Disclaimer: This story is 100% fictional and may contain references and scenes of consensual sex between males. Any resemblance to real people or situations is purely coincidental. If your country or state does not allow such material to be read or you have come across this site by accident, please leave now.
Important Notice: Nifty is a free site and relies on donations from authors and readers to operate. If you enjoy the site, please consider making a donation at ( http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html )
Author's Notice: This work is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal or private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice.
Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster
CHAPTER THREE: KEEPING BUSY
TREY'S POV
I walked across the quad and I reflected on college so far. The coursework was interesting, but I was still in that place where I could handle things with ease. I started to seriously consider that I'd never find that challenge when it came to learning. I had thought that having a double major as well as a minor would supply that challenge but I was wrong. Maybe I'd need to wait a while, at least until my second semester before I wrote off my freshman year as more of the same.
Then there was the fact that I was still bummed about the frat party two weeks before. I knew that I had no interest in joining a fraternity, even if I'd initially reluctantly agreed to, but to hear those guys basically bring up that same crap only served to make me remember that old woman who just happened to be the grandmother of the guy I was engaged to.
Finally, there was the guy who I was engaged to. I missed him so much and I found myself thinking more than once that the summer had been a bad idea. Spending so much close uninterrupted time with Bear only to go to not being able to see him but every once in a while was really getting to me. We couldn't even talk like we wanted as Bear was busy with practice and training.
His skipping his summer conditioning had come back to bite both of us in the ass as now he had to make that up which meant that he didn't have much time to talk. We tried to talk but he was always so tired that I'd just tell him to go and get some rest. Sometimes though I'd wake up to find that he'd sent me a text in the middle of the night. It was usually just little things like "I love you" or "I miss your smile" or " I need to kiss you". I really missed him after reading those text.
Talking to him was never enough though, especially with the brief time I was able to so I made the stupid decision to not talk to him at all. He wasn't happy with this decision, but like with a lot of things, I managed to convince him that it was a good idea. It wasn't, but we'd just have to deal with it for the time being until we were able to see each other in person.
I started to feel hungry so I headed for The Cove. I hoped that one of my friends would be there as they were the ones who were keeping me sane. As I arrived I saw Maria talking to some guy and she looked like she was flirting so I decided to leave her be and I went and ordered a burger and fries with a Root Beer. After getting and paying for my food I headed for a table that I guess I would be eating at alone.
As I ate my burger I watched Maria flirt with the guy but as I watched him, I realized she was barking up the wrong tree but I'd let her figure that out. I looked toward the door just in time to see Christian walk in. He looked around likely trying to see if any of us were there. When he spotted me and smiled and gave me a nod. He held up a finger and went to get some food before coming over to me and taking a seat.
"Hey man, how're things?" he asked before he started dressing his chicken sandwich.
"Alright I guess," I said sort of disinterested in talking.
"I was actually looking for you," he said before taking a bite of his sandwich and letting go with a mmm. The Cove was a great place for food and socializing.
"Oh really? What for?" I asked as I ate some of my fries.
"I found something that I wanted to show you," he said before taking another bite of his food. I noticed that he never spoke with food in his mouth. He always finished chewing before saying anything. Those were some good manners that Liberty would benefit from.
"What would that be?" I asked and waited for him to stop chewing so he could continue.
"Can't tell ya. You'll just have to wait until we get there," he said with a teasing smile on his face. I'm sure he knew that he'd piqued my interest quite a bit.
"Does Liberty know about this?" I asked.
"Nope. This is just for the two of us," he said with a mischievous smile.
"You do know I'm in a very committed relationship, right?" I asked jokingly.
"I assure you I know that." He smiled and I saw what Liberty saw in him. "Actually, if everything checks out okay, we'll tell the others. I'm sure Sean will want in with you there," he said with a smirk and snickered before tackling the other half of his sandwich.
Maria came over after a few more minutes and told us about the guy she was talking to. Christian surprised her and me too when he asked her if she knew the guy was gay. She asked him what made him think he was and he said he could just tell and he was surprised that she couldn't as gay guys and girls were supposed to be in tuned to stuff like that.
She then said that he wasn't that hot anyway which was a famous line from the rejected even though she'd technically not been rejected. In any event though, that conversation was dropped and we talked about something else until Christian and I finished eating. Maria said she had a class and left us alone and Christian told me to follow him as we left The Cove.
"What is this?" I asked Christian as we walked into a small building on the northwest side of the campus. It was smaller than most other buildings and it looked like a multi-purpose building.
"Let's go and you'll see." That's all he said before he walked on ahead and walked into a room at the end of the hall. I hurried along to catch up with him and when I got to the room I saw on the outside of the room a plaque on the wall saying `Campus GSA'. I smiled at that and walked into the room and saw Christian leaning against the wall just inside the door looking awfully pleased with himself.
"You found a GSA?" I asked him with an amused smile.
"Well I heard a guy and a girl talking about it yesterday so I asked and they told me where it was. I think they thought I was gay cause the guy started flirting with me," he said and I couldn't resist so I gave him a side hug.
"What did he say when you told him you were straight?" I asked after the hug.
"I didn't," he said before walking on into the room. I looked after him for a second before shaking my head at the guy that I knew. I walked on into the room.
"Hi, welcome to the GSA," a tall white guy said as he walked up to us.
"Hi, I'm Christian and this is my friend Trey," Christian said as he extended his hand. The guy shook his hand and then mine with a welcoming smile on his face.
"Well nice to meet you. I'm Liam and I am sort of the director of this group, well co-director. By the way, you don't need to call each other `friends' here," he said and I heard a snort from Christian.
"Well Christian is my friend," I said and Liam smiled a knowing smile.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are," he said.
"No really. He's actually dating a friend of mine, who's female," I said with emphasis on the female part.
"Ah, I see," he said and he was kind of annoying me by not believing me.
"Trey, there's no need to deny our love," Christian said as he pulled me to his side and hugged me to him.
"Very funny," I said to him with a mock glare and he laughed.
"We actually are just friends. He has a boyfriend that if you saw, you'd see that I wasn't his type. Hell, I'm straight and even I'd go for him," Christian said and I could imagine Bear having hordes of straight boys clamoring to get a taste of him. They would have to die by my hands, but they'd still be clamoring before their deaths.
"Oh, well it's great that you have such a supportive friend. That's what the GSA is all about. Bringing together LGBT people and their straight allies," he said and I wondered what was going on with the GSA at our high school.
"Oh well, you haven't seen anything yet. Once you meet my girlfriend and his best friend, you'll see some straight allies," Christian said and I agreed.
"Yeah I don't think you all are prepared for the likes of my straight friends," I said which was true. I sometimes couldn't believe my good fortune to have such a supportive group of friends.
"Well I look forward to meeting them then," Liam said sounding like he was serious. I don't think he knew what he was in for.
"We're just about ready Liam," a guy said. He looked like he was of Latin descent and he had a Spanish accent.
"Okay, thanks," he said to the guy before turning to us. "Guys, this is Angel. Angel, meet Christian and Trey," he said as he introduced us.
"Nice to meet you two. I'm glad you could make it," he said as nodded to both of us and we returned the gesture.
"Guess which one is gay," Liam said and Christian snorted trying to stifle a laugh.
"Oh, well okay," Angel said before walking over and taking my left hand and holding it in both of his hands. I couldn't help but notice how strong his hands felt in stark contrast to his very lean figure. He stared into my eyes and I tried not to betray anything. He then released my hand and repeated this with Christian.
"Well," Liam said after he'd let go of Christian's hand and stood back.
"Him," he said as he pointed at me and I just thought, "what the fuck?"
"Well, there you go man," Christian said before giving me a very firm pat on the back.
"How did you know?" I asked and not for the first time, I wondered if I was obvious since so many people had figured Bear and I out beforehand.
"Don't worry too much. I saw you obviously trying to keep yourself neutral. Christian didn't have anything to hide so he didn't have to try to not betray anything." I mentally kicked myself for the gut reaction to do the very thing that ended up giving me away.
"We have to start now, but we'll talk later," Liam said before he and Angel walked over and stood in front of the room and got everyone's attention. Christian and I walked over and took a seat. They introduced themselves to the newcomers and spoke a bit about what this place was all about.
I already knew that as I'd been through the formation of my high school's GSA not too long ago, but I still paid attention. I noticed that Liam and Angel stood close to each other and I wondered if they were a couple. They spoke about the things that gay people have gone through and how important a place like this was.
They encouraged a few people to get up ad speak and several people did. Three guys and two girls spoke about the things they'd been through and again I felt sad that for the most part, my coming out was mild compared to them, Zane notwithstanding.
Another guy got up and told a story about his brother. It was in some ways similar to the story that Mr. Renner had told me about his brother, only without the drug addition part. This guy's brother had been killed and nobody seemed to know who had done it, but he was sure that they really did.
I happened to glance at Liam and I saw that his eyes were glistening from what looked like unshed tears. I wondered how hard it must be for the two of them to hear these stories year after year as it looked like he and Angel were a bit older than some of the students there.
I then saw Angel move closer to him and kind of rub his back in a comforting manner and I guess that was my confirmation that they were a couple. I felt Christian nudge me and I looked over at him and he gestured to the front of the room. I knew what he wanted but I wasn't sure as I didn't notice any of the freshmen saying anything. He looked at me kind of hard so I stood and went to the front of the room.
I felt nervous and hot for some reason that I was unsure of. I guess it was because this wasn't like high school where sure, I was a well known geek and a fag to them, but I was also well known for being the best friend and then lover of the biggest and tallest guy in school who was well known to be very protective of me even before we'd gotten together. Here though, I was a small, unknown fish in a very big pond.
I tried to calm my racing heart and I introduced myself to the room before I told them a little bit about myself and about how I'd come to know I was gay. I then told about how I'd suppressed it for years until it wouldn't be held back anymore and I had to tell Bear about it. I told of our relationship, our outing, our separation and my beating at the hands of my brother and how eventually, I'd gained love and acceptance from all of my important family and friends.
I told them about all the crap though that I'd went through, up to the rape, but I didn't tell them that. I'd save that until I was more comfortable telling strangers about it. While I told my story I made sure not to mention Bear's name as I didn't know if they would ever hear it and remember that I'd said it. I knew it was probably silly to think that these people, who understood that it was important to keep certain things quiet, would run around telling people about Bear, but I still wanted to be safe.
After I finished my story, I was startled when Liam dropped his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and he gave me an approving nod before I went back to my seat. Christian gave me a pat on the leg and I didn't realize how nervous I'd been until I was finished. I still found that weird as I wasn't a stranger to public speaking. I guess it was just a part of me that I'd just have to get used to.
Angel asked if there was anyone else that wanted to talk, but none of the other freshmen looked like they were in the mood to talk so they went on to other business. They told us about campus events that would be going on for the LGBT students, including a few get-togethers that would be hosted by the GSA, where it was safe to go to party, and they told us that they'd be giving out their numbers to everyone in case they needed to talk to someone about anything sensitive.
They then concluded that part of the meeting and encouraged everyone to mingle. Christian saw the two who'd told him about the place and he went over to see them. I looked up and saw Liam coming toward me.
"So, that was brave of you to get up and speak. I didn't expect any freshmen to do so, but I ask every time anyway. Angel said I should stop pressuring them, but I don't see it like that," he said and I agreed. While I was nervous, it was about trying to show everyone here that it was safe to let down the guards that they normally wore.
"Yeah, well I have a little bit of experience talking about myself like this. I was student council president last year at my high school and the council started a GSA at my school," I told him and I wondered again how Jeremy was doing. I made a mental note to call him later.
"That's great. Well maybe I should talk to Angel and see if there's anything we could use you for," he said and I know he probably meant that innocently, but I heard some innuendo.
"Um, yeah sure," I said and inwardly cringed at the tone I'd used. Liam raised an eyebrow as he looked at me and it was obvious he was curious about why I'd said it like that.
"Hey, I'm gonna head on out. I'll see you at home later," Angel said as he thankfully interrupted us.
"You gonna take my car?" Liam asked him and he got a thoughtful smile.
"I told you my old car is fine," Angel said and they talked like they were a married couple instead of a college couple.
"Okay, fine. I'll be here though when you need me to come and pick you up on the side of the road," Liam said but I could see that he was joking and apparently Angel could too as he just laughed before walking away. "Sorry about that," he said after turning back to me.
"Oh it's fine. I've had conversations like that with my boyfriend," I said and he gave me another inquisitive look.
"Huh?" he said sounding a bit confused.
"You and Angel. You two must have been together for a while. You seem so comfortable with each other," I said and he looked at me funny for a few seconds before he busted out laughing which drew a few looks toward us.
"What's so funny?" I was confused why he was so amused.
"Oh, sorry," he said after gaining control of himself a bit. "No, Angel and I aren't a couple. I'm straight," he said through his laughter and I'm sure I was blushing because my face felt hot.
"Oh," I muttered.
"No, it's okay. No need to be embarrassed. I guess we're so close that people think we're a couple," he said and I briefly thought of me and Bear and I wondered if Bear hadn't been with so many girls, would anyone had figured us out sooner even before we got together.
"Well, you did imply that you lived together, and there was the back and forth you two were doing." I knew that from my interactions with Bear, although we'd been doing that long before we'd gotten together.
"Well actually, we do share an apartment just off campus. We've known each other a long time, ever since my twin brother started dating him during our senior year of high school," he said and I wondered where his brother was.
Then I don't know how, but it clicked for me. I remembered his unshed tears when that guy, whose name was Lane, was telling the story about his brother. Then there was the sad look that was in his eyes now, a look that he was trying to hide, but I was able to see.
"Oh," I said and I guess my tone must've given me away as he stopped trying to hide the sadness.
"He committed suicide a couple years ago," he said in a broken tone and it broke my heart. I'd remembered reading that twins were extremely close to each other, with some cases of one twin feeling the moment their twin was hurt or even died. I had experience observing the closeness between twins with my sisters and with Liberty and Justice.
"I'm so sorry," I said and slightly cringed at the automatic but stupid response. It wasn't like an `I'm sorry' was gonna heal the pain he felt. He seemed to understand though as he gave me a small smile.
"Thanks. I still don't know what happened, nobody does. All we know is that our parents found out about him and they reacted as badly as we'd thought. There was shouting and yelling but he proclaimed that he was gay and the he loved Angel. I told them that I supported and loved both him and Angel and would always be there for them."
"They seemed to reluctantly admit defeat and that was a relief. Then a few days later, my dad showed up and told us he wanted to talk to Les by himself. Angel and I were worried, but Les didn't seem all that worried. Well they stayed gone for a few hours and when Les came back, he was sullen and went to his room, only saying he'd talk to us later. He was lying though.
"I went to sleep and Angel stayed over but bunked with me instead. I had a fitful sleep and near morning, I woke up because I felt sick to my stomach. I got up and went to my bathroom and took some stomach medicine and got back into bed. Well, a while later I remember hearing this soul crushing shout. I jumped up and I saw it was morning but I didn't have time to think about that."
"I ran to the bathroom and saw Angel sitting on the floor cradling my brother in his arms and rocking back and forth. He was pleading with him to wake up. I felt such a feeling of dread that I had to throw up because deep down, I knew he was already gone. I got down on the floor and felt for a pulse and my horror was confirmed. We never found out why he did it and my dad pretends to not know, but I'm sure he said something to him that made him do it."
"He went to the funeral and played the part of grieving father, but he got over his death quickly enough. It destroyed my mother though as she hasn't been the same. I think she knows that my dad did something too as she doesn't really talk to him anymore. She even moved out of their bedroom. Angel and I were messed up too for a long time, but we're managing it. We support each other," he said finishing his story and my heart ached for the tragedy that he had to go through.
"I'm sor-" I started before I caught myself. Instead, I told him all about me, including the rape. I found myself sweating when I relived the events. Aside from Dr. Manning and Bear, I hadn't told anybody of the details until now. It felt weird, but somehow good to talk about it.
After I finished, I saw that we had taken a seat sometime while I was talking and I hadn't even realized it. I also saw that the room was mostly empty except for the two of us and Christian who was still talking to the pair who had told him about this place. Liam looked sad after I looked back at him and it wasn't just the regular pity look that people who heard these things from people had. He actually looked as if he'd felt for me.
"Thanks for telling me that. I'm happy you felt comfortable enough to do so," he said and I could understand how Angel could lean on him so easily.
"Well, you told me something just as personal so I thought I'd share with you." It's strange that I never questioned my willingness to do so.
"It's weird, but I felt like I could talk to you and that you'd understand, at least in some way," he said and I got what he was saying because I'd felt the same way.
"I get it," I told him and he smiled. About that time his phone beeped and he took it out and looked at it.
"Well, according to my phone, I'm gonna be late for the gym. Gotta get my workout on," he said and we both chuckled.
"I need to hit the gym myself. I haven't had a good workout since before the summer," I said. I then thought about Bear and the many `workouts' we'd had over the summer and I hoped I didn't blush because Liam was close enough to see if I did.
"You can come with me if you want," he said. I was about to say yes, but then I remembered I had some notes to look over and a book to read for one of my classes.
"I'd love to, but I've got some work to do. Maybe next time," I said as we both stood up.
"Yeah I get it. I remember what it's like being a freshman. Trying to get used to the new norm and adjust to the new work difficulty," he said but that's not what I was feeling at all. I just didn't want to get behind.
"Yeah, I guess," I said off-handedly. I didn't want to sound like super nerd by telling him that I wasn't phased at all by the work I was getting.
"Tell you what, give me your number and I'll text you the directions on how to get there. It's off campus so you need directions," he said and I gave him my number. He sent a test text so I could save his number in my phone. "Well, it's been great talking to you. I'll be seeing you soon," he said as he extended his hand. We shook and then he walked over to the desk at the front of the room.
"So, did you have fun?" Christian asked from behind me startling me.
"Huh," I said as I turned and I saw that he looked amused. I noticed that the pair he was talking to was gone.
"I think Bear and Sean are gonna be jealous that you've gotten another boyfriend," he said with a mischievous look.
"Buzz off," I told him before walking away. I waved to Liam as I was leaving the room and he waved back. He looked like he was about to leave as well.
"Oh come on Trey. You two were talking for a long time. I think his boyfriend is gonna be jealous," Christian said and I realized that I wasn't the only one who'd assumed they were together.
"He's straight," I said simply as I walked down the hallway with him following along.
"Really?" he asked as he stopped. I stopped as well.
"Yes really," I said as I kind of enjoyed his surprise. It didn't last though.
"Well, that doesn't seem to mean anything to Sean," Christian said with a smirk and I rolled my eyes.
"What about you? Does it mean anything to you?" I asked him after I playfully pushed him against the wall.
"Hey, you know what they say... sexuality isn't all black and white," he said while aiming a sultry smile at me. I immediately retracted the hand that I was using to hold him against the wall. This apparently wasn't a good idea as he smiled a sinister smile. "What's the matter Trey? Am I making you nervous."
"If Liberty heard this conversation, she'd make you dead," I said as I stepped back from him.
"I don't think it's me that she'd be making dead," he said with an arrogant smile.
"Whatever," I said as I rolled my eyes. I then turned and started to walk away.
"You still want to room with me? We can share all those things you wanted to," Christian said and I stopped in my tracks and started plotting Liberty's untimely demise. He laughed but I chose to walk away without comment as I concocted quite a few good plans for one of my oldest friends.
"I'm gonna kill you," I said to Liberty as she and Jessica walked up and took a seat next to me on one of the sofas in the lobby of our dorm.
"What did I do?" she asked looking confused.
"You told Christian about what I was joking about the day we arrived here," I said and she smiled, then frowned.
"He wasn't supposed to tell you about that," she said. I could tell she was plotting her own revenge for Christian.
"Yeah, well he did," I said in mock annoyance.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but you gave that to me," she said with no sympathy.
"How is pledging going?" I asked to be a butt. I was shocked when she and Jessica chose to pledge Delta Tau Sorority. Liberty and Jessica held me down and made me promise not to give them any shit about it. I lied and said I wouldn't.
"It's fine now that rush is over," Liberty said.
"And nobody has hit her with any paddles yet and she's not had to be arrested yet so that's good," Jessica added and I had to stifle a laugh.
"I'll just be glad when all this `fall in line' crap is over and I can finally behave like an individual," Liberty said.
"What about Light and Maria?" I asked as they had chosen to pledge with the girls as well.
"They a'ight," Liberty said casually. I was about to say something else when my phone rang. I looked at the display and it was my mother.
"Hey mama," I said as I answered the phone.
"What the hell is the matter with you? I haven't heard from you in over three weeks," she said and I mentally did some calculations because it couldn't have been that long since I'd talked to her.
"Uh," I said trying to stall.
"Is that all you have to say? I just found out from your brother that you talked to him three days ago yet you haven't called me since you've been gone," she said and it hit me then.
I had called and talked to Calvin. He had answered the phone and said she was gone. I know I could have called her cell, but I guess part of me didn't want to hear her voice. It was weird that I was missing everyone more when I was closer to them than when I was much farther away during the summer.
"I'm sorry mama. I thought I had talked to you," I said and I glared at Liberty and Jessica who were snickering at me.
"When are you coming home?" she asked after a long exasperated sigh.
"I was just home a few weeks ago," I said. I did want to go home, but I didn't want to just yet, mostly because Bear wouldn't be there.
"Your brother came home his first weekend," she said which was true, but I wasn't Zane.
"Yeah well," I said while my so-called friends were making fun of me for my clingy mother.
"So you'll be home this weekend?" she asked in what sounded like a question but was more of a statement.
"I'll see. I'll talk to you later mama. I gotta go," I said before quickly ending the call.
"Mommy wants to see you. Aw, that's cute," Liberty teased and I threw a pillow at her before getting up. Liberty and Jessica snickered at me as I walked to the elevator.
I headed to my room and stowed my books since I was done with them for the moment and considered going against my decision and calling Bear, but I decided not to as I knew that I couldn't handle hearing his voice without seeing him. I sat down instead and planned out some time so I could go and see him because I couldn't take it anymore.
I was then struck with a weird but overpowering thought. I wondered if I was co-dependent on Bear. I then found myself looking online for the symptoms of co-dependency. I was horrified to see that I did indeed exhibit some tendencies of co-dependency. Thankfully though, I was saved from any further introspection by my ringing cell. I answered it without looking grateful for the distraction.
"Hey man, what's up?" said a voice that sounded like Jeremy.
"Jeremy, is that you?" I asked because I didn't expect him to be the one calling me.
"Yeah it's me. Didn't you see it was me when you looked at the display before answering?" he asked.
"I didn't check," I said. I felt silly for doing that as it could have been someone I didn't want to talk to.
"That wasn't very smart. What if it had been a telemarketer or something? You would have been stuck talking to `em," he said and I could hear the slight amusement in his voice.
"No I wouldn't have. I would have just told them to kiss off and ended the call," I said and I meant that.
"Yeah, I'm sure you would," he said and his tone let me know he believed I would have.
"So, how's things?" I asked. I waned to know how the GSA was doing but I couldn't just come out and ask. Well, I could have, but I wanted t be coy.
"Your baby is fine," he said and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"What baby?" I asked playing dumb.
"I know you want to know how the GSA is going. It's pretty good actually. We got some new joins by people who were here last year, and a few freshmen. One freshmen was really cute though as he thought I was gay and I could tell he wanted me from the way he looked at me," he said and I kind of rolled my eyes at his slight cockiness. I guess it happened to most people once they because High School Seniors.
"Well who wouldn't," I said kind of jokingly as Jeremy was a pretty nice looking guy.
"I know right. Well he got so grumpy when he met my girlfriend and he's been giving her sly death glares ever since," he said with a bit of laughter in his voice. He had shown me a pic of his girlfriend Kelly at Sean's party before we left for school, but I had already seen her on his Instagram over the summer. It was nice hearing from Jeremy and he seemed to become more animated as he talked.
"I'm glad to hear everything is going so good." I was truly happy to hear that as that could mean things were changing in a big way at the old school and maybe another me would be spared from feeling so alone even around his or her friends.
"Well, not everything is great. We got about half of Caliburn High's students as they had a fire at their school over the summer and lucky for us, a lot of them are jocks and cheerleaders," he said and from his tone, I could tell that they were probably causing trouble.
"Yeah, that must be fun," I said sarcastically.
"Or not. Their `ringleader' has already called me a few gay slurs, even though it's obvious that Kelly is my girlfriend. They walk around here like their top dogs and they run the place. I don't get why jocks are like that," he said sounding extremely annoyed.
"Not all jocks are like that," I said correcting him. Bear may have been cocky on the field, but he definitely didn't have the attitude described by Jeremy. I don't think I would have been into him if he did.
"Maybe not your jocks, but most others are," he said. I could hear the mostly teasing tone in his voice.
"What are you talking about? I only have one jock," I said and I heard him stifle a snicker.
"Sure you do," he said in an obvious `I'm not buying that' tone. It wasn't my fault that some jocks flocked to me like moths to a flame. All of them weren't interested in me in that way and I was only into one.
"Whatever," I said dismissing this thought process.
"One of the jocks came to join the GSA with his brother though. I haven't asked which one is gay but I think it's the younger brother and the guy is there supporting him. He's probably making a stand that nobody better give his brother any shit," he said and I thought so to.
"That's good. You need to talk to him though. You don't have to tell the whole group, but do try to sit down and have a talk with him. You also need to find you someone who's gay to help you out. Some LGBT people don't want some straight guy trying to tell them how hard it is to be who they are," I said not to criticize but to try and help him out.
"Yeah, Kelly already told me this a couple of days ago and I'm looking into it. I might get Sarah Blade to help since she's a Junior," he said. That was a good idea actually since gay men didn't own the LGBT community.
"Cool. So, how's... everything else?" I asked tentatively. I wanted to know if he'd heard anything about his brother. I wanted to know if my last visit had left an impression.
"If you mean with my family then, I don't know," he said in a new flat tone that was weird to hear from him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" I asked, confused. How could he not know how his family was when he was living with them?
"I mean I don't know how my parents or my brother are doing as I'm not living with them anymore," he said in that same flat tone.
"Since when?" I asked. This was surprising.
"Since about a week or so before you guys came back home." I was confused as he had made it sound like he was living at home when I talked to him at Sean's party.
"What happened?" I asked, but somehow, I knew that it had something to do with me.
"Well, they were going on and on about how they had to move away from their house because of you and talking all kinds of bullshit about you and I just finally got fed up and told them what kind of people they were to talk about you the way that they did and excuse what their son had done to you. We had a huge fight and I told them that I couldn't stay with them anymore. I left and I've been staying with coach ever since. I'm 18 now so they can't make me come back," he said in a mouthful that had me feeling angry and guilty at the same time.
"Why didn't you say anything about this before?" I asked before immediately regretting it. Even though I seemed to be the cause of this rift between Jeremy and his parents, it wasn't any of my business what had happened and he didn't owe me any explanation.
"I didn't want you feeling guilty. I knew you'd probably feel like it was your fault when it wasn't. It was my parents fault for being unable to find even an ounce of compassion for the guy who their son tried to kill," he said and that mostly jovial tone he'd had earlier was gone and now he spoke with a coldness that I wasn't used to coming from him.
"Oh," I finally said after a minute or so. He seemed so angry with his parents and brother that it made me resolute to not tell him everything his brother had done to me.
"Look dude, don't blame yourself. It's their fault. Besides, It's kind of cool living with my uncle, and I'm actually enjoying hanging out with Todd. He decided not to go to college and he got a job working with your dad," Jeremy said and it took me a minute to register the last part.
"He what now?" I asked because... huh?
"Yeah I knew you'd have that reaction. I was shocked too. I laugh at him because he told me that whenever he sees your dad, he has a mean scowl on his face directed at him," he said and I could just imagine that look as I've seen it directed at a few guys that worked for him over the years.
"Yeah, he'll stop after a while. Probably." I knew he was a bit overprotective and just because I'd mostly forgiven Todd doesn't mean that everyone else had to.
"He can handle it. Hey dude, Kelly is calling me on the other line," Jeremy said and I thought to tease him a bit, but decided to just let him go.
"Well, you better talk to your girl. I don't want to get blamed for taking up all your time," I told him and he chuckled a bit.
"Okay dude. Remember what I said. Don't blame yourself for what happened between me and my parents. It's better this way anyway," he said and I would have to try hard with that one.
"Yeah, I guess," I managed to say convincingly.
"See ya," he said before the call ended. I laid my phone down and tried not to think about what he'd told me but I was never good at not thinking.
A couple of days later, I got up feeling kind of strange. I just had this urge to get out and do something. I thought about checking with Sean to see if he could find a party. This thought shocked me as I was never one to actively seek parties out.
I shook this thought off and got up to go and take a shower. I passed Dave as I headed to the showers as he was heading back to our room after having taken a shower himself. I thought briefly that the two of us hadn't been in the showers at the same time and wondered if he had some problem with me being in there with him.
I shook that off though and continued on to the shower. I was thankful to have the room to myself, but that didn't last long as another guy came in about a minute later, just as I'd started my shower. I'd seen him talking to Dave sometimes, but I hadn't met him personally.
He looked at me a second before going to a shower stall as far away from me as possible. I didn't care though as I preferred that. I stood under the spray and just let my mind wander. I didn't focus on any one thought and just let them come. I was just a tad surprised how many times Bear came to my thoughts, but I just smiled and continued my shower. I finished up and dried off before tying my towel around my waist and heading back to my room.
"Your phone rang while you were gone," Dave said as I entered the room.
"Probably one of my parents, or brothers," I said as I headed for the closet to get something to put on. It could have also been Justice, Miriam, or Veronica as well. I hadn't talked to Veronica since we all left for school and I'd only traded a few texts with Miriam since then.
"Can I ask you something?" Dave asked as I was pulling on my underwear. I had managed to get somewhat comfortable dressing in front of him. I looked over and he looked kind of unsure of the question he wanted to ask.
"Sure, I guess," I said as I looked at him. I wondered if it had to do with me being gay.
"Why don't you ever talk to Bear anymore? I mean, if he's your boyfriend, and I assume that you two are serious, then why don't I ever see you talking to him anymore?" he asked and I was surprised. I guess he had noticed.
"Oh, well...," I said trying to stall as I was unsure if I wanted to answer the question.
"I mean, forgive me if I'm out of line, but if I had a girlfriend back home, or at another school, I'd be talking to her a lot," he said and I seriously thought of my reason for not talking to Bear.
"Well, you see...," I said still stalling. I started to question whether or not I was doing the right thing.
"Is it because of me? Do you not want me to hear you, because if that's the case, I can leave the room whenever you want to talk to him," he said and I decided to be sappy and tell him.
"I don't talk to him because it's hard being away from him. I miss him so much, and if I heard his voice, I would miss him even more. That's the reason we only talk through text now. He doesn't like it, but like with a lot of things, he's going along with it," I said before what I'd said really hit home.
Bear had been going along with a lot when it came to me. He went along with me when I wanted to hide our relationship even though he wanted to tell everyone. I seemed to be the one controlling a lot in our relationship and that was something that I needed to change.
"I may be wrong, but maybe talking to him, actually hearing his voice will make you miss him less," Dave said and I considered it.
"I'll think about it," I said and he smiled a little.
"Cool," he said before he started pulling on his shoes.
After I was dressed I picked up my phone and saw that the missed call had been Liam. I wondered why he would be calling. I checked my texts and saw that I had one from Bear, Justice, Calvin and Liam.
Bear was just saying good morning as was Justice. Calvin was complaining that he was bored and Liam wanted to let me know that he was headed to the gym in a bit and wondered if I wanted to join him. I sent him a text saying sure and he said he'd be waiting in the parking lot near my dorm as he knew where it was.
Liam picked me up and we headed for the gym which wasn't really that far from school. We went in and he talked to the guy at the front for a minute or two before introducing us. It felt like I had met the guy before when we left to head for the locker room, Liam told me that it was Angel's cousin so I figured that it was the resemblance to Angel that I was seeing.
I got into my workout gear that I had thought to bring from home and I sort of followed Liam around as he went to different machines to work out. I managed to ease myself back into things as I hadn't done any workouts since my physical therapy, and that was mostly working my legs.
I noticed several people coming up to talk to him briefly and he seemed like a really personable guy. I spoke when he introduced me, but mostly I was quiet. I guess he realized this after a while as he stopped trying to talk and focused on his workout. I was surprised by how much weight he used seeing as he wasn't a very muscular guy. He was more lean and fit, but could lift quite a bit.
We finally got done and hit the showers. I thought that he'd put some distance between us, but he took the stall right next to me and these showers didn't have as much privacy as the ones in my dorm, so I worked hard to keep my eyes to myself. I heard him laugh after a couple of minutes.
"You don't have to try so hard not to look at me," he said with a teasing smile.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about," I said rather quickly before letting loose a nervous laugh. He laughed again too.
"It's cool dude. It wouldn't be the first time a guy checked me out in the shower. Some straight dudes do it too, just so you know," he said which surprised me a bit.
"Really?" I asked because I just didn't get it.
"Yeah, sure. Of course, it's more sizing up the so-called competition than anything else," he said and I figured I'd never understand straight guys and their logic.
"Oh, okay," I said and he laughed again likely seeing my confusion.
"One more tip. Trying as hard as you were not to look only draws more attention than it deflects," he said and I tried not to show how embarrassed I was.
"Thanks," I said while trying to avoid eye contact.
"Look, it's fine," he said trying to appease me as he laid a hand on my shoulder and I kicked myself as I tensed up. I hated that I didn't know how to behave in these situations that normal guys could deal with effortlessly. "Tell you what, if you want, I'll give you a free look for a long as you want," he said and that got my attention as my eyes snapped to his and I saw that he was joking and serious at the same time.
"Screw you. You aren't that good looking," I joked back and he chuckled.
"There you go. Just relax and things will be fine," he said before finishing his shower and I did too. We then got out and headed for the locker room and started drying off before getting dressed. "Do you have anything to do for the rest of the day?" he asked as he pulled his shirt on.
"What do you have in mind?" I asked. He finished getting dressed before speaking again.
"Well, I was hoping you'd like to come over to my place," he said so innocently that I was immediately suspicious.
"Were you now?" I asked trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice but failing big time.
"You're cute," he said with a curious smile.
"Say what now?" I asked. I was trying to get a read on him, but I was coming up empty.
"You think I wanna invite you over to my place to try and seduce you," he said and of course I had to try and play that down.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said as casually as I could.
"I wanted you to come over because Angel is making spaghetti. It's my favorite food and he always makes way too much because he's always saying that I'm too thin. Then I end up eating way too much which ends up defeating the purpose of my workout days," he said and what he said sounded plausible enough so I chose to believe him.
"So you're using me?" I teased.
"Only in a good way," he said as he picked up his gym bag and I followed suit.
"Okay, but only since I need some home cooking," I said and he chuckled before turning and heading for the exit with my following.
"You just wait until you taste my cooking," he said before laughing a hearty laugh. It was an infectious one so I joined in.
On the way to his apartment, he told me that he was a second year senior in his fifth year in college. He was getting his degrees in food management and hospitality which he was hoping to parlay into one day having his own restaurant.
I told him that I was getting my degrees in Business, Engineering, and minor in Economics. He remarked that it was quite an ambitious course load I was taking, but I informed him that it seemed to be going quite easily for me. He looked at me for a second before nodding and looking back at the road as he pulled into an apartment complex not far from school.
He parked and we both got out and he lead me to a second floor apartment. He opened the door and walked in. I followed behind him and when I entered the apartment, my nose was assaulted by the incredible aroma of sauce and spices and meat and butter that made my mouth water and my stomach rumble.
"I see someone's hungry," Liam said with a laugh.
"Shut up," I said through my slight embarrassment.
"So, I see we have company," Angel said as he came out of the kitchen. He looked way too flawless to have been hands deep in sauce and meat.
"Yeah, I brought someone to help curb my appetite," he said, not even realizing the way it could be taken.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it the way it sounded," Angel said after shooting Liam an incredulous look.
"It's okay. He already told me that he wanted me to come over so I can eat enough food to keep you from fattening him up," I joked.
"Curses. I see he's onto me. Oh well, I'll find some other way to fatten him up," Angel said as he tapped his fingers together villainously.
"Geez, you don't have to look so creepy about it," Liam said and I tried to stifle a laugh.
"I have no idea what you mean," Angel said in a very thick accent before turning and heading back to the kitchen.
Angel said that dinner was almost ready and asked Liam to show me to the bathroom so I could wash my hands. I waited until he did his before washing mine and we went into the kitchen so I could be assaulted even more by the amazing smells. It did indeed look like a lot of food with a big pot of spaghetti, a green salad, buttered rolls, and some shredded cheese and parmesan cheese to top the spaghetti.
"Wow, this looks delicious," I said as I did my best Jessica impression and inhaled a big dose of the incredible aromas.
"Thanks. You can sit while we get everything on the table," Angel said. I wasn't having it though and offered to help get the food on the table. They agreed and we got everything all set along with some iced tea and took our seats.
They surprised me by offering grace, which I actually appreciated. We then dug in to the meal that I was glad to see tasted just as good as it smelled. I felt a slight pang of guilt that I was enjoying this wonderful meal and I hadn't thought to tell my crew but they'd live. I also had a fleeting thought that I was in some way cheating on my mother's cooking but I pushed that thought away
The conversation around the table was more a getting to know each other. Angel was actually in grad school studying to get his PhD in Communications with a hope of going into the advertising field. I thought that was cool. He was impressed with my so-called ambitious course load.
After the meal in which I stuffed myself, Angel and I went into the living room while Liam cleaned the dishes and started the dishwasher. There wasn't much else to do as apparently, Angel was one of those cooks that cleaned up behind themselves as they cooked.
Anyway, we all sat around and talked. I told them more about Bear and my friends and they told me how they'd all met. Angel told me about how he'd fallen immediately for Les and he was sure that Les wouldn't like him. They'd gotten together and while things were bumpy, as Les was apparently dating some girl, when they finally got everything cleared up, they connected.
They were happy, but it was stressful hiding their relationship from everyone. They had finally made up their mind to tell Liam and when he readily accepted them, things became much better. Then, Angel got to the part of the story that made me anxious for some reason. He told me about finding Les on the floor that morning and just knowing that his whole world was about to crumble.
They both told from their own perspectives the days following Les' death and Angel told me how much it takes for him to hold his cool whenever he sees Liam's dad as he just knows that something he said to Les made him commit suicide. I felt the same way even though I'd never met the man.
By the time they finished telling the story, I could see they were both emotionally drained and I was kind of the same way. I told Liam that I thought it was time that I got back to school a bit after that and after getting a surprising hug from Angel, Liam and I left.
He drove me back to school in relative silence. When we got back to school, I thanked him for the day and he thanked me for coming over and taking some of the weight off of them. I know he meant the food, but in a small way, I think he meant the story as well. He said he'd see me later and I got out and he waved before driving off.
I entered my room after arriving back at school. Dave wasn't around so I guess he must have been with some other friends he'd made. I wasn't really in a mood to find my own friends so I just sat on my bed.
I just couldn't get Angel off my mind. Hearing how much he must have loved Les made me miss Bear all the much more. There was also some nagging feeling in the back of my head that I couldn't identify. Before I knew it though, I found myself pulling out my phone and dialing a number unsure of why I was doing so.
"Hey good looking," Marcus said as he answered his phone. Hearing his voice made me smile.
"You do know that you're a huge flirt, don't you?" I asked him and he let loose a deep chuckle.
"Yeah I do, just like I'm sure you know you're very good looking," he said, adding the last part in a very sultry tone.
"What do you think Wayne will do to you if he hears you talking to me like this?" I asked, although I knew he probably wouldn't say anything. He'd probably join in.
"Well, you can ask him. He's sitting right here feeding Zander," he said sounding so smug that I wanted to kick him, but not really.
"Don't worry Trey. I'll be sure to punish him later," I heard Wayne say in the background.
"Yeah Trey, he'll `punish' me later," Marcus said adding a sexy tone to the word punish.
"Trust me Trey, he won't enjoy it like he thinks he will," Wayne said before I heard a bit of a scuffle over the phone, followed by Wayne saying Marcus' name in frustration.
"What did you do?" I asked Marcus as I heard him laughing.
"Oh nothing, just decided to give Wayne a taste of what Zander's eating," he said. It was nice to hear them goofing around with each other. It gave me good expectation for me and Bear.
"You need to be handled," I said and he laughed again.
"I'm sure I will be. Now, what does my little protégé want?" he asked and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes before I realized that he couldn't see me if I did.
"I'm your protégé?" I asked and he snickered.
"Well sure. Since you and Bear are so much like Wayne and me, I'm calling you two our protégés," he said and that time I did roll my eyes.
"Well, I just wanted to hear your voice," I said in an unintended bout of honesty.
"Aw, that's so sweet," he said. I then heard him and Wayne talking to each other before I heard Wayne say the same thing as Marcus had said in the background.
"I just wanted to talk to you two," I said. I was still unsure why I'd called them.
"Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked sounding really serious suddenly.
"Yeah, I'm okay. You know how strange I am," I said trying to play off my actions.
"Yeah I do. I'm glad you called though," he said still in that serious tone.
"Yeah, me too," I said deciding that I probably just needed to talk to them and my subconscious took over and made me do so.
"Trey, call Bear," Marcus said after a minute of silence.
"How do you know...?" I started to ask before I figured Sean had probably told him.
"I've heard some things. Just call him. Not hearing his voice isn't gonna make you miss him less," he said and I was starting to think so too.
"Yeah, I know. I'm starting to think the summer was a bad idea," I said, saying aloud something I'd only thought before this point.
"No it wasn't. Just call him, because I'm sure he needs to hear your voice too," Marcus said and something about the way he'd said that let me know that he'd already talked to Bear.
"Okay, I will," I said and that seemed to make him happy. Wayne then got on the phone and lectured me for yet another of my not well thought out ideas and he also made me promise to call Bear. I told him I would and I talked to him a couple more minutes before I let them get back to their son. I was about to go and find my friends when my cell rang. I checked the display to see that It was Zane so I answered.
"Hey Zane, how you doing?" I asked, but he didn't answer right away.
"Hey bro," he said trying to sound upbeat, but I heard something in his voice.
"What is it?" I asked in a rush.
"Nothing really. I just needed to hear your voice," he said and I felt like something was wrong. I also found it ironic that I'd just said the same thing to Marcus.
"What's the matter? You miss me already?" I asked trying for a joke.
"Yeah," he said honestly.
"Well Zane, thing's aren't like they were this past summer. You can just drive up here to see me," I said and I waited for him to speak as he didn't reply right away.
"Yeah, I know," he said, and I really heard that something now.
"Zane, what's up?" I asked more forcefully while also trying to sound comforting.
"We got a DV call a while ago. When we got there, a man was beating his son. He was beating him right out on the front yard. Can you believe that?" he said and I finally got what was wrong.
"Why did he say he was beating his kid?" I asked and I heard Zane let loose a pained sigh.
"He said he found out his son was a `fag', and he wasn't gonna have it in his house. Just seeing how beaten and scared the kid was, it just tore me up," he said and it did indeed sound like he was deeply affected.
"Damn." It was all I was able to say as I was confronted with a lot of emotions.
"Trey, you know I'm sorry, right? Please tell me you know that I'm so sorry that I hurt you," he said and hearing how sad and broken his voice was started to get to me.
"Yeah, I know Zane," I told him. I could tell he was emotional and I knew I was too.
"Well, I gotta go. We just got another call. Talk to ya soon," Zane said sounding a bit better.
"Yeah, you too. Thanks for calling," I told him and he said he'd be up to see me soon before ending that call. After all the emotional up and downs of the day, I needed to do some thinking so I left Dave a note for some reason, and I left to take a walk.
After a while of walking around, I discovered that I wasn't really thinking about anything. I found this weird, but I wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. After a few more minutes of walking I finally made up my mind to stop being an idiot and make the call so I pulled out my phone and dialed Bear.
"Hey baby," Bear said sounding tired but upbeat. I couldn't stop the huge smile that spread across my face or the warm feeling that spread through my chest.
"Hey big guy," I said in a hoarse voice made that way by the emotions I was feeling.
"What's wrong?" he asked quickly sounding worried.
"It's nothing. I just wanted to call you," I said still notable to hide how much I missed him.
"It is something. I can tell something happened," he said.
"Well," I said before deciding to tell him all about my day.
"Oh, okay," he said in strange voice that I'd never heard from him before.
"That's all you have to say?" I asked him. I had finally called him and talked to him like several people had told me to do and this is the reaction I'd gotten?
"Yeah. Look, I'm gonna talk to you later, bye," he said before shocking me by ending the call. He didn't even say that he loved me which he always did in some way before we ended a call. I just stared at the phone not knowing what I'd said to make him react like that. That was what I got for calling him.
To be continued....
Author's Note:
The gang has been at college for a while now and things are ticking by. Trey is making dumb decisions once again for one thing with his decision not to talk to Bear to help him not miss him so much. Thanks to Christian, he's found a GSA on campus and met a couple of nice guys who will hopefully become some good friends.
After contact with several people from back home and hearing a couple of sad stories from some of his LGBT peers, Trey starts feeling different emotions and he finally breaks down and calls Bear. Bear's reaction though is less than what he would have expected. What is Bear's reasoning for his cold reaction to Trey?
Find out in the next installment of The Chronicles of Trey.
Thank you all for being fans of my story. I'm extremely happy that there are people out there that are actually reading and enjoying this story and I promise to not keep you waiting so long in the future for updates. Send any comments good or bad to thestoryguy9783@gmail.com
Until next time... Nicky
Editor's Note:
Welcome back guys to the chronicles of Trey. Trey and the others have been at college for a while now and the course work doesn't seem to be affecting Trey at all, but maybe it will so pick up and he will have the type of challenge he wants with learning.
Christian finds a GSA and we learn that Jeremy is living with the coach and his cousin now after he blow up on his parents, and it's even funny that Todd is now working for Trey's dad.
Trey finally takes the advice that everyone has been giving him, call Bear, and after he does he gets a reaction like that. What could be going on with Bear over at Penn. Zane even calls and we see that he is still really torn up about beating Trey.
What more will we see in the chapters to come for the College years. We all know that Trey and Bear will have their ups and downs but I really hope that they can stand the test of time.
Be sure to let Nicky know how you are liking the story so far, you can reach him at the email above, and you can send me a line at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com.
Until the next time.