Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people are coincidental. If you are under the legal age in your area to read erotic literature, please stop reading this and go somewhere age appropriate. If you are offended by homosexual material, please stop reading this and go somewhere your bigoted little mind can handle. If you're looking for pure sex and plot/character development only get in your way, this story is definitely not for you. The rest of you, please enjoy chapter one of this tale.
----------------------- Godsend Chapter 1: Stirrings
"Your homework problems for tonight are three through twenty-seven on page eighty," Mr. Valin droned. "They're simple plug-and chug, and if you were listening at all today, you'll be able to do them all in about fifteen minutes." There were a few minutes left in class, and everyone wanted to get out for the weekend. Mr. Valin knew that, and that teenagers had more important things to do during the weekend than homework, so he tended to make the weekend assignments lighter than the Monday through Thursday variety.
Three seats back, in the fourth row from the left, Cade Marriott sat, making a brief note of the page number and problems in his planner. His hair, the color of milk chocolate, shone in the fluorescent lights and obscured his sky blue eyes from his many admirers when his head was bent down to take notes. Under his royal blue letter jacket with black leather sleeves, his lean, smooth muscles - game winning muscles - moved with a sensual grace that only he could muster. He also had a smile that could melt hearts.
I sat two seats back and one row over, Stefanos Kereanoi. I go by Stefan, usually. People who like me, or are too lazy for multisyllabic words, call me Stef; those who don't like me or want to get a rise out of me call me Stefanie. I'm not what anyone would call athletic. In fact, I'm pretty skinny. I don't usually get picked on, though. I think it's because the girls all think I'm cute in a lost puppy sort of way, so the guys think I`m harmless. My mom says I'll grow into my looks some day and be some sort of sex god, but she says weird shit like that all the time - she takes some getting used to.
The bell rang and everyone packed up quickly so they could snatch a few moments with their friends before going on to the final period of the day. For Cade and I, it was study hall, one of three periods I had with him. The others were pre-calc, which we were in now, and U.S. government during second hour.
"Stefan," came Cade's voice, bringing me back to reality, "I gotta hit the can before study hall. You wanna set up for us?"
"No problem," I replied, picking up my backpack. "See you in a few." Cade hurried out of the room. I followed more slowly, knowing I had ample time to get to the cafeteria. There was, however, a tug on my backpack, keeping me from moving forward.
"Earth to Stef," said a sarcastic female voice. "Don't say anything to me."
I turned to see a bookish girl. Pretty, but masked by glasses and frumpy clothing. All of it was a disguise, I knew, to keep people from actually noticing her. She wasn't the most sociable person to anyone outside her small circle of friends, and few outside that circle ever really knew she was there, which was how she wanted it. She had her raven colored ringlets pulled back into a functional pony tail, showing that her emerald eyes were glinting with humor, not anger. I smiled automatically.
"OK, Kel, I won't."
The rest of the class was already almost completely out of the room, and she moved in close so that we couldn't be overheard. "I knew it," she said.
"Knew what?" I asked innocently, grinning.
Kelly moved in closely and said in a nearly inaudible hush, "you're gay." I glared at her, but my stomach dropped. "I suspected it for a long time, but wasn't positive, so I've been watching you closely. You're normal most of the time, but when Cade's around, you get all starry-eyed. You like him."
I felt like I had a javelin shoved through my gut. "I'm not, and I don't want to talk about this," I said softly. I started to walk off, but she put her hand on my arm.
"Look, I won't push it any farther. But there's something I want you to know: whatever you are, you're my friend, and I won't turn my back on you for anything you have no control over. If you need me for anything, I'll be around." She shouldered her backpack more firmly and walked out of the room.
There was a deep fear within me. Did people really see me like that? But there was also a small spot of warmth. Kelly had just flat out said that she was my friend come hell or high water, a gift she gave very few people. I walked in a semi-daze toward the cafeteria and sat down, still thinking.
"Heh, didn't think I'd beat you here," Cade said as I sat down. His smile gave me a warm shudder. I think I blushed. Was it obvious? Did he really have that effect on me? Cade`s expression became concerned. "Dude, what's got you so freaked?"
I froze for a moment, then shook my head and smiled. "Nothing. No biggie. Something just surprised me, that's all."
Cade looked at me askance. "What was it? You seriously looked like you saw a ghost a second ago."
I had to think fast. "Uh, Kelly...she kinda, well...kissed me," I lied, mentally apologizing profusely to Kelly. Cade grinned. He didn't care one way or the other about Kelly, only knowing she existed because of me. When we had to do group work in pre-calc, we worked as a group of three, and the two of them got along fine, but I don't think either one of them even noticed each other outside the classroom. Cade did, however, think Kelly was smart and pretty and everything, but also knew how she wanted to keep her social life, so he respected her wishes without thinking.
"So she likes you," Cade said with a chuckle. "I take it from your look that you really don't know what to think."
"Something like that," I replied.
"Don't worry, man, I've been there. A girl you like, but never really thought of in that way, suddenly has feelings for you, and you're not sure what you really think about her."
"Could we, uh...not talk about Kelly right now?" I asked. "I need to think things over later, but right now I need to work on this paper." Cade and I were partnered in our government class to write a paper on checks and balances between the three branches of the US government and how they impact how and what gets done. Not really a hard paper for either of us, so I wasn't worried. I also knew Cade could pulls his own weight with the school work. He managed a B average on top of his athletics.
"Yeah, no problem," Cade replied with a nod and a half grin. I wanted to kiss him.
We made excellent headway with our paper during study hall. Our next study hall session would finish it, and then we'd just have to do a toss up of who typed it. After class we parted ways - him seeing a bunch of his friends and giving me a quick `see ya' before running off to them, and me watching after him as he went.
"You're giving me a ride," Kelly said over my shoulder, making me jump.
"You wanna stop doing that?" I said. "You're going to give me a heart attack."
"Hell no," she said with a smile. "It's fun watching you jump. So what about the ride?"
I thought about it, and knew I owed her, though she wasn't aware of that yet. I needed to clear the air and fess up about what I told Cade, at least. "Yeah. Wanna hit a drive through?"
"Didn't you just have lunch two hours ago?" she asked.
"But mom, I'm still hungry," I whined.
"What do you boys do with all that food?" she asked.
"We grow up big and strong," I said with a deep and loud fake Russian accent. We both had a little chuckle and walked down to my car. In a lot full of beat-up, second-hand lemons that only a high-schooler would be dumb enough to drive, my luxury sports car stood out like a shining beacon. Did I mention my family was very comfortable?
When we got in, Kelly stopped playing. "You need to stop staring after him like that if you want to keep it a secret."
"Huh?"
"You watched Cade leave like you were sending off a lover," Kelly said. "I had to tell Bobby that you had a thing for Rona, who was standing right next to Cade (though I know you didn't notice her), when he asked why you were making moon eyes at the football team.
"Thanks, Kel. But really, that wasn`t what was going on, really."
She looked at me sideways, squinting a little, and then nodded. "That's what I'm here for."
"I...uh...have to apologize for something, too. I sorta did something you may not like," I told her.
"What?" she asked hesitantly.
"Well, when you said what you did in pre-calc, I kinda freaked. Cade saw it on my face and asked me what was up."
"And?"
"I told him you kissed me." My arm suddenly stung from where Kelly punched me - was still punching me, in fact.
"You idiot!" she yelled. "If the mindless masses here think I'm after you, they're gonna start seeing that I exist, and then I'll have to talk to them."
"You talk to Cade," I reminded her.
"Cade's unique," she said. "He has the ability to forget the fact that he's one of them for short periods. But I don't need to tell you that he`s a special case, do I?"
I glowered at her and kept my mouth shut. We stayed that way for several minutes. "Where do you want to eat?" I asked.
"I don't, really," Kelly said. "You're the hungry one. I`m just along for the ride." We stopped and I got a few tacos, convincing Kelly to at least have a soda.
We pulled into a parking space to eat, like we usually did. We tended to sit and talk or listen to the radio when eating, and having all those people around got in the way. It also helped Kelly's image of non-existence to keep herself out of the public view. However, I always backed into the spaces at the edge of the lots so we could watch and comment on the people going in.
"That's going to be trouble," Kelly remarked as a large woman walked in with a baby in her right arm, and a small screaming boy nearly dangling from her left hand.
"Wonder where the kid really wanted to eat," I said.
"Who knows," Kelly said. "But that's quite a tantrum he's throwing. Glad the windows are up." As it was, we could still hear the angry child's yelling, with the mother's voice snapping back every so often. It was a relief when the door closed.
A few moments later, a beat up car I recognized pulled into the spot across from us. It was Jacob McPhee's car. He was a decent guy, on the team with Cade. His girlfriend was the very same Rona, whom Kelly had used as a cover story. Rona leaned over and gave her boyfriend a kiss, then left the car. They must have stopped for her to use the restroom.
When she was out of sight, Jacob looked up and saw us. A look of anger passed over his face and he got out of the car. I knew what was coming, so I rolled down the window. As he got close, I blurted out, "It's not true!" He stopped for a moment and looked confused, then approached more calmly.
"So you heard, too?" he said.
"Yeah," I told him. "I swear to you, I'm not after Rona."
"That's cool, man," he said to me, smiling. Hi teeth were a little jagged, but not so much as to really warrant a trip to an orthodontist. "I'm glad I didn't have to beat you up. Cade says you're a pretty decent guy." Cade talked about me? "I wonder how this rumor started," he said, breaking my slight trance.
"That's easy," I said. "I was zoned out thinking about something earlier, and I guess I was looking in her direction. Someone saw and decided to fill in the blanks."
Jacob laughed a bit. "Welcome to popularity, Stefan," he said, clapping me on my shoulder. "It's fun, but it's also a curse. Everyone knows your business." It was true. The popular kids were like celebrities. I knew what they were all doing on Friday nights, and so did most of the school. But...me? One of them?
"I'm not popular, though," I protested.
"Cade's a star here," Jacob said. "He said you were cool. Just the fact that he knows who you are brings you to the edge of popularity. Trust me on this, if rumors are spreading about you, then enough people know who you are, and care about what you're doing, to make you popular." He grinned. "Just relax and enjoy it, Stef." With that, he walked back to his car and got back into the driver's seat.
"I can't hang out with you any more," Kelly said suddenly. I jumped. Then her words sank in.
"Yes you can," I said. "He's wrong. I'm not getting popular, really. Even if I was, you think I could just abandon one of my best friends?"
"I'm not letting you drag me into their world," Kelly stated, adamantly. "If you start showing up on people's radars, then everyone you come in contact with will be spotlighted as well."
"We can still email and talk on the phone and visit each other at home, right?" I asked.
"Only in secret," Kelly told me. "For email and phone, I'm a friend from out of state. I don't know if we can manage visits without people knowing."
My heart sunk in my chest. I wouldn't be able to hang out with my best friend any more, because of something I had no control over.
Someone else I knew from the team, Darren Long, came up to Jacob's car window. They started joking and laughing. I had rolled my window back up, so I couldn't hear it. I didn't care. Darren's head was shaved, since he was also on the swim team, and it contrasted with Jacob's brushed-forward, short, light-brown hair. I noticed all of this in a semi daze. I was too hurt to pay them any more attention than that.
"Can we go?" Kelly asked quietly.
I nodded and reached up to turn the key and start the car, but my hand never made it. A crushing pain filled my lower abdomen and I doubled over forward, groaning in pain. "What was in those tacos?" I asked.
"Do you need to make a run for the bathroom before we go?" Kelly asked.
"No," I grunted. "It hurts, like I'm being punched in the gut."
"Let me see," she told me, lifting my t-shirt. "You're...glowing," she told me. I looked down to see she was right. My stomach had a glowing red circle in the center; it looked like I had a flashlight just under my skin. Kelly glanced up, her hand still touching my stomach. "Oh my god, look," she said, pointing at the car across from us with her other hand.
Both Darren and Jacob had a red glow around them. I glanced at Kelly, but she still looked like Kelly. When I did, she let go of my stomach. "It stopped," she said. But it hadn't, the two of them, plus my stomach, were still glowing. I told her as much. She looked at me funny, then put her hand back n my stomach. "You're right," she said. "I can only see it when I'm touching you. What do you think it is?"
"I don't know, but it still hurts." I watched as Jacob and Darren stopped laughing and just stared at each other. I focused on my pain as I watched them, trying to will it away. Darren's hand touched Jacob's arm casually, then it slid up to Jacob's shoulder, and finally up to his cheek. Jacob closed his eyes and shook a little with obvious pleasure. He then put his hand over Darren's and rubbed it a little.
"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Kelly asked.
"You can only see it when you touch me, so I think it's my hallucination, not yours," I told her.
The pain was dying down a little as I pushed it out, so I kept trying. Darren leaned down, resting his elbows on the edge of Jacob's open window. I could feel the pain slipping. It would only take one more push to get rid of it. He moved forward, tipping his head slightly to get a better angle. It was almost gone, just a little more force would do it. Their lips met tenderly, savoring the taste of each other. One final shove...
The pain was gone. The glowing in my stomach and around the guys was gone.
They were, however, still kissing. "No more glowing?" Kelly asked.
"No," I told her. "I don't see it, or feel the pain any more."
Darren jumped back, bumping the back of his head on the top of Jacob's window. He fell down against the next car into a sitting position. Jacob's face showed pure horror, which was replaced by raw fury in seconds. The car door flew open, and Jacob came flying out, readying himself to throw a punch at Darren's prone form.
I jumped out of my car instinctively. "Stop!" I yelled at Jacob. "It wasn't his fault."
Jacob's eyes were wide. Fear filled them. I had witnessed him in a homosexual act and he was terrified of me. "You can trust me," I told him quickly. "I can keep a secret." He stopped what he was doing and just sat on the hood of his car, staring at Darren. "You ok, Darren?" I reached out a hand to help him up.
"Yeah," Darren said. "I think so. Thanks, Stefan." He knew me, too? No time, I told myself. I had to help them now. I could marvel at my sudden shift in status later. Darren looked like he was about to kill Jacob, who was still stunned.
"Don't, Darren," I told him. "You two shouldn't be mad at each other. I don't think you had control of yourselves - either of you."
They both looked at me then. "Good, now that I have your attention, we can talk. Like I said, I don't think either of you had any control then. I watched what happened. You were both glowing when the flirting started. Whatever that glow was, was making you act like that. It also hurt me like hell. Right here," I said, pointing to my stomach.
"You saw us doing that and it made you sick," Darren said.
"No," I told them. "It wasn't sick pain. It was punching pain, and it started before you two did. I could feel whatever was taking control of you, and it hurt me."
"Whoever it was has a sick sense of humor," Jacob said, obviously more willing to admit it was supernatural than to admit it was his own desire.
"I feel used," Darren said.
"Dude, you sound like a girl," Jacob jabbed.
"Shut up," Darren said, punching him in the arm. "I'm going home." He walked back to his car and drove off.
"I hope he's ok," I said. "I don't think he's taking it as well as you are.
It really wasn't his fault."
"I know," Jacob said softly. "It's like some switch in my head was flipped for a minute. It made that disgusting faggot shit seem..." He shook his entire body.
"I know," I told him. "It seemed natural to you while it was happening. When the glow was gone, you both switched back to normal instantly."
"Oh, Stefan, hi," came a light, hesitant voice to my left, toward the fast food place. I had forgotten Rona. "Is everything ok, Jakey?"
"Huh?" he asked. Then realization reached his expression. "Oh, that. Yeah. Just a rumor. Stef's cool." Rona smiled.
"Oh good," Rona said. "I'm glad everything's settled. I was worried I'd lose one of my friends because of you. She likes you."
My pulse accelerated. "Who?" I asked.
She smiled in a playfully wicked way. "Can't give everything away like that. It would spoil all the fun. Come on, Jakey. Time to go." She hopped into the car and closed the door.
Jacob shrugged his shoulders at me. "Women," he said, smiling. His expression sobered and he quietly asked, "so everything that happened stays between the three of us?"
"I don't have the gossiping gene," I told him. "We're cool."
He gave me an appreciative smile and opened his door. "See ya later, Stef."
I walked back to my car so they could drive off.
"I think you have three more popular friends." I nearly leapt out of my skin.
"Kelly!"
She giggled. I felt my eyes watering. I knew the subtext of what she had just said. I was losing her.
Questions? Comments? Solicitations for sex? Email me at academygm@hotmail.com