Shadow of My Father

Sophomore Year 30

Written by: J.P.G.

{"The Shadow of My Father" 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 is in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, 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 any way, shape or form without author's express written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Love Scene by "Daddy" Rick

Edited By: "Daddy" Rick

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/

Chapter 30

Just like every other morning since he became governor, Daniel Sr. was in his office before the sun had risen. He had several meetings on the books before the rest of Austin started their regular work day, so he wanted to be prepared for them. Putting the first pot of coffee of the morning going, Daniel started to turn on the lights in his office as he made his way to his desk.

Just as he took his seat, Rich was knocking on the door. Daniel looked up from the folder he had opened and smiled. He waved Rich into the office and asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee before they got started with their morning routine. Rich said yes, but asked the Governor to stay where he was and he would get coffee for both of them.

After settling back into his seat, Daniel Sr. got right down to business. "I know this is your first actual full day in your new position, but I need you to hit the ground running. I know I don't need to ask you this question, but I'm going to anyway. Are you ready to hit the ground running with everything that is pending in this office and on the state house floor?"

"Yes sir, just tell me where you need me the most, and I will get to work." The Governor loved hearing those words coming out of Rich's mouth.

"This isn't new information, but again I'm going to say it anyway. The Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill is going to be defeated in committee. No matter what we do, the bill is dead." Rich couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded to him the Governor is giving up on the bill. "That leaves us no other choice but to go to the voters and let them know what their representatives are doing here in Austin. I know we will be able to get enough of the voters to see that this bill is the right thing to do and they will vote for it if it is on the ballet.

This is where you come in Rich. I need you to go out and start talking to the voters about this bill. Clear up any misunderstanding they might have with the bill. There is no doubt in my mind that they don't know a thing about the bill and they are listening to the talking points of the Republican representatives. I need your help to clear the way for this bill to pass in the general election in ninety three."

"I will do whatever it takes to sell this bill. Not only because you are asking me, but because I also agree this bill is the right thing for Texas. Not just the gay citizens, but all citizens in a whole in this state. The only concern I have right now about this whole thing is don't you think we are acting prematurely? The committee this bill is in hasn't even voted to defeat it yet."

"No, we aren't acting prematurely on this because I got a call late last night from one of the democrats on that committee. He informed me that the Republicans informed them that they were going to bring this bill up for a vote to send it to the floor for a full up and down vote. It confused him at first, but when he did a head count on the yeah and nay votes, the nay votes had it."

Rich knew it was going to be an uphill battle with The Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill, but he didn't think that it was going to die such a quick death like it is. He tried to think what the Republicans were going to hang their hat on on defeating the bill, but nothing came to mind. At the end of the day, they are going to look like the gay hating Republicans that they are.

"Okay if you already know the bill is going to be killed, why waste time on going around the state trying to sell..." Rich stopped in mid-sentence remembering what the Governor said almost at the beginning of the conversation. "Never mind I'm not thinking this morning. If we are going to put this bill on the ballet in ninety three, we need to make sure we have the votes to pass it. If the bill is defeated by the people, we are going to be lame ducks for the rest of this term."

"I agree with you on that, and that's why I'm asking everyone that believes in the bill to help out where they can with it." The Governor got up from his seat and walked to get him more coffee before continuing. "I want to hit the road talking about this bill, but there is my crime bill pending in committee and they are looking to kill that bill as well. I can't afford back to back defeats on two major pieces of legislation I have put together, I just can't."

Rich agreed with the Governor and asked if he needed any help that bill as well. "No your hands are going to be full with The Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill. I will take care of this bill by going to the people and telling them what their representatives are planning to do. Somehow I will figure out a way to squeeze in the gay rights bill as well. Hopefully by talking about the bills and how the Republicans want to kill them will open the voters eyes to how one sided these individuals are, but who knows."

Just then the phone rang, making Daniel and Rich jump. The Governor reached for the phone, but before he could hit the line that was ringing, the phone stopped ringing. A few seconds later the Governor's secretary came over to intercom asking Daniel if he wanted to speak with the Governor of California. That was the phone call Daniel was waiting for, and he told his secretary to hold the call for a few minutes and then send it through.

It wasn't that the Governor wanted to finish the meeting he was having with Rich, no it was that he needed to brief Rich on what the call was going to be about. Once he completed briefing Rich on the topic of the call, they waited for the secretary to patch the call through. They didn't have to wait too long. Less than a minute later, the phone rang and Daniel answered.

Quickly they got through the pleasantries and got right down to the meet of the call. "Governor Wilson thank you for calling me back after our last conversation we had on the gay rights bill. I know you meant well when you contacted me the last time and I over reacted. But now I can see how right you were when we first talked, so I'm ready to listen to your advice."

"Governor Lopez, you are doing astonishing things down there in Texas. Even more so with your own party fighting you at every turn, I can't believe how you have prevailed on everything you have gotten done. With that said, sadly Texas won't be the first state that will pass a gay rights bill. Not the way you have it written that is."

"I agree and found that out late last night before leaving the office. I was told that when the committee convenes this morning, they are going to move to kill the vote in committee. That means it won't see the light of day. Knowing that I have only one avenue to take on this and that is going to the voters."

"Yes that's true, but if you want to be successful there you need to reword the bill." Daniel was lost on where Wilson was going. "We both know what you meant when you put in your gay rights bill marriage, but that is what the Republicans down there are going to hang their hat on to defeat it. That word marriage! They will say that no matter what you have said in the past, you are going to interfere in the church because of that one word; marriage.

What you need to do and take that word completely out of the bill and replace it with civil unions between the same sex couples. That is a contract between two people that has nothing to do with the church. In return, no one can come at you and say that you are trying to interfere with the long standing separation of church and state."

"Is that what you plan to do when you take this bill up in your state?"

"That and a couple other changes to the bill Governor Lopez! Don't get me wrong here, the bill you have written is an excellent bill, but I want it to pass here in California." Governor Wilson went over the couple other changes he was going to make, which didn't bother Daniel or Rich. In fact they likes the changes were taking notes to use the changes in their bill.

"Look, I have a lot better chance here in California to get this bill passed. I have already taken head count to see if the votes are there, and they are. That means I will push the bill through as quickly as I can before anyone has a change of heart. The only question I have for you right now is if it's okay if I keep you as co-author and keep the name of the bill the same."

"Of course you may! I know Stanly's parents would be over joyed to hear that their son's name is going to be on two gay rights bills in two states. Plus by having you keep the name on the bill as is, it will get the voters here in Texas to want to pass the bill that was theirs from the beginning. So it will help me in a sense to get the bill passed as well."

"Good I will do what I can to help you get this bill on the books, but from what I've seen, you really don't need my help or anyone's for that matter. In fact you are doing such a great job down there, the people in my state wish you were their Governor. Thankfully you live in Texas so I won't have to run against you and lose my seat." All three guys cracked up laughing.

The three political men mapped out the best way to get The Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill passed not only in California, but in Texas as well. They agreed since the bill was written by Daniel, he should travel to California and do a couple stump speeches on it. That alone should help them open the eyes of the voters here in Texas, but at the same time they knew they had to be very careful. It could back fire and anger the voters in Texas and Daniel could be booted out.

"I know we have to walk a fine line here with you coming here to California. We don't want the voters in Texas thinking that you aren't doing your job as their Governor but are looking for another position while hold the position you have now. Therefore we will be very careful how we go about you being here in California."

"Well I was planning to join my son Josh on his last leg of his tour in California. While he is out giving interviews on his CD, I can talk with the press about what you are doing with The Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill. Kind of turn it into selling the gay rights bill and no one would be the wiser. Then when I get back to Texas, I can sell it to the voters here that your voters wanted to hear from the creator of the bill. I'm sure the voters here will buy all that without question."

Governor Wilson loved the idea and started to think of how he could make sure there was enough press to meet Governor Lopez when he landed. The two Governors threw back and forth a couple of ideas, and after talking about it for almost thirty minutes, they had that part planned.

"Now this depends on how quickly you can change the wording in my bill and get it into your state houses. If all possible it would work out well if you could get the bill on the floor by Monday, no later than Tuesday of next week. That way it can gain traction and we don't have to try and force the issue. You know as well as I do, Governor Wilson, the press is not dumb. They will see right through what we are trying to do it we are over selling this bill to them."

"I agree and I will have the bill down on the floor of my state houses by Friday." Governor Lopez and Rich loved hearing that. "As soon as we get off the phone I will get my staff working on changing the wording we talked about. Once they are done, I will send it to you for your approval. The faster you approve it, the faster the bill will get down to my state houses."

The two Governors went over a few more items about the bill before letting each other go. Daniel and Rich sat there in silence for a few minutes thinking if this works how easy it will be for them to get the bill passed by the voters. The one thing they learned quickly when they went after the Governorship is that the citizens of Texas always want to be the first to do things. By California being the first state in the union to pass real legislation that means something as far as gay rights and it being the bill that was rejected in Texas, the voters here in Texas are going to be very angry with their representatives for killing the bill.

While Daniel and Rich were going over what the pros and cons of what they were doing, the Lopez boys were crawling out of bed. The night before they had stayed up a little past their bed time playing around in the game room. When they got tired playing video games and pool, they went to the theatre room and watched their favorite programs until Barbara came in and told them it was time for bed. Even then they didn't go to bed right away. They all went to Daniel Jr.'s room and played wrestled until Barbara once again told them to go to bed.

Because they had stayed up late, Josh and Cesar had a hard time getting out of bed. They hit the snooze button several times, and after the fourth time, Isaac walked in and made them get up. Since they had over slept, they took their morning shower together, which didn't bother them. In fact they love to start off their day seeing each other in the nude.

Once they were dressed and ready to go, they joined their brothers for breakfast and then headed off to school. To Cesar's surprise, Daniel and Carlos were trying to talk Josh and him into joining the football team. Josh knew he didn't have the time to do any sports, and he tried to tell his brothers that, but they weren't taking no for an answer.

"Come on little bro, Brandon here is on the football team with Carlos and me. Let's make our high school football team dominated by blood, Lopez blood." Carlos high fived Daniel Jr. and then Brandon before putting his hand up for Josh and Cesar to high five him. They hesitated just for a few seconds before high fiving Carlos, but they didn't agree with him.

Daniel knew his little bother's facial expressions and he knew without Josh speaking a word he wasn't about to join the football team. "Come on Josh you know how to play football better than probably the rest of us. It comes natural to you, where we have to really work hard at getting close to your level. I just don't understand why with all the talent you don't want to join."

"The reason I look like I know how to play football is because you guys make me look like that. There is no way I can get on a team and play the way I play with you guys because they aren't going to let me win like you guys do." Daniel Jr. and Carlos both shook their heads. "Come on you guys let me win and we all know that."

"Trust me Josh we don't do no such thing. First, if we would ever do that, dad would kick our butts. You know him and how he feels about people that let others win." Josh thought about it and he agreed with Daniel. Their father doesn't believe in letting others win on purpose because it makes them think more of themselves than they really are. "Plus we need you on the team since I have played my last year on the team. We need you to come on to take my spot next year."

"I hear you Daniel and Carlos, but I just don't have the time to take on any after school activities right now or in the near future. With the demands on me to get another CD out, I had to quit the thing I love, swimming in order to get out the CD and practice with the band. I wish I could rejoin the swim team, and maybe the football team, but I just can't."

Before Daniel Jr. or Carlos could try to reason with Josh, they had arrived at school. As Josh was getting out of the SUV, he thought to himself that he was saved by the bell because if his brothers would have had another few minutes, they would have talked him into joining the football team. Something deep down inside he wants to do since his brothers do it.

Josh and his brothers passed several football players on their way to the cafeteria talking up Markus. The closer they got to the cafeteria, the crowd of students got larger around the football player trying to get their vote for Markus. Josh looked over at Carlos, but Carlos didn't look back at him. He knew his little brother was looking at him, and at the same time he knew why, but he didn't have an answer for Josh.

Once separated from his brothers, Carlos went over to see what he could find out about Markus' plans. When he reached the football table where Markus was sitting he found they were going over plans on what they were going to do throughout the day. No one was the wiser that the video that played the day before was created by Carlos. In fact they welcomed Carlos in and gave him several tasks to help Markus get more votes.

Carlos didn't really want to do it, but he knew if he would turn it down, he would be ousted. That's something no football player wanted. Reluctantly he took the tasks he was given and headed out to the hall where they asked him to talk up Markus to the passing students.

However Carlos had other plans. He was talking up Markus, but at the same time he was handing out flyers that were given to him by Zach, the guy that was running Jacob's campaign. The flyer was astonishing to say the least. It had Jacob walking out of yellow and red flames with Tom. On it was written `Vote for a man that will get the job done, not a Bench Warmer'.

When Carlos was first handed the flyers as he walked to the area he was assigned, he cracked up laughing. It was missing one thing in his mind. Markus sitting on a bench, but it wouldn't look right in the picture with Jacob walking through flames with Tom. Just that alone should stay on the minds of the students that see it and hopefully they will vote for Jacob.

Meanwhile back in the cafeteria Josh, Cesar and Brandon made their way to their table and joined the others. They were already involved in a conversation about what was being said by Markus and his friends about Jacob. They all didn't like what they were hearing and wanted to do something to help Jacob since he wasn't there to defend himself, but they didn't know what. All they knew was that if no one stood up, Markus will win.

They turned to Josh for answers, and at first Josh didn't have any. He stumbled around trying to come up with something. Finally after ten minutes of going back and forth, Cesar was the one that came up with a solution. As he explained what they should do, they all listened and only interrupted him when they weren't sure what he meant.

"Look guys we all want to help Jacob out. The only way to do that is to go out there and try to get those that are getting fooled by Markus' friends to see the truth. The only the problem I see with that is that none of us is really good with public speaking, except maybe Josh." Everyone looked at Josh. "What do you say Josh? Will you go out there and talk to those students that are being sold a bill of goods? We all will be at your side just in case something happens."

"Come on guys, you know I am not a public speaker. I may sing in front of large groups, but that is totally different than speaking in front of them." Josh mad dogged Eric since he was the one that suggested that it should be him to talk for them. "I want to help Jacob, he is a good friend to me and the rest of us, but me talking in front of everyone is out of the question. I might even do more harm than good to the cause if I would even attempt to talk for him."

As Josh, Cesar, Eric, several other of the guys and Bernice were sitting there trying to figure out they could do to stop Markus. Rusty and Angel weren't paying attention. They were stealing glances of each other across the table. After the second time they thought they were stealing a glance, each knew they were caught by the other.

Finally Angel made the first move by writing a question on his napkin and pushed it across the table. Rusty quickly snatched up the napkin and put it on his lap, but didn't read it right away. He looked around the table to see if anyone was looking at him. Once he saw they were all involved the conversation with Josh, he looked down at his lap and unfolded the napkin.

`You and I have one thing in common, Chris. I was wondering if you wanted to talk with me in private when you have a chance.' Rusty looked up to see Angel looking at him. He looked back to his lap and read the two sentences several more times before looking back up. When he did, the guys at the table were starting to move out to the stadium.

He just smiled at Angel as he folded the napkin back up and pushed it into his back pocket as he got up. Once he secured the napkin, he gathered his things and followed the guys out. When he realized that they weren't going out to the stadium like they normally do, he started to wonder if he could pull Chris to the side and ask him a few questions about Angel.

He knows only a little bit about what had happened between him and Angel, he wants to know as much information that Chris was willing to give before talking to Angel by himself. >From what he can tell at this point Angel looks and seems like a nice guy. If he did something ugly to Chris that he might do to him, Rusty wants to know and that is why he wants to talk with Chris.

About halfway, Rusty saw Chris going into the restroom. He figured this was his chance to talk with him privately with none of the guys around. Before following Chris into the restroom, he made sure that none of the others were thinking the same thing. Once they disappeared around the corner at the end of the hallway, he knew he was the only wanting to talk with Chris alone.

Quickly he made his way into the restroom, and just as he walked in, Chris was at the sink washing his hands. Rusty walked over to the sink next to Chris, looking under the stalls to make sure there was no one else in there with them. Chris noticed Rusty's behavior and wondered what was going on, but decided to let Rusty begin the conversation since he was the one acting all weird checking the stalls.

Rusty looked over at Chris as he turned on the water to pretend to wash his hands. "It is odd to find you alone without your new boyfriend at your side." Chris shot Rusty a dirty look. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to get you mad. It's just the last week or so you have been with that guy from hotel a lot. I figure you guys were boyfriends or something."

Chris shut off his water as he cleared his throat. "What is going on between me and Aaron is just that; between me and Aaron." Rusty took several steps away from Chris, causing Chris to think he went too far. "I'm not trying to be rude here, it's just I don't really know what is going on between me and Aaron. All I know is that my love life recently has been shit, well more than lately, and I want to change that. So I don't want to talk about anything until I know what's really going on between me and Aaron or any other guy."

"I'm sorry Chris I didn't mean to pry in what is obliviously none of my business. The only reason I asked was to break the ice with you. We haven't really talked since we decided to put the baggage of our relationship in the past and try to be friends. I'm starting to think you don't really want to put that baggage in the past for some reason."

Cracking a smile for the first time, Chris patted Rusty on the shoulder. "I'm the one that should be saying sorry, not you Rusty. I really didn't mean to make you feel that I wasn't willing to do what we agreed to do. I want you as my friend. In fact I think we will become very good friends in time if we just give it a chance to develop into a good friendship."

"That is what I'm hoping for too." Rusty started to walk over to the paper towel dispenser and pulled out several paper towels. As he turned around, he handed Chris a couple of them. "That's really why I'm here right now. I need you friendship and the help that comes from a friendship on something that has just happened." That grabbed Chris' attention.

"Um, I really don't know where to start, so I will just throw it out there. The last couple of days I have been noticing Angel more and more. At first I thought it was just me, but today I come to find out that it isn't just me, he is looking at me the same way I'm looking at him." Rusty pulled out the napkin from his back pocket and handed it to Chris. "He handed me this napkin during breakfast this morning.

I really don't know what to do here because of your past with him. What I mean is that I don't know what happened between you and him and I was wondering if you would tell what you can." Chris looked up from the napkin with a confused look on his face. "You know, should I watch out for him, that he's not a good guy or he will leave you hurting? You know things like that."

"Well he is a very good guy and there is nothing to warn you about." Chris handed Rusty back his napkin. "Look he is still scared of who he is and what people think of him being gay. I'm out of the closet and I wasn't willing to go back into the closet. That isn't saying that Angel asked me to go back into the closet, but in order to keep his secret that was the only way.

If you are willing to not show emotion in public like holding hands, kissing, things like that, you will two will be okay. In private Angel is sweet and tender. You wouldn't think that by looking at him, but he is. In public he puts on a mask of being a straight man. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you can do the same thing. Since everyone here knows about me, he and I would never have been able to get together as a couple.

When and if he got comfortable enough to tell those close to him that he is gay and doesn't care what others think, we could have been able to become a couple. But I wasn't willing to wait that long." Chris could tell by the look on Rusty's face that he was on a rant and needed to wrap up what he was trying to get across. "Look the long and short of it Rusty, you two would be perfect for each other. Both of you are in the same place right now, which would work out in both of your favors I would think."

Rusty thought about what Chris said and agreed with him. He to a point is just like Angel when it comes down to people knowing his sexuality. No there is no way he is ready for everyone and their dogs to know that he loves guys. His close friends, yes, but he still hasn't come out to his parents, something he knows he has to do before it gets back to them by either a stranger telling them they see their son with a guy or them walking in on him one day with a guy. Either way, he needs to come clean with his parents and soon.

"Okay Chris I agree with you, but I still have several concerns that I am hoping that you will clear up for me. So please help me out at to whether or not I should take a chance with Angel." Chris once again gave Rusty a confused look. "Come on, I know you pretty well. There was something there in the background that made you decide to walk away from Angel instead of giving him time to get comfortable in his own skin. It's just not like you to walk, so what was it that got you to make that decision?"

Chris was hesitant to talk about what happened between him and Angel, but he could see that Rusty wasn't going to leave it alone. He told him just enough to get him to stop asking questions, but not the complete details that might get Angel angry with Chris. By the time he was done telling Rusty what he was willing to spill, he could see Rusty was sold on trying to see where things could go with Angel.

The boys talked a few more minutes until several other guys walked into the restroom. They took that as their queue that it was time to leave. As they walked down the hallway to meet up with the others, they talked in general about what Rusty was going to do. When they reached the others, Chris was happy with himself that he was able to play cupid with the two guys that he either dated or tried to date, but things didn't work out for one reason or another.

Josh and the others joined up with Carlos and were handing out the flyers that Carlos got from Zach. Josh understood what his older brother was doing and didn't make it hard on him. Carlos stood in the hallway talking up Markus to a point, and Josh and his friends were across the hallway doing the same thing, but instead of talking up Markus, they were talking about Jacob and handing out the flyers.

Both Josh, his group of friends and Carlos worked that corner of the hallway all the way up to the bell. Once it rang, Carlos looked over at his younger brother, winked at him with a big grin on his face. He knew he got away with playing both sides of the fence dealing with his support for the student council president. He had to look like he was supporting his fellow teammate even though he wasn't going to vote for him. At the same time, he was going around telling his fellow student that they need to vote for Jacob as he is telling them that they need to vote for Markus. He couldn't help but wonder if some of the students were confused after leaving him this morning.

Josh and his group stayed a little longer handing out the remainder of their flyers. Once they were all handed out, they headed to their lockers. The rest of the day was pretty much like the morning. Every period the students were talking about who they were going to vote for on Friday morning. During lunch, Josh and his friends met up with Carlos in the same hallway, at the same corner and repeated what they were doing in the morning.

By the time fifth period rolled around, Josh got a sense that this race was up in the air. No one could make a call on who was going to win it tomorrow. The only thing that he was certain about was that whoever did win was going to barely win it, which only hurts one of the two that are running for the student council president position.

Markus came into the race the front runner and in the past, he should have not had to work at all on getting the position. Just like the years before, he should have been able to sit back and the votes would have been there to give him the election. So if he would come out the winner tomorrow, he would be a lame duck kind of leader because he really lost since he actually had to work harder than any other person in the past in his shoes had to. When he lost the huge lead he had when the race first began it was a clear message to the jocks their days are numbered.

However if Jacob would win, even by a small amount, Josh believed that it would be a victory all its own. A somewhat obscure no-body coming in from behind and making the jocks fight hard for the position and ending up taking it would make him victorious no matter how few votes he won it by. And to make matters worse, Josh thought, Jacob is gay and he was able to beat the popular jock. That in itself is a huge victory for the gay students in this high school.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Josh looked over at Cesar and smiled at him. Cesar wondered what was on his boyfriends mind, but when he saw the smile turn into an evil grin, he knew exactly what was on Josh's mind. Then when he was handed a note with a question on it and two answers, it confirmed that he was right what his boyfriend was thinking about.

He leaned over and whispered in Josh's ear. "Get your mind out of the gutter please." Cesar looked around the classroom really quick to see if anyone was looking. When he saw there wasn't, he quickly gave Josh a peck on the lips and whispered again. "Of course I will, just make sure the room is clear when you call me down, okay?"

Josh nodded his head and turned his attention back to the front of the classroom. The rest of the fifth and sixth period flew by fast. Both Josh and Cesar were thinking about what they were planning to do after the Josh practiced with his band. Several times Josh thought about canceling, but kept talking himself back into doing the practice since the tour is just around the corner.

When the final bell of the school day finally rang, Josh and Cesar quickly got up from their seats and headed to their locker. Midway to their locker, Cesar grabbed Josh's hand and held it tight. Even when they reached their locker, Cesar didn't let go of Josh's hand until Josh turned and asked for his hand back so he could unlock their locker.

As they were gathering their books, they noticed the football players were out in force doing what they have been doing all day. Josh couldn't believe they hadn't called it a day, more so that Jacob wasn't here to defend himself on what they are saying about him. Pushing back what he wanted to do, Josh grabbed the books he needed to do his homework and closed his locker.

On his way out of the building, he stopped to listen to what the jocks were trying to sell. Within seconds of listening, Josh and Cesar wanted to go up and hit the football players for what they were saying. However, they looked around and saw that no one really was listening. Students stopped to see what the jocks were saying, but didn't stay more than a minute or so. Not caring why they didn't stick around, Josh was happy and left with Cesar at his side.

All the way home, no one said a word. Carlos sat looking out the window thinking that he may have made a huge mistake on making it a two-man race. Before leaving, he checked in with Markus and the guys and they believed that they got enough of the student body to switch their vote that they are going to keep all the positions they were going for.

A couple times he wanted to tell Josh what he heard, but he didn't want a fight that would more than likely come from opening that can or worms. So he decided to keep what he heard to himself, but hope that his friends were over confident on the race or they miscalculated, being jocks. Either way, Carlos is hoping when the announcement is made tomorrow morning after the votes are counted is in favor of Jacob, not Markus.

Josh could tell that there was something up with his brother Carlos because he always is the one getting everything going when things are quiet. But he decided not to ask what was on his mind because he knew it was more than likely what it was; the election tomorrow. So instead he started a conversation with Cesar.

Josh got pulled out of his conversation with Cesar with Brandon hitting him on his shoulder and pointing out the window to Ivan who was standing in the driveway. Josh sighed wondering what it was on Ivan's mind this time. Ever since they agreed on the tour and where it was going to go, Ivan has been at the house almost every day after school to meet with Josh. He was tired of it because the conversations with him take up a lot of time; time he wants to spend with Cesar.

Stepping out of the SUV, Josh walked up to Ivan to see what was on his mind. They greeted each other and as Josh's brothers passed them, Ivan waved at them. As soon as they walked in, Josh got down to business and asked polity what was on Ivan's mind. At first, Ivan made small talk, but quickly realized that Josh was not in the mood for small talk, so got right down to business.

"Well Josh we kind of have a problem!" Josh looked at Ivan with a mixture of emotions in his face. He was confused and worried all at the same time. "There is no other way to say this than to just say it straight out. Your concert dates have completely sold out and there is a demand for more tickets, but there are just no more seats."

Josh swiped his hand over his forehead and started to laugh. "You had me worried the way you started the conversation. I thought something really bad had happened, but that is good news, right?" Ivan didn't say a word or move in any way to indicate to Josh that he was right on his assumption. "Ivan if the concerts are all sold out, you did your job. There is nothing to worry about, at least that's what I understand about the concert part of the business."

"Normally you would be right on that assumption if the tour is several months long, hitting several cities in the same state. However that isn't the case here. You are only going to go out on tour for a week, with four dates in four different states and on top of that you have a top selling CD right now and people want to see you in person. These few things are causing us a problem, plus you won't be back on tour until the summer. That is a long break and it might hurt you."

Josh stood there thinking over what Ivan had just said. He understood everything that his manager was telling him, but there was no way he could add more time to the tour. Not just because he is in school, but his father won't let him miss school because he wants to tour some more. So seeing that wasn't an opposition, Josh asked what Ivan had in mind.

"Well I'm pretty sure you are thinking the same thing that I have already thought of or will be thinking this, but more time for the tour is out of the question. We only have a week to play with and that's it. So if there is going to be any addition to the tour it has to be done in the time we have or don't change it at all.

With that said, this is what I'm thinking. We add more dates to your tour, but we don't add more cities to your tour." Josh looked at Ivan now with a straight look of confusion. "Give me a minute to explain where I'm going with my thoughts. We don't have the ability to add more cities because we don't have the stages. For your tour, there are only two stages, and, well all that is just confusing and there is no need for you to worry about it. Just let me just say there is no way on the way things are set right now that we can add more cities to your tour.

So instead of adding more cities to your tour, we add more concerts to your tour." At this point Josh's head was going in circles. He had no idea what Ivan was saying and didn't care to know. All he cared about is that the tour goes off without a problem. "You have four dates, with about an hour and half of you on stage. We set up two concerts in the same city, on the same day!"

"How is that even possible Ivan? What I mean is that if we already are scheduled..."

"I know what you mean Josh, let me explain. I schedule you for a pre-show that runs maybe an hour before your regular scheduled show. Have a couple hours between the shows so where the stadium is cleared out and cleaned up. This I believe will satisfy those that want to see you in person and as well the label."

Before Josh could respond, Ivan explained that he wouldn't be the first one to do this. He started to throw out famous names and when Josh heard them, he didn't object figuring if they could do two shows a day, he should be able to. Plus he wants to be on stage doing what he loves and that is performing in front of people that came to see him.

"Okay I don't see any problem with what you are suggesting, BUT!" Josh started to laugh. "It is really not me that you need to clear this with. You need to call my father and tell him what you told me, but not in the way you told me. I know you have already gotten used to how you need to talk to my father on things like this. So if you want to sell this, you need to do just that or he will shut you off before you even get a chance to explain anything."

"I understand and I had planned to talk with your father. It's just I wanted to talk with you first since you are my client, not your father. In a couple of years, I won't have to go to your father on things when you are going to be of age to make these decisions. If I don't treat you with the respect you deserve now by clearing things through you first, you might not trust me in the future, or worse, you might get a new manager."

"You have been straight up with me since George got you for me. In fact, you have done a lot more for me than I ever thought a manager would. So there is no way I will replace you when I come of age to make the decisions." Josh got a little closer to Ivan and leaned in so where no one else except he and Ivan could hear what he was saying. "You have been very cool with me with everything you have had to deal with, and for that I thank you!"

Ivan didn't need Josh to go into any explanation of what he meant because he understood it. He thanked Josh and promised to speak with his father in the next day or so on what they talked about as he made his way to his car. The two shook hands and Ivan drove away. Once he was gone, Josh made his way into the house.

Seeing that he was already running late for practice, he didn't stop in the kitchen for his normal afterschool snack. Instead he went straight to the recording studio where his band was waiting for him. As he checked the sound system, Josh explained why he was late. When they heard that Ivan wanted to put on more shows, they got excited. Just like Josh, they love being on stage performing in front of huge crowds and hearing that their first four shows are already sold out confirmed that they made the right decision trying out for a country band.

After going back and forth on what the conversation that Josh had with Ivan meant, they got down to practicing. They went through all the old songs that were on Josh's first CD and then practiced a few of the new songs that are on the new CD. Once they felt they had the line up where they wanted it for the show, they called it night and the session broke up.

As the guys were packing up their things, Josh headed up to get Cesar. All through practice Cesar was on Josh's mind. He looked around the studio and imagined where and how they were going to make love. He didn't want it to be a quick screw! No he wants to make patient love with his boyfriend that hopefully would take hours or at least until dinner. He made a quick stop in the control room and set up a CD of mood music to play.

When he reached the bedroom, he found Cesar sitting on the edge of the bed staring at nothing. Josh slowly walked in and made his way to Cesar. Just as he reached his boyfriend, Cesar broke out of thought and smiled at Josh. Josh smiled back at Cesar as he kneeled down between Cesar's legs grabbing his hands. Looking up at him, Josh spoke in a whisper.

"Are you ready?" Cesar smiled at Josh and said. "Every moment of every day you are the only person on my mind. You are the only thing I think about. I love you so much Cesar. I love you with all my heart and soul. All I want to do is crawl inside of you and stay there."

Cesar placed a hand on each side of Josh's face and leaned down. As their lips met, it was like fireworks went off in each of their heads. Both of the boys got hard instantly. Josh wanted to make love to Cesar right there on their bed, but held back since he had planned out how he was going to make love to him in the recording studio.

Breaking the kiss, Josh got up, grabbing Cesar's hand. Before they walked out of the room and made their way down to the studio Cesar picked up a gym bag. Josh looked at him quizzically. Cesar smiled and winked. Josh realized Cesar had prepared what was needed for a hot time. When they got there, Josh looked in to see if everyone had left, but found his keyboard player, Huntley was still there. He and Cesar stood back and waited until they heard the door that led straight outside close before going in.

As they got into the studio, Josh closed the door and realized for the first time that there wasn't a lock on the door. It only bothered him for a second as he realized that nobody would come in since no one in the house other than him would have any reason to come to the studio.

Cesar was looking around the room and saw the padded bench along a sidewall. He pulled the bench away from the wall more into the center of the room. Meanwhile, Josh had dimmed the lights and flipped a switch that allowed the mellow music he'd put on to play to come through the studio monitor speakers. Cesar heard it, turned to Josh and grinned ear to ear. Josh looked around the studio appraising the atmosphere. The lighting and music were just right. He noted where Cesar had placed the bench. He got a wry smile on his face as he realized that the slanted glass control room window glass was acting as a mirror with the control room lights off and the room being totally dark behind the glass.

Cesar opened the gym bag, took out the contents and put them within arm's reach of the bench. He spread a large, fluffy towel over the bench. When he was done, he turned to see Josh was already barefooted and shirtless. He was unbuckling his belt and Cesar realized he needed to catch up. He kicked off his shoes while at the same time pulling off his shirt and undershirt in one motion.

Within seconds, both of them were naked standing about five feet apart. Each was looking at the other taking in the view of their lover's fully natural state. Both drank in the view of their lover's fully erect cocks. The two in perfect sync, moved toward each other, coming face to face (and cock to cock) with each other. Arms reached around and engulfed the two bodies, pulling them tightly together and hips pressed forward firmly meshing the pair of male parts. Parted lips met and tongues began the dance causing passion to build even further.

Josh's hands dropped lower on Cesar's back, then continued down to grasp each side of Cesar's butt. Josh pulled firmly on Cesar's butt increasing the pressure on the entangled male parts intensifying the sensual sensations even further.

Meanwhile, Huntley, the keyboard player realized he'd left his volume pedal in the studio. He shrugged and turned to go and retrieve the forgotten item. He wouldn't have bothered but it was the only one he had and he was going to be doing some serious practicing to get some of his chops down and polished.

When he got inside, he was walking past the control room and noticed the glow of light coming through the window to the studio. He paused and took a second look and was both shocked and delighted with what he was seeing. Without making a sound, he went into the control room and sat on a tall stool. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd brought himself to orgasm more than just a few times fantasizing about what Josh and Cesar would look like in the buff. Now, not only is he seeing them both naked, but in the throes of making hot, passionate love! He had a momentary pang of guilt spying on the scene, but that was quickly overcome by the rise in his own passions. Huntley wanted to feel a part of the scene being played out in front of him so he quickly got naked himself. His own cock was already as hard as it had ever been by the time he removed his last item of clothing. He settled back down on the stool and began slowly stroking his cock, lubing it with the flood of precum he was already pumping.

In the studio, the pair broke their embrace and moved toward the bench giving Huntley his first view of Josh and Cesar's frontal profiles. He was pleased yet not surprised to see that both young men were pure works of art and that their male equipment was every bit as ample as his fantasies. He was fascinated seeing that both young men had their pubes closely trimmed making their endowments appear all the more impressive. Huntley looked down at his cock and balls with a full bush. He's not nearly as hung as the two in the studio, but he's got nothing to be ashamed of either. He thought for a moment that he might give that trimmed and styled look a try for himself.

When the pair reached the bench, Cesar laid back on the bench with his legs off to each side and his feet on the floor. Josh went to one end of the bench, knelt down and started making sweet love to Cesar's cock and balls with his mouth.

Cesar signaled to Josh to change positions, to straddle the bench over him. Josh did so and went right back to taking Cesar's cock in his mouth to its full length. Cesar now had Josh's cock and balls over his face and pulled Josh's hips down to that he could give Josh as good as he's getting. Cesar broke his sucking of Josh's cock just long enough to wet his finger. As he returned Josh's cock to his mouth, he used his moist finger to massage Josh's rosebud, slowly working the tip of his finger into the tight yet willing hole.

Josh pulled Cesar's legs up behind his arms. He worked his tongue to the sweet, sensitive spot just behind Cesar's balls, slowly working his way back to the treasure. As Josh felt Cesar's finger working its way inside him, he flicked his tongue over Cesar's hole. He felt Cesar pull his legs further back giving Josh total access to Cesar's most private place.

As passions continued to rise, Josh began rimming Cesar's hole, not just with flicks of his tongue, but with his tongue probing and working its way further inside as Cesar relaxed and opened up to the probing tongue.

Cesar was ready to have his love inside him. He reached down to the floor and got the tube of KY Jelly and lubed Josh's cock. When Josh felt this, he knew without a doubt what his lover was wanting and ready for. Josh wasn't quite ready to give up rimming his lover's hot hole...not just yet. Cesar realized that and while he continued sucking on Josh's cock, he slipped his now-lubed finger into Josh all the way making Josh's back arch like a cat. Cesar probed Josh's love chute and found that sweet spot deep inside. Having found it, Cesar applied pressure to the spot and started massaging sending bolts of pleasure through Josh.

Cesar massaging his prostate made Josh feel he was getting too close to cumming and he'd not yet done what was wanted most by both. Josh pulled away from Cesar's hole and began to rise up. Cesar knew the time was right and slowly pulled his finger out of Josh's hole.

Huntley couldn't believe his luck. He realized that he was going to be able to witness the whole enchilada, not just some quick oral action. Huntley figured that is was going to be Josh taking Cesar. He'd never figured out which guy was a top and which was a bottom. At least for this round, he's sure Josh is going to be the top. With Cesar having deeply fingered Josh, perhaps, he thought, they are switch hitters.

Sure enough, Josh came around to the end of the bench, his lubed cock waving as he moved. He lifted Cesar's legs up onto his shoulders and moved forward. Something was said and Cesar put some KY on Josh's finger. Josh applied the lube to Cesar's pucker and worked his finger in to lube the chute. Once he felt that Cesar was properly prepared, Josh moved his cock to its destination. He placed his cockhead at the entrance and pivoted his hips forward. Huntley was Josh's cockhead slowly disappear into his lover's love tunnel. Just as the head disappeared, Josh stopped his forward motion giving Cesar a moment to adjust to the feeling. Josh leaned over Cesar and the two kissed deeply. As they kissed, Josh moved slowly deeper into Cesar until he was in to the full depth. Cesar was, at the same time, fondling Josh's balls.

Huntley was going wild. He was imagining being in Cesar's position. He wanted either one or both of the hot men he was observing to be inside him. As he was stroking his cock with his right hand, the fingers of his left were massaging and probing his own hole. His feet were propped up on the edge of the control board table, giving him full access to his own hole. He wasn't probing very deep. He knows what he wants but hasn't yet been taken. He's had a bit of fear about it, but seeing what's going on before his eyes, the fear is melting away.

Josh returned to a more upright posture and held Cesar's legs up and spread wide. He started with long, slow strokes. He's pull out until the crown of his cockhead would begin to appear, then slide back in to full depth. Cesar was getting into it and ready to be ridden with full passion. Again, something was said and Josh shifted gears and began to increase speed and intensity.

With each inward stroke, Josh's cockhead is hitting Cesar's hot spot. Cesar raised his hips a bit to lessen the impact on his prostate so he can last until Josh fills him with his boy batter. He's right on the edge of losing it right now and his cock isn't even being touched!

Huntley is right on the edge along with Cesar. He's slowed his stroking to be able to vicariously join the two lovers at the point of cumming. He sees Josh's balls drawing up close and tight. Huntley (and Cesar) know Josh is getting close to going over the edge.

Cesar lowered his hips a bit and Josh's cock once again was hitting his sweet spot. He sees Josh's face tensing up and his head throwing back. It's time! Cesar made sure that he got the full power of Josh's cockhead against his prostate. Just as it hit the fourth time, he joined Josh in a full blown, fabulous orgasm. He reached down and stroked his cock as it shot clear up over his left shoulder. At the same time he's feeling Josh's hot cum filling him in waves.

Huntley couldn't hear anything, but he saw Cesar's cum flying out of his cock. That was all he could bear and his own cock began spewing a huge load. He had the presence of mind to catch most of it in his left hand.

As Huntley is coming off his orgasm, he sees Josh, still inside Cesar, sit down on the bench and allowing Cesar's legs to drop down on top his own. He realizes that he has to get out of there because the two will be getting dressed and leaving the studio. He can't be caught. Huntley used his boxers to clean up his cum. He got dressed without his underwear on. He found a Walmart plastic bag in the trash and stuffed his cum soaked boxers into the bag, then into his back pocket. He left the control room and slipped out the door. He was sure to be completely quiet so as not to be detected. His emotions were totally mixed. He was euphoric from having witnessed such a beautiful love scene, but was sad that he can't have that kind of love for himself. Perhaps someday he will find someone to love him the way that he saw Josh making love to Cesar. He'd never imagined it could be so incredibly wonderful. He now knows without a doubt what he wants for his life and swore an oath that he'll not settle for anything less.

Back in the studio, Josh's softened cock slipped out of Cesar no matter how hard Cesar tried to keep hold of it inside him. Josh leaned over and kissed Cesar with tenderness and love. Now they were both coated in Cesar's cum. As they both came back to reality, and realized that there was a real mess having been made, they both laughed. Josh stood up and took Cesar's hand to pull him into a seated position. Cesar reached down and picked up a small plastic bag. Inside were two wet washcloths. He pulled them out. Josh, I know these won't be warm, but at least we don't have to get dressed and have our clothes bond to our skin! Josh laughed as he took his washcloth from Cesar. Both of them got most of the cum off and then got dressed.

Josh moved the bench back against the wall and sat down, his knees not yet being back to full stability. Cesar packed up what they'd used back into the gym bag. He came over and sat next to Josh. They each took the other's hand, their heads resting back against the wall. Cesar chuckled.

"Ok, what was that chuckle about? Did I do something wrong?" Josh asked.

Cesar leaned over, still chuckling a bit, kissed Josh on the cheek and replied; "Of course not. You did everything just right, as you always do. What I was chuckling about is my wondering if I'll be able to eat dinner. I don't know if I have strength enough left to lift a fork!"

"You?" Josh replied. "I'm the one that did all the hard work!" This time it was Josh's turn to chuckle. Cesar joined him seeing the humor in the reply. "Sweet man," Josh continued, "I know you loved having me inside you today and, of course, I loved being inside you. Next time though, it's my turn. It's been awhile since you've been inside me and I want it very badly. Next time, my sweet man, it's going to be your show to run and I want you to make love to me and let me feel you inside me. Deal?"

"Deal, Josh, deal for sure. You know I love making love both ways, but today, here in your studio, it had to be your show. I wanted you. I promise that next time, I will take the lead and make deep love to you."

The pair got up, Cesar picked up the gym bag and they left the studio. As they did, Barbara called out that it is time for dinner. Each looked at the other, not saying a word and laughed out loud recounting their conversation moments ago about being able to lift a fork to eat.

While the Lopez family sat down for dinner, Rich was waiting for Alberto to stop by. He had his secretary call the senator's office to schedule a meeting because he wanted to see him and the only way to get that done was under the pretense of doing business. Neither of the two guys liked it, but they knew that is how it had to be done if they want to stay influential in their positions.

Just as Rich was about to give up on Cruz, he walked into the office apologizing for arriving late. With a smile on his face, Rich told Cruz that there was no need for him to apologize, but Alberto wouldn't stop. He apologized a couple more times as he took his seat and then went quiet. Both men just sat there looking at each other, not saying a word. After a few minutes of dead silence, Rich finally broke the silence.

"Let me first start off by saying thank you for coming down with me giving you short notice. I know you are as busy if not as busy as I am, and I'm thankful you came down." It was Alberto this time telling Rich that there was no need for him to be saying what he was saying. "I know, but I need to say it since I asked my secretary to set this meeting up just this morning."

"Again there is no need for you to thank me for coming down. I have been trying to figure out a way to see you because you have been on my mind since we had dinner the other night." Rich smiled hearing those words coming from Alberto. "I know it's going to be hard for us to try and get to know each other since I'm unwilling to come out, but you know as well as I do I have to do it this way if I want to keep my seat."

"No I know and there is no need to worry about me ever outing you. If you never do it, I'm fine with that as long as we honestly try and see if we click." Alberto made it clear that he was going to try and make a relationship. "Good that is all I want. Now with that said, let me move on to the reason I asked you here besides the obvious." Rich looked straight at Alberto and gave him an evil grin that gave Alberto goose bumps.

"I had a meeting with the Governor this morning and everything on the agenda was his bills. He found out late last night that the gay rights bill was going to be defeated in committee today. The Republicans were true to their word and brought the bill to a vote. They have the majority in committee and they took no time to kill the bill. It won't see the light of day."

Alberto, picking up the subject commented; "The news of the defeat of the Governor's gay rights bill spread like wild fire through the state building. I was placing a vote on another bill when several of my fellow democrat senators and I heard the news. We couldn't believe it happened and tried to find out if what we were hearing was true. When it was confirmed, we were knocked off of our feet."

Rich agreed with Alberto on what had happened, but didn't dwell on it. "It is over and done with and the Governor isn't about to put the bill back on the floor because he knows it will be defeated. The only other choice he has is what I am about to ask your help with." Rich tried to read Alberto's mood by his facial expression, but got nothing. Alberto had on his poker face.

"The Governor and I agree that we need to take this bill to the voters. We know once they hear what the bill actually contains the majority will have no problem with it." Rich went on to explain what is going to happen in California, which surprised Alberto. "Now that the governor of California is taking this on, we have to pass it, but the only way to get that done is by putting it on the ballot in ninety three. That brings me to what I would like to ask of you. Would you help me sell the bill by going on a campaign around the state talking to the voters?"

"Hell yes I will! I can promise when we're done, it will get passed!"

Rich and Alberto spent the next several hours going over the best way to reach the voters. Their conversation ran into dinner, which neither minded. They ordered Chinese Food and kept working. However, as they talked, they got closer and closer to each other. By the time they worked through the details and fine points, they were almost on top of each other

Unlike the last couple of mornings, when the alarm clock went off, Josh and Cesar jumped out of bed full of energy. They jumped in the shower together and cleaned each other's back and then some. By the time they were done, they were behind schedule as they were the days before. As they hurried to get ready, they agreed to tell the others that they overslept and that is why they were running late, not giving away they were fooling around in the shower.

When they got down to the breakfast table, Daniel Jr., Carlos and Brandon didn't buy the tale that Josh and Cesar were trying to sell. It wasn't that it wasn't believable. It was because they had a twinkle in their eyes that only meant one thing; they had sex. Daniel Jr. was the first to tell Josh and Cesar that what they were saying they weren't buying, but the two kept trying to sell it.

Even all the way to school, they refused to change their story. Finally Daniel Jr. and the other two stopped ragging on Josh and Cesar and changed the subject, which changed again when they drove up to the school. None of the Lopez boys could believe what they were seeing.

The jocks were out in force trying to rally last minute votes and none of Jacob's people were anywhere to be seen. When they walked into the cafeteria, they were all surprised to see Jacob sitting there with his friends eating breakfast. Josh wanted to go over and smack some sense into Jacob and make him get up and say something, but held back, and he was grateful that he did.

Just as he was making his way to Jacob's table, Jacob got up on top of the table he was eating at with the help from his friends. It didn't take much for Jacob to get the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Every student stopped what they were doing and looked over to Jacob to see what he was going to say before they went to vote for the next student council president.

Josh listened and was in awe of how Jacob was talking. He sounded like his father on his campaign for governor. There was no doubt that if Jacob decides to go into politics, he will give whoever was running against him a run for their money. He just has the ability to make others that listen to him, understand exactly what he was saying.

When he was done, the cafeteria broke out into applause and chants of Jacob's name. Josh looked around and wasn't surprised to see Markus and his friends standing at the entrance of the cafeteria on one side, shooting Jacob dirty looks while on the other side, Principal Michaels and several of the teachers joining the students in applauding Jacob.

Satisfied that Jacob wasn't ready to roll over and let Markus take the race, Josh made his way to his table and joined the others. For the first time all week, they didn't talk about what they could do to help Jacob. Their conversation was about everything else under the sky except what is going to happen during first period.

Before they knew it, the bell rang, causing everyone in the cafeteria to get up. On their way out, they stopped at Jacob's table and promised him that they were going to vote for him. Josh and his friends joined the others giving Jacob that promise when they passed his table. When Josh went to speak, Jacob stopped him and told him there was no need; they were best friends and best friends don't need to even mention to the other that they will back them.

Hearing that from Jacob put a smile on Josh's face. As he was walking away, Jacob called out to him thanking him for everything he had done while he was out. Josh replied with Jacob's own take on their friendship, `Best friends don't need to thank the other for helping each other out'. That put a smile on both of the boys' faces and it stayed on Josh's face all the way to his locker and his first period.

The morning announcements went as usual until the end when Principal Michaels came on. He went through the process of how the voting was going to happen and then left it up to the homeroom teachers to take over from there. When the screen went blue, all the students turned their attention to the front and couldn't wait to get their ballot for those who were running for each position.

As soon as she handed the ballots out, Josh and Cesar pulled their desks together and went down the list voting for the same students. When they reached student council president, they immediately filled in the circle by Jacob's name. Once they did that, they separated their desks and handed in their ballots and took their seats.

The rest of the morning dragged for Josh. He wanted to know if Jacob was successful taking down Markus or if in the last days Markus was able to take enough votes from Jacob to win the election. When third period rolled around, Josh and Cesar quickly took their seats and looked up to the television on the wall like the rest of the students in their class.

When the final bell rang, they expected the see the blue screen to come on, but it didn't. Even the teacher looked up at the television and was expecting that it was going to turn on immediately after the bell rang. After a few minutes of waiting, the teacher decided to take roll call. As he finished filling out his attendance sheet, the class broke out to applause as the blue screen the television came on and then Principal Michaels came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen the votes have been counted and I have the results of the election. The votes were counted by the outgoing student council and brought to me in a sealed envelope. So I don't know the results until I read them." Principal Michaels opened the envelope and started to read off the winners of the lower positions, the results there weren't a surprise. Everyone was waiting to hear who won the student council president.

"And now the one you all have been talking about this last week. Before I open this envelope, I want to make clear that there will be no retaliation of any kind to anyone that was involved in this election." Principal Michaels opened the envelope and as he looked at the sheet he pulled out, it looked like he was about to vomit. He looked into the camera and started to speak in a low voice that got louder as he got to who won.

"The winner of the student council president is Markus Fuentes." Josh slumped down in his chair, as the rest of the class started to boo. The booing was heard up and down the hallways of all four floors of El Paso High School, but the jocks and the popular kids' singing started to drown out the booing. At first no understood what they were singing, but little by little what they were singing started to clear. When it did, it got Josh sick to his stomach.

we've Got The Right To Choose And
there Ain't No Way We'll Lose It
this Is Our Life, This Is Our Song
we'll Fight The Powers That Be Just
don't Pick Our Destiny 'cause
you Don't Know Us, You Don't Belong

Josh couldn't believe they were singing the song he sang the day he came out supporting Jacob out in the football stadium, Twisted Sisters `We're Not Gonna Take It". That song was to break away from the old ways, but by the looks of it, the students at this school, at least the majority of them, love to be put down and run by the jocks that take for themselves and leave nothing for the groups that

aren't considered a sports team.
oh We're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore

TO BE CONTINUED...

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back one and all to another chapter of `Shadow of My Father'. I know by how much time it took me to write out this chapter you guys were starting to think that I was giving up on writing my stories. I promise you that I won't because I love writing them and getting them out there to you guys to read. Just give me a little time to get back to myself and hopefully I can start getting out two to three chapters a week like I was doing before.

Now let me quickly sum up this chapter so where I can let you guys go. I lot happened and I let you guys into some things that are happening in the other chapters. I'm sure you guys are getting tired of hearing about the election, so I am bring that plot line to a close as I did in this chapter. But before I talk about that, let me talk about the other parts of the chapter.

In this chapter we saw the first defeat Governor Lopez received. Many of you are probably booing that defeat, but come on this is Texas and it was back in ninety two. Even today gay rights in this state won't happen, so there is no way that would have happened in ninety two. With that said, don't count the Governor out just yet.

He is making a couple of changes to the bill and letting the governor of California take it over and run with it. If the rest of the voters here in Texas are like me, I would be pissed that another state took the legislation that was ours first and passed it first. Hopefully that will be the feelings of the voters come November ninety three and they vote and pass the Stan Dudley Gay Rights Bill. At least to show the rest of the nation they are not haters.

A lot happened with the election, but I don't want to go much into that again here because I know it has to be boring you guys a little by now. I'm glad that Carlos, Josh and the rest of Josh's friends were out there helping to get Jacob's word out. I wonder if the picture, or should I say flyer that Josh was given by Zach we will see. Keep an eye out for that in the Jacob story.

The love scene was awesome, I mean it was hot! It was written by my editor "Daddy" Rick who just did an awesome job with it. We talked about it, but man he blew me away with it when I got the chapter back and read it. I hope you guys enjoyed it and loved the different scenes that happened in it. It wasn't just two in there having sex.

The answer to the question of keyboard player's sexuality was answered in this chapter. We now know for sure that Huntley is not just gay, but he does like Josh, or maybe Cesar, or maybe both of them. I think the answer to that question will be answered soon and when we do get the answer it is going to make for some good reading.

Ivan stunned Josh by the news he delivered about his concerts being sold out. But he didn't leave it there. He wants Josh to do two shows a day in each city he is going to perform in. I hope if the governor agrees with it, Ivan gives Josh some time to have fun, after all it is his Spring Break and he is going to be in cities that he has never been to. Plus it is his first tour and I'm sure that a singer always remembers their first tour.

Rich and Alberto are getting a little closer. I am glad that Rich went to Alberto and asked him for help on selling the gay rights bill to the voters of Texas. The only other thing I can say here is that there might be fireworks when these two hit the road together. I wonder if things do heat up with these two, will they be able to keep it from everyone else, or will they get caught?

The ending I know you guys want to kill me, but I had this planned the entire time on how this plot was going to come to a close. There are still a lot of questions out there about this plot. Starting with how close was the election. How did Jacob take the news of losing? Was things done on the up and up? Will this be all, or will one of the teachers or Principal Michaels look more into the final count. Answers to those questions you must read the next chapter of `Jacob'.

So much going on in this story and not enough paper to write it all on! I know if I forgot anything in my writer's corner about this chapter, "Daddy" Rick will take care of it in his corner. There are still a lot of open plots out there that I haven't even touched on, and many more new plots are to come. I hope that you all didn't forget about any of those plots, and if you did, well then it will be a lot of fun when they come back up again. So hold onto your hats ladies and gentleman, the ride is just beginning!

I could stay here all day long, with all the open plots already in this story, but 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:

What is the deal with the election? It had to be close! I hope that there was a re-count and that's what took so long to publish the results. I wonder what Jacob is thinking and feeling. He's not used to losing at anything. I suspect he will be surprised and yet not surprised, then feel a bit down having the loss to deal with. I think Principal Michaels should have previewed the results so that he didn't give away his feelings about Markus winning as it appears he did. I'd not even want to hear what he'll have to say to those close to him.

It seems that the Governor isn't going to let the gay rights bill fade into the Texas sunset! I think the governor of California had some great suggestions for Daniel and I think he realizes that there's some adjusting that will make the bill more saleable to the voters. Avoiding the word `marriage' could be the key. Get the bill more focused into civil rights and contractual realm and stay as far away as possible from anything having to do with the religious rites.

Now, Rich getting Albert allied with the program to rally voter support for the bill is a good thing. Albert will be another voice and being from the opposite party will help bring balance to the cause. Voters favor causes where they see opposing parties allied on an issue. It gives automatic credibility to the issue in question.

Speaking of Rich and Albert, it appears that their romance is going to be an agonizingly slow process with Albert being closeted and fully intending to stay that way. I hope that there's enough attraction to keep the desires going in spite of the challenges.

JPG had such kind things to say about the love scene. As you can probably imagine, I enjoyed writing it. They say that a successful writer is one that writes about what he knows. I'll leave it at that.

There is going to be a poll posted along with this chapter on Jacob's website about the tone and content of the love scene. I hope everyone will participate in the poll so that we know better how to focus the occasional love scenes when they come along. Let us hear your thoughts and feelings.

Until Next Time,
"Daddy" Rick
daddyrick@jacobmillertex.com