< Chapter 6

Chapter 7

They didn’t get a chance to talk about their afternoons until after dinner. "Those were the best tacos EVER!" Nick gushed as he rubbed his extended stomach. "I had like five."

Lance belched softly and both boys broke into a fit of giggles. "I know. Mom makes the best tacos. It's because she makes her own spice mix, and her own salsa."

"The sundaes were good too. We’ve never had hot fudge at home, usually we just use chocolate syrup."

"That’s good too though," Lance said with a smile. He was so glad that Nick had been able to stay for dinner, and now they had snuck up to his bedroom to talk under the pretense that they were doing homework. It was almost seven o’clock and his mom had said that she would be up at ten to nine to drive Nick home. So they had two hours to talk plus do their homework. "Thanks for coming over for dinner," Lance said shyly. There were times that he still got nervous around Nick and Justin, although those times were becoming more few and far between.


Nick only beamed with excitement. "Thanks for asking. I mean, pork chops are okay, but tacos are so much better! Plus I haven’t ever been here before." He looked around Lance’s room, looking at all of his things. There was a computer on a desk in the far corner, posters scattering the walls and a telescope by the window. There was a poster of the universe, including all of the planets and different star charts, there was an atlas of the world, as well as country singers that Nick only vaguely recognized. And the room was impeccably neat, which was the biggest difference between their bedrooms. Nick’s room was messy and sloppy, clothes strewn everywhere, books all over the floor. He had a desk somewhere in a corner, but hadn’t seen it in forever and probably wouldn’t recognize it if he could see it. He had posters of basketball players on his bedroom and closet doors, both on the inside and outside, but his walls were free of everything except his murals. "This is such a cool room!"

Lance blushed as he sat down at his desk. "Thanks."

Nick took one look around before turning to Lance and flashing him a mile wide grin. "SO!!" He sat down cross legged on the bed and bounced a few times. "How was the Lincoln Report!"

Lance recalled the afternoon and gave a slow smile. "At first it was so scary! I was freaking out and wasn’t even going to go in. I stood at the door forever, just staring at it and just as I was going to go to the library and do my homework until I had to meet you, the door opened and this girl came out. She saw me standing there and told me not to worry, that just because the door was closed, didn’t mean they weren’t open."

"Oh, it’s so good that she came out then huh? Because you were just going to leave." Nick grinned. Lance’s excitement was infectious and he wondered what had happened to make him that giddy.

"Totally. So I went inside, and was freaking out. But I looked over and ...." Lance’s eyes widened and he didn’t know how Nick would take finding out that Kevin had been there. It had sounded like Nick had a great afternoon too, but how great would it have been compared to actually talking to Kevin Richardson?"

"AND?" Nick asked, eyes wide. His pulse raced and he recognized the look on Lance’s face. "OH GOD. He was there wasn’t he!" Nick pounded his hand on the bed.

"Kinda!" Lance laughed at the way Nick flung himself backwards on the bed and covered his face with his arm in an overly dramatic fashion. Seconds later, Nick was back to his upright sitting position and once again ready to listen. "Sorry." Lance felt like he should apologize, although Kevin’s presence had nothing really to do with him.

"I KNEW IT! I thought about that, you know. When you asked if I wanted to come." Nick was slightly disappointed that Lance had seen and talked to Kevin again, yet he still hadn’t even come close to making any contact with him. As much as he would have liked to go, he knew that staying in the art room was more important. Lance nodded sympathetically and wanted desperately to tell his friend that he would have rathered been in the art room with AJ than in the paper office with Kevin. But he didn’t. "Did he look good? Did he talk to you? OH GOD, did he??"

Lance laughed at how Nick leaned forward so much he was about to fall off of the bed. "He looked like he always looks. He had on jeans and a tee shirt. Running shoes and his hair back in a small pony tail." Lance paused when Nick closed his eyes and pictured it. He watched the blonde swoon for a moment before returning to the conversation. "Ready?"

Nick nodded with a grin on his lips. "Yeah."

"But don’t worry, he didn’t stay long."

Nick looked happy at that news. "Was he meeting Gretchen? I know the cheer leaders had practice today, Britney and Christina were talking about how they were going to go and watch and try and make friends with them. They tried out but didn’t make it." Lance nodded and Nick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I think that Kevin and Gretchen are kinda dating." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"So yeah, I went in, and Chris Kirkpatrick was there. Apparently he’s the editor and he was so mean to me. Told me I should just leave but Kevin and Howie were there and they defended me." Lance told Nick all about how mean Chris had been and what he’d said, making sure to focus on how cool Howie and Kevin had been to him. It was funny how proud Nick was of Kevin and how he would interrupt every so often to ask questions or just talk about Kevin in general.

"And he let you work on his computer? To fix the problem?" Nick asked in disbelief, awe clearly present in his eyes.

"Yeah. He couldn’t figure it out so he let me sit down and see what I could do."

"And you fixed it?"

Lance nodded.

"You are like... the smartest person I know!" Nick said proudly. Lance blushed and shook his head but Nick was adamant. "I’m serious. That is so cool. YOU are so cool." He stopped gushing for long enough to let Lance continue his story, and by the end, Nick was so happy for his friend.

"Let me get this straight..." Nick said as he stood up to pace around the room. "Kevin sticks up for you to Chris to convince him to let you stay. THEN... Howie tells Chris to let you work on the paper making thing to fix it, which you do when even HE can’t figure it out. You do it, and then after all that, he tells you to come over and pick which story is going to be front page?"

Lance grinned, feeling pretty proud of himself. "Uhhh, yeah. That’s about it."

"WOW!" Nick picked up a picture of Lance from a few years earlier sitting on a couch with four boys and a girl, all wearing birthday party hats. He set the picture down and grinned. "So, are you going to go back tomorrow?"

Lance nodded. "I think so. He said that they were short staffed, plus with this program, they’re running behind schedule, so I should come back tomorrow. I think I will."

"Awesome!" Nick exclaimed brightly. "I’m so happy for you."

"Me too," Lance admitted. This was what he’d expected high school to be like and it was finally happening for him. It was then that he remembered that Nick had said he’d had news to share as well. "What about you? How was your afternoon?"

Nick jumped and turned around quickly, a giant grin on his face. "Oooh, it was awesome. Not up in the ranks of talking to Kevin Richardson AGAIN," Nick stuck his tongue out at Lance who returned the gesture. "And I didn’t save the day or anything... But it was awesome."

"What happened?"

"Well, I got there and Aje was already there."

Lance had to fight not to react at the thought of spending time with AJ alone. He felt butterflies in his stomach and stifled a giggle. "Yeah?"

"And we sat down and chatted for a bit. I had NO idea what to paint for this assignment and it was starting to freak me out. Same with him, we’ve both been so preoccupied lately I guess. So finally I started painting and like... an hour passed by before I even realized it."

"What are you painting?"

Nick looked at Lance’s wall and pointed. "Something like that actually. It’s a painting of the earth from the view of space. I had no idea you were so into astronomy." Nick watched as Lance blushed and shrugged.

"I love it. My dream is to become an astronaut." Nothing could have shocked Nick more than finding that out. It was such a cool profession and although he’d never really been interested in becoming one, it was awesome that Lance did. Lance was definitely smart enough to go to the right schools and do the training for it.

"Wow. Well, that’s what I’m painting. Maybe some day when I’m rich and famous and selling my paintings for millions of dollars, I’ll give it to you as a present. You can say you knew me when."

"Awesome," Lance couldn’t help but laugh at Nick’s extended ego.

"So anyways," Nick was excited to continue his story. "We’re sitting there and AJ got us cokes to take a break. Just as I’m about to start up again, the door opens and Joey Fatone comes in. He’s all grumpy and growling about something and goes to leave with two cans of paint."

"Can he do that? Just take paint from the supply cupboards?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah. It’s school property, so if you’re doing something that involves the school, anyone can use it. Usually you need an art student or an in with the art people to get in and get some, but it’s free for everyone to use. He’s painting the background for the play, but it’s the wrong paint. So I asked if he was okay."

"You talked to him?" Lance asked in shock. Nick had always gotten so nervous around Kevin’s friends and for him to instigate conversation was big. His response was a giant grin.


"Yeah. I asked if he was okay and he explained what was wrong with the set. Then I told him he was using the wrong paint and that he should use something else." Nick relayed how he’d written down the name and how Joey had asked AJ if Nick was okay. Lance listened to Nick’s story in rapture, not interrupting until he was done.

"What do you mean you didn’t save the day?"

Nick blushed. "I didn’t, not like you did!"

"Uh, you totally did. If you hadn’t have said something, he wouldn’t have known they were using the wrong paint and it would have looked awful. He wouldn’t have had an idea of what was wrong."

Nick hadn’t really thought about it like that. "I guess you’re right."

"And he really said that your painting was awesome? That you’re awesome?" Nick’s grin told him everything he needed to know. It was Lance’s turn to watch him in awe. They continued to talk about their afternoons until Lance noticed that it was after eight o’clock and Nick’s mom would be checking his homework when he got home.

"Damn, thankfully I don't have a lot." Nick said as he opened his backpack to pull out his math and science books. Lance grabbed his few books and the two boys started on their homework, only stopping a few times to add something to their conversation from earlier.

Before they knew it, Diane Bass was knocking at Lance’s door. "Nick, honey? Time to go."

Nick slammed his science book shut and grinned. "Good, just finished." He had been worried that he wouldn’t get it finished in time, but thankfully the questions hadn’t been TOO hard. "She’ll kill me if it’s not done."

"Can I come mom?" Lance asked, standing up.

"Of course sweetie, lets go."

Nick thanked Lance’s father again for letting him stay for dinner and they piled into the Bass’ car, heading towards Nick’s house.

"Thanks for dinner Mrs. Bass, and thanks for driving me home."

"Oh you’re welcome Nick. Can you give this to your mom, I told her I’d give you our number."

"Duh mom, Nick could have just given it to her."

The two teens laughed as Diane rolled her eyes. "Always have to be smarter than me, don’t you baby boy?"

"Bye Lance, I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Nick."

Nick ran into the house and was greeted instantly by his mother. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes mom, thanks." He showed her his homework and sat down while she gave him a glass of milk. They stayed at the kitchen table until he’d finished his milk and she was done talking with him about his day. He told her all about Lance’s adventures at the school paper and his adventures in the art classroom. Although he was only fourteen, Nick had long since known he was different from most boys. In the beginning, he’d assumed that different was bad and had been afraid to tell his mother, but after finally confessing to her, tearfully and nearly hysteric, she helped him realize that different wasn’t always a bad thing. She was admittedly surprised and somewhat disappointed that he’d revealed that he wasn’t interested in any of the girls in school, but one boy, Kevin Richardson to be exact. But soon realized that her love for her son overrode any notions of how she had imagined him to grow up, get married and have a family. And from there, they had engaged in an open dialogue between
 them. Nick no longer felt ashamed of who he was and she taught him that above all, God loved all of his children and so did she.

"Well, you seem to have had a big day Nickolas Gene Carter."

"Yes mom," Nick said with a yawn.

"I think you should head on up to bed. Say good night to your father, and I think Aaron was wanting to see you before he fell asleep."

"Okay mom, good night." Nick kissed his mother’s cheek softly before following her instructions. Twenty minutes later, he’d washed his face, brushed his teeth and was curled up beneath his sheets, visions of Kevin Richardson dancing in his head.

End Chapter 7


Chapter 8 >