Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 22:27:30 +0000 (GMT) From: roy p...... Subject: Peter Johnson, part 9 Peter was hurt at first by Nathan's insistence that he tell his parents about their feelings for each other, but while resting exhausted from running away it all fell into place in his mind. His coolness and disinterest afterwards has Nathan worried, but are his fears ill-founded? Peter has had a lot of emotional pressures lately, can he survive this latest threat to his new- found happiness? All the traditional warnings and disclaimers apply, you have been warned. Part 9 Knock, knock. "Do you want any breakfast, Peter?" His mother's voice broke his sleep. He woke refreshed. "No thanks, Mum. I'll lie in a bit, if you don't mind." He called back. "Anything you want me to do later? Come in if you like." Marjorie Johnson opened the door and took a step inside. "Tidy your room," she said, seizing the chance to get it done at last, "and take your dirty laundry down to be washed. I've done two loads already, and there's another load in at the moment." "O.K." "There's a box of Christmas cards on the table, write yours for the family and your friends. I'm going shopping with your Father after breakfast, I'll get some more and the last few presents while we're out" she finished. "Leave the breakfast things then, I'll wash up when I come down." "Thanks, Peter, that'll be a great help!" she said, grateful for the offer. She watched Peter turn over in his bed, and pull the duvet up nearly covering his head. 'Two weeks now' she thought. 'What a change!' Just over an hour later he got up, showered and dressed in t- shirt, jeans, jumper and trainers. He quickly tidied the room, and gathered up his dirty clothes. Alan, his elder brother, was writing cards on the kitchen table when he got downstairs. "Mornin' Pete!" "Mornin' Alan!" Alan hated his name being shortened to 'Al' ever since someone called him 'Al Jolson' and sung 'Sonny Boy' to poke fun at him. Until recently, Peter had continued to call him 'Al'. Peter emptied the washing machine into the waiting basket, sorted his own dirty clothes into 'whites' and 'coloureds', then put the 'whites' in to wash and programmed the machine. He picked up the basket, took it out to the garden and hung out the clean clothes with the others his Mother had done already. He didn't notice Alan staring through the window at him. 'About time,' Alan thought, 'he's been an asshole too long!" Peter returned to the kitchen and washed up all the dirty breakfast plates, dishes and cookware. Drying his hands, he asked Alan "Where's A.M?" A.M. was their nickname for Anne-Marie, their nine-year-old sister. "Gone to town with Mum and Dad." Alan replied. "Oh, O.K." Peter said. "Give me a shout when you're done, I'll come an' do mine" he called as he went to return upstairs. As he passed the phone in the hall, it rang. Peter lifted the receiver before it rang twice "Y'hello!" he mumbled. "Oh, Hello. Is Peter at home?" Nat's voice. "I'm not sure, I'll go and see!" Peter said. "Pete?" Nathan said, recognising the voice. "No, I'm afraid he's gone out!." Peter replied, then laughed. "Hiya, Nat, how's things?" "Not bad," Nathan said, disguising the worry from his voice. The last thing he expected today was a cool, calm Peter. "I think Mum an' Dad had a talk about us last night, but they went out shopping before I got up, I haven't seen them yet today." "Oh," said Peter, still calm, "Mine have gone to town as well, I wonder if they're meeting up to discuss us? That'd be a laugh!" Nathan was really worried now. "You comin' round then? We could hang out, chat, watch telly, play Dragon Master -" "Nah, I've got stuff to do, including rest. Gonna have an easy day. See yer Monday?" more than a few seconds stunned silence from Nathan. "Don't worry, Nat, I'm O.K." said Peter. "Just wanna chill an' rest the brain department for the weekend. Tell yer what, meet me at Ian's at half eight Monday, we'll escort him in on his first real day. It'll be cool!" "Err, O. K.!" said Nathan, slowly. Was anything going on between Peter and Ian? He hoped not. He suddenly realised that Peter had hung up. No goodbye, no I love you. Peter had said I love you to him every time they spoke when they weren't together, for days now. Nathan was destined to worry all weekend, after that. Peter, however had a pleasant, restful weekend. He wrote his cards, wrapped a few presents that his folks had bought on his behalf, helped his mum with the rest of the laundry, and even played with little A.M. and her dolls house. Sunday was just breakfast, Playstation, dinner, homework, tea, T.V, bed. At half-eight on Monday morning, they met outside Ian's Aunt's house. "Hiya, Nat, did your Dad say Anything?" "Nah," Nathan sneered. "Guess I was wrong. Did you -?" "Nah also!" Peter said. Too nice a weekend. Couldn't be arsed." Before Nathan could add anything else, he added, "Be done by Christmas. I know the deadline. Come on, let's get the new boy!" Ian was delighted to see them, they calmed his nerves just by being there. "You guys are the best!" he said, beaming a huge smile at them. Then reducing it a lot, he said "You don't know how sorry I am - " "Forget it," said Peter. "Long time ago. Forgotten it myself." "So long ago I've forgotten what I've forgotten about!" laughed Nathan, and they walked off towards their school. It didn't take Ian many minutes to notice that Peter wasn't all over Nathan this morning. As Peter was a few steps ahead, Ian caught Nathan's attention, pointed at Peter, and pulled a 'What's wrong?' face. Nathan held his palms up and shrugged his shoulders. There was no way Peter could have seen them do it, but he said, still looking forward, "There's nothing the matter with me, stop worrying. If you need to worry, let's worry about how much notice everyone took of Riley's assembly Friday afternoon." They turned into the school yard. Within two minutes, every boy there had turned their head to see them then turned away, disinterested! Peter and Nathan were dumbfounded! Until, that is, John Lester and three of his equally heavy followers approached through the crowd. 'Here we go,' thought Peter. Nathan remembered the last time a gang had approached him in a schoolyard, even though that gang's leader was now standing alongside him. Ian felt the need to stand tall and square up to the four muscled troublemakers heading their way. "Hey, guys!" John Lester called out to them, still twenty feet away in the schoolyard. Nearby heads turned, half expecting a confrontation. "How's it goin'!" he said as he neared them, a smile on his face. He raised his palm for a high five, and the heads turned away, almost disappointedly. "Cool!" said Nathan as three palms smacked Lester's. They were introduced to each other, 'The three dudes who fucked Hunt off' is how Lester described them to his henchmen. He then told them about Riley's assembly on Friday afternoon - "He kept lookin' at me," he said, "and sayin' stuff like we shouldn't pick on anyone 'cause they're Black or Jews or gay or whatever. Laid it on heavy, he did, an' said that he'd expel anyone who did it. S'pose I agree with him really, I must be getting' soft or somethin'!" "No," said Peter, "just growing up. That makes you stronger. He say anythin' about Hunt?" "Only that he'd left." Lester shrugged. "An' after, I told him about Hunt an' me, like you said. I got him to phone my ol' man, to prove I'd told him at the time, an' they talked about charges an' stuff." The start of school bell rang, Ian went to Mrs. Burns' office and Nathan and Peter went off to their first lesson. They hung out together during breaks and at lunch, but Peter remained unemotional with Nathan, and that hurt. He wouldn't push it though, he thought. See what happens. Ian joined them at lunch, in a happy mood. "I think I'm gonna like it here!" he said, then, scanning the room added, "There's some fit looking guys here!" "Just don't look at this one!" Nathan said, nodding towards Peter. "He's taken!" Peter blushed. 'It's gonna be alright.' thought Nathan, relieved. At the end of school, Nathan was going to ask Peter to come back to his house, maybe stay over. Before he could, Peter suddenly exclaimed "Gotta go. See you both tomorrow!", ran off and jumped on a bus just about to leave the stop by the school. "What was that all about?" asked Ian. "Blowed if I know," said Nathan, "He's been acting strange all weekend!" Peter got off the bus near the shopping centre, and went straight to the card and gift shop. After a short time searching, he found the special cards he wanted. One each for his Father, Mother, Brother and Sister. And another, headed 'To my Boyfriend'. He paid for them, then returned to the outbound bus stop. On his way, he glanced in the window of J.B.Sports. Without slowing his walk, he turned abruptly and went in. The bus home was crowded, it was the start of rush hour. He had to stand most of the way, which annoyed him as much as the driver's attitude when he had boarded and paid his child's fare. There was a wailing baby somewhere on the bus, too, and the noise didn't help his temper. As the bus emptied, he took the only available seat, by the mother and squealing baby. He noticed her as he sat down, not much older than himself, he thought. His mind wandered for a second, thinking of her and when she got pregnant. Somehow he pictured John Lester's muscled body on top of her, and giggled. The baby had been watching him, and laughed. He frowned and wished the bus to hurry him home. Peter acted coolly to Nathan all of the week, and Nathan was really worried. By Thursday, he knew it was over, Peter just wanted to stay friends. He felt gutted on his way to school, it was all his fault by pushing too hard. He'd try to save it by telling Peter that it didn't matter if his parents weren't told, they could keep the secret from them if that's what he wanted. Yes, that's what he'd do. Today. However, as he approached the school gates, Peter was waiting. He took Nathan's hand, and pulled him forwards, then planted a kiss on his lips! "Hiya, babe, you're late! You had me worried you weren't coming, you were sick or something!" The school bell rang, and before Nathan could get over his relief, delight and surprise, Peter said "See you third period, Nat, at P.E!" and was gone, lost in the crowd filing through the main entrance doors. Nathan was REALLY confused now, what WAS up with Peter, was he playing mind games, or had he flipped? This had to be sorted, and soon, he thought. The P.E. lesson was taken by a stand-in teacher they hadn't seen before, who pushed the boys as hard if not harder than Mr. Hunt had done, but by praising their efforts, not decrying their weaknesses. The two boys were on the same side in a basketball game, but on the three occasions that Nathan had been nearest to Peter when he had to pass the ball, he'd passed to somebody else. After the lesson, when they'd showered, dried and dressed, and were heading for lunch, Nathan could stand it no longer. He pulled Peter round by the shoulder and said "Do you know what you're doing to me?" - or he tried to say it. Only the "Do" came out before Peter put a finger across his lips and said, "Sshhh, babe. I just need a clear head at the moment, no distractions. I know it doesn't seem like it, but as far as I'm concerned, nothing's changed. I still love you to bits. Please be patient, Nat, please wait for me, eh?" Nathan shook his head, but Peter had gone. He was already at the counter, choosing his dinner. They sat in silence, eating. Nathan kept looking at Peter, trying to understand, trying not to stare. Ian joined them, in a cheerful mood. "Hi, guys!" "Hi!" in unison came back. The silence came down again. Ian frowned at Nathan. Nathan frowned back. Ian broke the silence. "Peter -" "Don't, Ian." Peter shot back. "It doesn't concern you. I've just gotta stay clear headed at the moment, I don't wanna be rude, but don't ask." Just as the shock hit them both, Peter instantly switched off his 'attitude', and, smiling, said "So what are you grinning like a Cheshire Cat about? Got yourself a boyfriend already?" Nathan and Peter laughed, Ian grinned even more. "Not quite, but there is someone absolutely gorgeous in some of my classes, and, well, - Sshhh! Here he comes!" Nathan and Peter didn't need to look up, "Derek Reynolds!" they both called in unison. A boy Ian's age came up to the table with his dinner on a tray. "Can I sit here?" he nodded with his head towards the empty seat by Ian. The golden blonde hair bounced on his head as he nodded, his bright blue eyes sparkled as he looked at them for approval. Ian patted the seat, and Derek slid into it (the seat, not his hand. Wait!) and placed his tray on the table. "Thanks for calling me over, Guys!" he said, "I thought all the tables were full!" He smiled at them, a glimpse of perfect white teeth flashing past pink kissable lips. The smile would have melted a glacier, if there had been one handy. Everyone said his smile would capture hearts, but nobody thought that he would intend them to be boys' hearts. The conversation drifted towards computer games, but Ian couldn't concentrate, his eyes were glazed over, watching Derek eat. Derek made sure he nudged Ian's arm with his elbow every time he lifted a forkful of dinner to those lips. One forkful was too much, and a trickle of gravy ran over Derek's bottom lip and down his chin. Ian came in his trousers, and he blushed bright red. After the meal, all four stood to leave. Ian removed his coat, folded it over his arm, and carried it in front of him. Derek glanced down before the damp stain was covered by the coat and smiled again. The smile on his lips had a little wicked upturn at its ends. "Would you like to come -" a millisecond's hesitation "over tonight and play 'King Arthur's Knights' on my GameBox? I'd love to have a swordfight with you!" "Y - y - yes! I'd love to come with you!" Nathan and Peter doubled over with laughter. Despite his coolness with Nathan, they both still shared their abilities to see double meanings in almost anything. As they left the dinner hall, with Ian's face so red he'd have stopped the traffic if he stood by the roadside, Nathan whispered to Peter "Is everything really alright, Pete?" Peter looked into his eyes and replied "It sure is, Nat, just be patient, it sure is." The rest of the day, however, and Friday, Peter remained distant from Nathan. On Friday afternoon, the school broke up early for the Christmas holidays, Christmas day being the next Tuesday. Peter's last lesson didn't include Nathan, he was on the other side of the school, so Nathan was delighted that Peter had waited in the yard for him to leave. Peter hugged Nathan, attracting stares from other boys filing out of the doorway, and gave him a kiss on the lips, which astonished the onlookers even more. "Happy Christmas, Nat, I promise I'll see you over the holidays. I really will." Then he turned and walked away. Nathan was furious. He WAS playing with him, confusing his emotions. He went to run after Peter, turn him round, shake him, make him see what he was destroying, but Peter's words rang as clearly through his mind as if he were still there, speaking them. "Please be patient, Nat, please wait for me!"