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 9.
(Tyler's POV)
I looked over the note in my locker that said, "STAY AWAY FROM WILL LAKEWOOD." I was baffled. Who could have sent this? I looked around the hallway looking for a prime suspect, but my eye didn't catch anyone suspicious. I looked back at the note afterwards.
I wonder if this may be the same person who threatened Will last week. It's pretty hard to tell, but the modus operandi was pretty similar. I had a gut feeling this was the same person. The message was written on a scrap piece of paper and then purposely left in Will's locker and mine's? What could this all mean?
This isn't so much about Will's proximity to me anymore. It is about our proximity with each other. Clearly, whoever sent these messages does not want Will and I to be friends or have anything to do with each other. I don't understand why. It's not like we're hurting anyone by spending time together or could it be...
My mind suddenly went into overdrive. Fuck, unless this person knows what happened last night in my house... But that's impossible! I didn't tell anyone. I'm pretty sure Will didn't tell anyone either... If this guy was talking about the kiss, I'm in deep shit here. If the school knew about it, my life would be ruined! Fuck!
I found myself shaking my head in frustration, mentally telling myself over and over to stop overreacting. If this person was talking about the kiss, it'd be on the gossip blog by now. Everyone would already be talking shit and throwing weird looks at me. Then it hit me! Will received his message last week before the kiss. It's not possible this person knows about last night. Just calm down Tyler, take a deep breath, and relax.
I took a very deep breath of oxygen and exhaled slowly. Okay, all I need to do is to focus on finding out who sent the messages and why. And when I do, they'll pay. My hands started balling into fists as I began to shake in anger.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Jason walking towards me with a lopsided grin on his face. When he saw my somber expression, his face suddenly etched a worried look.
"Tyler, you'd look like you've seen a ghost! Anything wrong man?" he asked me.
"It's nothing," I replied a little grumpily, while stuffing the note in my backpack. Good, Jason didn't see that. At this point, I couldn't afford to let Jason know about the message. If he found out that I got received one as well, let's just say whatever he plans to do won't be subtle.
Jason gave me a suspicious look, but decided to let it go. This was good since I am not in the mood to share anything.
As we both rounded through the corner, a small nerd accidentally bumped into me. His small frame made him fall on his ass. When he looked up and saw me, he sort of froze.
"Hey watch it asshole," I snarled at him as I gave him a deadly glare. "You bump into me again, you're going to get you ass beat do you here me?" I think the gravity of what happened is starting to get on my nerves a little bit.
"I... I'm sorry Ty... Tyler," he stuttered as he cowered against the wall.
"Well the next time, I won't be so forgiving," I said as I stared down at his frame. The small student just gulped and scampered away. When he disappeared, I saw Jason staring at me with a shocked expression.
"Tye, what the hell is your deal? First you blow me off and now you're taking it out on other students... Dude, your temper is outta control again," Jason said with a disgusted look.
I hung my head down in shame. It's true. My temper seems to be getting out of control lately. Dana was usually the one who'd reel me in before I can explode. But lately, all these things happening with Will has gotten me riled up. I think everything is cave in on me.
"You're starting to become the old Tyler," Jason added.
"I know... okay?" I said exasperated. "Its just things lately have been really shitty and I'm kind of overwhelmed by all of it." I started walking away in shame.
"Hey, it's okay," Jason said as he caught up to me. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I looked at him and all I could see was the concern in his eyes. They were telling me that he was ready to listen and help in any way possible. Normally I would do that, but for some reason, my mind thought otherwise.
"You couldn't help me," I said sadly as I headed down the direction of my car. I left Jason standing in the parking lot with a frustrated look on his face.
"I'm sorry Jason, really, I am," I softly said as I walked away.
That night, I didn't get any messages from Will whatsoever. After what happened today, I wasn't in the mood to talk to him either. I just found out that he's dating Sterling and that really pisses me off. He led me on for crying out loud! I wasn't really sure how this was going to affect our time working on the art studies assignment. I have a feeling that the entire thing is going to be one hell of an awkward sit down. Still, I didn't want to fail the class. I needed to find a way to get Will to finish this assignment with me.
Jason never called or texted that night either. I guess he's still mad or hurt over what happened after school today. I've been a dick to him lately and today, I pushed him away. Not really best friend behavior. Guess he's giving me the silent treatment now.
"I'll see you later at practice Logan," I called out to the redhead as we parted ways in the school hallway. Lunchtime was almost over so everyone is heading towards his or her next class. Everyone was hurrying up, but it's the football team who's pretty much high strung at this moment.
Today was Friday. The entire football team is pretty much on the edge right now. We have a big football game next week and the coach is pretty much kicking us into high gear in practices. I'm actually looking forward to it. I figured I could work out this aggression I've been having lately into tackling some people later.
Jason still hasn't talked to me yet. We did see each other earlier before the morning bell. It was a pretty tense moment. When he saw me, he just looked at me and then walked off in the other direction. It wasn't hostile, but it wasn't really friendly either. I guess that pretty much answers whether or not he was mad at me.
When I turned around the corner, I saw Will Lakewood taking a sip out of the water fountain. Just like Jason and me, Will and I haven't talked either since yesterday's confrontation. Will was wearing a red and white striped polo and some jeans today. I noticed his hair was slightly combed down... I frowned. I kind of missed his really messy brown hair, which gave him sort of a boyish charm. This is getting some kind of getting used to.
I didn't really know what came over me at that moment, but I approached him. He was still taking a sip out of the water fountain when I snuck behind him.
"Hey," I softly said.
He stopped drinking, wiped his face, and turned around. "Hey..." he trailed off as he stood up straight and looked up at me. I caught him glancing down at the floor every now and then. To say that this encounter was awkward would be an understatement. After what happened yesterday, I'm just not sure what's in store for the two of us in the future.
"You look... different," I said pointing at his hair. Good one Tyler, make some shitty small talk would you? Fuck, I'm so lame.
"Huh? Oh thanks," he said and then silence followed. It must have been around two minutes of awkward silence and trying not to stare at each other. Those two minutes were probably the most painful I have ever experienced in my life.
"I need to... to go Tyler," he said as he turned around and walked away.
"Will, wait!" I said as I grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards.
"Ouuuuuch!" Will yelped in pain. Whoops. Nice move Tyler, break his arm off would you?!
"Sorry! Sorry!" I hastily apologized as I let go of his arm. He rubbed his arm again to ease off the pain. He was now eyeing me in contempt.
"I'm really, really sorry. It's a bad habit of mine I know," I said once again, trying to calm the situation.
"It's fine Tyler," Will said a little too dryly. "But I really have to go," he said. It's so obvious that he's trying to avoid talking to me. Well, that ain't going to happen!
"Wait, I just want to know if you want to come over tonight? We still got that art studies homework to finish. Do you want to finish it already?" I asked him.
I could see panic rushing in his eyes. It was pretty hard to miss. I need to diffuse this ticking time bomb.
"We don't have to do it in my house if you don't want to. We can do it in your house if you want? Or a coffees shop in town?" I asked as I thought I might have been a little hasty in asking him.
"I... I can't... tonight. I have a commitment with the twins," he announced as he frowned at me.
"Okay, what about tomorrow?" I asked.
"I can't do it then as well... I'm going to be pretty busy too," he said looking away.
"What could possibly keep you busy on a Saturday?" I scoffed in response.
"I have plans that day Tyler," he said staring at something behind me. "Listen, I need to go," he said as he walked by me. I turned around and saw Will approach Sterling who was standing at the other end of the hallway.
Oh right. How could I fucking forget, he has a date on Saturday. I was such a fool kissing Will like I did.
"Let's do it some other time, okay?" Will asked as he turned around to face me.
"Yeah... that would be great... Whatever," I muttered coldly. Will didn't hear me since I said it under my breath. Instead, I just gave him a stiff nod as I stared at the boy behind him. Will couldn't see him, but Sterling was giving me a really nasty glare. What the fuck is his problem? I just stared back at him with a scowl. When Will turned around, Sterling's angry expression quickly disappeared. He's now giving Will a smile. Jesus Christ, that guy's a fucking fake!
I felt my hands balling into fists and shaking really bad. Tyler, you need to get a grip on your temper. I took a few deep breaths watching Sterling and Will walk away together. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something definitely wrong with Sterling.
The coach really pushed every one of us during practice today. He made us learn all these crazy new plays he'd concocted the past week. Let's just say, everyone left the field with more than just bruises.
"Oh fuck. It's really bleeding now!" Vincent, one of my teammates, yelled as he sat on the locker room bench messing with his newly acquired wound on his knee. Everyone could perfectly see the dark crimson liquid oozing out onto his chocolate skin.
"Damn. That dive must have hurt huh?" one of my other teammates said as we stared at Vincent and his wound.
"Something out there managed to fucking cut through my kneepads!" Vincent yelled in frustration.
"You should head down to the nurse's office afterwards Vince," Logan said as he dropped his towel on the floor and put on his underwear. I couldn't help but stare at Logan's pretty cute ass while doing so. It was pretty fit, but it was his dick that caught my attention. It wasn't small by any means and it was nestled in a rather thick patch of red hair. I guess the drapes do match the carpet.
I quickly looked away. Shit Tyler! The locker room is not the place to be staring at guys. Especially if those guys are your teammates! I'm going to get busted if I continue doing this! I opened my locker and fiddled with the contents inside to get my mind off Logan's impressive penis.
I looked back at Logan's direction and found him staring at me with a strange expression. He seems to be studying me... Shit. Did he notice I was staring at him? Oh my fucking god... This can't be happening right now.
"Tye, are you okay?" Logan suddenly asked me out of the blue.
"Ye... Yeah Logan. Why are you asking?" I responded before breaking into a nervous laughter.
"I dunno know. You don't seem to be yourself lately," he shrugged at me, giving me a rather pensive look.
"It's... it's complicated," I said. Surely that must have been the understatement of the year. Complicated my ass, this entire thing or debacle with Will is a disaster.
"Dana?" he asked me.
"Uhhh... no, it's not about her," I answered back. Logan just looked at me before he shrugged his shoulders in response and then he started dressing himself.
I went back to my locker and started slipping my shirt over my head. Five minutes must have gone by when I turned back to Logan and said, "It's about a friend."
"Huh?" Logan asked me in confusion.
"I have a friend who has feelings for... someone. He really likes someone and wants to ask this person out on a date. The only problem is, the person my friend likes is already seeing someone else. He doesn't know what to do. He wants to ask that person out but he's not sure if that's a really good idea," I said, carefully avoiding Will's name or even hinting about him.
Logan took a moment to contemplate what I said. "Is this girl in a relationship?" he asked afterwards.
"What?" I asked confused.
"This girl your friend likes, does she have a boyfriend already?" he asked me.
"Oh! As far as I know, she's only dating the guy. They're not in a committed relationship," I answered.
"Well, I suggest your friend ask her out. She's dating so it's pretty fair game. Does your friend really like her?" Logan asked.
"Yeah... but my friend already hurt her once. I'm not sure she'd be willing to give him another chance and it's eating him inside," I replied sadly.
"Well then, your friend needs to find a way to communicate how much she means to him. You know... maybe like apologize and then explain how he truly feels about her," he replied as he put on a shirt.
I contemplated over what Logan said and you know what, it wasn't a bad idea. Sure, it's going to be difficult talking to Will. He basically doesn't want to do anything with me. I hope he just gives me a sec-
"Hey Beaumont!" I heard someone shout out. I quickly turned around and found Scott sneering at me.
"What do you want Scott?" I asked rather impatiently as I turned around to face him.
He was at the other end of the locker room, putting on deodorant. My eyes wandered throughout Scott's physique. Scott has one of the most banging bodies here. He not only had a sex cut and 6-pack abs, but he also happened to be the biggest asshole around here. His overall attitude negated everything.
"I heard Lakewood is your partner for that stupid elective class of yours?" he asked with an amused look on his face.
"Yeah... so?" I asked back. I have a feeling I do not like where this conversation is going. Most of the team stopped changing to watch this little heated exchange between us.
"I wonder what kind of a cocksucker he is? Have you fucked his tight little ass yet?" Scott asked menacingly.
I slammed my locker door shut causing everyone to stare at me. I could see a vicious sneer on Scott's face. He was looking really amused and pleased over this entire situation. Little piece of shit. This was the last straw.
"Wait," Scott said. "Don't tell me... it's you who's the bitch in the relationship?" he laughed at me.
The moment he said that, the entire locker room went to a standstill. Everyone stopped what he was doing and looked between Scott and me. I swear you could hear a pin drop. From the corner of my eye, I can see Vincent's mouth drop open over Scott's remark. Even Scott's cronies were rendered speechless.
"Bet you got Lakewood screaming in pleasure!" Scott laughed.
He's going to get his fucking face pounded. I found myself charging up at Scott liked a deranged psychopath. He seemed ready for me and put up his arms ready to duke it out. What he wasn't ready for was Jason's fist connecting with the left side of his face.
"Holy shit!" I heard Logan shout behind me as we all watched Scott fall down to the floor.
What the hell?
I stopped running and looked at Scott and Jason. Jason was standing over Scott and he was giving the bully the coldest stare I've ever seen in my entire life. I didn't notice it then, but my mouth was open in shock.
"What the fuck??" Scott shouted at Jason.
Whoa. I saw that there was blood coming out of Scott's mouth. Apparently Jason's punch really did a number on that bastard. I was secretly relishing the fact he had been knocked on his ass.
"You talk shit about anyone else near me, you're going to have more than just a bloody mouth. Next time, you won't be able to play football anytime soon," Jason spat.
"Fuck you!" Scott shouted as he wiped the blood of his mouth, grabbed a shirt and stormed out of the locker room. His lackeys followed his footsteps, glancing at Jason with a perturbed expression on their faces.
When they left, everyone just stared at Jason who walked past me towards his locker, which was right beside mine He was surprisingly calm about it and was pretty much ignoring all the stares aimed at him. I walked back to my locker and opened it to retrieve a few personal items. I couldn't help but occasionally glance at Jason who was busy putting on a shirt. I'm sure he noticed that I was staring at him, but he didn't acknowledge me in any way. I guess he's still pissed off at me.
"Thanks," I whispered at him as I gave him a sympathetic smile.
As soon as he heard what I said, he looked at me straight in my eyes and said, "No problem. No one insults my best friend like that." I frowned a bit as I noticed that his eyes were completely devoid of emotions when he said that. This left me with an empty and not to mention painful feeling inside.
"I'll see you later Tye," he said indifferently as he closed his locker and walked out the room.
How the fuck am I supposed to go about this?
I keep asking myself that same question over and over again. I sighed in frustration as I stared at the computer screen in front of me. This seems to be a bad idea with each passing minute.
I'm in my room taking up the advice that Logan gave me this afternoon. It's like what he said, it's a fair game to go after Will. I mean, it's not like he and Sterling are in an exclusive relationship with one another, right? I just need to show Will that I have genuine feelings for him, and they go beyond the platonic level.
The only problem is... I don't know how to do that exactly. Sure, the premise sounds easy. Tell Will your feelings; ask him out on a date, blah, blah, blah. But it's harder than it seems. I honestly have no clue how the fuck I am going to do that without causing a scene.
I've perfectly made up my mind that I am not going over to his house to directly talk to him. I... I don't think I can handle rejection directly if it should come to that. I decided a phone call wouldn't be a better alternative either. Hearing his voice probably wouldn't be a good idea. The only option I found to be have the least disadvantages would be through an e-mail. Sure, it's pretty much a cowardly thing to do, but it'll be the least painful if things get rough.
Now I just have to find out what to say to him... Easier said than done, right?
I didn't entirely process what was going through my mind; I simply started typing down whatever thoughts came through me. It was all a blur to be honest with you. I guess I've got a lot of things to say to him.
When I was done, I stared at it and began to have second thoughts about this. Was I too forward? Did I sound pathetic? All these and a whole bucket load of concerns started swimming in my head. Do I send it now?
After contemplating for a while, I hit the 'Save as Draft' icon. I'm sorry, okay? I chickened out in the last minute. I need to think this over some more. I'll get to it tomorrow. I just can't today... I just can't...
The next day, after having a rather uneventful lunch, I went back to that e- mail for Will. I reread the entire thing and decided to change a few sentences here and there. Clearly, I wasn't thinking straight last night as I noticed I've repeated several sentences over and over again in the course of the letter. It sounded stupid. And in the latter part of the letter, I came across really, really angry as I was accusing him of some rather mean things...
Ugh. I need to edit.
I was busy fixing my letter when I heard some rather loud footsteps going up the stairs. I noticed it got louder and louder. I swiveled my chair around just in the nick of time to watch my door fling open with Jason, Logan, and Vincent step inside my room.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them... okay, maybe more like yelled at them. This was certainly out of the blue. I had no clue as to why they were here.
"We're here to visit you dummy," Jason said, looking unfazed by my confusion.
"What's that you're looking at?" Logan asked as he approached my desk to take a look at whatever I was doing on my computer.
"Oh! It's nothing!" I said a little hastily as I turned my attention back to my computer and started clicking these icons so that he won't be able to see what I was doing. I clicked the 'Save as Draft' icon before hastily closing my browser. All that time, my hands were shaking like a leaf. That was a close call!
"Knowing Tyler, he must be looking at porn," Vincent chuckled as he sat down on my bed.
"Ha ha. Very funny Vince!" I said as I flipped him off. Out of love of course. Vince understands that as he just laughed at me.
"But seriously guys," I said, turning a bit solemn, "what are you doing here?"
Logan and Vince both looked at Jace who approached me and sat on my bed. We were facing each other, I guess separating ourselves by only a foot.
"Tye, Logan told us," he said slowly as he looked at me in the eyes.
"Told you what?" I asked, clueless as to what he was talking about.
"He told us what you talked about in the locker room and we kinda picked up some hints from it," Jace answered.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Vince asked me before he added, "don't you think we wouldn't help you or support you through this?"
My eyes widened at Vince's remark.
"I guess this explains all your weird behavior lately. You know what we're talking about Tye. Don't even try to deny it," Jason said, a little too seriously for my tastes.
Fuck, the cat's out of the bag now. They know I like Will. They're going to think I'm gay. This can't be happening! I never hinted to Logan that I was into guys at all. How the hell did he figure it out? I didn't think Logan was that perceptive.
"Wait, let me explain..." I trailed off as I stood out of my chair in nervousness. I started pacing around the center of my room.
"You should have told us Tye," Vince said.
"It's hard okay?" I snapped back.
"Bullshit Tye!" Jason said as he rose up to his feet and stared at me. "Why didn't you tell us that you were lonely? I'm your best friend for crying out loud. Why didn't you fucking tell me? We could have helped you out!"
"Trust me, you couldn't have helped me," I laughed sadly.
"Well we are now!" Jason yelled as he approached my closet.
"What are you doing?" I asked him as I watched him pull out some clothes from my closet and throwing them on the bed.
"You need to get dressed. You have a date today!" Logan replied as he grabbed me by the shoulders.
"A what?" I asked.
"Listen," Jason said as he faced me still holding onto one of my polo shirts. "We all talked about it and we think it'd be best to forget going after this girl who's seeing someone. It'd be a disaster waiting to happen. Trust me, you don't want to get into that especially what you went through with Dana."
I blinked at him. Okay, now I'm totally fucking clueless.
"That's why Vince found you a date tonight!" Jason said as he pointed at Vince across the room.
"You'll like her Tye. She's smart, funny, and drop dead gorgeous! She's from the same school as you sister. As far as I know, she gives good head too!" Vince said with a smile.
Wait a minute... They're not talking about Will?! Shit! I breathed out a huge sigh of relief. For a minute there, I thought my life was over.
"You've been mopy and distant lately because you're still hung up on Dana. It's time to move on man. We figured it's time to start dating again. This is why we set-up this date for you!" Jason said as he smiled at me.
"And you're not taking no for an answer!" Logan added as he gave me brotherly hug.
I gave a small laugh as he hugged me. He let go with a confused look on his face. I just shook my head at them. Maybe this is what I needed. Maybe this date would help me out figure out a lot of things about myself.
I need to figure out if I'm gay. But more importantly, I need to figure out if liking Will was just a fluke. I need to figure out if that kiss was, as Will said it himself, a mistake.
I went to my bed and looked through the pile of clothes before I looked at Vince's direction and said, "She better be gorgeous or you're a fucking dead man!"
*** (Will's POV)
This is a good thing right? I asked myself that question over and over again as I stared at my reflection. It held a rather worried expression. I'm going on a date tomorrow. This is a sign right? I need to stop thinking about Tyler and move on.
From behind me, I could hear a toilet flushing and Rocky slowly walked up to the sink beside me. The morning break was almost over so we decided to freshen up a bit before heading back to class.
"So..." Rocky said as he glanced at my reflection, "What's up with you? Anything new in your life?"
I scoffed and stared back at his smiling reflection.
"What?" he asked in feigned innocence.
"I'm sure you know already what is up with me so you can pretty much stop this charade," I said as I turned on the water as a stream of water greeted my hands.
"I know... I just want to hear you say it," Rocky said with a smile.
I flung the jets of water toward him causing him to yelp with surprise and amusement.
"Heeey!" he shouted at me as he looked at the water spots on his green sweater. "You got it all wet!"
"Well that's what you get for being so nosy," I replied with a devilish smile.
"Hey, I'm not nosy! It's Claire who's the nosy one! She's the one who told me!" Rocky said as he tried defending himself.
"Shhh... Keep it down will you?" I told him, a little worried someone might overhear the fact that Sterling is into boys. The last thing he needs is to be ostracized by the student body. I don't want to be responsible for his possible social suicide.
"Will, you need to calm down. No one's in here. So tell me who asked who?" Rocky asked me as he grabbed tissue and began wiping the water stains off his sweater.
"Oh please Rocky. If you got Claire to give you the information, I'm sure she's already told you who asked who... And where it took place and what words were said," I pointed out to him.
"I know... but again, I just want to hear you say it," Rocky replied.
I narrowed my eyes at him as I prepared myself to spray him with water. He raised his arms in surrender and said, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding okay?"
I laughed and shook my head at his discomfort. He swatted me at the back of my head before bolting out of the door, laughing the entire time.
I shook my head in annoyance. Just you wait Rocky. You're going to be sorry. You can't mess with me and get away with it!
I turned off the water knob off and stared back at my reflection. My laughter disappeared and was replaced by the same somber look as before. This is going to be fine. Your date with Sterling is what you need to get over Tyler. This is a good thing... right?
"Will! Come on. We're going to be late!"
"I'm coming!" I shouted as I tied my shoelaces on the floor.
"Hurry up! We can't be late or else we're not going to get paid!" Blake yelled from downstairs.
I let out a small curse as I tied the shoelaces of my other shoe. I glanced at the clock. It said 8pm. Hmph. They have over an hour before the show starts, why are they rushing me?
See, today was Friday evening and I promised my brothers last night that I would attend their small music gig in a local bar. And by attend, I mean be their personal assistant the entire night. This means I have to make sure all their equipment is working, making sure they follow their set-list, and providing them alternative instruments should any break down. I arranged their song choices for tonight and I wanted to come down and make sure they don't mess up.
Once I finished tying up my shoelaces, I stood up and looked myself in the mirror. I was simply wearing a white V-neck over dark blue denims and some red-black sneakers. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible as I'll be stuck in a stuffy bar the entire night.
After checking myself in the mirror, I made my way downstairs to find the twins glaring at me.
"About time! Come on. We're going to be late!" Marco growled as he stepped outside to start the car.
"Chill out. You have an hour before the show starts," I told them.
"It'll probably take us around 20 minutes to get there. Around 10 minutes to find a parking spot. Another 15 minutes to bring everything inside. And around 10 minutes to set-up," Blake explained as we walked out of the house together towards the car.
"See? You've got 5 minutes to spare!" I pointed out to him.
Blake just gave me a go-to-hell look.
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding, okay"? And I'm sorry," I apologized to him. "I'll make it up to you guys I swear."
Blake gave me a wicked smile and said, "You will. Trust me."
I stopped momentarily and stared at him as I watched him make his way to the passenger seat.
"I have a feeling you guys are making me do something I'm going to regret," I said as I stared at Blake. He just laughed at me and got inside the car.
"Blake, seriously what are you ta-"
"William! Get in the car!" Marco barked with ferocity. I knew that tone. It means he's not messing around anymore. I quickly jumped inside the car and sat down. It wasn't easy though considering the backseat was littered with several of their instruments. I barely had any room to sit down for crying out loud.
"Blake. I'm serious. What are you guys talking about?" I asked him, a little intrigued but mostly scared. Knowing my brothers, it's probably something I wouldn't like.
They both looked at each other as Blake just laughed. Then Marco looked back at me before grinning. Okay, this has got to be my creepiest experience of their twin telepathy. From the way things are going, it looks like they plan on killing me and dumping my body in a mineshaft somewhere... Okay... William, you need to lay off the horror movies!
My brothers drove through town into the main district. While doing so, we were just going through the set-list and the gig itself.
"So you sure Vahn is coming tonight?" I asked my brothers. Vahn Wilkinson was the twins' best friend when they were growing up. I remember that the three of them were inseparable. He was always doing whatever the twins were doing. That includes teasing me during my crybaby phase.
"Yes dad. I called him up before we left the house. He's there already," Marco said as he rolled his eyes at me.
"You should have called him mom," Blake corrected Marco causing his twin to laugh. I whacked Blake on the head with one of the guitars.
"Hey! Watch it! You're going to break that," Blake said as he grabbed the guitar from my hands.
"Shut up," I told him, which caused the twins to laugh even harder. Ugh. Older brothers... What can you do?
"Okay. We're here!" Marco said as he turned the car around a corner. "Vahn should be here somewhere."
"There he is!" Blake said as he pointed to a rather chubby guy on in front of the entrance.
"That's Vahn??" I exclaimed. He sure looked different from the last time I saw him. He's gotten a lot fatter that's for sure. He used to be really skinny as I recall.
"Yep, that's him," Marco said as he parked the car in front of Vahn to unload their equipment. Blake and I followed soon after.
"Is this little pipsqueak our little Will?" Vahn asked as he looked at me with a smile.
"Hi," I said as I blushed a bit. Hey, I get nervous easily, okay?
Vahn just laughed before ruffing up my hair. I gave a small frown. I hate it when people do that. Do you know how long it takes for me to tame my hair? Thankfully Vahn didn't notice my sour expression.
"So, help us unload this shit. We only got less than 5 minutes to set-up," Marco said as he opened the trunk.
"No problem!" Vahn said as he approached Marco.
The four of us brought the instruments inside before Marco, Vahn, and I set them up. Blake, on the other hand, was busy talking to the manager and apologizing how late they were.
Once everything was set-up, I looked at the bar. It was a rather small bar than I thought it would be. It actually seemed a bit cozy. It was divided into two floors. The first floor was where the stage was located along with a few tables and chairs. The second floor, which was a bout a foot or so higher than the first floor, contained the other tables as well as the actual bar.
I noticed that the place was pretty packed. This is a good thing!
"So, who's playing which instruments?" I asked as I whipped out my small notepad to double check all the instruments and the flow of the set list.
"Well... Blake will be playing the guitar and then Vahn will be playing the drums and I'll be playing the bass," Marco said.
"Okay. Who's going to do the singing?" I asked them, not looking up from my notepad.
"That will be you," Marco said.
"Oka- Wait!" I said as I looked up from my notepad at my brother. He had an innocent smile on his face. "What are you talking about? I'm not singing!" I said in exasperation.
"Yes, you are," Marco said, this time his smile getting a little bit wider.
"No. I am not singing!" I said with finality as I crossed my arms against my chest.
"Look Will. You owe us. You're the reason why we almost didn't make it on time," Marco said.
"But you made it on time!" I argued.
Marco just gave me a blank stare. Urgh. He's pressuring me! The dumbass is making me feel guilty over this. I looked at Vahn for some help. He just shrugged his shoulders and went behind the drums ready to play. Sigh.
"Fine..." I said. Marco smiled at my response.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked me as he approached us.
"Will agreed," Marco said looking at his twin with glee.
"Oh, that's good," Blake laughed.
"You've been planning this all along haven't you?" I asked them with disdain.
"Not really," Blake answered.
"Yes!" Marco said.
They both answered at the same time. I glared at them.
"Okay, okay. We've been planning to make you sing since you gave us the set- list. You know the songs best and we figured you'd bring out the emotions the best among the four of us," Blake said.
I looked at them with contempt. Vahn just stared between the three of us wondering if anything was going to happen.
"Whatever," I said as I stepped up to the mic. "Just start!" I barked at them. The twins just smiled at each other before taking up their positions.
"See that wasn't so bad was it?" Vahn asked me as he took a sip of water.
"Actually, I had fun singing up on stage," I said to him. The gig was now over. We played around 15 songs. Initially, it was supposed to be only 12 songs, but the crowd really got into it and encouraged us for an encore. Got to admit... It was really fun.
"So now, you needn't kill your brothers," Vahn laughed.
"Yeah... Speaking of, where are they?" I asked as I looked around the room.
"Oh. They went to talk to some of their fans," Vahn said with a smile.
"Groupies I bet!" I laughed.
"WILL! YOU WERE AWESOME!!!" a voice shrieked behind me.
I cringed in response. I know that voice anywhere. I turned around to see my brothers along with Rocky, Claire, Taylor, and Sterling standing in front of me.
"Wait... What?" I asked my brothers in surprise.
"We invited them over. After all, it was your big debut!" Blake said with another one of his wicked smiles. I stared at him and Marco with contempt. If looks could kill!
"Hey don't be mad at them! You were fantastic!" Rocky said as he approached me and gave me a hug.
"Yeah! I was screaming so loud when you started singing Garands from Young The Giant! I never knew anyone else liked them!" Taylor said in excitement. I just stared at her.
"She's an indie freak like you," Claire pointed out as she gave me a big hug as well. "Oh Will! That was sooo good!" I almost choked from the ferocity of her hug. It's like she was squeezing all the air from out of my lungs. I managed to look at Sterling and he just stood there with a huge blush on his face.
Claire let go of me, turned to Sterling and said, "Well aren't you going to congratulate him?" He was about to say something but Taylor interrupted him.
"He's too embarrassed to say something!" Taylor announced as Sterling just glared at her.
"You were great Will," Sterling said before blushing again. I blushed at his comment.
"Awww... You guys are sooo cute!" Claire said as she pushed me to Sterling.
"Stop it!" I shouted at her causing everyone to laugh. Sterling just gave me a shy smile.
Oh god. I've got a feeling this was going to be a long night.
I woke up with a slight headache. I don't think I've fully recovered yet from last night. After the gig, my brothers and I went for a couple of drinks back at home celebrating their success. They've made a decent amount of money for the gig. Normally, most parents would be totally against underage drinking. However, my parents are fine with me drinking as long as there was an adult to supervise me. And let's just say, I couldn't hold my liquor last night.
Ugh... I hauled myself out of my bed and proceeded to my bathroom to wash up. I could see a bit of an eye bag issue forming there. Crap. Then I went downstairs to the kitchen to drink some aspirin. When I arrived at the kitchen, everyone was already sitting down at the dinner table.
"Well look who finally decided to drag his drunk butt off the bed?" my dad replied as everyone seemed to laugh at my discomfort.
"Good afternoon dear!" my mom said to me.
"Afternoon?" I asked in confusion as I sat down at the dining table. "What time is it?"
"It's 12:30," Blake said as he took a bite out of whatever what he was eating.
"Already?!" I said. I jerked my head to face the clock on the wall.
"We figured you'd need all the rest you could get. After all, you have a date later," Marco said as he took a sip out of his glass.
"You have a date later?" my parents asked in unison as they both looked at me in surprise. I glared at Marco for the nth time before turning my attention to my parents.
"Yes. We're just going to watch a movie or something later," I said as I began placing food on my plate. Oooh... Ribs and mashed potatoes!
"Who's the lucky guy?" my mom asked me.
"His name is Sterling," Blake answered for me. "We met him last night at our gig. He seems to be a very nice guy."
"Well if he's okay with your brothers, I guess that's good enough for me. Just remember, use protection," my dad told me.
"Daaad," I said, quite embarrassed.
"What?" he asked me.
"Oh stop it Sean. You're embarrassing our boy," my mom said as she slapped my dad on the shoulder.
My parents asked a lot of questions about Sterling and that's how lunch pretty much went. Once we were all done, I excused myself to take a shower and pick out something to wear at my date later.
After my shower, I opened my laptop to play some music. I then started picking clothes out of the closet when my laptop suddenly beeped weirdly. Curious, I laid out the clothes and my bed and then went to my desk. I clicked around and found that I've gotten new e-mail. Huh. It's from Tyler. I wonder what he wants... I sat down and opened his mail.
I stared at the computer screen... I was in shock. This really can't be happening. I found myself blinking away tears as I simply stared at Tyler's e- mail and read it again:
Will,
Hi.
I don't know how to put this into words. Honestly, I don't even know how to comprehend all of this. This thing between us has gotten me confused, it's driving me crazy. You're all I could think about day in and day out.
I can't stop thinking about your laugh, your sense of humor, your ruffled hair, your adorable smile, and your lips. Ever since we kissed, there are these feelings that I can't seem to explain. I won't lie; I was scared over what happened. In fact, I still am. You said it yourself, I was the football captain and I was pretty much a king in the school. I think losing all of that scared the shit out of me. However, none of this mattered because all I could think about was you.
I love being around you because you bring out a different side of me. I liked kissing you that night, holding you in my arms, and having you run your hands through my hair.
The point is... I like you. I like you in a more-than-friends way. The following day, I was ready to tell you about my feelings. Then, you told me I was a mistake. Did you really mean that? I admit that I was hurt. No... I was devastated. Can you imagine how painful that was to hear? I mean I was ready to fall for you and then to hear I was nothing but a mistake. It still hurts when I think about it.
And then, I figured out that you have a date with Sterling... Yes, I know about you two and you don't have to worry, I won't tell anyone. When I found this out, it broke my heart. I felt used, unwanted, and alone.
I can't help but think that this is your way of getting back at me for what I did to you all those years ago! It is taking everything I have inside of me not to feel this way. I don't want to think of you that way, but I never know with you nowadays. Maybe you are still mad at me? I don't know... I really don't...
I not only wished you would have given me a chance to at least prove you wrong but also prove myself wrong. But above all this, I have wanted to kiss your sweet lips once again.
Tyler's letter ended there. The ending seemed quite abrupt and unfinished, but I didn't care because at that moment, I started crying.
Fuck. I couldn't help it. My tears were falling down my face. I couldn't stop them. It tore me up inside that I managed to hurt Tyler that much. I called him a mistake for fuck's sake! When in his mind, I wasn't!
I stood up abruptly and leaned on the railings of my bed. It just dawned to me... Tyler likes me! I don't know how or why, but I now know for a fact that our kiss meant something to him. At that moment, in my mind, I wasn't really processing how a straight guy who just had a girlfriend be attracted to a guy.
Will. You're so fucking stupid! He likes you! And what do you do? You ask some other guy out! He was about to ask me for a chance and I tore that away from him. I started crying again as my tears began to fall once again.
Suddenly I heard Gayng's song entitled, "Cry" play from my laptop. I gave a nervous laugh. Oh the irony!
I looked back at my computer screen and stared at Tyler's e-mail.
Tyler... I'm so sorry.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I looked away from the window and back at Sterling. He had a concerned look on his face. He was driving me home from our date... Maybe date was pushing it too far as tonight had been a complete disaster in my eyes.
It wasn't Sterling's fault though. He actually was the only good thing about the night. He did his homework by picking out the things we did today. We watched Harry Potter today and ate in one of my favorite restaurants afterwards. He must have gotten notes from either Claire or Rocky. He was also sweet and thoughtful the entire night asking me how it was going and if I was enjoying myself. He was really good company.
I can't say the same if he felt the same way about me though. I don't know, but after reading Tyler's e-mail, I can't seem to get the blonde eyed boy out of my mind. No matter how hard I try, he keeps popping back into my mind. I wasn't myself tonight. I was pretty distant with Sterling. I just couldn't bring myself to be so happy and flirty around Sterling when I still had these feelings for Tyler.
Okay, I admit it. Tyler's e-mail resurrected these feelings of desire for him. I wanted to get out of that date and go over to his house and tell him how I feel.
"Will?" Sterling asked once again.
"I'm fine," I said tiredly.
"Are you sure? You were pretty quiet the entire date," he told me sadly. "You didn't have fun?"
"What? No! No! It's not you. I just had a lot on my mind lately... I'm sorry if I was such a pill tonight," I apologized to him.
"Hey, you were not a pill okay? I had fun," Sterling trailed off, looking at me. I looked back at him. Why are you giving me that look? Oh! Wait.
"I had fun too!" I said as I forced a smile. Great. He was waiting to see if I too had fun or not. He smiled in return.
"Well, here we are," Sterling said as he stopped the car in front of my house. He looked back at me.
"Thanks," I told him with a smile. I then turned the doorknob, when I felt him grab me, turn me to him and kissed my lips. To say the least, I was a bit surprised as I felt his glasses squishing my forehead. He let go and blushed quite a bit.
"Umm... bye," I said a little to hastily as I got out of the car and went to my driveway. Sterling gave me a small wave goodbye as he drove off. I watched him leave before I heading inside. Halfway to the front door, I looked back and stared at the Beaumont residence.
My mind was on steroids, and apparently me feet as well. I found myself heading over there. I didn't know if this was really a good idea, but I needed to talk to Tyler.
I walked up the front steps and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, his sister Emily appeared at the front door.
"Hi Emily... Is Tyler home?" I asked, a little too excitedly.
"Oh... hi... Will. I'm afraid not. I think he and a couple of his friends went out tonight," she answered.
"Do you know where they went?" I asked her. I don't care if I need to drag him away from his friends. I need to talk to him tonight!
"Oh! Umm.. Well they should have left the restaurant by now so he should be at the Malt Shop by now," she said.
The Malt Shop? That's not too far. I can get there in ten minutes or so... if I run.
"Okay, thanks Emily!" I said as I ran down the stairs and onto the street.
"You're welcome!" she shouted behind me.
I think I'm going crazy. I can't believe I'm doing this. I am actually running after Tyler like some crazed teenager in a romantic movie.
I swear I'm never making fun of those movies again.
I hopped up the curb and sped down the lane. People were giving me looks, but I didn't care. I needed to- Whoa! Shit. That was close. I almost bumped into a lamppost there.
It took me a few more minutes to arrive at the Malt Shop. I stopped and grabbed onto my knees, trying to catch as much as oxygen as I could. My entire body was sweating, but I wasn't paying attention to that. I started walking to the Malt Shop as I tried to find the words I wanted to say to Tyler when I see him.
That didn't take long though. A few seconds later, I see Tyler exit the Malt Shop. He was dressed nice. He had his black blazer on over some khaki pants and his blonde hair was really combed down really nicely. I couldn't help but smile like the Cheshire Cat at that moment. I was about to call out to him in glee when a girl suddenly wrapped her arms around Tyler's.
She had shoulder length black hair and was really attractive. She was wearing a really figure hugging dress. Damn was she sexy! I was about to wave at Tyler when my hand froze in mid-air. That girl kissed Tyler on the cheek. I looked at both of them. That bitch kissed him. And that wasn't a fucking friends-only kiss.
Wait a minute.
I hid behind a postbox and studied them. The girl was all over Tyler, rubbing her hands up and down Tyler's arm. I thought Emily said he was with Jason and the boys? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was a date... Tyler, the guy I was about to pour my feelings to was on a date... with a girl!
My mind was swimming with so many thoughts. I thought Tyler liked me? Otherwise, why would he send me that e-mail? I couldn't think clearly. I just blinked away few tears from my eyes.
I watched both of them get into Tyler's truck and drove off into the night. I stepped out from behind the postbox and watched his truck disappear into the night.
He's on a date... I looked up at the nighttime sky in despair. Maybe the sky would be able to give me some answers. Tyler's moved on, and it's all my fault.
TBC
*** Oh man. These two guys just can't catch a break, can they? Why does everything have to be so complicated? Well, that's life for you.
Hit me up at flipped100@yahoo.com for your comments, suggestions, inquires about the story. I try to reply to every e-mail as much as fast as I can. Also, I created a yahoo group for this story (and for future postings of other stories as well). I might add some other features in there as well like what the characters in the stories would most probably look like... or not. Hahaha.
It's called: flipped100.groups.yahoo.com
Now, if you're a yahoo user, you've got no problems joining in. But if you aren't don't fret just send an e-mail to this address:
flipped100-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
so you can at least join the mailing list of the yahoo group. I'm having difficulties e-mailing you guys for the next chapters because my contact list has surpassed 100 people already. So, all future notifications will be through the group. JUST MAKE SURE you enable the feature for you to receive messages/notifications, okay? Otherwise, joining the group would be an epic fail. LOL.
Lastly, let me take this time to thank the man who goes beyond the call of duty of editing my story, Tim.
Laters!
Nick
Also, check out my music blog if you've got the time: the-indie- project.tumblr.com