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 4
When It’s Like It Shouldn’t Be

Scene A

“So your dad is back?” Anthony asked as he followed Josh towards the car.

Josh sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Anthony looked at Nick and they paper, rock, scissors with Nick losing.

“Damn you,” Nick hissed at his brother who stuck his tongue out. “Josh…”

“What? What is it Nick?” He asked wheeling around. “What you are afraid that I am going to resort back to drugs because my dad is back?”

“I understand you don’t want to talk about it…But you are going to have to eventually,” Nick said to him. “Eventually doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow but when you finally decide to talk, we all will listen.”

“We aren’t afraid of you taking the drugs,” Anthony added. “We are afraid that you won’t let us in to be there for you.”

Josh felt guilty. He was a bit touchy still over the whole drug addiction and he always felt his friends viewed him as a junkie, when it was obvious they didn't.

“Thanks guys,” Josh said with a small smile. “I have always had Coy & Carmen but Coy has been wrapped up in his own issues and Carmen…Well, you know. But it’s great because I have you guys. I don’t need the drugs. I got you two.”

“You have Coy too,” Nick chimed in as they all climbed into the car. “He is, was, involved in this situation as well. He will be there for you as well.”

“Speaking of Coy, I swear, Matt is my boy & all but I mean I don’t think Coy and Matt will last,” Anthony said in the backseat.

“Why do you say that?” Nick asked him. “They have been through so much together.”

“That’s just it,” Anthony said. “Let’s take what we know. Matt cheated, Coy was stalked, kidnapped, and raped by tony. Later, Coy & Ky were both shipped to a mental institution where Coy developed a second personality and started dating and messing with Josh & Nate. Does anybody else get what I am trying to say?”

“That even in the most complex situations Coy & Matt persevere but in the simplest of situations such as Jealousy, they can’t maintain,” Josh offered. “Sometimes, it’s not the complex situations that break us up. It’s that one small thing that causes the complex things to break you up.”

“Hmm,” Nick said after thinking about it. “Well, I hope that Ky and I could last as long as Coy & Matt. I want to be just like them.”

Anthony snorted. “Well, I guess it’s only inevitable that you and Ky will be breaking up soon.”

*************

Scene B

“COY!” Giselle yelled out as I walked down the hallway towards my locker.

She grabbed me into a tight hug.

“Aww, you smell and look so nice today,” She said as I tried to get her off of me.

“I can’t breathe,” I said to her and she released me.

“Sorry,” She said as I tried to straighten my clothes out. “Have you been working out?”

“Giselle, you have come along way from being the bitch you were when I first met you but even you aren’t this nice,” I said with a smile. “What do you want?”

“Okay, I am going to cut to the chase,” She said losing the small talk. “I need some company for the student council election meeting.”

“Okay, so why don’t you ask…”

“Carmen? Yeah, she is still in her little sullen, I hate the world mood and she isn’t much company to anybody right now,” Giselle replied.

“And Darek?” I asked her.

“Coy, please, that was the dumbest thing you have said since I have known you,” She said to me. “Darek Bouzakis taking a student council election serious? That’s like you having sex with a girl. Not going to happen.”

“For me to be your last resort, you sure aren’t making me want to help you,” I said folding my arms.

“Oh my god, Coy, Please!” She begged. “I really need to expand my reach a and try something different besides Cheerleading and fashion club. Student council will look really great up there with my accomplishments and I don’t want to do it alone.”

“Fine, I will do this with you,” I said with a sigh. She made a move to hug me again but I stopped her. “Hug me and I’m out.”

“Thank you, Coy,” She said with a giddy smile.

“Wait, don’t I have to run for something?” I asked her. “I don’t really like math unless it’s math that I do here in school, so I don’t want to be treasurer. I could be a secretary but then again you know I learn and remember best when I don’t write stuff down. What else is left?”

“Well, I would say vice-president but that’s the position I am going for,” She said to me. “I would’ve aimed for President but let’s be honest…That’s a huge reach. Why don’t you run for president instead.”

“Ha, yeah, because I am such a leader,” I said to her. “What have I led?”

“You led the Rainbow Soldiers last year,” She suggested.

“Giselle, I wasn’t exactly myself last year, as you know and I don’t think that Rainbow soldiers is something to lead with in a speech,” I said with a laugh. “I had a mental breakdown and led a vengeful group of angry gay vigilantes against our heterosexual oppressors. That is definitely a campaign killer there.”

Giselle Smiled appreciatively at me.

“Coy, I really am glad that you are going to do this with me,” She said wrapping her arm in mine.

“The things I do for friends,” I said with a laugh.

**********

Scene C

Mrs. Nash, the counselor, stared at Carmen who looked back at her with a blank expression on her face.

“Carmen, I hope this doesn’t sound harsh but you asked me to have a weekly meeting with you to discuss some issues going on in your life,” She said to her. “But it’s been 10 minutes and I barely got a hello out of you. If you have nothing to say then, I am afraid I will have to cut this short and get back to my work.”

Carmen sighed and looked at the ground. She knew she needed somebody outside of her usual circle to talk to about her problems. She wanted to talk about her problems but at the same time she didn’t want to talk about them.

“I’ll just go,” She said standing up and grabbing her purse and backpack and heading to the door but stopped and turned to face her.

She needed to get her feelings out, one way or another.

“I…I just…hate him,” She said with an angry look on her face.

“Who?” Mrs. Nash asked her.

Carmen shook her head no.

“Carmen, I Can’t help you if you won’t open up and talk to me,” Mrs. Nash said to her. “I can listen. I can help.”

“The last time I opened up and let feelings out, I got hurt,” She said clearing her throat. “Well, I refuse to deal with the pain anymore. I am done with this bullshit and I am done with him.”

Carmen opened the door to the office and stormed out leaving a stunned Mrs. Nash still not understanding exactly what was going on.

Carmen stormed down the hallway, not sure of exactly where she was going. She saw Josh as she passed by him and stopped and turned to face them.

“Hey…” he began but Carmen slapped him across the face and stormed off.

“What the hell is her problem?” Ky asked as he looked at Josh’s red face.

“She is hurting…bad,” Josh said to his friend. “I think she has spent so much time repressing so much anger towards me that it finally is getting to much for her and she has to let go. Release it.”

“That bitch has gone crazy,” Ky muttered.

“And it’s all my fault,” Josh said sadly.

Carmen, walked into the girl’s bathroom and saw two underclassmen girls from her cheerleading squad applying make up.

“Carmen, Hey,” One girl said with a cheerful smile. “You look so pretty in your pink & white.”

“Get out,” Carmen said to the girls in a low voice.

“But we are…”

“I said Get out…NOW!” Carmen bellowed at the two girls, scaring them.

They quickly scurried out leaving an angry Carmen standing there in the middle of the bathroom. Carmen walked over into the mirror.

She was angry. She was tired of trying to not be angry. She was angry. Not just at Josh. At so much.

For the longest, Carmen has always been the most mature out of all her friends. She never got in trouble. She always bailed out her friends when they were in trouble. She stood up for everybody but herself.

As she watched herself in the mirror, she realized over the years she has always played a secondary role to everybody.

“Coy & Josh,” She thought to herself. “All these years they have known each other and it was always Coy & Josh plus Carmen, it felt like.”

Even now, she loved Giselle as she was the only best girl friend she ever had because she hated how girls acted. But even back when Giselle was one of the hated, she always seemed to outshine Carmen. The only time Carmen dominated Giselle was when the cheerleaders were after her but that really wasn’t anything special.

“I’m so tired of being like this,” She said with a sigh to her reflection.

Truth was, Carmen was a very attractive girl. She realized what boys thought about her. But how Carmen looked and acted were two totally different things. Carmen was normally a happy-go lucky sidekick to everybody else and their problems but yet you would think a girl as pretty as she was would have the whole world at her feet. But she was humble, she wasn’t focused how people saw her but how they knew her mentally not physically.

“I hate myself,” She said with a small laugh. “I really do.”

Then a thought popped into her head.

“I am going to kill myself,” She said with a smile.

No, not suicide. Of course not, she was troubled but not that troubled. She was going to kill the Carmen everybody knew and loved.

Everybody reinvents theirselves from time to time and this time was Carmen’s time to reinvent herself.

“Upgrade,” She said looking at her watch.

Her next class started in 20 minutes but she decided to skip it.

“Hate that class anyway,” She said leaving out the bathroom.

*********

Scene D

Giselle and I walked into the auditorium and headed to the back rows. I saw Daniel and waved at him which he returned back. I could tell he was sad over the whole Anthony/Damien situation. I just prayed that it all worked out where he wouldn’t get too hurt.

“Welcome Students to Student Council elections nomination & information Ceremony,” Mr. Alvarez said to all the students in the auditorium. “Normally we usually hold these elections at the end of the school year to prepare for the academic year but we are trying something a little different.”

I looked over at Giselle, who had an intense look on her face as she paid attention to every word Mr. Alvarez said.

“I have never seen you pay this much attention to something other than yourself,” I whispered to her. “I’m impressed.”

“Shh!” She hissed at me before turning her attention back to him.

“Student Council is all about the students helping students,” Mr. Alvarez continued. “So many educational facilities allow faculty to run the student interest and in reality, most faculty members are out of touch with what you want and needs. Which results in boring academic events throughout the year. As students you need to study  but you need relaxation. With a student government, we are guaranteed to hear what our student body is interested in and disinterested in. The events throughout the year that the Student council develop help bridge gaps between students and allow them to get to know people outside of their social groups…”

“Hey,” A voice said plopping down scaring me as they sat in the chair beside me.

“Oh god,” Giselle said noticing it was Nate.

“Nate, what are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I have taken an interest in student government,” He said simply and I flashed him a skeptical look. “Well, since I Saw you walk in here a few minutes ago.”

“There is the Nate we all know and hate,” Giselle said from the other side of me. “Ooh, look it rhymed.”

Nate looked past me and at her. “Oh, I’m sorry did the resident bitch say something?”

I grabbed Giselle’s arm from reaching to hit him and looked at Nate. “Don’t talk to her like that. You need to go.”

“Why?” Nate asked me.

“Because people like Giselle are taking this seriously,” I said and I realized how funny that sounded. “Don’t even say it.”

“I am taking this serious if you are, Coy,” He said to me. “I want you to see I am not a complete Jackass like you think I am.”

“You are causing problems between my boyfriend and I,” I said to him.

“Let’s be honest, Coy,” He said to me with a scoff. “Matt and you have had problems long before I met you last year. One of those former problems is sitting their on your left side.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, it doesn’t matter because Matt & I always work through our problems.”

“Do you really? Or do you sweep them under the rug and pretend like everything is okay, Coy?” He asked me. “Because if you deal with your problems and work through them, then why does this relationship seem like it’s always on the verge of ending, Coy? Why does Matt hold on so tightly and it seems like you are waiting for something else to happen. It’s like you have it in your mind, that something is about to happen and you don’t give it your all.”

“Hate to say it, but dopey dwarf has a point,” Giselle said handing me a paper.

I looked down at it confused. “What is this?

“Well, while you were talking to that limp dick bastard and not paying attention, you would know that paper is a sign-up sheet for the positions we all want to run for.”

I sighed and wrote down my name and beside it president. I handed the paper to Nate who scribbled something down and took the paper to Mr. Alvarez.

“What did you sign-up for?” I asked him curiously as he returned to his seat.

“Campaign manager for Coy James,” He said with a smile.

“What? That is not a real position,” I said to him.

“I can show you more than one position,” Nate said with a sly smile.

“Actually, it is a sub-position,” Giselle said flashing Nate a look of disgust. “Usually with top positions such as President and Vice President, they incorporate a campaign manager to market the nominee for one of those positions. I just texted this nerdy guy named Byron from my Computer Apps class and asked would he be mine.”

“Looks like we are going to be working together, Coy,” Nate said patting me on the back.

I rolled my eyes and sighed not sure if I still wanted to do this.

“Coy, again, thank you for doing this with me,” Giselle said squeezing my hand lightly and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Giselle and I have come a long, long way. We may not be best friends like Carmen & I, but in essence Giselle is my second best friend as far as girls go because with all our drama, I felt like we brought out maturity in each other. All that I had been through in the past year and a half, somehow brought out a side of humbleness and compassion that she had lacked when we first met.

“No problem, bestie,” I said with a smile as I laid my head on her shoulders.

“Oh, wow, this is surprising,” Mr. Alvarez said as he looked over the list. “We have 2 presidential nominees.”

“WHAT!” A boy said from the front of the auditorium.

I looked at Nate and Giselle. “Why is that so surprising? Even in the American elections, they have 2 nominees.”

“Ooh, yea I forgot to let you know,” Giselle said with an apologetic look. “That guy, Jacob Kimble has held the top position since like forever. I guess now he wants to try his hand at Student Body President.”

“How did I not know this?” I asked her.

“The question is how did she know this,” Nate muttered.

“Well, Jacob it looks like you have some competition for once,” Mr. Alvarez joked to him.

Jacob looked at me with a glare, obviously not in a joking mood.

“Well, that brings us to the end of the meeting,” Mr. Alvarez stated. “Be sure to prepare your speeches for the upcoming speeches this Friday. Best of luck to you all.”

“Coy, I need your help with my speech,” Giselle stated to me. “You are the only one who I know writes stuff for fun, so you are the best to help me.”

“Hold on, a second,” I said making my way over to Jacob.

Jacob turned and faced me. “Can I help you with something, Troy?”

I cleared my throat nervously, as I can already tell he was not in a good mood right now. “Um, it’s Coy. But I just wanted to say that I don’t think I am going to run. I don’t want to take away or threaten your position.”

“Take away? Threaten?” Jacob asked with a scoff. “What makes you think, you would be a threat to me?”

“Sorry, wrong choice of words,” I said realizing how that sounded.

“Hmm, slipping up on your words already before the big speech in front of the student body?” Jacob asked with a sneer. “Trust me, I am not worried about somebody as pathetic as you threatening my chances. There is a reason that I ran unchallenged last year. People see how great I am and I am not worried about Mediocrity named Coy.”

“There is no need to be rude,” I said to him, a little offended by what he was saying.

“I’m not being rude, I am being ruthless,” Jacob said standing in my face. “You can tell this is your first election and that you are in way over your head.”

“What is your problem?” I asked him.

“My problem is little boys trying to play a man’s game,” Jacob replied. “Besides, who wants a faggot to run this school.”

That right there cut me deep and left me speechless. It had been a while since my sexuality had posed a problem for me and he was using it as his ammunition.

“Let the games begin,” Jacob said grabbing his stuff and walking out.

“Coy, I heard what he said,” Daniel said walking up to me. “Don’t let it get to you. I have a feeling that you are what we need to take him down.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked him.

“Because he was a member of the Christian Soldiers along with Darek,” Daniel replied. “We all know what they did to you and Ky. I’d love to see you kick their asses once again.”

I sighed to myself. I thought I was done with this fighting. Thought I was done with these wars with Christian Soldiers.

Apparently, I was still fighting a war that wasn’t over.

It was far from over.

Scene E

Anthony looked up as he heard Damien’s voice talking to the librarian. Anthony placed his textbook down and got up and followed him outside the library.

“Damien,” He called out as he ran to catch up with him.

“Ah, my cheating ex-boyfriend,” Damien said turning around and facing him.

“Ex? Hold on, you are breaking up with me?” Anthony asked confused.

“Of course, I am,” Damien said with a chuckle. “Damien Bouzakis doesn’t do getting broken up with. He breaks up with people. Especially people who cheat.”

“How did I cheat when you cheated first?” Anthony asked him. “I didn’t even do anything with Daniel except flirt and hang with him. You are still fucking around with other dudes cheating on me.”

“I swear, people kill me thinking monogamy is what makes a lasting relationship,” Damien said annoyed. “Seriously, we are human. We are born selfish and using a title of monogamy is trying to make us go against our basic instinct. Especially as men, we are wired to spread our seed. Which basically means fuck. I fucked around other people not because I have feelings for them but I am trying to make this work. I don’t want to be unhappy because I am stuck and devoted to one person for the rest of my life. It’s only cheating when you have the same feelings for the person you are fucking or flirting with like you have with your boyfriend or greater. Monogamy doesn’t work.”

“I can’t believe you are sitting here rationalizing cheating,” Anthony said in shock at what Damien had just said to him.

“And I can’t believe you think you didn’t cheat on me….first at that,” Damien countered. “Before I even fucked anybody, you were already cheating on me the very second we started dating. 2 boyfriend? 2 guys you started dating at the very same time, Anthony? Luckily, I am a stronger person than Daniel is but you got his heart involved and you want to say I am bad person when you did far worse than I have done?”

Anthony knew he was in the wrong, probably more so than Damien was. “I can’t help it,” Anthony said punching a locker.

“You can’t help what?” Damien asked him.

“I can’t help that I want you both,” Anthony said sadly. “I want you, Damien and I want him.”

“Well, I am not going to be your boyfriend if you have another boyfriend,” Damien said to him. “Even I do have feelings and I don’t want you being somebody else’s boyfriend when you are mine.”

Anthony noticed Daniel outside talking to some girl. He was seriously attracted to Damien physically but Mentally, Daniel had everything that he wanted in a person.

“I spent so much time chasing after Coy and trying to make him see he was what I wanted,” Anthony thought to himself. “And that I was what he needed. But I need Daniel…and I want Damien.”

“We don’t have to date,” Anthony said to him. “But I don’t want to lose our….physical chemistry.”

Damien looked out to see Daniel smiling and laughing with friends. He realized that as of now, Daniel actually had the upper hand. He knew Anthony was always physically attracted to him but Daniel possessed something that even Damien realized he lacked.

“So you want to keep us strictly physical and Date Daniel?” Damien asked him, trying to hide the sadness he was feeling realizing Anthony wanted the best of both worlds.

“I’m just so confused right now,” Anthony said to him. “But I don’t want to lose you or what we have either. We have fun together. Like you said, Monogamy doesn’t work.”

As much as Damien hated to admit, he liked Anthony a lot more than he cared to let on. But the thing about confused boys was, you had to give them what they wanted for now. Along the way, you had to make sure they knew you were the best choice for them. Damien and his many talents were always persuasive in getting what he wanted in the end. He just had to play with Anthony’s rules for now.

“I’ll get back at you on that,” Damien said with a sly smile, reminiscent of the time when Anthony asked him out.

He turned and headed down the hallway while Anthony headed outside to talk to Daniel. Damien watched sadly as Anthony made his way over to Daniel.

It’s obvious that Daniel and Anthony were perfect for each other.

“For now anyway,” He said as he headed down the hallway.

Anthony stood in front of Daniel not allowing him to get by.

“Get away from me,” Daniel said to him, not making eye contact.

“Not till you hear me out, Daniel,” Anthony said grabbing his shoulders.

“Get away from me,” Daniel said a little more forcefully and looking him in the eye this time. “I will hit you.”

“I’ll let you,” Anthony said to him. “I will seriously let you do whatever you like as long as in the end you hear me out.”

“Then let me go,” Daniel said to him, voice about to break.

“Except that,” Anthony said lifting his head up with his chin. “Daniel, I am sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Anthony,” Daniel said as he realized he could no longer hold the tears he had in his eyes back. “Sorry definitely doesn’t cut it. You have no idea how crazy I am for you. How much I care about you.”

Anthony was speechless, he really wasn’t’ good with tears. “Daniel…”

“No, I am talking,” Daniel said with a lot more aggression than usual. “I loved you as I watched pine for Coy endlessly and knew that you never had a chance. I saw how you tried to protect your brother and I loved that always you had Nick’s back. I loved you when I found out that you no longer tried to break Coy & Matt up and you became friends with Matt. I loved you when I saw you and Damien at that party together. I loved you enough to not let it get to me and gather the courage to go on a date with you. I loved you while on that date and the great time we had. I loved you when we decided to start dating. You have no idea that I loved you since I first saw you.”

Daniel sat down at the picnic table as he began sobbing uncontrollably.

“I love you, Anthony Jackson Pagan,” He said to Anthony. “You don’t have to love me back, I didn’t care if you did. But I wanted you and I thought you wanted me to.”

“I do want you, Daniel,” He said to him as he wrapped his arm around him. “I do want to be with you.”

“Then why did you hurt me like this?” Daniel asked him. “If you wanted me so bad, why did you have sex with Damien behind my back. Especially more than once, Anthony…Please tell me why.”

Anthony wasn’t aware of how much Daniel was truly into him. This has spanned from their first meeting back in sophomore year. This made what he wanted to do so much harder. How could he continue hurting somebody that he really did care about. Somebody he really did want to be with. How could he continue fucking Damien and how could he be with Daniel at the same time? He had to play on Daniel’s sensitive side.

“When I first met, Coy sophomore year he was unlike anybody I had ever come across,” He explained to Daniel. “I have never met somebody so pure. So strong and yet so vulnerable at the same time and I wanted to protect him. I could sense the need…the want from him. He needed…Wanted to feel protected. I didn’t know from what at the time but I knew he was amazing and I wanted to be the one to protect him. I wanted to be one who he could build something with. But Matt came into the picture, out of nowhere and they became a couple. So all of sophomore year, I was a dick to Matt…even Coy at times because I was jealous. They love each other so much and I wanted somebody to love like Coy & Matt had and wanted him to be Coy. Every time they broke up, I would never be a friend to Coy and encourage him to fix it but took it as an opportunity to get what I wanted. But after Coy became Marco and Ky almost died and I saw how much Nick and Ky loved each other, I stopped wanting to chase after Coy.”

Anthony Paused to himself before he carried on talking.

 “I realized that Coy & Matt weren’t the couple that I wanted to be like. I wanted to be just like Ky & Nick. They have such a strong love and I think we always focused on Coy & Matt because they had so many problems and honestly, I stop believing in true love when I realized there fatal weakness. I can’t explain it but Coy & Matt will never work because of that weakness they have. But I want something like Ky & Nick, I don’t see a weakness in those two. Yet, I didn’t think I could find it with anybody because I had spent so much time focusing on Coy and I never noticed anybody else. “

Anthony wasn't good at talking about his feelings but he was doing a good job thus far.

“I never noticed you until now and I guess it scared me and I was an idiot and tried to…run away from it. I want something like Ky & Nick, but I want it to be greater. I want it to be greater than them. I think we can be great together, Daniel because you make me feel so good. I think I might be falling in love with you.”

Daniel looked through his tear filled eyes. “You what?”

It was the first time he had ever had a real boyfriend. It was the first time he had ever experienced love and it was the first time he had ever heard somebody other than family & friends use love when it concerned him.

“Say what you just said again,” Daniel demanded. “Say it. But say it if only you mean it.”

It was true. Anthony really did see himself falling hard for Daniel in such a short time because he felt completed with him.

“I think I might be falling in love with you,” Anthony repeated.

Daniel hugged Anthony tightly, afraid to let go.

“Don’t you ever hurt me again,” Daniel said to him, with a serious expression. “Promise me, you won’t hurt me again.”

Anthony realized he was truly starting to develop feelings for Daniel even though he had feelings for Damien as well. But he felt the need to be everything that Daniel need and always dreamed of.

“I promise,” He said feeling sad because now he had to tell Damien that they were truly over. He could not use Damien for sex and date Daniel.

Scene F

I sat at our usual  spot in the Student Center where we eat, early waiting for everybody else to get there thinking. I had used some free time and had been in here for awhile, thinking about the impending election.

I didn’t know if I had it in me to fight Jacob. It seemed like every year for the past few years has been a fight. I had to fight against my fears of Tony and what he did to me freshman year. I had to fight not only Tony sophomore year, but Darek and the Christian Soldiers, and even my own brother and parents. Then junior year, I had a battle against myself basically for my own life. I was just tired of fighting. I was tired of the battles.

But I learned from all these fights, especially the ones with Marco & Tony, that I was strong and that I never gave up. Even sometimes when I wanted to, I always fought back.

It was in my life to have battles…and Coy James never gave up.

“I can do this,” I said to myself. “I can do this.”

I looked up to see Jacob walking towards the table.

“I think I can, I think I can,” He said mocking me. “Talking to yourself, Coy? It’s when you answer yourself back that you know you have truly gone crazy.”

“Is there a problem?” Matt asked as he walked towards the table.

Jacob looked at me with a sly smile and back at Matt. “No problems. Just going to have fun wiping the floor with your boyfriends face.”

He left Matt and I sitting there together, making me uncomfortable because I hadn’t spoken to Matt since the fight, 3 nights ago.

“I would’ve kicked his ass but I don’t think that would look great for your campaign,” Matt said to me with a small laugh. When I didn’t laugh back he cleared his throat. “Wow, this is not tense at all. Were you going to tell me you were planning on running for Student Body president. I saw your name on the list this morning.

“It’s a random decision,” I said not making eye contact with him.

“Coy, are you still mad at me?” He asked me. “Come on, it was three days ago. You have ignored all my phone calls. My text. My emails. I get it, I fucked up. But you don’t have to shut me out.”

“You hit me,” I said to him. “That hurt. Real bad.”

“I know I am sorry,” Matt said to me. “Just to show you sorry I am, I have some peace offerings.”

He opened his backpack up and pulled out a gallon Ziploc bag of skittles.

“The red kind,” I said with a smile.

“You are the only person I know who will by a 41 ounce bag of skittles and only eat the red kind and throw the rest away,” He said with a chuckle. “So last night I went out and brought a whole bunch of skittles. I’m talking about a whole lot of skittles and I sorted them all and here are your red skittles.”

I tried to hide a smile as he slid the bag across to me. “I am only taking this because I haven’t had any skittles since this morning,” I said as I began to eat some of them.

“And I re-worded one of your favorite Beyonce songs,” He said clearing his throat. “The song diva. You’re my baby, you’re my, you’re my baby. You’re my baby, you’re my baby. Now, Now, Coy is Matt’s definition of his baby. Of his, Of his baby. Now, Now, Coy…”

“Says shut up,” I said laughing. “That was so corny and gay, Matt.”

“Only the corniest and gayest for you, babe,” He said with a smile. “All I wanted to do is make you laugh and smile. Mission accomplished. So you forgive me?”

“Yes,” I said leaning over and kissing him on the lips softly.

“I miss that taste of skittles every time I kiss you,” He said to me. “You know, I used to hate skittles till I started dating you.”

“I might need to check myself into rehab,” I said eating some more of the skittles. “Want some?”

“No, I’m good,” He said with a smile. “I’ll just enjoy tasting them when I kiss you again.”

I smiled at him but it faltered as I saw Nate standing in the line ordering food.  “Matt, I have something to tell you about my campaign…”

“Nate is your campaign manager,” He interrupted. “Yeah, Giselle told me about it.”

“I didn’t ask for him to do it,” I said to him. “He just…”

“I know, babe,” He said to me clutching my hand. “I trust you and I trust Nate with you because I know you will never allow Nate to come between us.”

“Of course not,” I said with a smile.

“Aw, you two finally made up,” Ky said taking a seat beside me and with Nick taking a seat across from him. “How cute.”

“Shut up,” Matt said throwing a fry at his head.

Giselle and Darek both took their respective seats across from each other. Somehow we had always sat like this. With our significant other across from us, that way it made it easier to talk and to see them.

Josh sat down and looked at the chair across from him that Carmen normally would be sitting in and he looked sad. I felt bad for him. I knew he was sorry for what he had done and yet she was still punishing him.

“So Coy, I hear you are running for Student President,” Darek said in between bites. “Does that make Matt first lady?”

We all laughed for a few moments at that one.

“I’ll wear my title proudly,” Matt said with a laugh as he did his Ms. America wave to all of us.

“Are you sure you are the bottom, Coy?” Ky asked me and I laughed at my brother’s joke.

“On a serious note, I actually was wondering what you knew about Jacob Kimble,” I said to Darek. “I know you guys were friends together in…the Christian Soldiers.”

The mood quickly went from happy to a bit somber. Darek cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“We were never friends,” He said blushing a bit as we all remembered what he had done.

“Dar, you know that we all don’t hold that against you, right?” I asked him. “Trust me, everybody at this table has done a dick move to at least somebody at this table.”

“None of you have tried to kill anybody at this table, though,” He said sadly.

“No, be probably all thought about it one time or another,” Nick offered causing us all to laugh.

Darek and I looked at each other and smiled at one another. “I’d say we are even, huh Coy?”

“Dead even,” I said with a laugh. “No, I was just wondering if you could give me some details on who I am running against.”

“He is ruthless and he will do whatever takes to win and get his point across,” Darek explained. “He was one of the people who Reverend Taylor didn’t have to brainwash into joining and he was one of the strongest supporters to get you two to that hospital. He even had went as far to say that he wanted to get you all into the hospital because you were all apart of some gay occult or something. Which meant, I would have been with you because I was connected to giselle who was connected to you guys at the time.”

“Wow, Coy, you better be careful going up against this guy,” Ky said to me and I nodded. “He hasn’t lost any of the elections he has ran in yet and I don’t think he plans on losing this one.”

“Maybe you should just pull out,” Matt said to me and then Matt, Darek and Ky all shared a laugh at the double-meaning.

“Our boyfriends, gentlemen,” Giselle said to Nick and I, rolling her eyes. “Coy is not going to pull out.”

Matt, Darek, and Ky laughed again making Nick and I both laugh.

“Boys,” Giselle muttered. “I have got to find some girl friends.”

“Speaking of girl friends, where is the oh-so-loveable Carmen Gianni?” Ky asked and we all shrugged. “I haven’t seen her since she had another episode this morning in the hallway.”

I looked over at Josh who was picking at his food. “You okay, J. Jax?”

“I’m fine,” He said forcing a smile. “Really, I am okay.”

“Okay, bud, you’re just quiet,” I said to him. I didn’t truly believe him and I noticed the look Nick & Anthony shared. I was a twin. I knew what those secret looks meant and I had a feeling it dealt with Josh.

“So Coy, I got some campaign ideas in mind,” Nate said, coming out of nowhere and plopping into the seat Carmen normally sat in which happened to be right beside Matt.

I noticed his uncomfortable look and Nate was doing his best to ignore Matt who was tapping his fingers on the table, his tell-tell sign when he was annoyed.

“Let’s hear these ideas,” Matt said trying to be as interested as possible as he took a drink from his soda.

“Sex,” Nate said simply causing Matt to spit and spray his soda all over me.

“Sorry babe,” He said as I wiped myself off. “I just heard some bullshit. My boyfriend is not having sex with you.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Nate said to Matt. “I don’t mean actual sex I mean market Coy in a sexual light. Like take some hot photos of him and use them as campaign tactics. I mean Jacob has a lot of the athletes support. I mean, I’m sure Josh, Matt, Nick, Darek, Ky, and I got the football players but Jacob plays basketball as well and has connections to soccer and hockey teams.”

“I got the cheerleaders,” Giselle said to me. “I’m sure they got their groupies.”

“What about the nerds?” Ky asked and I flashed him a dirty look. “Sorry, the smart kids.”

“Well, here is the thing,” Nate explained. “Coy & Jacob are matched evenly for academics. They literally have the same GPA which means one of you will be Valedictorian & the other will be salutatorian.”

“Great and here I was hoping to be rid of him after elections were over,” I said with a sigh. “What does this have to do with sex?”

“Coy, he has athleticism going for him and you have….well, connections to athleticism,” He said to me. “You need something strong, to make your presence known in this election. Market on your looks.”

“Coy, you and Ky are some hotties,” Darek said surprising us all.

“Not again,” Giselle said with a groan. “Please tell me I didn’t turn another gay.”

“What? It’s true,” Darek said to her. “But you, my dear, are the hottest thing to hit this planet. But for guys they are hot.”

“Thank you,” Ky and I said in unison.

“God, you two still do that talking in unison thing?” Nick asked us. “I thought Anthony & I were the only ones who still did it.”

“Speak of the devil,” Giselle said noticing Anthony headed our way.

“What’s up peoples?” Anthony asked as he walked over to the table. He noticed the only available seat was by Darek who flashed him a dark look.

“I’ll switch,” Nate said noticing the tension between the two.

“No need,” Darek said to Nate. “He isn’t welcome to sit here.”

“Darek,” Giselle said trying to prevent any issues.

“Don’t Darek me,” He said annoyed. “Dude, was going behind my back fucking my brother and fucking with some other dude who isn’t as good as Damien.”

“Who are you to tell me who is good as Damien or not?” Anthony asked him. “If anything, Daniel is better because he doesn’t fuck any and everything.”

Damien made a move to get up by Giselle & I both grabbed him.

“Nick…” I said who already had stood up.

“One step ahead of you,” He said making a move to grab his brother.

“Oh…My…God,” Giselle said and we all looked in the direction she was looking in.

The hot topic wasn’t about my campaign or about Anthony & Darek’s latest feud. Carmen walked towards us but it didn’t look our Carmen.

“Carmen?” Josh said just as shocked, if not more at the girl standing in front of him.

“Carmen, what did you do?” I asked her.

We all looked at her in shock. The natural beauty that was Carmen who wore nothing but Hollister & Abercrombie and the occasional Aeropastle & American eagle with light brown hair was no more. In front of us stood a more urban looking Carmen with Black hair and looked like she was ready to step into the next rap video and shake hear ass.

“I thought it was time for a change,” She said with a smile. “I’m changing a lot of things about myself.”

“Change is a haircut or something,” Nick said to her. “You look like a completely different person.”

“You don’t look bad,” Giselle said to her. “You look amazing. As always but this isn’t you. Cleavage and ass hanging out? This isn’t you miss goody-two shoes.”

“That’s just it,” Carmen said with a smile. “I am tired of being the good one. I am tired of being the weak one. I want to be stronger. I want to be bad. Some situations changed my way of thinking.”

She glared at Josh who looked down at his tray.

“Which brings me to my next point,” She continued. “I don’t want to be friends with you guys anymore. I really need to branch out and spread my wings and get out from underneath you guys.”

“What?” We all said in unison.

Carmen smiled to herself. She was going to say exactly what she had been thinking about all her friends but never had the courage to say.

“Coy, you are way too much drama for me,” She said tossing her hair. “I’m tired of dealing with your crisis day in and day out. Can you have a normal life. Anthony, you went from being a pathetic loser in love with another pathetic loser to dating a slut and an even pathetic loser than Coy. Ky…seriously, Nick is dumb to forgive you for all that shit you put him through. Nick, wake-up honey and get the picture and take my lead and become something better. Darek….Hmmm, so much I can say about you that I am not going to waste my time saying it. You’re not worth it. Nate, if you ever have kids and I pray you don’t, make sure you make your children eat their greens and vitamins or else they will be just as short like you. Matt, realize that Coy tired of you after he became Marco and that’s why it’s only inevitable before Coy and Nate fuck, if they haven’t already. Giselle, I am tired of you. You’re honestly annoying to me. And Josh…”

She sighed and shook her head and looked directly at him.

“You should’ve killed yourself that night,” She said to him. “I seriously wish you would have. Because it’s because of you that I hate everything and everyone in my life.”

Carmen blew us a kiss and headed out the cafeteria. I got up and ran after her with everybody else following behind me.

“Carmen,” I called out to her. “Carmen!”

“What is it?” She asked me.

“Carmen, what are you doing?” I asked her. “This isn’t you.”

“You’re right,” She said to him. “This isn’t me. At least not the Carmen you know. I am done being that girl.”

“Carmen, I get it,” I said to her. “You are angry.”

“You get nothing, Coy, except into more and more Drama every year,” She said to me. “You don’t get how much I loved him and he screwed me over. He wouldn’t let me in and closed me out. He was my best friend, so I thought and he hurt me so bad. I hate him. I hate you all because you accept him back in as if he is perfect.”

“He isn’t perfect, Carmen,” Giselle said stepping up beside me. “None of us are. But we have all forgiven each other. Why can’t you forgive him?”

“Because he didn’t attack your soul and heart like he did me,” Carmen spat out to her best friend. “Coy wasn’t the only one raped. I was psychologically raped and tortured by him.”

“Carmen, I am sorry,” Josh said not knowing what to say. “I have changed and I want you to see that.”

“I’ve changed too and I want you all to see that,” She said to us.

“Look, I know how it feels to have all that anger inside of you,” I said to her. “It’s addicting. It empowers you with a false sense of power but in reality you are a lot weaker than you think. I had somebody else living inside of me and I was allowing him to control my life. Carmen, you saw what happened with Marco. Don’t allow your anger to control you. Don’t go down the same path I did.”

“Trust me, I am not,” She said to me. “Because I happen to like this anger because it allows me to see how pathetic and stupid you really are,” She said to me. “He will end up going back to the drugs and screwing with you all. You are the idiots. You are the dumb ones not seeing reality.”

She turned and stormed off leaving all of us stunned.

“What was that?” Matt asked, not sure what just happened.

“That was the death of our best friend,” I said realizing Carmen was becoming something that I hated. Something I once was.

To be continued...