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 two of this tale.
----------------------- Godsend Chapter 2:
"Oh stop with the lost puppy dog eyes," Kelly told me. "I'm not dropping you. Not after what just happened. You need me, and I'm way too curious about it to just walk away." I grinned. "And you can stop that, too. You're too damn cute for your own good, you know that?"
This was news. "You think I'm cute?"
Kelly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Don't let it get to your head. I have no desire whatsoever to date you. You're a friend who happens to be pleasant to look at. Bobby's cute, too." Bobby was another friend in our small circle of rejects.
"Well guess what," I said. "As much as you want to hide it, you're gorgeous too."
She looked as if I had just stabbed her dog. "Take me home, Stefan. Now."
I did as she wanted, knowing I had crossed a line with her. She would have been much happier if she had been born ugly. She had this strange envy of those girls who couldn't seem to get a guy's attention no matter how hard they tried. I couldn't really understand this warped view she had, but I knew it was sacred to her.
"I'm sorry, Kelly," I said as we were turning onto her street. "I really don't understand your dislike of good looks, but I know what I said was a low blow to who you are."
"Do you take it back?" she asked softly.
"Do you want me to be honest?" I asked as we pulled into her driveway. Her house was a small gray ranch style with almost no yard. The houses on either side were too close to be comfortable. It wasn't run down, like a couple houses in the neighborhood, but it wasn't pretty. At least there wasn't clutter everywhere.
She was quiet for a moment. "No," she said softly, without a hint of sarcasm. "I want you to lie to me."
"You're homely," I said. It didn't feel right saying those words to anyone, but I knew that's what she wanted. "I'll tell you this," I added, "and this isn't a lie. You have a beautiful soul, and those of us you choose to show it to really don't care how you look."
She leaned over and hugged me. "Thank you," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow." I watched her leave the car and walk into her home. A few minutes later I drove off.
My home didn't seem like anything special to me, but to most it seemed like a palace. I pulled up to the white, wrought-iron gates at the foot of the drive, and they opened up to my car right away. The lawns on the way to the house were well-manicured, with flower beds along the sides of the driveway to highlight it. It was about a half a mile of this before the driveway hit the circle in front of the house, with the fountain in the center. I only went a quarter of the way around this before I turned off a side road which lead to the six car garage, which was hidden from view by a copse of trees. My spot was the third door, which also opened as soon as I drove up. My parents had the first two, and the fourth was for my little sister when she hit sixteen in two years. Doors five and six were for my grandparents' cars. My mom's parents lived with us in their own wing. My younger brother would be getting my space when I left for college, since he was only seven.
Behind the garage, but still attached to it, was my father's workshop. He spent most of his time in there, repairing and inventing. He was good enough at it that he kept the giant and expensive roof over our heads with plenty to spare. Grandpa also worked in there for him, and my little brother was starting to learn how it all worked as well. I was the only guy in the house who had no head for mechanical or electrical work at all.
My mother made a decent amount as well, but her business was rather new. She ran an online dating service, which boasted more romantic connections than the rest of the competition combined. She had this special knack of finding just the right mate for her clients. As with my dad's workshop, my grandmother helped mom out, with my sister doing quite a bit of matchmaking as well. I'd never even tried to see if I had that talent.
"Oh Stefanos, your mother wants you to go see her. A friend of yours called," said an older man with a severe limp. My grandfather had told me once that it was a genetic trait that went from male to male in our family, and that I should be "thanking my lucky stars" that I was the first male that it missed altogether. Both my dad and my brother had the trait.
"Thanks Grandpa Henry," I said cheerfully. I waved to him and made my way to the house. The large double doors in front opened as soon as I walked up to them, but this time it wasn't because of an electric scanner. "Thank you, Ben," I told the doorman as I walked in. "My mother?"
"In her sitting room, sir," Ben replied politely. I'd grown up with servants calling me young sir', which had, in the past two years just become sir'. I was used to it.
"Thank you again, Ben," I told him as I walked off. There was a curving staircase reaching out in two directions in the roughly circular front hall, meeting at a landing in the center, at the second floor. To the right of the front door were two single doors. The first was open, and as I passed it, I could see my sister sitting on one of the family room's large white sofas. She had her headphones on and was studying. I figured she had nothing else to do, since she only studied when she was bored.
My mother's sitting room was the second door, which was in the shadows of the right staircase. I knocked on the closed door, and got a "Come in" immediately. Walking into the room, my nose was assaulted by the aroma of about a thousand flowers.
"Geez, mom. Doesn't the gardener know that the beds are outside? I can't even see you."
She laughed a light and airy laugh. "You fix up a guy who's a little well to do with the woman of his dreams, and suddenly your house looks like a florist shop exploded." Stepping out from behind one of the huge bouquets, my mother was in one of her usual diaphanous gowns, this one pink. She was slender, with blonde curls that cascaded down past her shoulders to the middle of her back. Her face was flawless, and so was her body. I had stopped bringing my male friends over after they hit puberty because of their leering at her. It always made me a bit ill when my friends would tell me how hot my mom was.
"I take it he was happy with your choice," I mused.
"No kidding," my mom said. "Now what the hell am I going to do with all of these?"
"Just bring in your decorator," I told her. "She'll find ways of dealing with them. Anyway, Grandpa said you had a message for me?"
"Oh yeah," Mom said. "I forgot. Some guy called. I think his name was Darren. I left the message by the phone in the kitchen." Everything stopped. The whole afternoon's strangeness rushed back into my head and I froze. "Everything alright?" my mom asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Did that boy try and kiss you?"
I shook my head to clear it. "I'm ok mom. I just...what? What did you just say?"
"I asked if you were ok," she said.
"Nothing else?" I asked.
"What do you think I said?" she replied.
"No...nothing," I stammered. "I'm going to go call Darren back, now."
"Alright," she said. "See you at dinner?"
"Always," I replied and darted out of the room. I circled around the foot of the right staircase and down the hallway in between the two flights. The kitchen was six doors down the hallway on the left, and was large enough for three chefs to cook a large meal for dozens of people. Only our family's head chef was on duty now, and he was preparing dinner. Next to the first fridge there was a cork board with messages on it. One of them had my name at the top, with Darren's name and number under it. I pulled it off the board and hurried back to my room.
I had to return to the front hall and up the stairs, as my room was on the second floor. Nine doors down on the left, I opened my door and entered. Inside was my world. Six bookshelves held my favorite sci-fi and fantasy novels, movies, and video games. They filled one wall completely. Two other walls had autographed posters of various actors and casts, all from movies or TV shows in my DVD collection. One of the two held my king-sized bed, nightstand, and dressers, along with the doors to my walk-in closet . The other, opposing poster-covered wall, had my bathroom door and my entertainment system. The fourth wall was mostly windows, with a door to my balcony, which I only used when reading.
My phone was on the nightstand, and almost as soon as I dialed, the phone was answered. "Stefan, good, I'm glad you called back," Darren said instead of hello.
"Caller ID?" I asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.
"Yeah," he said. "Man listen. I know Jacob must have promised you to secrecy, but I really had to make sure for myself. If word got out about what happened, it would ruin me."
"Sure man," I told him. "Like I told Jacob, I have no reason or desire to go blabbing around about what happened. None of us could have stopped it anyway."
"What do you want to keep quiet?" he asked. That floored me. He thought I wanted to blackmail him.
"Nothing, Darren," I said. "I don't know what kind of people you deal with usually, but my friends and I are above blackmail."
"No one just gives away favors for free," Darren said. "Come on, it would make me feel better if you asked something of me. Anything at all."
"Can I ask you to relax and trust me?"
"A real favor," Darren said.
"Fine," I said. "How about if my friends get immunity from all teasing and harassment from you and your friends?"
"Done," Darren said. "Give me names and I'll pass them around as being under my protection. Jacob will probably help enforce it as well." I listed off my group of friends. "That's it?"
"Yeah. There may not be many of them, but they're close friends."
"I don't know if I can get Mike to leave Newton alone, but the rest should be easy," Darren informed me.
"Oh man, that was the most important one," I said. "Newton doesn't even want to leave his house in the morning because of Mike."
"You serious?" Darren asked. "It's that bad?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll do everything I can to get him off Newton's back."
"Hey Darren?" I said. "Could we just call it a favor to me, and call my silence a favor to you, instead of a payment thing?"
There was a small snort of amusement from Darren. "You sound like the mafia," he said. "But yeah, if it makes you feel better, we can call it that."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You know my friend Kelly, on your list?"
"The hot girl who tries to be invisible that you and Cade work with?" Darren asked.
"So she is noticed," I said to myself more than to Darren.
"We were talking about trying to get with her one day and Cade told us to back off. He told all of us guys what she was like and that he'd kick the shit out of anyone who tried to put the moves on her. We all thought he was going to go after her himself, but he never did. Not like Cade to just protect a girl for no reason."
"Wow," I said, floored at the sudden revelation. "Cade really respects her."
"Respect..." Darren was quiet for a few moments. "You might be right. Anyway, you wanted to add something about the girl?"
"She's going to be looking for the source of the glow, but she doesn't want to be pulled into the popular group. Is it possible to keep her invisible?"
"I don't know," Darren said. "I don't think it's ever been done. We'll try, though."
"Thanks man. See you tomorrow?"
"Sure," Darren said. "Later."
Somewhere during the conversation I had reclined on my bed, but I didn't remember doing it. I had to sit up to put the phone back in the cradle. Once I did, I realized I had just said goodbye to Darren Long the way I would have said it to Kelly or Bobby: with the promise of hanging out the next day. And Darren Long had said `Sure'. I had to stay calm. I wouldn't stay popular for long if I was so easily impressed. I had to be cool.
Ok, mostly character development in this one. Next one will pick it up a bit. Questions? Comments? Monetary rewards? Email me at academygm@hotmail.com