Bridges To Friendship - 1. Chapter 1

Blood was everywhere.

Looking down, it covered me, it covered Jason, it covered our Phys. Ed teacher’s hands.

Everywhere.

That asshole Jason.

Our quarterback in our high school Phys. Ed flag football game had called for me, on the right side, to run a crossing route and for Jason to take the left doing the same. Whoever faked and broke free of their defender first would get the pass. I don’t know if Tim, the quarterback, was being an ass too by tossing the ball right up the middle where Jason and I converged at the same time.

Wham! I fell on top of him.

“Ow, you fucking ass!” I screamed at Jason.

He rubbed his forehead, looking at me in disgust. “Maybe next time look where you’re going, dipshit!”

“That’s enough out of both of you! Now shut up and let me see if Todd’s nose is broken!” Coach piped in. He had already told me to take off my T-shirt and was using it to soak up the blood still pouring out of my nose. He pinched the bridge of my nose with it, and if I wasn’t on the ground, I would have kicked him in the nuts. I think I saw stars like the cartoons that have them floating over their head. Imagine someone giving you a purple nurple and intensifying that by one hundred. "Well it is probably broken, but it’s not like we need to call an ambulance. Jason, take Todd to the office and make sure he doesn’t bleed all over the school, and get them to call his mom or dad.”

Two things now had me mad as fuck.

First thing was here I was totally bleeding to death, probably with a broken bridge of my nose, going to the hospital, sitting in the waiting room, going for x-rays, and then probably going to have to wear one of those god-awful nose splints. And, if that wasn’t enough, the incessant teasing from the rest of the school. Yet, Mr. Pretty Boy didn’t even have a mark on him.

Second, why the hell would I want Jason to take me to the office; it was his fault!

Fuck!

Being a new guy in his first year of high school where I knew nobody was a bit of a blessing, or at least I thought. Mom got a transfer from Vancouver over the Rockies to a different, smaller city in what I'd call rural Alberta. The rest of the family packed up over the summer break and followed her onto the prairies. I guess one saving grace is most of the kids were from other, smaller surrounding towns, and we were all somewhat new as high school was grades ten to twelve here.

I still remember just over a month ago when I went to my first homeroom and set eyes on Jason. My god, I nearly blew a load in my joggers right there in class. Take every great quality of a gorgeous fifteen-year-old, and you get him. Bronze tan, blond hair, memorable blue eyes, a cute button nose, and lips that begged to be kissed. Did he use botox? His T-shirt hugged his developed pecs with a tease of nipple and the shirt didn’t touch his stomach either, which I imagined covered an amazing six pack. Just about six feet tall and around one hundred seventy pounds, he screamed athlete. But like everything in the world, good things come to an end. In his case when he opened his mouth.

“What are you staring at, faggot?” Were the first words out of his mouth when he noticed me looking. “Take a picture, or do you want me to take one of me getting out of the shower and send it to you?”

Wow, less than an hour into the school year and I’ve been labeled what I was called at my last school. Not without justification though.

“Bite me, pretty boy,” was the only lame retort I could come up with at the time.

He hit me on the back of my head with his notebook and took the seat right behind me.

“No way I’m going to sit in front of you and let you fantasize over my ass all year,” he sneered as he sat down.

I don’t really know where this was all coming from, to tell the truth. I only really looked at him for about a second or two after he walked in the door as he approached my desk.

The thing is, being gay has never done my self-esteem any good, and this exchange had me wanting to get up and just leave.

I’ve always felt I’m less than average in the looks department, although the few friends I had back at my last school all thought I was nuts for thinking so. They said I had looks that attracted everybody, but I was so shy and quiet, nobody would approach me. I mean, puberty was good to me over the summer. I shot up about four inches so I could look some of my teachers in the eye and put on some weight to take me to one hundred sixty-five. My curly black locks I let grow out a bit in the winter and shaved off at the start of the summer. I didn’t tan so much, but I did have a naturally darker skin tone. Probably from my parents’ Mediterranean heritage. Oh, and my dick and balls grew this summer too. Haha. I’ve taken to trimming down south and under the armpits. Too much hair grosses me out. I have brown eyes and a slightly chiseled jawline and what I thought was a ski jump of a nose. Once again, my friends saw it differently,

After getting upright and tilting my head back, Jason grabbed my arm to guide me and prevent me from walking into any poles or doors that I couldn’t clearly make out. Once inside the school, we had to walk past the gymnasium and locker rooms, up the stairs, then through the huge cafeteria that sat around 700 people. Not even half the school. People were on their spares and hanging out there, even at this early time of morning.

“What the hell you doing with him, Jason?” I heard yelled across the cafeteria from some unknown face.

I caught Jason flipping him the bird out of the corner of my eye.

Next stop was the outer office, where the secretaries and the attendance clerks sat guarding the way to the three Assistant Principals and the Principal himself. It was also where the Guidance Counsellors’ offices were.

One of the secretaries shrieked when we walked in, both of us covered in blood.

“What happened to you two?” the first one to see us asked in a high-pitched tone. It was like she never saw blood before.

“Dufus ran into me in flag football,” replied Jason.

I was about to add my two cents, but he carried on.

“We didn’t see each other in a crossing play in football and slammed into each other,” Jason explained. “Todd got the worst of it, and coach figures that his nose is broken. No need for an ambulance; just call a ‘rent to come take him to the hospital.”

I was actually quite shocked. Jason wasn’t calling me the usual names and really, I had nothing to disagree with him about right now. Well, maybe the dufus comment.

“Todd, can I call your mom or dad?” the secretary asked.

I thought for a second. “Damn, mom is out of town, and my dad is volunteering with in-class help at my sister’s elementary school.”

The secretary pulled her eyeglasses off and rubbed her temples. “Well that will be a bit of a problem. We can’t discharge you without an adult, and you do need to go to the hospital. Maybe we will have to call an ambulance. School regulations and all.”

Oh fuck, do they really need to call an ambulance for a broken nose? Can you make me more of a spectacle in front of the whole school?

Jason, at some time, had let go of my arm, and I just noticed. I was surprised when he spoke again. “Mrs. Thatcher, can I call my mom and maybe she and I can take Todd to the hospital? Now that I think about it, I do feel a bit responsible.”

I think my jaw dropped like I had the biggest cock sucker’s cramp. I looked at Jason and was surprised again when he winked at me. Yes, winked at me. What the fuck is he doing winking at me?

“Let me check with Mr. Allen, your Assistant Principal. If he okays it, I’ll call your mom, Jason, and you can get going,” she replied. “I’ll also keep trying to reach your dad, Todd.”

After about five minutes, the secretary hung up the phone and told us Jason’s mother was tied up for the next half hour, and she would be out front as soon as she could get there.

“Okay, thanks Mrs. Thatcher, we’re going to change,” he let her know. Then he grabbed my arm again, even though I hadn’t had my head back in a while, but still had the bloody shirt pressed against my nose. We left the office and headed through the cafeteria again and then down the stairs to the locker room.

When we got there, I almost dropped dead with what he said next.

“Look man, you're covered in blood, I’m covered in blood, and my mom sure as hell won’t want us in her car this way. I see you don’t shower after gym and most of the other guys don’t either. You’re going to have to buck up and take a shower with me to clean up,” he explained.

Like I said, I just wanted to die. I had always heard about the showers in high school and, fantasies aside, I was so scared of what would happen if I was forced to take one now. Even though we weren’t in the shower, I could feel myself chubbing up and started trying to conjure up the ninety-year-old lady who lived across the street who was always walking around her front yard in a practically see-through nighty.

“Um, could I just change into my street clothes?” I asked despondently. I really didn’t want to be naked with Jason in the shower. Our class had dismissed while we were up in the office, and the new classes were in session. This meant we were the only two in the locker room right now.

“Well if your parents are like my parents, they would be pissed if I got a second pair of clothes bloodied up. I’d say look at your face, but it is covered with your T-shirt. You have blood in your hair, in your ears, and down your chest too,” he explained.

I sighed, as I really didn’t want to do this, though I knew I really should. Especially with Jason. I’ve seen him going to the showers after class before, and he seemed to have no issues with his body. Me, not so much.

His locker was across the bench from mine, and as I sat down to open my locker, I heard him open his and obviously take his gym clothes off. Next thing, I saw a towel on the bench beside me.

“I figured you don’t have a towel, and I always bring a couple clean ones every day. So, before you say you don’t have one, get your ass in the shower. My mom will be here soon,” he said.

I was conflicted to say the least. He was actually being nice to me. His mom was coming to take me to the hospital instead of an ambulance, maybe I could just think of old Mrs. Kutzner and get this over with.

I heard a shower start up and reluctantly I heeled off my sneakers. Lowering the shirt from my nose, I checked and saw I was not bleeding anymore. I dropped it on the floor and went for it, pushing down my shorts and boxer briefs in one go. I looked down at myself, and although I felt like I was about to have the biggest boner of the year any second, I scooped up the clean towel and walked towards the shower with it hanging in front of my junk.

When I entered the gang showers—they looked like they were out of the sixties, two rows on each side with six heads on each wall, and three shower heads on the back wall—I saw Jason had turned on two heads, one on the back wall and the one adjacent on the side wall, and he had turned the heads so he was in the cross stream of them both.

I noticed his ass, as it was right there to look at. Glancing, I noticed how he had the tightest ass I’ve ever seen. Not a bubble butt but just firm muscles. As he was washing his hair, he seemed to flex and have dimples on each cheek. Mrs. Kutzner, where the fuck are you?

Remembering our exchange the first day of school, I was totally not going to glance longer than a brief second and turned to the first shower head on my left and went to turn it on.

“Not that one, it only gives hot water; you’d burn your nuts off.” He chuckled. “Come down here and take the two corner ones like I’m doing, but over there. These are the best shower heads and even better if you get two of them at the same time.”

I turned from the shower I was about to turn on, grabbed my towel from the handle on the next shower, and started to walk to the other corner. That was when I saw what I really didn’t need to see.

Jason had his head covered in shampoo, but his back to the wall, and his head down a bit, eyes closed, and was using the shampoo to wash down the rest of his body. Currently he was washing his nuts and dick like he would wash his hands in the sink. Scrubbing a little bit harder in the creases between his nuts and legs. His overall package had me gawking a bit. Luckily, he didn’t see me watching him. He had the most perfect sized penis, uncut, unlike me, and two glorious balls that hung nicely and were hairless from what I could see. Looking at the soap in his pubes, they seemed to be well-trimmed just like mine. I felt my dick starting to touch my towel.

“Hey, don’t take too warm of a shower, it will probably make your nose start bleeding again,” he mentioned when he noticed me near the corner. “Besides, a cool shower is always good after practice.”

Just nodding, still with my back to him and my ass in full view, I hung the towel up on the unused shower handle. Turning both of them on and then adjusting them to temperature, I noticed both were already pointing the same as Jason’s were, both to meet in the corner.

“Thanks,” was the only thing that came to my mind in the last couple of minutes.

Afraid to turn around, I looked down at my stuff. It was a bit of a realization that although I was cut, Jason and I were about equally equipped down there. I guess in the few fantasies of me with the bully, I always expected him to be hung like a horse. No, he was a bit above average compared to the other guys in my class I’ve seen, but so am I.

Stepping forward into the shower, I felt the cool water hit me all over and looked down at my feet at the reddish water making its way into the trough and down the drain. As I wiped the blood away, I heard Jason again.

“Here, catch. You need shampoo.”

Without thinking and expecting a shampoo bottle cruising towards me, I turned around and caught the lob pass easily. It was then I realized we were both looking at each other, front to front. A little smirk caught the one side of his face, and then he turned to shut the water off and grab his towel.

Now having the shampoo, I squirted a bit in my hand and rubbed it on my head. I used the lathered-up soap to scrub down the rest of my body. Not paying as much attention to my dick and balls as Jason had.

“Hey, hurry up and get rinsed off and dried; I think my mom will be here any minute.”

Turning off the shower, I saw his dry ass, towel over his shoulder, exiting the shower room. Quickly, I grabbed my towel, well his, and quickly dried my body. Not as confident as Jason, I wrapped the towel around myself.

Turning down our aisle, I saw Jason pulling up his jeans and buttoning them up. He was grabbing for what looked like a golf shirt, when I opened my locker and pulled out my street clothes. Dropping the towel, with a little more courage than hiking my underwear up under the towel, I realized I didn’t have any clean underwear with me. I grabbed my jeans and noticed Jason had closed his locker and straddled the bench, looking at me.

“Oh god, commando.” He started chuckling. “The first few minutes feel good, but then you realize your nuts and dick are swinging all over the place, and it suddenly is not so good.”

I looked at him, and he was still smiling and chuckling. I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I did up my fly and the top button, making sure not to zip up my dick in front of Jason. This made me laugh a bit more.

Suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why what?” he replied.

I sighed and looked at him after pulling my head through my rugby top. “How come you have been a royal ass to me since the first homeroom of this year, up until even our collision, and now miraculously you are being nice to me. Why?”

He looked at me and a slight grin crossed his face. “I guess overall, I have been an ass to you, haven’t I?”

I felt he asked a rhetorical question that didn’t need to be answered.

“Three things,” he said. “First off, I’m not a mean bastard that likes to see others in pain. Seeing you bleeding all over the place, and me covered in it too, by the way, you bastard,” he said, with a smile on his face, letting me know that the bastard was in fun. “Also, it gave me the opportunity to think about how to approach something else that has been bothering me.”

“Well you said three things, but you told me one, and said you have another, so I’m only counting two,” I stated, a bit of a smirk on my face too. “We may not be in math together, but I’m sure you can count to ten at least.”

He laughed and it wasn’t a polite laugh; it was a genuine belly laugh. To hear it made me want to forget the past month. He had me grinning at him.

After he calmed down a bit, he let me know. “Well, I can actually count to eleven, if you need to know.” The shit-eating grin on him had me laughing back at him. “Let’s skip number two and jump to number three, okay”

“You're in charge here, go for it,” I replied.

“Was this your first public shower, like not in your bathroom, not at the pool with your swimsuit on, or not like when you were a kid and your parents yanked your shorts off?” he asked in a much quieter, calmer voice.

I didn’t know how to answer this. I mean, I was starting to like him a tiny bit, and if he is going to make fun of me, I’m not sure I’m going to expose myself like that.

Honesty getting the better of me, I said, “Yeah, how could you tell?” I had a bit of a smile to let him know I fully knew he had known.

“Well, last year when I was in grade nine, for the first time in school, our gym teacher told us that we had to shower after a hot, sweaty Zumba class. He gave us the birds and the bees and the possible uprising of the serpents talk to us all. He told us it was to get us prepared to shower in high school, where we would have to shower together. Bullshit. He told us if we popped some wood, so what? We all might pop wood, and we all know we can’t control our dick at our age, so get over it.” He paused and seemed to be reflecting.

“I can tell you, from the first time I said you needed to shower, I saw you doing exactly the same things that I did last year. From the denial that you needed to take a shower, to getting the resolve to finally go there, and then to see another naked guy, keeping as much distance as possible, and most of all, not let our eyes go anywhere near me. Been there done that,” he said with a reassuring smile. “And yeah, like coach also told us, we could be whatever we wanted to be, but anyone who says they have never checked out another guy's junk to compare in a shower, is an outright liar. So yeah, I know you saw me, and I saw you. If you did have any growth down under, I wasn’t aware of it,” he continued. “And if you did, would it really matter?”

I looked at him and noticed his eyes for the first time up close. The blue in his eyes were like shattering glass with all the fine lines protruding outwards.

“Well let me ask that question, if it would really matter, but put yourself in my shoes. Up until now, you’ve called me a faggot, a homo, a queer, and made so many insinuations that fuck yes, it would really matter!” I was getting worked up now and was mad again at the way I have been treated.

Suddenly his phone, that I didn’t realize he had, buzzed. “Mom is here; let’s get out front,” he said as he stood up and kicked his locker door shut. “We aren’t done talking, but we will finish this after. In my mathematical genius mind, I realize there is still another point.” He smiled, as if trying to calm me down.

“Okay,” I said, a bit resigned.

We went up the stairs, but I had to go a bit slower as the climbing made my nose hurt a bit. Not sure why, but it did.

Before we reached the doors, Mrs. Thatcher came out and let us know she had left a voicemail for my dad.

We turned and went to the front doors, and there was a green Prius sitting on the street with a not-too-bad-looking lady in it.

Jason grabbed the handle for the backdoor and climbed in.

Reluctantly, I opened the passenger door and sat down beside his mom. Now I have said how handsome and gorgeous Jason is. Now that I see his mom, it is so easy to see where he got it from. Long, blond hair in the latest style, no visible makeup that I could see, the same tan, and the same facial features.

“Hi, I’m Linda. Jason’s Mom,” she introduced herself. “I hear you are Todd and that my delinquent son nearly had you going to the hospital in an ambulance.”

I think in addition to her joking voice and smile, much like Jason had been in the locker room, she immediately put me at ease. That was when I noticed the slight scent of her in the car. It was the same fresh scent both Jason and I had after sharing his shampoo. I’m not normally a scent guy, but I noticed it this time.

“Mom, leave us alone,” whined Jason from the backseat.

“Well, when I’m six feet under, then maybe I will leave you alone.” She chuckled and looked up in the rear-view mirror to look at her son.

We were off. I didn’t realize the hospital was so close to our high school. I really needed to pay more attention to the things in this town.

As she parked and we all went up to the triage desk, Mrs. Dunbar took over. “Hi, I am Linda Dunbar and this is Todd Tratch. The school called and there was a football collision in gym, and they think he has a broken nose,” she explained. “The office called me and let me know that Todd’s parents were unavailable. They asked me if I could bring him here, since it would be easier. My son, the human wrecking ball, was the one that bashed up his face, so I’m glad we can help out in any way we can.”

I heard Jason sigh behind me and imagined he rolled his eyes.

“Well sweetie, you are in luck!” said the triage nurse. I ignored the sweetie comment. “The school just got hold of your dad, and he called over with your health insurance card number and gave Mrs. Dunbar permission to be your adult for now. He said he will be over as soon as possible.”

We were taken back to an exam room where everything I thought would happen, happened. We waited, then we saw a med student, who left and then we waited some more, and finally the med student and the resident physician showed up.

He started playing with my nose and, like my coach, he nearly got kicked in the balls. What is it with people when they think something is broken, they want to move it around? Finally, I just jerked my head back from him and gave him the stink eye but managed to keep my mouth shut.

“Well, I do think you have broken the bridge of your nose. Sorry for moving it around and also thanks for biting your tongue when I’m sure you had a few choice words for me.” Grinning, he told me. “I want to send you off for some x-rays, but the reason I was moving it is to see if it needed to be set again. You’re in luck, it does not. That means less pain for you, but I’m sure you will be disappointed. This means no nose brace for you either.”

I think for the first time since entering the hospital I was actually smiling. I looked over at Jason, and he was smiling too.

All three of us went down to the x-ray department and surprisingly got in and out in no time.

As we walked back to the other room, Mrs. Dunbar’s phone started to ring.

“Go ahead boys, I’ll be there in a second,” she instructed us.

We got back to the room, and I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Jason, who was seeming to amuse himself with all the spigots, plugs, buttons, and other stuff on the wall behind the bed.

“Hey, looks like we won’t get the time to finish your points.” He turned and looked at me. “I really want to say thank you for everything you’ve done since we crashed, and thanks for helping me out.”

“We aren’t done yet, but eventually we will be.” He smirked at me again. “Maybe sooner than you think.”

I looked at him questioningly as I knew my dad should be here soon. Suddenly, Mrs. Dunbar was back in the room.

“Hey guys,” she started. “The school got hold of your dad again, and between classes he gave me a call. That was him. He said he would skip out of the last class and come over right away. I told him not to worry. I suggested Todd come back home with us, and we could order pizza if he is up to it, and then he doesn’t have to rush over. I can drop you off when we are done. It’s the least we can do.”

“See, I told you,” Jason said through a chuckle. “My mom won’t let you go until reparations are done.”

Mrs. Dunbar lightly slapped his shoulder and asked me if I was okay with that.

“Well, if you talked to my dad and he is okay, then I’m okay with it too,” I let her know.

The doctor chose that time to come in and said there was nothing more that could be done. It was a clean break, and I should ice it if it became painful, especially if I noticed my eyes starting to blacken as well. I never thought of that. Was I going to have a set of black eyes along with the huge, swollen broken nose?

“Mrs. Dunbar, if you could sign Todd out at the front desk, you all can get on your way.” He abruptly turned and left the room, probably to see the next of many patients he had today.

When we got to the car, Jason told me to ride up front again.

As I climbed in, Jason spoke to his mom. “Hey Mom, since it’s Friday, can Jason stay over a little later or maybe the night if he wants?”

I swiveled my head around pretty quick and looked at him. Where did this come from?

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jason,” she stated. “I will let Todd call his dad if he wants to do that. Then we can head home, and you guys can get lost in video games until your dad gets home and we can order in pizza. You okay with that, Todd?”

“Well, ma’am. I really appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to put your family out, and I’m not sure how I will sleep tonight.”

“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Mrs. Dunbar said with a quick glance over, smiling before focusing on the road again. “With two teenage boys in our house, Jason and his older brother Jon, who left for university a month ago, I have lots of ice packs, and I’m sure we will have the swelling down quite a bit before nighttime. Some days I thought those two would kill each other or break every bone in each other’s body. They didn’t, but not for a lack of trying.” She was in a full laugh now.

“Mom, really?” Jason said from the backseat, and this time I turned around to smile at him and saw him actually rolling his eyes.

We pulled up to a nice split level in a community not far from my house, I think. The outside had a well-manicured lawn, with hedges on both sides. We parked on the street and got out and walked up the slight incline with small cacti and wild grasses growing on either side of the sidewalk. I never thought cacti would grow around here outside. There was what I would call a flower bed in front of the bay window that had marigolds, different coloured hydrangeas, some pansies mixed in, and a few miniature sunflowers. It definitely brightened up the front of the house. Not having much of a social life in the past, I always was willing to help Mom and Dad with ours, but I was surprised that the cacti grew here so far from the Canadian west coast.

“These are actually really beautiful flowers, Mrs. Dunbar,” I couldn’t help commenting. I looked behind me to Jason, who had his finger in his throat pretending he was gagging but laughing at the same time.

“Why thank you, Todd. It is a lot of work at the beginning of the season, but I don’t have too much weeding. I should say Jason doesn’t have much throughout the year,” she said, quite proud of her work.

We bypassed the front door and walked around the side to the gate with a string to open the latch on the other side. Entering, we saw the backyard, which ended with a fence and a back alley behind it. There was a garage set into the corner of the lot. There were less plants out back, but a lot of blooming bushes, shrubs and such, like lilacs. The overall scent of the back yard was very pleasing with the blooming flowers. Although I didn’t fully have my sense of smell back yet with a broken nose, it was lingering there for me to take in.

We entered through the back door and were in a bit of a mud room with four or five stairs up to the kitchen, and there was a full flight of stairs going downstairs as well.

“Boys bedrooms are down there with a family room, a laundry, and a fridge filled with pop and juice. I’ll bring down some snacks in a bit,” Mrs. Dunbar said. “Jason, I hope you don’t have your month of clothes spread all over the floor and whatever science experiment you are growing down there.”

“No Mom, geez, if I wore the same smelly clothes to school, I would be made fun of until I quit. As for the leftover food and half drinks, Dad made a clean-up mission last night. You know he is my favourite parent,” he said with a growing smirk.

“Todd, can I speak to you upstairs for a minute?” she asked. I looked at Jason and was immediately worried about what this is about. He gave a shrug and continued down the stairs.

We went up to the kitchen, and she leaned up against the sink in the counter.

“Look Todd, I bet I’m overwhelming you a bit here, being a bit pushy and assuming you want to be here and such,” she started out. “When I was talking to your dad, he asked if Jason and you are friends. Since I never heard Jason speak about you, I wasn’t really sure. Your dad let it slip, so don’t blame him, that you really hadn’t made any friends since moving here, and he was glad that you had made one.”

The hair was practically standing on the back of my neck. What gave him the right to say that and to a total stranger? What if she told Jason? If he turned on me again, he would use this against me even more. I’m sure I had a scowl on my face as I looked at her.

“Sorry, Mrs. Dunbar. I’m not sure why he offloaded that on you. I’m p.o.’d at him right now, but it isn’t your fault. I know you are trying to help,” I got out. “You're right, I don’t have many friends, but I don’t really know if Jason would want to consider me a friend. He seems so busy and popular at school; he might not have time for me after tonight.”

I didn’t want to reveal to her what an asshole her son had been to me as well.

I lowered my eyes and looked at the ground. I was internally debating on putting my shoes back on and just leaving. What a loser!

“Maybe you need to give Jason a chance.” She gave me a knowing look. “He might surprise you and find enough room in that busy schedule you think he has, to fit in another friend. Well enough of this. Go downstairs and there are ice packs in the freezer above the fridge. Put one on your nose so you can see, and it will help.”

I wandered downstairs and saw a dated rec room with a couch and two loveseats, a wide screen TV mounted on the wall, a PlayStation and Xbox below it. In the back corner there was what looked like a full bar, with a fridge standing up in the corner. There was a fireplace off on the outside wall, but it didn’t look too used.

The only thing missing was Jason. I saw a small hallway with two doors on the right and one door on the left. Only the second door to the right was open.

I walked down the hall and looked in. It was definitely Jason’s room, as he was sitting on the edge of his bed in a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. He was intensely typing away on his phone.

I cleared my throat, and he looked up at me and turned off his phone. My self-doubts were immediately flaring up. Was he texting some friends, telling them how he couldn’t hang out with them because his mom was forcing him to hang out with the new kid loser?

“Hey, I was just texting my brother,” he said with a smile. “What Mom said isn’t too far from the truth, but now that he is gone, it seems like I miss having the opportunity to come home, see him, and being able to talk to him. Or even fight with him. Does that make any sense?”

I sighed. “Not really. I have a sister that is six years younger than me, and we actually get along. I do think I can understand what you're saying though.”

I looked around the room. He had a king size bed, and it was definitely not made this morning. There were a couple of dressers with some clothes partially hanging out of them. There was a smell of what would I call teenage boy. The smell that my room had when I first walked in and was accustomed to right away. A closet door was partially closed, and I could see hockey and lacrosse sticks sticking out. I was almost tempted to open it and see if it was jammed full of stuff that would fall out upon opening.

He had a desk which had a laptop and a printer. Not much more. There was a bookrack on the wall on the other side of the room that was not professionally done and kind of sagging under the weight of 75-100 paperbacks. Hmm, he read. I couldn’t see the titles from here though.

“Okay, first things first, if you are staying the night, we need to take care of something right away.” He looked at me with a grin. “You need to get some ginch on as I’m not having you sleeping or hanging out with me all commando and such.” He started laughing at my shocked expression. “I think we are about the same size,” he said as he got up and headed to the dresser and pulled out a new package of CK boxer briefs. “These are now yours. I don’t want them back in any way, shape, or form. If they appear back here, I will light a bonfire in the backyard and have to send them over to the other side.”

He was still grinning as he tossed me the box.

“Next, here is a clean, well I think they are clean,” he said as he held them up to his nose and sniffed, “b-ball shorts and a T-shirt. Make yourself comfortable and get out of the jeans and rugby shirt. We won’t be going out tonight.” After catching the stuff, I was about to ask if there was a washroom where I could change and thank him for the gift and loan of clothes. “And oh, let me leave you here alone; I think I’ve seen too much of you already today!” He was laughing and cackling like a little kid and shouldered past me to get out of the room.

I went to close the door and realized the door wouldn’t close, as the door frame must have warped over time. Figuring if he was in the other room and his mom was upstairs, what was the harm.

My insecurities popped up for a second as I looked over to make sure his laptop was closed and there was no camera on me. Seeing it was closed just made me kick myself internally for being so stupid.

After changing and throwing my socks, jeans, and shirt on one of the open drawers, I headed back out to the rec room.

“Hey, thanks for the clothes,” I said. Jason was lounged out on the right-hand loveseat and had loaded up Call of Duty Modern Warfare but wasn’t playing. Lucky shit, my parents wouldn’t let me get it yet.

“No problem,” he stated. “So, before we get started, I figured I needed to finish the chat we were having. You know the third thing,” he said with a wink.

Not knowing where to sit, I shuffled my feet and looked around. Jason sat up and moved to the edge closest to the couch. Unsure, I sat down on the couch. We were only like three or so feet apart by now.

“So, first thing I need to know, and it will make a huge difference on what I have to say next, are you gay?”

Literally, my whole body shook. Was this a set up? What was the point of asking this? I mean, we seemed to be getting along today okay. What if I answer truthfully? Will it all end and go back to the way things were before? Except now he would know all the names he called me were true. I was thinking about how quickly I could get to his room, get my clothes, run upstairs, and grab my shoes and be gone.

“Look man, I know that’s a doozy of a question right off the bat. But trust me. I might even surprise you,” he calmly spoke. “Hey, if you’re not, just say so, and we can continue on with the conversation. But if you are, it will make a world of a difference in what I say, and it will be a different convo if you are or are not.”

I was caught at a crossroads. For some reason I thought of two people on my shoulders, one yelling at me to lie, lie, lie. Are you stupid? The other reminding me about when we first moved here after the disaster of what I left behind when my old school found out, the promise I made.

I chose the promise.

I kept my eyes down as I didn’t want Jason to see the fear and feeling of impending doom coming my way.

I started out shakily, “Well, I made a promise to myself in the summer that if anyone asked me that question again, I would be honest and up front. So yeah, I guess I’m telling you I’m gay.”

I felt the tears building in the corners of my eyes, ready to burst forth like a breach in a dam. Never before in my life had I been asked directly, and I actually considered answering directly. It was a huge step for me, and I knew it.

He was on his feet in an instant and sitting down right beside me. He gave me a one arm bro hug.

“Come on now, man. I swear on mine and my family’s graves that I will never tell anyone what you just told me. This is only between us. Going forward, no one will hear from me anything about this. It is like our bro code, never to be broken.”

He pulled me in tighter, and I actually gave up on trying to be as stiff as a two by four. I finally let out a huge gasp and leaned into him. I was bawling uncontrollably. He was soothing me and somehow had some Kleenex for me. I didn’t realize my nose had joined the waterworks too.

It took about five or so minutes to calm down. He finally released his arm over my shoulder and, other than some sniffles, I seemed to be okay. My nose hurt like fuck though.

“Jason, I know I’m a mess, but my nose is killing me right now,” I told him. “Do you have one of those ice packs I can put over it?”

“Yeah man, sorry, should have got you one earlier.”

He got up and grabbed one from the freezer, and it was small enough to not cover my full face. I was still able to look at him as I held it against me.

“Thanks. The coolness feels so much better already,” I said.

“No prob man. Like I said, should have got you one sooner. But I think I have beaten you up not only physically but emotionally today,” he stated as he looked at me.

He was now looking at me directly in the eyes, and I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. Why have we done this dance for the last eight hours? Suddenly I sat up, rigid. Was Jason gay too? Could that be why he figured me out?

He noticed me tensing up and squeezed my shoulder with one hand.

“Okay, look man, I really needed to know about you, cause what I have to say to you is even more important now than anything else in my life.” He continued to squeeze my shoulder, but his grip was getting more intense until I had to slouch away from him as it was getting too painful.

“So, in line with me nearly ripping your shoulder off, it’s just another thing I have to say I’m completely sorry for,” he said. Then taking a deep breath he started again. “Look man, I’m sorry for the way I treated you the first day of school. I’m sorry for the way I treated you up to today. I’m sorry for calling you those utter shitty names. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable around me and probably most of the school. Like, high school is supposed to be a time to make new friends, new experiences, and everything that goes with it. And I’ve done nothing but make your time here be like shit.”

I glanced over at him, and he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He now was the one looking down at the ground and wringing his hands like the crazy lady we just learned about in Macbeth in English, trying to get the blood off her hands. I kind of wanted to feel sorry for him, but as he listed off all the things he has done to me, it seemed hard to forgive and forget with it all laid out on the line.

“Why? Why now?” I asked. “I mean, I appreciate the apology, and I also see you are sincere, or at least I think you are. Why is it that I think I need to comfort you all of a sudden?”

He looked up with a pained expression on his face. His skin around his eyes was scrunched up like an old woman’s aged skin. His lips were tightly locked together in a straight line. His whole face looked like he was in much more fucking pain than I was.

In fact, I was now worried about him. I felt all the anger leaving me again.

“To answer that question, we have to go back to a week before we met,” he whispered. “See, me and my brother were exactly like mom said, but there was a bond between us that nobody could ever break. Or at least we both thought so.”

I watched as his shoulders shook a bit, but he was doing everything to fight off crying, unlike I did. What is going on here? My head was spinning like a kid’s top just released on a tabletop.

Suddenly, I did the unthinkable. I put an arm around him and pulled him into my shoulder. Just like he had done for me.

“You won’t understand,” he started to cry a bit. “Or maybe you will understand, completely. We had packed up my brother’s stuff; he basically took his whole room as he got an off-campus apartment. It was our last dinner before we all loaded up and took him to university in the morning.”

He began to shake again, so I tightened my grip on him. I was also being careful not to crush him too hard.

He seemed to take a few steadying breaths, then started again. “We were having a great time, talking about the past, as we had nothing but hopes for his future, and nothing but good memories of the past. Things eventually quieted down as we all were finishing our dessert, tiramisu, his favourite. He suddenly started talking in a low voice, all of us leaning in closer like we were awaiting the results of the Oscars. He said that he loved us all, and now that he was going off to university, he couldn’t continue to live the lie he had been living. He said he was gay.”

I found myself reaching for the Kleenex as he was now sobbing softly and sniffling, the same state I was in not too long ago.

“I was so mad. What the fuck was he talking about? My own fucking brother that I’ve known my whole fucking life was gay! I screamed at him, told him never to speak to me again. I threw my plate across the room, smashing it against the wall.”

His sobs were beginning to get louder. On the outside of my mind, I was thinking, what if his mom came down here and wanted to know what was going on. Her son bawling his eyes out and being held by another guy. He began to hyperventilate so I had to change my tack.

“Easy, Jason. Easy.” I repeated his own words from not too long ago. “Deep breaths, one at a time. Come on man, I’ll do it with you. Let’s breathe in deep through our mouths.” I held my breath to a count of eight. “And now let it out slowly through your nose.”

I don’t think he put that much effort into it, until the second or third time. Then as he started doing it, he realized he was calming down and started to relax.

I looked down to find him nearly face-planted on my chest, as I felt a lot of the tension releasing from his body.

With a few sniffles, he didn’t lift his head, but carried on.

“I don’t know why I was so mad. I was livid. I hated him. I wished I had been born into a different family, and I wished that he would just die.”

“Breathe, Jason, breathe,” I said to him quietly.

“Then, I went to my room and slammed my door. I actually knocked out some of the screws into the hinges a bit; that’s why it doesn’t close anymore,” he continued. “I spent the night in my room and cranked up Metallica so I couldn’t hear my parents or him banging on my door wanting to talk. By the way, I hate fucking Metallica!”

I chuckled but said nothing. Slowly a small smile edged its way across his face.

“I didn’t sleep all night, not sure if anyone in the house did either. I must have dozed off eventually as my laptop went into sleep mode and shut off the music,” he started again. “I woke and noticed the sun was up. I looked at the clock and noticed it was about nine in the morning. I hadn’t heard any noise, so after about ten minutes of listening, I somehow got my door open. First, I hit the can. By the way, that is across the hall through the other door. The laundry room to one side, the shitter to the other.”

He fell silent again, and I noticed I was running my fingers through his hair. I couldn’t believe I was doing that, but it was something my mom always did to me when I was younger and gave me a sense of security.

“After taking the world’s longest piss, I went upstairs and checked my parents’ room, the spare bedroom where my brother would have been last night, and then, just in my ginch, I walked out and checked the garage.” He let out a huge sigh. “I thought to myself, good, he’s gone, out of my fucking life for good. I did not want anyone like him or him around me ever again.”

He suddenly sat up and sort of had like a pee shiver, where your body shakes for a few seconds as you are peeing or after you pee. He looked so sad. It looked like he had bags developing under his eyes.

“Mom and Dad eventually came home, but I wouldn’t talk to them. I lived on pizza pockets and cereal, none of which was eaten upstairs. I was still so mad and didn’t understand how my parents could be taking his side.” He groaned again. “I mean, all I could think was he lied to me. I was always proud of my big brother and now he decides to be a...” He stopped, realizing what he was about to say. “Homosexual.”

“Nothing changed over the next week,” he continued. “Well, one thing did change and that was the start of school. Trust me man, I was so angry. I walked into our homeroom and saw a new guy there, and I don’t even know how my mind worked, but I decided to say everything I wanted to say to my brother to you. I did say some things to others, which I’m going to have to apologize for as well.”

He sunk back on the couch and began to rub his temples, reminding me of the pain in my own nose. The ice pack had warmed up and wasn’t cool anymore.

“Hey Jason, be right back,” I said as I climbed up off the couch and to the freezer. I opened it and found six or seven more packs, so I put the one I’d used at the bottom and took the one on top. Deciding to look in the fridge part, I saw a pitcher of orange juice, some small cans for mix I guess, and an overabundance of Mountain Dew. Figuring I couldn’t be wrong, I grabbed a couple of cans.

I sat down and noticed his eyes closed, almost like he was sleeping from exhaustion. He opened them slowly as I sunk onto the couch.

“I got an idea, before we continue, how about we Do the Dew?” I chuckled. Using the cheesy campaign slogan I’d once heard.

A small smile broke across his face, and he grabbed the can.

“Thanks man, my throat is a bit rough.” Jason looked over at me.

We clinked cans, and he gulped down about half the can.

“So where was I? Oh yeah, so basically, shit-face me took out my anger on everyone in the world, but primarily out on you.”

He caught my eyes before continuing.

“Todd, you have to believe me when I said I was so sorry, it was killing me,” he pleaded. “I was a total wreck, and I never should have done anything to anyone at all, especially you.

“Well, fast forward to last weekend, and Jon came home.” He let out another long breath. “I was still really pissed at him and didn’t want to see him. Jon has about two inches on me and about twenty-five pounds. I was totally not expecting him to come into my room and jump on my bed and put me in a bone-crushing bear hug that I couldn’t escape, even though I tried.

“I was yelling at him, all the names I called you and even worse. Told him he was dead to me and I had no brother. He just held me and let me yell at him and not say a thing. Eventually I broke down crying. That was when he let me go, and I laid on my back and my capturer turned into my consoler.

“Finally, he talked. He didn’t talk about himself but talked about me. How what I was doing to him and our parents was tearing us apart. No matter how many names, how many punches I threw, no matter what the worst thing I could imagine, I was his brother, and he loves me like only a brother can.

“Slowly he began asking me more questions. Where did my anger come from? Why was I letting it control me? Was there any endgame to what I was doing?

“I never answered him, so instead he told me how he had known since he was about thirteen and carried around his secret like the weight of the world. How he couldn’t tell us as he knew deep down that what had happened now, would have happened then.” His eyes were downcast again as he thought carefully about his words.

“I was all out of fight, but that was a good thing. I started listening to him.” He let out another short-stuttered breath. “I began to slowly realize I had nothing really to be angry about. He wasn’t me. I wasn’t him. He seemed to pick up on this and told me to relax. I was fifteen and yeah, some guys were late figuring themselves out, but he was pretty sure I liked the V. For the first time in over a month, I actually chuckled.

“Mom and Dad more or less left us alone that weekend. We talked a lot. I mean a lot. I think I figured out in my head what a stupid ass I was and didn’t deserve his forgiveness. But when he left Sunday afternoon, we were good again.

“Then, on Monday when I saw you in homeroom, I started to think about how I was treating you. I thought about how I’ve been watching you the past month and a bit and noticed some traits in you that reminded me of my brother. See, he was good in sports, but never really had friends. He was shy and a loner most of the time, where I’m that asshole alpha male. Not that I thought you were gay because of those reasons. Hell, I didn’t really let you get to know anyone before I started in on you,” he trailed off.

“But slowly it came to me that maybe I was only treating you the way I was because you weren’t sticking up for yourself; you weren’t talking back. Maybe I was projecting my bother’s homosexuality onto you. That is why when I asked you, I said it would make a huge difference in what I had to say,” he said.

He stopped talking for a bit, and I got up and grabbed us another couple of Dews.

“It took me all week to figure out that I was the asshole and, gay or not, I had to make it up to you. But how does one do that?” Another pause. “Now don’t think we collided on purpose in my evil plan to apologize to you,” he stated and then laughed. It brought a smile to my face. Ow, my nose!

“But like I said way back when, in point one, I don’t like to see others in pain. Not only had I caused the physical, but yes, I was causing you way too much emotional pain too. I realized I needed to fix this and fix it soon!

“Did I know Mom was going to invite you over? No. Did I know I could help you out and hopefully get you to trust me a bit? Definitely not. But I did know that I had to try.

“So, let me tell you something. We don’t really know each other, but there would be nothing better in my world than to get to know you better, and for you to get to know me.” An evil grin began to spread across his face. “I’m not offering up my ass or dick to you as a friend, but I am offering up my friendship and all the mass rewards with this.”

I groaned. “After all this, is this where I find out your ego is bigger than the Earth?” I couldn’t help ginning.

“Not only are you going have an amazing friend, but one that will remind you every day how lucky you are to have me.” He actually had the nerve to look smug.

“Oh my god, I think I hear my dad calling me to come home.” I couldn’t resist.

“Too bad, you’re here until the morning, dipshit,” he said as he tried to slap the back of my head. I ducked away.

We were both now giggling our faces off. Like two goofy fifteen-year-olds. Like best friends for life.

“Jason, can you come up and help your dad bring in some groceries and the pizza?” his mom yelled from the top of the stairs.

We were punching each other on the shoulders and trying to get each other in the stomachs as we jostled our way across the rec room and up the stairs, my nose forgotten for the moment.

On the landing Jason slammed open the screen door, but we stopped when we heard his mother. “Jason, go help your dad; he picked up the pizza too,” she said. “Todd, can I see you quickly again?”

“Haha, you are in shit already.” Jason stopped to tease me.

“Jason, language. Or do you want to miss out while your dad, Todd, and I enjoy the pizza?” she admonished him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. Neither his mom nor me believed he would not do it again.

I watched Jason walk over to the garage, barefoot.

I took the couple of steps up to the kitchen, and his mom was leaning against the sink again. Except this time, she seemed to be drinking a cup of coffee or tea, as I saw steam rising from the cup.

“So,” she started. “Did my ears deceive me or was I hearing some strong emotions down there?”

Going to my default, I let my shoulders sink and looked at the ground. I didn’t understand her approach, and I was suddenly nervous.

“Todd, look at me,” she said softly. “I didn’t hear what you were talking about. I trust my son enough that I knew nothing would be done in anger or hate down there.

“Not sure if Jason told you about the past month, his brother leaving for university?” she asked.

I was starting to look at her again and just silently nodded.

“Well then you know what he was going through, but you don’t know what was happening to our family,” she continued.

“I’m sure you are wondering now why I’m telling you what happened, so I will spare you the long story. After all, his dad can delay him out there for only so long.” She winked.

“What you do need to know is that after Jason and Jon made up, he was good until about Tuesday,” she said. “Then on Wednesday both his dad and I noticed that something was bothering him still. We thought it was his brother again. But we were somewhat shocked when he told us how he had been, pardon my French, a total ass to a new guy at school.

“He was in pain again, and we really didn’t know how to answer. Although parents don’t see all and hear all about their kids, we thought of Jason as being a pretty outgoing, friendly kid.” She paused and took a sip from her drink. “He didn’t tell us much about you, only in general terms and how he felt and the overwhelming need to fix it.

“Since we didn’t know what he was actually referring to, we asked him what he thought he needed to do, and we worked out that he needed to get you outside the school setting.” She put her cup on the counter. “Now in my heart I know he didn’t cause the crash between you two, but when I had the school call, I felt I could help him out if this was the kid he was talking about.

“I’m guessing that is what you all were talking about down there,” she stated. “Call it mother’s intuition, but I don’t need to know the details.

“But I do have one question,” she said. “So, do you think my son has time for you in his busy schedule?”

I couldn’t help but smile as Jason and his dad made their way into the house, laughing and trying to jostle each other.

Guess I’m destined to meet the other parent now.

I smiled and, knowing what I know now, I wondered if the collision was planned, so we could talk and be excused from gym. Maybe my nose getting broken was just another case of best laid plans going to shit. I giggled at the thought.