Black Star Cross - 34. The Hunt

Black Star Cross

Chapter 34: The Hunt

“Do you think that Keith hates me now?”

“Don’t know where that came from. Why would he hate you? You said that you two have been best friends since forever.”

“But now he knows, dude. He knows about how I...like you.”

“And I know this will sound irritating and cliché, but if he’s as good of a friend as you say he is, then our relationship really isn’t going to matter too much to him.”

He sighed.

“I don’t know.”

We were still on the sofa, half-watching whatever was on TV, relishing the last few minutes before I had to go home.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do about this whole rumor thing?” I asked.

“Dude, I don’t know. I mean, what CAN I do? Nobody listens. They just talk behind my back.”

“Well first, if your own friends won’t listen to you, fuck them. Secondly, it may be time to go straight to the source: that Peter Lamb guy.”

“I know. I was planning on doing that on Monday. But you can’t come with. If this dude’s got gaydar or something, then he’ll pick up on you, and then, by association, me, in an instant. I don’t want anymore people knowing about us.”

“You know, Emmy might’ve said something about us to Stephanie and Erik already, maybe to explain to them what went on during our stay there.”

“Dude, now why’d you have to say that? Now I’ll be paranoid around them until I figure out if they know anything or not.”

“Just giving you a heads up. And I expect you to tell me everything when you talk to Peter.”

“Why? This rumor shit doesn’t involve you.”

“Because believe it or not, I actually do care about what happens to you. I wouldn’t have been trying so hard to get this relationship going if I didn’t.”

Silence. No response from either of us. I think what I said hit a nerve or something in him. I felt his grip tighten on me. He put his face in my hair and kissed the top of my head. I think this was his nonverbal way of saying “thanks”, or “I love you.”

A glance at the VCR told me that it was time to go. I told Anthony that, and there was some reluctance in his voice when he agreed. We very slowly got ready to leave, trying to drag this out as much as possible. The ride to my house was uneventful. We made more small talk, but that was it. As we pulled up to my driveway, I felt the urge to lean over and kiss him goodbye. I suggested the idea to him, but he got all paranoid (as it is his custom), saying what if Mom or Kim were to see us. I relented, knowing that there was no changing his mind on this one. An offer to give me a blowjob instead nearly got me throttled.

“Asshole,” he said, snidely.

“I love you, too,” I replied back, cheerfully, just to further anger him.

I could tell that he was losing an internal battle to not smile, and confirmed it when a small grin emerged at the corner of his mouth. I got out and closed the door, and Anthony pulled out of the driveway, the small grin still on his face. We have a weird way of saying goodbye. Gotta work on that.

Inside, Mom and Kimberly were already home. Kim was in the kitchen doing homework early. Mom was watching the news. She inquired about my visit to Emmy’s, and I told her mostly what happened. I, of course, left out the whole “naked jerk-off session with my boyfriend” thing. And most of the Gay Pride conversation we had. And our cuddle time at his house, and what we talked about there. So...basically I told her next to nothing about what really happened. She seemed satisfied with my answer.

I went upstairs to my room, plopped down on my bed, and thought about me and Anthony naked again. A smile crept upon my face. Damn that was hot. I was surprised that Anthony was so into it. Or the fact that he seemed to initiate it as well. Maybe he IS capable of doing something sexual with me. Well, jerking off together like we just did isn’t anything TOO sexual. I guess I wouldn’t count that as losing my virginity.

The thoughts swirling in my head brought about the second appearance of Shawn Jr. today. I’m not surprised. I wonder if it’s happening to Anthony right now, too? Nevertheless, I pulled my pants down and gripped him firmly, starting a slow rhythm as I pictured how our next encounter would be like.

Ten minutes, a dirty sock, and a stifled moan later, I lay panting on the bed, hoping that no one would barge into my room. I don’t think I would have the energy to cover up right then. A knock on my door proved me otherwise, as I immediately found the strength to cover up with the blanket. Kim told me on the other side that dinner was ready. I fished around for my pants and got ready to go downstairs.

Dinner was its usual stuff, and I think I surprised us all (including myself) when I stayed downstairs after dinner to watch TV. I don’t know why I did it; I just did it. Later I returned to my room for the night.

I didn’t get up until around noon the next day. I knew it was going to be a lazy day. Mom didn’t have to work, and Kim wasn’t invited anywhere (as was I). Which meant that today might be treated as (shudders) “Family Day.” Where would we be dragged to today? The zoo? The park? The museum? How about a strip joint? Or some virtual arcade where you can “pretend” to blow up your school? How about that? Can we go to those places? God, I wouldn’t mind spending the day with Anthony and Keith over whatever Mom has planned for us. Wait, let me think that over.

We ended up going to the museum. I knew it! Out of all the options, the museum was at the bottom of my list, so of course we go there. Well, the zoo may be at the bottom...

Why on earth do we bother going to the museum?! I mean, nothing ever changes! The same exhibits from last time are still there! Nothing’s moved around, no new exhibits are added, plus it’s an hour long drive to get there! Museums are boring. I just know that my History teacher talked Mom into doing this as punishment for me. I hate him, too. Fucker.

Mom and Kim seemed to like the museum. They got those little headsets that tell you more about certain pieces, even though they’ve already heard it, like, a thousand times already. I kinda just trudged along, just like always whenever we come here. One would think that after about a year, the museum would mix things up a bit, add in some stuff, but nooooo, not this museum.

Wait, what was that? I swear I JUST saw those two guys holding hands! Am I finally going crazy? Is the thought of me and Anthony finally being a couple finally getting to me? Or are gays starting to get bolder around here? Okay, I am SO stalking those two for the rest of the time I’m here. They don’t appear to be with anyone else, another indicator that they’re a couple. But are they ACTING gay?

They went into the next room. They were one room ahead of us. I didn’t want to lose track of them, but I didn’t want Mom to wonder what I was doing either. How to go about this?

...Okay, screw her. I’m going to go check out the “gay exhibit” in the next room. Why am I so interested in this? I sighed to myself as I made my way to the next room.

They were still in there, checking out some sculpture of a naked woman. This was starting to dash my hopes...of something. Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting. They didn’t LOOK gay to me. One looked more jock-like than Anthony, the other one on equal jock level with Anthony. Two dudes checking out naked women statues together didn’t really scream “GAY!” out to anyone. If the statue was a living being, then it’d be a strip club scene. All the guys needed to do was start waving dollar bills in front of the sculpture.

Dejected, I turned around and was about to go back to Mom when I heard one of them make a noise. I turned around and saw him at another naked sculpture, a man this time, and was motioning the other guy to come take a look. He kept pointing at the penis of the statue. So now they were either gay, bi, or really immature. The thrill of the hunt gone, I walked back to where my family was, blending in so that they would never know I was gone. I fucking hate museums.

I saw the “couple” again later on, when we were at the luncheon portion of the museum. Food being served café style at a museum. They must be really desperate for money. Anyways, I was glancing around the room when I saw them. They were eating by themselves again, talking animatedly with each other. They were sitting next to each other when they CLEARLY could’ve been sitting across from each other like how “normal” guys do. My gaydar went off again, and I was intrigued by them once again, wanting to know if they were, indeed, a gay couple. If only my cell phone could take pictures; I could show Anthony that it was possible for jocks to be gay too. A visual example always helps students learn something, right? Maybe Anthony was one of those “visual learners” or something.

I couldn’t tell what they were talking about. They weren’t playing “footsies” underneath the table, either. That still wouldn’t explain why they were eating so damn close to each other. I was about ready to just go over there and demand them to tell me the truth when Mom said that it was time to go. We had all finished eating, so there really was no other reason to stay there. Plus, there was an hour long drive back home. But there were still two ambiguously gay guys sitting over there eating sandwiches side-by-side!

As much as I wanted to refuse Mom’s order and go over there to find out once and for all if those two guys are fairly well-acquainted with each other’s asshole, I knew that this wasn’t up for debate. I would have to give up this expedition without a clear-cut answer, and the question on my mind will DRIVE ME INSANE!

We threw out our trash and made for the exit. I glanced over my shoulder one more time to look at the two guys. They were talking to each other, of course. But then they looked at a different direction. Their smiles grew wider when two, fairly attractive girls came over and sat next to them. This threw me for a loop. Who were these girls?! Why were they sitting next to those two gay guys? Wait...don’t tell me that they’re STRAIGHT! I swore I saw them hold hands earlier today! Straight guys aren’t supposed to be that close! They aren’t supposed to be able to sit next to each other at a table, when they clearly could’ve sat across from each other! I was supposed to use these guys as an example of how gay guys can still be masculine to Anthony!

I didn’t get enough time to see how things played out between the two guys and girls. I had already left the room with my family. I was feeling totally crushed. Why? Why was I feeling totally crushed? Because two guys I thought might be gay turned out to be most likely straight? Why should I care? Odds were that they were straight to begin with. That whole “one in ten” thing and all.

I couldn’t believe that I was still thinking about it as we were riding back home. I shouldn’t be giving this as much thought as I was giving it. Is this how I’m going to act whenever I see two guys standing close to each other and NOT trying to kill each other? Oh God, am I turning into Anthony?! I shuddered at the thought. I should just put this out of my mind and never think about it again. Probably wouldn’t be such a good idea to tell Anthony about it either.

“Shawn, how did you like the museum?” Mom asked.

I thought about it. Only one logical answer, really.

“It was good.”

She bought the generic answer.

We didn’t arrive home until late in the afternoon. I went into my room and threw myself onto my bed, facedown. I looked up and saw my cell phone. On a whim, and bored out of my mind, I turned it on. I was surprised when it told me that I had voicemail. ‘Somebody’s been calling my cell phone?’ I thought. ‘Weird.’ It made sense, sort of, when I saw that all the missed calls were from the same number, and that number belonged to a certain jock who could probably use a good fucking right about now. Maybe if I had a toy or two...

Okay, getting off track here. I was still reeling from yesterday’s events. I saw the screen light up again and noticed that I had a new text message. My phone can get text messages? Since when? Don’t those cost me money? Anthony’s the one with the job here, not me. He should be the one to pay for these text messages. Or just call me, for Pete’s sake.

“dud. cal me. wana tlk. trn on ur fkng fone!”

That’s what the text message said. Even in texting lingo, it sounds like him. Hell, it sounds like something he would say to me in a face-to-face conversation, limited word use and all! What the hell is so damn important, anyway? It sounds like an emergency coming from there. Is he in trouble or something?

Was Keith there? Had I miscalculated and he DIDN’T take the news as well as I had predicted? Were Anthony’s friends there? Did they find out? Strong as Anthony is, if Wes and Brett were to take him on, I don’t know if he could beat them together. Did his mom find out? Did she kick him out? Is he wandering the streets, wondering where the hell am I at? Even though it’s February, it’s still freakin’ freezing out there. Is he cold? Is he in the same position I was in a couple months ago? The more ominous thoughts kept creeping into my head. I couldn’t get them out. Screw the calling fees. I have to call Anthony now.