Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:58:59 +0000 From: Tommy Evans Subject: Uriel and Jon: Growing Up Part 3 So the first day of school wasn't so bad, I thought as I lied in bed at night. I had met JR, really cool kid, and I learned that going to school with your two younger best friends is kind of weird yet cool. I hope things turn out well. To top it off my birthday was just a few days away. Man, I'm turning 18. Its almost scary. I feel like I should already have a plan for life, yet I have nothing. I looked over at the clock, 10:45 it said. I wonder what Jon's doing. I wonder if he's thinking about the same things I'm thinking about. Maybe he's even wishing he was here with me. O well, I told myself. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Just a few seconds later, my phone went off. "hello" I answered. "Yo aaron whats up?" Uriel's voice came through. "Not much, how about you buddy?" "Good good, how was your first day at the new school?" he asked. "Good, different, yet good. Thanks for asking" "that's what friends are for. Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" "I don't know, its only Monday night Uriel" "Well, my parents are going out of town, my cousins are throwing a party. Want to come?" he asked. "A party? Like a teenager thing?" "Well, they are your age. But yeah sort of like a teenager thing" "I'll try to go. But honestly, that sounds a little, wild, I know your cousins. Are you sure you want to be there?" I asked. "Yeah man, why not? Its my first big party" he said excitedly. "Ha, your crazy dude. Well yeah I'll try to make it. I got to take care of you. It could get crazy" I said. "Sweet, can't wait. Listen I got to go shower, but I wanted to tell you before you went to sleep" he said. "Thanks, good night" I said as I clicked. A party? Really? He's freaking 13 and is thinking about parties? What the heck! I hope this is just a one time thing. I don't know if I could handle a partier Uriel. It would be just too much, but then again, all his cousins are like that except for Luis right now, hopefully they stay good. Then I realized it was getting late and decided to go to sleep. I woke up the next morning to my alarm and also to Jon changing in my room. "Woah, how'd you get in here?" I asked. "Your mom let me in." he answered. "How long have you been here for?" I asked. "Just like 10 minutes. I was finishing up my homework. Are you going to shower?" he asked. "yeah, I always do. Homework at 6am?" I asked. "Well I fell asleep before I could finish it. Actually I fell asleep on my homework" he laughed. "You are one silly dude. Okay well I got to shower." I said as I walked to the bathroom. I stood in the shower, while the hot water hit me. It was the best thing to do in the winter. I love the fact that its not super hot outside that just walking makes me start sweating, but sometimes the coldness gets to me. Theres nothing like a nice hot shower in the morning to get me going. I kind of thought of JR, I wonder what we would talk about today. Or what I would find out about him. It would be too much for him to also be part of my circle, it would just be TOO much. Then, I saw Jon walking to the shower, naked. That really interrupted my thoughts. "Hey there, are you nuts?" I asked. "No one's home." he said. "Fine" I said as I let him in the shower door. I took one good look at his beautiful body. I still can't believe that he's all mine sometimes. His skin is so soft, his body is just the right shape. Not skinny, just enough baby fat. That round, bubbly ass that just has a slight bounce to it when he walks. Then I looked at his amazing, brown eyes. He smiled at me. "I love you too" he said as he smiled. "Gosh, I forget how cute you are without your clothes on" I said as I hugged him. "Thanks, your not bad yourself" he replied. We helped each other get all clean, and believe me, it was very hard to keep the urges down. But I didn't want to have any sort of workouts before school. It'd be too weird for me. I simply fought the urge to make love to him right then and there, and just washed his silky body. "Aaron, I'm going to hate going to school" he said. "No don't say that, its going to be fine" "No Aaron, I hate it sometimes. I want to be a normal kid and go to a normal school" "You are normal. And whats wrong with The Academy?" "It's just not for me. Do you think they will let us transfer back to public school next year?" he asked. "I don't know. I mean your parents went through a lot of trouble to get you to get into this school" "Yeah, but without you, everything sucks. I might as well go back to public school" he said. "How about we just wait ok buddy?" I asked as I rinsed out his hair. "Fine" he agreed. We dried ourselves and put on our boxers. He followed me to the closet and we picked out our clothes. After we finished getting dressed we did our hair, and then went to the kitchen to have breakfast. As soon as we sat down, the door bell rang. "Oscar" Jon said to me. I nodded and walked over to the door. Sure enough it was Oscar. "Wooo! Another day of school" he said unenthusiastically. "Gosh, so negative" I said. He followed me to the kitchen. "Sup puss" he said to Jon. "Sup cunt" Jon replied. "Woah, can we be a little bit more civilized guys" I said. "Fine" Oscar said as he rolled his eyes at Jon. "You know, one day you'll be happy Oscar, just because I'm happy you don't got to be mean to me" said Jon. "What...your kidding. I am not jealous of you!" Oscar barked back. "I'm not saying you are..." Jon started to say but I kicked him. "Both of you guys always pick arguments. Gosh, can't we be nice for a change?" I asked. They just sat down and ate. I know they don't mean any harm and I know they like to play around, but why insult each other all the time. I don't get it. By 7am we were on our way to school and the arguments turned into actual conversation on the way there. But as we approached the school, the complaints started again. "Here we are" Jon said with a very annoyed tone. "Relax, it'll be fine" Oscar told him. "You always say that, and shit always happens to you" Jon joked. "Shut up. I'm just unlucky" Oscar said. "Come on, lets go." I said as I grabbed Jon's hand. "Umm...Aaron" Jon said as he let go of my hand. "O sorry I forgot" I said. Sometimes I forget that we can't just hold hands everywhere. Good thing he always reminds me. "Yeah, can't have people talking you know. As far as everyone knows, we're cousins. That's some sick incest right there" Oscar joked. We walked into the school building and I took Jon to his locker. He wasn't very happy. I just didn't know what to tell him. "Jon, give it a chance buddy. Please" I said. "I am, I am. I just, hate it" he said. I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and he just tried to smile. Then we did our hand shake and he headed to class. I ran to my locker to meet up with JR. "There you are" he said when he saw me. "Sup buddy." I said as I looked at his really cute smile. He looked really good today with his blue polo and tight jeans. I have only known him for two days, but I can already tell that he's a little bit into fashion. He just looked very clean and fresh. "So, you going to check me out all day or get your shit out of your locker?" he asked. "Um...both?" I said confused. "Does it bother you that I use gay jokes on you?" he asked. "no not at all why?" I asked. "No, just wondering. Let's go before Steve walks by" he told me. "Does it matter?" "yes, it does Aaron. Lets just go" "JR, can you please explain" "I will on the way to class" he said as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me. Why did he want to avoid Steve. What was so bad? Is it the fact that he's talking to me? I really hope not, because the last thing I need here is another enemy. As if I don't have plenty of those. "So, you going to tell me?" I said as we walked down the hallway. "Steve is very, protective of me, yet he pushes me around. Its weird. He puts on this very weird act when we're at school, but at home we're like best friends" he finally told me. "Like best friends, or you ARE best friends?" I asked. "Its complicated. The age gap is really an issue." "How old is he?" I asked. "Well, he flunked so he's turning 19 this month" "No kidding. I turn 18 this month" I said. "Woah, are you excited?" "yeah, and no. I feel like I'm getting old." "What, you're crazy. You're young, you don't look a day older than 15" "No, that's you buddy. I'm not 15 anymore" I said. "But you look like it" he said as he looked straight into my eyes. Its those kind of looks that creep me out. Its like he was trying to see right into my soul. I know its crazy. We had a very good time through out the day. We talked even when we weren't supposed to talk, we even passed some notes when the teachers were getting annoyed of us talking. I didn't think it was a big deal, I mean we were both smart and we knew what we were doing in class, and if we didn't we'd just actually pay attention. Even though I was having a blast with JR I knew I couldn't get any crazy ideas so I always thought about Jon while we were in class. Plus it was almost lunch time and I'd get to see him. But I was intrigued to see what JR would do today for lunch. After yesterday's weird run in with Steve, I want to see if JR goes back to him for lunch. As soon as the bell rang, JR got up and signaled me to hurry. Once we were in the hallway he pulled me to the side. "Listen, I hope you don't mind if I go with my friends for lunch again" he said. "No its fine. I'm going with mine. Just don't get beat up or something" I said to him. "Never, I wouldn't want to mess up my pretty face" he said. "Ha, well as long as you THINK its pretty, that's all that counts" "Hey, you're calling me ugly?" he asked. "NO!" I said quickly. "So you're calling me cute?" he said with a smile. "O damn, yeah you got me" I said. "I knew it, you like me" he laughed. "O yeah, like you have no idea" I joked. When we got to the cafeteria we split up and I found Jon and Oscar at a table. "Sup dudes, how's your day going?" I asked. "It's actually better today" Oscar told me. I looked at Jon. He rolled his eyes. "Mine too..." he shrugged. "You see, you just got to give it a chance." I said. "So, lets get food" I said. They both followed me. We grabbed whatever looked tasty and we walked past JR's table again, and yet again he was with Steve. It was weird. But I didn't care, as long as he didn't try to tackle me again. Once we were back at the table, Oscar kind of looked at me weird. "You're friend Armando, did you know he's like popular?" he asked me. "HE is?" I asked. "Yeah, I mean everyone knows him. He's best friends with the school jock/bully/ass hole" Oscar said. "Best friends?" I asked. "How do you know this?" Jon asked. "Dude, I've been getting info from my guide, he's cool. Tells me all the little tips I need and stuff" "Stuff?" I asked. "Not that kind of stuff perv" Oscar barked. "Wait, you're hanging out with that guy a lot Aaron?" Jon asked. "He's got every single class with me" I said. "Dang, my guide leaves me alone half the time" Jon complained. "Well you know your way around the school don't you?" Oscar asked. "barely" jon complained. "You'll be fine" I tried to make Jon feel better. "What if I get lost and I'm late to every class?" Jon exaggerated. "Dude, chill out. So anyway, you guys think you can actually pass any of these classes?" Oscar asked. "Yeah, no sweat." I answered quickly. "I don't know. I keep getting tempted to play on the computer" Jon added. "You dumbass, you would be the first one to fail a class" Oscar threw a fry at Jon. "Chill out man. I was just kidding" Jon said quickly dodging the fry. We talked about some other little things but I noticed Jon wasn't really paying attention. Something was bugging him, and I knew it was mostly the new school and all the changes, but I had a weird feeling it was something bigger than that. Maybe I'll talk to him after school today. When the bell rang, we got up and threw our garbage away and I used this time to head over to JR's table. Jon followed me, but I knew it wasn't anything bad as of now, so I didn't care if he met JR. JR was getting ready to get up from the table and the rest of the guys had left. He saw me and Jon. "Hey" I said. "Yo, how was lunch?" he asked. "Great, your friends left you?" I asked. I looked over at Jon who was just standing there. "Yeah, who's your friend?" JR jumped to the ask. "O this is my cousin Jon. Jon this is my buddy Armando aka JR" I said. "Sup" Jon said quietly. "Not a talker eh? Its okay, neither am I" JR said. The three of us walked to the cafeteria doors, this is where Jon had to go his way. I stopped, and JR stopped too. "So I'll see you after school okay" I said to Jon as I looked right into his eyes. "Yeah, I guess" he said. But he looked away really fast. I don't know what was up. I wanted to follow him, but we were in school. that's when I realized that this was the last place where he had been together really. School was tough to go to when you had a relationship like the one me and jon had. I mean back at the boarding school at least we had the same room and we shared more time. But here, it seems like we have to go separate ways a lot and its really getting to him, I think. "Your cousin is not much of a talker is he?" JR asked as walked to our class. "Not really, he's the shy one." "So whos the other guy?" "The one who sits with us at the table?" I asked. "Yeah, that one." "O he's my other cousin." I said. I wonder how long this cousin thing would last before it becomes a problem. "Your whole family is coming here?" he asked. "Yeah, sorta" "You guys must come from a very rich family" "Well, sorta." I laughed. We sat down right when the bell rang, maybe next time we should take less time walking to class. We tried real hard to pay attention in class, but who were we kidding. It's our second day of knowing each other, and we care more about knowing more about each other than school work. Plus we were real good at it, so catching up wouldn't be an issue. Since phones were not allowed, we really couldn't text during class, but we went old school. We started writing to each other in a notebook. The teacher didn't even have a clue. We were kind of excited for gym class for two reasons, 1. It was the last class of the day and 2. It was the only class where we didn't get in trouble for talking. When the bell rang, we practically ran to the gym locker rooms. "Dude, I've never had a cool friend like you" JR told me as he threw his things in his locker. "What? Really? Sucks that I'm a senior and you're only a sophomore" I said. "I know man. Well, your cousins must be real lucky to hang with you all the time" "O they are." I said. I thought about Jon. What was I going to do about his weird attitude today. "So um...you going to try not to stare at me too much today?" he asked. "O you know what, whatever. I'll just stare." I said with a smile. "Well then I will too" he joked. I was starting to, feel weird. I mean, did he have to joke so much like this? Like really? Then that's when I thought of his best friend, Steve. "Hey, so I hear Steve's your best friend?" I asked as I took my shirt off. I noticed him look right at me as I was doing this. "Umm...sorta. Why?" "I don't know. He's a jerk." I said. I returned the favor by watching him take his shirt off and putting his gym shirt on. "He can be, but out of school, he's just a nice guy" he said. Then he dropped his pants. I gave in. I watched. He had really nice brown legs. And he was wearing boxer briefs so I could really get a look. That ass of his was something else. "um...if you say so" I said as I dropped my pants. His eyes followed me. Man this wasn't happening, not AGAIN. I know he was staring right at my crotch. But I didn't say anything. We finished undressing quiet. When we were both done he broke the silence. "What have you heard or what?" he asked. "No nothing, just that you guys were like best friends" "Yeah, well I heard you were like a super good soccer player back in your school" he said as we started doing our jog. "Um...used to be." I said. "What, why? What happened?" he asked. "I got into an accident, and I haven't been physically fit for soccer anymore. I can play here and there, but actually not like be on the team or anything" "where you super good?" he asked. "No, I wouldn't say super good" I said. Then I noticed Steve running towards us. "Damn it, its Steve" JR said. "Yo shorty. Whats cracking?" he asked JR. "Nothing, just jogging you know." JR answered. "Listen, I'm doing some crazy runs right now, but come over after school no? I got some stuff to show you" Steve said. "Uh...sure. Meet you at your car?" "Yeah, by the way Aaron, take care of my boo" he said as he laughed and walked away. "My boo?" I asked. "Um..he's stupid" JR turned red. that's when' I realized something fishy was going on here. "But still, what the heck. Weird" I said. "I know, sorry. He's just weird like that. At least he didn't tackle you this time" JR tried to joke it off. "You got a good point there" I said back. The rest of the time, we did some other physical training and then played basketball for a while. We didn't really have time to talk about anything one to one since there were other people around us. But we did have a good time playing around and just enjoying each others' company. By the time we had to go back to the locker rooms to change, we were already feeling like best friends. I know its only been 2 days, but we sure have talked a lot. I found out he didn't have a cell phone yet because his parents couldn't afford it. He was only at this school because he won a scholarship, and he has to keep his GPA above 3.8 or he gets kicked out. Kind of shitty, if you ask me. I tried not to talk about the whole Steve incident since he seemed to be very shy about it. When we were changing, I noticed he stared again and well I did too. I mean, looking isn't going to kill me. When contact occurs, that's when I should start worrying. We finished changing and we went to the bathroom to fix our hair. We both looked at each other's hair to make sure it was good. Then we walked to our hallway lockers and grabbed our jackets. "So, talk to you tomorrow?" he asked. "Um...sure. Unless you want to call me or something" I said. "Like, from my house?" "You do have a house phone don't you?" I asked. "Yeah, but I can't call until late because I have to help do stuff at home" "That's cool man. I'm up late and what not every day." I said as I wrote my number down and gave it to him. "Will do, bye Aaron" he said as he kind of patted my shoulder. I watched him walk away. Boy was that kid something else. I walked to my car and I found Oscar and Jon waiting for me there. "Sup kids. How was your day?" I asked. "Sucked. I can't believe I have to be in a complete different part of the school all day because I'm a 6th grader" Jon said. "Dude, relax. You've been weird all day" Oscar said. "Yeah, aren't you with Oscar in the same wing?" I asked. "Yeah, we're both still in middle school you could say" Oscar added. "Okay, fine. Dang" Jon said as he hugged me. "Damn, can't even wait til we get home" Oscar teased. I gave him a mean look. I knew Jon was having a tough time. "Its going to be ok" I said as I hugged him. That's when I saw JR and Steve walking to a BMW. It was shiny, black, and super nice. Then I put two and two together. Rich teenager, poor boy, put them together, and o my gosh. Steve was banging JR. okay maybe I'm exaggerating, but it's very possible. JR looked right at me and he shyly smiled at me. Oscar and Jon got in the car and I quickly jumped in too, I didn't want to be caught staring. "So, your fried, is very close to that guy huh?" Oscar asked. "umm...yeah I guess. I hope I don't get beat up here too" I joked. "Well as long as no one likes Jon here, we're all gravy" Oscar joked. "Well, for your information, Aaron's defended you too dumbass" Jon fired back. I kept quiet after that because these two were getting too feisty with each other. The best thing to do when this happens is to stay out. They argued about nonsense all the way back home. I dropped off Oscar at his house and me and Jon sat in the car in complete silence until I pulled up to my driveway. "So, whats bugging you?" I asked him. "I don't know" he said. I knew that when he said that, it meant he didn't know how to explain. "Dude come on" "Aaron, its everything. And I'm tired of being the little one. Oscar and you always have fun and you find friends and you always get cool friends. Plus who the fuck is this JR kid. You guys talk too much" he said angrily. "Okay okay. Relax. First of all, you are too quiet. Second of all, you have us already, and third of all JR is a friend. School mate, you know what that is?" "Yeah I do. But I know how he looks at you Aaron. Its not even funny. He practically drools" "Jon, what the heck is happening to you?" "Nothing. I'm just tired of being put to the side" "The side? You're always my center of attention" "Not anymore" he said as he walked out of the car and started walking away. I jumped out and grabbed him. "Stop" I said. He avoided my eyes. "What" he said. "Come in" "I got to go home" "Jon...please tell me what's going on" "I don't know Aaron, I just get mad. I don't know." "Jon, you're my buddy, my bro, I love you dude." "Yeah, but everyone else seems to always love you too" "What! Dude, I just met JR he's my friend. don't make it a big deal" "Yeah, well you made my friends a big deal at the other school" "Jon, wow, you're really weird today" "Thanks..." he pushed me away and started running home. I decided to just let him go. I really wish its just his hormones kicking in, otherwise its going to be another bumpy ride. As I sat in my room, I thought about what could possibly be making Jon act like this. Nothing bad has happened, all that could be doing this is the sudden change of schools, and the fact that Oscar is with us more. But he knew this was going to happen, why is it such a big deal to him. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone. "Hello" I answered. "Aaron, what's up with Jon. He's ignored all my calls" Oscar said. "I don't know. I think you pissed him off" I told him. "Dude I always talk to him like that, its not just today" "I don't know dude. He was super weird. He pushed me away and walked away. No actually he RAN away from me" I said. "Damn, maybe you should go talk to him" he said. "Okay, good idea. I'll call you later" I told him. I finished the little homework I had and had quick dinner. I waited around until 7pm and then I couldn't wait any longer. I was going over to his house. I walked through the backyard and hoped he wasn't doing anything too important, or something like that. I knocked on the back door and his mom let me in. "Hey Aaron, how was school for you today?" she asked. "Really fun, good place to go to. Nice teachers. Is Jon around?" I asked. "Yeah, he's in his room. Kind of quiet today tho" she said. "I know...weird" I told her as I walked up the stairs. His door was slightly open and I peeked inside. He was lying in bed listening to his iPod. I locked the door and silently walked over to him. Then I jumped on him and kissed him. He was surprised. "What...what was that for?" he asked. "Cuz I miss you" I said. "Um...sure you do" "Jon dude, tell me whats wrong" "Nothing, just was tired I guess" "Dude, I know you" "You always say that" "Well don't I?" I asked. "Yes, but dude, I'm growing up" "dude you're only 11 man!" "Aaron, I don't want to be your boyfriend" This really threw me off. Out of nowhere. "WHAT!" I asked very surprised. "I just, think I'm not right for you" "You're scared of being different huh?" I asked. "I don't know. I mean we can be friends right?" "Like, just friends. No kisses no nothing?" I asked. "Uh...yeah. I want to be like you and Oscar" "Dude, I don't know what to say" "Well, then leave" "Seriously?" I was really thrown off by this. "I don't know ok. I don't know" he said as he turned away from me. "Dude, please talk to me. Whats going on in that little head of yours!" "I don't want to be gay Aaron! Damn it. Just leave me alone!" he yelled. "Okay...keep it down." I told him. I couldn't react. I was completely in shock. I knew he was a little ball of fire, but this, just caught me off guard. I got off the bed and slowly headed to the door. I looked at him lying there. How? What did I do? I knew I couldn't give up this easily. I walked to him again and I hugged him. "Stop" he said. "I love you" I said softly. "That's for fags Aaron. Stop!" he said again. "Ok, I get it. Bye." I said. But before I could get up again, he turned around and kissed me. "Umm...I love you" he said. "You don't make sense" I answered. "I know...I know. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning. Ok?" he said with a tear in his eye. "Sure" I said as I walked away. I guess it was over. Just like that. No fight, no nothing. Just randomly. I walked home very slowly, good thing his mom was in the shower when I left, that way I didn't have any excuse to tell her. I went to my room and took a shower. I couldn't relax. I was mad, sad, overwhelmed, everything all at once. I started crying like I've never cried before. I felt like I lost it all. I know that, he said he wanted to be friends, but I know that its going to get complicated. Probably fight, or I don't know, even stop talking. I found myself crying on my bed, something I hadn't done in a very long time. I wanted to call him and talk about it, but then I remember that he's just a boy. He has too much going on. Just when I thought everything was going to pieces my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number so I didn't want to answer. But then it rang again. "hello" I answered. "Yo Aaron!" I heard JR's voice. "Hey.." I said sadly. "Woah, whats wrong?" he asked. "Just had a rough night" "Dude are you crying?" "No..." "Dude you're crying. What happened?" "I...got in a fight with my best friend" "Best friend? Is she a girl?" "Um...no" "Dude, you're crying over a guy?" "It's complicated." I said. "Um...are you going to be okay?" he asked. "I don't know. I mean, I have to eventually" "Where do you live?" he asked. "Why?" "I'm coming over" "Dude, it's like...8:30pm" "Yeah, I know" "What about your parents?" I asked. "They work at night. I'm basically home alone." "You're crazy! How will you get here?" I asked. "My brother" he answered. "What will you tell him?" "That I'm going to my girlfriends house" "He won't care?" "No, he'll get his and bring her home to fuck her" "Dude, that's harsh" I said. "Well he will. So give me your address" he said. "Dude, its okay. I'll be fine. Thanks man" I told him. "umm...well...you want to talk?" "Sure JR, I love talking to you" I said. We talked for hours and hours. I kept looking at the time and it got later and later. Before we knew it was 3am and the conversation was far from over. Even though we didn't say anything too personal, we got the basic friendship conversation out of the way in like 4 hours. Usual friendships took me a while, but this one seemed to be getting better and better by the hour instead of by the day. We cut the conversation short just because we had to go to school the next day, but we knew things were a little different now. The next morning I had a really hard time getting up. I mean I slept maybe like 4 hours. I slowly got out of bed and into the shower. I thought about how weird things were going to be today. Not being with Jon, yet seeing him might be a little weird. I decided to just go with the flow, what else could I do? I got ready just like any other day and I went downstairs to get my breakfast. Right on cue, Jon knocked on the door. I relaxed my self, took a big breath, and opened it. "Hey" he said as he came in. "Hey" I answered weakly. I sat down and started eating. He grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of me. "So, uh...we're cool right?" he asked. "Umm...what do you mean by cool?" I asked back. "We're still friends, like no hard feelings?" "O yeah, no hard feelings" I answered. "Cool..." he said. Just then Oscar walked in. "Whats up fags" he joked. "Um...not much" I said. Jon didn't even bother answering. "What's wrong with you?" asked Oscar. Jon just looked at me and looked at Oscar. I got up and went to the living room to get something. I did not want to be in that room when those two argued today. But I still stayed close enough to hear about it. "What's wrong with you damn!" I heard Oscar. "I broke up with Aaron." Jon finally answered. "Why?" "Because, shit was going down" "What shit?" "I don't know man. I just I don't know. I don't want to deal with it ok. We're just friends. Nothing big. No biggie just friends" Jon said. "Sure...no biggie. Your dumb ass. You have it all, and you always just fuck it up" "I don't mean to ok. I just had to!" Jon said angrily. I had to step it. I didn't want to let Jon deal with it all alone. "Guys, its no big deal really. We're all still friends. We'll be okay" I said as I walked into the room. "You sure man?" Oscar asked. "Positive" I answered. "Lets just go to school" I added. The ride to school was a little quiet, but me and Oscar still managed to keep a conversation going. I was trying to avoid thoughts about why Jon did what he did. He could have found another dude, like last time. Or maybe he just plainly got fed up with the arguments or maybe just, gave in to society's hate on the whole gay thing. Either way, it was done and I had to get that through my head. When we got to school, Oscar was the one to break the silence. "So, what we doing after school today?" he asked. "I don't know" Jon answered. "Neither do I. we'll see what happens" I added. "Cool...well I guess we'll just see" Oscar sighed. We got our stuff out of the trunk and Jon was very quiet, but he wasn't avoiding my eyes. Which meant that he wasn't completely mad, just...sad I guess. We walked to the entrance and it was very hard to keep a conversation at this point. Its just too weird, because we all want to say something, just not sure what. "Well...I'll see you guys at lunch alright" I said. "Yeah" Jon spoke up. "Of course." said Oscar. I walked to my locker, and to my surprise, I found JR just standing there. "Dang it Aaron, you take forever." he said. "Gee, sorry. I didn't know you were in a hurry to see me" I said. "I am, dude, I have a question for you" "Ask away" "Well, maybe after school, umm...can you meet me somewhere?" he asked. "Right after school?" I asked. "No, like umm...well...let's just go to class" he said flustered. "Just give me your address later and I'll pick you up" I said. "Okay, that's awesome" he said. "But, dude just give me a hint of what going on" I said. "Well...it's about Jon" he said. "Jon...what do you know about him?" I asked. "A lot..." JR said as he walked ahead of me. I was kind of shocked and confused at the same time. How could he possibly know A LOT about Jon. This was all too confusing. Whatever happened to things going great. Now I feel like everything is just one big ball of confusion. Classes were not the same today. Everything was very slow and boring and well, even my conversations with JR didn't really keep me interested. I was just too damn sad to care about anything right now. In fact I couldn't even wait until the day was over. I just wanted to be in my room sleeping. In fact the only thing that kept me awake was JR talking to me and making me eat stuff during classes. He always had some sort of candy on him. When it was time to go to lunch, JR told me that he was going to stop going to that table he always sits at soon. But I told him it was okay he didn't have to. We went our separate way as usual for lunch and I sucked it up and walked into the cafeteria trying to act normal around Jon. "Yo" I said when I met up with those two. "Sup" Jon said. "YO bro. You're gonna have to help me with this lame math shit im supposed to learn" Oscar jumped up. "Oscar, how many times do I have to tell you, 10 plus 10 is 100. Its not that hard." I joked. "No dude, this is even harder than THAT. They want me to do some sort of multiplication and shit like that. I mean its like harder than 10 plus 20!" he laughed. "Damn, nah dude. You stumped me there" I said as headed to the food section. They both followed. Jon closer than Oscar as usual. "So Aaron, I need some help with a project this weekend, it's a hard one" Jon said. "What's it about?" I asked. "The Stars" "Sure man, I love the stars." I said as happy as I could. "Ok...umm Friday? Or Saturday?" he asked. "Umm...I'll let you know. I might have plans. But I'll fit you in I promise" "Fit me in? what else are you doing?" he asked. "Well...let's see retard. Since you guys are no longer...you know...Aaron can now make plans that don't include YOU" Oscar joined the conversation. "O...yeah...I guess" Jon answered confused. "Umm...no I'll fit you in there man. I got you" I reassured Jon. "Yeah, thanks" he said. We got our meals and headed over to our table. Sometimes I miss my old school. I felt a little more, safe. I was known by mostly everyone and it was kind of nice to not have to deal with personal issues at school. I could just leave things behind. Now, my issues kind of follow me inside of school. Jon still sat next to me for some reason though, and it was throwing me off. "So Aaron, I think it's best if we come clean" Oscar broke the silence. "Come clean?" I asked. "Yeah, about the whole Jon thing" he said. "Umm...not now" Jon interrupted. "What, who the hell is going to actually pay attention to us. We're all new" said Oscar. "Umm...I don't know" "Listen, Aaron, Jon, you guys are still friends. But it's still very weird. Can we just like, come to a deal, that you guys will act normal around me. Because really, it freaks me out when you guys don't talk" "We will try, I promise" Jon spoke up. "Wow, he speaks" Oscar joked. "I'll try too." I added. After that, the conversation at lunch got a little easier to deal with. We talked about classes and what has happened to us that wouldn't happen in our old schools. I guess we acted normal. We even talked about what would happen if Oscar started dating some other dude in school or something and how weird that would be. The bell interrupted our weird conversation. We said our `see ya laters' and then we went on our way. I tried to really shrug this whole thing off, although it is quite hard, and I headed towards the spot where I usually meet up with JR. I waited for a while, and nothing. The bell rang, and still nothing. I knew something weird was up. Where the hell could he be? I was already late to class, so I figured I'd go to the bathroom. I ran to my locker and hoped not to get caught ditching class, there was a teacher heading my way so I ran into the farthest bathrooms in the school. While I was catching my breath I heard people talking. "Steve, dude, please...stop" I heard JR's voice. "What, dude honestly, just let me do it. It wont hurt" I heard Steve. "It is, man, just stop. I don't like it" "Just a little bit baby. Please. We never do anything" "Not at school. Please. I'm late." "What, you want to go meet up with Aaron again? Don't you have enough time with him?" "What the fuck man. Can I go now" "Fuck! Stupid little kid. Just bend over and take it like a man!" "No! please let me put my pants on!" JR begged. I finally jumped in. "Um...what are you doing to him?" I said. "Great..."Steve yelled. JR ran into the stall but I noticed he had his pants down. Steve fixed his pants and then walked to me. "You think you can come to MY school, and ruin MY life?" he asked as he pushed me to the wall. "I'm not doing anything. But rape is a crime" I said. This guy was huge, so I was trying not to get punched, yet. "Fuck that. He wants it. You do know that he's my little bitch right. He didn't tell you that he's been with me? I give him the world" "Um...that's great. But it seemed to me like he didn't to do anything right now" "Listen man, just go to class, don't get hurt. Let me deal with MY boy" "NO. he's my friend." I said boldly. "Aaron, just go" JR said. He was now dressed. "Just listen to him man. Really, don't get hurt" Steve said as he began to choke me. "Let him go!" JR jumped at him. Then I thought about it. I can never keep myself out of situations like these. It always happens to me. Damn it. What the heck, am I cursed? But before I could think anymore, Steve let me go and he grabbed JR and threw him against the wall. that's when I couldn't hold my anger back and I jumped at Steve. I landed a punch on the right side of his head, right above his ear. He fell back but he used his leg to trip me. He pinned me down. "You made a huge mistake" he said. Then I saw nothing but a fist in my face. I felt the pain, but since I'd been in this situation before, it was like, déjà vu. I took one punch and then I pushed him off me. I took a quick look at JR who was lying on the floor holding his head in tears. Everything that was going on in my life at the moment came to my mind in one second, and the anger just took over me. I jumped up at Steve and pushed him against the wall so hard his head bounced up like a ball. He fell to the floor and I kicked him in the face. Just as I was about to kick him again a security guard pulled me back. "Son, you're going to kill him!" he told me. "He was trying to rape my friend!" I said. Then a bunch of teachers ran in and picked Steve up, then they grabbed JR and me. I saw the tears in his eyes. It was just not the right time for me to go through this. They took us down to the office and they took Steve to the nurses. I sat in the office waiting for JR to come out, when he did, he came to me and hugged me. "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that. He's going to come after you" he told me. "JR, you're my friend. I couldn't let him do that to you. Let him come to me, I've dealt with worse" I said. "I know, trust me" he said. "So, am I going to get kicked out?" I asked. "NO, I wont let that happen" he said as he held me tighter. Just then the door opened and the principal called my name. When I got in there, he pretty much gave me the controlling my anger talk. I couldn't get expelled because JR apparently told them the whole story. But he asked me to keep it quiet, not make a big scene and to never fight anyone again. I did have to write a letter explaining to the police what happened because Steve could have had a major injury because of me. Either way I was not expelled and that's what mattered. They gave JR and I permission to just rest until school got out. We weren't allowed to leave though because of some weird policy. Either way it was fine. He took me to this like secret hiding spot he has. It's a closet that no one ever goes to. We sat down on the floor and just relaxed. "My third day of school, and already in a fight" I said. "Sorry...I'm really sorry you had to see that" he said. "don't be man. I'm just glad I was lucky enough to find you" "Dude, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was with him. I didn't know how'd you react" "So...why was he trying to rape you, if you were dating him" "Because, I've never wanted to do anything. I just don't know. I mean...he used to just...be happy with being able to touch me." "So...you let him touch you, and stuff?" I asked. "Well...he was my boyfriend sort of. Sorta like you and Jon" "What? You know about that?" I asked. "He's my distant cousin" "What? Really?" I asked surprised. "Yeah, in fact, he didn't want to tell you about me because he knows I'm...different" "So...the day I introduced you, it was a waste. You guys knew each other" "yeah, but he made me promise I'd never tell. He used to tell me about you. He never thought he'd end up in the same school. In fact he didn't know I came here" "Wait, so how much do you know?" I asked. "Um...pretty much everything. But, a few days ago, he got mad because apparently I can't talk to you." "So...he wanted you to stop talking to me?" I asked. "Yeah, but I told him you were my friend. He said I didn't have a choice." "Well...I guess its not a big deal now. He broke up with me last night" "I know, I figured he'd do that. He's too scared to deal with things. Plus he kept telling me he don't want to be different anymore. He wants to be a normal dude he says" he explained. "Wait, so...he broke up with me just because I know you?" I asked. "Yeah. He doesn't want me to tell you what I know" "What do you know?" I asked. "He never told you everything. He was doing things with Oscar's cousin before the whole fight you had" "He was?" "Yeah, I mean he let him give him head for money. He also fingered this girl he knows" "What! When?" I asked. "Not too long ago. Maybe like 2 months" "What the fuck man!" "I know Aaron, I know you care about him. But dude, he's just a kid. He's messing with things he shouldn't. he's on his way to fuck up" "I can't believe it...I just...can't" I said. "So I don't know what you want to do with that but I suggest you talk to him" "I don't know if I want to. He's just going to get nervous and deny everything" I said. "That's true. Well, I guess just go with the flow. He broke up with you so, just keep an eye for him. But all I can say is that I think he's not going to be the good kid you thought he was going to be" "Well, he's been through a lot already so I don't think he's to blame, well at least not 100% of the blame" "Yeah, that is true man. But he does care about you, or else he wouldn't have gone this far keeping you from knowing me" "Yeah, but back to this Steve guy, how did it all happen?" I asked. "Well when I started here, he was my guide, just like I'm your guide now. And he noticed I was kind of poor because well I was wearing shitty clothes. He was really cool at first, and introduced me to his friends. Soon I was in with the jocks. I started to work out with them, lost a few pounds, but as you can see I still am a little chubby." "Your not chubby" I interrupted. "Anyway", he continued, "after a while he started inviting me over to his mansion and staying over, taking my shopping. I mean it was all new to me. I know how it is to be kind of rich since I do know Jon and you know his dad invites my dad sometimes and stuff. But either way, I started talking to Steve a lot, I mean a lot. He has always been kinda mean. But he's been more mean lately, I think it's the steroids he is on." "He's on steroids?" I asked. "Yeah, he wants to get super strong. Anyway, one night, after we went shopping he said he was tired and invited to stay at a hotel. I've never done that so I said sure. That night, out of nowhere, he brought out drinks and we started drinking. Things kind of got heated during a game of truth or dare, and before I know it my pants were on the floor and he was giving me head. that's when it all started" "Woah, so still basically he raped you anyway" I said. "Well, I kind of wanted it. But I didn't know much then" "Still, you weren't coherent enough to say yes" "Either way Aaron, I was 14 and he was 18. Still bad" "You got a point there." I agreed. "When I thought about how Jon always said he was dating you and it was ok, I figured, why not. He's been real good with keeping things low key, but I think he can sense that you're cooler than him so he started acting up" "I am?" I asked. "Totally, I'd rather give my virginity to you than him" he said, quietly. "Woah, that's... really off topic" I said. "Sorry. I just always thought Jon was too dumb to have you. I mean, the way he always made things complicated when he talked about the problems" "Yeah, he has a tendency to do that" I said. "And why does he constantly cheat on you?" JR added. "I wish I knew, I mean its not deliberately cheating but still, it could count as cheating." I tried defending Jon, just a tad. "Well, now that you're not dating and all...how long are you going to wait to date someone else?" "Um..."I couldn't say much. "Umm? Well I mean, I know it sounds bad, but, I like you a lot" "O wow, JR, ummm I'm really...flattered. I don't even know how to react" I was very surprised. "Ever since I saw you, I don't know man. I knew you were different. You were special" I looked at my cell phone and it was almost time to go home. I looked at him, he was still a little red on the side of his head. "O man, you have a bruise..." I said. "Ok, I get it" he said sadly. "No NO JR, its because, I love Jon dude, a lot. But I like you too. You are really cool don't get me wrong. I just need to give it time ok." I said. "Really you'd consider me?" he asked very surprised. "Of course." I said "Even if I'm dirty poor and not up to your standards?" "O please JR, like Jon ever met them!" I joked. Just as we were laughing the bell rang. We knew it was time to go home. I was kind of dreading the walk in the hallway. Who knows what word got out from the incident. After all we are in a boys school. Things could be crazy anyway. "Ok well, call you later?" he asked. "Yeah, definitely, tell me how you feel okay?" "Of course bro, anything for you" he said with a huge smile. We headed our separate ways and well I knew he was safe for now since Steve was probably in the hospital right now. When I saw Jon and Oscar by my car it was all questions. "FIGHT ALREADY!?" Jon asked angrily. "Dude, it wasn't a fight, and how'd you find out?" I asked. "Dude its all over the school. You single handedly knocked out, or almost killed one of the biggest guy here, I mean he's an ass but he was known." Oscar jumped in. "Well, I got angry." I said. "Did you turn green?" Jon asked. "Was that a joke? From you?" Oscar asked surprised. "yeah, I told you man, I'm good. No hard feelings between us" Jon answered him. "Yeah, okay so, tell me dude, why do you always seem to win the fights?" Oscar asked. "I don't know man. If I did, I'd be superhero" I laughed. "Dude, no offense but I think u got lucky for this one. He honestly looked like the kind of guy who could kill someone" Oscar added. "Dude, come on, he's not that big!" I didn't want them to think I was unbeatable. I was human after all. "Lets just go home" Jon said quietly. I didn't understand anything at the moment so we did head home. The car ride was nothing exciting, as much as Oscar tried to lighten things up, it was impossible. Things have changed, and it happened in the blink of an eye. How did Jon change his mind about something that was going so well, just like that out of nowhere. Then again, how could he have "cheated" on me not once but twice. Was JR right? Was Jon not being himself around me? Was he faking everything the whole time? I started to build up anger and when I turned to look at him, he turned away. "Jon, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Oscar broke the silence. "Uh yeah? Why wouldn't I?" Jon asked. "Cuz you are acting too weird and I don't think Aaron likes it because he's acting weird too." "Man, I'm fine. I understand him, its not a big deal. We had our good times" I said. When I dropped Oscar off, Jon got off with him. He didn't say bye. Just walked out of the car. Oscar shot a dirty look at him, but I knew that I couldn't judge right now. He was probably going through a hard time. I rode home very slowly, I kept thinking about everything. What the heck was going on? It just seems like everything always goes wrong for us. I sat on my couch for a while and stared at the wall. It was the best thing that came to mind at the moment. Nothing else seemed interesting. I just sat and thought and thought about everything. No matter what I tried to think about, Jon kept coming into my mind. Eventually my mind started drift off and I blanked out. I woke up an hour later to my phone ringing. "Hello?" I said half asleep. "Hey superman" I heard JR's voice. "Hey! Whats up?" "Were you asleep?" he asked. "Yeah, I was kind of tired" "I understand. I kind took a nap too" "Yeah, it clears my mind" I said. But a weird silence followed. "So, did you see anything of mine when u ran in today?" "Seriously? You ask that?" "Well...yeah hahaha I mean its over you know. At least he didn't rape me" "But, still. It was bad" "Yeah, but dude its in the past okay. You saved me. that's all that matters" "true, so what are you doing?" "Nothing, bored. Listen, I was wondering, can I come over?" he asked. "Right now?" "Yeah, maybe spend a few days with you?" "Umm...would your parents be ok with that?" I asked. "Dude, I spend lots of nights with that asshole." "Ok, dude no lie. This is weird for me. This happened to my friend Oscar too..." "I know, I know. And to Jon. Maybe your just a magnet for us young hurt boys" "Hey, that sounds really weird, I mean weird" "Yeah, so what do you say? Would your parents be weirded out by that?" he asked. "Um, just a tad. They don't even know you. But yeah I can do that. Except, the ride to school with Jon tomorrow morning would be a little weird don't you think?" "Dude, why don't you just tell him. Or something?" "Do I really need to? Something tells me he kind of already sees it coming" "He does, but I still think that he needs to come clean to you Aaron." "Yeah, well when do I get you?" I asked. "No, I'll have my bro drop me off" he said. I gave him my address and then we had to hang up in order for him to get ready. Now all I had to do was find a good reason to tell Jon when he sees him on the way to school. I mean, as crazy as our life has been, I don't want him to think that I've replaced him that fast and with a family member of his. I had an hour before JR arrived so I decided to grab a snack. As I was checking my fridge, Jon knocked on the back door. This really caught me by surprise. I slowly walked to the door. "Hey," he said when I opened the door. I looked at him then sat back down. I didn't understand what he wanted. He walked away from me at the car. "I know you're mad man, just wanted to say sorry" he said. "Okay, I understand" I answered. "No you don't, I just don't know what to do." "Jon, I just don't care ok. You cheated on me, you did things you shouldn't have done. All for what?" "What the fuck man! You believe my stupid cousin" "Yes, cuz its true" "SO WHAT! You have cheated on me tons of times!" "And I said sorry and I learned my lesson. I've been there for you through it all. I risked everything, and you just cut everything off because you have no idea what you want" "I'm FUCKING 11!" he yelled. "Yeah, but you're acting like you're 18. Messing around with girls and with other guys" "SO! I messed with you right? And you're going to be 18!" "You know what, you came here to argue? Just go man. Leave while we're still friends" "Well, that's what I came for. I don't want to be your friend anymore" he said as he got up. My heart stopped. Not only did he not want to be with me anymore, but he wanted to stop being friends. This was just the last thing I needed. "Ok, so you're going to do this as usual" "NO, this time its final. don't call me ok. If I come over I'll pretend to talk to you so my parents don't freak, but we aren't friends anymore." Just then my doorbell rang. He stopped. Looked at me and then I turned around. "Just go man. I don't know what to say" I said as I walked to the door. I opened it. It was JR. he had a backpack and that smile of his. I didn't know what to even think anymore. Here was the coolest kid I've met in a while, and Jon was just leaving my life. Was life really this crazy? Did everything happen like this for a reason? "Whats up bro! miss me?" he said happily. "I kind of did. I'm having a bad day" I said. "Do you need a hug?" he asked. "I might" I said as he came to me and hugged me. When I let go, I turned to the kitchen and in the doorway was Jon. "Jon..." I gasped. "Yeah, I figured this was going to happen" Jon said. "What? That Aaron was going to find out who you really are? That you lied and cheated." "Fuck you man! You were just waiting for the right time to take MY Friends!" Jon yelled. "Take your friends? Do I have to remind you that you have been doing bad stuff all this time." JR fired back. "No, its non of your business. But you know what. Fuck I don't even care. I don't even love Aaron. I NEVER DID!" Jon said as he ran out the door. "Um...ouch" was all I could come up with. "You know, I don't find that hard to believe. I don't want to be mean Aaron, but Jon's been talking to some bad people. And I think he's not going to be back not for a while" "I think you're right man. He was just too much for me I guess" I said as I sat down. "Dude, I think you'll be fine. Trust me. Plus you got me now. I know my cousin, he might always pretend to be something he's not, but deep inside it will always burn him. And one day he will at least say sorry" I got up and headed for my room, he followed me. I saw down on my bed. He sat next to me. Once again I had the flash backs. Once again I had lost that little boy. The one who had made me happy from day one. The one kid who at the short age of 11 had changed my life in a way that was unreal. He had the ability to act so mature at some things, and then the 11 year old comes out. But today, I saw a part of him that I had never imagined existed inside of him. The anger, the hate that came out of him was too much for me to handle. "Aaron, dude, not to be mean to you, but he's 11. You're 21." "I know, man. Its hard to explain. But I love him" "Well, maybe someone else loves you MORE than he does" "Like I'll ever find that person" I said. "Maybe your just not looking" "True, but still. I think I'm going to take it easy" "No Aaron, I mean...you're NOT looking" he said. He got closer to me. Close enough that I felt his breathe on my face. "oh" I said. He moved in, I felt his lips. It was one of the most warm kisses I ever got. For that one second, he was the only thing I could think of. It was, different. Meaningful in every way you could say. But still, it was too soon. I pushed him back. "Dude, no. not now" was all I could say