I am pleased to introduce the twenty-seventh installment of Collision, a story about gay high school and college kids learning about love and life.  If this offends you in any way, then don't read on.  If you are under 18 (or 21 in some areas), then please don't read on either.  It is a work of fiction.  Copyrighted in 2002, all rights reserved.  No unauthorized reproduction in any form is permitted without the consent of the author, Joey E.
Anyway, thanks again to all who have responded.  I do appreciate it greatly.  Special thanks goes out to my usual clan of proofreaders and advisors, Will, Billy, Jay, Brett, Marc, and Matt.  And if I forget to mention someone, please forgive me.  And now, on with the show...
 

My parents called me downstairs soon after Paul left. They were sitting at the kitchen table, looking over a piece of paper.

"What's up?" I asked them.

"Well, Ryan, it's best if you read this. It'll explain itself."

I picked up the stapled papers and began to read the title of the document. It read "Last Testimony and Will...Brett Gregory Anderson."

I looked up at my mom and dad.

"The part you need to read is on page four, sweetie," my Mom said. I turned to page four and began to read the highlighted section.

"I leave my 2000 Toyota 4Runner to Ryan Joseph Phillips," it read.

I nearly fell over. I never knew he even had a will. "Damn," I said, softly.

"Does this mean...?" I started to say, looking at my parents.

"Yes...you get his 4Runner," my Dad answered.

Fuck, I thought. I didn't want it. That was my initial reaction. I threw the Will down on the table.

"Ryan," my Mom said.

"I don't want it," I said, softly, looking down at the will. "I don't want his damn SUV," I said, feeling upset.

"Ry, it's all right, if you don't want it...but Brett wanted you to have it."

"I don't care!" I said, now becoming visibly upset. "I'm trying to get on with my life. I don't need his Toyota to remind me of him every time I drive somewhere!"

I got up from the table and looked at the Will once more, picking it up. I looked through the rest of the pages to find his signature at the end of it. It was definitely his signature and it freaked me out for some reason.

"Am I supposed to keep this or something?" I asked.

"Yes," my Mom answered. "We've been holding it off as long as we could. But they're gonna drop off the vehicle tonight."

"Drop it off!?" I asked, with tears in my eyes.

"Yeah, his mom called this evening while you were out. We couldn't say no," my Mom said.

I understood where she was coming from.

"Well, I guess I can't do anything then. That's just great!  Now I can have a freakin' vehicle to remind me of my dead boyfriend!" I said, getting ready to leave the kitchen.

"Ryan!" my Mom said. "Hold on!"

I knew that tone of voice meant business. I turned back around and looked at my Mom.

"Now I know it's all hard to take in. But just keep in mind, Brett wanted you to have it. HE wanted you to have it."

I stopped and thought about it. I could just imagine Brett planning out his Will, taking great care to get it right, as he did with all other things. Yes, Brett wanted me to have it. The least I could do was accept it. I knew Brett was watching me, and I knew he'd be mad at me if I didn't at least accept it.

"All right," I said. "I'll take it. If this is what Brett wants, then yes, I'll take it."

"Son," my Dad said. "I think you're making the right decision."

"I'd just like to know one thing. Why, after over two months and after getting my life back on track somewhat, does something like this have to come up?"

My parents looked sympathetically at me. "Don't know, son," my dad answered.

"Well, maybe I'll give it to Steve," I said.

"Actually, you might want to give our car to Steve and keep the truck for yourself," my Mom said.

"I don't know. I'm not gonna be here to receive it, though," I said, walking out of the kitchen with Brett's Will in my hand. "I'm goin' up to my room. Please don't get me when it arrives."

Once in my room, I called Jay immediately.

"Hey, Jay!" I said on the phone.

"Hey, dude, what's up?"

"Well, I got some rather disturbing news tonight," I said.

"What? What's up, Ryan?" Jay asked, in a serious tone.

"Well, it seems that Brett left me his damn Toyota 4Runner in his Will."

"Woah!" Jay said.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what to do. I don't want it. I'm not going to drive that thing around. That's too freaky for me!"

"Calm down, Ry. Don't do anything foolish yet."

"Yeah, I know," I said. "I just don't want to deal with it, man. I'm trying to move on, only to be dragged back."

"Yeah, it's rough, dude. I'm sorry."

"Ah, it's all right. I'm sure I'll get over it, even if I just sell it. But part of me wants to hang on to it for dear life. Do you realize how many great memories I have with Brett in that damn SUV?"

"I can't even imagine," Jay answered.

"Part of me just wants to throw everything away and start over again."

"Do you want me to come over, man?"

"No, it's all right. I'll be okay."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, Jay, I'm sure. Talking to you makes me feel better already."

"Aw....don't get all mushy with me, dude."

We both laughed.

"Actually, I'm glad you called, dude. I was gonna call you and ask you if you had off tomorrow?" Jay asked.

"Yes, I do, why?"

"I figured we could go down to my parent's shore house tomorrow for the whole day. It's in a town called Brigantine that is about fifteen minutes away from Atlantic City."

"That sounds awesome, man! I haven't been to the Jersey shore in years!" I said, sitting up on my bed.

"That's what I figured. There's no one down there either, so we'd have the shore house to ourselves."

"Actually, I don't have to be in to work until Wednesday afternoon."

"Yeah, that's also what I was hoping. I don't have to work on Wednesday. I figured, maybe, you would like to spend the night down there as well."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ry. Please say yes," he said.

He really knew how to turn on the charm.

"Sure, man," I replied.

"Great! Uh, one thing, you gotta drive, man. I have no car."

"Understood," I answered.

"Great. So you wanna pick me up at say, nine?"

"Sounds like a plan," I said, smiling.

"So anything interesting go on after I left today?"

"Yeah, Paul Miller stopped by..."

"And?" he asked.

"Well, I told him that I didn't want to lead him on. I told him about us."

"Cool."

"Yeah, I'm glad it's out of the way. Now, we're both free," I said.

"That's awesome, did he take it well? Better than Eric I assume?"

"Yeah, he was cool about it. I broke his heart though, I have a feeling."

"Well, it's better to tell him now," Jay said.

"Yes it is. Well, I gotta run, man. I'll pick you up at nine!"

"Cool, dude. Oh, and Ryan," Jay said.

"Yeah?"

"I'll be thinking about you all night," he said.

I melted inside. "Yeah, I will too," I replied.

"See you later, Ry."

For a few minutes, Jay had taken me far away from the reality of life. He was good at distracting me away. And I always could count on him to do just that. He was something new, something different, and something that I could fall for very easily.

I hung up the phone, feeling refreshed and revitalized. I went back downstairs to the kitchen.

"I will take the 4Runner. But it may take some time for me to get used to the idea. So it might be parked in the driveway for awhile."

"That's all right, Ryan. We were hoping you'd take it."

"Yeah, I think in the long run, I'll be able to handle it."

I gave my mom and dad a hug. "By the way, I'm going to the shore with Jay tomorrow. His parents have a shore house and we'll be staying there overnight."

"Don't we get asked permission anymore?" my Dad asked.

"Ed, give it up!" my Mom said, smiling. "The boy is eighteen. All right Ryan. We'll try not to worry too much."

"And don't worry about the truck, Ry," my Dad said, "It'll take some time to get the title and insurance."

"Cool," I said.
 

I woke up bright and early. I almost forgot that the 4Runner, which was now my 4Runner was parked outside our house. Imagine my shock when I saw it. I looked at it for a moment.

"You really know how to make a guy not forget you," I said up to the sky to Brett. I could just imagine his face smirking at me. "You fuckin' bastard," I said, smiling.

I headed towards my car, parked in the street. I arrived at Jay's ten minutes early.

A boy, looking very much like a younger version of Jay answered the door.

"Hey, is Jay here?"

"Yeah, he is," the boy answered. "Are you Ryan?"

"That would be me, man," I said.

He opened the door and let me in.

"YO RYAN!" he yelled up the stairs. "Your friend is here."

"Cool, I'll be right down, Ry!" a voice yelled from upstairs.

I sat down on the couch in the living room. The little kid ran up the stairs.

"Yo watch it, dude!" I heard Jay yell. "I'm changing!"

I chuckled as I heard Jay and his brother argue. It was actually quite cute. Jay came down three minutes later with his backpack on his shoulders. He smiled at me. He had a white Billabong visor on, surfer shorts, and a white O'Neil t-shirt. He had his sunglasses resting on the brim of the visor. He looked like a surfer boy.  I smiled back at him. Damn, he looked good.

Jay's bro came bouncing down the steps and tried to attack Jay. Jay turned around though and lifted him up in his arms. His bro was giggling. Jay laughed.

"Ry, this is my little bro, Matty. Matty, this is Ryan."

"I know that," Matty said, still giggling. God, I longed to be that young again.

Jay let his bro down. "Little bros," he said.

"Yeah, I've got one at home too. Only he's not little anymore," I said, getting up off the couch.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Sure!"

"Let's go! Matty, tell Mom I left, okay?"

"Okay, see you later, Jay!"
 

We left the house and jumped into my car.

"So you get the vehicle?" he asked.

"Yep, it's parked in front of my house."

"Aw, dude, you should've drove it! We would've picked up mad chicks with it!" he exclaimed.

"Chicks?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah, dude! Sorry, I slipped into my straight mode again," he said, holding my hand.

"Straight mode eh? I haven't had one of those in a while."

"I shift into that mode everytime I get together with some of my old straight friends. It's cool. It gives you a dose of reality too, on what guys really do."

"Oh, you mean they don't do this?" I asked, lifting up my hand that was holding his.

He chuckled and replied, "Nah, man, I don't think they do. But wouldn't it be great if they did? Shit, dude, can you imagine?"

I laughed. "That would be fuckin' weird, bro!"

We cranked up the tunes once more as we headed down the Atlantic City Expressway. Jay brought some of his CD's along. He introduced me to the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, a cool punk rock band that did covers to some unbelievable songs like Don't Cry For Me Argentina and even some Oldies.

"That's fucked up, man," I said, laughing.

"Yeah, well, wait til you hear this next one," he said, putting in another CD.

This one turned out to be one he made from MP3s. The first song was the most fucked up song I had heard to this date. It talked about killing babies, raping moms. Jay sang along with it, word for word.

"Who the hell introduced you to that song?" I asked, laughing.

"My roommate, Kev! Between Joe, my other roommate, and him, I have been subject to an incredible variety of music."

"That's cool," I said.

Soon, the next track came on, which happened to be a certain selection from a certain 90's pop group, Ace of Base.

"Ace of Base?" I said, cracking up.

"Shut up, I like them!" he exclaimed.

I laughed harder. "You do?"

"Yeah, lots of faggots love Ace of Base. My roommate being one of them."

We both laughed. "Well, I like 'em, but I'm afraid to admit it," I admitted.

After the hour and a half and with Jay's directions, we were at his parent's shore house. It was not far from the beach at all, as Jay explained, we could walk to it. We unloaded our bags and went to the front door. Jay unlocked the door and we both went in.

It was a nice, little house. Jay showed me around. It had two bedrooms downstairs and two upstairs. It had a living room with a dining room attached to it.

"So where do we sleep?" I asked, with a wicked grin on my face.

"Oo, you bad boy!" he said, slapping my ass.

"Fuck sex, I wanna go to the beach!" I said, smiling.

"All right, let's get changed," he said, leading me into the bedroom.

We took off our shirts, each of us checkin' each other out. I couldn't resist and touched his smooth defined chest. He looked up at me and smiled. We kissed, and soon, we were bumping our crotches together, hands were below the waist, and cocks were rock hard.

"So, you still wanna say fuck sex?" Jay whispered.

I immediately went on my knees in front of him and undid his surf shorts.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked, before I took his hard shaft in my mouth.

"Oh, yeah!" He said, closing his eyes.

It wasn't long before we were involved in a full-fledged sixty-nine position. It all ended as it usually did, with a long passionate kiss.

We cleaned each other off and put our swimsuits and t-shirts on. Jay grabbed his visor and his shades, I grabbed my hat and my shades.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Wait, do you have an shovels and buckets?" I asked.

"You were serious about the sand castle thing?" he asked, surprised.

"Oh, yeah, man! We gotta build a sand castle!"

He laughed and said, "Sure, they're out back."

We grabbed the multiple shovels and buckets and headed down the street to the beach. It was sort of crowded, since it was a great sunny, summer day. Jay said hi to people he knew, his neighbors no doubt. We picked a spot to set our towels down. We took off our shirts and sandals and sat down on our towels.

"Dude, it's a beautiful day!" he exclaimed.

I looked over at his well-defined body. He looked over at me and smiled. I saw him lookin' at me too. We took a pack of smokes out and each lit one.

"So, you wanna go in the water?"

"Sure," I answered, exhaling the smoke.

"It'll probably be nice today. Some days it's cold."

"Cool. I should've brought my surfboard," I said.

"No, shit, you surf?"

"I did when I was younger," I explained. "I haven't done it in a while. My aunt and uncle lived out on the West Coast and the waves are much better there."

"Yeah, they are," he said, putting out his cigarette in the sand. He took off his shades and visor and jumped up. "Come on man, let's go!" he said, grabbing my hand.

I quickly put out my butt and took off my hat. I let him pull me up.

"Come on, I'll race you!" he yelled, taking off.

I shot out after him, but he had too much of a head start. He made it first to the water and dove into a wave. I jumped in after him. Typical ocean water. I jumped out of the water and went over to where he was standing. We played in the water for a while like two little kids. And being so short and compact, we probably looked like it too. I was thoroughly enjoying being a kid again after all I had been through.

We eventually made it out of the water and went back to our towels to lay out in the sun for a while.

"Dude, can you put some of this sunblock on me?" he asked, motioning towards his back.

"Sure," I said, taking the bottle from him. I applied it to his back and started rubbing it in when he abruptly flopped onto him stomach.

"Jay, what the fuck?"

He turned around and grinned. "Something, uh, came up," he said.

I laughed. "Ah, I see."

"Do you need some?" he asked.

"No, usually don't," I answered. "I don't seem to burn very easily."

"Cool."

We both laid on our stomachs and talked about life in general. About the beach, about the people on the beach. A few times we both turned our heads when a hot stud walked by. Pretty soon it was time to flip over. So there we were, two good lookin' studs, hangin out on the beach like two beach bums.

Suddenly, I got up and looked for the buckets and shovels.

"What are you doin'?" he asked, sitting up.

"It's time to build some sand forts and castles!" I said, grabbing the stuff.

We both headed down to the wet sand. It was low tide and the sand seemed great for creating things.

"When's the last time you did this?" he asked me.

"The last time I was at the beach, which was at least five years ago."

"Cool."

"Are you ready to build the best damn sand castle?"

"Sure, dude," he said, grabbing a shovel.

"I always start by digging a deep hole," I explained.

"Sounds good," he said.

We soon had a hole that was at least three two deep and four feet wide. It also had a foot tall wall around it. Jay started building things around it, while I worked inside the trench we made. Not surprisingly, people noticed. It took us about an hour and a half before we were finally satisfied with what we had made.

"There, dude! Do you think we're done?" he asked, smiling.

I crawled out of the hole and we both walked backwards to see our masterpiece.

"Oh, if only I had a camera," I said, wiping the sand off my hands.

"Come on, give it up, dude," Jay said, holding a hand up high.

We high-fived and laughed. Two younger boys approached us, in awe.

"You built that?" the one asked.

"Sure did," Jay said.

"Can we build on to it?" the other asked.

"Sure, dude," Jay said.

"Yeah, go right ahead," I answered. "We were just finishing anyway."

"COOL!" they both yelled.

We walked away from our sand metropolis and went back in the ocean to rinse the sand off our bodies. We then made our way back up to our towels and laid out in the sun for about twenty minutes.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm fuckin' thirsty and hungry!" Jay said, getting up.

Just then, a HOT guy walked by us. Jay took off his sunglasses as he passed us by.

"Fuck, did you see that?" he asked.

I was still staring at him. "Huh?" I asked.

"I guess you did," he said, chuckling. "But I still think you're the hottest guy on this beach, dude."

I smiled at him and wanted to kiss him for saying that. We gathered up our stuff and made our way back to the little shore house of Jay's. We went into the kitchen in search of some grub to satisfy our hunger.

"My parents said they left some cold cuts for sandwiches in the fridge," he said, opening it up.

"Cool, sounds good to me," I said, sitting down at the small kitchen table.

He handed me a can of Coke and soon presented me with a bologna and cheese sandwich. He sat down across from me and we started eating.

"So, can you cook, man?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "Don't tell anyone, but yes, I can cook very well. In fact, I was hoping to cook for you tonight. I hope you like NY Strip Steak," he said, smiling.

"Love it!" I said, smiling.

"Awesome, dude," he said.

"Wow you cook. Do you clean and do laundry? You'd make a very good wife some day," I joked.

He laughed. "Hey, with the right guy, I'd be willing to do some of that," he said. "What about you? Do you think you'll ever settle down with a guy?"

"Sure, man, I think so. I sort of felt that way with Brett. I always figured we were going to last and last and last. Even through college," I said.

"Wow," Jay said. "That guy must've been something else."

"Yeah, he was," I said, looking away. "Yes, he was."

Turning back to him, I asked, "Well, what about you and Eric? You know I never knew too much about you two. Eric kept you a mystery to us, believe it or not."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Eric was a mess. He was a fun mess, but he was a mess. He still is! God, it's funny how love can turn to hate so quickly."

"Yes it is. Actually, I thought you were the happiest couple in town for a while there. What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, we were, dude. He was spontaneous, a barrel of laughs, and deep down in side, he had a heart as big as the earth. But, it started to change gradually. It was just the little things, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I started to suspect something was going on behind my back when he disappeared at a baseball game when he was checking out a guy and then disappeared with that guy for about fifteen minutes. Then there were times that he wouldn't want to fool around, which is very strange for Eric, if you know what I mean.."

"Yeah, I do," I said.

"And then when I caught him fucking Mr. Dell guy, that was it!" he said.

"Shit," I said.

"What about you, Ryan? Didn't you say you had a fight with him the night he died?"

"Yeah. He accused me of cheating on him, since we both apparently had crabs."

"Crabs??" Jay yelled, moving away from me and the table.

I laughed. "Yeah, crabs. Don't worry though, I treated them, which is why my balls are not very hairy now. I shaved my pubes."

"Ah, I see," he said, moving back to the table.

"Well, I didn't know what the hell crabs were.  I thought they were those pinchy creatures in the ocean!"

"You seem to be naive about a lot of things, little blonde boy," he said, smiling.

"What can I say?" I asked, smiling. "I know I am. But, anyway, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into his house after I walked out. He really wasn't acting like the Brett I knew, and it is now obvious why he wasn't. If I had only been there, I could've probably saved his life and he would still be here."

"Man, stop sayin' that. You can't blame yourself for all that shit," he said, taking a sip of his Coke.

"Yeah, I know," I said, looking down at the table. "I know in reality there was nothing that I could've done. But, what can you do?"

"Keep living, dude," he said.

"I'll drink to that," I said, raising my can of Coke.

We clinked cans and laughed. When the laughter subsided, I spoke up again.

"Jay, I really like you, man. You're really something else. I must admit, I can't stop myself thinkin' about you for the past week."

Jay turned red and smiled, sheepishly. "Aw, Ry. I was hoping you were feeling the same way, dude. I've never had feelings for someone this strong before. I mean, I know all we've done basically is have sex together. But we've spent enough time out of the bed together for me to know that I like you a lot, dude."

"Thanks," I said, smiling at him like a fool.

"What I'm sayin' is, I'd like you to be my boyfriend," he said.

"And my answer is," I said, pausing. He held his breath.

"Yes."
 

That wraps up this chapter of Collision.  I hope you enjoyed it, as always.  Stay tuned for the END of the Collision Series which will be posted within days (I hope).  Please send any suggestions, complaints, and/or comments to NEPhillyBoy76@aol.com