The Sound Of Silence

N. Wood

COPYRIGHT

This story is a work of fiction. The characters and incidents in this publication are products of the

author’s imagination and are not construed to be real. Any resemblances to persons, living or dead, or

actual events is purely coincidental.

The author acknowledges that all trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction are the property of

their respective owners.

DEDICATION

To Matt, for loving this story so much!

To my mom for reading through it for me.

And to everyone for supporting me.

Chapter One

Well this was it, the first day at a new college. Time to be stared at, pushed around; prejudged.

With a barely audible sigh I lowered my feet from the dashboard while keeping my eyes fixed to the

rivers of rain on the windshield. Beyond that the building loomed over the parking lot like a threatening

monster. I tugged a hand through my hair, watching the other students as they ran from their cars and inside

to avoid getting too wet.

“Are you going to be okay, Alex? If you’re not ready son, you don’t have to start today.”

I turned my attention to my dad. He was sitting in the driver’s seat of his old truck, leaning against

the window and watching me. I could tell from the expression in his eyes he was worrying about how

today would go. He always sat a bit slumped in his seat as though the weight of the world was on his

shoulders. My dad had been through much, but what grieved me the most was that I was responsible for

every wrinkle on his too soon aged face. I was to blame for the slight glaze of pain in his eyes and for the

fact we only had each other left in the world.

With a sullen nod I turned my gaze back to the students fleeing the rain. A flash of lightning

brightened the sky and for a moment the college appeared more threatening than ever. The illusion made

me want to remain in the truck, but I was aware Dad had his new job to start today. He’d managed to

secure work on a boat building team in the dockyard of a town an hour drive away. Dad had always

worked well with his hands and carpentry seemed to be his favored profession. I wasn’t going to burden

him more by wimping out and begging to just stay home rather than face a new college.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” I jumped as he rested his hand on my shoulder. Looking back to him, I

noticed just the briefest of smiles gracing his lips and then it was gone. “If it becomes too much or too

overwhelming, have them call me to come and get you, they already have my contact details.” When I

gave a nod he copied and raised his hand from my shoulder to my hair, giving it a ruffle. “Alright, son.

You’d better get on inside, you don’t want to be late. Have a good first day.”

He leaned over, moving his fingers gently as he adjusted the scarf around my neck and the collar of

my coat around it to keep it in place. I smiled weakly and climbed out of the truck, grabbing my bag from

the floor and slung it over my shoulder as I shut the door. Throwing a quick wave, I dashed across the lot

and into the main hall, wanting to stay dry.

Dad and I had recently moved to the small town of Blackwood from Austin, Texas. After his

marriage to my mom broke down due to stress and to me, everything had gone downhill from there. Ever

since the incident on my fourteenth birthday, my mom had decided she no longer wanted me as her son or

my dad as her husband. Our lives had changed completely. Since then it had just been us and the debts

we’d been left with. Mom had moved out, taking all of her things with her. She’d filed for a divorce and

had been adamant I was left with Dad so I wouldn’t burden her the way I burden him now.

Dad had heard of the work at Port Mercy so we’d uprooted and moved to Blackwood, a massive

change to get used to. The sun was barely out around here, everything stayed wet almost all year round.

We’d used what little money we had left to rent a small home on the edge of the town. The building had

just one bedroom which he’d given to me, he always slept on the couch now. I would rather the roles

were reversed, but he would hear nothing of it. Even after all I’d put him through he still treated me like

the damned Messiah and tried to give me everything I could possibly need, but what I wanted most was

for him to not worry about me every second of the day; it wasn’t doing his health any good.

As the hall doors clattered closed behind me, I took a deep breath and glanced around the new

surroundings where students were blocking the hallways and arranging books in their lockers. Like I’d

predicted it seemed everyone turned to stare at me. I’d read that this college had a low student count due

to the town size, so naturally being the new kid meant I was big news around here. I just wondered how

much they’d heard about me.

Shifting the weight of the bag on my shoulder, I worked my way through the crowd. Eyes and bodies

turned to follow my movements as I tried to find my way to the office. I was unnerved by all the

scrutinizing looks directed at me. It was like pressure in the air weighing down on me and I didn’t like it

at all.

I discovered the office further down the hallway and pushed the door open to go inside. It wasn’t a

very big room; I could have probably walked from one wall to the other within six strides. Everywhere I

looked was awash with royal blue and white banners, all depicting a bulldog image. The bulldog was the

mascot of the nearby high school and my new college supported them. Well, it was better than when I had

been in school. My mascot had been a goat dressed as a tiger since they couldn’t have a real tiger on

campus.

“Hello dear, may I help you?”

I almost started at the voice before I spotted a lady sitting at the desk towards one end of the room,

a wide and friendly smile on her face. I nodded once and fumbled with the pocket of my coat until I

managed to subtract the note I had written the night before. Stepping up to the desk, I offered her the paper

that was slightly damp from the rain.

Unfolding it carefully, she squinted and read it aloud. “My name is Alex Carter.” She turned her

eyes from the paper to smile at me again. “Ah, yes! Of course you are, dear. We’ve been expecting you.”

When she passed the note back, I refolded it and returned it to my pocket. I watched as she shuffled

through a stack of papers on her desk until she found what she was seeking and held them out to me.

“Here is your class schedule and a map of the college.” I took the two offered sheets. “Mr. Ford has

arranged for another student to help show you around and get you anything you need. He should be here

soon. Why don’t you take a seat over there until he arrives?”

She gestured to some uncomfortable looking plastic chairs along one side of the wall. Just like the

rest of the room, they alternated blue, white, blue, white. I glanced back to her with a faint nod then

crossed to the chairs, choosing a blue one and sat down.

Dropping my bag to the floor, I turned my attention to the two pieces of paper I’d been given. The

first was a fairly basic hand sketched map of the campus. Each room had the class subject written on so

I’d know where everything could be found. To be honest the map seemed like it had been drawn with

intention for eight year olds to follow in order to find hidden treasure. My thought of this only increased

when I noticed someone, probably the lady, had marked each room where I would have a lesson with

either a blue or green highlighted ‘x’.

I set the page to the bottom and skimmed over the class schedule I had been given. When Dad had

filled out the paperwork to enroll me, he’d told me all of the subjects available to choose from. I’d picked

biology as my science option, preferring it to chemistry or physics. I’d also chosen art, history and gym.

Following the incident I’d taken to sketching to help me overcome what had happened, so art was

appropriate now. As for history and gym, I enjoyed learning about important moments of the past and I

liked to rid myself of built up frustration. This could normally be done fairly easily by building up a sweat

and not stopping until my muscles ached. It was good to see I’d managed to secure a seat in all of my

chosen classes.

While I stared at the schedule to try memorizing when each subject fell during the day, the door to

the office opened and brought with it a slight breeze. It closed again, but I kept my head down to avoid the

eyes of whoever had come inside as they were likely staring at me.

“Ah Wesley, there you are. Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?”

I rolled my eyes at the lady’s attempt of a scolding tone. Clearly she had a motherly nature and

couldn’t pull one off.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Mills. I had some car trouble on the way in today,” the student replied. “I didn’t

mean to be late.”

“Well that’s okay, Wesley,” she assured him, forgiving so easily. “Your charge has already arrived.

That’s him sitting over there. Alex Carter, the poor dear.”

I fought the urge to look up and glare at her. The last thing I wanted was pity from anyone. I’d lived

this way for the last three years without too much trouble.

“I’m sure he’s perfectly fine, Mrs. Mills,” the voice came again, telling her what I would have

myself. “Well, I’ll show him along to our first class.”

Footsteps on the linoleum floor approached and I raised my eyes to get a glimpse of the boy who

would be burdened with showing the invalid around the college. When I received my first look at him, I

was surprised my jaw didn’t hit the floor.

He stopped in front of me and smiled as he held out his hand. “Hello, Alex. I’m Wes Hunter. I’ve

been assigned as your buddy to show you around.”

Closing my mouth, I stood and accepted his offered hand, giving it a shake. I couldn’t help but roam

my eyes over his face, his features that were so perfect. Deep and wise green eyes, full lips, straight nose,

all topped with mousy brown hair.

While I released his hand I dropped my gaze to peer over the rest of him. He wore a long-sleeved

dark blue t-shirt and tight fitting black jeans with a belt. It was completely casual, but he made it look as

smart as a three piece suit. As opposed to me wearing baggy and faded blue jeans, an old hand-me-down

t-shirt, a basic raincoat and my usual red scarf.

Wesley smiled and held his hand towards the papers I was still clutching. I passed them over and he

scanned them quickly, flicking his forest green eyes back and forth then smiled contentedly as he offered

them back.

“That’s good, we’re in almost all the same classes, except I have music last period while you have

gym,” he informed me. “I’ll show you where it is on the way to my music lesson though.”

I gave a small nod and pocketed the papers, not needing to carry them around if he was going to

show me everywhere. Picking up my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and followed him towards the door.

“Have a good day, dear,” Mrs. Mills called out.

I glanced back as Wesley opened the door, holding it for me. Smiling, I dipped my head politely in

thanks. The student steered me to the left and I fell in step beside him, peering around as we walked.

“Okay, so biology first,” he said after a short moment. “Mr. Blake is a good teacher. He’s grouped

my previous lab partner with another so you can work with me.”

Looking quickly back to him, I met his eyes with a frown. I didn’t want to be an inconvenience and

a burden to everyone I ever met, especially not to him. He seemed like such a friendly guy and so far he

was treating me like any other normal person; not to mention he was smoking hot. I blushed at that thought

and focused ahead as he continued leading me to class.

“Are you alright, Alex? You don’t seem too happy about something. Am I going too quickly? Did

you want to slow down and look around campus?” he asked, remaining friendly like before.

Shaking my head somewhat glumly, I sighed and turned my attention to the linoleum floor that

spread the length of the hallway, squeaking with every step of our wet sneakers. I halted when such a

gentle hand touched my shoulder, pulling me to a stop and turned me towards him, but I kept my gaze

down.

“What is it? If something’s bothering you, you can tell me.” There was a sad tone to his voice. “Am

I bothering you?”

Was this guy serious? He must have known about me if he was assigned to escort me and he wanted

me to just ‘tell’ him what was bothering me? When I narrowed my eyes at him, he seemed to become

thoughtful and then he smiled.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that part.” He raised his hand and gave himself a light slap to his forehead

as though chastising himself for forgetting. “The reason I was asked to show you around is because I can

be a big help to you. I have a younger foster brother, Martin. He’s deaf so all my family learned to speak

sign language to communicate with him.”

I frowned, not understanding why he would be chosen to drag me around college just because he

had a deaf foster brother; I wasn’t deaf.

As though sensing where my thoughts were taking me, he continued explaining. “When your father

enrolled you, I guess he must have mentioned you can speak sign language. Mr. Ford asked me to help you

in classes to communicate so you have the exact same opportunities as everyone else here.”

Oh, well that made sense. I’d taught myself to speak sign language; my dad’s idea. He’d brought

home a library book on the subject so he could help me feel as normal as I had ever been and together we

had learned to sign. Dad wasn’t too good at it though. If I needed to talk to him I would attempt to sign, but

if he couldn’t understand then I would write it down instead.

To test Wesley’s words, I raised a hand and signed ‘thank you’, then with a moment’s thought I also

signed ‘sorry to mess up your life’. I had wanted to sign that last one to my dad many times, but he

wouldn’t have understood it.

Wesley chuckled and released my shoulder. “You’re not, I’m always happy to help. Come on,

we’re already late for class.”

I gave a nod and followed as he led the way through the empty hallways to the science area. When

he opened a door and led me inside, I noticed how the room quickly became silent. I risked a glance and

found every student was watching me. Self-consciously I ducked my head and raised a hand, tightening the

scarf around my neck.

“Sorry we’re late, Mr. Blake,” Wesley offered an apology for the both of us. “This is your new

student, Alex Carter.”

“Ah, so this is Alex.” Lifting my focus to the teacher, I noticed he was a middle-aged man with a

cheery smile and a sparkle in his grayish-blue eyes. “Welcome to my biology class.”

He retrieved some books from his desk and offered them to me. I smiled and took them as Wesley

placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me down the row of tables to an empty one. My stomach

clenched and bounced at the feeling of him touching me, even in such an innocent gesture. He took the seat

nearest the window and I sat on the chair beside him as Mr. Blake continued the lesson.

Looking towards Wes as he opened his book to the correct page, I followed suit and began reading.

It seemed the class was studying the lifecycle of maggots - gross. I opened my bag, taking out some paper

and a pen to begin taking notes.

As the lesson drew on the warmth from the heaters in the room became a little stifling. I briefly set

my pen down, unbuttoned my coat and hung it from the back of my seat. A gasp came from the next row

over. Glancing up, I met the eyes of a dark haired boy whose eyes dropped to my neck. I became self-

conscious in an instant and flew my hand up. My scarf had shifted and exposed some of the scarring on my

throat. I quickly tugged the fabric back into place, but the damage was done.

The boy leaned away from me to his lab partner and whispered in her ear. She looked to me then

turned in her seat and passed it on to the two students behind her. They in turn glanced over to me and

leaned each way, telling those on either side of them. I swallowed hard around the lump building in my

throat and stared down at my work. A tremble ran through me and I was fully aware of the whispers

flowing around the room.

When the end of the lesson came, the bustling was instant. Everyone stood while stuffing books and

notepads into their bags. Many of them looked my way again, but then left the room to go to their next

class. As I set my books away into my bag, the dark haired boy stopped beside my desk and shoved out a

hand to me.

“Hi, I’m Richard Oakley. You’re Alex Carter, right?” I gave a nod and his hand a brief shake then

resumed packing my bag, hoping he would leave. “So you really can’t talk, huh? What happened? What

gave you that scar on your neck?”

Stiffening, I looked back to him as my vision blurred and I fought back the tears of hurt prickling my

eyes.

I jumped when Wesley raised his voice from next to me. “What the fuck, Rich?”

“What? I was just aski…” he began, but was cut off.

“You don’t just walk up to a guy and ask him something like that!” His voice raised higher, angry

with what he’d heard. “Would you walk up to a blind man and ask him how many fingers you’re holding

up?”

I lowered my head as Wes vented at this Oakley guy, not knowing what to think or feel. I was hurt

by the whole class whispering about me, by this kid’s boldness to walk right up to me and practically

point at my damaged throat and question it. However I was grateful for Wesley standing up for me.

Richard huffed and then walked away.

“I’m sorry about that, Alex.” Wes touched my shoulder again, but I didn’t look up. “Some people

just don’t know when to shut up.”

I raised a hand once my bag was packed and wiped it furiously over my eyes in a demand the

stinging tears stayed within my ducts. Shrugging him from my shoulder, I pulled my coat back on and

buttoned it up tight, making sure the scarf and collar covered my whole neck. Hitching my bag over my

shoulder, I retrieved the class schedule from my pocket to see what I had next. Without looking to him, I

prodded my finger to the paper so he knew I was ready to go to the next lesson.

“Art sucks,” he commented when he saw it.

I folded the sheet and put it back in my pocket, but when he didn’t move to lead the way, I glanced

to him with a frown. He smiled when my eyes finally met his.

I raised a hand and signed. *What?*

His smile deepened. “It really sucks and you look like you need a few minutes to recover.

Richard’s a jerk, ignore him.”

I sighed and shook my head, signing again. *It’s not just him, it’s all of them. They were all staring

at me and whispering.*

“All the more reason for you to take a few minutes and a deep breath - come on.” He stepped

around me as he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the door.

Once in the hallway we took a right and I followed him until he came to the exit door. I stopped and

watched as he stepped out into the rain and down the steps.

When he didn’t hear me behind him, he looked over his shoulder. “You coming or not?”

*Where?* I asked, not feeling a fool while signing to him since he could understand me.

He half turned and pointed to a car in the lot. Glancing to where he gestured, I spotted what looked

like an almost brand new Camaro parked near the wall.

“We’ll go to my car,” he said, peering up the steps to me. “At least it’ll be dry there and I can put

on some music. Maybe it’ll help you calm down a little.”

As his emerald eyes bore into mine I found I was strangely calm already, but he was right. I didn’t

want to go to class and suffer another hour of stares and whispers. When I stepped out into the rain, the

door clattered closed behind me and I jogged down the steps to him.

Wesley smiled and turned, hurrying along the lot to his car and I followed. Halfway there he took

the keys from his pocket and pressed a button on the fob. The lights flashed as the doors unlocked and he

quickly climbed into the driver’s side while I slid into the passenger seat and closed the door.

Chapter Two

The rain was falling heavily, leaving us both a bit sodden as it hammered on the windows and the

roof with a hypnotic sound. It was almost a peaceful tune to me and I ran a hand over my eyes and through

my damp hair.

Wesley put the key in the ignition, twisting it to the first setting and turned on the heaters to send

warm air towards us. The stereo came on automatically and he lowered the volume to become

background noise. When a steady stream of classical music came from the speakers, he blushed a little

and pressed another button, changing it to a radio station with more modern songs that teenagers listened

to.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

I watched him a moment then glanced to the stereo and leaned forward, pressing the button to bring

back the classical music. He raised an eyebrow at me as I settled back in the seat and unbuttoned my coat.

He turned the heat down, enough to dry us but not overpower us with the warmth.

“You like Mozart?” he asked, his tone one of disbelief.

I frowned and lifted a hand between us as I signed. *Who?*

He pointed to the stereo as the music continued to play and I realized he must have meant the

composer was Mozart.

I shook my head and signed again. *Never heard it before, but you like it so we’ll listen to it. I don’t

mind.*

“Are you sure?” he asked, seemingly wanting to be hospitable. “We can listen to anything you

want.”

Shaking my head again, I turned my eyes back to the windshield, watching the rivers of rain water

streaming down the glass. We sat quietly for several minutes, long enough for three pieces of music to

play before he broke the silence.

“So what brought you to Blackwood? You came from Texas, right?” His second question betrayed

that someone had briefed him before my arrival. “I think I’d prefer Texas. At least it’s sunny and warm

there.”

I looked back to him, aware he just wanted to make conversation to help take my mind off the cruel

whispers from class. *My parents divorced and Dad lost his job, but he heard about work up here. It’s his

first day today building boats in Port Mercy.*

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear your parents divorced.” He was quiet for a moment then inhaled a deep

breath. “I don’t even remember my parents. I’m fostered the same as Martin. They’re finalizing the

paperwork to adopt us properly.”

I gave a nod and looked to the windshield then back to him again, curious. *They must be nice

people to adopt someone in need of a family. Even better to adopt someone who’s deaf.*

He shrugged. “Marty’s okay. He can read lips and signs really well. He was born deaf so he’s had

plenty of years to practice.”

I stared at my hands as I considered his words, unable to understand why anyone would willingly

burden themselves with someone else’s child, especially when that kid had a disability. When my mom

was told I’d never talk again she couldn’t wait to disown me and dump both me and all the bills onto my

dad.

“You weren’t mute from birth were you, Alex?” he asked, breaking the silence. “You sign pretty

well though. How long have you been talking sign language?”

I kept my head down but moved my hand to answer him. *I’ve signed since I was fifteen. I’ve been

mute since I was fourteen.*

“Oh.” He became quiet and I watched him from the corner of my eye, rotating from nipping his lip

to running a hand through his hair.

In the end I sighed and looked back to him. *Just go ahead and ask, I know you want to.*

“I do, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable,” he said, being completely honest with me which

was a nice change to experience. “I want to be your friend, not like everyone else demanding to know

what happened to you. If you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine.”

Now it was my turn to watch him thoughtfully before smiling a little. It had been a long time since

I’d had a friend, I’d almost forgotten what it was like.

*Well, the long story short I was attacked by a dog,* I signed to him. *It savaged my throat and

severed my vocal cords. The doctors couldn’t fix them.*

His expression became shocked, the same response I’d seen many people adopt when my dad had

told them what had happened to me. He dropped his gaze to the scarf around my neck and subconsciously

I raised my hand to tug it higher even though it covered my whole throat.

He snapped his eyes back up to meet mine. “That must have been terrible for you and for your

parents too.”

*Terrible for my dad,* I agreed with him. *When my mom heard I’d never speak again, she left us.

She’d had high hopes for my future and they were all ruined. She blamed my dad because he’d been the

one who bought the dog from the pound for my fourteenth birthday. It wasn’t his fault though. I’d begged

and begged for a dog and he’d just wanted me to be happy. That’s all he’s ever wanted.*

I sighed and turned back to Wesley, meeting his eyes as he nodded. He raised his hand and lightly

patted my shoulder in a ‘there, there’ kind of gesture. “It’s awful that she abandoned you and your father

after something so terrible happened to you.”

I shrugged and looked down, using my signing hand to run it through my damp hair. Lifting it again

to speak, I found I couldn’t finish. * I just…*

Shaking my head, I gazed to the window and watched the rain hammering the glass, leaving rivers

trickling down. I flinched away as Wes lightly touched my cheek. I hadn’t even noticed the tears had

slipped from my eyes until I spotted the dampness on his thumb. When I jolted away, he moved back too

and glanced around before pulling a fast food napkin from the glove box and offered it to me.

I dabbed at my face, blinking frequently to try and stop more tears from falling while he spoke. “It’s

okay Alex, this is good. You shouldn’t hold things back. Let it out, you need to talk about it.”

I turned my head away in defiance, not wanting to talk about it and physically unable to anyway. I

could only wave my hand around like an idiot. The thought sent a stab of regretful pain into my heart and

produced more tears that I quickly swiped away.

“Come on, you just what?” he urged me.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, my vision blurring as I raised a trembling hand. *I just

wish I wasn’t so much of a burden to my dad*

“Oh Alex, I’m sure that’s not true,” he whispered into the interior of the car. “I’m sure you’re not a

burden to your father.”

He leaned closer, placing a hand to my shoulder and pulled lightly against me. With the force of the

tears stinging my eyes, I couldn’t gather myself to move away. Instead I leaned in against him as a silent

sob wracked my useless throat. He welcomed me into his arms, wrapping them closer around me to give

me any form of comfort he could.

*I am a burden to him,* I managed to sign as he held me.

“No, you’re not.” His tone became stronger, trying to help me believe it. “I bet he loves you

dearly.”

*He does, but I’m still bad for him.* My hands trembled so much I wasn’t sure if he could

understand my signs. *He’s lost everything because of me.*

“Maybe he’s lost a few things, but he still has you and that’s the main thing,” he said, continuing to

try and offer support.

*What good is that, Wes? I’m useless. I’m nothing.*

“Hey!” He pushed forcefully against my shoulder sending me back into the seat. Moving his hands

to my cheeks, he forced me to look him in the eyes. “You listen to me, Alex Carter. Don’t you ever berate

yourself like that again, do you hear me? You are not useless and you are something. At least you still

have your father; my parents dumped me in a foster home the first chance they got, the same day they had

me. I was born perfectly healthy and they didn’t want me. You might not be able to talk, but you are still

wanted.”

The lump in my throat thickened as the pain in my heart and head increased. There were shadows of

sadness in his emerald eyes and I was fully aware I had done that. I’d upset him. I’d burdened him. The

tears stung worse and rolled down my cheeks.

He moved his thumbs to lightly stroke them away before pulling me back in close and held me

against him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout at you.”

He started lightly rocking from side to side as he held me and I sobbed against his shoulder, soaking

his shirt more than the rain had. A gentle rumble began in his throat and it took me a moment to realize he

was humming along to the music coming from his stereo. He just held me for several minutes until I wept

myself dry.

Suddenly embarrassed, I raised my hand and wiped at my eyes as I eased my way out of his arms

and back into the seat. I’d known him for less than two hours and here I was crying on his shoulder, but

what surprised me more was the fact he didn’t object. He’d held me until I was done. He had comforted

me and somehow I understood he was willing to listen, to let me talk everything out and would be there to

help me through.

*I’m sorry, Wes,* I told him, signing through the trembles.

“Don’t be, I told you this is good,” he replied, repeating what he’d said moments ago. “You’ve

obviously been holding a lot in all this time, you need to let it go.”

Perhaps he was right, but I needed to be sure of something first. *You won’t judge me for anything,

will you? I hardly know you, but I feel like I can trust you.*

“You can, Alex,” he said, his tone and eyes showing his sincerity. “When you feel like you’re ready

you can let some more out. Talk to me, tell me anything and everything.”

I nodded and inhaled a deep breath, turning my gaze to the window. The college sat quiet, gloomier

looking with the falling rain. Inside those walls many students wanted to demand information from me, but

only one student would truly listen. One who would actually hear what I had to say and comfort me

through it. He wasn’t in the college. He was sitting beside me and waiting.

Looking back to him, I sucked in another deep breath and started signing. *After the dog attacked

me, I was in hospital in Austin for three weeks. I had two surgeries and they still couldn’t fix me. The

medical bills were so high. My dad sold everything of value he had to try and pay off the bills, but it

wasn’t enough and he’s still paying them off even now. Then when my mom left he had to pay for the court

process for the divorce. She took all she had, leaving us nothing. Dad recently lost his job and he sold our

house so we could move here. Most of the money from the house went to the bills that had piled up over

the years. He’s still paying off the medical charges a little at a time. He missed other payments in the

process of dealing with the hospital so he’s paying those too…* I trailed off as a fresh tear fell from my

eye.

Wesley wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. He’d been quiet all the way through my signing,

taking in every hand movement I made as though he was reading a book and absorbing every detail.

“I can see why you would think yourself a burden,” he said after a moment. “But he’s your father

and he is doing all he can to ensure it stays that way. Things might seem bad now, but don’t look at the

material things, just look at him. He cares about you. He’s taken all this on himself because he cares.”

*And I do nothing but make things worse for him,* I retorted.

“That’s not your fault,” he insisted. “You can’t help what happened to you and what came as a

result. You need to stop blaming yourself.”

*It’s not just that, Wes. After all the shit he’s been through, I had to go and fuck things up for him

even worse. I don’t know why he hasn’t thrown me to the streets and disowned me already.* Wesley

chuckled and I turned my head a little to peer up at him. He lifted his hand and covered his mouth, but his

shoulders shook with his quiet laughing and I raised an eyebrow. *Great - I’m pouring my heart out to you

and you laugh at me.*

He shook his head and chuckled more, but then lowered his hand and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,

I’m not laughing at you, I just…why would you feel the need to learn how to hand sign ‘shit’ and ‘fuck’?”

His shoulders quivered again before a soft laugh escaped his throat, but he kept his eyes on mine. I

couldn’t help but smile in response. His laughter sounded nice and it was infectious.

*Why would you feel the need to learn to read the hand signs for ‘shit’ and ‘fuck’?* I joked back.

A burst of humor ripped through him and he threw his head back, the car vibrating with how hard he

was laughing. I smiled wider and chuckled myself, but no sound came from me as I did. It was okay

though because Wes was loud enough for both of us.

He caught his breath, looking to me again and cleared his throat as he calmed. “Sorry. What were

you going to say before I rudely interrupted?”

My smile faltered and I dropped my eyes back to my hands. The humor between us had eased the

tension I’d been feeling, but now it returned. *Three years ago, a few months after my sixteenth birthday, I

broke his heart. I saw it in his eyes the hurt I caused him. We were just sitting watching a ballgame on TV

when he got a phone call from the bank demanding another payment as he was behind. I got upset and he

told me it would be okay, that one day I would marry a nice girl and raise a family and he’d live in an old

RV in the back yard. I don’t know why I chose that moment to break his dreams, it just came out.*

“What came out?” he asked when I didn’t elaborate.

*I did - I came out.* I kept my gaze down, half expecting my short lived two hour friendship with

Wesley to be ruined by those five words I’d just told him.

The car was silent for a very long minute before his hand came into view. He lightly touched the

one I used most to sign. When I didn’t move it away, he curled his fingers around to hold mine.

A silent gasp of air left me and I raised my eyes back to meet his as he spoke. “You mean you’re

gay, Alex?”

I lifted my other hand, a little clumsier signing with the right since I was left handed, but I managed

to get it out. *Yes.*

His face lit up, eyes lightened a shade as the smile spread on his face. “It’s okay, so am I. Maybe

that’s why it’s been easier for you to open up to me. I admit I had my suspicions the way you were ogling

me in the office.”

My jaw dropped as I fumbled my hand, trying to speak what my mind was screaming to be said, but

I couldn’t get the signs to work.

He chuckled, moving his other hand to rest over my twitching one. “Yes, I did notice that. I’m

surprised you didn’t realize I was doing the same.”

My face quickly became warm and I looked down, hiding the best I could as my limp damp curls of

hair curtained my face. He had been checking me out the same time I’d been eyeing him in the office. I

couldn’t believe it, the guy who had been sent to show the invalid around campus had turned out to be

pretty much the man of my dreams and he was sitting here now at my side.

He released his hold on both of my hands and brushed the strands of hair from my face with his

fingertips. They just fell back into place and my blush deepened. I couldn’t risk looking up and meeting

his eyes.

There was a slight shift beside me and the seat dipped down on my left. I turned my head just

enough to spot his jean clad knee pressing into the cushion. The same sensation happened on my right. I

frowned in confusion and forced myself to look up as a weight landed on my lap. My jaw dropped again

as I raked my eyes up the body before me.

Wesley had moved to join me on the passenger seat. He sat straddling me with his knees on each

side of my waist and his ass resting on my legs. As I roamed my gaze higher, I admired the form of his

muscular chest through his shirt and when our eyes met a grin came to his lips. He settled one of his hands

on the headrest above my shoulder, the other rose to continue lightly brushing strands of hair from my

face.

With my head tilted up, my hair stayed where he pushed it and he smiled. “That’s better. You don’t

have to be embarrassed, Alex. You don’t have to hide from me.”

I swallowed nervously and raised a hand to sign to him, but he caught it and moved it to his chest

instead. Beneath my palm and fingers I could feel the muscles under his shirt and with a mind of its own

my hand began to stroke its way down towards his stomach. Each abdominal muscle tensed as I trailed my

fingers over them. A shiver ran down his spine and he moved closer to me until he crashed his lips into

mine.

I shifted my hips to try and get more comfortable. Understanding like he always seemed to do, he

raised his ass from my lap until I stopped wriggling and then settled down again. He traced his tongue

along my bottom lip and it was my turn to shiver. I parted them just enough and he delved his tongue in,

tracing it along my own as the kiss deepened.

I raised my hand back up from his abs to his chest then across to one side. I found his nipple beneath

my thumb, it was already hardening just from the kiss. I rubbed the pad of my thumb in circles over the

nub, causing him to moan into my mouth and buck his hips forward. His sound turned into a hiss of

pleasure as our growing erections, tightening our jeans, rubbed together. I thrust up on instinct, craving

more friction and he complied by rocking against me.

The sensation was amazing, moving my hands from his chest to behind and down to cup his ass

cheeks. I pulled and pushed against him, helping him to set a rhythm. From the whimpers and moans he

was making, I comprehended it was feeling good for him. I just wished I could make those sounds to let

him know I felt it too. Instead I tried to show him with my body. I tightened my hands on his ass and

pulled him harder against me at the same time I bucked my hips up to his. Our hardened cocks collided,

separated only by fabric. The friction was so good and already I was close to coming. I moved a hand

from his butt to try and warn him, but with his tongue firmly locked with my own in a passionate kiss, he

didn’t see it anyway.

I was so close and wanted release. Rocking up against him, I chased the orgasm that was on its way

causing my balls to tighten. I dropped my useless hand back to his ass, squeezing his cheeks tight to give

him warning. With one more grind from him my muscles tensed and warm cum exploded, soiling my

briefs.

He moaned as my body contracted and twitched against his, knowing I was done and I was riding

my orgasm. Wesley lightened his grinding against me but didn’t stop. He must have been close also and

was on the chase so I wrapped my tongue around his and sucked on it. He groaned gutturally and I slipped

my hands into the back of his jeans. Oh fuck - no briefs. He was riding me commando and if it were

possible I’d have blown my load a second time at that realization.

His body started trembling against mine and I guessed he was almost there. He was keeping himself

off my lap, probably aware I was sensitive after the pleasure. I palmed his ass cheeks tightly and pulled

him nearer. He shuffled on his knees, complying with my silent request until his jean clad crotch was

rubbing against my stomach. I could feel his size and hardness through my shirt, making me moan and

shiver as he began to hump himself desperately against my torso, giving himself friction.

With one last squeeze of his ass cheeks, he jolted and came with a deep moan as he filled his jeans.

I slowed the kiss down, now becoming languid. My lips tingled as though bruised from the desperate way

we’d kissed and his must have been the same. When his trembling eased he began to pull back, breaking

the kiss and sitting on my knees as we both caught our breaths.

He smiled contentedly and raised his hand to my face, stroking strands of hair away again. “So, um,

yeah - welcome to Blackwood.”

He widened his smile as the infectious laugh burst forward once again. I dropped my head back

against the seat, my mouth open with no sound coming out, but my body shook with my silent laughs.

Suddenly there was a knock on the driver’s side window. We both froze and turned our heads

towards the door. It was hard to make out who was there. The mix of the heaters and our passion fuelled

warmth had fogged the windows of the car without us noticing. The knock came again, but neither of us

moved.

“Mr. Hunter! I don’t know who you’re in there with, but you had better both get out here this minute

and explain why you’re not in class!” It was the unmistakable voice of Mr. Ford, the college dean.

We both turned our heads to look at each other and Wes spoke at the same time I signed. “Oh fuck.”

*Oh fuck.*

Chapter Three

Wesley turned his head to look at me. I returned his gaze and quickly tried to sit up straighter. He

moved from me as fast as he could, being careful not to knee me in inappropriate places or jostle the car

too much.

He made it back to his own seat and turned off the engine to silence the music from his stereo. I

leaned over enough to glance in his rear view mirror. My scarf was a little crumpled and I straightened it

to keep my scarred neck covered, pulling the ends to tighten the fabric around me. It also served to keep

the cold from making the scars ache. A quick look to my eyes showed the brown depths glazed in a post

pleasure haze. I blinked a few times to try and clear them as Wes opened his door and climbed out.

“Mr. Hunter, I’m extremely surprised at you for skipping class!” the dean bellowed.

“Mr. Ford, I can explain, sir.” Despite the situation we had become stuck in, Wesley’s voice

barely wavered.

Glancing quickly around the interior of the car, I searched for something to mop up the

uncomfortable puddle of cum from my briefs, but there was nothing. He had a surprisingly clean car for a

teenager.

“Then start explaining, Mr. Hunter,” Mr. Ford barked. “And who is that still in the car?”

“It’s Alex Carter, sir. At the end of first class Richard Oakley confronted him about being unable to

speak and Alex became really upset,” he explained. “I brought him out here to listen to some music so he

could calm down away from other students staring at him, sir.”

There was silence for a moment while Mr. Ford thought about what had just been said. Movement

in the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned my head to look at Wesley’s open door. Mr. Ford

had bent down to peer inside the car. Oh God, I hoped he couldn’t smell what we had done in here.

He locked his eyes onto mine as they started to water out of fear of what he might say. If he realized

what we had really done in this car would he yell at me? Would he throw me out of college? My dad

wouldn’t be happy about that, we’d only just moved here and it was my first day.

Mr. Ford’s expression began to soften as he watched me. A tear trailed down my cheek and I raised

a hand to quickly brush it away.

He sighed quietly and gave a faint nod. “Are you okay, son? Do you need me to call your father to

come and fetch you?”

I hastily shook my head. The last thing I needed was for my dad to be called in. He’d dropped me

here less than two hours ago and had probably only been at work in Port Mercy for half an hour, not even

long enough to be shown around and told his duties. It wouldn’t be good for him to be called away, I

couldn’t have him losing his job because of this. I moved my hand to sign, but stopped as I remembered

this wasn’t Wesley. The dean wouldn’t know what I was trying to say to him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, responding to the headshake I’d given. I looked down and swiped my

hand over my face once more. “Can you join us out here, Alex? You can’t sit in there all day, you will

need to return to your classes.”

With a resigned nod I pulled the handle beside me and pushed the door open. The cooling cum in

my briefs became even more noticeable to me as I climbed out of the car. The sensation was horrid and I

wanted to get cleaned up as soon as I could. As I closed the door, I threw a glance in Wesley’s direction.

He was looking right back at me, his emerald eyes apologetic and I could tell from the way he was

standing he felt equally as uncomfortable, not just from being in the dean’s company.

Mr. Ford closed the driver’s door and gestured me around to that side of the car. I tried to keep my

movements slow, probably looking rather timid as I walked around to join them.

“I understand at first things are going to be difficult for you, Alex. Believe me I shall be having a

word with Richard at the end of the day,” Mr. Ford said, softening his expression more as he studied my

face. “If anyone else gives you any trouble let Wesley know and Wesley you come and let me know.”

“Yes, sir,” the teenager beside me answered for the both of us.

“In the meantime you’ll both still need to attend your classes. Let’s not have your attendance and

grades suffer. I’ll let your current teacher know why you were both absent, but try not to make a habit of

this. If you need a few minutes to yourself in the future, Alex then do so and Wesley can let your teacher

know.” I nodded to show I had listened and understood what he’d said. For now I was just glad he hadn’t

pressed the matter about calling in my dad to collect me. “Now why don’t you both come along to my

office and I’ll write you some absence notes for your missed class?”

Slightly panicked I turned quickly to Wes and raised my hands to sign to him. *I can’t go to his

office. I need to use the bathroom and clean up.*

He gave a nod and we both turned to Mr. Ford. He’d watched me sign and was now expecting a

translation.

“Alex said he would rather we just get along to our next lesson and not miss any further college,

sir.”

I flicked my eyes to him then back to the dean before he could notice. Well that was a complete

understatement, Wesley, he had better buy it. What teenager in their right mind would rather go to class

than have an excuse to miss it?

Mr. Ford seemed to fall for it though. He turned to me with a smile and reached out, placing his

hand on my shoulder. “Well that is excellent, you’re a good man. I’ll write the notes and pass them along

to your teacher myself then. Are you going to show Alex to the next class, Wesley?”

The dean removed his hand, for which I was grateful, and turned back to him. “Yes sir, we both

have history now.”

“Okay, then run along both of you and get those heads filled with knowledge,” he grinned widely.

Wes turned and retrieved his car keys from his pocket. Pressing the button on the fob, the Camaro

beeped and flashed its lights alerting that the alarm was now set. He adjusted the bag strap over his

shoulder and I followed him back across the lot and up the steps into the main hall.

I stopped and turned to hold the door, expecting the dean to have followed us to get out of the rain.

He wasn’t there and a quick peek out towards the lot showed he was just passing through another entrance

in a different part of the building. I let the door swing closed and turned to continue following Wesley.

He waited for me and smiled when I caught up. “Here’s the nearest bathroom. With second class

still going on it’ll be empty, but we’ll need to be quick.”

He pushed the door open and went inside. I followed and pulled it firmly closed again, really not

wanting anyone to walk in on me while I was cleaning my dick. Wesley went straight over to the sinks. As

I joined him, he grabbed handfuls of paper towels from the dispenser and passed them to me.

With a nervous glance around the bathroom, finding it was empty like he’d said, I looked back to

him. He had already unzipped his fly and lowered his jeans down to his thighs. Even from where I was

standing the drying cum stain was visible inside his pants. He turned on the warm tap and proceeded to

use water and hand towels to clean up the mess.

Facing away self-consciously, I followed suit and lowered my jeans to my thighs. The inside of the

fabric was a little damp, but not much. My thick briefs had taken the brunt of my climax. I peeked over to

Wes again. He had moved on from his pants and was now washing the head of his cock and under his

foreskin. It was limp in his hand, but even so it was still impressive to see.

Gazing down to myself, I slowly lowered my briefs and viewed for the first time the mess I had

made in them. Grabbing a few hand towels, I cleaned up what I could and then used damp cloths to wash

off the rest. Once there was nothing more I could do for my clothes, I took myself in hand and began to

clean my cock, the warm water nice and refreshing on my skin. Unlike Wes I had no foreskin to peel back

and clean under.

I became aware of a tingling sensation on the back of my neck, like when the hairs stand up when

you’re afraid, or when you feel like someone is watching you. Turning my head I realized Wesley was

indeed watching me. He was dabbing at his cock with a hand towel, gathering the moisture as he dried

himself carefully. I looked away again, and after checking I was all clean, I picked up the last towel and

dabbed myself dry too.

“Are you Jewish, Alex?” he asked after a moment, breaking the silence that had been around us. A

frown creased my forehead and I glanced back to him, raising my eyebrow in a hope he would understand

I was asking him ‘why?’ since my hands were currently too busy to sign with. “Oh, I was just wondering

because you’re circumcised. Carter doesn’t sound like a Jewish name.” I shook my head to convey it

wasn’t and neither was I Jewish. “Sorry, I’ve never seen a circumcised penis before - can I see?”

My cheeks started to heat up and I shook my head, releasing myself now I was relatively dry and

tugged my damp briefs back up into place. I wasn’t sure why I was embarrassed, after all we had just dry

humped each other in his car, but this somehow seemed different.

I kept my head down and pulled my jeans up, zipping the fly and tossed the used hand towels into

the trash can. There was a rustling of fabric as Wesley followed suit. Once he was done he moved in my

direction, but I returned to the sink to wash my hands. He stopped when I showed him my back. Part of me

felt bad I was pushing him away like this, but another part was telling me this was too soon. I was

somewhat unnerved.

He sighed and moved back to his sink, washing his hands too. “I’m sorry, Alex. I was just curious, I

didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

I could tell from his voice he felt bad for asking and raising my eyes to meet his, I noticed the

apology there too. When my hands were dry I signed to him again. *It’s just a bit soon. I’ve known you

less than two hours and everything’s moving a bit quick for me. What happened in the car was…nice,

but…*

Not knowing how to end that sentence, I slumped my hands back to my sides in defeat. I needn’t

have even bothered trying to explain, he just seemed to comprehend everything.

“I understand and I know it was quick. I don’t know, I just…” He sighed and raked his hand through

his hair. “I felt something between us and acted quickly on it. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

He turned away and picked up his bag from where he’d dropped it to the floor by the sink. Slinging

it over his shoulder, he headed towards the door. I hastily adjusted my own and followed, catching hold

of his arm to stop him.

One problem with being unable to speak was people walking away before I’d finished signing what

I’d wanted to say. He stopped when I tugged on his sleeve and turned his head to look at me, his eyes

meeting mine. For now I kept hold of his sleeve and signed with my other hand. I’d been teaching myself

to sign one handed so I could continue doing other things at the same time rather than dropping everything

to talk.

*It’s not that I don’t want it to happen again. What happened in the car was…amazing, you were

amazing,* I told him and watched as his lips twitched slightly. *It’s just so soon. I do like you, Wes, so if

you feel the same then it’s okay for us to take it slow, right?*

He watched every movement I made with my hand then flicked his eyes up when he was sure I was

done talking. This would be a great advantage to me, having a friend who had lots of experience

communicating with someone having to use sign language.

“Of course, Alex. I do like you and we’ll take things as slow as you want to take them, okay?” he

asked, wanting to confirm it with me so we were on the same page. “Last class is going to end any minute

so come on and we’ll get to history early, it’s the other side of campus.”

He turned and pulled the door open, holding it for me. I smiled as I passed him, glad he understood

my need for things to not go so quickly. The door swung closed behind me and he came to my side, falling

in step with me to lead the way. Turning my head, I noticed he was watching me from the corner of his eye

in case I signed to speak to him, which right now I wished to.

*No, I’m not Jewish,* I answered his previous question. *I guess it’s just a hygienic thing, not

religious.*

“Do you remember having it done?” he asked, perking back up at the prospect of talking about it. “I

saw a film once about an Islamic family living in England. It’s a large family with like six or seven kids,

mostly boys. Anyway the youngest boy somehow got away with not being circumcised and the dad is

really religious. He makes him go to the hospital for an operation to get it done. The kid was probably

about nine or ten.”

I shook my head and signed, *I don’t remember getting it done, it must have been when I was a baby

or really young anyway. I think my dad is the same. It doesn’t have to be about religion, it’s for hygiene

purposes too.*

He nodded and raised a hand, gesturing me to follow as he took a left turn down a hallway and we

continued walking straight for a while. “I didn’t mean to unnerve you or anything when I asked to see. My

dad’s always saying I’m a curious cat and one day it’ll get the better of me.”

*Well I didn’t say you couldn’t see,* I told him. *Just not today, it’s too…*

“Yeah, I know - too soon.” He smiled and pushed me lightly causing me to miss a step and stumble.

I quickly caught my footing and shoved him back making him laugh. It was strange being around

him. He had no issue in interrupting me while I was signing and pushing me around like teenaged boys do.

It was so - normal.

I continued following him through the hallways, glancing around to try and learn my new bearings of

the college, but it all just looked the same to me. My old college in Austin had been at least three times

bigger than this one in Blackwood so I would get used to it quickly enough.

As though sensing my confusion, Wesley smiled. “It’s easy if you know what to look for. Each time

you enter a new section there’s a display board in each hallway, see?”

He pointed to a board as we turned into a new corridor. I stopped and looked it over with its bright

colored tissue paper and pictures on the wall. It didn’t take a genius to figure out this must have been the

art and music section of the college. There were big fake blobs of paint on the wall and musical notes as a

border. Add to that the fact a drum beat and violins were coming from somewhere further down the hall.

We continued walking and he led me into an adjacent corridor. Glancing to the display board I now

knew to look out for, I could tell this was the history department. On the wall were pictures of famous

figures and incidents through time. There was a big picture of the Titanic striking an iceberg, another of

the first man on the moon, a life-sized sketch of Abraham Lincoln and a painting of the Pilgrims and the

Indians at the first Thanksgiving.

“I take it you like history if you chose it as a subject.” Wes’s voice sounded further away and I

turned to see he was leaning against a wall outside a closed door. I figured this to be our history room.

With a last glance to the display, I turned and walked over to join him, giving a small nod. *It’s one

of my best subjects. I like learning about the past and our ancestors, things like that.*

“What’s your favorite era?” he asked.

I stopped beside him and leaned against the wall. He turned his head so he could see my response.

*I’ve always found Ancient Egypt to be interesting, with all the pyramid building and their different

Gods...and the death process.*

“Death process?” He raised his eyebrows in confusion to what I meant.

*Yes, you know, the…process…bandages and pulling brains out the nose,* I signed, trying to

explain what I meant.

“Oh, you mean mummification?” I nodded with relief as he understood what I was getting at. He

chuckled and shook his head, giving me a light punch to the arm. “Then why didn’t you just say that?”

*Because I don’t know how to sign…that word,* I replied.

Wes tilted his head back and let out a laugh. It didn’t last long as he remembered to be quiet since

class was still in session on the other side of the door. I didn’t mind the laughing because it was him, but

for good measure I playfully punched his arm like he had done mine. It set him off again and he had to

cover his mouth.

*Well what’s our class currently studying?* I asked, changing the subject in an attempt to quieten

him.

He stilled his chuckles and lowered his hand from his mouth. “We’re studying the American Civil

War.”

If I had the ability to groan I likely would have. As the smile dropped from my face, he tilted his

head questioningly.

*I’m guessing there’s not much support for the Confederate side up here,* I signed, explaining the

expression he must have seen on my face. *Everyone is going to take the piss when they find out I’m from

Texas.*

Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned off the wall as the class ended and moved closer to me so the

door wouldn’t swing out and hit him. “You’re a gay Texan, Alex. I highly doubt you’re anything like the

Confederates. Besides…” He raised his hands towards my neck. Instinctively I pulled back as far as I

could to the wall, but it didn’t faze him. His fingers met the red fabric of my scarf and lightly pulled it

higher on my throat to cover the scars, his movements remaining gentle. “This is a new millennium. No

one cares about what others believe anymore. They just care about their own beliefs and thoughts - oh,

and the Confederates lost big time.”

He grinned wide and stepped back as I threw out my hand. Despite ducking it still connected with

his shoulder and he laughed again. He rubbed his arm but I hadn’t hit him too hard. As the hallway

became filled with students swarming out of rooms, he moved closer to avoid being swept away with the

crowds.

His chuckle faded, overtaken by the sounds of students all around us, but somehow all noise was

lost and we had focus only for each other’s eyes. For several seconds he looked as though he was going to

lean in and kiss me again, which wouldn’t have been a good thing if we were spotted.

Wesley flicked his tongue out, licking his lips to moisten them and I took the advantage to drop my

gaze. The moment was somewhat awkward between us yet seemed completely right at the same time, but

here was not the time or place. As the hallway cleared enough, I playfully shoved him backwards and he

stumbled two steps before managing to collect himself.

*Laugh it up, Hunter,* I signed, an attempt to break whatever it was that had come over us. *The

south will rise again.*

He stroked a hand over the front of his shirt, smoothing the crease that my shoving him had caused.

Wetting his lips again as he watched me, his eyes then slowly lowered down my body, stopping when it

reached my jean clad crotch.

“Oh, I sure hope so.”

Chapter Four

The rest of my first day of college passed rather uneventfully, which I believed was thanks to

Wesley’s constant company. After what happened in biology earlier in the day, Richard Oakley was now

giving us both a wide berth and encouraging his gang to do the same. Mr. Ford must have already spoken

to him.

Despite Wes sitting beside me in every class, the whispers and stares still continued and I found

myself trying to discreetly adjust my scarf many times. History class wasn’t too bad. There were students

I recognized from biology so the novelty was wearing off for them already.

After history Wes led me through the hallways to the lunch room. Each one we passed through had a

display board and like he’d said it showed which department of the college we were in. I was already

starting to memorize my way around, not wanting to have to rely on the childlike map Mrs. Mills had

given me this morning.

While we walked I began to feel like a normal teenager since the hallways were crowded enough I

was barely noticed passing by. Once we reached the lunch room, all eyes seemed to turn toward me and

the illusion of normality left. I followed Wesley to the line and placed a few items on my tray; just a soda,

a plate of salad and a chocolate pudding. I was grateful for all the help he’d been giving me today and

tried to pay for both of our lunches, but he declined the offer.

He led me to his usual seat where he told me he sat with his friends each lunch time. As we reached

the table I couldn’t help but become unnerved once again. Sitting there were two girls. I’d expected

Wesley to lead me to one filled with guys, but he took a seat and pushed out the chair next to him. I sat

down, laying my tray on the table and glanced to the girls, discovering them both looking back at me.

“Alex, this is Kelly Marsh and Joanne Clark,” he introduced us. “Girls, this is Alex Carter, it’s his

first day.”

The two girls gazed at him as he spoke then turned their attentions back to me. My cheeks heated a

little as they studied me and the smaller of the two smiled when she saw this. I dropped my head quickly,

suddenly rather shy.

“New guy, hmm? I know that’s really daunting, I’m still fairly new myself. I’ve been here about four

months now.” I raised my head and smiled a little, rather grateful Joanne was actually speaking to me. I

did wonder though if it was only because I was here as Wes’s new friend.

Kelly, the shorter of the two, had continued to stare. She was making me a little nervous under her

gaze, but then she smiled brightly. “So where are you from, Alex? Somewhere nicer than here I bet from

the look of your tanned skin.”

Wesley almost choked on his soda and the three of us looked to make sure he was okay. I noticed

him cast a glare at Kelly and then they turned to me, awaiting a reply. I swiftly became aware this would

be the moment of truth. The second I began moving my hand they would see me differently. I was tense,

waiting to hear the scrape of their chairs as they hurried to walk away. Would I cause Wes to lose his

friends?

*I’m from Austin, Texas,* I signed with a faint tremble and then dropped my head while waiting for

the sound of them leaving.

There was silence for three seconds before Wesley cleared his throat. “He said he’s from Austin,

Texas.”

The stoned quiet continued a little longer. No doubt the two girls were eyeing me up, studying my

every movement with intense scrutiny. I twitched as a hand landed on my knee under the table. With my

eyes still cast down I found it was Wes silently offering his support.

The smaller girl cleared her throat and I glanced back up politely to find her smiling. “I’d love to go

somewhere hot like that. It sure would beat constantly living in this wet town.”

Looking to Wes, he grinned and moved his hand away as he swallowed another sip of his soda. I

turned back to Kelly with a grateful smile, starting to slowly experience normality again. The Joanne girl

had gone back to eating her lunch, but at least she hadn’t run away - yet.

Kelly was watching me in between sips of her drink and sampling her pudding. I noticed now and

again she would flick her eyes towards Wes and then back to me. I began to wonder if she was suspicious

of something.

“So how do you like Blackwood so far, Alex?” she asked after a moment.

Wesley translated for me at the same time I signed.*Well it’s so much smaller than I’m used to and

quieter too, but I like it. The rain is nicer than the constant sun and heat.*

Whenever my dad tried translating for me, he would fumble the words or wait for me to have signed

it all and then try to translate, which by then meant he’d forgotten what I had signed at the beginning. With

Wes it all seemed to come so naturally to him which I guess came from his deaf younger brother. To me it

was as though I was the one talking. He kept in perfect time with me as though the words were coming

from my mouth, not his. What made it even nicer was that Kelly kept her attention on me as I signed

instead of looking to the one speaking for me like most people would.

“It must be strange being so far away from home though. You’ve practically travelled the whole

length of the country,” she commented, and I nodded in agreement. It was strange and there were some

aspects of Texas I would miss, but I was also happy for a new start. She smiled and tilted her head. “Did

your whole family move up here with you?”

“Kelly…” I glanced to Wes as he said her name with a warning in his tone.

Of course I had already opened up to him about the answer to that question. Well, when I say

opened up I mean I’d cried like a baby.

Kelly peered over to him. “It was a simple enough question. What’s the problem?”

Beside me Wes inhaled a deep breath and I could tell he intended to warn her off from asking

questions that might upset me all over again. Before he could release even one word, I found his knee

with my hand and gave a discreet squeeze to let him know it was fine. He looked back to me then nodded,

a silent agreement between us.

I raised my hand to answer Kelly as he translated. *All of my family are still in Texas as far as I

know. We don’t exactly get along too well. It’s just me and my dad now.*

She nodded once, a flash of sympathy passing across her eyes and then she turned them on the young

man beside me. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? You might be his new voice, Wes, but it doesn’t mean

you can edit him out like a document on a computer.”

My jaw dropped in surprise as she scolded him. Here sitting before me was a girl who had known

me for just a couple of minutes. In that short time she had paid me attention, asked me questions, focused

on me while I answered and now was standing up for me against her friend.

Glancing sideways to him, I noticed his jaw had also dropped and our expressions mirrored each

other’s. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Kelly and she did the same as they stared each other down.

After a moment he huffed and folded his arms, giving in to her far too easily. “I wasn’t editing

anything.”

“Then you shouldn’t talk over him.” She turned her attention back to me and smiled sweetly. “If you

don’t want to answer a question then you’ll tell me that, right Alex?”

I was somewhat uncomfortable. Wesley had been scolded by this miniature of a girl whom he could

probably squash as easily as a fly, all because he hadn’t wanted me becoming upset again. She continued

watching me and waiting for an answer so I just gave a quick nod and she smiled happily with my

response.

The four of us continued to eat our lunch with small talk going on between the three of them. Now

and again a question was passed my way, but it was mostly asking my opinion on something. I was asked

if I thought it might snow later this month, so I nodded. I was asked if I liked baseball, so I shrugged. I

was asked if I had my eye on any girls in this college to take to the prom in a few months time, so I almost

choked on my chocolate pudding.

Wesley quickly moved his hand to my back. Most guys would slap hard to help dislodge the

obstruction, but he rubbed firm circles between my shoulder blades instead. Through the strands of hair

that had fallen into my eyes, I noticed Kelly look between us and smile. That must have been answer

enough for her.

Once lunch was over, Wesley walked with me through the hallways to where the gym was located.

He’d told me this morning he had music class now so I would be facing gym class alone and I wasn’t

looking forward to it at all. With the weather having worsened outside, it seemed like the teacher had

thought ‘to hell with it’ and had opted for a game of dodge ball indoors.

Since I was the new guy, I was going to have to arrange a gym uniform. Lucky for me today I could

just wear my normal clothes, but I had to borrow a spare pair of sneakers so my shoes wouldn’t damage

the polished floor. I didn’t mind, I was just glad to be able to keep my scarf on. Sure I would sweat a lot,

but at least my neck wouldn’t be exposed.

It turned out I had a knack for dodge ball too. With me being the new kid and some of the boys

already hating me since they were Richard’s friends, all of them were aiming for me but I succeeded in

remaining untouched for several minutes. In the end it was a girl on the other team that hit me with her

ball. Having been raised a southern gent I hadn’t aimed for any of the girls and she took advantage of that.

We played a few games until the hour of gym was over and then returned to the locker rooms to

shower and change. I opted out of that and sprayed with deodorant before leaving well ahead of the other

boys. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed to be naked around them, I was just self-conscious of my scars. I

couldn’t very well shower with a scarf around my neck.

With the first day of college now over and many of the students already making their way out to the

parking lot, I walked along to the office to hand in my note. Mrs. Mills was behind the desk like before

and she smiled as I passed her the paper that all my teachers had signed.

“Well how was your first day, dear?” she asked, her tone still motherly and sweet. “Wasn’t so bad,

was it?”

I shook my head and she smiled wider, happy I’d had a good day. Of course I couldn’t physically

tell her about the incident in biology, nor did I want to tell her about the resulting incident in Wesley’s

car. She scanned down the form I had passed to her, finding all of the signatures where they should have

been and nodded her consent.

She placed it on top of a pile of papers on the desk and turned back to me. “Did you find your way

around everywhere okay?” I gave a nod and she continued, “And Wesley has been helpful to you?”

Another nod, but this time with a faint blush added to it. He’d been very helpful indeed, showing me

around campus and befriending me, not to mention helping to calm me down when I became upset this

morning.

“That’s good,” she said, seeming happy with that. “Well you won’t need to have anything signed

tomorrow so you can go along to classes as normal, dear. Have a good evening and another good day

tomorrow.”

She smiled sweetly and again I couldn’t help but think what such a pleasant grandmother she must

be to someone. She reminded me much of my own who’d passed away when I was ten. I’d loved her

dearly and she me in return. Though in a way I guess I was glad she hadn’t lived to discover my sexuality.

She had been completely with the old times and it would have broken her heart.

I left the office and followed the hallway to the main door. Teens were swarming to get to their

cars, not wanting to spend another second longer on college grounds than they needed to. As I reached the

exit the rain was much heavier now and in the distance the thunder rolled. It seemed the storm that had

been present this morning had returned once again.

Tugging my scarf closer, I left the shelter of the doorway and walked down the steps. It didn’t

matter how tight my jacket was tied up, the rain seeped through all the same. I was a half drowned rat

before I even reached the bottom. Glancing around, there was a mass of tail lights as cars backed out of

spaces and drove towards the exit where there was already a line to get out onto the main road through

Blackwood. I didn’t bother to linger any longer. My dad wouldn’t be finishing work until six and then

likely wouldn’t be home until after seven. Stuffing my hands deep into my pockets, I crossed the lot and

hit the sidewalk to town. It wasn’t exactly a big place, but with the weather I would gain weight just from

the wet clothing. I missed the sun already. I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible, change into

dry clothes and get the dinner cooking ready for Dad coming home.

I made it less than twenty feet before a horn beeped from behind me. Turning to look, I blinked

away the water from my eyes as it dripped down from my now flattened hair. A black car pulled up

beside me, but it was one I recognized from earlier in the day.

As it pulled to a stop, the window ran down and there was Wesley with his usual smile. “Hey, you

need a ride somewhere? You’re getting soaked.”

I glanced up the street then back just in time to catch him as he lowered his eyes to take in my

appearance. My clothes were sodden and heavy, clinging to me in many places. The tip of his tongue

darted out to moisten his lips and then he looked back to my eyes.

I raised an eyebrow in question and he smirked. “So you want a ride or not?”

Lifting my hand, it trembled from the cold that would take me awhile to get used to. *I don’t want to

be a bother if it’s going out of your way.*

“It seems you’re going my way and it’s not like this is a massive city, it’s no bother to me at all,” he

grinned and then eyed my clothes again. “You’ll end up getting sick if you stand around wet like that.”

Peering back down, and more for effect than actual aid, I rung out the bottom of my jacket. The

water gathered on the sidewalk with the rest of the puddles.

Looking back to him, I raised my hand to sign again. *Are you sure it’s no trouble to you?*

“None at all, come on.” He ran his window back up, leaning over to unlock the passenger door.

With a quick glance up and down the street, I stepped out into the road and around to get inside. His

classical music was playing low like this morning and the heaters were on full blast making it a

welcomed atmosphere compared to outside. The water dripped from my hair, down my face and I wiped

it away as I buckled the seat belt.

“So where to?” he asked and I pointed down the street in the direction I’d been walking. I’d hoped

with it being a small town I would find the house easily enough since I still didn’t know my way around

yet. He checked his mirrors and pulled back out onto the street. “Which part of the town do you live in?”

*I don’t know, it’s that way somewhere.* After signing, I waved my hand in the general direction.

He chuckled and the sound was contagious, causing me to smile. We slipped into a comfortable

silence, mostly because I didn’t want to distract him from driving since he would have to look away from

the road to read my hands. When we came across a street that seemed familiar to me, I nudged his arm and

he aimed the car in that direction.

While he drove I watched him tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, beating along to the music

from his stereo. He’d said he takes music class at college and I wondered if he could play this on an

instrument. He did seem in time with the tune. It wasn’t just the drumming I focused on, but the fingers

themselves. Each one long, thin, supple and perfect. I watched the way they rose and fell with a tap, timed

with precision to the music. As each one landed, a slight ripple travelled the length of his finger to the top

knuckle.

My jeans began to tighten as I stared, unable to look away as though the drumming was hypnotic.

Well, this was certainly something new. Fingers had never given me a boner before - except my own, but

that was while jerking off and the fingers were physically doing the work. I’d certainly never gotten stiff

from looking at them before.

“Are we still going the right way?” he asked, his voice snapping me from my thoughts.

Raising my eyes to his, he watched me for a moment then looked to the road and I followed suit.

Luckily I had picked the right street after all and where the road became a dead end and gave way to

forest, there stood the house Dad and I were renting. I pointed to the small building and he pulled the car

into the driveway.

“Nice place,” he commented upon glimpsing my home.

I was aware he was just being polite because the house was far from nice. Peering to it through the

windshield, it looked decrepit. The paint was peeling from the wooden slats of the porch beams which

were probably full of damp and rot. The roof was badly in need of re-shingling and the garage on the side

would have been better off not existing at all. With all the interior lights turned off it just added to the

illusion of neglect. However the rent was cheap because of this and for now it was better than living in

motels for a year or so.

I unclipped the seat belt, guiding it back into place in the runner and picked up my bag from the

floor. After quickly checking to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind, I turned back to Wesley.

He was watching me and smiled when my eyes met his. “You going to be okay here alone, Alex? I

can stick around if you’d like. I’m in no rush to get home.”

I shook my head. *I’m a big boy, I think I’ll be just fine.*

His smile faltered and a sorrowful sheen seemed to come across his eyes as he held his hands up in

a calming gesture. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. Just thought you might want some company or

something. It doesn’t look like your dad’s home yet.”

He glanced to the house then back to me, but my focus was once again on his hands. No, not his

hands, just the fingers. Thinking he was probably upsetting me, he lowered them and gave a nonchalant

shrug. “I was just trying to be friendly.”

He sighed and slumped in his seat. I watched him for several seconds, realizing it had been me

upsetting him this time and I wondered how long it had been since he’d had male company that he

enjoyed; gay company. He sure seemed desperate to want to stick around with me. This morning he’d

taken the lead and appeared to know what he was doing. I guess if I’d had experience in the past and had

been alone a while, I would be the one wanting to stick around him.

His focus remained on the windshield. I could practically watch the rivers of rain reflected in his

green eyes, giving him the appearance of tears. Taking in a deep breath, I released it slowly and moved

my hand to rest on his knee. I gave a light squeeze and he turned back to me with a hopeful look.

I shook my head a little, keeping the movement slow and removed my hand to sign with it. *Too

soon, Wes, but one day. If this isn’t just some new boy crush then you’ll wait for me.*

He watched me a moment longer and I sighed silently, looking down before turning in my seat and

getting out of the car. I thought I heard him whisper my name as I closed the door, but I slung my bag over

my shoulder and trudged through the heavy rain to the house as another fork of lightning streaked the sky.

I stepped up onto the porch, digging in my pocket for the door key. As I turned it in the lock and

pushed it open Wesley’s car reversed from the driveway and he left. I didn’t want to look back to watch

him go. A large part of me wished I hadn’t been so reserved or afraid and had invited him in like he’d

wanted. The smaller part was happy I was doing the right thing. I’d suffered enough in the last few years.

Now things were looking up a little, I didn’t want to fall into a trap that would see me happy and content

only for things to be crushed again.

At least I hoped I was doing the right thing.

Chapter Five

The rain seemed to be falling particularly heavy today and was striking the windshield with a loud

drum roll as Dad drove me to college. The night before I had still been in two minds about my feelings

towards Wes and it must have shown in my expression when Dad came home. He instantly asked me how

college had been, thinking maybe I’d had a testing day with all the students seeing me for the first time. I’d

told him - well, more like signed to him - it had been okay, just a little stressing and lots of stares. It

wasn’t like it was anything I hadn’t experienced before. In fact compared to my last college in Austin,

there I was going home each day with black eyes, nose bleeds and split lips. Here I was going home with

a boy crushing on me.

Dad had told me his first day of work had also been stressful, but not because of his chores. He’d

been concerned about me all day long and several times he had wanted to drop his tool belt and drive

back to get me. I understood how much he worried for me, but he also needed to keep his job. I’d

reassured him, telling him I had been perfectly fine and if something was to happen then I’d have the dean

call him. Of course I wasn’t going to do that but he didn’t need to know, he’d just needed to be assured I

was fine.

I had briefly told him about Wesley - leaving out the car details - and that he’d been assigned by

Mr. Ford to show me around and translate for me. Dad had been surprised to hear Wes could speak sign

perfectly and I’d told him it was due to having a younger deaf brother. I’d also mentioned about the girls

at lunch, Kelly and Joanne, and how neither had walked away when they’d realized I couldn’t talk. Kelly

had actually asked me questions and watched me as I signed, instead of looking to Wes for a translation.

Knowing that had made Dad happy.

As we pulled into the parking lot at college, I instantly flicked my eyes around until they landed on

the black Camaro where it had been parked the day before. A smile came to my lips before I could stop it.

When Dad parked he kept the engine running as he turned in his seat to face me. I quickly hid the grin and

looked back to him.

“What do you think about maybe going in for the test to get your driver’s license?” he asked out of

the blue.

My license? When I’d been a younger teenager before the incident, I had loved the thought of

driving my own car. I used to beg my dad to let me back his truck out of the driveway for him. Even now

the thought of owning my own car was highly tempting with more freedom and normality, but I was also

very aware it wasn’t going to happen.

*It’s too expensive, Dad,* I signed to him.

“Well it won’t be much for you to get your license and I’m sure I can save enough before your

birthday to get you a car,” he said, explaining the thoughts he must have been having for a while since this

sounded all planned out. “I asked around at the dock yard yesterday. There are a couple of places to get

something decent at a low price.”

I shook my head adamantly and had to adjust my scarf as the frantic movements dislodged it out of

my jacket collar. *We can’t afford a car, Dad. Even if we could, we can’t afford to run two vehicles and

pay two lots of gas.*

He sighed and the frown lines on his face began to deepen. I wasn’t sure how much of my signing

he’d understood, but it seemed to have been enough for him to grasp what I was getting at. He raised a

worn hand to rub over his eyes then through his hair, a habit I’d picked up from him years ago. I no longer

liked to see him do it as it showed the weight of the world on his shoulders and the strains and stresses

his body and soul were being put through because of me.

“I know, Lex,” he said after a moment, sounding tired. “But with me working so far away, I’m not

going to make it in time each morning with dropping you off here.”

*Then I’ll walk,* I insisted. *We’re not putting ourselves more in debt on my account.*

His jaw dropped as he opened his mouth to protest, but I raised my hand to silence his approaching

words. Dad was increasingly adamant our current conditions were not my fault, but I knew it was because

there was nothing else it could be. He was looking far too old for his years these days and I wished there

was something I could do to improve that. I’d even considered a job of my own though there weren’t

many places willing to hire a mute person. I shook my head and pushed my door open, snatching up my

bag from the floor and climbed out of the truck.

“Lex…” I managed to stop the door in time before it could slam shut and opened it a little more to

look back to him. “Have a good day, son.”

I could tell from his eyes he’d wanted to say more, but was holding himself back from doing so. I

just nodded and pushed the door closed then dashed as quickly as I could across the parking lot out of the

rain. By the time I reached the main hall and looked back, the truck was pulling out of the lot onto the

street and out of sight.

As I stepped into the hallway it was just like the day before, all heads turned to stare at me. I

spotted Richard Oakley as he narrowed his eyes and looked away with a huff. He whispered something to

his friend Stuart Prichard and received a laugh in response. I ignored them completely along with

everyone else and made my way through the crowds to my assigned locker.

It took a moment to remember the code, but I succeeded in getting the door open and arranged my

books around so I wouldn’t be carrying the heavy afternoon ones all day long. I pushed the locker closed

and turned to go in search of Wesley.

“Hello, Alex,” a voice suddenly sounded in front of me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin and proceeded to drop my bag on the floor, spilling my books out

and students passing by laughed, continuing on their way. Standing in front of me was the shorter girl,

Kelly and she’d given me such a fright. I hadn’t heard her approach and she’d startled me by suddenly just

being there. She smiled wide and crouched down, gathering my items back into my bag then stood up

offering it to me. I took it, zipping it closed then slung it over my shoulder with a small appreciative smile

to her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she assured me. “Wes asked me to keep an eye out for you

arriving. He was called to see Mr. Ford and said he would see you in biology. He asked me to walk you

to class in case you couldn’t remember the way.”

I didn’t know what to focus my attention on more. Wesley had been called in to see the dean about

something. Did Mr. Ford know what we’d really done while in the car yesterday? Was he getting into

trouble? Would he be expelled from college? That was my main concern right now. Also Wes had known

he wouldn’t be around in time to meet me on arrival so he’d sent his friend. For that I was grateful

because I certainly couldn’t remember the way to biology. I would have just ended up wandering the

college long after the class began in search of the hallway with the display board depicting glass beakers

and microscopes. Thirdly, and probably the least surprising, was that Kelly had done as Wes had asked of

her and came out of her way to find me. However it did have a distinct disadvantage. Kelly wouldn’t be

able to understand me if I signed, so I just smiled and gave a slight nod.

“Well let’s get you to class then. Oh, but I do have one condition.” She turned her body to be in

what I assumed was the direction of my class, but returned her eyes to me. I raised an eyebrow in what I

hoped she’d understand was a questioning way. Her gentle smile turned to one of mischief and I

wondered if I should be concerned while she spoke. “You have to offer me your arm like the cute

southern boys do in the movies.”

She giggled at the end of her request and I couldn’t keep the confused frown from my face. It took a

moment for me to realize she was deadly serious. Not wanting to disappoint, I readjusted my bag onto my

left shoulder then stepped up to her side and offered my arm. She laughed softly again and a light blush

came to her cheeks as she threaded her arm through mine and we began walking.

“Oh sir, you simply are too kind,” she gushed.

I quickly glanced to her as she made an attempt to sound like a Texan. Her accent was too far north

to copy my Austin one. She sounded more like a Dallas girl and clearly it was copied from a cowboy

movie.

She laughed softly, but seeing the look on my face made her stop. “Too much?” I nodded and she

smiled sheepishly. “Sorry - just always had that fantasy, you know? A guy being a perfect gentleman by

offering his arm to escort me somewhere.”

While we walked she chewed my ear off with her non-stop talking, but her voice was high pitched

and constantly at an excitable level. It was almost hard to not listen to her with her bubbly happiness

becoming infectious. She kept her arm threaded through mine, resting her hand on top as we walked. Now

and then she threw a quick finger wave to what I assumed were some of her friends. They watched wide-

eyed as we passed them by with Kelly talking to me and clinging to my arm. One girl even waved back

while saying hello to us and called me by name, though I didn’t know hers and hadn’t seen her before. I

guessed my name had spread around the college with me being so new, but one thing was for sure, there

was no staring or hostility from that girl. I wondered if she was genuinely nice like that or if it was just

because Kelly was beside me.

By the time we reached the hallway with the science display board, Kelly had talked of at least six

different things and it had only taken us three minutes to walk. When we arrived at my door she was

talking about the prom again, but this time she didn’t question if I was going to attend or ask anyone to go

with me. At first I wondered if she was hinting she’d like me to invite her, but she seemed to have a

knowing look in her eyes as though she could see right through me and knew that I was gay.

“Well here’s your class, Alex. Wes should be here soon enough so I guess I’ll see you at lunch.

You’re coming to sit with us again, right?” she asked. I nodded to confirm I would and she smiled wider

as she disentangled her arm from mine. “Then I’ll see you at lunch. Have a good morning.”

She turned away to move towards her own class but I reached my hand out, catching the sleeve of

her jacket and held her back. She glanced questioningly to me, fixing her brown eyes onto mine. While I

released her I mouthed ‘thank you’, aware she couldn’t understand me if I tried to sign.

Kelly beamed as I attempted to speak to her. “You’re welcome.”

She turned and continued down the hallway to her class, rounding a corner out of sight. As I entered

the biology room, Mr. Blake hadn’t arrived yet and neither had half of the students so I made my way

easily to where I’d sat the day before. I sorted out my books and pen in front of me then dropped my bag

to the floor under the table as I looked to Wes’s empty seat.

In my peripheral vision I noticed a movement in front of me and turned my head, hoping it was

Wesley arriving. I wanted to apologize to him about how I’d acted last night when he’d driven me home.

My hopes were quickly dashed when I found it wasn’t him, but Richard and his minion Stuart.

Richard braced his hands on the desk between us and leaned in close, dropping his gaze to my scarf

clad neck then back to my eyes. “Just so you know I’m going to be held back after classes every day for a

week because of you. If you go telling on me to the dean again then you’ll be carrying your teeth home in a

jar.”

He kept his voice low and menacing, but I had no doubt he was only playing it up because Wes

wasn’t here. Either way he unnerved me. I’d received plenty of black eyes and cut lips over the last few

years to know not to underestimate a threat like this. I hadn’t told on him to Mr. Ford though, Wes had and

now he was nowhere in sight to confirm this. Suddenly Stuart reached out and grabbed my pen off the

desk, looking it over and then smirked at me.

“Nice pen, can I have this?” he asked. I shook my head and tried to snatch it back, but he tauntingly

pulled it away, moved it back into my line of reach again only to pull it away a second time when I made

another grab for it. “Hmm, I didn’t hear a ‘no’ so I guess it’s mine. Thanks very much.”

He pocketed the pen and both of them laughed, turning to go to their seats - and walked directly into

Wesley. My attention had been on both of them, I hadn’t even seen him enter the room and approach us.

From the pissed off look in his eyes and the expression on his face he’d been there long enough to hear

them.

“Give Alex his pen back, Prichard.” His words were almost a hiss.

Stuart folded his arms and sneered. “What? I don’t have his pen.”

Wesley gritted his teeth and took a threatening step closer to them, almost towering over the guilty

one. From behind I noticed Stuart tremble before he could still himself.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Prichard. I saw and heard exactly what you just did and I’m sure Mr.

Blake and Mr. Ford would like to hear about it too.” He leveled his eyes on the other bully then looked

back again. “You could keep Richard company after classes this week.”

I couldn’t see, but I guessed Stuart’s eyes had widened in fear. He trembled again, moving his hand

to take my pen from his pocket. Without looking in my direction he slammed it down onto the desk. I

quickly placed my hand over the top to prevent it being snatched away again. It was a special item to me

and I hoped no damage had come to it.

Wes looked between the two then without another word he stepped around them and to his seat

beside me. They both turned, glancing between us before going back to their own chairs to get away from

us. Well, more likely to get away from Wesley.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Mr. Ford wanted to see me. Did Kelly find you okay?” he asked. I nodded and

focused on him. He was watching me intently, studying my eyes to most likely make sure Richard hadn’t

upset me for a second day in a row. “Those guys are such jerks. Did they take anything else from you?”

*No,* I signed and shook my head.

Looking down I moved my other hand and picked up the pen. I turned it over between my fingers,

checking no damage had been done then placed it on the desk again.

“That’s a nice pen, where did you get it?” Wes asked, leaning over for a better view.

*It was the last birthday gift I got from my grandmother before she died,* I informed him.

“Oh.” He nodded and took his books from his bag, placing them on the desk.

I could sense a tension between us, so different from college yesterday and I understood it was due

to my reaction the evening before. I kept my eyes on him a little longer as Mr. Blake finally arrived and

started lecturing immediately.

I knew that even though I couldn’t speak, both my signing and Wesley’s translations wouldn’t be

permitted unless I’d been asked a question by the teacher. I would need to be like every other student and

not chatter through classes, but when I could take the tension no longer I began writing on a corner of my

note page then tore it off and slipped it inconspicuously across the table to him. When the paper bumped

against his notes, Wes lifted his head a little to look at it. I removed my hand so he could read what I had

written.

I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to upset you, I just don’t want things to move too

quickly. I don’t want to get my hopes up and have them dashed when you become disappointed with

me.

I watched his face as he scanned the note, twitching his eyes from side to side while absorbing

every word. He moved his lips as he silently mouthed each one as though reading it aloud to himself.

When he reached the end his forehead wrinkled. He turned his eyes to meet mine, his green gaze awash in

a sea of emotions, then looking down he started scribbling under what I had written.

I took the opportunity to quickly glance around making sure our lack of attention to class hadn’t been

noticed. When the paper bumped against my hand, I looked back down to his response. It seemed more

like an essay than a hastily scribbled note, but his handwriting was still neat despite the speed.

I didn’t mean to imply anything last night, I just thought you might have wanted some friendly

company since your dad wasn’t home. It’s better than being stuck home alone bored. I understand

you want to take things slow. It makes sense considering we only just met recently, but I’m not

going to lie, Alex. I feel a strong attraction to you and I know you felt it yesterday as well. I really

like you and we’ll take things at whatever speed you want, but babe, why do you think I would be

disappointed?

Babe? That word caught me off guard. It seemed intimate, something those in love would call each

other and tended to be what the boy called the girl. Turning my eyes quickly to him, I found he was

watching me intently. Peering back to the note, I read it through again and started scribbling my reply in a

messier script than his before pushing it back.

Because you took the lead yesterday and you seem really forward so that makes me believe you

have experience and you’ve been with others before.

I looked away and tried to catch up with the notes Mr. Blake had written on the whiteboard. I hadn’t

even copied four words when the paper was pushed against my hand, his fingertips lightly brushing mine

before disappearing. I slid the note onto my other sheet so it wouldn’t be noticed and read his reply.

I have been with one boy before. We dated for almost a year, but he lost interest in me and

found another. He’s now with a University guy three years older than us. If that’s what’s worrying

you then I can assure you now we were completely safe and protected the one and only time we did

that. I don’t have any ‘problems’, my dad is a doctor.

The heat rose in my cheeks as Wesley revealed his sexual exploits to me. He seemed to be much

more open on paper than he would have ever told me out loud. I wondered if he was at all afraid of our

note passing being noticed. I’d seen it in movies before, kids getting caught passing notes in school and

the teacher reads it aloud to the whole class. I blushed deeper at that thought but quickly scribbled my

response.

Thank you for being so honest with me, Wes, but whether you have been safe or not isn’t

what’s worrying me. I’ve never been with anyone.

I pushed the note back and he caught it just in time as Mr. Blake said his name. He quickly looked

up, the note securely concealed under his hand and I thought we were done for. Even Wes seemed to

become nervous within a second.

“I said ‘what is the scientific name for the muscular movement during swallowing’ Mr. Hunter?”

the teacher repeated his question.

“Oh - peristalsis, sir,” Wesley answered from beside me.

“Very good.” Mr. Blake turned back to the white board and wrote down ‘peristalses.

I glanced to Wes as he realized he was so far behind on the class notes being provided. He slipped

our note into the pocket of his jeans and whispered under his breath he would read it later. I nodded and

turned my attention back to class, needing to focus. At least he’d known the answer to Mr. Blake’s

question. I sure as hell hadn’t.

When the class ended forty minutes later, Mr. Blake announced we would be having a pop quiz on

today’s lesson during our class tomorrow. Luckily both Wes and I had caught up on all of the notes, but I

still doubted I would get it memorized before the next day.

As we packed our books away, I wondered if he was going to take the note out and read what I had

written. I was almost dreading him reading it to find out my innocence and lose interest in me so quickly

because of it. Like I had said, I didn’t want to be a disappointment to him. Instead he just slung his bag

over his shoulder and cast a warning glare to Richard and Stuart. I turned my head and watched them

hurry out of class.

Wes brought his hand down onto my shoulder with a friendly pat, the tension from earlier seeming

to have eased a little now though not completely.

“Art next,” he informed me. “I’m actually glad we missed it yesterday, I see enough of it at home.

My mom has always got her nose buried in a sketchbook or a tub of paint. She even has a room especially

for it at home, but I try to keep away from it.”

We walked out of biology and joined the crush of students in the hallways. I moved closer to him

instinctively so we wouldn’t get separated; I didn’t fancy getting lost.

Luckily there was just enough room for me to raise a hand to sign. *If you hate art so much then why

did you choose it for your schedule?*

“Because it’s easy.” He shrugged as though it should have been obvious. “When Fern first became

my new mom, she’d wanted to bond with me and she chose to do so through art and music because those

are her hobbies. She taught me to play the piano and how to draw and paint.”

*I like to draw too,* I offered, opening up some more since he was doing the same. *I did it a lot

after the accident. It became a way to get out all of my inner feelings about what happened by writing it all

in a journal or sketching it.*

We turned a corner to another hallway which I recognized from the day before. The art room wasn’t

too far from the science rooms and we reached our class quickly. Wesley walked in with me and led me

over to a seat, taking the one next to me.

“That sounds like something a doctor would tell you to do. A shrink or something,” he commented

offhandedly, a hint of humor in his tone.

*He did.*

I practically felt his eyes on me, but kept my own down to the table as I retrieved a pencil from my

bag. A little of the tension returned and I could almost tell he wanted to ask about what I’d signed, but he

opted to brush it aside.

“You should meet Fern some time. She’d just love to have another artistic guy around,” he said after

a moment.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say to that. I was rather interested about his family

arrangement though. He’d told me he was fostered along with Martin who was a bit younger and had been

born deaf. I was curious to meet his brother. It would probably be nice for the both of us to have a friend

who also relied on sign language to communicate.

Wes continued, interrupting my thoughts. “If you want you can come over after classes tonight and

we can study together for the science quiz tomorrow.”

I turned my head to look to him, unsure whether it was a good idea. I’d already told him it was all

rather soon. Perhaps it would be better with us being surrounded by his family. Nothing forward could

happen then and I did need help with studying for the test, but there was one other concern I had about

that.

*Thanks, but I can’t. My dad will get worried if he comes home and I’m not there. He’s working all

day so I need to cook supper for us,* I replied, ignoring the few looks from other students as they watched

me signing.

“It could be just for an hour or so and then I’ll drive you back home in plenty of time,” he said, his

eyes showing a little hope as an idea struck him. “I’ll even help you cook.”

He seemed to have an answer for everything and it was beginning to sound tempting. I needed help

and I did want to meet Martin, maybe his mom too.

We both looked to the front as the art teacher walked in. She was a tall, thin lady with bleached

blonde hair and glasses. As soon as she reached her desk she got straight down to business, already

speaking before she’d even set her bag down. She gave us our inspiration for what to sketch for the next

hour then took her seat. Our task was to draw something that was meaningful to our families by dividing

our sheets into sections and sketching one item to resemble each person. I drew a straight line down the

middle of my paper, splitting it into two since there was just me and my dad in my family. I glanced over

to Wes and watched as he divided his perfectly into four.

I stared at my page for several minutes then on my dad’s side I began sketching his truck. My dad

didn’t have much and he wasn’t a hobby man so the truck was really all I could think of for him. When that

was done I moved onto my own side, but again didn’t know what to draw. It took near ten minutes of

trying to think of something then I simply sketched a red scarf.

I was finished long before the end of class. Once the shading and detail had been done on each

image, I became bored and glanced over to Wesley. He was bent over his sheet of paper, the tip of his

tongue caught between his teeth and a cute frown line on his forehead as he concentrated.

Gazing down to his paper, I noticed all four of his sections had something in them and I leaned a

little closer to see. In the top left box nearest me was a coat, a stethoscope, a clipboard and a syringe.

That box must have resembled his dad, the doctor. In the top right was an artist’s easel, some paint

brushes and colored pots, definitely his mom. In the bottom left box was a baseball and bat, a video game

controller and a TV screen. Since Wes hadn’t mentioned any of those as his hobbies, I assumed it was to

resemble Martin. It would be good if he liked baseball too then we would have something to discuss. In

the fourth box, the one he was currently working on, he had sketched a piano and was shading the keys.

I watched him draw for a few more minutes, mostly the way his fingers held the pencil tightly and

how they flexed with each scratch as he shaded. Swallowing, I dropped my eyes to the tabletop realizing

my jeans had tightened the way they had in the car yesterday evening when he’d driven me home. I was

going to need to try and get this under control. I’d heard of people getting off from looking at feet before,

never from fingers. Taking a deep breath, I returned my focus back to his face, watching the way he held

his tongue clamped between his lips and his forehead wrinkled with his frown of concentration.

After a moment more I lightly tapped his arm. When he looked to me, I raised my hand enough so he

could see me sign.

*Just make sure I’m back home for six so I can cook Dad’s supper.*

Chapter Six

After art Wesley walked with me to history, or rather he walked along just behind me so I was

leading the way. It took a couple of wrong turns until I found the display board depicting the Titanic and

Abraham Lincoln.

Our teacher Mr. Morgan had decided for today's lesson we would be having a big class debate.

He’d separated the room down the middle. Those on one side would be the Union soldiers and the others

would be the Confederates. Luckily for me I landed the Confederate side. Being a Texan I knew more

about them anyway.

With Wes sitting beside me he was now a rebel also and I joked with him, saying he would be shot

for switching sides. He laughed heartily and said he’d rather join the south if the soldiers were as good

looking as me. Needless to say I was blushing within seconds and hid behind my hair as I ducked my head

and it fell into my face.

Our desks were all turned towards each other, the Confederates facing the Union. I wouldn’t have

minded so much if not for the fact across the room from us was Darren Cooper, another of Richard

Oakley’s gang. I hadn’t yet had a run in with him, but I could tell just from the look he was giving me he

hated me too.

Mr. Morgan quieted the class, walking up and down the middle of the room between the two armies

as he spoke. “Right, today we are going to be having a debate. You are each sitting in your separate

armies and instead of fighting with weapons you’ll be fighting with words. I want to hear facts to back up

your reasoning on the good and bad points of your army’s missions and beliefs. Who would like to go

first?”

Darren instantly stuck his hand up. It didn’t take an idiot to guess what he was about to say

considering the color of his skin. When Mr. Morgan nodded for him to proceed, he jabbed a finger in our

direction. “They’re all racists.”

Wes and I exchanged a look and rolled our eyes in unison. Mr. Morgan smiled a little and turned to

Darren. “And a fact to back that up?”

“They kept black people as slaves,” he snapped out the words, using a tone as if to say ‘duh’.

Was this guy really serious? Of course he was right, the south did keep black people as slaves, but

if he was so high and mighty in his beliefs that it was all plain sailing for them in the north then I needed

to put him down a peg or two, so I raised my hand.

Mr. Morgan nodded to me and smiled. “Yes, Alex?”

Wesley turned slightly in his seat to watch my hands and translated for me as I signed. *Are you

seriously under the impression black people were free of prejudice and discrimination in the north?*

Darren glanced between us not sure who to look at, but finally landed on Wes since he was the one

doing the ‘talking’. “Yeah, the Unions freed them from slavery and kicked the south’s ass!”

I shook my head and looked up to Mr. Morgan who nodded for me to continue. *Even when black

men were enlisted into the Union army, they still experienced racial discrimination because of their

skin color. They commonly received jobs that were similar to that of a slave, such as cooking and

manual labor. Even though they attained freedom they didn’t gain social equality. Many of them

received whippings and other forms of abuse from the white soldiers as a form of discrimination and

punishment. Basically many Unions believed black people shouldn’t be free and very few believed they

were equal to a white man. Racism didn’t just exist in the Confederate States, but in the northern

States also.*

Mr. Morgan smiled in approval at my rebuttal. While Wes had spoken my words for me, Darren’s

jaw had dropped due to the things being said to abolish his earlier argument. He glanced repeatedly

between Wesley and myself then huffed as he folded his arms in defiance.

“How do we even know he’s really saying that?” He jabbed a finger at me and then to Wes. “He

could just be saying something completely different to make him sound good.”

Frowning, I turned my eyes to Wesley to find he clearly wasn’t at all happy about Darren’s attitude

and what he’d said either. I wanted to place my hand on his knee to let him know it was fine and to let it

go, but with our desks all facing each other I didn’t want to risk someone seeing.

Wesley’s glare was fixed on Darren as he unleashed his harsh words on him. “I’m translating

exactly what Alex is signing, Cooper. Just because he’s provided facts to crush your feeble argument

doesn’t mean you need to go into a tantrum about losing. Ironic though we are debating about racism and

discrimination and here you are bullying Alex because he can’t communicate verbally. I think that makes

you a discriminator, Darren.”

Mr. Morgan raised his hands to try and bring peace and order to the situation, but both Darren and

Wesley ignored him.

“All I’m saying, Hunter,” he spat out Wes’s last name as if it was venom. “Is that for all any of us

know he could be talking about something completely different and you’re just filling in the facts

yourself.”

“Well Cooper, how about Alex signs something even an idiot like you would understand?”

Wes turned his head to look at me, along with not only Darren but everyone else in the class. I

wouldn’t lie, the things he’d said had pissed me off and I had one sure hand sign even he would know; I

stuck my middle finger up at him.

Okay, so that was pretty childish of me and I was held back for ten minutes after class to clean the

tables back to their original positions. Mr. Morgan told me he understood Darren had upset me, but crude

hand gestures were not the solution.

When I left the room, Wesley was waiting outside the door for me and clapped his hand to my

shoulder with a grin. “We sure showed him, hmm?”

*No Wes, we didn’t,* I signed back to him.

Shaking my head, I started walking along the empty hallway towards the lunch room while

remembering the route from the day before.

He fell into step beside me. “What do you mean? Of course we did.”

I shook my head again, signing as we walked. *Even though he was the one being obnoxious, I’m

the one who ended up punished for giving him the finger and he got away with it all. How is that us

showing him?*

“Okay so maybe you’re right, but the look on his face was priceless!” he grinned.

Well that I could agree with. He’d looked as though he was going to choke on thin air and I smiled

as Wesley laughed about it all the way to the lunch room. I wasn’t particularly hungry today so I just

bought a soda and an apple. I was a little nauseated and I guessed it was the internal fretting over today’s

events. The debate in class with Darren had really wound me up and the punishment had added salt to the

wound, but more than that I was anxious because Wes had yet to read the note from biology this morning.

I followed him to his usual table and just like yesterday Kelly and Joanne were sitting eating their

lunches. When we took our seats Kelly smiled brightly, turning her attention from her pudding to me.

Joanne seemed to scowl at her salad and kept her head lowered. I wondered what I had done wrong for

her to react to my very presence like that, but at least she hadn’t thrown insults or walked away like

everyone else tended to do.

“How was your morning, Alex?” Kelly asked, bringing my focus back to her.

She had stopped eating her pudding and was watching me with interest, a genuine and gentle smile

on her face.

Before I could even raise my hand to sign, Wesley spoke. “It was brilliant! He just totally

outsmarted Darren Cooper in history.”

Kelly and I both looked to him then I lowered my gaze and opened my soda, taking a sip to soothe

my dry throat. Ever since the incident I often came down with a dry and sore throat even though I never

used it to speak anymore.

“Wes, I was asking Alex, not you,” Kelly said, frowning at him.

He gaped at her. “Well I was just saying…”

“Well I was asking Alex,” she countered, cutting him off. “How would you like it if I asked you a

question and Jo answered on your behalf? What if she said something you didn’t want her to say or left

out something you did want to say?”

I risked a quick glance to Wes, noticing his jaw was partially dropped and he was watching Kelly

with an incredulous look. Her eyes were slightly narrowed like yesterday and she watched him a little

longer before her expression softened as she turned to me again, a comforting smile gracing her lips.

“So Alex, how was your morning?” she repeated. I looked to Wes and noticed he was still watching

with a faint glare. Shrugging my shoulders, I gestured to the guy at my side with one hand as if to say,

‘what he said’. She seemed happy with that and continued, her eyes never leaving me. “How did you

outsmart Darren Cooper?”

She tilted her head, giving her a very adorable and innocent appearance. For a moment I wondered

if she even had a boyfriend. If not for the fact I was more turned on by a cock instead of a pair of breasts

then she would have seemed like the perfect girlfriend for me. She was small, cute, intelligent and

protective towards me. Somehow I had a feeling there would be many more quarrels between her and

Wes over me. He was watching me now and waiting to translate for me, so I regaled Kelly and a half

listening Joanne with the incident in history.

When lunch was over, Kelly threw me a cheery wave and skipped along to her next class with a

slower and less graceful Jo in her wake. Before she disappeared through the lunch room doors, I noticed

her cast a quick glance back to Wesley.

While I followed him through a different set of doors to go to my gym class, I decided to risk asking

him and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. *What’s with Joanne? Is she always so quiet?*

He shook his head. “No, she’s not usually that quiet. I’ve been meaning to ask her myself, but I

haven’t managed to catch her alone yet. I wouldn’t worry about it though.”

I looked over my shoulder towards the lunch room then back to him again. *She doesn’t seem to like

me much, but she doesn’t seem to dislike me as much as everyone else.*

“I wouldn’t take it personally, Alex,” he sighed. “She’s probably just that way because you’re

around me.”

I frowned, wondering what he’d meant by that. With us nearing the gym I caught his sleeve and

pulled him to a stop to give me chance to ask him. He turned in surprise as I held him back, looking to my

eyes then down to my hands as I signed.

*Why wouldn’t she like me for being around you?* I asked.

“Well Jo and I have a bit of a tensioned past,” he began explaining. “A couple of months ago when

she first moved here, she followed me everywhere trying to get my attention. I kind of had to let her down

and tell her I’m gay. She was shocked, but we stayed friends. She’s probably feeling jealous of you.”

His words left me confused and my frown deepened. *Jealous of me? Why?*

He smirked and ran a hand through his hair. Peering in each direction along the hallway, he then

gazed back to me with a smile. “Because you hold my attention when she couldn’t. I guess I should

mention she likely knows you’re gay too and that’s why she’s jealous. As for Kelly she knows for sure, I

can tell. She’s always been an intuitive little minx, she can probably see right through you.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. Kelly had asked me twice now about the prom and whether

I would be going to it. I’d wondered if she was hoping for me to ask her to go, but now I thought about it,

if she did know my sexual preference then maybe she was hinting for me to ask Wes to go. I doubted that

would be taken well in college though; two guys going to the prom together. Wesley continued walking

and after a heartbeat I caught back up to him as we reached the gym doors.

“Just don’t worry about it, Al. I’m sure she’ll come around soon enough,” he offered.

I frowned at his words, but more at the shortened name than the doubt over Joanne. I arched an

eyebrow as I signed, *Al?*

“Yeah - Al.” He smirked. “Well you call me by my shortened name so I wanted to do the same.

That’s okay isn’t it?”

I considered it a moment before nodding. *I don’t mind, it’s just that Al sounds like an older man’s

name, I don’t like it. My dad sometimes calls me Lex. I like that, it’s more modern.”

“Lex,” Wes repeated, testing the name on his tongue and for some reason it sounded even better

coming from his mouth. He grinned. “Lex...yeah, I like it. So I’ll see you after your class. You do still

want to come to my house?” I nodded to confirm I did and he smiled, a flash of relief passing across his

eyes. “I’ll wait right out here for you then.”

He turned, walking away to go to his music class and I watched until he was out of sight before

going into the locker rooms. Yesterday had been awful having to wear sneakers from the lost property box

all old and sweaty, so today I’d brought my own along with a pair of plain navy blue shorts and a

matching t-shirt. They weren’t exactly like the college gym uniform, but at least I wouldn’t sweat as much

as I had yesterday in my everyday clothes.

I dressed with the other boys while deliberately not glancing over to Darren’s friends. They were

talking about me behind my back, but I ignored them completely. I changed into the shorts and t-shirt

having to remove my scarf to do so and replaced it again tightly once I was dressed. In my peripheral

vision I caught a few of the guys staring at me, probably wondering why I was going to keep the scarf on,

but I wasn’t physically comfortable yet to not wear it for gym.

I wasn’t really looking forward to another class of dodge ball, but with the weather worsened

outside that was what I’d been expecting. It was a fairly pleasant surprise when I entered the gym with the

other boys to find half of the room was set up for volleyball for the girls and the other half basketball for

the guys. The girls were already split into their two teams and beginning to play and I followed the boys

to the basketball court next to them.

We were placed into two teams and I pulled the unlucky straw of ending up in the same as Darren’s

friends. They all gave me evil looks and walked away to get into position. I went to follow but the coach

held me back and asked me quietly if I wanted to remove my scarf so I wouldn’t be too hot during the

game. I shook my head and felt lost without Wesley there to translate for me, but the coach just nodded

and sent me on my way.

I moved onto my half of the court. When the game started I lingered around perfectly open plenty of

times, but my supposed teammates didn’t bother to pass to me. After ten minutes of play had gone by and I

still hadn’t touched the ball even once, I decided to take matters into my own hands. The opposing team

had quickly shunned me aside deciding I was no risk to their game at all. When one of their players came

near me in possession of the ball, I waited until he was almost past me then struck out and caught the ball

mid dribble. The player stood there shocked as I set off dribbling up the length of the court, easily

avoiding any who tried to get in my way; ducking, spinning and back dribbling. Once I was close enough I

took a shot and scored a basket. The whole court was silent for several seconds except for the faint

squeak of my sneakers on the polished floor as I returned to my starting point. I could sense everybody

watching me and the unnerving tension grew.

The coach brought the ball back to the center for the team captains to fight over. When the captain of

my team caught it, he turned to me and called out, “Carter!”

I looked up just in time as the ball sailed towards me. Catching it, I began another run up court. One

of the oppositions got in my way and I tossed the ball far over his head to a player on my team. When I

was past him it was thrown back to me and I scored another basket.

Jogging back to my starting point, I was taken by surprise when a guy on my team patted my

shoulder in passing. “Nice one!”

I smiled faintly and continued back to my spot. For the rest of the game the ball was repeatedly

thrown to me and if I came into difficulty there was always someone waiting to help me out so I could

maneuver to score. By the time the end of class was called, I was sweating hard and needed to shower if I

was going to go with Wes and be a guest in his home. I had packed a towel, intending to sneak into the

bathrooms and take a quick wash, but was intercepted on the way by Darren’s friend. I took a step back

thinking he was going to do or say something, but instead he smiled and held out his hand.

“Hey, I’m Luke Bradley. You play ball really good, have you ever been on a team?” I watched him

somewhat warily, but when he made no move to hit me I shook my head and then his hand. “Well have

you ever thought about joining a team?” I dropped his hand and shook my head again. He smiled and

turned away, walking into the shower rooms. When I didn’t follow he looked back to me from the door.

“Come on.”

I was uncertain about whether or not to follow him. Part of me worried if I did then once inside he

and his friends would kick the shit out of me. There was something genuine about his smile though and his

tone had been friendly enough. I was just uncomfortable about going into the shower with him and the

others and having to remove my scarf. He raised an eyebrow and somewhat defeated I followed him into

the room.

There was a line of hooks on one wall and a row of showers on the other. When I entered there

were six other boys soaping up under the jets of water and two getting changed. I followed Luke and when

he began undressing I slowly copied.

“I’m captain of the basketball team,” he said as we stripped off. “You should join us, we could

really use you.”

I didn’t know what to say. Even if I did, I couldn’t without Wes there to translate for me. Luke

seemed to understand though. Apparently it was common knowledge around the college by now that I

couldn’t speak. I hung my discarded clothes on the hook while standing in nothing but my red scarf. I was

hesitant still, but I couldn’t shower with it on. Raising a trembling hand, I slowly unwound the fabric and

placed it with my clothes.

Luke glanced to me then dropped his eyes to my mangled throat and widened them a little, but then

he looked back to my face. “So what do you think? You can try out for the team on Friday night during our

practice.”

He moved and walked over to the opposite wall. Two of the boys were now drying themselves and

they watched me as I followed Luke to a vacant shower. Turning the water on, I stepped under the hot jets.

I’d forgotten to bring soap and shampoo to college with me, but once I was wet all over, Luke held out his

shower gel bottle.

I smiled gratefully, holding out my hand and he poured some onto my palm as he spoke. “So you

really can’t talk, huh?”

I knew it would have been too good to last. As I started soaping up to wash away the sweat from

gym, I shook my head to confirm his suspicions.

He nodded weakly. “That sucks.”

Looking away he continued to wash himself. Once I was all soaped up, I let the water rinse the suds

away, the gel smelling much better on me than the sweat had. I was careful not to tilt my head too far back

as the power of the jets would sting the sensitive scars on my throat.

I soaked my hair through and Luke held out his shampoo bottle, again giving me a generous amount.

I was confused as to why he was being so friendly to me since he was one of Darren’s friends. Yesterday

he had given me evil glares like all the other boys. Maybe just a few good moves on the basketball court

had been enough to turn him into liking me. If only it was so simple like that for everyone in the world. I

rinsed the shampoo from my hair now much cleaner and smelling a lot better. Luke finished his shower at

the same time as me. We both dried off and changed into our day clothes in silence side by side. Once

fully dressed and more at ease when my scarf was back on, he walked with me from the locker rooms.

Wesley was waiting for me outside like he’d promised, but I noticed his eyes narrow when he saw

Luke walking out with me. He had a similar expression on his face to how Joanne had looked the past two

lunchtimes. I bit my lip to keep from smirking. Now who was jealous?

I winced as Luke punched my shoulder a little too hard for my liking, but it was in a friendly

gesture. “Well see you tomorrow, Carter. And think about what I said. If you change your mind then just

let me know, okay?”

I nodded and watched as he jogged down the hallway and out of the main exit. Before I could even

turn my head to look to Wes, he was already at my side and talking.

“Change your mind about what?” he asked. “What was that all about?”

I shrugged as though it was nothing. *Luke just asked me if I wanted to join the college basketball

team. You don’t need to get jealous, Wes.*

He frowned at my signs and looked to my eyes. Narrowing his a little, the frown caused some cute

lines to crease his forehead. If not for the seriousness of the conversation I’d have silently laughed.

“I’m not jealous. I was just asking what he meant,” he corrected, but when he folded his arms it was

clearly defensive.

I rolled my eyes. *Sure, that’s why you have a face on you like Jo’s.*

Turning before he could respond, I walked towards the exit. I counted just two seconds before his

quickened footfalls followed and he fell into step beside me.

“Do not,” he objected.

I grinned. *Do too.*

“Do not!” I raised an eyebrow at him and he morphed his lips into a pout then to a smile as he too

realized the ridiculousness of our childish squabbling. “Well are you going to try out for the team?”

I hadn’t really thought much about sport before and honestly those baskets I’d scored in class had

been a complete fluke, I’d never even played basketball before. The only sport I had really gone out for

was jogging and that had been recreational. When I was younger and my parents had argued over my

accident and the bills, I’d used to stick in my headphones and run around the back streets of the city. I had

done it to get away from their yelling and the guilt I’d held over them. The jogging and loud music had

helped for a while until I’d had to go back home again. It hadn’t been enough to mask the guilt forever.

We stepped out into the pouring rain and hurried over to his car. He pressed the button on his key

fob and once the alarm was released and the lights flashed, we both shot inside and slammed the doors. I

ran a hand through my hair, damp from the shower and the fresh drops of rain. It stirred the scent of Luke’s

shampoo around me and I was just glad I didn’t smell of sweat anymore.

“You should really consider it. The basketball guys are pretty popular around campus,” Wesley

said after a moment's pause.

Turning to him as he started the engine, I smirked and raised my hand, signing my response. *And

have you all jealous if other guys begin talking to me like Luke did today?*

“I wasn’t jealous!” he instantly defended himself.

My grin widened. *Was too.*

“WAS…” he trailed off with a huff then shook his head with a chuckle. “Why do I get the feeling

I’m never going to live that down?”

*Because you’re not,* I told him simply.

I stared at the windshield as the wipers pushed away the rain. I was in two minds about Luke’s

proposition. Having never played on a team before I was rather uncertain. Today was the first basketball

game I had ever played, I didn’t even know how I’d gotten the ball into the basket each time; total fluke.

Wes laughed, snapping me out of my thoughts while he reversed the car from its space and drove

away from college. “Well I think you should do it. Then I’ll have a good excuse to sit in the bleachers and

ogle you in shorts.”

He smirked at me and I shook my head with a silent chuckle. Peering out of the window, I watched

the rain hammering on the glass and tried to memorize the route to his house while he drove through the

town, but all I could think about was Wesley standing on the bleachers waving pom-poms.

Chapter Seven

The ball hurtled towards me and I caught it with ease. A quick look around showed my path was

clear. I ran up the side stretch of the court dribbling as I went and once near enough I tossed the ball at the

basket. It rolled precariously around the edge then dropped in. The crowd erupted in cheers along with

my teammates as they rushed over to pat my shoulders and congratulate me. With a second to spare I had

scored the winning basket, but over the noise of everyone in the gym one voice was more pronounced and

clear to me than everyone else. I searched around then smirked as I found him standing on top of the

highest bleacher waving his blue and white pom-poms.

“Give me an A, give me an L, give me an E, give me an X. What do we have? ALEX!”

“Alex?” A pressure landed on my shoulder followed by shaking.

Jolting awake, I blinked to clear my vision as I looked around confused to where I was. Wesley had

his hand on me and it took a moment to register the car had stopped.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “If you’re too tired I could just take you straight home if you’d prefer.”

Lifting my hand, I rubbed it over my eyes to try and clear them more. I must have tired myself out

during gym. Normally I was cast aside and made to sit out, but this time I’d actually played and worn

myself out.

I glanced out of the window beside me, finding only trees and a gravel driveway. When I moved my

focus to the windshield I was faced with the biggest house I’d ever seen - my jaw actually dropped in

surprise. *You live here?*

He shrugged as though it was nothing. “Yeah…”

Looking away to the house, he removed his hand from my shoulder and ran it through his hair. I

watched as he did so, widening my eyes more. Bad enough I seemed to get a half boner at the sight of his

fingers, it was nothing compared to seeing them bunching his hair. I wanted to snap a mental picture to

cherish always or to at least sketch the image later at home.

He glanced to me and I quickly dropped my gaze to my hands, avoiding his eyes. Instead I focused

on checking and rechecking the zip of my backpack was secure where it rested on my lap, grateful for it

hiding the bulge in my jeans.

“Look, if you’re too tired then I’ll just take you home.” Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed his

hand as it moved towards the key still in the ignition.

I didn’t want to go home now I was already here. I’d been in two minds about coming to his house

before, but I could practically hear the disappointment in his voice. It hurt to know it was there because of

me. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep during the ride from college, but I wasn’t going to ruin it by chickening

out and going home.

Before he could turn the key, I unclipped my seatbelt and opened the door, climbing out and closing

it again as I slung the backpack over my shoulder. He was still for a few seconds, probably trying to

understand what had just happened then he took out the key and got out of his car.

I quickly looked down, relieved to find my slight hard on had gone and turned to him as he spoke.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?”

I gave a nod. When a quirk returned to his lips, I smiled too and followed him from the car. There

was another parked nearby, a shiny blue BMW. It figured with a doctor for a father there would be money

for shiny cars and a massive house. I gazed up to the building again. The exterior was covered in pine

wooden panels and large glass windows that may have actually been sliding doors. I stopped to take it all

in, the balconies that came off of each level, it looked like there were three or maybe four stories to the

house. Pretty big for four people unless there was more to his family he hadn’t mentioned.

“Something wrong?” Wesley’s voice snapped me from my thoughts.

He’d realized I wasn’t following him and had stopped at the foot of the stone steps leading to the

door.

He raised an eyebrow in question and I shook my head, lifting my hand. *Just admiring your

mansion.*

He chuckled, looking to the door then back to me. “Mom’s always liked big open spaces. She

practically drew the blueprints for this place.”

Somehow I wouldn’t put it past her despite not knowing her yet. Wes had told me earlier she was

an artist which would explain all of the windows to the house. She could probably sit in any position and

sketch several things through the glass. I gazed around, able to hear water in the distance and wondered if

there was a stream or a river close by visible from the upper floors.

“Are you coming or not?”

Turning back to Wes, he was ascending the steps to the door. He pulled it open with ease and

glanced back to me. I adjusted the backpack over my shoulder and followed him. As he held the door for

me, I quickly wiped my shoes on the welcome mat not wanting to walk dirt into the beautiful house. The

interior was as big, clean and amazing as the outside.

“Wes, is that you home?” a voice called from somewhere above us.

There was a flight of stairs ahead and I tried to crane my neck to look up to find the source of the

voice, but only glimpsed more steps.

“Yeah, Mom,” Wesley answered from behind me. “I brought a friend home to study. Is that okay?”

“Of course, dear. I’m in the kitchen making dinner,” she replied from above.

The door closed behind me followed by the light scratching sound of him wiping his feet then he

placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me toward the stairs. I was a little hesitant to go up before him

since it was his home so he went ahead and I followed slower, taking in the paintings and displays on the

walls.

When we reached the first floor there was a room leading off to each side and the stairs continued

up the middle. I looked to a display of African tribal masks on the wall before following him into the

room on the right. There was a big mahogany dining table with four places already set for dinner and Wes

continued through to the kitchen.

A lady was standing at the cooker stirring a pan in which something smelled absolutely wonderful.

She had her back to us, but there was no mistaking this was Wesley’s mom. Even though he’d told me he

was fostered, she had the same brown tones to her hair as he did. They could have been biologically

related.

“Hey, Mom.” He moved to the refrigerator, pulling the door open and took out two sodas.

She turned her head to look at him and her lips morphed into a smile. “Hello, sweetheart. Good day

at college?”

“Yeah, it was okay.” While he spoke he came back over to me and offered one of the sodas. “Mom

this is my friend, Alex; the one I told you about.”

Taking the soda, I peeked shyly back to his mom. When she turned to face me I noticed she had

brown eyes like mine.

She looked me up and down almost sympathetically then smiled. “So you’re Alex. It’s very nice to

meet you.”

My cheeks warmed with a bashful blush and I used my soda-free hand to respond to her. *Nice to

meet you too, ma’am.*

Wes didn’t translate for me like he usually did and I turned to him, wondering if he hadn’t been

looking. He was watching me though and smiled when our eyes met. I was about to sign to ask him to

translate for me, but before I could move my hand again his mom spoke.

“Ma’am. Oh, how sweet of you. Such a polite young man,” she said.

I gaped at her in surprise that she’d understood me, but then it clicked and I wanted to mentally kick

myself for having forgotten. Wesley was fluent in sign language so it would stand to reason his mom

would be too. She was watching my face, taking me all in and her focus moved to my scarf for a moment

then quickly back to my eyes.

“Well you don’t need to call me ‘ma’am’. Fern will do just fine,” she informed me gently. “Would

you like to stay for dinner?”

The food did smell wonderful. I wasn’t even sure what it was, but it had my mouth watering with

the aromas coming from the pan. It wouldn’t be right to impose on her and her family like this though.

*No, thank you…Fern.* I stopped myself before I could call her ‘ma’am’ again. *I need to be home

to cook for my dad, but thank you, it’s very kind of you.*

“Oh nonsense, dear.” She smiled, instantly turning motherly towards me. “I always cook too much,

you’re more than welcome to join us for dinner and there will be plenty left over if you’d like to take it

home for your father.”

I was uncertain about her offer. It just didn’t seem right to come to her home, eat her food and then

take away what was left for my dad. It did smell amazing though.

I glanced to Wes as he leaned in and whispered to me, though it was loud enough his mom could

still hear. “Best to just grin and bear it. She doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Fern turned to her son with a mock scolding look then smiled again. “Well of course it’s up to you,

Alex. It’s no trouble to us if you would like to.”

She met my eyes and I found myself barely able to look away. She had a very strong motherly

quality to her like I’d never known. Before I could fully think it through any further, I signed to thank her

and accept her offer. Her face lit up with such happiness. It was strange how accepting a meal could make

her so ecstatic.

“Great,” she beamed. “I’ll call you boys when it’s ready, it should only be an hour longer now.”

Wes gave a nod from beside me. “Okay, Mom. I’m going to take Alex to meet Marty then we’re

going to work on our science notes. We have a biology test tomorrow.”

She smiled and turned back to stirring whatever was in the pan. He tapped my shoulder and

gestured me to follow. As we walked from the kitchen Fern called out, telling him to make sure his

brother wasn’t sitting too close to the TV again.

I followed Wes out of the dining room and up the next flight of stairs. The walls were lined with

strange things I’d never seen before. When we reached the top there was a display case that held different

specimens of beetles each with a name tag and origin. I wanted to explore it further, but didn’t want to get

left behind and lost in this massive home.

There were three closed doors on this level and I looked to each as he pointed them out. The

nearest was the office belonging to his dad. He said this was where his dad would do his work away from

work. The next door along was his parents’ bedroom and the other we walked towards belonged to his

fostered younger brother, Martin.

He opened the door and walked straight in which I thought was pretty rude, he should have knocked.

Then I remembered Martin was deaf and wouldn’t have heard a knock. Apparently I was having some

crazy forgetful moments this evening. First I’d forgotten his mom could understand sign language, then the

reason she could because one of her sons was born deaf.

It didn’t feel right to just waltz into his brother’s room like he had so I waited outside and looked

over the displays again. My gaze was quickly caught by the view out of the wall of windows. We weren’t

high enough to be above the trees yet, but with the falling leaves as Christmas approached it was as

though it was snowing red and brown. Between the trees a few feet from the house a deer was grazing on

the grassy slope leading up through the forest. I’d never seen a deer so close before and this one seemed

perfectly at ease to feed near a human habitat.

“Alex, come in and meet Martin,” Wesley called out from the room.

I snapped away from my thoughts about the deer and turned back to the open door in front of me.

Wes was standing watching me and beside him was a flat screen TV with some kind of a race car game

paused on the screen. I was still a little hesitant but took a deeper breath and stepped forward into the

room.

Martin was sitting on the bed with his game controller in one hand. He looked to me as I walked in

and smiled wide with big dimples. He was nothing like I’d imagined he would be. When Wes had said

his brother was younger than him I’d expected a small boy. Instead Martin was huge, much bigger and

muscular than his older sibling. If he chose to stand he would probably be taller than him too. I’d have

thought him to be about nineteen the same age as us, but that couldn’t be if Wes had said he was younger.

Martin had curly blond hair, so different to the brown of his brother and his mom, and sapphire blue eyes.

He raised a hand and waved to me instantly settling my nerves and I smiled in return.

Wesley moved to sit on the edge of his brother’s bed so he was in full sight of both of us. For

Martin’s benefit he spoke in sign instead of out loud. *Marty, this is Alex, my friend from college. He’s

the same as you, he speaks sign language.*

Martin watched Wes’s hands as he signed. I found myself doing the same and it was seriously

almost my undoing. I’d thought watching him drumming his fingers on his steering wheel or running them

through his hair was amazing, but it was nothing compared to seeing him speak with his hands.

The younger of the brothers looked up to me, his wide dimpled smile illuminating his face and he

began signing. *You really speak sign language too? Are you deaf like me?*

I was surprised by his question and glanced to Wes. I thought he would have explained about me to

his brother like he clearly had to his mom. He just smiled, tilting his head barely noticeably towards his

sibling as if to say ‘answer him’.

I looked back to Martin and shook my head. *No, I’m not deaf, I hear really well. I had an accident

when I was younger and now I can’t speak.*

The smile vanished from his face and like everyone else his instinct told him to look down to my

throat and my scarf. When he returned his eyes to mine they held a saddened expression.

*You can’t speak at all?* I shook my head and he sighed. *That’s really sad. I thought people were

just born this way, not that horrible things happened to them.*

I was sad for him also. He’d never even heard the simplest of things like the morning bird song or

his video games. I glanced to his TV then back to him and smiled a little, trying to reassure him it was all

okay.

*Sometimes things just happen. It doesn’t change who we are though, not completely,* I told him,

signing as easily as he had to me.

He nodded in agreement and turned his focus to Wes again. His wide smile returned and he leaned

closer to his brother as if he intended to whisper to him, though he couldn’t.

*I like your new friend, Wes.* He moved back and gazed up to me with a hopeful expression. *Do

you want to stay and play? This game is great, you can design your own car - look.*

He pointed to his TV and we both turned to see. On the screen was a personalized Lamborghini

he’d been racing. It was painted black and had flames along the side. Even the license plate on the back

had his name on it. I smiled and looked back to him. It had been so long since I’d played video games or

had had anyone to play them with me.

Before I could sign yes, Wes stood up. *We have revision homework to do for a pop quiz

tomorrow, but Lex is staying for dinner and I’m sure he’ll come and visit again to play with you.*

Butterflies stirred in my stomach when Wes called me by my chosen short name and they both

peered at me to see what I thought of his words. Truthfully I wanted to play now but he was right, we

needed to study and then I had to go home. The hopeful look in Martin’s eyes increased and I nodded to

confirm what Wes had said.

Smiling wide, he seemed happy with that. *Okay, I’ll hold you to it. It was nice meeting you, Lex.*

He held his fist out towards me and it took a moment to realize he wanted me to bump mine to his

like how teens do in the movies. I stepped forward and lightly tapped my knuckles to his. He smiled and

waved goodbye then picked up his controller and continued his game as I followed Wes from the room.

I waited in the hallway while he closed the door then he led the way up to the next level. I noticed

the stairs stopped there, three stories to the house and yet from the outside it had appeared as though it

held more. There were only two doors on the top floor, one open and one closed. Through the open one I

glimpsed that it was a large room filled with all manner of art stationery and pictures. This must have

been his mom’s art room he’d told me about. It looked similar to the classroom at college only fuller and

the sketches and paintings seemed professional, not student made.

Wes led me to the opposite room, pushing the door open and walked inside as I followed. The room

was big and his bed was queen sized, far bigger than my own at home and the walls were lined with all

sorts of things. There was a flat screen, a shelf full of DVDs, another filled with books and a third with

CDs. In one corner near the wall of windows was a desk and it seemed to be completely covered with

journals and sheets of paper.

I wondered how any of the family had privacy with so many windows in their home, but then

glancing out of the nearest one I noticed there wasn’t another property nearby. The whole house was

surrounded by trees and like I’d thought there was a great view of the river from up here and the

mountains in the distance.

Wes tossed his backpack onto his bed and turned to me. “Make yourself at home. I’m just going to

get changed into something more comfortable then we’ll get on with the studying.”

I nodded and watched as he walked over to what I’d thought was just a wall of the room. He pulled

it aside and I realized it was actually a large closet. As I moved over to his bed and sat on the edge, he

rummaged around and pulled out some sweatpants and a t-shirt. He closed the door and opened another

which I now noticed was an ensuite bathroom.

While he went inside to change his clothes, I set my bag on the bed and opened the soda he’d given

me earlier. It fizzed a little from it bouncing around while I’d climbed the stairs. I quickly sucked up the

bubbles not wanting to make a mess. Once they’d dissipated, I took a longer and much needed drink to

soothe my dry throat then placed the can on the floor by the foot of the bed.

I opened my bag and dug around inside for the book I’d taken notes on earlier in biology. Even with

all I’d written down I doubted I was going to pass the test tomorrow. We were studying about the body’s

digestive system from eating or drinking something to passing it out again. We had to know every bodily

movement for digesting both solid and liquid. It was far too easy to just say you drink a soda and then an

hour later you piss it out again. No, we had to detail every little thing.

I roamed my eyes over the diagram of the human body in my science book then compared it to the

notes I’d made during class. Okay this couldn’t be too hard, just give it a go. So you pick up a soda and

drink some, right I’d already done that a few seconds ago. When you swallow the muscles in your throat

ripple to help the fluid go down. Wes had said in class the motion of the muscles was called peristalsis.

At least I could recall that word, it was about the only thing I could remember from class.

I leaned down, picking up the soda and drank some more as the bathroom door opened. My attention

was still on the book as I tried to absorb the notes while imagining what the soda was now doing in my

body, hoping picturing it would help me to remember for the test tomorrow.

“Alex?”

I glanced up at the sound of my name. Wesley was standing in the doorway of his ensuite bathroom.

He’d changed his clothes and his feet were now bare. As I let my eyes trail down his body, admiring him

in the slightly clinging t-shirt and sweats, I froze when they landed on his hand.

Held lightly in his fist was the note we’d been passing in biology this morning. With the day’s

events following that moment, I’d forgotten all about it and that he’d hid it in his jeans pocket during

class. My eyes widened and stayed fixed on the paper in his hand. A tremble ran through me as I

remembered the last thing I had written on the paper.

“You’re…a virgin?”

Chapter Eight

There was a silence between us that could so easily have been cut with a knife. His emerald eyes

stared at me, his jaw slightly dropped in what I could only assume was disbelief. I kept my gaze locked

on him, my mouth open with shock and slight fear.

At the time of us writing that note I’d strongly felt the need to share with him everything about

myself so he would understand me more, but now I was nervous as hell. I thought perhaps it was because

so much time had passed since we had written it we’d had time to forget the point to which we had been

approaching, so now it had hit us both like a punch to the gut.

“Alex?” he spoke again.

I snapped out of it, realizing we had been staring at each other in silence for at least a minute,

maybe two. Hastily lowering my head, I stared at the soda can I held and noticed the contents were

making a sloshing sound as I began to tremble uncontrollably.

I raised my other quivering hand and quickly signed to him. *I should go home, I don’t want my dad

to worry.*

I set the fizzing soda can onto the floor and started returning my books to my backpack, awkwardly

stuffing them in any way they would fit in my haste to leave.

Wes stepped towards me, but I kept my focus on my bag. “It’s still early. I thought I was driving you

home for six before your dad comes back.”

I shook my head, releasing a shuddering breath and zipped my bag closed as I stood. Slinging it

over my shoulder, I stepped around him while avoiding his gaze as I aimed for his bedroom door.

“Alex, wait…please wait.” I was almost there, my hand outstretched towards the handle to leave

when his words reached me.

I froze on the spot, my fingers barely brushing the chrome in front of me. My body and instincts

were yelling at me to leave, I’d already made a big fool of myself and now he was going to mock me and

probably tell all of his friends. My soul argued back, telling me he only had two friends and the short one

of the two probably already knew; she seemed to know everything.

“Please, Lex - I just want to talk.” His tone had softened further as though being cautious to not

startle a frightened animal. “If you still want to leave after we’ve talked then either I or my mom will

drive you home.”

My hand continued to tremble as it remained outstretched towards the door. I peered down to the

polished chrome of the handle where my cowardly reflection stared back at me. The depths of my brown

eyes had an almost haunted expression in them and the crimson scarf around my neck hung like a beacon,

drawing attention to the damage hidden below.

I stood there for several more seconds while I considered his proposition. He was the first friend

I’d had in years and now I was afraid it would be over so soon. For the past couple of days Wesley had

gone right out of his way to help me feel welcome and at ease in my new college. He’d even brought me

here to his home to meet his caring mom and his rather cool deaf brother. I didn’t want the friendship to

end, but I didn’t want to be laughed at or mocked either.

After a moment of weighing the pros and cons of my decision, I finally drew in a deeper breath and

lowered my hand away from the door as I turned to face him. He was standing where I’d left him and the

note was still held in his hand like a summons to my execution. Sucking in another breath, I moved

towards him, dropping my bag to the floor on the way.

When he saw I would stay a little longer, he smiled and withdrew to his bed, sitting up near the

headboard. Hesitating a moment longer, I retrieved my soda and sat where I’d previously been. I drank

some of the cool liquid, the panic that had run through me had dried my throat and caused it to ache. When

I finished and set the empty can aside, Wes opened his own and offered it to me. I kept my gaze lowered,

avoiding meeting his eyes and accepted it, holding it in my hand as I stared at the bedding between us.

Another silence stretched for a minute or two then he cleared his throat and scrunched up the note in his

hand, holding it there in a tight ball.

“So, you’re um - a virgin?” he asked. I kept my focus on the bed sheets, but graced him with a slight

nod to confirm what I’d written earlier. “But what about what happened in my car yesterday? You seemed

to know what you were doing.”

This time I shook my head, my hand still trembling as I signed, *No.*

“Oh, okay.” He smiled, though I didn’t feel like returning it. “So that was just improvising then?”

The bed dipped as he shifted his weight, moving so he lay stretched out. I glanced to him where he

was resting on his side to face me, propping his head up on one hand as he watched me.

I met his eyes then looked back down with a small nod. *I just followed your lead. I was a bit

afraid in case I did something wrong.*

“You didn’t,” he assured me. “What happened between us was really amazing, Lex. I had no idea

you were so…innocent. I’m sorry I was taking things so fast. I didn’t scare you or anything, did I?”

*No, you didn’t scare me. I liked it.* My cheeks warmed with a blush as I revealed that. One thing I

was certain of about this whole incident was there hadn’t been a single point during it he had scared me.

*I was just afraid of doing something wrong or that I wouldn’t be good enough for you since I didn’t know

what I was doing.*

“Is that why you asked me about being with someone before you?” He started un-scrunching the

paper on his bed and smoothed it out with his hand. I watched as he quickly scanned the notes we had

written back and forth to each other during class. When he found the piece he was looking for he read it

out to me. “‘Because you took the lead yesterday and you seem really forward so that makes me believe

you have experience and you’ve been with others before’.”

I swallowed somewhat nervously and took a sip of his soda to help moisten my throat more. Even

though I hadn’t the ability to speak, I didn’t like the feeling of a dry throat and after the damage caused

there I became dry a lot.

*I thought maybe you’d have noticed my lack of experience in the car since you had been with

another before me,* I explained. *I didn’t want to be a disappointment.*

He shook his head and gazed back down to the note, flicking his eyes around as he read the rest then

scrunched it back up again. Sitting enough to toss it across his room, it landed perfectly in his small trash

can and I wondered why he hadn’t gone in for basketball himself.

He lay back down on his side and met my eyes. “I didn’t notice anything to hint you hadn’t been

with anyone before, Alex. You were amazing. I’ve never felt with anyone the way I feel with you. Don’t

you feel it too? I don’t just mean what we did in my car, but any time when we are near each other. Even

just sitting beside each other in class or at lunch - or even now.”

Wesley didn’t need to elaborate on what he meant, I understood the second the words left his mouth.

He was talking about the instant draw I’d felt towards him, telling me he’d felt it too. Nodding, I raised

my eyes to meet his and he smiled, seeing I’d felt it the same as he had and I still did, even right now.

I glanced down and sipped some more soda, trying to give myself some form of a distraction. When

I lowered the can I peeked over to him again and found he was watching me so intently, but I didn’t feel at

all unnerved like I would have with anyone else staring at me.

“Why haven’t you been with anyone before me? I’d have thought you’d have been with someone.

You’re really good looking, you know?” My cheeks heated, but I shook my head and shyly looked down.

I’d never been a bashful person before, but a few choice words from Wesley had me blushing like a girl.

It was strange. When I didn’t respond he pressed a little more. “You just never found a right guy?”

I was aware he was probing for details, but it wasn’t that I hadn’t found a right guy. I kept my eyes

down as I answered. *I’m not good looking.*

Staying silent for a moment, he then shifted his weight on the bed as he leaned nearer towards me.

He reached out until his hand rested lightly on my knee. The warmth of his skin flowed through my jeans

and sent a current direct to my cock.

“What mirrors have you been gazing into? Those convex ones at carnivals that put you completely

out of shape?” he asked. I shook my head while I stared at his hand, watching as he began to slowly move

his thumb stroking soothing circles against my knee. “You are good looking, Lex. If you don’t believe me

then believe in the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

I did know the term, but I didn’t believe it, not when it came to me at least. I frowned as our eyes

met and raised a questioning eyebrow, not knowing sign language for ‘huh?’

“Or in teen terms, ‘Dude, you’re so fucking hot’ - is that better?” He smirked and even waggled his

eyebrows.

I didn’t think it was any better because I still didn’t believe him, but the way he’d said it had broken

the tension between us and I couldn’t help but grin. When he saw he’d succeeded in raising a smile out of

me, he chuckled and squeezed my knee where his hand was still resting.

“I’m not joking, Lex. You really are good looking, especially when you smile like that.” He raised

his other hand to point towards my mouth. “You’ve got cute dimples. I want to kiss them so badly.”

Bashful Alex returned and I dropped my head as my cheeks flushed from his words. He loosened

his hold on my knee, moving his hand away as I sensed him studying my reaction to what he had said.

He was thoughtfully silent for a moment then lowered down on his elbow with a tilt of his head to

meet my gaze. “Lex, have you ever been kissed before?”

I nodded faintly and raised my hand between us to respond. *Yes, when you kissed me in your car.*

While I signed the words I thought back to when we had been in his Camaro in the parking lot of the

college. His kiss had been forceful and urgent and when I’d finally begun responding I had returned it just

the same.

He shook his head, the movement drawing my attention back to his eyes. “I mean have you ever

been kissed properly before? Gently?”

Even though my head was lowered so my chin was almost to my chest, his eyes still found mine as

he asked. I didn’t need to raise a hand to respond or to shake my head, the deepening of my blush was

enough of an answer and he smiled a little.

“Do you want to try it? I know you want to take things slow, but I don’t think it’s because you’re

afraid of what will happen. I think it’s all in your head, you’re self-consciousness,” he said, giving a

slight diagnosis. “You don’t need to feel that way with me. I think you’re gorgeous.”

His hand found my knee again and I cast it a quick glance then met his eyes as I raised my head,

thinking the angle his was tilted in order to see me must have been straining his neck.

Wes kept his focus on me while he moved back a little. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t

want to. We’ll go at your pace no matter how long it takes.”

He patted my knee twice then moved back further until he was lying where he had been before on

his side and resting his head on his hand, digging his elbow into the mattress. Glancing down to his lips, I

noticed they looked so soft and pink and I wondered if he used chap stick to keep them like that. I was

still adapting to the change in temperature of Blackwood from what I was used to in Texas. My lips were

a little cracked and dry due to the climate.

While thinking about that, I poked out my tongue and trailed the tip over my lips to try and moisten

them a little. Wesley’s gaze dropped to watch as I did so and a slight glaze crossed his eyes. I pulled my

tongue back in and the look disappeared as they rose to meet mine again. He smiled and gave a slight

shrug, showing me he didn’t mind whatever I chose to do. The problem was I felt so many things when I

was around him, it did make me nervous and afraid. It wasn’t him though and he was right - it was all in

my head.

I thought about his offer a little longer then raised my hand to sign. *I want to try it, but...I’m

nervous.*

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I told you, I’m not going to push you or do anything you don’t

want to do. I’ll make you a promise right this second that if I want to try something I’ll ask you first and if

you don’t want to then we won’t.” I glanced down to my hands as I bunched them in the bed sheet below

us, taking a deep breath to try and force the anxiety away. Wes shifted his weight again and moved so he

was lying on his back, his hands firmly by his sides. “I won’t move a muscle, I promise. You just take

your time and take the lead. Start when you want to and stop when you want to.”

There was a pang in my chest at his words. He wanted me to take the lead? I’d never taken the lead

in anything in my whole life before. Just the thought of trying sent the nerves rushing back into me full

force as I jerkily shook my head.

*I can’t do that. I can’t take the lead,* I signed quickly. *I’ll screw up, I know I will.*

He began sitting as he watched me, a sympathetic look coming into his eyes, but he smiled. “You

won’t screw up. You can do this, Alex. You just need to try and have faith in yourself. After that kiss in

the car I know you can do this.”

*I can’t.* I shook my head again.

“I thought it would be easier for you this way, but would you prefer me to take the lead? I’ll be

really slow and gentle with you, I promise,” he vowed. Something about the look in his eyes or the way he

spoke compelled me to trust him. I drew in a shaky breath then nodded my consent. A smile graced his

face and he moved onto his side, patting a hand on the empty spot he’d left. “Come and rest here on your

back.”

I looked to the spot he was gesturing then glanced away, still a bit nervous. My throat was dry again

and I gulped down a few mouthfuls of soda. After placing the can on the floor, I moved a little further up

the bed, lying on my back beside him. He pulled down a pillow and hinted me to lift my head. When I did

he placed it under me so I was more comfortable.

Then he became motionless and watched me. “Don’t be afraid, Alex. It’s going to be okay.”

Inhaling a deep breath, I tried to keep the tremble out of it and nodded to let him know I was ready.

He stayed still for a moment longer just watching my eyes. When he was sure I was as ready as I would

be, he began leaning down closer. Like he’d promised he kept his movements slow so as not to startle me,

but I found myself thinking this was too slow. It seemed like minutes passed before his lips finally met

mine.

Maybe it was the anticipation that had built up or my nervousness, but as his mouth found mine a

static charge seemed to pass between us. With our lips touching I could feel his were as soft as they had

looked and I hoped mine weren’t so rough that he wouldn’t want to kiss me again. As that thought passed

through my mind, it surprised me. I’d been nervous about kissing him just once and now here I was hoping

for another.

Wes kept still like he’d promised, his lips not moving against my own. We both just lay still and

breathed through our noses. It seemed to me that time moved too quickly though and he pulled back long

before I was ready for him to. He met my eyes, watching me as he lifted his hand gently brushing away the

few strands of hair that had fallen over my eyes when I’d lay down.

“Are you okay? Was that too much?” Before his questions could fully settle in my mind, I was

shaking my head. He frowned, causing cute crease lines on his brow. “Was that no to being okay or it

being too much?”

When I raised my hand he turned his attention to it, expecting me to sign an answer. Instead I shot

my hand up to the back of his neck and tangled my fingers in the brown hairs there, pulling his mouth back

down to mine. Our lips crashed together almost painfully and it took me a moment to realize it was my

fault, I’d taken him by surprise. I loosened my fingers on the back of his neck having shocked both of us

with my forwardness. I began moving my hand away, hoping I hadn’t been the one to have scared him, but

his own came up to meet mine and placed it back against his nape. With my grip lessened he pulled back

just enough to ease the strength of the kiss so it was more comfortable for us both.

We returned to kissing gently like moments before, but now my hand was tangling in the hair at the

back of his neck and our lips were moving against each other’s. It was sending strong static waves to my

cock and my jeans were starting to tighten. After a few more seconds of kissing languidly, Wesley’s warm

tongue peeked out, the tip making contact with my lips. I didn’t hesitate to open up and give him access.

He seemed hesitant and stilled his tongue, so I poked mine out to meet his. It was the small push he

needed and he began closing the distance between us.

The bed dipped around me as he brought his body closer. One of his knees came to settle between

mine as he lowered himself down to me. When his hip came into contact with the growing bulge in my

jeans, the pressure and friction combined felt amazing. While he deepened the kiss a bit further, I started

to experiment by adding a little pressure to the back of his neck, pulling him closer while I raised my leg

just a little. He gasped and then moaned deeply as my thigh touched the bulge in his sweatpants. Rocking

his hips down to meet mine, he created more friction for both of us and I silently groaned as the breathing

through our noses increased. My nervousness had dissipated completely. I found myself just wanting him,

wanting to feel more of him the same as I had in his car.

We stayed this way for a while making ourselves breathless and wanting more, but then Wesley’s

muscles tensed above me and he quickly pulled back. I opened my eyes at the feeling of loss and turned

my head to watch him. He’d moved further over on the bed and was sitting cross legged as he snagged a

spare pillow and held it to his lap to hide his erection. I was instantly hurt and worried I’d done

something wrong or I had been the one to have taken things too far.

Then I heard it, drumming footsteps pounding their way up the stairs and towards his bedroom door.

I sat up as quickly as I could, moving a hand down to adjust myself then tugged my jacket as far down as it

would go to hide the lump in my jeans. I pressed my back against his headboard just in time as the door

flew open and Martin appeared, lifting his hands to sign to us.

*Dinner’s ready.* He flicked his bright blue eyes between us before he grinned and settled his focus

on his brother. *Or have you already eaten?*

He waggled his eyebrows the same way Wesley had moments ago, then with a big grin and a loud

laugh he turned and ran from the room leaving the door open. When I glanced to Wes I noticed his cheeks

had flamed up red the same as mine and his jaw had dropped too. He returned my gaze and hastily closed

his mouth, giving me a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders.

“Little brothers.” His hand disappeared beneath the pillow in his lap to check himself, then as he

tossed it aside he clambered off the bed and walked towards his door. “Come on, Alex. You’ll just love

Fern’s cooking. I keep telling her she should take it up professionally, but she won’t.”

I was shocked by how quickly the events had turned. One moment we’d been kissing each other

while he rocked his growing cock against mine, the next he was talking about his mom’s cooking.

I climbed off the bed and picked up the soda can I’d left on the floor, taking a few big gulps to

moisten my throat again. After discreetly adjusting myself for better comfort, I caught up to him on the

stairs.

*I didn’t even hear her call us for dinner,* I signed after tugging his sleeve to get his attention.

“Oh, she doesn’t because we’re so far up here and Marty can’t hear her call anyway,” he told me.

“There’s a light board wired up to Marty’s bedroom wall. Mom presses a button downstairs and it lights

up to let him know dinner is ready then he comes and tells me.”

It sounded like a really great idea and I gave a nod. *Who thought of that?*

“Dad did. He wired it up not long after Martin came to live with us.” When we passed his brother’s

room, he pointed out the light board on the wall. “They have a code. One flash means dinner, two flashes

means they want him to go down for something, three means time for school...he hates four flashes.”

*What does four flashes mean?* I asked with interest.

“It means get off the computer and go to bed.”

Chapter Nine

While I lay in bed that night, I thought back to the events over the last few days. It was an awful lot

to take in during such a short time. I’d spent the past few years of my life being shunned because of my

inability to speak. No one had given me time or a chance to excel. Now here in my new home in

Blackwood, within just a few days I already had a friend who could understand me when I signed, who

could translate for me to others and who seemed to have a big crush on me.

That first day in his car I’d literally just gone along for the ride. I had been so distressed by the

reaction of the other boys at college. Despite having known it wasn’t going to be plain sailing to just be

accepted, it hadn’t lessened the sting of rejection in the slightest. I was aware I’d practically used

Wesley, taking all of the comfort he so willingly gave to make the situation seem better for myself. At that

moment in time it had been all about somebody wanting me, someone not caring how much of a freak I

was due to my lack of communication. It had just been about feeling desired.

Once it had been over Wes had still wanted me. I’d thought perhaps he was taking advantage,

getting what he’d wanted while my guard was down, but with the way he’d reacted in his room tonight

when he’d read the note I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

I had expected him to laugh in my face because I had no experience, but he hadn’t and that had been

a big surprise to me. Instead he’d been so understanding, so gentle and caring towards my insecurities.

He’d understood this was all so much for me and he’d wanted to take things as slow as I needed them to

be taken.

At least I had thought I needed things to go slow. Judging by my reaction to our first proper kiss,

apparently not. I didn’t know what had come over me. All I knew was it had ended all too soon before I

had fully become used to the feel of his lips on mine and I’d wanted more. Before I registered what I was

doing, I had grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to me while attacking his mouth with my

own. If he’d thought I was too forward or too possessive he hadn’t shown it.

By the time we had gone downstairs, Dr Hunter had arrived home from work and had been helping

his wife to carry the bowls of food to their dining table. When I first saw him I’d been surprised by how

different he looked from the rest of the family. He was tall like Martin, but thin like Wes and his hair was

black like a raven. It was easy to see they weren’t his children, but they all shared the same surname

despite them awaiting the adoption process to be finalized.

Wes had introduced me to him, naming him as Warren and had a proud tone to his voice as he’d

told me again his dad was a really good doctor. The older man had been rather modest about that

statement and shrugged it off as he ruffled his eldest son’s hair. It had brought a rather cute scowl to

Wes’s face and I’d had to hide a smile.

Like Fern, Dr Hunter could also speak fluent sign language. When I’d said hello to him, he’d smiled

and reassured me it was okay to call him Warren, but my respect and manners were nice to see. When we

sat down to eat I came to realize Dr Hunter…Warren, found me rather interesting. It was good I had been

teaching myself to speak with one hand because he’d asked me many things. Being a doctor I’d have

expected him to question me about the cause of my accident and the situation with it now. Instead he’d

asked about college, how I was settling in and demanded if there was anything at all he or his family

could do for my father and myself to not hesitate to ask; they’d be delighted to help.

When dinner had ended I’d been so full and thought my stomach would explode. The food Fern had

cooked was the best I’d ever tasted and I had surprised myself by willingly accepting seconds. Despite

the uncomfortable stomach I’d moved to help gather the plates intending to politely help with washing

them, but Fern had waved me away with a smile and a ‘you’re so sweet, thank you’.

I’d sat in the living room with Warren and Martin while Wes had taken his apparent turn to wash

the dishes. Martin had signed about his upcoming birthday. He would be turning fifteen and said he

wanted to spend much of the day playing in the arcade in Port Mercy. Warren hadn’t appeared too

enthusiastic about his youngest’s laid out plans to do this, especially since there was no one to go with

him. Wes had already turned down the request since arcades weren’t his kind of thing.

Before I’d known what I was doing, I’d raised my hand for their attention and had told them I

wouldn’t mind going with Martin to the arcade. I didn’t usually play arcade games myself, but I wanted to

get to know Wes’s brother more.

Naturally Warren had still been a little hesitant about this and said he would let us know for certain

over the next week or two. Marty had been excited at the prospect of us becoming friends and pleaded

with his father figure to let him go with me. Before long Warren had sent him to bed.

When the wonderful dinner had been given time to settle, Fern had wrapped up more than enough

leftover food to feed both my dad and myself, though I wouldn’t be able to eat another bite so soon. After

thanking them both for their hospitality and for the meal, Wes had driven me home since it was a distance

from his house to mine and the rain had become heavy again. When we’d reached my house Dad hadn’t

been back from work yet, but he wouldn’t have been much longer.

After the events of the day I hadn’t wanted Wes to leave yet, but he couldn’t stay because he’d

needed to get himself home. We had stared at each other for several minutes before I’d found myself

making the first move. Like he had promised he was letting me take my own pace and wasn’t going to do

anything I didn’t want to. When I had leaned closer and kissed him, he’d held his mouth still until I’d

pressed the tip of my tongue to his lips seeking access. Then he’d responded, our kiss deepening as our

tongues caressed each other’s. It had again ended much sooner than I had wanted, but in a way that was a

good thing.

I had watched him drive away. When he reached the stop sign on the corner of my street, he’d

pressed his foot on the brake a couple of times so the flashing red light blinked goodbye to me. I’d been

aware it wouldn’t be for long because he’d already told me of his intention to collect me for college the

next day, but even so the distance had still seemed too far.

I’d put half of the food into the refrigerator and the other half on a plate in the oven to keep it warm.

While I waited for Dad to come home from work, I’d settled down to do the science revision for the pop

quiz I’d failed to do at Wes’s house.

When Dad came home he’d been curious about the food that had been waiting for him. I’d signed to

him it had come from a college friend’s mom, but he was still struggling with learning sign and he hadn’t

understood. In the end I’d had to write down on paper what I’d been trying to tell him. Even though he’d

started eating the food while I wrote, once he saw it had come from Fern he’d began his usual ‘we’re not

a charity case’ speech, but even he hadn’t been able to resist her cooking and had practically licked the

plate clean.

I woke in the morning to find the rain had not only stopped but the clouds had cleared also. After the

first week and a half of living here it seemed strange to see the sun again and it almost blinded me awake

as it shone through the curtains. Dreams of Wesley had dominated my mind all night. Dad had already

gone to work when I climbed out of bed and I spent the first half hour after waking in the bathroom, taking

a much needed shower to help relieve the ‘large’ problem all of my thoughts had left me with.

I skipped breakfast, still full after the dinner the night before. By the time Wes arrived in his

Camaro, I was sitting on the crumbling front porch waiting for him while getting in a little last minute

revision. I was still in two minds about the events of the evening before and the ride to college was silent,

giving Wes all the focus he needed in order to drive instead of being distracted to read any hand signals.

During the biology quiz I really struggled with answering the questions. Wes even tried to sign the

answers to me beneath the table so Mr. Blake wouldn’t see him cheating, but I just shook my head and

resigned myself to the fact I was going to fail the test. I’d rather get a bad grade than to cheat since that

would be dishonest and wrong.

In history there was another debate about the pros and cons of the American Civil War. This time

Wes and I were on the Yankee side, but I was still able to make Darren Cooper red in the face with

indignation. He tried again to object we were cheating, that Wesley was translating wrong so I would

sound right. I was aware giving him the finger a second day in a row would land me with another hold

back after class, likely a longer one this time and maybe a written warning, but the thought of doing so

was still tempting. Before I had the chance though, a girl I hadn’t noticed before took control in scolding

Darren. They shouted back and forth for several minutes until the girl finally snapped and backed up what

Wes had said to him before. She told Darren that despite the fact he was dark skinned and claiming

racism, he was the one being abusive towards me since I couldn’t speak and if I wanted to I had every

right to call him a…

Mr. Morgan stopped her there before she could say it. As expected they were both held back for ten

minutes after the class ended - Darren because this was the second day in a row he had discriminated

against me and caused an argument and the girl for arguing back and fuelling the fire.

When we left class and the door closed, I caught Wes’s arm and pulled him to a stop, raising my

hand to sign to him. *Who is that girl?*

He watched me speak then glanced towards the closed door. “That’s Angela. She’s normally pretty

quiet in class, but I guess Darren really got to her today.”

I followed him away from history and to the lunchroom. I still wasn’t hungry, but I bought a soda for

my throat and a candy bar for the sugar. As we walked towards what was quickly becoming my regular

lunch table, I noticed Kelly wasn’t there yet. Joanne was sitting alone with an open book in one hand and

was picking at her lunch with the other. When we sat down, she raised her head in acknowledgment then

went back to her reading. It was going to make for a rather dismal lunch after all.

While I drank my soda I glanced around the room and noticed for once people weren’t staring at

me. The novelty of me being the new student had finally worn off and it was only Thursday. I’d thought it

would have taken the whole week.

Turning back to Wesley, I tapped his leg beneath the table to get his attention. *Where’s Kelly

today?*

He shrugged and swallowed his mouthful of food, glancing around the room also then turned his

focus to Joanne. “Where’s Kelly?”

Jo looked up from the book, assuming he was talking to her since he’d spoken out loud. She flicked

her eyes towards me for a second then turned back to Wes as she answered. “Which one of you wants to

know?”

“Both of us.”

Wes and I frowned at her response and I wondered if he’d said he was asking on my behalf whether

she would have even graced me with an answer. He’d said the day before Joanne was jealous of me since

she’d tried to get with him in the past and he hadn’t been interested.

She shrugged and looked back to her book. “She went to the library after the last class to check out

a book for research. I guess she got delayed.”

Wesley turned his head to me, raising his eyebrow as if to say ‘what crawled up her ass and died?’

At least that was what my mind interpreted his look to mean. I just gazed back down, ripping open the

candy bar wrapper and began to eat.

After lunch I followed him to the art room. Our teacher had already placed fresh paper onto each

desk and I walked with Wes to our chairs, small talking for a few minutes while the class filled up. When

everyone had taken their seats, the teacher cleared her throat for attention.

“Okay everyone, today we’re going to do some abstract work by focusing only on use of color to

portray your images. I don’t want you to sketch beforehand, just go straight for the colors and use only

pencils to show your picture. You can draw anything you want, whatever comes to mind, but show it

through color only. For example…” She held up two sketches she’d done earlier. In one hand the paper

was covered mainly with blues and greys, in the other hand reds and oranges. “Look at these pictures.

Who would like to guess what I was drawing only through the shadings of color?”

The image consisting of the brighter colors was pretty obvious to figure out. Several students raised

their hands and she picked one of the girls from the front. She of course commented on the paper filled

with red and orange saying she thought it looked like a sun setting over a desert horizon. The teacher

praised her and told us she had indeed been depicting a setting sun. She placed that page down and held

up the blue image, glancing pointedly around the room for a guess. Everyone’s imaginations seemed to

flop at that point and I slowly raised my hand.

“Yes, Alex?”

Wesley shifted a little beside me to watch me sign so he could translate. *I see a landscape like

Alaska with the blue of the sea before the winter freezes it over. The land is covered in snow and ice

and that white smudge near the bottom could be a polar bear digging in the snow for a seal pup.*

While he spoke for me Wes’s tone remained neutral, but once he was done he raised an eyebrow. I

glanced to him, finding he was amazed and inspired by what I’d seen in a few scribbles of blue and grey.

The teacher smiled as she set the paper down. “Excellent, Alex. I was aiming for a snow and ice

image. That’s very good, you have a great imagination. Now everyone you may start. Draw what you see

in your mind and don’t make it too obvious, then once you’re done see if the person next to you can guess

what it is.”

When she finished speaking there was a flourish of movement all around the room as students

reached for colored pencils and began scribbling on their sheets of paper. I looked to the pile of pencils

on the desk in front of me. Wes had already picked up three and was starting his work, but I couldn’t think

of what to draw - especially since we weren’t allowed to actually draw it.

After twenty minutes of staring at a blank page it finally came to me. I selected as many of the

brighter colored pencils as I could; red, pale green, yellow, baby blue, orange and lilac. I used each one

to shade an area of the paper, the colors overlapping the other to form a new mixed shade in between.

Five minutes before the end of the lesson we were told our time was up and to swap with the

person next to us to see if we could guess what they were trying to represent in their scribbles. I set my

pencils down and traded my sheet of paper with Wes’s. When I took his I noticed there was a little more

organization to his work than mine had. The dominant color on the sheet was red with pale brown

towards the top of the page. I stared at the image at a loss for a moment, registering in my peripheral

vision as a smirk formed on his face. Realizing I couldn’t understand his work, he leaned closer until his

warm breath fanned against my ear and spoke quietly so as not to be overheard.

“It’s you,” he revealed.

I glanced to him, the grin was still present on his face and I peered back down to the picture with a

frown. Beneath the brown and red was a mass of green and to be honest it appeared as though he had

sneezed. He chuckled at my expression and retrieved his work.

“Not a likeness of course.” He pointed to the brown and the red then finally the green as he spoke.

“Your hair, your scarf and your soul.”

A green soul? Did that mean he thought I was jealous or something? Wasn’t it normally said a

person is green with envy? I gazed back at him, raising an eyebrow to hint for him to explain.

He smiled and looked down to his picture. “Well it’s how I see you anyway. There’s not much I

find more beautiful than nature, the green of the trees in the forest and the animals that pass by. I think if

we could see your soul then it would be green.”

I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. The sentiment was nice, but it still looked like a giant

booger to me. Feeling a bit self-conscious about it, he tucked his picture underneath mine and studied

what I’d scribbled for a moment longer.

When he couldn’t figure it out, he shook his head and passed it back to me. “I’m guessing you were

just going for a rainbow or flashing disco lights.”

I grinned. *Close enough.*

As the lesson ended, I folded the sheet of paper and tucked it into my backpack as I stood. I had gym

next and was strangely looking forward to giving basketball another go. Wes was quiet as he walked

along beside me then as we reached the locker rooms he caught my arm gently to keep me from going

inside.

I turned back to meet his eyes discovering interest written there. “Out of curiosity, what was it you

were drawing in class?”

I nipped my lip, fairly self-conscious about my answer. He’d tried to sketch me with only color and

I was a little nervous how he would react to my answer.

*You know when you said it looked like flashing lights?* I asked and he gave a nod. *Well it’s the

flashing lights I see behind my eyelids when you kiss me.*

I waited to see how he’d react, watching as the emerald depths grew deeper with desire. I was

starting to know that look rather well, it had been in his eyes the night before when he’d asked if he could

kiss me and it was in his eyes afterwards when he’d wanted me but hadn’t pushed me for it.

I looked away, having to move from the door when some boys in my class came by to enter the

locker rooms and change. Focusing back on Wes, the expression was still in his eyes but now he was

smiling. I returned it then walked through the door. As much as I was looking forward to trying to play

basketball again, I was now more looking forward to being alone in his car with him after class. When the

locker room door swung closed behind me I thought I heard him sigh.

It didn’t take long during gym before one of the guys threw the ball to me. Neither did it take long

for the guys on the opposing team to start blocking me. After the class yesterday they seemed to think I

could score each basket I shot so they were now marking me at every turn.

I knew yesterday had been a fluke; I struck out on all four of the baskets I had a chance to shoot for.

It was a good job I hadn’t put any thought into Luke’s offer for me to join the team. It was strange though,

once we hit the showers he started talking to me again. Like the day before he shared his shampoo and

shower gel with me as he asked again about me joining the team. I wanted to ask him why he would want

me, I’d proved today I sucked, but he wouldn’t have understood me if I’d signed to him. Instead I just

shrugged to show I was still thinking about it and he seemed content with that.

Once we were dried off and dressed back in our clothes, I followed him out of the locker room. I

thought Wesley would have been there waiting like the day before, possibly with a jealous scowl on his

face again, but the hallway was practically empty.

Luke bid me goodbye and aimed for the exit. I watched as the doors banged closed behind him, then

running a hand through my damp hair, I set my backpack on the floor and leaned against the wall to wait

for Wes. I guessed he must have been delayed following his music class otherwise he would have been

here.

I stared at the floor, scuffing my shoe against the polished surface. After a couple of minutes I

registered the sound of footsteps approaching. I doubted it was Wes since it sounded like more than one

pair and there was chuckling and playful shoves as the owners of the steps neared. I glanced up anyway

almost hopeful he was with the group. When they turned the corner I wished instantly I had gone out to

wait by the car instead.

Darren Cooper was walking towards me followed by Stuart and Richard. They had been jostling

each other as they approached, but when they all saw me they stopped their playfulness right away.

Darren smirked and glanced to his gang then looked back to me.

Instead of following the line of the hallway they aimed directly for me. “Well, if it isn’t the little

freak that can’t speak.”

Richard and Stuart guffawed at the rhyme their friend had made up on the spot. I had a couple of

witty comebacks to that but they were useless without Wesley to interpret for me. Darren stopped two

steps in front of me. I considered just picking up my bag and walking away, but they would follow and

carry on taunting me. I straightened so I was ready for whatever they threw my way. Darren shoved me

back against the wall, probably thinking I was preparing to run.

“Why don’t you just go back to where you came from, freak? No one wants you around here. No one

likes you.” I straightened up again resulting in another push against the wall. “What’s the matter? Cat got

your tongue? Not so big without Hunter around to protect you, are you?”

He shoved again and I was conscious of the fact he was trying to get a rise out of me. When he

stepped closer it was working and I pushed my hands against his chest, knocking him backwards just two

steps. It gave me some room from the wall but just pissed him off even more.

He swung his fist at me, connecting it with my stomach and caused me to double over as the air

rushed from my lungs. Darren used my momentum to trip me to the floor and sent his foot towards me.

Despite being winded I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I caught his foot before it could reach me

and twisted his ankle around. He yelped and fell to the ground also. I released him and started to push

myself up, but his gang weren’t going to stand for their friend being sent to the floor.

Before I could make it fully to my feet, Stuart pushed me against the wall at the same time Richard

connected his fist with my face. My head was forced back, hitting against the brickwork and lights danced

before my eyes, different from the much preferred ones whenever Wesley kissed me. The knock to the

head left me dazed, but by now Darren was back on his feet and joining in with the other two. The pain

intensified as blow after blow of fists rained down on me anywhere they could reach. A few more to the

face, several to the chest and stomach and a brave one to the crotch. As the pain flared between my legs,

they gave out and spilled me to the floor.

Feet began taking over for fists and all I could do was bury my head under my arms to protect my

face, balling my body up as tightly as I could for some form of protection. I couldn’t see who, but one of

them reached down and caught hold of my scarf. I moved my hand to my neck trying desperately to keep it

in place, but further kicks to my body caused my grip to release. My scarf was pulled harshly from my

neck, the force partially lifting me up from the ground. When the fabric released I dropped back down

heavily.

“Shit, run!” one of them yelled.

They all moved, retreating quickly towards the exit at the end of the hallway. Another set of

footsteps ran straight past me, but I couldn’t will my swelling eyes to open nor could I physically call for

help. The feet stopped near the exit door then turned and ran back towards me.

I fought against the aches and pains all over my body, trying to spit out the rusty taste of blood in my

mouth, but the foggy darkness was drawing in too closely. Hands touched my body and tried to move me

onto my back. I clenched my eyes closed against the pain and attempted to shake my head, to beg to be left

alone because moving only hurt worse.

As the darkness grew closer and finally enveloped me, I heard his voice. “Alex, hold on.”

Chapter Ten

When I first woke it was to the noise of bustling all around me and to the realization I couldn’t open

my eyes to see what was happening. There were voices mixed with a distinct beeping from somewhere

nearby. Being unable to see, I focused instead on all of the sounds and the sensations of my battered body.

There was a sharp stinging in the back of my left hand. I’d seen enough TV shows to know it was an

IV needle leading to a bag of fluids, hopefully liquid pain relief. Each breath I took caused my chest to

flare with hot pain from my ribs and my brain seemed like it wanted to explode inside my skull. As an

almost familiar voice began to talk over all of the others, the darkness claimed me again.

The next time I woke it was blissfully quiet, but the beeping in the background was still there like a

daunting soundtrack to sum up my life. Taking as deep a breath as I could manage without it hurting too

much, I willed my eyes to open. It was slow at first and it took a moment for them to adjust, but then I

received a first glimpse of my surroundings.

The room was dark; the only smidgen of light came from the street beyond the window, a faint

orange glow that cast eerie shadows around the room. Keeping my movements to a minimum, I turned my

head towards the door, but it seemed so far away from me. Glancing to the other side, I found the machine

responsible for the beeping as it registered my heart rate. My name was typed on the screen.

First I alternated wiggling my fingers and toes, checking they were all there and without pain. Once

I was sure they were okay, I lifted one arm and then the other and did the same with each leg. There was

no pain and they were easy enough to move.

With my confidence boosted, I attempted to sit up and instantly wished I hadn’t. I‘d have thought the

resulting pain would have come from my ribs considering how hard and sore it had felt to breathe earlier,

but it came from lower down. My bladder throbbed like it was going to burst at any second. I wondered

how long I’d been lying in this bed. All day? More than a day? Either way, I needed to pee really badly.

Looking around and using what little light from the window I could, I searched for something to

help me or as a last resort something to relieve myself into. That was when a small green light caught my

attention. It was on the edge of the bed not too far from my pillow. I quickly picked it up, ignoring the dull

ache in my shoulder at the motion and squinted to see what I had found.

In my hand was a thin plastic box attached to a power chord that led off somewhere beyond the bed.

The green light was above a single button and I could just make out a drawing, a stick figure of a female.

My mind was foggy from medicine and from trying hard to hold myself in. I wasn’t sure what the button

did, but hopefully it would get someone’s attention to come and help me.

I pressed my thumb firmly down. There was a faint beep then the light turned red. Simultaneously a

matching light further lit up the hallway beyond the door to the room and somewhere in the distance an

alarm began to ring. It was all taking too long though and by now I was shaking with the force of keeping

my bladder held. There was too much strain on my pummeled body and I could take it no longer. As the

darkness crept back in, my muscles relaxed against my will and moist warmth spread across my leg just

as footsteps approached the door and the blackness claimed me again.

When I next woke it was to the sound of voices in the room. One was very familiar and close to my

right hand side; my dad. I listened to him for several seconds and became aware of a sensation to my right

arm. He was rubbing his hand lightly up and down as though trying to reassure me he was there, or at least

reassure himself I still was.

I focused on the other voice. It was less familiar but one I’d heard before. I racked my clouded

mind to think where I knew it from. As I thought harder the images began to swirl in my mind - a sit down

dinner with a family, the voice regaling us with the busy day he’d had. I recalled Martin in my mind,

watching him sign as he begged for me to go with him to the arcade in Port Mercy for his birthday. That’s

when I realized who the voice belonged to. It was Mr. Hunter - Dr Hunter - Wesley and Martin’s foster

dad. When I remembered I also became increasingly aware I couldn’t hear Wes’s voice. Was he in the

room? Hadn’t he came to see if I was okay?

I listened to Dad and Dr Hunter talking for a little longer. They were discussing what had happened

and what the best thing would be for me now. From what I could make out Dr Hunter was hinting

something had happened to the ones that had done this to me, though he didn’t speak in depth of it. Dad

didn’t seem happy or convinced and was adamant as soon as I was well enough we’d be leaving town

and moving on. I didn’t want to.

I cracked my eyes open just enough to get a little light and to focus some more. The usual

Blackwood’s rain was hammering against the window, but it was quiet enough that it didn’t overpower

the things the two men in the room were saying. I took a slightly deeper breath and let it out slowly, aware

of an ache in my ribs as I did so.

“I know you may think moving is for the best, Mr. Carter, but I don’t see how it’s going to help at

all,” Dr Hunter said. “You’ve said this isn’t the first time your son has been hospitalized because of

bullying. I can guarantee you that if you change location then it won’t be the last either.”

“So you think it’s better we stay and he’s subjected to all of this? Look at him!” my dad argued

back, his tone tired and concerned. “I’m not leaving my son to be treated like this. We’re moving away as

soon as he’s able to.”

I could detect the emotion in his voice. He sounded desperate and as though he’d been crying for

hours. Maybe he had. As much as Dad thought he was doing good by me, I had never wanted to tell him he

hadn’t. I’d been subjected to bullying ever since the incident that had rendered me mute. I wanted to stay

in Blackwood where I’d made at least two friends.

While Dr Hunter tried to further sway my dad into listening to him, I slowly flexed my fingers to test

for pain. Discovering none, I opened my eyes a little wider and raised my arm between them, moving my

hand to sign.

*I don’t want to move.*

As soon as I lifted my hand, Dad leaned over the bed and brought his face into my line of sight.

“Alex? What’s wrong, son? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?”

His questions spilled out quickly as he moved his hand to smooth the limp hair from my face. It was

visible in his eyes he’d cried at some point and likely hadn’t slept at all last night. Shaking my head, I

tried to show I wasn’t in pain. That wasn’t a complete lie. I knew I must have been, I was just trying not to

focus on any of it.

“He said he doesn’t want to move.” Dr Hunter had drawn closer to the bed too, coming to sit in a

chair at my left hand side. He reached over to adjust something nearby then leaned closer so I could see

his face too.

“No - he said he’s in pain.”

God bless Dad. For as much as he’d tried to learn sign with me, it was still a much lesser known

second language to him. He often still made mistakes causing me to resort to using a pen and notebook in

order to have a decent conversation with him.

I squeezed his hand with as much strength as I could muster and turned my eyes to meet his, opening

my mouth and speaking the words without sound, perfectly mouthing, ‘I don’t want to move’.

He read my lips then turned his eyes back to mine, shaking his head faintly. I understood he just

wanted what was best for me, but restarting somewhere else would just mean another gang of bullies and

another hospital to spend time in.

“Alex?” I turned my head away from Dad and focused on Dr Hunter. He looked like he hadn’t slept

well either and his hair had the appearance that he’d raked his fingers through it several times quite

recently. He smiled reassuringly, a usual doctor’s bedside manner and dropped his eyes to my signing

hand. “Tell me where you’re hurting.”

I didn’t want to think about any injuries I might have. Deliberately focusing on them would make

them hurt. I had learned this long ago, but he would keep asking until I told him so I reluctantly turned my

attention to my body. Just like I’d known, the second I zeroed in on the dull aches the pain exploded as

each wound shouted ‘look at me!’. My head was throbbing along with my eyes and a tingling in my bottom

lip. My chest felt like someone had set a fire inside, each breath becoming more painful. Further down my

crotch ached also, giving me a hurtful reminder someone had stamped on my genitals during the fight. I

moved my hips just enough to create the smallest amount of friction and was relieved to find I was

completely dry. The nurse from last night must have cleaned me up and changed my sheets while I was

unconscious.

When I had done a full check of my body, I raised my hand again. *My chest mostly, but my head

too and my…crotch.*

He flicked his eyes to the lower part of my body then returned to mine with a small nod. As I moved

my attention back to my dad, I spotted his confusion. He hadn’t kept up with what I had said as usual. I

smiled the best I could to reassure him, but from the expression on his face it must have been more of a

grimace.

He quickly looked over the bed to the doctor. “Can’t you give him something more for the pain?”

“I shall do so shortly, but I need to examine some of his wounds further,” he replied. “It shouldn’t

take too long, but it would be best if you wait outside for now.”

Dr Hunter stood and moved over to the windows. Despite it being a usual dull day, he drew across

the drapes and crossed over to the door. It seemed as though Dad was going to object and demand he

stayed here with me. In a way I didn’t want him to go either, but I also didn’t want him to become stressed

any further by whatever he might see or hear. I gave his hand another tight squeeze and when he met my

eyes I nodded to tell him it was okay for him to go.

He watched me a moment longer then leaned down and placed a tender kiss to my forehead. Dad

had never been an overly affectionate man, but we were all each other had left in the world and he would

feel so lost without me. He stood and released my hand, reassuring me he would be right back then left the

room.

I watched as Dr Hunter flipped over the sign on the window so we wouldn’t be disturbed then he

closed the door and returned to me. “Would it be okay for me to take a look at you, Alex? To check

everything is fine - down there?”

I had thought as much considering he’d asked Dad to leave. I was somewhat embarrassed, but I was

also hurting and wanted reassurance nothing was too seriously damaged. Inhaling as deep a breath as I

could, I then nodded and turned my focus to the ceiling. He came closer to the bed and with care, pulled

the thin blanket away that had been covering me. Glancing down, I realized I was in a pair of standard

hospital pajamas. Considering I usually slept in a t-shirt and shorts or nothing at all, I was grateful to be

covered up just now.

First he eased up the pajama jacket as gently as he could to take a look at the damage to my chest.

While he lightly probed at my ribs with his fingertips, I jolted from his touch and he apologized when I

signed that his hands were cold. He smiled and rubbed them together, warming them with friction then

began again. He watched my face as he did so, knowing I was in pain each time I grimaced or bit my lip.

When he was done checking, he lowered the jacket back into place.

“The bruising to your chest and stomach has increased, but it will worsen before it gets better,” he

informed me. “As for your chest, we took some x-rays and you do have two broken ribs on your left side.

They’ll heal themselves in time, you just need to take things carefully and I’ll prescribe pain medication

when you’re discharged.”

I nodded to show I understood then swallowed to moisten my dry throat as he moved lower down

the bed. He eased his hands to the waistband of the pajama pants and I turned my eyes back to the ceiling,

not wanting to see what lay beneath. The sensation was as though my balls had grown to the size of

grapefruits.

When he told me to, I lifted my hips enough from the bed so he could run the pants down to my

thighs. He was quiet for a moment then moved aside and plucked a latex glove from the box on the wall.

As he pulled it on, he turned his eyes to meet mine and I could tell he was pondering something. Once the

glove was firmly in place, he reached out his bare hand to pick up mine, curling his fingers around my

hand and gave a gentle squeeze.

“Okay, Alex. I’m going to be unable to watch you and check you over at the same time, so whenever

it hurts I want you to squeeze my hand as hard as you can, okay? Want to give it a try?” Even though I was

nearing twenty, he gave me the bedside manner he might have used with a child, but it wasn’t patronizing

in the slightest. It was in fact rather calming. I nodded and gripped his hand as tight as I could. He winced

and I quickly made my fingers go limp as he smiled with a chuckle. “Nothing wrong with your arm at

least. Okay, are you ready?”

Confirming I was, I then turned my eyes back to the ceiling and started counting the dots that were

up there. His touch was tentative at first and I almost didn’t feel it as he began examining me. I bit my lip

while he gently probed around my right ball, checking for any damage. Clamping my teeth down harder, I

tried not get aroused. He showed my left ball the same attention and so far so good, no pain and no

erection.

When he moved onto my cock, he brushed his fingers over a sensitive area - not in a good way,

thank God. I squeezed his hand just a little to try and show him there was a slight amount of discomfort.

He made a ‘mhmm’ sound in his throat and continued examining me. Making sure to leave no area

unchecked, he raised his fingers higher up to the base. The pain increased and I squeezed his hand tighter.

He released me when the whole of my cock had been checked then moved on to gently probing my pubic

area. As he pressed against a particular part, I gripped his hand so tight I was surprised I didn’t break his

fingers.

“Okay, son. All finished.” He stopped touching me and managed to pry his hand out of my grip as I

loosened it.

Asking me to lift my hips, he tugged the pants up so I was once again covered. Pulling off the glove,

he disposed of it in a trash can near the door then returned to pull the blankets up and tucked me in. He

picked up the chart from the bottom of the bed and sat in the chair my dad had vacated a few minutes

before. I watched as he scanned the paperwork, then taking a pen from his coat pocket he made a few

notes. Turning the sheet over, he read the scribbles there and gave a small nod.

“It says here you had a bit of an accident last night. The duty nurse has written it on your paperwork

and I’m relieved to see there was no evidence of blood in your urine,” he told me, though sensing I didn’t

fully understand he elaborated. “As far as I can tell you mostly just have bruising down there, especially

on your pubic bone, but no serious damage to your genitals. You’ll be fine, but should you notice any

blood when you urinate, please let us know as soon as you can in case of any bladder damage.”

I nodded, just relieved to have heard my cock and balls were fine. From the feel of them it seemed

as though they were going to pop, but it was just slight bruising and I would be okay.

He added a few extra notes to the paperwork then replaced the chart at the bottom of the bed. “So

how are you feeling? Is there anything you need? Something to eat or drink, or to use the bathroom?”

*Water please, sir,* I signed to him.

Smiling, he stood and leaned down, angling the top half of the bed so I was in a slightly more sitting

position. After adjusting the pillows behind me, he made sure I was comfortable then left the room to

fetch some water. Within a couple of minutes he returned with a cup and my dad following behind him.

Dad was back at my side and holding my hand within seconds and while he helped me to sip the water,

Dr Hunter reassured him I would be fine with plenty of rest and pain medication.

When he excused himself to go about the rest of his hospital rounds, I caught his attention with a

raised hand and requested some paper and a pen. He smiled and passed me one of his own pens from his

coat pocket and some blank paper from the back of my file. As he left, I used the hardback of the chart to

lean on and began writing.

For near an hour Dad and I argued back and forth, he using his voice and me responding slower

through writing. He was still wanting us to move away from this town. Even after I had put my foot down

through words he still wouldn’t accept I wanted to stay. He just concluded he would think about it and we

would discuss it more at home. Dr Hunter wanted me to stay in for another night for observation, so Dad

kissed my head and told me he’d be back in a couple of hours with some fresh clothes for me to wear to

leave in tomorrow.

After he left a nurse came in with some food on a tray. She checked the notes on my chart that was

still on the bed then replaced it at the bottom out of my reach and set the tray on my lap. She left without a

word to me, probably assuming I wasn’t worth talking to if I couldn’t talk back. When I’d eaten as much

as I could stomach, I decided to risk a visit to the ensuite bathroom, but with an IV still in my hand it made

for a difficult task.

Once I had worked out how to alternate limping and pulling the metal stand along beside me, I made

it to the toilet in time to relieve myself, watching carefully as I did so for any sign of blood like Dr Hunter

had told me to. It seemed to come out fine and it wasn’t hurting so that was reassuring to me. After

carefully washing my hands, I opened the door to go back to the bed and smiled when my eyes landed on

someone who’d just entered the room.

His green gaze met mine and he smiled in return, walking over to meet me. “What are you doing up

and about? You’re supposed to be resting, Lex.”

Lex - I really liked when he called me that. I signed that I’d needed to pee and he chuckled and

offered his arm, helping me limp back to the bed and to get comfortable beneath the blankets again. Once

done, he sat in the chair at my side and placed a plastic bag he’d been carrying on the floor by his feet.

“So how are you feeling?” he asked when we were both settled.

*Better than I was,* I replied. *The drugs are working wonders.*

He laughed and looked to the IV stand, tilting his head so he could read the writing on the bag better

then smiled and met my eyes again. “You’ll be in for an interesting night with the stuff they’re giving you.

Good luck with that.”

I shrugged, not knowing nor caring what kind of a night I was in for. Whatever was in that bag was

keeping most of the pain away and I was grateful for it. As glad as I was to see Wes here, I was also

curious as to what exactly had happened. I couldn’t recall much of the incident, just that Darren, Stuart

and Richard had cornered me then his voice had told me to hold on.

*Wes, what happened?* I asked him.

He frowned, seeming confused by my question. “You don’t remember?”

I gave a nod and corrected myself. *I remember them attacking me, but what happened after that?*

I’d heard snippets of conversation earlier today between my dad and Wesley’s, but I hadn’t heard

enough to figure out what had taken place.

He ran a hand through his hair, took a deep breath and began to relate the events to me. “I was

running late from music. Mr. Jenson wanted to talk to me about university options with good music

programs. When I came to meet up with you, I saw them hurting you and I chased them off, but they got

away before I could grab them. I’m really sorry, Lex. I should have been there like I’d said I would be.”

The emotion in his voice betrayed just how guilty he was feeling for what had happened. I shook my

head and reached my hand out to find his. He’d been idly tugging at loose strands of fabric on the bed

sheets between us. I caught his hand and curled mine around until our fingers were entwined; knitted

together.

“Well the idiots have got it coming to them,” he continued after a moment. “There’s surveillance

footage of them attacking you for no reason and that’s in the hands of the police. They’ve all been

expelled from college and your dad is going to press charges. With the wounds you’ve sustained they

could be heading for prison. Darren is trying to claim it was retaliation to a racial attack by you, but you

wouldn’t believe how many people are sticking up for you, Lex.” He smiled and his tone became more

excited. “They’re doing everything; raising money, signing petitions and the whole history class are

testifying you were in no way racist towards Darren.”

At his words, a lump began forming in my throat and tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. People

who had disliked me were standing up for me? I was so new to the college, to the town even and many of

them didn’t know me at all, but they were rallying to defend me from what had happened.

I blinked to keep the tears held back, but my hand trembled as I raised it to sign. *Why is everyone

helping me?*

“Because it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re like, nobody likes a bully,” he replied,

squeezing my hand and tracing his thumb over the back.

I smiled faintly and looked down, overwhelmed by the goodness of people I had never experienced

anywhere else before. I took a shaky breath and my ribs ached as I did so, but I ignored the discomfort

and nodded faintly. Wes squeezed my hand again then leaned down and picked up the plastic bag from by

his feet.

“I brought something for you,” he told me, his tone now one of shyness. “It’s not much, but...I’m just

really sorry I wasn’t there to stop you getting hurt like this. I wish there was more I could do…”

Sighing, he glanced to the bag and moved it closer to me, placing it onto my lap. He tried to release

my hand so I’d have both of mine to open it with and to see what was inside. I gripped his hand tighter,

liking having it in mine and I didn’t want him to let go.

Reaching out with my other hand, I pulled the bag closer, curious to what he could have bought for

me in a hope of making amends for having not been there. As far as I was concerned he was already

forgiven. I hadn’t blamed him in the slightest.

When I felt inside there was something very soft and for a second I panicked in case it was alive,

like a puppy or a kitten. It wasn’t warm though and I reminded myself Wes wouldn’t be stupid enough to

put a live animal into a plastic carrying bag. As I started pulling the item out I caught a glimpse of dark

red, crimson like blood, and tugged it out further.

When it unfurled in my hand, I realized it was a long piece of fabric that was very soft to the touch.

My eyes glistened and widened with the recognition of what it was; a scarf. I let it go, raising my hand

quickly to my throat and found only scars there. It had taken me all of this time to notice I no longer had

my scarf and I remembered then that one of them, Darren, Richard or Stuart had stolen it when they’d

attacked me.

“I know how much keeping covered up means to you and I saw they’d taken yours,” Wes quietly

explained. “I know it’s darker than the one that you had…”

I nodded minutely, confirming it was darker and I lowered my hand from my throat to touch the

scarf again. Not only that, but it was softer to the touch and was made from a stronger and more expensive

wool than my old one had been. Turning my gaze back to him, there was a hesitant look in his eyes as he

awaited my response to his peace offering. I blinked back the tears, swallowed the lump in my throat and

smiled. Seeing I was happy his worry vanished with a grin.

I reached towards him, using my thumb to stroke his cheek in a small sign of gratitude then moved

my hand away enough to sign. *Will you help me put it on?*

Wesley didn’t need asking twice. He picked up the scarf with his other hand and not wanting to

release each other, we worked awkwardly together as he helped to wrap the red fabric around my neck.

While I held it in place so my scars were covered, he tied the ends to keep it from slipping. It was so long

there was plenty left over to hang loose down my chest, giving a casual look to my accessory of choice.

He leaned back when it was finished, raking his eyes over me to take in my appearance then he

smiled and nodded in appreciation. “Suits you perfectly, Lex. I’m really…”

I raised a finger to cut off his sentence, knowing full well he’d been about to apologize again. He

silenced himself and looked to my finger as I pulled it towards me in a ‘come closer’ gesture. Quick to

obey, he moved nearer though wasn’t sure what to expect. I caught him by surprise, leaning towards him

until our lips met. He drew in a breath through his nose and then released it. I sensed all of his muscles

relaxing as he understood the kiss to be that of forgiveness and thanks.

I had already forgiven him and it wasn’t a ‘thanks for having stopped them from hurting me’, nor

was it a ‘thanks for being here with me right now’. It wasn’t completely a thank you for his gift either, but

more what it represented. By giving me a new scarf he’d shown he accepted me for who I was and what I

was like. He knew how much a scarf to hide my scars meant to me and he’d recognized it was just a part

of me. Wesley had replaced the one that had been taken and in doing so had accepted me.

When I traced my tongue across his bottom lip to seek entry, I made sure to show him through the

kiss I accepted him in return.

Chapter Eleven

The night at the hospital was interesting just like Wesley had said. I didn't know what kind of pain

medication I was being given through the IV, but it made for some very strange dreams and I was jolting

awake every couple of hours. Needless to say I didn't sleep well at all, but at least the pain was reduced

in my body.

By the time daylight began to fill the room, I'd decided to just stay awake and took the opportunity

of the early hour to risk another solo visit to the bathroom. The clock on the wall said it was barely six so

I doubted anyone would come into the room while I was gone.

I climbed out of the bed as carefully as I could, but my broken ribs still throbbed with the motion. It

wasn't until I was standing that I realized the needle had been removed from the back of my hand, a nurse

must have taken it out during the night. I didn't mind, it had been irritating and it would save on having to

drag the metal pole to the bathroom with me.

Making sure I could stand without collapsing, I made my way across the room. The floor was cold

against my bare feet, but I continued at a slow pace not wanting to hurry and end up on the ground.

Flicking on the light, I squinted against the brightness that filled the room. Once my eyes adjusted enough,

I limped towards the toilet to relieve my bladder.

I prodded myself gently, testing for any discomfort. My balls no longer felt like grapefruits and after

a quick fondle I discovered they were pain free. I checked my cock too just in case, discovering it looked

normal and didn't hurt either. As I began to urinate I watched for blood like the day before and everything

seemed fine. I gave a few jiggles to prevent leaking as I moved my other hand to lightly press against my

pubic bone. It was still sore and bruised but not as bad as it had been yesterday.

While washing my hands I caught the first glimpse of myself in the mirror above the faucets. My

hair was limp and all over the place from the restless night. Both of my eyes were bruised and my nose

still slightly swollen but luckily not broken. There was a cut above one of my eyes that had been sealed

with little white strips rather than stitches. My lip had been split too. Seeing that, I was surprised it hadn't

hurt when I’d kissed Wes last night. Maybe it had and I just hadn't felt it because of what we were doing.

Either way, my overall conclusion was I looked like shit.

I dropped my gaze to the reflection of the crimson scarf around my neck. It was wide enough that it

covered my scars perfectly and wouldn't slip if tied well. There was plenty of fabric left over resting

down against my chest and it did look really good on me like Wes had said. It was a lot better than my old

scarf. The softness of the fabric wasn't irritating to my throat at all. I would have to thank him again for his

gift.

Once I was back in the main room, I retrieved the chart from the foot of the bed and climbed

beneath the covers to get warm again. I still had Dr Hunter's pen and when I found a blank piece of paper,

I began to write a short note ready for whichever nurse came in next.

When the door opened an hour later it wasn't a nurse like I’d expected, but Dr Hunter himself. He

smiled when he saw I was already awake and crossed the room to sit at my side. There was a thin black

rectangle under his arm, but he set it on the ground for now.

"You're looking better this morning, Alex,” he said, roaming his eyes over my face to check the

healing of my injuries. “Have you been awake for long?"

I set the chart and pen aside since I wouldn't need to write notes to communicate with him. I was

very grateful he could read sign language and we could have a normal conversation.

I raised my hand and signed, *I've been awake about an hour and a half.*

He frowned a little. "Didn't you sleep very well?"

*Not really,* I answered with a shake of my head. *I was having lots of strange dreams and kept

waking up so I decided to just stay awake.*

He smiled and nodded in understanding. "Yes, that's the pain medication you were given, it can lead

to some strange dreams. Well how are you feeling today?"

I turned my focus to my body, seeking out the pains I’d felt the day before when he’d asked the same

question. My pubic bone ached a little and my ribs still felt as though there was a fire in my chest, but it

was more bearable now and easier to breathe.

*I'm feeling a lot better thank you, sir,* I replied.

He chuckled at my response and settled back into his chair. "You're very well mannered, Alex, but

I've already told you before you can call me Warren. Anyway, I'm glad you're awake because I have

something to give to you."

He leaned down, picking up the item he’d placed on the floor and set it onto my lap instead. It was

fairly thin and lightweight, and with seeing it up close I realized what it was. I’d seen one before, but

there was no way we could have ever afforded one. It was a netbook computer.

I glanced back to him as I signed, a mix of surprise and confusion. *For me?*

"Who else?" He laughed softly and leaned comfortably back in his seat as he watched me.

I stared in awe at the portable computer resting on my lap. The cover was a marble effect mix of

red and black. It appeared to be almost brand new except for a slight scuff mark on the side.

I reached out to open it up, but pulled my hand back instead and shook my head. *I could never

afford this, sir…Warren.*

It was strange to call Dr Hunter by his first name. It suited him well, but I’d always been raised to

respect my elders and either call them 'sir' and 'ma'am' or by their last names.

He smiled and placed his hand gently on my shoulder, giving a small squeeze. "Alex, it's a gift - you

don't pay for gifts that someone gives you. Besides it's a re-gift really. It's one of Martin's old ones, I think

there's still some of his games on there. Wesley worked on it for you so it's all been cleaned up and he's

added something special on there just for you. We thought this would make things easier for you at home."

While he spoke I turned my eyes to meet his, watching the sapphires sparkle each time he smiled.

When I still didn't move to touch the netbook, he leaned over and lifted the lid for me and pressed the

button to turn it on. It whirred quietly to life as the screen lit up and I smiled when I saw the welcome

screen that read: 'Hello, Alex'.

It only took a moment for it to start completely and I silently laughed when I saw the background

had been set up for me too. It was a Confederate flag in the shape of the state of Texas. Warren moved his

chair to an angle so he was sitting almost beside me and could see the screen better. He pointed to a tab

on the desktop and told me to click it, so I did. We waited for a few seconds then the screen was taken

over by what looked like a standard word document. The page was blank and had a black box down one

side.

"Okay, now type something here that you want to say." He pointed to the blank sheet on the page.

I had no idea what to write and stared for a moment, then looking down to the keys I frowned and

simply typed 'hello'. He smiled and told me to press 'enter'. When I did I almost dropped the netbook in

shock. As soon as I hit the button the computer said 'hello' to me in a neutral voice. Warren chuckled at my

response and urged me to write something else.

When I pressed enter again, the computer spoke what I had written. "What is this?"

"We thought this would help you a lot at home,” Warren explained. “I noticed your father doesn't

understand sign language too well. This will save you needing to hand write notes to him. Wesley said if

you play around with the black box in the corner then you can change the voice to whatever you’d prefer it

to sound like."

Looking down, I stroked my finger over the mouse pad at the bottom of the netbook. It moved the

cursor on the screen to the black box. When I clicked on it a list of words popped up. I scanned down the

names, noticing each was a different voice with a mix of males and females and even a few funny ones.

There was one that said 'surfer' and I clicked on that.

When I typed and pressed enter, it set us both laughing. "Radical. Tubular. Duuuuuuuuuude!"

That would be a keeper, but likely not one to use when talking to my dad. I changed it back to the

default voice and smiled to Warren then typed.

"This is amazing. Thank you so much, sir." He raised an eyebrow with a small clearing of his

throat. It took a moment to realize and I quickly typed and pressed enter. "Warren."

He leaned over and lightly ruffled my hair with affection as he stood. Spotting the pen that was still

on the bed, he plucked it up and placed it into the pocket of his white coat.

"Won't be needing that anymore,” he smiled. “Now you have fun and explore your new voice. I

have some rounds to run. There’s a charger and a carry case for that in my car, I'll bring them to you later.

Your father said he'll be here with some clothes for you at nine and if all is well then you can go home

with him."

He straightened his coat and moved towards the door after setting the chair back in its proper place.

I was really touched by the gift he’d given me, not caring it was second hand; it was brand new to me.

I spotted the note I’d written for whichever nurse came into the room and quickly realized I didn't

need it now. Raising my hand I tried to get Dr Hunter’s attention, but his back was to me and he was

almost at the door, reaching out for the handle. Looking back to the computer, I quickly typed and pressed

enter to get his attention.

"Warren?" He stopped and turned back to me with a smile, happy his gift was working out really

well already. "Would it be okay for me to take a shower and freshen up?"

"Of course, Alex. I'll have a nurse bring you some towels and toiletries. Will you manage okay on

your own?" I gave a nod, not needing to type or sign to show him I’d be fine. He smiled as he pulled the

door open. "They'll be giving out breakfast soon, so eat first then take a shower once your father arrives

with your clothes. If you have any problems there's an emergency pull cord in the bathroom. Just give that

a tug and someone will be right with you."

With another nod to show I understood, I watched as he left the room. Glancing to the clock, I

realized it wasn't yet eight and I settled in to explore my new netbook. I played with the programme for

several minutes, trying out all of the different voices and even discovered how to pre-programme them so

I would only need to press certain keys to switch between them. I opted for the neutral voice for speaking

to my dad and anyone else, the surfer voice for when I felt in a humorous mood and a very special voice

that would be reserved only for Wes; a suave rather sexy and seductive male voice.

Shortly after eight a nurse entered the room with a breakfast tray and I set the netbook aside as she

placed it on my lap. It was just a bowl of porridge and sliced fruit with a glass of orange juice, but I was

hungry and tucked in as soon as she left the room. By the time I finished she returned to take away the tray

and placed some towels and toiletry products onto the end of the bed for me.

I played with the computer for a while longer as I waited for Dad to arrive. When the door finally

opened I was immersed in a race car game, but I paused it when I saw it was Dad entering and carrying a

bag with some of my clothes inside. He came over to the bed, setting the bag down near my feet beside the

towels and sat next to me in the chair.

He flicked his eyes to the computer on my lap then back to me with a raised eyebrow. "Where did

you get that from?"

Instinctively he peered down to my hands and waited for me to sign. Instead I minimized the game

on the screen, clicked up the voice programme from where I’d left it at the bottom and typed my response

in the neutral voice.

"Dr Hunter gave it to me. This will help me to communicate with people better."

"Well it looks expensive so you be careful with it." His expression showed he was surprised the

computer was talking for me, but from his tone of voice I could tell he was very tired and had mistaken

what I’d written.

"Dad, Dr Hunter gave it to me. It's mine now,” I explained. “It belonged to his son, Martin. It's

an old computer that he doesn't use anymore so they gave it to me to keep."

"Son, we don't need charity,” he began.

Reaching over he tried to push the lid of the netbook down and take it away from me, but my hands

were quicker and I snatched it out of his reach as I narrowed my eyes. Holding up a finger, I gestured for

him to wait. I wasn't going to let him talk over me just because I couldn't physically speak, nor was I

going to let him dictate my life.

While I’d been playing and waiting for him to arrive, I had thought about what to say to him and I

knew what I needed to do. When I saw he was going to give me a moment to explain, I set the netbook

back on my lap and typed.

"It's not charity, it's so we can communicate better,” I told him, hoping he would listen. “I know

you've tried to learn to understand me, but most of the time you don't and I have to write notes to you

instead. At least this way I feel like we're actually having a conversation."

"I've done my best by you, son. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. It'll take time for me to learn

to understand your sign language.” He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “We don't need to be

indebted to Dr Hunter for a computer on top of everything else we have to deal with. Now put it down

and get dressed, we have to go. I've made some calls and managed to get a job interview in Nebraska. We

need to leave soon, it's a long drive and the interview is in two days."

I couldn't keep the wide-eyed look of shock from my face. Even though he’d said yesterday he

would consider staying, he'd gone behind my back anyway and had already made plans and arrangements

for us to leave.

This wasn't the first time I'd been put into the hospital by various bullies. I shook my head and

typed, "If you want to go then go. I'm not moving. We've only been here for a week. I'm done with

hiding from things, I'm not running away this time."

I had never in all my life spoken or signed to my dad in such a manner before. I could tell from his

expression he wasn't amused by my disobedience and his tiredness didn't help that either.

While he spoke I was already typing my rebuttal. "Alex, you're being unreasonable and I don't

appreciate your tone. Now get ready, we're leaving."

"You think you know what’s best for me but you don't!” The exclamation mark I’d typed gave the

voice programme an angry edge. “Every time someone beats me up you take me away to somewhere else

and it just starts all over again. Well I'm not leaving. For the first time since the accident I finally

have some friends and they're standing by me through this. They're accepting me for what I am. It's

what I need. I don't want a life of constantly running away in fear. I want to stay here where I have

friends who support me. If you want to go then just go. I'm staying here and I'll make do somehow, but

I'm not leaving."

After I pressed enter, I waited until the programmed voice spoke on my behalf then snapped the

computer shut with irritation and climbed out of the bed. The movement caused my chest to explode in a

hot pain, but I ignored the grating of my two broken ribs and tucked the computer under my arm, snatching

up the towels with my other hand. It was a bit of a juggle to gather them, the toiletries and bag of clothes,

but I managed it while keeping the computer firmly in my hold. I wasn't going to have it taken away from

me now I finally had a voice.

When I limped towards the bathroom, the chair squeaked against the floor as Dad stood up, his

footsteps beginning to follow me while he spoke. "Alex! You have no right speaking to me like that and

disobeying me!"

He was right of course, but I was too angry to give a shit right now. Instead of ignoring him I turned

to him, narrowing my eyes with anger. He clearly wasn't at all amused with my behavior, but I wasn't

happy with his either. With the netbook closed I had no way of responding and chose the only thing he

would understand. Raising my hand that held the computer, I pointed to the exit door of the room. I’d

meant what I had said. If he wanted to move to Nebraska then he could. I was staying put.

I didn't bother waiting for a response from him. The shock was clear in his eyes and I hoped I had

the desired effect. Turning, I walked into the bathroom and closed the door with a little too much force,

clicking the lock into place so he wouldn't be able to come in. I set the netbook on the closed toilet seat

and after hanging up the towels and preparing my clothes, I stepped into the shower for a much needed

wash.

The water was hot and helped to soothe my tensed muscles and bruised body. With the aroma of the

shampoo and the shower gel floating around me, it calmed my mind some more and aided in relaxing me. I

caught glimpses of the bruising on my ribs and was careful while washing my chest and stomach. The

slightest movements hurt and I struggled to wash my legs and feet, being unable to bend to do so.

Eventually I resorted to leaning against the tiled wall and lifted one leg at a time to wash them, but even

that hurt.

Once I was thoroughly clean I stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. The

nurse had brought me a new toothbrush, hospital standard of course, and a tube of toothpaste. It was so

good to scrub away the fuzz from my teeth and tongue. I ran my hand through my hair several times to

comb it out the best I could. When I was dry I changed into the clothes Dad had brought to me and

replaced the scarf around my neck, enjoying the sensation the soft wool gave to my skin. I was really

grateful to Wesley for buying it for me, even more so for accepting me.

When I was fully dressed and ready to leave, I folded the hospital pajamas neatly and placed them

on the toilet seat along with the towels and toiletries for a nurse to take them away. I tucked the netbook

securely under my arm once more and hesitated with my hand hovering over the lock on the door.

Listening for several seconds, there were no voices or movement on the other side and I wondered if Dad

had really left.

Taking as deep a breath as my broken ribs would allow, I turned the lock and pulled the door open.

I’d more than half expected to find an empty room awaiting me, but Dad was sitting on the edge of the bed

staring at his feet. As I limped out of the bathroom he showed no sign of having heard my approach. He

appeared to be very upset and I felt bad for having caused that.

When I reached the foot of the bed he still hadn't raised his head in acknowledgment of my

presence. I set the netbook down near where my hospital chart was hanging and when he didn't look up, I

stepped closer and placed my hand on his shoulder.

He was still for a couple of seconds then raised his hand to place it over my own and gave a small

squeeze. "I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you, son. I've tried to do right by you, tried to keep you safe

from those who would harm and ridicule you, but I see now I've just caused you more harm myself."

He kept his hand resting over mine and I noticed through his touch he was trembling slightly. My

words earlier had been a sharp slap to his face and I wished I could take it all back even though it had

been for the best. He took a deep quivering breath but said no more.

I stepped closer, leaving my hand trapped between his and his shoulder and used the other to reach

out to his face. Lightly cupping his chin, I added a little pressure to raise his head. The fluorescent lights

of the room reflected off the tears on his prematurely aged face and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of

them. I’d only ever seen and heard my dad cry once before - when the accident had happened. He'd been

the nearest one to me and had pulled the dog away, having to punch it repeatedly to make it let go. When

the dog had released me, Dad had gathered me in his arms and pressed his hand to my throat to stem the

bleeding while crying out my name several times. I’d never wanted to see his face like that again.

When his glistening eyes finally met mine, the depth of the emotion I had struck into him was clearly

visible and it seemed as though my legs would give out any moment at the sight before me. Unable to

stand it any longer, I threw my arm around his neck as I leaned closer and buried my face against his

shoulder. He dropped his hand from mine in an instant as he wrapped his arms around my back and drew

me in until I was sitting sideways on his lap and silently sobbing against him. I hadn’t sat with him like

this for many years, but even if I was nineteen now I still felt closer to nine in his arms.

He was careful not to add any pressure or to crush me to his chest. His chin came to rest on my

shoulder and he gently rocked me from side to side, massaging his hands in circles on my back. I sniffed

and tried to fight back the tears, but they just kept falling.

"It's okay, son. Let it all out. If you want to stay here then we will,” he said, his voice softer than the

anger we’d held towards each other moments ago. “Are you sure that's what you want?"

I was quick to nod against him, my tears soaking his shirt but he paid no mind to it. He continued to

rock me as we sat silently together, tears streaking our faces while we held each other for a couple of

minutes. Once the emotion finally passed our breathing returned almost to normal and I drew back, wiping

at my eyes. He kept his hands to my back, supporting me as I remained sitting on his lap. When my sore

eyes were wiped dry on my sleeve, I looked up to meet his.

"I'm sorry, Alex,” he said after a moment. “I thought taking you away from the bullies was the best

thing to do, I didn't realize I was just making things worse for you. We'll stay here in Blackwood if that’s

what you want and we’ll see how things go, okay?"

I gave a tired nod, relieved to hear we wouldn't be moving after all. Wiping my face again, I eased

out of his arms once my breathing had normalized and stood up, straightening my jumper that had moved

while we had comforted each other.

"Well let's go home then, son.” He managed a smile. “We'll get you settled in so you can keep

resting and get better."

I frowned at the thought of that and glanced to the door then back to him. Holding up a finger to tell

him to wait a moment, I sat beside him and picked up the netbook, pulling the cover open and pressed the

button. Because I’d closed it so briskly before, when it started up it was still on the voice programme and

I started typing right away.

"I'll rest for today, but tomorrow I'm going back to college."

"Son, you're hurt. You're going to need more than one day to recover,” he objected. “I spoke with

Dr Hunter yesterday, he told me you have two broken ribs. You need to rest so they can heal."

I shook my head and was typing before he’d even finished speaking. "Dad, this is something I have

to do. In the past we ran away from our problems. Well not anymore. I'm going to college tomorrow to

show that those bullies haven't put me down at all. I'm not going to just sit home and do nothing. I'm

getting right back on the horse that threw me."

"Alex…"

The virtual voice cut him off. "I mean it, Dad. I'm going tomorrow. From now on I'm living life

my way starting right now. I'm not running anymore."

He watched me in silence for a couple of seconds then sighed and nodded as he raised a hand and

lightly ruffled my hair.

"Alright, son. But only if Dr Hunter says it's okay."

Chapter Twelve

As much as I liked Dr Hunter…Warren...I wasn’t too happy when he took Dad’s side and said it

was far too soon for me to return to college. I understood they were both concerned about the emotions I

might face by going back, as well as the physical hurt my body would remain in for a couple of weeks, but

I could recall something my grandmother had used to often say. When you fall off a horse you need to get

right back on.

Once Warren released me from hospital, Dad took me straight home and helped me to bed even

though I insisted I could walk unaided perfectly fine. He spent the whole day bustling around and getting

anything I might need even when I didn’t use my new computer to ask for it. I wanted to kick up a fuss and

insist I wasn’t an invalid, but when he brought the TV up to my room for me to watch, that soon stopped

my complaining. We had just one small TV in the whole house and he was sacrificing it to me. When he

finished cooking a meager meal for us, he made sure I swallowed the prescription pills from the hospital

then sat on the side of my bed as we ate and watched TV together. The local baseball team were playing

and it was nice to spend time with Dad watching the game together.

When he left my room to go and clean the dishes, I opened my netbook and began to explore the

other features it had. I’d never had a computer of my own before, I only knew how to use one because of

college. After some browsing I discovered I could connect to the Internet using the wireless connection of

someone living nearby; the reception was pretty good.

Of course I knew all about a certain social networking site. Show me a teenager that didn’t. I found

it quickly, but it said I would need an email address to sign up. I’d never had one before and I had no idea

how to get one. I clicked the back button to return to the search page I’d used and I was in luck, it had an

option to create one. I filled in all of my details; my name, my age, my address. Then it came to the

slightly trickier part. I needed to choose an email name and a password. I tried the more obvious options,

but ‘Alex’, ‘Lex’ and ‘Carter’ were all taken. After several frustrating minutes of inserting names only to

be told they weren’t available, I finally entered one that was - DixieLex. The password was a lot easier

to choose. There was only one thing it could possibly be for me - W3SHUNT3R.

With my first ever email address activated, I returned to the social network page and entered the

few details it requested. It brought up the main page and asked for more information and a picture. It took

about an hour to fill in all of the boxes giving volume to my profile page. I minimized the tab and used the

computer settings to locate the image from the netbook’s wallpaper - the picture of the State of Texas with

the Confederate flag - and used that as my profile picture.

Once that was all set up and looking pretty good, I used the ‘friends’ tab on the screen to make my

first search. I typed in Wes’s name and discovered there were at least a hundred Wesley Hunter’s in the

world. When I narrowed down the search to Blackwood, I was relieved to find there was only one result.

I silently chuckled to myself when I saw his profile image. He was leaning casually against his

black Camaro, his arms folded and his signature smile on his face. I could tell from the picture it had been

a wet day when the photograph was taken, but he was wearing sunglasses to look cool. My cock gave a

twitch at the sight of him. I hadn’t seen him all day. I’d hoped he would have come to visit me at the

hospital again, but he hadn’t.

I clicked on the ‘add friend’ button and it just said a request had been sent, I still didn’t have access

to anymore of his page. It then produced a list of ‘friends you might know’, which I thought was rather

unlikely since I had just sent a request to my only friend. Out of interest I clicked on the list anyway and it

produced a page full of Wes’s friends. The computer had assumed any buddy of his would be mine also. I

doubted that, but my curiosity was piqued and I browsed down the page.

He had many friends from various places around the world so these were just the ones he’d met

online, but I found some familiar names also. Within a couple of minutes I’d sent requests to his younger

brother Martin and his mom and dad. They’d been a complete surprise to me that they had accounts. I even

sent requests to Kelly and Joanne from college. I doubted Jo would accept, but at least I was making the

first peaceful move in attempting to be friends.

In what seemed like only a few seconds, a little red box appeared at the top of the screen with the

number one on it. Confused by what it was, I clicked on the icon and it sprang up to say Kelly Marsh had

confirmed me as a friend. I smiled at that since I’d been positive she would. With her acceptance this

gave me access to her profile. I clicked on her name and her page appeared. In the top left corner was a

photograph of her and for a moment it seemed as though I was sitting across the table from her at lunch.

This was made even more realistic when a box appeared at the bottom right of the screen with her picture

on it.

Hi, Alex! Thanks for adding me. I would have sent you a request first but I couldn’t find you.

How are you feeling? Wes said he’d been to see you and it was pretty bad. Those assholes deserve to

hang. Are you going to be okay?

Yes, it was definitely like sitting opposite her at the lunch table at college. While I read her words I

could almost hear her voice in my head and it was comforting. Not wanting to leave her waiting, I typed

my reply.

Hey, Kelly. Thanks for accepting me as a friend. I hoped she registered the deeper sentiment of

that. I’ve just signed up to this so that’s why you couldn’t find me, but thanks for looking anyway. I’m

feeling okay. A bit sore now and then, but I’ll be fine. I’m kind of annoyed everyone is treating me as

though I might break like china at any second. Other than my ribs I feel fine.

A little speech bubble appeared on the chat box so I guessed that meant she was typing a response.

While I waited for it to appear, I browsed her page and found out far more about her than I ever would

have at college. I discovered her birthday was in early May, she was an only child like me and we had

similar movie and book interests. It appeared she also had a great eye for fashion too. She’d written that

her ambition would be to design clothes and to see them worn by celebrities.

Her message flashed up on the screen. It’s natural for people to react that way to you, Alex. You

took a pretty bad beating. Honestly I’m surprised you’re not still in the hospital. I asked Wes today

about coming to visit you, but he said you were being sent home. I’m glad you’re back. I bet it’s more

comfortable than the hospital.

I glanced around my room, it was almost too quiet. There had been a lot of noise at the hospital and

in a way it had been nice to know there were so many people around. Here my bed was less comfortable

and even with my few things in the room it seemed empty and boring.

I thought for a moment then began typing. Thanks for thinking about coming to visit me, I would

have liked that. I missed you at lunch that last day at college. Can you keep a secret, Kelly?

There was a lengthy pause before the speech bubble appeared. I wondered if I had scared her off by

saying I’d missed her. It was the truth though, lunch hadn’t been the same without her there. I had become

used to hearing her voice and there being constant conversation while we ate.

Sure. You can talk to me about anything, I won’t tell anyone else.

Sensing I could trust her I sent a reply. I’m not really meant to but I’m coming to college

tomorrow. My dad and Dr Hunter say it’s too soon, but I don’t care. I don’t want to sit around at home

bored out of my mind for the next week. I just want to go back to college and continue as normal. I’m

not letting what happened hold me back.

This time it took just a couple of seconds before the speech bubble appeared. The words came up

even quicker since she didn’t write as much. I think that’s an excellent idea to want to continue as

normal, Alex. You really shouldn’t go against your dad or the words of a doctor though.

It was a risk to reveal my plans to disobey my dad about returning to college, but I could rely on her

and after discovering her weakness from her profile I knew how to sway her too.

I need your help, I typed back.

Her reply was quick again. Are you okay? Is something wrong?

I wasn’t going to lie, her concern for me was nice compared to that from my dad. She knew I didn’t

want to be bubble-wrapped for security, but she was still worried.

I’m fine, I reassured her. But I need you to come over to my place right now if you’re able to. It

will serve both of our purposes. You want to visit me to check I’m okay and I need your help with

deciding what to wear to college tomorrow. I want to make an impression that what happened hasn’t

bothered me at all.

There was silence in the chat box. I wondered if she’d finally thought I was overdoing it. I almost

feared she might contact Dr Hunter and betray me even though she’d said she wouldn’t tell anyone.

I noticed another red box like before and eagerly clicked on it as I waited for Kelly to respond. I’d

hoped it was Wesley accepting my friend request, but that was dashed when I found it was just a welcome

message from the website.

What’s your address? I’ll come right over.

I smiled to myself as Kelly sent the message through. I’d been worried she had thought about what

I’d said and was going to side with Dad and Dr Hunter also. She was as good as her word though. With

the town being so small she knocked on the door barely ten minutes later. I listened as Dad answered the

door, but their voices were muffled.

There was silence for a moment then Dad knocked and poked his head around my door to look at

me. “Alex, do you know a girl called Kelly?”

I nodded and pointed a finger downwards to the netbook still resting on my knees, letting him know

that would be how I’d respond to his question. With Kelly coming over, I’d opened up the voice

programme so I could communicate with her. I really needed to think up something good to do in return to

thank Warren and his family for this blessing of a gift.

“Yes. She’s a friend from college, we sit and eat lunch together. Why?”

I opted for the innocent approach, deciding it would be better if Dad didn’t know I had asked Kelly

to come here. After all I didn’t want him aware I was going to college tomorrow against his wishes.

“Oh.” He sounded surprised to hear I’d made a friend. “Well she’s here. She’s come to see how

you’re doing and to bring you your homework assignments.”

“That’s nice of her. Can you please send her up to me, Dad?”

He gave a nod and told me to be sure she was here for no more than an hour as I needed to be

resting. He said he would be going to bed soon because he’d be leaving for work early to make up for lost

time. I felt bad he’d missed some work because of what had happened.

While I waited for Kelly to come up to my room, I thought about what had just passed between me

and Dad. He’d known she had come to see me and apparently bring my homework, yet he’d still asked if I

knew her first. He must have been checking she was actually a friend not foe.

As promised she only stayed for an hour. The first half was spent with her sitting on the edge of my

bed and scrutinizing my appearance. After emptying her backpack onto the mattress between us, she

showed me some makeup she’d brought with her and said I could wear it to cover the bruises. I adamantly

shook my head and used the voice programme to tell her I wasn’t going to hide anything let alone with

makeup.

We sat and talked awhile. It was wonderful to have a proper conversation with her and as I

gradually became used to typing faster and making less mistakes, it started to seem as though I was

actually speaking. She was very patient with me and wasn’t at all bothered when I accidentally typed

‘dick’ instead of ‘sick’. I could have died of embarrassment, but she just laughed it off.

When I asked her where she’d been during the last lunch break before the incident, she quickly

changed the subject and requested to go through my closet to choose some clothes for me. I was curious to

what she was hiding, but chose not to press the matter. By the time our hour was up she had selected an

outfit I wouldn’t normally have worn for a college day. She’d chosen the best pair of black jeans I owned,

the fabric so dark they could have almost been mistaken for suit slacks. To that she added a t-shirt Dad

had bought for me years ago. I hadn’t liked the design and had only worn it once before. Kelly made me

try it on to check if it still fit me which naturally it did since I was of a fairly slim build. The shirt was

deep grey and white with a punk-like picture of a person on the front.

Finishing off the chosen image, she dug around the closet until she found a suit jacket. The fabric

was as dark as coal except for the collar that was more of a faded greyish-black similar to the t-shirt. I

tried to object, telling her I couldn’t wear that because it had been a part of the suit I’d worn to my

grandmother’s funeral a few years ago. One thing I was quickly learning about Kelly though was to never

argue with her. She hastily fumbled with the clothes, fitting them all onto one hanger and held them up to

show me. I had to admit the jeans, shirt and jacket did go well together and she said with my scarf added

to the ensemble it would look even better.

When it came time for Kelly to leave, she hung the clothes in the closet out of sight in case my dad

came into my room again. I stood stiffly from my bed and signed thank you to her, I was grateful for her

help. She smiled and held her arms out, allowing me to make the move to hug her so she wouldn’t further

agitate my injuries. When I pulled back, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes then she raised her hand

and signed ‘you’re welcome’. The shock must have been evident on my face because she giggled and

picked up her bag, leaving the room before I could ask her how she’d learned that.

When I woke in the morning the rain had returned and was hammering heavily against my bedroom

window. I stretched out and immediately wished I hadn’t, my ribs throbbed like they were on fire. Slowly

sitting up, I found a fresh glass of water had been placed on my table with my prescription pain relief

beside it. I swallowed the tablets with the water then spotted a note had been left on the table too.

Alex, I’ve gone to work and will be staying overtime. I’ll be home rather late so I’ll get dinner

before I leave Port Mercy. I made sandwiches for your lunch, they’re in the fridge and I’ve left

money on the mantelpiece so you can order pizza for your dinner. Don’t overdo anything. Remember

you need to rest and take your medication. Love Dad.

After reading the note twice I stood and walked over to the window. The rain could have been

classed as torrential and Dad’s truck was gone. I then realized I hadn’t thought this through very well. It

was only about a twenty minute walk to college, but I would need just two of those minutes before I’d

take on the appearance of a drowned rat.

Moving back to my bed, I opened the netbook and logged onto the networking site, hoping it was as

popular as everyone seemed to say it was. Once signed in I found there was a new notification and

clicked on it, hoping it was Wes. Well close enough - Martin and Mrs. Hunter had accepted my friend

requests and both had written on my wall, whatever that meant

Morning!

I almost jumped out of my skin when the computer made a loud sound signaling someone was

chatting to me. Just like the night before, Kelly’s cheery-faced picture was there and I sighed in relief. She

was just the person I’d been looking for.

Morning. I need help again, I typed back to her.

The response came quickly. I told you the makeup would help to cover your bruises, but you

wanted to be the typical male.

I rolled my eyes at her words. Even being gay of course I was the typical male - I didn’t want to

wear makeup! Besides the whole point of me defying my dad’s wishes was so I could show those jerks

that had attacked me that it hadn’t bothered me.

That’s not it, I replied. It’s raining heavily, Dad’s gone to work and if I walk to college in this

I’ll be soaked in about two seconds.

A smiley face appeared in the chat box. Already on it. See you in ten minutes.

It was time enough to change into the clothes and shoes she’d picked out for me the night before. I

checked my reflection in the mirror and sure enough with my new deep crimson scarf added to the outfit

the attire did look good; I looked good. I hastily tried to manage my hair then grabbed my backpack and

medications as Kelly beeped her horn outside.

I opted to leave my netbook at home for today since I wasn’t sure on the college policy for personal

electronics in the classroom. My old college had frowned about students having their cell phones in class.

I grabbed half of the sandwich and a soda from the fridge then locked the door as I hurried out and into the

waiting vehicle. Kelly didn’t mind me eating in her car and she filled the silence with her usual chatter,

making sure to compliment me on how good I looked. When we arrived the lot was already pretty full and

she’d lost out on her usual parking space, but she didn’t seem to mind.

When we made it inside, the first lesson of the day had already begun leaving the hallways empty

and quiet. We shared a quick hug being careful of my ribs and she told me she would see me at lunch. As

she hurried along to her first class, I hastily swapped my books in my locker for the ones I needed. I had

biology first and I couldn’t wait to see Wesley again. He would likely be very shocked to see me

attending college again so soon, the same way everyone else would be.

By now I could remember the way to my classroom and it was even easier with the hallways empty.

When I found the right door I knocked and walked inside. The class fell silent as they were disturbed and

I automatically peered to the far side of the room where Wes was sitting alone at our table. He widened

his eyes in surprise at seeing me, but there was something else in the emerald depths I couldn’t make out

from so far away.

“Mr. Carter, this is a pleasant surprise. We weren’t expecting you to be in class today.” I turned my

attention to Mr. Blake as he spoke and gave a smile to show him I was fine. He seemed a little doubtful,

most likely due to the bruises and healing cuts on my face. “Well it’s nice to have you back. You haven’t

missed much, we were just beginning.”

He waved his hand in the general direction of my table. Taking the hint, I closed the door and made

my way over towards Wes while Mr. Blake filled me in. We had moved on from the digestive system and

were now working on bones of the body, but I tuned out of what he was saying the second I took my seat.

Wesley’s eyes were still on me. When I turned my gaze to meet his, he smiled. I noticed the green

shade of his eyes had darkened to a forest tone almost matching the pine needles on the trees beyond the

window. Being closer to him I now recognized the look in his eyes. It was lust. Maybe Kelly knew what

she was talking about with the clothes after all.

While I retrieved my books from my bag I tried to focus on the lesson, needing to catch up to the

others. When I looked ahead to the board, I noticed some of the students were paying more attention to me

rather than the class. I met the glances of some of them. A few smiled and looked away as others

continued to stare. There must have been a mixed reaction to what had happened to me.

It only took a few minutes before an elbow lightly nudged mine where it rested on the desk. With

Mr. Blake’s back turned, I glanced to Wes then down to see there was a slip of paper beneath his hand.

Aware I’d noticed, he released it and I discovered he’d written a note. I stealthily pulled it closer to read.

What the hell are you doing here? You’re meant to be at home resting!

I rolled my eyes, practically able to hear his disapproving tone in my head as I read his words. The

exclamation mark added to the irritation of my inner monologue. I scribbled my reply and passed it back.

I’m fine. I’m not overdoing it and I have my prescription medicines with me if I need them.

It seemed like only a second passed before he pushed the note back to me.

That’s not good enough, Lex. My dad let you go home with the belief you would be resting. Not

to mention your dad would be unhappy if he knew you were here.

Again with the eye roll. I took a deep breath, swallowed to moisten my throat and shoved my hastily

scribbled note back to him.

I thought YOU were my dad, you sure are sounding like it today. Anyway I’m not letting what

they did to me knock me back. I need to face it head on or this will just be like every other time I’ve

been bullied and beaten up. If I act normal and like I don’t give a shit then they’ll get bored and

leave me alone.

While he read the message I sensed him glancing at me, but I kept my eyes ahead focusing on the

whiteboard as Mr. Blake made notes. I copied them into my workbook knowing I would need them for

reference later on. I was in the process of writing ‘scapula’ when Wes pushed the paper back.

It’s not that I don’t want you to be here. Far from it actually. I just think you should have

taken enough time to recover first. I’m sorry for writing angrily at you. P.S. You look hot. (Waggles

eyebrows)

I quietly gasped when I came to the post-script. Well that explained the lust in his eyes, he thought I

looked hot in the things Kelly had told me to wear. I turned my head to look to him and he smiled widely,

waggling his eyebrows like he’d written he was doing. Smirking, I gazed down and was about to write a

reply when the paper was snatched away. He wrote something else then slid it back to me.

P.P.S. I want to kiss you so badly right now.

Widening my eyes further, my throat became dry and I had to swallow while peeking my tongue out

to moisten my lips. There was a faint moan from beside me and I turned my eyes to meet his. The

emeralds had darkened further and now there was a lusty glaze coating them. He snatched the note from

me a second time and shoved it back so hard he knocked my elbow clear off the edge of the table. I

winced a little but hid the pain of my ribs fairly well and glanced to the paper.

My car after class.

I gazed questioningly to him. Realizing I’d read the last thing he had written, he swiped away the

note and screwed it up, pocketing it to hide the evidence. He locked his eyes onto mine and I guessed he

was thinking the same as me; the moment we’d shared in his car on my first day. I was also thinking about

what had happened afterwards when Mr. Ford had knocked on the window. He didn’t seem bothered

about the prospect of that happening a second time though.

Class passed quickly, but neither of us were able to focus on the notes we were supposed to be

jotting down for the lesson. After the look Wes had given me and the thought of being alone in his car with

him, I spent much of the class with an uncomfortable hard-on in my jeans. I had the feeling he did too.

When the lesson ended we packed our books away slower than the others so we’d be able to slip

away unnoticed to the parking lot. It was still raining heavily and we hurried to his car. The exertion

caused me to breathe heavier and it was a strain to my damaged ribs, but I ignored the pain and climbed

into the passenger seat while shutting the door. Before it had completely clicked closed, he turned in his

seat and looked me over, studying the bruises and cuts to my face. He scrutinized them closely then leaned

in and placed a gentle kiss on each. Because he saved the split lip until last I was trembling by the time he

reached them. I wanted him badly. His slow and teasing kisses just further made my straining cock dig

against the zipper of my jeans. I half expected an imprint to be left behind on my skin.

When he eased back, I noticed his one hand was down near his leg stroking himself through the

fabric of his pants. I nipped my lip as I watched then tentatively reached out and caught hold of his hand,

moving it aside and continued the motion myself. He whimpered under his breath as I trailed my fingers

lightly over the outline of his cock. It gave a twitch and I suddenly wished I could replace my hand with

my mouth. I remembered back to having seen him in the bathroom when we’d cleaned off after the last

time. He’d seemed engrossed with the fact my cock was circumcised, well I was just as intrigued with the

fact his wasn’t and I had wanted to feel him and to see him again ever since that day.

I could tell from his breathing, from the way he rocked his crotch up to meet my hand and the

choked whimpers from his mouth that he’d mentally built himself up all through class. He wasn’t going to

last and just watching the way he writhed and squirmed under my touch helped to boost my confidence

further.

I threw a quick glance in every direction, but the parking lot was empty. Turning back to him, he had

leaned further into his seat and had thrown his head back as he bucked upwards to encourage me further.

The sounds he made were enough to spur me on. While continuing to rub at him, I leaned over and used

my other hand to pop open the button of his pants, pulling the zipper down.

I stilled just long enough to slip my fingers inside, finding the hole in his briefs and gently gripped

him at the base then resumed rubbing him up and down. He arched his back then slammed down in his seat

to thrust his hips upwards. With my confidence continuing to grow, I swiped my thumb over the head of

his cock to gather moisture then used the natural lubrication to fist him quicker, increasing my grip a little

more. With his erection still firmly pinned against his leg by his pants it added to the tension and the

pleasure. There was one more violent arch of his back then he cried out and his cock jerked several times

as he released his cum into his briefs.

Letting him gasp out his orgasm, I withdrew from his pants and found I’d luckily avoided being

painted by his warm fluids. While I’d been jerking him off I had moved my other hand to rub myself

through my jeans and was still doing so now. As the waves of pleasure finished washing over him, he

dropped his eyes to my crotch discovering I was seeking friction.

Without asking permission, not that I cared right now anyway, he moved his hands over and slapped

mine away. He popped open the button and pulled down the zipper of my jeans, then fishing inside he

gasped when he felt I’d gone commando today. Kelly hadn’t specified any underwear with the outfit she’d

chosen and as nice as she was she was also scary and I didn’t want to wear something she wouldn’t

approve of.

As he eased me out of the confines of my clothing, I bit my lip as the cold air hit my sensitive flesh.

He gasped a second time when he received his first close up glimpse of me. The head of my cock was

already swollen with want of being touched. Beads of pre-cum had slicked the skin. Before I could

register what he was going to do, he leaned further over the seat and flicked out his tongue, teasing it over

the head to gather the moisture. He took it in to taste me and after swallowing he licked his lips and sank

his mouth back down onto me. If I could make a sound I would have gasped loudly or moaned. Instead my

head fell backwards to connect with the seat. Throwing another quick glance in every direction, I made

sure the coast was still clear.

I wasn’t going to last long. Other than the dry humping Wes and I had done before and the

examination at the hospital, no one else had ever touched my cock. It was so different from handling it

myself whether that was to jerk off, to bathe or just to pee. Looking back down, Wesley’s head was

obscuring the view. My cock gave a twitch in his mouth as he sank down as far as he could. He gave a

hard suck and what his mouth couldn’t reach he massaged with his hand.

My balls started to tighten embarrassingly fast. It didn’t help at all that I was still a virgin. I didn’t

think dry humping and now getting my cock sucked classed as losing my innocence. I twitched again

causing him to suck harder and moan around me. The vibration of his mouth was my downfall.

Quickly gripping his shoulder I squeezed it almost painfully. I couldn’t verbally warn him to move,

but he understood and pulled off me fast. He continued to rub his hand along the length of my cock as he

cupped the other ready. Just a few pumps more and I began to jerk as warm cum flowed from the swollen

head and into his cupped palm. I sank back into the seat with exhaustion, my sore chest heaving with the

need to draw in air. My body was in a state of pure bliss, a post orgasmic rush then as it started to fade

the sensations became replaced with the pain of my ribs.

Wes moved forward from my lap, opening the glove compartment and pulled out a pack of wet

wipes. He tugged one free, using it to clean the cum from his hand then taking another he fished it inside

his briefs to wipe away his own release. I picked out a third and used it to wash the head of my cock then

pushed it back into my jeans and zipped them up. When he gazed over to me, I raised a questioning

eyebrow and nodded towards the pack of wipes.

He smirked and tossed them into the glove compartment. “Learned my lesson after the last time we

were in here like this.”

Once he finished buttoning his jeans he sank into his seat with a contented smile on his face. He

turned his head and I could tell from his blissful expression he’d enjoyed every second of that. I had too,

having never in a million years thought I’d ever have my cock in someone’s mouth.

“You okay, Lex?” he asked after a moment.

*Yes,* I signed my reply.

It was only a half lie. I was fine with what had just happened, I just wasn’t okay with my body right

now. My ribs were on fire again.

As if sensing I wasn’t being honest, he moved his hand and took mine nearest to him. “What’s

wrong?”

If I told him the truth then he would have every right to say ‘I told you so’. He wouldn’t though.

Instead he would blame himself for my pain, associating it with what we’d just done here in his car. I

didn’t want him to feel responsible.

*I just never thought I would ever do anything like that with someone,* I signed. *You didn’t have to

go down on me, Wes.*

I dropped my head to stare at the floor, but he raised his other hand to my chin and directed my eyes

to meet his. “I know I didn’t have to, Lex. I wanted to. I’ve wanted to ever since your first day here. When

we went to the bathroom to clean up the last time, I wanted to drop to the floor and suck you off right there

and then. I knew it was too soon though. I knew you weren’t ready for that. Was this still too soon for

you?”

A look of concern filled his eyes and the tone of his voice showed his wariness also. I quickly

shook my head.

*No it wasn’t. I’ve wanted to touch you ever since that day in the bathroom too. I know I said that

day things were happening too soon, but they weren’t,* I admitted, finally opening up and revealing the

truth. *I just didn’t want things to go too quickly only for it all to fall apart just as fast. I was worried in

case this was just an infatuation since I’m the new guy and I’m mute.*

“No, Alex.” He shook his head and enforced his words with a gentle squeeze to my hand. “It’s not

just an infatuation and it’s definitely not because you’re unable to speak. I do really like you, and after

what Darren and his asshole friends did to you for you to walk into college today with your head held

high and not a care in the world, that took a lot of balls. I’m proud.”

I dropped my gaze back to the floor, chewing lightly on my lip as I thought about what he’d said. It

wasn’t just an infatuation. He really did like me. It was almost as though he would say he loved me and

would mean it, but it was definitely too soon for that word.

Instead I smiled and looked back to him as I signed. *You’re proud of me or my balls?*

Chapter Thirteen

Thanks to Wesley’s wet wipe idea we were able to hurry back into college and straight to class.

When we arrived for art we were only ten minutes late for the lesson. Naturally the teacher frowned at

our tardiness, but Wes was quick on his toes and came up with an excuse. He told her I’d had to go to the

college nurse for my pain medications and he’d gone with me since he’d had to translate for me. Our

teacher accepted this easily enough.

Unknown to him he hadn’t been far off with his excuse, I was in need of my pills. I wasn’t sure

about college policy though. Maybe I should have given them to the nurse after all, but I hadn’t - they were

in my bag.

After taking our seats we were given our class assignment for the day - ‘Draw something you are

afraid of, or greatly dislike’. She wanted us to sketch our fears or hates and to show our negative thoughts

towards it by using dark colors and heavy shading as though the image was coming to us through a

nightmare.

While I sat pondering what to draw, I waited until the teacher’s back was turned then pulled my

medicines out of my bag. In my peripheral vision Wes turned his head to look at me and watched as I

drank from a bottle of water then swallowed two pills. Setting my bag on the floor, I met his eyes and the

look of concern in the green depths was very visible. He’d probably sensed I was in pain in his car but I

had shrugged it off. Now I had confirmed my ribs were a flaming fire by taking the medicine. He opened

his mouth as though he was going to ask what was wrong, but I looked down to the blank sheet in front of

me instead. I leaned my elbow on the edge of my desk, burying my fingers in my hair as it fell over my

eyes. I needed to come up with something I was either afraid of or hated to the point of it almost being a

fear, but I couldn’t recall ever being scared of something to be classed as a phobia.

I quickly glanced around the room to the students sitting nearest to me to see what kind of things they

were drawing. There was a blonde haired girl to my left. Her sheet was already filled with blacks and

greys and the majority of her drawing centered around spiders. Either she had arachnophobia or she just

had a strong dislike of them. Beyond her was a black haired boy and, from what I could make out he was

drawing a clown. I’d never been afraid of clowns as a child. I didn’t necessarily like them, but I hadn’t

been scared. I watched the boy sketching for a minute, the way his hand shook making the marks on his

paper have a trembling edge to them.

With a quiet sigh I looked back to my empty sheet. Movement caught my attention from the corner of

my eye and I tilted my head to watch Wes’s hand flying across his page. We’d been in class for barely ten

minutes but his sketch was already taking a recognizable shape. He was doing some form of a landscape

and dotted around the page were shaded images of crucifixes and other forms of headstones. It could have

meant any number of things and I sat staring at his work while I pondered it. Perhaps he was afraid of

cemeteries, graves or death itself.

I watched in awe as he drew beautifully. Maybe images of graveyards and headstones weren’t many

people’s idea of beauty, but it was the way in which he sketched I found amazing. His lengthy fingers

gripped his pencil loosely as he used faint outlines to lay out the image. Once the basis of the drawing

was complete, he grasped the pencil more tightly and used brisk sideways swipes to shade everything

around the image giving the effect of a graveyard at night.

I became enraptured as I watched him work, admiring the way the tendons in his wrists flexed with

each stroke of the pencil and how his fingers curled, stretched, curled again with the motion. He held it as

though it was an extension of his body, bending it to his will to produce an awe inspiring image on the

paper.

All too soon for my liking, he slowed his hand down to add the final details of his drawing. Right in

the forefront of the image were three headstones each in the design of a cross and had wilting flowers at

the base. Using a depth enhancing technique he wrote on the headstones making it appear as though the

names were etched into the stone, giving them an almost real appearance.

When he eased back in his seat and signed the bottom of the paper, I looked closer to the image and

dropped my jaw with the realization of what it all meant. On the middle headstone it said ‘Martin Hunter’

and on either side were ‘Warren Hunter’ and ‘Fern Hunter’. Wesley wasn’t scared of cemeteries, graves

or death itself. He was afraid of losing his family.

“Alex?” came a voice from beside me. I jumped and looked quickly to my left and upwards. I’d

been so engrossed in Wes’s work I hadn’t heard our teacher approach. She glanced to the paper on my

desk then back to my face and quirked an eyebrow. “Is everything okay? You haven’t started your work

yet.”

Looking down to the sheet also, I realized she was right. The page remained as blank as when she’d

given it to me. I threw a quick glance to Wesley, finding he was watching me with interest too. I raised my

hand a little and he instantly nodded in understanding, letting me know he would translate for me.

I turned my eyes back to the teacher since it was she I was talking to. *Yes, ma’am. I’m fine.*

As with most people she glanced to Wesley when he spoke in my place, but turned her attention

back to me as she responded. For that I was glad. It showed she understood I was the one doing the

talking.

“Well class is almost over and you haven’t done any work yet,” she said, her tone gentle instead of

scolding.

Shit - I needed to think quickly if I wanted to avoid being held behind. I hadn’t been held back by

her yet, but I didn’t want to earn myself a bad record. Something finally came to me and I hoped it wasn’t

going to land me into further trouble.

*This is my work. I’m afraid of blizzards.*

Wes trailed off from translating as he choked out a laugh at my words. It turned into a slight snort

before he covered it with a cough and suddenly found his shirt sleeve interesting.

The teacher looked quickly to him since his sounds of humor hadn’t gone amiss. She gave a small

huff before turning her attention back to me.

“Well that’s…creative.” She peered down to the empty sheet of paper, studying it for a moment

while pondering how best to deal with this situation. Eventually her lips twitched with humor also, but

she hid it much better than Wes had. She leaned closer and tapped the bottom of the blank paper with a

fingernail. “Don’t forget to sign your ‘work’. I look forward to seeing something more detailed in the next

lesson.” She turned and continued her rounds of the classroom to view and comment on other student’s

sketches.

Wesley chuckled under his breath beside me, giving my arm a gentle nudge with his elbow. “Nice

one, Lex.”

When the end of class was announced, I hastily scribbled my name at the bottom of the sheet. We

stood and slung our bags over our shoulders and placed our work on the teacher’s desk on the way out. I

walked alongside him as he small talked. Despite the attack on me from Darren, Richard and Stuart and

the ten stolen minutes in his car earlier, I found it most comforting that Wes continued on as though none of

that had happened.

By the time we reached the lunch room he was telling me about the baseball game he’d watched on

TV the night before. He said Martin had been really excited with the end score. It was nice to hear some

normality, though the few looks we received in passing from other students was a constant reminder the

attack had happened. They were all staring at the few cuts and bruises on my face.

“Don’t tell Marty, but I’m chipping in my allowance with my dad so we can get tickets to see the

team play on their home field for his birthday,” Wes told me. “He’s a big baseball fan.”

I’d watched the game last night with my dad. We always enjoyed baseball, but with all the moving

around lately it had been a while since we’d had a chance to. The local team were fairly good and I was

hoping to see more of them playing now I lived so close.

I followed him into the lunchroom and we joined the back of the line. When we reached the drinks

fridge, I grabbed a soda and two bottles of water setting them on my tray. The soda was for now and the

water for the rest of the day. I would need to take another dose of pain medication before the end of

college.

As we moved further along the line, Wes selected pizza, a small salad and a slab of chocolate cake.

I wasn’t at all hungry, but he would probably pester me out of concern if I didn’t eat anything. I settled for

a small salad and a bowl of yellow Jell-O.

When we reached the cash register he tried to pay for both of us, but this time I shook my head and

caught his arm before he could hand over the money. I retrieved the cash Dad had left behind for dinner

and handed it over to pay for our lunches. Before Wes could object, I released his arm and picked up my

tray of food turning to go in search of the girls. Kelly had told me she’d see me at lunch, I found myself

looking forward to seeing her. She was quickly becoming a friend and that felt nice. Plus her fashion

advice had really been a ‘big’ hit with Wesley! I liked it too, the way the jacket went well with my black

jeans and the scarf. Now the crimson wool looked more of an accessory than a necessity for covering my

scars.

When I took a step away from the lunch line something caught my eye. On the far wall of the room

was a yellow poster, pretty damn big that even the most short sighted of people wouldn’t have missed it.

In big black letters against the bright background it said ‘Sign Club’. Beneath was the image of a pair of

hands forming the word ‘sign’. Under the poster was a table with flyers on top that depicted the same

image.

There was a sudden bump behind me causing me to stumble forward a step. It was followed by a

muffled curse and I turned my head to glance over my shoulder. Wes was there readjusting his lunch items

that had slid around on his tray when he’d walked into the back of me. Once he’d arranged them so his

tray was more equally weighted, he raised his head along with an eyebrow as he met my eyes. I gave a

nod towards the far side of the cafeteria then turned my gaze to look at the poster again.

He stepped up beside me, peered over to the wall then smiled and looked away. “There’s Kelly and

Jo, come on.”

He started to walk away and I turned and followed slower, having to take my eyes off the poster so

I was looking where I was going. I didn’t want to walk into the back of anyone like Wes had me.

Before I could even sit down, Kelly was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. She

smiled radiantly and allowed me just long enough to prize open the lid of my soda before she began

bombarding us with her voice.

“Didn’t I tell you those clothes would look amazing on you?” she beamed. “What do you think,

Wes? Doesn’t Alex look really good today?”

Wesley had just taken a bite of his pizza and the choking sound that ensued following Kelly’s

question was answer and betrayal enough. His cheeks reddened a small amount though more from

embarrassment than from the choking. He swallowed the blockage with some water and narrowed his

eyes at her, knowing full well she’d put him on the spot.

“Yes, he looks good. But how did you know what he was wearing today?” he asked, changing the

subject to try and take the focus from himself.

I bit my lip and lowered my head, finding the plate of salad suddenly very interesting. Picking up a

baby corn, I nibbled around the edges.

“Well I should know what he’s wearing today,” she replied. “I did pick them out for him, Wes.”

Quirking an eyebrow, she shook her head slowly in more of a playful scolding way than of

disappointment. She made it seem like it was the most obvious and normal thing for her to do going to the

new guy’s house to rummage through his closet and insist on what he wears the next day to college.

In my peripheral vision Wesley turned his head towards me. Risking a quick glance, I was relieved

when I realized he was amused by this, not irritated. “Kelly picked your clothes out?”

I nodded numbly and swallowed the corn, chasing it down with a sip of soda. Kelly giggled at his

expression - or maybe it was my own. She snapped her head from side to side looking between us as

though she was viewing a tennis game.

Wes lowered his eyes to his gifted scarf around my neck then down further to the jacket and the t-

shirt. When they landed on my jean clad crotch, I had to look away and try not to think about our moment

in the car nor the fact he had desired me so badly when he’d first seen me dressed like this.

Apparently our reactions were confirmation enough for Kelly and she clapped her hands with glee

then threw them up in the air. “Oh yes, I am good.”

Dropping her hands back down to her lap, she smiled beautifully as she watched us. I released my

lip with a returning grin, mentally reminding myself to thank her for her fashion advice. The result had

been far more than I had expected or hoped for.

I glanced to Joanne and discovered that for once she was actually looking at me, studying me

intently. Gazing back down, I picked up a leaf of lettuce to chew on, guessing she like many of the others

was just staring at the marks on my face from the attack. With my throat a little sore and dry, I left most of

the salad and moved onto the Jell-O. As I picked up the spoon and stabbed it into the mass of wobbly

goodness, the color of the dessert reminded me of the poster. I frowned and looked to Wes, giving his arm

a nudge.

He turned to see what I wanted. When I raised my hand like in art class, he nodded to let me know

he would translate for me. I was lucky to have him here to do so. He was like a living and breathing

version of the voice programme on the netbook his dad had given me. I returned my attention across the

table to Kelly. She was teasing herself with her dessert of chocolate pudding, licking it slowly from the

plastic spoon as though trying to seduce someone. I wondered if she was. Her eyes met mine and she

smiled around the utensil as Wesley translated.

*Have you guys seen the poster on the wall over there?* I ended the signing by jerking my thumb

in the direction of said poster.

Kelly and even Joanne turned their heads to see. Jo looked away first, meeting my eyes then gazed

down as usual. When Kelly turned back to me her smile had widened and she plucked the cleaned spoon

out of her mouth.

“Do you like it?” she asked, the excitement evident in her tone. “It’s been approved by the

education board and everything! It’s an official after-college club for students to go and learn sign

language. It’ll start with the basics like the alphabet and important words. Everyone will learn from

scratch together. There’s even a fully knowledgeable person to teach everyone too.”

I shook my head and held up my hand, trying to keep up with what she was saying. She looked to my

palm then to my eyes, silencing to allow me to think about what she’d said. When I had gone over it in my

mind, sure I had heard her correctly, I signed again.

*Wait, let me get this straight. Someone organized an after-college group to learn sign language

and actually expects people to show up for it? Who would want to stay after classes for that?*

“I would.”

The smile on Kelly’s face had faltered a small amount, but it hadn’t been her to answer me. I looked

quickly over to Jo. She raised her head and brushed the loose hair to behind her ear as her hazel eyes met

mine. I wasn’t sure what I was more shocked about - the fact she’d spoken directly to me or that she

would willingly remain after classes to learn sign language.

*But why?* I asked.

“Because it’s a really good idea. The club will help to promote understanding of other forms of

communication than speech,” she replied, explaining her reasons. “There’s a lot of ignorance in this

college. I think Darren, Richard and Stuart only further proved that.”

I was speechless - if a person who couldn’t physically talk could be speechless. That was the most

Joanne had ever said in my presence let alone directly to me. There was sincerity in her eyes and she’d

kept the contact while she spoke. I wasn’t sure if those assholes attacking me had been a shock to some

pupils in this college or if it had just opened her eyes to things.

When I continued staring at her in surprise, she fidgeted in her seat but kept eye contact. “I think it

really is a good idea, Alex. At first when Kelly mentioned doing it I thought it was pointless too, but then

after those guys hurt you I realized we do need a club to raise awareness about things. It’s really hard for

you and you need Wes around if you just want to have a conversation with someone. If you wanted to talk

to someone alone then that would be easier if that person has taken the time to learn how to understand

you. So yeah, I think Kelly really has something with this idea of hers. I’ll be at every meeting to learn.”

While she spoke a lump rose in my throat and I became somewhat overwhelmed. I’d looked quickly

to Kelly when Jo had said this was all her idea. That explained why she’d been missing during the lunch

time before the attack. Jo had said she’d been in the library researching something - this must have been it.

What was even more surprising to me was the fact Joanne wanted to join the club and learn to read sign

language. It was as though she was saying she wanted to learn to communicate with me. I wondered if she

was doing this just to stand by Kelly and support her with her club idea since the two were the best of

friends, but there was just something so honest about the tone of Jo’s voice and I wanted to believe this

was the first hurdle in the approach to us becoming friends too.

I tried to swallow the lump from my throat, having to resort to a few sips of soda. While I drank I

glanced to Wes then back to the girls.

*So this is what you were so secretive about?* I asked, directing my signing to Kelly. *Why you

weren’t here that lunch time and why you changed the subject last night when I asked you where you

were?*

Her radiant smile returned full force and she eagerly nodded. I had my doubts about this club,

especially considering much of the student body tended to stare at me all the time as though I was in a

freak show. I still didn’t think anyone other than Jo and Kelly would give it a try. However I couldn’t help

but give a small smile in response to hers. I bet she could have made even the grumpiest of people grin

back at her.

I took another sip of soda and turned my head, looking over my shoulder and across the room to the

far wall where the poster hung like a fluorescent beacon. As two students passed to exit the room, one

hesitated and picked up a flyer before leaving. She would probably give it a quick browse then toss it into

the nearest trash can. I sighed quietly and looked back to the girls who were watching me and awaiting my

reaction to all of this.

*Okay, so it’s not exactly a bad idea,* I conceded. *I just don’t think anyone would want to stay

in college a second longer than needed. Especially if it means more learning.*

Kelly rolled her eyes at my statement, but the smile remained on her face. Taking another mouthful

of chocolate pudding, she licked the spoon clean. I thought about everything she and Jo had said and

realized something I had yet to have brought up.

*You said there would be someone to teach you - who?*

When Wesley failed to translate what I’d signed, I turned my attention to him. He’d finished his

lunch between the translations and was now sitting watching me. He locked his green eyes onto mine as I

peered at him. I didn’t understand, he was watching me so he must have seen me sign but hadn’t

translated.

For a moment he was silent and still then he moved just a little in his seat and a warm pressure

came to rest over my knee. Glancing quickly down, I noticed his arm was stretched towards me meaning it

was his hand on my knee giving it a small squeeze. I raised my focus back to his face, surprised he was

risking anyone and everyone seeing him touching me like this, but the look in his eyes showed he didn’t

care.

He smiled sheepishly. “I’m the teacher, Alex.”

I widened my eyes in shock. Not only had Kelly kept it quiet about the sign language club she’d

arranged, but he’d kept it even quieter that he would be the one teaching anyone who bothered to attend. In

a way it made perfect sense. Wesley knew fluent sign language, not just to read it but to speak it himself. I

could remember watching him talking through sign to Martin and being irrationally turned on by the sight

of him doing so. He would be the perfect candidate to teach others how to communicate with me because

he did it so well himself.

As the lump returned tenfold to my throat there was also a prickling sensation in the corner of my

eyes. It started to sting as my vision became blurry, forcing me to blink. That was when I felt it; a warm

saline tear running down the side of my nose towards my lip, but all I could do was stare at him. There

was an instant look of concern in his expression.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked. I blinked again as the moisture flowed down the

opposite cheek. The grip increased on my knee, squeezing to try and get a reaction out of me. “Lex?”

Wes twitched his other hand towards me as though he wanted badly to touch my face and brush

away the tears, but he seemed to remember we were in a room full of students and a couple of teachers so

he couldn’t.

There was movement across the table from us before a handkerchief was dangled between our

faces, making our eyes disconnect as we both looked to it. I noticed it was Joanne who was offering the

cloth. I reached up and slowly took it, giving an uncertain smile of gratitude then used the soft fabric to

dab at my eyes and my cheeks.

*I’m okay. Sorry, Wes,* I signed to him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, sounding anxious still. “Tell me what’s wrong, Lex. Why are you upset?”

I shook my head and blinked twice, making sure the tears had stopped then dabbed at my nose to

stop a leak before it could start. I tucked the handkerchief into my jacket pocket intending to launder it

before returning it to its owner.

“Is something wrong?” Kelly asked from the other side of the table.

Glancing to her, I could tell she was every bit as concerned at my small breakdown as Wesley. I

swallowed and returned my eyes to him.

*I’m not upset. I’m happy. Really happy, overwhelmed even,* I told him, stumbling over my words

to make sense. *Will you translate?*

Watching my eyes with uncertainty for a moment, his hand remained on my knee under the table and

he gave a small nod. He seemed relieved I hadn’t become emotional through negativity, but I could tell he

was still concerned. I turned my head, finding Kelly was looking between us expectantly while awaiting

his translation of my signing. Joanne looked a little more unfazed by it, but was watching us all the same.

*I’m sorry. I just got a bit overwhelmed by all of this,* I told them and Wes spoke the words for

me. *I can’t believe how much you’ve all done for me. I’m just not used to people wanting to help me

or give me a chance, but you three have - thank you.*

Kelly beamed and stood from her seat, moving around the table to stop at my side. Even with me

sitting she barely towered over me. She leaned down and being careful of my scarf she wound her arms

around my neck and gave me a hug.

I sighed happily and momentarily tilted into her, but flicked my eyes warily towards Wes, worried

in case he became jealous.

He smiled and squeezed my knee to let me know it was fine.

Chapter Fourteen

After the overwhelming emotions at lunchtime and the speedy orgasm from the morning, I was

mentally exhausted by the time the end of college rolled around. If anyone were to ask me what I’d

learned today I wouldn’t have been able to give them an answer.

I had intended to catch up on the homework I’d missed while in the hospital, but I was too

unfocused to even open a book. Due to my broken ribs and bruised body I was unable to participate in

gym so I mostly sat on the bleachers staring into space with the events of the day playing over and over in

my head.

When the lesson ended I climbed down from the bleachers, Luke drifted over to me and asked how I

was feeling since it was common knowledge what had happened to me. I just nodded to let him know I

was okay, giving a smile when he told me if I needed anything then to let him know. He seemed

considerate and honest enough.

As he left to go and shower with the other boys, I made my way out of the gym to meet up with Wes.

Since Kelly had driven me to college this morning he’d said he would drive me back home to save me the

walk. This was good in a way since I didn’t fancy getting soaked to the bone by the rain, but because I’d

also spent the day thinking over this morning’s events and had decided I wanted to ask him something.

When I left the gym through the locker rooms the hallways were already bustling with students

leaving for the day. Everything seemed normal until I turned to look around for Wes. I froze as I

remembered the last time I had stood here waiting for him. Instinctively my gaze edged towards the wall

beside me. It was where I’d been slammed against and punched repeatedly before being thrown to the

floor. I followed the path my body had taken just a couple of days ago with my eyes.

While I stared at the spot where I’d fallen I could practically feel each punch and kick that had been

inflicted on me, hear each curse and threatening word that had been said to me and I had to close my eyes

against the memory of it all. I reached my hand out blindly to press against the wall for support as I bit my

lip and a tremble of fear suddenly flooded me.

Up until now I hadn’t been afraid of what had happened. Sure I had been beaten by three other

students who had taken an instant dislike to me on my first day, but that was nothing I wasn’t used to. Ever

since the accident that had rendered me mute there had always been those who hated me for how different

I was from them. This hadn’t been the first time I’d been hospitalized as a result of being bullied. In a way

I doubted it would be the last either. It was strange though. Over time I’d became so used to being viewed

as different and had been hated and bullied for it. I’d stopped experiencing any emotional aftereffects of

all I’d received; until now.

This was the first time I had returned to the place where I’d been harmed so that made it a little

harder to face. I’d been confident I would be fine to return to college as though nothing had happened.

Apparently I was wrong. Here I was standing on almost the exact spot where I’d been abused having to

grip the wall as tremors racked my body, my breaths quickening as my chest tightened.

When a hand landed on my shoulder, my eyes flew open in shock causing me to gasp in a breath. I

span around to face my attacker, clenching my fists at my sides as though ready to throw a punch to defend

myself. Only it wasn’t Darren, or Stuart or Richard…or anyone else who had grabbed me with intent to

cause harm. The hand had quickly fallen away from my shoulder when I span around and there stood

Wesley, wide eyed and seemingly panicked from my reaction.

“Alex...are you alright? What’s wrong?” he asked.

It wasn’t until I blinked that I realized there were tears in my eyes and the movement caused them to

trail down my cheeks. I drew in a shaky breath and shook my head as I raised my fist to wipe the

betraying moisture away.

The next time he touched me it was deliberately slow. As I lowered my fists only his fingertips

were resting on my shoulders. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

Lifting my eyes to his, I put on a brave smile and hoped it was convincing enough. I didn’t want to

tell him how I’d been unexpectedly affected by the memories of the attack. I was the one who’d wanted to

return to college to show them what had happened didn’t faze me in the slightest, but I had been wrong

and I didn’t want to admit it; especially to Wes who’d agreed it was too soon for me to return.

He kept his eyes on mine a little longer then confident I wasn’t going to strike out towards him, he

moved his hands so the palms rested against my shoulders. I took a deeper breath to calm myself and gave

a firmer nod to convey I was okay. He seemed content enough with that for now. After giving me a soft

squeeze he turned away and I fell in stride beside him to walk to his car.

The drive home was silent, partly to do with the fact it only took a couple of minutes to arrive at my

house, but I was grateful for the peace. My head was still swimming with all of the overwhelming things

that had happened today. Either it was all so much to take in or they had been right, it was too soon for

me. I was still lost in my thoughts when Wesley parked his Camaro on my driveway and turned off the

engine. When I didn’t make a move to unbuckle my seatbelt, he reached over the gap between us and took

my hand from where it rested in my lap.

“Lex, are you sure you’re okay?”

I lifted my eyes to find concern written within the emeralds staring back at me. They narrowed just

slightly as he tried to see right through me to discover what was bothering me as though wishing it was in

his power to save me from it. I gave another nod, letting him know I was fine. It was only a small lie. On

the whole I did feel okay, just mentally worn out from the day’s events. First the intimacy in his car, then

the amazing and thoughtful thing Kelly had arranged in order to make things easier for me followed by the

flashback memories of the attack outside of the locker room.

I could tell he wasn’t completely falling for it so I sighed and raised my other hand to sign to him.

*I’m fine, Wes. I’m just a little tired. Will you come inside and stay awhile?*

When he read the last few words his expression morphed into one of surprise. He turned his eyes

back to mine wider than before and questioning as though unsure whether he’d read my hand signals

correctly. “You want me to stay with you?”

I gave a nod. *If you’re not busy.*

His face lit up with a smile mirroring the brightness of a freshly decorated Christmas tree. In what

seemed like the next second he dropped my hand and pressed down on both release mechanisms of our

seatbelts to set us free from them. He turned and opened his door, climbing out with excess enthusiasm. I

silently chuckled though I wasn’t completely surprised by his excitement. He’d wanted to join me inside

before but I had refused him then. Now I did want his company and wasn’t going to send him away.

I rose out of the car slower, my body still aching from my injuries and walked ahead while he

locked the vehicle. Blackwood was a small town and quiet enough, but just like everywhere in the world

there was still the possibility of crime. Even though the walk to the house from the car had been just a

couple of feet, by the time we were both inside we were damp from the rain. Wes raised his hand to

smooth it through his hair and I couldn’t help but roam my eyes over the path his fingers took. They left a

cute parting through his brown locks before dropping back down to his side. When our eyes met again he

smiled sheepishly and I turned quickly away into the kitchen, strategically adjusting myself in my jeans so

he wouldn’t notice. I was going to have to stop staring at his fingers.

I pulled the refrigerator door open and grimaced at the lack of items inside. This was pretty normal

for us, but I had seen the fully stocked fridge in the Hunters’ kitchen. It would have taken anyone at least

five minutes to decide what they wanted to eat and drink. I bit my lip as I looked over the few options then

turned to face him, intending to offer either milk or water.

He was standing right behind me and gave me a small fright since I hadn’t even heard him approach.

My first emotion was embarrassment. Surely he’d seen the desolate interior of my fridge, but he didn’t

seem bothered by it. Reaching past me, he caught the side of the door and pushed it closed behind me as

he stepped forward. He raised his other hand to the cool metal so there was one on either side of my head

trapping me.

I gasped quietly in surprise at his forwardness but it wasn’t unwelcome. As he leaned down closer

towards me, his warm breath fanned across my face and sent a shiver of pleasure straight down my spine

to my cock. He moved nearer still until he was just an inch or two away from my lips, close enough to

glimpse every pigment in his eyes. He slid his left hand down from the door, landing it softly on my

shoulder. Slowly stroking it down the front of my jacket, he stopped as he tangled his fingers in the

strands dangling from the ends of the scarf where they rested against my chest.

“I still can’t get over how hot you look in these clothes,” he whispered into the short distance

between us. “Remind me to thank Kelly for dressing you.”

His appreciative words sent a static current to my crotch and just like this morning I needed to feel

him and show him how hot I thought he was too. Before I could register what I was doing, I lifted my

hands from my sides and gripped his damp sweater, pulling him closer until his mouth crashed into mine.

We had kissed before, but he’d kept it slow and so gentle not wanting to push me too far and too soon. I

didn’t care about that anymore. I just needed to feel him, to kiss him, to show him I was his.

Wesley gasped in surprise as he fell against me, our teeth clashing before he could recover. I

moved one hand up to bury it in his hair leaving my own parting lines as I stroked my fingers through the

damp strands and settled them at the nape of his neck, holding his head to mine as I kissed him with need.

He responded instantly, pressing his body even closer to mine leaving one hand on the fridge for support.

His other trailed down my shirt then dipped beneath to rest against my stomach. His skin was cold from

the metal of the door causing my muscles to tense in surprise at the temperature.

His lips twitched against my own as though fighting a grin at my reaction to his cold touch. I

released my grip on his sweater and stroked my hand down then around to his hip and pulled him ever

closer to me. He groaned against my mouth as our swelling cocks collided, the friction from our jeans

further adding to the sensations.

With his lips still parted I took advantage and experimentally pushed my tongue into his mouth. He

hummed against it before teasing it with his own, the kiss slowing as we both tested the waters and tasted

each other. While he trailed his tongue over mine, he raised his hand higher beneath my shirt until he

grazed his thumb over my right nipple. The result was like lightning shooting through my whole body. My

stomach knotted and I jutted my hips towards his for more friction. I had teased my own nipples while

jerking off before, but it was nothing compared to his touch.

He withdrew his tongue enough for me to register he was smiling at my reaction. He tilted his head

as my grip in his hair tightened and pulled him closer. As he moaned he moved his hand over my chest to

my left nipple, teasing the nub between his thumb and finger. It elicited further pleasure as I ground my

hips against his wanting more; so much more.

When he lowered his hand over my ribs intending to return to my stomach, a shot of pain rocketed

through my chest. All of my movements stilled as my muscles tensed. I quickly withdrew from his mouth,

pulling back so suddenly I hit my head against the refrigerator door. Wesley’s eyes instantly widened in

shock. Retreating a small step, he moved his hand from the door to gently touch the back of my head

worried I had hurt myself. The fire of pain in my chest had reignited despite the fact he’d dropped his

hand out of my shirt when I’d flinched away from him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone heavily shaded with concern. “Is this too much for you?”

I shook my head quickly, my hair whipping into my eyes as I did so. It definitely wasn’t too much

for me. I wanted this - a lot. I sensed he was about to ask why I’d pulled away, so I lowered my head and

moved my hand from his hip to the hem of my t-shirt slowly lifting it up. The bandage his dad had placed

on me in the hospital had been removed and we both saw my ribs were bruised viciously from the attack.

What we had been doing wasn’t too much at all. It was just that his hand had touched my broken ribs and

renewed the pain.

“I hurt you?” he gasped softly in realization. “I’m sorry, Lex. I didn’t mean to. I forgot.”

The pain was evident in his voice mirroring the torture in my chest, but it wasn’t his fault. We had

both been caught in the moment allowing the lust for each other to take over. I let my t-shirt fall back into

place and raised my eyes to meet his. Lifting my hand, I gently brushed the damp strands of hair from his

brow and shook my head. I had to let him know it wasn’t his fault. I was okay and he didn’t need to

worry. I hated seeing that self-scolding look on his face.

He gave a faint nod, understanding what I was trying to tell him with my eyes. Letting his breath out

slowly, he lowered his gaze down my body and lingered momentarily around my crotch area. He smiled,

moving his hands towards my jeans and his fingertips found the zipper, beginning to slowly run it down as

he allowed his knuckles to press against my erection.

“I know a way I can make it up to you without getting too near to your chest again,” he grinned.

I wondered what he was planning on doing. He didn’t need to make anything up to me because I

didn’t blame him for anything. Once the zipper was fully down, he gently slipped his hand inside to grip

me causing me to bite my lip at the sensation of his skin against my own. Well, if he wanted to make it up

with a hand job I wasn’t going to complain.

I watched his face while he pulled me free from the confines of my jeans. He darted his tongue out

to moisten his lips and shifted his weight on his feet, getting ready to drop to his knees. I realized then

what he planned to do and when he made to move I increased my grip in his hair and pulled to lift his eyes

to mine, shaking my head when our gazes met.

His brow creased in confusion. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you like it before?”

I nodded slowly, almost warily. Of course I’d enjoyed it when he took me into his mouth this

morning. I had never experienced anything like it before; the warmth, the moisture and the vacuum effect

of him sucking me. I did want it again, but there was something else I desired much more.

Biting my lip, I looked down and pulled my hips back until my ass connected with the refrigerator

door causing him to let me go. I released him and dropped my hands, tucking myself back into my jeans

and ran the zipper up as I met his baffled eyes again.

I didn’t know how to express myself, how to sign to explain it to him and his escalating confusion

was visible in his eyes. I decided to just show him like when I’d revealed I wanted him too by kissing

him first. I returned my hands to him, pushing him a little further from me enough so I could squeeze past

him. He made to move away, but I increased my grip on his sweater and turned him with me, pushing him

up against the door where I’d been just seconds before. His confusion turned to shock as a couple of the

few items inside the fridge fell over with the force I’d pushed him into it.

He gasped. “Alex, what are you…?”

I silenced him as I leaned up, crashing my mouth to his for the second time in a matter of minutes. It

was his turn to bang his head against the door and caused him to moan a little with the ache it produced,

but he kissed me back just as forcefully. He attempted to return his hands to my jeans, but I held my body

away from his, preventing him from touching me and from hurting my chest a second time. I was aware if

he did it wouldn’t be intentional and I wouldn’t have laid the blame on him anyway. When he couldn’t

reach my jeans he aimed for my hair and I allowed him to bury his fingers in my damp locks if only for a

moment.

I moved my hand to his crotch as though summoned there by a magnet until my fingers came into

contact with his zipper. I had it run down and my hand inside before his mind registered what I was doing.

He groaned around my tongue as I rubbed him through his briefs, then finding the opening I pulled him free

from the fabric and out into the cool air of the kitchen, adding an extra stroke to his already hardened

cock. He gasped at the sensation, the combination of my hand giving him a rub and the colder air of the

room.

I took advantage of his distraction and withdrew my tongue from his mouth, pulling my body further

from his and sank to my knees on the floor. Conscious of the fact his fogged mind would clear at any

second, I moved quickly and dropped my eyes to the weeping head before me, flicking my tongue to

gather the dew while tasting him for the first time. I had never done this before, but I wanted to make him

feel as good as he’d made me feel this morning in his car.

Another bead appeared replacing the one I had swept away and I trailed the tip of my tongue over

it, dipping it back into the hole it came from. He stiffened above me as his cock twitched, causing it to

flick up and hit my nose so I returned my hand to the base to hold it still.

“Oh God, Lex,” he groaned deeply. I smiled, leaning my head up to look at him. His eyes were on

me as he pressed his back tightly to the refrigerator door. Nipping his lip he sucked in a shaky breath and

moved a hand to my hair, smoothing it tenderly away from my eyes. “Stay like that. Just keep watching

me. That’s so hot.”

I had no idea what I was doing having never given or received a blow job before this morning, so I

trusted him to direct me and help me to give him what he wanted. Keeping my eyes on his, I flicked my

tongue out and circled it around the head, the tip momentarily disappearing beneath the gathered foreskin.

He groaned and pushed more hair from my face for a clearer view.

I stroked my hand upwards, covering the head with his skin and gave a testing suck to the end. His

moan indicated I wasn’t making a wrong move and it helped to boost my confidence a little more. As I

brushed my hand back down his length, I followed with my mouth. Trailing my tongue down the

underside, I kept my teeth tucked behind my lips not wanting to accidentally graze his sensitive skin. I

took him into the back of my mouth leaving more than enough of his length left for my hand to massage as I

trailed my mouth back to the head and sucked the end like before. He knew I was a novice at this. He was

aware I was a virgin and had never done this before, but he was careful and understanding just like with

everything else.

He whispered to me, telling me what to do and what things he liked so I could learn. He directed

me to trail my tongue from the base to the tip, being sure to tickle lightly over the sensitive nerves beneath

the head. When I did as he asked his cock twitched and slapped against my lips, leaving a dribble of fluid

behind. I poked my tongue out to lick it away causing him to moan from the sight as I tasted him in my

mouth, musky and manly.

I stroked my hand along his shaft with a slight twist while covering the head with my mouth and

gave another suck. A sudden thought sprang to my mind. Why was it called a blow job if you sucked

instead of blew? I mentally shrugged it away and continued my ministrations.

“Mmm, that’s so good,” he moaned breathily. “Go lower, Lex. Try and take me deep.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant. When I stopped sucking to stare up at him, he smiled in understanding

and gave just the smallest of pushes with his hips pressing himself half an inch further into my mouth.

Realizing what he meant then, I gave a small nod. He pressed his ass backwards against the door causing

him to slightly withdraw from my mouth and I dropped my gaze to his jean clad pubic bone in front of me.

I gripped him a little harder, continuing to rub at him as I sank down further onto his cock. The head

touched the back of my mouth to where it had been before, but he wanted more so I pushed further - and

gagged.

My throat instantly constricted, tightening almost defensively and I had to quickly pull off him as a

coughing fit began. He moved his hand from my hair to my shoulder helping to steady me as he gave a

squeeze, a silent question as to whether I was okay. Once the coughing passed I lifted my head to meet his

eyes, my cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

I raised my other hand from the floor to apologize, but he shook his head and beat me to it. “It’s

okay, Alex. I bet everyone does that the first time. I should have said to relax your throat and to swallow.”

I gave a sheepish nod as though it should have been obvious. Looking back down, I watched a

dribble of pre-cum stringing from the slit of the head and lapped it up as though it was soda before trying

again to take him deep like he wanted. I forced my throat to relax and as he touched the back of my throat,

I swallowed like he’d said. It constricted worse than before and blocked him from sliding any further in. I

had to pull away again.

Lifting my hand, I rubbed my throat through the scarf he’d given me. It was beginning to ache

furiously and I realized then what the problem was. I couldn’t physically take him deep like he wanted.

My damaged throat wouldn’t allow it. As he squeezed my shoulder I shook my head sullenly and sank

back to sit on my heels as I raised my eyes to meet his.

He registered the anguish on my face and lowered to his knees in front of me. “Are you in pain?”

*It’s my throat,* I signed to him. *I’m sorry, Wes. I do really want to do this for you, but it hurts

when I try.*

He shook his head. “Hey, don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself.”

He caught my signing hand with his, giving it a squeeze then entwined our fingers. Using the other to

touch my chin, he directed my eyes to meet his. They stung viciously and from his expression I must have

appeared close to tears.

“Come here.” He released my chin and draped his arm around my neck, easing me closer until I was

resting on his shoulder and sniffed as I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that of you. I

should have known it would be hard because of your throat. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

I tried to lift my hand to sign, but he kept it tightly held with his own, squeezing my fingers between

his to enforce his words. Taking a deep breath, I gave a short nod and turned my face towards his neck,

burying myself in the warmth as I placed a kiss against his pulse. His breathing hitched as I did so and I

moved my hand back to his crotch. Maybe I couldn’t suck him but I could still jerk him off. He gasped as I

resumed rubbing at him. Lifting my hand to the head, I traced my thumb over the top and smoothed down

the moisture around him while adding a twist of my wrist as I did so. I pressed my lips to his pulse again

and began to pick up a rhythm with my hand.

I was so busy focusing on what I was doing, I didn’t realize he’d unzipped my jeans until his hand

gently grasped me, pulling me out of the confines of my pants again. I removed my lips from his neck as he

began to match my ministrations, but I was sensitive and with both hands in use I couldn’t tell him it felt

sore. I resorted to nipping his neck. He moaned as I pinched the warm skin between my teeth causing his

grip on me to loosen and I did the same so he realized why I’d bitten him. Removing his hand from me, he

lowered his head and spat. When he returned it to my cock, he smoothed the moisture all around me for

comfort and resumed rubbing me at the same speed and grip I was using on him.

Wes turned his head upwards, pressing his lips to below my ear since he couldn’t get to my neck

through the scarf. Grazing his teeth over the lobe, he sucked it into his mouth and exhaled a warm breath

against my skin eliciting a shiver down my spine. After the failed blow job and now being jerked off, I

could tell from the stiffness in my hand and the increased breaths in my ear he wasn’t going to last for

much longer. It took mere moments until he had me as equally worked up. I jerked my hips forward

silently begging for more which he willingly gave.

Listening to the pants of his breath in my ear, I swiped my thumb over the head one last time before

it swelled. I moved my hand so my fingertips pressed against the sensitive underside. Cupping my palm, I

gave a last nip to his neck and he stiffened with a grunt. His cock twitched violently then secreted warm

strings of cum into my hand. While he jerked with the pleasure it caused his ministrations on my cock to

become erratic also. I grazed my teeth over his pulse that beat fast against my mouth as he tried to catch

his breath. After a moment of recovery time he resumed a normal rhythm with his hand and added extra

squeezes as he brushed over my head.

Wes moved his face slightly towards mine, returning his mouth back to my ear. “Fuck me, Alex.

Fuck me hard. Come on.”

Hearing the curse words slipping from his lips was all it took. I latched my teeth to his skin once

more, biting a little harder than I intended to but it was the warning he needed. He cupped his hand in time

to catch my cum as he milked it from my body. My breathing turned frantic while attempting to draw in air

and trying to force myself to release his neck. I didn’t want to be hurting him, but the soft moan he made

told me he didn’t mind; he liked it.

While waves of pleasure continued to wash through me, my knees began to shake with the force as I

gasped for breath against his skin. With the recent stresses to my body and now coming twice in one day,

the release left me overwhelmed and dragged a whimper from my throat.

Wesley stiffened as he let me rest against him, the sudden tensing of his body making me aware I

hadn’t imagined it.

He’d heard it too.

COMING SOON

Can You Hear Me?

“I wish you could come with us.” Wes read my expression and voiced what had been going through

my mind.

I just shrugged as though I wasn’t really bothered by it. *It’s Martin’s birthday, a time for you all to

spend together. I don’t want to be the third wheel.*

“You wouldn’t be the third wheel, Lex.” He sighed and closed the distance between us, setting his

bottle of water on the sideboard next to mine. When I didn’t turn to look at him, he stepped closer and

wound his arms around my waist. He guided me to face him properly and leaned down, peppering my lips

with light and teasing kisses. “Not to me, anyway.”

I was aware he really wanted me to go, but the tickets for the ballgame cost almost as much as my

dad’s monthly paycheck. I had no right asking for so much and we couldn’t accept it from the Hunters.

We were standing too close for me to sign to him. His arms had eased me nearer until our chests

were touching, my head tilted up for him to continue teasingly kissing me. I resorted to wrapping my arms

around his neck, burying my hands in his hair and succeeded in pulling him closer for a deeper kiss.

Our tongues clashed and fought for dominance before we found a suitable rhythm that pleased us

both, leaving our breathing uneven and filled with unintelligible gasps. I pulled against him, drawing him

in nearer until he trapped my body between his and the sideboard. He came to rest flush against me

allowing our jean clad crotches to give pressure to each other. The effect our actions had on the other was

very obvious.

He hummed into my mouth as I lowered my hands from his hair and buried them into the back

pockets of his jeans, massaging and squeezing his ass. As he stepped closer my elbow connected with my

water bottle producing a domino effect as it fell into his and together they toppled to the floor with a thud.

The sound was enough to jolt us apart, both gasping for air as we looked to the bottles rolling across the

linoleum.

“And on that note,” he smiled and eased away. “Come with me.”