All the characters and events in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, either living or dead, is entirely unintentional.
The story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any way without the express permission of the author who can be contacted at: pjalexander1753@gmail.com
A Very Ordinary Boy (Part 2)
From Chapter 12:
So that was my day! How was yours? Oh, you want to know about my idea for how I might make it up to you for being so shitty to you earlier in the week. Well, it was that amazing dance you did for me that gave me the idea. I looked on line and found one of those tutorial sites. What? Yeah, really, a tutorial on how to do a lap dance. I've been practicing, and I thought it would be good to give you a bit of a taster now -- yeah, maybe I do mean `taster' with a capital T! -- and then I could practice some more, ready for when you sleepover at the weekend. That's if you'd like to sleepover. I'd like it if you did and I totally promise it won't be like last time and that you totally won't regret it. Yeah? Okay, you sit down here while I line up the right track on the speaker. Right, here we go. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Epilogue:
Er, hi. I'm Grey. Oh yeah, you know that. Sorry, I'm a bit nervous, I guess. I've never had to speak to a therapist before. What? No, I know I don't have to be here but, well, Jack asked me to talk to you and, honestly, I'm not sure why but somehow it seemed really important to him, so here I am.
I've no idea what you already know about me or what Jack's told you. You probably know that he thinks he's pretty ordinary but I think he's amazing. He's such a great artist and winning a prize in that art competition in town was so cool and totally what he deserved. He showed me some really old paintings of Saint Sebastian, you know, with all those old fashioned buildings and pretty countryside in the background, and I think the way he brought it up date and made it seem modern is really imaginative and cool. It's hard to get him to be proud of it, though. I know Chalky White totally believes in him and I'm sure that's part of the reason why Jack's decided to go to art school in September. He just hasn't got much confidence in himself, never has from what he's told me, and that bastard Noah made things a whole lot worse. But you know about that, better than anybody.
I'd seen him around at school, of course, even though there wasn't anything you could put your finger on that made him stand out in the crowd. What he wore was spectacularly ordinary -- jeans, plain T, hoodie and backpack. Classic high school uniform that's guaranteed to make you fade into the background. I think it might have been something about the way he always seemed to be an observer, you know, always watching, taking note, being there but somehow absent at the same time. That's one of the things I first noticed about him. Sort of like the Invisible Man. That probably doesn't make much sense. Whatever it was, whenever I saw him around school I couldn't take my eyes off him.
There was always the three of them back then, Jack, Dylan Wentworth and Simone Vincent. They always seemed such an odd threesome, like, really unlikely. They're all so different and I couldn't work out what kept them together. I mean, Dylan's a real nerd and gets top grades in everything, Simone, well, anyone that tall and that black and with that sense of style is gonna stand out wherever. And then there's Jack who, like I said before, is amazing but no-one would ever say that about him until they got to know him. To anyone else he would seem, like he always says he is, totally ordinary. He told me once that they only ever became friends cause they ended up sitting together on the first morning of high school and stayed like that at lunch time, you know, the whole safety in numbers' thing, and they just clicked and that was it. I know Jack still feels hurt - actually, more like confused -- by the way the two of them, supposedly his best and closest friends, were sneaking around behind his back and then pretty much abandoned him when he ended up in hospital and needed them the most. Sure, Dylan went to see him at home, but he hasn't been in touch since and Simone still cuts him dead around school. Me, I'm totally glad that the two of them broke up when her mum grounded her because she found out about the amount of dope they were doing and went apeshit. Still, it doesn't seem fair on Jack. But at least he's got me. And the other guys on the team have sort of adopted him, so he's not on his own. I think he's secretly hoping to get a sneak peek at what happens in the locker room, but that's not gonna happen, not while I'm around. Why not? `Cause there's too much hot competition, that's why not.
Jack didn't used to go to any school events, back in the `Invisible Man' days, well, not swimming competitions anyway. I would have definitely noticed him. I know he used to spend a lot of time in the art room but he told me that he wasn't really friends with any of the other arty kids and never used to hang out with them. But he's a real fan of Chalky White and reckons he really helped him get better after he, you know, hurt himself. I can't make him out, Chalky. He caught up with me one day right at the end of school, said he'd heard that I was going to Jack's house most days and asked me how he was doing. He said he wanted me to know that he understood how I felt about Jack and that I was to be sure not to do anything to hurt him, that Jack was a special boy and didn't need any more shit in his life and that he knew what it was like to have to struggle to come to terms with certain important things about yourself. Then he just walked away. I never told anyone about it, especially not Jack who'd already been a bit weirded out by Chalky when he visited him in hospital.
So, like I said, I'd seen Jack around school and, for a long time, I'd thought he was cute. Obviously, being on the swimming team means I spend a lot of my time with fantastically fit guys with virtually no clothes on. Gayboy heaven you could say. I've even sort of messed around with some of them. Oh, shit! Did I really just say that? Please, you won't tell anyone, will you? Oh, is that right - everything here is completely confidential? Thank fu... goodness for that. Anyway, like I was saying, there was something about Jack that really attracted him to me, but I wasn't officially out to anyone then except to some of the guys on the team, and I definitely didn't know anything about Jack's status. But someone on the team must have opened their big mouth cause that's the only way Noah could have found out about me being gay and then he sent Jack that text saying I might be interested in him. (Which I didn't know anything about at the time, by the way.) Although, maybe that was a good thing, I dunno, cause it sort of made things easier, like, broke the ice, when I did start coming around once he was out of hospital. Does that make sense?
Anyway, for months before any of that happened, I used to keep my eye out for him around school -- not in a creepy way - trying to find out more about him. Like I say, he was always with Dylan and Simone but never with a girl (or even a guy) so I got the feeling that he wasn't dating anyone and that made me, well, even more interested. I began to wonder if I might have a chance with him, but I didn't have the balls to do anything about it. And then everything changed.
The first thing I noticed different was that Jack wasn't hanging out with his two besties anymore. In fact, I hardly ever saw him, and whenever I did, he was on his own and looking kinda sad. Then I realised that whenever I saw the other two they were so together it was as if they'd been glued. It couldn't have been more obvious that they were, suddenly, more than just friends, more than friends with benefits even. So, it looked like poor Jack had been frozen out or, maybe, he just didn't want to be the third wheel and that's why he was on his own and looking so miserable. I heard that he was spending even more time in the art room and I had no reason to go there so I more or less stopped seeing him. We weren't in any of the same classes. And then I heard from someone on the team, who was in his history class, that he was in the hospital. I didn't know what to think but I knew I was feeling anxious for some reason that I didn't properly understand. Of course, being High School, everybody was talking about it and there were all sorts of crazy stories going round about why he was there, in St. Greg's. One said that he'd taken an accidental drug overdose, and another that he'd been in a really bad car accident. A way more believable version was that he'd been mugged and badly beaten up on his way to school one day -- there are some seriously fucked-up and stupid goons out there who'll pick on anyone different or alone, and one rumour even said he'd tried to kill himself by jumping off the big insurance building in town, you know, the one on Church Street. High school, eh? Some people are so gullible they'll believe anything. I didn't know what to make of any of it, just that I really missed seeing Jack around.
One day, not long after the story broke, I saw Dylan on his own before school and I tried asking him what had happened but he said he didn't know shit. I thought he looked pretty shifty, as if he had somehow had something to do with whatever had gone down, but then Simone turned up and told me that they knew nothing, that I needed to mind my own business and to get lost. No-one messes with Simone Vincent so I did exactly that.
And then I found out that Jack's tutor was wanting someone to be a sort of go-between, you know, take stuff like homework to his house and bring it back again. That piece of information told me a few things. One -- the good news - was that he must have been discharged from the hospital but, on the other hand, he still wasn't okay to come back to school. I also worked out that he was well enough to catch up on the work he'd missed, so I didn't waste any time, I went straight to the administration office and volunteered. I mean, this was too good an opportunity to pass up. Assuming I got the gig, I'd have a totally genuine and legit reason for seeing Jack most days and of properly getting to know him. I reckoned, no matter the reason why he'd been in the hospital, as well as him having split with Dylan and Simone, that he really needed a friend and, maybe, who knew, perhaps more than a friend. Yeah, I know, that sounds sort of creepy again, especially after what went down with Noah, but I would never do anything to upset or hurt him and, if he turned out to be straight or just not interested in me as potential boyfriend material or whatever, well, I'd be happy with us simply hanging out and being friends.
As it turned out, he told me he was gay, pretty much the first time I went to his house. He just came out with it, said he trusted me, even talked about which gay porn sites he liked. I can tell you, I was shocked. I mean, it's not like I went up to his room (it's a really cool room, by the way) and said, "I'm gay, what about you?" I might have wanted to but, believe me, I'd never have the nerve to do anything like that, even if I thought it might be appropriate, which I don't. Of course, I didn't know then about the text Noah had sent him so had no idea that Jack had had a heads up about me. Anyway, I think he was so up-front about stuff because everything was still very raw for him and he was trying hard to process the stuff that had happened with Noah, especially on the camping trip. I got the feeling that he was desperate to talk to someone, to try to make sense of it all, but that talking to the professionals, like yourself, wasn't working for him. Sorry, no offence meant.
And so I suppose I became a sort of unofficial therapist which, I have to say, seems like a pretty easy job to me. I mean, I hardly ever had to say anything `cause Jack would just talk and talk. He started right at the beginning, telling me about how boring and ordinary he thought he was -- and even though there was no way I could go along with that I didn't think it was my place to disagree, you know, unofficial therapist -- and about his family and Dylan and Simone. He told me how the two of them had tricked him into going for the job at the café and how he'd been, literally, bowled over by Noah, his great whack-off fantasy. And, oh wow, did he tell me about Noah Richmond. I mean, we've all got our perfect whack-off material, right? But for Jack, well, Noah was way more than that. He was obsessed. You wouldn't believe some of the steamy Jack and Noah scenarios he described to me. Oh, you would. Sort of pretty common in your line of work. Yeah, I hadn't thought of it that way. Weird.
He told me once about another one of his favourites which was a three-way hook-up with two other guys at school and that I could totally relate to, not only because those two guys were the number 1 gay pin-up couple at school and every gay boy's heroes for being so out and confident, but because one of them was the vice-captain of the swimming team, and one time in the showers after he'd helped us win a really big competition, I'd seen just what an amazing performer he was. I couldn't believe how much jet-propelled cum he could produce. Shit! Did I really just tell you all that? Wow! You're really good at this therapist stuff, like, getting people so relaxed they'll open up and say stuff they wouldn't normally tell anyone. I wonder why Jack says you're such shi ... Oh, sorry. Me and my big mouth again. And you did say that everything is confidential, right? You won't say anything to Jack? Thank fu ... Thanks.
So anyway, once Jack's absolute, number 1 cum-god, started spending time with him and paying him lots of attention, well, his imagination went into overdrive. And so did his dislike of Tani who he was convinced was totally bad for Noah and standing in the way of the two of them hooking up. It was only later that he found out the truth about how her and Noah were each other's cover story but, by then, Noah had royally fucked him up. And, no, that's not some off the wall and bad taste joke.
When Jack told me about what happened that weekend I was so angry all I wanted to do was go and find him and rip his head off. But at the same time I felt so sad. I mean, how could Noah do that to someone who was so into him? Who thought he was so unbelievably fantastic? I mean, you've gotta be sick in the head to do something like that, right? And the most amazing thing -- and it just goes to show what an incredible person Jack is -- he's gonna go and visit Noah, says he wants him to know that, although, obviously, he wishes that the camping trip had never happened, and that, yeah, he didn't know how to deal with it and that it totally screwed with his head, well, that he's getting over it now and he hopes that Noah gets the help he needs. How amazing is that? I've told him he shouldn't go by himself and he says he's gonna get Tani to go with him. Says he won't ask me to go `cause he knows I won't be able to keep myself from hurting the fucker. He's so right.
But, you know, I can sorta empathise with Noah. And, yeah, I know that sounds all sorts of fucked-up, especially after what I've just be saying about him, but there was a time when I didn't think I was any better than him. Maybe worse. It was after that first time that me and Jack had sex -- almost. I mean, and I'm not trying to make excuses here, I'd never had someone be so obviously into me before, not to the point where they'd turn over and offer their butt to be fucked. And I was way excited, like, it wasn't the head on my shoulders that was calling the shots, if you know what I mean. How was I to know that he was gonna totally freak out as soon as my very-ready dick was this close to doing the dirty deed? He started screaming at me to get away from him and kicking out and pushing me off the bed. I've never lost a boner so fast. And even though I was scared, more scared than I have ever been in my life, and all I wanted to do was to get out of there as quick as I could, I knew I couldn't leave him, not in that state. It tore my heart, the way he crawled into the corner and sobbed. At first I just sat on the floor near him but bit by bit I managed to get close enough to hold him and then, and it was really late by now, I got him into bed and stayed with him until he was asleep. But in the morning I was so ready to get away, but then I felt bad when I lied about why I had to leave so early but, thankfully his dad totally bought it, and when I said he should let Jack sleep.
After that I didn't know whether I'd be able to go back to being his homework buddy. I mean, how do you get past something like that? I'd been such a total shit. Because I couldn't control myself poor Jack had to go through hell, again. How was I gonna face him? Yeah, sure, I wanted to tell him how sorry I was, but what good would that do? I couldn't turn the clock back or undo what I'd done. I felt like ... Well, as I say, I could empathise with Noah, weird as that sounds. It turns out, though, that Jack was totally blaming himself! Can you believe that? He told me that he had been 100% sure he was not just ready to have sex with me, but that he really, really wanted it. It was when `it' was just about to happen and he got a flash-back to the camping trip that his brain totally froze. All he could think about was what happened with Noah, and that's why he freaked out and pushed me away. Unbelievable that he was wanting to make me feel better when it was him that was hurting so bad.
So anyway, we managed to get everything sorted out and agreed that we both wanted there to be an us' but that we would cool it with the full-on sex stuff and take things slow and only do what we were both comfortable with. And that was fine, better than fine, actually, it's been good, and we've had lots of fun, like the sexy dancing, and enjoyed getting to know each other properly. You know, like a normal couple. Though I don't think we'll ever be properly normal, not after all the stuff that Jack's been through. We're still not an out' couple at school although I think a lot of people have worked it out, especially guys on the team. But because of that other couple I mentioned -- the one who used to be vice-captain and his boyfriend -- it's all cool and I know the whole team would have our back if things got nasty. But no, like Jack says, why should we have to make a big thing of being together just cause we're gay? Straights don't have to own up' to liking the opposite sex so why should we? Our parents are okay with it, especially Jack's mum and dad. After all the bad-mouthing he did, his mum has been a legend, so supportive and thoughtful. He's right, though, she doesn't really do normal `mum speak' but his dad is a down-to-earth sort of guy and they're happy for me to stay over whenever. And his gran and Rosa think I'm the second best thing that's ever drawn breath so there are no worries in that direction.
The other reason we're not making a big deal of being together is `cause we don't know whether we've got a future. Like I said, Jack's off to art school in September and I'm going to the other side of the country where there's a fantastic swimming programme, so, well, a long-distant relationship, that's not an easy thing to maintain, is it? What's that? Oh yeah, that's what my dad said too, that if we want it to work we'll find a way. And don't get me wrong, I think Jack's a fantastic guy and I'd totally love to see us making a go of things, but I'm not naïve enough to think that there aren't other fantastic guys out there. And we're only eighteen, for fuck sake, and we've hardly got started on life. So we'll see what happens. But you'll keep your fingers crossed for us, yeah? And I promise to tell Jack that you're not Doctor Hopeless, after all!
See ya!
And that, as they say, is a wrap -- the story of Jack, the very ordinary boy, has reached its final stop.
Thank you to everyone who has followed the ups and downs of his journey, especially those of you who have written to tell me what you think - mostly positive, I'm happy to say!
As an author, it's REALLY encouraging to know that there are people out there who are taking the time to read what I've written, and then bothering to send a response. So please, do feel free to write to me at the email address given at the top of the chapter. I welcome all comments and guarantee to write back.
With Jack's story at an end I'm now returning to add to the story of D'n'M. Regular readers of my work will know that I am not one of life's speedy writers so I'm not going to make any promises about when Part 6 will appear, although I do guarantee that it will be sometime this year!
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