Max and Josh - 3. Decisions

Disclaimer: This story includes sexual and romantic situations between consenting individuals. Any allusion to illicit or illegal activity, sexual or otherwise, is used only for enhancement of the story line and not promotion thereof. Remember AIDS, HIV and other STDs are a very real threat, please always practice safe sex.

I can prove copyright on this story so please don't copy or remove this story for personal use without my permission.
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Max and Josh 03: Decisions.

Max was right. It had only been four days since his forcible outing in Fleets class but every person in the school knew about it.

Wherever he went in the school he saw people talking in small groups and then breaking up when he came close enough to hear what they were saying.

The girls that used to eye him in the hallways had taken to giggling while pointing him out to their friends. The treatment he got from the guys of the school was little better. While most of them he saw would merely turn their heads when they saw him a few had come up to him and questioned him about the rumor, but no matter how many times he told them the rumor wasn't true they ended up walking away looking unconvinced. One group of guys from the football team had cornered him in a bathroom after lunch on Thursday and threatened to beat him to a pulp if they caught him looking at them.

One guy who was doing his best to further the rumors was Tom Moure. Tom was built a lot like Max, tall and muscled. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes. Max would have found him attractive if he wasn't such a dick.

While Tom hadn't said anything to his face or verbally attacked him during any of the classes they had together he still did his part by telling everyone he could that the rumors about Max were true.

Tom was also known to be the resident queer basher of the school; anyone who he knew was gay or even suspected was, he made his target. He had tortured one guy so bad in their freshmen year that he eventually left school. Last Max had heard he was being home schooled.

Max wasn't very worried about Tom till he found out that he had decided not to play football that year like he normally did but instead had joined the weightlifting team, for which Max had tryouts for that afternoon.

Max was more worried over that than almost anything else. He knew that by now the Coach had most likely heard the rumors about him, and if he hadn't he was sure Tom would be more than willing to tell him and the rest of the lifting team. Either way he was sure that Coach Mc'Cayhe was going to be less than fair during his tryout routine.

By some miracle though it seemed as if Josh and Frank hadn't noticed the rumors or the strange behavior he was getting from the rest of the school. Neither of them had mentioned anything about it and hadn't been around when he had been cornered or interrogated by some of the other students. He just prayed that whatever force was keeping them oblivious kept going till things calmed down.

"Max . . . Max are you listening to me?" Fay was waving her hand in front of his face.

He had been staring at the formula on the blackboard instead of mixing the chemicals that Fay was reading him off of her notes. Chem. Lab was their last class of the day.

"What, Oh, Sorry, What goes in next?" Max asked looking for the vials that had been sitting in front of him.

"Don't worry about it. I finished the formula while you were in la la land. What were you thinking about anyway?" She asked as she stuffed her books and notes into her bag.

"Oh, I was just thinking about the . . . uh . . . tryouts for the weight lifting team this afternoon." He told her not meeting her eye.

He had really been thinking about coming clean with Josh and Frank. Since his attempts at discouraging the rumors weren't working he thought it would be better to tell them before they found out from someone else.

"You should tell them you know, it'll be better coming from you than them finding out from some rumor." She said in a hushed voice.

"Tell Who what?" He said in a wood-be calm voice as they left the room and started toward Fay’s locker. He knew damn good and well what she meant.

"Max you know what I mean. You can't hide forever, it's all over the school and it is bigger than before. Your cheerleaders can't discourage it this time. Eventually you'll have to come out." She told him as she started exchanging stuff she would need for homework from her locker to her bag.

As much as he hated to admit it, he knew she was right. He wouldn't be able to hide much longer.

If the news had traveled as far as they thought, by the following Monday he'd be out even if he didn't say a word.

He left Fay at her locker to go to the gym to get in a few laps before he had his tryouts. While he didn't expected to be alone, he hadn’t expected to see Tom there sitting in the stands watching him.

"Why are you here Moure?" Max asked as he sat down at the bottom of the stands.

"Same as you Calvin. Trying out." He said with a cocky smile.

"Bullshit, I know for a fact that you were on the coach’s reserve list for this year. So I'll ask you again, why are you here?" Max said standing up as Tom made his way from the top of the stands.

"Well a couple of reasons really. One I wanted to see if you would actually show up. Two I wanted to see how the coach was going to treat the fag during his tryout and three I just wanted to kick your ass before you even got the chance."

"Well here's some news for you. One, I showed up. I like the lifting too much to let the Coaches dislike for me keep me from it. Two, let him treat me however he wants because I am not a fag. Three, if you feel like trying your luck with me bring it the fuck on. By the time I'm done with you they'll be scraping your sorry ass off the floor." Max said looking Tom straight in the eye.

"Really, I thought you Wiccans had a vow of passivism." Tom said with a sneer.

"I practice progressive passivism. I won't attack first but if you want to throw a punch be prepared to get your ass kicked." Max said in a cool tone. He didn't care how Tom knew he was a Wiccan.

"Well if you insist." Tom said throwing his fist directly at Max's face.

He was too slow Max side stepped and tripped him up.

"You'll have to do better then that Tommy boy." Max said with a look of concentration on his face as Tom picked himself up off the floor.

He didn't say anything. He just came at him again. He swung to the left side of Max's head. Max blocked, slammed his right fist into Tom's stomach then as Tom clutched his stomach he landed his left hand palm up into Tom's chest.

Tom fell onto his back wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

As he lay there Max bent over him and brought his face up close to Tom's and spoke in a voice barely louder then a whisper.

"What's more humiliating Tommy Boy, the fact that you lost, or that you lost to a queer.” Tom's eyes widened as Max spoke, “That’s right,” he said as Tom locked eyes with him, “I am gay, spread it around, I am done hiding." He said and Tom pushed him away then got up and made for the side door.

Max turned around and sat back down on the stands and buried his face in a towel. He had made up his mind during that short fight; he would tell Josh and Frank over the weekend and get it over with.

He looked up to see Frank and Josh coming toward him.

"Damnit,” he swore to himself, “how much, if anything, did they hear."

"Hey man, you had your tryouts yet?" Josh asked with a strange expression on his face as if he was disappointed, but trying not to show it.

"No, I'm still waiting. They should be in about ten minutes." Max said calmly, it sounded like they hadn't heard anything.

"Cool, so what happened with you and Moure to make you guys throw down like that? We got to see it all." Frank said looking closely at Max.

"You guys didn't hear what we said?" Max asked cautiously not knowing what to say.

"Would I have asked if we had heard?" Frank asked still looking closely at Max.

"He just started talking shit about why I was trying out this year since coach cut me. I guess there was a rumor about it going around. He told me he should just put me out of the running before I had the chance to tryout, so I told him to step up and he did." Max said mixing a bit of truth and lie.

Josh opened his mouth to speak, but as he did the Coach and about ten guys walked into the Gym.

"Calvin, weight room, five minutes." The Coach yelled across the gym.

"Yes sir coach,” Max yelled back, “hey you guys sticking around?" Max asked turning back to the two of them.

"Na man I got to go. I have to meet my dad and a friend of his outside. We're taking some stuff to the dump. I finally talked him into the cleaning out the basement." Frank said with a small laugh.

"Yea man I got to split too, weekly dinner at my grandparents’ house." Josh said looking a little disappointed.

"Damn I was looking forward to celebrating my getting back on the team with my best buds." Max said with a laugh.

"Well you better wait till you get back on the team. You might not make it." Josh said with a faulty serious grin.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence jackass." Max said slugging Josh in the arm.

"Yea well there's no doubt in my mind you'll make it back on the team. So how about we get together tomorrow afternoon and celebrate then." Frank said looking oddly determined for some reason.

"Yea that’s good. Mom's covering the day shift tomorrow so she won't be home till late." Max said taking in Frank's expression, he had never seen Frank look that determined over something, it was as if he was adamant that they come over tomorrow, perhaps Frank had heard something.

It didn't matter if he had, tomorrow Frank and Josh would know the truth and he would deal with it.

"See you later." They said before giving Max a pat on the back for luck.

"Later guys." Max said as he turned to go to the weight room, silently dreading the routine the Coach was going to put him through

* * *

"Have you heard the rumors about Max?" Frank asked as soon as they were out of the School.

"About him being gay, yea I have. They're bullshit." Josh said trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"That’s what I thought at first too, but I have been thinking about it and there is some stuff I've noticed." Frank said looking closely at Josh.

"Like what?" Josh asked his curiosity peaked.

"Well for one, this isn't the first time I have heard rumors. I heard a few over the summer and during last year. Two, he has never, to my knowledge, had a girlfriend, and three, he fought with Moure and he wouldn't chance going up against someone as strong as Max over a rumor. He’d want to be sure." Frank said a little exasperated.

"It doesn't mean anything and even if he is so what." Josh said still not convinced. He had been outside of the gym door at the start of the fight while Frank was still at the other end of the hall messing around with something in his bag when he heard Max tell Tom he wasn't gay and just by the tone of his voice he could tell max was telling the truth. The only way he was going to believe differently was if Max told him himself.

"So what ....SO WHAT, are you telling me it wouldn't bother you if Max was gay?" Frank said looking angry.

"No, it wouldn't. The only thing that would piss me off would be the fact that we have been friends for two years and he didn't tell us ‘cause I thought we were better friends than that." Josh said getting angry himself.

He was lying though. If by a small chance he was gay it would greatly change things, at least for him.

"Well I don't know about you but I am gonna find out." Frank said with the same determined look as before.

"Really, how do plan on doing that. Are you going to snoop around his room looking for evidence or are you going to be straight with him and ask him?" Josh asked with a cocky grin. It was not like Frank to try and find the fact behind a rumor; he normally didn't pay any attention to them.

"I am gonna ask him tomorrow when we go over to his place. That's why I insisted on celebrating then." Frank said sounding like he was calming down.

"Are you serious?" Josh asked in a hard voice.

"Of course I'm fucking serious. I think after all the secrets he's kept from us we have the right to know." Frank said getting angry again.

"What secrets, and how do we have a right to know?" Josh said sounding almost as angry as Frank.

"Like what happened to him in Chicago that he won't even tell us or how he got that scar across his shoulders. And I think we have a right to know because we've been friends so long. I think we have the right to know who we're friends with, don't you?" Frank asked looking curiously up at Josh.

"All right, all right you win. I'm with you, tomorrow we'll find out what’s going on but now I've got to get home. Mom will go spare if we're late for dinner at my grandparent’s house." Josh said looking down at his watch.

"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow. I’ll call Max later to find out what time we're supposed to be there then I'll call and let you know."

"All right man. I'll talk to you later." Josh said as he left for his car, glad that the conversation was over.

* * *

Josh pulled out of the school parking lot that day with his head packed full of the day’s events.

"What if Max is gay?" he thought to himself. It could be both a blessing and a curse. On one side of it he might be able to tell him how he felt about him, maybe they could even hook up. But on the flip side, if he was and he did tell Max how he felt and he didn't feel the same way, what would happen to their friendship?

"Maybe I'd be better off if Max was straight.” He thought to himself. Either way it went he still had to find a way to deal with his feelings.

He was so lost in his thoughts he barely noticed he was home and sitting in the driveway till his mom came up to the window and asked him why he had been sitting in the driveway for ten minutes.

"Oh, Sorry I was thinking, you ready to go?" Josh said trying to change the subject before it got started.

"Honey what’s wrong, and don't tell me it is just Max's tryout this afternoon. I know when there is something serious bothering you." She said in that voice halfway between concerned and demanding that only mother’s can manage.

"There is this person at school I like and I am trying to decide if I should tell them or not." Josh said choosing his words carefully as to not let anything slip.

"Well who is this person? Tell me about it them, do you really like them?" his mom asked quizzically.

"Yea I do, a lot actually, I have for awhile." Josh said a little puzzled that his mom had not replaced the word "them" with "her".

"Well how do they feel about you, do they know you like them?" His mom asked still a bit quizzical.

"Well I've been friends with them for awhile now but they don't know how I really feel about them, and I'm afraid that if I do tell them and they don't feel the same way it'll fuck up our friendship." Josh said not noticing he had cursed.

"Well Hun, I'm not sure what to say. I guess all I can do is to tell you to follow your heart." She said in a mildly depressed tone.

"Yea you may be right mom. Maybe I should just take my chance and give it a shot." Josh said pulling into his grandparents’ driveway.

"Who is this person anyway?” His mom asked as she got out of the car.

Now she had asked the million dollar question. What was he going to tell her? He couldn't tell her it was Max, not now at least.

"Just someone at school. I've decided to tell them and if it goes OK I'll tell you who it is." Josh said hoping she wouldn't question him anymore.

"OK, if that's all I can get it out of you I'll just have to deal with it, and oh, by the way, I don't mind you cursing. Just do it away from the house." She said with a laugh.

The rest of the night was good for Josh. His mom was too caught up talking to his grandmother about the flower shop they were opening together to mention his "crush”. There was no way he would be able to give them the same line he gave his mom.

It wasn't till he got home and heard Franks message on the machine saying they were supposed to meet at Max's place tomorrow at noon that he started to worry. He had made up his mind to tell Max how he felt, if by some small chance he was gay. If he wasn’t, he would just keep his mouth shut.

He laid back on his bed and thought about what he would say to Max if had the chance, and how Max would react if he were to tell him how he felt. He turned over on his side and fell asleep, thoughts of Max filling his head.

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To be continued…..

Well here you are everyone. I hope you like it. If you have any comments, suggestions or criticisms I would love to hear it, email me at: allenarcane88@yahoo.com, drop me a PM, or visit my discussion forum

Thanks to Rush for assisting in editing my story.