Living in Surreality - 3. Chapter 3

chapter 3:
: edited by viv :

Jacob felt like a complete idiot, wandering around a strange school for the last twenty minutes, with a sticker that might as well have screamed VISITOR. The word printed in bold red typeface, the date was scrawled in black Sharpie across the top of the sticker in a messy hand. The tacky look was completed by an unreadable signature in the same chicken scratch as the date.

A smile crept across Jacob's face, the sticker plastered to his chest all but forgotten, his eyes finally spying the two people he had been wandering the campus seeking. Matt seemed engrossed in a large text book, his hand scribbling notes as he read. Valerie, on the other hand, seemed completely consumed by her meal and the people around her. Jacob hung back, curious to see the two in their environment. He would have held out longer had he not been nearly knocked over by a large guy.

"Fuckin' watch it," the guy growled, fixing a menacing stare on Jacob.

Jacob was about to point out the fact that he was the one that was trampled, not the other way around, but good sense stopped him. Jacob took a moment to actually look at the young man who nearly ran him down. His head was large with a buzz cut. The thick mass of bone that would have been a head on anyone else collided with the dude's torso without any sign of a neck. The guy even had a crooked nose that only added to the jock look that he screamed. Jacob knew this type too well to do anything more then shrug an apology and head off in the direction of Valerie and Matt. Football, that's what the guy did, Jacob was sure of it. The guy probably even thought he was better then he really was too, just like most high school jocks did.

That little run in convinced Jacob that it had indeed been a shit day, one that had started at five thirty in the morning as Jacob attempted to look his best for his first day. 'First impressions are paramount,' his grandfather had always told him. Had Jacob known that he would spend be spending four hours alone in a conference room fighting with an aptitude test, he really wouldn't have tried that hard to look good this morning. At the very least, the school should have mentioned their plans. So he had spent the last school year in an 'alternative education school', that didn't mean he was dumb. It only meant that the school board in Sacramento had agreed; a traditional school probably wasn't the best environment for him.

Jacob pushed that particular disappointment aside as he flung the nearly empty backpack, which had been hanging low on shoulders, on the table between Matt and Valerie, acting if it were just any other day in school.

Matt lifted his head with a scowl ready to yell, but his words caught in his throat; the frown on his face melting into to a happy smile, the moment his eyes collided with the sparkling light brown pair that smiled back at him.

"You're here!" Matt basically shouted, whether he was unwilling or unable to hide his excitement, Jacob couldn't tell.

"I am," Jacob smile back. "Well sorta, not really enrolled until they get the test results back." Jacob frowned as he thought about the placement test.

"Test?" Valerie's ears perked at the word.

"Yeah, they made me take a placement test to make sure I won't be behind or something like that," Jacob smiled at Valerie.

"How did you do?" she inquired.

"Aced it," Jacob laughed easily before shrugging. "I don't know some of it was easy, other stuff was hard. Then there was the stuff I've never heard of before, but I think that's what it was for." Jacob answered honestly.

"Sounds boring," Valerie said, offering an apologetic smile.

"Yep. Four hours of boring frustration," Jacob confirmed Valerie's suspicions.

"That sucks," Matt offered feeling sorry for Jacob's ordeal.

Jacob wanted to tell him that he would have done it ten times over if it meant the opportunity to see Matt sporadically throughout the day. He held that thought back though, offering Matt grateful thanks over his apparent concern instead.

"Listen guys, I should go, I really shouldn't be out here," Jacob frowned. "See you after school?" he questioned hopefully.

"You should get out before they release the hounds," Valerie sounded sarcastically. "Matty and I will catch up with you after school," she finished, smiling at Jacob.

"See ya' later Jacob," Matt offered with a sorry expression.

"Count on it," Jacob beamed in Matt's direction while retrieving his abandoned bag from the table. Thinking as he did, that perhaps he was physically a little too close to Matt, Jacob's shoulder brushed along Matt's chest. If Matt had a problem with Jacob's invasion of his personal space, he said nothing, only smiled when their gaze caught.

Matt appeared on Jacob's doorstep after school, he brought with him Valerie's apologies. She had completely forgotten that she had to go to the shop and write checks for her dad that afternoon. Matt almost didn't recognize the house that he stepped into. The house felt more spacious with out the stacks of boxes that had littered its interior just yesterday morning.

Joanne agreed in her accomplishment, pouring a glass of lemonade after Matt had commented on her progress.

"That one over there is no help what so ever," Joanne joked as she slid the glass across the smooth dark soap stone counter offering it to Matt in a way he couldn't refuse. "He spent the night day dreaming in his room, and then messed around at the school all morning. Can you believe it took him four hours to take a simple test?" she quipped.

"It was timed," Jacob interjected. "Not like I could have ducked out in thirty minutes, I would have, trust me."

"When will you know about school?" Matt asked, his attention directed at Jacob.

"Mrs. Martin, in the school office, called this afternoon. She said Jacob appeared to be at normal eleventh grade levels, if not a little advanced," Joanne beamed with the last statement. "But that was just from her quick once over. The essay portion still needed to go out for grading this afternoon, but we set an appointment to set a class schedule on Friday morning. If everything checks out, Monday should be Jacob's first day."

"Cool," Matt said, taking a sip of his lemonade, "You have that list of classes Val and I gave you right?"

"Yup," Jacob grinned patting his front pocket. "It did me absolutely no good today though."

Joanne eyed the two scheming youths with a suspicious smile, yet didn't pursue the topic they had just brought up. She ushered them from the kitchen instead, reminding them that they were young and needed to do something other than hanging out with an old woman.

The meeting Friday morning went easily. Most of the classes that Valerie and Matt had 'suggested' were, in fact, available. Mrs. Martin even suggested that Jacob join the schools football team, as he was on his last high schools JV and Varsity teams. She couldn't guarantee him any play time, but thought it was an option he might be interested in. It didn't take Jacob long to nip that particular option before it had matured into a plan.

Valerie and Matt were both very pleased with the schedule once they managed to pry it from Jacob's grip. In his defense, Jacob didn't see how it was a fair fight, two against one. He did however, enjoy the brief wrestling match that ended with Valerie shouting her triumph. Scrutinizing the won slip of paper, Valerie abandoned the two boys who lay on the floor in a twisted knot.

Valerie called out the classes Jacob had in common with either her or Matt as the boys dislodged themselves. Valerie quickly memorized Jacob's class schedule, just as she had done with Matt's.

"World History with Hunt," Valerie said out of nowhere still studying the schedule. "Matt's in that class, should be fairly easy," she glanced in Jacob's direction. "The book is big though," Valerie noted, having to find at least one flaw.

"She's not a bad teacher," Matt whispered to Jacob. "Mostly reading assignments and watching recorded History Channel programming. That's until we get into the civil war. Well, to hear her tell it, the war of northern aggression," Matt laughed. "She was born and raised in Charleston, and when she goes on about the civil war, her brother comes in dressed in full Confederate uniform, which, usually means he's barefoot."

"I covered the civil war in the fifth grade," Jacob said, noting the abnormality in her world history curriculum.

Matt nodded his head in understanding. "Her brother comes to visit every April. So she takes the week to teach us about the civil war again. I think she just likes showing off her brother when he's all dressed up. It's neat though, I guess if she could get British soldiers, she would at some point," Matt pondered.

"Lit Comp with Higgins," Valerie sniggered. "Well at least I won't suffer her alone," Valerie sighed, looking at Jacob apologetically. "Be prepared for a Danielle Steele dissertation, you will be reading a Jane Austin novel as a class project."

"She thinks Mrs. Higgins is a boring hag," Matt whispered, answering the blank expression on Jacob's face.

"She is," Valerie said, confirming Matt's whisper.

Jacob laughed at the look of dislike that painted Valerie's face.

"I don't know about Frost though," Valerie commented about the teacher Jacob had for sociology. "I've never had him; you Matt?"

Matt thought for a second before shaking his head, stating that he had never had the man.

"Her," Jacob clarified, grinning that he knew something about the school that his two friends didn't. "Mrs. Martin suggested I take the class, its Mrs. Frost's first year teaching, so I figured why not. We both can go through this first year stuff together."

Valerie rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to the piece of paper.

"You'll have Matt in Coach Jacovy's Algebra II class," Valerie continued. "Both Matt and I are in Spanish II with Mrs. Alvarez, and we all share sixth period Biology with Mr. Carter. Looks like you'll be stuck with us from lunch on," Valerie grinned triumphantly.

Jacob had learned one thing about Matt and Valerie's friendship in the last week, she was definitely the dominate one. It was usually her who took initiative in deciding what they would be doing with their time, while Matt just readily agreed to do much of anything that involved staying away from his house for extended periods of time, even if that meant schlepping around at the King house next door. Jacob wasn't exactly sure what his role in their friendship was going to be. He knew he could be forceful; it was he who was the alpha male of sorts back home in Sacramento. Here though, he was alright with letting the girl decide for him. The act was, in some way, liberating, that and he wasn't averse to doing nothing more then being around the pair, included in their friendship.

The following day Valerie brought a stack of year books along with her and Matt. The following three hours were spent schooling Jacob who was cool and who was not. Just which teachers he could get away messing around with, and which teachers would crack down at the slightest form of dissention in their ranks. Jacob found all of Valerie's embarrassing gossip about fellow students interesting, if not a little trivial.

That was, until she flipped the page in her yearbook and a smug face was staring back at him, the guy in the picture looking more than satisfied with himself, much as he had seemed when he trampled Jacob the previous Monday. It would have been a lie for Jacob to say that the picture didn't disturb him, it did. Not so much the picture and its' subject, but the blazing pink heart that surrounded the picture. Even the post script signed in a different hand, more angular than Valerie's voluptuous writing, which simply said 'luv ya, J'.

Matt was the first to notice Jacob's light smile erode into a deep frown and Valerie caught on not long after. Jacob felt like screaming, wondering why she would have anything to do with such a smug asshole, especially that type if anything. He didn't though, not feeling it was his place to question her relationships with anyone else.

"I dated him for a little while," Valerie explained in a small voice.

Jacob set his jaw as he cast a narrow disapproving glare at Valerie.

"I said dated, past tense," Valerie clarified, becoming annoyed at having to defend herself against Jacob's disapproval.

"He's an ass," Jacob stated evenly, issuing Valerie a challenging look.

"How would you know?" she retorted, her voice rising with anger.

"You mean other than how he plowed into me last Monday and then had the balls to tell me to watch where I was going?" Jacob challenged.

"Oh," Valerie replied, her defenses deflating. "That sounds like Jay alright," she sighed. "It was at the end of school last year," Valerie offered as a feeling of shame for the relationship washed over her. "He was sweet at first, acted like I was the only girl in school. Jay made me feel special," Valerie smiled at the memory that caused a nervous tingling at the base of her belly. "Then he started picking on Matt, calling him things I wouldn't repeat in polite company." Valerie's cheeks flushed as the feeling in her stomach melted. The familiar feeling was replaced with hate. Not hate for Jay, where it really belonging, but a distaste for herself. "I stayed with him though," Valerie swallowed, not liking herself with that admission. "It wasn't until I saw him kissing Wendy Carmichael, that I figured out he was an ass."

"What did he say about Matt?" Jacob demanded a little too forcefully as Valerie visibly recoiled from his question.

Valerie shook her head, refusing to answer.

"You'll hear it for yourself on Monday," Matt answered, his silence broken. "You would have seen it first hand last Monday if you had stuck around for about five more minutes," Matt continued with a sarcastic chuckle.

Jacob didn't care for that answer one bit, nor did he care for how his friends wouldn't just tell him what Jay was saying. He did however find out the following Monday just as Matt claimed he would.

The day started just as any other school day would, save for the fact it was Jacob's first day and he was once again made to feel like an ass, forced to introduce himself in almost every class. The ordeal in Mrs. Hunt's first period World History class wasn't bad. Her charming southern accent and accommodating smile made the experience tolerable. Matt's encouraging smile only helped the situation. The real trouble began in second period Lit. Comp. where Mrs. Higgins' overly doted on the fact that they had a new arrival, making Jacob give a brief history of himself, then requesting the same in the form of an essay due by the end of the week.

It was as he walked down the rows of small desks, fully preparing to sit next to Valerie, that a whispered comment sent the entire class into a fit of hushed giggles.

"Pillow-biter"

The comment stopped Jacob in his tracks as it seemed to reverberate around the claustrophobic classroom. Jacob's eyes locked on Valerie's, who could only offer him an apologetic grimace as he felt the color rise in his cheeks. Unable to stand looking at the face she was making, he looked to the left, three seats over sat Jay Henderson; Valerie's ex, sniggering with a menacing smile, watching Jacob carefully.

Figuring that rushing the asshole on the first day of school surely would be less then a stellar impression to make, Jacob shrugged the comment off and sat down in the open seat next to Valerie and prepared for class.

That little episode had ruined the remainder of the day for Jacob. He filled with regret every time the bell rang indicating an end to one class and the beginning of another. Fearing that there would be a replay of what Jay had done in second period. Fortunately, it was an isolated incident, not that it didn't cause a few hushed whispers as he was forced to introduce himself in his remaining classes.

Jacob hoped to find quiet at lunch, there he would be with Matt and Valerie, and be comfortable. That hope was shattered as Jay Henderson sauntered up to the table completely full of himself. After a few well aimed taunts in Jacob and Matt's direction, his attention turned to Valerie.

"How are you doing Val?" Jay asked smiling.

"I was doing okay," Valerie turned, offering a crooked grin and an innocent smile. "Now I'm just feeling nauseous."

"Might want to get that checked," Jay countered smugly, fully understanding her intensions.

"Isn't there a cheerleader you should be groping somewhere?" Matt inquired.

"Did someone ask you to talk faggot?" Jay spat at Matt.

Jacob began to push himself off the bench, first day or not, he was going to teach this dick some manners. If it took him getting suspended for breaking Jay's nose then so be it, at least he'd be satisfied in the end. That was Jacob's intention until Matt's hand, which landed on his shoulder, urged him back into his seat on the bench. Matt couldn't however push away the cold stare Jacob leveled at Jay.

"That's what I thought," Jay sniggered watching the way Matt urged Jacob back into his seat. "Valerie you have my number, give me a call, we'll go out, or stay in. I'm flexible," he offered finally before leaving.

Jacob watched Jay as he swaggered away overly confidant, making a promise to himself that he would knock Jay off what ever pedestal he thought he resided on, eventually. Matt quietly went back to eating what was left of his meal, upset that Jacob had to witness Jay's treatment firsthand. Valerie studied Jacob for a moment after she had rolled her eyes at Jay's parting comment to her. She couldn't figure out if it was her honor Jacob was trying to defend or not.

"You shouldn't let him get to you," the words were stolen from the tip of Valerie's tongue by a slender guy with dark, wiry, short cropped hair who sat a few seats down from where Jacob stood. He had a wide, soft nose and a complexion Jacob considered looking like weak chocolate milk. "You must be Jacob," he offered a wide smile, yet made no effort to get up from where he sat. "Matt said you would be here today. I'm John."

"Hey," Jacob offered with a nod his head in John's direction. "Why shouldn't I let him get to me?" Jacob almost demanded.

"Well," John began.

"The same shit happens every now and again," a new voice interrupted before John could respond. "Sometimes the comments are aimed at Matt, sometimes at the rest of us."

Jacob's attention turned from John to the guy who now chose to speak up. His brown hair was cut in a ceaser type style; the brown bangs gelled down in spikes that forced attention downwards on his sparkling green eyes.

"He's just jealous of any guy that hangs around with Valerie, Matt especially," green eyes continued thoughtfully, before tossing what remained of a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth; brushing the crumbs from his fingers along his pant legs.

"Jacob, that's Deacon," Matt offered in way of simple introduction.

At the sound of his name, green eyes, or Deacon, as Jacob was now aware, nodded his head simply, his mouth still chewing cookie to respond verbally.

"My name is Nathan," the last guy in their little group responded, brushing a wild tangle of reddish brown curls out of his hazel eyes.

"Hi," Jacob nodded in Nathan's direction.

"Welcome to the group," Nathan offered. "This is the core there are a few more who wander over depending on the day, but it's usually Matt, Valerie, John, Deacon, and me everyday. I guess we can add you to that list now too huh?" he finished with a welcoming smile that Jacob returned effortlessly.

"Looks like it..." Jacob grinned, taking the spot on the bench next to Matt.

"Figured as much," John spoke again, "It's only your first day and it's the second time we've seen you at lunch."

"Yeah," Jacob commented with an embarrassed chuckle. "I thought last Monday would have been my first day but they wanted me to take some tests."

"So where are you from?" Deacon asked, noticing Jacob didn't have anything to eat. "Do you want a cookie or something?" he asked concerned.

"No thanks," Jacob replied. He was about to tell the group where he was from when Valerie offered the answer up.

"Sacramento," she answered shortly, acting bothered with Deacon. "You'll have to excuse D," she turned on Jacob. "All he eats are those cookies and a Dr. Pepper, never gains an ounce, and never gets a zit on that pretty face of his. It's all rather disturbing," she continued with a smile in Deacon's direction.

Deacon laughed openly at Valerie's display of mock indignation.

"No girls hang out?" Jacob asked noticing how the group was decidedly male.

"My girlfriend is usually here," John offered. "She's got detention today though," he continued his brow furrowing.

"I don't like competition," Valerie offered, her eyes wandering over her harem. "Other girls stop by every now and then, they just don't understand that everyone here is my property." Demonstrating her point, Valerie flopped an open palm in Deacon's direction. Her hand was quickly filled with Deacon's last chocolate chip cookie. "See," Valerie said, winking as she bit into the treat.

The remaining twenty minutes of lunch passed all too quickly for Jacob's liking. The group was wrapped in idle conversation about classes, cars and, girls. Valerie took the opportunity to comment on nearly all, especially when she relentlessly teased Matt about Jackie Spencer. Nathan, Deacon, and John wouldn't be denied the prospect of ribbing Matt as they all gleefully joined in. Matt took the playful teasing alright before he refused to discuss the girl any further.

"Jackie Spencer?" Jacob questioned no one in particular.

"She's a girl that has been stalking Matt from a distance for the last three years," Nathan offered. "Jackie's too shy to approach him or anything, not that her liking him is a big secret."

Matt's cheeks burned as he found his notebook and began to open it, hoping it would offer an escape from the conversation. His getaway was interrupted with a nudge of Jacobs elbow.

"So ask her out," Jacob challenged with a cheeky grin.

Matt looked up from his notebook shocked at Jacob's suggestion. The table around them had grown silent, everyone's eyes fixed on Matt waiting for an answer.

Matt's jaw dropped to offer some sort of dismissal, as it did the sound of an electronic bell resounded throughout the campus signaling an end to the lunch period.

"Aww' man," Nathan laughed, again pushing unruly locks from his eyes. "Saved by the bell, again. I'm beginning to think you've got some sort of panic button that triggers that damn thing,"

Matt offered a knowing grin and chuckled, shoving the notebook back into his backpack. Without giving his tormentors as much as a get lost. Matt hoisted the bag onto his shoulders and walked off. Not so quickly that Valerie and Jacob couldn't catch up with him, just quickly enough to escape the line of fire.

"So?" Jacob prodded Matt as he caught up to Matt.

"So?" Matt responded, trying to avoid the question Jacob was asking.

"Why don't you get with this Jackie Spenser girl?" Jacob fired back quickly, undaunted.

Matt offered a weak shrug in response. Jacob raised an eyebrow as he appraised Matt's seemingly dejected demeanor. Jacob's questioning look didn't go unnoticed by Matt who was watching Jacob from the corner of his eye.

"She's not my type, I guess," Matt sighed.

"No?" Jacob remarked, surprised.

"No," Matt asserted, offering Jacob a sly smile, thinking he was satisfied with the answer.

He couldn't have been further from the truth.

"So what's your type then?" Jacob inquired, already having an idea of how Matt was going to answer.

"I dunno'," Matt shrugged falling right into Jacob's trap.

"Am I your type?" Jacob asked with a wide grin.

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, turning a panic stricken gaze on Jacob searching for some sign that he was joking. Jacob held Matt's gaze with as serious a face as he could muster before a goofy grin replaced the serious gape. Laughing, Jacob threw an arm around Matt's neck, pulling his companion into a headlock.

"Dude I wish I had a camera, that face was priceless," Jacob hooted.

"Damn it," Valerie huffed as she caught up with the two. "It's about time you two waited for me," she exasperated. "Why'd ya' run off anyway?" Valerie demanded, her hands set on her hips, foot threatening to tap.

"Matt has a crush on me," Jacob winked as he released Matt.

Valerie rolled her eyes dramatically at Jacob's assertion. "Whatever, save the horse play for home, we're going to be late for class," Valerie chuckled lightly before leading the way to Mrs. Alvarez's Spanish II class.

Spanish class flew by, as did sixth period biology with Mr. Carter. Biology however, didn't pass with out Jacob noting that Matt wanted to check out his biology, resurrecting his joke from earlier. Matt just laughed and agreed that vivisection would be intriguing. The comment had Jacob cringing away from Matt in mock fear. Valerie was left in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. So much so, that Mr. Carter cautioned her twice and threatened to send her to the office before she actually calmed down. The threats were for nothing, fifteen minutes after her chuckles ceased, the final bell rang for the day.

Jacob sat at his kitchen table, his head clutched in his hands, as he stared down at a sheet of notebook paper that lay on the table before him in frustration. Stupid essay, he thought, as he fought the urge to crumple the fourth sheet and toss it towards the trash can. Sinking back into the chair, Jacob let out a huff of air as he thought about what he gave up to get this 'self introduction' done, as Mrs. Higgins so adamantly put it.

He could have been, at this moment, in some non-descript hamburger joint enjoying a shake and some fries with his new friends, with Matt. Instead, he sat here at his kitchen table staring at the two pathetic sentences he had managed to jot down for the fourth time.

"I should have gone," he sighed, aggravated.

It was assumed by everyone that Jacob would be there. Even Alyssa, John's girlfriend, whom Jacob had met only briefly as the gang converged on Matt's locker, was disappointed when he said he had an essay he had to finish. Jacob did find Alyssa interesting in a purely platonic sense. She seemed so innocent when you stripped away the dark lipstick and heavy eye shadow, even the suggestive way she tongued the blue blow-pop that she wrestled between her lips was intriguing. The way she handled that blow pop told Jacob that she was far from innocent, even made part of him envy John, just a small part. That thought only led to another more distracting one, Matt with a blow-pop perched between his pert lips.

Jacob groaned as the visual brought on by the stray thought danced across his all too willing mind, chasing away any thoughts of the essay. Feeling defeat, Jacob let his head crash to the cherry wood surface of the kitchen table. As Jacob's head crashed down leaving a dull thud to fill the quiet of the kitchen, Joanne's soothing hand found his exposed back. Jacob was so caught up in his own thoughts he didn't even hear his mother enter. The touch of her hand reassuringly moving between his shoulder blades was all it took to relax him.

"How'd your first day go kiddo?" Joanne asked with a final pat before she moved to his side and claimed a seat.

Jacob rested his chin on his forearms as he cast a weak smile towards his mother.

"That bad?" she asked, frowning with concern.

"No," Jacob commented. "It was alright, cept' I blew off hanging out with some new friends to get this stupid self introduction essay done," he sighed.

Joanne nodded in understanding.

"I should just write down East River High and the phone number, with a note to ask about Jacob Keats," Jacob muttered sounding too defeated for Joanne's tastes.

"Jacob!" Joanne admonished. "You'll do no such thing!"

"I know," Jacob huffed, pushing himself upright. "It would be so much easier, and Id love to see the look on her face as some of those skeletons danced their way from the closet," Jacob added with a sly grin.

Joanne had no doubt Jacob would feel some sort of perverse pleasure in that situation. She couldn't imagine where that aspect of his sense of humor came from, but she could appreciate it equally. She knew that Jacob found the mess at East River High somewhat liberating, she'd lied and told herself that it hadn't changed him, much as the same way being caught red handed and only receiving a slap on the wrist emboldens a criminal, Jacob had been bolstered that day a little under a year ago.

"Just tell her about you Jacob, and if you want to leave that message as a foot note, who am I to stop you?" Joanne's stern look faded into a smile. "I stopped double checking your homework long ago. Just be sure to mention she should ask for Coach Brenner."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jacob said with a wink and a laugh.

"Diner will be ready in about thirty," Joanne said as she pushed up from her seat and headed into the kitchen proper.

Matt sat at the dinner table in silence. The fork in his hand idly trailed through a vanquished mound of spaghetti. His mother and father sat at opposite ends of the formally dressed table, each too caught up in their own silence to notice that he had finished his meal some fifteen minutes prior. His mother he could explain; a bottle and a half consumed of whatever red wine found her corkscrew tonight. His father, he might have well just handed her a new bottle when the first ran dry. Matt watched his father slowly eat his meal, callus to the family that surrounded him, as if the only reason the man shared his table with his wife and son was out of obligation and nothing more.

Matt wished his parents had accepted the King's invitation to go to diner, at least at that table, there would be conversation, and there would be Valerie. Even the clatter of restaurant noise in the background, anything, save for this dreadful silence that made Matt's throat dry and palms sweat.

"May I please be excused?" Matt uttered, unable to stand any more of the nothing that pervaded his senses.

Matt swallowed as Richard set his utensils down and slid a napkin over his mouth. His eyes never acknowledging his sons request. Viola turned a lazy gaze in Matt's Direction.

"Sure Matthew," she answered slowly.

"Matthew," Richard spoke commandingly, his unwavering gaze leveling on his son. "You need to get the dishes done. I have to run to the campaign office to sort through a few things."

"Yes sir," Matt offered obediently.

Viola only shot her husband a hurt look at the fact that he could lie so openly without even cringing inwardly.

"Ever the politician," Viola commented as she stood stumbled a few paces and placed a small kiss on Matt's cheek. "Good night Matt," she whispered, causing the aroma of warm wine to assail Matt's senses.

"Dishes Matthew," Richard's jaw set, before he turned Viola's direction. Richard's eye's washed over his wife with indifference as he retreated towards the front door.

The cold look Richard cast her had Viola wishing for another glass of wine and the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She fought the urge, figuring she had enough of the numbing liquid for one night. Giving Matt a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, Viola's gaze shifted from the empty entry to her son.

"Do you need help with the dishes?" Viola asked, her face pale, visibly shaken, and weary from her encounter with the man she promised to love honor and obey.

"It'll be fine," Matt responded, moving towards the hallway and her room beyond.

"Are you sure?" she tried to protest.

"Mom," Matt smiled, "night."

Viola smiled softly, her hand cupping Matt's face, before her fingers trailed down the round of his cheeks. "Night Matt," she whispered as she wandered off to her room.

Matt scrubbed dishes for the next twenty minutes, imagining the sponge was his fathers head as he held it under the soapy water and squeezed it in his hand. It felt like a healthy way to vent his pent frustrations. That was, until he realized he was most likely the spitting image of his father, standing over the sink scrubbing dishes angrily. Matt dropped the sponge and backed away from the sink, scared with the thought of what he had done, what he could become.

The thought plagued Matt momentarily, until he spied the never used dishwasher. Richard hated the machine and was convinced it was a useless object. With a sly grin, Matt swung the door down and began filling it with the night's dishes.

As he slid the last fork into the cutlery basket the phone rang. The fleeting thought of his father calling to admonish him for using the contraption had Matt startled.

"Hello?" Matt answered once he wrestled the headset from the base.

"Hey," a familiar male voice called back, a voice which was thankfully, too jovial to belong to his father.

"Hey," Matt responded with a grin large enough for Jacob to hear on the other side of the line.

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked sounding bored.

"Dishes," Matt responded dryly, kicking the dishwasher door closed with his foot, setting the knob to scrub and pressing start. "Don't know how well it's going to work," he continued, walking away from the racket of spraying water. "No dishwasher soap."

"Huh?" Jacob grunted, confused.

"My dad doesn't like us using the dishwasher." Matt chuckled.

"Oh," Jacob answered concern echoing lightly in his voice. Concern that faded quickly as Jacob blurted out what he called for originally. "Come over."

"Now?" Matt asked glancing at the clock and seeing that it was eight thirty.

"Yeah," Jacob shrugged as he answered.

Matt was on the verge of protesting the hour, instead he gave in with a shrug of his own, "Alright."

It took all of ten minutes for Matt to finish up in the kitchen and start across the street. For some reason, Matt was nervous as he made his way across the wide swath of smooth asphalt. He felt like he was sneaking out in the middle of the night, which is just what he was doing, he had done it plenty before. This time however, the sensation was entirely different.

Jacob watched Matt intently from the perch he had taken on the front porch swing the moment he hung up with Matt. Twice, Matt appeared to rethink coming over, first over the manhole cover, where he paused hesitantly the first night Jacob had moved in. The second time was at the curb, Matt's head swung around suddenly at the sound of a slowing car that pulled into the drive a few houses down.

Any worries that Matt had changed his mind quickly eroded as Jacob watched Matt pad slowly up the driveway. Jacob's smile widened as Matt approached the swing and took an easy seat next to him. Jacob said nothing as Matt sat down, offering Matt only a smile, before slouching into the wooden swing spreading his legs wide allowing his knee to come into contact with Matt's. Jacob set the swing in motion with a gentle push of his legs. Matt mimicked Jacob's posture, applying equal pressure to Jacob's knee as he did.

"This is exciting," Matt commented, having sat in silence for thirteen minutes.

"I was bored," Jacob shrugged, making no attempt to move.

"And your not now?" Matt asked, unable to believe that Jacob could not be bored with just sitting on a porch swing at quarter to nine at night.

Jacob slowly turned his head towards Matt, admiring the way his green eyes sparkled even in the absence of light.

"Nope," he answered with a lazy grin, which quickly ebbed into a worried frown as realization struck. "You're not bored are you?"

"Bored?" Matt questioned, "Sitting on a porch swing in silence. Naw'. What's so boring about that?" Matt answered with a slight chuckle as his knee pushed against Jacob's, emphasizing his statement.

"You play video games?" Jacob asked.

Matt shook his head no in a silent answer. Jacob racked his brain for another idea, anything that would delay Matt's departure.

"I've got a pool out back," Jacob tossed out, figuring it was probably too cool to be reasonable.

Again Matt shook his head, dismissing the idea.

"I got trunks you can borrow or we could just go naked," Jacob persisted with a devious wink.

"You don't think that would be..." Matt laughed.

"Nah," Jacob answered looking confidant. "Used to do it all the time back in Sacramento with my friends in the buildings pool," Jacob chuckled. "At least here we'll have privacy."

"You skinny dipped in the apartment pool?" Matt asked his eyes wide.

"Yeah," Jacob shrugged, easing his torso back into the swing as if it were nothing. In reality, he was nervous as hell the first time he went. "It wasn't like it was at noon, more like two-ish in the morning."

"You never-" Matt didn't have a chance to finish his sentence.

"Only once," Jacob laughed at the memory of him and his three friends running bare-assed from the beam of a flashlight. "We were horsing around a little too loud one night in late July. One of the tenants called the building manager, who sent Doug. Doug was to slow to be a cop, and I don't mean speed wise, and too proud to be the maintenance guy. He was also the son of the building manager," Jacob stopped telling the story as he looked at Matt, who was watching him with interest. "I guess you don't care about Doug," Jacob chuckled softly.

"Finish the story," Matt disagreed, shifting in his seat so he was facing Jacob with one leg resting up on the bench of the porch swing, the other dangling off the edge.

"Doug got an eyeful that night," Jacob grinned. "Four asses bouncing in his face as he tried to catch us."

"Did he know it was you?" Matt asked his torso leaning towards Jacob.

"He was always real nice to us after that night," Jacob observed. "I think he watched us a few of the other times we used to go swimming like that."

"That's just creepy," Matt observed reclining against the arm of the swing.

Jacob answered with a nodding shrug, unwilling to agree that the situation was creepy or not. "He wasn't that much older then us, nineteen or so. Not too bad looking either," Jacob replied straining to see any sort of reaction on Matt in the dark.

"Still, I don't think I could swim knowing someone was watching me," Matt responded, wondering if Jacob had actually said that another guy wasn't bad looking.

Jacob grinned. Matt had either not heard the last part of his answer, the comment didn't matter, or Matt had simply chosen to ignore the statement. He hoped it didn't matter. He even hopped that Matt would have in someway found it intriguing.

"So, what do you and Valerie, do for fun?" Jacob asked changing the subject.

"We usually hang out and watch crappy B movies," Matt answered, still curious about the 'not bad looking comment'. Nervous, Matt became aware of the tightening in his jeans. He tried to move a hand to cover himself without arousing Jacob's suspicion. Matt was completely unsuccessful under the diligent gaze that surveyed his hand tug at the front of his jeans. That minute action had Jacob smiling to himself.

"I've got a TV in my bedroom," Jacob commented at last, his statement seeming to Matt as coming out of no where.

"What?" Matt stammered feeling strangely vulnerable. Matt tried to focus on Jacob's face in the dim light as he searched for clarification.

"This wooden bench is starting to hurt my ass," Jacob smiled, pushing himself from the porch swing. "I'm sure I can find something for us to watch."

"Oh," Matt sighed carried by the momentum of the swing before joining Jacob. "Alright."

The interior of the house was silent, save for the distant rhythm of a dishwasher and faint echo of a television playing somewhere in its depths. A digital clock on a VCR provided only a faint, soft, blue light as Jacob lead the way through the living room to the staircase that led up to the only room on the second floor. A small hallway rested at the top of the steps, directly ahead was a linen closet. To the right, was a mid-sized bathroom. Matt followed as Jacob moved through the door to the left. He squinted as Jacob flipped the light switch, assaulting Matt's eyes with a flash of bright, before they adjusted.

Matt took a second to look around the room which he noticed, smelled just like Jacob amplified, and not like the rooms of his other friends, which often smelled of dirty laundry. Jacob's however, smelled of musk, with a hint of mint lingering in the air. The room was dominated by a craftsman style queen sized bed that was against the wall to the left. To the right was a similar styled armoire which was home to a TV and supplemental audio/video equipment. Directly across from the entrance to the room was a large window that looked out over Lily Ct., Matt and Valerie's houses included. To the left of the window was a small desk that looked as if it were used as more of a catch all, then to actually study. To the left was bookcase that held little in the way of books, mostly CD's and what appeared to be DVD's. A gold helmet with blue stripes and some sort of bird on the side was at home on the top shelf with a football resting at its side. East River H.S. was spelled out in blue over the picture of the bird on the side of the helmet.

"You played football?" Matt asked noticing the helmet and the ER patch that rested on the shelf in front of the helmet and football.

"Used to," Jacob answered casting a backwards glance at the shelf on his bookcase before continuing to plug two game controllers into a game console.

"I told you I didn't play video games," Matt sounded annoyed. He was, more with the short answer about something Jacob seemed proud enough to display, but hesitant to speak about.

Jacob looked up with a smile and a sparkle in his pale brown, almost amber in the incandescent light, eyes. "You do now," he answered tossing a controller in Matt's direction.

"Why don't you play football anymore?" Matt inquired as he dropped next to Jacob on the bed, waiting for car racing game to load.

"Lost interest I guess," Jacob offered to an unconvinced Matt. He received an elbow to his side from Matt for the effort as the pair clicked through the menus on the game, choosing their vehicles. "I'll tell you some day but first I'm going to kick your ass at racing," Jacob laughed as he depressed the trigger and his car roared away from the start line.

"OH HELL NO!" Matt roared in the way that any teenage kid could, quickly depressing his trigger in an effort to catch his blue Dodge Viper up with the yellow Ferrari F430 Jacob had opted for.