I hate the start of the new school year, don't you?? You go back to school still in summer holiday mode, and you just don't feel like getting back to school. Anyway my name is Daniel but my friends call me Storm, why do they call me Storm??   Well I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you and we don't want that now do we.

I’m 15 years old, in a few months I’ll turn 16. If you want to get into specifics I’m 5’8 pushing 5’9 and weigh 145 lb., pretty average overall. My eyes are hazel and I have light brown hair. My Mom looks after me, she works really hard and is I know a great mom, she does everything two parents should do rolled in to one. I only have one sister Abby who's older than me and lives with her boyfriend. I also have a little brother Dade who's 14 so not that much younger than me I guess. Dade and I get on like buddies, we spend a lot of time together hanging out and doing stuff and all my friends like him. We all get on really well which must seem strange in todays angst filled country but who cares I'm happy.  And if you're wondering where the Dad is he walked out a long time ago so who cares about him. 

I live in a town called Merlow. It’s an ok place, clean, green, has everything you need, I can’t complain. The people around here are pretty friendly, no worse than your average town. I’m in the tenth grade this year, a whole year above ninth, isn’t that just great. I suppose you could say I actually like school, because all of my friends go there. I’m pretty popular in school, I’m not sure why, some people say it’s my looks, some say it’s my attitude and some say it’s because I can kick ass with the best of them. I’m not sure why, I’m just me, I have a lot of great friends though and that seems to help.

I’ve known most of my friends all my life, the main group I hang out with is Mike, Sarah and Marcel. Mike is probably who I would have to say is my best friend, I’ve known him since we were little tikes and he’s like a brother. He’s had it pretty rough at home over the years but whenever he’s really in need he comes and stays with me, my Mom won’t have it any other way. Mike has been a good friend over the years, he’s strong and reliable, you can always count on him to fight for you no matter what the odds. Mike is also a member of the Jock club, as in the Football players of the school. When he isn’t hanging out with me he’s hanging out with those guys, they’re ok I guess, just a little empty in the head that’s all.

Sarah I have known as long as Mike, we’ve been sweethearts since we could walk. She is one of the most popular girls in school, she’s intelligent, beautiful, and gets on with everyone. Sarah is also someone I trust more than anyone, she’s like my soul mate, I confide in her and tell her everything. This summer though we broke up, but we’re still really good friends, it’s just a matter of time till we get back together.

I’ve known Marcel for five years, Marcel is a pretty boy, he’s the guy that all the girls want. He’s also got a very large ego, he’s good looking and he knows it. Marcel likes attention and likes it when girls drool over him. Only thing is, I have a funny feeling Marcel is playing for the other team, if you know what I mean. Underneath that superficial exterior though, Marcel is a really thoughtful and loyal friend, he’s always buying his friends the best birthday presents they could imagine and is really just a big softie. Marcel is also a super fit freak who always likes to be at his best, and it shows with all the athletic awards and trophies he has. Marcel comes from an extremely well off background but he practically lives at my house too because his parents are hardly home.

If you didn’t pick up already, everybody spends a lot of time at my house. It’s partly because I have the most stable home life and probably because of my Mom, everybody loves Mom. Mom loves them just as much though, she has a weak spot for my friends, especially Marcel and Mike who both call her Mom. She treats them both as if they were her own, which pisses me off sometimes because she’s my Mom not theirs but that’s what you get when you’ve got a Mom like mine.

Well today is the first day back at school and I've been sitting on this damn bus for what seems like an eternity.  I hate catching the bus, it take so long, it’d be easier if I walked but Mom always likes me to catch the bus on the first day just to make sure I’m not late. Then I walk home for the rest of the year. As I sit here staring out the window I notice how everything just seems to be buzzing on a Monday morning, everyone's in a rush to get somewhere.  I think about what this year will be like, who will be the ‘in’ crowd, who'll get ousted etc, when a voice interrupts my train of thought and pulls me from my dream state. "Hey" came the voice.  I looked around to see who was talking to me.  

My face looked up and I saw what was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.  I got lost in his eyes, they looked like a cross between green, blue and hazel and seemed to smile at me.  They spoke to me and pulled my heart out of my chest.  His face was tanned and chiseled, his hair dirty blonde/light brown and it fell over his eyes.  I was totally in love, except I don't like guys like that, do I?. "Dude Heeellooooooooo"  He said again. 

I snapped out of my fixation, a little red faced but he seemed none the wiser.  He just smiled and I melted again but tried to do a better job to hide it this time. "Uuh Hi" I stammered. 

He motioned towards the seat next to me. "Is anyone sitting here" he asked.

"No" I replied.

"Cool, mind if I sit here then dude" he flipped his bag off and sat down before I had time to reply.

"Name's Lucas, nice to meet you"  Lucas extended his hand out to shake mine and I put mine out rather shakily. I felt his hand close around mine and I nearly lost it again, his skin was soft yet his grip firm.  I could feel those butterflies in my stomach already.  I figured I better start acting normal though before he caught on. "I'm Daniel, but my friends call me Storm" I said.   He seemed to like that.

"Hey that's a wicked name man. How'd you get it?" Lucas asked

I started telling him about how I got my name, we were talking as if we had known each other forever, I began to loosen up and get comfortable talking to him.  I found out he'd just moved here and didn't know many people so I took it upon myself to introduce him around.  Before we knew it we were in school walking through the main hallway.

"STORM!!! STORM!!!" I heard the voice and instantly recognized it as Sarah.  I looked at Sarah who I hadn’t seen since she went on holiday with her parents. It seemed as if she’d turned into a totally different person, I mean before she was hot but now she was HOT!. She had a tan and it looked like she’d grown in the chest department if you get my drift.

"BUDDY!!" I yelled back to her. 

Sarah ran up to me and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, it was one of those 'I know we're not going out but you still belong to me' hugs. "I haven’t seen you for soooo long Storm, did you get all my letters??" she asked.

"Yes, all 29 of them, were you really bored or something?" I asked. Sarah smiled her usual smile that made all the guys weak, not too obvious, but subtle enough to get the point across. Don’t get me wrong Sarah isn’t a flirt or anything really, she just manages to turn everyone on without knowing it.

"Well I wanted to make sure my spunk missed me. Storm, I have to say, you’re looking pretty damn fine, you must have had a good summer aye. And who’s this babe you have with you?" Sarah asked while looking Lucas up and down.

"This is Lucas, he's new here, just moved" I pulled Lucas over and introduced him to Sarah. Lucas eyes seemed to take a shine to Sarah, maybe I should have told him Sarah was my ex.

I was soon interrupted with a noogie on my head and turned to see it was Mike, with Marcel standing next to him. Marcel was dressed to impress, he always spent the first day showing off how great he is, making sure all the girls were looking. I introduced Lucas to Mike and Marcel, Marcel taking an extra long handshake and getting a good look at Lucas.

We started telling each other about what we did for summer, I wasn’t really paying attention because I noticed the body language between Mike and Sarah was different. Mike and Sarah both seemed to smile at each other as if they had a little secret that no one else knew. Even the way Mike was looking at Sarah made me feel tense and I wondered if there was anything going on here. My nervous thoughts were interrupted by a loud shrill otherwise known as the morning bell. We all left for our classes and I watched anxiously as Mike and Sarah walked to class together.

I found out that most of my classes were with Lucas and that just made my day, maybe school this year wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. We sat through all our morning classes chatting quietly, I noticed nearly every sentence had dude in there somewhere which I found really cute.  We talked about everything, how the school worked, who the idiots were, the jocks, the babes. I found out he was a surfie, which didn’t surprise me, and he was really bummed when he first moved here because it was so far from the ocean. Lucas did a great job of distracting me from thinking about Mike and Sarah too much which was good because the more I thought the more worried and tense I became.

I couldn't help staring at him all day, he was just so beautiful, and totally cool to go with it!  I was definitely falling for him but I tried my best to stay cool.  I noticed myself watching his lips as he talked to me, they were so luscious and kissable.  I got a lump in my throat just thinking about it.  Then the way he brushed his hair out of his eyes oh.

All lunch hour was spent talking and Lucas instantly become a hit with our circle of friends. Even though he was approached by everyone and got quite a few smiles from the local babe patrol(including Sarah) he still stuck close to me which made me feel pretty special.  He wanted my opinion on everything, whether he should talk to so and so, what sports he should take on. It was as if we were destined to become best friends.

We ended up walking home instead of catching the bus and I learnt even more about him, every bit of it made me fall even further, I tried my best to keep myself from turning into a puddle of sap but he just had an effect on me.  He told me he misses the big city but not as much anymore because it’s a lot safer here and everyone gets along better and he knew I was going to be his best friend just from today. That made me smile a lot and I had to keep myself from blushing. I couldn’t understand what I was feeling, it was as if I was hanging on every word he said. It wasn’t the normal friendship feeling I had for Mike and Marcel, I was totally confused.

When we got to his house he asked me if I wanted to come in, I thought I had better not, as much as I wanted to, who knows what goofy things I would do.   We exchanged phone numbers though and Lucas yelled out a massive 'LATER DUDE!! to me as I walked off grinning.  I couldn't stop thinking about him as I walked home and wondered what an awesome year it's going to be, Lucas was definitely one of those people who make you feel better just for having been with them.  And I planned to be with him a whole lot.

I walked up to my house and opened the door, I could tell nobody was home but the smell of brownies was strong.  My Mom rules, she always makes me a snack for when I get home, it's like I'm still a little kid.  A note from her read

Sweetheart,

brownies are in the oven,
there’s enough for all your friends too
get a glass of milk,
I should be home before dinner,

love you,
Mom

Call me screwed up but I actually like my family, my Mom is always remembering the little things and taking care of me even when I'm the most temperamental little shit.  

I carried on upstairs and threw myself down on my bed. I couldn't help thinking what an awesome day it was, in particular I couldn't help thinking about Lucas.  I was confused with how I felt about him, I've never liked guys before, why him.  The way I was thinking about Lucas was so unusual to me, I’ll admit I find some guys sexy when I’m really aroused but this was more than that, its’ the same way I used to think about Sarah. Why am I thinking about a guy like that? We'll just be good friends, that's all.  I kept repeating this in my mind over and over until I fell off to sleep.

"STORM!!!!!!!!! PHONE!!!!!!" yelled Dade.

I sat straight up and picked up the phone in my room.  It had become habit, fall off to sleep, get woken up, sit straight up, grab phone, talk. 

"GOT IT!!!!" I yelled. My little brother hung up on the other end and I figured he must have just got home from hockey training.

"Hello" I answered sluggishly.

"Dude. Storm. It's me Lucas, sorry did I wake you up man?"   I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Nah it's cool" I lied.

"So whatcha doin??" he asked.

Dreaming about you. "Nothing, what about you" I asked

"I dunno, I got bored and I don't really know many places around here so I was just wondering if I could kick it with you for a bit" Lucas replied

"Sure man come on over"  I replied without thinking, that was a habit saying too. I proceeded to give him my address and some directions.

"Be there in 5 dude" he said as hung up.  I flopped back down and sighed, this is definitely a good day I thought to myself.  Before I could even think about what I was going to do there was a knock on the door

It was Mike, he stood there wearing his mid riff football training top that accentuated his biceps and taut abs, that just turned me on to no end. Actually now that I think about it most of my guy friends turn me on, maybe that's why I hang with them.  I've never thought of any of them as more than that though I figured it was just hormones or something, besides Mike was as straight as they come and as cute as Marcel is he just doesn't do it for me.  I think that's why I broke up with Sarah, because I didn't feel right, maybe deep down I know I'm gay or bi but I just hate labels and I'm still confused. 

I sat Mike down and gave him some brownies, Dade yelled down to save him some and we both told him to shut up at the same time.  Mike had a serious look on his face, like he had to tell me something but I wasn't sure what.  "What is it man, what's up?" I asked.  He sat there trying to work up the courage to ask me whatever it was he wanted to ask..

"I need to ask you something .. I ... I want to ..."   his sentence was interrupted by the phone ringing, I cursed under my breath and picked it up.

"Hello" the voice said.  As soon as I heard it I recognized it as Marcel.

"Oh what do YOU want"  I mouthed sarcastically.   Mike started laughing at the way I was talking to Marcel, I do talk to him pretty harsh but he knows it's all in fun, least I hope he does.  Marcel asked what I was up to and I told him Mike was here and Lucas was coming over.  He said he was coming over straight away. "Oh sure don't bother asking then" I said, but he'd already hung up.  I just can't stand people with no manners.

I went straight back to Mike and asked him to carry on telling me what he started before.  His forehead was sweating and he seemed to be getting a bit more nervous, he was just about to open his mouth when the phone rang again.  This time I cursed out loud. "Hey Storm Babe" It was Sarah this time.  My scowl turned into a smile and Mike wondered who I was talking to.

"Sarah babe, geez lucky it's you coz if it was Marcel again I woulda sworn at you, it's a madhouse over here I tell ya"

Mikes head seemed to drop when he heard it was Sarah, I kept talking to Sarah, she just wanted to chat, ask about Lucas, tell me about who likes who etc etc.   I was half listening half thinking what was up with Mike, every time I'd laugh at Sarah’s little jokes seemed to kill him a little inside.  It didn't take me long to work out why.  

"Love ya sexy, See ya" Sarah said as thirty minutes and three brownies later she decided to hang up 

"Love ya babe" I replied smiling.  It wasn't anything major, just something that we did, we did love each other just not the BF/GF way, at least I didn't, I think, see this is why I'm totally confused. 

I walked into the living room and Mike, Dade, Marcel and Lucas were all playing Super Smash Brothers on Nintendo 64. "Don't you guys have a home" I laughed. 

Marcel turned his face a little, enough to concentrate on the game and me "Yeah, this is it" he said.

"Thank you for your input dumb ass, you better get a haircut and a real job to pay your rent then aye?" I replied.

I asked Lucas if he was ok and he just smiled back at me with his killer lips and I started to lose it again. "I'm sweet as man, nice pad you got here, your little bro and Marcel gave me a tour"

I couldn't help grinning again. "Oh yeah Marcel's family ..." I said, Marcels face lit up. "yeah he's like the dog we never had"

We all started cracking up and Marcel threw a cushion at me. Marcel really had it in for me after that, he decided to get revenge by kicking my ass on Smash Brothers, which wasn't real hard since I'm shit at it anyway. 

If you hadn't known Dade was my little brother you would have thought he was one of us, he's only a few months younger than Mike.  He liked hanging with us too, and we liked having him.  He had become an unofficial member of our club, which helped his popularity at school because to the younger grades we were the coolest of the cool, not by our own admission though.

Lucas was seated in the middle of me and Marcel but he seemed to be moving closer to me, maybe I was just imagining it, or maybe he was trying to get away from Marcel, either way I didn’t mind.  Marcel was using any excuse he could to touch Lucas, who can blame him, and Lucas being the nice person he was just smiled. But I started to get jealous and moved in between them ever so casually, yeah casual as in shoving Marcel out of the way.

"Well hello boys, you all staying for dinner"  my Mom said as she carried the groceries in, we all got up and ran out to help her.  All my friends act as if this is their home, they wash the dishes, clean the house, mow the lawns, everything and they don’t seem to mind because they know it is like their second home.

Mike and I grabbed the last bags and I held him back as the others went inside.  Mike stood there nervously, he had an apprehensive look on his face, sort of knowing but dreading what was coming next.

"Hey I know what you wanted, you want Sarah don't you."   I said anxiously.

I knew that's what he wanted, my permission to ask Sarah out, even though her and I had split up we were still classed as a couple.  I knew it was best to let go but when it came down to it, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  

Mike seemed taken aback by what I'd said, but he nodded yes meekly.   I don’t know what happened to me after he nodded though, I fully intended to give her up but a fire burned up inside me from nowhere and I became red with anger.

"Well you can't fuck you, she's still mine, I can't believe you would even consider it, you always want to take what I have, always muscling in on what I've got, well you're not going to this time Mike, so fuck off and stay the hell away from me!." I grabbed the grocery bag off him and stormed into the house slamming the door behind me.

I put the groceries in the kitchen and ran up to my room.  I felt cold and empty inside for saying that to Mike but I don't want to lose Sarah, not yet, not like this.  I knew Mike liked her even when we were going out which pisssed me off to no end but I said nothing to him about it.  I feel even more threatened by him now because I think she's beginning to like him too.  I like having her around though, giving me attention, affection and all those other things, but now that I think about it it's not being real fair to her is it.  And I suppose Mike valued my friendship enough to feel like he should ask me first even though he didn't have to.   I was just being a jerk. 

I got up and walked to the window, I could see Mikes figure walking down the street with his head down and I just wanted to die, what kind of a friend am I.   I felt as if I’d slammed the door on a friend and left him standing in the shivering cold. A tear started to roll down my cheek and I quickly wiped it off. "Honey, what happened?" Mom asked, Moms must be psychic. 

Mom walked in and sat down next to me, I couldn't keep anything from her, I told her what had happened and that I felt really bad but I didn't know what to do.   I cried and told her I felt like I was going to lose two of my best friends, and I was feeling empty and helpless. I wanted her to give me the answer, to solve all my problems, but she didn't, she said I had to decide for myself. But to make sure I did what felt right in my heart and that Mike was too good a friend and is this worth losing him over.  Moms are always right aren't they.  She left me alone for a bit to think, I wanted to crawl into a ball and hide, I didn’t want to face the world. Eventually I managed to go downstairs, luckily no one else had heard what happened and I told them Mike had to go home.

After we ate dinner, everyone was pretty tired and Marcel grudgingly went home because he had a lot of homework still to do. Lucas had already finished his and wanted to stay around so he and I went up to my room. I started showing him my card collection and my competition trophies and medals for Karate, he was pretty impressed.  

We started talking about some of the babes in school and he started asking about Sarah, I sighed, everyone wants Sarah, who wouldn't right?  We both lay side by side on my bed staring at the ceiling and talking some more about anything that popped into our heads. The closeness of our bodies was torture, our arms and feet were touching and our hands would occasionally brush each other. The way we were talking though he was totally straight, story of my life.  Next thing I know he was asleep and I was talking to myself, I must be really interesting huh, he was totally gone.  I couldn't help but look at his beautiful face as he slept, the gentle rise of his chest as he breathed, and here he was on MY bed. 

Lucas looked too peaceful to wake up so I went downstairs and asked Mom if it was cool for him to stay, she was fine with it.  I pulled his phone number out of my pocket and rang his parents, his Mom answered, I introduced myself and told her Lucas had fallen off to sleep and asked if it was cool if he stayed, she spoke to my Mom and asked her if she didn't mind and apologized for the inconvenience.  Mom just said she's used to it and it's not an inconvenience at all and she'd make him some lunch for school and he could go to school with me.   That's my Mom, super super super, probably why everyone likes her and comes over, gets a bit annoying though because they never go home.

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