Disclaimer: If you're not legal to be reading this....read it anyway and enjoy. No one here's coming after you.

Notice: This is my first update for this story in over a year. Please go to Stupid Jerk (click the link) to catch up on the story. Those of you who've stayed with me with this work and with my other story Loner, thank you thank you thank you. And do remember that feedback is love.
-K

I woke up to a banging on my door. At least I thought that's what it was. There was also some shrill shouting. I told it to fuck off and burrowed back underneath my covers. Just as I slowly fell back into my wondrous sleep.

"¡Mira! Levántate, sexy. Y tal vez yo voy a chaparte," someone whispered.

I remember easily and sleepily answering, "Oooo, Tom fucking me . . . . nice."

"PACO!!!"

Now that voice, I knew, and immediately after recognizing it, my covers were whisked away. I finally woke up fully, but I still wasn't completely coherent.

"Why you in my room, Darryl? It's not time for school yet," I complained.

"We're already late and the faster you go the less late we'll be! I'm tired of being late everyday because of you, Paco!" he yelled at me, shoving me towards the bathroom.

"I'm moving. I'm going," I responded. I quickly threw water on my face and brushed my teeth. I looked down at myself. `T-shirt and pajama pants?' I thought to myself. `Why not?' I emerged from the bathroom a new person ready to conquer my day. I smiled at a glowering Darryl and ran downstairs, getting my book bag.

"¡Hasta luego, Paco!" Tio Adimar called to me as I ran out the door with Darryl not far behind me. He locked the front door as I jogged to Sam's car. Deidre, Sam and Tom were already in the car. They each shot me looks of death, but I purposely played it off wishing them all a cheerful, "Mornin'!"

Sam looked at me through the rear-view mirror. I froze under that stare. I'd never seen Sam give a stare like that, nor had I had it directed at me. "Do this shit one more time, Paco, and I will seriously fuck you a new asshole!" he threatened.

"You ain't gonna do a thing to m—" Tom began but stopped once I shot him a look of panic.

"How's that, Tom?" Sam asked.

"Nothin'. Just don't be so mad, man. Everything's cool. Let's just get to school," he laughed off. It was a forced laugh.

The rest of the car ride was a repeat of my usual morning car rides with Sam. I got lectured again on the importance of being on time, and this time he decided to add how promptness would be character-building and that I would also benefit from some time management lessons. He continued on with his 10 year dissertation on how I could improve my timeliness. I mostly ignored him as he was repeatedly interrupted by Deidre and Tom who tried to steer the conversation in different directions. Deidre wanted to fill me up with school gossip as usual, and Tom kept making comments on hot actors, actresses and actors he found that were way too pretty. His hand also made its way to mine when he thought no one was looking.

I appreciated that, but I also didn't want that. I didn't know how `out' Tom was, but me? I sure wasn't ready for anyone beyond my friends knowing my feelings, and no it's not because I'm ashamed. I like Tom. I'm sure I do. At least I was surer than I was the day before, and I wanted him to know that. I wanted to tell him that, but I knew I couldn't in that moment – in Sam's car with everyone else around. Everyone else was truly Darryl.

I didn't know how to tell him about how I felt. I just didn't know how to do that at all. I could just see the thought that would pop up in his head.

Was I having feelings for guys when he kissed me? If so, why would I reject him? Why did I totally blow him off? Was I gay? Did I just not know how to let him down easy? Did I like some other dude?

I could've probably thought of more questions that he may have had, and I would have, but we'd arrived at school, and Sam had taken that moment for another opportunity to berate me. This time he poked a strong finger in the center of my chest, ending his tirade with, "Ya got it?"

"I got you," I said, kind of defeated, while rolling my eyes. Darryl laughed next to me. Sam looked around for a moment and then kissed Darryl really quick. I was surprised. It was the first time I'd seen them share some PDA.

"See y'all later," Sam smiled and ran off, as he typically did.

The rest of us went to our lockers. Deidre, Tom, and I smiled and made fun of Darryl who was quite red in the face and neck. We said bye to Tom who sneakily tossed me a lascivious wink, which I think Deidre noticed before we all set off to Ms. Lamontall's trig class. We made it in the door just as the bell rang.

"Right under the buzzer, you three," she glowered, giving us that spawn-of-Satan glare before switching to her perky, peaceful one. "To your seats!" she turned to the class. "Today we're going to journey into the wonderful world of matrices. And no, this has nothing to do with the movies. . ." No one really laughed at her joke.

I tuned her out. I didn't really know where my head was. It was all over the place. I thought about Tom and Darryl, mostly, but also about the contest which Rae and I won. I couldn't wait until we both could talk about how it was gonna be done. None-too-quickly the bell rang signaling the end of class, and the start of homeroom.

Deidre stood up, smiling. "Well today's my debut!" she announced, beaming.

"Debut?" I asked.

"Dammit, Paco, where's your head at?" she asked before she and started a short little foray into the song with the same name.

Darryl stopped us, "Y'all stupid. Deirdre is the new—"

"Voice of Hirsshorn High!" she finished. She tossed her hair over one shoulder. "And I can't wait! See you in third!" She rushed out the classroom.

I turned to Darryl. "When did this happen, exactly?"

He chuckled, "She was telling us all about on the way here in Sam's car. Guess you weren't listenin' to nobody, huh?"

"I guess not. . ." I answered lightly. My mind was elsewhere. Here I was, stuck with Darryl. Stuck with Darryl. I mentally slapped myself once I had that thought. All my hang-ups weren't about him. They were about me. I was scared. When he had come out to me, I didn't know how to handle it. I avoided him way too much, and he accepted me back entirely. How could he be so forgiving? I don't think I could be that forgiving – at least not at first.

"—you and Tom?"

I blinked and looked up from my desk at Darryl. His left eyebrow was raised, and he beamed at me.

"You ain't hear me at all, did you?" he asked, still smirking.

I shook my head slowly, "No, not really. You said somethin'?"

He reached over and hit me upside my head. "You a space-case today. Anything to do with you and Tom?"

I took a deep breath. I knew my eyes went wide for a moment. Damn! Damn! Damn! I looked away for a moment, regained my composure and looked back at my interrogating best friend. "We—what about me and Tom?" I did my best to sound nonchalant. Fuck me, I know I tried to sound nonchalant.

"You tell me," he suggested, gesturing to me and then himself.

"Tell you what? Ain't nothin' to tell," I snapped. I sounded angry. Dammit! I sounded angry. He raised his brow again, and that smirk decided it wanted to creep back onto his face.

Hot. I was hot. I was sweating. Beads of sweat had begun rolling down my arms and the back of my neck. I really wanted us to move the conversation elsewhere. Couldn't he see that? Evidently he couldn't.

"You sure?"

I nodded my head, "Positive."

The bell rang, and I almost shouted my praise for it at that moment. I leaped out of my chair and made for the exit as quickly as possible. The hallways were full. I weeded my way through the crowd back towards my locker, and then it occurred to me that maybe going to my locker wouldn't be the best thing to do. Darryl would be going to his, and seeing how his was right next to mine. . . . Besides, I wasn't the guy who was doing his best to make his best friend feel uncomfortable.

"Paco, hey—"

"¡Basta ya! Just drop it, Darryl!" I shouted. The busy mill of students stopped for a moment to stare at me before they all continued on about their day after an uncomfortable silence. I whipped around, fully intending to beat Darryl about his face; but it was Tom's smile that met me.

Now I could be romantic here, and say that his smile made me melt; or my heart went aflutter; or joy emanated from the depths of my soul and poured out into all of my being. None of that happened. Sure, I smiled back. I looked down at the ground for a moment bashfully, but my biggest reaction was in my pants, and that's when I chastised myself for not waking up on time and deciding to wear pajamas. They hid nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Tom glanced down, smiled again, and looked back up at me. He took that moment to wiggle his brows and all-too-slowly lick his lips, and while I enjoyed the show – the tent in my pants was evidence of that – I did not want to be standing in the middle of the hallway with a noticeable erection. I lowered my text book in front of me and glanced over Tom's shoulder. Some tall gangly girl stood there with her eyes wide, blushing. The two girls next to her smiled at me. One of them even mouthed `nice' before they all averted their eyes and returned their conversation.

"¡Venga!" Tom beckoned. He had already grabbed my arm and started to walk up Main Street towards the school's main doors.

"Where we goin'?" I asked him as the bell signaling the start of second period chimed.

"To talk," he answered simply.

I tried yanking my arm out of his grip, but his hand just tightened around it. He did stop, though. "We're gonna miss class."

"I think we both can afford to miss class. I think we both can afford to play hooky," he laughed and pull me up against him. My eyes darted up and down the hallway. We were the only ones in it, and I was amazed at how quiet it was and how quickly the hallway had emptied.

"Look at me," he requested. His voice had taken a husky tone. I lowered my gaze to meet his. "Estás estresado y agobiado," he began. I opened my mouth to object, but he shushed me. "Fine, you're not overwhelmed, but you are stressed. I think it's cos of Darryl."

I looked at him in disbelief, "How you know?"

He smiled that large smile again and smacked his teeth. "Easily. I think I've been friends with y'all long enough to see how things work. Basically, it was how he looked at you . . . and me. I think he knows."

I shook my head, "No he don't. He would've said somethin."

"Would he?"

I shrugged. "I think so. . . I can't be completely sure."

"Well, enough about him. Today's all for us," he smiled and began walking towards the main doors again, pulling me along.

I yanked back again. "What you mean, `today's all for us'?!"

He let an exasperated sigh. "If I promise to tell you when we're outside, will you come with me?" He threw an annoyed glare my way. I nodded. "Good."

I followed him out the doors and towards the parking lot. I rubbed my arm where he'd held it. Damn his strength. I was gonna have to make him and Darryl more aware of their strength. I noticed that we were walking towards a green sedan of some sort. He fished some keys from his pocket and unlocked the car. I stopped walking.

"Whose car is this?" I asked.

He grabbed me again, walking me up to the sedan. "I borrowed it. Just for us."

"That ain't answer my question, Tom," I glowered and looked at his hand around my upper arm. "And would you stop grabbing my arm!" I wrenched it free of his grip again.

This time, he grabbed my wrist and spun me around until I was wedged in between him and the green car. The hand holding my wrist slipped down to my hand, and we intertwined our fingers together. He pushed up closer, pressing me harder into the car. He trailed a finger down my other arm, moved it aside and wrapped that arm around me waist.

"Today is all about us," he began, laying a light kiss on my neck. I bit my bottom lip and exhaled slowly. I was not going to shudder. I was not! "I figured if you and I were to continue `having fun' that we should at least go on a date. So, you game?"

I nodded. He smiled and let me go. His action was too sudden, and I stood there slightly confused for a moment. He walked around to the driver's side of the car and got in. I opened the door and sat down heavily. Good, I thought. The car was nice and roomy. I stretched my legs out. We sat in a nice silence for a moment before he turned to me and gazed down at my lap.

"You just don't know how hot it makes me feel that I have that effect on you with just a smile," he laughed. He started the car and began backing out of the space, while I sat there trying not to blush . . . nor grow harder in my pants.

This story shall continue. Since it's been so long since I've written this go catch up on the previous in the high-school section under Stupid Jerk. Feedback is love, and I'm wanting so much love.
-K