< Chapter 24

Chapter 25

"So your parents were totally cool with it?" Nick asked as they stopped by the Report Office the next day before phys ed. Lance had wanted to go by the office to make sure that Chris didn’t need any more help in putting the final issue of the semester together.

Lance gave a wide grin as he nodded He’d told Nick all about dinner the night before and that he had finally told his mother and father how he was gay and AJ was his boyfriend. He’d also wanted to tell Nick about how he and AJ had been making out and had gotten to, what he figured was like second or third base, but had gotten cold feet and hadn’t been ready to give that much information. "Yeah, they were great. Gave us rules and stuff, but nothing that we didn’t already know."

"Was AJ wiggin out?" Nick snickered at the image he had in his mind of AJ freaking out while Lance was upstairs talking to his parents. The snickering turned into full blown laughter as Lance nodded.

"Totally. It was great though, they were so cool about it." They stepped into the office and Lance immediately spotted Chris at his desk. "Chris?"

The senior looked up and smiled at Lance. "Hey, Lansten. What can I do you for?"

"Just making sure that you didn’t need help." They’d canceled the meetings this week so people could focus more on studying and finishing last minute assignments. Chris only shook his head and smiled.

"Nah, got it under control. Just putting the finishing touches on it right now actually." He looked over a few things before meeting Lance’s gaze again. "I’m loving your section more and more each month, Bass. Not only is it beefing up our paper, but it’s stuff everyone really WANTS to read and it makes money to boot."

"Okay, well I was just making sure. We’ve got to get to phys ed. so..."

"Oh, wait. In case I don’t see you." Chris rustled around on his desk to find something before holding it up for Lance to take. "My band is playing a show. The last night of exams at the Underdog. All ages, mostly for Lincoln High kids as a stress reliever."

Lance nodded as Nick looked over his shoulder to see the flyer.

"You should come. All of you kiddies should come. You’ll get to see my band and it’s a lot of fun. I might even pretend I know you."

Lance laughed and folded the flyer up to slide in his pocket. "Okay, sounds good."

"Later kiddies, you’re gonna be late." As he said it, the bell rang indicating that they were indeed going to be late. With strangled yelps, both boys jumped and ran for the door. Chris’ cackle could be heard even after they’d shut the door behind them.

*~*~*~*

It wasn’t until Friday afternoon after the assembly that Lance remembered the invitation to see Chris’ band. They were all enjoying the rest of the afternoon off in the cafeteria which had been pretty much abandoned. Most teachers were letting students go early, and even though they could have gone somewhere else, they had somehow found themselves sitting in the cafeteria. "Oh, I forgot. Chris invited us to see his band play." Lance pointed to the ad that had been put in the Report.

"When is it?" AJ asked skeptically. He knew that Lance claimed that he and Chris were just friends, but knowing how hot his boyfriend was, AJ was convinced that they all were after him too. Lance gave him a look and he shrugged sheepishly. "What?"

"You’re so adorable, all jealous like." AJ only scowled.

"It’s the last night of exams, so the 23rd. At the Underdog," Nick informed everyone. "From what I hear, everyone’s gong to be going. It might be fun."

"I’m in!" Justin agreed with a cheer. "I’ve never been to a real bar."

"You’re fourteen, of course you haven’t." Josh said with a laugh. He pulled Christina closer so that she was settled comfortably on his lap. "It’s all ages," Josh commented as he looked at the ad.

"I think it would be super fun," Britney agreed with Nick and Justin. When no one answered she focused on the two best friends. "Since they don’t want to go, we’ll go. We don’t need the couples anyways, they’ll just sit in a corner and make out all night."

"For sure," Justin high fived Britney. Nick nodded and the high five went three ways.

The four individuals that comprised the couples glared at them and all stuck out their tongues.

"We never said we didn’t want to go," Lance argued. He would go if AJ wanted to go, and honestly, it sounded like fun but something was holding his boyfriend back. Finally, AJ nodded.

"Yeah, lets go. It does sound like a good way to relax after exams."

Josh and Christina exchanged smiles, both nodding. "Good, it’s a go. Now, what about tomorrow night’s pre-exam party!"

~*~*~*~*~

Exams hadn’t been too bad for Nick, who only had to write three out of five. Art and Phys Ed. were exempted from having written exams, so he’d only been forced to write for Math, Science and History. Lance had been luckier than Justin only having to write four of five as he also was exempted from Phys Ed. He was writing Science, Computer Studies, English and Math. Justin on the other hand was writing all five, as he hadn’t been lucky enough to score any exempts. He had Computer Studies, Math, Geography, Science and English, all spread out over the duration of nine days.

"You’re so not going to be laughing next semester Nicky," Justin growled as they studied for their final exam which was Science. It was true, where Nick had only three this term, he was going to have five to write in June. Justin on the other hand was going to only have three. "I’ll be only studying for three when it’s you that has five to sit through."

Nick shrugged and stuck out his tongue. "Meh!"

"Will you two shut up," Christina sighed. It was just before noon and they had until one to prepare for the exam. "Some of us had an exam yesterday and didn’t have until last night and this morning to study."

"Umm, if I remember," Nick snickered. "We ALL had an exam yesterday. Math, if I remember correctly. And you had nine days to study."

"Besides," Lance said with a shrug. "I thought you were wonder girl with the science and math."

"No, that’s you," Britney said as she bit on her pen. She didn’t even look up from the notes she was looking at. When no one responded, she very briefly raised her gaze to see everyone watching her. "Well, am I wrong? Did something change and we find out that Lance ISN'T taking grade 10 math this year?"

Everyone shook their head and she smiled. Her gaze went back down to her book and she sighed. "Okay, then shut the hell up. Some of us are barely getting a C in this class and DO need to study."

"I need to study," Christina grumbled under her breath.

"Why, that A not good enough? Going for the A+?"

"Don’t worry Nicky," Justin laughed. "I’m sure she’ll let you look at her A+."

"Yeah, it’s the closest he’ll be getting to it, so I might as well."

Britney cleared her throat and the group fell silent. Ten minutes later she slammed her book shut startling everyone. "Okay, I’ve had enough. If I don’t know it, it’s gonna be too late anyways. Lets talk about something interesting."

"Tonight," Nick said. "What’s the game plan?"

"The show is at like, nine right?" Christina asked.

Everyone nodded.

"You’re coming to my place to get ready, aren’t you Brit?"

"Totally. I’ll be there at like seven. I’ve got a few things mom wants to do with me after school. We have to do some last minute shopping and stuff for Christmas Eve. She’ll drop me off when we’re done."

"Josh said he’d be by at around eight fifteen to pick us up."

"We’re not all going to fit in the car," Justin realized with a frown. They’d never all gone out together with only Josh driving, and so hadn’t run into that problem as of yet. "Especially with Kyle and Billy..." Christina shaking her head cut him off.

"Nah, Billy’s driving too. He’s got his dad’s car, so he’s gonna drive. He’ll be picking you guys up. You just have to talk to Josh to find out what time."

"Okay," Nick nodded with a smile. His mother had already said she’d drive if they needed it, but he hadn’t wanted to bother her. Plus, it would have been cooler if they could show up without having someone’s mom drop them off in front of everyone. "That’s awesome!"

"He and AJ are meeting us today after our exam. They were done yesterday morning, and when Aje called last night he said that he’d see me today after my exam. So he’ll let us know today probably."

Nick and Justin exchanged excited glances. They’d been talking all week about what they were going to wear, and whether or not they thought Kevin would be there. He hadn’t seen the senior for over a week since exams started, and he knew that over Christmas, he wouldn’t get to see him, so that night would be the only time for the next few weeks to be able to see him. That night couldn’t get there fast enough.

Nick had told Josh to tell Billy to pick him up at Justin’s house. Billy had been given the directions to Justin’s house, and he would pick them up before heading to Lance’s and AJ’s. Kyle had gone with Josh, Christina and Britney, so that neither car would be too crowded. The plan was to pick everyone up between eight and eight thirty, so they could be at the Underdog by quarter to nine. Chris had assured Lance that the show never started on time so they weren’t worried about missing anything.

Although there were a lot of people outside the Underdog, it didn’t take them long to get inside, nor was it overly packed. No one had been sure of how to dress, so they dressed how they thought they should, which was pretty much in their usual casual attire. There were people who dressed like Chris usually did, in black with chains and makeup and outrageous hair styles, but there were also quite a few people that they recognized, all dressed the way they normally did. Just the fact that they were in a real bar was exciting, and Nick struggled to remember every moment.

"Hey, Timberlake," A voice called out, capturing Nick and Justin’s attention. Christina and Britney had gone to secure a table, while AJ and Lance had followed close behind. Josh, Kyle and Billy agreed to get drinks for everyone and were weaving through the crowd with pitchers of coke. Nick and Justin had decided to look around, they wanted to see who all came out to see Chris’ band’s show. They, admittedly, were surprised at the turn out.

When Justin recognized the owner of the voice, he heard Nick give a sharp gasp. Brian Littrell was smiling at him, and just over his shoulder, Justin could see Kevin standing against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hey Brian!" Justin greeted the older boy with an enthusiastic wave and a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"We usually come to Chris’ shows. At least when we can anyways."

Justin nodded in recognition. He forgot that Chris was part of their clique. They had always been so focused on Kevin and then Brian once Justin had made the team, that he forgot all about Chris. Sometimes Justin had to struggle to remember that Joey was a part of it too, as the foursome didn’t always spend a lot of time together lately, especially with their different extra curricular activities.

"Cool. Chris invited our friend Lance. Said we should come so we did." Justin stole a look at Nick who was staring unabashedly at Kevin, who even Justin had to admit looked pretty good. Kevin was wearing a black, long sleeved tee and a pair of faded jeans that had a hole in the knee. It should have looked really silly since no one wore jeans with holes in them anymore, but there was something in Kevin’s confidence that made it look good. He wore his hair up in a small pony tail and black boots that accented the outfit. Justin could tell that Nick was far gone.

"Which one is Lance?" Brian asked looking in the direction of Justin’s crew. He recognized Josh Chasez and Alex McLean, but they weren’t people he usually hung out with. In fact, he didn’t think he’d spoken to them since he was in grade seven and they were in grade six. He’d gone in one direction, they’d gone in another and he hadn’t really thought about them in years.

"He’s the one in the blue button down shirt. With the..."

"The one with the eyes." Brian blushed when Justin gave him a strange look.

"Uh yeah. He’s got eyes..."

"No," Brian laughed. "Alex did a painting of eyes. I heard they were that kid’s eyes. That’s Lance?"

Justin nodded. "Yeah, he works on the paper with Chris. So he invited him who invited us."

Brian listened and looked very intently at the table where AJ and Lance were whispering closely. His eyebrows furrowed but he didn’t say anything. It was Nick who noticed and spoke up.

"Why are you looking at them like that?" Brian hadn’t realized that Nick had even been paying attention, so Nick’s question caught him off guard.

"Like what?"

Nick mimicked Brian’s expression. "Like that. What’s wrong with them?"

"I just ...are they going out?"

It was Justin’s turn to frown. He hated the thought that Brian was homophobic. Because if he was there was most definitely going to be a problem. "Is it a problem if they are?"

Brian’s face turned white and he shook his head emphatically. "Oh, no. Not at all. I just ...I’ve known Alex for a long time and had no idea."

Nick and Justin exchanged a look and Brian sighed deeply.

"I’m sorry if you misunderstood. I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t have a problem with anyone who is gay."

For some reason, neither Nick or Justin believed him. They didn’t get a chance to say something before they were joined by Kevin. "This show is going to suck if I have to stand for the whole thing."

"Don’t people dance?" Nick asked, giddy that Kevin had joined them. The senior looked at him for a moment before answering.

"People do dance. I do not."

Nick looked over his shoulder to see that Christina and Britney had grabbed two large tables, which had more than enough room and chairs for all of them. "Uhhh, if you don’t mind, we’ve got two tables. There looks like we’ve got a few extra chairs, if you want to sit with us."

Kevin looked over and paused as if he was thinking about something. Nick held his breath until Kevin finally nodded and allowed a brief smile. "I think I might just do that." He then looked at Brian who looked flustered. "What’s your problem?"

Brian shook his head. "I just ...they think I have a problem with gay people." He and Kevin exchanged an amused smile and Kevin burst into laughter. Kevin turned to face Justin and Nick and gave a shrug.

"He doesn’t."

"Are you gay?" Nick asked before he realized what he’d said. He blushed. I'm sorry, it’s none of my business."

"No, it’s okay. No, I'm not gay." Brian said. "But I don’t have a problem with it. I just ...it threw me off, I wasn’t expecting it."

"Wasn’t expecting what?" Kevin asked. Brian shook his head.

"None of your business."

Nick hadn’t expected for Brian to not tell Kevin what they were talking about. He appreciated Brian’s respect for AJ and Lance to keep things quiet and not start rumours. He’d already heard that the rumours were starting, and AJ and Lance didn’t care what people said about them so they didn’t verify or deny them, but for Brian to add to it would only further fuel them. Kevin didn’t seem phased by Brian’s rudeness.

"Whatever. It’s not like I care."

"Good," Brian looked towards the table that Nick had invited them to join. "Did you want to sit?"

"I said I did."

Nick practically ran back to the table to make sure there were enough seats. There were, plus extras for when Joey showed up with his girlfriend Kelly as well as a few of their other friends, which Nick was pleased to see didn’t include Gretchen Saunders.

As Chris assured them, the show didn’t start at nine. It wasn’t until nearly nine thirty that the lights went down and the show was to start. The band members were all revealed individually by spotlight, Chris the second to last. There were five people in total, one drummer, two guitarists, one bassist and the lead singer. Chris played bass and was off to the right, on the side of the stage that they were all sitting at.

Nick was paying half attention to the show, half attention to Kevin, who was only siting a few seats away, an obvious bored expression on his face. When Nick turned his head to see how everyone was enjoying the show, he saw the awestruck expression on Justin’s face. He couldn’t help but giggle and nudge Lance with his foot.

Lance felt someone kick him and looked up to find Nick giggling and staring at him. He smiled back and saw Nick pointing at Justin. When Lance turned to look at the other boy, he was surprised to see his jaw open, eyes wide and all attention focused on the stage, on Chris to be exact.

"J?" Lance said with a laugh. "You okay J?"

Justin didn’t respond. He didn’t hear anything except for the band on stage and an ever so often backup vocal that just HAD to be Chris’.

"Justin?"

Justin growled as he pushed Lance away. He’d seen Chris before, on many occasions, but hadn’t ever really noticed him. Justin was now noticing. Chris wore a tee shirt that was just tight enough to make Justin’s pulse race. He had on a pair of army pants that had safety pins all up the sides, a pair of combat boots and his hair spiked up into a mohawk. The tips had been dyed a bright blue and he was wearing, if Justin was seeing right, eye liner. Chris’ face was frozen in a constant snarl and he was focused so intently on his guitar that it took Justin’s breath away. At one point, Chris looked up and Justin felt dizzy when their eyes met. He had never, in his entire life, felt this way before.

There was a small group of people dancing at the front of the stage. Some people were standing there, watching the band play. Their table was suddenly too far away. Turning to the only person he knew would understand, Justin asked Nick to go up to the front with him. He knew that Kevin was at their table and it was a long shot that Nick would be willing to go, but he asked anyways. "Please?"

Nick looked at Kevin who was still grumpy and frowning, to the way Justin’s eyes were dancing. He was nodding and up on his feet in an instant. "Yeah. Lets go."

Justin jumped up to his feet and hugged Nick tightly. "I knew you were my best friend for a reason."

Nick grinned as he let Justin pull him up to the front of the stage. He knew that if the positions were reversed, Justin would do the same for him so he didn’t mind leaving Kevin at the table. It wasn’t like they were talking much anyways, since Kevin was ignoring everything except the floor in front of his chair. Plus he’d never seen Justin get that excited about anything or anyone besides basketball, so he wanted to get more information on why Justin’s cheeks were pink and he was practically drooling.

"So, who you looking at?" Nick asked as they were standing at the front of the crowd. The music was a little harder than he was used to listening to, and he wasn't sure if he could deal with it all the time, but it was still exciting to be there and he was glad they’d gone. Nick followed Justin’s gaze and was surprised when it stopped on Chris. The same Chris they’d seen every single day when Kevin passed their locker but Justin hadn’t given a second thought. He wondered if it just took him to see Chris in another setting to bring this out. Not to mention the fact that Chris was a guy and Justin had never said anything about liking boys before. Not that he’d said that he didn’t, but it was definitely something Nick assumed would have come up in conversation before.

"He’s so ..." Justin started. He watched Chris strum the guitar strings roughly and sighed. He felt so much more alive than he ever had before and wondered if this was what Nick felt every time Kevin Richardson was near him. Justin also wished he’d have been paying more attention at school all semester when they’d been following Kevin around and Chris was probably there.

Nick didn’t have to respond, he didn’t even think Justin realized he was still there. He couldn’t wait to get home that night so he and Justin could talk about this in the privacy of his bedroom. Despite that tomorrow was Christmas Eve, their parents gave the okay for Justin to sleep over after their concert. It had been far too long since the boys had been able to have a sleep over and neither of their mothers thought it fair to deny them.

There were a few people dancing, and while Justin stood completely still, gaping wide eyed at Chris who seemed to get meaner and snarlier throughout the whole show, Nick joined in, jumping and moshing around. It was quite possibly the most fun he’d had in ages and with the stress of his first set of high school exams behind him, Nick was happy for the stress relief.

All too quickly, the show was over and Justin stood in place, hoping that the band would do another few songs. It wasn’t until Nick tugged on his arm and told him that they were dismantling the drum set that he realized it wasn’t going to happen.

"Oh my god, we have to find out when they’re playing next and BE THERE!"

As much as Nick would have liked to suggest they not do that, he knew he couldn’t. He’d dragged Justin to almost every home game that Kevin had played, to the Shake Shack on many a night when he’d overheard Kevin saying he was going to be there, and the whole time, Justin hadn’t complained once. Not seriously anyways. So for him to deny Justin this one thing would plague Nick for the rest of his life. Before he could say anything, Justin frowned.

"As long as it’s not a school night, mom will kill me."

Nick nodded. "I hear that." He saw everyone sitting at the table, laughing and talking. "Come on, lets go back over. Since Brian and Kevin are at the table, Chris will probably come over too."

Just as Nick had predicted, once the band had packed their equipment up, Chris had come over to the table to talk to Kevin and Brian. Two seconds after saying hello, Chris turned to Kevin. "What’s up your ass tonight?"

"I don’t want to talk about it," Kevin growled. Chris only rolled his eyes.

"You never want to talk about it. Why did you even come out if you’re going to be a pissy infant?"

"Screw you."

"Screw you both, so shut the fuck up." Brian warned, shocking both Justin and Nick. They blushed at the fact that they were eavesdropping on what seemed to be a private conversation, but neither looked away.

"What are you looking at, kid?" Chris said as he caught Justin’s eye. Justin blushed and looked away. When he looked back, Chris was still looking at him. "Well?"

"You." Justin replied honestly. "You were so awesome up there."


Chris hadn’t been expecting that answer and so he didn’t say anything as it had caught him off guard. "Thanks."

"I’m serious. It was some serious music. I don’t usually listen to punk because my mom won’t really let me, but that was awesome." At the mention of his mother, Chris snickered and Justin blushed.

"Your mommy won’t let you?" Before he could finish his sentence, Chris was cut off.

"Cut it off Chris," Lance said with a laugh. "He doesn’t know you well enough to know you're full of shit." Lance turned to Justin and rolled his eyes. "Don’t listen to him, he’s just a grumpy old man."

"Well, look at this. I didn’t think I’d see you here. This is too chocolate for you."

When Justin flashed Lance a questioning look Lance explained. "He says I’m vanilla. So boring and plain and straight laced."

"I love chocolate," Justin said with a grin. It’s my favourite."

Chris simply looked the kid up and down. "Yeah, I’ll bet," was all he answered with. He turned his attention to Kevin who was watching the interaction take place. "So, you gonna be an asshole all night?"

Kevin thought about his answer before vocalizing it. "Yeah, maybe I am."

Chris shrugged. "It’s a good thing I’m used to it by now. God knows the last time you weren’t an asshole."

"Probably around the same time you weren’t." The two friends shared a smile, causing both Nick and Justin’s pulses to race madly.

Brian turned to Justin and smiled. "Thanks for letting us sit with you." Justin blushed as Chris and Kevin both turned to look at him. He felt his stomach churn excitedly at Chris’ eyes on him.

"No problem. Thanks for joining us."

"We’re having a new years’ party at my house," Brian said just before they were about to leave. "December 31st obviously, feel free to stop by if you’re all free. It’s a dinner party and will go until well after midnight." He waved at the whole table that was talking animatedly, barely even acknowledging their presence. "Everyone is invited."

"Cool, we’ll think about it," Justin answered. He couldn’t believe that Brian had just invited them to his New Years party. Odds were that Kevin and Chris would be there, which would totally be perfect for him and Nick.


"So when did you start to like boys," Nick asked once Brian, Kevin and Joey were gone. He grinned at the way Justin’s cheeks blushed a deep red.

"I ..."

"You what?"

"Is this how you feel when you see Kevin?" Justin asked. His hands were still trembling with excitement and he did a quick shimmy. As soon as he saw the hips move, Nick knew Justin had it bad.

"You did the shimmy, yeah, it’s how I feel when I see Kevin." There was just something about the little move that could accurately express how Nick felt. To see Justin partaking in the shimmy, meant that Justin was far gone. They both looked at each other and at the same time, shimmied their hips.

"What are they doing?" Kyle asked with a laugh. He’d looked over to see Justin do it, then he did it again. Then both of the boys had done it. It looked odd and he was curious as to what it was for.

"Their shimmy," Lance said as if it explained everything. He knew in that instant that Justin was totally crushing on Chris. Even AJ had mentioned something, as they had never seen him that focused on anything except basketball. Ever. They both agreed that it was cute. And honestly, about time.

Josh shook his head. "Never mind. I see them every day and I don’t get them half the time."

They stayed at the Underdog long enough to finish their pops and headed back out to Josh and Kyle’s cars. Rounds of Merry Christmases and promises to see each other next week at some point were made. Vague discussion about New Years’ plans had taken place, but nothing would be finalized until they got Christmas out of the way and could focus more on it.

When Justin and Nick were dropped off, they got inside and found Jane Carter curled up in the living room with a book. "Boys, you’re home!" She looked at the clock to see that it was after midnight.

"Yeah. We had to drop Aje and Lance off first. Sorry we’re late mom," Nick kissed his mother’s forehead and gave her a hug.

"Don’t worry about it, sweetie. It’s just ten minutes. Did you have fun?" Both boys nodded, while trying to stifle yawns.

"It was awesome!"

"Good, I’m glad to hear it." Jane stood up and stretched. "I’ve set up the basement for you. And don’t worry, the girls have been told not to wake you up in the morning."

"We could have slept in my room," Nick said with a grin. As fun as it was to stay in his room, it was more fun to sleep in the basement, since he didn’t get to do it frequently.

"Oh right. I remember what happened the last time we didn’t let you boys sleep down there." She received two blushes in response. "Feel free to sleep in, but if you’re not up by lunch I'm coming down to wake you up. Lynn wants you home early enough to help her with Christmas Eve dinner."

Justin nodded. With all the excitement, he’d forgotten that tomorrow was Christmas Eve. "Thanks Jane."

They curled up in their sleeping bags and faced one another, eyes open wide despite how tired they were.

"So ...what was that tonight?"

Justin knew what Nick was asking and honestly, wasn’t sure how to answer him. "I don’t know. I ...he was on stage and I looked at him and it was like I saw him. For the first time I could SEE him and ..."

"And?"

"My stomach got all weird. And I couldn’t look away from him. He was ..beautiful. Does that make sense?"

Nick nodded, it was how he felt about Kevin, exactly. "Totally makes sense. I feel that way about Kevin. Some days I’ll look at him and be so surprised at how gorgeous he is that I can’t breathe."

Justin nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! That’s it. God Nicky, I never knew why I didn’t find Britney or Christina hot, but figured that they weren’t my type."


"I guess they aren’t."

Justin snickered before sighing forlornly. "How did this happen? I mean, I wasn’t expecting.."

"Neither was I!" Nick confessed. "I so didn’t think I’d be falling for a boy, but then I saw Kevin and ... Bam hit me out of nowhere." Nick was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "So, what are you going to do?"

Justin grinned and felt his stomach flip a few times. "I’m going to talk to him I think. Find out what I can about him, see if he thinks I’m hot."

Nick couldn’t believe how confident Justin was, how he could just go up to Chris and blatantly express his interest in him. And Nick didn’t doubt that Justin would do it too. He knew that Justin was exactly the type of person who would not only do it, but have Chris admitting that he did find him hot. Part of Nick admired Justin for that, and the other part of him was jealous of it, wishing he could do the same. Nick figured that he should take a few pointers from his best friend.

"You don’t even know if he likes boys."

Justin shrugged. "That’s why I gotta talk to him. See if he does. If he doesn’t, I gotta find out how to change his mind." They both broke into giggles. "Maybe I'll see about Kevin too." Justin heard Nick inhale sharply and quickly added, "for you of course. I’m more into Chris."

Nick was relieved, he hated to think that Justin would be interested in Kevin as well.

And just like that, it was common knowledge between them that Justin was madly in lust with Chris Kirkpatrick. There was no need for a great discussion about whether or not Justin was gay and why he hadn’t said anything before. Both Justin and Nick knew the answers to those questions. It wasn’t gay so much as sexual, and nothing had been said for the mere fact that it wasn’t an issue. Before or now. AJ had mentioned quite a few times that he suspected that Justin wasn’t exactly straight because of his oblivion regarding everything about the opposite sex. Girls had never really excited Justin to the point of distraction. And one day they knew that someone would be able to hold his attention for longer than five minutes, Nick notwithstanding. It had taken longer than expected, but Justin had finally found that person, and that person happened to be a boy. It was just further proof that Justin wasn’t hung up on labels or genders or anything outside of what he knew in his heart. And
 right now, next to basketball in Justin’s heart was a bass guitar who was a boy with a mean snarl. His heart skipped a few beats and Justin knew it was hopeless. He was already too far gone.


End Chapter 25


Chapter 26 >