This story is completely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons and/or events is entirely coincidental. Yes, there may be sex eventually in this story. If you have a problem with intercourse between high-school students of the same sex, or it is illegal in your country, or you are underage, then you know the drill. This is my first time writing so, if I suck, sorry. It may be a little slow at first, but give me time and I should get there. I hope you like it!
Chapter One
Conner Samuels gazed out the open car window at the small, quaint little houses that lined the streets of Fairview, Ohio, and thought, "Welcome to Stepford." The place looked like his room at home did after their live-in maid, Rosa, had gotten through with it: completely and utterly spotless. The lawns were cut down to exactly two inches of green, well cared for grass. Tiny flowers were tucked neatly in their flower beds; cars were kept off the sidewalk and in open garages. They passed one house that actually had the front door open; Connor was betting they didn't bother with locks here, either.
He glanced over at his half-sister (who was only three months younger than himself) and caught her glaring at him. He knew better than to ask why she was so angry; he already knew the answer, anyway.
It had been three weeks since Elina had talked to him; three weeks since the day his life had turned upside down. An unnamed emotion swept over him when he thought about that day. He thought that maybe it was a little bit of nerves, a little bit of anger, a little bit of frustration and confusion.
Three weeks ago, his life was perfect. Three weeks ago, he had a girlfriend, a close sister, and the position as first-string running back on the Thomas Jefferson High School Varsity football team. Life was, in a word, sweet. The only thing wrong with it was that it was all a big lie.
Ever since the fifth grade, when all of his friends started liking girls, he had been keeping a secret. See, he didn't really like girls. He leaned more towards the male persuasion. The only people he ever admitted this to were Elina, Riana, and Micah. Elina had known before he had; she didn't really have a problem with it. Riana, his ex, knew because Lina told her. What could you expect between two best friends, especially when they were girls? She didn't really mind, either, so long as she got the social status of being the girlfriend of the star running back. Then there was Micah.
Connor thought Micah could have been his first real boyfriend. In secret, of course. Micah was on the cheer team with Riana, but, despite this, he hadn't fit the typical femme stereotype. He was kind and sweet and cute, everything that Connor found attractive in a guy. They had been on the verge of real closeness when the unthinkable happened; his parents caught them making out in his bedroom.
Instead of the rejection and disownment that Connor had expected, he had been met with denial. His father and step-mother insisted that it was the city that had influenced their son to experiment.' So, they decided to buy another home in the town where his step mother's sister lived in order to cleanse him from the corruption the city had caused.' No joke, those were their exact words.
Needless to say, Elina blamed him for their move, so, hence, she was not speaking to him. It had gotten kind of annoying after awhile, so Connor decided he wasn't speaking to her, either. He thought that maybe she had been spending a little too much time with Riana back in Boston; she seemed to have picked up some of Riana's bitchiness.
"We're here," Evelyn announced with false cheeriness, startling Connor out of his thoughts. The `incident', as his parents had begun to call it, had brought on a false air of cheeriness to both Malcolm and Evelyn Samuels. Sometimes it made him wonder if his mother had slipped them some of her pills. At least this house isn't a clone like the other ones, he thought, gazing up at the three story house from his seat in the back of the car. It looked like it had been built in the 1920's, with its high, sloping roof and long windows. The upper two floors where covered in white siding, while the main floor was made out of light brown brick. It was pretty much the same as their old house, except that it was a little smaller. "I hope the movers put everything where I told them to in my note; it would be such a pain to have to move everything now," Evelyn commented on their way up the short flight of steps that led to the medium sized porch. "We'll need some chairs out here, don't you think Mal?" "Of course, dear. Whatever you want," Malcolm responded. It always amazed Connor how his father could be the best defense attorney in Boston and yet be such a push over whenever he was around his wife. Sometimes it was like he was two different people; a pushover one minute and a cunning snake the next. The entry way was typical. It was a large, square room with freshly polished, hardwood floors. Connor thought Rosa would have a field day with it. The woman was nothing if not neurotic about cleanliness. An expensive chandelier hung from the white painted ceiling, saved from being gaudy only by its small size. A two-way stair-case met and formed a balcony over the center of the room. The freshly polished railing looked smooth enough to slide down, not that Connor had done this in the recent years. Railings were not made to carry the weight of a sixteen year old boy; he thought Lina could probably do it. "You might want to go up to you rooms and unpack," Malcolm said to his two children. It was his way of saying that he wanted to be alone with Evelyn. "Didn't the movers already unpack everything," Lina asked in a snotty tone of voice. Connor didn't know what was up with his sister; she used to be so nice and sweet. Now it was like she had traded in Dr. Jekyll for Mr. Hyde. He knew that it wasn't completely his fault; she had been acting strange even before he had pretty much been yanked out of the closet. "I told them not to unpack your things. I know how much you kids like to have your individuality," Evelyn responded with a wink. Connor could barely resist rolling his eyes. Evelyn was constantly acting like she actually understood teenagers-that was like saying you understood adults. Not everyone is a carbon copy of the other. He and Lina walked up the staircase to find their rooms-each of them taking opposite staircases. Connor thought that his sister was taking this whole ignoring him thing to a whole new level; she always avoided being close to him as often as possible now. When they were a safe distance down the upstairs hallway, Connor stepped in front of his sister's path, facing her. "What gives, Elina?" He asked, frowning at her. "You didn't have a problem with me before, why do you have one now?" "Leave me alone," she muttered, pushing past him. "Answer the question," he said as he followed her down the hallway. She ignored him. When they reached a door that had her name poster tacked onto the back of it she opened it and slammed the door in his face, locking it behind her. "We're going to talk about this, Lina," he said through the door. Silence. He sighed, running his long fingers through his short, curly light brown hair as he opened the door across from Lina's. He had guessed right. All of his furniture was there, along with the piles of boxes that it had taken him a whole two weeks to pack. As he stared at it all a great wave exhaustion fell over him. The frantic pace of the last three weeks finally caught up to him and he fell onto the bare mattress on his bed face-first, falling asleep almost instantly.
The incessant pounding on his bedroom door yanked him out of sleep. He opened his bleary eyes and yawned widely. "Get up, chico," Rosa shouted through the bedroom door. "You are going to be late!"
Connor stood up, barely aware that he had somehow gotten down to only his silk boxers sometime during the night as he opened the door. Rosa stared up at him, and then looked him up and down.
"Put some clothes out, en nombre de Jesús," Rosa said, shocked. Connor looked down at his boxers and almost laughed. He always forgot that Rosa, mother hen that she was, considered showing your upper arms to be indecent exposure. "You must get ready for school."
"What time is it?" He asked, stretching his arms up to touch the top of the doorway with a yawn.
"It is eight o'clock, chico," she responded, averting her eyes.
"Holy shit, are you serious?" He exclaimed, hastily yanking open a box marked `clothes' and grabbing the first things he saw: a red and white T.J.H.S. t-shirt and a pair of fashionably baggy jeans that were designed to look old, even though he had just bought them a month ago. There was no time to shower.
"Such language," Rosa tutted, shaking her head. She walked gracefully over to him after he was dressed and brushed his curls with a brush she seemed to have pulled out of thin air. He grinned down at her and she smiled, taking his face in her hands. "I know these past few weeks have been hard on you, chico," she said earnestly. "But I know that you can get through it. You're gonna make new friends, have a new life. Maybe you will even find a handsome hombre, eh?" She said this last with a slight wiggle of her middle-aged hips.
Before he knew what he was doing, he bent down and hugged her close. "You've always been there for me, Rosa," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
"I always will be, chico," she responded, rising up on her tip toes so she could hug him back. "Eventually, those two will, also," she said referring to his father and Evelyn.
"Are they still here?"
"Of course not," Rosa said with a snort. "They are already gone to their jobs."
Connor shook his head, a smile on his face. His parents were nothing if not predictable.
He grabbed a pop tart on the way out to his Lamborghini, not stopping until he saw who was seated in the passenger's seat. Elina stared up at him, her dark blue eyes, identical to his own and their fathers, devoid of expression.
"Marcus totaled my Porsche, remember?" She reminded him flatly. He did remember. It had happened one week ago, when the cheer team and the football team all got together to wish them farewell. Of course, only four people at the party knew why they were really leaving. Anyhow, Lina's boyfriend of the month had gotten wasted and driven her car right into a tree. Marcus got a mild concussion. The Porsche had gotten a trip to the junk yard.
He took a bite out of his pop tart and sat down in the driver's seat. He spared his sister a single glance before peeling out of the dive way-what could he say? He liked to go fast. She looked away from him, her arms crossed over her skinny chest, a scowl on her mouth.
The sun beat down on them as they made their way to Riley High School, named for the founder of Fairview. Connor knew that he would have a nice tan by the end of the week if the weather kept up; Lina would probably have to go shopping for sun block. His skin had more of an olive base, thanks to his grandfather Romano's Italian background, which made it easy for him to tan. Lina took after Evelyn and was fairly complected. It would be their first time in a public school. He wondered how different it would be. He knew that it was smaller because this was a small town, and that it had no dress code, unlike T.J.H.S. He was glad to be out of a suit and tie for once. He was also grateful that football tryouts weren't until the next day; it would suck not being able to play ball, no matter where he was. The school was only one floor and had none of the historical feel that T.J.H.S. had. The walls were totally grey and rectangular windows appeared at regular intervals along the front of the school. It was just a regular school. Groups of people milled about on the front lawn; Connor noticed that cliques looked even bigger her than they were at his old school. He spotted the jocks right away. They were standing in a group in front of the doors, laughing and joking. They kind of reminded Connor of his old crowd back in Boston. "Same shit, different town," he muttered as he stepped out of the car. Elina shot him an unreadable look. Once upon a time, she would have agreed with him. Now, she simply walked off ahead of him and into the school building. He shook his head and followed her inside, ignoring the curious stares he got from the people he passed. He just wanted to get the first day over with.
The day went fine until last period, Biology II. He entered the class room in the middle of class, having gotten lost on the way there. How he had managed that was a mystery; this place made his old school look like a maze. He walked over to the teacher, a tall, middle aged man with a long, graying beard and handed him his schedule.
The man, who Connor thought looked like a geekier version of Santa Clause, handed the schedule back to him after quickly glancing over it. "Nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Samuels. My name is Mr. Morelock," he introduced himself. Connor nodded and headed to the only empty lab station there was. "Come back here," Mr. Morelock commanded.
Connor frowned and did as he asked. "Is something wrong with my schedule?"
"Nope. You still haven't introduced yourself to the class yet, Mr. Samuels," Mr. Morelock told him. Connor rolled his eyes. He had introduced himself seven times that day. It was a ritual he had come to loathe.
"My name is Connor, and I play football," Connor recited. But Mr. Morelock couldn't leave it at that.
"You aren't done yet," he said as Connor started walking back to his seat. "Where are you from, Connor?"
"Boston," Connor responded, resigned to the realization that this was going to take awhile.
"Why did you move here?" He asked. Connor thought about that for a minute. Should he tell the truth? Somehow this didn't seem like the right time or place to come out to all of his new classmates; especially since he had yet to do so with his friends back in Boston.
"My aunt lives here and my parents wanted to get out of the city," he said, skirting around the truth.
"Really? What's her name?" Morelock asked. Only in a town as small as Fairview would anyone assume that they knew someone just because they lived in the same town.
"Morgan Everclear," Connor responded.
"Ah, yes. Her son, Kyle, goes here. I don't think I've had the pleasure," Morelock said. That makes two of us, Connor thought. He had never met either his step aunt or cousin. He wouldn't even recognize them if he saw them. "You may sit down with Finn," Morelock said, gesturing to a half-empty lab station. Connor felt his heart jump into his throat.
The boy standing there was perfect. He had messy blond hair that was about three inches long and had sun streaks running through it. His skin was golden from the sun, his forearms well muscled and bare. Other muscles moved under his Riley Warriors t-shirt, making Connor think of sex and heat instantly. He had to physically stop himself from jumping the guy, he was that hot. Connor laughed quietly as he scooted in beside Finn, wondering what his reaction would be if Connor gave in to his first reaction. He shifted around in his seat and tried to hide the obvious budge in his pants.
Finn glanced over at him and gave him a curious look. Connor noticed he had gold flecks in his green eyes. He caught himself staring and forced his eyes back onto his text book. They were supposed to be doing something with the slides, but Connor had been so distracted that he completely missed the instructions.
"I'm Finn Gallagher," Finn said, extending one hard, calloused hand to Connor. Connor shook it and tried to think of Riana; that bitch always got rid of his erections.
"Connor," Connor said, smiling back at him. His eyes dropped to Finn's full mouth and he had to practically tear his gaze away. This could be a problem, he thought, still trying to picture Riana. He remembered her telling off the quarterback after he accidentally spilled his beer on her at the party the week before; that did the trick.
"So, what position do you play?" Finn asked, ignoring their slides.
"Running back. Do you play?"
"I'm the quarter back," Finn responded. "I'm the one whose ass you're supposed to kiss if you want to get on coach's good side."
"Sound's like fun," Connor responded before thinking. Crap. Finn stared at him. Then he burst out laughing, nearly knocking their telescope off the table.
"Your funny, man," Finn said, grinning. Connor smiled back at him. "Are all Bostonians as cute as you?" Connor blinked. Was Finn flirting with him? "Nope. I'm one of a kind," Connor responded, deciding to flirt back. "I hope that whatever you boys are talking about is more important than animal cells," Morelock chastised. They rolled their eyes in unison. "You wanna go to Shaky's after tryouts tonight? The whole team go's; it's sort of like the designated hang-out here," Finn whispered.
A restaurant that was full of guys? Was he kidding?
"I thought try-outs were tomorrow?" They were, but coach has a dentist appointment," Finn responded. "Yeah, I'll go," Connor said, happy for the first time in nearly three weeks. Maybe things really would be different here.
Written by N.S. If you have something good to say, e-mail me at violetnite016@yahoo.com. If you didn't like it, make sure your criticism is constructive and not just a vent. I hope to have the next chapter out soon, so, later.