Sup Y’all!
ITC is back and badder than ever!
And to kick off a new story I would like to say Kudos to my favorite stories on here, Senior Year and Touching Nick. Great stories guys!
Chapter One:
My heart was pounding as I walked into the stadium on the morning of June 4th 2004. I was walking beside my best friend Cameron and my twin sister, Alexis, who walked closely behind us.
"We made it! Graduation, can you believe it?!" Cameron said
"Are you kidding, I couldn't believe you made it through freshman year," I joked.
"I'm going to ignore that since this day is what we've been waiting for for 4 long years!" he said.
"Long for you," Alexis said smiling.
Cameron and I met as freshman in Algebra. I wasn't what you would call the "popular" type. I was smart, nice, and most of all I was gay. No one, not even my sister, knew the real me. But I was okay with that. Cameron's friends however, were not. They constantly teased me because I was scrawny and I couldn't put up much of a fight, so I played the psychological games until they started beating me up. Cameron was never aware about this though. He was completely oblivious to whatever his friends did to me.
It wasn't until before Christmas Break he figured out what was going on. I was assigned to be his tutor when his parents figured out he was failing Algebra. Every Tuesday and Thursday I went over to his house and tutored him. One of those days was a day I was beaten up on the way over to his house...
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"What the Hell happened to you?!" Cameron asked.
"Nothing, it's fine," I said, wiping the blood off my lip.
"It's obviously not fine, you look like you were hit by a truck"
"Look would you just drop it? We aren't even friends, I'm just your ticket to stay on the swim team."
He had a weird expression on his face when I said this, like he cared or something.
"I'll go get you a wet cloth and an ice pack," he said, "Lay down on the couch."
Not questioning him, I did as I was told. I looked around his house and noticed a picture on his mantle with candles around it. It was a picture of a boy who looked a lot like Cameron. I walked up to it and noticed that there was a memorial pamphlet sitting next to the picture. I was about to open it when I heard Cameron drop something and I turned sharply to see him staring at me.
"I told you to lay down on the couch," he mummbled.
I looked at him closer and he had tears in his eyes.
"Who's this?" I asked pointing at the picture.
"My little brother, Jake. He was killed last month."
"Oh, Cameron, I'm so sorry."
"Just sit down and I'll clean your face up."
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch as he cleaned up my lip and the cuts on my face. He told me about how his little brother was playing in the neighborhood when a drunk driver came speeding around the corner and hit him. Cameron told me how guilty he felt about it for not keeping a closer eye on him. It was at that moment he shattered the image of the Heartless Jock I saw him as, and started falling for him.
Every week he and I studied on Tuesdays and talked on Thursdays. It wasn't long before he and I started hanging out at school and on weekends. His parents had to go to Boston for Christmas so he spent it with my family, which became a yearly ritual. On Saturdays he and I went to the gym where he would help me buff up so I could defend myself against his former friends. By the beginning of Sophomore year I could kick their asses without thinking twice about it. Eventually they started leaving me alone and Cameron and I became best friends who had one common goal: To graduate.
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The three of us walked up to the seats that were lined up on the Football field. Alexis and I sat next to each other, while Cameron sat one row in front of us. We sat down and looked out in front of us. There was a stage with a podium, 6 seats on either side.
“Man Grad Practice Sucks,” I heard my Calculus teacher say. This made me laugh because he spent the last two weeks talking about how unnecessary the Practice was.
“Man Mr. Hoover over there is sure showing his school pride,” Cameron said.
“I’ve asked you a hundred times not to call him Hoover,” I said.
“Why not? HE SUCKS!” Cameron yelled laughing.
My tutoring helped Cameron get up to Calculus, but both of our schedules got really busy when we both got jobs. He had to drop his class after 2 months because he couldn’t keep up. After that he’s been calling my Calculus teacher, Mr. Hoover for the obvious crude double entendre.
Grad Practice dragged on for hours. It was about Noon when we got out of there. Alexis was going off to a salon to get prettied up for Graduation, and the dance afterwards, which left Cameron and I to get lunch alone.
We stopped off at a nearby Quizno’s and sat down outside. Cameron was very quiet though, which worried me considering how energized he was just a few hours ago.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing…It’s just all hitting me you know?”
“Graduating?”
“No, I’m psyched for that. It’s everything that comes after,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well after we graduate we have three short months before college starts. You’re going to Stanford, Alexis is going to that University 200 miles away…I’m gonna be all alone here.”
“Well you’ll be busy here man. You have work, classes, and before you know it we’ll both be home.” I told him.
“Josh, that’s really not what’s worrying me.”
“What is then?”
“I’m worried that you and I are gonna start drifting apart. You’re really the only friend I have left here…”
“Stop,” I said, cutting him off, “There is no possible way that we’re gonna drift, you’re my best friend, you’re almost my brother. You’re family to me and there’s no way I can ever let that happen.”
“Thanks buddy.”
“You’re welcome,” I said slapping him on the wrist.
I don’t think I could ever tell him why I really wouldn’t forget him. Over the past three years I’ve fallen so madly in love with him that I didn’t want to risk telling him the truth and having him flip out and run away from me. My heart couldn’t take that hit.
On the drive home, Cameron was even quieter. When we got to his house, I looked at him. I stared deep into his eyes and could tell he was in pain.
“Cam…what’s wrong?”
He said nothing…
“Are you in trouble?”
He looked down…
“You can tell me anything…”
He put his left hand on my shoulder, and his right hand on top of mine on the gearshift. I looked him in the eyes and he leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“Wha-“
“Please don’t talk…” He said.
He began to unbuckle and get out of the car. I was stunned. I didn’t know what to do. All I could think was Don’t let him leave. I got out of the car and met him at his front door.
“Cam…”
He looked at me again as I grabbed his wrist and turned him around.
“What was that?” I asked.
“What I was really worried about,” he said, with tears forming in his eyes.
I didn’t say a word. I just looked at him with my hand still on his wrist. I pulled him into me and hugged him. I whispered into his ear.
“Let’s go inside…”
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There’s Chapter One guys! Tell me what you think and be brutal. Yes the back story was necessary and next chapter will be much better.