Chapter Three: Making Friends

When I get home I immediately begin cleaning up. The house is a total wreck since neither mum nor I have had time to work on it. Mum’s bed is un-made and wrinkled, the small love-seat is covered with food and stuff, there are dirty socks and t-shirts and jackets littered around the floors, there are dirty dishes covering almost every empty space, and my own room was in no better condition. Sighing, I begin picking up everything. I want to make a good impression. I finish everything in an hour and a half, shockingly.

The next thing I do is bring out movies; action, horror, and mystery; snacks, beers (I don’t drink but I don’t know about him), and such. What do guys do when they hang out; especially two gay friends? I have X-Box. Does he play X-box? Would he want to watch movies or will it be too much like a date? Does he want to drink a lot? I sigh to myself before pulling out my phone. I have three new messages.

Mum; 'as you know, I am working late tonight. You and Rebecca have fun; don’t trash the house, and no drinking. Love ya '

Me; 'yeah, mum, there’s been a change of plans. The new guy I mentioned once, Becca asked him to come over too, hope that’s okay,' I reply to her

I had one from Rebecca...

Rebecca: 'The little snot barely even sprained her wrist. Ugh. It was nothing major; she just over-reacted, so mom says I can still come over for the weekend.'

Me: 'Awesome, Caine will be here soon too, probably.'

Rebecca: Nice! Be there soon.
And most surprisingly, I had one from Caine.

Caine; 'Hey, I finished up with my grandmother so I’ll be there soon.'

I grimace to myself a Rebecca’s words return in my mind. “He’s totally into you. Don’t push this one away.” Maybe she’s right and he really is into me, but she’s also right about getting to know him first. Besides, as much as I may like him so far, I don’t think that I am 100% ready to start dating again anyways. Dammit, I’m still so attached to my past with Michael...

A few minutes later my heart stutters when I hear the doorbell ring and I jump up to get it. Rebecca is standing in the doorway with more food and Caine is making his way to us a few feet away. I pull Rebecca into a hug and grab the items from her hands.

“Thanks Becca. Hey Caine.” I greet as they step into the house.

“Hello Jared, you have a nice home.” Caine comments, while looking around.

“Right, thanks; so uhm, I’m not sure what you guys wanna do, but I got movies, beer, uhm, and an X-Box.”

“We can do whatever. I just wanted to get to know you both a bit more... Being the new guy sucks because you don’t know anyone.” Caine laughs.

“I can imagine. It must be so hard.” Rebecca states, sitting by Caine on our small couch.

“Yeah, it is… especially in the last month of school.” Caine replies.

“Oh yeah, I forgot we only have a month left.” I state in shock.

“Yep. I’ll graduate at the end of the year. What about you guys?” Caine.

“I still think it’s weird you moved so late. But yeah, we both graduate this year too.” Rebecca.

Ignoring her first comment, we spend the entire day talking, Caine drinks one beer, but nothing more. Rebecca plays x-box while Caine and I cheer her on. Caine and I talk. I learn that his last name is Pierce, he’s the youngest sibling of three; one sister and one brother, he was a star football player at his old school, and he discovered he was gay in the 6th grade when he realized that he had absolutely no interests in girls and a lot of interests in guys. He is very open about his sexuality, said there’s nothing to be ashamed of. His parents, like my mum, are fully supportive of it, even encouraged him to go after love and he didn’t get bullied in school about it. Most of his friends were completely okay with it. He also had plans to join the military at one point but he didn’t think it was worth it and instead chose to focus on football. He has a bunch of different scholarships lined up based on his playing, which he will use to study engineering on the side of football.

I then tell him of my own life. My last name is O’Brian, I am a poet and big writer and I discovered I was gay in 3rd grade. My mom took me to some Valentine’s Day party for class and we had a cute little dance. I ignored all the cute little girls and asked a few boys to dance with me instead. A few parents threw me weird looks but I didn’t understand at the time that it was ‘wrong’. Before we left I kissed this boy on his cheek and told him I liked him. My mum explained later when I asked why parents got angry and she told me that she is okay with it. My dad wasn’t though. He got angry and beat me for it which caused a lot of problems between my mum and him, but I didn’t mention that part aloud. After about a year of trying to change me, he left and he left us with nothing. I had a few boyfriends over the years but none were ever as serious as Michael. “There isn’t much more to tell,” I sigh. “, my life is plain and boring.” I finish. “Oh, I was on the soccer team in 8th grade, which is how I met Becca. I got kicked out because I kept checking out all the dude’s asses and they got pissed.” I add smirking, which makes Caine laugh.

And then Rebecca told her story, which wasn’t much. Her parents are both lawyers, she has a scholarship to college to be an artist, she is as straight as they come, Christian, like us but more involved, she has two little sisters who are spoiled but one is overly sweet and the other is a brat. She has an older brother who has already moved out. She is a soccer player still. Her parents are stuck up and heavily disagree with her college choice but she doesn’t really care. She has a boyfriend who is overseas at the moment. “And that’s all there is to it. So, we know each other’s life stories, what now?”

“Well, it is kind of late so I should be getting home. But it was awesome being here! Thanks for asking me; talk later guys?” Caine asks, getting up and grabbing his jacket and keys.

“Yeah sure; it was cool hanging with ya man.” Rebecca calls.

“Yeah, I agree. We’ll see you later Caine.” I say standing up and walking to the door with Caine.

- - - - - - -

“He seems cool. I like him.” I state later in the night.

“Yeah, he is alright. His story is a little strange though. Why would he just randomly move out during the last month or so of school? I think he’s hiding something.” Rebecca surmises.

“That’s true. But he doesn’t know us well; maybe he’ll tell us the truth when we become closer. Besides, you always look on the dark side.” I say defending him.

“Possibly... And my negative outlook has kept me alive and un-humiliated so I’ll stick with it.” She replies, lying back on my bed.