Welcome to Wednesday Briefs! It's flash fiction, so this story will be presented in 1000(ish)-word chapters. I hope you enjoy it, and check out the many other flashers, whose links are below. You can also check out the Wednesday Briefs Blog for more info and to sign up for email notifications.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
THE BOYS OF BELSMEADE
Chapter Four
I drove slowly through the student parking lot. The last thing I needed was to rear-end someone's Jaguar or Porsche. Once I found a spot, I grabbed my bag, opened the car door and then shut it again in a panic.
What was I afraid of? Why was this so hard?
"It's not hard, you wimp," I mumbled to myself. One last look in the mirror before I opened the door again and took a step into the unknown. Nervously, I straightened my tie. Hopefully, I'd fit in. I'd look like one of them.
As I made my way across the campus, the chapel bell rang and suddenly "them" were everywhere. All around me, doors opened and a flood of students poured into the quad. My messenger bag was fairly light, but it felt like a ten ton weight, dragging me down as I walked. My legs felt rubbery as I neared a group of Meades in front of the chapel.
"Oh God," I muttered when they stopped chatting and turned toward me.
In the middle of the group was a boy with hair of such a vibrant shade of red that I nearly laughed. I had never seen hair that red outside a Viking museum. Apparently, I couldn't keep the smirk completely off my face, since the boy's eyes narrowed and he closed the distance between us in three long strides.
"You need something, Clack?" he demanded with a sneer.
I shook my head and walked quickly away. Raucous laughter followed me like the plague. Then I heard the term "fag" and I slowly came to a stop. Normally, I wouldn't care what the kids thought of my sexuality, but twice in one day? First Jeff Peters at my school started at me for being gay. Now at Belsmeade, it was happening again. I thought it would be better here, that everyone would be more matured and refined. What was I thinking? My life would suck wherever I went.
I turned to go back to my car and ran head-long into a tall, amazingly ripped body.
"Hey, Eliot!" Aramis laughed. He threw an arm around my shoulders and swung me back around. "Classroom's this way, bud."
"But—" I muttered as he was manhandled toward McMahan Hall. I huffed. "Aramis! Let go. I'm getting the hell outta here. This was a complete mistake."
I was near tears and sniffed to keep the drops at bay. Aramis let his arm drop and studied my face with concern. "What's wrong? You just got here."
"Yeah. And in the two minutes I've been here, I've been bullied by that red-headed dick over there and called a fag. Thanks, but no thanks."
"He did what?" Aramis spun around and eyed the red-head. "Wait here," he told me. He walked quickly up to the jerk and had a heated, but short, discussion with him. Aramis poked the other boy hard in the chest and the boy nodded. With a self-satisfied smile, Aramis came back to me and said, "I wouldn't worry about him anymore."
I wasn't ready to let my guard down so quickly. "Why?" I asked nervously.
He shrugged. "I caught him cheating on a test last year and it's fun to let him think I may give the teacher the evidence at some point. He's an asshole to everyone. He outed me in my freshman year to whole school, thinking it would be some big scandal. Turns out they already knew and Blake was pissed at the lack of a flipping fuck that was given about my sexuality. It was kind of funny really."
I fidgeted with the strap of my bag. "So… People here don't have a problem with us?"
"'Us', huh? You sail under the rainbow flag too?"
"Yup. I've been out for a while. My family's always known."
Aramis plugged for more info. "Boyfriend?"
"Me? Nah. There are a few other gay guys at school, but none that interest me sexually. They're just good friends. Are there many gays here?"
Aramis shrugged. "A handful here and there. But once you live so close for four years, the selection gets stale. I went with one guy for about six months, but the sex was horrible."
"You've had sex?" I blurted out incredulously. Immediately after, I wished a hole in the earth would swallow me up. I scoffed and said out loud, "Way to go, El. Can I die now?"
Aramis came to a dead stop and grabbed my arm. "Please never say that Eliot. Don't talk about dying."
"Sorry," I replied, tugging out of his grasp. Why had he overreacted so much. "Geez. I was only kidding."
He seemed to realize his mistake and laughed nervously. "Sorry. It's no big deal about the virgin thing. In fact, I'd consider it an honor to make love to a virgin."
I turned to face him. There was a predatory look in Aramis' eyes and there was no mistaking what it meant. He was interested, and he knew I was too. He took a step closer and an indescribably delicious scent wafted around me. He wasn't touching me, but I felt like his arms had cocooned me in a tight embrace. My brain felt like a bag of cotton balls and I had a hard time remembering where I was or what I was supposed to be doing.
"Eliot?" Aramis asked, snapping me out of my fog. "Eliot, you'd better go in or you'll be late."
"Hm?" I shook my head to clear it and realized I was in front of the languages building. Reluctantly, I looked away from Aramis and said, "I'd better go before I'm late."
He laughed quietly. "Wanna grab some coffee after class?"
"Uh… okay." I replied. "Meet you here?"
"Right here." Aramis nodded happily and ran off toward the admin building. I exhaled slowly and opened the door to my first class at Belsmeade Academy.
What was I afraid of? Why was this so hard?
"It's not hard, you wimp," I mumbled to myself. One last look in the mirror before I opened the door again and took a step into the unknown. Nervously, I straightened my tie. Hopefully, I'd fit in. I'd look like one of them.
As I made my way across the campus, the chapel bell rang and suddenly "them" were everywhere. All around me, doors opened and a flood of students poured into the quad. My messenger bag was fairly light, but it felt like a ten ton weight, dragging me down as I walked. My legs felt rubbery as I neared a group of Meades in front of the chapel.
"Oh God," I muttered when they stopped chatting and turned toward me.
In the middle of the group was a boy with hair of such a vibrant shade of red that I nearly laughed. I had never seen hair that red outside a Viking museum. Apparently, I couldn't keep the smirk completely off my face, since the boy's eyes narrowed and he closed the distance between us in three long strides.
"You need something, Clack?" he demanded with a sneer.
I shook my head and walked quickly away. Raucous laughter followed me like the plague. Then I heard the term "fag" and I slowly came to a stop. Normally, I wouldn't care what the kids thought of my sexuality, but twice in one day? First Jeff Peters at my school started at me for being gay. Now at Belsmeade, it was happening again. I thought it would be better here, that everyone would be more matured and refined. What was I thinking? My life would suck wherever I went.
I turned to go back to my car and ran head-long into a tall, amazingly ripped body.
"Hey, Eliot!" Aramis laughed. He threw an arm around my shoulders and swung me back around. "Classroom's this way, bud."
"But—" I muttered as he was manhandled toward McMahan Hall. I huffed. "Aramis! Let go. I'm getting the hell outta here. This was a complete mistake."
I was near tears and sniffed to keep the drops at bay. Aramis let his arm drop and studied my face with concern. "What's wrong? You just got here."
"Yeah. And in the two minutes I've been here, I've been bullied by that red-headed dick over there and called a fag. Thanks, but no thanks."
"He did what?" Aramis spun around and eyed the red-head. "Wait here," he told me. He walked quickly up to the jerk and had a heated, but short, discussion with him. Aramis poked the other boy hard in the chest and the boy nodded. With a self-satisfied smile, Aramis came back to me and said, "I wouldn't worry about him anymore."
I wasn't ready to let my guard down so quickly. "Why?" I asked nervously.
He shrugged. "I caught him cheating on a test last year and it's fun to let him think I may give the teacher the evidence at some point. He's an asshole to everyone. He outed me in my freshman year to whole school, thinking it would be some big scandal. Turns out they already knew and Blake was pissed at the lack of a flipping fuck that was given about my sexuality. It was kind of funny really."
I fidgeted with the strap of my bag. "So… People here don't have a problem with us?"
"'Us', huh? You sail under the rainbow flag too?"
"Yup. I've been out for a while. My family's always known."
Aramis plugged for more info. "Boyfriend?"
"Me? Nah. There are a few other gay guys at school, but none that interest me sexually. They're just good friends. Are there many gays here?"
Aramis shrugged. "A handful here and there. But once you live so close for four years, the selection gets stale. I went with one guy for about six months, but the sex was horrible."
"You've had sex?" I blurted out incredulously. Immediately after, I wished a hole in the earth would swallow me up. I scoffed and said out loud, "Way to go, El. Can I die now?"
Aramis came to a dead stop and grabbed my arm. "Please never say that Eliot. Don't talk about dying."
"Sorry," I replied, tugging out of his grasp. Why had he overreacted so much. "Geez. I was only kidding."
He seemed to realize his mistake and laughed nervously. "Sorry. It's no big deal about the virgin thing. In fact, I'd consider it an honor to make love to a virgin."
I turned to face him. There was a predatory look in Aramis' eyes and there was no mistaking what it meant. He was interested, and he knew I was too. He took a step closer and an indescribably delicious scent wafted around me. He wasn't touching me, but I felt like his arms had cocooned me in a tight embrace. My brain felt like a bag of cotton balls and I had a hard time remembering where I was or what I was supposed to be doing.
"Eliot?" Aramis asked, snapping me out of my fog. "Eliot, you'd better go in or you'll be late."
"Hm?" I shook my head to clear it and realized I was in front of the languages building. Reluctantly, I looked away from Aramis and said, "I'd better go before I'm late."
He laughed quietly. "Wanna grab some coffee after class?"
"Uh… okay." I replied. "Meet you here?"
"Right here." Aramis nodded happily and ran off toward the admin building. I exhaled slowly and opened the door to my first class at Belsmeade Academy.
********************
Blake Becker watched the Clack walk into the language building and growled. That little shit had somehow captured Ambrogi's interest, but why? He was human and a townie. What the hell would cause Aramis to confront Blake in front of Blake's clan like that? Just threatening him with the cheating crap is one thing; directly challenging him was quite another. He should've just told the fucker off, but in his anger, Blake had accepted the challenge. Ambrogi was bigger and stronger than him, too, so there was little chance he'd win. His humiliation would be doubly painful. He was in trouble and the Clack was the cause.
No doubt about it: the human had to be dealt with.
No doubt about it: the human had to be dealt with.
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