Halo IV
Marco

By: Micah Diablo
(© 2010-2011 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 2
Forever and Almost Always

Scene A

“Carmen!” I hissed at her as she walked past where I was hiding.

Carmen looked around trying to find the source of the voice. I threw my empty bottle at her to catch her attention.

“OW! Coy! What the hell?” she asked rubbing her head softly.

“Sorry, I’m gay,” I said with a shrug. “You know we don’t have aim. Let’s not forget the JV baseball debacle involving yours truly freshman year. Pitched that ball straight into the coach’s face.”

“I don’t think that was an accident,” she said with a half laugh. She punched me in the arm. “What are you doing lurking behind a school like a pedophile or something?”

“I need to talk to you,” I said with a sigh. “A lot has happened since we left Giselle’s party. Tell me…”

“Tell me why Josh is back,” Carmen said interrupting me.

I looked at her shocked. “What? Since when?”

“Since Giselle’s party,” she said with a sigh. “Sorry, he wanted to surprise you guys but I have been holding that in and it was only a matter of time before she or I let it slip.”

“Wow, so what did you talk about? I mean, when you saw him?” I asked her as we took a seat at a picnic table.

“Nothing,” she said. “I mean, I was so caught off guard that he was standing by my car that I made her take me home, pick me up the next morning, and drive me to get my car.”

I rubbed her back sympathetically. “Does this have anything to do with Nate. Any confusion there or…”

“No! Trust me; I have a clear picture for Nate Soto,” she said with a laugh. “He totally and only wants you. I think I was just a bridge to link him to you…well…Marco.”

“Ugh, I have Matt so the only connection Nate has with me is Marco,” I reminded her. “Marco is dead, which means, said connection is dead, also.”

“What is your problem? What is going on with you since the party?” she asked me, concerned. “Matt mad at you for being friends with Nate?”

“No, Matt and I had sex the other night,” I said clearing my throat and looking down at my shoes.

“You said that as if it was your first time having sex with him,” she said with a laugh. “Unless…”

She looked at me with a curious look on her face and I nodded my head.

“Aw, you took his gay virginity,” she said in a sing-song voice. “HA! You popped cherry!”

“Shh!” I hissed at her. “You are the only one who knows and I want to keep it that way. That means no Giselle aka CNN.”

“I solemnly swear not to tell that my best friend popped my other friend’s cherry,” she said with a giggle. “Aw, this is so cute. At least one of us is getting action. But wait…What’s so wrong about that? You love Matt.”

“Of course I love Matt,” I said sighing heavily. “I don’t love fucking Matt though. I like it the way it’s always been. When I did it…it was weird.”

“Coy, it was your first time,” She said with a laugh. “I imagine it was weird, honey.”

“No I mean weird as I know I don’t want to do that again,” I said to her. “But that’s the problem. Matt does.”

“Then tell him you don’t like it and you want to go back to the way you have done it since you started having sex,” she suggested.

I shook my head. “I can’t do that. Carm, you remember what happened when I wasn’t having sex with Matt at first. He cheated. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Okay, but you shouldn’t keep doing something you don’t like with him to prevent him from cheating,” she said pointedly. “What is my saying about cheating?”

“Once a cheater always a cheater?”

“No,” She said to me. “I just found out that isn’t always true. No, if he is going to cheat, he will cheat regardless of what you do or don’t do. Guys cheat because they want to. That’s why I hate when girls give their boyfriends ultimatums and force them not to go out. You can’t watch him, 24/7, Coy. He will cheat if he wants to. But I don’t think Matt will cheat again. Just tell him.”

“Fine, I will tell him,” I said noticing somebody walking towards us. “But only if you do me a favor first.”

“What?” she asked curiously.

“Talk to Josh,” I said, standing up as he came up to us. “JOSH!”

I grabbed him in a tight hug. “Oh my God! You look great and you cut your hair.”

Josh blushed slightly. “Yeah, I wanted to try something different.”

“It’s hot, curly sue,” I said to him as I rubbed his clean shaven head. “You actually look black now.”

“Thanks, doofus,” Josh said with a smile and looked over at Carmen. “Hey, Carmen.”

“Hello,” she replied guarded.

I looked from one to the other. “Well, I have enough awkwardness in my life; I will let you two catch up.”

“Coy…” Carmen called out but I disappeared into the building. She sighed and folded her arms.

“Can we talk?” he asked her.

“No, I have things to do before my class starts,” she said making a move to get past him.

“Carmen…” he said, grabbing her arm.

“Josh, I tried to understand and accept the fact you had problems but you promised me the drugs were gone for good and you went back to them,” she said to him. “Not only that, but you went out with our best friend who had a split personality and began a relationship with him and even encouraged him to hurt people like our friends. You hurt Nate, although I really don’t care about that, and you hurt me. I got your email over the summer. You asked me if you came back to Atlantic City College could we get back together. My answer…‘Go to hell’.”

Carmen stormed off and left a stunned Josh standing there.

He knew things weren’t going to be easy with Carmen; he had hoped that after the talk they had that night six months ago, things would be a little better.

‘I sure hope the others take me back in as good as Coy has,’ Josh thought to himself.

Scene B

“Hey Nick,” a guy said to him as he walked into the locker room. Nick smiled and waved politely. He was on the soccer team with Nick, as well as football.

Nick headed to his locker and turned the combination to unlock it. He smiled in surprise as he saw pictures of Ky and himself all over the locker.

“You like?” Ky asked walking up behind him.

Nick tuned and faced his boyfriend with a smile. “I love it, and I love you, baby.  Ky…when did you do this?”

“Yesterday,” he said with a smile. “I convinced Coach Garner to let me get in your locker and decorate it. And by ‘convince’, I mean I got him Lakers tickets for all their games this season.”

“Aw, that’s my baby,” Nick said kissing him softly. “Always the briber.”

“Ugh! Get a room,” Daniel muttered as he walked past Ky and Nick as they kissed passionately in the hall.

Ky looked at Nick with a confused look.

“Um…Dan, are you okay?” Nick asked him concerned. “You aren’t usually this…mean.”

“No, I am not okay,” Daniel said slamming his locker door shut. “I took your advice and tried to talk to Anthony…however, he was getting his dick sucked by Darien’s brother.”

“What?” Ky and Nick yelled out in unison.

“No wonder you and your brother have reputations as assholes,” Daniel said bitterly. “You give me advice knowing your brother was already fucking somebody else. You’re a jerk.”

“Hey,” Ky said, stepping toward Daniel.

“Ky,” Nick said, grabbing him. “Daniel…”

“Save it,” he said, shaking his head. Nick noticed the hurt look in his eyes.

“Wow, I thought Daniel was a cool dude,” Ky said to Nick. “But he is kind of an ass.”

“No, he’s not,” Nick said sadly. “He is just a little heartbroken.”

Nick suddenly realized he had a lot more in common with Daniel than he had initially thought.

Two years ago, Nick was exactly where Daniel was. It had been Nick chasing and wanting Ky. The only difference was, Anthony wasn’t reciprocating the feelings back to Daniel as Ky did for Nick.

“Is that…Josh?” Ky asked, snapping Nick out of his thoughts.

Ky and Nick watched their old friend as he walked toward them.

“What the hell, man?” Ky asked, grabbing him into a tight hug. “You didn’t let anybody know you were even back in town. Who else knows you are back.”

“Um, besides you guys…Coy, Giselle, and Carmen,” Josh said. Nick noticed a sad look on his face.

“I take it, she wasn’t thrilled to see you?” Nick asked him.

Josh shook his head. “Not in the least. But what do you expect?”

“Oh, well there is a bunch of new pussy here for you, man, or dick, if you still prefer that.”

“KY!” Nick scolded his boyfriend.

“Nah, Josh plus dick was a one-time deal between Coy and me,” Josh said with a chuckle. “I will leave that to you guys.”

“You don’t know what you are giving up,” Ky said grabbing at Nick’s crotch. Jumping back, Nick blushed a deep red.

“I hate you,” Nick said, hiding behind Ky so he could hide his growing erection.

“Wow, you’re back?” a voice said from behind Josh.

Josh, Ky, and Nick all frowned at the sight of Nate standing there with Darien and a few other guys from the team.

“Yeah, I am,” Josh said to him with an amused look.

Nate chuckled softly. “Well, are you still fucked up on drugs and fucking dudes, or did they fix you wherever you were?”

“Nate…” Darien warned, not wanting a fight on the first day of school to happen.

“Didn’t he put your ass in the hospital last year?” Ky asked him with an amused look. “I guess that concussion and those stitches didn’t teach you a lesson.”

Nate ignored Ky and looked Josh down.

“Look, man, it’s senior year,” Josh said sticking his hand out. “I want a normal year, and I don’t want any problems so let’s just squash the old shit and start new.”

Nate looked down at the hand and laughed.

“Fuck you,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t ever forget, and you will get what you got coming to you.”

Nate bumped into Josh hard and pushed past Ky and Nick, who both made a move to go after Nate, but stopped when they noticed Josh wasn’t moving.

“Dude, why aren’t you doing something? Where is the Josh that was always whooping somebody’s ass?” Ky asked him.

“He’s not here anymore,” Josh said sadly. “I just want my life to be normal for once. I don’t want drama.”

Josh left the couple standing there with confused looks on their faces.

“Wow, they really did a number on him and changed him at that rehab place,” Nick said as they watched Josh walk up the stairs.

“I got to say,” Ky said after a moment. “I kinda miss doped-up Josh.”

Scene C

I grunted loudly as I fucked Matt in the empty storage room in the gym.

I quickly pulled out of him and pulled the condom off, turning back on him.

“Somebody’s eager to get somewhere?” Matt asked me. “Where is the fire, babe?”

“Um…I got some stuff I want to take care of,” I said as I pulled my boxers and pants on. “I want to go research the Clubs this year.”

“Coy, it’s the first day of school,” Matt said with a chuckle.

“Well, there is nothing wrong with getting a head start,” I said, still not facing him.

“You okay, baby?” he asked with a hint of worry in his voice. “You’ve been weird since last night.”

I opened my hand and looked at the condom in my hand. I had faked it. I pretended to cum just to end it quicker and get it over with.

“Everything is fine, Matt,” I said walking towards the bathroom stall and flushing the toilet. I watched as the condom spiraled clockwise down the toilet.

I sighed and turned to look back at my boyfriend. I forced a smile and grabbed his hand as we walked out of the storage room.

“What do you say that we get a head start on lunch and go skip classes and do a date at a restaurant?” he asked me with a smile.

I smiled back at him. I realized I couldn’t keep faking it, he was going to find out eventually, and Matt hated secrets, especially when they were about me because my secrets were usually devastating.

“Sounds good,” I said with a fake smile.

Scene D

Anthony jumped loudly as the loud slamming of books on a table startled him as he slept in the library.

“Shit, man,” Anthony said clutching his chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“What did you do?” Nick asked him, arms folded.

“Whatever you heard, I didn’t do, I promise,” Anthony said raising his hand in the air.

“Are you messing with Damien Bouzakis?” Nick asked him with an exasperated look.

“Okay, him I did do,” Anthony joked and noticed Nick’s aggravated look.

“Why him though?” Nick asked angrily. “Why Darien’s brother?”

“I didn’t know he was Darien’s brother,” Anthony said to him. “Look it was alcohol in my system; you’ve seen Darien. He’s hot and his brother’s hotter. I was horny and it just happened.”

“God, and here I am telling Daniel to go for it and try to talk to you and start something with you,” Nick said resting his head on the locker. “I feel so bad. Who knew that you would choose to stop wanting Coy and go for the brother of the devil.”

“Actually, Damien is nothing like Darien,” Anthony explained. “Besides, I refuse to spend another year hoping Coy and Matt will break-up…for good. And I didn’t know Daniel was into me. We have known each other for awhile now and he never gave me any vibes.”

“You have got to fix this,” Nick said to his brother. “Fix this.”

“Fix it? How?” Anthony asked.

“I…I don’t know,” Nick said throwing his hands in the air. “Just fix it! Because I am not going to have Daniel hating me because of my dumb brother. And stop sleeping with Damien.”

Nick glared at Anthony who flashed him an amused look.

“You know when you make that angry face, you get these little lines in your face,” he said with a laugh.

Nick punched him hard in the stomach.

“Okay…okay, I’ll fix it,” Anthony said clutching his stomach.

“Thank you,” Nick said messing with Ant’s hair.

“That was a cheap shot by the way,” Anthony called out after his brother as he walked down the hallway.

Nick turned and flashed his brother a sly smile and headed towards the cafeteria.

“That looked like it hurt,” a voice said from behind Anthony.

He turned to see a very stunning Damien wearing a tight fitting Abercrombie shirt with some torn jeans he guessed were also from Abercrombie.

“Um…I’m okay,” Anthony said, straightening up.

Damien flashed him an amused look.

“What’s so funny?” Anthony asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Nothing,” Damien said biting his lip. “You are just so sexy.”

Anthony blushed slightly. “Thanks.”

“What do you say we sneak off somewhere and get familiar with each other some more?” Damien asked with a seductive grin.

Anthony knew he probably shouldn’t. He knew it would hurt Daniel if  he found out but he wasn’t dating Daniel. Damien did come along before Daniel even made his feelings known. But he did promise Nick he’d fix the situation.

“Well?” Damien asked licking his lip slightly.

‘I’ll fix it later,’ he thought to himself.

He smiled at Damien who returned the smile.

“Lead the way then,” he said following after an eager Anthony.

Scene E

Nate sat at a table in the student lounge with Darien who was looking over at his former friends with a longing look on his face.

“Look, if you want to go over and sit with them, go,” he said gruffly to Darien. “I think I can handle eating by myself.”

“It’s cool,” Darien said as he saw Nick say something funny and Carmen, Ky, and Giselle laughed at loudly and happily.

Truth was, it wasn’t cool. True, Nate was his first best friend, but he loved Giselle and wanted to spend every waking second with her if possible, but a good portion of the time she was always surrounded by the very people Nate hated. Darien was no follower but he connected with Nate as they were both misunderstood and hated. So he choose Nate and would hang with Giselle whenever possible.

“So where is that hottie brother of yours?” Nate asked Darien, hoping to snap him out of the daydream he was in.

Sure enough, it worked and Darien flashed him a serious stone-cold look.

“Damien is off-limits to you,” he said in a firm tone. “I mean it, Nate.”

Nate chuckled heartily at that. “I’m just messing with you, man. Trust me, I only got my eye on one guy this year.”

“Coy,” Darien said shaking his head. “Man, let that go and find yourself a guy who is not my brother and not Coy James. Hell, come back and join me on the straight side.”

Nate smiled and leaned back in his chair as he watched Matt and me walk inside with Mcdonald’s in our hands.

“Nah, I want Coy,” he said watching us take a seat at the table. “And Nathan Soto always gets what he wants.”

Darien sighed and laughed at his friend’s blind determination. “Quite frankly, I am sick of the whole Coy and Matt relationship. I like the Marco side of Coy. Minus, when he shot me of course, but even then, almost dying and all I got to say is -- that part of Coy was cool. The regular Coy is just…blah. Then the regular Coy plus Matt is…nauseating. They break-up. Make-up. Break-up. Make-up.”

“Well, I am going to make sure they are going to break-up, and this time I am going to make sure they never make-up,” Nate said not breaking his focus from our table.

Giselle made her way over and wrapped her arm around Darien’s shoulders.

“Baby,” she said in a sing-song voice in his ear, “can’t you just say, ‘sorry’ and come back and sit with us. It’s not fun without you and Nick bickering over sports and your imitations with Ky.”

Darien looked over at Nate who was still looking over at the table. “I got my friend here.”

Giselle rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “Nate, what is going on in that head of yours?”

“Just having some fun thinking of how to make this year interesting,” he said as he saw me get up and head out of the lounge. “You know what? Why don’t I leave you two lovebirds alone and let you enjoy some quality time together?”

He quickly got up and rushed out after me.

“Darien…” Giselle said taking a seat beside him. “I thought after everything, you were going to start being on a nicer path and start changing into a better person. Hanging with Nate doesn’t bring out anything good. You saw how he took advantage of Carmen. You see him driving a wedge between us and our friends.”

“He is the only one who hasn’t screwed me over and gives some kind of probationary friendship, Giselle,” Darien said firmly. “I love you. I love hanging out with you guys. But I still feel like I am on probation, and I am having to be on my best behavior because the littlest thing like being friends with Nate will turn you all against me.”

“I’m not against you,” Giselle taking his hand. “But can you blame them? I forgave you because I know you better than they know you. But you can’t expect them to forgive you completely and forget everything you caused.”

“They should forget because I am a different person now,” Darien said pulling his hand away from Giselle. “I am human. I made mistakes. A lot of them. But they all did, and yet they all forgave each other. They are just a bunch of hypocrites that I’d rather not associate with myself. If you choose to do that, then that’s fine, but don’t try to convince me to befriend liars and hypocrites.”

Darien got up and grabbed his tray and backpack and left Giselle sitting there feeling like she’d caused more bad than good.

Scene F

“COY!” Nate yelled out after me as I walked towards the auditorium.

I turned and gave him a skeptical look. “Um…yes?”

“What’s up?” he asked as he caught up to me, out of breath.

“Um…I am just heading to the auditorium to prepare for Drama Class.”

“I didn’t know you like to act,” Nate said with a surprised look. “That’s amazing. I think you would make an amazing actor.”

“You’ve never seen me do any acting,” I said with a laugh. “But thanks anyway. Can I help you with something?”

“Just wanted to talk with you,” he said with a smile. “We hardly get to talk at all. I don’t know why, though.”

“Probably because my boyfriend and friends hate you,” I offered with a laugh. “Look, Nate, I want to get to know you as me—Coy. So you can see I’m not Marco.”

“I know you are better than him,” Nate said grabbing my hand. “He was pure hate. Evil. Pain. Suffering. But you, Coy…I look in your eyes and I see good. I see love. Compassion. Empathy. I want to get to know you, too.”

I pulled my hand away when I realized I was holding it a little too long.

“Well…thank you,” I said nervously, “but I want you to know that if we do this, it’s only as friends. I love my boyfriend.”

“Does he love you? Nate asked, catching me off-guard.

“Yes, he does,” I said a little shocked by the question.

“Do you think he loves you as much as you love him?” he asked me.

“Um…I don’t base my love or his love on each other because we are two separate people,” I said to him. “But I know Matt loves me with all his heart.”

“Did he love you when he cheated on you when you didn’t have sex with him?” Nate asked me.

I stammered as I tried to figure out a way to answer that.

“That was a long time ago,” I said to him. “Nate, I don’t want to talk about…”

“If he loved you, why did he wait till almost the last minute to realize the person you were last year was an entirely different person?” Nate asked. “I mean, if I loved you like you say Matt loves you, then I would be able to tell if there was something different about you.”

“Marco was a very powerful part of me and he fooled all of us, myself included,” I said, trying to not let those thoughts get to me.

“Can I ask you a question, Coy?” he asked me as he took a step towards me. “What are you afraid of?”

As he stepped closer, I crept backwards. The questions he was asking were questions that I didn’t want to think about.

“I…I’m afraid…that Marco will come back,” I said to him.

Something about Nate made me want to express myself to him. He was very charismatic and even though I knew he was bad for me, he somehow had a redeeming sense of trust about him.

“What else?” Nate asked as he continued walking towards me and I kept walking backwards.

“I’m afraid…I’m…afraid…”

“Yes?” Nate asked yet again.

Now I was uncomfortable….Why was I telling him this stuff?

I backed up right into a wall and Nate had me pinned against the wall.

“I’m afraid that I won’t be enough for Matt,” I said to him as tears rolled down my face. “That the forever I dream about with him will be temporary for him and he will leave me or cheat on me again. Then I will be alone.”

I needed to get that out of my system. Matt and I had been back together for six months but as much as I tried to ignore it, I was expecting something to go wrong. It always did.

Nate looked me in the eye with a pleading look on his face. He was trying to see if there was still the connection there that he’d felt with Marco.

“Same face, same everything,” he said to me. “Can you feel the fire inside, Coy?”

Before I spoke up, Nate was shoved to the ground and I saw a very angry Matt looking at Nate.

“Matt, stop,” I said wiping my face. I grabbed his arm but he shoved me back.

“Why the hell do you keep coming around here and bothering him?” Matt asked as Nate stood up. “I told you to stay the hell away from him.”

“I’ve never been too good at taking directions,” Nate said sarcastically.

I noticed out the corner of my eye, Anthony walking out of a utility closet and zipping his pants and then a few second later a boy followed.

“Matt, he wasn’t doing anything,” I said to him. “He was just talking. Please let it go.”

“Let it go? Coy, he looked like he was about to kiss you and you were about to let it happen,” Matt said with a hurt look on his face.

“No, I wasn’t Matt,” I said to him. “I am with you and love you and only you.”

That was true. I loved Matt and only Matt. I felt right with him. Safe and warm.

Nate was nothing more to me than a friend.

“I love you, Matt,” I said as I realized that I’d allowed myself to become a victim again and become manipulated by someone else. “He’s just my friend.”

I grabbed Matt’s face and pulled him into a deep kiss. Nate frowned angrily at that as Carmen, Giselle, Anthony, Nick, and Ky walked out to see the three of us.

“Aw, is someone mad?” Josh asked walking up behind Nate.

Nate growled in frustration and stormed past Josh. He couldn’t allow Matt to get in deeper. He had to somehow use his jealousy against Matt.

But first…he was going to take Josh out. More than likely, Josh was going to want to be on the team again and Nate was going to make sure he did everything in his power to prevent that from happening.

 Scene G

Anthony sighed as Damien and he finished up their second encounter of the day within the past two hours.

“I swear, you are going to suck me dry,” Anthony said out of breath.

“That’s the plan,” Damien said as he looked down at his shirt. “I got some of your cum on my shirt.”

“My bad,” Anthony blushed but Damien shrugged and pulled the shirt off and revealed his rippling eight-pack to Anthony.

Damien noticed Anthony’s eyes traveling up and down his defined body and smile. “Wouldn’t it be hot if I could walk around school like this all the time?”

Anthony reached out and pulled Damien into a kiss of pure lust. He could taste Damien’s strawberry lips as their tongues fought one another.

After about five minutes of making out, Damien broke the kiss and placed his finger on Anthony’s lip.

“I swear if you keep kissing me, I am not going to want to stop,” he said with a chuckle.

Damien pulled another t-shirt out of his bag and changed into it while Anthony looked at him and realized he had a question he wanted to ask.

“Hey…I was wondering if…um…you…um…” Anthony wasn’t sure how to word it and was getting nervous as Damien flashed him an amused look.

“Let me guess,” Damien said with a thoughtful look. “You want this to be more than hooking up at school or at the pool at party and you want us to be more…like a duo. A couple. Am I right?”

“Yeah,” Anthony said nervously afraid that Damien was going to laugh in his face.

Damien leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. “Ordinarily, I am one of the type of guys where I hate labels. I prefer to just fuck and not get involved with feelings. But with you…it’s different. You’re pretty cool. You excite me. You interest me…to the point where I want to get feelings involved.”

“What are you saying?” Anthony asked him.

“What are YOU saying?” Damien asked him with his trademark sly smile.

“Will you go out with me?” Anthony asked him expectantly.

Damien kissed him on the lips again and chuckled. “I’ll get back at you with that.”

He kissed him one last time and headed out of the closet they were in.

Anthony smiled and laughed to himself as he fixed himself up and walked out the closet and headed up the stairs to get ready for his last class of the day.

He had spent so much time skipping around Damien he barely went to half his classes. On his way up the stairs he saw Daniel posting something on the wall.

“Posting up flyers for Rainbow soldiers?” He asked, not sure of what else to say. He wasn’t sure if Daniel was going to talk to him or not.

“Yeah, we are hosting a social this Friday after the game,” Daniel said as he stapled one of the last flyers to the wall.

He made a move to climb down the ladder. He lost his balance and fell off but Anthony caught him as he fell.

“Good catch,” Daniel said as they both looked in each other’s eyes. “But.. um, you can put me down now.”

“Oh, sorry,” Anthony said letting Daniel down to the floor.

Daniel straightened his clothes and looked at Anthony. “Look, I want to apologize about how I acted at Giselle’s party. I was flipping out and…”

“And it’s cool,” Anthony said to him. “No hard feelings.”

“Maybe no hard feelings, but feelings none the less,” Daniel said to him. “Look, I like you Anthony. You’re really cute. You’re amazing to your friends. I like you as an athlete. As a person. I just like you and I got jealous because somebody got a part of you that I want to have. But I want more than just the physical with you. I want the mental, the spiritual, and the physical.”

Anthony looked at Daniel unable to speak. Daniel took that as a sign that perhaps he wasn’t interested.

“Okay, I am sorry maybe I shouldn’t have said…”

Anthony decided to risk it and kissed Daniel. It wasn’t a lustful kiss like he shared with Damien. It was more curious passion than anything.

Anthony broke the kiss and touched his lips. He was confused. He wanted Damien. And apparently, he might also want Daniel.

“Wow,” Daniel said with a happy grin on his face. “I’m speechless.”

Anthony felt a vibration in his pants and grabbed his cell out of his pocket. He tapped the screen on his cell  to see a text message from Damien with one word:

Yes

‘He said yes,’ Anthony thought to himself. He was happy but then he realized Daniel was still there and that he had just kissed him.

“Hey, Anthony, do you think you might want to go on a date with me tonight?” Daniel asked him hopefully. “Some dinner. Maybe a movie. Perhaps, we can try that kissing thing again.”

Anthony was confused. He had a boyfriend now in Damien but part of him was curious about Daniel. He couldn’t just say no to Daniel and he couldn’t take back asking Damien out moments ago.

“Yes,” Anthony said realizing he now potentially had not only boyfriend. He possibly had two.

All in the matter of one day.

Scene H

Darien entered the gym to head into the locker room to get ready for football practice and saw the cheerleaders setting up for their practice.

“What the hell?” he asked as he saw something that was out of place.

It wasn’t the cheerleaders who were out of place. It was who was with the cheerleaders.

“Damien?” He asked as he saw his brother donning the male cheerleader uniform.

“Hey, bro,” Damien said rushing over to hug Darien tightly who blushed slightly at the attention his brother was giving him.

“Please tell me that they are just using you to see how the uniform fits, and that you are not actually a cheerleader,” Darien said in a low voice.

“Yes, your beautiful and sweet girlfriend is an amazing Co-Captain, and that Carmen is, too,” Damien said excitedly. “This is that tryout I was coming to last week that I told you about.”

“You told me you were trying out for soccer not cheerleading!” Darien exclaimed. “Why? Why Damien? Why do you have to do something to embarrass me?”

“I am not trying to embarrass you,” Damien said with a laugh. “I am just trying to have some fun and besides male cheerleading is fun.”

“And gay,” Darien scoffed. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because you would’ve said no,” Damien said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Carmen! GISELLE!” Darien said pushing past his brother and heading towards the two.

“Hey, babe, I hope you aren’t mad about earlier still,” Giselle said leaning into kiss him but he pulled away. “Okay, I guess you are.”

“No, he’s mad that I am a cheerleader,” Damien said with a sigh as he folded his arms.

“Oh, I think it’s cute,” Giselle said to her boyfriend. “Besides, this gives your brother a chance to get to know your future wife, Mr. Bouzakis.”

“I agree with my future sister-in-law,” Damien said with a nod.

“Relax Darien,” Carmen piped in. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“Nobody asked you, Carmen,” Darien said. “Instead of worrying about my brother, girlfriend, and my situation, why don’t you worry about why your ex-boyfriends BOTH turned gay in the same year and fucked your best friend.”

Carmen gasped while Giselle slapped Darien across the face. “Apologize.”

“I’m sorry,” Darien said realizing he hadn’t meant to say that.

Carmen ran out of the gym trying to hide her tears.

Giselle faced Darien and slapped him again.

“OW!” he said, clutching his cheek. “That hurt.”

“What is wrong with you?” she asked him. “Once again, you are hurting people for no reason. Maybe the gang is right for not talking to you.”

She ran out in search of Carmen.

“Look, I know you have a problem with having a gay brother,” Damien said to his brother. “But I am going to live my life the way I want to live it. You need to stop worrying about how I live my life and start worrying about how to keep the good in your life there where it belongs before it leaves you.”

Darien felt really bad about what he said to Carmen. It wasn’t that he was bothered by having a gay brother.

He was cool with that.

It was just that he was a part of a faction that hated gay people, and he didn’t want Damien to become a target of hate just because he drew attention to himself.

But Damien was right. He had to stop trying to tell him how to live his life and what was wrong with the decision he made and start focusing on his own life.

Because right now, he was alone. All he had was Nate and even Nate wasn’t enough.

Scene I

“He didn’t mean it,” Giselle said to Carmen as they sat on the bench outside the school.

“He might not have meant it but it’s true,” Carmen said to her as she wiped her eyes. “I mean am I that repulsive that I turn guys gay? What is wrong with me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you,” Giselle said, grabbing Carmen into a tight hug. “Josh had serious psychological issues and Nate is just….an ass. The only thing that is a problem is the fact you fall for the players and screw-ups.”

Carmen sighed as she rested her head on Giselle’s shoulder.

“I just wish Josh would have never come back,” she said but heard movement behind them and saw Josh standing there.

“I heard what Darien said to you and I was coming to make sure you were okay,” Josh said with a sad look on his face. “I’ll just go, though.”

Carmen looked at Giselle who flashed her a stern look.

“Come on, let’s get to practice,” Giselle said to Carmen with a disappointed look on her face.

Sadly, Carmen walked in behind Giselle and headed back to the gym to get their practice underway,

Scene J

“You can’t be serious,” Nate said as he stood in Coach Turner’s office. “You are allowing that junkie back on the team?”

“That junkie was an essential part of the team before you came, Nate,” Turner said with a stern look. “You have been an amazing addition to the team but Josh hit a rough patch and I have been keeping up with him since he went to rehab. He has made a remarkable recovery and he was punished by being denied a spot on the team last year. It’s senior year and the year scouts really pay attention and I think he deserves the chance to show what he’s got. What he has is heart. That’s why I am allowing him back on.”

Nate looked at Coach Turner with a confused look on his face. “I can’t believe this,” he said to him. “He cost the team the season sophomore year because of his drugs. We didn’t need him last year. Why do we need him now? What is to say the drugs won’t come back in the picture this time around.”

“Because Josh has beat his demons and I feel like he is on the road to greatness,” Coach Turner said to him. “If you want me to continue considering you as Captain this year, I expect you to stop questioning my authority and accept it as it is. Josh Jackson is back on the team.”

Nate sighed as he realized he was going to have to resort to drastic measures to prevent Josh being on the team. Something told him that if Josh was back then he may lose everything he worked for. He had to take Josh out before he became a problem.

“Okay,” Nate said simply and walked out of the office and into the locker room with the rest of the team as he awaited a speech from Coach Turner.

“My brother is a cheerleader,” Darien said to Nate as he stood beside him. “My worst nightmare of being embarrassed by him is now a reality.”

“My worst nightmare is a reality,” Nate replied back. “The very people I hate are all on this team and I couldn’t convince Coach as to why it was a bad idea to have Josh back here on the team.”

“Dude, it’s not a bad idea to have him on the team,” Darien said to him excited to hear Josh was back. “Josh is an amazing quarterback and he will definitely bring more power where you and I don’t always have to carry the team as we do now.”

Nate didn’t care. He glared at Matt who glared back. He glared at an oblivious Josh. He didn’t care how it benefited the team. He only cared that Josh suffered.

“Don’t get too happy,” Nate said to his friend. “Because I am going to take him out on the field.”

Darien knew what Nate meant by that. Nate may be a lot shorter, probably the shortest on the team but Nate also had a lot of power and strength of at least two guys. He had this move that he called the crusher because it was known to take out a player for the rest of a game. With as much animosity as Nate had, Darien was sure he could probably end Josh’s football career instantly for the rest of his life.

“Nate don’t,” Darien hissed but Nate smiled at him with one of his evil grins and turned to listen to Coach Turner.

After about ten minutes of him announcing his plans and hopes for the season and the reintroduction of Josh to the team, he let them know what was expected out of the practice.

Darien watched Nate as they got into their spots on the field. He saw Josh chest bump Matt and Ky and Nick and Anthony. He missed being around people who had been through so much negativity and yet had such a positive outlook. People who genuinely made him feel good even though they didn’t have to even be his friend. He missed them. He missed being around them. He missed the peace he had with his girlfriend.

The team got in their spots and got ready. Darien looked over at Nate who was glaring at the unexpecting Josh, and he could see the stance of the crusher.

Josh had never seen the effect of the crusher and he was about to experience it.

Unless Darien, intervened somehow.

“GO!” Anthony called out as he threw the ball to Josh who caught it and began running the ball down the field.

Nate took off after him, running twice the normal speed of the crusher. He was aiming to almost kill. He was going to destroy Josh. Josh put him in the hospital. Embarrassed him. Hurt him. He was going to hurt Josh.

They weren’t wearing full uniforms but shirts and pants to differentiate between the two teams and light pads to protect against minor blows.

Nate was almost ready to tackle Josh but he felt himself being tackled hard instead. He rolled over to the ground and felt the wind knocked right out of him.

He coughed and opened his eyes to see it was Darien who tackled him. Josh had made a touchdown and was cheering with his team.

“What the hell, Darien?” Nate asked angrily. “Why did you do that?”

Josh, Ky, Nick, Anthony, and Matt all walked up to see what was going on between the two.

“We are a team on this field,” Darien said to his friend. “On this field we are brothers. No matter what happens off the field. I trust these boys to look out for me and they got my back. I am not going to let you hurt Josh to get back at him for what he did to you last year. Let it go. Be the bigger man. Be a brother on the field. Because I am not going to let you hurt my brother.”

The five of them looked at each other and realized that Darien truly had changed. He was no longer the boy that was so evil and wanted to hurt them all at one point. He was truly a good person and that they had been wrong to force him to choose between Nate and themselves.

Darien winced in pain. He was definitely feeling the affect of hitting Nate so hard.

Josh stepped forward and in front of Nate. “He’s right; we are brothers on this field and when I’m here, I forget about all the shit that goes on during the day,” he said to Nate. “As your brother…I want you to hit me. Hit me as hard as you can. I won’t hit back.”

Nate felt betrayed by Darien. He felt closed in by the fact that he was losing his best friend to people who he truly did not like.

He pulled his fist back and hit Josh as hard as he could in the face causing Josh to fall to the ground.

“Damn, I didn’t know he had a punch like that,” Nick said reaching to get Josh.

Coach Turner and the other assistant coaches ran up to see what was going on. “What the hell is the problem here?”

“Solving old issues,” Josh said as he wiped the blood from his nose. “We’re good.”

Coach Taylor muttered something to the coaches and headed back to the sidelines.

Josh, Ky, Matt, Anthony, and Matt headed back towards their respective spots on the field while Darien stared at Nate.

“You hate me?” he asked him sadly.

“No, I don’t,” Nate said to his friend. “You’re right. All that shit that goes on should be left off the field. Because off the field, they are still my enemies. But I know why you did what you did. I respect that.”

Nate was still pissed. But football was his life and he refused to let anything screw it up. Not even his own anger.

Scene K

I sat outside in the park awaiting Matt to meet me there. It was the very park we always came to, to have some quality time together.

I saw the headlights of his car as he turned in and parked. He got out of the car and walked over cautiously and took a seat on the swing beside me.

“I got your text,” he said.

“I see that because you are here,” I said sarcastically.

I was expecting a laugh but I didn’t get anything like that from him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“From the sound of the text, we have something to talk about,” Matt said sadly. “Go ahead and give me the bad news.”

“I don’t want to keep fucking you,” I said suddenly. “I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel right.”

Matt looked at me with a shocked look on his face. “Really?”

I nodded at him, expecting the worse response possible. “Yeah, really.”

“Oh, thank God,” Matt said with a relieved look. “That shit is painful! I don’t know how you do it.”

“Wait…you don’t like doing it either?” I asked him with a confused look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I punched him in the shoulder. He punched me back.

“Why didn’t YOU tell ME?” he countered.

“Because you brought it up and I didn’t want to deny you it because I was afraid if I didn’t do it for you…you might get somebody else to do it for you,” I said softly.

He grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers in mine. “Come here, sit on my lap.”

I got up and took a seat on his lap as he rested his arm around my waist. “Yeah.”

“I promise you on my life that I will never, ever hurt you like that again and cheat on you,” he said to me. “I give you my vow, Coy James.”

“You swear?” I asked him, still nervous.

“I swear on how much I love you,” he said kissing me softly on the lips. “I love you so much, Coy.”

“I love you, too, Matty G,” I said, happy that we were in familiar territory. “I just realized why I didn’t like it.”

“Why babe?” Matt asked curiously.

“I don’t want to be the stereotypical gay male in a relationship where I’m submissive all the time,” I explained. “But I like when we do it our regular way because I feel so safe with you, when you do it. I don’t ever want anybody else after you. You are my now. You are my always. You are my forever.”

“Aw,” Matt said tickling me as we sat on the swing. “Well, what do you say that we leave the park and go back to familiar territory?”

“I say that is the best idea you have had all day long,” I said as Matt lifted me over his shoulder and carried me to his car.

Scene L

“Oh my God, that was the dumbest movie ever,” Daniel said as he walked out with Anthony. “You so knew that the teacher was the killer and those special effects were so fake looking.”

“You wanted to see the movie,” Anthony said with a laugh. “Don’t you hate when the movie looks better in the previews?”

“That’s because all the scenes they show in the previews are the only good scenes in the movie,” Daniel replied with a laugh. “Uh, hello! Remember the grudge? Great preview, horrible movie.”

“Hey, I like The Grudge,” Anthony said, elbowing Daniel lightly.

“You would,” Daniel said bumping into him lightly.

They had been doing this for the past three hours. Somehow their hands would always touch or they always bumped or elbowed each other. But they always tried to ignore it as if they didn’t know they did it on purpose.

“I had a great time with you tonight,” Daniel said to him. “Like this is the best night I have had in a long, long time.”

“Why’s that?” Anthony asked him with a small smile.

“Because I got to spend it with somebody that I truly like and would love to see the start of something great happening with us,” Daniel replied.

This time Daniel caught Anthony off-guard and kissed him. They kissed for a few moments until a horn caused them both to jump.

“Oh, shit,” Daniel said clutching his chest.

“I forgot we were outside,” Anthony said blushing. “But I don’t care if people see me. And I would love to start something with you as well, Daniel.”

“Good,” Daniel said, kissing him on the lips again.

After a few more moments of kissing, Daniel broke away.

“I better get going,” he said smiling at Anthony. “I have a busy night of planning some more stuff for the social this Friday.”

“Of course,” Anthony said giving him a quick kiss and watching him walk to the car before he climbed into his own.

His cell vibrated and he clicked to see a text message from Damien.

Meet me at the Onyx Hotel on Atlantic Avenue.

Daniel honked his horn as he drove past Anthony and waved at him. Anthony sighed. He knew this was wrong. But why did both boys feel so right?

He texted him back.

Be there in 10 minutes

To be continued...