Semester at Seas: Dollhouse 2
Disclaimer: This is a FICTIONAL story describing the love
triangle of a teenage boy. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you
find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal
where you are, then refrain from reading it. The story consists of lust,
passion, teenage romance, love and all the rest of the good
stuff in that order... Prepare for Chauncey
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I was sitting at this fucking welcome dinner, with all these fucking people that I didn't want to fucking be with. I cursed because I was angry. Why was I stuck here? Why did I have to be here?
"Chauncey Crane..."
I was the last name called. I was always the last name called. The other students probably didn't understand why out of all 200 students, we were being singled out. They were so stupid. It always worked like this. Patience would lead the Dollhouse Six to a new school, we would take over, we would get bored and we would go to another school after making our names almost legendary...well making her name almost legendary. People knew who Patience Crane was and it was said that those clicking heels meant a new law was coming into your school...hers...
Mia's father, the captain continued his speech, "These six students I honor because they are accomplished students and hopefully they can be a token for our school that anything is possible with hard work and dedication."
I watched Patience's smile. It was wider then the rest of ours. I hated standing up here. It was so damn uncomfortable. The lights burned my skin. The stares burned my skin. My sister didn't care. She loved it. She would be challenged...she always was...but they wouldn't beat her. Patience was a genius at taking control of things.
The bitch on Cruel Intentions had nothing on Patience Crane.
That's when I saw him...Amir. He was in the crowd like everyone else. I didn't know how I spotted his face out of 200 students packed in this gorgeous ballroom. He was sitting at a round table on the very other side of the room. He looked bored...like everyone else...but damn he was beautiful.
No one had ever stared at me in the way he stared at me. It was something different...I hadn't even officially met him and yet it was like I'd known him all my life and he was some long lost friend that I had to reunite with.
~
"You seem distant," Vince said.
He would be the one to notice. People were coming up to meet Patience and introduce themselves already. Damn...she was starting to have them wrapped around her finger already. I had my elbow on the table and my head rested in my palm. Patience would have probably tripped if she saw me sitting like this...but she was to busy entertaining her slaves...I mean...new friends.
"I've just been thinking about something."
"Oh...I bet you're eye caught someone cute," Wednesday invites herself into the conversation...as usual.
Vince gives me a look. I can tell he is still bothered. He looks very bothered really. He still can't crack it around in his brain that I could possibly be gay...tainted and different from THEM.
"Something like that," I tell her.
I say it just see how he reacts. He gets up, obviously bothered, without excusing himself and takes his cup with him. I can't believe he is acting like such an asshole. It is really unlike him.
"What's her name?" Wednesday asks me.
I didn't even realize she was still there as I watched Vince get away. He was just bothering me. I didn't get it. I knew he didn't have a problem with gay people. He had said so himself. We were so close...almost like brothers. I couldn't understand why this little thing would be able to come between us.
"I don't know Wednesday...I'll be right back."
The last thing I want to do is sit there and have a conversation with Wednesday. I might as well be talking to the air or something. I follow Vince. It's really bothering me and I don't have any idea why. He means a lot to me. He is the only real friend I had. I couldn't lose him...not with all this fakeness.
He was standing at the punch bar. There were all these new kids around him. I was going to wait until he let the bar, but I didn't care. As I approached him a rather large man came in front of me. I knew it Mia's father immediately. He was the captain of the ship. He was shaped like a boat his damn self.
"Hey, sir, I wanted to formally introduce myself to you."
I put on my fake smile how Patience showed me how to and shook his hand how we had rehearsed a million and half times.
"Chauncey Crane," I introduce myself, "You must be Mia's father...Captain LaPerla."
"Yes, Mia has told me so much about you," he explained, "You know I met your sister and I must say, I would be proud if the same vigor, stamina and resilience ran through your blood as it did hers. She is truly a remarkable woman..."
He had no idea.
"I love my sister with all my heart. I was hoping that people here will get to see her in the same eyes that I do," I said, continuing to smile. I had mastered the act of diverted eye. Really, I was trying to look behind him and see if Vince was still there. I really needed to talk to him about this problem we were having.
"Oh...how charming and sincere," he said smiling with his mustache calling out to me to pet.
"Thank you sir. May I say, your boat is beautiful."
It was the first truthful thing I had said since the entire conversation began. Suddenly I realized Vince walking away...damn...I'd have to catch him later.
"It's amazing! Don't you think? When I saw it, I knew I had to be the captain. Well why don't you follow me and let me introduce you to the architect."
The rest of the night was spent charming and bullshitting with these people. I didn't see Vince the rest of the night either. I guess he ended up retiring. After Patience realized I was getting a little attention, she came over and started putting on this act of loving brother and sister. I hated it. I hated being like this. It almost made me want to throw up.
Then it was the opening dance. God knows why they would have a dance when it was just opening. None of the students really knew one another like there. Everyone was shy to dance with everyone else. It was the perfect opportunity for Patience. She grabbed Ethan and they headed out on the dance floor slow dancing as though they were Beauty and the Beast or some shit. The music wasn't even that slow. It was so corny...
That's when I saw him...Amir.
This girl was trying to pull him out to dance with her. It was a different girl from before. It was obvious he was kind of popular with the ladies. I could tell.
Finally she managed to pull Amir off of his chair and the two of them walked out onto the dance floor. Oh god...big mistake. I watched Patience's eye as she caught the pair walking up to them...almost next to them. I wanted to laugh...Patience looked so pissed.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Mia said coming up on one side, "How dare they?"
Wednesday suddenly came up on the other side of me, "How dare he...duh...maybe it's not that serious. He's so damn hot..."
"Who is he?" Mia asked, licking her lips.
The boy was that hot. I watched in the same awe as they were watching. There were probably a whole lot of other girls standing around watching him as well. Amir was something serious. He had the beauty of a model, but there seemed something real down-to-earth about it. It was almost like he knew he was gorgeous but knew that there was more then being just a handsome guy.
Patience couldn't stand that her spotlight was being shared. All of a sudden they started playing what she would consider "Ghetto trash". It was time for the routine head jerk and retreat to the side of the dance floor.
"Usher?" Wednesday asked almost grimacing, "They are playing Usher."
We were supposed to be too good for Hip Hop music. We were supposed to be listening to Mozart, Beethoven and all these other dead musicians.
Patience must have heard her, because she walked up to us and crossed her arms, "By the next dance, I guarantee you I'll be having that DJ playing my own personal playlist. Wednesday...get the DJ's number."
Wednesday was too busy watching what I started to watch immediately as well. Amir was on the dance floor with the girl. He was damn near freaking her to an Usher song. It was kind of sexy and entertaining at the same time. He was sexy as hell in this shy way. I could tell the girl was having a ball dancing with him. She lifted up his shirt and squirmed when she saw a hard brick wall underneath.
I squirmed slightly as well. For a minute I felt like this guy was too intimidating. I knew I wasn't the only one who was interested in him...especially now that people knew that he had a body like that. He had this innocent smile. It almost screamed, "I could never hurt your feelings." Yet when he wasn't smile he had this real tough guy look...
"Wednesday...are you listening to me?" Patience asked.
"Oh sorry Patience," Wednesday apologized and turned around like she was some military brat.
"Go sit down Wednesday. Cool off," Patience said seemingly annoyed, "Mia, I need you to find out who that is. He's officially on my shit list."
Mia huffed and went to do her job, asking around for info. We all knew what that meant. Patience had plans on destroying and humiliating this boy...just because he was taking some attention off of her. It was the normal routine. Countless had been on the shit list and none had survived with dry eyes or a happy college experience.
"Amir..." I said.
I hadn't noticed I said it. It was sort of a slip I guess. I was so busy admiring him like some other girls already were. It wasn't like she wasn't going to find out in few minutes anyway.
"You know him?"
"I just ran into him," I explain.
"Good...you'll be the one to teach him a lesson," Patience explained, strongly giving me this mean look.
"What?"
"You have to find a way to put that ghetto piece of trash in his place," Patience told me.
I looked at her when she said it. Who the hell did she think I was? Damien from the Omen or some shit? We both stood together and stared back out. I knew it would be my turn to do something fucked up to someone soon. Patience had gotten rid of ended entire teachers careers because of me or another member in her dollhouse.
I couldn't say no...not after all she had done to me.
"Why do we have to do all that?" I ask and look over at the boy, "He's doesn't seem like a threat. I mean...what the hell can that boy do to you...Patience Crane?"
"Not a thing...but I don't like him. Do something to him. Something embarrassing...something public."
She walked away with her stern words. I hated the fact that she had that hold on me. She had done so many things to people who had done something wrong with me. When I was going to get fired at my internship at Mellon Bank, she framed him by hiring some prostitutes and getting photo proof. That was the type of person Patience was. She would have made the pictures public too. She would have made them very public.
Sometimes I was sure that she didn't have a heart.
Mia came running back across the room smiling and giving this whole glow about her. She always had a glow when she came back with information. Mia was the first one to know everything about everyone.
"His name is Amir," she explained.
His name was Amir...it sure was...
~
I walked into my room that night. The room was everything that I thought it would be. The queen bed was nice and pretty. It looked like a hotel. I felt like I wouldn't be able to sleep. I felt like I would continuously feel the rocking of the boat but I didn't.
There were no televisions. I guess I was supposed to bring my own. Patience would have had none of that anyway. The walls were painted this ivory color like hotel rooms. The bathroom was beautifully painted as well. I felt like for the first time I was out of the ghetto really...not just pretending anymore like when I used to go visit Vince, Ethan and Wednesday.
I stared out of the window.
"Hey..."
I turned around to see Vince standing there. He was standing in his wifebeater and basketball shorts. He had a towel around his neck.
"No knocks?"
"Since when did we have to knock on each other's doors?" he asks me.
He was right. We'd hardly ever knocked on each other's doors. We both had a thing about keeping doors open for whatever reason. We always realized it growing up together.
"I been meaning to talk to you..."
"Good...I've been meaning to talk to you as well."
"Well me first," I say and sneer, causing him to laugh a little bit.
I take him to the window still. It is one of those round windows that most ships have, but the view is beautiful. It's nighttime already and I open the window to feel this stream of air float into the room. The water outside was floating. It looked so peaceful. It looked so calm. It didn't know anything about "having" to do things.
"Patience wants me to take embarrass some guy," I tell him.
"Patience and her little games," he says and sounds a little annoyed, "You want me to do it. I'll do it...whose the boy."
I thought about it for a minute. It would be so easy to just say that I wanted him to do it and I just take all the credit. That way Patience wouldn't get mad and I would still not be hurting this boy for no reason. Still...I just found the entire thing stupid.
"No...you aren't understanding. Why do we have to do what Patience says all the time?"
"That's how things have always been."
"I know..." I complain and all of a sudden I feel a tear start forming in my eye. I just need to explain to him tonight...I had to let it all out.
He sat on the bed and stretched out. Vince had always been there...always stretching out on the bed. In the moonlight, he looked almost like a night angel guiding down to protect and serve. His arms were his wings and the sheets on my bed were the night sky.
He started talking again, "Then why does it matter. Ever since I've known her, Patience has taken charge. She leads...and if it wasn't for her, we'd all probably be pregnant or in the hood talking about `This Nigga' and `That Nigga.'"
I sat down on the bed with him and then laid down and stretched my arms out as well. We sat there for a little while almost in silence with the moonlight being the only thing to lighten up the room.
I flapped my arms around on the bed as if I was making a snow angel, "I don't know what you feel like being here. When I'm here I feel like I'm flying away. Don't you just want to fly away? Seriously..."
Vince got up and turned over to me. He looked at me with this long intense stare. For a moment it felt like he was piercing me with those eyes of his. I felt weird. I could tell there was something behind those eyes trying to tell me something...maybe there was trying to agree with me.
"Why are you...like that?"
"Gay?"
He laughed a little bit, "Yeah...well I meant...why are you so different? You are the biggest dreamer I've ever met. I mean, you don't have to dream anymore. Patience is making sure all our dreams come true and all we have to do is listen to her."
"Those aren't my dreams."
"What are your dreams?" he asked me.
"I dream about love. I dream about...him..."
I didn't know if Amir was "Him", but there was something about that boy that I had to figure out. Maybe he was the guy who was going to kill me. Maybe he was the guy who was going to ruin my life. He would have a big impact on my life however. I knew it...every hair in my body said so.
Vince got uneasy again. I saw him get up off the bed. It was like earlier. Vince was always my protector and yet sometimes I felt like he was the one who needed protection. He seemed so upset as he walked across the dark room and stretched in the moonlight looking at the water.
"Who is he?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask him in a weird look and laugh, "I was just saying something out of my mind.."
Vince wasn't in a laughing mode, "That look in your eyes. I noticed it. Have you met someone...a...guy."
It seemed like it almost hurt for him to say it. I looked at him. He wouldn't be able to understand. He had never had a crush in his life. All of the crushes had been on him. Girls loved his successful life. They loved his muscle tone and masculine face. His hair was cut in a Caesar shave, wrapping around him with a tint as black as night. Like his brother Ethan, he was the ultimate man, the prototype of masculinity. I was always just the one with the "cute" face while they were always referred to as handsome when we were all together.
"Sort of," I tell him.
"I, listen, I have to go," he said.
I sat up off the bed in an attempt to stop him, "No, you don't have to go. Why do you have to leave? We are having a conversation. It's perfectly...normal."
"No, its not normal," he explains to me. "None of this is normal. This is not right. This is fucking despicable."
"Are you trying to say the fact that I like men is a despicable?"
"No..."
"Then what is despicable?" I ask, getting up off the bed. I don't get it.
He turns away from me and walks to the window. I don't understand anything that Vince is going through. It's like he doesn't want to tell me. I feel like I said something to hurt him. All I said was that I was gay. I couldn't take that back. It was the only thing that I've done right in a very long time.
"Listen, we are..."
All of a sudden I could see him bending down. He is holding something back in. I could see it's hurting him and I move in trying to find out what's wrong with him. I see a tear break out of Vince's ear between his arms which are trying to cover it up.
"Why are you crying?" I ask him.
"I don't want you to be alone in this," he explains, choking out the words in short and yet cohesive phrases, "I understand that you have to get out...but I can't do what you do. This is my life. This is your as well."
"I just want to be who I am."
"You don't know what I mean."
"Well, explain it in the morning. You've been thinking too much and your problems won't go away. Come on...let's go to bed, you can sleep in here tonight."
We've slept in the same bed before. We slept in the same bed before tons of times. I watched as he climbed into bed. He was supposed to be the older one yet tonight he seemed so...exhausted. It seemed like he was sick of this life as well just like I was. He was struggling with it just like I was. It's not easy being someone's pet all the time. It's not easy needing someone and HAVING to depend on them.
I walk to the window and daydreamed. I needed to be out there. I wanted to be free to go wherever I wanted to go...no schedule, no plans...no schemes or get-rich plots. I wondered if Ethan cried at night or Wednesday or Mia. I know I had cried just like how Vince was crying. This wasn't fun. It wasn't something that I enjoyed doing.
"Hey...get out of those socks," I tell him.
He doesn't answer.
It's clear that he's asleep. I'd probably been daydreaming at the window for long enough. I take off his dirty socks and throw to the side.
Then I lay down and close my eyes and suddenly I am going to sleep. I understand how Vince fell asleep so fast in the bed, because as soon as I hit the comfortable sheets, I am knocked out. Then I am dreaming again. I am dreaming that I am soaring in the air. I am soaring over the waves like the seagulls that I had saw at the port.
~
I woke up to Vince wrapped up around me. His broad arm was over mine. God...he was hotter then he even knew. We'd slept together countless times and countless times I woke up to him wrapped up with me. It was almost like he was trying to keep me close...trying to keep me from flying away.
It wasn't the same way that Patience was trying to control me. He did it in a gentle way. His arm was wrapped around me almost like I was his teddy.
I didn't want to move. I wanted to piss, but I didn't want to move. He was so damn cute.
It was probably why he tripped so much. I mean, we were close...almost like brothers. He had been thinking he was cuddled up with a straight guy. That would have been different. It was still weird...hell, weird as hell, but Vince and I were close like that. We had always been. It comforted me that now he knew my greatest secret and he still accepted it.
But did he accept it?
Maybe he was just trying to ignore it...pretend like I wasn't gay.
I got up off the bed and heard him let out a whine. I put a pillow where I lay and watched him wrap his arm around that as though it were a person. It was Sunday...we had one more day before school started.
I went to the bathroom and took a long piss. Waking up to Vince had made me semi-hard as usual. It was like hell being Patience's younger brother. She had made it almost impossible for me to sneak off to even see a guy, let alone have a whole relationship with one. Vince was the only guy I really allowed myself to touch and it wasn't a SEXUAL touch. I didn't know what it was. Our relationship was weird. We were best friends...that is all it would be, yet I felt sometimes like kissing him. I felt like doing other things with him.
I walked out of the bathroom. Damn...he was up. Vince was on the bed with this sleepy look on his face. I hadn't even noticed it. He had his eyes on my piece and let out a little laugh. I was black, but I knew if I were even a few tints lighter I would be blushing the biggest red.
"Relax," he told me and smiled again, "Morning wood is natural. Now come back to bed! When you're up, it makes me want to get up!"
I was about to, hard on and everything, when I heard a knock on the door. I grabbed the robe behind the door that some ship boy had brought to me yesterday. I wore it and open the door to see Patience and Ethan walk in.
"You two have to go pick up your books," Patience says, without even giving us a greeting or even pretending to be happy to see us, "I printed your schedules. Like usual...everyone has a class with someone else in the Dollhouse."
She handed Vince and I the schedules.
They didn't think it was weird we slept together in the same bed either. I'd stayed over Vince's house more then I stayed over my own at times. It had just become a natural sight. I don't know why I was even noticing now...maybe it was because I had come out to Vince. Suddenly now it was a GAY thing to do.
I looked at my schedule.
Business Ethics...Microeconomics...Macroeconomics...Calculus 2...Theater Drama.
"Theater Drama?" I ask.
"Yeah...I have that with you," Vince said, walking up to me and exchanging schedules to see what I got.
I gave Patience a questionable look. Patience avoided giving us "bird" courses. She said that they looked bad that we were in them and we were supposed to be the best students.
"The University's theater play is putting on a production of Guys and Dolls for an elementary school when we dock in Madrid. I guarantee it's going to look great on a resume. I want one of you to take the lead role as Nathan Detriot and the other one to be Sky Masterson."
"I can't even sing," I say looking over at her.
"You'll learn."
Just like that I'd been thrown into Drama class. I had no say about it. It really did worry me. Drama was never really my thing. I just wanted to take regular classes so I could enjoy the fact that I was having my first semester at seas.
~
It didn't work like that. It was just the first week of school and Patience had everyone working like dogs. She had given all of us copies of the tests that were coming up in all our classes somehow. I never asked Patience how she did it. None of us knew how the hell she did it.
That wasn't the thing though. We all had to ACT smart. I had Business Ethics with Ethan, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics with Mia (since we were the Economic Majors) and I had Calculus 2 with none other then Patience herself. I knew that would be my hardest class. We were forced to sit in the front of the class. We had to learn everything and make sure the teacher just thought we were the perfect kids out of Perfectville. That as how things worked.
Calculus 2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays was the worst. There were class clowns. It was rare to see a class clown in college. I mean, who played around when you were getting higher education. It was optional to be here and it was expensive. However, some kids had slipped through the cracks. Patience hated class clowns more then anything. She spent the whole class taking notes on how she would straighten these kids out.
All the teachers were perfectly boring that Patience assigned me.
All the classes were perfectly boring that Patience assigned me.
I didn't know why I felt like things would get better just cause I was on a boat. I never had time to really appreciate being on a boat anyway. We were crossing the Atlantic Ocean and we wouldn't be docked for at least a couple weeks in Europe. Till then it was all clear water and breeze. I couldn't even enjoy that. Patience had me so set on learning how to sing. She had gotten this girl who was like the undiscovered Mariah Carey giving me vocal lessons. God knows what Patience was giving this girl in return. Her name was Kim. She was actually kind of nice.
"I heard the teacher is nice," Kim told me.
It was Friday. Kim had the class with me and we were walking across the boat to it. The class was on the bottom of the boat, which meant down these large flight of stairs. It was so EASY to get lost on the Westinghouse. Luckily Kim had a map of it.
"I'm just a little worried. I really hate singing, dancing and acting," I let out and for a moment I had almost forgot Kim was part of the Dollhouse.
"So why are you doing it?"
"No reason."
We continued down the hall. She spent a lot of time with me. She was an Asian girl with long black hair that streaked down her back. She dressed in this retro way. I knew Patience probably hated the way she dressed. It was real loud and extravagant like she was on some Gwen Stefani video. I liked it.
We walked into the class. Immediately I saw Vince. He didn't have to learn how to sing. He already knew how to. It was back when Patience was trying to get him to be the leader of some boy band that never happened back when they were hot. I introduced him to Kim and he stood right next to me, telling me how weird the teacher was.
The class had about 20 students in it.
The professor was different. Immediately I could tell. He was a short fat man but he had on these rain boots. I didn't get it. He had on a polka dot shy and looked like he was lost or something. When we all settled down he scurried to the front of the classroom.
His voice shrieked, "Drama...drama is life! It is the meaning behind every breath that we take. Drama is more then standing on a stage and acting. Drama is feeling things you've never felt before. We have been brought here not to create drama, but to create an entire world. When life gets too much, it is in our imagination that we can find everything that we need. We can become someone else. We can change completely."
I loved how he spoke. He had us all listening. It was poetic. Vince was laughing...but I wasn't. I was so serious. I was so...entranced by how he spoke.
Life was drama. That was what he said. Maybe...he was right.
"Are any of you familiar with Guys and Dolls? Who can name me the two leading male characters?"
"Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson," I answered.
He nodded and smiled, "What's your name?"
"Chauncey. Chauncey Crane."
"Well Mr. Crane...you're correct," he said and smiled extravagantly, "I am putting on a production of Guys and Dolls. I have most of my roles casted, but I am going to need my two leading men as well as several extras. It's important that I have a lot of time to access potential, so I made up an entire class for it. It'll be like one big rehearsal..."
He was cut off. There were these loud footsteps that were coming down into the theater room that we were in. I turned to see HIM.
It was Amir. He was late as hell and he didn't even seem to care. He definitely wasn't running or anything. He had earphones in his ears and walked right, strolling right into the class with his head bobbing to the music. I wondered if he saw me as he walked in but I doubt it. A
All of a sudden, I didn't hear a word that the professor was saying. I kept turning around looking behind me, wondering if he would look up and notice me. God...I hadn't seen him all week. I couldn't believe he was in my class. Suddenly this was going to be my favorite class.
"LOVE!"
I turned around, surprised that the teacher was just about three feet away from me, screaming the L word into my ear. I looked at the old man. He smiled. For a moment, it was almost like he was reading my damn mind.
"Love! Life! Liberty!" he explained, "The three Ls. That is what drama is about."
He crossed onto the other side of the room.
"You're not paying attention, what's wrong?" Vince asked me.
I shook my head, "Its just that boy. Amir. That is the one that Patience wants me to play."
"Which one?" Vince said, slightly looking back.
"With the ear phones."
Vince looks back and so do I. I'm so surprised when I see that Amir is looking my way as well. I didn't realize he noticed I was in the class. He probably did when the teacher had barked out love all weird. Vince turns around, but all of a sudden Amir's eyes and my eyes lock as though in some kind of trance just like they had done earlier.
Then he smiled. No...it wasn't a smile. It was a laugh. What was he laughing but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking past me. What was he laughing at?
I turned around and the teacher barked out, "LOVE!"
My heart jumped out of my chest from surprise. He was closer this time. He was a couple inches away from my face. This teacher was so damn weird.
"Love is the essence in where all actors gain their promise," he explained and backed away from me.
"Why do you keep looking back there?" Vince whispered to me.
I didn't know...I didn't know why I did.
"Just trying to figure out what I can do to him."
"Just spread a rumor that he has herpes and call it a day," Vince said in this nonchalant way. He knew damn well that wouldn't have been enough for Patience. Patience never stopped until her enemies were completely humiliated.
I didn't plan on doing anything anyway...not to Amir. I mean, he was just everything that I needed in life. I was sure of it.
The class ended really soon after that. For it to be a three hour class, I could tell this teacher was kind of cool. At the end of class, I was walking out with Vince, trying to see if Vince was still watching me. I looked over but he wasn't. He was untangling his earphones.
"Chauncey Crane!" a voice said.
I turned around to see the teacher standing there. At first I thought I was going to get in trouble, but he was smiling. I waved goodbye to Vince and Kim before going over there to talk to him.
He just looked and me and asked, "Are you ok?"
I thought for a minute. This old weird man was almost reading right into me. He had a stare that seemed to be pulling something out.
"Yeah...huh? Why do you ask?"
"I've known acting all my life," he said to me and this time had a nervous smile, "I can tell that you are a good one. Call me paranoid I guess. I just thought I knew a bothered soul when I saw one. Are you sure you're ok?"
How could he tell I was bothered in just a few minutes? This was kind of weird. Just standing around him was slightly becoming like a twilight zone special.
I paused...I wasn't ok. I wanted to escape, but what could he do about it. He was nothing but a damn teacher. He had no idea what I was going through.
I forced a smile, "I'm fine."
"If you need anything, you can talk to me," he explained.
I smiled once again and I walked away. It freaked me out. I didn't need this after school special. Still, I liked this old guy. There was something real cool about him, even though he slightly needed to mind his business.
As I walked out I took a deep breath. What if I could talk to him? What could he do for me? What if I told him all about Patience and the type of person Patience was? He wasn't a damn counselor. He was just a drama teacher. I couldn't...could I?
I walked out of the door and wasn't surprised when Vince wasn't there. I had told him goodbye already. He probably would have waited for me if I wanted to. Then all of a sudden I felt a hand grab me. It was soft and firm.
It was him...Amir.
"Chauncey...can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.
I couldn't believe he knew my name. I stood there with my mouth open...my eyes open and my heart open.
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