Trick Me Once - 6. Come Clean

As a horde of students burst out of the building, Trick walked slowly behind them, trying to avoid the crowd. He looked around and had no trouble spotting Zoe, waiting for him nearby. As soon as she saw him, she started walking toward him with a smile on her face. The two of them always finished their morning classes at the same time on Tuesdays, which meant that afterward they would usually go for a walk, to the library, or do some other activity together.

“Hey! How were classes today?”

“Meh, same old. What about yours?”

“We had a guest lecturer today, he was pretty cute! So, it wasn’t a total waste of time,” Zoe smirked.

“Lucky!” Trick said. “Or maybe not so lucky, seeing as how we can’t date professors,” he chuckled.

“I know, who came up with that rule anyway?” Zoe replied, pursing her lips. “You going with me to the library? I think Brad should also be coming later.”

“Umm I don’t think so, I gotta go work on my app, and then I have a shift at the music store,” Trick said, his mood changing a bit.

Zoe noticed that Trick was even more withdrawn than usual since that time he went out with Cody. That was over a week ago, but he still refused to tell her what happened that day. After trying to get him to open up a few times, but to no avail, she stopped pushing and figured he’d tell her when or if he’s ready.

Trick was also spending less time hanging out with her and Brad since then, focusing on his apps, work and studies. Zoe knew that whenever he had a problem he preferred being alone so he could think in peace.

“Ok, but – if you change your mind…” Zoe started singing the famous ABBA song, making Trick chuckle.

“Now I won’t be able to get it out of my head the whole day! Thanks a lot,” he couldn’t help but smile.

“I aim to please,” she replied, grinning. After a few minutes of walking, they said their goodbyes and Trick went on his way, while Zoe entered the library to do some research and wait for Brad.

“Is Trick not coming?” Brad asked after sitting at the computer next to Zoe’s.

“Nope,” she gave him a look that made it clear what was going on.

“Ugh, he’s still thinking about him…” Brad was annoyed and concerned for his friend. “Something happened that day, that fucker did something or said something to him.” He was worried that Cody might start harassing Trick again and he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Yeah, something definitely happened,” Zoe repeated. “He’ll talk to us when he’s ready, I don’t wanna be pushy.”

“Yeah, I know…” Brad had to agree. Although he wanted to give Trick his space, he wasn’t going to drop the matter just like that, but he also wasn’t going to tell Zoe about his plan. If he did, she might try and talk him out of it, and he was afraid she might be right.

However, he didn’t care. He didn’t trust Cody, he had no reason to, but it was time he cleared some things up for him. Brad went to high school with him for four years, so he knew that Cody wasn’t a bully like he used to be, but he had no idea what his intentions with Trick were. Maybe he just wanted to mess with him, play some cruel mind games and then crush his hopes once again? Brad knew he could not let him do that.

--

The doorbell rang and Angela hurried from the kitchen to see who it was. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, so she assumed it was someone coming to see her parents. As she opened the door, an unknown face greeted her.

“Hi, I’m Brad, Cody’s… friend from college. Is he home?”

“Yeah, I’ll call him. Come on in,” Angela said and went upstairs. “Cody, your friend’s here!”

Hearing his little sister calling him, Cody’s first thought was that Trick came to see him. That’s what he had been hoping ever since that day, but nothing yet. He didn’t even call or text… Cody rushed from his room and just a few seconds later, he came down the stairs. When he saw who the visitor was, he stopped for a second, caught by surprise. He certainly wasn’t expecting Brad, but he knew he didn’t come to hang out. He came because of his best friend.

“Brad… Hi. What brings you here?”

“You can probably already guess. Can we talk somewhere?” Brad said flatly, not even trying to sound pleasant or friendly.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go up to my room,” Cody said and led the way. Angela took the hint and got out of the way. As they got into his room, Cody closed the door so they wouldn’t be overheard. His sister meant well, but she was too curious.

“Is this about Trick?” he asked nervously.

“Of course it is. What the hell happened that day?! I don’t know what you said or did, but if you fucking mess with him again…” Brad started raising his voice. He was still standing by the door, refusing to sit down.

“Wow, stop, man! I swear I didn’t do anything. What is going on?”

“What’s going on? You probably know better than me, you were there! Ever since that day, he’s been feeling like shit and he doesn’t wanna talk about it, so it must be something that happened when he was with you.”

“I promise I didn’t do anything. In fact, I’d also like to know what happened…” Cody pleaded. “We were having a good time, just sitting and talking, and when we got up to say goodbye, he basically pushed me away and ran off… Like he was upset, but I don’t know why…”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because you’re a bully,” Brad couldn’t resist it. He promised himself he wasn’t going to get violent, but he never promised he wouldn’t verbally attack him.

“That was years ago. I was an idiot and I admit it, I’ll never forgive myself for that! But that’s not me anymore, I swear!” Cody was trying hard to convince Brad he was telling the truth. If he wanted to be in Trick’s life, it would be good if he got along with his friends too.

“That’s what you say…” Brad would not be convinced easily.

“It’s the truth.”

“Why did you even have to see him again? You apologized and that’s it, you couldn’t let him be? You just had to hurt him again.”

“I care about Trick, I would never hurt him again!” Cody was almost shouting at this point. Brad frowned as if Cody was suddenly talking in some other language.

“What do you mean you care about him?”

Cody sat down on the bed, put his hands on his knees and looked down, avoiding Brad’s eyes.

“I mean… I have feelings for him. I care about him deeply and I… I just wish he could forgive me.”

“What?” Brad was completely stunned. He didn’t even think about whether Cody could be lying, this seemed too big to lie about. “Are you saying you’re gay?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“How… how long have you liked Trick?”

“Since high school…”

“Wait – is that why you suddenly stopped harassing him, and then those jerks cut you out of their little group?” Brad was beginning to figure things out. It all made sense now, at least some of it.

“They didn’t cut me out, I stopped hanging out with them, but that doesn’t even matter now… But yes, I heard you guys talking one day at school, you talked about how Trick had a crush on me… I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t understand what he saw in me. It felt weird, but also great. No one’s ever shown any interest in me… Except that cute and shy boy to whom I was so horrible…”

“Then why didn’t you say anything, why didn’t you help him?” Brad was sad and angry at the same time. If only Cody had sad something, maybe Trick would’ve stayed and things would’ve been better. He knew it was probably just wishful thinking, but who knows what could’ve been?

“I didn’t think I could do anything… And I was a coward. A total coward… Trick was always so nice, but I let him go… That’s why I don’t wanna make that mistake again. I’m not going to let him get away this time.” Cody shook his head, now speaking more confidently and looking Brad in the eyes, trying to figure out if he was finally starting to believe him. “Can you please not tell him any of this?”

“I’m not going to because you are. He should know the truth. But if he asks me something… I don’t like lying to him.”

“I will tell him, I just need to figure out how.”

“Maybe just like you told me now. I don’t know how he’ll react, though, but he should know.”

“I know… Thanks.”

“I’m not helping you, though. This is your mess, and I’m still not sure I believe everything you say... But I don’t think you’re that jerk from high school anymore,” Brad said, raising his eyebrows, making Cody chuckle. This conversation made him see Cody in a different light. He still wasn’t sure if Trick and Cody could be a good couple, but at least he knew that Cody wouldn’t hurt Trick on purpose.

“Thanks, Brad. I mean it,” Cody added as Brad turned to leave.

Sitting alone in his room, Cody couldn’t help but feel relieved. It felt good to talk to someone about everything, like a trial run before he finally has the talk with Trick. Now that would be hard… He had no clue how Trick would react, but after hearing from Brad that Trick was feeling down since they last saw each other, he knew they should talk as soon as possible. He’s been hiding things for way too long and he can’t delay it anymore.

Maybe Trick will hate him even more when he hears the truth, or maybe he’ll find it easier to forgive him. Either way, Cody knew he had to tell him how he feels. He was still hoping that they could be friends, and even more than that. He knew that would be a long and hard road, but he was prepared for it.

--

Whenever the world seemed overwhelming and he needed an escape from reality, Trick had several places he would go to. The first was the fantasy world of video games, where he would spend hours on end slaying monsters. The other was the music store where he worked. Even though he was an introvert, he didn’t mind dealing with customers – in the store, he was on home turf. He felt comfortable there, and the pay wasn’t bad either. Sure, he didn’t see himself working there his whole life, but it was a good part-time job to have during college.

It was a quiet day, as was usually the case when he worked the second shift. After having his lunch and doing some light cleaning around the store, two guys entered and headed to the section with speakers. By their body language and the way they looked at each other, Trick could guess that they were a couple. He couldn’t help but feel jealous and sad that he doesn’t have someone like that, but that was no time for self-pity. He had to put on his business face and be professional.

“Hello, can I help you with anything?” he approached the couple and politely offered his assistance.

“Hey, we were just checking out the speaker systems,” the younger of the two guys said. “We want to buy a new one for our place.”

“Yeah, something powerful. We want proper surround sound for those movie nights,” the older guy added enthusiastically. Both of them seemed polite and friendly and Trick immediately liked them.

“Although, I don’t think Bo would be thrilled if we turned it up to eleven. He’d probably get scared, poor guy,” the younger guy said.

“Aww, you guys have a…”

“…a dog,” the older guy chuckled. “No babies. Well, not yet.”

“We’re trying, though. He’s off the pill and everything,” the younger guy interjected and pointed at his partner, grinning at him.

“You guys are lucky!” Trick chuckled and blurted out, with just a tinge of sadness in his voice, which the two guys obviously picked up on.

“Yeah, we are. Any cute guy making you happy? I’d be surprised if there wasn’t,” the older guy said.

“Uh… It’s complicated,” Trick shook his head.

“Well, unfortunately, love often is,” the younger guy said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Um, can I ask how did you guys know? I mean, that you were right for each other?”

The two guys looked at each other and smiled.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. Once we got to know each other a little better, we just knew,” the older guy said and his partner nodded, smiling.

“It’s just that… There’s this guy I’ve liked for years, but I’m afraid that if I try something, I’ll get hurt,” Trick said carefully. He wasn’t used to talking about his feelings, especially with strangers, but he was drawn to these guys. They had something that he longed for – real love.

“Well, that’s always a risk, you know? Any guy could hurt you… Or he could turn out to be the nicest, most loving person in the world. You never know until you give him a chance,” the younger guy said.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point,” Trick replied. “Ok, but you didn’t come here to listen to my life story! Let’s get back to business.”

Trick smiled and moved over to show them the speaker systems and explain the differences between them. The guys eventually decided for one of the most expensive ones, and after thanking Trick and wishing him luck, they left. Trick thought about their conversation and even though he was still apprehensive about Cody, he realized these guys were probably right. At some point, he had to stop living in his shell and take a risk.

When he got back to his dorm room, he was glad that Brad was there as he didn’t want to be alone. He was still thinking about Cody and the guys from the store, but he quickly forgot about them when he saw that Brad was looking distracted, maybe even nervous.

“Hey, what’s up? How did it go in the library today?” Trick knew Brad had a test in a few days and assumed he was nervous because of that.

“Hey, man. It was great, actually! I got a lot done for the test. I’m still probably gonna fail, though.”

“You always say that. You’ll do great, I’m sure, bud!”

“Thanks, man.” Brad put away his books and nervously moved to the couch next to Trick. “Hey, uh, I gotta tell you something… I went to see Cody today.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Well, I was… worried about you, you wouldn’t say what’s going on, so I thought I’d talk to him… Don’t worry, no one’s dead, no one ended up in a hospital,” he tried to lighten the mood and apparently succeeded, drawing out a chuckle from Trick.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Well, I promised I wouldn’t say, he wants to tell you in person. You should really go talk to him.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it too… But now I’m kinda scared about what he wants to talk about. Can’t you give me a hint?” Trick smiled mischievously.

“Nooo, if I tell you anything, you’ll just get even more nervous! Come on, let’s fire up some Halo, I’m gonna kick your ass! That will get your mind off of things.”

“You’re on,” Trick raised his eyebrows. As if he’s gonna get beaten – again! The two friends grabbed their controllers and fired up the game, and it wasn’t long before the sounds of shooting and yelling filled the room.

I hope you've enjoyed the new chapter and the little cameo from some familiar faces  Thanks again for all the support, I always love reading your comments and hearing your opinions!