Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2020 23:12:10 +0200
From: Ryan White <liciousryan@gmail.com>
Subject: Friends, I Guess

HOLA PEEPS!!
Hope you enjoy this one. It's gonna be a romantic lol.
If you wanna have a chat, feel free! I'm always here xx

Stay safe everyone.
Ryan

FRIENDS, I GUESS

Ahhh, Margate.

One of the most beautiful places to vacation at in sunny South
Africa. Situated in the heart of glorious Durban, this was a vast tourist
attraction for virtually every overseas incomer who was actively Iooking
for the ultimate African experience.

White sandy beaches, water as clear as day, you could actually see small
schools of fish swimming leisurely inside. Accommodation wasn't a problem
at all with trendy hotels, followed by idyllic beach houses and motels and
even several bed and breakfasts at your pick of choice.

Everything and more you could want.

Except of course, when you're actually working at one of said guesthouses I
had spoken about.

Sixteen year old Ryan Adams gazed across the magnificent ocean view, just a
couple of blocks away from the guesthouse which his parents owned. It was
nearly Christmas time yet again and like every other year, the influx of
tourists was expected to be out in full blast, with said guesthouse,
promptly called "Excellent" as always fully booked for the festive season.

Ryan took a small rock that was lying besides his feet, as he sat on the
soft sand and tossed it into the ebbing ocean, which was slowly threatening
to spill over to where he was sitting. Knowing he had to get up and go home
soon to help his mother prepare dinner for their guests, he sighed.

Covid 19 had severely been having it's toll on the economy, and their
magnificent guesthouse was no exception... and whilst they had put every
single rule and order in place to that guests were free to come and enjoy
what Excellent had to offer, their finances had been tight. Ryan was now
being home-schooled by his father, as they simply had no other option,
unfortunately as a family they were still recovering from being closed for
six months due to the South African lockdown.

As such, teenager Ryan was being asked to help out as much as he could, as
they had to retrench several of their workers, and these were people who
had been working at Excellent since before Ryan was born. Ryan closed his
eyes and a part of him wanted to believe that this year had just been a
terrible dream, just one great big fucking nightmare. He told himself that
if he closed his eyes and opened them REAL fast, all this would vanish and
he would "wake up" from it all. It would be New Years Eve again, and there
would be no sign of Covid 19.

Alas, as he opened his eyes, the ocean view was still there, and so was
this horrible virus.

As he turned around to walk the short way back home, his eyes fell on a
teenage couple that was bust chasing each other around on the beach. The
boy looked nearly his own age, but the girl was older, that Ryan could
clearly see. The boy dunked himself underneath the rolling waves of the
water, whilst the girl was laughing her ass off, as if the boy had somehow
completed a minor miracle.

Not wanting to be seen, Ryan hid behind one of the several trees, a way off
from where the couple was. He couldn't take his eyes off them. The boy
picked the girl up and threw her into the water, and a while after the girl
hugged him towards her, all whilst smiling and looking very much in
love. Ryan's heart ached. It always did, when he saw people his own age
having a good time.

With all the work having to have been done, there wasn't exactly time for
Ryan to have a relationship. His dad in particular drove his ass really
hard in trying to salvage what was left of the school year, and as such, he
only had his phone, Google, and a few WhatsApp contacts he often spoke to.

Ryan didn't know what was wrong with him, because where other kids would go
out, have fun, get drunk beyond belief, have sex several times a week...he
just didn't have any interest. He was perfectly happy watching sports or
even reality shows on TV or on his phone.

But sometimes, like now, it was like a little sport behind his navel was
pulling at him, reminding him just what he was missing. The boy as well as
the girl looked like they were having the time of their lives. They looked
so fucking happy, so, so in love.

Ryan's eyes burned as he willed away the sudden emotion he felt. He had
waited his whole life to where he would eventually find girls
attractive. He even had sex with two of them, at a party earlier in the
year before Covid had struck, one of the few times he wanted to prove to
himself, that he was normal. The sex left much to be desired, he tried and
failed miserably to stay hard, to give the girls the pleasure they had
craved and deserved. Neither girl contacted him ever again.

Ryan's eyes glanced over the boy's torso as he angrily wiped more tears
away. He knew exactly why he couldn't get it up. Oh boy, did he know.

When Trump lost the election in the last few weeks, he had to listen to his
father go ON and ON about how Joe Biden and all who voted for him was the
anti Christ, just a bunch of faggots and trannies who now ruled the
world. How woman shouldn't have voting rights. When they were watching 911:
Lone Ranger, his father actually stood up and SPAT at the TV and switched
it off immediately, when Carlos and TK had kissed in that infamous gay sex
scene. He went on for about another hour about how he was going to cancel
our satellite dish if these are the types of programs that we had to watch.

So all in all, Ryan knew that he couldn't come out. At least not whilst his
dad was alive. It would be chaos. To say the least. With a last lingering
look at how in love the boy was, the girl having placed her arks around his
beck before leaning in for a deep kiss in the middle of the ocean...he
wiped the last of his tears and forced himself to get it the fuck together.

He had to help his mom with dinner.

**

The guesthouse was packed, well, as much as Covid regulations allowed it
be. Each table in the dining room was socially distant and the two waiters
as well as Ryan who was serving dinner, was wearing masks and face shields,
and were sanitizing their hands regularly, in full view of the patrons so
they would be more reassured.

Ryan did his best to smile and be professional in front of the visitors,
and smiled sadly and blushed several times some of the older guests asked
why he wasn't out on the town or enjoying his youth at sixteen, and instead
doing tables...what was he supposed to say?

Dinner was swiftly over and only two tables stayed behind to enjoy a last
coffee or some Amarula when the telephone rang. Ryan raced to answer hut
his mom, Kimberley, was already there.

"Cancelled? But why?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. Yet another of THOSE phone calls...god. What else was
new? Made the fucking booking but the moment that the Covid numbers began
to climb, people get scared and they cancel their planned trip. Paid in
full and everything, and expecting a full refund. Ryan saw his mother try
her best to stay calm, when he knew all she wanted to do was scream at the
unfairness that this devastating disease have brought.

When she ended the call, she sunk to her knees, fortunately knowing the
patrons couldn't see her. Ryan knelt beside his mother and gave her a tight
hug.

"Don't you worry, Mom. Everything will work out. You'll see," he whispered,
before he saw his Mom smile bravely and wipe away her tears, much like Ryan
himself did on the beach earlier.

"Ahhh well, I didn't wanna accept the young people's booking who called
this afternoon, but know I guess I have no choice. It's either that, or no
guests here next weekend."

"What's wrong with them?" Ryan laughed as he helped his mother up.

"Good Lord, they are all teenagers! They couldn't have a matric farewell
due to the virus and now they've decided they wanna come here all the way
from Cape Town. No parents, no chaperones. And guess what...the boy who
made the call actually told me he has money to pay for the entire
weekend. The rich and poor, my boy! We live very different lives. Damn,
Ryan, I really didn't want a bunch of snotty nosed kids here, all alone but
now...I'll phone them tomorrow morning. Can't say no to money. Not now."

**

Before Ryan fell asleep, he chatted with some of his friends from his old
school. Who's been dating who, who broke up with who, what was the latest
online trends, when will covid finally be over, and all that jazz. As
usual, he checked if any of them had recently posted something new on
Instagram, and his eyes widened as he saw that his former bestie Jill, had
a new boyfriend.

Gosh...look at that body...the strong upper chest, the muscular biceps that
the boy possessed. His hair flipped just the right way to make him look
super ass sexy, and he clearly knew it.

Ryan tossed his phone next to his pillow and switched off his bed light.

Why...what did I do wrong...he thought, with more tears streaming down his
face. Why couldn't I have someone special in my life as well? To make
everything worse, I just HAD to turn out gay didn't I?

He longed to have a boy, any boy, he didn't even care if the bloke was fat
or had thousands of zits...he yearned, ached and longed for a boy to hold
him in his arms as Jill's boyfriend was holding her in that picture.

With a raw groan from inside his throat Ryan turned around and pulled the
covers over him. His dad will literally kill him before he would ever allow
his son to date a guy. Any guy. He was so god damn lonely, he couldn't
stomach it anymore.

To make matters even worse, with no other bookings, it looked like a bunch
of seventeen and eighteen year olds would be here all weekend. Break the
place down, more like.

Who knows what the weekend would bring?

**

Here comes trouble...

Ryan laughed nervously as the raunchy teenagers descended on the Excellent
Guesthouse early on the Friday afternoon.

He couldn't stop smiling because it was exactly how he had thought it would
turn out. Bunch of spoilt brats who got loads of pocket money from their
millionaire mommies and daddies and now they wanna show it
off. Typical. But still, he was just a tad excited about having people
close to his own age stay here for a change.

There were one or two very, very handsome boys getting out of the two
expensive sports cars, three in total. The girls all screamed in excitement
as they saw the guesthouse and of course the beach down the road. The boys
all got their wallets out...of course, they invited the girls and they'd
have to foot the bill. Classic.

Part of Ryan wanted to join in so bad.

If these boys were really in their denial year of school, they definitely
didn't look it. Way younger, than eighteen in fact. Once the girls calmed
down Ryan lost sight of the teens as they must have made their way to the
front desk where his dad was. A grim feeling flushed over him. They weren't
here to socialise with you, dude...they were here to have a good time, swim
on the beach and to probably fuck their girlfriend's brains out all
weekend. You were their slave, basically. They'd wanna have dinner soon,
and you'd have to serve them.

"RYAN!?!"

"Damn...COMING DAD!" Ryan shouted back as he jogged the passage down to
where his dad was calling from. When Albert Adams had that tone of voice,
you dropped everything you were doing and obeyed. Both Ryan and his mom
knew that all too well by now.

"Ah Ryan, help me and Claud by taking these...charming guests' luggage to
their rooms and make sure to open the bar after you're done, okay?" Albert
said and Ryan nearly smirked...when his dad used the word "charming" it's
usually when he strongly disapproved of things...loud teenagers on over the
weekend wasn't exactly Albert's idea of fun, but hey...they needed the
money.

"He's cuter than you!" Ryan heard one of the girls say, which lead to a
snickering between the group, and he didn't dare look up.

"Yeah, if you're into twinks..." came the answer from the unknown girl's
boyfriend which lead to even more laughs and smirking sounds.

Breathe Ryan...he thought and picked up them fucking suitcases. This is
what always happens, he never fucking fits in anywhere! He didn't expect to
exactly make friends with these idiots but was those comments really
necessary?

He and their porter Claud finished their job and Ryan left it up to Claud
to ask if our service had been satisfactory. One of the boys reached into
his black Gucci wallet (what else?) and he pulled out a fifty.

"Split it between you, okay?" he said, before patting Claud on his
shoulder.

Ryan signalled to Claud that they get the bell outta there and open the bar
because these tyrants would wanna have some beers any damn second now.

"Why don't you say anything?" Claud whispered as soon as we were
downstairs.

"What do you want me to say? I'm weird, aren't I? I have literally no close
friends and I work for my parents, when I should be out screwing girls and
loving life. It doesn't always work out that way. Help me, and let's get
those beers ready and I'll make cocktails if the girls want them," Ryan
replied with his eyes darkened.

So he was a twink in their eyes? Whatever. Just do your job and stay out of
their way.

72 hours.

What's the worse than could happen?

**

"THEY WANT TO STAY FOR TWO WEEKS?"

Ryan nearly dropped his Nintendo Switch when his father told them the
news. God knows, the afternoon had been pure hell!

They had found fault with literally everything he and Claud tried to do for
them. The beer wasn't cold enough, the girls hated the ambiance, they were
so damn loud, two of the boys fought over some dumb reason right there in
the bar, and Albert had to separate them.

When they had finally returned from their three hours at the beach and the
nearby mall, they trampled the entire front porch and the corridors with
sand. And guess who had to clean it up...they were paying guests. They
needed the money, desperately. Ryan had no choice. His mother had to make
dinner and Albert...well, he had a soccer game on. Yeah...

"You two heard me. Seems like all there parents had clubbed together and
paid ahead. The money's already on our account. Kimberley, Ryan, we need
this. We can't say no. Simple as that."

Ryan sighed.

Great.

Just fucking great.

**

Two days had passed since the rowdy teenagers had arrived at the Excellent
Guesthouse and Ryan was at his wit's end.

Currently he was busy with the FOURTH batch of washing of theirs which had
to be done. They literally go through clothes like Ryan went through
underwear! God! And the smells...don't even. The cum stains...the smears...

When that was done, he finally saw that they were gone. Every single one of
them. The two sports cars in which they had arrived was still here...maybe
they went out to the mall again? He saw his swimming trunks laying very
invitingly on his bed and smiled to himself...better go now whilst they
weren't here.

For the next hour Ryan forgot all about his troubles, as he usually does
when he is in the water. The beach was strangely empty, especially for a
Sunday when it was usually packed, or at least it was before covid. He
closed his eyes and sank deeper into the cold, salty water...he could
literally stay here for life. It was the only time he had for himself, when
he could escape to a world only he knew and fit in.

Sounds from the shore got his attention.

Geez...what were THEY doing here?

Thank god it wasn't all of them. It was the same two boys who had fought on
Friday afternoon followed by two of the blond girls they were always
with. It seriously looked like they were gonna start fighting again, and
Ryan prayed that by some miracle, they didn't see him floating where he
was. He wanted nothing to do with them.

He flinched as the taller bully, the same one who called him a twink,
punched his friend so hard that said friend fell straight down on the
sand. The laughter, much like an hyena, that came from one of the blond
girls was electrifying and scary at the same time. The other girl knelt
next to the fallen boy, but he pushed her away angrily, and walked off.

Ryan didn't quite know what to think...but he knew he was gonna stay right
where he was until they were out of sight. That bigger guy scared the
living shit outta him.

**

Once the idiots had eaten and got into their sports cars and drove off,
Ryan sighed of relief. Two more weeks of this. Fucking hell.

Once more, the bully had a problem with the food, and his girlfriend kept
supporting him. None of the others had anything to say about the
scrumptious lasagne that Kimberley had made, but of course, Mr Big Boss and
his skank made sure that Kimberley reheated the food twice, as well as
offer them free drinks for the "trouble".

Ryan scowled. There was nothing wrong with the food. His mom was a first
class cook. They just were difficult because they COULD. Fucking regards.

It was a cool, warm Sunday evening. Ryan walked out to the swimming pool
and sat down on one of the relaxing beach chairs. He reached for his phone,
before he suddenly heard a voice.

"Hey, you okay?"

Ryan turned his head towards the voice so fast, it was a miracle he didn't
suffer whiplash. He winched as his neck hurt for a bit, but then he saw a
boy looking straight at him, from behind the fountain that sprouted behind
the pool.

It was the same boy who had been hit by that bully earlier this
afternoon. Ryan knew the boy had asked him a question, but for some reason
he couldn't answer. He had resented all of them all weekend...and now he
couldn't think of a single thing to say.

The boy stood up and walked slowly over towards Ryan. He stopped about two
meters away from him. Only then, the latter saw that he had a cigarette in
his hand. The boy took a few puffs before throwing it to the ground and
stomping it out.

"I'm Jeremy. Jez, for short. I've seen you around here. You're...Brian?"

"Ryan," the latter answered. He was being really cautious...he didn't wanna
get involved with them in any way, shape or form, but he couldn't just up
and leave...how would that look, especially to a guest?

Jeremy, or Jez...sat down on the chair next to his and pulled out his pack
of cigarettes along with a lighter.

"You smoke, bro?" he asked Ryan before lighting one on for himself.

"No, I mean, no thanks, but I don't smoke," Ryan said carefully.

Jeremy laughed softly and put his cigarettes away.

"Good. And don't you fucking start. Once you're hooked on these babies, you
ain't stopping," he said, blowing out the smoke across the pool after he
took another puff.

It was deadly quiet between the two boys for a while to the point where it
nearly became awkward, when Ryan saw Jez smile, and straight at him, yet
again.

"Something wrong? I mean, what's so funny?" Ryan asked, blushing as he did,
forgetting that this before him was in fact a paying guest and not a total
stranger.

Jez took another puff before he snickered.

"Nah, I was just thinking how I so didn't wanna go with Brad and them all
to our grandparent's ranch...when I can have you for company..."

Ryan stood up fast, and he had to stop himself from making a nasty comment.

"I have things to do, so can I get you a beer or anything? If not, please
excuse me..."

"Jesus! Will you chill the fuck out? I was joking...come on man, sit
down. You're like the only guy my age here right now. And it's not like me
and Brad are on speaking terms right now, anyway."

Ryan slowly sat back down, and turned his body around in order to face Jez.

"I'm not really supposed to socialize..."

"What, are you forty?"

"I'm sixteen actually..."

"Same as me! Put it there!" Jez said as his eyes lit up, and he pushed out
his fist towards Ryan. The latter hesitated...just what the hell was going
on here?

Why was this...sigh...this very sexy boy actually chatting to HIM of all
people? What was the catch? Where were the hidden cameras? Guys who looked
like Jez, did not usually speak to guys who looked like him...

...and he was probably gonna regret this...

...he placed his fist slowly onto that of Jez. And nothing happened. The
world did not end.

"Was that so bad?" Jez laughed as he took the final puff and yet again
stomped the cigarette out.

"I saw you and that guy...Brad? This afternoon when he hit you. I was
swimming when it happened. You okay?" Ryan asked as he was stunned one more
time by the insane beauty of this guy before him.

Jez pulled a face and leaned back, stretching out his long legs on the
chair and placing his arms behind his head. He breathed out some air, very
slowly.

"I didn't even wanna come, ya know. Brad is my cousin. My parents...well,
they died two years ago and I had to go live with them."

Ryan's eyes softened and he let his guard down, just a bit in hearing
that. Why was there suddenly a warm feeling inside his chest... ?

"Oh man...I'm really sorry to hear that..."

"It was...yeah, it was pretty terrible. I'm sixteen, like you, and still my
aunt and uncle made me come with Brad and his cronies. When we got here on
Friday, I was like...look at this view, I mean, it's beautiful. You know
that way better than me. And I really thought maybe it won't be so bad
here. Fuck...Brad's a dick. He kept making fun of me all the way here, just
to impress those two girls he's two timing. He didn't want me here anymore
than I wanted to come. Fuck man, I'm sorry. You don't need to know all my
shit."

Ryan swallowed.

He literally couldn't take his eyes off Jez. Now that the latter was spread
out on the deck chair, he could take a good look at him. Taller, lanky,
well it sure looked like he had a good body underneath his shirt and
leather jacket. He had a silver chain of a cross around his neck as
well...his dark black hair swatted across his forehead made him one of the
most gorgeous guys Ryan had ever seen.

His fingers and palms were suddenly sweaty. This wasn't supposed to
happen. He wasn't supposed to click with these guys?

"Why so quiet?" Jez asked, as he moved his eyes towards Ryan.

"I dunno...I guess I've always been here, at the guesthouse, here in
Margate. I don't have a lot of friends and those I do have life miles
away. I never see them these days with covid and all. And you guys all live
in Cape Town...wow...I'd love to visit there someday."

Jez lurched his body upwards and looked Ryan in the eye.

"Anyone ever tell you, you're sexy as hell?"

Ryan froze. It was like he was having an out of body experience.

Jez smiled and stood up, being careful to keep his distance.

"You need to know how to take a compliment, bro. I'm gonna hit the sack,
I'm bushed. See ya tomorrow... maybe."

Ryan watched as Jez walked past him, and he didn't dare look back.

What just happened?

Since when did hot boys do that?? What? This was insane!

He could still smell the cigarette smoke...make no mistake, it had been
very real.

The cold evening air swept through him. It was after eleven in the evening
after all.

And suddenly,

Ryan Adams smiled.

**

THANKS FOR READING!!

Wanna read more? Should I write a second chapter? Lemme know!!

liciousryan@gmail.com