Out of a Dream - 1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

My name is Josh Corin, and this story revolves around me (you know, like the universe does?) and the guy I fell in love with my sophomore year of highschool. You'll figure it out as you read. I guess you’d like a description of me, right? Too bad! You’ll find out more as you read.

I woke up and got dressed on first day of school. Uniforms suck; khaki pants and a navy polo (tucked in, of course) were standard. I grabbed my book bag, ID, and saxophone and headed out the door towards my car. It wasn't anything special, just an old Dodge Spirit with hella good gas mileage. I loaded up and headed for school, waving to my mom on the way out.

Anyone who’s ever driven one will tell you that those Spirits do NOT turn on a dime. I nearly hit some idiot that pulled out in front of me at a four-way.

I pulled up in the parking lot by the band hall and grabbed my schedule off of a table on the breezeway. Exactly what I expected: Band, Algebra II, AP World History, Comp Health, Chemistry, and English II. I thought it would just be another normal year. Girls hitting on me and everyone wondering why I turned them all down. A year of listening to my guy friends’ talk about how hot such and such girl is, while I secretly had no idea what they were talking about (what is the obsession with breasts?!). More sneaking glances at guys and having no one to talk to.

Everything went according to program (like everything at this school tends to go “according to program”) until fourth block. Coach Woody taught Health, and he didn’t really care what you did or talked about. Fun class, one of the few that didn’t really have to stick to the aforementioned program. I walked in and picked a desk with a bent back so I could lie back in my chair. Nick sat to my right, and an Asian girl and a petite framed, red-haired girl were to my left. Crystal and Courtney were in the front right hand corner of the room. Joshodrick sat two seats ahead of me. A slender framed and built boy with long cut black hair and soft blue eyes came in and sat in the desk behind me. Blue eyes are too often sharp, incisive as if they will cut through you; his were the other extreme, being open and welcoming. He was the person who got a second glance. There was something special about him. I couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was, though. Wait! He was hot, I was gay. I was starting to see the special now.

Coach Woody came into the room and called role. Coach Woody doesn’t just call role, though, he’s too annoying to do it that way. Suffice to say that when he calls your name, everyone will know it from then on from the dumb questions he asks. My name was still Josh (“What happened to your hair? Did you get in a fight with a smurf and lose? It’s BLUE!”) I found out that the red-haired girl's name was Brittany (“Do you us Elmer’s glue in your hair to get it that way?”), the Asian girl's name was Ling (“Can you make those paper birds?”), and the boy with black hair's name was Wyatt (“Shouldn’t you be in the park smoking a doobie?”). I LOVE that name.

I knew Nick pretty well and he seemed to know Wyatt pretty well, so I turned and started talking to Nick, hoping to get to know the new guy.

"What's up, Nick?" I asked, with a grin on my face. Nobody could talk to Nick and not grin; he just had that sort of personality that made you want to smile when he was around.

"Nothin' much, but summer was awesome. Hey, you haven't met Wyatt yet, huh?"

"Well, guess I just did. What's goin' on, Wyatt? My name's Josh."

Wyatt flashed perfect teeth and said, "Nice to meet you". He put out a hand for me to shake. His cool, smooth skin slid against mine, and I knew I shivered for the briefest moment. Nick gave me an odd look, so I changed the subject.

“At least this is sex-ed, not too boring." I said. I'm really good at pretending I'm not gay around other guys. I'm a good actor, what can I say? Aren’t all gay guys, for a while at least? Nick laughed and Wyatt smiled at me.

"All right, we're going to start the first unit: first aid", said Coach Woody, breaking up our conversation. Damn him.

As his talk drew on, my thoughts were elsewhere. What was up with the doobie line he used on Wyatt earlier? I smoke weed. Hey, I never said I was a good boy. I didn't ask, but I had a really strong suspicion that Wyatt did too. It kinda freaked me out that the teacher knew we smoked, but then I realized something. He probably smoked it too. After all, what else could you do in Tylertown?

We got down to business and did a study guide of the chapter. I'm a bit of a know-it-all, but I don't rub it in people's faces. I had an IQ of one-sixty-something when I was five years old, so by test standards I'm a certified genius. So, I didn't even have to crack a book to do my study guide. If I ever have to study seriously, everyone else is probably going to fail. Wow, that sounded just a little bit arrogant, didn’t it?

As the class flew by and we did our study guides, I looked at Wyatt more and more often. Sure, we were working together along with Nick to finish the study guide we were assigned, but I was surprised that no one noticed.

I take that back, Nick did give me a funny look one time, but I crossed my eyes, stuck my tongue out, and looked back down at my paper. Five seconds later I was looking out of the corner of my eye at Wyatt again.

I couldn’t help it! He was adorable! Well, I think so anyway. Plus, I mean, you can’t actually SEE him, so you can only judge from what I tell you. You just have to take my word for it, don’t you? Oh, the power of being the author of the story! Quake in fear, mortal readers! I will rule you!

“So, what are y’all doing after school?” Wyatt asked. I looked at Nick expectantly. We used to hang around a lot last year after school. Over the summer, though, we sort of lost touch. I guess it happens to a lot of people that way. It wasn’t that anything happened; it was more that nothing happened, and we grew apart.

“I have to go to work right after school. They’re shorthanded today, and they’ll definitely have problems with the after-school rush.” Nick said. I think he worked at Sonic… or was it Hardees? Maybe McDonalds or Burger King? Some fast food place close to the school, I know that much!

“I’ve got absolutely nothing planned. Figured I’d just go home since there’s nowhere to go.” I said.

“Well, wanna find something to do? I need to kill some time after school until my parents get home.” He said. He must’ve realized what he said needed further explanation, because he started again. “I forgot my keys at home. Can’t really get in the door until they get home.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. What do you wanna do to kill time?” I asked him.

“Well, we could,” Wyatt was cut off. Coach Woody always picked the best times to start talking. Didn’t I damn him once today already? He’s getting past his quota.

So the school day came to a close with me in the parking lot waiting on Wyatt. I waved big at him across the lot when I saw him coming close. It was easy to catch his attention, and his head snapped my way. I liked the way he kind of locked on to me, like he was really just looking at only me. It made me feel kind of important, you know?

“So, wanna go join the boy scouts?” I asked. Wyatt raised an eyebrow.

“You really wanna do that?”

“Sure! It’ll kill time! And what’s better than helping old ladies across the street?!” I asked, enthused. I broke down and started laughing at him. Have you ever started hanging out with someone you think you’ll get along great with, then all of a sudden there’s a huge dividing difference betwixt the two of you? Yeah, that was one of those moments. And it cracked me up to no end.

“Get in the car!” I yelled at him playfully. We hopped in my old car, and I turned on the CD player. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly a CD player. It was more of a portable CD player attached to one of those tape deck things that you can put in your car and play your CDs… okay, you know what I mean, right?

About fifteen minutes later we were at my house playing video games like crazy. Super Mario World kept us occupied for a couple of hours steady. What, you think you’re better than Mario? Mario could whoop your candy ass! I still have my original Super Nintendo, and it’s still one of the best game systems ever.

I turned and was only semi-nervous as I asked “Are you cool?” as I made the classic smoking gesture with my thumb and forefinger. Wyatt’s eyes lit up.

“I’m so cool when I go to hell the fucker’s gonna freeze over.” He said. I smiled and dug in my happy box. My happy box is the box on top of my dresser with the padlock on it as a just in case. I managed to come out with a packed pipe and a lighter, which I handed to Wyatt in exchange for the controller.

Several coughs later, he said “Thanks, man. That’s some fire.” I shook my head.

“Nah, that’s some hydro.”

“No wonder I’m so stoned.” Mario fell off the cliff a lot more often after that, but we were too busy laughing at the funny face he made when he fell to really care.

When five o’clock rolled around, we went to take him home. I gawked at his house for a second before I caught myself. He was definitely one of the more well off kids. A two-story brick house in Tylertown was sort of rare.

Later that night, while I slid into sleep, I thought about Wyatt. Oh yeah, there was a definite crush going on. Too bad he was probably straight. He’d make a good friend, at least.