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 7 "Slowly But Surely"

I guess I thought that with time, Troy was going to start opening up to me. But after being with us for nearly a month and a half, he had proven my guess to be wrong.

Because if anything, the mystery that is Troy just grew even more mysterious.

What was I supposed to say to the guy really? Normally you found something within a person that you could grab onto and use somehow. That was typically how you made friends. Then again, I was assuming that was how people made friends. I hadn't done the activity myself really, just wrote about people making friends with people in my stories.

But still.....

He was such a recluse.

I knew I was one to talk, given that up until last month, I'd been a hermit all my life. Not for lack of trying not to be one though.

But I was supposed to be thinking about why Troy was so weird.

Yeah....why was Troy so weird?

I guess if I could ask him, I probably would. But he didn't talk to me much.

Maybe he was still mad at me for ignoring his warnings and talking with Pete anyway.

Pete.

I'd been so focused on Troy lately that I hadn't even been able to sit back and think about what Pete and I were supposed to be.

I'd never had a boyfriend before. I'd never had a girlfriend either.

I still wasn't even sure that we, Pete and me, were together, really.

So we kissed in the locker room that afternoon after school....but that was it.

I guess we were doing what a lot of people would call `taking things slowly' Probably just trying to be friends first.

And then.....if there was supposed to be a then...I guess we'd pick back off after....

The kiss. Highly unexpected, but not totally unwanted.

Sure I'd thought that Pete was attractive, but I hadn't even suspected that he might be gay, nor did I picture him ever wanting to kiss me.

I didn't know much about him, but we were building towards that I guess.

It had only been two weeks since the kiss.

In two weeks, I felt...different. Sienna and I sure were talking more, and neither she nor Pete were afraid to be seen talking with me in school.

Max was happy for me. Troy....Troy was starting to irk me again.

I was even thinking about how he was starting to irk me again as I opened the door to my room and walked out of it.

Weird how Troy was just coming out of his room as well.

We met up in the center of the hall, which just so happened to be past the bathroom, near the stairs.

It was like a western, where the two cowboys just stood, waiting to see who'd make the first move.

What was I supposed to say to him? He was the one that insisted on not talking to me.

"So..." I decided to start.

I hated opening my mouth when I didn't have anything to say.

Troy let out a sigh and looked down.

I crossed my arms...which I usually did whenever I was nervous....and looked anywhere but at Troy.

"Still friends with that baseball player?" Troy asked.

I looked over at him and rolled my eyes.

"What do you care? It's not like you're interested in anything I have going on anyway."

For a minute, I could have sworn that it looked like Troy wanted to argue with me. Not about Pete, but about the fact that he knew I was right.

He was supposed to be learning about American culture. Learning about me and my family.

It just seemed like he was more interested in being weird, oh and let's not forget becoming Evan Parker's latest greatest sidekick supreme.

"Look....I have a lot of...baggage, alright-"

"You don't have to explain to me the reasons why you don't feel like behaving like a normal human being, Troy," I spoke. "Actions speak louder than words."

"So what...you think just because of what's going on between the two of us that I'd tell you to stay way from-"

"You don't even know Pete-"

"For no reason?"

The two of us eyed each other, silently fuming.

"You're right, I don't," Troy replied. "But not a lot of people seem to know you either and I don't want people to start calling you......I just don't want for you to be more unhappy....."

I guess because of everything else I'd already been through with Troy, it was hard for me to believe that he actually cared about my feelings.

He'd already shown me that he didn't have a problem going along with everyone else when it came to insulting me in one way or another.

Our stare down was cut short when the two of us noticed the door to Max's room opening and him coming out into the hallway.

As usual, his hair was bedridden and he looked like he hadn't wanted to even get up this morning but did anyway.

"Oh....am I still asleep?" were his firs words. "Didn't I see you guys here a few days ago?"

So we were both fond of waking up at the same time and meeting in the hallway.

Although, it was kind of weird.

"Don't worry, I was just going to take a shower," I spoke, still eying Troy.

Normally I waited to see whether or not Troy would have like to go first when it came to using the upstairs restroom in the mornings.

But today I was just pissed off enough not to care.

Just to spite Troy, I took a nice long shower. I hated taking long showers and found it weird how anyone could, but today, I took a long shower.

I don't know what was wrong with me or what I was doing or trying to prove really. Other than just trying to take a long shower.

I was upset. I took a shower feeling upset. I put on my clothes feeling upset. I even fixed my plate at breakfast feeling upset.

"Honey, don't slam your cup on the table, it's rude," my mother spoke, standing at the kitchen sink as usual.

She was always worried about how certain things made a person look.

Why was she always worried about that?

I couldn't help it though. The slamming my cup on the table thing.

Troy was sitting across from me, avoiding looking at me at all costs, I noticed. I didn't have a problem staring directly at him though. More like glaring at him.

My mother would probably call me on that and say it was rude as well but she had her back turned to me at the sink.

Max was sitting on the other side of Troy and I, looking between the two of us. I guess he was trying to figure out what was going on. What was wrong.

Why did something always have to be wrong? Nothing was ever right. Not since Troy had come into my life.

I was afraid to think that my whole year could end up being this way. Where I'd wake up grumpy and slam cups on the table....no I couldn't do that because it was rude.

"Boys have either of you two talked with Troy about the event coming up next week?" my mom asked, still washing things at the sink.

Max and I exchanged glances.

"What's coming up next week?" Troy asked, I noticed looking at Max when he asked it.

"Only the most boring of all the obligatory social functions this town throws that we have to attend," Max replied.

"Maxwell, did you forget that your mother is the one behind a lot of those so called boring events?" my mom asked.

"Sorry, but it's true," Max replied. "I don't see why there has to be an event for everything in a small town like this."

Neither did I. It was like we were striving to be a Mini-Vegas just because we were so close. I wonder if anyone realized that Reno was already trying to take that title?

"Well, you'll have to excuse my children, Troy," my mother started, turning off the water at the sink. "If it doesn't involve swimming or writing, they'll think it's boring."

Troy was grinning, looking over at Max who was messing around with his cereal.

"So what's the event, then?" Troy asked.

"It's the annual Wayward Fall Carnival," my mother started. "Every year the church holds a fundraiser for this very event. We save most of the money from the fundraiser so that we can rent various carnival-like things....rides, game booths, food stands...."

"And they throw this at the old mill factory by Johnson Lake," Max replied. "Pretty close to the church, actually."

"Not by Johnson lake, Maxwell, that would be dangerous. A lot of small children attend the event," my mother clarified.

"Yeah and I bet you they'd tell you it's boring too," Max mumbled.

I think my mom just pretended not to hear that, even though she kind of acknowledged it.

"Well this year I think you'll find yourselves a little more interested," my mother spoke. "Because after speaking with your principal, he and I decided it would be a great idea to have a few of the school's more...interesting students, help with the planning of this years carnival."

This was only interesting because Max and I knew what was coming next.

"Mom...mom no, I have-"

"Too bad."

Max frowned and crossed his arms.

"What's going on?" Troy asked.

"What would you say if I told you that you were one of the few lucky people the principal suggested help work on the event?" my mother asked.

For the first time since we'd both been downstairs, Troy looked over at me before looking at my mother.

"You mean, like help plan it with Max and Mike?" he asked.

"And me of course," my mother replied.

Troy cleared his throat and looked back over at me.

I knew he knew well enough to know by now that my mother wasn't the type of person that believed in democracy.

If she suggested we help her, it was more like she'd recruited us and we had no choice but to help.

He knew it and I could see it written clearly all over his face.

"It sounds like fun," he replied, smiling over at my mother.

Max and I weren't as gullible as her right then though. We were both guys, guys Troy's age. We could see that Troy was agonizing helping with this as much as we were.

My mother started clearing some things from the table as we went back to our food.

"So mom, who else from school did you get to help?" I found myself asking.

She mentioned most interesting people. That probably meant popular people. I knew the popular kids. A lot of them were bases for characters in my stories.

"Oh well I got that lovely Sienna Carpenter and her cheerleading friends to help with decorations," my mom started.

Sienna?

"Oh and of course Evan Parker and some of his friends have all agreed to help," my mother continued.

I froze. Max froze. Troy froze.

Evan?

Why Evan?

"Oh for heavy lifting...the carnival has a lot of things that need to get in place you know," my mom replied.

I hadn't even been aware that I'd asked that question out loud.

But still....why Evan......okay, that time it was to myself.

I looked over at my brother who kind of looked a little like he was feeling sorry for me while when I looked over at Troy, he just had this glazed look on his face. Like he was dealing with some kind of internal conflict.

"Well, I should be getting to work," my mom started.

My mom was a volunteer nurse at the local clinic. She worked three hours a day, hours varying sometimes, and then spent the rest of her time milling about at the church or gossiping with some of the other female pillars of the community.

My dad worked with stocks and bonds, which brought in most of the money and was the reason why my mother didn't have to work, even though she did anyway.

"I'll see you boys after school," she finished, before heading towards the back.

After she'd left, things were silent for a while between all of us.

It was kind of like how breakfast started, with Troy looking away from me, me looking directly at him, and Max looking between the two of us trying to figure out what was going on.

"So....the Fall Carnival....gonna be weird huh?" Max spoke, trying to break the tension.

Troy looked up at me.

It looked like he'd started to say something but just to spite him again, I got out of my chair and grabbed my plate.

"Yeah," I said, walking over to the sink. `It's gonna be really weird."

There were two things that I'd pretty much become accustomed to since I'd starting becoming closer with Sienna and Pete.

One, that Pete would always be waiting for me at the front doors to walk me to my locker. And two, that Sienna would always greet the two of us when we actually got to my locker.

It was interesting to me to see how the two of them interacted with me and the world around them.

For all intensive purposes, it might have looked to anyone with even a hint of a suspicious nature that Pete and I were dating.

It seemed plausible enough. After all, Pete was one of the most popular guys in school. Usually, popular people didn't just all of a sudden start spending most of their time with one of the least popular people in school.

Pete ate lunch with me. Pete walked me to whatever classes he could. He was, in any way that mattered, interested in me.

It was clear for me to see, so I guess I was starting to wonder why it wasn't as clear for anyone else.

It wasn't like I wanted people to start accusing us of being Wayward's first and only gay couple. But at least that way I'd know that people were noticing what I was noticing.

Maybe I was just a wee bit unwilling to take this whole thing for what it was, a friendship. Sure the two of us kissed, once. But it was once and only once and it wasn't like we'd brought it up after that day.

What, was Pete waiting for me to do that or something?

I wasn't even sure if that's what I wanted. Because in the back of mind, still lied-

"Troy."

Pete had said the name and it had snapped me back into reality.

I started looking around for him because I thought that the reason that Pete had said his name was because Troy was around.

Apparently not.

"What?" I asked, turning to him.

"How are things with him? He still giving you a hard time?" Pete asked.

I stared at Pete for a few moments not really sure what to make of the question or him asking me the question.

Turning away from him and into my locker seemed to be a good enough diversion.

"I mean, you'd tell me if he was right?" Pete asked.

"I don't know," I replied, still not daring to face him.

"Mike-"

"I don't know," I replied again, this time turning to face him after I'd said it.

I wasn't having the same kind of problems with Troy that I'd been having, the problems that I'm sure Pete was talking about.

I was still trying to define my own concept of friendship. Not ever having any friends, I was still trying to decide what was and was not acceptable.

"I thought...I don't know..."

Yeah. I didn't know either. I wished he would just come right out and tell me what he thought.

Not that I was thinking he wanted anything more from me than I wanted from him. Because I wasn't sure if I wanted anything from him. What was I supposed to be able to get from him anyway? I guess we were just friends.

Friends that had shared a passionate kiss.

"I'm sorry," I quickly apologized. "I guess I'm still just trying to get used to this. I've never really had friends before."

I knew that I was out of the woods when Pete smiled and got closer to me.

I looked down and backed away slightly.

"Pete..."

"Sorry," he spoke.

Seconds later, the other familiar face from the past two weeks, Sienna, approached the both of us.

"Hey guys," she started. "So I just got done talking with Principal Vanderholt who relayed to me the good news via your mom, Mike."

Pete looked over at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"What good news?" he asked.

"Ugh, it's not good news, trust me," I replied.

"Well that's a positive attitude for ya," Sienna spoke, tapping me on the arm.

"Well, I'm not a cheerleader so I guess I don't really know how to be peppy," I replied.

"What good news?" Pete repeated.

"The Wayward Fall Carnival is being given a facelift this year," Sienna replied. "It looks like the church has finally decided to listen to us for a change and actually use young people to plan it."

"So you and Mike are helping with the carnival?" Pete asked.

"Unfortunately, it looks that way," I sighed.

"Well that's good," Pete replied, pulling the backpack that was hanging on one of his shoulders up a little.

"You know, the saying the more the merrier has never been more true," Sienna spoke, tossing her hair back. "You can help out too."

"I wish I could," Pete started. "But I have practice all week after school."

He really did look like he wanted to help and judging from the way he was looking at me, I could identify the reason easily.

"Hey, Sienna!"

None of us had to turn around to recognize who was bellowing her name.

I noticed Pete tense up a little and Sienna roll her eyes, looking slightly annoyed.

"Hey babe," Evan spoke, putting his arm around Sienna's shoulder after kissing her on the cheek. "A little lost, aren't you?"

Sienna looked over at me.

I guess this was the part where once she was actually confronted with being friends with me, she pretended like she wasn't.

I was prepared for that.

I wasn't prepared for what she really did.

"Actually, no, I'm not," she replied.

A weird smirk grew on Evan's face as he looked between Pete and I.

"Sienna-"

"Evan understand something for me, please," she started. "I'm your girlfriend, not your property. I can do what I want and talk to who I want."

"Yeah but does it have to be the schools only fags-"

That was all Evan could get out before Pete dropped his backpack and slammed Evan against the lockers behind us, pinning him by the neck.

"Give me a reason not to," Pete mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Pete, come on," I spoke, trying to pull him off.

"Say what the-"

Just like the lackey he was, Andrew came rushing up and pulled Pete from behind, taking him off of Evan.

It just so happened that Andrew was with Troy and my brother, and the two of them looked over at me as if what was happening was my fault.

Troy especially.

"Mike, what's going on?" Max asked.

"Why don't you ask your best friend," I replied, somewhat bitterly.

Max looked a little confused and I was confused a little myself, but I just turned away from him and watched what was going on.

"Strike two, face fucker!" Evan growled.

"Alright, can we all just calm the fuck down-" Andrew started

"Think you're all bad because you pick on random people...nothing but a shit-face dumb-ass-"

"What was that Pete?" Even spoke.

It was amazing to me that, considering the fact that this was a highly religious town and that all of these people went to my church, that they had such potty mouths.

I guess who you are around your parents and who you were everywhere else really wasn't such a foreign concept after all.

I wasn't looking at him, but I could just feel Troy's eyes burning a hole in my back.

"Guys...Principal Vanedrholt is like right down the hall," Sienna spoke.

"Hey you know, why don't you tell everyone the real reason why you're hanging around this loser," Evan started.

"Evan, stop it!" Sienna spoke up.

"Yeah, man...so not cool right now," Max added, looking ready to defend me if necessary.

But something Evan said actually had me thinking. Troy had warned me to stay way from Pete but hadn't given me a legitimate reason.

But now....now even Evan was making the same claims, it seemed like.

This had me looking over at Pete who flashed me a quick glance before looking back at Evan.

"Why don't you just fuck off-"

"You wanna start with me-""

"You're always starting shit yourself-"

"Evan, come on-"

"Pete-"

"Evan-"

It seemed like everyone was saying something except Troy and I.

I actually turned around to look at him but he just had this blank look on his face, staring with his arms crossed looking like a completely different person.

I guess that was something else about Troy that I didn't like. The fact that it seemed like he was a whole bunch of different people rolled into one. Unfortunately, none of those people were all that enjoyable to be around.

Things were out of control really, and I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't even sure I wanted to do anything really.

The decision wasn't up to me though. Because Mr. Vanderholt had quickly made one for me.

"Hey hey hey...! What is going on here?"

His presence quickly shut everyone up and had everyone looking over at him.

"Sir-"

"Look, I don't know what's wrong, but if it's about the Wayward Fall Carnival, then I suggest you all learn to get along," he spoke, specifically looking towards me. "Your mother recruited you and your friends here to help out and it means you Troy, Evan, Sienna, Andrew and your brother are all going to be spending a lot of time together."

I'm sure we all knew that.

Now.

"No more problems, from any of you," he finished, once again looking over at me like I was the problem child in this situation.

No one moved or said anything until he was far gone.

That was when Max walked over to me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You know, you can be friends with him," I started. "That's completely your choice. But acting like you care about my feelings after he hurts them constantly is getting a little old."

"Mike-"

"Can we just go? Now please?" Evan spoke, putting his arm around Sienna.

Pete bent down and picked up his backpack, putting one strap over one of his shoulders.

"I think we really should go," Troy spoke, glancing briefly at me.

Sienna looked over at me apologetically before leaving with Evan, Troy and Andrew.

"Just go, Max," I spoke.

I knew I'd made a valid point. He probably knew it too. But right now....

"Please...."

"Fine..." Max sighed, lowering his head and turning to leave as well.

I looked over at Pete, who still looked a little upset.

"I just...I can't stand it when he talks to you like that," he said.

"Yeah well...it's all new for me, but I'm dealing with it," I replied.

Dealing with it the best I could, in my own strange way.

"Think you'll be able to deal everyday after school for the rest of the week?"

I looked down the hallway to where Evan was talking with everyone.

"Hopefully," I replied.

I didn't have a clue what was in store for me.

"Hey Mrs. Carson, where do you want me to put the prizes for the ring toss game? Sienna asked, lugging one of several bags full of stuffed animals along with some of the other cheerleaders from the team.

"Oh, um you guys can just set those over there behind the popcorn machine," my mother replied.

I had to hand it to her, she certainly had a talent for this sort of thing. How she'd done it all basically alone all these years was beyond me.

This year however, she had help. Unfortunately, she didn't know that she'd picked the absolute worse time to assemble all of us together like she had.

But it just had to work.

I had to make it work. Or at least, I was trying to make it work.

Mom had me painting some banners to hang up all around the place. My talent was in writing, so I didn't know why she thought it'd be a good idea to have me painting anything.

If that wasn't bad enough, guess who actually did have a talent for drawing and was standing no less than two feet away from me painting his side of the banner?

I wasn't stupid. I knew he had been looking over at me.

I was acting like I hadn't seen him.

I thought that would work.

"You know, sometimes people pick on other people when they actually like them," Evan started, continuing his brush strokes.

I guess he wasn't stupid either.

But I didn't know what to say, so I just kept painting, not saying anything at all.

"Not so in your case, but it's not like I'm not wrong," Evan continued.

This comment had me chuckling at him.

Was he serious? I think he was. The only problem was, did he realize how ridiculous he sounded if he really was serious?

"When you're as popular as I am, you notice things."

I could easily argue that statement several ways to Sunday. Didn't feel like doing it though.

"Are you hearing what I'm saying to you?" Evan asked, suddenly stopping and looking over at me.

I stopped, sighed, and looked up. As in all the way up, at the sky above me.

Why? I had to ask why this was happening to me.

I gave in and looked over at him.

"What I don't get is why you seem to think that messing with me is of any importance to your life," I found myself saying.

I think I'd always wanted to ask him that but just never gotten around to it. Maybe...no...there definitely was never a window of opportunity.

Evan wrinkled up his face and turned back to the banner, making absent-minded little strokes.

"I have my...quirks," he spoke.

Is that the term he was using to describe his constant tormenting me?

That it was just a damn `quirk'?

"But believe it or not, there are some people I hate even more than you," he continued.

Where had he gotten his conversation skills from?

Either way, I didn't care anymore.

And I knew I didn't have to stay here and listen to him either.

So I turned to leave but when Evan mentioned one name, I stopped.

"Pete's not the guy you think he is."

I was still trying to decide whether or not to leave so I didn't have to listen to him spew any garbage about my...friend, or stay.

If Troy hadn't voiced the same opinions....but then again it was still Troy and it wasn't like he was gonna win any `friend of the year' awards anytime soon.

Of course...two people were still two people.

"Got your attention, didn't it?" Evan spoke.

And even though I wasn't looking at him, I knew he had a smirk on his face.

He knew he had me, and I knew it too.

I didn't like it at all, but that was the way it was.

I turned around slowly, putting the paintbrush in my hand on the stool next to the stand the banner was on.

"You don't find it the least bit suspicious how a guy eight million times more popular than you are decided to make you his new special friend?"

He was being serious and I knew it. It was strange to hear him talking the way he was. What was even more strange was how he actually had me listening to him.

"It's not like that."

I felt like I had to say it, although, I didn't know what sense it was supposed to make.

Evan seemed to stare at me for an incredibly odd amount of time before he went back to painting on the banner.

"It doesn't matter what it's `like', Carson. I'm trying to tell you, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Reynolds."

"Why do you all of a sudden care about me?"

Evan snickered and looked up at me.

"Don't mistake a warning as me giving a shit about you," he spoke. "If you weren't Max's older brother-"

"Hey...everything alright?" Max spoke, interrupting our conversation.

I noticed that he looked like he was out of breath probably from running some of my mom's errands.

He had been with Troy, though.

Troy always had this completely unreadable look on his face. It was like he could be calm in any situation unless you knew better. And of course I didn't know better because he wasn't giving anyone that chance.

Not me anyway.

"I think I need to let this thing air out," Evan spoke, looking up at me before setting his brush down and taking off.

Max put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes, the way he always did whenever he was being the `older' brother to me.

"Mike...."

He'd started but stopped when we both heard my cell phone ringing.

I guess he might have been shocked considering my cell phone never rang. The only reason I had one was because everyone else in my family had one. I used mine maybe once or twice a week, at the most.

It rang once.

I looked up at Max and then at Troy, feeling.....different. Confused.

It rang again.

Then again.

I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, and looked at the name it was displaying.

"Hello?"

"Hey...I got out of practice early," Pete said. "I was thinking that I'd come by the church and help you with-"

"Why?" I found myself asking.

"What?"

I looked over at Troy and Max before starting away from both of them as I continued the conversation.

"Are you by yourself?" he asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Mike....I thought we were-"

"We?"

I think I heard him sigh into the phone. I was too busy drowning in my thoughts to pay attention.

"Michael...I'm coming by the church to help you," Pete repeated. "Okay? Is that alright?"

I thought about it for a moment.

Something entered my mind. Why was I suddenly allowing myself to put stock into what the town bully and his foreign exchange student best friend had to say?

Pete saved me from Evan. He'd been nothing but nice to me. He didn't have secrets.

He seemed to be exactly the guy I thought he was.

Seemed to be. I had to remember that.

And until I could prove otherwise........

"Sure," I replied. "It's perfect."

Pete was perfect.

I had to trust in that for now.

"Great...I guess we can talk when I get there then," Pete said, sounding a little more serious.

"No need," I replied. "I was just temporarily insane....let some bad information get in my head."

"Okay...well, I'm happy you're okay now," Pete replied. "I wanna see you."

I looked over to where my brother and Troy were standing listening to my mother give them more orders.

"I wanna see you too," I replied.

It felt a little weird saying that out loud but it was true. I did miss Pete when I wasn't with him.

Maybe I did like him. Maybe I did want him to be my boyfriend after all.

"Didn't anyone tell you that volunteering is an all work and no phone breaks kind of job?" Sienna joked as she passed me.

I just smiled as I hung up my phone and went to go `offer' my services once again.

I was beginning to realize something. As long as I stayed clear AWAY from Evan, then I wouldn't have to deal with him.

Amazing isn't it?

But that was what I did. I did my best to stay out of his way, and surprisingly, he stayed out of my way. No more ominous `Pete is the devil' warnings to cope with.

We finished late Friday night, cutting it pretty close considering it was always the first Saturday in October.

Today.

Was I excited about the carnival? Eh...

Truthfully, I was exhausted after having to help plan it all the entire week, but I was excited that for the first time since...ever...I'd actually be going with friends.

Well not exactly going with friends. Usually, mom, dad, Max and I all showed up together, but then Max would eventually part ways with us in favor of joining a few of his many friends, and I'd be forced to stay with my parents.

Even my parents had friends though, and then I'd be by myself for a while before I got bored and walked home.

This year, I was expecting things to be different.

This year, I had Pete. And Sienna.

I think I had Troy....but I really don't think Troy has ever really been here.

"Is that one of the banners you helped paint?" Sienna asked, pointing towards the large `Welcome' banner.

I looked up to where she was pointing.

Huh....must have been the day I was at odds with Evan.

I liked showing up to the carnival, arm in arm with Sienna. She was in the middle of Pete and I, and she had both of our arms looped with hers.

I guess people were still trying to accept the fact that either Pete or Sienna were talking to me just like I was, as they, they being anyone from school, we're staring at all of us.

"One of you must have grown a third eye or something," Sienna spoke, obviously taking notice of all the eyes fixated on us.

"What makes you think it's one of us they're all staring at?" Pete asked, playfully.

I could really see the close friendship the two shared. I hadn't been to either of their houses, so I didn't know if them being next door neighbors was true or not, but they still seemed pretty close to me.

"Ah, Ms. Carpenter, Mr. Reynolds.....Michael....glad you could all attend," Reverend Thomas said, as he stopped in front of us. "I must say, you all did a fine job

Who did he think he was, glaring at me like he was doing?

"Reverend Thomas...thanks," Sienna took the liberty of replying for all of us, unlacing our arms as well. "It was a lot of work, but I think everything turned out alright."

"Yes well, I can clearly see that," Reverend Thomas replied. "And I think I'm going to go get one of those tasty looking funnel cakes. Excuse me."

Probably didn't want to be around me anymore. Homophobic jack ass....wait, did I really just think that?

"I guess I should go find Evan before he causes another scene," Sienna replied, looking down briefly.

I'd already talked to her about her reasons for staying with Evan given how immature he behaved, but she was her own person and what could I do really?

I guess she knew what I knew, and that she was just torn. How, I didn't see. But I could see that her being friends with me while dating Evan was clearly going to be an issue we were going to have to work out as long as Evan continued to pick on me.

Pete and I watched Sienna leave, but it wasn't long before she was lost in the crowd. Wayward may have been a small town, but just about everyone in it participated in any and all of our annual activities, so just about everyone in town was here tonight.

But now I was alone with Pete again. Not alone completely. We were, after all, just two of a swarm of people outside. But I was still at his side and he was at mine.

"So every year this thing goes on.....you don't...do stuff with your own friends?" I asked.

I guess I was still thinking about Evan and Troy's warnings.

I kind of wanted to know why Pete had all but abandoned his friends in favor of spending most of his time with me.

"Well, yeah...but you kind of realize who your real friends our in times like this," Pete replied.

I was smart enough to know what he must have meant. He must have been talking about the fact that his friends were all some of the very people who kept staring at us when we were together at school. Obviously, they didn't like seeing their popular star athlete hanging out with the likes of me.

And I could see that I was no where near ready to get over my constant worrying about what other people thought about me.

At least not after living in the shell I had for all this time.

"Come on, why don't we go-"

"Pete!"

Both of us had already started walking, and it was pretty loud out here, but we'd both heard the same thing.

Pete stopped but looked annoyed.

"Come on," he spoke, softly, like if he did, maybe they'd give up.

"Pete, don't you think-"

"Pete! Man, over here!"

Pete tried to get me to keep walking with him, but I stopped and crossed my arms.

I wasn't moving.

He'd already given up so much for me...why was he insisting on doing it again? If his friends wanted to enjoy the fair with him, why didn't he want to?

Pete let out an annoyed sigh and turned around.

I was already turned sideways and by the time Pete was turned around, a couple of guys I recognized but didn't know from school, were already behind him.

"Let's talk man," one of the guys said.

Pete looked over at me before looking back at his friends.

"Give me a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

Far be it for me to stop him from actually having fun with his friends. I was an emotional wreck, thought-wise anyway.

Something I noticed though...Pete didn't look like he wanted me to even see these particular friends of his. Like he was trying to avoid doing something he already knew he had to do.

Or maybe I was reading too much into the situation. Maybe I was just being paranoid again.

"Oh Michael, have you seen your father?" my mom asked. "I saw him at the funnel cake stand three times already and he's supposed to be on that diet you know."

"No mom, sorry," I replied.

My mom was about to take off again, but after taking a glance at me, she stopped.

"Where are your friends, Michael?"

I let out a sigh and looked around to see if I could see either of them.

"Occupied," I replied.

"Well where are your brother...or Troy for that matter?"

"Probably with Evan..I don't know mom.."

"Michael.."

"I don't know where they are," I replied.

"Well, you ought to find them," she replied. "I don't want you spending the night at home alone again after working so hard on this with me."

And I didn't want to have to spend the night alone again, nor was I even thinking it before she put the idea in my head.

She really didn't stick around after that because someone had called her name and, being the great hostess she was, she went to see them.

A lot of me felt overwhelmed. I was here, in this gigantic open field full of people, after having worked on most everything here, alone and surrounded by people.

What was I supposed to do?

"Hey...Mike," it was Max and I knew it.

I turned around to see him approaching alongside Troy. I guess I could be thankful they were sans Evan.

"Where's Pete?" Max asked.

"You tell me," I replied.

I was starting to feel bitter. Now I was feeling bitter and letting it show.

"Why don't you hang out with us?" Max asked. "You always go home so I can never find you."

I held off from informing him that not once had he ever tried looking at home, where I'd most likely be, and always was.

"Thanks, but I don't really think I'm in the mood anymore," I replied. "Kinda tired actually."

Both passable excuses, if I had to say so.

"Mike..."

"Wait," Troy spoke, cutting Max off.

This was new. Usually Troy was just there, not talking unless talked to him first.

Now he'd actually opened his mouth.

I was just hoping nothing stupid was about to come out of it again.

"This is about me, isn't it?" he asked.

Well what was your first clue, Sherlock?

"Now why else but somebody like you think that everything is about them?" I spoke, moving away from the both of them.

Max didn't follow but Troy did, stopping me by grabbing my shoulder and actually turning me around to face him.

"Why do you have to be so weird about everything?" he asked, sounding upset.

Me? Was he serious? ME?!

"So this is you `trying' huh?" I asked.

Troy sighed.

"I was trying...but when I did, you wouldn't listen to me!"

"Yeah well putting stock in what the guy who doesn't tell you anything about where he's from...it's kind of an unwise decision, wouldn't you agree?"

It was a low blow, but it was also completely true. I mean, why should Troy expect me to listen to his claims of Pete being a bad guy when, besides the fact that he didn't even really know Pete, he was perfectly willing to keep to himself around me?

"That's not....it's a lot more..."

"Yeah, right," I replied, leaving him.

If I wasn't in the mood to stick around before, I definitely wasn't in the mood now.

And I didn't see a reason to stick around. Pete was gone. Sienna was gone. My parents were gone. And everyone else might as well have been gone for all I was concerned.

Home wasn't far and I started towards it.

Being October, it was starting to get a bit nippy outside and I pulled my shirt closer to me as I walked down the silent streets.

It felt eerie walking alone when I knew that everyone else was at the carnival. It was like I was the only person not there, thus the only person in town really.

Funny how I was thinking if something major happened, they'd all be dead and I'd be the only person left in town.

I guess I had those kind of strange thoughts whenever I was sinking back into myself like I always did.

And I guess they got worse when I was feeling anything but happy, which was often these days.

I thought about a lot more on my way home.

Like why I was in the situation I was and if I'd put myself in it.

Like about how my life was changing, but not necessarily for the better.

Or again, about what Troy and Evan kept telling me.

I thought about all of it the entire five minute walk home.

As I got closer to my house, I noticed someone looking through one of the windows downstairs. Like whoever it was trying to see if anyone was inside.

I couldn't see his face, but it looked like the guy was about my age. Maybe from around here, even though I had never seen him before.

Odd considering you notice just about everyone in this town.

I wasn't sure what to do really.

What if the guy was from town, knew everyone was at the carnival, and was trying to rob us?

Fight or flight...fight or flight.....

I didn't really get a chance to decide what to do as the guy turned around.

There was a moment when I thought he'd seen me, which was probably why I'd decided to speak up.

"Can I help you?" I said, approaching the front steps.

Fight or flight....fight or flight.....

"Do you live here?" the guy asked.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "What do you want?"

The guy walked down the steps and put out his hands.

"I'm Dylan," he spoke, with a smile.

Dylan, huh?

Well Dylan, now that I saw him better, was definitely a looker.

He had curly blonde hair that was kind of shaggy, which I liked. Blue eyes, and a perfect smile.

He was just slightly taller than me, and even though he was wearing a completely unnecessary heavy winter coat, I could kind of tell that he was about as built as Evan or even Troy.

"So Dylan, wanna tell me why you were looking suspiciously like the Night Stalker looking through the window?"

Dylan turned slightly towards the window.

"I was looking for a friend....I heard he was staying here," he replied.

A friend....Troy?

"Except...he kinda needs to come home," Dylan replied. "I mean, if Troy had told someone he was leaving in the first place....."

Wait a second....told someone? As in.....

"Wait...are you trying to tell me...Troy ran away from home?"

I know it's been a while, but from being bored in the summer, to busy once school started again and a lack of inspiration, I couldn't even begin to focus on the story. Luckily though, I've gotten a handle on the story once again and you should be seeing updates here pretty soon.

As always though, my YahooGroup will be the first to get any and all updates and is usually more than one or two chapters ahead of Nifty, so if you can't wait for my slow self, you can always check out the group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JoJoPresents-GayFiction/.

Feedback helps out a lot with my whole writing process. You can send any comments to me at crossingboi2004@yahoo.com.

Copyright 2005