Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 03:59:02 -0500 (EST)
From: inverse@mindless.com
Subject: The Out-Crowd  (Part 10)

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
=============
Part 11 is the long one.  At least, I think it's long.  We'll soon find out!

                                             --Servo Blue

DISCLAIMER:
==========

Why do I still have this silly thing?


The Out-Crowd
===========

Part 10:  Trouble Brewing

I don't know if they were fireworks of epic proportions or simply some over-
illustrious starburst, but at the speed that they were flying past my head,
they blurred into an awe-inspiring whirl of colors, flashing like nothing
I'd ever seen before.  At least, for the split-second that Jeremy's lips
were touching mine.  He sat back on the couch and looked at me.  My eyes were
closed and my eyebrows were raised.  I stayed where I was, stunned from the
effect of my first kiss.  After a moment, I opened my eyes, about halfway.
That's about as open as they could get.

"What just happened?"  I asked, nearly whispering.

Jeremy ran his hands threw his hair and fell back into the couch, blowing
air out his mouth and facing the far wall now, instead of me.

"I knew it." he said, then started to get up.  "I should--"

But I grabbed his arm.

"Hey!"  I said.  He looked at me, a surprised expression on his face.  "Hey,
sit down," I said, and he eased himself back into the couch.  "It's O.K.,"

He looked at the floor.  "I--I'm sorry, Casey--I just couldn't--"

I put my hand on his knee, and his shimmering eyes met mine, his head still
aimed at the floor.

"I said it's O.K.," I told him.  At this, his head came up with his eyes, and
his face grew into an excited, fearful expression.

"W-what?"

"You heard me," I said, giving him a crooked smile.  "I know exactly how
you feel."

His mouth fell open, and I couldn't help but giggle at his surprise.

"Oh, come on!"  I said, smiling.  "Like I didn't notice that look on your
face when you first saw me in the park?  Or how proud you were to tell that
story over and over and over again?  And how you jumped at the chance to see
my room?"

He turned a light shade of pink, even noticable in the firelight, and looked
down at the couch cushion.

"I was that bad?"

"No," I said, in an indifferent voice.  "Actually, I hadn't really thought
about all that 'til just now."

There was a few seconds' pause.

"But you know what I did notice right away?"  I asked, tilting my head to
the side, trying to get a look at his eyes.  "How cute you were with messed
up hair and a broken face."

He did that 'look with the eyes, not with the face' thing again, but he had
a shy little smile this time.  He really was pretty cute.  He had the most
radiant green eyes--emerald, almost.  And his hair was short, but kinda high;
it was combed back, and supergelled to hold in a preppy kinda way.  But it
suited him well.  And there, in the orange glow of the fire, with his right
side black and his left illuminated, he was even more adorable than I'd ever
thought.  I didn't even know I was doing it until it was too late.  I put my
hand under his chin to lift up his face, and I pressed my lips softly against
his.

I woke up and looked at the grandfather clock by the fireplace.  7:30?!  Ug.
I looked around the room, and then I noticed why I was unable to rise from
my seat.  I had fallen asleep at some point, and I was laying into the corner
of the back of the couch.  Jeremy was beide me, mostyly, but had his head rested
on my chest and his left arm draped over my stomache.

'What the hell woke me up at 7:30 on a Saturday?' I thought.  Shelby walked in
through the kitchen door in a T-shirt and black shorts, and those silly too-
dark-to-see-his-eyes sunglasses resting on top of his head.

"Oh, hey, boss," he said, stopping for a second when he saw I was awake.  "I
didn't wake ya up or anything, did I?"

"I don't know what woke me up, Shel," I said, stretching my back as much as I
could without moving Jeremy, and rubbing my eyes with my wrist.  I exhaled
and dropped back to my origional position, and looked at my roommate.

"God, you're such a punk," I said, laughing.

"What?"  asked Shelby, with a smile.  "Hey, I got some breakfast made in there,"
he said, thumbing toward the kitchen.  "As soon as your boyfriend gets up, go
on in and have some.  I'm gonna run up and grab a quick shower," and he jogged
up the stairs.

Boyfriend?!  Did he say 'boyfried'?!  Wait a sec--he was in bed.  He doesn't
know.  Unless he never got there, and watched us through the railing at the
hallway.  Nah, Shelby wouldn't do that.  And besides, if he DID know--which he
doesn't--he seemed awful cool about it.  Maybe he's one of those real people.
You know, the kind that only care how you treat and act around others.  The
kind that judge you by heart...or not at all.

Whoa, get a grip, Casey, you're gettin' deep enough in thought to drown
yourself.  Jeremy rolled over so that he was now facing up, the back of his
head resting now on my stomache.  I think he got cuter overnight.  I won't
testify to it, though.  I took my left arm--my free arm--and brushed his hair
back with my hand.  He didn't move, but let out an appreciative "Mmm".

"You up?"  I asked.

"Not for another hour or two," he said.

"You lie," I stated, and he smiled.  After a minute he opened his eyes and
looked up at me.

"You're pretty in the morning," he said, then his expression went sad.  "Why
does it wear off?"

I jabbed him in the ribs, and he giggled and fell to the floor.

"Shelby got breakfast ready," I told him, standing up.  He stood, dusted
himself off, and said "How do you know?"

"uh...he told me," I said.

"You mean...he saw me...I mean, us,"  he stammered, getting scared.

"Yeah, but either he thinks it was an accident or he's cool with it.  Either
way, he doesn't care, so let's not pester him about it."

"'Pester'?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah.  'Pester'.  Like you're doing to me right now," I said.

"The hell you say!" he exclaimed, and stared poking my forehead with his index
finger.  "Now THIS...is pestering."

I slapped his hand away, called him a fool, and showed him to the kitchen.
Jeez, when Shelby makes breakfast, Shelby makes BREAKFAST!  There was a pan
ful of scrambled eggs, a pan half full of sausage and half full of bacon, about
twelve pieces of toast--pre-buttered, even!--and the table had a stack of five
plates, and plenty of cups and silverware to go around.

"The beast craves nourishment," stated Jeremy.  I looked over to ask what he
wa talking about, but Wallop was licking his calf through his jeans.  He
appeared not to have invited the tongue bath.

"Wallop, go lay down," I said.  He looked at me for about thirty seconds, then
regained his licking position.  "Wallop!"  Finally, he went back to his bed.

"That was the sickest thing ever," said Jeremy.  I handed him a can opener
and a can of dog food.

"Here,"

"What, you mean you get the people food?"

"Just feed the dog," I said.  He did as I told, and I filled up our plates.
We were half way through when my Dad walked in.

"Mornin', boys," he said.

"Hi, dad,"

"Hey, Mr. Lucas,"

"Who made all this?"

"Shelby," I said.

"Wow," he said.  "Looks pretty good.  I knew it wasn't your mother."

Jeremy choked on his eggs.  I laughed.

"Where is Shelby?"

"Taking the quickest half-hour shower ever, I guess," I said.

Dad sat down beside me, and across from Jeremy.

"Did you call your folks yet?"

"Uh...no?"

"Nobody told you to, huh?"

"Uh...no?"

"I see."  Mouthful of eggs.  Swallowed.  "So, what's up for today?"

"I don't know," I said.  "I was thinkin' about lookin' for a job."

"Oh," he said.  "You gonna take your car out, or is Shelby goin'?"

"Oh yeah, what kinda car do you have?" asked Jeremy.

"What, you haven't been bragging yet?"  My dad asked.

"No, not yet," I said, pushing my plate forward, indicating I was done.

"How did you eat that fast?" asked Jeremy, completely stunned, and with
half a plate left.  I ignored his little comment, though.

"I was kinda hoping Shelby could take me, so I could save up and get the
Tra--uh, my car painted before I start drivin' it around."

"Uh-huh," my dad said, smiling through his glass of orange juice.

"Take you where?" asked Shelby, just walking into the kitchen.

"On the hunt for a job," I said.

"Oh.  You want a job you can start today?" he asked.  I was interested, but
a little surprised.

"Well...sure!  Where?"

"Steiny said you start when you show up," he said, with a big grin.

"Sweet!" I said.

"Whoa," said my dad, taking a bite of his sausage.  "You mean at the bowling
alley?"

"Yeah," said Shelby.  "Why?  Is this not cool?"

"Well, I guess," my dad answered.  "I just kinda figured that after your
little 'encounter' you'd be more cautious than that."

"Dad, if I go there all the time, then they won't try anything." I assured
him.

"Explain."

"Think about it:  They got us when we shouldn't have been there, and nobody
knew where we were.  If everyone knows where I am, nothin's gonna happen."

"If you say so." he said.

"Cool!" I said, as Jeremy finished his last piece of bacon.

Jeremy and I excused ourselves, and we ran upstairs.  We didn't bother with
showers, but were figured we were clean enough.  I did give him a change of
clothes, and he made almost as much about it as Shelby.  We ran downstairs
ten minutes later, and the three of us hopped into Shelby's car and headed
for the Bowling Alley.

"Um, Shelby," said Jeremy.  "How exactly are you living with Casey?"

Leave it to Jeremy to start up a healthy conversation.  Shelby got tense.

"His mom's workin' it out," he said, dropping the sunglasses in front of his
eyes.  "Besides, it's not like Dave's taken notice yet.  It's only been a week."

"Oh.  I'm sorry," came a shy little voice from the backseat.

"Well, it's a valid question," said Shelby.  "I think I'm supposed to go get
my stuff, like, Monday.  I may not be in school."

"How are you gonna get it?" I asked, trying to add to the conversation but
not tread into dangerous territory.

"Probably have a cop or two with me.  I don't know," he said.

There was no conversation after that last comment.  We got to his grampa's
bowling alley, and we went in.  The place was packed, even at ten in the
morning.  Steiny saw me right away, and left Shelby's grampa at the counter.

"Oh, now that's what I'm loving in a worker;  he shows up an hour late on his
day off!"

"What?" I asked.

"I thought you said he could start whenever he showed up," said Shelby.

"Saturdays and Sundays you don't hafta come in." he said.  "Saturdays are the
busiest days of the week."

"Then wouldn't you want my help?" I asked.

"The new guy work on the busiest day?  You should be so lucky!" he said, and
laughed.  "Lemme show ya 'round," he said.  I looked back at Shelby as Steiny
and I walked away, but he and Jeremy were just smiling and waving.

Boy!  That guy loves to talk!  He showed me every single part of that place,
inside and out.  I swear, he showed me every shoe in stock, both individually,
and with it's match.  He showed me how to polish balls about 27 times, but then
I got a 4 second description of how to run a cash register.  This man needs
to get his--and my--priorities straight.

He took me back to the pin retrieval system and the ball returns.  With the
noise of the wizzing and buzzing wheels and belts, and his non-stop chatter,
I had a headache the size of a major metropolitan area.  Man, did my brain
ever hurt, and I learned absolutely nothing.  We left, and walked back to
the counter.  Shelby was showing Jeremy a card trick, and Jeremy was being
entrirely mystifyed, again and again.

"You the new kid?" asked Shelby's grampa.

"Y-yeah," I said.  He was very tall, and had a very deep voice.

"Milo," he said, and extended his hand.

"Casey," I responded, and we shook.

"Well, today's your day off, so get outta here," he said.  I couldn't really
tell if he was serious or just kidding.  "But be here Monday right after school.


"Yes, sir," I said, and started to walk around the counter.

"Casey," he said, and I spun around.  "It's Milo.  Not 'sir'."

"Oh,"  I said.  "Thanks...Milo."

I ran around the counter and grabbed my friends, then forced them outside.

"Hey--What gives, boss?" asked Shelby.

"Yeah, Case--what's up?"

I shoved them out the doors and said, "Hey, I gotta work all week;  we're
gonna enjoy our weekend!"

"Oh, really?"

There he was.  I swear we've been through this.

"Get off of my car," growled Shelby, though his teeth.  "I'm not waiting for
any sneak attacks today, Rudy.  Get off my car."

"Yeah," said Jeremy, stepping forward.  "And this time, there's three on the
good guys' side."

"Good guys, huh?" asked Rudy.  "Barry.  Chris," he said, and his two buddies
stepped up out of nowhere, and Rudy slid off the hood of the car and landed
on his feet.  "I think we've been issued a challenge."

Without missing a beat, and probably jumping the gun a little, Shelby swung
a right hook and laid Rudy out onto the hood of the car.  Barry and Chris had
this totally shocked look on their faces for about half a second, then switched
to scary mode and came running up beside the car towards us.  Chris ran up to
Jeremy and raised his arm to swing at him, but he didn't stop soon enough and
Jer did this weird fall-to-the-ground, grab-his-ankle-with-your-knees, takedown
kinda thing, and Chris hit the parking lot face-first.  Barry came at me, but
I shot him in the stomache with a slug from my right arm and he went down right
away.  He must not've been expecting it, 'cause a guy that big going down from
one swing from a guy like me?  Fluke.  Never happens.  I looked over my shoulder
and saw Jeremy yank at Shelby's shirt and pull him off of Rudy.  Rudy stood
up with a bloody nose and a couple red marks on his face.

"Bad move, Carney," he said.  Shelby's eyes almost turned red, and Jeremy had
to work to hold him back.

"Leave," I said.  Rudy shot me an angry look, glanced at Barry, who was just
getting up, and then looked back to me.

After a minute, he said, "O.K.  I'll leave.  Today.  But I'm watchin', Casey.
And when I see the opportunity....  Pow.  C'mon," he said to his goons, and
they got up and hobbled away.

"They're not gonna stop, are they?" asked Shelby in a growl.  We all just watched
them walk away.  None of us moved.  Jeremy was still holding Shelby's shirt.

"They're never going to fucking stop.  I never did fucking ANYTHING to them!"

I turned and looked at him when he screamed 'anything', but he just kept
looking ahead.  Jeremy let go of his shirt and took a step back.

"It's you, you know!" He yelled, turning quickly and pointing a finger at me.
I was surprised, at least.

"Me--?!"

"Yes, you!  Up until I met YOU, they might make fun of me behind my back or
call me that infuriating name, but they never, EVER laid a hand on me!  Not
until you came along and pissed him off!"

"Hey!"  O.K., it felt kinda wrong, but I was getting a little angry now.  "All
I ever 'did' to him was stop him from beating on somebody who he knew couldn't
stop him!"

"You think that matters?!  You gave him an invitaion to kick your ass every day
for the rest of your life in this fucking town!  You AND your goddamn boyfriend!"

"How do you figure?!" I shouted back.  I was relatively pissed now.

"Because you're not another fucking face in the crowd...boss."

He said it slowly, but just as loud as everything else.  Then his voice lowered
to an intimidating growl.  "And you..." he grumbled, then turned and hit Jer
in the shoulder with the palm of his hand.  "If you ever, EVER pull me off of
him like that again," he warned, slowly stepping toward him, forcing Jeremy
to ease his way back.  "I will bust your head WIIIIIIDE open, and finish the
bastard off!!!"

Something told me from the way that Shelby was letting this all out, that he
had never had the chance to do so before.

He raised his hands like he was going to say something else, but then dropped
them to his sides and turned back to me.

"Dude," I started, but he cut me off, sounding more drained than angry now.

"Don't 'dude' me, boss." he said, then opened the door to his car.  "I gotta
go."  And with that, he got in, and took off.

"Well, THAT was interesting," said Jeremy.


===========================================================================

....To Be Continued....

Hehehe.  Trouble between friends.  Tragic.
Any Comments or Criticism go to me at servo_blue@usa.com