Subtle

Chapter 3


I lay on my bed listening to music on my iPod. With my white headphones in my ears, I drowned out all the other noises around me. I just stared off at nothing particular. I didn't want to think about anything. I was interrupted by the sound of loud knocks on my door. I knew it was no one else but my sister and I knew she would not stop knocking until I answered. I took my headphones out and got up to open the door.

"What do you want Michelle?" I asked angrily before my sister could say anything.

"Calm done Ethan, Jake just called and asked where you were. He said he called you several times on your cell phone but you didn't pick up" she said a bit annoyed.

"Oh sorry, I just had my phone off. Thanks" I said quickly before closing the door again. I went to my desk, picked up my cell phone, and dialed Jake's number.

"Hey Ethan!"

"Hey Jake, Michelle said you called"

"Yeah dude, where were you today? You missed practice and Zac's swim meet. Did everything with Karen go okay?"

"Oh yeah, we're going out on Friday."

"Dude, that's great, congratulations"

"Thanks and sorry, I just wasn't feeling that great so I didn't go to practice or the meet"

"Okay, well Zac was kind of disappointed but I hope you feel better man!"

"Okay, talk to you later"

"Bye"

I hung up and fell back on my bed. I had completely forgotten about Karen. What was I going to do with her? This was getting complicated and I didn't want to think about it. I distracted myself for a while with some homework and TV. I had dinner with my family where my dad talked the whole time about the problems at the hospital where he worked as a doctor. After dinner, I had a quick shower and went to sleep a bit earlier than usual.

The next day, I was late to school because I somehow managed to sleep through my sister's loud knocks on my door. At school, my friends all asked me about my date with Karen but I didn't really pay attention as I had a lot on my mind. I did remember to apologize to Zac for not making it to his swim meet. Classes passed by and before I knew it, the last bell rang and I was at my locker gathering my things.

"Yo Ethan!"

I turned around to see Jake standing behind.

"Oh, hey Jake, what's up?

"Dude, what's with you? You seem really out of it"

"Sorry, I am just not feeling that great"

I closed my locker and we both headed towards the student parking lot. On the way, I saw Ken walking towards us. He looked at me and smiled. I tried not to notice and kept walking.

"Hey, he sure seemed happy to see you" Jake said after Ken walked past.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked surprised.

"Ken, he seems to have a crush on you" Jake said laughing.

"Why would he have a crush on me?" I asked nervously.

"Well, he is very openly gay and you aren't that unattractive yourself" Jake said still laughing.

"He's gay?!?" I asked even more surprised.

"Yeah, but it's not really that big of a deal" Jake said a bit more seriously.

"Oh, I just didn't know" I said trying to hide the surprise from my face.

"Well he is very out" Jake said smiling.

All of a sudden, I was even more lost but I decided I needed to do something to figure some things out.

"Well, I'm heading home, so see you later" I said to Jake as I reached my car.

"Okay, well I'll call you later" Jake said before turning around and walking on towards to his car.

I got into my car and drove to Ken's house.

I rang the doorbell and after a few seconds, Ken opened the door.

"Hey Ethan, nice to see you" Ken said with a big smile.

"Hey Ken, can we talk?" I said.

The smile disappeared from Ken's face.

"Ummm okay, we can go up to my room" he replied

I followed him up to his room and he closed the door and sat down on his bed.

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Ummm, about yesterday" I said slowly.

"You're not..." Ken started.

"I don't know," I said interrupting him. "It was different but it also kind of felt really right. I am just kind of confused right now"

"That's okay, I understand" Ken said with a smile.

"But you're so out and confident" I said.

"I wasn't always. Two years ago I was confused just like you," he said.

"Oh" I said feeling a bit more comforted.

I walked over to Ken's bed and sat down next to him.

"I don't really know what to do either," I said looking at him.

"Well don't feel compelled to do anything, especially if you're not sure about it" he said putting his hand on mine.

"I think I'm sure that I like this," I said smiling and taking hold of his hand.

"Are you sure? I don't want to push you to do something that you are not comfortable with and might regret later," he said.

"I am sure," I said as I leaned towards him and softly kissed him on his lips.

I drew back and looked at him. We both smiled and looked into each other's eyes. I wasn't completely sure what was going on but I knew that I really liked it. I gently pushed Ken down onto his bed, bent down, and kissed him on the lips again. I straightened up and took my shirt off. Ken also pulled his shirt off. I then got on top of him and we started making out. I felt his chest and abdomens. He had a really nice and toned body. I ran my hand through his black hair. I felt his hand running up and down my back as we kissed passionately. It felt better than anything I had done before. We kept making out for several more minutes before I broke off and got up.

"I better get home," I said smiling.

"Okay, well see you tomorrow at school" he replied also smiling.

I stopped smiling.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that," I said slowly.

"I understand, don't worry" he replied still smiling. "See you tomorrow after school then?"

"Sure, I'll be here" I replied smiling again.

I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on before heading towards to the door. I turned around to see Ken still lying on the bed with his shirt still off.

"See you," I said smiling.

"Bye" he replied smiling even bigger.

I headed downstairs and outside to my car. I got into my car and fixed my hair in the mirror. I smiled at myself. Maybe things weren't that confusing after all. I had decided that I liked Ken. However, I still had to deal with Karen. I turned my car on and headed home.

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