Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 12:18:43 -0800 (PST) From: Aaron Hull Subject: One or the Other: Chapter Thirteen - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is my first story that has chapters! My other stories are Hayden's Story and Gavin's Got Game, they're here under the High School section. If you like this story then you should check them out because there are some similarities except this one doesn't have sex. So if that's what you were looking for I'm sorry. My shorter stories may have sex but this story will contain no sex, there may be references to sex, but I will not go into detail. If you like this story, contact me at wah.stories@yahoo.com. I strongly encourage it. Also, If you want to be on my e-mail list to find out when the next chapter comes out, please include that in the email! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Spencer's perspective- I slowly opened my eyes. It was bright, too bright. I closed my eyes again and tried to move my hand to block the light. It hurt so I groaned. I heard a woman gasp. She then ran out of the room. "Doctor! He's up!" I thought to myself. "Doctor? Where the hell am I?" I opened my eyes and used my hand as a visor. It still hurt but I had to see where I was. The room was a baby blue color. There were machines near me and chairs on both side of me. I was lying on one of those hospital beds with an IV in my arm. I've always been scared of needles so I cringed at the sight. I lifted up the blanket to see that I was wearing one of those hospital gowns. I concluded that I actually was in a hospital. A doctor then walked into the room. "Good morning Spencer. How are you?" He said with a smile. I tried to speak but my throat hurt really bad. I then squeaked out, "I hurt." "Well don't worry about that, son. It's my job to make sure you get better. I'm Dr. Alexander." Just then my mom burst into the room; she had tears in her eyes. "Spencer!" She then ran over to me and hugged me. It hurt like hell, but I hugged her back. "I was so scared. I thought I'd never be able to hug you again." She started to cry harder. "I'm okay, Mom. You're hurting me more than anything right now." She let go. "I'm sorry baby. I didn't mean to cause you any pain." "It's okay." Just then the door slowly creaked open. "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you that all your friends are here. Megan couldn't make it." "It's okay, Mom. I know she has better things to do." Lizzie then peeked in. "Is it okay if we come in?" I thought it was weird for Lizzie to be polite. She's usually rude and does whatever she wants. "It is." Lizzie, Jessie, Kurt, Macy, Trey, Dusty, Daniel, Mason, and Mason's mom all walked in. I was definitely shocked to see the last two. "Hey buddy." Lizzie said. She then broke down and ran over and hugged me. "Don't you ever get hurt again, damn it! I was so fucking worried about you!" "Okay Mom. I'll learn how to defend myself." I smiled and Lizzie punched my arm. She apologized after she realized what she did. "Speaking of defending yourself..." My mom started to say. I just knew she like put me in JROTC or something like that to make me tough. "Mason's mom and I have agreed that it would be best if you joined Garret, Mason's little brother, in karate. I know he's much younger than you and he's been doing it for a little longer than you but I don't want this to happen to you again." "But Mom! I'll be the only freshman with a white belt." I complained. "Nope!" Lizzie said. "Me and Macy are doing it with you!" "Great." I said with a smile. "Don't worry, Spencer. Garret enjoys karate and I'm sure you will too. He wanted to come to see if you were okay but I didn't think it would be a good idea to have a thousand people here." Mason's mom said. "We'll all be over tomorrow though, right after school. Mason said that even though you're in the hospital you all still need to work on the project. I'm sure he has more reasons than that, but I'm not going to pry." She looked at him and smiled. Each one took his turn saying hi and giving me a hug. The first few to leave were Jessie, Trey, and Dusty. Dusty had to go because he had morning practice for football and Jessie and Trey had to leave because Dusty was their ride. Macy, Daniel, and Kurt were the next to leave when Max came to pick them up. All that were left now were Mason, his mom, my mom, and Lizzie. "We need to leave soon, Mason." His mom said. "We do too Lizzie. Since you don't have to go to school tomorrow you're staying with Megan and me so we can get here early." My mom said. "Give me a minute." Mason said. Lizzie, my mom, and Mason's mom left us alone. "So...you sure you're all right?" "I think I am. Thanks for stopping by." "You're welcome." "I didn't want to say anything earlier because I knew that my mom would be hiring someone to help me, but could you please tell me what happened? All I can remember is trying to find Trey and then waking up here." "Someone knocked you unconscious and beat you up badly. They then dumped you behind the dumpsters and that's where you were found. It was near the end of the day so you were back there for about three hours." He didn't look at me when he said it. He looked really sad too. Just a minute ago he seemed happy. "Thanks." "Anytime." He stood there for a few more minutes. It was the most awkward few minutes of my life so far. "I better be going." "See ya." "See ya." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "Hey baby." My mom said as she and Lizzie entered my room. "Are you doing okay today?" "Yeah, I guess so. If I could tell what those numbers meant on this machine I'd tell you if I were or not." "Don't be a smart ass." My mom said. "We got up extra early to come see you." "Sorry Mom. It just gets boring here and you know I get cranky when I get bored." "It's okay, sweetie. Have you had breakfast yet?" "Not yet. I don't think the nurses know I'm awake." "Spencer! You need to let them know when you wake up, I don't want these drugs to mess up your sleep schedule. Give me just a minute and I'll find one and have her get your breakfast." Mom then walked out of the room. From what I've heard about how she's been since I was put in here, she seems pretty calm. Lizzie was still in the room. She was standing on the opposite side of the room and looking down at her feet. That's extremely odd for Lizzie. "Well...aren't you going to say hi?" I said laughing. "Shut up dude. I'm still like asleep." Lizzie said. "I couldn't sleep so I was out on your back porch smokin' the fuck out of my stash." "My mom would kill you if she knew you did that." "She loves me too much." I rolled my eyes playfully. "Sadly." We then both laughed. My mom and Lizzie were there for what felt like forever. The only awkward part was when I had to use the bathroom, thankfully I was allowed to get up and go to the bathroom in my room, and I forgot that my hospital gown wasn't tied in the back. My mom and Lizzie saw my "cute" little ass, my mom's words, not mine. Apart from that, the hours they were there were pretty good. A nurse came in around four or so and said that there was a family here to see me. I told my mom that it was most likely Mason's. She and Lizzie left to go greet them and to let them come back and see me. "Hey, bud." Mason's dad said as he, Mason, and Garret came into the room. "I would've came yesterday but I heard all your friends were here and decided to let them see ya first. You doing okay?" "Yeah. I'm still a little sore and it hurts to walk, but I'm sure that's only because all I do is lie here and watch TV or talk to someone or sleep." "That sounds like the life I want to live." Mason's dad said with a laugh. I smiled back. "It does feel good to not have to worry about anything." Mason's dad and I talked a little bit more. He then had Garret say hi to me. "Hi Spencer." Garret said. He was standing halfway behind his dad, I think he was a little scared of hospitals. ""Hey Garret. How are you." "Good." He replied. He kinda reminded me of myself when I was younger when it came to talking to people; one word was good enough. "So, I was told that I'd be doing karate with you." "Mom and Dad told me that." Garret replied. "What belt are you?" "Blue." "Nice. I'm not sure exactly how good that is but blue is my favorite color." "It goes white, yellow, orange, BLUE, purple, green, brown, and then black. I should be a black belt by the time I'm twelve." Garret started to open up. "Is that good?" "Most can't go from blue to black in two years. It usually takes like four." I complimented him. "You must be really good." "Sensei says I'm the best in my age level. Dad is gonna let me compete in a karate tournament next weekend. It'll be my first. Mom is scared I'll get hurt so it took Dad lots of persuading." "Maybe you and I will go up against each other some time." "When are you going to start?" Garret asked me. "I'm not sure. My mom hasn't told me and I don't think my doctor will want me beating up little kids too soon."I laughed. I could see Mason standing next to his dad and smiling. "Please, I would kick your ass." Garret said. He was now being loud, kinda like his older brother, no longer reminding me of myself. "Garret! Don't cuss! Mom would die if she heard you talking that way." Garret looked over at his dad with this sad look on his face. "Sorry." He then turned back to me and slightly smiled. "It's true though." "We'll see. I may be thin and uncoordinated but I can take your puny butt down." "Come on, Garret." His dad said. "I think Mason wants to talk to Spencer." "How come he can stay when we talk to Spencer but when he wants to talk to Spencer he gets him all to himself?" Garret said. "You'll understand when you're older, bud." Mr. Glover said as they exited the room. "I have bad news." Mason said as soon as the door was closed. "Mrs. Hamilton knew that I'd be here after school so she met up with all your other teachers and told me to give you all your homework." Mason then pulled out two textbooks, some workbooks, and a few packets of work. "You must hate me." I said as I groaned. He laughed. "Not completely, but to some degree I do." "Can you do my homework for me? I'm too sick to do it." "I can't remember any of that crap so it's all up to you, little dude." "Little dude? You're starting to sound like your dad." He laughed. "That's a good thing though. My dad is awesome." "If it weren't for that I would think he was your actual dad." I couldn't help but smile. I thought he would get it but he didn't because he had this confused look on his face. "If he were your real dad you'd be awesome too, slowpoke." "Hardy har har." Mason said smiling. "You are so freakin' hilarious." We then actually got some of the outline done for our paper. It wasn't too much, but that's only because we hadn't finished our research yet. In the middle of working on it, Mason's mom and Alex did come in for a minute to say hi, but only stayed for about a minute. Alex has a fear of hospitals so she wanted to go back out to the lobby with everyone else. "Hey, I'm going to go home so I can eat. I'll be back in about an hour or two." Mason said. He started packing up his stuff. He then made sure I knew exactly where my books and work were. "Don't go anywhere now." He said smiling. "I hate you." I said laughing. He then left me all alone. But it wasn't long 'til Daniel, Macy, and Kurt showed up. They told me that Trey, Dusty, and Jessie couldn't make it today but all of them were skipping tomorrow; I get out around noon, thankfully. "You'll never guess what Daniel did!" Kurt said excitedly. "He did it yesterday but his ass didn't tell anyone 'til last night after we all left." "What is it?" I asked. "I-" Daniel started to say. Kurt then interrupted. "He broke up with Hannah! He finally realized how big a bitch she was and left her. It took like forever but he finally did it." "Congrats...I guess." I said. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad. "I called her yesterday and talked to her. I asked her why she wasn't here and she kept making excuses so I told her that since she isn't here for me or my friends then I won't be there for her anymore. So she can blame herself for that." Daniel said smiling. "If I didn't have a girlfriend and you didn't have a boyfriend I'd totally kiss you for getting rid of that bitch." Kurt said. "Even if we weren't dating you wouldn't kiss him." Macy said giggling. She knew Kurt too well to think he wouldn't. Kurt then grabbed my face and pulled our heads together, locking his lips with mine. This is the first time I've ever kissed Kurt. For a straight guy kissing another guy he was pretty into it, I think I even felt a little tongue. When he let go, he looked over at Macy. "Don't doubt me babe." He said. He then grabbed her by the waist. "Now I need to get rid of all that Spencer spit." They then began to make out. When they separated, he looked into her eyes with the most serious face. "Babe, you really need to get some kissing pointers from Spencer. You're good, but he's just, wow." Macy then smiled. "And you should take some tips from Lizzie." She then ran out of the room giggling. Kurt stood shocked for a minute. He then regained his senses and went running after Macy. That left Daniel and me alone. "So, you actually broke up with her because of me?" "Not really. It's just that you helped me realize what kind of person she really is. Thank you." Daniel said. "You're welcome." There was then an awkward silence for a few minutes. "Since you let Kurt kiss you...could I..." I really wanted to say no, but I also really wanted to say yes. "Technically I didn't let him. He basically kiss raped me." "After the initial shock it looked like you were kissing back and enjoying it." "Well duh. Kurt is a very great kisser so obviously I will enjoy it." "I wouldn't know how good Kurt is." Daniel said laughing. "Since we're brothers and all." "It's the 21st century, nothing is impossible." We both then started to really laugh. Everywhere you turn now you hear someone saying something along those lines. "How are you and Trey doing?" Daniel asked. "Good, I guessed. I really didn't get to talk to him when I woke up. Can you please tell everyone that tomorrow I want a little bit of alone time with Trey. I know it sounds stupid but I want to make sure everything truly is okay." "Don't worry, I'll tell them." Daniel just stood there for a minute. "I miss you." I looked over at him. "Huh?" "When I started dating Hannah and you started dating Trey we like stop talking. I miss when you and I could just talk and laugh." "Everything is so different from then though. Back then we didn't know the other liked guys, we had never kissed at that point, there were no I-love-you-and-you-love-me-so-why-can't-we-be-together moments either. We were just two `straight' guys." "You still love me?" Daniel asked. "Of course I do. You're the first guy I couldn't stop crushing on. You're the first guy I ever had strong feelings for. We weren't together but I still cared for you so damn much. I can't just say `Oh I have a boyfriend so I no longer love you!'. I can say, though, that I have a boyfriend so we can't be together." "Officially..." Daniel said, trailing off. "I guess I'm gonna go now. I'll see you tomorrow." Daniel then left. I was hoping that I'd be able to lie there and do nothing, but good ole Lizzie came to the rescue and walked in. "Dude! How much homework do you have?" She asked when she saw the giant stack of books. "Lots, I guess. Mason might be fucking with me and making me do all this shit for his amusement." That didn't sound like him but others have done it to me when I missed, mainly Lizzie and Kurt. "If so then he is an official member of our herd." Lizzie said laughing. "Speaking of lover boy, where the hell is he?" "He had to go home with his family so they could have dinner. He said he'd be back though." I looked over at the clock on the wall. "He should be back soon, actually." "Dude! When he gets here pretend you're asleep! I have something up my sleeves. It'll be epic. Lemme text Jessie and tell her to tell me when he gets here." "If you hurt him..." "Don't worry, princess. I'm not." Lizzie said as she texted away. It was about ten minutes before Lizzie got the warning text. She forced me to lie down and close my eyes. I told her I could "stay awake" until he came in but she didn't want to take any chances. When he entered, I think he noticed I was lying down. "Is he asleep?" Mason whispered. "Yeah...he wasn't feeling all right." Lizzie whispered back. I couldn't help but smile, thankfully Lizzie knew me well enough to make sure I was facing away from them. "Is he going to be okay?" Mason asked, he actually sounded concerned. "I don't think so. The doctor said the medicines aren't working and one they've had him on since he got here actually might be doing some fatal damage. I overheard them talking about it when I was coming back here. They are going to wait though and if he doesn't do well then they're going to tell his mom." "He has to though." Mason said, he gave up on whispering. "They said that they'd know by tonight. I also heard that it should really start to hurt him in the middle of the night; they're keeping a close eye on him." They were both quiet for a couple minutes. "He acted like he was doing so good earlier..." Mason said. "I'll leave you alone with him, since this may be the last time you have a chance to talk to him privately." Lizzie then left. I felt so bad for this but at the same time is was so funny. Since I was "asleep," I couldn't open my eyes and see what he was doing. I did hear footsteps coming towards me though. I then felt a hand grab mine. I wanted to jump, but right now that would be the worst thing to do. "Hey Spencer. I know you can't hear me since you're asleep and all...but I'm here for you. I'm sorry I act like I don't know you in school. It's all because I'm too fucking scared of what everyone else would think if they knew my best friend was gay. I also know I'm nowhere near being your best friend but with you I can be who I am so that's why I think of you so highly." I then think I heard him sniffle. "Please do one thing for me. Don't die. I couldn't imagine going on having to act anymore. You've helped me so much. You may not see it but I'm coming out of my shell and acting more like the real me every day. And if you go then I'll just crawl back into my shell." At this point I was sure he was crying. "I wish you were awake right now so I could show you something. Actually, maybe since you're asleep it would be a lot better if I did it now." I had no fucking clue what he was talking about. I then felt his hand on my face and then his lips on mine. I wanted to kiss back but didn't. His lips were so soft and so warm. Our lips then separated. I then felt his hand start to move. I scrunched my face and gently gripped his hand, but only enough to think I was having a bad dream or something. He stopped moving and just stood there, gripping my hand back. He then sat down and held my hand with both of his. Occasionally he would say soothing things, thinking they'd help me "dream better dreams." After about thirty minutes he let go of my hand and stood up. "I'm going to go now. Please, don't die on me." Before he left he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. I waited until I heard the door shut and no more footsteps. I jolted up, very painfully but totally worth it, and stared at the door. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Every time I read a story of Nifty, I never read the top part, so just in case you are like me and only read the bottom portion if you liked the story, here is my email again: wah.stories@yahoo.com. Also, if you want to be on my email list to find out when new chapters come out, include that in your email. AND if you email me, please state what story you're referring to. Thanks for reading the thirteenth chapter of my story. I'd also like to give thanks to my editor, John. He's like majorly epic and catches my mistakes. I make a lot of them so he deserves as much credit as I do for getting this chapter out. And check out Hayden's Story and Gavin's Got Game, they're here in the High School section, if you like this story. Also, I want this story to be somewhat interactive, where yo tell me what you'd like to see happen next. There are no guarantees if it will make it, but there are possibilities. I already have some things planned out, but most are too obvious. I need you al to help me think of new things that no other story has. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -