NOTE TO READERS
This story will be told off and on through the narration of the main character Julius. A "*" will signify the beginning of Julius's point of view at any given time during the story. Any other change in point of view, or time period will be indicated by an "~~~~~~~".
The main setting of this story is Chicago Illinois..particularly UIC (University Of Chicago)....but all other places mentioned(aka Mansfield Park) are purely fictitious and are from the author's imagination.
A week before the beginning of senior year at UIC (University of Illinois Chicago) and we are about to begin a new chapter in our lives. No longer are we high school students, we are anxious, young college students about to enter our senior year. I'm having the unfortunate displeasure of having to stay at my extremely overprotective parents house during the summer because, well, I'm your typical broke college student.. enough said. Oh by the way my name is Julius Ocampo and my boyfriend Kevin and I are getting ready to attend a party tonight put together by Cindi Johnson and Chet Miller, our former valedictorians and two of the most popular students back at St. Benedict Catholic High School. Right about now, both of us dorks are madly scrambling around trying to get our outfits put together so we could at least look like we belong at a rich couples party, which is exactly what Cindi and Chet are. Oh by the way, yes I am gay and I also happen to be Filipino which doesn't exactly make things easier for Kevin and I in this homophobic and racist world since he is of Irish descent.
As I stand here looking at myself in the mirror in Kevins bedroom nervously attempting to button up the collar on my dresshirt, I catch a quick glance of Kevin darting into the room frantically looking for something.
"Aw crap! where the hell are my black dress socks??..shit we are SO gonna be late!!" He grunted..peeking his underneath his bed searching for them
Of course I turn around like a lighting bolt only to see that my forgetful Kevin had already put his socks on...I roll my eyes..
"Ugh...you're wearing them dumbass!!" I say..just as I finally finish buttoning up my collar. A look of total embarrassment came over his face as the sight of his black socks on his shoes registered in his brain.
"Ok It's official..I've totally lost my mind..ugh" He said as he lifted himself off the floor and made his way over to me and put his arms around my waist from behind me..."What would I do without you?" he said lovingly as he slightly tilted his head and gave me an affectionate kiss on the cheek, which immediately put an ear-to-ear smile on my face. But that smile faded when I thought about how forget- ful Kevin had been lately..the last two weekends he had forgotten about our special Saturday night movie date at the movies..I don't know..maybe its just all in my head. Kevins voice is almost nothing but a mere mumble in my head as I'm lost deep in thought about what my years in college would be like, but then I hear Kevin mention something about maybe hanging out at Mansfield Park this Saturday for our date..and an akward feeling comes over me as I'm sternly reminded of the young man I had met at that very same park about a week earlier...
**Aproximatley two weeks before senior year begins** A lazy Sunday afternoon...the sun was beginning to make its slight descent towards the west sky and everything began to take on that laid back feeling that only a Sunday afternoon can bring. The Ocampo family had already attended mass and arrived home to take a nap for a couple of hours after the long sermon. Julius and his twin sister Roberta slept in their own bedrooms upstairs while their parents bedroom was located down the hall. A few minutes later Julius was slightly awakened by the faint sound of footsteps approaching his room. He slowly opened his eyes to the sight of Roberta walking towards his bed an knudging him... "Hey boy..wake up haha".Roberta joked being the typical annoying but loving sibling she is. "Mmmph.." Julius grumbled as he sat up in his bed. "Don't you know how to knock?" "Um..yeah I do silly but I'm bored as hell and I wanted to see if you wanted to go to Mansfield Park and look at hot guys..you know that place is like a guy magnet..too bad they're mostly gay..but oh well hee hee" Roberta said. "Ok so that's your excuse for not knocking?...ookay....". Julius scoffed. "Well..the park sounds ok..um do you suppose mommy and daddy would approve of us going?". Julius continued saying the words "mommy and daddy" in a sing songy voice. "Oh gimme a break Julius we're adults now! were in college!..how long are you gonna be afraid of what mom and dad think??...they seriously need to get over this over-protective thing with us!, It's gettin REALLY old now..". Roberta exclaimed, disgusted from the fact that their strict catholic parents STILL question and judge them like teenagers about where they go and what they do by themselves "Yeah...you're right...ugh..shit let's just go! I'm bored". Julius said hoppin out of bed. Roberta smiled and quickly headed for her room to get ready. She slapped on white tank top and jean shorts and white canvas te- nis shoes while Julius sported a forest green abercrombie and fitch shirt and tan shorts of the same brand along with some sandals. The two of them headed down stairs and tried to quickly lie to their parents about going to Mansfield park without catching too much heat,they had to lie, there was no chance in hell they could tell their conservative that they were going to the biggest known gay hang out in Chicago without both of them going into cardiac arrest right on the spot...OK..it's me Julius again, Ok so here we are at Mansfield Park. like Roberta said..this place is a hot gay guy mecca..occascionally they'll be a few straight ones here. My sis is so cool, she's like my best friend..she looks out for me..she's someone I feel very comfortable with..but little did I know I was about to find another person with whom I'd feel comfortable with as well...
So Roberta and I did our usual gaga-ing over every cute guy we saw, walked around the park for a bit and horsed around like little kids...
"Wheew!, I'll be back I'm going to get a drink of water real quick!" Roberta panted as she trotted off to the nearest water fountain.
I start to wander and gaze around the park for a few..my eyes scanning the scenery beautiful trees and such. Then something catches the corner of my eye..I turned back to see what it was. A handsome young guy about my age..sitting all by himself at a bench with a sort of nervous expression on his face. I could obviously figure him out by the way he blatantly was checking out another young man that passed right in front of him. Something about him was telling me that I was destined to approach him at that moment..
Julius curiously and casually made his way towards the young man. He noticed the young man look up at him as he noticed his approach appearing as if he'd been lost in thought about something then shook back into reality with the sound of Julius walking by. "Hey man, don't I know you from somewhere?..sorry If I seem rude you just look familiar to me". The young man said curiously. Julius tried to fight back the knot in his stomach as he began to reply. "Um..no I don't think so hehe, you ok dude?...you don't look so good,..damn I'm sorry that was stupid of me to say.." Julius silently kicked himself at the dorkness of his reply while actually tryin to stay cool. "Nah it's ok". The young man said..not even showing one sign of offendedness."You still look familiar though..haven't I seen you at UIC before?..my name is Romeo by the way" "Yeah...I'm at UIC..my names Julius..". Julius replied somewhat wary of Romeo's friendliness..keeping in mind he DOES have a boyfriend. What year are you gonna be?, I'm gonna be a senior" "You're kidding! so am I!, what's your major?...anthropology". Romeo said seemingly hitting it off with Julius. "Um...well mine is ...Stay Sane In An Insane World 101 hehe". Julius rebutted, surprised at his ability to make a joke so quick.. something he'd never been good at till right at that moment. For some strange reason.....he felt like he wanted to get to know this stranger even more..and it was weirding him out. "Yeah..I know what you mean..." Romeo stated with a sad undertone. Both of them sort of stood still for a few seconds in silence. Julius carefully pondered the extremely risky thought of asking Romeo if he was gay...as it is well known in Chicago that Mansfield Park is a well known gay hangout. In the few seconds of awkward silence, Julius sensed that Romeo might have been a lil too excited to have met him. He could tell this Romeo guy was thinking something to himself as well. Romeo was the 1st one to break the ice... "I'm sorry if I offend you by asking this but are you.....uh..um are you..." Romeo stuttered. "Gay?" Julius quickly replied relieved that Romeo was wondering the same thing he was. "Um..well...yeah hehe...ya know...heh..Mansfield..." Romeo breathed out a sigh of release as he sees Julius is not angry. " Please don't tell anyone back at UIC..I don't know you that well dude, but..see I don't want this gettin around to my parents, It's risky enough that I'm even here in the 1st place" Romeo said worryingly. "Oh hell no man..I understand, I don't exactly want anyone to know either...." " So I take it you are?..." Julius said questioningly. " Well.."Romeo uttered uncomfortably.."Um..yeah I might as well say it..yeah I'm gay too.I know what you mean about your parents,I kinda came here to get away from mine..theyre so overprotective.." Juluis's next sentence was on the tip of his tongue when he was interrupted by the sound of Roberta's worried voice from behind him. " Hey boy where the hell were you? I was looking all over for ya!". Roberta snapped, then noticed the hot guy that Julius was talkin to and an sly smirk came over her face. "Oh...and what do we have here?" "Sis..this is Romeo..I just met him right now..he's gonna be a senior at UIC next year too". Julius said..wishing Roberta would not embarrass him like she usually does. "Well It's nice to meet ya Romeo" Roberta said..extending her arm to shake his hand. " Yeah same here". Romeo replied with a firm handshake. Julius couldn't help but notice Romeo's muscular arms as he shook Roberta's hand, but of course...they're nowhere near as hot as Kevins he thought to himself feeling like a two timer for checkin out another guys body. "Man you'd think In a big city like Chicago..you wouldn't hardly run into anybody you know outside your family, I guess Chicago's smaller than I thought!" Julius exclaimed..trying to show some wit and intelligence, and noticing Romeo look him over again.. "Yeah well It was nice meeting you but we really should get going now come on Julius" Roberta retorted deflty grabbing Julius's hand and pulling him with her. Julius protested.. "Um..hey! let me tell the guy bye at least sheesh!" Julius yanked himself away and turned toward Romeo." Well sorry to leave so soon like this but thanks for the chat and I guess I'll see at school maybe in a couple of weeks?" Julius shouted. " Yeah..maybe we can hang out sometime..see ya!" Romeo shouted back waving and smiling ear to ear. Julius and Roberta began walking home when Roberta began to drill her brother. "Ok..bro...that guy was like soo checking you out just now, now I KNOW you weren't trying to flirt with him...slap me if I'm being a bitch" Roberta eeked, obviously aware of her idiotic remark. "What the hell is up with you?, you know I'd never do that to Kevin come on! what do you think I am?..some whore?..I may have made a new friend there...and its just that...a FRIEND!". Julius retorted back...giving Roberta a playful shove. "Ok,Ok,OK! I'm sorry I should know better than that..I wont say it again I promise". Roberta said regaining her balance. Julius laughed a bit at his silly sister and thought about the guy he just talked to. The strangest feeling came over him, almost like a feeling of intuition as if he knew he was going be seeing alot more of Romeo in the future... Julius and Roberta continued to make their way home through through Chicago's city streets. As they arrived on the front doorstep of their house a slight feeling of hesitation came over them as they stood before the front door anticipating the immediate bombarding of questions from their parents. 2 seconds pass, then Julius opens the door. They silently made their way through the house wearing the emotional armor the know they have to put on when they know darn well what's about to happen next. "Well for God's sake it's about time you two got back already!" Mrs. Ocampo voice bellowed as she and Mr. Ocampo anxioulsy waited for them in their living room den. "You two are even lucky we let you go to out of the house.." Mr. Ocampo grunted, not even looking up from the bible he was reading. "Dad.....please". Julius said in a low agitated tone "Don't talk to your father like that!" Mrs. Ocampo blurted, completely blowing things out of proportion as usual. "Geez mom, Julius didn't say anything bad" Roberta said, standing beside Julius as she saw their parents get up from their chairs and enter the kitchen. "We called the movie theater and they said u weren't there!.. you lied to us and that's a sin!" Mr. Ocampo said raising his voice. Julius, totally annoyed by this replies, "Dad..come on, um you cant page people at movie theaters like you can other places!...why do you always do this to us?, we're not kids anymore..were about to be seniors in college in 2 weeks!". Then Mrs. Ocampo quickly interrupted.. "Listen!, as long as you are in this house you obey OUR rules, how many times do we have to tell you two?...and why are your eyes so red huh??...oh my god you were smoking pot weren't you!!!, I know it!!..see you weren't at the theater..heh probably at some other persons house smoking hmph!" Roberta, thoroughly livid, sighed and put both her hands on her head closing her eyes with a frustrated look on her face. "Mom", she sighed again. "For the hundredth time, we don't smoke pot..you raised us better than that!" "And we did NOT raise you to talk back to us like that!". Mr. Ocampo retorted "Dad..were grown now...we can take care of ourselves.."Julius tried to eek out but was viciously interrupted by his mother. "That's enough attitude young man!, obviously we cannot discuss this without fighting like cats and dogs, let's just start dinner now shall we?, two go to your rooms, we need to cool off and we will continue this discussion later" Mrs. Ocampo said tryin to calm down. "Thank you.." Roberta said..as she and Julius began jogging upstairs to their rooms" "God, you'd think we were still back in high school.." Julius said. "I can't take much more of this" "Well, it's only a couple more weeks till school starts, then we can get the hell out of here for good..."Roberta smartly replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ok...its me Julius again..aka Mr. I-Pop-Out-Of-Nowhere-And- change the story again. Ok so now you know about my meeting with Romeo, and now were back here at the night of the party again. And It's almost time to leave or we'll be late. Roberta is supposed to come pick Kevin and I up in about 5 min. Kevin is still fumbling over the last minute details of his tux. God I hate being in a hurry. <The beeping of the horn of Roberta's red convertible is heard as she pulls into Kevins driveway> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Babe your sisters here, come on we gotta go!". Kevin shouted as he stepped out of the front door leaving it open for Julius, who followed 2 seconds behind him adjustin the tie again on his tux. "Hop in boys!" Roberta said excitedly as the couple entered the car sat down and fastened their seatbelts. "Ok we're ready!..Lets go" Julius said. Roberta started up the engine of the convertible (just to let you know...its not hers...her friend lent it to her....hey..she's a broke college student too remember?). And they rode in style till they arrived at Cheri and Chets house. They all stepped out of the car looking fabulous in their best attempts in wearing rented formal wear. Cheri and Chet stood by the door and greeted them as they walked in. Of course this is the uncomfortable part where Kevin and Julius have to go their own separate ways for a bit as usual so as to not blow their cover as a gay couple. It's an unfortunate fact of life for them but they learn to deal with it. Roberta, Kevin and Julius all began the usual shmoozing that goes on at rich peoples parties..making their way from person to person. After about 10 min Julius decided to head over to the snack table and tryout all the hordeurves. He started to make his way over to the table when he accidentally bumped someones shoulder on the way. "Oh my god I'm sorry I'm so clutsy are you ok?" "Oh..heh yeah it's cool". They guy said as he turned away from his female date..then stops in shock as he recognizes Julius's face. "Oh my god Julius is that you??!!". Romeo said turning red At this point Julius is thoroughly taken aback. "Romeo?!...hey what are you doing here?!" He exclaimed as looked on in total state of confusion as he took in the sight of Romeo standing there with a female companion on his arm... **Also feel free to email me at DefJamMariah85@aol.com for feedback or comments on the story, sorry the 1st chapt was kinda slow but I promise things will pick up soon LOL.**