The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 7 - 39. Chapter 39

Sunday

- Hahaha, I got the weirdest call today! Changed my whole day around. And who's at the center of this major manipulation of my plans? TRACE! Who else? Hehehe, that boy, I swear...he drive me crazy sometimes. But I'm glad. I think we all need that person somewhere in our lives. Someone who just completely takes you out of your routine and forces you to do something that you never thought you'd be doing that day. Hehehe, he would make the BEST boyfriend, just on his unpredictability alone!

If only I could take the best parts of Trace, Sam, Lee, Brandon, and Jimmy....give him Bobby Jinette's ass, and Robin's super hot sex drive...and I would MARRY that boy on the spot! I'd do it in a heartbeat! Then again...if such a boy really exists out there in the world...he's probably already taken. Taken by someone who's gonna use him, corrupt him, and throw him back out into the dating pool a damaged person. He'd be totally ruined by the time I got my hands on him. Sucks.

So, anyway, Trace calls me up today, and I can already tell that he's got some kind of scheme up his sleeve by the way he's giggling and grinning over the phone. Already suspicious, I say to him, "Dude...you're obviously up to something right now. Spill it. What's going on?"

You know what Trace says to me? He's like, "Billy! You're coming over here for a barbecue today! So clear your schedule and hop on the bus."

I'm like, "Wait....WHAT? Hehehe, where?"

He's like, "Here, ya dope! Your dad's house."

Shocked for the second time in the first 60 seconds of our conversation, I said, "Umm...that doesn't sound like my dad at all."

He says, "I know! But don't worry, Mikey and I are totally gonna make him do it! It'll work even better if I tell him that you're coming over and that you're all psyched about it. So you gotta be there."

I said, "Hahaha! Trace? Dude...what the...?"

But he's all like, "C'mon, Billy. What else have you got to do today? Really? It's a sunny day, it's a week before finals, it's almost Summer break...just come over. He'll do it. We'll have fun. Watch. I promise. I've got Mikey giving your dad the puppy dog eyes and whiny voice right now. If you don't show up, you're going to ruin the whole effect."

Trace could be really persuasive when he wanted to be. And, let's be honest...he always wanted to be. Besides, I could do worse than staring at that pretty face for an afternoon.

I sighed and wiggled and hesitated for a few moments longer...but who was I kidding? You know? I was going to give in. I always give in. I couldn't say no to Trace if I tried once he got excited about something. I just wish he'd ask me to strip him naked and suck him off until he was too weak to remain conscious! That's all! Hehehe!

I told him that I'd think about it, trying to save some dignity and at least cast the illusion that I had some level of self control. But that wasn't good enough. Trace wanted total submission from me when it came to his ingenious ideas. And, God help me...I gave it to him. I giggled and said, "Ok! Alright! Geez, push much?"

He's like, "Damn straight! See ya when you get here! Come around 2!" And he hung up the phone before I had a chance to say goodbye. Maybe he was worried that I'd come to my senses or something. I'm starting to think that this is a part of his mind control technique. Just plant the suggestion and jump out before the intended 'victim' has a chance to really think about what he's agreeing to.

Something that kinda struck me as odd was a phone call from Jimmy LaPlane not more than fifteen minutes later. I mean...after my...well...it wasn't really a rejection so much...but, I figured that he would want to be away from me for a little while. Just to balance things again, you know? Instead, it almost sounded like he 'missed' me. Which was odd.

When I asked him what was up, he was like, "I don't know. Just bored, I guess. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out today or something. Just for something to do."

I thought about telling him that I had something else going on today...but then it hit me that it would be a much better idea to take Jimmy with me. If for no other reason than his gaydar is pretty accurate in most cases. I have to admit that I wanted to find out if Trace is just as straight as he appears to be, or if maybe there's a little hint of something 'else' in all of his flirty smiles and random comments. Wouldn't it be awesome to at least solve that one part of Trace's complex puzzle?

So I told him, "I'm actually going to some surprise barbecue at my dad's house today. You're welcome to tag along though. It'll be something to do."

Jimmy smiled and said, "Billy Chase is taking me as his date to two functions in the same weekend? This is a dream come true. Hehehe!"

I'm like, "Whatever. Hehehe, just get ready. I'm supposed to go around 2 O'clock."

He agreed, and before I knew it, he was ringing my doorbell. I thought he was a little dressed up for a barbecue at my dad's house, but I guess he was just in a sunshine mood. We were walking to the bus stop together...and I noticed that Jimmy was...um...looking at me again. It just felt different. Again, maybe I'm being paranoid about this sort of thing, but I hope there weren't any smoldering ashes of the crush he had on me before being reignited. I mean, I like Jimmy a lot, but I've been down that road before. The last thing I want to do is make another friendship take a drastic left turn for the worse.

At one point, I just saw him looking at me with a goofy grin, and I'm like, "Dude, hehehe, what are you doing?"

He's like, "I was picturing you naked. That's all."

Yikes! I blushed instantly. I'm like, "Omigod, don't say that."

He's like, "Why not? Hehehe, it's true."

I grinned, like, "Yeah...well don't. No more picturing me naked."

Jimmy says, "Billy...if I live to be 150 years old, I will ALWAYS picture you naked." Then he blushes and adds, "Once you see something like that, you can't just forget about it." I playfully told him to stop it already, but I think he got a kick out of teasing me. He's like, "You are SO hot, you know that? Seriously."

I'm like, "Stop..."

He's like, "Your skin is all smooth and tasty lookin'. Cute little belly button..."

I'm like, "STOP! Hehehe!"

He says, "Your booty is all creamy and white...cute little tan lines...tight little sexy round bubbles..."

I'm like, "JIMMY!!!" Which made him laugh out loud. He certainly paid a lot of attention to my nakedness during those few embarrassing seconds at AJ's house. I told him, "I'm never gonna let you look at me again, clothes or no clothes."

He said, "Won't matter. I keep the images fresh in my head through ritual masturbation anyway." Ok, so he got a shove for that one, but something tells me that he wasn't joking about that at all.

The bus came to a stop in front of us, and we backed up to see Sam and Michelle getting ready to get off. Obviously coming back from some kind of activity somewhere, probably the mall. Who knows? Sam sees me and Jimmy together and he's like, "Hey, what's up? Where are you guys going?"

I said, "Barbecue. My dad's house."

He says, "Sweet. Hey, you mind if we swing by? I haven't seen your dad in ages."

I'm pretty sure that if I kept this up, I was going to storming my father's backyard with 100 extra teenagers by the time he got the grill fired up. But what was I gonna say? No? So Sam and Michelle got back on the bus and rode with us. Hey, at least it would keep Jimmy from commenting on my sexy ass for the next fifteen minutes or so.

Sure enough, we got there about 20 minutes after 2 O'clock...and Trace had convinced my dad and his 'substitute' for my mom out in the backyard with a few burgers and hot dogs on the grill. I swear that boy can pull off any feat that he puts his mind to. He didn't expect me to show up with 3 extra people, but as usual, he was totally unphased by the whole thing. The more the merrier.

Mikey was quick to run over to me top speed, and jump in my arms like he had just found the Easter Bunny or something. He hugged me tight around the neck, and I noticed he had something smeared on his face. I reached for a napkin and tried wiping it away before he got it all over me. I'm like, "What the heck did you get into?"

He says, "I've been eating French fries and ketchup!"

I said, "I can believe the French fries part, but I think all the ketchup went to your face, kiddo." He was having too much fun to care about something as trivial of being covered in filth, I guess. Hehehe!

My dad really showed off his barbecue skills today. The food was tasty, ice cold sodas, Mikey running around finding new and inventive ways to get dirty while Trace pointlessly chased behind him. Sam and Michelle stayed joined at the hip the whole time, but he still talked to me every now and then. And Jimmy? He still managed to catch a few dreamy gazes when he thought I wasn't looking. Hehehe, now I feel like he's staring at my butt every time I turn my back to him. That's gonna drive me CRAZY from now on!

There was something that I found a little uncomfortable, though...

I remember Jimmy going into the house to use the bathroom or something, leaving me in the yard with Sam and Michelle by the fence. Now...I don't really know Michelle all that well. I sorta know her, but it's not like we have any other connection other than Sam. Do you know what she says? She's like, "Jimmy LaPlane...he's the 'funny' one, right? From school?" I had no idea what she meant about Jimmy being 'funny' at first. Funny how? I asked her what she was talking about, and she's like, "The gay one?" She whispered it really low, and had this...this smirk on her face. I can't explain it, but there was something about that smirk that just ticked me off.

Sam and I exchanged a short look, and it seemed like he gave her hand a gentle pat to keep her quiet.

I'm like, "Jimmy is a close friend of mine." And I planned to leave it at that.

But she's like, "No, I get it. That's cool. It's just...it seems like they're popping up all over the place these days." Again, the offense began to creep into my system. And she's like, "And that Mitchell boy? I mean, he had a whole assembly about it. I mean, why would you want to tell the whole school about something like that?"

I don't know what frustrated me more, the fact that she was saying this out loud, or the fact that Sam was allowing her to say it out loud. I looked at him to see if he was going to say something, but he just changed the subject. Which...you know...in my mind wasn't the same as standing up for 'my kind'. I mean, THIS is his new girlfriend? I wonder what she would say if she knew how much of her boyfriend's semen I've drained from him in the past few months.

I welcomed the interruption when Trace called me over to another part of the yard, because I was tempted to just come right out and really ask this chick what she was trying to imply about homosexuals in general. I figured that, for now, I could bite my tongue. I didn't want to make a scene, especially in front of my dad. But Sam can expect to hear from me the next time we get to talk. I could tell that he was trying to ignore her, but...I don't know. It bugged me.

Trace was like, "Do I know how to celebrate a sunny Sunday or what?"

I'm like, "I would never bet against you, that's for sure."

He's like, "Yeah, well it was no big miracle. Your dad happens to be a big ol' pushover. Especially for Mikey."

I said, "Funny, I don't seem to remember him being all that pushovery when I got myself in trouble growing up. Hehehe!"

Trace was like, "Well, maybe you're not the trickster that I am." He smiled at me. That awesome smile. Then he looks over to the grill where my father is turning over a few pieces of chicken. Trace said, "I'm really gonna miss all this when your dad moves away. Can't believe the time is coming up on us so fast." I didn't really say anything, but I found this really nervous knot tightening up in my stomach. It was just a little something that told me that I'd rather not...talk about that. Still, Trace pushed like, "I'm sure he's glad you came over today. If I had to guess, I'd say he missed having you come around."

I saw Trace kinda looking at me, and I took the hint. I was like, "You set me up, didn't you?"

He's like, "What? Who me? No way. Hehehe, I just wanted barbecue and sunshine."

I said, "I should have known you were up to something. You are a trickster."

He said, "C'mon, Billy. He talks about you all the time. And he doesn't come right out and say it...but I think he wants to a bigger part of your life than you allow him to be. Just saying." He said, "You should talk to him a little bit."

I said, "I talk to him. I do. Just...I mean...not ALL the time. I've been...'busy' with stuff."

Trace is like, "You're not busy today. Go. Be cool to him."

I felt like I wanted to defend myself by saying, "I'm always cool to my dad. I am."

Trace said, "Good. Than it'll be easy." I hesitated for a moment, and he's like, "Well, at least go over there and get me a piece of that barbecued chicken, Hehehe!" I shook my head at him as we exchanged a grin. Then he's like, "Look, your dad has a new fiancé...but she's not your mom. He's got me and Mikey for a while...but we're not his kids. Mr. Chase is more awesome than both of my psycho parents put together. And if you ask me, it apparently runs in the family. So consider this my way to look out for the both of you."

I swear, if there was ever a moment when I wanted to smash my lips up against that boy's pretty face...that was it. God, he's just...ugh!

So...I took his advice.

I walked over to the grill, and I wasn't really hungry, in fact I was pretty stuffed already...but I asked my dad if I could have a piece of chicken. Then I fidgeted for a moment, loitering around while he focused on toasting a couple of hamburger buns. Then I nervously said, "Soooo...what's been going on?" Was that lame? That sounded lame to me.

My father gave me a bit of a weird look for a moment, and he chuckled, "I'm not sure. What's been 'going on' with you?"

I said, "Hmmm...nothing." It's my dad. This shouldn't be difficult. I spent another awkward moment shifting from one foot to the other, and he looked over at me. I guess that he noticed that I didn't just grab some food and hurry back over to be with my friends like I had been all afternoon. And I tried to make more conversation, so I was like, "The um...the chicken is really good."

He paused for a moment, then he said, "Well...you know the secret to good grilling is all about positioning. You see...it's hotter in the center than it is on the sides. The key is to cook it some meats slower than others. So you can keep it juicy, and it won't end up burnt on the outside and raw on the inside." Then he stepped aside and said, "Come here. I'll show you."

I felt myself blushing, and I said, "I don't know...I can't cook. Hehehe!"

He's like, "It's not as hard as it looks. Here..."

And that was it. He began to show me ho to make some stuff, and we started to talk, and remembered old barbecues we used to have when he was still at home, and vacations we took when I was little...it was...you know...

...nice.

I did look out across the yard, and saw Trace smiling at me. Ok...so the little manipulator was right. It felt good. For me and my dad. Once we started talking, it was like I couldn't stop. If nothing else, we've got this one Sunday to remember for the rest of my life. I like that.

When we left, my dad gave me a big hug to say good bye. And Trace winked at me...as he tried to pry Mikey off of my leg, that is.

Sam and Michelle had left a bit early, but I'm not planning to forget what she said today. Yeah...that's something that I'm going to look into a bit further. Because I didn't like that at all.

Oh, before I end this entry...I did ask Jimmy the question of the day when we got off of the bus. I mean, we had been chit chatting the whole way home, but now that we had some privacy, I was like, "Jimmy...can I ask you something? I mean...you've been around Trace all day, and you're pretty good at this sort of thing..."

Jimmy's like, "Good at what sort of thing?"

I said, "You know...being able to 'tell'. I mean...Trace? What do you think? I mean...is he...maybe...you know?"

Jimmy caught the hint. And suddenly, it was like he couldn't look me in the eye. What did I say? I hope I didn't, like, upset him or anything. I wasn't trying to. I wasn't trying to be insensitive or anything. I swear.

Jimmy finally lifted his gaze, and he said, "Umm...no. I highly doubt it. I didn't get that vibe at all."

I said, "No? Nothing?"

Jimmy hesitated for a second, and he said, "Nope. From what I see, he's straight as an arrow. So...yeah." Now...you see, I don't know if Jimmy said that because he really believes that Trace is straight...or because he doesn't want me to...you know...go chasing another boy. I couldn't really tell if he was lying to me, or just hurt that I asked in the first place. All I know is that the whole mood changed, and Jimmy was quick to say goodbye when it came time for him to head home.

Am I really that clueless? He's obviously holding on to feelings than run deeper than either one of us expected. Should I just...bring it up and sorta set the rules of us hanging out in order. I don't want to avoid him, but I don't want to lead him on either. It was flattering at first, but...this is getting to be weird now. Maybe I should wait for it to go away or something. As long as I don't encourage it...it should just go away.

Right?

Ok, so I'm full of barbecue and I just want to jump in the shower and go to bed. So I'll write more later. One more week of school, then four days of finals...and the Summer will finally be here! At long last! Who knows what that's gonna be like? I can't wait!

Seeya later!

- Billy (Mr. Chase's son) Hehehe!