Chapter Two

"What do you want Liz?"

I knew by the sugarcoated tone of her voice that she was up to something.

The real question was what.

"Look Marc, I know your gay now. But I also know that you haven’t told your parents, or your friends, or, the basketball team," Liz paused at the mention of the basketball team, as if sensing my reaction.

"Uh huh. So what does this have to do with you?"

"Well, I know that you don’t want to come out, at least not now. So I propose that you still take me to the dance. Act like nothing has happened, and then we can work it out from there."

"And if I don’t want to?"

"Well let’s just say that a certain little rumour will spread like wild fire!"

At that comment I burst out in laughter.

"So you want to tell the entire school that you’re dating a gay guy! I’d like to see that!"

"Try me!"

And with that she hung up, leaving me to ponder her preposition. She was right too, and that was the annoying thing. I wasn’t ready to come out. I had the perfect opportunity to tell my parents not so long ago and I avoided the topic entirely.

My head hurt. Today was filled with too much emotion and thought, leaving me emotionally drained. Checking the time on my watch I realised that it was still around 10 o’clock, but I still decided to call it a night. I put the phone back on the hook, and then climbed up the stairs back to bed. I undressed and slipped under the covers of my queen-sized bed. Tomorrow was bound to be interesting, that was one thing I knew was inevitable.

I woke to the over-zealous beeping of my alarm. Reaching my arm from out under the covers, I mashed the alarm clock clumsily, trying to find the sleep button. After successfully knocking the alarm clock off of my bedside table, I realised that any attempt to gain a couple minutes of extra sleep were futile. I slowly crawled out from underneath the covers, the cold seeping into my bones. How I wished I could hibernate under the covers forever! But instead I padded softly over the carpet into the shower.

The hot spray of the water washed over me, reviving me and clearing the fog from my head. Running my hand through my hair tentatively, I realised what I had in store for me today.

How would she act? I hated the idea of going to school today, but I still wanted to know, to see how she was going to handle the situation. I turned the water off, and dried off, changing into my school uniform. I always wore the uniform as badly as I could get away with: my shirt half untucked, my sleeves rolled up and my tie halfway down my neck. Looking in the bathroom mirror, I smiled. I looked good, I knew that much. I’ve seen the looks people give me, people subtly turning away when I catch them looking for too long. I smirked to myself for a moment, realizing how much that reminded me of when I met Liz. She did that a lot. She stared, smiled and flirted. And Liz, being rich little daddies girl always got what she wanted. And that was me.

I quickly raced into the kitchen; as usual I was running late… very late. I grabbed a muffin from the breakfast bar, and stuffed it in my school bag.

As usual I was going to have breakfast on the bus. I sprinted up the stairs to my bedroom, to do my hair. I grabbed a couple of books that I would need for the days lesson, then jumped down the flight of stairs in one jump.

Landing on the floor, I laughed again. I remembered trying to learn how to do this for ages when I was younger, finishing up with bruises all up my legs. I grabbed my school bag, slinging it over one shoulder before heading out to the bus stop.

Hardly anyone from my school catches the bus that I do. They all live heaps closer to school, whereas I live down near the beach, a good forty minutes away. So I wasn’t expecting to see anyone that I knew. In fact I didn’t, that is at least when I sat down. I slumped down in an empty seat on the bus, reaching into my bag to grab my muffin for breakfast. Sitting up, and starving, I started to eat. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder, followed by a punch in the back. I hate to admit it, but I choked on the muffin, spluttering for a good thirty seconds or so before turning around angrily.

"Why the fuc… holy shit! I never knew you caught this bus! Come sit here!"

I motioned to the empty seat next to me, my heart gradually slowing down from the sudden attack. Sean paused for a moment, picking up his bag, then slid into the seat next to mine.

"Hey mate! Long time no see! What have you been up to?" His hazel eyes shone with curiosity. Thinking back to primary school, back when we were mates, that was the one of the things that I could distinctly remember. He was the kind of guy who would always look you in the eye, making you forget about anything that is happening in the background, pulling you in.

I distinctly remember thinking that he would definitely make some girl really lucky. And I think he would even more so now. He had filled out quite a lot in the past four or five years, with his well-developed muscles showing straining against the cotton of his school shirt.

"I’m not too bad. Tired as all hell, but otherwise okay. What have you been doin’ with yourself lately? Are you still playing basketball?" Sean smirked for a moment, still maintaining the connection to me with his eyes.

"What have I been doing with myself? Hmmm… I’m guessing your talking about stuff that’s suitable for conversation on the bus" He winked at me slyly, looking over his shoulder at the businessman a couple rows back who was obviously listening in to our conversation. He turned back and grinned at me.

"Umm… not a lot. Lots of parties though. It feels like everyone’s havin’

their eighteenth birthdays now- hardly get over one and then you’ve got the next one!"

"No Kiddin! Last weekend was probably the first one I had free in ages."

"Oh, that reminds me, I got mine coming up next weekend… If you want to come along you can… I’m having it at my place, you remember where it is don’t you?"

"Of course I do! It’s the mansion on Park Street! How could I forget?" I

laughed as Sean blushed slightly. But it was the truth. No primary school

kid could get over Sean’s house when they went there for the first time. It was a graceful greystone two storey, with sweeping gardens adoring the front yard. It had its own pool, tennis court and games room- everything needed to make a twelve year old kids jaw drop open, and stay that way. Sean looked out the window for a moment, then pressed the stop-button.

"Hey mate, this is my stop coming up. Its been awesome catchin’ up with you… I’ll give you my mobile, and maybe we can organise something…" Sean turned to me and grinned, his perfect teeth glinting in the light.

"Definitely… I’ll see you on Saturday then!" I smiled back at him sheepishly.

"Hopefully sooner!" He grinned cheekily before looking up at the businessman who was listening into our conversation before had. The businessman averted his eyes, but looked back to see Sean pull me into a big hug, before planting a big sloppy kiss on my cheek.

"Just go along with it," He whispered in my ear, winking at me discreetly, before grabbing his school bag and jumping off the bus.