Mr. Brightside - 10. Chapter 10

Mr. Brightside

Chapter 10

Jason relaxed back into the deck chair, savoring the cool breeze coming off the lake. He had enjoyed his day at the lake: swimming, using the jet ski, hanging out with his friends from senior year, and eating burgers fresh from the grill. It had been the great end to the summer that Alicia, his hostess, had promised.

Now, however, as twilight fell, he was getting the urge to leave. It was a good hour and half drive back to his family’s farm, some of it through narrow twisting lanes, and he didn’t want to attempt it when too tired. Besides, the rest of the crew was, by this point, increasingly rowdy and well on their way to being drunk.

‘It’s no fun being the only sober person in a house full of drunk people,' Jason thought as he sipped his second and final beer of the day. In the past, though he wasn’t a big drinker, he would have been at least tipsy by this point, planning to crash in the boys' bunk room on the second floor of the lake house. But things had changed; Jason had come to lay the blame for the debacle with Shane at the end of Spring Quarter solely at the feet of a certain Mr. Jack Daniels, and Jason had vowed to never get out of control on booze again.

It had been a difficult vow to keep on some of his social outings, including this one, but for Jason, the feeling of being in control was much more important than the pleasant buzz from cheap beer or whiskey. Besides, today he had a particular reason to make sure he remained firmly in charge of his actions: Thomas McAlpin was at the party, and Thomas McAlpin made him nervous..

Jason’s problem wasn’t that he didn’t like Thomas. Quite the reverse; they weren’t close friends, but Jason had spent some time hanging out with Thomas during his final year at Springfield High. Though Thomas was a year younger, they were both on the football team. And Thomas was something of a local celebrity; hanging out with him was a boost to anyone’s popularity. Besides, he had a sweet ride and plenty of spending money.

Thomas was the son of a Senator, a staunch conservative, who was also quite wealthy from long standing family interests in timber, a huge farm, and natural gas deposits. Since his rise from state legislator to national office, Senator McAlpin and his significantly younger second wife spent most of their time in Washington when they weren’t on the campaign fundraising circuit. Thomas was occasionally called upon to perform his duty as perfect son during important events, campaign commercials, and photo ops, but the Senator felt it read better to his constituents for his son to go to public school and live in the district rather than be labeled a spoiled rich kid attending an exclusive boarding school.

Senator McAlpin had hired some distant relatives, a couple in their fifties who had no children of their own to look after Thomas and manage the house and grounds. Thomas, naturally charismatic and charming, soon had “Cousin” Betty Jane and “Cousin” Cotton eating out of the palm of his hands. Their lax supervision, combined with his incredibly generous allowance and the fancy sports car he had received for his 16th birthday, meant that Thomas managed to have quite a bit of fun, even if he was stuck in rural north Louisiana.

As long as he didn’t get into any real trouble or make the mistake of attracting his dad’s attention, his caretakers cheerfully overlooked his missing of curfews and throwing of frequent parties. As long as his grades remained decent, and his father received word that Thomas was regularly attending church services on Sunday morning and evening, he considered his son was performing his duty.

"After all,” Betty Jane and Cotton agreed, “with the way his parents treat him, he’s practically an orphan. He deserves to have a little fun.”

Most of the citizens of Springfield agreed. In many ways, Thomas was a poor little rich boy, and though he occasionally ran wild, there didn’t seem to be any real harm in him. He may have been spoiled, but he had a ready smile for everybody and could talk to anyone easily. And he had no problem in sharing his generous allowance with others.

In addition, he had a real talent for sports, especially football. Many people were able to overlook the faults of a boy who could score touchdowns. And his father, though respected in the area for his conservative values, wasn’t well liked, so everybody looked the other way when they spotted Thomas getting someone to buy him beer at the liquor store or ignored the rumors that he would sleep with anything on two legs.

Besides, most people really thought the last rumor was exaggerated. It was verifiable, as far as verifying something like that could be done, that Thomas had fooled around with something like three quarters of the cheer leading squad. But surely, the rumor that Thomas wouldn’t let a little something like his partner having a dick stop him from having fun was taking things too far. The rumor that Thomas was bi….most people didn’t really buy that.

Even after someone bluntly asked him during a drunken game of Truth or Dare: “Are you bi?”

“No,” Thomas said proudly, his dark brown eyes twinkling and his grin showing gleaming white against his deep tan. “I’m pansexual….or maybe omnisexual…like Deadpool. I need to Google the difference so I can decide the right term.”

That response had, as Thomas had planned, brought a chorus of laughs. Of course, some of the other guys laughing knew that the answer was actually true. Though none would have dared breath a word of it. If Thomas had fooled around with most of the girls on the cheer leading team, he had also played around with a few of the guys on the football team. One of them was Jason.

It had only happened a couple of times, and it hadn’t been anything serious. A bit of fumbling in the locker room when the two had been the last players there. A bit of horsing around while drinking beer and star gazing deep in the pastures behind Thomas’s house. Jason had enjoyed it, but Thomas pressed for more, and Jason wasn’t prepared for that. Helping a buddy out with a little jacking off was one thing, but a blow job? That was just too gay. But still, Jason remembered how good Thomas had felt, his lean hard muscles pressed against his own, Thomas’s rough hands so different from the feel of a girl’s...

At any rate, their last encounter had been a long time ago, and Jason hadn’t seen Thomas since graduation last spring. Thomas, who himself had graduated this past May, had spent the summer touring Europe with some youth group.

Thomas and Jason spoke briefly at the party earlier in the day; Thomas, in his first social appearance in months, had rounds to make and couldn’t talk long. Jason, however, recognized the look of lust in Thomas’s eye when the younger male appraised him.

“Wow,” Thomas said in his easy drawl. “You’ve been working out, dude. You look great.” And he put his hand on Thomas’s bicep; just for a moment, but long enough that Jason felt a surge of warmth from the touch, a surge that seemed to connect straight to his groin. He stepped back.

“Well,” Jason said. “Not much else to do around here. I’m going to get a Coke.” He hurried away from Thomas, flushed. ‘No more,’ Jason told himself, ‘I’m not doing this again.’ Jason made sure to avoid Thomas the rest of the day, but he would occasionally notice the dark haired boy gazing at him, the same lust in his eyes.

Thomas made sure only Jason noticed the looks in his direction. Thomas was too discreet to risk being caught staring by others. He didn’t mind rumors; rumors, even the most salacious kind, can enhance a reputation. Actually being caught ogling another guy; however, that was a horse of a different color. That was social suicide, not mention what would happen if his father found out. Thomas shuddered at that that thought. So, with effort, Thomas controlled himself.

But ‘damn,’ he thought to himself when Jason took off his shirt before jumping in the lake, 'that boy looks good. I need to get him alone.’

Now, at twilight, Thomas finally got his opportunity to get Jason alone. He, like Jason, hadn’t been drinking much in order to be as alert as possible, unwilling to miss an opportunity for a little fun by being too buzzed to seize his chance. Thomas believed in seizing chances. “Carpe Diem, mutherfuckers!” was his motto.

So when the older chestnut haired boy snagged a beer from an ice chest and headed alone away from the increasingly raucous crowd on the deck to the boat house farther down the shore, Thomas noticed and followed.

From earlier visits, Jason knew that off the loft of the boathouse was a balcony, sheltered and out of view of the main house, that had a great view of the lake. He was growing tired and ready to leave, but wanted a brief bit of quiet to savor the lake, enjoy his second beer, and indulge in some quiet thinking before his drive.

With a sigh of contentment, Jason eased back into one the chairs on the small balcony and watched the sun slip below the trees just visible on the far side of the lake. There were no other houses nearby, so no signs of civilization spoiled the vista. ‘This is the life,’ thought Jason sipping his beer, lost in thought of the coming fall semester.

Jason was so wrapped up in those thoughts that he failed to notice the door opening to his retreat or even hear the soft fall of Thomas’s feet as the black haired boy walked toward him. At Thomas’s soft whisper of greeting, Jason started, spilling most of his beer.

“Sorry,” Thomas giggled at Jason’s shocked, wide eyed expression. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, I swear.”

“Damn, you scared me,” Jason replied, ineffectively wiping at the spilled beer on his shirt with a hand.

“Sorry,” Thomas repeated, dropping into the chair next to Jason’s.

“It’s no big deal. I was still kind of wet from swimming, and I have a dry t-shirt in the car.” Jason, without thinking, pulled the shirt over his head. He didn’t mind the spill, but he didn’t want to wear something reeking of a beer.

When Thomas saw Jason’s naked torso emerging, he involuntarily gasped at the taut, tanned muscles. Hearing the noise and guessing the reason for it, Jason tensed and became wary.

“You know,” Jason said, “I should probably get going.”

“You’re not crashing here tonight?” asked Thomas, disappointed.

“No, I have to work early tomorrow,” Jason said, standing.

Thomas stood, too, and before the other boy could move around the chairs, stepped closer to Jason. Thomas pressed his hands to Jason’s hard, muscular chest.

“Surely you can stay a little longer,” Thomas whispered. He could feel Jason trembling. Thomas slowly reached one hand lower, toward Jason’s groin. Suddenly, Thomas felt Jason’s hand in an iron grip around his wrist, stopping him from achieving his goal.

Jason stepped back, still holding Thomas’s wrist. “Look,” Jason said, “I’m not doing that any more.”

“Come on,” Thomas whispered in his deep, soft voice. He didn’t try to pull his arm from Jason’s grip. He stepped back toward Jason, closing the gap between them once more. “You know you liked it. And just think, I’m going to be at Tech this fall, too. We can keep the fun going.”

“No,” said Jason firmly, dropping Thomas’s wrist, so he could put both hands on the younger boy’s chest and push him back. “That’s all done.”

“Fine,” said Thomas with a pout, flopping back into the deck chair. “Seems a waste though.”

Thomas looked so disappointed, that Jason, oddly flattered by the attempted seduction, paused on his way to the door. After all, Thomas was a lot of fun to hang around when he wasn’t being a horndog. Jason walked back over the other chair and sat down.

“Look,” Jason said, “I’m done with that, but there’s no reason we can’t still be friends, right?”

“Friends with benefits?” Thomas asked hopefully.

“No,” Jason laughed at his persistence, “at least not those kinds of benefits.”

“Okay,” Thomas said, admitting defeat. ‘Still’, he thought, looking at the other guy, ‘I bet once we get to college I can convince him otherwise.’

They chatted for a bit, Jason answering Thomas's questions about university life. Discussing the dorms and life with roommates, Shane was mentioned. Thomas remembered seeing pictures of him on Jason's Facebook.

“What about your cute blond friend? The one you room with. Think he might want a new friend? With benefits?” Thomas was joking, so he was unprepared for the anger that flashed across Jason’s face, visible even in the fading light.

“You want to be friends with me, fine. We can be friends. But stay the fuck away from Shane.” Jason snarled. As he spoke, he rose and left, slamming the door behind him.

Thomas sat there with a stunned look on his face. ‘What the hell just happened…..oh my god,’ he thought, a smile curving over his face. ‘Jason’s jealous of little blondie. Hmmmmmmm this fall ought to be fun,’ he thought.

Thomas pulled out his phone, and quickly located Shane's own Facebook account through Jason's. Shane hadn't posted much this summer, but a quick scan of his photo albums was enough to reassure Thomas that Shane was indeed as cute as he remembered. Furthermore, his posts indicated he was almost certainly a fine, upstanding, young gentleman. And Thomas loved nothing more than corrupting a good little boy, especially one as cute as this.

'Yes, indeed,' Thomas thought as he settled back into his chair and watched the final rays of the dying sun, thinking of himself, Shane, and Jason in various pleasing configurations. 'This fall is going to be something else.'