Tj

After leaving Doris', we decided to spend the night at our house. Jacob had no problem letting Sean and Kevin stay over any weekend night they wanted. Similarly, Robert didn't object to Josh and me staying at Sean and Kevin's. I realized something that evening. No matter where we stayed, we always stayed together. Never had Sean and I stayed one place while Kevin and Josh stayed somewhere else. It made me realize this was my family and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Robert let us know he and Lori were going out dancing and would be coming back to the house later that night. The warning of make sure your doors are closed and locked if you're not one-hundred percent decent went without saying. Once we were settled in my room after showering and getting ready for bed, I locked the bedroom door, took off my sleep shorts, and crawled into bed next to a gloriously naked Sean. Thank the gods for a doorknob with a lock on it. The amazing thing about that night is the fact we didn't have sex. Sometimes it's nice to lay naked in the arms of someone who loves you and you love them back.

However, laying there in the dark, fully awake, gives you time to think; and my brain was taking full advantage of the given time. There were a few things Sean and I had not discussed the things weighing on my mind. I could tell Sean was still awake from his breathing. I finally broke the silence. "Sean, can we talk for a moment?"

He chuckled slightly and said, "Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. Am I in trouble?"

I smiled, even though he couldn't really see it. "No, I was just wondering something. Have you given any thought about where you're going to apply to go to school?"

"Yeah, I've given it some thought. I've also talked to my dad and Aaron about it. Up until a couple weeks ago, I planned to go straight to a four-year university and play either football or baseball or both, if I could make a team. Well, since I won't be able play football and I'm not sure if I could make a baseball team after not playing my senior year, my dad and Aaron suggested I stay around here and go to a community college and get my basics out of the way before transferring to a four-year school. At first, I rejected the idea. But the more they talked to me about it, the better the idea sounded. It's what Aaron did when he went to school.

"So, I think that's what I'm going to do. I think it's what Kevin is planning to do too. We've talked about it some. It's not that we don't think we can make it through a four-year school, and I don't want to say we're taking the easy way out. It's more like why not take advantage of something when it's there. My dad and Aaron both said future employers don't look at where you started school, only where you finished. Why? What are you thinking about doing? What's your major going to be anyway? I can't believe I haven't asked you before now."

I hadn't told anyone what I wanted to do yet. So, I hesitated a moment before I said, "I want to major in education and then get my Doctorate's in Administration. I know I've heard Robert say more than once how he wishes he had gone for his Doctorate. Mel pressured him into stopping after he received his Master's in Administration.

"I'm not sure if I told you my mom was actually Dr. Mary Kennedy. She was an elementary school principal before she became superintendent. She retired last year. I know I don't have the patience for elementary school kids, but I think I could do middle or high school. I want to start out teaching and then move into administration.

"But I like your idea. I might have to give it some consideration. Plus," I continued without thinking about what I was about to say, "It will give me another two years I get to see you every day."

We were both silent for a bit. Finally, Sean broke the silence. "You know, we can always apply to the same schools when the time comes. I know it's only been a couple of months since we started going out, but I can't imagine my life without you in it. I don't even want to try."

"Oh, god! Me neither. Don't even talk like that. Now, let's change the subject. Can you believe Doris did all that for us? She's only known us for a few weeks and she just gave us eight thousand dollars each. Of course, we have to be enrolled in school to get the money, but still, it's a lot and then giving Kevin a full scholarship! I'm wondering how the big guy is handling everything," I asked as I got out of bed and started putting my shorts on.

"We're going to check on him, aren't we?" Sean asked with a smile.

"You know me too well. Besides, I figured you were about to suggest we do it anyway. This way, I can say it was my idea."

Once we were both dressed, I unlocked my door and headed to Josh's room. I expected to find his door closed and locked but was surprised when I found the door barely closed. After knocking and pushing the door open a little, I found his room empty. I looked back at Sean and shrugged. I noticed light coming from the front of the house. I headed down the hallway to the living room. I could hear voices and when we turned the corner, we found Josh, Kevin, Robert, and Lori sitting around the coffee table.

Josh and Kevin were on the love seat facing away from us, while Robert and Lori were on the couch facing the hallway. When they noticed us, Robert chuckled and said, "I was wondering how long it would take you two to come out and join us."

"Yeah, we couldn't sleep and got to talking about everything that happened today and decided to check on Kevin and see where his head's at," I replied.

Kevin turned and smiled at us. "I'm alright. it's a lot to process. I still can't believe it. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up to my dad stumbling in drunk and yelling."

Sean walked up and hugged him from behind. I'd never realized how close they had become since Kevin started living with him. Sean placed a brotherly kiss on Kevin's cheek. Josh playfully shoved Sean and told him to stay away from his boyfriend, reminding him he had one of his own. I might have felt a moment of jealousy but quickly tamped it down.

I walked up behind Josh, wrapped my arms around him, and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "We have a couple of good ones here, huh?"

Josh's smile beamed and he responded, "Yeah, we do."

The only place left to sit was on the chair next to the loveseat. I grabbed Sean's hand, led him to the chair, sat him down, and sat on his lap. After making ourselves comfortable, I looked at the others and asked, "What are y'all talking about?"

Robert looked at Josh and Kevin and gave them a 'go ahead and let them know if you want' look. Kevin nodded and said, "I was just overwhelmed by everything today and needed to talk some things out with an adult. I was telling Mr. Kennedy and Lori..."

Robert interrupted and said, "Kevin, Sean, when we're at the house and it's just us, don't worry about calling me Mr. Kennedy. Y'all can call me Robert, I don't mind."

Kevin blushed before continuing,

"I was telling Robert and Lori that Sean's dad and uncle talked to us about going to a community college before transferring to a university."

Lori spoke up, "It's what I did after high school. It let me get my basics out of the way and helped me maintain a good GPA."

"It's not what I did, but I can see the benefits of doing it that way. I know there were quite a few students from my first year who didn't make it to the second year," Robert added.

I looked at Robert and shyly asked, "Do you think Mom and Dad would've let me do this? Would they have been disappointed?"

Instead of answering my question, he stood and crossed to me and pulled me into a hug. He held me tight and said, "You know they wouldn't have cared, right? They loved you and you always made them proud."

Then I did something I hadn't really done since the funeral. I started crying over the loss of my mom and dad.

"I miss them so much," I sobbed into Robert's chest.

"I know you do. So do I. But we're here for each other now. You've also got Josh and Kevin, and most importantly, you've got Sean. He's a good one. I'm proud of you," he whispered in my ear for only me to hear.

Before I knew it, we were attacked on all four sides as Kevin, Sean, Josh, and Lori drew us into a huge group hug. Before I could make a comment, Robert interjected, "Teej, if you say one word about a hug orgy, I can't be held accountable for my actions."

"Why do you take the fun out of everything?" I pouted.

"Because I'm the responsible adult," he responded in a deep voice.

"Because I'm the responsible adult," I repeated in a mocking tone, which earned me a slap to the back of my head.

We stayed up for another half hour or so talking, then went to bed. Sunday passed without incident, as did the first half of the week. Wednesday after school was the first meeting of the GSA. The turnout was surprisingly good. A total of thirty people showed up including the fifteen from our group! Coach Wilson decided to start practice later than usual, giving anyone who wanted to attend the meeting the chance to do so. Elections were held and I was voted president, Chase was voted vice-president, Tracie, a sophomore girl, was voted secretary, and Josh was voted treasurer.

Of the people not from our group, I recognized only a few of the faces, mostly the ones from our Drama class. Of course, John wasn't there. He hadn't been in class since the previous Thursday. That would be the reason I performed two scenes with two different partners. On Tuesday, Lori asked if I would be able to step in and help Josh and still be comfortable doing the scene with Stacey. She told me she would grade me on whatever scene was better. I let her know I would, since I would do anything for Josh.

Since we didn't have a lot of time to work on the scene, we were assigned the final scene from Of Mice and Men. If you've never seen the play or read the book, it is an emotionally wrecking scene, but there's little to no blocking involved. To sum it up, George makes the decision to shoot Lennie, a giant of a man with the mental capabilities of a child and George's best friend who likes to hear George tell him about the rabbits, in the back of the head himself rather than allowing a lynch mob to capture him. I was playing Lennie and Josh was playing George. By the time we finished the scene, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

I knew Stacey was worried about John; he was her cousin after all. While I didn't give two shits or a fuck what happened to him, I didn't realize she would be so worried she would miss her cues and forget the blocking for the scene. However, we muddled through. Once we were finished, I thought I was going to start going off on her. But when I turned towards her to start my tirade and saw the tears on her face, I softened my approach.

"You know I'm here if you want to talk about anything. Like maybe whatever has you so distracted I had to feed you lines and push you around the stage."

She wiped her cheeks and sniffled. "You don't want to hear about it. And yeah, I know I totally sucked up there. I'm sorry."

"I asked about it, didn't I? That generally means I want to hear about it," I countered.

"You don't want to know where my head has been lately. You'd probably say I was wasting my time and I don't want to hear it," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Hey, I'm asking. If you want to talk about," I paused and took a deep breath before I hissed out, "John, then that's fine."

She stood there with her arms crossed for several moments before she sighed out, "I'm worried about him, Teej. He hasn't been acting like himself since he moved down here. Before Sean finally told him to back off, I asked him multiple times why he wouldn't leave y'all alone. He said something about things not being the way they were supposed to be. Once Sean called him and he realized I wasn't going to take his side and back him up, he started hanging out with a guy he met online. It's some druggie who was supposed to graduate last year but dropped out before graduation.

"Now, John hasn't been in school since Thursday. His parents told me he hasn't been home since Friday afternoon. He stopped answering his phone on Monday night when he told his parents to fuck off and leave him alone. He said he was eighteen and could do what he wants. This was after his dad told him if he wasn't going to go to school, he shouldn't bother coming home. The last time he responded to one of my texts was Tuesday night. All it said was 'leave me alone and let me enjoy my high.' When I told my aunt and uncle what it said, I could tell my aunt was worried, but my uncle told her not to worry about it since John was making his own choices."

Because I'm a good friend and a nice person, I drew her into a hug and said, "Damn, that sucks. I'm sorry you have to go through this. Is he normally the type to do drugs and stay gone like this?"

"Not really. I know he has smoked pot in the past. But that's all he's ever told me he's done. During the summers, he would stay gone from his parents as much as he could, but he would always check in and let them know where he was. It's not like him to miss this much school. He's smart and used to be a good student. I don't know what to do and I feel totally useless."

"Well, if he's as smart as you say he is, maybe he'll realize he's fucking up and come around. Until then, there's not much you can do. He's making his choices and he'll have to live with them. If you ever need someone to talk to or whatever, I'm here for you," I responded, sounding like I was in some afterschool special or something.

The next day, Friday, John was back. He showed up about half-way through first period, and then he showed up about five minutes late for Drama. Lori asked where he had been. She pointed out how he had let Josh down. She finished up asking why he was late class.

"Fuck off!" John sneered.

Josh had to physically stop me from crossing the room and kicking his ass. However, I did get close enough to him to notice the dark circles under his eyes, the amount of weight he had lost, and the slight bruising on his arms. Lori, however, simply raised an eyebrow and turned to pick up the phone on the wall. After a short, whispered conversation, she sat down and didn't say a word.

John wore a smug look on his face for about three minutes, then the auditorium doors opened, and a furious looking Robert walked straight over to him and in an authoritative voice commanded him to go with him to the office. Nobody saw him afterwards. During my free period before lunch, I went to the front office and asked Robert what happened and all he told me was John decided he didn't need to attend high school any longer and wouldn't be returning. I'm not going to lie; I might have grinned a little when he said that.

During lunch, Stacey was quick to find out what happened. I had barely sat down before she asked, "Did you find out what happened to John? Can you tell me? Is he suspended or was he expelled?"

"I was told he withdrew from the school,"

I had to force myself not to smile again when I told her since I knew she wouldn't appreciate it. I can't see why, but for some reason known only to her and whatever gods are out there, she cares about the asshat. I guess I would be upset if someone were talking shit about someone I care about. Actually, everyone knows they would get their asses verbally handed to them if they talked shit about someone I love in front of me.

Her face took on a look of utter disbelief. I was half-tempted to reach over and close her mouth by pushing up her chin. After a few moments, she quietly stood up and walked towards the exit of the cafeteria. The rest of us sat and looked around until everyone's eyes found Jarrod. Luckily for him, he got the hint and ran to check on her. He caught up with her just before she turned towards the restrooms. When he tried to stop her, she shrugged him off. I noticed she had her phone in her hands and was typing out a message. He tried to talk to her, but she shook her head and walked away from him.

He stood there looking lost for a moment before he came back to the table and sat next to Josh, which was across from me. I was able to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"She said she didn't want to talk to anyone right now, except John. She wouldn't even look up from her phone and talk to me. She said it as she walked right by me. I don't know what to do. She knows how I can't stand him. He's the reason for the only fight we've had. She was feeling guilty over not taking his side or at least standing up for him when y'all told him off. She got mad at me for telling her no on the few occasions she asked if the two of us could hang out with him. I told her I didn't want to be around some crazy guy who was obsessed with someone he couldn't have.".

Later that evening during the football game, Stacey sat at the farthest end of the row from me as she could get with Jarrod next to her. She all but ignored him as she checked her phone constantly. Just before halftime, she looked at Jarrod with a worried expression and showed him her phone. I saw him shake his head and then I looked away. A few moments later, I saw them both stand up and head to the exit. As I watched them leave towards the parking lot, I leaned over to Josh and asked, "What do you think that was all about?"

He looked confused and responded with the ever intelligent, "Huh?"

I nodded towards the vacant seats where Jarrod and Stacey had been sitting and asked again, "What do you think is going on? They looked like they were about to start fighting, then Jarrod seemed to give up and they left for the parking lot."

Josh sighed and said, "I don't know. Probably has something to do with John. You know how worried she's been about him."

I shrugged it off, not wanting to waste any time on thoughts of him. Instead, I focused on watching the game and cheered as we won yet another game.

We stayed at Sean and Kevin's that night, giving Robert a chance to do whatever. I was having trouble sleeping. I ended up sitting and staring out his bedroom window. That's how I noticed Stacey in her back yard, sitting by alone. I looked from the clock on the bedside table, which read 1:50 am, to the sleeping form of my boyfriend. I placed a light kiss to his lips, eased the door open, and made my way downstairs. I slowly opened the back door, made my way over to the fence as quietly as I could and softly asked, "You doing alright?"

From the other side of the fence, I heard her gasp. "TJ? Is that you? You scared the fucking shit out of me."

"Do you mind if I come over? I couldn't sleep and noticed you were up too. I thought I'd come keep you company. That is, if you don't mind."

She sighed and said, "It's cool. Come on over. I can't sleep either."

I made way out of Sean's backyard and opened the gate to Stacey's yard. I was wearing my normal basketball shorts and a tank-top with no shoes. I found Stacey sitting at a patio table and took a chair next to her. Neither of us said anything for a few moments. I finally broke the silence. "So, why did you Jarrod take off early from the game? Did you hear from him?"

"I got a text from John's number and it scared me. It said, 'not sure I'm having fun anymore... That's it. I texted him back, thinking he would let me know something else, and asked Jarrod if we could leave in case John needed me. He finally agreed after I showed him the message, but I never heard back from him.

"I'm sorry I was distracted by everything going on with John. I know I totally effed up our scene. I mean I was messing up so bad you had to stop focusing on your part and guide me through the blocking. I know I let you down and I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I know you've had a lot on your mind. Besides, I kinda rocked the scene with Josh, so I'm good," I said with a wink and a smirk.