Wayward People

Disclaimer: The usual rules apply here. If you aren't legal in your area to be reading material(non erotic, mind you) about homosexuals and the activities they may or may not participate in, then please don't read. This story has been copyrighted and is not to be used elsewhere in any way without the express permission of the author (that would be me). For everyone else, enjoy!

Wayward People

Chapter Ten "Formalities"

I got it now.

I understood it all perfectly well now.

It all made perfect sense.

I mean, I knew there had to be a reason why he focused so much on homosexuality. Why he scared me so much.

Because that was what he wanted.

He was trying to scare everyone. He was trying to scare us all so bad that we wouldn't dare venture to the part of town that both Troy and I had stumbled on Friday night.

It was because he didn't want any one of his precious followers stumbling upon him and his secret downtown habits.

Hell, it was actually an ingenious plan. As long as we were all afraid to even talk to a gay person, Revered Thomas wouldn't have to worry about any of us going that far downtown for fear we'd all be transported to hell on the spot.

And to think he actually thought he was going to be able to get away with it all.

Actually, he pretty much had. It wasn't like there were normal circumstances for Pete and I being that far downtown. And neither Troy or I had done anything about it.

Yeah.

That summed it up nice. We hadn't done anything.

At all.

I guess Troy was pissed at me but you know what? I was more pissed at him!

I mean, who did he think he was showing up on my date downtown trying to pull me off like I was his property or something?

I couldn't think about the fact that Troy had spent a considerable amount of time trying to find me because that would be giving him more credit than he deserved.

The fact of the matter was, he'd pretty much ruined my night.

If he hadn't been there, then he wouldn't have pulled me off like he had, and neither of us would have even seen Reverend Thomas, and wound up helping him.

That part made me shudder a little.

The fact that I had to think about the fact that I actually helped Reverend Thomas...ugh.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst part was the fact that I'd actually left Pete!

I was so busy with all the other thoughts in my mind that I had forgotten I was on a date until I was already on my way home.

I felt horrible about that.

So horrible that it made me sick to my stomach.

I'd called Pete a few times. I didn't want to call him over and over because I didn't wanna seem needy.

I'd emailed him.

I'd even called Sienna and asked about him.

Sienna didn't seem angry with me when I talked to her, so I knew that Pete hadn't told her anything about what I'd done.

And why should he have, I figured. It wasn't like they were best friends. Just neighbors.

Still, not being able to talk to Pete so that I could explain to him what had happened had pretty much ruined my mood all day Saturday.

I was a bit more expectant today, however, as I knew that I'd be able to see him face to face at church.

I was dreading going to church for another reason though and judging by the way Troy had looked all morning long, I knew that he was feeling the same way I was.

How was I supposed to be able to face Reverend Thomas knowing what I knew about him now?

Things were different now.

Lots of things were different now and I wasn't sure I liked having a normal life after all.

"Ah look, there's Mary-Anne Jacobs," my mother said waving before leaving to go say hi.

"Who?" my dad asked, sounding confused.

"Hey dad, can we sit at the very back today?" I asked.

I noticed Max and my dad look at me a little weird.

I'd never really picked where we sat before nor had I ever asked to. I never really cared. I just left that stuff to Max and dad.

But today I had a reason to want to sit at the back.

So Reverend Thomas wouldn't be able to see me and when he was done for today so I'd also be able to hurry up and find Pete easier.

Things were complicated like that.

"I'll go look for some seats in the back then," my dad replied and next thing I knew, he was gone.

"I know Revered Thomas has dragon breath sometimes," Max started, as I looked around. "But geeze...a little paranoid much?"

I looked over at Troy who had a surprisingly dark look on his face before replying.

"Sometimes, change is necessary," I replied.

I didn't really leave Max room to question my weird statement because I'd noticed Reverend Thomas coming through the back and I wanted to avoid him so I grabbed the fan that was in Max's hands away from him and put it over my face, bending down slightly and walking through one of the rows to get to the other side.

Unfortunately, I happened to accidentally bump into Evan's back, due to me not being able to see where I was going.

"Hey what the-"

I'd already made the conscious decision to turn around and try and get away but I felt Evan's arm going around my shoulders, pulling me back up.

"Let's talk friend," he spoke, a wide grin on his face.

I reached behind me and tried to take his hands off of my shoulder but he was holding me pretty tight.

"What do you want Evan?" I asked, through gritted teeth.

"Aww, what no nice to see you today too?" he asked. "I'm bummed now."

I noticed that Sienna was missing from the group.

Andrew, of course was here and so were Evan's usual idiot friends.

"You know, people got the weirdest idea in their heads," he started, arm still around my shoulders. "Wanna know what people are starting to think?"

"What-no...I-" I tried again to get him off of me by turning around, but he just pulled me back.

I was very careful to note how he was handling me. He still had the weird grin on his face, which was pretty much his trademark.

But he was all on me like it was normal and perfectly okay.

"People are actually starting to think that you and Sienna...are doing each other! Ain't that funny?"

I was so tempted to correct his grammar just then. Funny how I was more worried about that rather than fearing for my safety.

Sure, we were in a church and there were plenty of people around, but most of those people happened to be Evan's friends.

Besides, I already knew Evan had no problem being his usual seedy self while in such a supposedly holy place.

"Figures people would take notice of all the time you've been spending with MY girlfriend and completely ignore the fact that you and Pete Reynolds are probably sucking each other off daily-"

"Hey jackass, wanna know what I prayed for last night?" Pete asked, throwing Evan's arm off of my shoulders and getting between us. "I prayed that you'd actually find a semi decent life somewhere, but I guess I was praying to the wrong person for something like that, huh?"

"What's your problem, Reynolds? I was just chatting with my good old pal-"

"I told you that if you EVER messed with him again-"

"You'd do...what exactly?" Evan grinned.

I knew that Pete knew that we were outnumbered, not that anything would really happen in here.

Nobody was that stupid. Not even Evan.

"I like to enjoy my thrills in moderation," Evan replied, circling behind Pete. "That was enough for now."

He and the rest of his loser friends left us both standing in a relatively empty part of the church.

For a moment, I was almost wishing that Evan was still here.

I guess I felt that facing a brainless bully was a lot less scary than facing the guy that I'd hurt on Friday night.

I looked over at Pete who wasn't looking at me.

He looked fairly pissed and I couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason why.

"Pete-"

"Don't...okay.."

"Just let me explain-"

"About how you just left?!"

Now Pete was looking over at me. Which was a good thing. The only problem was, given the state he was in, I didn't really think he was thinking right now. He was practically talking loud enough for everyone in church to hear.

"Pete..." I started, lowering my voice in an effort to maybe get him to lower his.

He was doing this thing where he was trying to control his breathing and I was just looking over at him, after he looked away from me again.

"You know I saw you. With him."

He didn't have to tell me any names. We both knew what he was talking about.

"Is he gay? Is that the reason why he keeps telling you to stay away from me?"

"Pete-"

I'd actually wondered the same thing myself. But right now I wasn't concerned with that.

"Can we just go talk about this somewhere?"

I was pretty much pleading with him right now.

I didn't want to lose him as a friend. I was actually really starting to care about him. Like, really starting to care.

It made talking like this a whole lot easier than it had ever been before.

And for a moment, it actually looked like Pete was going to respond to me.

He even opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"There you are."

It was his dad.

I'd never met him, only seen Pete with him and the rest of his family at church.

"Hey...you're Evelyn Carson's son right?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Let's go sit down, dad-"

"Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"Let's just go."

Pete's dad looked from me to his son before shrugging and obliging his son's request.

"Well, it was nice to meet you son."

Meet me? He didn't even know my name thanks to Pete.

Why was he being like this? I mean, I could totally understand why he was being like this, but it still didn't make it any less complicated and it still didn't make it hurt less.

All I could do was to just let out a small sigh before I turned around to go find my family.

I noticed that, apparently, Troy had been watching me. Or at least had seen what all I'd been through just now.

Normally he had an unreadable look on his face. Now, he just looked upset.

For more than one reason.

"Hey, I saw you talking to Evan earlier," Max started, as we took our seats. "Everything alright?"

I looked over at Troy.

"Sure," I lied.

I didn't want him worrying about me.

Besides, there was no way he could help me with the problems I was having.

And I was reminded of a fairly significant one once I noticed Reverend Thomas trying to get a hold of everyone's attention on the front stage.

"I'm glad to see you all could make it here this morning," he started, a smile on his face.

I heard Troy snort and I noticed him roll his eyes.

"Let's get started for today, shall we?"

That, fucking, hypocrite.

It was bad enough that the man seemed so hell bent on eradicating the world of a certain form of sexual orientation.

And then there was the whole him leading a double life thing.

But after today, I was certainly starting to see the man in a different light.

All this time, he'd gone on and on about how bad homosexuality was. It seemingly never failed. Each Sunday, he made sure to talk about it. It was always the same thing really, but I had to give him credit, as he had actually made me believe at one point that he was right about everything.

But today, things were different.

Today the man hadn't mentioned it at all. Not at all.

I'm sure we all noticed it, as he mentioned it EVERY DAMN SUNDAY! And today....nothing.

Of course, I don't think anyone was thinking what Troy or I were thinking.

We knew the real reason.

He probably hadn't brought it up because he didn't want Troy or I to bring it up.

God forbid we ruin his nasty little habit. But hey, as long as he was having fun with himself, all the rest of us gays could go straight to hell, right?

"Is it just me, or did the sermon actually seem shorter today?" Max asked as soon as we were free to talk.

Of course it was shorter. The homosexuality deal, which was a part of his usual `everything that is wrong with the world today' speech usually took at least 45 minutes. Without that, we were looking at a considerably shorter sermon.

Surprisingly more interesting as well.

I didn't really have time to think about anything else. I needed to go and find Pete so that I could talk to him before it was too late.

The thing I hated about row seating was that unless you were on the end, you had to wait for everyone else to get out of your way before you could move.

It was like you were trapped, which I was feeling like I most certainly was right about now.

I tried to get past Max but he just laughed at how impatient it seemed like I was being and asked me about it.

I think.

I wasn't paying attention.

Of course Troy was just standing there looking like a tough guy.

It had actually been quite a while since I'd seen him looking like that.

I guess Friday night ruined that whole thing.

I had just gotten past Max and was about to try and get past Troy as well before I realized that Reverend Thomas was right next to Troy.

"Hello all," he started.

"Oh Reverend Thomas, what an excellent service this morning," my mother spoke, turning to face Reverend Thomas.

It was like I was trapped again, only this time it was a lot worse.

"Thank you...I figured I would try something different this time," he replied.

Yeah, you left out the thing it always took you the longest to talk about.

"But I was actually wondering if I could speak with your son and Troy for a moment."

Of course. Of course he'd have jetted right off the stage just so that he could ask us to talk to him in front of my parents.

If they weren't around, no doubt Troy and I would have refused.

But since they were here, of course we couldn't refuse.

And he knew it.

"Well of course that wouldn't be a problem," my mother replied.

Gee, how would she know?

"Actually," Troy started. "I thought we had that...thing, Mike...remember?"

For some reason, lying had come so easily to me all the other times I'd done it in here. Albeit, I still felt a little bad for doing it, but the more I did it, which was a lot lately, the less upset I was over it.

Now, with both my mother and father...even younger brother looking at me, I felt like if I lied, they'd all know after God finally got around to striking me with a thunderbolt of some sort.

"What did you need us for?"

I noticed Troy breathe in and out heavily before crossing his arms and looking away from me.

"It won't take long-"

"Take all the time you need Reverend," My mother spoke. "We aren't far from here. The boys can walk home if necessary."

Wow Mom, you're on a roll!

Troy stepped aside to let me out so that I could let everyone else out.

"I'll see you at home sweetie," my mom spoke, kissing me on the head.

She and my dad both left.

"Good luck," Max grinned, punching me lightly on the shoulder before he too left.

I was just in time to see Pete leaving with his family.

Looked like I wouldn't be getting to talk to him after all.

"So....can we talk?"

"Eventually, some things in life will start to make sense, " Troy mumbled before turning around and trying to leave.

"Troy, I asked you a question-"

"Right. You asked, and I ignored. Keep up," Troy replied, turning back around.

I was sure he was aware there were still plenty of people around.

Some of them were still talking, but a few were looking our way like the nosy people they were.

"Perhaps we should go to my office."

I really didn't want to `go to his office'. I really didn't want a lot of the bad things in my life right now, but if this was how it was going to be.....

Troy looked over at me and let out an annoyed sigh before agreeing to Reverend Thomas's request.

We walked back to his office in silence, and none of us said anything until we were actually inside.

Troy and I were both standing as Reverend Thomas had a seat at his desk.

"Please, have a seat."

I was a bit nervous and looked over at Troy to see what he was thinking.

He hadn't made a move but I wasn't as brave as he was and was still afraid that even though I knew what I knew about Reverend Thomas, he'd still be able to find a way to get me in trouble with my parents somehow.

After all, Troy and I were the only two who knew about.....'him'. It would be our word against his if things got bad and with all the people in town seemingly infatuated with our resident preacher, I knew it'd be a losing battle.

So I had a seat, cautiously.

Troy just snorted, as he stood by the door with his arms crossed.

"Troy-"

"I thought we had an understanding," Troy started. "What are we even doing here?"

Reverend Thomas looked like he was still trying to uphold at least a shred of whatever power I'm sure he thought he had.

"At some point, I'm sure we all knew we'd have to talk about-"

"Your dirty little secret?" Troy spoke up.

Troy certainly could be a snarky bastard, and that scared me in this situation. I knew that I was going to have to play mediator if I hoped to come out of this relatively unscathed.

"Look, I'm sure there's an explanation," I started, turning in my seat so that I could see Troy as well.

"I mean...it was late....maybe...maybe we didn't see what we thought we did-"

"Right," Troy started, coming closer to me, still not sitting down. "Just like maybe we didn't happen to save you from getting the shit beat out of you!"

"Troy!"

"No it's okay....given the situation, I believe that we'll have to be frank and to the point," Reverend Thomas replied.

Was I the only one scared out of my mind right now?

I seemed to be thinking about all the things that could go wrong, which seemed to be one of my biggest problems.

It was one of the reasons why'd I'd been the person that I'd been for so long.

I was learning not to think so negatively, but this wasn't a normal situation by any means.

"I'm trying to handle this with at least a thread of tact-"

"Only, you have to think off the top of your head, right?" Troy asked.

I noticed a change in Reverend Thomas's demeanor.

I knew that he knew what Troy could be like from our previous experience gone wrong. But now he was actually starting to look like he was getting impatient with Troy.

Troy, seemed to me, to be the type of person who was used to getting into conflicts, so he would know how to handle himself regardless.

But Reverend Thomas wasn't around all the time like I was to see how Troy could really be. I was just afraid that this was going to all go so horribly wrong.

"Look, I know that what you saw...wasn't something you'd have ever thought you'd see-"

"No, actually," Troy started, finally sitting down. "There's always a reason. And I knew there had to be a reason why you seemed to spend an unnaturally long amount of time preaching to everyone about how bad homosexuality was."

Reverend Thomas and I just stared at Troy.

"I mean, obviously shooting a guy has to be a greater sin than making out with the guy on the back of the mudlfaps," Troy replied. "Not so, said the small town preacher with a secret to hide."

"I haven't always...been...like this," Reverend Thomas started.

"Great, there's one hole in your ongoing fairytale," Troy replied, getting more comfortable in his seat.

"I guess it's my own fault really.....I spent so much time thinking...telling myself it was wrong...I wanted to see for myself-"

"And now?"

"Now....now I don't know," Reverend Thomas replied.

I wasn't sure what to make of the story.

While it seemed plausible to me, I also knew now that he was good at hiding things. There could have been something else he wasn't telling us.

Or he was telling us what he thought we wanted to hear, which he also was good at.

"Seems to me like you have a few decisions to make here, then," Troy started.

"Come again?"

"Well, if Mike here and I know, it's not gonna be long before other people find out themselves."

"I'm not....I mean, I don't wanna be-"

"And what's to stop either one of us from letting a few choice words slip to say....everyone in church?"

Reverend Thomas eyed Troy carefully, and then surprisingly, he turned to me.

I was perfectly aware that I hadn't contributed much to this conversation. It was amazing that things hadn't turned out as bad as I thought they were going to.

But it was pretty much Troy's deal as of lately, and now I had to get involved.

"You know....I don't mean to be vile in any way really-"

"How ever would we know it?" Troy spoke, sarcastically.

"But...I'm not the only guilty party in this situation."

Troy sat up.

"What are you talking about?"

Reverend Thomas leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands.

"Well, putting aside my transgression for a moment, obviously the very fact that either you or Troy saw me in the first place deserves some attention."

Troy let out a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, are you trying to say our catching you in the act is our fault somehow?"

"Well you didn't catch me with a guy here in the church," Reverend Thomas replied. "We all know what part of town we were in."

Now Troy actually looked different.

He and I hadn't really talked about that night, but he actually looked like he wanted answers now.

I guess when he didn't say anything, I had to jump in.

"Look, Troy and I aren't together or anything, if that's what you're thinking," I started.

I wasn't sure if I was or wasn't saying the right things just then.

I just knew that I didn't want this to be about me in any way, shape or form.

"Well then what we're you doing in-"

"What were you doing there?" Troy decided to cut in.

Reverend Thomas didn't say anything.

"Look, we saw what we saw and it's over now," Troy started. "But I think you'd better start thinking twice before you preach to anyone else the evils of what happens to be your favorite pastime."

I guess Troy was done because he stood up and started towards the door.

Reverend Thomas stood up as well.

I was still really trying to wrap my head around what had just went on.

This had gone...a lot differently than I thought it would have.

Or could have gone.

I guess....I guess I was relieved.

I mean, it still didn't seem like Reverend Thomas knew anything about me.

Maybe he hadn't seen Pete and me together after all.

"Bright and early next week, eh Reverend?" Troy spoke, while at the open door. "I better not have any problems with anything you babble on about next week either."

And Troy was gone.

I didn't expect him to wait for me anyway. Technically, we were still fighting.

And I was still supposed to be mad at him, although it was certainly hard to do now.

Troy was just that kind of person.

I stood up to leave as well.

I didn't really feel like there was anything left to discuss and I certainly didn't feel any different about Reverend Thomas.

"You know Michael, I don't really know much about Troy but I've known you and your family since you born...before that really."

I just stood there.

I still wasn't used to this all, even though Troy had pretty much taken care of everything that needed to be taken care of.

"You're a good kid Michael...clearly a lot different than your friend Troy."

That was a given. Troy was pretty much one big ball of everything. He was the type pf person you could never figure out, no matter how long you knew him.

"I know this isn't exactly a normal situation, but I do know some things...."

When I looked over at him he had the weirdest look on his face. Almost like....

"I appreciate you not saying anything about what you saw," he replied. "I guess we can have that in common as well."

I waited to see if he had anything else to say and when I was sure he didn't, I just decided to leave, albeit feeling more confused.

"If you ever need to talk...." he spoke on my way out.

Was all that supposed to tell me that he really had seen Pete and I together? Truthfully, I didn't want to think about that again. It was bad enough before, and even with the situation different now, it would still just be bad. Not good.

I thought about this as I walked down the hall that led to the door to get to the main hall of the church.

I noticed Troy waiting at it, indicating he was waiting for me.

When I approached him, he got close to me and leaned in like he was concerned but at the same time, had some kind of secret to tell me.

It was weird.

"Hey...what'd he say to you?"

I just looked down.

I honestly didn't know what to make of what `he'd said to me'.

"I......"

For a moment, I almost considered telling him.

Until I remembered that he didn't exactly deserve that from me right now, let alone anything else.

I looked back up at him, unable to hid the fact that I was obviously upset. With him. With myself. With everything.

"I'm going home," I replied, the anger in my voice completely evident.

I just wished home was a sanctuary like it once was. I knew I couldn't even escape my problems there.

Me staying in my room all night long wasn't weird at all for me to do, considering that it was pretty much all I used to do.

So when I came home and stayed in my room all day yesterday, no one really thought much about it.

I'm sure Troy had done damage control for me once again when we got home, which was probably the reason why no one had questioned me about what Reverend Thomas had talked to Troy and I about.

I guess I was actually thankful for that. I most likely would have lied again, and I'd pretty much built up my `lie quota' way too much too fast. I needed a break.

I tried to focus on other things.

Like my homework, for example.

I was pretty much the very definition of a nerd. I had perfect grades only because I didn't live a normal teenage life full of normal teenage distractions.

But now that I had distractions, I couldn't really deal well with anything else.

I even tried getting back to my writing, but just like with my homework, I couldn't even concentrate on that as well.

Which was how I knew things were bad.

Writing was supposed to be my escape, and when I didn't have that......

I had decided that if I wanted to be able to think clearly and have even a shred of my normal life back, I was going to have to face my problems.

And the first step was to identify the problems that I had.

The one closest to me, was obviously Troy.

He and I were at odds still largely because neither he nor I was really talking to the other about anything.

And I guess the same thing went with Pete as well.

Although, it was definitely different in that case. I had actually tried to talk to him, but he just needed some time to cool down I guess.

I didn't really know as we were only starting to get to know each other.

And I was hoping that it wasn't over.

I had decided something.

While I did have feelings for both Pete and Troy, the difference was that I actually knew which one had feelings for me back.

It made my decision to focus on Pete much easier. And because it was easier to focus on him only, it was also easier for me to develop feelings for him.

Or at least, start to develop feelings for him.

I was starting to realize that I cared more about Pete than I really knew and I was really beginning to feel like I wanted him as more than just a friend.

I just hoped that it wasn't too late.

I had come out of my room to go to the restroom, and not surprisingly so had Troy.

I was used to it by now. We always came out of our rooms at the same time in the morning whenever there was something pivotal going on between us.

He stared at me for a moment before he started right past me for the stairs.

"Troy wait," I started.

Troy stopped and turned around.

"Look...I don't....I don't know all the ways to do...this whole thing right," I replied. "But I know enough to know that I don't want to be upset with you."

Troy stared at me and let out a sigh.

"I don't like being upset with you either...but we keep coming back to this whole place we come to. And it's like....I don't know...."

"I realize now that we might have a lot of problems, and we might find ourselves `here' or whatever a lot....but as long as we deal with our problems as soon as they come up from now on...I think we might turn out okay."

That was my soapbox, teen drama statement of the week. Kinda weird, actually.

Troy smiled, if only slightly.

And for the first time all weekend, I actually felt like we were back in our place. Back the way things should have been.

Back the way things were.

"So...are we gonna work on this coming out of our rooms at the same time thing?" he asked, playfully shoving me.

"Sure, you just stop stalking me and trying to be everywhere I am," I replied.

"Shut up," Troy replied, before pushing me and heading down the stairs.

Well...that was one problem certainly solved.

All that was left now was to try and fix the problems between Pete and all.

I wouldn't be problem free then, but at least I'd be happy.

I just hoped Pete would give me the chance to be.

"So," Sienna started.

She'd completely surprised me once I'd turned the corner to get to my locker by coming out of nowhere, seemingly, and locking arms with me, leading me down the hall,

"So what?" I asked, trying to contain my amusement with the situation.

"So, what'd I miss?" she asked.

I'd nearly forgotten that she had been gone over the weekend with her family visiting a sick uncle.

Then again, I'd been otherwise preoccupied.

"Well, other than that guy Reverend Thomas shot yesterday during service-"

"God, come on Mike," Sienna smiled. "Be serious."

"Well, your boyfriend's still an ass," I replied. "But I think you already knew that."

Sienna looked down as we walked.

"Mike-"

"Sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about that, you know that right?"

"Mike, I really don't think-"

"Hey Mike....Sienna," Troy spoke, greeting the two of us when we got to my locker.

That was when I noticed something. For as long as I'd been friends with Sienna, she only seemed to be nothing but a positive person. I'd never really seen her have a problem with someone.

But the way she looked when she saw Troy said a lot.

It was one of those looks that only a friend would know you had, otherwise the person the look was meant for wouldn't know otherwise.

Which was true in this case as well because Troy looked as though he hadn't seen it.

I felt awkward right then and there as I opened my locker. I no longer knew what to say.

I did, however, notice Troy's smile fading quickly.

I didn't want things to actually become awkward so I tried to think of something to say.

"Ah...so what's new?" I asked.

I wasn't sure who the question was meant for but I pretty much forgot I'd even asked a question once I noticed Pete walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the hall.

He was reading some kind of flyer while he had a water bottle in his other hand, taking sips as he read.

Even though he wasn't looking where he was going, I could tell he knew considering he was doing a good job navigating through the halls without bumping into anything.

Everything else for me just stopped.

It was like I didn't want to do anything other than to talk to Pete at that moment. Like I was in some sort of trance.

I'd made an effort to shut my locker, but I didn't know if it shut or not.

I don't even know what I mumbled to Sienna and Troy as I walked away from them and over to Pete.

I was focused now.

I wasn't confused about what I wanted anymore.

"Hi..." I decided to start off.

Pete looked up at me, frowning as soon as he saw who I was.

Then he looked back down at his flyer, turned it over as if expecting to see something else on the back, and then back over looking ahead. Like he ran out of stuff to do to avoid me.

Almost like he was searching for a way to avoid me.

He started down the hall, but it was in a normal pace.

I just followed, trying to decide how to handle things.

I still didn't know what exactly to say all the time, but at least I had a handle on what I wanted right now.

"I tried talking to you again...after church yesterday," I started. "But I unfortunately had to talk to someone a lot less pleasant."

Pete still had that stone cold look on his face, but he was still walking with me, not trying to get away. A good sign that he was at least willing to listen to what I had to say.

"Would that person be Troy?" he asked, as we turned another corner.

I decided to work around that. It was going to take a lot of effort to make things go right.

"You know, you say you want things to work and I tell you that I want things to work...but look at us. Something's not working."

Pete let out a sigh before stopping and turning to face me.

"I get the feeling things would be a lot easier if Troy just wasn't around."

"Pete, a lot of things would be easier for us with different circumstances, but we just have to accept the way things are."

"We have to accept all the bad things in our lives the way the come? Is that what you're saying?"

I let out a sigh as Pete continued.

"So I'm supposed to accept that on the night of our date, you take off to go be with your foreign exchange roommate-"

"Pete, it's not like that-"

"But you have to understand, that's they way it seems to me. I'm the one that wants to make this all work."

"I know...and I want the same thing-"

"So why is it so hard then?"

I didn't really know.

Life was hard. Things in life were hard.

I was really starting to learn this fact couldn't be any truer.

"Look....even with everything that we've already been through....I still....I still want you," Pete replied. "But only you, not you plus Troy."

Pete had said that so quietly I would have missed him saying it had I been paying attention to something else.

This wasn't exactly `gay friendly central'. This wasn't like some giant high school in Texas somewhere where it was cool to be gay and the captain of the football team at the same time.

If a place like that even existed....

This was reality, and in our reality, we had to understand things for what they were and chose not to ignore them.

"I want the same things you want, trust me," I replied.

Pete looked away from me with a skeptical look on his face after letting out a sigh.

"Look, can't we just start over...please?" I asked.

It took a while of me just standing there and Pete not really looking like he was doing anything before he replied at all.

"Well," he started, turning around to face me.

I knew we were out of the woods when I saw the smile on his face.

"We could....but then we'd have to forgot the fact that we've already been on two dates."

I smiled back at him.

"Two? Really?"

"Yeah...the second one being the most interesting of course," he smiled. "But, at least we have ground that way."

"Yeah...and that's good right?"

"It's perfect," Pete replied.

Just as it should have been.

The only thing Troy knew about Sienna Carpenter was that she was Evan Parker's girlfriend and one of Mike's new friends.

He himself wasn't exactly fond of her. Of course, he also hadn't spent much time with her either. Not much time alone anyway.

He wasn't stupid though. He could sense that something was wrong earlier when she was with Mike.

But he figured she'd get over it, what ever it was. He didn't really have time to deal with someone else's problems anyway.

Only, he knew something was coming up once he noticed Sienna making her way over to him while he was at his locker.

"You know....you're like a nimbus storm cloud," she started, making herself comfortable next to him. "Everything's perfectly okay until you show up and suck the light and happiness out of it all."

"How wonderful to see you too, Sienna," Troy replied. "Is there something significant I can help you with, other than being your personal stepping stone?"

"Why can't you just accept the fact that people actually want to be happy," Sienna replied. "Is it the complete opposite where you come from or what?"

Troy sighed as he tried to keep from losing it around Sienna.

"You know what else people want? Space....back up," he barked sharply, looking down.

Sienna pursed her lips before taking a couple small steps back.

"And where exactly do you get off preaching to me about Mike and his happiness when you're still swapping spit with his mortal enemy."

Sienna crossed her arms.

"And how you still seem to be his so called mortal enemies new best friend?"

Troy looked over at Sienna.

"It sounds like you're trying to make this about Mike, but do I sense a plea for another all about Sienna special?

"What are you talking about?"

"What do you know really? I mean, what makes you an expert on what you're talking about?"

Sienna grinned and tossed her hair back.

"You're enjoying this aren't you? This is what you're like huh?"

"Gee...I seem to be at a loss for thoughts-"

"It's just...you kind of remind me of someone I used to know. Or at least, that type of person."

Troy just stared at Sienna before he decided to give in.

"What type of-"

"A rich snob."

Troy tensed up.

"No one seems to know much about you, but my guess...you like it that way because it's fun for you," Sienna continued. "Like the type of entertainment a spoiled rich kid who's bored with his life would love."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Troy replied.

Sienna squinted her eyes as she studied Troy before she spoke again.

"Maybe..." she replied. "Maybe not."

Troy just stared at her as he tried to keep from looking how he was feeling. Panicked.

I liked having things back the way they were.

I had what I wanted.

An understanding with Troy.

And understanding with Reverend Thomas...however weird that was.

And a new found understanding with Pete.

That was probably what I was most excited about and it was hard to keep myself from showing that I really excited about it.

I wasn't sure what was up with Troy though.

He wasn't being rude, exactly, but it wasn't like he was really `here'.

That was the way he was all day at school. It was so strange.

I couldn't find him after school either.

I just assumed that he was getting a ride with Evan. If not, I wasn't really worried. Troy was a pretty resourceful guy. He'd find a way home.

I was just too excited.

Or at least, I felt that way.

And I wasn't even really sure what I was excited about.

I had been home, just thinking for a good half an hour.

I knew I had homework, but I also knew that I wouldn't be able to really concentrate on it well enough with the mood I was in.

I was just actually feeling like I was having what was supposed to be my normal, perfect life. Only, with a few choice differences.

"Oh, hello Michael," my mother spoke upon entering the living room. "Shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

Normally, that would have annoyed me but looking over at my mom just then, I felt even more happy.

"I love you," I spoke, standing up and giving her a hug to go along with it.

"Oh, well I love you too sweetheart," my mom replied, sounding taken aback. "Of course, you're still gonna have homework."

"I know, I know," I replied, sitting back down.

"So I know your brothers at practice...where's Troy again?"

"With Evan," I replied.

Not exactly a lie considering he most likely was with Evan. I just didn't know if it was true or not.

"Okay, well I'm going to start on diner," my mom replied. "You know how your father hates waiting when he's hungry."

My dad hated waiting, period. He was funny like that.

I watched as my mom left my sight and I just sat back trying to get back to relaxing for the first time in a while.

It didn't last long though, as the phone rang shortly after.

"Answer the phone honey!" I heard mom call from the kitchen.

I let out an annoyed sigh, although I wasn't sure why. I wasn't really annoyed even though I pretty much knew the phone wouldn't be for me.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this the Carson residence?"

It was a woman.

I wish I could say I recognized her voice, but I wouldn't have known it either way.

"Uh...yeah...you looking for my mom?"

"My son actually, Alexander."

Alexander?

"Oh...I'm afraid you have the wrong number-"

"Really? God, tells me I can't trust anything the butler tells me after all," the woman replied. "Jarvis told me that Alexander was in Nevada with his host exchange family."

Wait a second...

"What did you say your name was again?" I asked.

"Veronica. Veronica Hamilton."

Troy's mom...or Alex...? What the hell was going on?

I was just about to ask Veronica some more questions before I noticed the front door opening.

I turned to see Troy walking through with Max.

"Hey!" Max spoke.

I waved, with the confused look I'm sure I still had on my face.

"Something wrong?" Max asked.

"Troy....I think...I think your mom.....she's on the phone," I replied.

Troy looked from me over to Max before walking quickly over to me and taking the phone from me.

"Hello?"

"His mom?" Max asked.

I shrugged.

"Actually, I think you have the wrong number," Troy replied, hanging the phone up.

"Troy-"

"It was the wrong number..."

"But Troy...she said...she said she was..."

"It was the wrong number!" Troy replied.

"Whoa...it's okay," Max replied, grinning. "We believe you man."

I didn't.

Then again, what else was new?

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