STANDARD WARNING: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to individuals, living or dead, is pure coincidence. Do not read this story if you are offended by man-to-man romance or sex or sex between minors. Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live. There is sex between males. You have been warned!

Copyright 2002 by Anonymous. Permission is granted to Nifty Archives to post one copy. No part may be copied, reproduced, republished, or reposted on another website without written permission from the author.

You know the smile that no one understands? The wolfish grin smeared across your face, catalyst unknown? Glazed over gazing, staring to Saturn, butterfly eggs hatching in your stomach? All else, all surroundings, stand firmly invisible? That was Jake.

Jake wasn't that one kid. That kid who all the girls (and maybe some boys) want, and all the boys (hell and maybe some girls) want to be. He wasn't the one who played all the sports, dated every girl you ever wanted, and then went home to his picture perfected family of carbon copies, mirroring the televised stereotypes. Actually, he was the best friend of that boy. Well, one of them at least.

There were six of us. Jake, William (me), Geoffrey, Jonathan, Ashley, and Jackson.

Jonathan was the afore mentioned wonder boy. That popular school kid, the always have been always will be cool kid, the class president, valedictorian, A+ star quarterback, cadillac convertible, drive inside your cheerleaders autograph. That's him. As for the physical attributes, he has coal black hair which he parts to the side (your left if your facing him) which on anyone else would look horrible. Deep blue eyes. About 5'8" (this story starts the summer before our 7th grade year so that was just above average height). Strong face, all of his features greatly attributed. Typical jock body. Large, strong chest, abs that you could crush rocks on, perfectly sized biceps and a very very nice back which looks best when he's doing pull-ups with his shirt off.

Jake was, as we have established, was the catalyst for my smiling fits. In some ways, he was a lot like me. He liked the same music, liked the same clothes, our thoughts even went the same direction most of the time. Some things were different, but they were "good different". He was always smiling. His sense of humor is the "Witty, make you think" type of humor, it puts some people off but I love it about him. Of course what don't I love about him? He also plays the guitar, which for some reason really attracts me to him. He's pretty good too. As for the physical *sighs*, he was about 5'7", chestnut brown hair with white-blond tips which he wore messy with the bangs up. Usually the dyed hair thing would turn me off but it really worked for him. Light blue eyes set in long lashes. Strong nose and chin. Full mouth, a soft pink. He was kind of on the skinny side, but he was in good shape from playing soccer, so he had the pseudo muscled body that skinny people usually have by nature.

Geoffrey. Pronounced Jeffrey. He goes by Geoff for short, which is supposed to be pronounced Jeff, but we call him "jee-off" because we think it sounds cooler. Geoff plays soccer too, but he's a lot more into it than Jake is, and he's really talented, not all of which is born talent, he works really hard. He's also very good with academics. He's smart but for some reason plays it like he isn't. He's also really into hip hop. He's one of the MC's of the group. He writes but likes to freestyle too. Some of the beats that he's mixed are pretty tight too. He never does slight changes in his hair (brown), they're always drastic. Like he'll be wearing it long one day, pushed up behind his ears, which looks good. Then he'll cut it all off. Really no matter what he does with his hair it always looks good. Light green eyes, straight nose, kind of curvy chin, and kind of high cheekbones. Good body.

Ashley. Despite the name he is a boy. Artistic type, definitely the best painter, drawer, graphic designer I know. He has sort of a modern abstract style. He also bikes, something he got into with his parents. He went on a biking tour of France the summer before sixth grade. Great sense of humor. Blond hair, with the bangs spiked up, with a sort of gelled look. Light blue eyes, slightly inwardly curved nose, soft chin, fantastic lips. Also sort of skinny, but still, well in shape.

Jackson was one of my favorite people in the world. He's a vegetarian, has been since the fifth grade when he decided that "Eating meat for humans is wrong because we can survive off of things besides meat unlike other animals who have to eat meat and that's the only choice they have, the only way they know." He cooks all his own meals because his parents do not support his choice to be a vegetarian. He organizes a lot of community service, especially focusing on cleaning up parks that kids play in and such. He's done yoga since the third grade, and was extremely annoyed when it got popular and trendy and his classes were now filled with people. He has semi-curly mop top blond hair. He also had dreads for some time but took them out because too many bugs were in his hair. It really looked good on him though. He has the perfect little boy face. Big dark green eyes, button nose, stubborn chin, and soft pouty lips.

Me. Mostly people call me Will but I really don't care. It never really mattered to me. I started yoga around the same time that Jackson did, and still do it. I also took aikido from age five. Art rules my life, but specifically it's music. I have the most eclectic taste you will ever come upon. I have never found a type of music I did not like or at least like something about. Every action I take reminds me of a song or of some lyrics. But, I also love to write, though not music. Reading is another of my extreme passions. Italo Calvino, T.S Elliot, Sylvia Plath, Ernest Hemmingway, Maya Angelou, Tamora Pierce...The list goes on and on. I've also been known to throw down a freestyle with Geoff if I'm bored like waiting for a bus. Hip hop is a great passion of mine. Deep Puddle Dynamics what, Sage Francis what. The Smashing Pumpkins and Elliot Smith have also been big influences. I love paintings and drawings, especially around the renaissance, impressionist, and expressionist periods. I've also recently gotten into photography. As far as sports go I usually stray from the team sports and stick to my less talked about ones, like yoga, aikido, rock climbing, and kayaking. As far as looks go: 5'7". Dirty blond hair worn however I feel like it really, but usually short. My eyes are sort of green and blue at the same time, with a yellow around them. People for some reason when they look at my eyes have a hard time looking away. They also switch from darker shades of green or blue depending on my mood. Strong nose, rounded chin, nice lips, high cheekbones. I always have a look of mixed depression/anger on my face. I hardly ever smile, and even when I do, it's a thin ironic sort of smile. I've turned a cold shoulder to most things but my friends, my family, and my town. Loving Portland, Oregon. I'm a Hawthorne boy. Beautiful Division Day. Fuck off world.

We've all known each other since diapers. We went to the same preschool, and then the same elementary school, and then the same middle school. All of our houses were in the same neighborhood. Jake and I lived on the same street, in fact, we lived right next to each other.

As we still do, we were living in a somewhat bohemian bourgeoisie neighborhood, centered around Hawthorne street. Hawthorne was trendy central. It was also where all the Hippies, Rastas, and homeless people hung out. It was a socially and financially diverse part of town.

None of us were ever rich. We never grew money off trees so we could light our Cuban cigars with it and while watching our hired help work for two dollars an hour. But, then again, we were never poor. We never went hungry, and we all had our playstation 2's and x boxes and what have you. Jake, Jackson, and mine's parents were even able to afford our incredibly large wardrobes. All three of us were compulsive shoppers. J crew, Structure, Banana Republic, BCBG...Music to my ears.

None of us ever really went for the pop life. We didn't much like pop music or anything like that. Though I was addicted to Real World Seattle, Chicago, and New York. We all keep pretty much to the underground and old school.

One thing my parents insisted on was me attending public schools. They didn't want me to be pampered. They wanted me to get a good education but also get a feel of how things really were. "Street smarts" as well as academics. And it worked. It must have because I'm not a Bush supporter.

But pretty much we always had it kind of easy. Of course bad things happened. Some terrible. Geoff's parents divorced, which was really hard for him, but we all helped him through it. Jakes father died, suddenly, of a heart attack. That was devastating, not just to him but to all of us. Since we had known each other for so long, we thought, felt, as one. We didn't have separate families, all our parents knew each other and we knew them, so they were like extra parents. When Jakes dad died it was like my dad was dying, it was like a part of us was dying. We helped him pull through it, of course you never, ever get rid of something like that. Now Jake sort of has to be the man of the house, he has to help out a lot, and look after his little brother Conner. We try to help him as much as we can, but he really doesn't like getting help much, it makes him feel like it's charity. But we tell him to shut up and take the help, and he thanks us, and we tell him to shut up again.

Any good? Should I continue, this was just basic background, set up before I really get into it, but i'd like some feedback before I do continue. Send your comments/criticism to perfectlyblank@hotmail.com or contact me on AIM at neverknowyou.
Thank You