My Life Started After High School - 12. Come and Gone - Oh, Ms. Believer

Aidyn's POV

“Okay class is done for the day. Well done everyone!” The Woodwork teacher dismissed the class. I was almost done with a custom table I was working on. “Aidyn, you're table is looking very good. I look forward to seeing it complete.”

“Thank you, sir. I'll see you tomorrow.” I gave him a little wave before heading off. It was the last class I had for the day, so my plan was to head straight back to the dorm room. Plans changed though when my hunger struck, and my tummy rumbled. “Guess it's time to get some food.”

I found my way to the local diner nearby the school. It's got a nice hometown vibe which I like. They make everything basically from scratch; their pasta is to die for. Noah would love it.

As I came in, I found Braidyn sitting in a booth by himself. “Oh hey, Aidyn!” He waved me over. “Come join your old captain in the food eating.”

I giggled and joined him in the booth. “All by your lonesome tonight?”

He shrugged. “Ya, everyone else was busy. Just finished class?” I nodded. “That's fun, have you found any new friends here at school? You know besides Josh and Nathan.”

The waitress came, and I ordered my drink. “Not really, been busy skyping Noah and doing school work. Just haven't connected with anyone here really. But that's fine; I don't mind.”

“You know there is this gay mingle that happens every once in a while. You should come and hang out sometime.” I raised an eyebrow. “I know, I'm not gay, but they are friends of mine. It's called a gay mingle only because most of the people going are gay. It's a nice place to hang out.”

“So basically it's a gay, straight alliance minus their being a club.” Brailyn agreed with me. “It actually sounds cool; I'll think about it.”

“That means you're going to be talking to Noah about it doesn't it?” He caught me. I raise my hands in surrender. “That's understandable; I'm sure Noah will be happy for you that you're getting out and doing stuff.”

“I'll talk to him and find out Brailyn. I'll get back to you!”

Dinner went super well. I ordered my regular, and it tasted good like always. Brailyn ordered the same thing and liked it even better than I do. We talked about school and Noah and just about everything. It was a good hangout with an old friend.

Now I'm back in the door room with Nathan, and I’m Skyping with Noah. “So Brailyn told me about this gay mingle club when I found him at that diner I need to take you to.”

“Oh cool, you gonna go?” Noah asked me.

Nathan popped his head up. “I've been there a few times; it's pretty chill.”

“Thanks, Nathan.” He gave off a thumbs up and returned to his computer. “I was thinking about it.”

Noah was lying on his stomach on his bed with his laptop in front of him. Noah smiled and began swinging his legs up in the air. “I think you should go. Go meet some new friends and tell me all about it next time we talk.” He laughed, smiling his teeth out.

“Okay, I guess I'll go check it out. Brailyn said there's a few of them meeting up tomorrow. I figure I could go and then I'll come to town for Noah time the next night.”

“Don't you have class that day?” Noah scolded me.

Nathan looked over at me. “Ya, don't you have school that day?” He mocked Noah while also scolding me. “Is Aidyn skipping classes already?”

“It's fine, all I have is woodwork, and I'm really far ahead.” Noah wiggled his eyebrows when I said woodwork. I rolled my eyes. “Promise I won't make a habit of it. You get Aidyn time, though.”

Noah let out a sigh. “Okay, as long as you promise. I'll see you then, then.” He blew me a kiss. “I should get going to bed; it’s almost 11. Which means bedtime!”

“Goodnight cutie pie.” I blew him a kiss as he ended the skype call. Oh, Noah, you're the best boyfriend a guy could ask for.

Nathan's POV

Since Aidyn was asked to go to that gay mingle thing, I thought I would end up going too. I had class right before it was planned, so I'm right in the middle of rushing over there to join in, and hopefully get more info on Carter.

In the midst of my running, I noticed Iris talking with a few of her friends. “Hey, Iris!” I called out to her. She looked right at me, smiled and waved as I continued bolting off towards the meetup.

Just as I was turning a corner, there was Kadin turning it as well. At first, I thought it was going to be a harmless interaction, but man was I wrong. I felt my headphones pull back and fall off. My IPod shot out of my pocket and flew to the ground; I could hear the glass screen crack as it made contact.

I watched my headphones crashed and shattered against the pavement. There wasn't anything I could do; they were way gone beyond repair. My face became red with fury. “The fuck was that for!?” I did my best to push Kadin, but he's bigger and stronger than I am. He barely moved from his position.

He laughed in my misery. “Wow, your shit is destroyed, isn't it? Hey here's your fuck buddy, Carter was it? Is he out stealing more phones to get high?” I was shaking there was so much anger boiling in me. “Aww, is the little tike angry with me?”

A hand came out of nowhere and slapped him right across the face. A red hand print was instantly seen on his cheek. Then Kadin flew back and landed on his ass right in the middle of a puddle of mud. He looked up fuming at his assailant. “Aww, is the little tike angry with me?” Iris!? “Next time leave Nathan alone. Maybe then karma won't be out to get you.”

“Fuck you, bitch!”

Iris snorted. “I am a bitch, but you're nowhere near my type.” Kadin got up and stopped away from us. “Oh, by the way, I'm reporting this to the dean with five witnesses. You'll be paying for Nathan's new iPod and headphones. Hope you took out enough student loans.” Kadin looked like he was going to light on fire any second. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as he walked off.

Then reality hit and I picked up my iPod. The screen wouldn't even come up properly. “Great, it's completely destroyed.” I sighed to myself, lowering my head in defeat.

Iris picked up my headphones with an awkward look on her face. “He's such a looser. Come on; let's go report this.”

“I was headed to hang out...”

“The gay mingle thing? Ya, I go there sometimes, it's pretty good. People show up late all the time; you'll be fine.” Wow, I didn't think Iris would be one to show up to something like that. “My big sister is gay, and honestly gay guys are a lot funnier to hang out with.”

“I'm bi.” It didn't even faze her; she just continued walking. “That doesn't bother you?”

She shrugged. “No, not really. I think it's cool you're so comfortable with yourself.” I blushed and lowered my head.

Along with her and a couple of friends, she had with her; we headed to the dean's office. He heard from us instantly; he always puts his students first. I told him what happened; Iris and her friends confirmed it. He told us he'd get down to it and my iPod and headphones will be replaced.

After the short meeting, Iris and I headed to the mingle. It wasn't long before I found Aidyn talking to a couple of older guys. “Hey, Aidyn.”

"Hey, Nathan, This is Gage and his boyfriend, Sam.” I gave them a wave and smiled. “Where are your headphones?” Aidyn noticed them immediately.

I bit my lip. “Kadin happened.”

“Don't worry,” Iris started to explain when Aidyn's face showed concern. “I took care of it. It's in the dean's hands now.” Aidyn visibly calmed down about it. Happy to know I have people who care about me.

“Anyways, how are things here? Are you enjoying yourself?”

Aidyn waved his hand back and forth. “It could be better, but I'm enjoying myself.” Gage smacked him. “Okay fine, you're really awesome to talk to again. Nice to put a face to Sam as well.”

“Well, I'm gonna go around asking about Carter. Maybe someone has seen him, or spoke to him on Grindr or something.” I went around asking everyone I could. They all told me how they hadn't seen him on Grindr for a while. It seemed like no one knew anything about the whereabouts of my cousin. I guess its back to square one.

That's what I thought at least until one kid said. “Try talking to Tre; he had a kid staying with him a while back.”

“Tre?”

The guy nodded. “Ya, he works at a youth center and took a kid in to look after. Pretty sure he's the kid you're talking about. I hope you find him, man.” Well, now I have a lead at least. Better than nothing, I guess.

Noah's POV

“Hey, Noah!” Ashton called out as I was walking out of the school. “Mind if I come over for a bit? My parents are having friends over, and it'll be no fun.”

“Let me just call my Aunt.” I quickly pulled out my phone and found her contact in my phone. With just a press of the call button, I had my Aunt on the other end of the phone. “Can Ashton come and hang out for a bit?”

“Sure, just don't make a mess.” There's no surprise that the answer was yes. Ashton is one of Aunties favorite friends of mine. He used to spend a bunch of time at my place before I started to date Aidyn.

I said my good-byes and hung up the phone. “Ya it's fine, let's go!”

“I have my car here, so you don't need to walk.” That's right; Ashton likes driving a lot and pooled all his money he got for like three birthdays and Christmases for a car. It was second hand, old but it worked. “Onward and upward!”

It wasn't much of a drive since I live so close to the school. Once we got inside, we headed for the stairs to my little section of the house. Ashton knew where he was going; I was actually left behind as I removed my shoes.

When I finally caught up with him, he was standing beside the room with all my parent's stuff in it. “What are you doing?” The door was open, and the huge mess that is the room was evident.

“You've made a huge mess out of this room since last time I was here.”

I huffed. “I've had to find some stuff in it, and it's not like anyone goes inside anyways.” I grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him away. “Let's go play games or something.”

“Why don't we clean this up?” Ashton offered. I just stared at him. “Come on it won't be that bad.” He took my hand and dragged me into my room. I guess I'm cleaning up the mess I made.

You know those messes where it's so messy you need to make it messier before it gets any cleaner. Yep, it got that bad. When my Aunt got home, she started to get mad until Ashton apologized and explained it was all his idea.

“You have a lot of junk in here.” Ashton threw himself onto the floor against a cabinet. We had been cleaning for close to 2 hours. I think he was finally growing tired of cleaning, which is good for me. “What was your brother like Noah?”

The question caught me off guard completely. I sat there silent, staring at him. He wiped off a picture of Ryan's elementary commencement ceremony. The whole family was all dressed up, and I was getting a huge hug from my older brother.

“Ryan was a great older brother...” I thought about the times I spent with him. They were all happy except one... “He made sure his little brother was never picked on or hurt. Ryan's first priority was me, even above himself.”

“Sounds pretty awesome. My big brother never liked to hang out with me. Always had 'something better' to do.” Ashton made a face and shrugged. “Now he's off to college, and I don't see him anymore. I'm glad your brother was cool, though.”

“Thanks.” I lowered my head. As much as the happy memories want to surface there was only one that would come to mind. And it was never the happy one.

Ashton looked at me. “Do you want to talk about him? Like, tell me about what he was like to grow up with. If you want to talk about it.”

“There was this one time when I was 10 Ryan, and I was in Drumheller we lost track of our parents, but he never let me realize it until he found them.”

Past times:

“Ryan, it's a T-Rex!” A 10-year-old Noah ran up to touch the display in front of him.

Ryan quickly grabbed his hand, just in time. “Hey, we don't touch them right?” Noah looked at his older brother. Older by just two years, Ryan was very mature for his age.

The younger brother grinned to his older brother“ Sorry I forgot.” Ryan chuckled and took a look around the room. “Where's mom and dad?” Noah asked his brother.

“They...” Without any knowledge of where their parents are, Ryan acted calmly and replied to his impatient little brother. “Just taking a look at another display, they can see us.”

Taking a gamble on Noah's excitement, Ryan hoped his little brother would trust him. If he does take a look, he wouldn't be able to see his parents anywhere. The siblings made their way through the museum.

Noah would go from one display to the next never taking a look at anything else. He was having a blast learning about all the different creatures that lived on the earth millions of years ago.

Ryan spent most of his time looking around the room for their parents. Just as they were reaching the end, he finally saw them. Ryan gave them a huge wave, relief spreading across their faces.

“There's mom and dad!”

Not even noticing how long it's been since he last saw them. “Dad look at this one!” Ryan quickly mentioned that Noah hadn't noticed they were gone. Their father listened to every word that Noah told him.

Ryan and his mother sat there looking at father and son bond. “Noah didn't even stop to take a look for us?”

Ryan shook his head. “I kept distracting him so he wouldn't get stressed out. It wouldn't have been great for Noah to get worried too.”

The arm of a mother wrapped around the shoulders of her son. “You're a great older brother Ryan. Noah is so lucky to have someone like you looking out for him. I'm so proud of you.”

Skylar's POV

Greyson and I had just finished doing... well that. We were both lying in my bed, naked as the day we were born. The only thing covering us was my blanket. Greyson was still recovering and breathing hard.

I had pulled out my phone and found a message from Nathan on it.

Nathan – Hey, you've talked to a Tre on Grindr right?
Me – Ya like once a while ago why?
Nathan – Just wondering, has anyone named Carter on there?
Me – Nope! But if they do I'll let you know first thing!
Nathan – Thanks, Sky!

Greyson snuggled up to me. “That was amazing; you're the best top ever.”

I rolled my eyes. “All because I'm the only guy who's topped you doesn't mean that I'm the best ever.” He shifted his snuggling to tell me he didn't care. “I'm going to go on Grindr, okay?”

“Sure, tell me about it, though.” And I did. I described every picture that came up. Even ones that were just a guy's belly. Greyson enjoyed every single description I gave. “You're crazy, why are you still looking at them?”

“I'm looking for Tre again.”

Greyson placed his chin on my chest and looked right in my eyes. “How come you're looking for him?”

“Nathan was asking if I had seen him on here in a while.” I let out a sigh, “No luck, though, he's nowhere to be seen.”

“Doesn't Nathan have Grindr too?” I shrugged. “Oh well, I'm sure Nathan will be fine. Skylar... I want to take you on a blind date!”

“I have you as a boyfriend, why should I go on a blind date?” I gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Greyson gave off a childish smile. “No silly, I want to put a blindfold on you and go on a date with you. So you and I can have the same experience. Mom or dad can accompany us, so we don't get into any serious trouble.”

“I actually like that idea Grey! It's definitely a date!” Reaching out I turned off the lights and snuggled up close to Greyson. “It's time for bed, good nighty night!” Greyson was out like a light. Meanwhile, I stayed awake for a little while longer.

How could I sleep when I had snuggles to enjoy?

Chapter End.