Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2018 23:49:37 +0000 From: kuragari 129 Subject: Life's Unexpected Surprises - Chapter 12 Life's Unexpected Surprises (LUS) is written and owned by me, under the pen name Kuragari129. Posting this story on another site must be done with my permission. Events in this story are fictional, and entirely made up. Any similarities to your personal experiences are coincidental. If you are not the legal age in your area to read this, I ask you to leave now. This story will contain sex between two male partners, so you've got a fair warning. Nifty is great, isn't it? We love to give you guys more stories on a daily basis. So help out Nifty by donating to them to keep this site up and running strong! So go to donate.nifty.org/donate.html today and donate! Thank you for choosing LUS. LUS is a continuation of the Original "Life" Series. Life's Expectations (LE), Colby's Life Expectations (CLE) and Life's Little Lies (LLL). This story is a stand-alone and will provide all information that is required, but it doesn't hurt to read the prequels. Links will be posted below. LE: www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/lifes-expectations/ CLE: www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/colbys-life-expectations/ LLL: www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/lifes-little-lies/ Enjoy. LUS - Chapter 12 Regal 1 Here I was walking into the school with Arroh right behind me, and there it was. The poster I've been waiting for, the talent show. Every year the school does a talent show to show off our school's talent. I planned on winning again this year. "Oh great, the talent show..." Arroh sighed as he stopped beside me. "You'll probably win it again for the fifth time." I had won it every year I've been in this school. I shrugged. "I'll be modest for a second; maybe I won't." Arroh snorted. "Who would beat you? You've got an in with the tech director. On top of all that your commitment to putting on a great show has always been there. If anyone in this school can match your showmanship." "Thanks, Arroh." For a troublesome little brother, he sure knows how to encourage me. "That Vega kid has me concerned though. He's got a voice and a message." "When did you hear him sing?" "Karaoke night, he played the song himself too." That kid... the way he sings, such feeling behind it. "He's a powerhouse." Arroh shrugged. "If you say so. Don't screw it all up!" Arroh waved back at me as he walked away to start his day. If I'm honest with myself, I want the competition. Having Vega up there competing against me would motivate me to do even better. Vega needs to be in the show for me to be on my A-game. I didn't find him as I searched throughout the school the entire day. Addison and I even went out of our way to look for him. Ultimately we decided to go out for something to eat after school at his mom's restaurant. His mother was working the front when we came in. "Good afternoon you two! How are you today?" "We're great!" Addison was very cheerful today. "We were looking for Vega." She looked like she knew exactly why we were looking for him. "He wasn't feeling great today and wasn't at school. What did you two want from him?" I cleared my throat before speaking. "We are having a talent show at school, and I wanted to ask Vega to participate personally." "Oh, are you helping run the show?" "No." I shook my head. "It's mostly selfish, but I believe Vega will push me to be better. That's the reason I want him in the talent show." Linda had a motherly smile on her face. "I will let him know about it, thanks, boys." "I was hoping to tell him myself actually." She seemed to hesitate at first, but relaxed. "Here, I'll write the address, and you can go talk to him. I'll give Vega a call, so you don't surprise him." "Thanks, Linda!" Addison and I spoke together. After getting the address we left as she was making the call. The address wasn't that far from my own, so it was just outside the bad part of town. We got to the street pretty quickly; it wasn't far from the restaurant at all. We got there and knocked on the door. Vega answered in PJ bottoms and a t-shirt. "Yes? Mom said you wanted to tell me something?" He seemed normal to me; maybe he got over the sickness already. "The school is having a talent show, and I want you to be a part of it." Vega emotion didn't change. "Why would you want that?" "You're an amazing singer and performer Vega. I want the challenge." Addison chuckled a bit. "Take that as a huge compliment; Regal has won the past four years in a row. He has to think you have what it takes to beat him." Addison was right, and to be honest I didn't I could beat him. Nothing like giving it a try though. "I'll think about it, thanks for letting me know." Vega went to close the door, but I put my foot in the way. "What else do you want?" I didn't know what to say, I had a thought, but it just went away almost instantly. I took a step back freeing the door to close again. "Hope to see you in the show." Vega gave off a grin as he closed the door. You have to do it Vega; it's up to you to push me to be better. Breston 2 "Come on; you have to let me spend some time in your dad's library!" I was badgering Simon to let me come over. His dad's manga collection was outstanding. "You'll barely know I'm there!" Simon laughed. "That could be a problem, I have company over and doing things with said company." He shook his head. "You can come over soon promise, but this talent thing has Evie scheduling practices left, right and center." I cocked my head. "You're going to enter the show?" He nodded. "Ya, I'm a decent drummer. Evie is determined to enter the show with her violin. She has been trying to get a couple more people to put on a performance together." I didn't know these things about Simon, that's pretty cool though. "That's pretty cool if I was good at something I would offer to join in." I shrugged at my lack of musical skill. "Oh well, hope Evie gets the crew she wants." Simon laughed. "You've got other skills Breston; music just isn't your thing. Evie will get it done; she knows enough people." A high pitch whistle came from down the hall. Simon rolled his eyes as he turned towards it. "Here she is now." And there she was trudging down the hallways, pulling a boy behind her. "Hello, Breston." She acknowledged me briefly before turning to Simon. "Simon, come with us. Vega here has an amazing idea." "Talent show?" She nodded and walked off, once again pulling Vega with her. "I guess I'll see you later Breston. After the show, I'll have you over, promise!" I gave him a wave before heading off to find Elijah. It didn't take long; he was waiting at our usual spot. One look at him and I had this urge to tell him everything. But I suppressed those thoughts and pushed them back. I promised Liz that Elijah wouldn't find out until she was ready. It was up to her to tell him, not me. "Didn't manage to convince Simon today?" Elijah asked breaking me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. "Nah, he's doing talent show stuff. He said after the show was done he'd have me over." Elijah laughed. "You're not known for your patience. You're gonna bug him again tomorrow aren't you?" I nodded proudly. "Of course you are. Okay, let's go home." Taxon 3 "Have a nice day!" I cheerfully spoke as a customer left the store. Today business was a little busier than usual. And it felt like I was working mostly by myself. Zelda was busy talking with a couple of Magic players for the past hour. And Regal was keeping himself occupied with little tasks so he could sing to himself. Like right now, he's singing along to the radio. ...In the night sky are like shooting stars? Could really use a wish right now Wish right now, wish right now Can we pretend that airplanes In the night sky are like shooting stars? At least it was a song I enjoyed. Hayley is such a good singer. Regal is too, but Hayley is better than him. Regal must have noticed my glare at him. He just rolled his eyes and continued to sing along with the radio. Journey's 'Anyway You Want It' came on the radio. At least this was a song that I could block out Regal's voice with. I continued with my tasks that I had been given. I was just finishing sorting through a box of trading cards when Uncle Isaac came into the store. There were a few kids from school in the store, and they instantly started whispering to each other. "Hey Uncle!" I grinned, knowing that it would earn me brownie points with them. "What brings you to the store today?" "I need to talk with your Uncle. We might have a major Blades announcement at the store." My eyes lit up instantly. "And no, you don't get to know in advanced." "Damn, that would be so cool." Uncle laughed. "But since you can easily Google this, it's a reveal for the cast for act three. Their new, updated appearances. As well as other important characters in the act. That is the official statement." "That's so cool!" I fanboyed to myself. Everyone is getting a new look, that will be so sick. "So you want to talk about Uncle Antoine holding a thing at the store as a way to bring in customers for him?" "We've done it before; they have worked out very well for everyone. Now back to work, your boss is watching." I turned to see Uncle Antoine smiling at us. I returned to my next box of cards while my Uncles went into the back office to talk business. The two kids, after my uncles shut the door, came over to me. "You're seriously Isaac's nephew?" One of them asked me. "Yeah, he's my mom's younger brother." The two were star struck with me. They started asking me all kinds of questions, all at once. Regal ended up walking over and leaning on the counter. "Hey." He caught their attention. "Antoine and Isaac are married; it should be no surprise at this point that he comes into the store every so often." He wasn't really rude about it, but certainly not nice. The two shrunk as Regal returned to his list of tasks. "It's cool. I've seen a few things about Blades before it comes out. But most of it is locked in my Uncle's office." "That's so awesome!" They spoke together. I laughed before going continuing our conversation as I sorted cards. I had an enjoyable time with them, even with Regal singing in the background. ...simple kind of man. Be something you love and understand. Baby, be a simple kind of man. Oh, won't you do this for me son, If you can? Regal's voice caught the attention of the two kids in front of me. "Wow, he's really good." One said to the other, to which they nodded. "He was on a singing competition, and will be doing the talent show at the school this year." I looked over at Regal for a moment. "He will probably win." "No doubt." The kid's watch went off. "Ahhh man! We gotta go. See you later Tax!" "Have a good day guys." I waved to them as they walked out. "Regal? Do you haaave to sing the entire time?" "Gotta find that song that I'm gonna sing. Sorry, not sorry Tax." I rolled my eyes and put the last of the cards away. "Talent show be over soon, please!" I spoke under my breath to myself. Zelda heard me though and chuckled. I hushed her and got the last set of cards out to sort. This is going to be terrible. Uncle Isaac came out of the office and came over to me. "Clean up; you're off. We're going to look at the house your mom and dad bought." "Oh sick! They finally did it." I quickly packed the cards up and went to grab my jacket. "Gonna go see the house!" I sang to myself as I walked into the back room. Uncle Antoine laughed but didn't take his eyes off his work. NEW HOUSE!! Taxon 4 Dash was the first to the door, even though Uncle Isaac had the key. "You have no chill Dash." I laughed at her motioning us to hurry up. "Well if you two weren't taking your sweet ass time, we could be checking out the house!" Dash continued her hand motions. "Is this the house mom and dad are final on?" "Yes, Dash, this is going to be your house." Oh cool, this means that it's a race to find the best room. And then the second best room to claim for ourselves. So let's skip the master and find my room. The house was two floors, but not huge like Uncle's place is. Or the Bell's place, that's a decent size too. It had this cozy feel to it, and I liked it. When the door was opened, Dash took off heading through the house and upstairs. It was then I realized it was a three-story house with a full basement. I went downstairs. "She's looking for the master, why bother? It's mom and dad's room." "That is true." Uncle chuckled as he went to take a look himself. I found an open area down the stairs, with a bathroom and bedroom right beside it. It wasn't the most spacious bedroom, but it would fit my stuff. Plus the open room and bathroom being right beside it was a bonus. I could go to the bathroom in my underwear, or nude even! "This will be mine!" I called out to make sure Dash heard me. Her thundering stomps could be heard as she came down the stairs. I waited for her to appear at the top of the staircase. "You what now?" "This is my room." I pointed into it. Dash shrugged. "The room upstairs is bigger. And yes, and I'm not talking about the master." She shrugged and then noticed the bathroom. "Damn, nice choice." "Thank you!" "I still like the bigger room upstairs." That was fair; if it weren't for all this space just outside my room, I would too. Though now thinking about it, mom and dad will use it for something else. "Let's check out the basement!" We went downstairs and found a nice open common room. "This is going to be our space!" I declared. Mom and dad won't get a choice in this matter. Basement is our chill space with friends. "You think mom and dad are going to accept that?" Dash turned and asked me. "Yep!" Uncle Isaac said from the top of the stairs. "It was their exact thoughts when looking at the basement. How do you like the house?" We look at each other and smiled. "We love it!" We spoke in unison. New home! Now, mom and dad just have to get their butts and all our stuff here finally! Hunter 5 Quinn and I sat together at lunch. His friends Luke, Elijah and Breston, were there too. Us two were in our own little world though. It was the day of my first karate lesson, and I wasn't that excited. "I'm not looking forward to tonight." I sighed before taking a bite of my food. Quinn tilted his head. "How come? Karate isn't that bad, is it?" "No, not really. I'm just not excited about having to do it." Luke chimed in. "I took Karate and taekwondo; both were really fun." Elijah laughed. "How far did you make it on both?" "Never very far!" We all laughed, even Luke. "It shouldn't be bad though. It's just a lot of discipline training and defending yourself." That's the part I didn't look forward to, the discipline I mean. Quinn smiled. "That face says it all. Hunter isn't looking forward to restraining himself." That was a much better way of putting it. Thanks, Quinn. Breston gave me a look but didn't say anything. He seemed like he was thinking about something, distracted. Luke had said that Elijah and Breston were brothers, yet Elijah doesn't seem bugged. "You'll do fine Hunter." Luke smacked my shoulder. "It will be a blast!" "If you say so, Luke." Just then the bell went off. We had ten minutes until class started back up. "I'll see you guys later, Quinn you have your study period right?" "Yep! We can walk to class together." We shared a smile before heading off. Neither one of us said anything really until we turned the corner to walk down the hallway with our classes on it. "You know... I don't really like it." "Like what?" I asked. Quinn had to think for a second. "The way you are so quick to be physical. I don't like it. Don't get me wrong; I very much appreciate how you came to my defense. Just... next time could it be less violent?" "That's what karate is going to do hopefully. I will do my best not to throw the first punch." Quinn giggled. "Baby steps?" "It's good enough for me, for now." This kid's eyes... they always seem to be sparkling with thought. "Is anyone going with you to karate tonight?" "Just my dad... dads I guess." Nick and Lucas, I never thought of them together as 'dads' collectively. Guess they are though. "Do you think I could come?" Quinn had that same look; he was thinking of something but wasn't going to share it. "I could ask my dad if I could go to your house instead of Elijah's. I would like that very much!" I nodded. "I'll talk to Lucas and Nick to make sure, but I don't see the problem." "Awesome!" Quinn gleefully went to his classroom door. "Let me know by the end of this period, 'kay?" "Sounds like a plan!" Elijah 6 Since Quinn got permission to go over to Hunter's that left me to do whatever I wanted. And Luke was kind enough to offer for me to head over to his place. His friend Dominique was coming over too. They were going to play basketball for a bit; I thought I would watch and keep score for them. I can't play for the life of me, but I love watching others play. Luke was clearly better, but Dominique had the size advantage, and it was paying off. "What's wrong Luke? I'm winning, no problem." Dominique laughed as he passed the ball back to Luke, whose anger was ever growing. "You shut it! I'm gonna pull out the lead once you start getting tired and you know it." Dominique looked over at me. "Unless Elijah calls game early." He gave me a wink before preparing himself for the game again. I had this moment of 'he's winking at me because he thinks I'm cute' but quickly overcame that. There was no way this older boy would be doing that to me, let alone any boy. He doesn't seem like the type. "Did you just wink at Elijah?" Luke looked towards me confused. Dominique took this as a chance to take a free shot and scored another basket. "What the hell!? I wasn't in the game!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game." Dominique clicked with his mouth as he pointed at Luke. "Gotta get good kid!" Luke glared at him and picked up the ball before continuing their game. I let the game go on for a while before stopping it. Luke almost managed to get ahead, but Dominique was able to keep ahead. I called the game when Luke and Dominique were both breathing heavily. Between his breaths Luke managed to say, "I'm going to the bathroom, be right back." And he set off like a dart into his house. Dominique sat down beside me, and he gave me a playful shove. "So Elijah, you enjoying the new town?" I shrugged. "It's okay. I miss back home once in a while, but its nice here, and I have lots of new friends." I grinned, showing my teeth. "That's good!" He shook my shoulder a bit. "Got your eye on anyone here?" I blushed and turned away from him. "There's someone..." No way am I telling him I'm into boys. "I don't think anything will happen from it though." "You can get 'em. Just got to push yourself to get what you want." "What if they don't like me back?" Dominique nodded slowly. "Then you did all that you could. Have to find a new crush. It'll be hard, but you could do it." "Is there anyone you like Dom?" He got this little grin on his face. "Yeah... but I don't know if we're gonna be a thing." I tilted my head to the side. "Do they not like you?" Dominique shook his head. "They do, but I don't know if I can date them." I didn't say anything; I didn't understand what he meant by it. "My family... I don't think they will like the person." "Then why not bring them home as a friend first?" Dominique's eyes went wide. "That way they don't know beforehand. Maybe get a study session in with them or something." "That's a pretty brilliant idea, Elijah. Thanks." "No problem!" I don't know if I helped Dominique more, or if he helped me. Either way, I think we both got some good advice from each other. The only problem is my crush has a girlfriend... Hunter 7 "HYAH!" Some of the kids yelled as they trained. I stood there looking at the situation very confused. "HYAH!" Another kid went, and suddenly I had Quinn tight to my side. "What's wrong Quinn?" His hands were shaking a bit. "Everyone is very loud here. I don't like it." I put my arm around him trying to provide comfort. "No one here will hurt you, Quinn. You'll be fine, promise." With a couple of deep breaths, Quinn was relatively back to his usual self. He did jump at louder noises. "Hey Quinn, come sit with us." Nick came over and led Quinn to the bleachers. That left me hanging out on the floor by myself. I was hanging around kids all younger than me, and it was kind of embarrassing. There were kids my age a level or two up, but I was stuck with kids that were like 10, which sucked for me. There was a long welcome speech I barely paid attention to. Then right after that finished one of the instructors came over to me. "You're Hunter?" I nodded. "Yes, sir." "Okay, it's just going to be you and me for a couple of sessions." My confusion was written all over my face. "Well, I only come in when there's enough money for me to work. That's usually only when someone pays for a private instructor." I glared over at Nick and Lucas. "They didn't..." That has to have cost them quite a bit of money! That's not okay! "Someone did, so let's get started. My name is Owen, nice to meet you." The lesson wasn't that bad. It was really basic stuff that probably could have been seen on YouTube. I followed along anyway and listened to everything he said to do. It was nice having one on one training rather than being a part of the huge group. Two hours passed and I was feeling much more confident in myself. I had sweat all over me, and I hated it. Quinn thought it was pretty funny though. "You're gross right now." "Oh, thanks, Quinn." All he did was giggle while covering his mouth. "You two didn't spend a fortune on these private lessons did you?" "We covered half of it," Nick explained. "My mom and yours covered the other half. Don't get too used to them though; they will only last a few sessions." I shrugged. "That's fine. Maybe I'll fast track up the belts!" "Good luck with that one!" Quinn smiled before leading us out of the gymnasium. The first lesson wasn't too bad, even if I am more sweety than I would like. Addison 8 Regal and I walked into the open mic night. Regal wasn't planning on singing tonight but wanted to check out who was here. Linda and Vega were sitting in the same corner as before, and we went to join them. "Hey Linda, Vega." I waved to them as Regal's eyes were focused on the stage. Linda motioned for us to join them. "Hello boys, how are you two tonight?" "We're doing just fine," I answered. "Right Regal?" That barely caught his attention. I decided to look at what he was looking at on stage. That Evie girl was up there talking with the DJ. "What is she doing here?" Regal asked mostly himself. Vega's voice came from beside me. "She wanted to show me how well she could sing, so I brought her here. She's trying to convince the DJ to play a specific song." "I wonder what she's singing." Linda pondered. "Hope it's good." Regal smiled. Vega nodded. "Agreed. She wants me to sing with her for the talent show." That caught all of Regal's attention. What could be going on in his head now? After a few moments of silence, the DJ spoke over the mic. "Okay, little Miss Evie here is going to sing us a little Lindsey Sterling with 'Shatter Me.' The stage is yours!" With that introduction, the music started and the stage lights focused in on Evie. She stood in front of the microphone stand, hands at her side. The xylophone started out the song, and then she sang the first lines to the song. I pirouette in the dark I see the stars through me Her hands went up to mimic the motion of Lindsey's Violin. Her voice was crystal clear, giving me the shivers down my spine. Tired mechanical heart Beats till the song disappears Somebody shine a light I'm frozen by the fear in me Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me Evie got so into the song; her hands were moving in perfect motion. Her voice got the perfect amount of intensity. She, combined with Vega, could easily take Regal on. So cut me from the line Dizzy, spinning endlessly Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! Shatter me! Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! If only the clockworks could speak I wouldn't be so alone We burn every magnet and spring And spiral into the unknown This girl had some serious chops on her. I've shivered several times listening to her, and Regal has too. The smile on his face though said the most. He was excited about the challenge she could provide him. Somebody shine a light I'm frozen by the fear in me Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me So cut me from the line Dizzy, spinning endlessly Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! Shatter me! Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly There's no one to catch me if I take a dive I'm scared of changing; the days stay the same The world is spinning but only in gray If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly There's no one to catch me if I take a dive I'm scared of changing; the days stay the same The world is spinning but only in gray Somebody shine a light I'm frozen by the fear in me Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me So cut me from the line Dizzy, spinning endlessly Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! Shatter me! Somebody make me feel alive And shatter me! I watched the rest of her performance in silence. She was good, and everyone here knew it. She got a huge round of applause. The whole place was in chatter as she left the stage and joined back with us. "How was that Vega? Convinced to join us yet?" She sat down in the last remaining chair at our table. Vega had a grin. "Yes Evie, I'll do it. With that song as well." "Perfect!" She seemed very excited about it. "Maybe we can dethrone mister flawless over there." "Oh, thanks," was Regal's only comment. Linda went up to sing; she sang `Where We Go' by Pink. It was quite a nice rendition. It was a slow night overall but was quite enjoyable. Regal was mostly quiet for it though. When we went to leave after we parted ways with Linda, Vega, and Evie I turned to him. "So what's been on your mind all night?" All he did was smile. "The Talent show." Chapter End. It's late I know! I'm sorry. Life happened, and it took far too long to get out. Update for LUS though. It's not hiatus yet. I will write two more chapters before that happens. Those chapters will be a little different from everything before, a little taste of what is to come after the hiatus is over. But those chapters will be released alongside a chapter of LRE. Those chapters will be all one chapter without numbers. So for GA, this means that this will be the first time all the chapters are together. This is to make it, hopefully, a little less obvious who will end up with who. Chapter 13 will focus on the main characters that have had focus so far. Chapter 14 will have more of a focus on the other characters. You'll have to tune in to find out who gets a POV in those chapters! Thank you so much for your patience! Hope you had a good last 2 months I also have other stories that I have completed or are being worked on. For a full list of stories on Nifty just follow the link below! www.nifty.org/nifty/authors.html#kuragari You can contact me at kuragari129@hotmail.com, and I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. You can also follow my Social media pages to get regular updates and more information on my stories and their progress Facebook: www.facebook.com/LifesExpectations Twitter: Twitter.com/Kuragari129 Join the conversation on my Discord channel! discord.gg/n6vJvEC Thanks for reading!