Disclaimer: First of all, I was above the age of 18 when I wrote this story and I own all rights to this. Any resemblance to actual living persons and places within this story is purely coincidental. If you are underage or it is illegal to view this story in your area, please hit the back button now. This story includes scenes of male teenagers engaged in male/male sex when permitted in the narrative. If you are uncomfortable with this, kindly exit now as well. Anyway, here goes:
I Think I've Flipped. Chapter 5.
(Will's POV)
Here I am sitting in my history class barely paying attention for two reasons. First, I hate History and find it boring as hell. What is in the past should stay in the past. We should be concentrating on the here and now and what is yet to come. Secondly, the air conditioned in the room is broken. The classroom is engulfed with so much heat that we had to open the windows for some ventilation.
It didn't make a difference when we opened them it still felt like I was sitting in a sauna. I noticed most of the students inside the room were either sweating or wiping their sweat away. However, as much as I fanned myself, I sweated along with the rest of them.
Even though I was dressed casual wearing a red t-shirt, and jeans, I still managed to sweat. Fuck, I hate sweating in class. I feel like a pig in an oven. I was about to run my hand threw my damp brown mop of hair when I heard someone ask me a question.
"So.....what time is Tyler coming to your house tonight?"
I looked over my right shoulder to see Rocky leaning in towards me. He had a pissed off look on his face as the sweat was dripping down the side of his face. I could see why he was sweating so much with the hoodie he was wearing.
I leaned into him and answered, "They are coming over for dinner ... So it should be around 7 p.m."
Rocky scowled, "I still don't like this whole idea....not one bit."
I mentioned to my friends about having dinner with the Beaumonts. Rocky was the only one who seemed to be so vocally opposed to it.
"Look.... I told you I have no say in this. My mom dropped this dinner thing on me. I couldn't argue with her about it," I said as I momentarily glanced up front trying my best not to shout. The last thing I needed today was to have the teacher send me to detention.
"I'm sure there's a part of you that is happy he's going to your house tonight..." Rocky replied as he rolled his eyes.
I glared at him. And wondered what was up with him. Do I still have feelings for Tyler Beaumont? To be honest, I thought I didn't anymore, but seeing him again after four years, I can't be positive that I still don't hold something inside for him. I told Claire I still like him, but in reality I was afraid. I was always afraid of how I felt when I am around him. I tried blocking these feelings out, but I just can't help it.
I was about to snap back at Rocky when the teacher dismissed us for lunch. Rocky and I grabbed our books as we disappeared into the hallway together towards our lockers. Rocky's locker was in the opposite direction near the history classroom, so I told him I would find him in the cafeteria.
Once reaching my locker, I opened the lock quickly and began to throw my books inside. This is when I noticed a piece of paper folded in half lying on top of my English book. I picked it up and opened it to find a short message.
It read in all caps, "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM TYLER BEAUMONT."
I glanced around the hall trying to see if the person who slipped it into my locker was still around. I suddenly began to feel paranoid as I wondered if the person was somewhere around watching me. I didn't find anyone who might have left it.
All I noticed were students hurrying to get to the cafeteria. I did see Sterling coming towards me. I slipped the note inside one of my books and quickly closed my locker. Sterling walked up to me as soon as I turned around from my locker. No sooner had I done that,
"Hey Will, ready for lunch?" he asked with that sexy smile of his.
"Oh yeah, I'm ready. I could eat a horse, let's go!" I said a bit too anxious. Sterling must have picked that up, because he raised his eyebrows in response.
"Okay...okay," he said as he slung his arm over my shoulders and dragged me to the cafeteria.
I think the newness of me to school had dwindled down to nothing. When I entered the cafeteria, there weren't as many people staring at me. Even though there were a few weird instances when Richard Jones, the super creepy guy who runs the school gossip blog, approached me a number of times to do an interview with him. He hasn't asked me today. It may have been due to Rocky punching him in the face yesterday after he bugged me for the 13th time for an interview.
"So...Will I was wondering... if you have any plans for tomorrow?" Sterling asked me as we stood in line to grab our food.
"Tomorrow? Hmm... Nothing really. Oh wait! I have a shopping date with the girls, remember?" I told him.
"Oh yeah,... how could I forget?" Sterling replied disappointed.
"Why?" I asked.
"Never mind.... It's alright.... Forget I mentioned it," He replied hastily as he grabbed his soda and headed to our table.
Way to go Will. You seemed to have made Sterling uncomfortable. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going when I bumped into someone spilling the contents of my tray.
"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" I announced as I noticed the huge stain appearing on the guy's jacket.
"It's okay Will. No harm done."
I glanced up and looked at the person I accidentally spilled my food on. I saw a head full of golden blonde hair and an apologetic look on his handsome face. I was wondering if my day could get any worse. Oh this is just great, of all the people for me to spill my food on.
"I'm sorry Tyler," I said as I gave him a couple of tissues from my tray, "It was my fault really. I wasn't paying attention."
Tyler took the tissues from me as he desperately tried to wipe away the stains from his varsity jacket. When I saw that he couldn't get it off, I looked down in embarrassment and shame.
"Will, look at me," He replied as he was smiling at me.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it, okay? Wow! Your tray looks like it has seen better days. Let me buy you another," Tyler asked as he was reaching for his wallet.
"No no! It's fine. I really wasn't that hungry anyway," I said a bit too hastily as he shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Let me pay to have your jacket cleaned?" I asked trying my best to offer a solution to this problem and shift the attention away from me.
"What? Don't be ridiculous. My mom would be able to take this out in no time at all. Don't worry about it!" Tyler said.
"If you say so..."
"Well okay. I gotta go and change. I guess... uhmmm.. I'll see you tonight for dinner at your house?" Tyler asked.
"Uh huh... Yeah," I answered back.
"Okay... Well.... I'll see you later then," Tyler said as he began to walk away from me.
As soon as he disappeared into the hall, I noticed a few people from the lunch line gawking at me.
"Why don't you all take a picture... It will last longer" I snapped at them. I swear Rocky and Claire are beginning to rub off on me.
I started to walk toward our table when I caught Sterling staring at me. When he saw me looking at him, he glanced down at his food and began eating. What is going on with him today?
When I reached the table, I found all of them almost done with their food except for Sterling since he and I were a bit late to lunch.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked.
"Nothing much," Claire answered as she went back to talking with Taylor.
I am thankful to the heavens above that none of them saw what had happened with Tyler a few minutes before. I can't afford to have another stern lecture from my friends.
"I'm afraid this seat is taken," Sterling replied as he blocked the seat next to him with his foot.
"Sterling!" Claire screamed as she was shocked at Sterling's sudden rude behavior.
"Chill out Claire...I was just joking," Sterling replied as he looked down to his tray.
Sterling is upset at me for some reason and I don't know what I may have done or said to him. To be honest, I had a feeling it wasn't a joke.
"It's fine... Claire. Sterling likes playing these practical jokes on me lately, "I announced trying to ease the tension among us with some humor.
"Yeah, It's not as if Sterling has the hots for Will," Taylor replied as she sent him one of her bitchy stares. Sterling fought back and sent her a glare of his own.
I must be totally out of the loop. I could sense some thing was going on between the two of them and I wasn't included for some reason. Sterling placed his feet back down on the ground and resumed eating.
I sat down beside him and muttered, "Thanks..." to which I received no response. I swear I can't figure him out. What in the hell is his problem?
"Will, what happened to your food?" Rocky asked as he pointed at my messy tray. By this time, all of them were staring at the tray in front of me. The daily lunch surprise was all over the tray, leaving me with just a couple of bites to go along with the rice which didn't manage to spill.
"It looks like it met a tornado on the way here," Claire said, as she looked at me for an explanation. Actually, all of them were. Four pairs of eyes stared at me each with different expressions.
"Did any of the football players rough you up?" Rocky asked as his eyes quickly darted towards the football table down the room.
"Look, it's nothing! I just bumped into someone in the lunch line. Why do you guys have to make a big deal out of everything?" I replied in anger.
I am annoyed at how overprotective they are of me. I mean it's nice to know you've got friends who'd stick up for you no matter what, but there has to be some point where you have to draw the line.
Claire and Rocky looked a bit stunned and hurt not only by what I said nut also by the harsh tone I used
"Guys, I'm sorry. It's just... I'm kinda on the edge here. All I could think about is this dinner thing with Tyler and his family. I'm sorry I snapped at you," I said as I covered my face with my hands. The pressure of pretending everything's fine between the both of us is beginning to take its toll on me.
"Aww ...Will, its fine. Don't worry. Just hit any of us up and we'll rescue you," Claire replied as she grabbed my hand and patted it.
"May I ask just how do you plan on rescuing me?" I chuckled.
"Well we'll have Rocky drop by and kick Tyler's ass again," Claire announced with a mischievous grin.
"What the fuck? Why is it always me?" Rocky said in disbelief causing everyone at the table to laugh.
The next few minutes were spent on me eating as most of them were already done.
"Are you still hungry? Surely the leftovers of your spilled lunch weren't able to satisfy your appetite?" Taylor asked me.
"Yeah, I'm still kinda of hungry, but lunch time is almost over so I don't have enough time to fall in line again," I frowned as I stared what was left of my food.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sterling push my tray away and offer me his. I noticed that he barely touched his food.
"You can have mine," Sterling announced as he seemed to be looking someplace else.
"Are you sure it's okay?" I asked him. I stared at him prompting him to look back at me.
He stared back at me and for a moment, I saw a brief smile when he responded, "Yeah... Anyway I'm not that hungry." He replied as he once again looked away.
"Thanks," I said as a smile crept onto my face.
I noticed the other three grinning at us like a couple of mad hyenas.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," Claire said, still grinning like a madman. I just rolled my eyes in response. Honestly?... Really?... Nothing's happening between Sterling and I okay?
The rest of the day went pretty much uneventful. I haven't seen Scott lately, which was a good thing. The less he is in my life, the better. I didn't see Tyler for the rest of the day either. I heard he had football practice until early evening, so I guess I won't be seeing him until dinner.
When I got home, I found my mother and Marco cooking inside the kitchen. You wouldn't know it from his looks and quite abrasive personality, but Marco is an amazing cook. He likes to download all these weird recipes from the internet and modifies it according to the available ingredients in our kitchen.
He uses Blake and I as guinea pigs for all of his taste testing. We have yet to get sick from his experiments, so that's a good thing. Sometimes I think he's a better cook than mom. The guy or girl that wins Marco's heart will be a happy camper that's for sure.
Oh! Did I forget to mention? Marco's bisexual. He doesn't use the term though as he thoroughly hates labels and stereotypes. He just calls himself an 'open-minded person'. Blake and I would always snicker at that term. His twin, Blake, on the other hand is straight as a ruler. Yeah, twins could be very alike and be very different at the same time.
"What are you guys cooking?" I asked as I stepped inside the kitchen. The aroma floating around the room was making my mouth water.
"Marco is cooking baked lasagna with herb-roasted kitchen as well as preparing a batch of his delicious brownies. I, on the other hand, am just an underling tasked to relay him the ingredients," my mother said sitting down on one of the nearby stools. I glanced from her point of view and found Marco preparing the chicken on the counter by himself.
"Mom! I need pepper!" Marco ordered as he stretched out his palm.
"See? I told you!" my mother exclaimed as she handed the pepper to Marco and sat down once again. I just laughed at the scene.
"Now honey," she said, turning towards me, "why don't you go upstairs take a nap so you will be rested for tonight?"
"Uhh... Okay."
"And Will... Please do whatever it takes to tame that unruly brown hair on your head," my mom said as she brushed her hand through my hair.
"I'll do my best." I replied as I walked out of the room. It is going to take a whole lot of gel to tame this beast. I'm gonna need a whole lot of gel to tame this beast.
I made my way towards my room up on the second floor. As soon as I entered inside, I made my way to my closet to pick out the clothes I was going to wear for tonight's meal.
I chose a black collared shirt and some well-fitting slacks to wear. The next priority was what shoes to wear. I opened my shoe cabinet and settled on a nice looking black, suede shoes.
I glanced at the clock on top of my door and found out that I have around an hour and a half to kill before 7pm. Well, might as well get some shut-eye before they come over.
"Will! Your collar's a little crooked. Let me fix it," my mother asked as she began fumbling with the collar of my shirt, "and stop fidgeting. This is just dinner. No need to get so nervous!"
Here we are at the moment I've been dreading. My entire family was huddled around the front door waiting for the Beaumonts to arrive .Jesus, I can't help it if I feel nervous okay? He's coming over! Tyler is coming over! Oh god.
I felt a pair of hands clasp my shoulders and I looked at my sides to see both Blake and Marco standing beside me. Blake and Marco were wearing the same style of collared shirt but in different colors. Blake was wearing blue, while Marco was wearing red. You'd think they'd outgrow this whole twin synchrony thing.
"If Tyler does or says anything nasty to you-" Blake started.
"Come running to us and we'll take care of it," Marco finished.
I smiled at both of them, shook my head and said, "It's okay. I can handle myself. I can handle myself. I can handle myself..."
"You're not Thomas the Train, you know. Saying things over and over again ain't gonna help," Marco announced laughing at me as Blake slapped the back of his head.
"Owww!!!" Marco said as he glared at his twin. I just laughed at their exchange. At least I could count on my brothers to give me a laugh throughout the night. My laughter didn't last long as our doorbell suddenly rang. It's time, I said to myself.
"Okay guys, our guests are here! Let's make sure we all make them feel welcome and at home, okay?" my dad asked us as he gripped the doorknob. He was wearing a buttoned up shirt and some black slacks, his brown hair neatly combed and such.
My mom was dressed in a pretty, floral, pink dress. Her short brown hair was carefully swept to one side. I guess my family went out of their way to look well groomed and dressed. Even I, and my now overly gelled up hair, was no exception.
After we all agreed, my dad finally opened the door and shouted, "Beaumonts! Welcome to the Lakewood household! Come in! Come in!"
"Sean, it's nice to see you.... and Cecilia, it has been way too long. You're still looking beautiful these days," Mr. Beaumont said as he stepped inside as he shook my dad's hand and gave my mom a quick kiss on her hand. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a tie with some black slacks. I couldn't help but notice what he was wearing. I'm gay after all.
Mrs. Beaumont stepped inside wearing a white tube dress and some really high heels. "Sean, Cecilia, it's good to see you again!" she said as she gave both of my parents a quick kiss on the cheeks.
"It's nice to see you both again as well!" my dad bellowed, "well, don't just stand there, come inside! Let your kids come in as well!
Once Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont stepped inside to the foyer, Tyler and his sister stepped inside. His sister Emily greeted my mom and dad with a kiss on the cheek as well. She was gorgeous, no doubt about it. Her blonde hair was perfectly curled and she was wearing this absolutely breathtaking navy blue dress that looked really, really expensive.
Tyler was decked up in a button up shirt, a black blazer, and some khaki slacks as he stepped inside. Fuck. Was he hot! His blonde hair was neatly combed in place, not one piece of hair sticking out. I couldn't help but stare at him.
"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont," he said with a smile, before turning his direction at me and awkwardly said, "Hi Will."
"Well now that everyone's here, let's head to the dining room, shall we?" my dad said as he accompanied Mr. Beaumont to the dining room.
My mother and Mrs. Beaumont followed suit, lamenting how awesome my mom managed to decorate the house in such a short time. Blake immediately jumped the gun in escorting Emily to the dining room leaving just me, Marco, and Tyler at the front door.
I gave Tyler an awkward smile at the whole situation. He shyly smiled back. The both of us are uncomfortable with the situation.
"You look really good Tyler. I like your blazer," I said trying to make some small talk.
"Really?..... Thanks? It's nothing special really," he said as he looked down at his blazer, "You look nice too Will."
"Really now?" I heard Marco suddenly say. I stomped on his foot to shut him up. The last thing I need right now is to have Marco start a fight now. Given his temper, I think need to rein him in a bit.
"Okay, let's go to the dining room. Follow me," I told Tyler. As I made our way to the food, I glanced back to see Tyler behind me looking around, with Marco taking up the rear.
As soon as we made our way to the dining room, I could see all of them were seated already. My dad was at the end, with Mr. Beaumont to his right and my mom at his left. Mrs. Beaumont and Emily were beside Mr. Beaumont. Blake was already sitting beside my mother. There were only three chairs remaining. The first one was at Emily's right and the other two beside Blake.
"What took you guys so long?" my dad laughed as he beckoned us to sit down.
The three of us didn't need to be told twice. Marco sat beside Blake as Tyler sat beside his sister. I sat my ass down at the only vacant chair on the table, beside Marco's and across Tyler's. Shit! Now every time I look up, I'm going to have to see Tyler's face. Great! Just fucking great.
"Okay everyone, time to dig in!" my mother announced as she placed a serving spoon in the lasagna.
I watched the Beaumonts grab a hefty serving of each, before my mother allowed our family to get food. Guests first, she always says.
"Mmm... Cecilia, this lasagna is delicious!" Mrs. Beaumont said after taking a bite of it.
"Well I'm glad you like it Angie, but my boy Marco made that along with the herb-roasted chicken," my mom said as she glanced down the table at Marco, who was blushing.
"And a great chicken it is!" Mr. Beaumont said as he raised his wine glass towards Marco in appreciation.
"It is. It's really good," Tyler's sister, Emily said to Marco. I swear he blushed a little bit. I also noticed Blake glaring at his twin. I rolled my eyes. Ugh. Boys...
"So Sean, where are you working now?" Mr. Beaumont asked my dad.
My dad glanced at my mom before he laughed, "Well actually, I'm back at my old job here. The folks over at the office were kind enough to let me come back."
"Oh so you're back being stuck as a clerk in your office?" Mr. Beaumont rudely asked my dad.
I looked at Marco and Blake and noticed they also picked up on that as well. They eyed each other. Growing up with them, I noticed a few of their quirks as twins.
"Yep, I'm just thankful my boss let me have my job back!" my dad said before bursting into laughter. I let out a sigh of relief. It's a good thing my dad never takes things too personally.
I was about to take a bite of lasagna when I noticed Tyler wasn't eating. He was just sitting there, his head bowed down staring at his plate. I also saw the fork in his right hand trembling slightly. When he caught me staring at him, he quickly resumed eating.
I wonder what is going on with him. I know something is wrong and not quite right.
"So where are you boys studying? I know Will's attending Ridgemont with Tyler. What colleges do you attend?" Mrs. Beaumont asked the twins.
"Oh well...we're actually taking a leave from college for a semester," Blake said looking at my parents.
"Yeah. We're planning to apply for some jobs so we could afford the tuition for the college we're planning to attend. Their music curriculum isn't the cheapest," Marco added with a smile.
My mom and dad just beamed at them. It takes a lot of courage and patience to pay for your tuition in college. Marco and Blake told my parents that they should concentrate saving money for my college tuition instead of theirs.
I never really understood why they did that. I asked them about it once, but they just looked at each other and smiled. That was one of their twin quirks I have never really comprehended.
"Working for you own college tuition? That's a very noble and courageous thing to do," Mrs. Beaumont noted as she smiled at the twins.
"You should've gotten a scholarship like Tyler did!" Mr. Beaumont interjected.
"Dad..." Tyler began looking completely uncomfortable and embarrassed.
"Why he's receiving a number of scholarships from different universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford!" Mr. Beaumont continued.
"Well, he just applied actually. We haven't gotten any word yet," Mrs. Beaumont replied looking at her husband.
"But they will come Angie. It will come! Why Emily here already received one from Columbia!" Tyler's dad added which Emily just blushed.
My mom and dad glanced at each other. I'm sure they're at a loss at how to respond to this. I looked at Tyler and he just stared down at his plate. I have a feeling his dad's behavior had upset him.
"Congratulations on your scholarship Emily!" I chirped in suddenly. Everyone just looked at me after. Might as well continue this charade we're riding on.
"And Tyler," I said causing him to look at me, "I hope you get your scholarships."
"Uhh... thanks Will," Tyler responded with a sheepish smile.
"Yes! I do hope you get your scholarship Tyler! If you're as good as you were back then, you'd have no trouble getting that scholarship!" my dad bellowed out laughing.
"Now Emily, what scholarship did you apply for in Colombia? Goodness, I'm very curious about this!" my mother replied as she jumped into the conversation.
The awkward moment now passed. Everyone around the dinner table was back to eating and talking, forgetting about Mr. Beaumont's tirade of praises for his children.
Tyler mouthed a silent, "Thank you" at me for preventing things from getting out of hand.
I responded a silent, "You're welcome" before both of us resumed eating and joining in the conversations.
"Marco, I must say that baked lasagna you did was absolutely spectacular! You must give me a copy of your recipe!"
"Oh thank you Mrs. Beaumont. I could write it down for you right now if you want?"
I saw Marco disappear into the next room to grab a pen and a piece of paper to write down his lasagna recipe.
We just finished dinner and were now currently in the living room eating Marco's brownies. Dad, mom, Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont were huddled sitting on one side of the couch. From what I could hear, they were discussing the recent political unrest in Libya. Blake and Emily were on the other end of the couch talking to one another. If I didn't know it, I could say that my brother Blake has a huge crush on Emily. And now, he's putting the moves on her.
I made my way to the arch between the living room and the hall to find Tyler staring at the couch with a forlorn expression on his face.
"Not enjoying the night either huh?" I asked as I stood beside him staring into the living room as well.
"It's my dad," Tyler responded not missing a beat, "I hate it when he acts so condescending and superior over people." He momentarily glanced at me before turning his gaze back again to his dad.
"It's fine Tyler. The twins didn't take any offense to it," I replied.
"No Will. It's not fine. I'm appalled that he had the balls to act like that in public, but in your house no less! Fuck. He's such a jack-ass sometimes. I'm sorry for the way he acted," Tyler replied as he looked down to me.
"It's not your fault Tyler. You don't have to apologize. Really, you can't control you father," I said to him trying to ease off the tension I could sense coming from Tyler.
Tyler snickered at my attempt at humor. This made me smile. At least I managed to lighten the mood.
"Tyler, not that I don't like it, but aren't your family a little overdressed for just a dinner party? I mean, you're wearing a blazer after all..." I said pointing at his clothes.
He looked down at where I was pointing and just muttered, "My dad..." Hmm... I guess there's something between his dad and him after all.
"Well... you look handsome," I said looking away momentarily. When I looked back at him, he was grinning. I swear I think I blushed. Oh god, I hope I didn't!
"Hey Will. I know I'm supposed to keep a distance for you to adjust and stuff. I'm just sorry, this kinda happened," Tyler said as he looked at me with his deep blue eyes.
I smiled back until I saw my mom stand up and started to head towards our direction.
"I'm going to get us some lemonade. Will dear, why don't you take Tyler up to your room and play some of those video games you have? I'm sure you two can't be enjoying being with all us adults down here. Go on, go!" my mother said as she shooed us up towards the stairs before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Do you want to?" I asked Tyler.
"Sure, why not?" he replied with a smile.
"Well, uhm... okay," I said as I made my way up the stairs.
I was at the top of the staircase when I noticed Tyler was still at the bottom of the talking with Marco. Alarmed at what may happen, I was about to head down the stairs, when Tyler began walking up not a scratch or bruise on me. I decided to wait for him upstairs.
"What did you and Marco talk about?" I asked him.
He just waved his hand in front of me and replied that it was nothing to worry about. I eyed him suspiciously before deciding to let it go. If Tyler doesn't want to talk about it, then I shouldn't force it out of him. After all, we're still in the budding process of our friendship.
I guided him throughout the second floor to the last room at the end of the hallway. I felt nervous as I opened the door.
"Uhhh... Welcome to my room," I said as I opened the door as wide as possible, beckoning Tyler to come in.
*** (Tyler's POV)
"What are you going to wear tonight? ... Hellooo? Tyler? You there?"
I snapped back to reality to see Dana, my girlfriend, waving her arms in front of me. I was standing at her locker waiting for her to go to the cafeteria for lunch. I didn't realize that I was off in my own little world.
I couldn't help it; I've not been myself lately. The reason for this is because tonight is the night my family and I are heading to the Lakewoods for a dinner party. I was nervous because I'm not sure if Will is totally comfortable with me being there. I mean especially after he made it clear he needed some space after we mended our friendship.
I don't know how to act at the party tonight. Should I be friendly? Or should I be distant? But if I'm too distant, would Will interpret it like I don't want to be around him? Fuck, I'm so confused!
"Tyler!" Dana shouted once again, this time her hands were on her hips. Oh shit she's clearly pissed. I know the meaning of it from past experience.
"Sorry. What were you saying?" I replied giving her a toothy grin as she seemed to lighten up on me.
"I asked you if you have anything to wear to your dinner party with Will's family tonight." Dana asked one last time.
"Errr... I don't know really. I have no idea what to wear," I replied.
I told my girlfriend and Jason about Will's dinner party. I didn't see anything wrong with telling them about the dinner. However, I didn't share everything with Dana. I never said a word to her about what happened with Will four years ago. As far as she knows, it's just a simple innocent dinner party.
"Well I'm sure you can find something in your closet. Do you want me to come over and help you pick an outfit?" she asked me as we both headed down towards the cafeteria.
"Nah... It's fine. I'm sure I can manage... one way or another," I replied.
"Okay, just don't wear anything too sexy. Wouldn't want Will to fall in love with you now, would we?" she asked laughing.
I hope she was joking because it wasn't funny. I looked down at her and found her still giggling. Surely, it was just a joke, right? Besides, the thought of Will liking me was simply crazy.
As soon as we entered the cafeteria, we both fell in line to get our food. Then afterwards, we went our separate ways. Dana headed to the cheerleaders' table while I headed down to the football table. When I arrived, I found a couple of players as well as Jason already eating.
"Dude, you do not want to eat the daily lunch surprise. Believe me!" Jason told me as I sat down across from him.
"That bad.... huh?" I asked him as I tried poking this unrecognizable blob of food dubbed as the daily lunch surprise. What the fuck is in this shit? It looks really, really nasty! I swear cafeterias and their lunch special will be the death of me.
"It is way past bad. Worse! Much, much worse! Logan almost threw up a couple minutes ago. He couldn't stomach the shit!" Jason replied with a smirk.
"Okay, if Logan didn't stomach it down, there's no way in hell that I can. It's a good thing I brought a little something from home," I said as I pushed my tray away. I grabbed a sandwich from one of my jacket pockets. It was my mom's chicken and tuna spread. Granted it wasn't the most satiating, but hey it's gotta be better than the daily lunch surprise.
I was about to take a bite out of my sandwich when I noticed Jason staring at me with these puppy-dog eyes. I sighed.
"Do you want a bite?" I asked him.
Jason quickly smirked, "Well don't mind if I do!" . He knows I can't resist it whenever he does that.
I gave him my sandwich for him to take a bite. I might as well have given him the whole damn sandwich. He took a huge fucking bite of it.
"Jason! What the hell? That bite was huge!" I replied with an annoyed look upon my face.
"Aww, love you Tyler," he said in between munches. Then he smiled, showing off the remnants of the sandwich on his teeth.
I punched him on the shoulder and said, "Ew, Jason! You sick little bastard!" That prompted a laugh out of him. A few football players beside us who noticed our little exchange laughed as well.
"Okay, well I'm going to get a bottle of water first," I said as I stood up and made my way to the lunch line.
I was almost near the serving area when I heard Jason holler, "Loser!" to no one in particular. Of course, I knew he was talking about me. I turned around and flipped him off.
This caused him to laugh once again. As soon as I turned around, I bumped into someone, causing their food to spill down my varsity jacket.
Shit!
"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" the guy in front of me said. I looked down at him and noticed it was Will. Okay... It's a good thing I've learned to control my temper over the past few years or else I'd be hurling Will across the room right now.
"It's okay Will. No harm done," I told him.
He looked up at me and I saw a hint of embarrassment in his hazel eyes. I offered a sheepish smile. I just hope this doesn't make things awkward between us tonight at dinner. Things are already awkward as it is for crying out loud!
We talked a few minutes more. Will kept debating whether or not he should have it cleaned for me or not. I told him my mom would be able to clean with no trouble at all.
He was reluctant all the while, but in the end I managed to convince him that it wasn't a big deal. I said goodbye to him and went to change my stained jacket in the locker room. Guess I'll see him later at tonight's dinner then.
When I stepped outside into the hall, I saw Scott and a few of his cronies laughing like hyenas. They stopped once they saw me coming down their direction. I eyed them suspiciously. You better not be planning something Scott or I swear to god you're gonna fucking regret it. Once I passed them, I heard them snicker. Hmm... I need to talk to Jason about this soon.
Once inside the football locker room, I took off my jacket and washed it for a few minutes to at least wash off the smell reeking from it. Daily lunch surprise my ass. More like daily lunch shit. There should be a law against serving potentially dangerous food in school cafeterias!
Once the smell subsided, I threw my varsity jacket inside my locker. That's when the locker room door opened and Jason's head popped in.
"Tye! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Classes are about to start dude!" he said as he stepped inside.
"Sorry, my jacket got spilled on a few minutes ago. Had to wash it out for a bit," I said as I closed my locker.
"Well come on, we're going to be late for algebra!" Jason said as he opened the door for me to pass through. I rolled my eyes as we both stepped into the hallway.
"Hey," I mentioned to Jason, "do you know if Scott and his posse are planning something?"
Jason gave me a puzzled look and answered, "No, not really. Why do you ask?"
"Well," I started, "it's just that I saw them laughing in the hall around ten to fifteen minutes ago. I don't know, maybe I'm just a bit paranoid..."
"Hmm... I'll ask around the team if they heard anything," Jason said as we rounded a corner.
"Thanks Jace," I said as we both entered algebra class together. Good thing the teacher isn't here yet. We both went to the back of the classroom to our seats.
"So," Jason started as he sat down, "how you holding up? You know, with the entire dinner thing at Will's?"
I sighed before answering, "Dude, I am so frickin' nervous. I'm afraid something might happen over dinner."
Jason gave me a sympathetic look.
"I just hope everything goes well..." I said looking at him.
"I'm sure everything will go fine Tye. Honestly, you worry too much," he said as he lightly punched my shoulder.
Jesus Christ. I hope so.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror and I look like shit. I was wearing a collared striped shirt and some khaki pants and brown loafers. My blonde hair was combed down like I like it
. I'm not sure if this look was appropriate for tonight's dinner. I mean it was just a dinner party after all, not some formal charity gala. I didn't want to overdress for goodness sakes.
After settling with this look, I jumped onto my bed. I still got a half hour left before my family and I head over across the street. Might as well relax my mind before then. It wasn't long before I heard a knock on my door.
"Tyler, are you ready?" said a male voice. A second later, my dad appeared out of the doorway.
"Yeah. I'm ready," I said, not looking up, as I began fiddling with my iPod.
I saw my dad frown and asked, "You are not going to the Lakewoods dressed like that."
"What?... Why not?" I asked in disbelief. I looked at what my dad was wearing and found him dressed up in almost in his office attire: long sleeved polo shirt, slacks, a tie, and leather shoes.
"This is a sit-down dinner Tyler, not a barbecue. Wear something more appropriate," my dad snapped.
"I bet the Lakewoods wouldn't be wearing anything formal!" I protested as I stood on my feet.
"Don't argue with me Tyler! Just do it!" my dad shouted as he stepped outside and slammed my door shut.
Do I really have to dress up? Fuck, this was just dinner after all. I don't see why his boxers are in a wad. I was pissed off as I quickly chucked my collared shirt across the room.
I opened my closet for something more 'appropriate' as my dad called it. I was busy going through my wardrobe when I heard a knock on my door.
"I'm busy!!" I yelled.
I heard the door open and close. I turned around to find my sister staring at me. She was wearing a navy, blue dress that fit her perfectly. I also noticed she curled her hair for tonight. She looked beautiful, no doubt about it.
"What do you want?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. I was already annoyed with my dad barking at me, I didn't need my sister to add to that by invading my privacy. I hope she had a good reason to be standing in my room.
"I heard dad shouting awhile ago," she said looking at me.
I rolled my eyes at her Great! This just isn't what I needed. I think she wanted to rub it in.
"Let me guess," she started, "he didn't like what you were wearing and now you're pissed you have to change?"
"How'd you guess?" I asked her as my eyebrows raised in suspicion.
"Why do you think I'm wearing this expensive dress I'm wearing?" she asked me.
"A-ha. Touche," I replied. She just smiled.
"You too huh?" I asked her, my arms falling down onto my sides. It was then that I just realized that I was half-naked. I quickly turned around, starting to rummage through my clothes for something else.
"You know dad, he always wants to put-"
"-on a good show," I said, finishing her sentence for her, "I know, I know. But it's just annoying. The Lakewoods aren't his clients. They're our neighbors! How would you feel if we invited them for dinner and they dressed better than us?"
Emily laughed at me, "Like that would ever happen! Dad will never allow it."
I snorted in reply as I knew she was right.
There were another few awkward minutes before my sister stood beside me. "I swear Tyler, you have no sense of fashion in you," she said as she surveyed my closet.
"Well ...please help me then," I said in defeat as I let her take over. I saw her stare at my clothes for a few seconds before grabbing a black blazer, a red button up shirt and some khaki slacks before throwing them across the bed.
"There you go! I'll leave you to decide what shoes you're going to wear. I am not going to go near your smelly shoes," she laughed as she left my room.
I glanced at the clothes she picked out for me. Hmm... Okay, these could work.
"Uhhh... Welcome to my room," Will said as he opened the door.
Dinner was over and here I was standing in front of the doorway outside Will Lakewood's bedroom. His mother ushered us upstairs seeing how both of us were bored out of our minds downstairs in the living room.
I was about to follow Will until his brother Marco stopped me for a second. He basically told me that if I were to hurt Will in anyway, both he and Blake would come after me. Honestly, I don't know where all this hostility came from. We were all friendly a couple of days ago and now he's acting like I'm here to hurt Will. That is fucking crazy. I would never ever hurt Will again.
"Uhhh.. Tyler, are you going in or not?"
I nervously entered his room, not sure what to expect. I mean what does a gay teenager's room look like? I certainly didn't expect it to look this way.
Will's room was a tad bigger than mine. His bed was at the corner right beside his window seat leaving a great empty space in the middle of the room. I guess this is where he sits as the television and his various gaming systems were right beside the door. His desk was right beside his home entertainment system. I stopped at the center of the room and noticed that his ceiling and walls were littered with various amounts of bands and artists I've never heard of.
His room was even more awesome than mine! My room was literally bare. Will's room was decked out with everything he possibly would like to post. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous at this. My mom would never allow my room to be overrun by posters and other of this cool stuff.
"Uhh... so what do you want to play?"
I turned around to find him kneeling down at his Playstation 3. He was holding out a couple of videogames for me to pick.
I made my way to him and knelt down. I couldn't help but look at his collection of videogames.
"Call of Duty, Skate 3, Tekken 6, Super Street Fighter IV, Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Rock Band 3? Fuck Will, your collection of games are amazing!" I said in surprise as I glanced at him. I noticed he was smiling shyly at me.
"Well uhh... thanks I gue-"
"Holy Shit! You have Marvel Vs. Capcom 3!!?" I screamed causing Will to jump.
"Yeah, I got that last week before we left LA," he answered back, giving me a puzzled look.
"Will, these haven't hit our mall yet. Jason and I have been waiting for this since it came out! Mind if we play this?" I asked him. Shit. I've been waiting for this game since forever!
Will laughed, "Sure. Just hand me the game first!"
I laughed as I handed him the game. Pardon me if I'm too excited at the moment.
"Oh Tyler, can you turn on the adaptor on my desk first please?" Will asked as he brought out two controllers for us to use.
"Sure thing," I said as I stood up and headed to my right. I easily found the adaptor switch and turned it on fairly quickly. I was about to kneel down when my eye caught a collection of CDs on top of Will's desk. I grabbed them and began to flip through them real quick before I stared at Will.
Will managed to turn on the game before he caught me staring at him. "What?" he asked.
"Will, really?" I asked him as I shook the bunch of CDs in my hand towards him.
"Huh?" he asked in confusion as he grabbed the CDs from me.
I knelt down beside him and read each of the artists out loud, "Phoenix, Florence and the Machine, Passion Pit, Neon Indian, Mumford & Sons, Tegan and Sara, Lykke Li, Arcade Fire, One Night Only, General Fiasco and Ellie Goulding... Dude, we have the fucking same taste in music. I can't believe it. Finally, someone who appreciates all the sick shit I've been listening to."
"No shit?" Will asked me, "You mean you like these too?"
I nodded in response. Will smiled at me.
"Tyler, are you serious? Oh my god. Have you heard Florence's new song?" he asked a bit excited.
"Of course I did! I can't wait for her album! I heard it's coming out in-"
"-May!!" Will said finishing my sentence for me. When we realized what had just happened we couldn't help but blush. Then there were a couple of seconds of awkwardness.
"Here," Will said as he handed me a controller.
"Thanks," I said still a bit embarrassed.
"I promise to go easy on you," he said with a mischievous smile.
I looked him directly in the eyes and said with a smile, "Bring it on Lakewood! I must let you know that I've been practicing with the demo version in the mall!"
Will laughed, "Like that'll help Tyler! Just shut up and play!"
I laughed at that moment, not realizing how we managed to break the ice easily.
The hours of playing the demo version did not help at all. Will massacred me so many times. I did manage to win a few matches, but I had a feeling that Will was letting me win on purpose. I asked him about that and he just grinned and shrugged. I think I managed to shove him once or twice he did that.
We managed to play for around 45 minutes until I finally realized I've had enough of being massacred by this 5'6" brunette beside me.
"So, what do you wanna do now?" Will asked me as he tucked away the controllers.
"I don't know. What else have you got in mind? Wait... What's that noise?" I asked, noticing a distant noise in the background.
"Oh that's probably my brothers playing in the garage. I bet they're rocking out for your sister," Will said as he sat beside me.
"They're really good," I said as I digested the quality of sound they're producing.
"Really? I just call it noise to be honest with you," Will laughed. I stared at him while doing so. When he found me staring at him, he immediately stopped.
"What?" he asked.
"Okay, I don't usually go for cheesy lines, but Will, I'm glad we're friends again," I said sincerely to him.
Will stared at me for a few seconds before turning away and muttering, "Me too..."
"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked him, pretending I didn't hear what he just said.
Will glared back at me before grabbing a nearby soccer ball and throwing it at me. I just laughed that after four years, he still couldn't take compliments. Will just shook his head and smiled.
"But seriously Tyler, what do you want to do?" he asked me again after I've calmed down.
"I don't know... got any movies we could watch?" I asked him.
"Sure, follow me," he told me as he stood up and went to his desk to grab a couple of DVDs. I followed suit. Will was about to hand me over his collection when he noticed me wiping away my sweat from my forehead.
"Do you want to take off your blazer? You're sweating like a pig," he said to me.
"Fuck yes. I've been wanting to take this stupid blazer off, but I wasn't really sure if it was alright with you," I told him as I removed my blazer.
"Well just take off the blazer and ONLY the blazer," he told me.
"Why? Afraid you'll stare?" I asked him jokingly to which I received a punch on my shoulder. Damn. Will's punch hurts. I grabbed the DVDs from him as he hung my blazer on his desk.
The range of genres in his collection was so diverse that I couldn't decide which one to watch until I found one little movie I've yet to see.
"What's this?" I asked Will as I showed him the DVD.
"That's the Land Before Time," he answered. When I registered a blank look on my face, Will asked, "You haven't seen that?"
I sheepishly shook my head. Was I supposed to watch this? I never recall this being out in the cinemas.
"Okay, that's settled. We're watching this!" Will said as he grabbed the DVD from me and chucked it in the player.
We both sat down on the floor beside each other. There was only a feet separating us from each other as we prepared for the movie. At first, I couldn't help but curse myself for allowing Will to make me watch this.
It was a cartoon for crying out loud! I've certainly passed that phase in my life already. But it wasn't long until I managed to get into the movie. And it wasn't long until Will asked me something.
"Tyler... Are you alright?"
"Yeah... I'm... uhhh.. Fine.. Perfectly... uh... fine," I muttered facing away from Will. Oh shit. I can't let him see me like this. I'll never hear the end of it.
"Are you... crying?"
"No!!" I answered back, a little too defensively.
"Oh my god! You are crying!!!" Will laughed when he heard a few of my sniffs.
I looked back at him annoyed and shouted, "How can you not cry?!? Littlefoot's parent just died!!!!" That prompted him to laugh even more and I swear I could see tears falling from his eyes as well. Of course, those tears were totally different from mine.
"You're so fucking heartless Will," I said as I tried pushing the tears away. I silently cursed myself for allowing my emotions to show during this movie.
"Tyler, its fine. I cried the first time I watched this too. You don't have to embarrassed. But you need to remember I've watched this too many times. I'm sorta immune to that scene already," Will said after his laughter subsided.
I just snorted.
"Look, I'm sorry if I made fun of you. That wasn't my intention, okay? Peace?" Will said as he apologized to me. It was sincere, but there was still a hint of gleam in his eyes.
"Yeahh..." I said once I managed to control my feelings, "Who knew the quarterback could be such a softie?" Will laughed at my question and after a few seconds later, I joined in.
We tried to continue watching the rest of the movie, but it wasn't long before my eyelids started to get heavy. I guess football practice wore me out even more than usual. I didn't remember the excat time I fell asleep.
I slowly opened my eyes. A different ceiling, littered with all sorts of posters greeted me. Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm in Will's room. We were watching The Land Before Time before I managed to fall asleep on his bedroom floor. Where was Will anyway?
I turned to my left and found his sleeping face. We both fell asleep. That's just great as I sat up. I looked back down again at Will and just stared at him. His face was peaceful as his mouth was slightly open. I could see a little bit of drool coming down from his mouth. I laughed as I thought he looked extremely adorable.
I honestly thought this night was going to be boring and uncomfortable as hell, but it turned out to be pleasant surprise finding out that Will and I share the exact same taste in music. I normally couldn't even get Jason to listen to the music in my iPod, but it's nice to know that someone else does.
Will began to stir and slowly, he opened his eyes. When he saw me staring down at him, he quickly sat up.
"What happened?" he asked nervously.
"We were watching The Land Before Time remember?" I said while laughing, "That was until we both fell asleep."
"Oh..." he said as he groggily rubbed his eyes, "What?" he asked once again.
"You've got marks of your planked floor on your face see?" I said to him as I reached out to his cheek to point out the patterns the wood made with his face and gently touched it.
"Will! Is Tyler there?" said a voice as we suddenly heard a knock from the door.
Alarmed, both of us quickly stood up and put a couple of feet away from each other before Blake's head popped in.
"Tyler... there you are. Your family's leaving in 5 minutes. They told me to get you ready," Blake said as he looked at me.
"Ahhh... okay, uhh... tell them I'll be down in a few minutes..." I said nervously.
"Uhh... Okaaaay," Blake muttered before giving Will and I this weird stare. Shit. He must think something must have happened between the two of us.
I saw Will staring at me, with a hurt expression on his face.
"It's okay Tyler. You don't have to be friends with me anymore if you don't want to," he said before he knelt down and tried putting away his DVDs.
"What... Will? Why'd you think that?" I asked him, dumbfounded at where that came from.
Will glared at me, "I saw the look on your face when Blake came. If you don't want to be friends with a gay person, all you have to do is tell me. In fact, it'll make both of our lives easier. I thought you wouldn't care. Guess I was wrong."
Oh shit. Okay, I didn't mean it that way. Fuck. The night was already going great until this.
"Will..." I started. He ignored me and just continued on with his cleaning.
"Dammit Will," I said as I marched up to him, knelt down and forced him to look at me, "I'm sorry if that came out the wrong way, okay? I'm just trying to get used to this just the same way you are." I saw Will get startled at my roughness.
"I've been living my entire life with preconceived notions about gay people from my parents, Church, and society. Then here you are breaking all of them. I'm certainly confused and I'll admit, but I really want this friendship to work out."
He just stayed silent.
"I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed tonight. Heck, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Just please understand Will, you're not the only one who has to cope here. I don't care how long it's going to take but I want us to be friends," I continued.
There were a few moments of silence before Will finally said, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
"No, I mean it Tyler. I enjoyed tonight too and here I am trying to dampen the mood," he muttered.
"Will, its fine. You're still not over what I did to you back then, I get it. I hope you'll find it in your heart to totally forgive me. I deeply regret what happened four years ago. I mean this from the bottom of my heart," I explained to him as we were both sitting on his floor facing each other.
"Okay..." Will muttered.
I smiled at him as I stood up and made my way to his desk to retrieve my blazer.
"Tyler?"
"Yeah?" I asked turning around to face Will, who was already standing up.
"Would you like to come over some time? Play videogames once in awhile? I could burn you a CD of new music I've been hearing off the internet these days?" he asked me.
"I'd love to," I answered back with a smile. I tugged my blazer a little bit too forcefully, causing a bunch of Will's school books and CDs to crash onto the floor.
"Shit Will! I'm sorry!" I cursed myself as I dropped on my knees to pick up the stuff lying about.
"It's fine Tyler. No need to panic," Will laughed as he bent down to help me pick up his stuff from the floor. He was busy picking up the CDs while I was busy picking up his books.
Once I gathered everything, I handed them to Will. When he grabbed his books from me, a small piece of paper fell out.
"Oh Will! This fell out," I said as I bent down to pick it up. As I did; however, I managed to read the message on it. I looked up at Will who was busy re- arranging his stuff on his desk, oblivious to what I just said.
"Will.... who sent this to you?" I asked him, holding out the piece of paper in my hands.
"Sent me what?" he asked before turning around. When he saw what I was holding, his eyes went big in shock.
"Will, you need to tell me. Who sent you this?" I asked sternly once again, holding out a piece of paper that said, "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM TYLER BEAUMONT."
TBC
Something's brewing in the cauldron and it smells good. LOL. Hello everyone! How'd you like the new chapter? Did I meet your expectations with the dinner party? Or were you expecting something more grandeur to happen? Please feel free to e-mail me at flipped100@yahoo.com okay? I'd like to hear some feedback.
So a lot of things happened, but out of curiosity who do you think sent the note to Will? Seems like Will and Tyler are in for a bumpy ride.
Okay, for some of the readers out there, I'd like to address the issue that new chapters are going to be out in 1-2 weeks after the previous one. If it doesn't show up in Nifty or my alternative site: flipped100.wordpress.com then that means, I'm suffering from writer's block. Unlike most writers, I don't have an outline for the entire story because I'm really fickle. I tend to change plot lines in a whim. Usually, it only gets finalized when I send the chapter to my editor, Tim (who is amazing by the way).
In case any of you may ask, Will's taste in music is largely based on my taste in music in real life. I suggest looking up the artists I've mentioned on Youtube. It'll be worth it. I promise! Hehe
Anyway, keep safe out there and let's continue to show our support and prayers to Japan and other countries in turmoil right now.
Cheers.
Nick