CH. 15 Disastrous beginning

Hello dear all :-)) Here comes chapter 15 and you'll see what happens...not going to spoil it by saying anything. Hope you'll enjoy it, let me know!!

I want to thank you all of you very much for being soooo fantastic and commenting, messaging, reading and voting: 2 of my stories went over 300.000 reads and I'm super happy!!! :-)))

Ok, I dedicate this chapter to all of you as a thank you and in particular to JUURIKURAN, because I know you'll like it dear and thank you for being so nice and for your lovely banners!

On the right, a picture of Shenice --> Kyla Pratt

Enjoy xox

JASPER POV

I had just basically yelled at my parents, uhm well at mother mostly and that never happened in my entire life. Never. Oh boy, I had no idea what was about to come now, especially with father looking at me now for the very first time in years, like he was looking at someone he had never seen. I gulped and felt my body trembling now for the tension and worry, because I knew mother could get very angry and if she would reach a certain level, Nic would take me away and drag me to Los Angeles and I didn’t want to leave New York. I didn’t want to leave Dima and Travis and my friends.

They stared at me in shock, uhm well, father was sort in a shock, but mother was now boiling and I had to brace myself for what was coming.

“What did you dare to say, Jasper Lucas? You are with who? And you talked back to me in such a rude and inconsiderate way? Is that how I raised you, Jasper Lucas? Do not speak a further word, your father and I shall take measures towards you and this situation. I do not need to tell you the consequences that your actions bring to our family status.” She was now standing up and almost digging holes in my body with her furious stare and for a moment I felt like shattering in frozen splits, but then I thought about Dima and I squared my shoulders and stood up for myself.

“I said Dima and I are together and I will not go on a date with a girl. I cannot change the fact I am gay, it is not something I decided on my own, it happened and …”

SLAP.

Mother had just hit me with a hard and painful slap on my face for the first time in my entire life and while holding my pulsing cheek, I stared at her in disbelief and horror. She just hit me. My eyes went wide and I felt them stinging and I gulped down, because I wasn’t going to cry in front of her, so I let my anger now take the best of me and I didn’t like it. I wasn’t an angry person and it was all weighting down on me and making me feel terrible and giving a bitter taste in my mouth. She raised again her hand and I winced, but this time father stood up and grabbed her wrist.

The look on his face shocked me and I took a step back, because I had no idea what was about to come. He was pale and tense with … oh boy, I had no idea with what, but I never saw him like that. Mother snapped her head back and eyed him in confusion.

“Adelle-Grace, this is enough.” His voice echoed in the entire dining room. “I shall not tolerate you hitting my son a second time.”

I had no idea how to describe what went on my head in that moment. Dad had never stood for me, he had never cared about me or anything and always let mother treat me like some puppet to domesticate. I thought I didn’t exist for him, but now he … he…he just stopped mother and told her to he wasn’t going to tolerate her hitting me. Boy, he even called me “his son”, while last winter he went on some shock when Nic told them he was gay and they began to blame me for that. Uhm well, mother mostly blamed me for that and my brother went so mad that threatened them to stop with their behavior otherwise he would take me away. And I didn’t want to leave New York. Not now.

“Edward darling, did you not hear what our son said? He disrespected me and dared to talk back.”

“I said that this is enough. I will not tolerate more yelling and such actions in my house and when we all dine at my table.” He let go of her wrist and then turned to me. “Jasper, we are not asking you to marry this girl, simply to keep her company on Saturday and this is final.”

I looked at him for a moment and then at mother who was now basically murdering me with her stare and I just ran away to my room, not able to take it anymore of this. I never liked to argue or yell or anything of that, because it wasn’t my nature and it always gave me a terrible feeling. While I ran upstairs I saw Nic and he caught me now crying and tried to stop me, but I snatched my arm away and ran the stairs, uhm well, I flew the stairs and almost tripped. I heard him demanding to my parents what was wrong and what happened, but didn’t hear the remaining, because my feet ran the corridor, towards my bedroom and I closed the door behind me. I slipped on the floor and let go of the tears, now rolling down on my face not able to stop.

I hated to be this weak and fragile; I wished to be strong like Travis.

Travis.

I needed to hear his voice and talk to him, because now it wasn’t the right moment to call and talk to Dima, he would worry and probably drive over here and I first needed to calm down and stop crying; I didn’t want to worry him or have him hearing me like this. I had to calm down and stop crying. My legs pushed me up and I took a couple of unsteady steps towards my desk, where was my bag with my phone. My fingers trembled on the screen and I pressed the “call” button to call my best friend. His cheerful and musical voice answered me and I felt immediately slightly better. I sat on my bed and answered.

“Hi cutie, how are you?” He asked.

“Hey Travis…” My voice was unstable and it betrayed my state of emotions and he immediately picked that up.

“Jasper, what happened? Are you ok? Is everything ok? Are you hurt? Something happened with your stupid and snobbish family? Hell, tell me and if they did or said something moronic I’ll drive over there and kicked their ass.”

I let out a chuckle because he really was worried and I knew he really would have done that, boy, no kidding. But somehow his cursing and rushed voice calmed me down another bit more. I told him what happened and every few words he would hiss a “hell”, or even worse or curse at my mother and then I bet he was shaking his head. I heard his mother asking him something and I realized I probably just disturbed him during dinner.

“Sorry Travis, I just disturbed you during dinner, maybe I should..” He cut me off immediately.

“Oh shut up, cutie. You’re not disturbing and who gives a damn about food now. Do you want to come over here? Or better, do you want me to come over there? Look, I’m actually coming over and wait a moment..” I wanted to tell him not to worry and that wasn’t necessary, but he held his phone away and talked to Michelle. Why I didn’t have a mother like Michelle? Oh boy, she could win the mother of the year award; she was so sweet, nice, always smiling and so understanding. He was talking super fast to her and I could picture him walking around in his usual way, sort of hyperventilating for the anger. He was quite a temperamental person and when emotions hit him strongly, he would start talking at the light speed.

“Jasper, you there?”

“Uhm, yeah.”

“Ok, I’m coming over and don’t wanna hear a word about it, ok?” I sighed and shook my head giggling. It was pointless to contradict him.

“Uhm sure and uhm…thank you Travis.”

“No need to thank me, you’re my best friend and I love you. Oh, did you tell Dima already?”

“Uhm, not yet, I needed to calm down first. I’ll call him in few minutes, because he is anyway waiting for my call.”

“Ok, and don’t worry about it. Your mother might be a stuck-up pain in the ass, but at least your father this time took your side and I think it’s fantastic. So, see you in a bit.”

When I turned off the communication, I heard a knock on the door and then Nic came in and hugged me tightly.

“I know what happened and I am so sorry Jasper I wasn’t there with you and for you… I should have stayed at home tonight. I cannot believe mother hit you. She never did it in her entire life and tonight she snapped, I can’t believe it and I will not forgive her. She hit you for no reason.”

“Nic, it’s fine. Father actually stopped her this time and..”

“He did what?” He softly pushed my shoulders away from him to look at me and his face was quite surprised.

“He stopped her when she was about to slap me a second time and told her it was enough and that he wasn’t going to tolerate such a thing. Oh boy, Nic..I..I can’t believe father just took my side.” My brother looked at me completely astonished and then shook his head.

“I cannot believe it either, but that explains his reaction when I told them I would take you with me to Los Angeles. He sort of went rigid and said the issue was solved and there was no need for further unnecessary drama and then he left the room.”

“Oh boy, Nic, I don’t want to go to Los Angeles now..please..”

“I know that Jasper, but if anything of the sort happens again, I shall take some measures. You had withstood too much and even if you’re brave and strong, it’s not fair.”

“I-I am n-not brave and strong…” I stuttered out shaking my head. He crooked his brows and then smiled.

“You are not? Jasper, you are far braver and stronger than I was. I kept my sexuality a secret from them and ran away from home with the excuse of college and wanting to make new experiences. Instead of telling them, I hid it, but not you. You had the courage to tell them and tonight you stood your ground and I am so proud of you. Don’t worry about our mother, she cannot force you in anything and I’m here for you.” I smiled at him and hugged me back, burying my face in his chest. Oh boy, what would I do without my brother? Or without Travis? Or without Dima, whose only thought gave me the strength to talk back and stand the ground. Oh boy, the idea of being without him freaked me out completely.

“Uhm Nic? Travis is coming over.” He grinned and shook his head.

“Your friend is quite the fire-cracker, isn’t he? I like him very much, he honestly cares about you and it’s good you found a friend like him.”

“Boy, he sure is someone out of ordinary.” I agreed.

We sat on my bed and talked a bit more and then when I asked him what he did for dinner, he tensed a bit and simply said nothing, but I didn’t miss something flashing on his eyes and I tried to press for more info, but it wasn’t easy to dig them out.

“Jasper, it’s nothing and..”

“Nic, why can’t you tell me?” I insisted. He sighed and dropped his back on the bed.

“I promise to tell you, but not now, if this is fine with you.” He looked at me with a gentle smile and I knew he would talk to me when it was the right time, so I nodded and then decided to call Dima.

When I told him about what happened, he had a similar reaction to Travis, only far more loud and far more cursing and keeping saying he would never allow a “chick” to get me, because I was his and only his and no way he would admit such a stupid and idiotic thing and then he asked whether we were in some mediaeval time or what? He was ranting so fast and babbling all sorts of things that I just began laughing very loud, having my brother look at me curiously and Dima stopping and asking me what the hell was so funny. Oh boy. He was that funny and he washed all of my worries, anger, tension and bitterness away with just few words and picturing in my head his comical expressions. And when he said I was his…oh boy, I melted on my bed and probably went bright red, given the amused face of Nic.

“You’re funny, oh boy…thank you Dima, I feel so good now.”

“Feel better, too, then. Want me come over and kick a bit of sense in your mother’s thick snobbish head?”

“Uhm no, really, and I told you what dad said.”

I didn’t have much choice, I had to keep that girl company on Saturday, because if another major discussion would happen, Nic would transfer me to Los Angeles before I could say “may the force be with you”, uhm, no kidding. And I sure didn’t fancy leaving home and go where? Run away? This was simply silly and a colossal no-sense. I wasn’t yet eighteen, but still seventeen and where would I run to? I couldn’t impose on my friends or Dima, because that would be absolutely childish. I would leave home like Nic when it was time for college and I knew they wouldn’t say anything about it, as long as I picked a famous college.

“Fine then, but man, your mum is nuts, like really nuts. Where the hell did you find her?” He grunted something in Russian and I giggled. “What are you giggling about? And you know what? I like when you giggle or laugh, it sounds nice and cute and I just want to hug you and poke your dimples.”

My face and neck blushed to no end and I stared at the phone. Nic let out a soft chuckle and ruffled my hair.

“Oh boy, you’re…uhm well, thank you.” I peeked at my brother and turned away lowering my voice and whispering at the phone. “I..uhm, I miss you.” I felt another wave of heat and thermonuclear red crush on my cheeks and then I plumbed back on the bed.

“Miss you, too, Jas and I wish we could be together now, but hey, I’ll see you tomorrow and call me at any time if you feel like, ok? You coming to school with Travis I guess, right man?”

“Yep.”

“Ok then, I’ll let it go for this time.” I giggled and he chuckled. We were a silly couple, no doubt about it. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m here with Nic and waiting for Travis and uhm..” I heard someone knocking on the door and when I opened it, I met my best friend’s surprised shining black eyes and my father’s serious face. “Uhm well, he’s actually here and uhm well…my father is here, too and..” I was sweating bullets and father took a step back as to let me finish the conversation. “Well..”

“Jas kitty, relax and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Confusion and worry evaporated when I heard him calling me “Jas kitty”. Oh boy. No one ever called me with a pet name or anything of the sort. I gasped and went completely red. My brother, Travis and my father looked at me surprised and I turned to the other side.

“You there?” Dima asked not hearing anything coming from me.

“Uhm, yep, sure I’m here…you just surprised me..”

“Really? With what?” I shook my head even though I knew he couldn’t see that. “Oh, I got it, because I called you kitty, right? You mind it? Because you remind me of a cute and sweet kitty, especially when you mewl or purr or ..”

“Oh boy, Dima…better if we talk tomorrow..”

“Right man, sorry for my lack of tact, it’s just that man, I really like you.” And I was speechless once again and I think my legs and knees were about to give in and let me hit the floor. The problem wasn’t my brother or Travis’s presence, but the fact that father was there and probably guessing what was going on. I even didn’t know well my own father and had no idea how he would take this.

“No, I don’t mind it, I mean, uhm, it’s sweet and uhm..” Ilowered my voice to a barelyaudible whisper feeling like digging a very deep hole and hide myself in there. “I really like you, too. Uhm, good night.”

“Night, kitty.”

When I turned around Travis was smiling his usual mischievous and cunning smirk and he coughed to cover a sudden chuckle; Nic didn’t say anything, he simply smiled and winked and then greeted Travis. My father stepped in my room and explained he had met Travis when Maria let him in and judging by my best friend’s surprised face, he sure wasn’t expecting to find father there and greeting him that politely.

“Jasper, I take Travis is staying here with you tonight, right?”

“If that is not an inconvenient, Mr. Lucas, I would prefer to stay with Jasper tonight.” He spoke for me and dad simply nodded.

“It is not an inconvenience, please, make yourself comfortable.” He then looked at me and Nic. “Travis, would be a problem for you to give me a minute to talk to my sons?”

“It’s fine, sir. I’ll wait outside.” He quickly hugged me and whispered me. “Later, cutie.” Then he smiled at Nic. “See you later, Nic.”

He closed the door behind him and now it was just the three of us and I didn’t know what to expect from this.

“Jasper, your brother is worried that your mother and I will force you in some arranged engagement and plan your future wedding. Now, this is not the intention, at least not from my part. My engagement and wedding had been arranged; therefore I may understand your worries. Mr. Valentine became recently our associated partner and he transferred only recently to New York and he would like for you and his daughter to simply get along. Will that be good for you? Your mother might have some ideas in her mind, but do not worry now about that.” This had been the longest speech I have ever heard from my father. Boy, I was shocked. I never thought he could be like this…uhm…how do I say it? Well, not so narrow minded, sure, that would do for now. Nic studied both of us and he seemed fair astonished as well.

“Uhm well, it’s just that I don’t want to go out with a girl if this might lead to something else, because uhm, you know I am …” This time I didn’t want to complete the sentence, so I changed topic. Well, I relatively changed topic. “And most important, I am with Dmitri now.”

He pondered my answer a moment and saw something crossing his face. Boy, I wasn’t anymore sweating bullets; right now I was sweating grenades. What was he thinking about? Oh boy I hoped he wasn’t going to ground me until the end of school or forbid me from seeing Dima, because this time I might consider running away. What was he thinking about?

“I heard that before and I wanted a word about it.” He took another pause and I could tell this was hard for him, given he never really talked to us as a father was supposed to do. “I shall not forbid you to see him or anything of the sort, but you will understand the fact I will need time to accept it and understand it. I know his family and have nothing to say against them, but you are young Jasper and are you sure about this?”

“Dad, I really like him.” I gasped and he waved me off.

“Jasper, call me dad, please. The whole “mother” and “father” is tiring at the end of the day. Nicholas you, too.” He sighed. “I see your point, but do take your time and no sleep over.”

I widened my eyes and blushed like crazy. What did he just say? I heard Nic chuckling and he finally relaxed and sat on the chair of my desk.

“Dad, I think your imagination is running wilder than your own son’s.” Father looked at me and sort of smiled. Uhm well, sort of because it was very tiny and stretched, but it was there.

“Still, you shall respect the curfew and ask before going out in the evening and Nicholas, there is no need to take him to Los Angeles.”

“We will see about that, father. You might have taken his side tonight, but you haven’t done a thing for years and blamed him last winter when I confessed my sexuality and I still remember it very well, plus our mother is another whole problem and she dared to slap my little brother. For no reasons. You may think I have no saying in this and that I have no right or authority, but I love my little brother and if I think it is not right for him to live here, I might consider that.”

They exchanged a long and silent look and then dad simply nodded.

“Jasper, I am sorry your mother hit you. It won’t happen again. Now, I think we let your friend wait long enough and I still have some paper to overlook. Good night.”

He left the room and Travis came in, jumping on me and making us fall on the bed.

“Oh cutie, I was so worried when I drove over here and probably got a ticket for breaking the speed limit, but who gives a damn about it.” I gasped and looked at him overly worried. “Don’t make that face, I was really worried and mum doesn’t care much about it, hell, at least I hope she doesn’t. But hey, your father surprised the hell out of me.”

“Yes, he surprised all of us tonight, Travis.” Nic agreed. “Well, I see now you’re in good hands, so I shall leave you guys.”

“Uhm, well, why don’t you stay here with us?” I ventured, knowing that Travis liked my brother. Nic gave me a skeptical look, probably worried to interrupt our time together, but my friend convinced him.

“Hell, that’ a great idea, cutie. Yeah, stay here with us, we can do something together or we can share our gay experiences and talk about our past kisses and who’s the best kisser, and the best kisser totally is my Alexi and..” My brother and I burst out laughing and so did Travis.

We spent the entire evening talking about many things, then watched few episodes of “Frasier” and Nic had the crazy idea of asking Travis about Alex and boy…he didn’t say very much to be honest, I mean, didn’t went specific or said anything too personal and private, but he talked no-stop about how amazing and fantastic he was, what a caring and sweet and romantic boyfriend he was and more. Oh boy, they were so in love with each other. Then he asked more about our other friends and that surprised me; when we mentioned River, I saw his eyes smiling more and I didn’t understand the reason. Then I froze. Oh boy, did my brother like River? Oh boy, that would really be something, uhm well, something super incredible. But maybe I was just seeing things. Travis then decided to tease me about Dima and I just wanted to disappear.

“C’mon, you can tell us, cutie.”

“Yeah, your friend is right, I’m actually quite curious, too.”

“Uhm Nic, you’re my older brother.”

“So what, I want to know if your boyfriend treats you well.”

“Uhm, not sure I can call him my boyfriend…”

“And why is that?” Nic asked not understanding. Travis looked at me first surprised and then face palmed himself getting what I meant.

“The moron…he didn’t ask you directly the question, right?” I shook my head. “I knew it; he can be so clueless sometimes. He didn’t even think about it, Jas, that’s all, because we all know how he is and how his dense and tactless head works and the way he is, but he clearly thinks of you as his boyfriend and I might add, he’s quite the jealous type…hmm, hot.” He provoked and winked like a wicked cat. I rolled my eyes and covered my face with a pillow.

“My, my…I see, but I think Travis is right, when he barged in here yesterday he surely looked determined and fierce and I think he just needs to realize that romanticism applies also to guys.” Nic said, pulling away my pillow and giving me a warm smile. “Well, I’m going to sleep now, have a plane to catch tomorrow morning. I’ll see you soon, Travis. Jas, good night.” We hugged each other very tightly and then he kissed my head and said he would see us in the morning.

“Hell, your brother is fantastic and might say, he’s very handsome, ok, not like my Alexi, but..” I threw a pillow to his face and he faked a dramatic and hurt expression and then jumped me and began to tickle me until we both fell down from the bed.

I was happy he came over and being with him made me forget about everything that happened, even though I was still in some stunned state for my father’s words.  I was afraid they would change with the coming morning, because he never really showed any interest, concern or feelings for me. But for now I pushed everything away and enjoyed the evening with my best friend.

We didn’t sleep much that night, because we ended up talking about so many things that the more we talked, the more we found things to discuss. He asked me more about Dima and I found myself less self-conscious to tell him and boy, sure he wasn’t someone shy or easily to embarrass, so you know him. I think we fell asleep in the middle of our chatting, holding hands with me snuggling close to him; in the morning we had breakfast with Nic and Maria and mother spared us such cold and icy glares that it almost made me lose my appetite, but Travis squeezed my hand and distracted her with something related to his mother and her job.

The days passed in a climate of cold war in my house and the air became so dense and thick that it was almost suffocating. Mother hadn’t forgotten my outburst and blamed to me the fact dad took my side and spoke to her like that, therefore when we were alone she behaved even more cold and strict and it was really hard to stand, but uhm well, somehow I was used to that.

Now I was sitting with Kevin and Travis at our usual table for lunch, waiting for the other guys to show up and when Alex came over, he snatched my friend for a kiss that had almost everyone in the cafeteria look at them and blush furiously. While I was distracted in finding a chair very interesting, I felt bulky and muscular arms going around me and then soft and plump lips brushing my neck. I froze, uhm well not really, I melted there and went purple and heard my friends chuckling.

“Hey Jas, how was school? I almost got detention for freaking out another time during class, but Derek saved my butt.” Dima sat beside me and stole my juice, then grinned at me and quickly kissed me on the lips. A couple of girls stared at us with a horrified face and said something and so Travis told them to kiss his sexy ass. Oh boy, was he colorful sometimes.

“Dude, seriously. I had no idea how I managed to pull out that excuse.” He sat beside Kevin and began to talk about basket. I was supposed to go and watch a game with him, but I had been grounded the entire week for answering back to my mother and father just suggested to let it go, so she wouldn’t bug for more. Uhm, it sure was frustrating, but I think he was right.

“School was good, got an A in literature.”

“Did you? Then we have to celebrate tonight or wait…are you still?”

“Yep.” I sighed and my shoulders slumped down. “And uhm well, tomorrow night I told you about that dinner and uhm, I need to keep company to that girl.” He widened his eyes and almost chocked on his juice and so I shook my head and hands in a don’t-worry way. “It’s not a date or anything, dad just asked me to keep her company and nothing else, so you don’t need to worry and you know I like only you and ..” I shut my mouth before saying more, because I remembered we weren’t alone. He snorted and rolled his eyes and don’t know how, but he always managed to have a funny face.

“I don’t like the idea of you going out with someone else, I mean, man you’re mine and we are together, so.. Can I come with you? I’d feel better and not that I’ll ever hit a girl, but if she ever tries anything with you..”

“Uhm well, I think she’ll probably hate me for the same reasons I don’t like this. She is a year older than me and so..well, you know, I don’t think she will be interested and uhm, you don’t need to worry, really.” He thought about that for few seconds and then sighed out, placing an arm on my shoulders.

“Alright man, but call me and let me know how things go, deal?” I nodded and when he smiled in that open and warm way I couldn’t resist him and thus I turned my head to him and quickly pecked his lips. When I went to turn away he stopped me and captured my chin with his fingers. “You can’t tempt me and then run away..” He pulled my lips on his and oh boy, he slipped his tongue in my mouth right there, right then.

Everything stopped and everything went crazy at the same time. I melted in feeling his strong tongue twirling around mine and his other hand pressing me closer. I forgot about school, about the fact we weren’t alone and everything else. My hand moved on his leg and I shifted closer, shivering in feeling his strong and tense muscles; my fingers slipped in his hair and I actually deepened the kiss, wanting to taste more of him and wanting again to hear that throaty groan. Oh boy, why was I behaving like this? But no matter what, I couldn’t stop it. I heard him letting out a low and raw growl and my hand grabbed his leg harder; he jerked me almost sitting on him and then we both broke the kiss. We stared at each other intensely and breathless.

Oh boy.

I just realized we were in the cafeteria of the school.

“Err, dude, and you said you’re not like Alex?” Derek was laughing and River sniggered and gave us an amused look.

“Right, keep it PG13, we are still in school.” Hayden joked winking at me. Oh boy, kill me now and then toss my corpse in a dark hole. “Jasper, you let Travis influence you, seriously.”

“He is my young padawan.” My friend chuckled.

“Man, you’d be a damn kinky and nuts Jedi, know that?” Dima asked him.

“I’ll sure be a sexy Jedi.” He smirked and then stuck his pierced tongue. Alex pulled him on his laps and boy, they forgot about everything else.

I looked at River for a moment and thought about my brother. He probably felt my stare, because he shifted his blue eyes on me and studied my expression for a moment, before beaming like a cat. Uhm well, the idea was sort of strange and weird, but uhm, they sort of matched. I shook my head; I think I was just over thinking stuff.

SATURDAY EVENING, AFTER THE BUSINESS DINNER…

I was driving in my car with uhm, Shenice and things weren’t going well at all. She eye-murdered me the entire evening and mother eye-murdered me in response because she thought it was my fault. But boy, I didn’t do anything, I simply tried to talk to her normally and gently and she told me to mind my own business. Her father was actually a nice and spontaneous person, a tall and distinct man with quite dark skin, darker than Derek, and piercing and shining black eyes. He was very elegant and so was his wife, but I could tell she was made of the same substance of my mother.

They suggested us, uhm well, more likely they forced us to go out and so I took my car and now we were just driving around and had no idea what to do. I sent a message to Dima to let him know that things were fine and not to worry; as I predicted, she hated my guts, boy, no kidding. I tried a couple of times to ask her something, but she barked back and then crossed her arms and just stared out of the window. If she weren’t that angry and nasty, Shenice was actually very pretty. Her skin was lighter than her dad’s and her hair were long and straight, very shining and thick; she had a flat fringe and it made her look very good, attracting attention to her round cheeks and full lips. I had no idea about her eyes, because aside seeing they were black, they just threw daggers to me the entire evening.

“Uhm, what would like to do? I mean, we cannot drive around the whole evening.” I tried to say.

“I don’t care, do whatever you want, midget.” Ok, now she was beginning to piss me off.

“Listen Shenice, I understand you, but it’s not my fault we are..”

“Not your fault? That stuck-up snob of my mum had the guts to set me up on a date with someone like you, younger and shorter than me and my dad what had to say on that? Nothing, just to be a good girl. The hell with that.” I stared at her for a moment in shock and then looked back at the street.

“Uhm really, it’s not what you think. It’s not a date or anything like that.” I tried to explain.

“A date?” She hissed. “As if I would date someone as pale and clumsy as you. Ridiculous. I just wanna go home and my dad will have a piece of my mind for this.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault and it’s not like I want to be here with you, too.” I defended myself. It wasn’t my fault if I was younger and shorter. Boy, was she nasty.

“Oh really? Bet you’re just like them and..”

“Oh boy, shut up, I don’t even like girls, I’m gay and I have a very hot boyfriend.” I shut up and bit my tongue at the same moment the last word left my mouth. Oh boy. I first told her to shut up and that was absolutely rude considering she was a girl and then I just blurted out I was gay. What if she was a homophobe or a hater? What if she was going to tell her parents? Oh boy, what if she were to create problems and complain to my parents? Oh boy…mother would kill me.

She looked at me with wide eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but she then closed it and all of a sudden she began laughing her head off. I gave her a super confused look, not understanding what was so funny and then she wiped the tears for the laughing from her eyes and shook her head.

“You really are gay?” She asked, eyeing me from head to toe.

“Uhm yeah..”

“Oh. My. God.” She chanted. “This is awesome! I have always wanted to have a gay friend and oh my God, so you’re not interested and you don’t want anything stupid like a date or..”

“Oh boy, no…that was my mother’s idea, not mine and anyway, dad said it was just to keep you company and because you were new in New York and uhm well, you know.”

She giggled and nodded.

“Oh dear, I feel so much better now and Jasper, I am so sorry I have been such a hag and b!tch to you tonight, but I was afraid of what that stupid mother of mine could plot behind me and so I just vented out on you. I’m so sorry, normally I’m not this acid, well, I sure am not a sugar, but you know what I mean.”

“Uhm, it’s ok, I understand you completely.” She smiled at me and yep, she really was pretty.

“Thank you and please, don’t say anything about my behavior or my mum will get even more annoying.” I told her I won’t say a word and she relaxed even more. “That’s great and I’m sorry I called you midget, you aren’t one, you’re actually very cute and good looking.” I blushed at that and shook my head. “You said you have a boyfriend, really? Is he hot? What’s his name? Does he go to your same school?”

Oh boy, she was just as chatty as Derek and Travis. I decided to stop and get a milk-shake, since I spotted a drive-in on the side of the street; I showed her pictures of my friends and of Dima that I had on my phone and when she saw him she squealed and went all crazy and said he was super hot and handsome.

“This is Dmitri? He is outrageously hot and look at these muscles..oh my God, you guys make such an awesome couple. Why do you call him Dima, by the way?”

“Uhm, it’s the way they shorten Russian names, like his best friend Aleksandr. He calls him Sasha; he’s my best friend’s boyfriend.” I showed her the pictures we took for their birthdays.

“What?? Are you telling me that this stud here, this beast of a man is gay? Oh dear, I might faint and this is Travis?” She looked at me with wide eyes and I just nodded and then she looked back to the phone. “And he’s gay? Wow, he’s super hot and I love his hair.”

“Hmm, Travis surely is gay, but Alex says he’s gay only for him and well, they’re quite the couple together, deeply in love and uhm, very physical.” Shenice giggled and she understood what I meant. “This here is Hayden and this is River, they both play hockey with Alex and Dima and uhm, River is gay, too.”

“Did you choose your friend from some super hot male models catalogue? Because they all look shamefully handsome and hot. River is gay, too? Oh dear and what about Hayden? I still can’t believe that Alex stud is gay..”

“Hayden is not gay; his girlfriend is Diane, Derek’s sister and wait a moment.” I looked for their picture together. “This is Diane and Hayden, they look so good and this is Derek.” She snatched away my phone and stared at him dropping her jaw on the floor of the car.

“This is Derek? Please don’t tell me he is gay, too.” I shook my head and chuckled. She liked Dee. “I never saw someone as hot as him..I mean, sure all of your friends are extremely handsome, but he is something else.” I guessed she had quite a soft spot for him.

“You should go out with us and meet him, he’s very funny and open and it’s easy to get along with him. He’s quite a clown sometimes, but very nice and smart and uhm, he’s single.”

“Can I really do that? I mean, I feel so bad because I have been such a terrible hag with you and I don’t deserve you being so nice with me.”

“I told you it’s fine, we both were stressed and worried over a silly thing, but who cares now, right?” She smiled and ruffled my hair.

“You are very sweet, Jasper, you know that? Thank you, nobody has ever been this nice and sweet with me and maybe my bad attitudes don’t help in the friends matter.”

I was about to tell her something, but the phone rang and I jumped out of my skin. The number was Dima’s and I answered immediately.

“Hey Jas, everything ok? I can’t just sit still, need to know how you are doing, I feel like a tiger in cage. Is she hitting on you? I damn hope not because I cannot hit a girl and man, sorry, just tell me how you are doing.”

“I’m fine actually. Where are you?”

“Home, couldn’t go out, had to stay here and be ready in case you needed me.” Oh boy, he was so sweet and caring. My heart began to beat so fast that it was about to jump out of my mouth and I just wanted to see him and talk to him and be with him and kiss him and … oh boy, I was becoming addicted to him.

“Uhm, I’d like to see you. I can drive over there and we can do something together and you can meet Shenice, she’s actually very nice.”

“Man, sure. Wait a moment, you drive?” He asked very surprised. Oh right, nobody knew I drove and had already my license and that because of my mother’s silly and strict ideas.

“Yep, I do.” I giggled and he grunted something in Russian. “So, can I come over?”

“No need to ask, kitty. I’ll get ready in a nanosecond, see you later.”

“Later.”

When I turned off the call, Shenice was staring at me with obvious amused and curious eyes and when I told her we were going to see Dima, she went sort of fan-girl and then started talking about her dad and her school and how she hated her school and so on. Then she fired millions of questions about Derek, but didn’t know some answers. Boy, they would get along just fine.

We reached Dmitri’s house and he was already waiting for me outside, leaning against the door; I hopped off the car and almost ran to him, eager to see him and feel his arms around me. He grinned and pushed himself straight and I just jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck and he grabbed my legs and pulled me up, so I wrapped them around his waist. Boy, when I felt his hands on my butt I think I almost exploded, but I was so happy to see him and he was so happy to see me that we just let our lips smash together. I don’t know how long we kissed, but then I heard Shenice giggling and awing and I pulled away.

“Man, just greet me like this every single time, k monkey?” He chuckled and nuzzled my neck and I shivered, still feeling his hands on me. My entire body was pulsing faster and my guts and muscles tightened in a pleasant and tickling way and uhm well, I was so hot right now.

“Sorry, but I’m happy to see you.”

“And I’m happy to see you, Jas, believe me. Very, very, very happy..” He grinned and then I understood what he meant and I blushed more and hid my face on his collarbone. Dima laughed and let me stand on the ground. “Well, let you go for now.” He turned to Shenice and gave her quite a look. “So, you are the girl Jas was talking about right? Hope you didn’t hit on my man and didn’t have strange idea and hope you treated him well.”

I giggled and took his hand lacing our fingers together and we explained him everything and he relaxed immediately and then he noticed my car for the first time since I arrived.

“You drive that?” Dima asked shifting his eyes between me and the car. Uhm well, it was a nice car, but never used to drive to school, because I think it attracted too attention and anyway, mother never allowed me that. I nodded. “Don’t just nod, monkey, you drive a Jaguar XF and I know your parents are the rich snobs, but man, you drive a Jaguar, how cool is that? C’mon let’s have a tour with this baby.”

I offered him to drive, but he said he preferred to look at me and said it was quite an exciting thing to observe me and uhm, that didn’t make me nervous, nope, not one bit. Dima and Shenice got along immediately, once he got over the fact she wasn’t hitting one me, but we actually were worried about the same. We went to some place to get something to eat, because surprise surprise, Dima was hungry. He held my hand firmly and kept me very close to him and I can’t even begin to express what that meant to me; I felt on cloud nine with him and his hand was so strong and warm. He peeked at me and smiled.

“So glad everything was ok, man, I was damn worried. I was ready to kidnap you from your family, no kidding.”

“Thank you.” I stopped a moment and pulled his head down to stared directly at his beautiful and shining eyes. “You don’t need to worry, anyway. I really like you Dima, very, very much.”

I had no idea how that was possible, but whenever I was around him, my shyness would evaporate and a new bold side of me would take its place. It was actually beginning to be nice, because it gave me the chance to tell him more things without fidgeting or stuttering. He ran his fingers in my hair and closed the distance between our lips. Oh boy, kissing Dima was a mind-blowing experience and yep, in this Travis had influenced me, but that was the right word.

Shenice and I sat down and he went order something to eat and she told me how cute and sweet we looked together and when he came back, it slipped out she liked Derek and oh boy, he burst out laughing so loud and crazily that everyone turned around to stare at us.

“Ahahaa…man, this is priceless. I’ll have to hook you guys up, seriously. So he’ll shut up about me and stop teasing. Ahahaha…sorry, can’t stop laughing, this is just awesome, man.. we need to do something together.” His arms wrapped my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder, still shaking with laughter, but trying to think about something. “Oh yeah, I know what. Next week he has a game, come over, we’ll be there and you’ll meet the rest of the gang.”

“Oh my God, really? Thank you.” Shenice was now almost bouncing on her seat, but then I remembered mother extended my grounding and I went silent. When they asked me what was wrong I told them and Dima grunted in his usual funny way, but Shenice jumped up and then sat back.

“You are not going to be locked up anymore.” I gave her the what-are-you-talking-about look and she just grinned wider. “We may not end up getting engage for obvious reasons and they know that, but when I am going to tell them that you are now my best friend and that you just had been super nice to me, which is honestly true, and that we had a lovely evening, which is true, they’ll be happy and they’ll tell your parents. I think our mothers are the same, so they’ll be please and it’s a win-win.”

“Man, I like you, I mean, not in that way..” Me and Shenice giggled at him. “But you got what I mean. So it’s decided, let’s all meet next week and monkey, be ready, ‘cause Travis and Sasha want to go on double date next Saturday.”

I shook my head and just couldn’t believe at how the events changed during the night. I thanked Shenice and she just said she owned me for behaving that bad at the beginning, but I had already forgotten about it and now that I was with Dima, nothing else really mattered.

Author's chit-chat:

So, now, did anyone honestly see that coming?? I don't think so... hehehe))) What do you think? Satisfied with how things went?

Now, we have two things to look forward: Derek meeting Shenice and the double date.. not to mention the romance and sweetness between our cutie and blondie :-)

Until next time!