Regrets and Heartaches

Regrets and Heartaches 19

{Regrets and Heartaches is pure fiction. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it's in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are a underage, (according to your state laws as a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in anyway, shape or form without my expressed consent. I will like to give a shout out to a reader that has helped me with ideas where the story is, thank you!}

Written by J.P.G.

Edited By : Ed

Edited By: Kent

Chapter 19

The next morning as promised, Caleb went with Joey to his house to help him pack what is left. By noon most of the storage room was packed and ready to go. It got too hot for the boys to work outside, so they decided to do what they can in the main house, which was Joey's room and the closets that were not cleared out yet.

Although Joey had moved at lot of his stuff over to Caleb's house, there was still a lot to be packed. Joey did not take pictures of him and Jacob, gifts he saved that Jacob had given him and stuff like that. He did not want Caleb to ever think he is thinking of Jacob. Even though Jacob was his first love and will always hold that special part of his heart.

As they started to pack Joey's closet in his room, a box fell over and several photo albums came out. Caleb picked up the one on top and opened it up. He kept looking down at the pictures and up at Joey. Finally the third time doing it, he broke the silence.

"You really haven't changed from your freshman year in high school and now." Joey walked over and sat next to Caleb on the bed. "The only big difference is that you are a little more buffer now than you were then. More muscle on your bone that I love to always wrap my hands around." Caleb reached over to Joey's arm and grabbed it.

"Yeah football does that to you. Either you are on the field in full pads or in the weight room lifting. One way or another, you are building muscle on your body."

"Well it looks good on you Joey, it really does. You are not all muscle that eventually would turn into that ugly fat. What you have is just right." Leaning over to Joey, Caleb kissed him on the cheek. "This picture here with you and Jacob shows you guys look so happy together. Do you ever think we will get there?"

"I think we are already there. We might not have the pictures to show it, and that is something we must correct, but we are there already. I love you as much as I did Jacob when we were together. Yeah it is a little different, but you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. That is why I am willing to fight for you."

"Thank you and you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with as well." Once more Caleb leaned over to kiss Joey, but this time he kissed him on the lips. After breaking the kiss, they went through the photo albums. Caleb asked at times, what they were doing in the picture, but mostly he looked at the pictures and went onto the next page. When he picked up the photo album of Joey's birthday, he could not stop asking questions on where they were and if the place was still open so they can go.

"Jacob surprised me with this party. That was the year he gave me my truck as well." Joey looked over at the wall on the other side where his truck is parked. "That is why I will not ever get rid of that truck, it was a gift. Jacob always spoiled me, and I loved that about our relationship. At the same time, I now realize that by him spoiling me I never grew up, as I should have. I took everything for granted."

Caleb was stunned on what Joey was saying and it showed on his face. "Don't get me wrong I am not mad at Jacob for treating me like a king. Hell, I loved every moment of that. It just I took a lot for granted and never realized what I put him through with all my fooling around and just not seeing what I had with him."

"Do you think when we move up there your feelings that you had for Jacob are going to return?" Caleb had a concerned and sad look on his face as he asked the question. Joey pulled Caleb into him and held him tight.

"What Jacob and I had was great, but it is gone. There is no way we will ever become what we were because of how I left. We both have moved on and found a new love that we are not going to leave no matter what. So no, there is no way, what I felt for Jacob back then will ever come back. All that is going to happen is that we are going to be very good friends, but that will even take a long time to happen."

Caleb did not say anything else. He just went through the photo albums and saw how happy Joey was back with Jacob and his old group of friends. He started to hope to himself that he could give Joey that happiness. Not sadness and anger like what has been going on the last couple of weeks with them.

Back at the Evan's home, Harold for the first time did not want to go into work since he became a judge. There were many reasons why, but there were two that out weighed the others. The first of them was the new judge Mrs. Tate. He cannot stand her, and there is nothing she can do, to get him to change his feelings.

The other reason is there is still a lot to do before they even start loading their stuff on the trucks. He and Helen still need to decide what furniture to take, what furniture to leave and what they are going to buy when they get to El Paso since they are not going to sell their house as they originally planned. They are going to keep it as their retirement, slash vacation home while they live in El Paso.

There is not a doubt that they are going to buy new furniture, but it is better than the expense of buying a new house. They saw the furniture in the penthouse, which was good furniture, but they are not going to sleep on it or make it their own since they know that many people had used it before they had. Neither Harold nor Helen wanted to image what they did on the furniture in those rooms.

Pulling himself out of his bed, Harold got ready to go in. Once he got dressed, he went to check on the boys to make sure they did not kill each other during the night. To his surprise, his son and his boyfriend had not only gotten up already, but had left. That is a first for his son and something Harold knows will not happen again.

Trying not to wake up anyone else in the house, he got his coffee, read the newspaper before heading to work. When he walked into his chambers, he could not believe his eyes. Mrs. Tate had already moved herself in and pushed his stuff to the side. He found her already in the office, sitting behind his desk.

There is no way he is going to allow this, he thought to himself as he walked to the desk. On his way, he picked up a box that Mrs. Tate had emptied, but not thrown away. Not saying a word, Harold put down his brief case in front of his desk, and started picking things up off his desk that belonged to Mrs. Tate and tossed it in the box not caring if anything broke, since she did not give him the respect that he deserves.

She looked up from the desk stunned at what Harold was doing with her pictures. "Ma'am, you are not the one that was elected to this seat and I have told you that already, but yet here you are making yourself at home without clearing it with me, the one that was elected to this seat. Until I walk out of here tomorrow, this courtroom is mine. You do not walk in her and just pack my things up and place your stuff as if the office is yours already. You will show me more respect than that."

As Harold tossed Mrs. Tate's items into the box, they heard the sound of glass breaking, which really got Mrs. Tate angry. "What ever you broke you are going to replace. I did not break anything of yours when I moved it out of my way. This is my chambers now, and you have to get use to that." Mrs. Tate got up and pulled the box away from Harold.

"If you think this is your court room already, you are heading for a rude awakening." Harold turned and grabbed another box from the ground. He picked up where he left off at when Mrs. Tate pulled the first box from him. "You will leave my chambers and will not return to it until Monday when it is officially yours. I do not want to see you in my courtroom either for the next two days. If you have a problem..."

"We will see who is right here and who is not." Mrs. Tate grabbed a card out of her rolodex, picked up the phone, and dialed a number. It rang maybe a few times when the operator answered it. She asked to speak with the governor and gave the operator her name before she was put back on hold. About five minutes later, the governor got on the line. She explained to him why she was calling and then put the phone on speaker.

"What seems to be the problem down there Harold? I thought we discussed the transfer of your seat to the judge I chose. Mrs. Tate here is telling me that you are refusing to give up the reins of your courtroom to her, why is that?"

"Governor King I have no problem giving up the reins of my courtroom to the person you chose to finish off the remainder of my term. Where I have a problem is when that person packs up my chambers on her own, tries to run court proceedings the very first day she arrives and tries to tell me I answer to her now. Until Monday, this courtroom is still mine and she will respect that. She will respect me and my schedule on when I am going to let her move her things in. She had no right doing what she did."

"Okay I agree with you Harold, Mrs. Tate you were wrong on packing up his chambers. What is wrong with you? This man has served his district for over a decade in that seat and deserves the upmost respect for that. You will pack your stuff back up and not unpack it until Harold had done his own packing." The governor cleared his throat. "I don't have tine for this ladies and gentleman, so stop acting like little kids."

"I agree about time and neither do I." Harold spoke before Mrs. Tata was able to. "I want her out of my chambers and out of my courtroom. In other words, I do not want to see her at all. She can come in on Monday morning and move in, but not until then." Harold had looked up at Mrs. Tate at this point.

"I still have a lot of pull in this city. You hand picked her to take over my seat, but all she is going to get is the rest of my term. I will be back when she runs for my seat and I will do everything I can to make sure she does not get it. That includes making sure she doesn't have the funding that I had, which that pretty much puts her without money to run unless you help her get it. If that happens, I will go out and support the candidate that is running against even if that candidate is not part of my party. When it is all said and done, she will not get this bench or any elected office as long as I am alive."

"Harold, hold on there please do me a favor and do not do that. I hand picked her and believe that she will serve on that bench as long as you have if not longer, but not if you come out against her. I know even if I could replace her funding, which I cannot, you coming out against her, she has no chance of winning.

Let us all calm down and just step back from this for a few moments. Mrs. Tate, retrieve your stuff and do not go back to the chambers until Monday. Do not even appear in the courtroom until then. That way Harold will settle down and at least not come against you when you run for his seat when it is time."

"With all due respect Governor King it is too late. In the day she has already been here, she has already left a bad taste in the other judges' mouths. No sir even with her not coming back for my last two days, I need to get her off this bench in order to help my fellow judges. There is nothing at this point that can be said that will change my mind on that part. I am going to come back into town to make sure she doesn't get her own term."

"Harold is there nothing I can say or do to change your mind on this."

"No sir, I am sorry there is nothing you can do."

"Please can you leave me alone with Mrs. Tate?" Harold had no problem with that, put down the box and walked out. Once he closed his chambers doors, Mrs. Tate informed the governor that he was gone. "Mrs. Tate you really made a mess of things in such a short period of time. How in a world could you do that in one day? That has to be some kind of record."

"Sir there is nothing I did that cannot be undone. By the time, I have to run for the seat I will have made a name for myself. The voters will ignore Harold and give me my own term. There is no way they won't after what I plan to do."

"No Mrs. Tate you are wrong on that. Harold has won his seat in landside victories every time. The last two times he ran for his seat, no one bothered to run against him because they did not want to be beaten as badly as those that came before them. They not only were beaten by double digits, but high double digits. Other judges in that courthouse have gone to him to help them be elected and when he lent his name to their campaign, they won by huge numbers. There is nothing at all you will be able to do to fight off Harold.

I am sorry but I want to put someone in that seat that will have his support and I told you that when I offered you the seat. The very first thing I told you is get Harold on your side, but you did the opposite. Leaving me with no other choice than to pull my offer from you and give it to the next person on the list."

"No sir, please give me time and I will fix this, I promise I will fix this!"

"Too late on that, Harold has made up his mind. Please pack your stuff and I will find somewhere else to put you since you quit your firm for this job. It will not be a judge seat, but it will be something in your field. You made a mess that cannot be fixed in time for the elections and the sad thing about this is that you are a brilliant woman. This seat was going to show that off and open up so many other doors for you."

"No matter what you think, I know I am not dead here. Fine take it away from me now, but I will run for this very seat when it is up. I promise you I will win this seat and shove it in Harold's face that he does not have the pull in this district that he thinks he has.

So with all due respect, sir thanks but no thanks for the job offer. If I am not going to be able to stay here, I do not want anything else. There is really nothing else you can give me that equals a judge seat. I will go back to my law firm, bide my time and come back in the election to take this seat."

"Well you can do that, but you heard it here first, you will not win. I have been in politics far too long to see who has the power in the districts and Harold is he man in that district that has the reach to make someone or destroy someone. By the sounds of it, he is going to make it mission in life to make sure you do not get elected dog catcher."

Mrs. Tate did not like what the governor said, but kept her mouth shut. They did not say much after that before hanging up. Not wanting to be where she was not wanted. Mrs. Tate quickly packed up all her stuff. As she reached the door of the chambers, she turned around and took one last look around. She could not believe how close she was to being judge, but could not keep it because she could not be patient.

After a few minutes looking around the chambers, she walked out. First, she was not going to say anything to Harold, but she had to have the last word. "You may have won this, but I will be back. Not only do I plan to run for this seat, but also I plan to win it. No matter what you do, I swear I will win this seat."

"Go ahead and think that if that makes you feel better. All you had to do is come in here and show the respect I have earned. No one packs up someone else's office, no one. I was able to take everything else you have done, but not that. That was complete disrespect and I promise you that you will not get anywhere by being that way."

Not willing to admit to Harold or her that he was right, Mrs. Tate just nodded and walked away. Harold walked into his office pushing what just happened to the back of his mind. He had a full schedule and he could not have this incident get him mad because that will make his whole day go by very slowly.

By midmorning, Harold had gotten into his routine. At first, it was a rough start, but he kept pushing and got through it. He got through the morning cases quicker than normal, which gave Harold some time to pack his chambers. Just as he adjourned his courtroom, a middle age man walked into the doors grabbing his attention.

Harold had seen him before, but he cannot remember where. After whacking his head against the wall a couple of times, he placed the person. He was asked to run against his friend James in the last election, but did not. He often wondered why the young man did not run because he would have won the election since James at that time wanted to retire from the bench and return to private practice.

As he walked down from his bench, the middle age man walked up to Harold and extended his hand. "Hello your honor, my name is Phil Burns." Harold shook Phil's hand as they walked out of the courtroom. "The governor called me this morning and told me that you were offered another judge seat in Texas, congratulations!"

"Thank you Phil. Not meaning to come off sounding rude, but I have a lot to do. So is there anything I can do for you."

"Well yes sir, I am to shadow you for the next couple of days. The governor has offered me to serve out the remainder of your term." Harold stopped and looked the Phil with a stunned look on his face. He did not think that the governor was going to find Mrs. Tate's replacement that fast. "I know I am not the first one he asked. The governor did not give me a lot of detail on what happened, but he did tell me that you are the boss, which he did not have to tell me that. I already knew that before he called."

They immediately hit it off. Harold spent his lunch hour with Phil and enjoyed every minute of it. Not because he seemed to start by kissing his butt, but because he understood what respect was. Phil was not rushing Harold out the door like Mrs. Tate was, and that is what he liked the most.

He thought it was going to be easy to close up shop here and just move on, as it gets closer and closer for him to do so. He is finding that it is a lot harder than he ever imagined it would be. Not only all the friends he will be leaving behind are now hitting him, but also this is where he was started and made his name. A name that got him recognized by the governor of Texas, and in return, his new job.

Back at the three houses, everyone spent the day packing what they hadn't packed. Fran arrived at her house after lunch and got her room packed by dinnertime. Once again, they all went to the Evans home to have dinner and just relax for a couple of hours. When it came time to go, Joey left with the group back to his house to finish off the storage room.

All along, he thought that room was going to be the easiest to pack up, but has ended up being the hardest. They had previously tossed things into the storage room that they should have thrown away so he had to go through every box and make sure he does not end up taking things to El Paso that should be going to the dump.

Just as he finished the storage room, Gary came out holding the phone. "Joey it is a police sergeant on the line for you. He says it is urgent and he needs to speak with you." Gary extended his arm to hand Joey the phone.

Brushing the dirt and dust off his hands, Joey took the phone. "Hello this Joey Alvarez, how can I help you sergeant?"

"Yes Mr. Alvarez I am really sorry for bothering you so late at night, but we have gotten word that you are moving out of town. We have had your parents stuff in storage and since you are the eldest, you need to come down and pick everything up. If you don't, we are going to donate it to the Good Will or something like that."

"Excuse sergeant but I am a little lost here. The last that I knew about my mothers stuff is that it was locked up in her apartment. Did you take all her stuff out of her apartment without her permission and then store it someone else?"

"We didn't need her permission to do so since she is a fugitive. We do not even have to be making this call to you. All we have to do is hold the stuff for a certain amount of time and if not claimed we then just donate it. Out of respect to you and Judge Evans, we are making this call. It is up to you if you want to come down and get it before you leave."

"Yes I do want to get her stuff, thank you very much for this call. I will be down there sometime tomorrow morning with a U-Haul to pick everything up if that is okay." The sergeant had no problem with Joey's request. He gave Joey directions to where his mother's stuff is being stored and who to speak with before hanging up with him.

Since the next day was going to be their busiest yet, Joey said his goodbyes to Gary, Janet and the guys and headed back to Caleb's house. The Evans' family and Joey's family stayed up talking for a couple of hours on how the move was going to go down and then headed off to bed. Joey and Caleb cuddled a little while before they had drifted off to sleep. No one in the house woke up through the night.

Before heading down to get the U-Hauls, Joey met up with realtor at his house. They went through what he wanted for both houses. Joey wanted what he paid for them, which the realtor did not see why she could not get that. If not more since the houses are in the historic area of town. When the meeting was over, Joey felt relieved that it looks like he is going to get at he spent for the houses.

As soon as the realtor left, Joey, Gary and Janet headed over to the U-Haul down the street where Joey had placed two large trucks on hold. It took Joey longer to do the paper work than he thought it would have. When he signed the last form, he was gathering his stuff to head out when the U-Haul agent told him he had one last thing to do. Walk around the trucks and mark down any damage he sees on the rent form.

Grabbing the two clipboards, Joey walked out and called Gary over. "Walk around the truck in the front and mark down anything you see as far as damage. Make sure you mark every scratch and scrape as well as dent you see. I do not want to return these trucks in El Paso and get blamed for damage we didn't cause."

Gary shook his head and walked over to the U-Haul in front. He walked around and wrote down everything he thought was damage. When they were done, they handed the clip boards back to the agent and got the keys. Joey got in one and Gary got into the other. Janet drove the truck home behind the two U-Hauls.

Not wasting any time, several of the guys, including Caleb, jumped into the U-Haul and they headed down to police storage. After signing in with the person Joey was directed to talk with, they were escorted to the storage room where his mother's stuff was. Since it was all packed in boxes, it did not take long to load it all up in the truck.

Two hours later, they returned to Joey's house. As they rested, those they did not go with Joey started to load the U-Haul with their stuff. After relaxing for an hour, Joey and Caleb joined the guys and started to load up the truck. By lunchtime, they had all the new furniture that was not in use already on the trucks.

After lunch, they went right back to work and by dinner, they had everything in Joey's two houses on the trucks. As Joey locked up his house for the last time, he took one last look around. Although he and his sister did not live in this house that long and the time they did was not that pleasant, he is still going to miss it.

Here in this house he was forced finally to grow up. Something he now knows he should have done many years ago, but never did. As he told Caleb the night before, it was Jacob that shielded him from all the ugliness of this world and that he will never forget. That he will always love about Jacob, him making sure that he did not have to worry about anything except being young and having fun.

Setting the security alarm, Joey locked both locks to the door and jumped into the U-Haul. When they walked into the Evan's home, dinner was already being put on the table. All they had to do is wash up and sit down, which they were more than happy to do since they could each eat a whole cow.

All through dinner, they talked about what they would miss and what they would not miss. Joey and the ones that were in the camp all said they wouldn't miss that place and how they got there. When they talked about it, the mood in the room went from being happy to sad. Joey saw that and changed the subject when he was able to.

Letting their dinner digest, the boys sat around in the living room asking Joey how it is living in El Paso and how the school they are going to tend is. Joey left out what happened to him the summer before his first year when he talked about the school. He wanted them to be able to walk into the school untainted by his experiences.

Joey couldn't help but think as he talked with the guys about Austin High, once he and Jacob got together, and how much had changed for the good. He cannot honestly say it changed or he was just so madly in love with Jacob that he didn't see things were the same. He didn't care, in his world things were a lot better and that is how he sold the

It took seeing Harold walking out with several boxes to get the boys up on their feet and working. Since the Evan's family was not going to take a lot of furniture, the time to load their stuff was a lot shorter than it was to load Joey's house. By ten, they had everything loaded in the truck that Evan's family was going to take to El Paso.

Before settling in for the night, Harold, Helen, Caleb, and Valerie said their tearful goodbyes. They all agreed it was best that they said their goodbyes that night because in the morning they will be getting up and hitting the road very early. None of them wanted to rush their goodbyes because they know it is going to be several months before they get to see each other again.

As Valerie walked out the door to her grandparent's car, none of the family had dry eyes. They were all crying, because none of them wanted this part of the day to come. Each of them hated to say goodbye to a family member, but knew it was the best thing for her. She deserved to graduate with her friends and classmates. Once summer comes, the family will be back together even if it is for a couple of months only.

Even though Valerie promised to come over the next morning to clean up the house, Harold had everyone clean up what ever they messed up when they woke up. After straightening up and getting dressed, everyone headed out to the vehicles. They first just stood around the cars looking at each other trying to figure out who is going with whom.

"Okay why don't Caleb and I go in the first U-Haul, Harold you and Allen go in the second U-Haul, Helen and Fran in the car with a couple of you boys." Joey pointed to the guys. "The others go with Gary and Janet in the van. If any one wants to change vehicles along the way, we will. How does that sound to everyone?"

No one said a word! They just shook their heads and got into the vehicles they were assigned by Joey. Since Joey was pulling his truck behind his U-Haul, he was the lead vehicle. They set it up that way in case something got loose or isn't right with the towing unit, the cars behind him will see it and alert Joey about it. The other U-Haul driven by Harold will be bringing up the rear. The other two cars fell in the middle of the two trucks.

Once the convoy got onto I-25, it was smooth sailing. They got on the far right lane, the slow lane and put their vehicles on cruise control. An hour into the trip, Joey noticed how fast the U-Haul was eating gas. He did a fast calculation in his head and realized that their original planed stop for gas would not be good. They would run out of gas by then.

Looking over to Caleb, it was no surprise to Joey that he had fallen asleep. Like every trip in the past, the minute they get on the freeway, Caleb is out. Trying to keep the truck straight, Joey reached over and grabbed the map. He unfolded it and started to scan it to see where it was best for them to stop and fuel up.

Not able to read the small numbers and letters on the map, Joey tossed it to the floor and decided to play it by ear. Keeping a close eye on his gas gauge, he kept trucking on down the freeway. When he finally saw a sign giving him the miles to the next closet cities, he was able to breathe a little. He sat back knowing that he will make it to the next town.

When they reached the exit, he put on his blinkers to let the others know that he was turning off. As he pulled into the gas station, he reached over and shook Caleb awake. He started to stretch when they had pulled in. Half-awake, he got down from the truck with Joey trying to figure out where they were. Since they had done this trip several times already, and stopped in the same towns to fuel up and eat, he knew this wasn't the town.

Just as Caleb was about to ask where they were, Harold came walking up. "Joey I had hoped that your truck was using the same amount of gas as mine, because if I had to pull over here, you guys would have never known." Harold chuckled as he slapped Joey on the shoulders.

"Trust me I was having a panic attack as well when I noticed how much fuel this truck was eating up. I wish the U-Haul office had told us that their trucks use up a lot of gas. That way we could have planned a lot better than we did. Just glad there was a city that we were able to stop and fuel up in."

Joey mimicked heartache, causing Harold to laugh even harder than he already was. While Joey and Harold fueled up the trucks, the others went into the covenant store to use the restroom and grab what ever they wanted to drink and eat. Once everyone settled back into their vehicles, the convey was back on the road.

Now that they knew how much gas the trucks were using, Joey and Harold changed up where they were going to stop through the trip. Since they had to stop more than they had planned, the trip took a little longer than they had planned. It wasn't just fueling up the trucks that took time, it was getting everyone back into the cars that actually took more time than gassing up did.

The trip normally took Joey 7, maybe eight hours, but to his surprise, it took them ten hours to get from Alamogordo to El Paso this time around. When they finally drove into the city limits, Joey was anxious to get to the hotel. The truck seats were not comfortable at all, and his back had started hurting him about an hour earlier.

Not wanting to get a speeding ticket, but at the same time wanting to get to the hotel as soon as he could, Joey was going a little above the fifty-five mile speed limit. As they reached the downtown area, he had to slow down since the traffic got a little heavier. That didn't matter, because the hotel wasn't that far from the downtown area and he knew that he would be pulling up in no more than twenty minutes.

Caleb, as well as the others in the other vehicles, looked around their new city. Although this is Caleb's third trip to El Paso, he was still at aw of the place. On one side of the freeway, he was able to see Juarez, a very different country. He still could not believe that the two cities had grown into each other the way that they did.

Then the size of El Paso, it is huge. If there wasn't any traffic on the freeway, it would take you an hour at least to get from one side of El Paso to the other. Now if there was traffic that is a different story, maybe double that time if you were lucky. As Caleb looked around, he thought how much harder it is going to be to get around this town.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Joey pulled off the freeway. Looking over at this boyfriend stretching, he smiled and grabbed his hand. Just as he grabbed Joey's hand, the light turned green and they were on their way again. A few minutes later, they were pulling up to the hotel and getting down from the truck.

Once everyone got out of the cars, they stood around while Joey and Harold talked. When they were done, they walked over to the group. "The trip was a lot longer than we thought it was going to be, so Harold and I were thinking that there is no need to unload the trucks tonight. We have everything we need for the night in there." Joey pointed to the hotel. "So let's just go in and relax for the rest of the evening."

Running his stomach, Angelo spoke up. "What about something to eat? I know there is no food in there, so does that mean we are going to go out to eat? Or are we going to order pizza..." The others started cheering when Angelo said pizza. "Or go down to the grocery to get food, or someone goes and picks up something like McDonalds."

Once again, the guys started to cheer when Angelo said McDonalds. "Why don't we get in side and discuss what we are going to have for dinner. I don't know about Joey, but being in that truck for ten hours didn't do my body any favors." Harold grabbed his back as he walked as if he was an old man, causing everyone to crack up laughing.

Joey walked over to the front door and unlocked it. As the others walked in and made their way to the couches in the lobby, Joey turned off the alarm and turned on the electricity. Within minutes, the hotel came back to life.

After agreeing on what to eat, Helen and Janet headed out to pick up the food. Since they are in a business area of town, there are plenty of fast food restaurants, including McDonalds, that everyone voted for. By seven, everyone had eaten and made their way to their rooms that they chose the prior weekend. By ten, almost everyone was out for the night and did not wake up again until the next morning.

The last one that went to bed was Harold. He stayed up thinking on how Governor King's second choice for his bench was a lot better than his first. When he handed over his gavel to Phil, he knew the courtroom he served for over a decade was in good hands. He left Phil with a promise that he will help him run for that seat if he wants and needs.

Still knowing that he left his court in good hands, Harold is really missing it. Just like when it hit him the first time on Thursday, he did not think he would feel this way about his job. It was a job, he kept telling himself, but it did not change his feelings. He is already missing it and the only way he sees on getting rid of that is by getting into his new courtroom and drowning himself in his cases.

The next morning after breakfast, everyone chipped in and got the trucks unloaded by midmorning. Although they tossed everything in the lobby, they got the trucks unloaded. That gave Joey plenty of time to get the trucks returned, and not get charged for another day as long as he and Harold got the trucks to the U-Haul office by noon.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking what they needed to go to school the next day and to work. Just like the night before, they were asleep by ten and didn't wake up again until their alarm clocks went off at six. The only one that had woken up earlier than that was Harold, because he wanted to unload his stuff he had in his other chambers to his new chambers before his first case of the day.

As he drove into work, Harold thought that there was going to be a lot more traffic than there was. He found the roads were clear like a ghost town. When he reached the courthouse, he just stood in front of it looking at it. It was the only building in the downtown made out of glass. All the other buildings around it was either made out of concrete, like the county jail towering behind the courthouse, or in a adobe style.

A horn and sirens blasting behind him, Harold stopped gawking and went to park his car. Not knowing where he is supposed to park, he found a garage five blocks away from the courthouse that allowed you to pay one single fee to park your vehicle all day long. Grabbing his ticket, Harold went up to the fourth floor, parked his car, grabbed his stuff, and headed for the elevators to get back to the main street.

When he walked up to the main doors of the courthouse, he found them locked and no guards anywhere. He walked over to the single doors to his right and to his left, but they were locked as well. Just as he was about to walk around to the back of the courthouse, I guard opened one of the main doors. "May I help you sir?"

Harold walked back over to the main doors. "Yes my name is Harold Evans and I am the new judge to the 350th district court. I am supposed to start today, and figured to come in earlier to get a jump on my schedule and unpack some things."

"Your Honor we were told that you were coming today." The guard moved to the side to let Harold in and then locked the door back up. "Please stand right there while I go back to get your folder. I need to make sure you are who you say you are. To speed things up, can you get your ID out for me to compare please."

Harold shook his head, laid down his box, and pulled out his wallet. When the guard returned, he had a folder in his hand opened. He kept looking up and down from the folder to Harold. After doing that several times, he took Harold's ID and compared it to what ever he had in his folder. Finally, after a few more times looking up and down from the folder to Harold, the guard handed Harold back his ID.

"When ever you have a chance your honor, you need to change your driver licenses and any ID's you have from New Mexico to Texas." Harold shook his head as he placed his driver licenses back into his wallet. "Here this is your badge that lets you in and out of this building whenever the doors are locked and lets you on the private elevators. In the future your honor, you need to come in through the judges doors in the back."

Harold looked at the guard confused. "Here let me give you a short tour of the place." The guard started walking before Harold could say yes or no. He picked up his box and followed the guard who showed him the judges' entrance and how to use his card to get in those doors, then the elevators, and the same thing with the card.

"Throughout the day, you will learn more about this building. Trust me you will not get to know this building within a week, month, and maybe not even a year. There are so many rooms and departments I do not even know them all. Your secretary has already arrived and she is up in your court room already on the eighth flour."

"Thank you for everything!" Harold extended his hand and the guard shook it. They walked over to the elevator, Harold swiped his ID, and the doors opened. Once Harold got into the elevator, the guard walked back to his station and Harold went up to his floor. When the doors of the elevator opened, he walked out to a very dark hallway.

Looking to his right, he saw a hallway and then the windows. To his left he saw a huge corridor and somehow he knew that is the direction to go. When he reached the corridor, he only saw two courtrooms. His was on the right and another was on the left, telling him that the courtrooms were a big size here.

He walked over to the double glass doors leading into his courtroom, but he found them locked. Looking to his left, he saw a hallway leading to another hallway. Walking down the hallways, he found the doors leading into his chambers. The very first face he saw was his secretary's, which he loved.

They chatted while Harold started to set up his chambers. Before they knew it, the courthouse came alive. There were attorneys already wanting to speak with Harold. As well as his bailiffs were waiting to speak with him. Since there were so many wanting to speak with him, he decided to take them all into the courtroom in order to stay on schedule.

"Ladies and gentleman why don't you all follow me into the courtroom where we can get to know each other." The attorneys looked at each other, but followed Harold into the courtroom. Harold could not believe that he didn't get lost on his way since this was his first time walking into his courtroom.

While Harold was straightening up his desk, the attorneys, bailiffs and everyone else that needed to speak to Harold took a seat in the galley. Once Harold got his desk the way he liked it, he sat down and looked out to his new courtroom. He could swear that the judge's seats in this courtroom actually are higher than the judge's seats in his old courtroom.

Putting that thought to the back of his mind, Harold started to speak. "I know many of you have issues to talk with me about your case and we will get to those one at a time. I just want to let you all know who I am and how I run my courtroom. By the end of the day, I will have my rules posted at the entrance just in case you might forget one of them.

Be assured, I run a very strict courtroom. There are rules and procedures that will be followed in my courtroom at all times, including a dress code. If any of these rules and procedures or dress code is not followed, well let us hope none of you has to find out. I am not afraid to levy fines or have anyone a guest of the state."

Harold took the next forty-five minutes and went through his rules. The attorneys had been in front of strict judges before, but never this strict. Some of them thought that Harold will not make it here as a judge. Others figured he would lighten up once he sees that he cannot stay that strict. What none of them knows is that many attorneys and court personal thought the same thing of Harold in Alamogordo, but they got a rude awaking.

Meanwhile back at the hotel, Joey, Caleb, Fran, and the others were getting ready to go to school. After eating breakfast, they all jumped into Joey's truck and headed to Austin High School. Along the way, they asked question after question of Joey on how the school is and how the kids there are. A repeat of the other day, but Joey figured they were just nervous and answered the questions again.

As they pulled up to the school, no one, except Joey and Fran, could believe that this was their high school. Put aside the size, the freaking thing looks like a church. They got down from the truck and looked around wondering how they are going to be able to learn their way around such a huge high school. Joey read their fear and tried to put them at ease as they walked to the register's office.

"Look guys it looks big from the outside, but it really isn't. Your classes will be scheduled close together and those that are not, you still will have plenty of time to get to them in the five minutes between classes. Plus the teachers will give you all break the first week or so on showing up late since you are new here."

Doing everything, he could to put their minds at ease, nothing worked. Joey gave up and led the group into the register's office. One at a time, they walked up and handed the clerk behind the counter their transcripts. After looking the transcript over, the clerk asked each to take seat and called the next one up. By the end of first period, they had their new school schedules and lockers assigned to them.

Before heading to second period, they headed to the bookroom to get their books and then their lockers to put the books they do not need in them. Once they got everything straightened up in their lockers, the bell rang for third period. They looked at each other, their schedule and then at each other again.

"Use the map the register clerk gave you. Do not worry about running into class late, because there is no doubt that is going to happen all day today and more than likely all week. See you all after third period here. That way I can show you guys where the lunch room is at." Joey pointed to the floor where he was standing.

Seeing that they didn't budge, Joey looked at each of their schedules and saw pretty much they all had almost the same classes as he. Which made is easier for him to take them to their classrooms. Waiving them to follow him, they quickly walked down the crowded hallway and barely made it to their classroom before the tardy bell rang.

The teacher could not believe that she as getting so many new students in one day. One by one, she wrote them into her attendance sheet and then her grade book before telling them where to sit. Once she got had them all seated, fifteen minutes had already passed! Seeing that her schedule was already messed up for the day, she spent the next twenty minutes making Joey and the others introduce themselves to the class, tell a little bit about where they came from and a few likes and dislikes.

Once again, the teacher was surprised to hear that they are all from the same city and are living in the same place. She didn't put one and one together, but some of their classmates did. Those that knew what happened outside of their town figured out that their new classmates are some of the kids that were in the shelter. When Shane finished on of the students raised his hand.

The teacher gave him permission to talk. "Miss, really, do we have to accept these guys in our class. Can't they have their own class by themselves since there are plenty of them to fill up a classroom? Come on, I don't want to get sick before lunch everyday seeing them in my third period class."

"Bill you will show them some respect. If you cannot, you can take a trip to your assistant principle's office." The teacher still not putting one and one together, she called up Edmund. Bill and a couple of other students joined in and booed him. Thinking that the students were just being students, the teacher thanked Edmund and called up Deejay.

When they got a little worse with Deejay, the teacher stopped it all. "Class I do not know what your problem is with these students, but it will stop now. If you continue, I will send every one of you to your assistant principle's office, don't test me." The teacher turned to Deejay. "Thank you Deejay and the rest of you for coming up here and telling us a little bit about your self. I and I know my class..."

"They forgot to say one thing, they are all faggots." Bill blurted out, interrupting his teacher, which did not make her happy at all, but she let it go. Deejay took his seat with the others and the teacher picked up where she left off at Friday. Even though the teacher was talking, Bill and his group of friends would not stop throwing out slurs at Joey and the guys. Joey was about to jump out of his seat when the bell rang.

Shane held Joey back while Bill and his friends walked out. "He isn't worth you getting suspended your first day here. We knew this was going to happen, so it is not bothering us. Let's just go and eat lunch and then you can show us around the school where we might not get lost when ever you are not around."

Joey nodded, grabbed his books, and headed out of the classroom with the guys. When they walked into the hallway, they found Bill and his friends waiting for them. Trying to take the higher road, Joey, Caleb and the rest tried to walk around Bill, but his friends stepped forward not allowing them to. After the fourth try, Joey gave up.

"I don't know what your problem man, but you need to step out of our way if you know what is good for you." Bill grinned at Joey a evil grin and then shoved him backwards into Deejay. Joey got his balance back and walked right up to Bill, not showing him any fear at all.

"What my problem is the fact that our school is now being over run by fags. Why don't and your faggot group of friends go to a different school, maybe El Paso High. I hear they have no problem over there being over run by faggots."

That was it! Joey had enough! He couldn't hold back his anger any more. He set his feet on the ground, rowed his hands into a fist and was about to swing when he heard someone yelling. He didn't recognize the voice at first, but when the guy yelled out the second time. The voice started sounding off bells in Joey's mind.

"Hey Joey, when did you start attending this school again? The last I heard of you, you moved to New Mexico or Arizona or something like that." Joey relaxed his arm as he looked at the group of guys that were walking up to him. He couldn't believe who they were. Joey could not help but think that they these guys had the best timing ever.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/.

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back everyone to another chapter of "Regrets and Heartaches". Let me start by saying I know the chapter at points was a little boring, but those plot lines needed to be dealt with in order to move to the story back to El Paso. Leading up to the move and right after the move I know it was a little boring, but it is over. The move is done, the group is now in El Paso, and things are going to get a lot more interesting in the chapters to come. Just look how the chapter ended.

Okay before we start talking about how the chapter ended, let's start at the beginning. It looks like Joey and Caleb have patched things up, but for how long. The Spring Break thing is not settled and is still out there hanging over them and we don't know what Caleb did, if anything, with his friends in Alamogordo.

They got the houses all packed up in a couple of days. Caleb was able to go down memory lane with Joey. I am glad that Caleb took Joey's past the way he did. A lot of relationships don't make it because of the fear of the ex's. I don't think this is going to be a problem for these guys, but once again we will see.

Joey learned a lot in the few months he was in Alamogordo. He realized that Jacob was protecting him from the evils of the world. He does not hold anything against Jacob for doing that, but now he sees what Jacob went through, day in and day out. He saw he was spoiled and he took advantage of his relationship with Jacob. Joey grew up and became the man Jacob knew he was.

What was up with Mrs. Tate? I am glad that Harold put his foot down and at the end won the day. If he didn't do that, I think she would have walked all over Harold on his last two days there. The sad thing is, Mrs. Tate missed a judge seat for being rude and disrespectful. I hope she is out of the story, but you never know. She was screwed over in her eyes by Harold; she might want to get back at him.

I know Harold is already missing his job, bit once he drowns himself into his new cases, I think he will be okay. I have left jobs in the past and felt bad for days, if not weeks doing so. Not only leaving the job, but also leaving friends, I had made at the job behind. Most of the time when you quit either a job or are fired, the friends you made at that job disappear along with it. It is sad but true and that is what Harold is feeling right now.

Now we know by "Beneath the Mask" and "Jacob Finding His Way" Harold is running his courtrooms already and laying down the law. I hope that after this chapter, everything, like at the end of this chapter, will be new and you all have not read yet. I needed to do the plots in this story so where nothing is left out or no one gets lost.

Valerie may not have moved up with the family, but she is not gone from the story. She is living with her grandparents until the end of the school year, but then will rejoin her family after that. So don't think that she is gone for good, just for a little while.

As well as the Dominic and Beth plots, those are not gone. We know Dominic is waiting trial and Beth is still on the run. Knowing Governor Lopez, he will not stand down until he gets her back. Once that happens, things are going to be hitting the wall. Trust me, these two plots are just getting started.

I also know there hasn't been a love scene in this story in a very long time. Trust me again they are coming and more than likely there will be one in the next chapter. I am not forced to have a love scene just between Joey and Caleb. Do not forget I have a hotel full of hot guys that I can put together for love scenes and relationships. I cannot wait until I start adding love in the lives of these guys in the shelter!

Fran and Allen are still there, and we will see more of in future plots. I dropped it, and will be getting them back in the chapters to come. I want to see where their relationship goes, if anywhere, and Allen is a character I want to write about because of his difficulties getting around and dealing with life because of not being able to hear.

Now let's talk about the ending of the story, what an ending. You guys know me by now and I have to have bad guys in my story to keep the rollercoaster going. I believe that is what this story has been lacking, excitement and bad guys. Well we have one set, maybe two sets here at the end. First Bill and his friends we know are dumb and haters. Then there was the group of guys that Joey recognized, who were they? Were they football team that gave him and Jacob problems when they went through, or are they just another group of haters? You need to pop in the next chapter to find out the answer to that.

There is so much going on in this saga. I can keep writing, but I won't. You all are going to need to tune in to the next chapter to see what is going on. More plots are going to open and old ones will be closed. This story, like my others, will keep you on your toes. Don't miss what is coming up in the chapters to come.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I won't. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER: We have now almost 'time wise' caught-up with the other three stories. Soon all four stories will be almost identical in terms of time and things happening at the same time in all stories. Jacob has worked very hard to close this gap so that we readers can follow them all without time problems.

Joey has shown several times in this chapter how much he has changed and grownup to become a more confident and caring leader. It has been a slow process but his maturity is now quite evident.

Harold is showing his own, fair, with a firm personality, and beliefs. I am certain he is going to be a real plus for the judicial system in Texas. Those legal types that have been used to the "old good boy" system of doing things now have some quick lessons to learn. If they don't, they may well find themselves sent to the court's version of the 'wood shed'!

The residents of the center not only still face the rejection of their own parents; they now are encountering aggressive verbal attacks from some of the students at their new high school. How will the school's teachers and administration react to this? What positive greeting was taking place just as this chapter ended and how will that affect this anti-gay problem in the future?

The on-going problem with Joey's mother, hiding in Mexico still, and his uncle now under arrest in NM are still out there. I cannot think that it has gone away so I wonder when and how it will resurface to face Joey and his friends.