Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2023 00:52:49 +0000
From: AP Webb <pjalexander1753@gmail.com>
Subject: A Very Ordinary Boy Part 2 Epilogue

All the characters and events in this story are fictitious.  Any
resemblance to real people, either living or dead, is entirely
unintentional.

The story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any way without the
express permission of the author who can be contacted at:
pjalexander1753@gmail.com

A Very Ordinary Boy (Part 2)

From Chapter 12:

So that was my day!  How was yours?  Oh, you want to know about my idea for
how I might make it up to you for being so shitty to you earlier in the
week.  Well, it was that amazing dance you did for me that gave me the
idea.  I looked on line and found one of those tutorial sites.  What?
Yeah, really, a tutorial on how to do a lap dance.  I've been practicing,
and I thought it would be good to give you a bit of a taster now -- yeah,
maybe I do mean `taster' with a capital T! -- and then I could practice
some more, ready for when you sleepover at the weekend.  That's if you'd
like to sleepover.  I'd like it if you did and I totally promise it won't
be like last time and that you totally won't regret it.  Yeah?  Okay, you
sit down here while I line up the right track on the speaker.  Right, here
we go.  Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

*****

Epilogue:

Er, hi.  I'm Grey.  Oh yeah, you know that.  Sorry, I'm a bit nervous, I
guess.  I've never had to speak to a therapist before.  What?  No, I know I
don't have to be here but, well, Jack asked me to talk to you and,
honestly, I'm not sure why but somehow it seemed really important to him,
so here I am.

I've no idea what you already know about me or what Jack's told you.  You
probably know that he thinks he's pretty ordinary but I think he's amazing.
He's such a great artist and winning a prize in that art competition in
town was so cool and totally what he deserved.  He showed me some really
old paintings of Saint Sebastian, you know, with all those old fashioned
buildings and pretty countryside in the background, and I think the way he
brought it up date and made it seem modern is really imaginative and cool.
It's hard to get him to be proud of it, though.  I know Chalky White
totally believes in him and I'm sure that's part of the reason why Jack's
decided to go to art school in September.  He just hasn't got much
confidence in himself, never has from what he's told me, and that bastard
Noah made things a whole lot worse.  But you know about that, better than
anybody.

I'd seen him around at school, of course, even though there wasn't anything
you could put your finger on that made him stand out in the crowd.  What he
wore was spectacularly ordinary -- jeans, plain T, hoodie and backpack.
Classic high school uniform that's guaranteed to make you fade into the
background.  I think it might have been something about the way he always
seemed to be an observer, you know, always watching, taking note, being
there but somehow absent at the same time.  That's one of the things I
first noticed about him.  Sort of like the Invisible Man.  That probably
doesn't make much sense.  Whatever it was, whenever I saw him around school
I couldn't take my eyes off him.

There was always the three of them back then, Jack, Dylan Wentworth and
Simone Vincent.  They always seemed such an odd threesome, like, really
unlikely.  They're all so different and I couldn't work out what kept them
together.  I mean, Dylan's a real nerd and gets top grades in everything,
Simone, well, anyone that tall and that black and with that sense of style
is gonna stand out wherever.  And then there's Jack who, like I said
before, is amazing but no-one would ever say that about him until they got
to know him.  To anyone else he would seem, like he always says he is,
totally ordinary.  He told me once that they only ever became friends
`cause they ended up sitting together on the first morning of high school
and stayed like that at lunch time, you know, the whole `safety in numbers'
thing, and they just clicked and that was it.  I know Jack still feels hurt
- actually, more like confused -- by the way the two of them, supposedly
his best and closest friends, were sneaking around behind his back and then
pretty much abandoned him when he ended up in hospital and needed them the
most.  Sure, Dylan went to see him at home, but he hasn't been in touch
since and Simone still cuts him dead around school.  Me, I'm totally glad
that the two of them broke up when her mum grounded her because she found
out about the amount of dope they were doing and went apeshit.  Still, it
doesn't seem fair on Jack.  But at least he's got me.  And the other guys
on the team have sort of adopted him, so he's not on his own.  I think he's
secretly hoping to get a sneak peek at what happens in the locker room, but
that's not gonna happen, not while I'm around.  Why not?  `Cause there's
too much hot competition, that's why not.

Jack didn't used to go to any school events, back in the `Invisible Man'
days, well, not swimming competitions anyway.  I would have definitely
noticed him.  I know he used to spend a lot of time in the art room but he
told me that he wasn't really friends with any of the other arty kids and
never used to hang out with them.  But he's a real fan of Chalky White and
reckons he really helped him get better after he, you know, hurt himself.
I can't make him out, Chalky.  He caught up with me one day right at the
end of school, said he'd heard that I was going to Jack's house most days
and asked me how he was doing.  He said he wanted me to know that he
understood how I felt about Jack and that I was to be sure not to do
anything to hurt him, that Jack was a special boy and didn't need any more
shit in his life and that he knew what it was like to have to struggle to
come to terms with certain important things about yourself.  Then he just
walked away.  I never told anyone about it, especially not Jack who'd
already been a bit weirded out by Chalky when he visited him in hospital.

So, like I said, I'd seen Jack around school and, for a long time, I'd
thought he was cute.  Obviously, being on the swimming team means I spend a
lot of my time with fantastically fit guys with virtually no clothes on.
Gayboy heaven you could say.  I've even sort of messed around with some of
them.  Oh, shit!  Did I really just say that?  Please, you won't tell
anyone, will you?  Oh, is that right - everything here is completely
confidential?  Thank fu... goodness for that.  Anyway, like I was saying,
there was something about Jack that really attracted him to me, but I
wasn't officially out to anyone then except to some of the guys on the
team, and I definitely didn't know anything about Jack's status.  But
someone on the team must have opened their big mouth `cause that's the only
way Noah could have found out about me being gay and then he sent Jack that
text saying I might be interested in him.  (Which I didn't know anything
about at the time, by the way.)  Although, maybe that was a good thing, I
dunno, `cause it sort of made things easier, like, broke the ice, when I
did start coming around once he was out of hospital.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, for months before any of that happened, I used to keep my eye out
for him around school -- not in a creepy way - trying to find out more
about him.  Like I say, he was always with Dylan and Simone but never with
a girl (or even a guy) so I got the feeling that he wasn't dating anyone
and that made me, well, even more interested.  I began to wonder if I might
have a chance with him, but I didn't have the balls to do anything about
it.  And then everything changed.

The first thing I noticed different was that Jack wasn't hanging out with
his two besties anymore.  In fact, I hardly ever saw him, and whenever I
did, he was on his own and looking kinda sad.  Then I realised that
whenever I saw the other two they were so together it was as if they'd been
glued.  It couldn't have been more obvious that they were, suddenly, more
than just friends, more than friends with benefits even.  So, it looked
like poor Jack had been frozen out or, maybe, he just didn't want to be the
third wheel and that's why he was on his own and looking so miserable.  I
heard that he was spending even more time in the art room and I had no
reason to go there so I more or less stopped seeing him.  We weren't in any
of the same classes.  And then I heard from someone on the team, who was in
his history class, that he was in the hospital.  I didn't know what to
think but I knew I was feeling anxious for some reason that I didn't
properly understand.  Of course, being High School, everybody was talking
about it and there were all sorts of crazy stories going round about why he
was there, in St. Greg's.  One said that he'd taken an accidental drug
overdose, and another that he'd been in a really bad car accident.  A way
more believable version was that he'd been mugged and badly beaten up on
his way to school one day -- there are some seriously fucked-up and stupid
goons out there who'll pick on anyone different or alone, and one rumour
even said he'd tried to kill himself by jumping off the big insurance
building in town, you know, the one on Church Street.  High school, eh?
Some people are so gullible they'll believe anything.  I didn't know what
to make of any of it, just that I really missed seeing Jack around.

One day, not long after the story broke, I saw Dylan on his own before
school and I tried asking him what had happened but he said he didn't know
shit.  I thought he looked pretty shifty, as if he had somehow had
something to do with whatever had gone down, but then Simone turned up and
told me that they knew nothing, that I needed to mind my own business and
to get lost.  No-one messes with Simone Vincent so I did exactly that.

And then I found out that Jack's tutor was wanting someone to be a sort of
go-between, you know, take stuff like homework to his house and bring it
back again.  That piece of information told me a few things.  One -- the
good news - was that he must have been discharged from the hospital but, on
the other hand, he still wasn't okay to come back to school.  I also worked
out that he was well enough to catch up on the work he'd missed, so I
didn't waste any time, I went straight to the administration office and
volunteered.  I mean, this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Assuming I got the gig, I'd have a totally genuine and legit reason for
seeing Jack most days and of properly getting to know him.  I reckoned, no
matter the reason why he'd been in the hospital, as well as him having
split with Dylan and Simone, that he really needed a friend and, maybe, who
knew, perhaps more than a friend.  Yeah, I know, that sounds sort of creepy
again, especially after what went down with Noah, but I would never do
anything to upset or hurt him and, if he turned out to be straight or just
not interested in me as potential boyfriend material or whatever, well, I'd
be happy with us simply hanging out and being friends.

As it turned out, he told me he was gay, pretty much the first time I went
to his house.  He just came out with it, said he trusted me, even talked
about which gay porn sites he liked.  I can tell you, I was shocked.  I
mean, it's not like I went up to his room (it's a really cool room, by the
way) and said, "I'm gay, what about you?"  I might have wanted to but,
believe me, I'd never have the nerve to do anything like that, even if I
thought it might be appropriate, which I don't.  Of course, I didn't know
then about the text Noah had sent him so had no idea that Jack had had a
heads up about me.  Anyway, I think he was so up-front about stuff because
everything was still very raw for him and he was trying hard to process the
stuff that had happened with Noah, especially on the camping trip.  I got
the feeling that he was desperate to talk to someone, to try to make sense
of it all, but that talking to the professionals, like yourself, wasn't
working for him.  Sorry, no offence meant.

And so I suppose I became a sort of unofficial therapist which, I have to
say, seems like a pretty easy job to me.  I mean, I hardly ever had to say
anything `cause Jack would just talk and talk.  He started right at the
beginning, telling me about how boring and ordinary he thought he was --
and even though there was no way I could go along with that I didn't think
it was my place to disagree, you know, unofficial therapist -- and about
his family and Dylan and Simone.  He told me how the two of them had
tricked him into going for the job at the café and how he'd been,
literally, bowled over by Noah, his great whack-off fantasy.  And, oh wow,
did he tell me about Noah Richmond.  I mean, we've all got our perfect
whack-off material, right?  But for Jack, well, Noah was way more than
that.  He was obsessed.  You wouldn't believe some of the steamy Jack and
Noah scenarios he described to me.  Oh, you would.  Sort of pretty common
in your line of work.  Yeah, I hadn't thought of it that way.  Weird.

He told me once about another one of his favourites which was a three-way
hook-up with two other guys at school and that I could totally relate to,
not only because those two guys were the number 1 gay pin-up couple at
school and every gay boy's heroes for being so out and confident, but
because one of them was the vice-captain of the swimming team, and one time
in the showers after he'd helped us win a really big competition, I'd seen
just what an amazing performer he was.  I couldn't believe how much
jet-propelled cum he could produce.  Shit!  Did I really just tell you all
that?  Wow!  You're really good at this therapist stuff, like, getting
people so relaxed they'll open up and say stuff they wouldn't normally tell
anyone.  I wonder why Jack says you're such shi ...  Oh, sorry.  Me and my
big mouth again.  And you did say that everything is confidential, right?
You won't say anything to Jack?  Thank fu ...  Thanks.

So anyway, once Jack's absolute, number 1 cum-god, started spending time
with him and paying him lots of attention, well, his imagination went into
overdrive.  And so did his dislike of Tani who he was convinced was totally
bad for Noah and standing in the way of the two of them hooking up.  It was
only later that he found out the truth about how her and Noah were each
other's cover story but, by then, Noah had royally fucked him up.  And, no,
that's not some off the wall and bad taste joke.

When Jack told me about what happened that weekend I was so angry all I
wanted to do was go and find him and rip his head off.  But at the same
time I felt so sad.  I mean, how could Noah do that to someone who was so
into him?  Who thought he was so unbelievably fantastic?  I mean, you've
gotta be sick in the head to do something like that, right?  And the most
amazing thing -- and it just goes to show what an incredible person Jack is
-- he's gonna go and visit Noah, says he wants him to know that, although,
obviously, he wishes that the camping trip had never happened, and that,
yeah, he didn't know how to deal with it and that it totally screwed with
his head, well, that he's getting over it now and he hopes that Noah gets
the help he needs.  How amazing is that?  I've told him he shouldn't go by
himself and he says he's gonna get Tani to go with him.  Says he won't ask
me to go `cause he knows I won't be able to keep myself from hurting the
fucker.  He's so right.

But, you know, I can sorta empathise with Noah.  And, yeah, I know that
sounds all sorts of fucked-up, especially after what I've just be saying
about him, but there was a time when I didn't think I was any better than
him.  Maybe worse.  It was after that first time that me and Jack had sex
-- almost.  I mean, and I'm not trying to make excuses here, I'd never had
someone be so obviously into me before, not to the point where they'd turn
over and offer their butt to be fucked.  And I was way excited, like, it
wasn't the head on my shoulders that was calling the shots, if you know
what I mean.  How was I to know that he was gonna totally freak out as soon
as my very-ready dick was this close to doing the dirty deed?  He started
screaming at me to get away from him and kicking out and pushing me off the
bed.  I've never lost a boner so fast.  And even though I was scared, more
scared than I have ever been in my life, and all I wanted to do was to get
out of there as quick as I could, I knew I couldn't leave him, not in that
state.  It tore my heart, the way he crawled into the corner and sobbed.
At first I just sat on the floor near him but bit by bit I managed to get
close enough to hold him and then, and it was really late by now, I got him
into bed and stayed with him until he was asleep.  But in the morning I was
so ready to get away, but then I felt bad when I lied about why I had to
leave so early but, thankfully his dad totally bought it, and when I said
he should let Jack sleep.

After that I didn't know whether I'd be able to go back to being his
homework buddy.  I mean, how do you get past something like that?  I'd been
such a total shit.  Because I couldn't control myself poor Jack had to go
through hell, again.  How was I gonna face him?  Yeah, sure, I wanted to
tell him how sorry I was, but what good would that do?  I couldn't turn the
clock back or undo what I'd done.  I felt like ... Well, as I say, I could
empathise with Noah, weird as that sounds. It turns out, though, that Jack
was totally blaming himself!  Can you believe that?  He told me that he had
been 100% sure he was not just ready to have sex with me, but that he
really, really wanted it.  It was when `it' was just about to happen and he
got a flash-back to the camping trip that his brain totally froze.  All he
could think about was what happened with Noah, and that's why he freaked
out and pushed me away.  Unbelievable that he was wanting to make me feel
better when it was him that was hurting so bad.

So anyway, we managed to get everything sorted out and agreed that we both
wanted there to be an `us' but that we would cool it with the full-on sex
stuff and take things slow and only do what we were both comfortable with.
And that was fine, better than fine, actually, it's been good, and we've
had lots of fun, like the sexy dancing, and enjoyed getting to know each
other properly.  You know, like a normal couple.  Though I don't think
we'll ever be properly normal, not after all the stuff that Jack's been
through.  We're still not an `out' couple at school although I think a lot
of people have worked it out, especially guys on the team.  But because of
that other couple I mentioned -- the one who used to be vice-captain and
his boyfriend -- it's all cool and I know the whole team would have our
back if things got nasty.  But no, like Jack says, why should we have to
make a big thing of being together just `cause we're gay?  Straights don't
have to `own up' to liking the opposite sex so why should we?  Our parents
are okay with it, especially Jack's mum and dad.  After all the
bad-mouthing he did, his mum has been a legend, so supportive and
thoughtful.  He's right, though, she doesn't really do normal `mum speak'
but his dad is a down-to-earth sort of guy and they're happy for me to stay
over whenever.  And his gran and Rosa think I'm the second best thing
that's ever drawn breath so there are no worries in that direction.

The other reason we're not making a big deal of being together is `cause we
don't know whether we've got a future.  Like I said, Jack's off to art
school in September and I'm going to the other side of the country where
there's a fantastic swimming programme, so, well, a long-distant
relationship, that's not an easy thing to maintain, is it?  What's that?
Oh yeah, that's what my dad said too, that if we want it to work we'll find
a way.  And don't get me wrong, I think Jack's a fantastic guy and I'd
totally love to see us making a go of things, but I'm not naïve
enough to think that there aren't other fantastic guys out there.  And
we're only eighteen, for fuck sake, and we've hardly got started on life.
So we'll see what happens.  But you'll keep your fingers crossed for us,
yeah?  And I promise to tell Jack that you're not Doctor Hopeless, after
all!

See ya!

**********

And that, as they say, is a wrap -- the story of Jack, the very ordinary
boy, has reached its final stop.

Thank you to everyone who has followed the ups and downs of his journey,
especially those of you who have written to tell me what you think - mostly
positive, I'm happy to say!

As an author, it's REALLY encouraging to know that there are people out
there who are taking the time to read what I've written, and then bothering
to send a response.  So please, do feel free to write to me at the email
address given at the top of the chapter.  I welcome all comments and
guarantee to write back.

With Jack's story at an end I'm now returning to add to the story of D'n'M.
Regular readers of my work will know that I am not one of life's speedy
writers so I'm not going to make any promises about when Part 6 will
appear, although I do guarantee that it will be sometime this year!

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