AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had planned on ending this story with the fifth installment, but felt like the story wasn't finished. So, I'm adding this part, with another on the way to finally conclude the story.
*****
I didn't even want to go on that stupid field trip in the first place.
Well, I did, when I thought Grady would be going, but his grandmother died and he had to go to Lake Charles with his family to attend her funeral. Now I had to take the long bus ride to Austin, stay overnight in a cheap hotel, tour the Capital building, and ride back without my best friend and lover to break up the monotony of the whole thing. I tried to get out of it, but Grandma planned to visit my parents in Beaumont while I was away. She didn't get to see them very often since they kicked me out. I couldn't justify depriving her of spending time with them.
Being an over-nighter means I'd have to share a room with someone- not a great situation for the someone who has never been real big on making friends. Grady was different in that he pursued his friendship with me, and in the beginning, that was only because he had first been friends with Wade. It's not that I was a loner or anything like that. I was just a little shy, which is why I never could just walk right up and talk to Tyler. Now we were at the motel and I was bored out of my mind, tired, hungry and in a generally bad mood. I was really missing my boyfriend.
Mr. Tanner told everyone to pair up, boys with boys and girls with girls. That was followed by a groan from the boys. I would inevitably be paired with some weirdo or loser because everyone else had friends they'd voluntarily pair up with. I felt like the guy who was picked last to team up in Gym class.
Everyone did as they were instructed and I went and sat on the bus steps and went back to reading one of the graphic novels I'd brought with me, listening to what was going on around me. I knew I'd end up with the odd guy out, so why bother?
"Has everybody found a partner?" Mr. Tanner asked. There seemed to be a general consensus, which worried me because I wasn't paired up with anyone. I stood up and raised my hand high.
"I don't have one." I blurted out. Everyone turned to look at me. I didn't care. I was secretly hopeful that with Grady not on the trip, maybe I'd get a room to myself.
"All right," Mr. Tanner bellowed, "who doesn't have a partner for the night? There are an even number of you, so everyone has a partner."
"That would be me," came a voice I recognized.
It belonged to Tyler Warren.
I had almost forgotten he was in my American History class. I really hadn't seen much of him at all lately. Even with most of my attention on Grady these last few months, Tyler seemed to have become nearly invisible. I knew he was being harassed in the locker room because it got out to the entire student body that he was gay. Grady told me that Amy Hashaw, Tyler's best friend, said that Mark Jacobs dropped him like a bad habit when that happened. He'd been socially ostracized, so he was just lying low until he could get out of school and move away to college.
I looked around to make sure it was Tyler I'd be spending the night with, and there he was, leaning against the back of the bus, looking a little embarrassed at the sudden attention he was getting. He was still beautiful, his short, fat curls were brilliant red in the sunlight. He stood about an inch or two shorter than I did, and weighed about a buck twenty soaking wet. His dark blue eyes, once shiny and clear, seemed to have darkened with sadness. It shouldn't have surprised me no one wanted to bunk with the school's outed gay mascot A lot of those old feelings began to stir in me and I suddenly found myself feeling very protective of him.
I didn't like that he was being treated so callously just because he'd been found out. I tried to put myself in his shoes, but had a hard time imagining it. Tyler was a nice guy. He deserved to be treated better than that. Of course, this was coming from the guy who had spent the better part of three years beating off to fantasies of him but didn't have the balls to speak to him directly. Based on that alone, I should have been a better friend to him. The thought that this night probably wouldn't end well for him must have crossed Mr. Tanner's mind because he gave me a worried look before consenting.
"All right. Carter, you're with Tyler." The class laughed nervously as Mr. Tanner added our names to his list of roommates and handed me the key to our room. Tyler moved slowly over to stand next to me in that lanky, relaxed way he had of moving. It was a walk I often admired from a distance.
"Hey", he said, looking down at his shoes, the beautiful timber of his voice sending a tremor right through me. I gave him a shy smile, and realized, to my embarrassment, that I was beginning to sprout wood.
I gathered up my overnight bag, to use to shield my erection, and followed behind him, admiring his denim clad ass as we walked across the parking lot. When we reached the door to our room, I unlocked and opened the door, then held it open, and ushered him through. I was working at being chivalrous, trying to covey to him I wasn't going to treat him badly. He entered the room, then waited just inside the door for me to close it behind us.
"Which bed do you want?" I asked, tossing the key onto the little round table that sat between two uncomfortable looking chairs under the window, near to the door. My being the perfect southern gentleman, I wanted to give him first choice.
"Um, it doesn't matter to me." he finally answered, bowing his head a little in submission. This frustrated me a little, and I threw my bag onto the nearest bed.
"Fine," I snorted, "I'll take the bed nearest the door. That way, if someone breaks in to murder us in our sleep, you'll have a fighting chance at surviving." This elicited a little giggle, which caused me to smile at him.
With that, he snatched the remote up from next to the TV on the dresser and flopped half onto his bed, one leg hanging off the side. He fussed with getting the pillows behind his head just right as I made my way to sit on the edge of my bed. He turned on the television and started flipping through channels until he stopped on what I recognized as a rerun of Stargate SG1.
"Do you like sci-fi?" I asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah," he answered, slipping back into his shyness.
"Do you like comics?" I asked, trying to coax him into a conversation. While I'm no nerd, nerdy things were something I knew a little about because of my love of graphic art.
"Comics? What am I, ten?" He knitted his eyebrows together. It was adorable.
"Those are fighting words," I said playfully, "I read them for the artwork, which is above caliber stuff. They aren't just for kids, you know."
"I like science fiction, but that doesn't make me a nerd."
We watched the exploits of the SG1 team in silence. I glanced over at Tyler, who was smiling when a second episode followed, and wiggled my eyebrows at him. He was lying on his stomach, his cute little butt perfectly displayed for my enjoyable admiration. I may have had a boyfriend, but I wasn't blind. Besides, there's no harm in looking, right?
About halfway through the second episode, there was a knock at the door. Answering it, I found myself face to face with a pizza delivery guy.
"You must have the wrong room," I informed him, "but a great idea. Do you have something with the number on it?" He gave me a flyer, listing the current specials.
"How about pizza tonight?" I asked, sitting next to Tyler to show him the specials. He took it and looked it over. I placed a hand on the other side of him to brace myself as I read over his shoulder. I didn't realize I was so close to him until it was too late. I was within touching distance. I was within kissing distance. I was in over my head and quickly sliding into Troubleville.
