Angst

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not write about frank sexual situations, nor do I have any desire to.

This is a story about teen love and discovery. Still though, it is a gay work of fiction.

If such work offends you or you are not old enough to read in your area, then do not continue reading.

Please do not copy and paste onto another website without emailing me first. In most cases I'd be glad to

Angst Episode 37 "The Great Expectations"

Being the second month of the new year, I was hoping for things in my life to improve. Of course, I'd already managed to remember several things in my life before, but remembering some things about a day, while everything else remained completely hazy, was very unnerving to say the least.

But still, I was making progress and hoped to remember everything soon. Of course, things with the people my life were a bit weird. Or at least with some of them.

Mainly Adam and Gino. Gino and I pretty much avoided each other since Adam's shooting three weeks previously, and since he'd informed me that he was and had been gay the whole time I'd known him, but in love with me as well. I was still feeling a bit weirded out by that little omission, so I wasn't sure when I'd be comfortable enough to talk to him again.

And then there was Adam, who was still parading around with Vanessa like the two of us hadn't kissed, multiple times. It frustrated me beyond believe to know that Adam had feelings for me, yet did nothing about them. He wanted his cake and to eat it too, but I wasn't gonna give him that.

If he wanted me, he was just gonna have to break up with Vanessa. Of course, with Valentine's day being next Monday, I didn't see that as happening any time soon.

I still didn't really get the whole concept of Valentine's Day, but if nothing else, my entire school had made it painfully obvious that it was all about spending time with the ones you loved.

Nearly everyone was paired up with someone, whether it be guy or girl, and they couldn't stop being all lovey-dovey for two seconds.

It also didn't help matters that the school was all decorated with red, pink and white balloons and signs with advertisements for Friday's Valentines day dance.

"It's sickening," Jade mumbled.

In my own group of friends, the only two of us with a significant other were of course Adam and Vanessa. Everyone else was just as lonely as I was, so at least that made me feel a little better.

As usual, it was a perfectly freezing Monday morning. It had snowed over the weekend, only adding to the cold. My friends and I were gathered around my locker, talking before class.

"I had no idea so many people were couples," Vanessa spoke, Adam's arm around her shoulder.

"It's all a big front," Jade replied. "Next Tuesday, half these people won't even be able to stand each other anymore."

"And then there's this dance everyone keeps talking about," Krystal sighed. "It's bad enough I'm on the student activities council and have to help plan the thing, but to not have a date...."

"What about you Alex? You have anyone to go with?" I asked.

"I don't have to worry about that," Alex replied. "The girls come to me."

Which was true as long as I had known him. Attractive girls did always seem to flock to Alex.

"Hey...where's Gino?" I asked.

"Or Michelle for that matter," Krystal yawned.

No sooner than two seconds after Krystal had asked the question did Michelle pop up from around the corner with a highly attractive and familiar looking guy attached to her left arm.

"Hello everybody!" she waved from down the corner.

"Is that Michelle? With a boyfriend?" Krystal spoke as Michelle approached.

"Caleb say hi," Michelle spoke.

"Hey guys," Caleb greeted everyone.

Caleb White. As in soccer team Caleb White.

"Michelle, I just saw you yesterday...and the day before that...and the day before that...when did you have time to go off and find a boyfriend?" Krystal asked.

"Boyfriend? Please," Michelle snorted. "Caleb is my date to the dance."

"Yeah," Caleb added. "I asked her this morning."

Considering we'd all only been at school less than ten minutes, it must have been a quick 'will you?' and an even quicker 'yes!'

"This is ridiculous, now I have to find someone to go to the dance with," Krystal sighed.

"Seriously, I didn't wanna be caught dead going stag to a Valentine's Day dance, so I said yes when he asked me," Michelle replied. "Now all that's left is for the rest of you to find dates."

That was easier to do for gorgeous straight people like Jade, Krystal, and Alex. But for a normal average looking gay guy like me, that was going to be quite the challenge. Especially considering that the only guy I wanted to go with was already taken.

"Come on Vanessa, let's help Krystal and Jade here find dates," Michelle spoke.

"Uh..babe?" Caleb asked.

"Mingle. Chat, I don't care," Michelle replied, grabbing Vanessa, Jade, and Krystal and walking off.

Alex, Adam, and I stared at Caleb.

"So Caleb...how are things on the soccer team?" Alex asked.

"Well, we're still wearing last years uniforms because all the money goes into football, but other than that great," Caleb replied, bitterly.

Alex, Adam and I exchanged glances not really knowing what to say before one of Caleb's friends called him away.

"See there! Now you and me gotta go looking for dates to this damn thing, B," Alex spoke.

"I thought you said girls come to you," I replied.

"Sure, but if I want the hottest piece of ass in the school, I gotta go checking around," Alex replied. "I'll see you two later."

And with that, Adam and I were left alone.

Adam looked over at me with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Uh...so how are things at home?" I asked, decided that I didn't want to talk about our relationship.

I guess Adam was a bit relieved because it looked like he'd been wanting to talk to somebody about it.

"Well, my mom decided she doesn't even wanna live in our house anymore," Adam replied. "Which means we're moving."

"What!" I asked, shocked.

"To a different house in town, not to another state or something," Adam replied.

"Oh..." I replied, feeling a lot better.

"Except, I guess my mom and I are gonna be staying at a hotel or something for a little while," Adam replied.

For some reason, when Adam had said that, a thought instantly came over me.

"Well, why don't you stay with me?"

Adam stared at me for the longest amount of time.

"Like...move in with you?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's only temporary right? And this way you won't have to stay in some cold, lonely little hotel room."

Adam seemed like he wanted to be convinced but at the same time had his doubts.

"Don't you have to talk something like that over with your parents first?" he asked.

"Well," I started, shutting my locker. "I told them about how you've been helping me remember things from my past. I even told them the things I remembered......I doubt they'd say no to the only person who's been able to help me get my memory back."

Adam stared at me with a completely unreadable look for well over a minute before finally speaking.

"Well, I mean, we still have to talk with our parents...but I'd love to stay with you," he replied, smiling.

And I'd love to have him stay with me. There was no denying that I wanted to be closer to Adam. Sure, I also wanted a relationship with him, but I wasn't going to try putting any moves on him while he was staying with me.

"Well, okay....then. I'll walk you to first period," Adam replied.

Officially, I had been ignoring Chris for well over a month, and to his own credit, he hadn't been trying to talk to me anymore either.

That in itself had been the cause of several problems. He'd been in a couple of fights and nearly suspended almost twice, and his behavior in Government class had caused everyone to shun him somewhat. Half the class thought he was a belligerent jack ass while the other half thought he was crazy.

I wasn't about to start feeling guilty for things Chris was doing to himself. Maybe he needed to talk to somebody about his problems, but it sure as hell wasn't gonna be me.

"Okay, so...for your project, I'm gonna need you guys to all get into groups of two," Mr. Martin spoke.

He'd been explaining the concept behind our next major project, but I hadn't really been paying attention. I was too busy thinking about what it would be like living in the same house with Adam.

Of course, that also meant that I hadn't heard the deal about us needing a partner, and by the time I snapped back to reality, it looked as though everyone was already paired up.

Well, not everyone.

I raised my hand.

"Yeah, Brandon," Mr. Martin spoke, acknowledging it.

"Do we have to work with a partner?" I asked.

"If you don't, the highest grade you could make would be a fifty. And that's if everything is perfect," Mr. Martin replied.

Shit. Stupid even numbered class.

I looked over at Chris, who had his head down on his desk. I couldn't tell if it was because he was asleep or avoiding having to get up to find a partner.

And now I was stuck with him.

Seeing as though I knew he wasn't about to get up anytime soon, I picked up my stuff and moved to a desk next to his, pulling it closer to him.

Chris shot up ready to tell me off without realizing who it was. Once he did though, he quickly eased up and looked away from me.

"What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Unfortunately, I have to work with you for this project," I replied.

Chris didn't say anything at all and continued to look away from me.

When I realized he wasn't gonna speak, I started looking over the directions for the project silently. I had already started taking out pen and pencil as well as some paper when Chris turned back to look at me.

"I miss you."

I was admittedly shocked with his statement. I hadn't expected someone like Chris, a guy who was harder to figure out than the bible itself, to admit that he missed me.

What was so special about me that had him missing me?

I didn't say anything as I continued messing around in my backpack for materials to use.

"I miss talking to you and I miss-"

"Getting me in trouble?" I finished for him.

I was finding that it was going to be pretty hard to hold my tongue around him.

Chris uncrossed his arms and turned in his seat to face me.

"I'm sorry about everything that I did to you. I honestly didn't think-"

"You're right. You didn't think, Chris and that's the problem," I replied. "You never think about what you do before you do it."

"But if you'd just let me explain-"

"What exactly is there to explain Chris? Because I'm not getting how you think that apologizing to me is gonna make everything better."

Chris sighed with annoyance and sat back.

"It's not always seeing you around them. Especially him," Chris replied.

I was confused. Chris was the main person telling me to run back to my friends when I had problems with them in the past, yet he has problems seeing me with them?

"Chris-"

"I can't say you'd understand if I told you, but it's complicated and I just wish we could start over," he replied.

In the deepest parts of my heart and soul, I did miss Chris as well. But my friends had told me to stay away from him in the first place, and by not listening to them, I had caused myself more heartache than I needed.

Still, I wasn't sure what to do or even what to say. Chris looked and seemed so desperate to have my friendship back.

"It's too late to start over and forget everything," I replied. "I wouldn't be able to anyway."

"What if you tried?" Chris asked.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not going to," I replied.

I hated being such a mean person but it was what had to be done. Cutting off all ties with Chris was in the best interest of myself and my friends. Besides, Chris had other friends. He'd be fine.

At least, I hoped he'd be fine.

"Why did you guys come here?" Jade asked.

I could tell she didn't mind too much that we came though.

"We wanted to see you in action at work," I replied.

"Besides, I'm here to play matchmaker," Michelle replied, picking up her menu.

She, Alex and I had all come by the restaurant to visit Jade. I had yet to eat here and judging from the way everything smelled, I had been missing out.

"You guys know what you want then?" Jade asked, looking relieved to be serving people she actually knew.

"I want one of those sampler platters," Michelle replied. "I wanna try some of everything."

"I never got how you can eat all you want and still end up looking better than Britney herself," Alex replied.

"Simple, Britney tries. I don't have to," Michelle replied.

"I'll bring you guys the same thing then," Jade replied, walking back towards the kitchen, leaving the three of us alone.

"So Alex, did you find someone to take to the dance yet?" I asked.

"Nikki Perrayda," Alex replied. "Which is perfect cuz I hear she's a fucking spitfire in the sack."

"Let's try not thinking with our penis for an hour, okay," Michelle spoke with a fake smile on her face.

"What about you B?" Alex asked.

"You can't be serious?"

"What?"

"I don't exactly have a school full of people I can choose from. Who else besides me do you know is gay?"

Michelle and Alex exchanged looks.

"What's wrong with Gino?" Alex asked.

"Try the fact that he lied to me from the minute I woke up by not telling me about him-"

"That doesn't mean he was lying to you-"

"Oh yeah, then why'd he keep it a secret? Not to mention the fact that he's in love with me."

Which creeped me out to a certain degree. No one wants to hear from a person that you don't find sexually attractive and care a lot about that they are in love with you. It's just weird.

Before Alex or Michelle could try to talk any sense into me, I noticed Stephen headed towards our table.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?"

"Seeing if those rumors about the food here killing people are true," Michelle replied.

"One of these days, there's gonna be someone even worse than you-"

"Save it junior mint," Michelle replied, looking over the desert menu.

"I know what this is about. You guys came to watch me in action didn't you?" Stephen spoke.

"It's a restaurant, Stephen," I replied. "We came to eat."

"Right, got ya," Stephen replied. "So has anyone been by to take your order-"

"Oh great," I heard Jade say from behind Stephen.

Stephen turned around to face Jade.

"What are you trying to steal my customers from under me?" she asked.

"I don't have to steal customers," Stephen argued. "They willingly come to me."

"Give me a break," Jade spoke.

"Excuse me, waitress, waiter, whatever..I'm feeling a little parched here. Can I get a mineral water?" Michelle spoke.

Jade and Stephen glared at Michelle.

"You know, maybe this was a bad idea," I started.

I had already made a move to get out of my seat.

"No, Brandon...stay," Jade spoke.

"Yeah Brandon. Please do stay. So you can see for yourself what kind of worker she is outside of school," Stephen replied.

I looked over at Alex who shrugged and then over at Michelle who looked annoyed.

"Which one of you is supposed to be bringing me my mineral water?" Michelle asked.

I decided that a detour to Adam's place was in order after the embarrassingly uncomfortable time spent watching Jade and Stephen bicker like two people who were very much too infatuated with each other to let the other person know.

When I arrived, I noticed that most of the house had been packaged up rather quickly since the last time I had been here.

His mother was like a busy bee, moving from place to place packaging this and that and I could tell once Adam had let me in that he was glad that someone had come to pull him away from his mother.

"I guess your mom already found a place for you guys huh?" I asked.

Admittedly, I was looking forward to having Adam come and stay with me. I was sure that we would become even closer than we already were. If nothing else, even closer friends.

"Yeah," Adam replied. "I hope your house is clean."

I don't know why, but it took me nearly ten seconds to register what Adam had said.

"Wait a sec....she said-"

"Yep. My mom talked it over with your mom and she said it's okay if we move in temporarily," Adam replied.

We had enough room. Jaime was away at college and we had an extra guest room besides hers. Although, part of me wished Adam would have been sharing a room with me, but at least part of my wish was coming true.

Adam was going to be living with me!

"How long?" I asked, feeling like I needed to know everything about the situation.

"My mom's moving in temporarily," Adam replied. "And then she's gonna move in with my grandma until she finds a place for us. Your mom says it's okay if I stay as long as I like."

Which I was hoping would be forever. Of course, I knew better. But still.....

I looked around. Everything was pretty much packed up.

"So when is this happening?" I asked.

"Well tonight if we can manage to get all our shit together."

Adam stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Adam's mother had obviously called some movers since I'd arrived, as there were now several men walking all around the house packing and carrying various boxes.

"So did you talk to your mom about your dad?" I asked.

"Yeah we had a long talk. Apparently, she'd been thinking about a divorce for a while now. She's just sad that it took me getting shot for her to finally get one," Adam replied.

It was sad, but it was better for everyone this way.

"I'm just glad I don't have to see my dad anymore," Adam sighed.

Adam and I walked into the basically empty kitchen and walked over to the window.

"Hey Adam, come here for a minute please!"

Adam flashed me a half grin before turning to go see what his mother wanted.

I turned towards the window again, only to hear and feel the phone in my pocket ringing and vibrating.

I took it out and answered it.

"Uh...hey Gino," I replied nervously.

Even though we'd spoken since the incident, it was never one on one like it was now and I was nervous to be talking to him.

"Hey.... uh how are you?" he asked.

I turned and leaned against the window.

"I'm good, I guess," I replied.

"I'm glad to hear it."

There was a moment where the only sounds that could be heard were the ones coming from the workers as they moved boxes outside.

"I've been wanting to talk to you about......I just, I wasn't sure you wanted to."

I wasn't sure I'd wanted to before either. But enough time had gone by now for us to talk about it.

"Yeah I was...I guess I was avoiding you."

"We were avoiding each other."

"So what now?"

"I don't know maybe you and I could-"

"Hey, come here for a second. I wanna show you something," Adam spoke.

"Oh...you're at Adam's?" Gino asked, obviously hearing Adam's voice over the phone.

"Yeah. I'm helping him move in," I replied.

"Move in?"

"Yeah. Oh that's right...um...yeah Adam's moving in with me," I replied.

"With you? Really?"

"Yeah-"

"Come on!" Adam spoke, he was now pulling on my arm.

"Hey Gino, listen I'm kinda busy right now-"

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it. We'll talk later. Bye."

Gino had hung up the phone so fast I didn't even get a chance to say bye myself.

It was weird, hearing Gino's reaction. I knew things were going to be weird between us but I didn't think he'd have a problem with Adam moving in with me.

I'd just have to wait and see, I guess.

"Okay Adam, what is it?"

"Guess who just sent me a huge ass basket of porn."

"Dude, I swear, I fucking hate dances," Dan spoke, as he threw another paper ball into a trash can.

Stephen stared out into the restaurant, watching Jade work.

"No you don't. Besides, you don't have to worry about finding a date, you've always had Fiona," he sighed.

"Yeah, well the girl has expensive tastes. She wants me to buy a whole new outfit for this stupid dance," Dan replied. "And then there's money for the tickets and of course I still need money for Valentine's Day."

"Which is why you're working extra hours right?" Stephen replied, watching Jade pick up yet another tip.

"Exactly. Dude I swear, I hate dances and Valentine's Day. I'm about ready to die!"

Stephen continued to stare over at Jade.

"Why don't you just ask her out already? You know you want to."

Stephen quickly turned around.

"What the...? Are you kidding me? I don't like her-"

"Dude, you like her so much. It's obvious," Dan replied.

Stephen knew it was useless to hide anything from his best friend.

"So what if you're right? It doesn't matter because there's no way I can go to that dance," he sighed, turning back towards the staff room.

"And why not?"

"I've always spent my time writing during those dances and since I was always going out with Shelly-"

"Right, the girl who worked on the paper with you-"

"Yeah. I never had to go to dances because my girlfriend would always have rather finished working on the paper."

"But now what's the problem?" Dan asked, tossing another paper ball.

Stephen sighed and lowered his head.

"It's called a dance for a reason.....and I...can't."

Dan looked up at him.

"What are you talking about? Of course you can. Anybody can dance."

"Not me," Stephen replied walking past Dan and over to the couch, taking a seat on it. "I've never had to."

"I don't think Jade's gonna care if you can dance or not," Dan replied, joining his friend on the couch.

Stephen wasn't sure. He just was sure that he at least wanted to know how to dance before he even considered asking her.

"If you ask her to teach you how to dance, maybe she will," Dan replied.

"Are you serious?" Stephen asked.

"You're the one who wants to ask her out! Look, I'll talk to her. Make it seem like you're so desperate you need help. She'll agree cuz the two of us are really tight."

"And then what?" Stephen asked.

"Just....try not to be an ass to her anymore," Dan replied, getting up to start his shift again.

"Hey, she was an ass to me first!" Stephen called after him. ***********************************************************************

"Hey...a lot of her stuff is still in here," Adam said, as we looked around in my sisters room.

"Well that's because she comes home to visit occasionally," I replied. "But hell, I guess now she's gonna have to stay with a friend or if were lucky, on that corner she's famous at, huh?"

Adam grinned as he plopped on top of the bed and bounced around a little.

"I don't even need my bed, I can use this one."

"Yeah, I advise against it. Unless you know of a really good disinfectant that kills ninety-nine point nine percent of cum and pussy caused bacteria."

Adam jumped up and rubbed his pants off.

"Yeah, my mattress'll be good," Adam replied.

It felt so good having Adam here. It was like having a sibling I actually wanted. Only since we weren't related, it was perfectly okay for me to lust over him as much as I wanted. Although what I felt for him was far past simple lust.

"So what's your room looking like these days?" Adam asked. "You know I haven't been in it in like two months."

"Why Adam, you wouldn't by any chance be trying to get me alone in my room so we can make out would you?"

I was smiling and only joking, although I did kinda wish that's what he wanted.

Only, Adam looked a little nervous and more serious than he had before.

"Or maybe you can see it later," I said, trying to ease the tension between us.

"No it's not that...it's just...well I haven't told Vanessa about me moving in here yet," Adam replied.

"She doesn't seem like the jealous overprotective bitchy girlfriend type to me," I replied.

Which I was lying. She seemed to totally be that way and I only wished I could be a fly on the wall in her room once Adam called her to tell her.

"What are you gonna say when you tell her?" I asked.

Adam scratched the back of his head while looking down.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "The truth, I guess."

I was finding that given everything that had happened to me and my friends over the past year or so, honesty was always going to be the best policy.

And then there was trust, which we all still seemed to have problems with.

"Well, I guess I better go call her..." Adam strayed.

"Yeah. Sure," I replied, watching as Adam walked off to make his private phone call.

"Uh...hey Jade," Stephen started carefully.

He was fully aware that they hadn't gotten along at all since she started working here, but that was mostly because he liked her so much, that he was uncomfortable around her, thus the whole jackass attitude.

But now he was willing to be the first one to apologize. If Jade would even give him the chance.

"Oh god, look you may be higher up than me but I'm not about to let you make me do your job again," Jade said angrily, as she picked up more plates from empty tables and brought them to the back.

"Jade look, I'm sorry alright," Stephen replied, following her.

"You know, you've done so many things to me, I'm not even sure what you're supposed to be apologizing for."

Stephen was starting to get frustrated, but held off on unleashing his anger.

"You're right. And I admit I've been a colossal jackass to you. Huge pain in your ass. So do you think you find it in your heart to forgive me."

Jade sighed. Her back was turned to Stephen and as she was about to turn around and tell Stephen off just because it would keep her from trying to shove her tongue down his throat, she noticed Dan out the corner of her eyes and sighed, remembering the conversation she'd had with him.

"Fine, apology accepted," she replied, even smiling a little.

Stephen let out a sigh of relief.

"Great. And I was wondering if you might wanna be a pal and say yes to what I'm about to ask you."

Jade felt herself growing excited. Even though she knew it was a longshot, what with all their fighting, she'd been hoping against hope that Stephen would ask her to the Valentine's Day dance.

"I'd love to," Jade quickly replied, without even allowing herself to hear the request.

She was just so sure that Stephen was going to ask her out now that they were on good terms, she didn't have to second guess herself.

"Really? I mean, thanks. I wanted to go to the dance but I didn't really know how and I figured if I apologized, you'd teach me how to. I mean, because the girl I wanna ask to the dance is probably gonna wanna dance so-"

"Wait a second....that's what you wanted me to say yes to? You asking me to teach you how to dance?" Jade asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Well yeah," Stephen replied.

Jade forced herself to smile as best as she could, masking her pain.

"Oh. Well in that case, that I can do," she replied.

All Gino could think of was the fact that Adam was now going to be a hell of a lot closer to Brandon than he was. And that it'd only be a matter of time before the two of them were back together.

He didn't sleep a wink the previous night. Although he did manage to have several nightmares, the worst of which amounted to Brandon and Adam running off together and not telling anyone where they were going, only to never return.

Gino wasn't sure if he could handle losing Brandon. Not his love and not having him around. Which was why he'd already decided that he was going to have to play dirty once again. Only this time, he'd have to resort to extremes.

It would probably be different if Brandon didn't know that he was already in love with him. But since he did, it meant that there was only one way he could get to Brandon without doing anything himself.

"Hey Sam," Gino greeted, placing himself on the side of Sam's locker.

Sam Thompson was undoubtedly one of the most attractive guys in the entire school. There was a time when Sam and Gino used to be friends. That was back when Gino was also a cruel and callous person. So when Sam admitted that he had feelings for Gino, Gino stopped talking to him altogether and moved on with his life, even though he knew that he himself was gay.

That all occurred a year before Gino had even met Brandon.

But now, Gino was ready to mend fences with his old friend. At least for the time being.

"Gino..." Sam spoke.

Gino could sense the surprise in Sam's voice. It was also evident on his face for all of about three seconds before Sam shut his locker and begin storming down the hallway.

Gino quickly caught up to Sam and joined him at his side.

"I know you're pissed at me for ignoring you all this time-"

"No, I've made my peace with that and moved on," Sam spoke, still looking straight down the hallway.

"Well I haven't," Gino replied. "I feel terrible for what I did to you and I wanna apologize."

Truth was, Gino had only thought of Sam because he was the only other attractive gay guy that he knew of. That and he was hoping that Sam was still in love with him and willing to do whatever he wanted.

"Really? After all this time?" Sam spoke, still sounding angry and hurt.

Gino walked faster than Sam and jumped in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Would you just listen to me for two seconds!"

Sam stopped and looked away from Gino.

"I was wrong to just abandon you after you told me how you felt," Gino replied. "I understand that now."

Sam looked back at Gino.

"So what does mean..that you...."

Having almost completely reformed to what some people would call a 'goody two shoes' Gino was finding it almost too hard to lie to the poor guy.

Almost.

"Look, Maybe...I don't know. Lately I've...been wondering if I might be gay," Gino replied.

When he looked over at Sam, he could see the excitement welling up in his eyes.

"And?"

"Well that's just it. I don't know. I mean, I've been really looking at this one guy and having feelings-"

Gino could see the excitement fading now, but he wasn't finished quite yet.

"I wanna have them for you, honest. But first I need to know what kind of a person this guy is," Gino replied.

Sam looked back at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was wondering if you might be willing to help me figure this all out," Gino replied.

Sam smiled at Gino.

"You know I'd do anything for you, Gino."

That was exactly what Gino had wanted him to say.

"You shacked up?" Michelle spoke, sounding just as shocked as everyone else had been to learn that Adam was now living with me.

"You make it sound like were married or something," I replied, turning back to my locker.

"In the same house? The two of you?" Michelle spoke, still sounding shocked.

"You knew he was moving what with all those weird gifts you sent him," I replied.

"Yeah but not in with you," Michelle replied.

"I'm sure they'll be fine together," Ryan spoke.

"Oh what do you know, you think with your dick anyway," Michelle spoke.

Ryan chuckled as he put his hands behind his head.

"You know what this is gonna lead to don't you? Just a bunch of awkward moments of heat and passion that you'll eventually give in to," Michelle replied. "And then the next thing you know, you'll be cheating behind Vanessa's back."

"Michelle, you're the last person on Earth to be talking about someone cheating on someone," Alex spoke.

"I've repented and that's enough," Michelle replied, opening her compact to re-apply more makeup.

"Too bad you already have that life sentence in hell," Ryan joked.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around then huh?" Michelle shot back.

"Krystal would you please stop asking me that? I said I was fine!" came the voice of Vanessa as she approached the group.

Krystal was walking beside Vanessa, who was walking rather fast while Adam walked behind them, seemingly trying to catch up to Vanessa and get her to stop.

"I take it she's not happy about this situation," Michelle said.

"Why does everything have to be about her ass anyway?" I mumbled.

By the time the trio joined our group, Vanessa had already put on her trademark fake smile pretending like she was a saint on Earth. Krystal stood beside her, looking thoroughly worried while Adam looked a little uncomfortable.

"So what's going on?" Vanessa asked. "Where's Jade?"

I wasn't sure where Jade was but I had so many other things on my mind that I hadn't particularly noticed that she wasn't here.

"Probably looking for someone to take to the dance," Michelle replied. "The sooner the better. Otherwise she might be left with someone like Ryan here."

Ryan rolled his at Michelle.

I couldn't help but to notice that Vanessa and Adam seemed to be at odds with each other. I hoped everything was okay. The last thing I wanted was for Adam to be upset behind her.

"Ugh don't remind me about this dance," Krystal groaned. "It's bad enough I'm stuck as head of the committee planning it but now I have all these other things to worry about."

"What you need to focus on most importantly is snagging a date for the dance," Michelle replied. "Memories are everything now and you don't wanna look back on your senior year remembering the one dance you went stag to. Or worse, with an ugly guy."

"It must be hard living in your world Michelle," Krystal spoke. "I mean, it seems so demanding."

"It is. But I'm a demanding person, so.." Michelle droned. "Anyway, let's go see if I can find you somebody acceptable."

Michelle walked over to Krystal and started pulling her away.

"But Vanessa-"

"Is a big girl who can worry about herself. Now come on!"

Vanessa took one look at Adam and decided to leave as well, leaving Adam, Ryan, Alex and I alone.

"What's going on there?" I asked.

"She's just....well weirded out with the whole situation," Adam replied. "Nothing to worry about though."

That was the one thing about Adam that I didn't like. He was never willing to admit where a problem was because he didn't want to seem weak in front of me. But I would give anything to help him with his problems.

Because I wanted to be there for him just like I wanted him to be there for me. Only I knew he couldn't. Not right now anyway.

"Hey Adam. Alex, I think coach wants to talk to all the guys about something," one of Adam and Alex's teammates said, seemingly coming from out of nowhere.

Alex shrugged as he pulled Adam along, leaving Ryan and me alone.

"A year ago that would have been a talk I would have had to endure too," Ryan grinned, looking uncomfortable.

"You really miss football don't you?" I asked.

Ryan had told me that the only reason he'd stopped playing was because he didn't want to upset Alex and Adam by rejoining the team.

"I mean, I would have been able to handle everyone else....but Adam and I used to be best friends.." Ryan replied.

"Brandon, I need to talk to you," came the voice of Jade who was standing behind me.

I turned around to face her.

She was staring past me back at Ryan, who shrugged and smiled.

"I can take a hint," he replied, leaving us alone.

"Okay Jade, what's going on?" I asked.

Jade wrapped her arm between mine and slowly started leading me down the hall.

"I've come to the conclusion that I like Stephen after all," she started.

"What took you so long?" I joked.

"I know, and it's my fault that he wants me to teach him to dance for some other girl."

"So you two made up, but Stephen wants to take someone else to the dance?" I asked.

"I can't help but to be jealous," Jade replied.

Jade wasn't really a jealous person, so obviously she was more serious about Stephen than I'd originally thought.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Well you see him today for journalism. I was wondering if you could find out who this mystery girl is and tell me everything you can about her."

I rubbed Jades arm.

"I can do it, if it'll make you feel better."

It was times like these where I really wished I could remember my old life. It was so frustrating only being able to remember some things and not others. I just wanted my memory back!

"Hey," Michelle spoke, meeting Vanessa alone at her locker.

Vanessa didn't look up at Michelle, who she could tell had obviously been crying.

"Oh my god, never cry if you have on mascara," Michelle shrieked.

Vanessa sighed and shut her locker, starting down the hall.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I admit, sometimes I can be a bitch-"

"Sometimes?"

"Look, I'm a really good listener when I wanna be too, so...."

Vanessa and Michelle walked in silence for a few seconds before Vanessa stopped and turned towards Michelle.

"It's just. This was my chance you know. My chance to have the perfect relationship," she started. "But it's like I traded one type of abuse for the other."

Michelle looked at Vanessa quizzically.

"I'm starting to wonder if Adam and I are really not meant to be," Vanessa replied.

Michelle wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to lie to Vanessa, even though for her, it'd be so easy to do.

But she also knew that Vanessa was right.

"Adam really seems like he's trying to make this work," Michelle decided to say instead.

"And that's the problem isn't it? We're not married. We shouldn't be having so many problems. We shouldn't be having to try so hard."

"Well if you wanna break up with Adam, that's up to you," Michelle replied. "My advice though, save it for after Valentine's Day."

Vanessa wasn't sure if she wanted to wait that long but the one thing she did know was that she had a lot of thinking to do. ***********************************************************************

"So what's this I hear about you wanting to learn how to dance?" I asked, sitting myself on the edge of Stephen's desk.

"Jade told you, huh?" he asked.

"It's a miracle I tell ya. No more fighting!" I shouted, waving my hands in the air.

Stephen laughed as he swatted at me.

"Yeah well, I never wanted to be mean to her in the first place, so....."

"Because you like her right?" I asked.

Stephen looked up at me.

He said nothing as he got up and walked over to another area in the room, leaving me to follow.

"Then why did you ask some other girl to the dance?" I asked.

"I didn't.....what?" Stephen asked turning around.

"And asking Jade to teach you how to dance isn't altogether a great idea if you're going with someone else," I replied.

"Brandon, I never said-"

"Who is she? That skinny little Mexican with the roots showing?" I asked. "Or what about that white girl with the-"

"Look, I wanted to ask Jade, I did......do," Stephen replied.

I stopped when I realized what he was saying.

"Wait a second....what?"

"I just wanted to know how to dance before I did."

Stephen walked back over to his desk, once again leaving me to follow.

"Stephen you do realize that's a stupid plan don't you? I mean, if Jade thinks you're going with someone else, then by the time you wanna ask her to the dance, she'll already have a date."

Stephen frowned at me.

"I never thought of that."

"And you call yourself a journalist," I chuckled.

Stephen shoved my arm.

"Yeah because I actually write articles. What are you doing in here?" he asked.

Now was my cue to leave before we started talking about deadlines I was no longer interested in hearing about.

"Don't come back without an article!" Stephen called after me.

The day had finally arrived. The day of the Valentine's Day dance.

The rest of the week had its up and down moments. Jade and Stephen finally stopped being stupid and told each other how they felt and were together now.

Michelle of course still had her gorgeous date. Since Krystal had been too busy to find someone, she had decided to go with me, which was fine with me, since we both knew about each others situations. Alex of course had found not one but three dates that were all okay with sharing him for the night. And Ryan had also even managed to find a date.

Then there were Adam and Vanessa, who despite coming to the dance together, arm in arm, looked miserable and unhappy.

And finally there was Gino. It came as bit of a shock to me that after declaring his love for me, he'd seemed to have gotten over me quick enough to find a date to the dance. A guy no less.

A guy I'd been introduced to as being Sam Thompson, an incredibly gorgeous athlete. He was definitely an interesting person and he and Gino seemed to be happy enough.

But now that this day was here, I was definitely ready to have some fun!

"I gotta say, you've outdone yourself with this one!" Michelle proclaimed upon seeing the decorations all around the gym.

So much pink, red and white. Flowers, balloons, the works. Krystal really did put a lot of work into this dance. And as her date, I was going to make sure she relaxed and had fun tonight.

"And hey, they actually have good music playing this time around!" Alex spoke, walking further into the gym.

Everyone looked nice, regardless of who they'd come with. I wanted to try and relax and have fun, but I couldn't help thinking about Adam.

He and Vanessa looked like they'd come together for the sake of coming, not because they actually wanted to be here, and that worried me. It worried me a lot.

"Ugh, we struggled with that damn sign for twenty minutes and they still managed to mess it up!" Krystal sighed angrily.

"Hey, why don't you have a seat and relax and I'll go bring you some punch," I suggested.

Although, I really didn't think Krystal was going to be able to completely relax if she was stressing out over little things like the welcome sign.

"Wanna dance?" Jade asked Stephen.

"I guess this is my time to shine, huh?" Stephen replied leading Jade out to the dance floor.

"Hey, I'll be back. I'm just gonna go get something to drink," Gino spoke, leaving Sam with everyone else.

"Caleb let's dance," Michelle spoke, pulling Caleb away.

"Hey," Gino spoke, greeting me at the punch bowl.

"Hey," I started. "Might not wanna touch the punch. I have a feeling that's not all that's in there."

"I'll keep that in mind," Gino spoke, reaching for a cup.

"So Sam seems nice," I started.

And he did seem nice. I was happy that Gino had managed to find someone.

"It's....well he is nice," Gino replied. "Although....sometimes we have a few problems."

"Problems? How long have you known him?" I asked.

"Uh...a while," Gino replied. "Which is why it's so easy for me to forgive and forget, but sometimes....."

I put my hand on Gino's shoulder.

"I'm glad you seem to be moving on."

"Yeah well, It was all I could do to keep myself sane."

I felt like a lot of things were my fault lately. Maybe things weren't as great between Sam and Gino as I had thought, however quick it seemed they'd gotten together.

"Um...well I should probably get back to Krystal," I spoke.

"Yeah and I should get back to Sam," Gino replied.

When I got back to the table, Krystal was making a list of all the things she was going to yell at the council committee about on Monday.

Adam and Vanessa were next to each other, looking away from one another, while Ryan was talking with his date.

Stephen and Jade were still dancing together.

"Uh, here Krystal," I spoke, handing her a soda.

Krystal picked it up and examined.

"And who the hell decided Mountain Dew was a good idea?" she spoke. "It's going on my list."

"Vanessa, would you please just-"

"You know Adam, don't even," Vanessa spoke.

Almost immediately did everyone at the table stop whatever they were doing and look up at the 'happy' couple. It was obvious that they weren't happy, and now that they'd finally decided to speak to each other, we could all also hear how unhappy they were.

"It's just temporary!" Adam exclaimed.

"And then what? You expect me to believe you can live in the same house with your ex boyfriend and not have anything happen?"

Adam looked over at me and I looked down.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" he asked, lowering his voice.

Vanessa flashed me a glance before getting up without saying a word and heading out of the gym, Adam following behind her.

I hadn't even had a chance to try and think about what had just happened as I heard another argument in progress.

"I wanna be with you Sam!"

It was Gino, arguing with Sam.

"Right, tell it to someone who'll believe it!" Sam exclaimed, running out of the gym.

I walked over to Gino who looked like he was trying to fight back tears.

"I wanted things to work..."

I put my arm around his back and rubbed it gently.

"Maybe they still can..."

"No. No he just doesn't get it....."

And then he looked up at me with the saddest look I'd ever seen on his face.

"Could you talk to him? Please? Just to let him know that there's nothing going on between us?"

Part of me wanted to refuse because I didn't want to interfere, but I also remembered how I'd been neglecting Gino lately and I figured it was the least I could do to make it up to him.

"Alright," I replied heading the door that led to the parking lot, where Sam had run off to.

"Vanessa! Vanessa!"

Adam continued to chase after Vanessa until she finally stopped near a glass door leading towards the parking lot.

"I keep trying to tell myself that with time, you'll love me and only me. But obviously, that's not gonna happen."

"I'm just moving in with him. And for some reason you find that as ground enough to be a complete paranoid bitch!"

Vanessa looked up at Adam shocked.

Adam sighed and looked down.

"I don't....wanna break up with you...."

"And I don't wanna break up with you."

Both of them stood in silence for a while.

"Maybe......maybe what the two of us need is a break. Or some time to figure out what we wanna do," Vanessa replied. "Maybe we should see other people and see if we're the ones who belong together."

"So what does this mean?" Adam asked.

"Maybe until we figure out who we really wanna be with we should just.....go on a break. I don't know...something," Vanessa replied.

Adam ran his fingers through his hair and did a 180 degree turn before turning back to Vanessa.

"Maybe you're right."

He didn't actually think that he'd find himself agreeing to such a thing but he realized that maybe a break really was what the two of them needed. At least for now anyway.

Vanessa and Adam stood in silence.

"I don't know if there's anyone for me right now. But why don't you go and find Brandon."

Adam looked up at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Just go to him. He needs you more than I do right now."

Adam kissed Vanessa on the forehead before deciding to do as she had suggested.

Just as I thought. Sam was in the parking lot.

He was sitting on one of the benches between the tree rows that was underneath one of the lights and it looked like he was crying.

I approached him carefully, not really knowing what I was going to say to him.

"Uh...Sam," I started.

When I reached him, I just stood there, not really sure to sit down or not.

Sam looked up at me, and wiped his face.

"I look like a fucking pansy, crying like this," he said, trying to force a laugh.

To ease his mind, I sat next to him.

"Are you okay?' I asked.

"I don't know.....what did Gino tell you?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter. What do you wanna tell me?" I asked.

I wasn't sure why I was playing mediator here, but I seemed to be pretty good at it so far.

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing really," Sam replied.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I...........like you," Sam replied.

I looked at him with shock.

"What?-"

Before I even had a chance to do anything at all, Sam had pushed his lips onto mine and was kissing me for all the kiss was worth. I was so shocked I didn't even shake him off at first.

And I had to admit he was a good kisser. But he wasn't Adam, who I'd failed to see standing at the door watching us.

I pushed Sam off of me.

"You're with Gino!?" I spoke standing up.

"I'm sorry," Sam spoke, standing up as well.

I wasn't sure what to say. I sure was confused, I just had to go back to everyone else and figure some stuff out.

"Oh hey man, did you find him?" Gino asked as Adam passed him.

Adam flashed him a heated look and kept walking.

Gino walked over to the glass door and looked through it.

Just as he planned, Adam must have seen Sam kissing Brandon.

Things were going exactly how he wanted them too.

Now all that was left was to make Brandon his.

I'm catching up with my updates here on Nifty, so if you read primaily here, I hope you can be patient just a little while longer, lol.

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