< Chapter 1

Chapter 2

"Where have you been? I'm freaking starving," Nick growled, he grabbed the paper bag from Justin's hand. His lips had formed his trademark pout for two seconds before he dug into his lunch.

"Ran into the two chicks next to your locker." Justin barely flinched at Nick's outburst while Lance stood frozen in surprise. Justin rolled his eyes and sat down at a picnic table. "Hey Aje, how's it hangin?"

"Little to the left kid. What chicks?" AJ asked with raised eyebrows. He looked up as Lance hesitantly sat down and gave him a nod of greeting.

"Lance, this is AJ, Aje, this is Lance."

"Hi," Lance said meekly. With just one look at Nick and Justin's friend he could feel his heart beating quicker and his palms were sweaty. He knew by overhearing Nick and Justin for the past month that Nick liked boys, but wasn't all that aware of whether anyone else at their school was gay or bisexual. He nearly melted when AJ grinned and held his hand across the table for him to shake. Lance had just fallen in love.

"Lance, welcome to the quad." AJ squinted his eyes for a moment, as if trying to place where he'd seen this new kid before.

"What's up? Why are you looking at him like that?" Nick asked, finally joining the conversation.

AJ shook his head. "I don't know, you look familiar. Do we know each other?"

All eyes turned to Lance who blushed and shrugged. It was odd for him to be the centre of attention, especially when he'd spent so much time being invisible lately. "I don't know, probably just around the halls. I don't think I have any classes with you."

"Fresh meat?" AJ asked with one eyebrow raised. Lance nodded as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah. Except I take grade 10 math."

AJ shrugged. "Nah, you're not in my math class. For sure I'd have noticed you there."

Nick's snort captured both AJ and Lance's attention. "Yeah, like you even go! Do you know where it is?"

A silence fell upon the table as everyone turned to look at AJ whose eyes were open wide. They held their breath until AJ started to cackle, he gave a nod of his head. "Shut up Nick, I go." When Nick cocked one eyebrow AJ shrugged. "I make sure I go at least once a week. But if Lance here were in my class, I'd probably up that to at least twice."

Lance's cheeks burned with embarrassment and he gave a weak smile. He loved the way AJ was watching him and pretended it was because of the same reason he'd been staring at AJ. He also pretended that AJ hadn't been kidding about his statement about going to math more if Lance were there. He hadn't felt this way since last summer when he'd been looking at his sister's teen magazines and saw the picture of Corey Fredericks from his now favourite show "It's Just Life". If there had ever been any doubt that Lance preferred boys to girls, staring at AJ and wishing he could kiss him erased those doubts. "I don't know where you'd know me from then."

AJ didn't either, but it didn't stop him from staring at this beautiful new boy.

Remembering what Justin had been saying as he entered the quad, Nick was curious about the girls who had the lockers next to his, so he turned to his best friend and took a big bite of his sandwich. "So, you ran into the girls? You know, the ones beside my locker?" He wanted information, as if things had have gone really well, Justin would have probably invited them to eat lunch with them at the quad. It was so easy for Justin to have girls falling at his feet. In elementary school, all the girls had been hoping he'd ask them to their grade 8 graduation, disappointed when he'd organized a rally so that no one had dates. Everyone went in one big group so no one would be left out, and he wouldn't have to choose which of the girls he'd have to ask.

Justin's eyes widened and he snickered. "Yeah. They stopped us as we were passing the caf. Were all nice to Lance just so he'd introduce them to me."

"What did they say?"

"Nothing, I told them we had to go." When both Nick and AJ's jaws dropped in surprise, Justin shrugged it off. "They've never spoken to him before ten minutes ago, and then the second they see him with me they're all nice to him. But even then they ignored him the second I paid them attention. Plus they looked kinda trashy, like the girls my mom say are easy."

"And?" AJ asked. He wasn't understanding Justin's logic.

"And, the last thing we need are girls who are rude to our friends." Justin turned to Lance and pointed his banana at him. "How many times have you talked to them?"

Lance blushed and looked down at his hands that were fidgeting nervously with his pudding cup. "Every day."

"And how many times have they talked to you?"

"Besides laughing?"

Justin giggled, causing for Nick and Lance to join in. AJ watched quietly. "Yes, besides laughing," Justin answered. That doesn't count. Or if it does count, it counts against them because they're laughing at you, not with you."

"Never. Except to tell me to move out of their way, and even then they usually just push past me and talk loudly about me, they've never spoken to me."

"Right. Exactly. And then today they're acting like he's the hottest thing. Bitches."

AJ studied Lance's profile, captivated by the graceful lines of his face, the way his skin glowed and the stunning colour of his eyes. He didn't say anything, only watched him with complete focus and attention. He hated how embarrassed the younger boy looked at the thought of them knowing that these girls had continuously made fun of him. He hated how people had been rude to him in the first place, but mostly he hated not knowing more about him. Especially whether or not Lance found part Latino, sophomore boys with bleached blonde, slightly poufy hair, weird eyes and a scrawny build, attractive. He continued to stare at Lance in hopes that the multitude of questions floating around in his head would find some answers.

"So?" Nick asked. "If they're hot... It's not like you've got anyone else lined up that's interested."

"You wouldn't understand Nick. I don't want some girl who only wants me because I'm hot. Plus, I don't want anyone who's a bitch or trashy. I want someone nice and genuine... That I'm not going to have to worry about treating my friends like crap and who my mom won't say is easy."

The whole table burst into laughter causing for Justin to frown.

"You don't know what you want," AJ said as he rolled his eyes. "You're fourteen, what do you know. Every high school boy wants exactly that, bitches who are easy because it's their ultimate fantasy. To be treated like shit in front of everyone, but know that their girlfriend is going to put out and make it worth his while."

"Is that what you want?" Lance asked quietly. He looked down at his hands which were folded neatly on his lap. Lance took AJ's statement as a sign that his crush on the sophomore was one sided.

AJ cocked his head to the side as he felt his cheeks burn. He didn't want to say too much, afraid he would give his feelings away, but at the same time, he couldn't lie. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and said "I tend to deviate from the norm. I'm not your average high school student."

Lance could most definitely agree with that. Justin broke the silence that had fallen over the table.

"I know what I want Aje. I know I want to play basketball and go to a good school so I can make it in the NBA. I know that girls only screw that up and I don't want anything to interfere with my game. I don't need a girl who is just with me because what I can do for her. And these two girls looked like air heads. I don't need that shit, I'm too young."

Lance looked at Nick questioningly, surprised when he nodded. It was true, for Justin, nothing was more important than playing basketball. He ate, slept and breathed orange balls and hoops with nets. "You do realize," Lance pointed out, "that when you get on the basketball team, those are the types of girls that you're going to be hanging around all the time right? That the one type of person you profess to hate, is exactly what your 'clique' is known for."

Justin mumbled something under his breath in response. "I'll be too busy with basketball to care," he said more clearly so the whole table could hear. "Besides," Justin's voice got louder and his lips curled into a smirk. "If Kevin Richardson can be friends with whoever he wants, so can I. I'll still be your friend Lance when I'm the captain of the basketball team! Don't worry."

Everyone broke into laughter as Justin nodded earnestly.

"What about you Nick? You feel the same way?"

Nick stifled a laugh and answered with a totally straight face. "I'll still be your friend too Lance when Justin is captain of the basketball team."

It was Justin's turn to laugh hysterically, a few snorts escaping. "You're such a loser Nick!" He turned to Lance, still chuckling. "How I feel about basketball, is how Nick feels about Kevin Richardson."

Nick blushed and ducked his head in embarrassment. "Shut up J, I don't want everyone to know. And besides, I'm not THAT obsessed. I have other interests."

"Okay, so we know that Nick isn't persuaded by the charms of the opposite sex," AJ said softly so no one outside their table could eavesdrop. "And I'm not all too convinced about Justin's attraction to girls," he stopped when Justin growled at him.

"I like chicks man, just not more than basketball."

"Right..." AJ rolled his eyes as if he were dealing with a small child and nodded, "...exactly Justin. Case and point. So what about you Lance?"

A piece of his turkey sandwich got caught in Lance's throat and he began to choke. He fumbled for his carton of milk and swallowed some down, hoping that he'd heard the question wrong. "Excuse me?"

"What about you? Do you find the girls hot?"

"They..." Lance focused on a bird sitting on one of the window ledges. "They're okay. I guess."

"Okay like you'd like to taste the inside of their mouths okay? Or okay like you could care less because they're girls and girls are not what does it for you okay?" AJ was forced to pick at the wood of the picnic table to conceal the fact that his hands were trembling and he was more interested in Lance's answer than he should be after only meeting him fifteen minutes earlier.

The tension at their table increased and finally, when Lance wouldn't answer the question, Nick stepped in. "So is everyone going to the game on Friday night?"

Justin and AJ groaned while Lance shot him a look of thanks.

"You know I don't go to football games Carter," AJ's voice wasn't as strong as his statement and they all knew that with enough pouting and pleading, Nick would convince him to do just that.

"But he's starting... and..." Nick looked at Justin who stuck his tongue out at him.

"I'll go with you," Lance volunteered. "I haven't gone to any games yet." Lance wasn't sure if Nick was including him in the general offer, but he had spoken up before he could think it through. Thankfully he was met with a positive reaction.

Nick's eyes widened with excitement and he did a seat dance. "Really? You will?"

Lance didn't want Nick to know that he would be more than happy to do anything outside of going to school and going home to watch TV with his mom and dad. He couldn't wait to get home to tell them that he'd made friends and was even going to be going to a football game on a Friday night. "Of course."

"Awesome. And then after we can maybe go to the Shake Shack for burgers and fries."

Justin groaned, further causing confusion with Lance. "What?" Lance asked.

"Oh.. it's just we always go to the game, where Nick drools over Kevin and then afterwards, before the seniors all go out to Brian's house in the country for a party, they go to the Shake Shack and get something to eat. So of course since Kevin's there, we have to go. And we go.. and Nick says he's going to say something, but he doesn't. So we listen to him go on about Kevin until he leaves, usually with a cheerleader, and then we hear Nick complain for the rest of the night about how life isn't fair."

Lance turned to Nick who was grinning wildly, his eyes nearly dancing with excitement. "Yeah, it's so much fun." Justin snorted and Nick turned to face him. "You don't have fun?" Nick knew that his best friend was just teasing him and so he didn't take offense to the mumbled comments and snorts.

Justin couldn't help but nod and agree. "Actually, it is pretty fun. But I like to give Nick a hard time about how it's hopeless."

"What's hopeless?"

"His crush on Kevin. Kevin's straight, and a senior, and doesn't have a girlfriend but that's because he's pretty much having sex with the whole cheerleading team."

Lance's face blushed a bright red and he couldn't even look AJ in the eye. "Are you serious? He has..." He couldn't bring himself to even say the word sex, but with that one statement, all he could picture was Kevin Richardson having sex with pretty much every member of the cheerleading squad. Both separate and together. Even he had to admit it was a pretty picture.

AJ shrugged. "It's what I've heard."

"But why don't you go to the party?" Lance asked. "I mean, if that's where everyone goes.."

Nick and Justin looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Are you crazy? WE can't go. We're not a part of their crowd. Plus we're freshmen. We couldn't get past the front door. You have to be invited by one of them to get in. Plus I hear they have someone guarding outside so that no one tries to sneak in. They're totally exclusive parties."

"Oh, well I don't care. It sounds like fun. My first football game. My first school event, thanks for the invitation." Lance tried to keep the overwhelming gratitude to a minimum, he didn't want to scare his new friends away and have them think he was a big loser and change their minds.

"Good, we'll meet at my locker after school on Friday. We can go to my place after school and have a snack before going to the game."

AJ nodded as he stood up. "Josh'll probably drive."

"Josh?" Lance asked. The moment he said the name, someone appeared behind him and startled him.

"You called?"

The group gave a hearty laugh at the way Lance jumped nearly a foot in the air and screamed. "Holy shit," Lance breathed. "You scared me." He turned around to face the owner of the voice that had just startled him. There stood the person who claimed to be Josh. He stood eye to eye with Lance, the same height with crystal blue eyes that crinkled when he was smiling, which he was, shoulder length wavy brown hair that had blonde highlights and was wearing a pair of ripped jeans, flip flops and a tee shirt that fit him perfectly. If Lance wasn't already besotted with AJ, he would seriously be swooning over this new person. At his minds' voice, he blushed a deep red and stepped back, averting his eyes to the ground.

"Sorry. I have that effect on people. What's up?"

"Not much," AJ said with a smile. This is Lance, a friend of Nick and Justin's. Lance, this is Josh. He’s a junior, but he’s my best friend so he usually eats in here with me. The Junior Lounge is always so packed and barely anyone eats out here."

"Hey," Josh said as he shook Lance's hand. "You're not on the front steps." His words caused for Lance to further redden and he immediately regretted embarrassing the young teen.

"Yeah..."

"Oh, no offense. It's just I always see you sitting on the steps, eating your lunch and reading a book when I come in. I do co-op in the mornings so I don't get here until lunch time. A few weeks back you were reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I wanted to stop and ask you about it. It's one of my favourites.. but you were so engrossed I didn't want to bother you. You always look so intense, I feel bad wanting to interrupt."

"Yeah.. I kind of get into the books when I read..." He didn't want to admit that it was also useful for pretending that you weren't as lonely as you were. People tended to leave him alone if they thought he was really engrossed in a book. Lance had learned how to become practically invisible since starting at Lincoln High. Now he wondered if he'd been as oblivious to his own surroundings as Nick and Justin had been until that morning. If Josh had seen him enough times to know where he ate lunch and what he was reading, maybe he hadn't been as unnoticeable as he'd assumed. That thought made him smile.

"Awesome," Josh grinned and gave Lance a genuine smile. "So where am I driving?" He looked at Nick who was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet and rolled his eyes. "Home game?"

Nick nodded, a grin a mile long on his face. "Yeah-huh."

JC squinted his eyes, pretending to think about it. "Is your mom gonna make pizza?"

"She will if I ask her to." Nick's eyes got brighter and he threw his arms around Josh's lithe frame.

"Cool beans, we're so there."

The bell interrupted any more conversation and the five men headed back into the school for their afternoon classes. Justin headed off in one direction towards his own locker which was on the farthest edge of Fresh Meat Lane, while Nick and Lance headed towards theirs which was in the heart of it. AJ and Josh had taken leave of their company as soon as they'd left the quad, as their lockers were in the opposite direction to the freshmens'.

"So who is this Josh person?" Lance asked. He'd gotten everyone else's story but hadn't had time to find out who Josh was.

"A friend of AJ's. They've been friends for a long time. Josh is a junior while Aje is a sophomore, so Josh is old enough to drive. He's pretty cool and doesn't mind hanging out with freshmen. We get treated like.. well I'm sure you know..." Nick said as he opened his locker. Lance could only nod in understanding. He did know exactly what Nick was talking about. Freshmen were the bottom of the food chain in high school and upperclassmen had no problem in reminding them of that at every possible chance. "Why? You like him?"

Lance froze and coughed into his locker. He finally withdrew his head and had a look of terror on his face. Nick shook his head and apologized.

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business." He weighed out what he wanted to say before speaking. "Just so you know.. like you don't already, but I want to tell you so you're clear. I don't like girls. Not like girlfriend/boyfriend anyways. At all. So..." His voice was soft and trembled slightly.

"It's okay Nick."

They stared into each others' eyes and finally Nick smiled.

"Good." He pulled out a few books and slammed his locker shut. "Now come on, we're late and are gonna have to get tardy slips."

End Chapter 2


Chapter 3 >