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- 10/01/2015
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Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories - 37. Prompt 448 What did he just say?
A Jasper POV chapter, sort of.
“What did he just say?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, bro.”
“That’s all he said. I asked him what was wrong, and he said ‘Nothing’ and ran off to the bathroom.”
“And you let him?”
“Well, I could hardly stop him, if he really needed to go.”
“Why didn’t you follow him?”
“I don’t know, do you think I should have?” Eric started pacing in front of the door. “Jasper, what do you think?”
“If he’s not back soon, I’ll check up on him.”
“So you agree something’s wrong?”
Jasper nodded, not sure how to explain without hurting Eric, who was staring at him with wide blue eyes already unhappy at the idea of Nelson being upset. Apparently, Rob had no such qualms.
“Fuck, bro, you kind of hinted you’re having second thoughts about going to the prom with him.”
“What?! No, of course not.”
“If that’s the case, I think you need to tell Nelson right away.” Jasper made a shooing motion at the door. “Go on, find your pissy boyfriend before he ties his hair into knots with needless fuss over a misunderstanding.”
The look of horror on Eric’s face made Jasper wince, but at least he wouldn’t have a devastated Nelson to deal with later tonight. The blond freshman stormed out of the room, clearly determined to find his boyfriend and figure things out.
“Dude, what was that all about? I’m not sure whether it was Teen Drama, Prom Drama, or just Love Bird Drama.” Rob flopped back on the bed, and Jasper chuckled. He knew what Rob meant, but in fact Nelson was normally quite levelheaded and not prone to being dramatic. However, his love life seemed to be an exception. It would have been funny if Jasper didn’t know his best friend’s vulnerable points.
“Nah, Eric happened to touch a sore spot with Nelson, simply bad luck. On the day Nelson came out to me, he talked about his dream of being able to go with his boyfriend to the Prom in high school. But we haven’t discussed it since I started dating Carolyn, ‘cause I didn’t want to rub it in. You know, that I had a date and Nel didn’t.”
“Duh, but why didn’t he simply ask if Eric had second thoughts? He’d have gotten the answer I did. Problem solved.”
“You might as well ask why Nelson didn’t ask Eric out before now.”
“I thought that was because he thought Eric was straight?”
“Mostly, but he didn’t try to get to know Eric and maybe flirt with him or give him a chance to show his interest. Mind you, I had no idea he was interested in your brother until this week. Nelson isn’t one to express or push for what he wants, and he avoids potential embarrassment and confrontations. Well, unless he’s defending gay rights, then he’s suddenly all fierce and in your face.”
“You can say that again. I thought he was going to deck me when I used the F-word.” They both chuckled at the memory of Rob poking Nelson in order to get Eric to come out.
“OK, so you’re saying Nelson admired Eric from a distance, but wouldn’t take the first step. He’s a wait-and-see guy.”
“Yep, and he’s also oblivious about guys being interested in him. I’m almost certain Trevor had a crush on him all last year, but Nelson thought Trev invited him to the junior prom as a GSA president move, to have a high profile same-sex couple at the prom.” Jasper sighed over his best friend’s lack of confidence in his own attractiveness. “It’s a good thing you pushed them, and that Eric asked Nelson to be his boyfriend.”
“Well, they’re a couple now, so I didn’t expect any more drama.”
Jasper couldn’t believe his ears. “Dude, they are in love, in high school and introvert, that’s practically the recipe for drama.”
“Huh, I thought that was one of the main advantages of being gay, avoid dealing with all the touchy feely crap girls put you through. Two guys would understand each other much better and could be friends as well as lovers.”
“You mean the ‘Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus’ theory?”
“Yup, I sure as hell didn’t understand Mel or feel like she was my friend. In fact, we didn’t have much to talk about.”
Jasper managed to stop himself from asking what they spent their time doing, because he’d heard enough of Mel’s comments about Rob the Stud via Carolyn. So he merely said, “Well, maybe that’s another good reason to have broken up with her.”
“Damn straight.”
“Carolyn was my friend before she was my girlfriend. You might try that.”
“Well, if I do join the GSA in college, I guess I’ll get my chance to do things differently.”
“What, you mean, date a guy?” Jasper wondered, was Rob bi?
“Duh, no I was thinking of being friends with girls. Obviously, in the GSA there’ll be lesbians, who wouldn’t want to date me, but there’ll be plenty of fag hags too. Might be a relief after having girls here chase me until I started dating Mel. Fuck, plenty of them kept flirting with me even so.”
“Was that the main reason you went out with her?”
“I dunno, maybe it was part of it. But also… Mel was pretty and didn’t throw herself at me. She made her interest known in subtle ways, even when she flirted. I had to work quite hard to get her to agree to be my girlfriend. I liked the challenge. But after we—I mean, after we’d been going out for some time, it was like she took me for granted. It got boring, and she kept talking about getting married. It was like college was only something to pass time until she could get a husband and children.”
“Yikes, that’s bad. Carolyn and I look forward to college, and we’ve talked about traveling together, and where we would like to work and live. I suppose we’ll want kids one day, if we last and get married, but that’s like way out in the future, maybe ten years from now or more.”
“Yeah, that’s more like it. Anyway, I made up my mind before Christmas, and I only stayed with Mel to be kind, since I thought it would be easier on her if we broke up when I left for college.”
“And because it was easier for you, and you continued to get laid.” Jasper couldn’t help teasing.
“True.” Rob shrugged and didn’t seem to mind having the selfish side of his ‘noble intentions’ exposed.
“So, are you going to join the GSA? Assuming Eric approves.” Jasper thought Rob was quite right to make that a condition.
“I’m not sure. Studying will take a lot of my time. I’m not like Mr. Straight A’s, who seems to remember everything the first time he reads it.”
“That’s convenient for an actor. I can remember Nelson saying Eric often got the lead parts because he could be relied on when it came to learning his lines.”
“Yep, sounds like my bro, and he’s the same with school work. I have to study hard to get to the same level of proficiency. But that’s OK; I have talents in other areas where he struggles. Anyway, if I want to get good grades and play baseball in college, I don’t know how much time I can devote to GSA meetings and politics.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. When Rob shouted ‘Yeah,’ his dad opened the door and stuck his head in.
“I think Nelson’s parents are ready to leave soon.” He looked around and stepped into the room. “So where are the boys?”
“Probably in Eric’s room.” Rob and Jasper exchanged looks.
“I see,” Mr. Perry was obviously waiting for them to expand on that statement.
“Umm, yeah, they had something they needed to discuss. About going to the Junior Prom together.”
“Ahh, did Nelson ask Eric to go with him?”
“Yes, and Eric wants to go.”
“That’s fine then. I suppose we’ll have to rent him a tux, but there’s plenty of time for that. Now, did you discuss the GSA?”
“No, we didn’t get round to it. But Dad, as I was just saying to Jasper, I want to get good grades and play baseball, if possible. I’ll also need to find a job to cover some of my expenses, so I’m not sure whether I can devote the time and effort the GSA deserves.”
“We’re not going to demand the impossible, Rob. Mom and I talked it over, and if you do join the GSA in college and give them the time you would otherwise have spent working, we’ll increase your allowance accordingly. I think you’ll find that maneuvering in college politics will be a useful experience no matter which career you chose. Skills in negotiating and uncovering what motivates people are valuable in most workplaces – as in life itself.”
“Oh wow, yeah that would make things a lot easier. You’re really excited for me to do this, aren’t you, Dad?”
Jasper agreed with Rob’s assessment, and Mr. Perry conceded the point. “Yes, I am, but I’ll respect if Eric asks you not to join, or if you’d prefer to do something else. I’ll even give you the option to renegotiate after one year, if you want to get out of the deal and have convincing reasons. But I’m hoping you’ll find it challenging, rewarding, worthwhile and fun.”
He looked at his watch and moved towards the door. “I’d better go and tell Eric and Nelson to say goodbye for tonight. You all have an early day tomorrow.”
Jasper jumped up. “I can do that, Mr. Perry. I need to use the bathroom anyway.” Somehow he knew Nelson and Eric would prefer him to walk in on whatever was going on. After all, he’d done so twice yesterday.
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21
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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