Witless Wonders

Light whistling could be heard floating through the halls of a near empty house that a young boy currently resided in. As he ran his fingers through his deep black hair, he spoke to himself, mostly whispering words of encouragement as to how he would get through another monotonous day of school. “Today is going to be a great day, Chad.” He said quietly, “I can already tell some thing good is going to happen! After all, our party is tonight!”

He didn’t really mind talking to himself, and the only other person in the house was his little brother, Alfred, or Al. When he finished his hair, and whatnot, he went to the kitchen to find that Al wasn’t waiting there for him as usual. “Al!” he called through the house. “You up yet?”

With a sigh, he trudged up stairs, and stood out side of his brother’s room. He raised his fist, ready to knock on the door, but the door was pulled away just when his knuckles were about to hit it. “Happy birthday, brother!” yelled the little boy who had an oddly large smile plastered to his face. “See, I remembered it this year!”

Chad laughed, and leaned down to hug his brother. “Yes, thank you. But I hope you know my actual birthday isn’t until tomorrow, right?” he asked, standing up again. He proceeded to take his brother’s hand, and lead him down stairs, and back into the kitchen. “So what do you want for breakfast today, Allie?” Chad asked, getting a bowl out of one of the cabinets for his own breakfast.

“Hmm…” Al said before shrugging. “Whatever you’re having, I guess.” A nod came from the older boy, and he got another bowl out of the cabinet. He then walked over to the other side of the kitchen and got out a medium sized box, with some type of breakfast cereal. After he carried that back to where he had put the two bowls, he went to the fridge and got out a container that was about half full with milk.

When Chad had finished pouring the milk and cereal into the bowls, and set them at the island in the middle of the large kitchen, he put everything away. “Hey, I’m going to go check the answering machine, alrighty?” Al quickly finished chewing his mouthful of food, and responded. “Okay. I think someone called earlier, but I don’t know who.”

Nodding again, Chad walked into the other room, and saw that the telephone was blinking, in red, the number ‘1’. When he hit the button, he knew who it was even when he had just heard the very first word they had said.

“Hey Charles!” said a rather enthusiastic voice. “I just called to- WILLIAM! Stop that! Oh, sorry about that, son. Where was I? Ah, yes. I called to wish you a very happy birthday. You’re what now, sixteen, seventeen? I know it isn’t until tomorrow, but I’m afraid that tomorrow I won’t be in any position where I could contact you; the middle of the ocean doesn’t usually get good service you know. I said stop, William! Again, sorry… Well, I best be off now, our ship is about to set sail. Give Al my love, and happy birthday again!”

Chad rolled his eyes, and muttered “Oh dad… I love you, but your crazy.” Then he went back into the kitchen and quickly ate his breakfast, he was probably going to be late to school as it was, but the earlier he got there the better.

“You ready?” Al said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Yeah.” Chad replied. “But you aren’t.” Al gave him a puzzled look, and then Chad pulled a comb from his back pocket and leaned down to fix Al’s hair. “You need to part your hair like this. It looks much better. It’ll help you get the girls, or guys, or whomever you want.”

“Chad!” Al yelled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I like girls, not boys.” Chad stood up, and shook his head, smiling slightly. “Oh Allie, your so funny.” Al just stood there and looked up at his brother, a confused look in his soft brown eyes. “I don’t get it…” Laughter came from his older brother, as he put his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “Come on, we don’t want to be late to school, do we?” Al nodded, and then he started to walk towards the front door, followed by his still smiling brother.

Once they had gotten outside, Chad pulled his car keys from his backpack, and clicked the button to unlock the doors. After they had gotten in the car, and it had been started, Al spoke. “Umm, Chad?” he paused, thinking of what to say next. “Why would you think I might like boys? And is it a bad thing to… Well, you know, like them?”

Even though they were just half way down the driveway, Chad’s foot slowly put more pressure onto the brake, until they finally came to a stop. Then he turned his head to face his younger brother in the passenger seat. “Why would I think that you ask?” a smile broke across his face, and he continued. “Well, I guess it kinda runs in our blood. Well either that, or you’re just that obvious, Allie.”

Al’s eyes widened, and he just nodded, waiting for his brother to answer the second question. Then Chad let out a laugh and went on with the other answer. “Now, now, Allie, why would it be a bad thing? And you don’t see me getting punished, or anyone else for that matter.” He put his hand on Al’s head, and gently ruffled his hair before continuing driving.

As they drove, Chad pulled a cigarette from the glove box, and lit it with a silver Zippo that was sitting in the dashboard. With the cigarette hanging from his slightly open lips, he put on the radio, and turned the volume up as high as it would go. It was, after all, his favorite song, by his favorite band.

He sang all the words, and when it was finished, he looked back at Al, who was smiling at him. “I’m awesome, aren’t I Allie?” They then both laughed, until they got to Al’s school. “Have a good day, I guess. I have to go do some stuff before I get to see all my friends.”

“Okay!” Al said happily. “I guess I’ll see you later then?” Chad’s hair almost bounced as he nodded towards his brother. “Yep. And I gotta run, so bye Allie!” Al waved at his brother as he rolled up the window and drove away, to his school.

When he got to school, he decided to just sit in the parking lot, listen to music and smoke some more. When he had figured that he’d blown off enough school, at around eleven o’clock, he walked inside to the office and checked himself in.

As he left the office, he ran smack into Kevin, his best friend, and subsequently fell. But right before he hit the ground, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. When he looked up to see who had caught him, he expected to be dropped immediately. He had been caught by what he thought was a god on earth.

The person who had caught him was a tall, blonde haired boy. He had lightly tanned skin, and sparkling light blue eyes. Chad couldn’t take his eyes off of him as he was held in his strong arms. After a while, he heard Kevin sigh, and felt his friend pull him back upright.

“Chad?” Kevin said, asked steadying him. “Are you okay?” The words processed in Chad’s head, but his eyes were glued to the blonde, who just stood there, slight confusion swirling in his gleaming eyes. “Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.” He heard Kevin sigh once again, and heard his voice rise in volume. “Chad! Snap out of it!”

Kevin probably knew where this was going, and Chad acknowledged that, but he didn’t let it bother him. He was still scanning his rescuer with his deep brown eyes, and perked up bit when he spoke.

“Umm…” The blond started in a deep voice that made Chad feel as if he melted a bit inside. “Is he, you know, okay?” Chad vigorously nodded his head, and quickly replied. “I’m fine!” After this was said, the hall went silent, and no one knew what to say next.

They just stood there, and the silence was ringing in their ears. It was disturbed when the nurse leaned out of her office, spoke to the blond, and handed him some things that Chad didn’t quite know what they were. When he realized what it was the other boy had been handed, Chad felt a bit stupid for not getting it a first.

Chad watched as the boy threw his head back, and dropped two pills into his open mouth. The pills were soon followed by water that was in a small paper cup. The brown-eyed boy swooned internally as he watched the still unnamed boy swallow the medication and wave him and Kevin a quick good bye before disappearing into the nurse’s office.

The very moment after the door had been closed all the way, Chad felt Kevin’s hands tightly grab his shirt collar. He was then pulled aside by his friend, who exclaimed something that didn’t quite register in Chad’s hormone addled brain. As he was pushed up against the wall on the direct opposite side of the hall from the main office, Chad kept his eyes on the door to the nurse’s office, in case He came out.

After flipping his hair off to the side to get it out of his eyes, he asked Kevin what he felt was the most important question ever. “Who was THAT?” He said, a slight grin on his lips. His grin faded a bit when Kevin replied with “That's that dude I told you about! The one that hit on Maria!" and rolled his eyes at his slightly oblivious friend.

Once the black haired boy’s head cleared a bit, he looked Kevin in the eyes, and felt his dazed, slightly confused eyes turn into innocent eyes as he saw the storm that was brewing behind Kevin’s angry, emerald colored ones. He felt as if he couldn’t breath for a moment, he had never seen his friend’s eyes that intense, but he relaxed a bit when he realized that Kevin would never hurt him.

In an effort to clear his mind, he shook his head. After that, he quietly said an apology to Kevin, and snaked out of his ever-loosening grip. As he watched Kevin step back and look over his shoulder, he listened intensely to what his knowledgeable friend had to say. “Don't get tangled up with him, Chad.” His voice was dripping with concern; he really did care about his best friend.

"I can already tell he's the biggest whore in this school." The moment the words came from Kevin’s mouth, Chad felt as if they had burned him like a branding iron, especially when Kevin put extra emphasis on the word ‘whore’. ‘No,’ he thought to himself, gently shaking his head, and looking down at his Converse-clad feet. ‘It, it just can’t be! He is too beautiful. Kevin absolutely HAS to be lying. There is no way…’ He was then pulled out of his thoughts when he saw one of his friends walk by.

She smiled at him, and had a light in her eyes that showed she knew nothing about what had just happened between him and Kevin, and the new kid who was stuck on his mind. “Hi Chad.” She spoke in a bright voice, to which Chad couldn’t help but to give her a bit of a sad smile. “Hi, Katy.” He responded in a melancholy voice before running his slender fingers through his thick, black bangs.

"Okay Chad, I have to go." Kevin said to him. Chad nodded sadly, and then barely caught what Kevin proceeded to whisper to him. "Tell me if you see anything suspicious between Maria and that new kid." Sighing, Chad nodded again, and turned his head in time to watch Kevin and Katy walk out of the school building.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, Chad diverted his eyes to look at the door to the nurse’s office one last time, hoping that it would open and the boy would step out of it. When he didn’t, Chad continued walking down the hall to his next class.

When his thoughts were mostly straightened out, he started planning ways of how he would meet this mysterious new kid again. At that point, he remembered his party that planned for that night. He picked up his head, and a look of victory crossed his face. After that, the cogs of his brain could be seen at work behind his, now devious looking, brown eyes.

When the bell rang for lunch, Chad went directly to the table that his friend Michelle usually sat. Michelle always helped him will his problems, and he needed her help to put his extravagant plot into action. He had been thinking of how to work this out all morning, and he only had a few short hours left to finish planning and put it into action. True, there were factors that he couldn’t plan for, but he hoped everything would go smoothly.

“Michelle!” he exclaimed when he saw her approaching the table. She smiled at him, and sat down across from him at the table. “Hey Chad!” He smiled back and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say the first word, Michelle was already saying something.

“What do you need my help with this time?” she said with a laugh. Chad blushed, tilted his head down and looked up at her through his long eyelashes. “Well…” He started. “It’s the new kid.” Then Michelle twirled a strand of her short brown hair between her fingers, and gave him an odd look. “New kid?” she asked. “Hmm, I haven’t seen him yet.”

Chad then lifted his head and stared at her in disbelief. “Are you serious? He’s kinda hard to miss.” Then he picked up his hand and pointed his index finger across the room to where the blond boy sat, feet propped up on the table. “That’s him.” Then he paused, and let out a long sigh. “Isn’t he beautiful?” Then, the blond boy sneezed, and Chad let out a small chuckle.

Michelle just kind of looked at him. “Yeah, sure. Now what do you want me to go do?” Chad giggled, and laced his fingers before propping his elbows up on the table then setting his head on his hands. “Well… First of all, I need you to go over there and invite him to my party. But you have to wait until right before class starts again, or he might get suspicious.”

Michelle just sat there and nodded her head, waiting for more plans. “Also, I need you to get to my party early, okay?” After he told her the basic plot of the rest of the plan, they revised it a bit, making it overall better. Once they had finished their conversation, the lunch period was almost over, and Chad sent Michelle over to talk to Him.

Chad watched from across the room as Michelle batted her eyelashes, moved her hips, and used other forms of body language to help convince the boy that he needed to go to the party. Chad smiled widely when he saw the blond nod his head up and down, his curly, honey-colored hair bouncing up and down.

As Chad left the cafeteria, he continued to watch Michelle talk to the boy, getting more information from him. When he was finally out of the lunchroom, Chad stood out side of the doors and waited for his brunette friend. When she finally came out of the large room, she whispered four of the most important words to him, and then she walked off to her next class.

Chad stood there, as if paralyzed, and repeated those four words. “His name is Bryan.” He then heard the double doors close behind him, and slowly turned his head to see Bryan standing there. “Did you just say my name?” He asked, leaning against the doorjamb. Chad turned bright red, and slowly nodded as he dragged his fingers through his hair again, covering one of his eyes. “Yeah, I did.”

Bryan just gave him an odd look. “Yeah… Well, since you know my name, can I at least know who’s stalking me?” He said with a laugh. Chad let out a strained laugh, and replied. “I’m Chad. And I don’t think I’m stalking you.” He hesitated, and continued. “Well, actually, I know I’m not stalking you. See, the dude who punched you earlier, he’s one of my friends, and he told me who you are, so yeah…” Chad trailed off, and was screaming at himself on the inside.

“Ah. Well, I’d love to continue this absolutely fascinating conversation, but I believe I have to go.” Bryan smiled at Chad after he spoke. “And I guess you’re the first person who has actually talked to me all day, so thanks.” Chad smiled back, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say something, the blonde was already walking off. Sighing, Chad started to turn away. ‘That was the worst conversation ever!’ He thought to himself. Before they were too far apart, Bryan turned and spoke one last time. “Hey, Chad, right? Well, anyways, are you going to that party tonight?” He said. Chad pivoted on his feet, slowly nodded, and asked “Why?” He said in a curious voice.

Bryan shrugged, and went on to say “Because I don’t want to go to a party where I don’t know anybody, but now I don’t have to worry.” Finally, Bryan continued walking and Chad just stood there. It felt as if he couldn’t breath again. He started walking once again, and when he got to class he jus sat there and let all of what happened today process in his mind.

First he thought of Al, and what he would do with him during the party. Then he thought of the plan that would go down at the party. After that he thought of Bryan some more, of course. But the last thing he thought of, and what lingered in his mind were Kevin’s warnings about Bryan.

The rest of the school day passed in a flash, and Chad just kind of wandered to each class, and when the final bell rang, he ran straight to his car and sat in it thinking of what to do next. While he thought, he lit up yet another cigarette, and sat leaned back in his seat, looking out of the window.

When it finally hit him that he needed to go get Al from school, he had already finished three cigarettes. He immediately started the car, and drove over to his brother’s school. At the time he got there, it was just Al and another little boy, who looked about the same age as him. Chad rolled down his window when he pulled the car up to in front of where his brother was standing.

“Hey Allie! Sorry I’m so late, but it looks like you’ve got someone to talk to, right?” He laughed, and looked at the other little boy. He had short blond hair that curled slightly near the ends, freckles, and light grayish-blue eyes. In fact, he looked a lot like someone else Chad had seen that day. He couldn’t quite put his finger on whom the little boy reminded him of, so he just dropped it.

Hey brother.” Al said, happily. “This is Austin. It was his first day here today. He even said I was his first friend! How great is that brother?” Chad smiled, and leaned slightly out of the window. “Are you going to come home, or not?” he asked, jokingly. Al laughed, and replied. “Well, I told him that I’d wait with him for his brother to come and pick him up. See, his brother is new here too, so he probably just got lost.”

Then the little blond boy spoke up, which got him a surprised look from Chad. “There he is!” he exclaimed, pointing at a large dark blue Cadillac Escalade. “That’s my brother, there.” Chad watched as the car pulled up behind his, and felt all of the blood rush out of his face. “Oh my god.” He whispered to himself.

“Bye Austin!” Al yelled right before he got into the car, and started prodding his brother in the arm. The large, SUV drove around Chad’s small vintage Corvette, and the driver’s eyebrows shot up when he saw who was driving the car he just swerved around. Chad picked one hand up off of the steering wheel, and held it up, waving at Bryan as he drove away.

“Chad?” Al said, watching all of this happen. “Who was that?” Chad just shook his head, and started to drive to the main road that would take them home. “THAT was Austin’s older brother, and he goes to school with me. His name is Bryan. And he’s even coming to the party tonight.” Al just sat there, looking sort of oblivious. “Oh, that’s cool.” He then shrugged. “Well, I guess he seems nice.” Then Al went into detail about how his day went, what Austin was like, and other things along those lines. By the time they got home, Chad knew everything that had happened with Al that day, from what he had for lunch, to what homework he had.

“Well, seeing as you have nothing better to do, how about you help me set up for the party, okay?” Chad asked, smiling slightly at his brother. When they got inside, Chad called Michelle. She was over there in no time to help set up for the party. After Chad had given Al and Michelle directions of how he wanted everything, he immediately made himself a very potent drink to calm his nerves. It helped a lot, and by the time most of the guests had arrived, he was feeling fairly calm, and was ready for the plan to take action.

After a while, Chad was starting to get a bit nervous, after all, Bryan still wasn’t there yet. But then, he calmed down when he saw Bryan step in through the front door. He was wearing a loose olive green dress shirt, with even darker green pin stripes, baggy, faded, and worn blue jeans, that were being held to his hips by a light brown canvas belt. On his feet, he wore large brown tennis shoes that complimented the rest of his outfit nicely.

He constantly twirled his car keys around his right index finger, and he looked a bit nervous. A few moments after he walked into the room, he grabbed a drink right off of a tray that someone walked by with. Bryan started, and finished, the drink within seconds of getting it, which immediately made him look less fretful.

After a while, Chad saw that Bryan noticed the karaoke machine sitting in one corner of the room. Chad laughed as he watched the blond try to figure out how to turn on the machine, and find the microphone that went with it. When the song started, Chad stood in the corner opposite Bryan, and listened. At first, Chad wondered if Bryan could sing, but when he had started singing, Chad discovered that Bryan’s voice sounded just like that of the lead singer of his favorite band.

At about the second verse, Chad had started walking across the room to talk to Michelle about putting the next part of the plan into action. Michelle and Chad grabbed a completely random drink, and then they started playing with it a bit.

When the song was over, Chad walked over to the stage, and met Bryan as he stepped off of the platform that was now being used as a stage. He held the drink in his hand and smiled at Bryan. “That was amazing!” He said, animatedly before holding out the drink for Bryan to take.

A smile fell on his lips as Bryan took a sip of the drink. “Oh, yeah, thanks.” He then paused for a second, thinking. “And aren’t you the dude who fell in the hall earlier?” Chad felt his face heat up, and nodded slightly, combing has bangs over his eyes, yet again. “Yeah…” He admitted. “That was me…” Then he picked his head up a bit and smiled. “And thanks for catching me. Also, I’m sorry about Kevin, he can be a bit… rough.” Chad let out a short laugh before Bryan smiled back at him, and walked back across the room to talk to some new people.

A while after Bryan had finished his drink, Chad watched as he walked over to the sofa, his steps slow and shuffling. Chad gave him a few moments of relaxation before he walked over there and sat close to him on the couch. Right before Chad sat down, he saw Bryan’s hands work their way down his shirt, undoing the top two buttons, and revealing his tanned collarbone. At this point, Chad felt his mouth water slightly, and also thought he felt the room get a bit hotter.

It took the blond a few seconds to notice that someone had just sat down next to him, and when he finally did, he picked his head up and looked at Chad. “Umm… Hello?” he said, questioningly. A smile spread across Chad’s face, revealing his straight, white teeth. “Hey.” He said in a rather bubbly voice. “You remember me don’t you?” Then he giggled a bit, and watched as Bryan tried to remember him.

Then, when Bryan nodded, he perked up a bit more. “Yeah, I do.” Chad watched as Bryan tried to clear his head. He could see the other boy’s skin had a light film of sweat on it, so he decided to help fix that. “You look hot.” Chad stated, a bit out of the blue. Then he reached out and grabbed a cool glass of fresh water off of the wooden table sitting in front of the sofa. “Take this,” he said, handing Bryan the glass. “It’ll help cool you down.”

He felt Bryan’s shoulders move up and then back down in a shrug, as if to say ‘Alright.’ He then watched as the other boy put the glass up to his lips, and took a long drink. As he watched, he couldn’t help but to feel a bit hot and bothered. He couldn’t wait until the plan finally went into action; in fact, he almost felt that if it didn’t commence soon, he might explode.

Chad was brought out of his thoughts when Bryan finished his sip, and said a quick ‘thank you.’ After a pause, Chad was a bit surprised, and amused, by what Bryan said next. “So, umm… Do you come here often?” This got a laugh from Chad, as he gently punched Bryan in his arm, and slightly rolled his eyes. “I live here! Of course I come here often, silly!”

Bryan squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to recollect his thoughts. “Oh…” he said, opening his almost silvery-blue eyes again, and scanning the room with them. ”See, I knew that.” Chad laughed some more, and had his eyes glued on Bryan as he finished his glass of water, and gently fanned himself off. It WAS hot in here, and it was only getting, and going to get, hotter.

Then Bryan parted his lips, and took in a deep breath, his chest rising, before stating “Well, it’s hot in here, you know?” Chad smiled at him, and nodded a bit, before he wrapped his cool hand around Bryan’s warm wrist. “Yeah,” Chad said, his voice thick with lust and desire, “but I can help you with that.” He followed this with a wink, and stood, pulling on Bryan’s wrist all the while.

The moment Chad stood; Michelle was standing next to him, whispering to him, asking how it went, and receiving his thanks and gratitude. “Thanks Michelle!” Chad said happily, as he pulled Bryan down the hall behind him, and into his bedroom. After the door clicked closed, nothing was seen of the pair for the rest of the night.

~~~

Chad woke up the next morning, or possibly afternoon, and saw that Bryan was laying next to HIM, under HIS white silk sheets, on HIS bed. The sheets came just above his hips, and they were near translucent, and left almost nothing to the imagination. Chad just lay there, and watched him sleep, noting even the smallest of details, like how his long eyelashes brushed the top of his cheeks, and how his lips were slightly parted to allow him to breath.

When the blond eventually stirred, Chad smiled and watched him put his arm over his eyes to shield the sun from getting into them. Then, as Bryan rolled over closer to Chad, he groaned slightly, and the sheet slipped a few inches lower on his evenly tanned abdomen. When goose bumps erupted on his skin, from his shoulders to his hips, he shivered slightly, and pulled the sheet up to his chin, making Chad frown a bit.

Bryan finally opened his eyes, right after yawning, and showing off his perfect, shiny teeth. Chad noticed that the pupils of his beautiful, currently navy colored, eyes quickly dilated, and it took a few moments of blinking and rubbing his eyes until Bryan could see his surroundings.

Bryan yelled when he realized that Chad was lying next to him, less than a foot away, in bed. The exclamation made Chad jump, and so he proceeded to prop himself up on his elbow better. “Bryan?” Chad said in a slightly husky voice. “Are you alright?” As Bryan sat there silently, a stream of thoughts ran through Chad’s head. When Chad felt Bryan’s eyes on him, he felt the need to pull the cover up higher on himself too, but then he just let it go.

Groaning again, Bryan rolled back over on his back, and Chad leaned slightly towards him, saying “Bryaaan? Hellllo? Are you okay?” Then, Chad pulled his body over towards the other boy’s, and slung his arm over the blond’s warm chest. He fluttered his eyes closed, and expected to get some rest, but only seconds after their skin had touched, Bryan jumped, and threw Chad’s arm off of his body.

Chad looked up from his back on the bed and saw Bryan searching frantically for something to cover his body with before the sheet came off of him. Chad didn’t know why he was doing that; it wasn’t like he didn’t know what Bryan looked like with out anything on.

Sighing, Chad drew the sheets all the way around his slender frame, and sat up, watching curiously as Bryan tripped and stumbled, trying to find his properties. When Bryan had managed to find a pair of pants, and just get those one, he slowed in his search until he found his shirt and pulled it on. As he buttoned each button, he sat down on the foot of the bed, and dropped his head into his hands.

As Bryan sat there he spoke quietly to Chad. “Please, PLEASE tell me that this isn’t real.” Chad didn’t respond, he just lay back down on the bed, and dragged himself back so that he was leaning against the mountain of pillows. “Would you like me to pinch you? You know, to convince you it’s real?” He said, laughing.

His laughing died when he saw Bryan stand up, and raise his hand in a farewell gesture. “No, thank you.” He then paused to let out a long, exasperated sigh. “And, good bye.” Chad just sat there and watched Bryan walk away. Also sighing, he dropped his head down, and quietly bid Bryan farewell.

Chad stood up; the sheet still draped around his shoulders, and walked over to his dresser to find a suitable outfit. He had managed to pull a pair of black sweat pants out of the second drawer from the top, when he noticed that there was a set of car keys next to his left foot.

The moment he saw the Cadillac insignia on one of the keys, he knew whose they were. When he released the sheet, it slid down his body, and within moments he had the sweat pants hanging loosely from his hips. After pulling the drawstring tight on the pants, he rushed down the hall and into an office-like room.

After searching for a few minuets, Chad finally found what he was looking for. Running back into his room, he tied a string around the main part of the keys. The next thing he did, was take the cap off of a shining, fountain pen, that had beautiful sapphire colored ink in it. He took the pen, and scribbled something down on a scrap of paper he had brought with him. When he finished that, he looped the opposite end of it through a hole he had made in the paper.

Walking across the room, Chad went to the balcony door, and slid it open. From his vantage point, he could see Bryan perfectly, standing at his car, and leaning his head on it. With a smile, Chad took the keys in his right hand, and threw them at Bryan. His aim wasn’t that bad, so he didn’t hit the car, but he did hit Bryan directly in his left arm.

Chad just stood there and watched Bryan look first at him, then the keys, and lastly, the note. Finally, Bryan got in his car, but didn’t immediately drive away, and Chad didn’t immediately leave his balcony. He just stood there, and watched the midnight colored car drive down his driveway. When he had decided that it had been long enough, he went back inside.

Running a hand through his hair, Chad closed the sliding glass door to the balcony, and stepped to his bed, burying his himself in the mound of pillows and sheets. He breathed in deeply through his nose, and he could still smell the slight citrus tang that Bryan carried on his skin. After lying there for a while, he replayed all of the previous nights events, and remembered everything in clear detail, which he was thankful for.

Eventually, he slipped into sleep, and woke up when the memories stopped replaying in his head dreams. Stumbling around his room, he found the light switch, and faded the lights up a bit, so they didn’t hurt his pounding head too badly.

Eventually, he slipped into sleep, and woke up when the memories stopped replaying in his head dreams. Stumbling around his room, he found the light switch, and faded the lights up a bit, so they didn’t hurt his pounding head too badly. After finding his bearings, Chad stepped over to his dresser, and pulled out a shirt at random. When he slid it on over his bare shoulders, he felt the tight, gray fabric run over his skin as he smoothed it out.



As he stepped out of his room, and started walked down the hall to the stairs, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His eyeliner that had been perfect hours earlier was smudged down his cheeks, and he had light red marks, accompanied by a few purplish bruises, on his bare arms and neck. He just stood there and looks at his reflection in awe, until he stumbled backwards when the doorbell rang. Clutching his chest, Chad walked down the stairs and opened the door to see Kevin standing there.

Kevin looked Chad over quickly, eyebrows rising in confusion. "Dude, what happened to you?" he asked. Chad looked breathless and a little like he had just seen a ghost. His pale skinner was an even lighter shade, making the large red marks on his skin stand out.

Shaking his head, Chad closed his eyes, and leaned against the door for balance. "Nothing," he said quickly, brushing his bangs over his eyes, as if trying to hide. "Just scared, that’s all." Once he had his balance back, he walked into the toasty house and went straight to the island in the kitchen to sit on the tall barstools. While motioning for his friend to sit on the stool next to him, Chad pulled a bottle of something out from under the bar.

Kevin cocked an eyebrow and walked into the house, his sneakers squeaking on the tile floor of the kitchen. He pulled up one of the bar stools and sat down about two feet from his friend. Kevin was a bit worried; this was so unlike Chad. "Dude, I can tell that something's wrong," he said, eyeing his friend, "and you can tell me."

Sighing, Chad laid his head on the cold, marble bar-top, and looked up at Kevin from underneath his long eyelashes. "Well, first of all..." he started, but then trailed off. "Okay, you know that dude who you said hit on Maria?” Chad said, a bit quietly. When he saw the look on Kevin's face, he smiled sheepishly and shrugged his thin shoulders. "What?" He said in mock innocence.

Kevin's eyes grew larger, then narrowed with anger. "What did that creep do to you?!" he said, jumping off the stool, causing it to slide and clatter against the wall. His fists clenched in anger as he though of all the ways to kill that stupid Bryan kid. He obviously didn't understand the general concept that Chad was trying to get across...

"Kevin, calm down." Chad said, picking up his head to face the brunette. Sighing again, he reached his arm out and grabbed Kevin's shoulder to steady him slightly. "The question isn't what HE did to me..." Then he rubbed his eyes and let out a breath, trying to think of how to phrase it, but at the same time hoping that Kevin could put the pieces of the puzzle together himself.

Kevin's head buzzed with adrenaline. Things just didn't make since. But then...suddenly...it clicked. The look Chad gave Bryan in the hallway, seeing them disappear down the hall the night after the party...Kevin fit it all together. And saw red. "CHAD, I CAN'T BELEIVE YOU WOULD DO THAT!!!" he spat, eyes sparking into a scary shade of predator green. His mind reeled and the world spun around him. Chad looked horrified but Kevin didn't care. He grabbed the first thing he could, a bowl of oranges sitting on the table top, and threw it across the room, causing it to shatter against the clean white walls in shards of glass and sweet smelling pulp. He turned to Chad, eyes blazing. "I CAN'T BELEIVE YOU, CHAD! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!"

Chad jumped, and held his hands up when the beautiful sparkling bowl collided with the pristinely white wall, and shattered into thousands of razor like shards. As Kevin stood there, fuming, Chad just sat there, and squeezed his eyes shut, thinking that would make it better. When it didn't fix anything, he tilted his head towards the ceiling, and opened his eyes as a few eyeliner stained tears rolled down his cheeks. Kevin almost never yelled at him, so he didn't really know what to do. Soon, his ears started ringing, and white circles flashed in front of his eyes as he tried not to listen to Kevin's ranting. 'No!' he screamed in his mind. 'It's not my fault!' he thought as he looked at his angered friend.

Kevin squeezed his eyes shut, seeing Chad begin to cry. He shouldn't have yelled, he knew, but he couldn't help it. He hated Bryan so badly, what was he supposed to do? Chad had run off with Bryan on a fruity rendezvous, while Kevin thought Chad was a better friend than that. How could Chad betray him? As the tears streaked down Chad's face, slowly at first but then gaining speed, Kevin gripped the table top in his hands. "Chad, listen" Kevin said, but didn't know what to say. The anger wasn't gone yet, but it was slowly dwindling away. "Chad, tell me what happened."

Chad sighed once again. "It's a long story." Then, shaking his head, and fixing his hair, he continued "Well, when I first saw him in the hall, he was like no other person I've ever seen! I knew I wanted him, needed him even." Then he took a pause to breath, and looked Kevin in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Kev. I couldn't help it." He took the bottle of amber colored liquid that was sitting next to his right arm, and quickly took the cap off before putting the opening to his lips and taking a quick swig. When he took a few more sips, he wiped his eyes and set the bottle back down.

Kevin gripped his hair with his hand, trying to keep it from balling into a threatening fist. "Chad..." he said, but couldn't help ending his name in a slight growl. He hated Bryan. Hated every little thing about him. He wasn't sure if he was angry because Bryan tried to steal his girlfriend, or threatened him, or did ‘stuff’ with Chad, all the hate towards Bryan was sure to burst at any minute. He snatched the battle away from Chad and poured it down the sink while holding eye contact with Chad. Chad attempted to protest over his lost drink, but the look in Kevin's eyes told him to shut up. "I want the whole story." Kevin said, eyes not wavering from Chad's face as he finished ruining the expensive wine and dropped the battle. It landed with a shatter on the floor. Truthfully, Chad was starting to get a bit scared.

Even though Chad was, indeed, scared and threatened a bit by Kevin, part of him still burned with anger. Why couldn't he just drop this? It wasn't like anything really happened! And besides, he didn't know anything. "Fine." He said, in a loud tone of voice, standing up. Once his feet were flat on the ground, he stepped in front of Kevin and looked into his almost murderous looking emerald eyes. Chad's normally soft, kind eyes held a bit of a threatening spark in them. "You want the whole story? I'll give you the whole story, but trust me, you won't want all of what I'll tell you." He then took in a deep breath and started. "Well, when I first saw him, I knew I wanted him. I wanted him so badly, that I almost went off right there, in the hall. But then I decided to wait; I thought it would be better. So I formed this beautiful plan in my head, which was to drug him up a bit, then have my way with him after the party." A smirk was on his lips as he paced around the room. "Want to hear more?"

Kevin's face was icily calm as he glared at Chad. It wasn't an angry glare, more of a glare that said, ‘This has gone a bit too far’. He felt the room continue spinning. Chad's smirk stayed in place as he continued "And guess what? I did him so hard." The icy calm melted from Kevin's face and his lips pulled back over his teeth in an animal like snarl. This had gone to far. Before Kevin knew what he was doing, his hand pulled back and flew forward again, connecting with a *smack* against Chad's left cheek. Kevin breathed through his teeth, almost hissing, as his eyes continued to spark. It wasn't Bryan that had done wrong this time; it was his own friend. He couldn't believe how low Chad had stooped. His palm burned and he felt his own eyes start to water at the thought of the betrayal.

Chad heard the sound of Kevin's hands on his face before he could feel it. By the time the whole left side of his face was on pins and needles, burning hot tears were pouring down his face, and he was glaring up at Kevin from where he had fallen on the slippery floor. Emotions swirled in his deep brown eyes, before they settled on a rare combination of sadness and boiling anger. As he stood back up again, the tears flowed down his face at a faster, and faster pace. By the time most of the brown smudges were gone, Chad had stood all the way up, and sat down at the island once again, muttering to himself. Then he picked up his head and turned it towards the stairs. At first he didn't know why he looked that direction, but when his eyes got used to the shadows that were cast on the stairs, his eyes got bigger as he watched Al run back up the stairs. He finally ripped his eyes away from where his brother had been, to Kevin when he heard the door slam.

Kevin stood frozen in place. Eyes wide and sparkling with unshed tears. "Oh my God." he said, jaw gaping. He looked down at his hand where the palm burned. He hadn't even realized what he had done. How had he done it? It was like slapping a brother. He looked up at the burning red mark on Chad's face; regret swimming in his eyes. He couldn't believe it. "I'm so sorry." he whispered, eyes locking with Chad's. He felt a twisting in his stomach at the look in Chad's eyes. All trust was gone. And Al had witnessed everything. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen. "I didn't mean..." he stuttered, taking a step back. He had to get out; he had to. He was about to bawl, and if anyone saw that his life would be ruined. Rule one: Never cry. "I'm... I'm just..." he said, and glanced at his hand one last time before turning on his heels with his back to Chad. He leaned against the wall. Too late. A hot tear ran down at face as he sneered at himself. He had screwed up.

Chad stood, stock-still, and watched Kevin leave, not knowing what to do. He turned his head, and saw Kevin just standing there, a solitary tear rolling down his cheek. He felt his jaw drop as he stepped across the room. "Kevin..." he said, in almost a whisper. Then he put his hand on Kevin's shoulder, and looked him in the eyes when he turned his head. "I'm sorry." his voice was even quieter this time, and it cracked as tears silently spilled out of his soft brown eyes. After rubbing his eyes, and face, mostly dry with his shirt, his eyes were red and puffy. His face was very pale and blotchy, and his shirt had dark gray stains on the front, from his tears.

Kevin slid slowly to the ground next to Chad. This wasn't how he expected to start his Saturday. Chad plopped down next to him, face red and eyes redder. Kevin tried to force a smile. "What a day." he said, but his voice cracked at the end. Kevin inhaled, shakily and raggedly, running his hand over his eyes. Finding them dry, he smirked to himself. "I'm such a douche." Kevin said, looking down at his shoes.

"You got that right." Chad said with a watery laugh. Then a smile spread across his lips as he saw Kevin's strained smile. "I'm sorry about what I did to Bryan. It' just that he's so-" But Chad's words were cut off when Kevin held his hand up. "Oh," Chad said with a slight giggle, "Sorry about that..." They just sat there for a while, mulling over what had just happened in their brains'. Just like earlier, Chad played the whole meeting over and over again in his head, only this time, he wasn't as grateful for the memories.

Kevin tried not to think about how the whole scene looked that night. Chad was like a brother to him... Thinking about him doing things like that just made his stomach twist. He regretted that day on his thirteenth birthday. He wished he could turn back time, but he knew he couldn't. And he knew that he needed something from Bryan. He looked over at Chad. "This Bryan kid, what kind of car does he drive?" Kevin asked, an idea forming in his head.

Chad cocked his head to the side, ebony bangs falling in front of one of his chestnut colored eyes. "He drives a dark blue Cadillac Escalade." He then paused and licked his lips, thinking. "What are you gonna do?" He said, looking at Kevin with one visible eye. Then he stood, and looked around the room, as if it would give him some clues as to what Kevin was planning.

Kevin grinned, his eyes flashing suspiciously. He watched as Chad got up, and then heaved himself to his feet. Bryan. He needed Bryan for just a few minutes. Kevin flipped his hair to the side and looked quickly towards the door. "Its nothing you have to worry about" Kevin said nonchalantly, then looked back to his friend. He couldn't wipe the small smile from his face, though, and he knew Chad's curiosity would lead him to figure it out sooner or later. But right now, he had to get to Bryan. "I'll help you clean this up really quick, and then I have to go." he said, throwing one last glance at the door.

Chad grabbed a broom and dustpan from under the sink, and was less than careful when he stepped on a shard of sparkling, clear glass. He handed Kevin the cleaning gear, and he sat back down on the barstool again, holding his foot up. "Thanks Kev." he said with a laugh. "Now, when are you going to tell me what you scheming? Because I really want to know." When Kevin didn't reply, and he just smiled, Chad shook his head, and bit his lip as he pulled the medium sized shard of glass from his heel.

Kevin stooped down and swept of the glass as quickly as he could, eyes flickering back to the door once more. Work was slow, though, because Kevin knew that when he left, Alfred would probably run down barefoot. His stomach twisted again. Alfred. "Maybe you should go check on your little brother." Kevin said, looking from around the island at Chad as he pulled a piece of sparkling red glass from his heel.

When Kevin spoke, Chad bit down a bit harder on his lip, and slowly nodded his head as he looked up at Kevin. "Yeah." He said before sighing, "I'll do that." Then he watched as Kevin finished sweeping, and poured the glass shards into the trash bin under the sink, and placed the broom and dustpan back behind the tall, stainless-steel refrigerator. "Okay, when you’re done with whatever it is your going to do to that poor boy, are you coming back here?" Then Chad laughed before swinging his leg down and letting it dangle over the clean tile floor.

Kevin flexed his fingers, then rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck. His smile seemed to turn a bit threatening as his eyes sparked like they usually did. Just a catch of the light as he turned his head showed Chad all of this, and it made his breath catch in his throat. Kevin looked... He couldn't place his finger on it. "Yeah, sure. I'll be back in a few hours." without another word, Kevin held up two fingers, grabbed his key off the key ring, and stepped outside, a gust of wind blowing his hair to the side and blowing in the scent of his cologne. He slammed the door, leaving Chad sitting on the bar stool, wondering.

Chad just sat there, looking at the devious gleam in his best friends eyes. Thoughts swirled through his mind as he tried to recollect all of that days events. From the midnight rendezvous with the new kid he barely knew, Bryan, to the shocking moment when he woke up, then the latest incident with Kevin. He shook he head clear, and was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt an icy blast of cold November air hit him across his raw face. When the door slammed shut, he sighed and reached under the bar once more, his long fingers running across the necks of all the various bottles, until they settled on a random bottle. He pulled it up and twisted the cap off, taking a long swig of this one, too. He thought that when he was going to talk to Al, he would need his bottled friend.