Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 09:30:38 +0000
From: Jose Doesnt <pookie_story@hotmail.com>
Subject: Pookie 7

Hi there...I hope everything is allright, I managed to complete this sonner,
and I have a new editor. Thank you to all that mailed and I hope to keep
on hearing from you...keep on sending to pookie_story@hotmail.com....thanks
again and enjoy the story.

A Huge Hug

Pookie 7

Two weeks passed; I didn't talk to Mike again and he didn't show any sign of
wanting to talk.  Work was becoming harder and I was having trouble
finding time to think about Mike. Bri and Jared seemed to be having a
serious relationship, and the inevitable happened. I loved Bri, she
loved me, but Jared took a lot of time, I totally understood. I was
starting to feel lonely. Kevin was there for me, but he wasn't Bri.

People still looked at Jared and Bri like they were some weird animal or
something. I knew that they would not be the perfect couple, but they liked
each other.  People were just ignorant so we ignored them.

We were sitting at the lunch table with me feeling like a fifth wheel.

"I am fucked on the chemestry test."  Jared said, looking down.

"No you're not, I'll help you tonight. I'll give you some explanations."
Bri said, smiling.

"We can't.  Mike's par..." Jared started.

Bri probably kicked him under the table, 'cause Jared almost yelled. I
understood what was happening.

"So, you're going to Mike's party, huh?" I asked casually.

"I think now is a good time to leave." Jared said, walking away.

"I wasn't sure.  Jared was the one that conviced me, and..." she started.

"And when were you planning on telling me?" I asked dropping my fork.

She looked a bit stunned. "I don't think I should have to explain
to you about what I do, or where I go."

"Right, you're only my best friend. Right?" I asked grabbing my backpack.

"Brad...look...I'm sorry...I didn't want to go.  Jared pushed it and
I..."

"I don't care.  Just enjoy the party." I said walking away.

I was pissed and I didn't know why. Bri called me but I ignored her. People
looked at me and whispered. I was so sick of high school. I just wanted to
leave this place and immigrate to somewhere distant.

I was so busy being angry that I didn't even notice Mark and bumped into
him.

"Hi there." he said smiling.

"Hi!"

"So, how's everything? Do you wanna go for a coffee or something?" he asked
grinning.

I wasn't in the mood for it, but I noticed Mike walking in so I just nodded
and followed him.

...

"So, how are you?" he asked.

"Good." I said, uncomfortably.

Now that I was here, I knew that I should have said no.

"Look, I wanted to talk to you about that note." he said, leaning into me.

"Oh?" I said.

"I think your attractive and seem to be a nice person, but... I wrote that
note when I was trying to get over someone... and I kind of met someone
else." he said, worried.

I wanted to laugh.  It was like he was trying to break up something that
never started.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks.  Now I've seen you around and you seem to be really down... what
happened?"

"Well. I am also trying to get over someone...." I said, trying to smile.

"Oh, I know how hard that can be!" he said, laughing a bit. "So, who is the
lucky man?"

"I would prefer not to say.  He doesn-"

He cut me off with: "He isn't sure about being gay, and doesn't want to tell
anyone.." He said, sighing.  "You know, I'm getting tired of that crap.  My
ex said the same thing, always saying he wasn't gay, that he just happened
to
like me, and I would always have to keep it a secret, even from my closest
friends."

"Yeah, I totally understand." I said, playing with the coffee spoon.

"What did he do?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, I saw him kissing a girl." I said looking down.

"Oh....I know how that feels." he said, taking a sip of his coffee.  "I
caught
my ex fucking my best friend in my room!"

I was shocked.  He was talking so calmly about this that I was just stunned.

He smiled "That was long ago, I'm over him and her....can I ask you
something?"

"Sure!"

"Was Mike kissing Michelle?"

"I...I...I don't know what you're talking about." I said stunned.

"Oh, come on.  I see how you look at him, and I kind of suspected him."
he said, leaning into the table.

"Ok, Ok.  Yes, he was kissing her!"

"You know, you shouldn't be so mad, Michelle is a slut, every guy on the
team knows...she probably just caught Mike drunk...."

I suddenly got the deja vu sensation.  "Is that an excuse?"

"No, but I know that he is a great guy and deserves a secound chance."

"I don't know..." I said a little afraid.

"Come on, we don't have anymore classes today, Mike has already left for
home,
we'll walk to his house and you'll ask him out again!" he said simply.

...

Mark was dragging me down the street, not letting go of my arm. Every step I
took my heart would beat faster, I was a nervous wreck.

"Come on."  Mark said dragging me along.

I stopped and pulled back from Mark.  "Why are you doing this?"

"Huh? I'm trying to help you."

"Oh, come on.  You barely know me, why?"

He looked down" I just don't want to see you do what I did" he almost
whispered

"What happened?" I asked

He walked towards a tree and sat on the grass, I sat next to him.

"Well, after I caught them, I never talked to them again, they did the same.
Three weeks later they started dating and the worst was when they started
teasing me. Kissing right in front of me. Making out right in front of me.
You have no idea what it is to suffer like that." he said looking down.  "I
don't want to see you do that."

I felt sorry for him, so I hugged him, then he hugged me back.

Suddenly, I felt him slip away and heard someone scream. I looked up to see
Mike throwing himself at Mark "YOU SON OF A BITCH, DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH
HIM!"

I was shocked seeing Mike punching Mark in the stomach. I quickly snapped
to and grabbed Mike. He was much stronger than me, but I managed to catch
his attention and drag him off Mark.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" I asked grabbing Mark's head.

Mike looked at us and didn't say anything, he just grabbed his backpack and
walked away.

"Are you ok? I have no idea of what come over him." I said, helping Mark
get up.

"Don't worry I'm ok, I know how to fight." he said, grabbing his backpack.
"I think you should go and talk to him. I'll be ok, my house isn't far
from here.  Don't worry."

"But you're hurt.  I can't leave you like this.  I'll take you to your
house." I said, putting his arm around my shoulder, he started to protest,
but I stopped him. "I AM going to do that, don't argue."

...

I managed to take him to his house and put him to bed after seeing the
wounds. He didn't stopped saying that I should go and see Mike, but I just
kept on helping, not even hearing him.

After all that, I said goodbye and walked towards Mike's house. I needed to
know what the hell was wrong with him.

During the walk I thought about what Mark had said. I realized that I needed
to clear things up with Mike. I wasn't ok, it was obvious that he wasn't
alright. I needed to put everything ok again.

Mike's house was getting near, and the desire to turn back was getting
stronger. It kind of reminded me of the time that I told Kevin I was gay.
I was so afraid I was trembling, I knew that Kevin had a gay friend, but
that didn't change things, I was so afraid of rejection. And in the end
it was kind of funny, I was so afraid that I couldn't talk and Kevin just
laughed and said "I understand, don't be afraid".

The truth was that I tried to tell him 'cause I was hoping that he was also
gay, but it turned out that he wasn't even close to that, he was totally
into girls.

I found myself knocking on Mike's door. I waited and waited until I heard it
unlock, Mike appeared wearing a towel. I tried not to look but it was
impossible.

"Yes? What do you want?" he asked angrily.

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

He looked at me thinking about what to do then sighed and walked away.
"Close the door after you enter!"

I entered and felt really unconfortable, Mike disapeared and I walked to the
kitchen. I sat and waited for him to appear. I rememebered the talk I
had with his mom about him, I sighed and dropped my backpack on the ground.

Mike appeared wearing only baggy shorts, he sat in front of me eating an
apple.

"Shoot." he said.

"I....hum....I...well...I think that....well...I think that we need to
talk." I said.

"About?"

"Well, about everything that happened!"

"What happened?"

I was getting angry, but I needed to cool off.

"You know what happened!"

"Remind me!" he said looking straight at me.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm acting normal!" he said leaning back on the chair.

Ok, I was losing my temper.

"Why did you hit Mark?"

He didn't answer.

"Answer me!"

"I don't like him!" he said throwing the apple in the garbage.

"Look, I came here to talk.  It seems that you don't want to, so I guess
I'll just leave!"

I stood up and walked to the front door, Mike didn't move until I grabbed
the lock. He walked over to me and grabbed my shoulder. "Sorry, I'm acting
like a jerk, lets talk...for real!"

"Then tell me why you hit Mark!" I said.

"Because I was jealous!" he said in a whisper.

I was a little taken aback, I hadn't expected that.

"You were what?"

"I got crazy when I saw him hugging you."

I wanted to laugh, it was me that hugged Mark, but I wasn't about to spoil
the moment.

"Well, you know how I got when I saw you kissing Michelle!"

He looked up at me "So, that's why you're mad at me?"

"You didn't know?"

"I thought that you didn't like me anymore, or you found someone else, I
tried to talk to you but you were always avoiding me and I just gave up."

"I was really hurt.  You promised to spend the weekend with me and then at
the party...  BANG!"

He looked up at me, grabbed my hand and led me to the couch. "I need to tell
you something but it has to stay here, between you and me."

I nodded.

"I don't get drunk, I have to be really careful with what I drink, cause I
play sports and all. But that night... I don't know what got into me and you
saw what happened. Two days later the coach decided to require drugs tests
for all of us.  After we did, he called me aside later to have a talk."  He
sighed. "He told me my test came back positive and to tell him what I was
taking. I couldn't believe that was happening, I started crying and then
told him about the party.  Coach figured it out, that maybe it was there
'cause the next day I woke up feeling sick."

"How did he know?"

"Well, it seems I wasn't the first and that Michelle had drugged me to
have her way. The coach didn't have any evidence, but some other team
members had the same thing happen to them. Even if the coach had evidence
he couldn't touch Michelle or get her kicked out, her father is a pretty big
financier of the school's team."

I tried to absorb what he was telling me. I didn't know what to do, he had
been framed, and I didn't even gave him a chance, I didn't deserve to be
with
him, I looked down.

"Sorry" I said sadly "I should have given you a secound chance."

He smiled. "I'm just happy that you're not with Mark, or are you?"

I looked up and grinned. "Well, now that you mention it..."

"You bastard!" he said tickling me.

He tackled me and tickled me until I started to beg. He was on top of me
laughing more than myself. When he stopped the laugher started to fade
and we just stayed looking at each other. I gazed into his eyes trying to
find
something that I hadn't seen for a long time. He leaned in to me and as we
were about to kiss we heard his mother unlocking the door. Mike got up and
helped me up, too.

"Brad, how are you?" Mike's mother asked.

"I'm ok." I said politely.

"You stopped showing up, what happened?"

I looked around trying to find an excuse until Mike saved me. "We have an
assigment to do, we're in our room!"

His mother looked at us suspiciously and just shrugged. We walked to Mike's
room, with me staring at his back.

"So, like what you see?" Mike asked when we entered the room.

I blushed and laughed.

"So where were we?" He said, hugging me and leaning into me.

I stopped him with my finger. "First, you have to promise me that you won't
ever talk to Michelle again!"

"My my....a jelous boyfriend I see....as long as you don't hug Mark..."

"Oh come on, Mark's just a frienmmph." I started.

He interrupted me with a kiss.  It was a passionate kiss, one that
reminded me what I'd missed all those weeks.

"Brad, promise me that you won't ever do that again!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Not even talk to me, you don't know how bad this week has been." He said,
resting his head on my shoulder. "And having to pretend to be alright in
front of everyone."

"I promise....and you promise to not drink a thing that that bitch gives
you!" I said stroking his back.

He snickered. "Sure."

...

"I was a jerk!" I told Bri while handing her a rose.

The next day I wanted to talk to Bri but decided to do it the old-fashioned
way. A red rose and the romantic excuse at the window.

She smiled "You're not the only one."

"So, we good?" I asked.

"Sure... could I ever be mad at you?"

I hugged her and asked "Can I come in? I'm not very keen on heights!"

"Come on." she said pulling me in.

I got in and sat on the floor, smiling like a fool.

"So, what's with the smile?" she asked sitting on the bed.

"You don't like it?"

"Come on, tell me!"

"Ok, ok.  Mike and I are back together!" I said, happily.

She rolled her eyes and lay back on the bed. I told her everything and she
just
listened.

"So, that bitch did that? She got really low....I can't beleive that..."

"Oh well, as long as she doesn't touch Mike...." I said sighing

"And Jared!" Bri said smiling "Are you gonna sleep here?"

"Nah...my mom's waiting." I said, getting up. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm
glad we're good again!"

..

School got a lot better. I was happier and started having lunch with
Mike again. I even managed to convince him to let Mark join us, he agreed
as long as Mark wasn't next to me. Mark understood and laughed. Life seemed
easier, I was with Mike and no one was gonna destroy that, not even
Michelle.

"So, what are you gonna do this weekend?" Mark asked.

"I'm gonna pay up on an old promise!" Mike said, grinning.

"I don't know..." I said, looking at Mike and trying to figure out what he
was talking about.

"Well, I'm going out with a friend of mine." Mark said looking at his
watch.  "Shit! I'm late. See ya guys later."

After he left Mike spoke.

"You're free this weekend, that means you can come with me!" he said,
smiling.

"Where? And what the hell was that promise you were talking about?"

"Remember when I promised a weekend together? Well, my parents let me
rent a cabin for this weekend."

I wanted to kiss him right there, damn students!

"Are you in?"

"Hmmmm, I don't know...is there a catch?" I asked, mocking him.

"Only having to put up with me." he said with a smile.

"Then I'm in.  What time do I have to be there?"

After we made the arrangements we walked toward our next class.  On the
way I pulled him into a really dark corner and kissed him with all I had, he
was stunned for a bit and walked on to chemistry with a big grin.

...


"You know, It would...*kiss*....be easier....*kiss*...if you would let me
...*kiss*...take the bag." Mike tried to say.

We were in his room. He was trying to take his bag to the car. I was so
happy that he was doing this, that I couldn't stop thanking him.

"Ok, Ok, but I'm not planning on stopping that when we get there." I said
grabbing a smaller bag.

"Thank God." he said smiling. "Don't forget the camera."

After we loaded everything onto the car, it was time for the goodbyes, Mike
heared all the warnings from his mom, and I heared all the requests to
protect Mike from his
mom. After we were in the car we gave a big, collective sigh.

"Ready,"

"As I'll ever be..."

The place wasn't far, maybe 20 miles...I don't know, I was to happy to
notice...we talked a bit on the way, but I was mostly focoused on Mike
and abserving him in all his glory. He noticed and tried to stop me, but
after a while he got tired of it and focused on driving.

"We're here!" he said getting out.

I looked at the cabin and smiled. It was everything that I was expecting.
Small and cute. It was all made in wood with two windows in the front. It
seemed to have 3 rooms, and had a net to lay down. The thing that I really
loved was the little deck that stuck out over the small lake in the front.
It looked like one of those perfect places that only show up on TV. I got
out and hugged Mike from behind. We stayed there looking at it for a few
minutes.

"This feels like it's our first house!" I joked.

"Yeah, I wish it was... at least here we could be whatever we wanted..."
Mike said, squeezing my hands.

"And there's no Michelle around!"

"Lets not talk about those things this weekend!" he said. "Now help me
unload
the bags!"

After putting everything in order, I walked out the front and sat on
the deck with my feet in the water. I looked at the mountains and sighed.
I felt Mike sitting behind me and putting his arms around my waist.
"Do you like it?" he whispered.

"I love it.  Can we stay here the whole week? No, make that the whole
month." I said, resting my head on his shoulder.


TBC...


Well, another one completed...I hope that you liked it, I hope to hear from
you...mail me to pookie_story@hotmail.com...a hug to everyone