Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 20:15:08 +0100 From: Haridos MacManus-Apostolides Subject: American-English, Pt. 9 Hey. So I'm sorry this took me so long to get out. I know I said March, April at the latest, but it's been a real bad time trying to get all my work done for uni as well as trying to fight cold after flu after family problems etc. There was just too much for me to do and so I had to get a hold on my studies first before I could tackle this chapter. Nine is a bit shorter than the usual but I hope it'll be to your liking anyway. Again, I'm sorry it took me so long. But I'm done with uni for the year so I should be getting everything out pretty regularly. Maybe. Again, no promises. Anyway...Thanks for the support. Take care. This story is entirely fictional. Well probably not- it's likely I plagiarised some parts of it inadvertently, but that's just the way life goes sometimes. If this bothers you- give a fuck? There's plenty of stuff to read out there so bugger off and find something else! If it is illegal for you to read this in your community, then I advise you to leave. Although, to be honest I really don't give a rat's arse about it. If you wanna do something do it. Don't let the man get you down! Unless you like that kinda thing... lol. In the meantime... Enjoy! AMERICAN-ENGLISH Chapter Nine. Wheels, Bitches & Forced Disclosure. "How long am I gonna be stuck in this thing?" Clay asked the doctor. "A month at least, Clay." "A month!" He moaned. "Clay, calm down," Mrs. Jefferson told him. It was the day of Clay's early discharge from the hospital due to his quickening recovery, his frequent complaints about the food, personal space, the lumpy bed and the constant "pokes and prods" from the doctors and nurses. However, there were some restrictions, including being limited to a wheel chair. "I thought you said I was getting better quickly?" "Yes, Clay, but you're leg is not healed yet and you'll only do yourself more damage and wind up back here. Do you want that?" "I guess not," he muttered, looking crestfallen. "Right, well I guess this is it for now then, Mr. Jefferson. Remember, make sure you rest. A lot. I mean that. Do not over exert yourself with your studies or with physical activity. We have your medication for you, which you need to take with every meal, three times a day. Gina," the doctor addressed the nurse, "could you take Mrs. Jefferson to get Clay's prescription, please?" Once the nurse and Clay's mum had left, the doctor turned back to me and Clay. "There's one more thing, boys. I also should advise you to...refrain...from having sexual intercourse anytime in the immediate future. Okay?" I felt my face flush violently scarlet as she glared back and forth between the two of us. Clay's face washed over with embarrassment. "It's not going to be a problem, is it?" she asked. "Is it that obvious?" He asked, looking at me and then back to the doctor. "Not to everyone I wouldn't think. But I've been around a lot of people in my career and you can always tell when two people have something special together. It's all in the way you two look at each other, and that Jake barely left your side," she indicated to me as she spoke. My neck began to boil under my hoody. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," she offered me an apologetic look, which made things worse. Clay turned to stare at me. He wasn't pleased. "Me? No! I'm not embarrassed, no." I spurted out unconvincingly. I had never really considered the situation properly. I guess to me, when I had Clay, that was it. All there was to it. Now it seemed that I would have to face everyone; our parents, Clay's friends, our football team, the rest of the school... The idea of "coming out" scared me. What would people think and say? And the whispers? The damn whispering would never end. They'd been following me since I first landed in Texas and they were beginning to wear me down. "Well, okay then. Just, take it easy guys, ok?" She smiled at us, a little cheekily making me flush more. "Right, if there's nothing else Clay, I'll see you in a couple of weeks time. Take care." She smiled once more before leaving me and Clay alone in the room. "What was that?" "What was what?" "You know what," he frowned at me. "I...she asked a question and... I was caught off-guard." "Jake, do you have a problem with this? With us? Because if you do you need to tell me now. I don't want to start something with you if you're just gonna freak out on me." "What?" "If you don't want me then tell me!" he said loudly. "Of course I want you! Don't be stupid, Clay" "So I'm stupid now?" "What the hell...? What's your problem, Clay?" "I don't have a problem, Jay. You're the one who seems to have a problem." "Clay-" "Right CJ, I have your prescription here," Mrs. Jefferson entered the room, interrupting our disagreement. "Are you ready to go?" "Definitely." He turned away from me. "Let's get out of here." *** A few days passed before I saw Clay again after his mum dropped me off home. Whenever I would go to see him I was told to try again later. I knew that I hadn't exactly been brilliant in the hospital with him, but now he wasn't even giving me a chance to fix it. "How's Clay doin'?" LeAnn asked me one lunch time. "Oh...yeah...he's... He's getting better. Doing really well." "Jay, what's up? Why're you lyin' to me?" she questioned me point-blank. "What? Everything's just fine-" "Jacob Hylton! Talk to me!" She gave me one of her `don't bullshit me' faces and I caved. "He won't talk to me. We had an argument in the hospital... I don't really know what happened. I got a little embarrassed when the doctor literally brought up our sex life. We don't even have one yet. And then he got annoyed at me because I was embarrassed. It's stupid. I mean... I know I want him, but I just didn't consider the whole...`coming out' part. I don't care all that much about doing it if we do it together but it just hadn't hit me and he took it all wrong and thought I wanted to back out of it all... "Was I wrong? Should I have-" "Baby," LeAnn interrupted. "Listen to Momma. If you want Clay then go get him. Don't apologise for feeling weird. Hell! COME ON! This is your first-" she lowered her voice "-your first boyfriend. Why the fuck wouldn't you be a little weirded out? If he wants you then he'll understand. If he's gonna be an ass then you know what to do right?" I shook my head, half smiling. "KICK-THAT-ASS!" she yelled out! I cracked up in hysterics. "What the hell are you two doin'?" Alicia called over from behind us. "Dude, don't bring us down. We're just chillin' out. Helping this one with his man troubles!" They both laughed out loud on that one. "Girl...you crazy." Alicia said, and sat down. "So what's up Jay-bird?" "He's had a..." she turned to me. "What would you call it...? A `tiff' with Mrs. Jay-bird. Just told him to man-up and grow a pair." "Sounds good, sugar. Jay, you're gonna argue with him. I mean, for real... he's illogical, dumb, irresponsible, inconsiderate, disrespectful... All guys are. And there's two of you in this. So there's double the amount of stupid. Am I right Lee?" "You're right A. As always." While their analysis of men in general was slightly exaggerated and stereotypical, I knew they were right. At some level, at least. I decided I would go to Clay's house and insist upon seeing him. No backing down. Take charge...or something. When I arrived at Clay's however, my confidence seemed to have waned completely. Standing at the entrance to his rather long drive way, I found it difficult to take another step further. His house towered over me more than usual, and I felt puny and weak. "Come on, Jake. You can do this. Just go up there and knock on the door," I began telling myself out loud. "You're here to see Clay. Your boyfriend. Just... just do it!" I started the long stretch up to the front door. Only Clay's car was visible in the drive way; his parents were out it seemed. That was a plus at least. When I reached the over-sized front door, I thought I should buck myself up once more. Just to be sure. Just to be safe. Clearing my throat, I grabbed the knocker and rapped it hard against the solid wood. Nothing. I waited a few minutes and tried again. Still nothing. "Clay?" I called out. "Hello? Anybody home?" Still nothing. Before I realised what I was doing I grabbed hold of the door handle and tried my chances. Success! I pushed the heavy door open and walked into the house. Silence echoed over every wall and surface. While impressively decorated, the mansion was rather cold at times. Rather like a museum; aesthetically beautiful but lacking in warmth and feeling. After checking out the ground floor I began climbing the many stairs to Clay's room. His wheel chair was sat at the bottom of the staircase. I never thought he would use it at home. He probably walked every step up to his room without even using crutches. As I approached Clay's room it became clear that someone was in the house, for I could hear music being played from somewhere above me. Knowing that knocking on Clay's door would go unheard over the music when I reached it, I caught my breath and tried to appear more determined and focused, planning roughly what I was going to say to him. I took hold of the handle and opened the door. "AAH!" Clay yelled out as he saw the door push open and frantically began to cover himself up. It seemed I had a picked a rather inopportune time to approach him. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He shouted at me. "What the hell, Jay? You scared the shit out of me!" I just stared back at him, trying very hard not to laugh and maintain some composure. I failed. Miserably. "Stop laughing! Jesus! What the fuck do you want? What are you doing here?" I realised that Clay couldn't see the funny side. I also noticed his less than happy attitude towards my presence. And it stung. Quite a bit. I stopped chuckling almost immediately. "What the hell do you want, Jay?" He repeated, angry still. The music was starting to pound nails into my head with the overbearing bass. Starting to become irritated by his manner, I marched across the room and switched off the system, annoyed and hurt at Clay. "What the hell do I want? How about, `Hey, Jacob! How's it going? I missed you! I haven't seen you in a while. Sorry for being such a dick and not seeing you whenever you came to the house or talking to you whenever you rang or texted me.' How about `Jake, I'm really sorry for being such a twat to you. You don't deserve it.' How about-" "Sorry? Sorry?? What for? If I'm not mistaken, you're the one who got all retarded about our relationship." "What are you talking-?" "You! Getting all embarrassed about me! About us!" "You're still going on about that? Come on, Clay! I told you that I was just a little freaked. I'm sorry if it hurt you- I didn't mean to." "Yeah, well you failed," he said, and fell back on the bed staring up at the high ceiling. I paused for a while staring at him before I spoke, "Do you want to end this? Is that what you're saying?" "I didn't say that, did I?" He didn't look up at me. We fell silent. I sat on the end of the bed, his face still looking up at the ceiling. "Clay..." I began quietly. "Clay, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself for a while now. I know the accident was hard on you. It was hard on both of us. But-" "Both of us? You weren't stuck in a fuckin' coma waiting to wake up or die. I... I..." I could see the tears longing to fall from his eyes. I reached for his hand but he pulled it away and rolled over, facing away from me altogether. I couldn't leave him like this... It hurt just to see him like this. I moved up on the bed to lie next to him, putting my arm around him. He didn't resist as I stretched around him, holding him tightly. "Clay...it's okay," I hushed. I had seen him cry on a number of occasions now, and each time I felt an ache inside. This usually charismatic guy so full of life being reduced to tears was a painful and heartbreaking. Now he was lost, a frightened boy. His spark washed out in his tears. "It's okay, Clay. I'm here." We rested on his bed like that for a couple of hours, both of us falling into a sleep, Clay remaining in my arms. *** Night had fallen before either of us began to stir. Clay's bladder called him to the bathroom, leaving me lying on his bed in the blackened room. I began to think of us...what was going to happen now? Were we okay again? He emerged and stood at the foot of the bed, his silhouette vivid from the bathroom light which spread through the open door. I think he was staring at me; I couldn't make his face out in the shadow. But he began to talk to me, his head looking in my direction. "Jay... Thanks. And I'm sorry. I just... I'm scared, okay? I'm just scared that I almost wasn't here and that I couldn't be...with you..." "Clay, you are here though. You're here, in this room, with me now," I reached out my hand for his to pull him to the bed. He accepted and fell into me, our hands locked together and our eyes staring into each other's. "Clay, I want to be with you. I do, and I'm so sorry I hurt you; I just got scared about the whole `coming out' thing. But I'm not now... As long as I have you... I don't care anymore about anything other than us and that we're going to be ok. Don't ever think I don't want to be with you. Because I do." "I do too..." He leaned in to kiss me gently and pulled away with a smile on his face. "And I'm sorry. Honestly, I'm scared too... I don't want to keep this a secret from people... I don't want to keep you a secret. I want to tell people about us. It's scary, y'know, trying to figure what they're gonna say; our parents, our friends..." "Your friends. I already told Alicia and LeAnn... And Jesse worked it out for himself. I told him I liked a guy and he put it together." I said, answering Clay's questioning expression. "Oh? And how did they take it?" "Well Lee and Alicia were supportive and very...err- interested? Enthusiastic?" I smiled at him as he chuckled. "They found it `so cute'," I said, mocking the accent. "Ha-ha!" He nudged me. "And Jesse?" "Jesse? He's completely okay with it. Actually, he's bi." "Oh?" "Yeah... And, I guess I need to tell you a couple of things. I don't want any secrets between us." "What is it?" He asked, his face and tone suddenly becoming sombre. "Well, before we got together...and after you told me you liked me... Jesse and I were hanging out and...we..." "You...?" "Kissed. We kissed." The hurt in his eyes was instantaneous and obvious. He sat up, still looking at me. "It didn't mean anything, okay? If anything, it actually helped me realise how much I wanted to be with you. Please don't be upset. I really didn't mean to hurt you. I just... It just happened." He remained silent for what seemed like an age. I felt the guilt and shame spread over me as he started. "And this was after I told you how I felt?" His voice was oddly calm given the circumstances. "Yes," I nodded. He turned away, looking straight ahead. I couldn't see his face in the darkness. "I was confused, Clay. I didn't know what I felt and who I was. I was scared. I... I fucked up. I just..." "You just kissed?" "Yes. I swear nothing else happened." He paused. "And the other thing? You said you had a couple of things to tell me." He still wouldn't turn back to face me. "Well, before I came to see you last Saturday, he told me... Jesse told me that he likes me. You know- like `that'." An age seemed to pass in the silence. I had done the right thing, right? I was supposed to tell him. Because he's my boyfriend and I love him. I think I love him. Right? "Well," he began. "I guess it's fair to say that Jesse has good taste." He turned around and to face me once more. Through the darkness, a slight smile could be seen on his face. "Look, I'm not happy about it, but I appreciate the fact that you told me. Kinda seems strange for me to get angry about something that happened before we happened. So... Thanks, Jake. For telling me. "I mean, I'm not happy about it. But you're mine now, aren't you" He looked me square in the face, eye to eye,. "If you want me to be," I said quietly staring into his intense eyes. "I'll have to get back to you." He began laughing as I hit him in the chest lightly with my fist. "Hey! I'm a sick guy! You can't attack me like that, or they'll be consequences." He leaned forward toward me as I relaxed back on the bed. Resting on my legs, he stared at me longingly. We smiled at each other and I knew then that I was definitely falling in love with this guy. He began to crawl up my body, his eyes never leaving my gaze. In one swift movement he whipped off his t-shirt and moved his head towards me. He tugged at my top, yanking it off over my head, throwing it on top of his own somewhere on the floor. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him on top of me. We remained in that position, staring into each other's eyes. I raised my head to his face, my weight resting on my elbows, reaching for his lips with my own. Pulling him into the kiss with my lips and tongue, he relaxed on top of me, my arms snaking over the back of his head and neck. Clay was only a little taller than me and he was definitely more built than I was. His chest was broad and chiselled. His whole body was perfect to me. Staring at him often made me wonder why I had never really found the male body attractive before. I let my hands roam over his back as he caressed my face, neck and the sides of my torso. Our tongues began to dance with each other as we kissed passionately without breaking once. He fell completely on top of me, his strong body blanketing my own. I could feel his penis growing harder in his boxers as he grinded against mine. The blood began to rush to my groin as the heat increased. Searching for my hands as they felt up his body, he pulled them off me and took them in his own, stretching my arms either side of my head. I was completely dominated by his powerful body. He broke the kiss, raising his head to look into my eyes. "You're beautiful," he whispered. I began laughing. "'Beautiful'?" I asked him. Chuckles escaped his own mouth, "Yeah seems kinda weird saying it to another guy. But it's true." "In a manly way, of course," I said smiling at him. "Of course. For I am a man after all." He coughed comically, making me laugh again. "Of course," I reassured him. "Very manly." He smiled at me, before he resumed the kiss, my hands still locked into his unable to break free. Not that I minded. It was sexy being under his control like that. *** Over the next week, Clay & I spent as much time together as possible. His chair remained unused. It was quite impressive how quickly he was recovering; he did have to use crutches now and then to take the strain off his legs. He was a strong spirit though; I think the idea of being confined to something like a wheel chair scared him and drove him to get out of it as soon as humanly possible. Not yet being back at school, I would travel to his house everyday afterwards, and we would hang out for hours on end. Neither of our parents seemed to realise or care that we were so wrapped up in each other...quite literally. Every moment spent with Clay was beautiful and special. It was weird to think that only a few months ago I hated his guts and now... I can't imagine not being with him. "What are we going to do tomorrow?" I asked Clay one Sunday. It was early evening and the sun was blanketing the dusking sky with its dark, golden rays. We were sitting in his bedroom watching the sunset in that awfully cheesey kind-of-way. But we liked it. We're just corny I guess. "What do you mean?" He asked me. Both of us were lying on his bed, his arm around me as we gazed out of his large window opposite us. "Well...you're coming back to school tomorrow, right? And I was just wondering what that means...for us... you know?" He turned to face me, a confused expression filling his face. "I mean, how do we act? As friends? Or do we just come out and tell people that we're together?" "I dunno... If I'm honest I hadn't really thought about it. Someone's been keeping me pretty occupied," he smiled at me cheekily, kissing my head before turning back to the window. I fell silent for a while, contemplating how to best word my next comment. "What are you thinking?" he asked me. "Erm...Just that...maybe... I think it would maybe be easier if we went to school as friends..." I expected his reaction: he faced me, disappointed with growing anger. "Friends? Come on Jake, not this shit again." "Would you hear me out please? We should go as friends so that people can get used to seeing us together. Look, most people still blame me for the loss of the star football player. They think we hate each other, so if we just turn up at school holding hands and stuff...people aren't going to understand. I just think we should ease people into it. I don't want to hide myself around you or how I feel about you. It's going to be so hard trying to avoid seeing you, talking to you and kissing you... God only knows how crazy that'll make me." He smiled at that, nodding in agreement. "I guess you're right... I don't like it but I'll do that for you. But I want to tell people soon. I don't care what happens to me Jay... I just want to be with you." I loved his attitude. I loved how cool he was with us. It was also quite daunting how open he wanted to be. It did scare me having to put up with all kinds of resentment. This was Texas, after all and I've heard all kinds of stories about the abuse towards homosexual couples. Maybe because of his status, being in a relationship with Clay would ease the blow? It was a different story on Monday morning though. Clay gave me a ride to school and right away I could tell he was nervous. "What happened to cool `I wanna tell everyone about us' Clay from last night?" I joked. "Don't be a dick, I'm fine," he said, speeding off. "Clay, it's going to be fine. Come on, we're just friends who've bonded over a near fatal incident. Just calm down and we can get through this." He didn't say anything for the rest of the journey. His face was focused and determined. I decided it was best just to let him think things over in his head as the school came into view. Were there more people around than normal? Well, there was definitely a little gathering of about thirty people including his old gang. "What the..." he began as he got out of the car. I guess it had become lost on me just how popular Clay was. I didn't see him as the popular kid in school. The star athlete. He was more than that to me. As soon as the car was parked he was dragged out and surrounded by people who could only be described as his adoring fans. I didn't like it. Perhaps it was jealousy or something. But I just didn't like it. Watching Clay being pulled through the gates swathed by adoring fans. He seemed to enjoy the attention; a big smile filled his face. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had crowd-surfed his way to class. His crutches in one arm and both are bags in the other I followed the mass of students. I don't think anyone had even realised we were in the same car. And as the crowd moved further on I began to feel like Clay hadn't noticed either. Instead of following any further I chose instead to head off to home room and meet Clay there. Mrs. James was already there sat behind her desk, her face as sour as ever. Her hands were clasped tight, resting on the desk, her head looking at the clock on the wall opposite. I don't think she was even blinking. I was the only student in the room and sat in one of the back corners. Déjà vu... My life in the place seemed to have gone back in time. They could be heard before they were seen, and soon enough the mass of laughter and banter burst through the door and seated itself amongst all the empty seats. Clay was pulled over to a vacant seat on the other side of the room. He was just catching up with his friends. It was cool, I thought. No worries. I didn't know any of the people he was talking to. Evander, Dylan, Brady and the girls were no where to be seen in Clay's presence. Instead they sat in the opposite corner to me, where they kept looking back. Chrissie was whispering something to the twins and giggling obnoxiously. I pulled out a book and began reading it, digging my head down to avoid the ruckus of the class. It was driving me mental that he hadn't even thanked me for getting his stuff, yet there I was with his crutches resting against my desk and his bag safely kept at my feet. While part of me understood that he was just fitting back in, I still couldn't help but feel surprised that he was clicking with all of his old pals. Old pals who had barely come to see him in the hospital, or visited him at home. "Clay, baby..." I looked up automatically. Chrissie was standing next to Clay who was looking up at her. "Hey, Chrissie," he offered back, quietly. "I missed you so much, baby. I'm glad to see you're alright now," she ran her hand through his hair, down his neck and shoulder. What the hell was she doing? Before I knew what was happening, she took the plunge sitting in his lap and pulling him close for a kiss. She was kissing him. And he wasn't breaking it. I could feel the stares of Evander, Brady, Estralita and the rest of the crew staring from me to the scene. I didn't care, I couldn't look away. I didn't know what to think: anger, rage, hatred, nausea, hurt, devastation... A cacophony of all of the above. "Mmm...I missed that," Chrissie said as she pulled away a good ten seconds later. Clay looked at a loss for words. He just stared at her, confusion written on his face. He didn't look over my way once to even gauge my reaction. Moments later the bell rang and I shot out of the class as fast as I could, scraping my chair and knocking his crutches to the floor with a clatter. I didn't look to see if he had even bothered to notice me there. I felt sick at that moment. I needed some air. "Yo, Jay!" LeAnn called me over as I entered History. I must have looked bad cos she noticed straight away. "What's up, dude?" "I'll tell you about it later." "Is everything okay?" "I'll tell you about it later," I repeated to her, a little snap in my voice. "Okay, okay... I'll drop it." When lunch hit, I finally came clean to both LeAnn and Alicia. Not that they actually needed to hear it. The word had spread that the golden couple had reconciled. Whispers had followed me everywhere I went about the kiss. Still I waited for Clay to say something about it, to quench the rumours, to correct people...to apologise to me. Nothing. No text message even. He sat way across the courtyard, laughing with his football buddies. Why the hell was he being like this? "He's the one who just wanted to come out to everyone," I explained to the girls. "It was I who said to keep things cool for now...but I meant that we would still hang around. Be friends so that people got used to us not hating each other like we did at the beginning." "I can't believe that bitch!" LeAnn was angry. I appreciated it. "Shit...here it comes." Alicia motioned to Chrissie and the group who were approaching the courtyard. She looked around and locked eyes with me. A smirk on her face. No subtlety. No shame. She turned away to seek out Clay. "Baby!" She cooed across to him before taking her place on his lap once more. "I'm gonna kill her," LeAnn said about to stand up before Alicia put her hand firmly on her shoulder. I waited for something to happen. But nothing. He didn't push her off. He didn't tell her to go away. He didn't even ask for a quiet word to tell her to stop. And again he didn't look over to me. In fact, he continued his comedic lunch with his friends...and Chrissie. Things were now back to as they were a few months ago. I pulled out my phone; I needed to say something to him. `WTF Clay? What are you doing? Am I not important anymore?' I watched as he reached for his phone. His face dropped a bit as he read the message but before he could reply or react in anyway, Chrissie yanked it out of his hand and read it. She laughed before looking over to me and waving very obviously to me. Clay looked over, as did his buddies, and I felt myself go red in the face. Chrissie turned back to Clay's friends, who were confused as to what was going on. She began telling them something, causing them to either laugh, or give me a disgusted look. She turned back to me, another smirk on her face. "Get off me, A. I'm gonna kick her ass," LeAnn spat. "Just leave it, Lee. CJ will do something and it'll be worse when he shoots her down in front of everyone. You'll see." I appreciated what she said, but I could tell that even Alicia wasn't totally convinced by what she said. I couldn't take my eyes off of Chrissie. Clay was hiding behind her now, not wanting to be seen by me. Her smile just got wider when she saw me stand up. I was just about to turn to leave when she yelled across the courtyard at me. "Stop stalking my CJ, homo! Go annoy someone else!" The hustle lowered to a quiet drone as people turned to see who Chrissie was talking to. I was frozen in place. I looked over my shoulder to see her and nearly everyone else staring at me. Looks of shock, looks of repulsion. Silent laughter spread across some faces made me want to heave again. And Clay? He sat there still unsure what to do with the situation. "You understand me, Jake?" She shouted over. "Leave my boyfriend alone!" "Oh, fuck this!" LeAnn said standing up. Alicia followed her as they started walking towards her. People watched them as LeAnn finally got her wish to tear into Chrissie. I couldn't help but remain routed to the spot. "Oh look...skank and tramp," Chrissie said, bringing out a laugh in some of the girls. "What the fuck is your problem, bitch?" "My problem? I don't have a problem." "Oh, I think you do got a problem. Cos I'm about to give you one." Chrissie just laughed. "What're you gonna do?" I didn't think she'd actually do it, but LeAnn grabbed onto Chrissie by the hair and pulled her off of Clay's lap. He was now exposed to everyone. His face was embarrassed...he didn't turn away from me now. His eyes were fixed. "Get off of me you stupid whore!" Chrissie called out as she tried to rearrange her hair. LeAnn and Alicia were now standing between her and Clay. "Guess you get off on embarrassing people, huh? What, could you not stand the fact that Clay dumped you? Cos he did. He doesn't want you! He doesn't even like you! You dirty, little slut! Does he even know how many guys you hooked up with when you were dating?" Murmurs filled the crowd, and Clay finally broke contact with me to look up at Chrissie. "What?" He asked. "Now, now, don't deny it Chrissie. We both saw you getting it on with Jason Tyler after school!" Alicia piped up. "Jason Tyler? No I think you mean Sam Hennessey." LeAnn responded. "Come to think of it, wasn't it Todd Smith?" Alicia added. "Wait, I definitely saw her leaving an empty class room, wiping her cock-sucking mouth with Aaron Daniels looking very relieved, buckling up his jeans!" "Not to mention Dylan and Brady!" "You two are such-" "Don't even try to deny it, Miss `I'm waiting until I'm married'!" Alicia yelled at her. "If you have something to say to our friend, you say it to his face from now on, okay!" "Your friend is a sick little homo, throwing himself at my-" "Clay's not your boyfriend!" LeAnn pushed her as she interrupted Chrissie. "You know whose boyfriend Clay is? The sick little homo! Yeah, there getting it on, and I don't think you've been given enough credit for that. Tell me, how does it feel to know that your ex-boyfriend dumped you for another guy? Must sting a little bit. What, were you that bad a kisser? Or do you just look like a man underneath all that make up and perfume?" Alicia grabbed a hold of LeAnn's arm to hold her back. "What?" she said, turning back to her. It seemed that LeAnn hadn't realised what she had blurted out. "Oh... oh fuck." She said quietly. LeAnn looked over to me, apology written on her face. I just smiled at her softly. It wasn't her fault. I looked at Clay who had his head lowered. "CJ? It's not true is it?" Estralita asked him. He didn't say anything. He just looked up at me. "CJ! You have to be kidding me!" Chrissie said, angry. "This is a joke, right?" He shot her an evil look. "How many guys were there?" He asked her. "How many times? What happened to waiting until Prom? Waiting for the right moment?" He got to his feet and turned to face all of his friends. "You know what, fuck it. You wanna know the truth? I'm with Jacob. He's my boyfriend. Think what you want about that, but at least he's not a lying, two-timing slut." He grabbed his stuff and walked past Chrissie, giving her a dark look. Smiling slightly at LeAnn and Alicia, he walked over to me. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I felt every pair of eyes on us. As he got closer Clay smiled at me, the first smile he had offered me all day. He stood before me, taking my hand in his empty one. Without looking back on anyone, he leaned in and gave me a short kiss before leading me away from the crowd of gobsmacked kids, his hand in mine. Hoping that was to your liking. Gonna get the next chapter out asap. Sorry if it takes time... While chapter ten takes it's time creating itself, here are a few things you might wanna peruse over: OPERATION: COLLEGE QUARTERBACK My FAVOURITE story! Sexy and intelligent. Interesting, thought-provoking. Awesome. /nifty/gay/college/operation-college-quarterback/ FALLING FOR A STRAIGHT GUY (I edit this story. It's very good!) /nifty/gay/highschool/falling-for-a-straight-guy/ QUARTERBACK WITH THE EMERALD EYES /nifty/gay/highschool/quarterback-with-the-emerald-eyes/ HOUSE PARTY Unfortunately I don't think this writer is continuing this story as he hasn't posted anything since August '08. But you never know... /nifty/gay/highschool/house-party/ DYLAN'S DILEMMA /nifty/gay/highschool/dylans-dilemma/ MY GIRLFRIEND'S BROTHER Not sexy like some others but definitely an amazing read. /nifty/gay/adult-youth/my-girlfriends-brother/ SKI TRIP /nifty/gay/highschool/the-ski-trip/ MY ROOMATE NICK This is a hugely long story. It's based on real life occurrences, as far as I know, and is excellently written. /nifty/gay/college/my-roommate-nick/ THE ELEMENTAL /nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/the-elemental/ OWEN /nifty/gay/college/owen/ AMERICAN DIFFERENCES /nifty/gay/highschool/american-differences/ Brilliantly written. Kinda like mine but backwards. Let me know what you think of them! And my own of course! Response to mac_manap@msn.com Personal replies will be sent a.s.a.p. Thanks again. H.Mac.