Hello y'all. This is the second story I work on -- the first one being Alex and Sebastian. I'll place the link for that one below.
Hope you guys enjoy!
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/college/alex-and-sebastian/
A fellow reader made a playlist with most of the songs I've either used or will use in the A&S series. I've given him full control as to whether he wants a new channel for this story or just to continue on the original one. If y'all want to listen to the previous one while reading the chapters, the link for it is this:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJZWEUrY9KRSfQ98rYlMYix46VM0CJ7XS
Songs on YouTube: Don't Wanna Know -- Sam Tsui
I will keep you posted if another link is created.
Also, please don't forget to donate to nifty here, without which we wouldn't have this collection of great stories!
Every story is free on here, so please let's keep it that way and donate, guys. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
The Guilt Trip
This one's nice, I thought as I scrolled through the pictures saved on my camera. The picture I was referring to was one I had taken of Sam and Michael after they had won the contest last week. Being the club's journalist, I was tasked with taking pictures of important events as well as putting them together for the yearbook at the end of the year.
I decided on saving the picture of Michael and Sam standing in front of a wall where the class' guitars hanged. It was a few days after the competition and they were already holding the gift card of their choice. A smile crept on my face as I found myself staring at Michael's bright smile.
"We're here," Tay mentioned from the seat behind me, her neck stretching as she looked at the school coming into full view.
I turned my camera off as our bus rolled up to Veterans Memorial High School. We were a few months away from the district choir competition and, because Veterans HS was having a Spring invitational tonight, Mr. Holland thought it'd be wise to take a field trip and see what our competition was going to be like. He was close, after all, with the choir teacher of the rival school and, in a gesture of good sportsmanship, had accepted her invitation.
If I had to be honest, I was excited to watch the Tone Wolves perform. With a name like that, my hopes were up. Another reason, though, was that Diana told me Michael's girlfriend, Vanessa, not only went to this school but was also part of the choir - the president, nonetheless. I was looking forward to meeting her and, admittedly, sizing her up. She made it clear that she wanted us to meet her boyfriend, Andy, too.
Having made our way into VMHS's state of the art performance building, we all sat in one row near the front of the stage and watched the Tone Wolves perform.
Their set list only consisted of 10 songs but they ranged from 3-5 minutes long each. Not that we could tell time, though. As much as I hated to admit it, the Tone Wolves were good.
Like, really good.
While most of their songs involved their entire choir, four out of the ten songs were either duets or solos. One girl, an olive-skinned brunette, had a voice that permeated across the performance building.
Like ocean water cascading all around us, her voice rose and fell with her song. It was thrilling to watch such a talented girl be so at ease with herself.
By the sound of the clapping after her solo, I could tell the crowd adored her, too.
Hell, I was sure only Michael and Diana stood a chance singing against her. Even when her voice joined the rest of the choir's, I could still hear the strength and backbone she provided for the group.
Damn, she was good.
After VMHS' choir invitational was over, Mr. Holland and Mrs. Marx, the opposing choir teacher, led us back to their choir room for a special get together.
Making our way into their choir room, we sat together on the right side of the class. Well, most of us anyways. Michael had made his way to sit next to the same olive-skinned girl from the other choir. Vanessa, I would guess.
Annoyed, I turned away as I saw her reach for Michael's hand and pull it towards her. It might be after school but I was sure public displays of affections were still inappropriate on school grounds.
Mrs. Marx thanked us all for coming and showing our support and followed up by saying how some of her seniors had prepared their own performances for an upcoming exam. Because her choir club doubled as an after school activity as well as a class, her seniors had been encouraged to bring their A game.
One by one, two out of her three seniors stepped onto the stage and performed for us. Taking my camera out, I managed to take a few stills of their performance. They were good, sure, but nothing too impressing by themselves. Nothing like what Michael and Diana brought to the table. Granted, I wasn't giving them the attention they deserved as I kept stealing glances at what Vanessa and Michael were doing. When Mrs. Marx announced her last senior, I turned my head to look at the girl sitting next to Michael.
"For our last performance, our club's president has asked to do something a little different. Vanessa, our president, has asked to perform a duet with the president of Hanna High School's Emanon choir club."
As she rose, Michael rose with her. My eyes, like a deer's caught in a headlight, followed the both of them, unblinking.
After introducing themselves as their respective choir club's president, Michael played a short melody on the piano while Vanessa let out a small hum and began to strum her guitar.
. "I don't wanna know, know, know, know Who's taking you home, home, home, home. I'm loving you so, so, so, so. The way I used to love you, no." .
My eyes widened at the performance they put on. Not only were they harmonizing flawlessly, they were also meshing together two songs. Having only done this once with Diana, I realized how much time they must have spent together working on this.
I looked away, ashamed about being hurt over such a trivial thing.
. "Wasted (wasted). And the more I drink the more I think about you. Oh no, no, I can't take it. Baby, every place I go reminds me of you." .
I couldn't tear my eyes away from them. It wasn't just their beautiful voices mending together anymore. No, it was also the looks they shared as they performed together. Even as I watched, Michael and Vanessa sang and seemed to feed off of each other's energy. It reminded me of the time Michael and I sang together during Diana's house party. At the moment, our connection had felt so personal and strong, yet, watching him sing with her now made my stomach turn. There was no comparing those two experiences.
I was jealous.
Looking around the room, I had good reason to. As they sang, it seemed like everyone had become enthralled by their performance despite how sick with jealousy and guilt it made me feel.
. "I just heard you found the one you've been looking- You've been looking for. I wish I would have known that wasn't me. Cause even after all this time I still wonder Why I can't move on. Just the way you did so easily." .
I eyed Vanessa as she continued to sing. Feelings of guilt continued to reverberate in my chest as I saw her eyes light up when she looked at Michael. It wasn't her fault I was crushing on her boyfriend.
That thought didn't make me feel any better, though.
My stomach spun faster and faster as sparks continued to fly between them.
Stop looking at them, my brain screamed at me.
Don't turn away from him, my heart whimpered.
With a sickening wave of nausea and torn guilt, the large choir room suddenly became far too crowded - I couldn't breathe.
. "I don't wanna know, know, know, know Who's taking you home, home, home, home. I'm loving you so, so, so, so. The way I used to love you, oh. I don't wanna know." .
With a final look at the two of them, I quietly walked to the back of the choir room and exited through the back doors.
Even as I tried to think of something - anything else, the image of Michael smiling and singing with her - with Vanessa - kept clawing its way back.
I continued to walk, hands in my pockets, around the empty campus, Michael and Vanessa's faces engraved in my mind.
How could I even think about standing a chance after seeing them together?
If I hadn't been sure about my feelings before, I was sure as hell about them now.
Unfortunately, I was just as sure about their feelings for each other, too.
I just wish -
No.
Don't wish, I thought as I felt my eyes begin to sting. Don't fucking start.
God knows wishing only leads to a stupid, broken heart.
Hearing them - seeing them be so comfortable, so at ease, so, so ... happy, how could I ever stand a chance?
Walking past the band hall, a disheartened tear made its way down my right cheek. The cold, burning feeling of it tracing down my cheek made me realize how pointless it all was.
He was going out with her.
He had chosen her.
Like slow motion, more and more tears began to stream down my face. I quickly wiped them away but they continued to roll down just as fast.
Not realizing how far I had walked, I found myself lost in the middle of a random hallway. I wiped the last of my tears and looked around, trying to orient myself. I couldn't remember the path I had taken to get here, though. Exasperated with my luck, I decided to take the quickest and nearest turn at the hall to my left. Just as I turned into the hallway, a body rammed into me sending a gym bag across the floor.
I held my head where a strong aching throb began to register in my mind.
"Shit, sorry man," the guy that rammed me said, rubbing his left cheek. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.
"No problem." I gave my head one last rub as I bent down to pick up his gym bag. "I wasn't really looking either."
After taking his bag back, he gave me an embarrassed smile. "Here," he said, walking up to me and fixing my shirt. His hand lingered on my chest for a second longer than normal. "Fixed it," he said, pulling back and shooting me another one of his embarrassed smiles. "Name's Drew, by the way."
Taking a step back, I noticed how attractive the guy was. He looked extremely hot in his basketball shorts and tee, his muscular arms accentuated by the latter. His clean face, short haircut and deep brown eyes had me at a loss for words. I couldn't help myself from looking down at his shorts where a good sized bulge was apparent.
Something about this guy in basketball shorts ...
After an embarrassing silence, I cleared my throat and looked back at him. "Darren, here."
"Nice to meet you, Darren," he smiled, his teeth white and straight. I doubted they were the result of braces - much more likely they were the result of good genes.
"If it wasn't for the pain in my forehead, I'd say the same, ha-ha."
A crooked smile formed on his face at my joke. It almost made him look hotter. "Let me make it up to you then," he answered, eyes gleaming with an unknown look.
Something in the way he looked at me made my stomach flutter. Maybe it was that small mischievous look in his eyes. But, like a fly to a spider, I was being enticed by his web.
For a quick second, my thoughts traveled back to Michael. Just as quickly, though, I thought about how likely it was that he was still with Vanessa, his hands around her waist. Her hands touching his chest.
I blinked those thoughts away and focused on the hot guy in front of me.
"Oh, really?" I smiled at him, making sure to show him my trademark smile, too. "What'd you have in mind?" I asked, making sure my blue eyes met his brown ones.
He walked a little closer to me and stopped far enough to be ok if someone saw us but close enough where I could smell his peppermint breath.
"I have something in mind," he said, raising one eyebrow.
And that, friends, is how Drew and I made our way to an empty, unlocked classroom. Before the door was even fully closed behind me, Drew threw his body against mine. Pinning me between him and the wall behind me, I grabbed his head and pulled him closer to my mouth. Our lips met in an urgent, hungry way that had both of us breathing heavy. I could hear my heart beat fast and loud in my ears.
My left hand rested on his chest. Just like I had imagined, it was firm and hot to the touch - even through his shirt. My hands traveled down his sides until they landed on his navel. I reached my hand underneath his basketball tee and felt his hot skin against my open hand.
His lips, soft and warm, moved from my own to my neck. Feeling his cool breath on my neck produced strong tingles that made me let out a whimper. I heard him give out a small laugh as he, too, reached for the bottom of my shirt and pulled up.
Drew pulled back to admire my own lean frame. I couldn't blame him. Being a lean, blue-eyed, blonde guy, I knew I turned a few heads.
"Fuck," Drew smiled as his warm hands touched my flat stomach.
It was my turn to let out a small laugh before pulling Drew to me from the top of his basketball tee. When our lips met, I realized it wasn't the only thing pressing against me. I pulled back and looked down at Drew's shorts, a noticeable tent having already formed.
My eyes, craving him, too, met his as I pulled his basketball tee off. His chest, olive-skinned and darker than mine, was firm and hot to the touch.
Not wasting time, we threw ourselves at each other again. In an instant, Drew took a hold of my hands and pulled them above me before biting my shoulders and up to my neck.
His hands traveled down to my pants and rested on the uncomfortably tight tent that had formed.
He undid my belt and unbuttoned my pants but, before he had a chance to free my raging hardon, we both heard a whistling melody start followed by a loud vibration.
"Shit," Drew hissed out as he made his way to his ringing phone. He looked down at his phone for a few seconds before typing a quick message and looking back at me. "Sorry man, I totally lost track of time. Rain check?"
I blinked.
Rain check?
I had a terrible case of raging hardon and he wanted a rain check?
I looked down at my own phone and realized I had a few unread texts from Tay and Diana. Shit, it was late.
"Yeah, that's fine," I said. "I need to go back, too."
After having me save his number on my phone, Drew pointed me in the direction of the choir room and he made his way back to the gym.
Having had some time to clear my head, I didn't find it as heart wrenching seeing Vanessa wrapped around Michael's waist.
I still found it annoying, though.
In all honesty, it was still a little heart wrenching, too.
Having missed the last of the performances prepared by the club members, I arrived just in time for Mr. Holland and Mrs. Marx instructing us to mingle with each other for the last 30 minutes.
I made my way to where Diana and Tay were talking to a girl from Veterans and joined in.
After about fifteen minutes, Diana looked down at her phone. "Good! He's on his way!"
"Who is?" I asked. "Oh," I realized, "Your boyfriend?"
"Yeah," she said, sending out a text. "He had a game today so he couldn't make it tonight."
"Oh. He's in this choir, too?" Tay asked.
"Yeah," Diana smiled. We've know each other since junior year but only started going out a little before senior year started."
"Babe!"
Diana seemed to glide across the room as she made her way across the room. She threw herself on Andy's arms and spun around so his back was to us.
Even so, it was apparent that they were making out.
Quietly, I let out a small sigh. Everyone had someone ... everyone but me, apparently.
Diana ended the kiss and began walking back to us. I turned away, embarrassed to have been staring at them kiss.
"Guys," Diana beamed, walking back to where Alyssa and Chris where at. "This is my boyfriend, Andy."
"Nice to meet, y'all."
Something about that voice ...
I turned my head to get a good luck at Andy. Normally, I'd say that his wardrobe was the first thing that caught my eye. He was wearing tight fitting jeans that accented his muscular lower body. Hell, he was even wearing a nice button up, navy blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up (something I was told by Tay made a guy look "ten times hotter.")
No.
The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that, despite his different set of clothes, I had already met Andy.
I had just met him as Drew, though.
Andy met my eyes and, for a second, they widened in surprise before a small nonchalant smile formed in his lip and he looked back at Diana.
She wrapped her arms around Andy's waist and smiled at us again. " I want you to meet the newbies, Andy. Come," she said, not so much a request as she pulled his arm towards where Tay, Sam and I were at.
Once she had called Sara over, Diana introduced us four to her boyfriend.
After introducing me as her mentee and one of her newest best friends, I shook Andy/Drew's hand, trying hard not to blush at the awkwardness and absurdity of the situation.
Well, this is great on so many levels, I thought, sarcastically.