A Tale of Three By J.C. Vascardi
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Legal Disclaimer: This story is fictional, as are the characters featured herein, which are solely the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental. If you are under the age of eighteen, offended by male/male material, or if such material cannot be legally viewed where you live, then you should be leaving now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story.
Character Profiles: http://jayson.worldofslash.com/a-tale-of-three/profiles/index.htm Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesbyjayson Writing Journal: http://jaycolin.livejournal.com
This story is Copyright 2004-2010, 2011 by J.C. Vascardi. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied, in whole or in part, posted on any other website, or included in any form of book or media, without the explicit written permission of the author.
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Chapter Eleven, Part One Jessica's Perspective Thursday, January 13, 2005
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When I first met Kevin and James and Andrew's cousins at Jake's birthday party, I immediately came to the conclusion that had Jordan not filled me in a bit on their lives up until that point, specifically how their parents had treated them growing up, I would have written them off as filthy rich snobs that were unworthy of my time. However, with the insights that Jordan provided me with in terms of how they were brought up, I was able to look past my most immediate first impression and understand why they turned out the way they did. Having grown up in a very loving home with parents who were always sacrificing their own happiness to ensure Jordan's and my own, I know what an important role the parents play in the development of a child.
Taking their very bad childhoods into account, I was able to exert enough self control not to lose my temper with them when they started acting a little too stuck up for my tastes. I knew from the get go when Jordan called me and told me about James' request to help them that it wasn't going to be easy. Of course, then again, I've always enjoyed a good challenge, and let's face it, what better challenge could there possibly be than to decorate a four-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment on a $10,000 budget when the clients were, until very recently, filthy rich and, as such, have very expensive tastes that are now way beyond their means? I certainly can't think of many challenges which would be harder than that, at least that is, in terms of my profession as an interior designer.
James and Andrew were understandably anxious to get Kevin and their cousins out of their apartment. I can certainly understand why they would be, because it's not the biggest apartment in the world and it certainly isn't meant for six people. Add to that the fact that James and Andrew have been sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room so that their guests could be comfortable in the bedrooms, and I can really understand their anxiousness over getting their house guests settled into their new home. So, I made an appointment to come over and pick up Kevin and the triplets, drive them over to one of the local furniture stores to start buying furniture for their apartment, and arrange for delivery as fast as possible. I would have made the appointment sooner than I did, but I wanted to give Kevin and the triplets a few days to acclimate themselves with their new found financial situation. I also, of course, had to work the appointment in around their new schedules as college freshmen.
Arriving at James and Andrew's apartment, I rang the bell and waited. Usually they would know I was coming because of the fact that I would have had to get them to unlock the security door downstairs, but since Jordan lives in the building he gave me a key to the door. I was soon greeted by James, or was it Andrewæ never could tell the differenceè¬iearing a green silk shirt and a green and black kilt. It certainly isn't the first time that I'd seen one of the Matthews brothers wearing a kilt, but I'm not sure I'm entirely used to it yet, as I don't often encounter people who wear kilts. Of course, James and Andrew did attend a boarding school in Scotland from the ages of thirteen until eighteen where kilts were required dress on Sundays. Andrew told me once when I asked that, after five years worth of Sundays, James and him were so used to wearing kilts now that they had begun to enjoy wearing them and that's why they still wore them from time to time.
"Hey Jessica," one of the twins said and, noticing my questioning look, added, "Drew."
"Ah, okay," I said with a smile. "Hey Andrew."
"You know, I'm glad that Kevin can somehow tell your cousins apart," I said as I walked into the apartment. "Otherwise this would be a very long day because I certainly can't."
"Yeah, Kevin has always been very good at that."
"I've always been good at what?" Kevin asked as he walked into the room.
"Telling Tiernan, Tristan, and Trevor apart," Drew replied. "Jessica is going to need your help today with that."
"Okay, I can handle that," Kevin said. "So, what's on the schedule today?"
"Well, I'm taking you to one of the local furniture stores," I said. "Hopefully we can find some nice furniture that can be delivered quickly."
"I doubt we'll find anything really nice," Kevin said.
"Well, you probably won't find what you're used to," I said. "Quite simply, you can't afford what you're used to."
"Thanks for reminding me," Kevin said in a bitter tone.
"Now, now, Kevin," Drew said, "don't get difficult. Jessica is only trying to help. She's not even charging for her services, so the least you can do is be nice to her."
"I suppose you're right," Kevin said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Jessica."
"It's okay, Kevin," I said. "So where is that boyfriend of yours and his brothers? We should get going."
"Right here," Trevor said as he came out, followed by his brothers. The only reason I knew it was Trevor is because he wrapped his arm around Kevin's waist and kissed him briefly on the lips.
"We figured we'd make it easy for you today, Jessica," one of them said, and I correctly assumed that he was referring to the fact that each of them were wearing a different color silk shirt. "All you have to do is remember that Tech is wearing blue, Will is wearing black, and I'm wearing silver."
"Okay, that makes it easy," I said with a smile. "So, Tiernan blue, Tristan silver, Trevor black; got it. Okay, let's go then. My car is downstairs."
"Just out of curiosity," Tiernan asked, "what kind of car?"
"It's a Lincoln Navigator," I said. "After what Jay and Drew paid me for my services, I decided to treat myself."
With that, Tiernan, Tristan, Trevor, and Kevin followed me downstairs and we headed for the nearest furniture store. All the while I was hoping it wouldn't turn out to be as trying a day as I knew it could be.
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Chapter Eleven, Part Two Nick's Perspective Thursday, January 13, 2005
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As the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, I slowly packed up my books and prepared to leave my last period: study hall. Ever since the sleepover at Aaron's house, I've been finding it easier to deal with my affections for Jake Bradley. I still had a major crush on him at that point, and I'd be lying if I said that I was having a bit of a hard time getting through the days having to see him for three hours each day: in his class, study hall, and our after school tutoring session. Aaron, Brian, Jayden, Tony, and Carly had taken to coming over to study during the tutoring sessions, despite not needing any tutoring from Mr. Bradley. They simply let Mr. Bradley tutor me and quietly did their own homework, but they also provided me with some much needed moral support. Having the five of them in the room with me was more comforting than I can put into words, because I think if I had been alone with Mr. Bradley during the tutoring sessions, I would have once again failed his class and ended up returning for another year, rather than graduating with the rest of my classmates.
Today, however, was Thursday, which meant a new torture for me. It was the very first meeting of the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) with Mr. Bradley acting as the new faculty advisor, since Mrs. Armstrong was now out on maternity leave. The fact that I wouldn't be alone with him during the meetings certainly did help me to deal with it, but still, a part of me wanted to scream about having to spend an additional two hours with him. I suppose I should at least be glad that my Uncle Erik agreed to not having him come over to tutor me on Thursdays, owing to the fact that, like most of the other after-school activities, the GSA meetings were two hours after school, thus making it about five o'clock in the evening by the time I got home. If I had to sit through a tutoring session with Mr. Bradley for another hour after that, I think I would have lost my mind.
One thing that has also been an added source of both comfort and curiosity for me is that, ever since the sleepover, Jayden had been dropping hints that he was interested in the two of us moving beyond our current friends status. Despite my crush on Mr. Bradley and having more wet dreams and fantasies about him then I can count on both hands, I've never actually given much thought to the idea of a romantic relationship with anybody. While I was most definitely attracted to Mr. Bradley, I can say with honesty that I was never actually in love with him. As for Jayden, I had to admit that I did find him to be attractive and he was certainly one of my best friends, but beyond that, I was very unsure.
Arriving in the library, I noticed that most of the other students had already arrived, although there was still no sign of Mr. Bradley. Hoping that I'd manage to get through the meeting okay, I quietly walked over and sat down in one of the large, overstuffed leather armchairs. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed Aaron sitting in one of the other chairs, with Brian sitting in his lap. I'd always been very close to Aaron and he confessed things to me that he'd never told anyone else. One of those things was that he had a crush on Brian, which it now seemed was reciprocated if their close proximity to one another counted for anything. I had to admit that they made a very cute looking couple in my book, so I hoped that things between them worked out because I knew that Aaron would be really hurt if they didn't, and the last thing I ever wanted to happen was for Aaron to get hurt.
I was soon brought out of my thoughts when I saw Mr. Bradley enter the library, followed by the last of the members who had yet to arrive. As they settled onto the various couches and chairs, Mr. Bradley set his briefcase down on a nearby table and then hopped up and sat cross-legged on it. It was then that I noticed why he had been a bit late coming up from downstairsæeue'd taken the time to change clothes. Normally he was always wearing a suit and tie in class, but now he was dressed much more casually in a pair of navy blue jeans, sneakers, and a golden silk shirt left unbuttoned to reveal a white t-shirt with the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks logo printed on it. I couldn't help but notice that I wasn't the only student who was drooling over him, as many of the other gay and bisexual guys and straight girls in our group were eyeing him with a hungry look in their eye.
"Hey y'all," Mr. Bradley said with a smile. "Most of you have probably seen me around school and know by now that my name is Mr. Bradley and that I teach World Geography and United States History. Some of you are, in fact, in my classes. Anyway, since we're not in class, those of you who've seen me around probably know that I've dressed more casually than usual. It is after school now, so I figured I would dress a bit more comfortably. Contrary to popular belief, I do not always wear a suit and tie. Now, since we're not in class and I'm not that much older than any of you, I'd also like to ask that you call me Jake, rather than Mr. Bradley, but only during these meetings."
Everyone nodded their heads and waited for Jake to continue, which he soon did. "Now, seeing as how this is my first day on the job as your faculty advisor, I would like to spend a little time getting to know all of you a bit better. Now, to make you all a bit more comfortable revealing things about yourself, I figured that I would tell you all a bit more about myself."
Pausing to take a deep breath, Jake smiled and then said, "I recently celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday, last Saturday in fact. I'm originally from Jacksonville, Florida, but I moved here to Wilmington to attend college and enjoyed it so much that I ended up staying on after graduation. I have three brothers, one older and two younger, and like some of you, I'm bisexual."
I think I almost fainted when I heard Jake say that, but somehow I managed to stay alert. Aaron looked over at me with a secret grin that we had used to communicate with one another silently for years now. I just could not believe my ears; one of my teachers had just come out of the closet and said that he was bi! On top of that, it was none other than the one teacher that I had a major crush on and had purposely set out to fail his class just so that I could be in his class a second time. I was once again brought out of my thoughts when I heard Phillip ask, "Do you have anyone special in your life, Mr. Br..., I mean Jake?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Jake said as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it to reveal a picture of himself standing between two men, one of whom look about his age and the other who looked younger. Jake's arm was around the one who looked his age, while the younger one was leaning with his back against Jake's other arm. "The one whose waist my arm is around is my significant other, Christian Hunter, he's 26, and works as a real estate agent. A mutual friend introduced us and, despite attending rival colleges, we quickly hit it off and have been together ever since."
'So not only is Jake bisexual, but he's dating a guy,' I thought to myself. 'He certainly does look very happy with this Christian. Too happy I think to entertain the idea of ever going out with me. Of course, maybe I could go out with them both... nah, strike that. I'm sixteen, so I'd be like their boy-toy or something if that happened. Not really a position I think I'd like to be in.'
"Who's the other guy?" Phillip asked.
"That's my son Colton," Jake said with a fond smile.
"Your son?" Aaron asked. "If you're only 25 how can you have a son that tall?"
"Colton is very tall for his age," Jake explained. "He's 5'7" right now and only an inch shorter than his mother, but height is something that the men on both sides of the family have in common. I know you might not believe it looking at this picture, but he's only 10." Looking at the group, he then added, "Which obviously means I was only 15 when he was born. I don't regret it, but I strongly suggest that none of you have kids that young because it's a lot of work and responsibility."
I was only half-listening to Jake talking about his son, which was another strike against my getting together with the older man as I was definitely nowhere near ready to be a father, as my thoughts were focusing more on Jayden instead. Knowing that Jayden wanted a relationship with me had really gotten me thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I had to say that I liked the idea. I think some part of me will always wonder what it would have been like to be with Jake, but thinking about it, I soon realized that I really didn't know that much about Jake. I mean, I knew that I found him attractive and now I knew his birthday, that he was born in Jacksonville, Florida, had attended UNC-Wilmington, and that he had three brothers, but such basic information, even when coupled with a strong attraction, is a very poor foundation for a lifelong commitment. I still was unsure if I even wanted a lifelong commitment. Of course, what teenager really is to begin with? I was, however, sure that if I were to ever get anywhere near having such a relationship, I'd have to give up on my crush on Jake, because in listening to him talk about Christian, I could tell that he was infinitely happy, so the chances of my ever getting anywhere with him as more than just friends were slim to nil.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed that the meeting had ended and that many of the members had already left. I was brought out of my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little, startled by the sudden contact, but then I couldn't help but smile when I saw who the hand belonged to. It was Jayden and he had this really genuine and caring smile on his face as he looked down at me. It was then that I realized that I wanted a loving relationship, and the way Jayden was looking at me at that moment, I was pretty sure I wanted it to be with him. A nagging feeling of doubt about whether I could ever have a long-term relationship stuck in the back of my mind, but I pushed it aside as I stood up and looked down slightly at Jayden. In that moment, I drank in every feature of his face and, before I ever even realized what was happening, I leaned forward. When Jayden's lips met mine, I could feel a surge of electricity shoot down my spine and somehow I just knew that I could be very happy with him.
As the kiss ended, I smiled at Jayden and said, "Why don't you come over to my place? I think we need to talk about what just happened and what the future holds. Assuming that is, you want us to have a future together."
"I'd love to," Jayden said as he returned my smile.
"You'd love to come to my house?" I asked. Even though I already knew the answer, I felt the need to hear Jayden say the words. "Or you'd love for us to have a future together?"
"Both," Jayden said with a smile as he learned over and kissed me on the cheek.
Seeing as almost the entire school knew that I was bisexual and one of the Gay/Straight Alliance's founding members, I couldn't care less what anyone thought, and as I walked out of the library that night with Jayden, I gave in to the urge to slip my hand into the back pocket of his khaki shorts. Jayden just looked over at me briefly, smiled, and then wrapped his arm around my neck as he rested his head on my shoulder. 'This'll be an interesting evening,' I thought to myself. 'A very interesting evening indeed.'
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Chapter Eleven, Part Three Aaron's Perspective Wednesday, January 19, 2005
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Homeroom was always kind of boring and I never really understood why we even had it. It was just a period of like fifteen minutes between the start of day bell and our first class, during which the homeroom teacher took attendance and we listened to the daily announcements. The attendance part was rather pointless in my opinion, since all the teachers took attendance at the beginning of their classes, though I suppose the real reason for the homeroom period was more due to the announcements, so that they wouldn't take up any class time. Right on schedule, I heard the public announcement system kick in, however, this morning was different, considering that instead of the normal group of student announcers, it was Dr. Webber's voice.
"Attention all students, this is Dr. Webber. Before we get to the normal morning announcements, I have an announcement of my own to make. Due to numerous complaints from some of your parents, all junior and senior students wishing to sign up for the prom planning committee should please report to English teacher Mrs. Collins in Room 122 at some point this week. Thank you for your time, and now here are your student announcers with the rest of the morning announcements."
I tuned out the announcers as I thought about what Dr. Webber had said. In the back of my mind, I knew that the thought of the whole school going along with the members of the Gay/Straight Alliance acting as the prom committee was not likely to happen. While it was true that the GSA had fifty members, the school had a total of nine hundred and fifty students, and I knew from experience that there were quite a few homophobic students. I just hoped that Mrs. Collins wouldn't select the most homophobic students she could find, like Mrs. Bates always did, and then bar same-sex couples from attending the prom, as had been done in years past.
My morning classes passed by rather quickly and it was soon time for lunch. Stopping at my locker, I put all my books away and then decided that a stop to the bathroom was in order before heading downstairs to the cafeteria. Arriving in the bathroom, I took care of business and then stopped in front of the sink to wash my hands. It was then that the bathroom door opened and four of my fellow seniors walked in. I can't say as I was overly happy to see them, because they were among some of the biggest homophobes in the school.
"Well, well," said the leader of the group, David Parker, "what do we have here? One of the fairies who started that fucking Gay/Straight Alliance that thought it was going to take over prom."
David's friends laughed and I got a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I dried my hands and made to leave the room.
"What, no hello?" Shawn Walker asked as I passed.
"Hello," I said. "I'll just be going now."
"I don't think so," David said as Vincent Summers and Aidan Fisher blocked the door. "Hold him."
Before I could react, Shawn grabbed my wrists and twisted them behind my back in a death grip as David came up to me and said, "I think you need to be taught a lesson, fairy boy. You need to learn that prom isn't meant for you and your kind."
That said, David balled his right hand into a fist and punched me, hard, in the stomach. As I doubled over in pain, David punched me in the mouth, and I knew that he'd just busted my lip because I could feel the blood beginning to trickle down my chin. Not deterred in the slightest by the sight of my blood, David punched me in the right eye and, before I could even think about the fact that I would have a black eye, he punched me in the left eye as well. At this point, Shawn let go of my arms and kicked my feet out from under me. I fell flat on my face and groaned inwardly at the distinct cracking noise that I knew meant that my nose had just broken. Shawn and David then began to kick me in the sides of my chest and stomach and, with each kick, I began to feel more and more like death would be welcome because then I wouldn't be able to feel any of the pain that was now coursing through my body.
I was in so much pain that I couldn't even look up when I heard the bathroom door open, so I had no idea who had just come into the bathroom until I heard them shout, "Stop that this instant!" It was the voice of Jake Bradley, and I must say that I was never more glad to hear a teacher's voice than right at that moment. Of course, my joy at hearing his voice didn't last long, because it would seem that when he came in, he saw David and Shawn kicking me and he hadn't noticed Vincent and Aidan near the door. I soon heard a groan of pain and, somehow managing to turn my head and open my eyes enough to see, despite the tears welling up in them, I could see the top of Jake's head, now flat on the bathroom floor where he had fallen after Aidan tripped him.
Jake rolled onto his side and was moving to stand back up when David stopped kicking me and kicked Jake in the ribs. Jake groaned as David kicked him again and again and again.
"You stupid fairy," David said. "Don't think that it isn't all over school by now that you're a faggot, too. You deserve to be beaten up just as much as Forrester does, if not more, since you became a teacher. Faggots have no business teaching school or doing any other job around children. You sick faggot, you probably undress every male student who walks into your classroom with your eyes to fuel your sick and perverted sexual fantasies."
I'm not sure how he ever managed to muster the strength to do it, but Jake soon grabbed David's foot and threw him off balance. David cussed as he fell backward into one of the stalls and Jake managed to get to his feet. By this point I had rolled onto my back, although it hadn't stopped Shawn from kicking me. As I looked up at Jake, I could see that he was doing an admirable job of not showing any weakness, as if he hadn't just been kicked in the ribs about a dozen times. Unfortunately, he was still outnumbered and David wasn't the only one willing to beat up a teacher.
"Jake, look out," I moaned weakly, but he didn't hear me, and it wasn't long until Aidan came up behind Jake and slammed his head into the metal dividing wall between two of the stalls. Shawn stopped kicking me and sidestepped just in time to avoid having Jake fall into him, but being in so much pain, I couldn't move and I had the wind knocked out of me as Jake fell on top of me. Turning my head ever so slightly to look at Jake's face, which had landed just left of my own head, I could see that his eyes were glazed over and that he had lost consciousness. He also had a long, bloody gash on the back of his head and his hair was matted with blood. Shortly after realizing that, my mind, mercifully, went black.
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To be continued.