the love of God, move somewhere where you won't be a hazard to yourself or others. This is the year 2003 for crying out loud. If you're looking for a quick j/o story, look somewhere else. Everyone else (all 3 of you!), welcome! Midwestern Beginnings by Dan (2003) Chapt. 1 "Oh Shit!" I muttered to myself as I woke. I heard honking outside my bedroom window and looked at the alarm clock by my bed, which was buzzing. It was 7:04 a.m., I had overslept and was going to be late to school. That was my friend Travis honking, my ride to school. As I attempted to get my mind awake and alert, I opened up my window to acknowledge his honking and to yell "I'll be out in 5!" I considered for a moment who the fool was who decided that high school should start at 7:20 in the morning, but snapped myself out of it. I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name's Gage. I'm 17, 5'7", short light brown hair, green eyes, and an "average-slim" build at just 160 lbs. About a 32" waist; a cute body by most all standards. I'm a senior at Minneapolis Central High School. You read that right: a Midwestern boy. Groggily, I pulled whatever I could put together out of my closet, which ended up being a very standard outfit for me. Plain white t-shirt with a grey American Eagle sweatshirt and Old Navy carpenter's jeans. I threw on a hat, ran down the steps, grabbed my book bag and was out the door. "Took you long enough!" Travis yelled at me as I opened the car door. "What is this? Do you like being late, or is today a special effort?" Gotta love Travis. He's not a morning person. Actually, he's not an anytime-of-the-day person. He has a permanent chip on his shoulder. Not that he's a mean or angry person, just very critical. One of those debate kids who goes off into politics trying to make the world a better place. An ultra-liberal if you will. But he was my best friend; if you made an ally with Travis, you made a friend for life. But if you made an enemy with Travis, you would have to deal with the fallout-which was never pretty. As we flew through the streets and neighborhoods of Minneapolis, listening to whatever 93.7 had to give us today, I attempted to wake myself up. Travis' car didn't have heat by normal standards, so it wasn't hard to freeze myself in the process. His car was a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon, and an ugly turd-brown colored one at that. We all called it the "Turdmobile." We pulled into the parking lot just as we heard the first warning bell ring. "Do you need a ride home after school," Travis asked me as we walked to the building. "No," I told him, "we've got a French Club meeting today. I'll just walk or MTC it. You know how much I love smelly buses!" He just rolled his eyes at me as we went our separate ways entering the school. "Later, kid," he said. I made my way to my first hour class-Advanced Placement English. As I bustled through the doorway, none too early for hearing the class bell ring, I took my seat. We were working on college composition today-a research project. Did I mention that I hate English? The rest of the school day went off without much along the lines of any sort of an event that stuck out from any other day. Went to my French Club meeting, and walked the 16 blocks home. "Hi honey," I heard from the kitchen as I walked in and took off my shoes and jacket. I dumped my schoolbag on the floor and headed in, where I could smell the aroma of the typical Minnesota meal-hotdish. I came up behind my mom and gave her a big hug. She jumped, somewhat startled by the whole ordeal, and turned around and gave me a hug in return. My mom was the kind of person who brightened up any room, and any day, just with a hug. "How was school, dear?" she asked me. "Nothing new. Nothing big. A nothing day," I responded. She laughed at my description. I'd been having a lot of those `nothing' days lately. A sure sign of cabin fever in the middle of the school year. "You got some more mail from colleges today," my mom said as she pointed to a section of kitchen counter. "Yay," was my reply. God, I love senior year college mail time. It's just one of those times everyone regrets. I went over to thumb through the mail, when the phone rang. "Hello," I answered. "Hey, Gage!" came the voice from the other end of the line. It was Travis. "You just get home?" "Yup," I told him. "So what's up, man?" "Not much. That's why I was calling you. Want to go out and do something? I'm bored out of my mind!" I thought for a while. I had some homework to do, but no huge assignments or graduation standards or anything like that. "Sure, man, what did you have in mind?" "Damn it, I hoped you had something," he said, laughing in return. "Well hey, we could head up downtown and see what's goin' up there; or maybe to uptown; or out to the `burbs and `dales," I suggested. Wow. Too many suggestions, too little time. "I heard they opened some more new stuff in that new area in Coon Rapids... Riverdale, is it?" "Yup," I responded. In the `Cities, we have too many shopping areas. The `dales are huge shopping areas scattered around the rings of suburbs surrounding the core cities. The predecessors to the infamous Mall of America, if you will. The `dales are better than the megamall, anyway. "Let's do that. Want to meet at my place?" I looked at my watch. It was around 5:00. "How `bout quarter to 6," I asked. "Sounds great to me," he replied. "Let's do it," I said, "Catch ya later." "Peace out dude," he said as he hung up the phone. "What are you and Travis doing tonight," mom asked. Travis and I went so far back, my mom didn't need to ask who called me. "Nothin' big," I replied. "Probably heading up to Coon Rapids to hang out at Riverdale and see what's there. Heard they opened up a Chipotle." Chipotle is my favorite restaurant. It's the popular hangout for everyone. Travis and I had a habit of checking out all the new stores that opened and keeping a mental score of the best ones. "Okay, but don't be out too long. Set the table, it's time to eat. Call your brother down; your father's working late tonight." "MATT, IT'S GRUB TIME" I yelled up the stairs. My mom flicked corn water at me as she carried the yellow vegetable to the table. We laughed, and sat down as Matt joined us, puzzled at the whole ordeal. The meal was pretty uneventful. Chit-chat back and forth, but nothing exciting. As if on queue, the doorbell rang at 5:45. "That must be Travis," I said, getting up to answer the door. After chewing what was in her mouth, my mom yelled after me, "Make sure you invite him inside this time!" I rolled my eyes as I opened the door. "Hey, man!" I said as we shook hands in our usual shake-grab trademark `thing.' "Let's go say hi to mom, and get out of here," I said as I led him into the dining room. "Hi, Travis, would you like some food," my mom said as we walked in. "No thanks, Mrs. Anderson. I had a snack just a little while ago." She smiled. "Don't be out too late." "Thanks mom, later!" I said as we both walked to the door again. Five minutes later, we were on our way to get on the Interstate to the north side. We flipped on the radio to hear the latest traffic report. "830 WCCO Traffic on the 8's. It's slow-go in the metro right now, there's an accident Southbound on I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul, traffic's backed up all the way to the Lawry Hill Tunnel, and slow-go on Highway 10 in Coon Rapids between Hanson and Round Lake Boulevards..." The announcer trailed off. "Sounds like we'll have some fun," I joked with Travis as we turned on the ramp to I-94. "Tons," he replied. We flipped the radio back to 93X and chilled to the sounds of Linkin Park through the speakers. As we drove the 25 or so miles up to Coon Rapids, I couldn't help but really look at Travis. I had known for some time that something was different with me--that I wasn't like the "normal" kids at school. I could completely bore you with the whole "different" description, but for sure you get the point. I had always tried to be a good closeted homosexual and keep my friends and fantasies separated, but lately it just wasn't working. Travis was a hottie--6 foot 3, blonde hair, slender and slim, played baseball and football... wouldn't he be fun in bed, I thought. My continual side-glances weren't going past him today. "Dude, what're you looking at?" he asked me, with somewhat of a defensive tone in his voice. It stunned me out of my trance. "Oh, uh, nothing. Just the signs out your side," I clamored. I got a grunt in response. I hope that satisfied his question, I thought to myself. Minneapolis is home to the second-largest gay and lesbian population in the nation, second to San Francisco. We're a highly liberal state, always on the cutting edge. Acceptance isn't hard to find--it's not a constant, and there are pocketed areas where it's almost non-existent, but not within the city itself. Hell, we lived in Uptown, and everyone knew the jokes: "What's 3 things you won't find in Uptown? A straight man, a white man, or a natural hair color!" There's always that token of truth to each stereotype, and Uptown almost always fit them. So why was I so afraid of coming out? And especially to my best friend? I mean, we had been through so much anyway, and he had confided in me on numerous occasions, why would I think he wouldn't respect me? Travis' parents had split up when he was 7. His father was a complete jerk--abusive physically, verbally, and mentally to both him and his mother. I remember that it had been a completely messy ordeal. Travis blamed himself for much of the actions of his father, even though he had nothing to do with it or control over it. On the other hand, his mother was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. She always looked for the good in people, and always found something. Her and my mother knew each other from college where they were roommates. After college, they both moved to the same neighborhood to raise their families, and the fact that they had two boys at nearly the same time worked out well for the two of us. There was one distinct difference, though, between the mothers of the two households: Travis' mom was extremely religious, and mine was--well, we went to church on Christmas and Easter. And that difference made all the difference. Travis' mom, naturally, was like a second mother to me. Her opinion, her values, and her love meant almost as much to me as my mother's or my own. I had known her since the day I was born, and she was even my godmother at baptism (one other time when we went to church, ha ha). I knew how she would react, and I knew that if I told Travis, eventually she'd find out, and I couldn't face that. My parents, on the other hand, were a little different. My mom works as a math teacher at Southwest High. My dad was a lawyer by day, and a musician by night. Both had instilled in me the liberal values of acceptance of all people since birth. And they had two boys. Which made things easier--I was gay, but my brother would be able to carry on the family and have children and give my parents the grandchildren they want and deserve. I can rationalize it all I want, but I knew that I would have immediate acceptance if I told them. There's no reason I hadn't. Except I just wanted to tell Travis first. "What exit do I take, again," Travis stunned me out of another moment of brain inactivity. "Well if you want to go to that area around that huge Target and stuff, you exit on Main, I think, but the rest of it you would exit on that next one--something Lake. Oh, there's the sign! Round Lake," I replied. "Aight. We'll take Round Lake and see where that gets us," he said, as we passed the Main Street exit. I could see some of the new stores that were being built--a Linens `n Things, Old Navy, and even an IHOP. We never had an IHOP in Minnesota before, so this was going to be a treat. "There's Chipotle," I said, pointing toward a food area down the road. "Ooh, and a Krispy Kreme, and a Noodles and Company, looks like Buffalo Wild Wings, and what's that in the middle," I pointed out the rest. Yes, my mind operates on one track: food. We got closer to the building. "Ooh, that's a Quizno's," Travis said, answering the question. "Looks like we'll have good eatin' tonight!" he said with a laugh. One sucky thing about being in Minnesota: all the good food would pass us. We didn't have a Krispy Kreme until about three years ago. IHOP hadn't come until about 6 months ago. And we still don't have a Steak and Shake or a 7-Eleven. "I think Noodles looks good, don't you," I asked Travis. "Sure, sounds great," as we pulled into the parking lot. We got out into the cold air. It was February. Only three more weeks, probably, of snow and cold air. Then, just as sure as always, it would become humid and hot. Contrary to popular opinion, we don't have snow 365 days a year. Our winters, they are cold and snowy, but our springs, summers, and autumns are hot and humid. I had already eaten before we left, so all I wanted was just a cup of chicken noodle soup. Travis ordered a large bowl of Wisconsin Mac and Cheese, and we sat down to eat. "Hey, man, what's up? You seemed a little out of it on the road," Travis asked me. I gulped down whatever was in my mouth at the time. He noticed. "Oh, it's nothing, just a little tired," I lied. Damn kid was too intuitive for his own good. "Want to head back home, or still hang out here," he asked, with genuine concern. "No, no, we'll hang. I don't want to see you have wasted all that gas for nothing," I told him. I was starting to get warm and flushed. But my answers were satisfying him, he went back to eating his mac and cheese. Smart boy. We went to Target and Best Buy before heading back home. We both were electronics nerds--wanting the latest and the greatest, so after visiting Best Buy and seeing the deals, we weren't without conversation the rest of the ride home. "Hey man, thanks for calling me. I'd be bored out of my gourd at home still had you not called," I told him as we pulled into my driveway. "No problem," he replied. "Just make sure you actually get your ass out of bed tomorrow!" I laughed and slammed the door. As I walked inside and thought of the fun I had just had with Travis, I thought of him again. How fun it would be to hang out holding his hand, having him next to me. I shook my head to clear it before I walked in the door. I heard noise coming from the family room, undeniably from the television. I went and made my way down to the basement and my bedroom and shut the door. I had a lot to think about. *** That's it for this time! This is my first attempt at writing a story, and I have a lot of ideas for following the life and stuff of the two characters. More characters will enter, too! In the meantime, drop me an e-mail (pandemonium34@lycos.com) and let me know what you think! -Dan