Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2016 15:32:00 -0600 From: Nicky Smith Subject: The Chronicles of Trey II: Chapter 6 Disclaimer: This story is 100% fictional and may contain references and scenes of consensual sex between males. Any resemblance to real people or situations is purely coincidental. If your country or state does not allow such material to be read or you have come across this site by accident, please leave now. Important Notice: Nifty is a free site and relies on donations from authors and readers to operate. If you enjoy the site, please consider making a donation at ( http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html ) Author's Notice: This work is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal or private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice. Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster CHAPTER SIX: OPPORTUNITY TREY'S POV "So then I told him that he better come again with that mess. I mean, I ain't no thot so homie better recognize who he messing with," said my new self proclaimed bestie Pilar. She was in my econ class and sat next to me. Before I was outed, she only greeted me with a nod and a smile, but ever since I'd become much more well known, she'd been talking my head off. She was a fiery Puerto Rican that spoke her mind and I was surprised I hadn't spoken to her before. "Wow," I said getting a word in. "Yeah," she said before going off on another rant about her current supposed boyfriend Hector who according to her, he wanted her to get down with a few of his friends for who knows what reason. "Mr. Healey, Ms. Santiago, am I boring you?" Professor Westley, our Econ professor asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "No Professor Westley, you could never bore anybody," Pilar said in kind of a flirty tone before batting her eyelashes which got a few laughs. "I definitely agree," I said before mimicking Pilar's actions which got a bigger laugh. "Well try to pay attention," Professor Westley said with a small smile and an obvious blush before getting back to our lesson. "I'll text you later," Pilar said and the thought frightened me. "No!" I said almost too loudly. "Just call me, please," I said dreading having my phone blowing up with texts from her. She could text faster than those kids that ended up running up a huge phone bill with texts. "Okay," she said after shrugging. I tried to concentrate on Professor Westley, but I was drawn into thought. Things at school were mostly fine. I got glares from a few people in some classes, but for the most part, everything was calm. The dorm was annoying initially as I had to get up early to get into the showers before anyone gets in there to avoid any of the guys. Two guys realized this and started coming in there and glaring at me. They would talk all kinds of hateful stuff about gays with each other loud enough for me to hear. I reported this to Scotty and he talked to them. They agreed to just move up to the 4th floor and two guys who had been a bit friendly toward me since I'd been outed were moved into those guys' room. I still took my showers early so I wasn't really messed with after that. For the most part though, things were good and I'm glad I didn't have to deal with things on the same level as in high school. I guess Sean's assessment that things were different in college was mostly right, for which as I've already said, I am thankful for. I still had the problem of my roommate though. Scotty told me about 3 days after my fabulous dressing out that Dave was taking a slight break from school and that he'd let me know when and if he were coming back. On the one hand, I had a room to myself. On the other, it made me extremely curious about what was going on with Dave, and even a bit sad. I know we weren't best friends or anything but I had been thinking that after Bear showed up and they got to know each other that Dave was squarely on my side. I guess though that he'd had a limit. "Hey, you'd better pay attention," Pilar whispered to me. I looked up and Professor Westley was just wrapping up for the day. "That's it for the day. I'll see you all back here tomorrow," he said and everyone started getting up and getting their things together to leave. "You still gonna take me to get that bracelet?" Pilar asked as she too gathered her stuff. "You want a rainbow bracelet?" I asked her. She was talking about the new bracelet I was wearing. I'd traded the color bracelets for a single one that had a rainbow pattern. "Why not? You don't have to be LGBT to wear one," she said which was true. "That's true. I've heard of straight allies sporting rainbow themed items," I said as I finished getting my stuff together. "Well, I want one. I really want one like this one though," she said referring to my Cartier love bracelet I wore on my left wrist. "That I can't help you with," I told her and she laughed as did I. "Mr. Healey, can you hang back after class for a few minutes?" Professor Westley asked as he stepped up to us. "Um... sure," I told him. I could hear the curiosity in my own voice so I'm sure he could as well. "Okay, I'll be at my desk when you're ready," he said giving nothing away before walking back to his desk. "Maybe he's about to offer you some... `private tutoring'," Pilar said in a tone dripping with innuendo. "I don't need any private tutoring," I said giving it right back to her. "Sure papi. Have fun," she said before walking off. I just shook my head at her. I looked around and saw that the room was mostly empty with the last 2 students walking out of the room just before Pilar. She turned around and winked at me before leaving. I took a minute to consider what he could want. I briefly wondered if it was because of the talking, but that couldn't have been it because it was obvious that Pilar was doing most of the talking and he didn't detain her. Then I wondered if it did indeed have something to do with me being gay. I'd read stories about college professors and how a few of them operate with both female and gay male students. I took a minute to look him over and get a read on him. He looked to be about 30 with chestnut brown hair, brown eyes to match, he had a beard which was a plus with me, but his was trimmed down a lot. He didn't look skeevy, but you can never really tell. "Come on down Mr. Healey. I don't bite," Professor Westley said startling me as I didn't expect him to speak to me. "Oh, sorry," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed before grabbing my bag and walking down to him. "It's fine," he said with a genuine smile as I made it to him. "So... what up?" I asked as I looked him over again. This was the first time I'd actually been this close to him. "Well, I have a favor to ask of you," he said and I couldn't think of what he could ask me. "Well, I guess I could hear you out," I said being as noncommittal as I could. "Thank you. It's really a favor for a friend though," he said and I don't know why, but warning bells started going off. "Okay," I said and I'm sure the suspicion in my voice was obvious. "Here he is now," Professor Westley said as he looked at the door. I turned and saw a well dressed man who looked like he was a businessman or something. "What's this about?" I asked. I suddenly had thoughts of a wealthy businessman hoping to buy a rentboy to play around with before going home to the wife. They had the wrong one if that's what was up. "Preston, this is the young man I was telling you about," Professor Westley said as he guided me toward the man who apparently was named Preston. "Nice to meet you. I'm Preston Prescott," the man said as he held out a perfectly manicured hand for me to shake as we reached him. "I'm not having sex with you," I said before I even knew it. I slapped my hand over my mouth and I'm sure I would have been blood red if I had a lighter skin tone. I heard Professor Westley bust out laughing behind me. "Well, that's good to hear. I think my wife would have a problem with that," Preston Prescott said with an amused expression. "I can't believe I just said that out loud. I'm gonna go now," I said before trying to walk away. "No wait, it's okay Trey," Professor Westley said though his laughing fit. He walked over and steered me back toward Preston Prescott. "Let's try this again. My name is Preston Prescott, and I'd like to talk to you about a business opportunity that doesn't involve sex," Preston Prescott said as he extended his hand again. He still had that amused expression so I got over my extreme embarrassment and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," I said mid shake. "Well, I'll leave you two to it then. I'll see you tomorrow Trey," Professor Westley said before giving me a pat on the shoulder and heading out of the room. I could see he was still highly amused with my response to his friend. "What can I do for you Mr. Prescott?" "Why don't we have a seat first," he said before gesturing for a small table off the left side of the room near the entrance. "Okay, you were saying," I said once we were seated. "Well, I hear from Landon that you are a very smart person," he said, obviously stalling while trying to butter me up at the same time. "Landon?" I asked as I didn't know who that was. "Landon Westley, your professor...," he said and I again felt slightly embarrassed. Once he'd made that connection, I remembered that that was indeed his first name. I really was off my game. "Oh, right," I said trying to fight off a bout of nerves. "Okay, I'm gonna get right to it. I want you to tutor my son," he said and I had to look at him again because that couldn't be all he wanted. "Excuse me?" I asked as I tried to look inside his head. Superman or Professor Xavier would be good right about now. "You see, my son is... I guess you can call it unfocused. He's a good kid, but he's not had a lot of good direction," he said and I was confused as to why I could help him. "I don't know what you expect me to do about that." "He's a business major like you, but because of his... unfocused ways, he hasn't gotten what he needs to move forward. He's been kicked out of a couple schools for his behavior already," he said and I got the picture then. "I don't think I can help you," I told him. I didn't like disappointing him, but I wasn't the one. "I think you can," he said not letting me off that easily. "Mr. Prescott... No offense, but I'm not the person to try and drum some knowledge into your party boy son. I'm a serious student, and I don't have time to try and get through to someone who's... unfocused," I said as politely as I could. I didn't have time to be messing around with some slacker who'd been kicked out of more than one school before. "Trey, please. My son needs help, and I happen to know that you are an exceptional student," he said and I'm sure he thought that buttering me up would work but it really wasn't. "I'm sorry Mr. Prescott, but I can't help you," I said and he looked a bit crestfallen. "I'm willing to pay you," he said and I have to admit that hearing that stalled me, for a few seconds. "I appreciate that but-," I started bit he interrupted me. "Name a price," he said looking a tad bit desperate. He must have been in a bad spot because I'm sure he couldn't have gotten to where he seemed to be by projecting as much desperation as he was just then. One of the first rules of business, as well as life in general was always negotiate from a position of strength and that's not what he was doing. "Okay then, let's see," I said. I decided to test him to see if he was serious. I wrote down a figure on a piece of paper and slid it over to him. Hopefully, that would scare him off as I really wasn't in the mood for this. He picked up the piece of paper, studied it for a few seconds before looking up at me. "Fine," he said and I was stunned. There was no way this guy was willing to pay me $500 an hour to tutor his son. How dumb was the kid? "You know what, I just can't. I'm sorry," I said before grabbing my bag and starting out of the room before he said something that would make me consider it. "$1,000," he said just as I reached the threshold of the door. That stopped me in my tracks. "Are you serious?" I asked as I did a slow turn back towards him. "Do we have a deal?" he asked as he walked towards me. It was astounding that this man could be willing to pay a grand an hour for me to tutor his son. I couldn't just ignore that. A thousand dollars an hour would really help my parents out as they pay for my school and save for Calvin. They only had a year to recover after Zane graduated before they had to start paying tuition again so this was something I couldn't just pass up, but was still conflicted. "Can I have the day to think on it and give you an answer tomorrow?" I asked as that seemed to be the safest answer at the moment. "Sure," he said after a few seconds. He pulled a card from the inside pocket of his blazer. "Call me tomorrow by 5 pm with your answer. If you don't call by then, I'll just assume that the answer is no. I hope you do say yes though," he said and after a few more seconds of eye contact, he stepped around me and left the room. A thousand dollars an hour to tutor someone. This was unreal by my standards. Surely, anyone else in my position wouldn't think twice about jumping at this opportunity, but I just couldn't make myself jump. There was something holding me back and I didn't want to think of what that was. Still though, I found myself subconsciously rubbing my chest as I too left the room. ******** "You're joking, right?" Liberty asked. "That's awesome," Sean said. "That's great Trey," Jessica said. "Damn," Carter whispered. "I know, right," I said to my friends as we sat in The Cove. I'd told them about my encounter with Mr. Prescott and this was their reactions. "This dude must have some serious bank to be throwing around money like that," Carter said and that was really the first time that I'd thought about just how rich Preston Prescott had to be. "Well, google says that he got a loan from his dad and built his own multimillion dollar business empire," Liberty said while looking at her phone. "So, he's like Donald Trump?" Jessica asked. "I hope not, especially since Trey is gonna have to be spending extended periods of time with his son," Liberty said, but she was assuming things not yet decided. "Who said I'd be spending time with his son?" I asked and she looked at me like I'd grown another head. "Are you insane? Did you even crunch the numbers on this thing?" She asked me right back. "Not really," I said in a snippy tone. I didn't try to consider the added total of what I could end up getting as I didn't want any added pressure to say yes. "Well, let mama help you child," she said a bit condescendingly in a fake southern accent. The others found this funny but I just rolled my eyes at her, maybe too hard as they kind of hurt when I was finished. "Okay, there's 18 weeks left of school, minus 5 weeks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break which brings us to 13 weeks to work with. Now, if you tutor him just 3 days a week for like 2 hours, you'd pull in 78 grand by the end of the school year," Liberty said and I had to stop my eyes from bugging out. "Holy shit!" Jessica and Carter said loudly in unison. They both then slapped a hand over their mouths. It was a bit funny and helped to momentarily distract me from the math that Liberty had just quite masterfully dropped on me. "You see, that's a great thing. Think of all the stuff we could do with that money," Liberty said while getting increasingly giddy. "Did you say we?" I asked her with a teasing smirk. "Yes I did," she said with wide eyes and a creepy smile. "I don't need his money," Sean said unwisely choosing to poke the bear, so to speak. "Nobody asked you rich boy," Liberty snapped before looking back at me with that creepy happy look. "Look Libs, if I were to do this, I'd give the money to my parents to offset my tuition and to help pay for Calvin's too," I said and if it were possible, I'd believe her eyes were close to popping out of her head. "Are you insane?" she shrieked before checking herself. "I mean, are you insane?" she asked again in a more subdued tone, but sounding not much less belligerent. "No I'm not," I said kind of teasing her a little bit. I was serious though about my intentions should I do it. "Look Trey, think of all the stuff we- I mean you can buy with that much money. You can give your parents some, like 5 grand, and have the rest," Liberty said and I had to say that I wasn't liking this side of her. "Liberty!" Jessica said sounding shocked. "What?" She said like she had no idea what she was saying. "I gotta say, materialistic Liberty isn't all that attractive," I told her but she scoffed. "Like you know what's attractive about a woman," she brooded. "Well, this was fun, but I think I'm gonna go," I said as I stood up. "Come on Trey. You've got to do this for me. Think of all the things I've done for you," she said, but maybe that wasn't the best thing to say as Jessica hissed. "You're right. I can think of one thing you've done for me," I said as I leaned down a bit toward her. "Trey," Sean said as a warning. "I remember you making me climb a tree where I ended up falling from and breaking my arm," I said. "I wasn't the only one involved in that. That big behemoth that you're involved with was there too," she argued, but I wasn't really serious though. "Yeah, well that's true, but you're the one that goaded me," I teased. "You can't be serious," she said sounding like she was being unfairly punished or something. "Hello people," Christian said as he walked up. "Babe, you have to talk to him," Liberty whined. "Huh?" Christian said looking clueless while the others were looking at the two of us like we were a movie they were watching. "Trey won't share his money with us," Liberty said sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "I don't need his money," Sean chimed in again. "Shut it jock boy," Liberty snapped. "I'm... confused," Christian said indeed looking the part "Well, I'm off now," I said in a peppy tone that I knew would annoy Liberty. "I know where you live," she said after me. I just smiled though and waved at her. ******** I headed back to the dorm to get some things together as I had another class in an hour. As I walked in, eyes seemed to gravitate toward me as usual, but there was no hostility in them. A few people nodded or gave a small wave which I returned as I moved through the lobby toward the elevator. The climate in the dorm was much better than it has been just after I'd been outed. The turnaround was way quicker than in high school as I guess being in college has managed to mature most of these people considering they'd been in high school in the spring. I headed up to my room and sat down and looked over at the bed that had been empty for almost two weeks. I wondered what Dave was doing. Was he at home with his conservative parents telling him he was right to get away from his vile degenerate roommate? I wondered about what had been the breaking point considering he'd kissed me before hand. Thinking about it was making my head hurt so I stopped and laid back on my bed. Of course, not thinking about Dave left my mind free to think about my immediate problem. That was thinking about this `job offer' from Preston Prescott. Did I really want to tutor his son, a guy who sounded like trouble. I had a difficult time rationalizing that I shouldn't do it though, especially with that perspective total that I could rake in by doing so. If I did indeed end up doing it and getting that much, it'd help my parents out in a big way when it came to mine and Calvin's college tuition's. I was brought out of my head by my ringing cell. I knew who it was by the ringtone. "Hello handsome," I said as I answered the phone. "Hello yourself beautiful," he said with a smile in his voice. "How are things in your neck of the woods?" I asked before rolling my eyes at my old timey talk. "Neck of the woods?" He asked and I could hear his teasing smile in his voice. "Shaddup," I said and he laughed the deep laugh that make's my heart skip a beat. "So, tell me what's going on in the Life of Trey," he said sounding like he was taking down my responses for an interview. "What makes you think something's going on?" I teased. "I don't know. I can kind of feel it I guess," he said sounding a bit shy for some reason. "Well, it just so happens that a wealthy businessman propositioned me," I said. I know that I'd phrased it wrong, but I did so on purpose. "Is that a fact?" Bear asked in a cold tone, just as I was hoping he would. "Yes, but not that kind of proposition. It's funny that you should think that though because that's what I thought too," I said. I could still feel the embarrassment at my outburst. "Well, what kind of proposition did he have for you?" Bear asked, although he hadn't warmed up all that much. "The kind that could make me a rich man," I said teasingly while purposely being vague. "Trey," Bear said testily. "Okay, I'm sorry. He wanted me to tutor his slack off party boy son whose already been kicked out of two other schools and is probably on the verge of being kicked out of this one," I said, but only realized when I was done how snippy I'd sounded. "Well, that was a mouthful," he said after about a minute of silence. "Yeah, I guess," I said hoping to play off the annoyance I felt at the situation. "Are you gonna do it?" He asked carefully. "I don't know. If I do it, Liberty quite vividly laid out that I'd be set for my own tuition for the rest of my time here as well as probably Calvin as well," I said losing my will to fight this. "Damn. How much did he offer you?" he asked with the same shocked tone shared by Jessica and Carter. "$1,000 an hour," I said and he let loose a whistle. "How dumb is this guy?" he asked rhetorically and I had to laugh because I'd had the same thought. We were thinking a lot alike. "I don't think he's really dumb so much as a slacker that has never taken school seriously. He's probably gotten by with daddy's money, but daddy is fed up and wants him to actually try," I said even though I had no proof that he wasn't dumb. "So what's really holding you back?" Bear asked again seeming to know what was really going on with me. When he was with me, it was fine, but when he was as far away as he was, knowing me like that was a bit annoying. "What do you mean?" I asked him. I was stalling as I knew that eventually, I'd tell him, but I wasn't really ready to delve into it myself. "Trey, tell me," he said and I was surprised with just how little prodding I'd need to speak the truth. "The last time I tutored somebody, he died," I said as I subconsciously rubbed my chest where the scars were. "Trey, I don't think you'll have to face a situation that'll require a sacrifice like that, and even if it did, I don't think this dude who you've never met before would be willing to make that sacrifice, especially based off of what you've said about him," Bear said, even being the reasonable one. "You don't know that there won't be a situation that will call for it, and you know how everyone just loves me so I'm sure he would," I said, mildly joking with the last bit. "Yeah, I know one guy in particular that does," he said and I wanted to see him to see the smile that he had on his face. "Let me call you back," I said before I ended the call. He sent me a text while I was pulling up what I wanted to get asking why I'd hung up so fast. I just pulled up the Skype app that I had just downloaded recently and kicked myself for not thinking of using and called him on it as he already had Skype on his phone. "Well, look who finally got Skype," he said as he connected. It was great to see his smiling face. "I know. It's embarrassing for someone like me to be so late to the game." "True," he said as he nodded. "Now, tell me why you don't want to do this tutoring." "I think about Clyde all the time. He died because of me and now, I'm just wary of putting myself in that situation again, even if I know intellectually that that set of circumstances has a low probability of happening again." "It does, my little book nerd," he said, but I knew he was mostly joking about the nerd part. "I just can't stop thinking about Clyde and how he died," I said and I was both glad and regretful that I'd Skyped Bear as I could see his face, which comforted me, but I could also see the worry, pain, and anger written on his face. "First thing, Clyde is dead because of Kent Davis, not you. Second thing, if this will really help your parents like you said, then you owe it to yourself to at least try. You can always back out later," he said and he made sense. "You're right," I said after a bit of silence. "Of course I am darling," he said with a big cheesy grin. "Well, you seem to be happy with yourself," I said and he only smiled wider. "I know," he said with all his pearly whites on display almost. "I think you need to stop smiling because I can see all of your teeth," I told him and he laughed. We then slipped into silence as we just stared at each other. "I wanna kiss you so bad right now," he said after about a minute of us just staring at each other. I was just about to respond when I was interrupted. "You wanna kiss who? Is that the elusive girl you're hiding?" A voice asked on Bear's side. "What're you doing in here, man?" Bear asked the person in his room who I guess was his roommate. "Don't change the subject. Let me see her," the guys said before I saw the screen doing a lot of shaking. "Give me my phone back dude," Bear said on the other end. Hearing that, I immediately clamped my hand down over the camera of my phone so he couldn't see me. "I don't see anything. Were you just talking to yourself?" the guy said. I recognized him from a selfie that Bear had taken of himself with several of his teammates as his roommate Deacon. I took the chance to get a better look at him. He was white with black hair, what looked like greenish-grey eyes, clean-shaven, and a typical football jock's build. He looked attractive enough, but he wasn't my type. "Give me my phone jackass," Bear said before I saw what had to be him jerking his phone from the Deacon's hand. "Dude, I just wanted to see the elusive girl that I knew had to exist," Deacon said. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding when Bear's pissed off face came back on the screen. "I don't know what you're talking about," Bear said offhandedly. "Like hell you don't. All you do is study, go to class, go to practice, and play on game days. You have to have a piece somewhere," Deacon said. I have to admit that what he was saying eased a part of my mind that I didn't like to give attention to in that what he was saying meant that Bear wasn't messing around with anybody while I was out of sight. "Get out of here man," Bear said to Deacon who I could hear mumbling as he walked away. "Coast is clear," he said about 30 seconds later. "That was close," I said. "Yeah, it was," Bear said before letting loose a nervous laugh. "I'm gonna get off of here before anyone else get's your phone," I said joking slightly. "No worries, I locked the door," Bear said. He shared a suite style room with his roommate where they had a common area with a small kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was almost like an apartment. "I still need to go because I have a class in a bit," I told him and I could see that he didn't like that I was ending the call. "Okay," he said and his tone confirmed my suspicions. "Tell you what, now that I have Skype, our calls can get a lot more interesting," I said before waggling my eyebrows. I thought that would get a rise out of him, but it didn't. "Yeah, I guess," he said not sounding very enthusiastic. "Bear," I said wanting him to cheer up because he was making me sad too. "I just miss you," he said not helping things any. "You were just with me a week ago," I said even though that didn't mean anything to me. "I know. I still miss you though," he said which was making me sadder because I wanted to be with him so bad to wipe that sad look off his face. "I'm gonna go Bear. I love you," I said before I ended the call. I couldn't see him anymore without feeling a longing for him that I hadn't felt since before we'd gotten together. It was weird that I was feeling that all of a sudden since we'd been apart for longer and I hadn't felt like I was currently feeling. I needed to get away from my room even though my next class was still a ways out. I grabbed the stuff I needed for my afternoon classes and took one last look at Dave's empty bed. I wondered yet again where he was and what was going on with him before I left the room. ******** I waited until after my last class to make the decision that I kind of knew I'd already made. I really couldn't reason not doing this tutoring job anymore. Sure, Clyde had died to save my life, but I couldn't let Kent keep me from living my life. I'd essentially told him that I was gonna live my life while he spent his in prison so I couldn't hold back on that. That thought is what had me pulling the business card that Preston Prescott had given me out of my pocket. I looked at the card and chose to call the cell number so I keyed the number into my cell and hit send. "Preston Prescott," Mr. Prescott said as he answered. "Mr. Prescott, this is Trey Healey," I said, hoping he remembered who I was, although I didn't see why not seeing as how desperate he was to get me on board. "Oh yes, I'm glad that you called," he said sounding hopeful. "Even if I called to tell you that I'm not gonna do it?" I asked. I realized that it was a jerk thing to do, but he walked into it. "Is that what you're calling to say?" He asked right back. I had to admit that he was a cool customer. "No. I was calling to say yes. I will tutor your son," I said before letting out a resigned sigh. "Thank you Trey. I'll set up a time for you two to meet," he said sounding happy before he ended the call. He was so desperate for this and so happy that I'd said yes, it made me start to wonder what the deal was with his son. With that done, I chose to head back to the dorm as I was feeling a bit tired. I'm sure my friends expected me to meet them at The Cove, but they would have to fend for themselves because I was tired. I arrived back at the dorm and two guys who were coming out spoke to me and seemed very genuine. This should have been just an ordinary occurrence, but I found myself grading and adding bigger meaning to every contact that I made with people, especially guys and I wanted it to stop. I headed for my room feeling ready to crash. My cell rang as I stepped on the elevator. I knew who it was without looking, and I considered not answering as there were two guys and two girls on the elevator with me, but I answered anyway. "Hello," I said as I answered. "I'm sorry," Bear said and I was clueless as to why he was sorry. "Why are you sorry?" I asked suddenly forgetting I wasn't alone. "I was just feeling so lonely that I ended up making you feel like that too," he said as the elevator stopped on my floor and headed for my room. "No you didn't. I feel like that all the time when you aren't here," I told him and I heard him sigh on the other end. "Let's talk about something else," he said after a few seconds of silence. "That's fine with me," I said and he chuckled a bit. "I never asked. Have you heard anything from Dave?" Bear asked as I unlocked my door and opened it to find the source of his question sitting on his bed looking at me. "Uh, yeah. I just did," I said as I stepped into the room. "What?" he asked but I couldn't answer immediately because I was feeling... well, I don't know what I was feeling. Pissed might be close to what it was I was feeling. "I'll call you back," I told him before ending the call and closing the door. I dropped my bag on my desk chair and slid my phone into my pocket before walking over to sit on my bed. "Hey Trey," he said after about a minute. "Where have you been?" I asked making sure to keep a neutral tone. I really had no place to be asking him this question, but I was doing it anyway. "I went home for a while," he said after almost another minute of silence. "Oh," I said kind of coolly. He looked around the room for another minute before speaking again. "I heard about what happened to you," he said and for some reason, that pissed me off. "Did you?" I asked in a cold tone. "Trey, look..." he said but didn't continue. "Your friend told his other friends about me and they tried to jump me. When that didn't work, they outed me before ultimately succeeding in beating me up," I said and he looked a bit pained. "I know," he said with his head drooped. "Why did you leave?" I asked with anger that I didn't know I was feeling. "I...," he started before clamming up. "You know, I don't get you," I said as I stood and started pacing. "You've known that I was gay from day one so I don't get this. Were you just okay with the fact that I was gay until you actually realized that Bear and I were having sex?" "No, it's not that," he said without lifting his head. "Then what is it? What did I do to cause you to run away?" I asked and he stood then. "It's my fault," he said forcefully. "What is?" I asked before I started to think maybe he had been apart of their plans to jump me. "Donny found out about you because of me," he said and I breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Look, that was-," I started before he cut in. "No. See, I thought that you and Bear were gonna be gone, so Donny and I came back here. I... I was planning on... I was gonna try and kiss him," he said after some pauses and I was stunned. "Say what now?" I asked as I dropped down on my bed. "I thought the room would be empty because Bear made it seem like you two were gonna be out, so I came up with an excuse for him to come back here," he said with his head down as if he was embarrassed for me to see him. I was completely shocked as I had thought that Dave was straight. I know that was stupid of me to think so because he'd had his tongue in my mouth, but I was still of the impression that he was just curious and that our kiss had confirmed for him that he wasn't gay or even bi. Then something Bear had told me came back to me. "Donny is the guy from back home," I said and his head snapped up and he looked at me shocked before it seemed like realization dawned on him. "Bear told you," he stated more than asked. "Of course he did," I said. He let out a heavy sigh before dropping back down on his bed. "Donny and I grew up together, but we weren't really close friends like you and Bear. We just sort of ran in the same circles and were kind of friends." "So what happened?" I asked in a much nicer tone. I wanted him to open up to me. Some may say it wasn't my place to be all up in his business, but he already knew way too much about me so I was just trying to even the field. "Well, I couldn't stop thinking about our kiss. I was telling the truth that it wasn't what I was expecting, but I couldn't stop thinking whether it would be different or not with the guy I'd been thinking about for a while now. I finally worked up the courage to try and see, and I was presented with the perfect opportunity that day when he was looking for the book so I invited him back here since I thought the room would be free." "I planned on talking to him about other stuff and gradually steering him in the direction of questioning things too and hopefully convincing him to try it with me. That hope was dashed when we saw you guys and I saw his reaction." "It basically confirmed that he would never be down for that, and it meant that I'd never know. I also felt bad because my stupid decision to try and seduce my friend ended up getting the two of you caught in a compromising situation. It's my fault this happened to you because I couldn't let go of this thing." He finally stopped and I figured he was finished with his explanation. What he'd said was something that I kicked myself for not considering. I never considered that he was still questioning and that Donny was the guy he was curious about. Hearing him actually made me think about Sean in a new light and wonder if this is how he felt. That was a worry for another time though as I had to deal with Dave at the moment. I had to convince him that it wasn't his fault about what had happened, which would be made harder by the fact that I had been blaming him based on my anger with him earlier. "Look Dave, its not your fault. Donny is a jackass and he deserves what he and his pals are getting. You can't help your curiosity and maybe one day, you'll figure out the answer to that question you have," I said and he actually smiled. "Well, I already found the answer," he said and that definitely had me curious. "Do tell," I said with a smirk as I leaned in. "Well, when I went home, I was all messed up in the head thinking about a lot of stuff. My parents kept bugging me to tell them what was wrong, and they even got my brothers and sister in on it. I couldn't tell them though so I left their house one day and went to hang with my cousin." "We had a few beers and I just blurted it all out, including my kissing you. When I was finished, I realized what I'd done and I was scared he'd go and tell my parents because he was close to them. He just smiled though and hugged me. He then pulled out his phone and again I thought he was about to rat me out, but he told me to chill and not to worry." "I tried to relax and I almost succeeded until the doorbell rang and he went to open the door. He came back with this dude who even I'll admit was totally hot. They whispered between themselves before my cousin told me he was gonna head out to get some food and that he'd be gone for about 30 minutes." "I thought that was weird that he was telling me this specific information, but I was quite a bit buzzed at that point. So, this guy comes over and sits down next to me, and introduces himself to me as Mack with a smile that I could tell was saying that he wanted to know `things' about me. I mumbled something and he laughed before scooting over to sit right up against me. He looked at me with a seductive smile and said "kiss me". "My first thought was to say "no way", but my body didn't seem to agree with that as I found myself leaning closer to him. He didn't make a move other than putting his arm around me so as I was leaning closer, I realized that this was my answer. I was about to willingly kiss a guy who I'd just met, and that I thought was really good looking so that had to mean I wasn't straight." "Our lips touched and still he didn't do anything initially until I guess he was sure I wasn't gonna bolt. We then started to really kiss and my first thought was he had soft lips. I was so caught up in my head, I didn't realize that as I kissed him, I felt just about the same as I did when I kissed you. The kiss really didn't solve anything. It really only served to make me wonder if I was broken or something as it seemed like I was attracted to this guy, but again, I basically felt nothing." "Well, he pulled back from the kiss and looked me over before saying, "well, that's interesting". I had no idea what that meant and he didn't elaborate before standing up and pulling out his phone. He texted someone before sitting down and asking me to join him in a game of basketball on my cousin's PS4." "Okay, but that doesn't sound like you got an answer," I said jumping in to his story. "I'm getting to that part," he said with a teasing smile. I think he was enjoying the fact that I was so anxious to hear his story. "Well, my cousin came back with a pizza and several bags. He set the pizza down on the table and carried the bags into the kitchen. He told me he was having a party later and then he went about setting up stuff with his friend Mack, but told me to kick back and enjoy the pizza. I listened and ate pizza while looking at them working." "The party started and I was glad that I had eaten as I had sobered up mostly by the time things kicked off so I was able to drink a couple more beers without getting wasted. I was just getting my second beer when this hand reached into the bucket and pulled out two. I looked up and this girl was smiling back at me with unbelievable blue-green eyes." "She handed me one of the beers and we naturally started talking. We talked for over two hours before things escalated and we started making out. I was shocked by how fast it had happened, but I was definitely feeling something with her. We ended up in my cousin's room and things got even more heated as we kissed. I couldn't tell whose hands were where or whose tongue was in who's mouth, and I didn't care." "Long story short, I'm glad my cousin had some condoms in his drawer because we ended up hooking up. It was awesome and it kind of confirmed things for me," he said finally seeming like he was finished. "Well, that's quite the tale. It sounds like you had fun," I said and if the grin on his face was any indication, he was indeed happy. I didn't know if it was because of the sex he'd had with this girl, or if it was because he was satisfied that he was apparently straight. I decided not to question it though. "Yeah I did man. All I'll say is that she had a very talented tongue, for one thing," he said before snickering. "I'll bet," I said and his snickering evolved into laughter. "Are you two gonna get together again?" I asked after he'd calmed down. "Naw. It was just a one time thing. I don't think she would be interested in hooking up again," he said sounding fine, but I noted a hint of disappointment in his statement. "Why do you say that?" I asked because it seemed they'd connected, at least from the little I knew. "Well, I went to another party a couple of nights later and I saw her there," he said notably more subdued now. "What's that got to do with anything?" I asked as I didn't see the problem. "She was making out with another chick when I saw her so I assumed that she swings both ways, and she already had her hookup for the night," he said and I had to agree. I was about to speak again when something about what he'd said started nagging at me. "Was this girl black?" I asked. I had no idea why, but I just had a feeling. "Yeah, in fact she was. That's why I thought it was weird that she had blue-green eyes," he said and I was shocked, but I had to be sure. "Did she give you her name?" I asked. "Well, we did talk for two hours so yeah she did," he said before looking suspiciously at me. "What was her name?" I asked but tried to tamp down my curiosity. I'm sure I was unsuccessful because the suspicious look on his face deepened. "It's Veronica," he said and I tried with everything I had not to react. "What's the deal? How did you know she was black? Do you know her?" he asked with rapid-fire questions that I didn't know if I wanted to answer. "The short answer is yes, I do, and before you ask, no I'm not gonna call her for you," I said and his face, which had sprang into happy mode fell. "Aw man," he said, but he didn't sound too disappointed so I didn't worry about my decision. "Also, don't mention this to anyone here at school," I said trying to be as vague as possible. I had no idea if it would work or not though. "Why not?" he asked almost like a pouting child. "Let's just say this particular story might not go over well with some people," I said trying my best to bullshit my way out of saying anything incriminating. "What you mean is that you don't want me to mention this to your friends, that went to high school with you, because Veronica went to high school with you too," he said looking happy with his deductive skills. "I will neither confirm nor deny any of that," I said before standing up and walking over to my desk so he wouldn't see my face. "Alright, I guess I'll just have to tell them and see if they'll `confirm' it for me," he said with a teasing grin. "Dave!" I said in a raised voice before I could stop myself. Truth was, I didn't want Sean knowing Veronica's business. It was bad enough that I knew. We really knew way too much about each other in my opinion. "Okay, okay, I won't mention Veronica's name to your friends. I won't say that I won't tell this story to the guys though. I'll try to leave out any identifying traits though," he said and I guess that was fine. There were tons of bisexual girls around. I'm willing to guess though that there weren't that many around that were also half-black/half white with blueish green eyes. "Thanks," I mumbled. And he nodded his head. It was silent for a few minutes before he told me that everything hadn't been that good. It seems Donny made sure to tell his folks why he was on the verge of being kicked out of school. They then told Dave's parents who weren't thrilled to find out that their son was sharing a room with a sissy. He went on to say that his parents wanted him out of our room immediately, but the school told them that they'd have to pay for another room in another dorm and that they wouldn't be getting back the payment they'd made for the term on the room we shared. Dave told me that they had reluctantly let him return to school when he told them, sarcastically, that he wouldn't let me turn him gay. I didn't know what to feel about that, but I'd faced so much hate for the fact that I was gay that I was finally starting to develop a thick skin. Dave decided to go out and get something to eat while I called Bear back and told him about what I'd talked about with Dave. He told me that he was glad that things had mostly worked out, and he agreed that I probably shouldn't mention to Sean that Dave had hooked up with his cousin. We talked about other stuff and while I again started to feel a bit like I had earlier, it wasn't as bad which I attributed to only hearing Bear's voice and not seeing his face. We talked until Dave came back and I told him I loved him and I'd talk to him later. He told me that same before we ended the call. The last thing I recall before falling asleep is Dave saying he was headed to take a shower. I'm sure I was asleep when he returned. ******** "What's up with you?" Sean asked as he looked at me. We were at The Cove along with Liberty and Jessica as I waited for a call from Mr. Prescott to tell me where to meet him and his son. He'd called me early in the morning the day before waking me up to tell me that he was setting up a place for me and his son to meet. I thought that he was adding a lot of formality to the situation, but maybe this was how he was used to doing things. We also set up a schedule for my tutoring his son and I found that I'd be receiving more than Liberty had initially figured since he wanted me to tutor his son for 3 hours a day for 3 days a week. I didn't tell my friends, especially Liberty, because I'm sure I would have had to kill her to get her to shut up. I told him that I needed half a week's "pay" upfront which he agreed to and which I got in a check by courier mail just as I was heading to my second class today. Seeing a check with my name on it for $4,500 was insane. I was trying to keep my mind off of it, but that left me thinking about Dave's revelation. "Nothing's up with me," I said to Sean as I tried to keep to what I'd told Dave. "I don't know. You do look an awful lot like the cat that ate the canary," Jessica said while eyeing me curiously. "What she really means is you acting suspicious as fuck," Liberty said black-splaining what Jessica had said. "I don't know what you two mean," I said, but I'm sure the smile on my face said the opposite. "Yeah right," Liberty said as she eyed me suspiciously along with Jessica and Sean. Fortunately though, I was spared any further questioning by my cell ringing. I looked and saw that it was Mr. Prescott. I noted an added pep to Liberty's expression as I answered the phone. "Hello Mr. Prescott," I said and rolled my eyes as Liberty whispered yes. "Hello Trey, I was calling to say that I set up a private area in the Library for you and my son to meet today. That's where you'll be tutoring him." "What time should I meet you there?" I asked as I got my things together to leave immediately in case I needed to meet him soon. "Well, I'm not going to be able to make it, but just go to the library and talk to an older white lady at the front. My son should be there in about an hour. Don't worry about recognizing him as you'll know it's him when you see him," he said and I took that to mean his son looked a lot like him. "Okay then, I'm on my way over there now," I told him and he told me good luck before ending the call. I tried to ignore the feeling I got from that, but I couldn't do it completely. "Are you on your way to meet money... I mean Mr. Prescott's son?" Liberty asked with a greedy gleam in her eyes. "Yes, and forget it," I said before walking away to a frustrated grunt from her. I headed for the three-story Library that was rather large in size. It took me about 10 minutes to make it there and when I walked in, it smelled like it usually did, which was like any other Library I'd been in. Maybe it was a maunfacted smell like new car smell. I walked up to a lady who looked like she was made to be a Librarian and who matched Mr. Prescott's description, and told her who I was like Mr. Prescott had told me. She perked up and came around to my side of the desk introduced herself as Mildred before leading me up to a secluded study area on the third floor. The area looked nice and comfortable and I wondered how many students had done it up there. She told me to make myself comfortable and told me that she'd bring Mr. Prescott's son up when he got there before she left. This made me think the dude must be a big deal to set up all this. I shrugged it off though and took a seat to wait for Mr. Slacker. I didn't have to wait long before the lady returned, about 15 minutes later, with a younger version of Mr. Prescott. He seriously looked like they'd taken a picture of Mr. Prescott and de-aged it about 20 years. I was just thinking that he was kind of handsome when he had to ruin it by looking like he'd bitten into something bitter when he saw me. "Mr. Healey, this is Mr. Prescott, well the younger one," Mildred said. He didn't make a move and neither did I. "Well, why don't I leave you two to it then," she said now sounding awkward before leaving. "You're Trey?" He asked with an annoying disbelief in his tone. "Why do you ask?" I asked with a slightly bitter tone. I didn't like how this was going already. "You're just, not what I expected is all," he said with obvious distaste in his tone. I didn't know where it was coming from though. "What did you expect?" I asked as I stood. I all of a sudden didn't like him looking down at me. "Just someone different, that's all," he said never losing that distasteful tone and look on his face. "Someone not black you mean?" I asked with unexpected venom in my tone. His eyes widened briefly before his face became slightly more neutral. "I didn't say that," he said, basically saying that. "Yeah right. It couldn't be because I'm gay because you wouldn't have known that until I just told you," I said and he actually had the nerve to shoot me a smug look. "Well that bracelet you're wearing says something," he said which only served to piss me off more. "This doesn't have to mean anything. Oh, and screw you," I said before getting my bag. I didn't have to put up with Mr. Kicked-out-of-two-schools and him looking at me like I had pissed on his shoes or something. "Now wait," he said holding up his hands. "No I won't wait. Tell your father that he can find someone else to tutor you because the deal's off," I said before I started to walk away. I had taken too much shit lately to deal with this douchebag. "You can't do that! My father told me he already paid you," he said but I didn't delight in his now slightly desperate tone. "Thanks for reminding me," I said before searching through my bag. When I had the envelope in hand, I walked back over to him and jammed it into his hand before I stormed off. ******** "Come on Trey, you can't do this," Liberty whined which wasn't doing anything to help my mood any. She was really close to me telling her to fuck off. We were in the lobby of the dorm along with Jessica, Dave, Light, and Christian. They had caught me when I arrived back at the dorm, or as Jessica called it, when I "blew in like a raging storm". She was probably right because I was seriously pissed off for having to deal with this crap so soon after Trevor and Donny's bullshit. "Liberty, in case you haven't noticed, Trey isn't in the mood for your silliness right now," Jessica said thankfully trying to warn her to back off. "Oh please. Trey will be fine...," Liberty said, but trailed off after looking me in the eyes. I guess I had back off written all over me. "Look dude, I know you're pissed, and for good reason, but this is the kind of thing we have to face. I think you've been spoiled by only being exposed to supposedly non-racist white people and now you're seeing the real world," Christian said which was true for the most part. I had been sheltered in a way that I'd never really been subjected to any bigotry. The first time I really experienced any, it was because I was gay, not because I was black so I had no experience dealing with racism, aside from Bear's grandmother. I guess that's one of the things college did for you. It let you interact with a lot more people and in turn exposed you to different things, good and bad. "What do you mean by `supposedly non-racist?" Jessica asked Christian with Liberty-inspired attitude. "Nothing in particular," he said trying to wave it off. "I am not racist. I'll have you know-" Jessica started before Liberty interrupted her with an upheld hand. "Jess, please don't finish that sentence with `some of my best friends are black' because that's a passively racist person's motto," Liberty said and I nodded when she looked at me as did Light. "Trey, I think your day is about to get worse," Dave said while looking past me. I turned as did everyone else and saw Scotty pointing Junior Prescott in my direction. I briefly wondered how Dave knew who the guy was. I started to get up and leave, but Light grabbed my hand and yanked me back down. I looked at her and she gave me a look that said "don't run". "Hey Trey, can I talk to you?" younger Prescott said sounding more humble than our first meeting. I guess his dad had told him some choice things after I'd called him and told him the deal was off. "No, he can't," Light said with a surprising edge. "Light, shut up," Liberty said with an annoyed expression before looking at Junior Prescott. "He'll be happy to talk to you," Liberty said with a cheesy grin on her face. "Sellout," Light muttered. "What the hell are you doing?" Christian asked her not looking pleased at all. "Nothing, stop worrying," Liberty said to him before turning that weird cheesy grin back on Junior Prescott. "Please Trey. I need to talk to you," he said with that desperate tone he'd had earlier, but it was more pronounced now. It made me wonder what was really going on with him. It probably wasn't my business though so I focused on him being there. "Fine," I said before shooting a look to my friends that I hoped they read as a signal to leave us alone. They did and excused themselves, although I noticed Christian and Light giving the guy very obvious hard glares. "Thanks," he said sound relieved before taking a seat. "What do you want?" I asked sparing him none of my annoyance. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I was just surprised that's all," he said digging himself further. "Oh really? Is that because you can't believe a black guy would be smarter than you?" I asked with uncontrollable spite. That was really my fault though because I wasn't trying to control it. "Well, I wouldn't say you're smarter than me," he actually dared to say. "We're done here," I said as I stood. "Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't expect a black guy. I haven't really had much experience hanging with black people. My dad has been on me for years about the fact that I couldn't expect to only be around people like me and exist in the world. He even tried to get me to be friends with the son of one of his employees," he said and I tried to keep an open mind. A lot of rich white boys were just like him, but that didn't mean they were bad people. "What happened?" I asked in a more accommodating tone. "We just didn't click. He was really into sports and I liked to party," he said which confirmed what I'd initially thought about him being a party boy slacker. "What a shame," I said more condescendingly than I intended to. "Look, just please help me. Here's your check," he said before sliding the envelope over to me. "No thanks," I said without making a move to take the envelope. He was silent for a minute as he seemed to be studying me which made me a little uncomfortable. "How about I sweeten the pot," he said in a way that had me curious. "With what?" I asked as I tried to play off my curiosity. "Your boyfriend goes to Penn right?" he asked which both stunned and worried me. "How the hell do you know that?" I asked with a slightly noticeable panic in my voice. "I have my ways," he said while looking proud of himself. "Well your ways better forget that you know that," I threatened as I couldn't have him knowing who Bear was. I didn't know anything about him and for all I knew he loved to gossip. "Relax, I can keep a secret," he said which did nothing to curb my sudden urge to end his life. "I don't know that," I said and he at least had the decency to stop looking so satisfied with himself. "Okay, let's try this again. I know that you and your boyfriend are going to different schools so how about in exchange for tutoring me, I can fly you up to see your boyfriend, in addition to the deal you made with my dad of course," he said and that did sound very enticing, but did he really say fly? "Did you say fly?" I asked. "Yep. My dad has a helicopter and I have a license to pilot it. I can take you up whenever you want and all you have to do is agree to tutor me," he said and that was definitely a sweetened pot. Not only could I see Bear whenever I wanted in less time than it would take to drive there, I'd get to ride in a helicopter. "Okay, it's a deal," I said before we shook hands and I heard Liberty let out a loud "yes" from across the room. I looked over and saw her with Christian's hand covering her mouth as Jessica and Light were face-palming. "By the way, my name's Lane. I just realized I never gave you my name and I wasn't sure if my dad had," he said and I was glad he told me because I was tired of calling him "Junior Prescott". "I guess it's nice to meet you," I said kind of jokingly. "Wow, such a nice reception. Don't worry though, you'll warm up to me," he said sounding very confident. "Gee, I can't wait," I said sarcastically. To be continued.... **************************************************************************** Author's Note's: Hello all and welcome to the latest installment of "The Chronicles of Trey". In this chapter, we ;earn that Trey had made yet another friend since his college outing. He then gets a very lucretive job opportinity to tutor a rich businessman's son. He's relectant to do so as this brings up uncomfortable memories from the last time he tutored someone. After a talk with Bear who managed to convince him to do it, he meets the guy, Lane Prescott, who doesn't have a great reaction to seeing who his tutor is. After dealing with some upsetting emotions, and after another talk with Lane, they make an agreement to put their first meeting behind them and try again. Lane accomplishes this by offering to fly Trey up to see Bear at his school. How did he come to know about this information though? In other events, Dave finally resurfaces and tells Trey the whole story about what happened and what led up to Donny finding out about Trey and Bear. Donny is the guy that Dave told Bear about, the guy he was curious about and he tried to satisfy that still present curiosity which led to Donny discovering the guys. After blaming himself, Dave went home and after talking with his cousin, and making out with yet another guy, he gets his answer from an unexpected place... Veronica Tyler, Sean's cousin So now, Trey and Dave are made up, Trey has a new "job" making good money, at least for the rest of his freshman year, and he has a way to see Bear easily now. The questions now are: How did Lane know about Bear? What is the deal with the Prescott's desperation to get Lane a tutor? Will Trey have to meet Dave's parents and what will they have to say since Dave made it clear that they aren't happy that he was sharing a room with Dave? Answers to these questions and more are coming up in "The Chronicles of Trey". Thank you all, my readers, for reading my story and taking the time to email me. I really love to hear from you, to know how much you are enjoying the story. I hope to continuing hearing from you, even if its just a simple email. I apoligize for the very late release of this chapter. I just had so many things going on and was feeling down after certain things happened. I'm better now and I'm just going to keep writing and I hope you all keep reading. Send any comments good or bad to thestoryguy9783@gmail.com. You can also follow me at twitter @StoryGuyNick. Until next time.... Nicky. *************************************************************************** Editor's Note's: What is up people, we have another chapter in the Life of Trey. We meet a new friend of Trey's and she seems like a wild fire. Trey gets a job to tutor someone again and is getting paid greatly for the job, but was reluctant to do it because of what happened with Clyde, but Bear was able to help convince Trey to do it. Dave finally returns and we learn about what his deal is, and about his little hook up with Veronica at a party at his cousin's place. Wonder if we will ever meet his parents and see how they will deal with Trey. Now on the Lane Prescott. He seemed like another racist problem that Trey would have to deal with, but Lane must have talked to his Dad and his Dad must have told him some choice words cause he went looking for Trey to get him back to tutor him. He even sweetened the pot by offering to fly Trey to see his boyfriend. College life seems to be getting Trey out there and seeing the world for what it is and dealing with racist people. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, please let me and Nicky know what you all think of this latest chapter. You can email Nicky at the email address above and you can reach me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com. Until the next chapter guys this is JD signing off.