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 5
Chapter 5 "Understanding Troy"
Lately, I had a lot of things to think about. I always thought a lot before. But it wasn't because I was having problems with my life.
And I was thinking now because I actually had problems with my life.
And to think clearly, I had to go back all the way to last week.
Last week, I had been the same guy I'd always been. Another invisible what's-his-name kid at school. And then, suddenly, after attending the same school with idiot Evan Parker after all these years, the guy attacks me. Completely out of nowhere.
It didn't help matters that I was going to be hosting an exchange student either, because Evan still picked on me afterwards, and Troy even joined in. So I had little choice but to kick Troy out. Or at least, that was the way I saw things at the time.
No one wanted to understand where I was coming from, and looking back on it now, I'm not sure if I can really even explain my actions. I certainly can't excuse them. But still, no one wanted to hear my reasons for throwing Troy out and instead I was basically thrown out until I came back with Troy. Which I did, after we had a talk. An ineffective talk, which I could clearly see now. But a talk nonetheless.
Still though, things came to a completely new turning point two days ago when Troy and Reverend Thomas got into that huge argument.
And all over, what was for my own self, a very touchy subject.
I was never expecting Troy to go off the handle like he had and basically defend all homosexuals, not even knowing that in truth, he was defending me too. But then, I had to wonder, why exactly was he so passionate about it?
From the outside looking in, it could clearly be seen as some sort of defense mechanism. I myself had experienced that for myself. Troy seemed to always be on the defensive edge. But was he really passionate about it? It did always seem like Troy acted out whenever talk of gay this or gay that popped up.
Then again, maybe I was looking into things too much. Maybe I just wanted that to be the case because, truthfully, I was still very much so crushing on him. Even after everything he'd put me through and continued to put me through, I still found myself wondering what it would be like to have him holding me in his arms. Or what it would be like for him to kiss me.
It didn't matter though. Because the issue at hand wasn't a valid issue. I was making up things in my head. If I wanted to find out anything for sure, I just had to talk to Troy. At least, that's what I wished I could do.
Truth was though, Troy wasn't talking much these days and I was the only one who had an idea why. Because Troy had all but given us all the silent treatment, my family had gotten past the residual disappointment with me to try and get me to tell them what was wrong with him.
Of course, even if I was right about what was actually wrong with him, there was no way I'd even be able to tell them without mentioning the fact the it all had to do with anything at all gay.
Now that it was Sunday, however, Troy was acting even more depressed and had since added sick to his list of feelings.
I assumed he was just trying to get out of going to church. And the way I saw it, it was probably a good idea that he not attend. For my sake and his.
"Look, I know you have to know what happened," Max started, as he looked into my mirror to fix his tie. "He didn't start acting like this until after mom made you guys go see Reverend Thomas."
"And you assume it has to be my fault," I said, bitterly while ironing my shirt.
"With the way you've been acting-"
"Maybe it's Reverend Thomas's fault. Or maybe it doesn't have anything to do with me at all? Did you ever stop to think that I might be just as baffled as you are?"
Max finished up with his tie and turned around.
"I'm not blaming you," he started.
"Really? And I would've figured that out...how exactly?" I replied, beginning to put on my shirt.
Max sighed and took a seat on the edge of my bed.
"I don't wanna call this whole thing a bad idea...but ever since he got here...things haven't exactly been great between him and you."
I knew that. But it wasn't all my fault. And it might not have all been Troy's fault.
"I don't.....I don't know what to do. Okay, this whole thing is just so new for me-"
"It's new for all of us," Max sighed. "And I don't think any of us have really handled the whole situation well."
That was the truth, and I knew it. But if we hadn't handled it well before, how was now any different?
"So....so I guess one of us should try to talk to him again," Max started as he stood up slowly.
I turned around to face him.
"Yeah..." I replied.
I couldn't deny that I was nervous. But someone had to try and get through to Troy. And if it was going to be anyone, it probably should be me to try.
Max and I parted ways as he went downstairs to eat breakfast and I to talk to Troy.
I knocked on his door a couple of times and stood outside waiting for him to open up. Finally, after a couple of minutes, the door opened and Troy walked back over to his bed and plopped down on it.
He looked a mess. Like he hadn't slept at all last night. His hair was so messy it was beyond looking curiously sexy and looked just plain unattractive. It didn't help matters much that it also looked, for some reason, like he hadn't seen sunlight in weeks.
Troy had been pretty much locked up in his room all weekend and only came out to eat breakfast and dinner so as not to be rude. My parents were concerned of course, but what could they do really if Troy wasn't letting anyone know what was wrong with him?
So I just had to take it upon myself to find out what was wrong now.
"So...you look like hell," I started, at least trying to start a little light on the conversation.
Troy flashed me this really evil looking look and put his pillow over his face.
"You know everyone's worried about you," I continued.
Troy said nothing.
I took the silence and him not being able to see me as my opportunity to look around and see what he'd done with the room.
It looked pretty much the same. Although he'd hung up a few posters of various celebrities. And there was something else I noticed. There was a picture on the dresser near the bed. There were two people in it. One of the people was clearly him. The hairstyle was a bit different and more blonde-brown than it was now, but it was definitely Troy. And then there was another guy in the picture. He was the same height and looked to be the same age too. With his arm around Troy. Smiling just like Troy was. And they both looked happy.
I wasn't sure what to think. Best friend? Brother? Boyfriend?
But I just shrugged it off and turned my attention back to Troy.
"I know you're hungry," I said. "Mom made omelets again."
Since my mom had cooked every day that Troy had been with us, I knew just how much Troy loved my mom's cooking, especially her omelets.
At first Troy didn't do or say anything. But as he turned to face me, the pillow covering his face slowly fell to the ground, revealing a surprisingly more alert Troy.
"Really?"
"Yeah," I smiled. "Probably extra just for you."
Troy seemed to look a little happier at the thought. But then he sighed and turned away from me, opting to lie on his back and look up at the bare ceiling.
"You should probably tell your mom I'm still not feeling well," he said.
"Troy, what's this really about?" I asked.
Troy turned back to face me, looking a bit confused.
"I told you...I'm not feeling well."
"It doesn't have anything to do with what happened last week does it?" I asked.
Troy sighed with annoyance.
"That guy was a jackass, but believe it or not my thoughts don't revolve around him," Troy replied.
He was being a jerk again. Defensive. Something I was clearly distinguishing to be a defining personality trait of his. It was like he couldn't function without guarding himself in some way. Which made him all the more mysterious to me.
"So you seemed pretty...determined when you were talking with him-"
"Look I already told you that he was getting on my nerves and I didn't feel like listening to his bullshit," Troy replied, sitting up.
"Troy, I'm just trying to understand you better here-"
"By interrogating me?"
I flashed Troy an annoyed glance.
"You're the one who jumps down my back whenever I try to talk to you!"
"I do not!" Troy objected.
"See what I mean?"
Troy ran his fingers through his hair and stood up, walking away from me a bit.
"You guys probably wanna send me back, huh?" he asked, sounding a lot quieter.
"Troy, nobody is thinking that," I replied.
"And what about now? You guys all want me to go back to that church and face that man after what happened last week."
I stood up and walked over to Troy, standing right behind him.
"Look, I'll cover for you...don't worry about it," I replied.
Troy turned around and the two of us stared at each other in understanding.
A huge part of me wanted to ask him something. Anything that would give me the slightest inclination as to whether or not he was actually gay. But I didn't.
Instead I just started towards the door to head downstairs before I stopped and turned around.
"You should get some rest," I said with a smile. "You really do look like hell."
"Shut up," Troy said, playfully throwing a pillow at me.
I left Troy's room and shut the door behind me, running into Max as soon as I did.
"Is he coming?" he asked.
"No," I replied. "He's still sick."
Max looked a little disappointed but said nothing as he followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen where both of my parents were already waiting.
"Where's Troy?" My mom asked as she worked to finish getting the kitchen straightened out.
"He's still not feeling well," I replied.
"Still? Maybe we should take him to the doctor," my mom said.
From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was really worried.
"I'm sure he'll be fine sweetheart," my dad said. "The boy's probably just a little homesick. Give him some time."
"Well, I suppose..." my mom replied unevenly.
She probably wanted to take him to the doctor anyway. But I was also sure that she could probably understand that it wasn't unusual for Troy to be homesick.
The thought had entered my mind a couple of times. But the only reason I had dispelled it was because I also had a better understanding of what the real problem was.
It was like, the first time that I actually felt that I knew Troy better than Evan, but at Troy's expense. And I wasn't even sure if I was right to think that what I thought was wrong with him is what was actually wrong with him.
"Do you think maybe one of us should stay home and look after Troy?" my mom asked, starting the dishwasher.
"He's sixteen mom. He'll be fine," I replied.
If I was feeling down like Troy, I'd just wanna be left alone.
"I just hate to leave him here while we go off to church," my mom replied. "I want to see if there's something I can do."
"Well you know, he still needs a weight set," Max said. "Maybe we can get one and surprise him before we come home."
"That's actually a good idea," I found myself saying.
Anything to at least try and make Troy feel more at home.
"Okay then. Michael why don't you go and tell Troy were about to head out," my dad said as he stood up to put on hi suit coat.
Max flashed me a slight smile before I headed upstairs for Troy's room.
I knocked once. This time Troy yelled for me to come in and I did.
"Hey we're gonna head out now...." I said.
I wasn't sure what else to say, even though I felt like I should have been saying more.
"Um...okay," Troy replied. "See ya when you get back."
"Uh...yeah. See ya," I replied, shutting the door.
I lingered for a moment outside of it. Troy was making it so easy for me to love to hate him. In a good way.
But him not going to church today wouldn't excuse the fact that next week, my parents would be expecting him to go. And that was a day I definitely wasn't looking forward to.
We arrived at church ten minutes early, as usual. And as per usual, both of my parents went off to chat with some of the members of the church, leaving Max and I standing inside near the back rows.
I wasn't really worried that Reverend Thomas would tell my mother about what happened here the previous week. He wouldn't be that stupid.
I immediately located Evan and his group of friends laughing about something on the other side of the church.
"Hey, let's sit at the top today," I suggested.
I knew it wasn't gonna happen though. My mother always wanted us to sit together as a family. Even though my dad, brother and I were the ones who got to pick the seats, the stipulation was that they had to be on the lower level and not entirely too far back.
"You're kidding, right?" Max asked rhetorically.
Of course he knew it wasn't going to happen either. And as he started walking slowly towards the front, I followed him not really having anyone of my own to talk to.
We had just managed to find some seats when Evan and his friends approached us. And even before he opened his mouth did I know exactly what he was about to ask.
"So where's Troy?"
"Sick, I guess," Max replied.
I noticed Evan look over at me with this condescending stare. Like it was supposed to me fault Troy wasn't here.
And Max seemed uninterested with Evan. Like maybe he was still upset with him for attacking me the previous week.
"Hey, listen.....um, can we talk?" Evan asked.
I had to hand it to him, the guy was good. Completely good at sounding and acting sincere when he wanted people to believe that he was. Maybe he was taking lessons from Troy. Or the other way around.
Max flashed me a weird glance before turning back to Evan.
"Sure, whatever," he spoke, getting up to leave.
And I was expecting his other half, Andrew, to leave right along with him. Unfortunately for me though, he took a seat right next to me. Damn close too.
"Um-"
"You know, I had this....belief that all the popular people in the world would get along with all the losers and everything would be..." Andrew stopped and put his arm around my shoulders. "Well, obviously, that's never gonna happen."
I scooted away from Andrew, allowing his arm to drop from my shoulder. Only he scooted right back next to me.
"You know what I'd like to see-"
"You know, I think maybe somebody called you-"
"I'd like to see a world where we can all live together in harmony. Straight people and you fags I mean."
"Okay, I think I'm gonna go-"
"Go what? It's not like anyone else in here knows you," Andrew laughed.
And with that, he got up and walked back over to some of his jock friends.
With Andrew gone, I decided to go and reclaim my seat and sat patiently waiting for the rest of my family to join me.
One thing I did notice, was that Sienna seemed to keep looking my way. I wasn't a paranoid person so I knew I wasn't imagining it. All I could do was flash a small polite smile. What else was I supposed to do?
"Hey," Max said, sitting down next to me.
I looked over at him expecting for him to tell me what had been the problem between him and Evan. Only it didn't look like I was going to be finding that out because he didn't mention it at all.
Same old, same old.
It was at that moment that I wondered what Troy was up to, home by himself. Probably asleep.
Troy had been laying in the small twin sized bed for a little while. He felt tired but the problem was that he didn't feel sleepy. Not anymore.
Lazily, he turned to look at the digital alarm clock on the dresser next to the bed. It was barely ten o clock. Mike and the rest of the family wouldn't be home until sometime after one.
He let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling above him. He wasn't bored, just restless. And he had a lot on his mind. He felt.....ashamed of himself.
He'd promised Mike that he was gonna try, and he did try, but he also knew that hadn't particularly tried too hard. It was just...it was happening again, and he did NOT want that to happen. He didn't even want to think about it, but once he did, he found that he couldn't stop.
Slowly he got up and walked over to the dresser across the other side of the room. The only thing he could see was the picture. The one picture he could stand to look at now that he was here. Here in the U.S.
He clutched it firmly in his hands and thought for a moment. He suddenly felt scared. Afraid even. Afraid that if Mike or his family found out why he was really here. How he'd managed to get here.....
He'd have to go back home. And there was no way in hell he wanted that. It was the reason why he signed up for the exchange program in the first place.
There was so much in his past that he hated. And he didn't want Mike or anyone else to know about any of it.
And least of all, he didn't want to hear from his parents again. If he was lucky and got to stick to the plan, then he'd stay here in Nevada until the school year was over, and then move on.
That was probably the main thing that was keeping him from trying to connect with Mike. The relationship he had with Evan and the other popular kids was the same type of superficial relationship he had with the popular crowd back in Canada. There was never any real connection there and there wasn't one now.
He didn't want to get attached because it would cause problems for him in the long run. That was one reason.
There was another.
Troy started to think about it for a moment before suddenly realizing that the phone had started to ring.
He looked over at and contemplated not answering it. After all, it most likely wasn't for him. But he decided that it might have been Mike or one of his family members and ultimately jumped across his bed and over to the small desk with the phone on top of it, picking it up to speak.
"Uh...hello?"
"Troy?"
Troy tightened his grip on the phone as his breathing suddenly deepened.
"How did you get this number?" he asked.
"I...asked the school......"
Troy sat with the phone to his ear for a moment. He had started to panic briefly. But quickly regaining control over his emotions, his breathing returned to normal as did his attitude.
"Well get rid of it," Troy spoke. "Don't call back here."
He didn't wait for an argument and hung up the phone just as quickly as he had picked it up.
That was one call he was hoping he'd never get. And he didn't want to think about it anymore either.
Getting the phone in the first place had already put him in a worse mood then before. And feeling utterly and overly depressed, he fell back on the bed and put the pillow back over his face, hoping to fall back asleep.
I consider myself a down to earth person. Sure I think a lot. Maybe over react a lot. But I was definitely not paranoid.
So I'm not being paranoid in saying that Reverend Thomas was trying to murder me with his eyes!
All morning, it seemed like he'd been looking in my general direction more than he probably would have under normal circumstances. But today wasn't a normal day and there weren't any normal circumstances.
Today was the first day I'd had to endure seeing Reverend Thomas since the whole incident, and of course, he was back on his usual 'homosexual' thing again.
Call me paranoid if you will, but he was on it even more so than usual.
And it was making me so damn uncomfortable!
"Are you okay?" Max whispered, probably noting how uncomfortable I looked and felt.
I looked up at the podium where Revered Thomas seemed to be staring yet again in my general direction.
"I think I need a drink of water," I whispered back.
Never in my life had I gotten up in the middle of a sermon for anything. If I had to pee, I'd hold it. If I needed a drink, I'd remain parched.
But today, I needed to just get the hell away from the good old Reverend, if even for just a few moments.
"Mike-"
"I'm fine," I replied. "I'll be right back."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed my mom and dad looking up at me. I felt a tad bit upset to be just getting up like this. Especially during the middle of what everyone else probably thought was one 'riveting' sermon.
But I had a lot on my mind and needed to go. I was already getting restless, and that was never a good thing.
I quickly made my way to the back lobby area and decided that privacy was something I desired, and headed into the restroom. I didn't actually have any real reason to be in there, so to look as though I did, I walked over to one side of the sinks and turned on the water, meaning to 'wash' my hands.
I wasn't sure how long I was looking down but when I looked back up, there was some guy standing behind me.
It was weird because I hadn't heard him come in and if he was already in here, he was being awfully quiet.
Although, he did look familiar. Like I'd seen him outside of church or something.
"Aren't you Max's kid brother?" the guy asked.
I moved slightly to face him because he was just standing behind me like he wanted to make small talk or something.
"I'm his older brother, actually," I replied.
The guy, who was a hottie if I had to say so, crossed his arms and stared at me with this completely unreadable look.
One that I felt uncomfortable enough to look away from, deciding it better to do my 'business' and get the hell out of here.
"Sucks what that loser idiot Evan did to you," the guy finally said, this time moving to one of the sinks next to me.
I wasn't sure what to say mostly because I didn't like the subject the moron chose to bring up. I mean, obviously I'm gonna think what happened sucked because it happened to me!
"Oh, I'm Pete Reynolds, by the way," the guy spoke, extending his wet hand out to shake my own soaked hand.
"Uh...I guess you already know who I am," I said, as I shook Pete's hand.
If my memory served me correctly, Pete was on the baseball team. That's really all I knew about him. The thing was getting to me though, was why he seemed to be so interested in talking to me. My track record with the school's jock's hadn't been all that impressive up to now and Pete was one of them.
Pete turned from me and walked over to dry his hands while I eventually walked over to do the same.
"I've seen you around school," Pete spoke as he dried his hands.
"Really," I replied, feigning interest.
I still wasn't quite comfortable with the guy, even though it appeared as though he was an exception to the "Asswipe Jocks" category.
"Yeah.....you don't talk much do you?" Pete asked.
"No offense, but what difference does that make?" I asked. "I mean it's not like anyone else talks to me either."
"Maybe people think you're stuck up," Pete replied.
"What?"
The nerve.....
"I mean...it's what I would think....."
"So you think I'm stuck up-"
"That's not what I was saying...I was just-"
The weird, random, completely out of the blue conversation I was having with Pete was shut down once the door to the restroom opened, and I found myself trapped in a church restroom with three jocks.
Troy had been making the same wish over and over for almost an hour, but unfortunately, the annoying birds chirping outside the window had yet to blow to pieces so that he could get some sleep.
Realizing this, he forced himself to get up.
The sun from outside hit his face and he quickly laid back down in an attempt to shield his eyes.
It didn't matter to him anyway. All he wanted was for Mike and everyone else to get back home so that he could 'miraculously' not be sick anymore and go back to being his normal self.
Although, he knew that after getting that phone call, it would prove a difficult challenge. This whole thing was about him getting away, not having to deal with whatever he left behind.
Only, it looked like he was the only one who was feeling that way.
He'd just decided that he wanted to leave the room and go downstairs to see what kind of breakfast had been left behind for him when the phone rang yet again.
Troy instantly froze. He had automatically assumed that it was for him again. But he knew that he'd been quite clear the first time and that he wouldn't be getting any more phone calls.
It was that thought alone that convinced him to pick up the phone and answer it.
"Um..Carson residence."
"Troy?"
"Is this.....I thought I told you not to fucking call here anymore?!"
"Troy...but, this is mom...I-"
"Mom?"
Troy was definitely surprised. It hadn't been his mother on the phone the first time. Or father for that matter. But still.......
"How are things? Are the Carson's a nice family?"
Troy was a bit torn. Part of him wanted to talk with his mother. He did want to keep some parts of his old life with him. But the other part, the part that was winning out, the part that Mike had the unfortunate pleasure to witness so many time while he was here.........
"Mom I don't think-"
"It's just that you left so suddenly. Your father and I barely got a chance to say-"
"Um, actually you know what mom, the family and I are just about to head out to church so-"
"Oh...they...oh-"
"Yeah. Bye."
Troy put the phone down, feeling too afraid to hang it up for some reason. He wasn't expecting to hear from his mom for an obvious reason. But when she started talking about his dad......
He looked over at his clock and sighed. He almost wished that he'd went ahead and gone to church with Mike and his family. At least he wouldn't have been around for the two phone calls.
I guess I'd always been aware that women traveled to restroom in flocks but I had no idea guys took a piss together. Then again, Evan and Andrew were both complete tools so I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when the two of them walked into the restroom.
I'm sure they must have assumed that Pete and I were up to something. Or at the very least, me, being the fag they were both sure I was, was probably begging Pete to let me suck him off.
Whatever they were thinking, however, remained a mystery to me, as for once, neither of them opened their mouths.
Instead, when they first walked in, they smirked a little, and headed towards the back to use the urinals.
Pete looked a tad bit confused but for some strange reason, despite the fact that it really didn't look like he had anymore reason to be in the restroom, he was still here.
I guess that I couldn't be one to talk, as I really didn't have any reason to be in here as well. Then again, I didn't have a reason when I came in in the first place.
"Um so interesting sermon huh?" Pete asked, sounding a bit nervous.
Was this the jock life I was missing? Travel to the restroom together and make small talk in a restroom?
I nodded looking down at nothing in particular. 99% of me was telling me to get the hell out. But as usual, I was still here. And so was Pete. And so were the assholes, who I could hear zipping up and flushing as they each made their way back up to the front sinks.
Maybe it was Pete. Maybe that was the reason why Evan and Andrew weren't picking on me as usual. Because they were being awfully quiet.
"So....why don't we get out of here," Pete said.
I was still confused as to why Pete was even talking to me, and now he wanted me to go somewhere with him?
I don't know why I did it, but I looked back at Evan and Andrew. Almost like I was seeking permission from the last people on Earth I needed to be asking anything from.
"Yo Pete," Evan started.
There it was. I knew they had an agenda.
Pete and I had already started to leave when he turned around to face Evan.
"Evan...what's up man," Pete said, not so friendly.
Why wasn't I surprised they knew each other? And that was all the confirmation I needed before I decided that sticking around probably wasn't in my best interest.
"Wait a second, Carson...where ya going man? I wanna talk to you about something," Evan called out to me.
One hand on the handle, one foot out the door....I was almost there.
But....why did I have to turn around? I seemed to be making a lot of foolish decisions lately.
"See I got this problem and I was hoping maybe you could help me out,"
I'd read about this sort of thing. Seen it happen in cheap porn flicks And hell, even imagined it in my deepest of fantasies happening to me. Of course, none of those scenarios involved a certain Evan Parker.
I'm sure every one of us knew what the deal was. And if we didn't before, we certainly understood when Evan started feeling himself up around his crotch area.
I was petrified to say the least. Three jocks, who's combined weight was probably eight times more than what I weighed, or at least triple, were standing before me. Two of them had already proved themselves to be as such. Idiots. And now they were horny perverted idiots.
"Look I don't think-"
"What's the problem Carson? I know you want it-"
"Back off Parker!" Pete barked.
That surprised me and apparently it surprised Evan too because he looked a little shocked at first. But he got over his initial shock quickly.
"What is the fag your bitch or-"
In no less than a second flat, Pete had Evan pinned against the wall of one of the stalls. They probably weighed the same, but Evan wasn't putting up much of a fight. In fact, he looked downright petrified.
"I hear about you harassing him again, and I'll make you suck ME off, you understand?"
Evan looked a mixture of afraid and pissed, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Get the fuck out of here!"
I watched as Pete flung Evan towards the door. Apparently, Andrew had been watching too because Pete addressed that next.
"Don't just stand there, leave! Now!"
Andrew scurried out of the restroom as if it had caught fire, leaving me alone with Pete once again.
"Some people right?" Pete spoke, grinning a little.
I noticed something. That he looked flustered. As if he were really upset behind the whole ordeal. I really hoped that defending me hadn't caused problems with him and Evan, if they were friends.
Then again, if anything, that was just a strong indication that they weren't.
"Uh...thanks," I replied.
I guess it was Pete's turn to look nervous because all he did was flash me a sheepish grin before turning towards the door.
"Well I guess I'd better get back out there," he said, and he left.
I stayed a few moments to recompose myself before exiting the restroom and heading back out to the front. ***********************************************************************
Troy had already decided that he had stuff to do and that moping around the house wasn't going to get him anywhere.
The first order of business he took care of involved making sure that he got the money from his savings and spending accounts wired into new American bank accounts. After getting those two calls, there was no way he was going back, so it just made sense.
Next thing he did was to order a new cellphone. There was no point in keeping his old one with all the old numbers. He would have just deleted them all but it was time for him to get a new one anyway so that's exactly what he did.
Then he had to order a few things. A laptop among others. The Carson's only had two computers, both of which were situated in one of the family members rooms, so he was definitely going to need a computer of his own.
He would have ordered a weight set or something along those lines, but he wasn't exactly rolling in it and that would be pushing things.
The last thing he did was to make sure to put away any and everything that would remind him of home away. He'd originally thought he could handle the memento's and the pictures. But after today, he realized that he couldn't and had put everything up. From his old phone to the picture on his dresser away.
From here on out, he was starting fresh. And there was no way he wanted anyone to find out about his past.
I wonder, is it rational to thank God when a sermon you wish would end actually ends? Doesn't matter because I seriously was glad it was over.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn't do my usual mad dash home because I had to stay with the rest of my family while we went out and picked up a few things, including Troy's weight set.
Mom and dad were both talkers after church, so I was looking at a good half hour or so before we left.
Max had tried to get me to talk to him about whatever problem he assumed I had, but I shrugged him off. I didn't exactly have a problem. Anymore. I think. I mean.....I don't know. And I didn't know when Max asked me about it either.
It was like, in a couple of weeks time, I had unfortunately caught up with all the problems any normal teenager would have had by now. Or at least, problems seemed to have caught up with me. And normal teenagers, the ones who were social and had enough friends, boyfriends, and girlfriends by now to know how to handle such situations, wouldn't be able to help me out because I didn't know any of those people.
It literally hurt my head to be thinking about all of it and I once again needed some air, and opted to go sit in the shade on one of the benches outside the church.
I knew that I'd be alone because no one talked outside the church. You only went outside to leave.
Or at least, I thought that was the case, because no less than a minute later was I joined by a face I was becoming more and more familiar with.
"Mind if I have a seat?"
"Sure," I replied.
I'm sure there were lots of guys that would have loved to have a girl like Sienna Carpenter wanting to make company with them, but it just baffled me.
The bench wasn't all that big. Big enough to seat a couple of people, three if the third person was someone a bit smaller than Sienna.
But as it were, she took a seat directly next to me.
I was starting to become more comfortable around her, even though I still couldn't figure out exactly why she always seemed to want to talk to me.
"Aren't you afraid that Evan'll like...dump you or something if he sees you hanging out with me?" I asked.
"Evan's my boyfriend, not my master," Sienna replied. "I can talk to whoever I want. Besides, what's so bad about you?"
She was smiling at me and with an infectious smile like the one she had, I smiled back.
"I don't get it," I replied. "I've known you practically all my life and you've never spoken three words to me before last week," I replied.
"You never spoke three words to me either," Sienna replied.
"But it's different with you," I replied. "You're captain of the cheerleading team dating a jock."
"Those are just temporary titles," Sienna replied. "No one cares what you are once you graduate."
"But until then...." I strayed.
I had two more years before then so titles were everything now. And Sienna actually had one. One that I'm sure would be damaged of any of her popular friends found us talking.
"So I saw you come out of the restroom earlier," Sienna started.
I looked at her waiting for her to finish.
"I mean, I saw you coming out after Evan and Andrew while I was getting a drink," Sienna replied. "They weren't messing with you, were they?"
Despite however comfortable I was feeling around the girl, it still didn't change the fact that she was Evan's girlfriend. For all I knew, she was pretending to be nice to me so she could humiliate me or something later. After all, anyone who could put up with Evan.........
"What would it matter if they were?" I asked, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. "I mean, you keep apologizing for everything Evan does to me when it isn't your fault, but he could push me off a cliff and the two of you would still be together the next day!"
"Mike, I'm just trying to-"
"What exactly?" I asked. "There's you and there's Troy and now Pete-"
"Pete?" Sienna asked.
I sighed and looked down, opting not to speak any further.
"Look, you wouldn't get it okay! It's just complicated and....."
"Yeah......" I looked back over at her. "Why are you so desperate to get to know me?"
Sienna stared at me for what seemed like forever before responding.
"Because I thought you could use a friend," she replied, before getting up and going back inside.
There was no denying I felt pretty bad about how things had gone, but in my defense, she did add to my confusion with her sudden interest in me.
"There you are!"
I turned to see my mom, dad, and brother all coming out of the building.
"What....you guys don't wanna stay and talk?" I asked, standing up.
"Your mom felt bad about leaving Troy by himself," my dad replied.
"Besides, we still have to go get Troy's weights and maybe order a new bed and I don't want to be out too late," my mom replied.
It didn't matter to me. As long as I didn't have to sit on that bench for another half hour doing nothing.
"Hey, did you talk to Evan?" Max asked, as we walked back to the car.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"I don't know...." Max replied, and he dropped the conversation.
"Let's stop and get some food, I'm starving," my dad said, as he got into the car.
Troy had spent the past couple of hours trying to figure out if there was a way to stop all the phones in the Carson home from picking up calls from numbers that he specified.
He hated to be so paranoid and sneaky, but it was what had to be done to ensure that no one from home contacted him again. The way he saw it, there wasn't even a need for anyone to contact him. And he had his own bank accounts, credit cards, everything he needed to live alone. Only he wasn't alone. Yet.
He hadn't managed to figure it out before he heard the front door opening and his name being called.
Deciding that he wouldn't pretend to be sleeping, he rushed down the stairs to greet his host family.
"Hey everyone!"
"Oh hey, Troy, could you give us a hand man?" Max asked. "My mom went shopping spree crazy."
"So I bought a few things," my mother spoke. "Things we needed."
"Uh, I don't think dad needed any more Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies," I pointed out, looking in one of the bags.
"Are you kidding me? If anything, that was the main thing we had to get!" my dad spoke as he entered the house.
"Oh hey, come on I wanna show you something," I said, grabbing Troy and leading him outside.
This morning I was confused by Troy. Now I was glad to have him and his awkward ways. They...he was better than anything else that I had to deal with today already.
Max followed Troy and I back to the car as I continued to lead Troy around the side. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed my dad garb the basketball and start shooting some hoops.
"Okay so I can't take credit for this," I started. "It was Max's idea. But I'm sure I psychically gave it to him anyway so..."
Max and I stood to the side as Troy looked over the massive box containing what would be his weight set.
"You guys went out and got this for me?" he asked.
"And a new bed and mattress," Max added.
I could tell Troy really didn't know what to say so I figured I'd help him out.
"Don't worry about it," I replied.
"Yeah, you can work it off by playing me a couple games of ball," Max spoke as he headed up to where my dad was taking and missing yet another shot.
"Come on Mike," Max called back.
Troy looked back at me and smiled.
"Troy......Troy dear....."
Troy turned around to face my mom as she headed from the back out onto the the driveway.
"I think someone from home wants to speak with you," my mom replied.
"What...someone called for me?" Troy asked sounding dumbfounded.
My dad stopped tossing the ball and stood silently, as did Max and I.
This would be the first time I'd head anything about someone from Troy's family calling him. I mean...maybe he'd called them before...but....
"Yes, dear...I think so...uh-"
"Could you tell them I'm not feeling well?" Tory asked, suddenly sounding down again.
"Oh..."
"I'm going back up to my room," Troy spoke before heading back into the house and going upstairs, making sure to hang up the phone before he did.
Well, I thought I'd be happier to be around Troy, but between what happened earlier and what had happened since Troy arrived, all I knew was that I had a lot of things that I didn't understand. Troy being the most confusing of them all.
A/N
If you'd like more Wayward People to read, then check out my Yahoo Group located at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/, where advance chapters can be found.
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Copyright 2005