Author's Notes:

I edited this chapter (2008/04/08) to fix some of my grammatical errors. Thanks to LM Simpson who helped me with some of the grammatical errors and the tenses which were shifting from present to past and past to present in the narration. Thanks a lot, Kady, you're my favorite English instructor.

Last Updated: September 7, 2009

... Teddy Bear ...

Chapter One:

Lots of stories start when the main character wake up early in the morning... and this story is no exception.

Ezekiel Zick woke up from a very weird dream. It was all about him and his friend Teddy. He and Teddy were together in said dream. They did a lot of stuff: ate burgers, played Tekken with Zick's PS2, cracked jokes, watched television shows, etc.

An unusual thing happened in the time they were watching a home movie. It was when Teddy stared at Zick as long as it could be.

"What's up?" Zick had just noticed Teddy's stare.

Teddy said nothing. He just stared at Zick speechless- without saying anything. Zick, on the other hand, ignored it and continued watching Monster House.

Around two minutes passed, Teddy began to utter Zick's name. Zick heard it; he looked at Teddy as a result.

Zick then realized that his face and the face of his friend were already close to each other. Even though he blinked a lot of times, he could still see the face of Teddy getting closer and closer and closer. But even though he knew what was going on, he did not say anything. Not even a single word. He just had to wait what would happen. Like watching a movie, waiting what would happen.

As far as he remembered, the thing he was thinking all along... happened. Teddy kissed Zick on the lips. Zick closed his eyes, feeling that kiss. It was long according to him, but it did not literally last a minute.

.....

It was just a dream. It really was. But Zick couldn't help but to think about it over and over again.

'Teddy? Why did I dream about him? Could I have been thinking about him?' he thought.

"ZICK~! Oh Zick~!" an annoying voice was the cause of the sudden cut of Zick's thoughts. "Me know now how to play yoyo!"

Bombo. It was Bombo. The confused face of a young tamer became irritated instead.

"Bombo! You should not talk so loud early in the morning. You might wake others up from their sleep."

"But Zick no sleep!"

"I was talking about others."

"Oh, me hate quarrel Zick! Me no win anyway."

Zick didn't answer. Bombo's voice was already annoying. He did not want to hear the annoying voice again and again so he decided to settle this situation silently. He lay to his bed instead; thinking about the dream again. Bombo, on the other hand, played with his yoyo again.

.....

While Zick was eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, he thought about his 'dream' again.

'Why did he kiss me? Does he like me? Wait, do I like him? But… But what about my feelings for Elena? I like her, don't I?

'Damn! I'm getting confused!'

Zick shook his head quickly a few times, thinking he could shoo away the things he just thought of.

His cellphone vibrated. There was a new message. He opened his inbox and saw the word, Teddy.

Teddy... Teddy. The name was repeated all over and over again in his thoughts. Teddy.

'What will he say? Did he also have the same dream… and he's about to tell me about it? Will he tell me he likes me? Will he tell me he loves me?

'Oh, what am I thinking? We're both men!'

He forced his thumb to press a button that opened Teddy's message. He had to do that so he could stop himself thinking about those 'stupid' things.

"Hey! :)" were the characters that could be seen on Teddy's message. A slow song was about to play in Zick's thoughts. Zick became more confused about his feelings because of the things happening to him right then.

'Why did he text me? Is it because he remembers me? And why did he put a smile on it?'

Zick replied, "Why?" He pressed another button to send his message.

Zick put his cellphone on the dining table and continued eating his breakfast.

He looked on the corners of the dining room and he could see Bombo, Snyakutz Bu, Ben Talak, Clak Ritak and many more monsters eating sandwiches and hotdogs. He didn't see Zob, Greta and the tutors. They might be at the flower shop or at the tamers' armory.

The cellphone vibrated again. Zick opened his inbox and read Teddy's reply.

"Zick, may I go there? Well, it's boring here at home and I think I should go at your place. Is it okay?"

'Why will he go here? Does he have something to tell me?'

Zick replied with "It's okay!" plus a smiling emoticon.

'I told him what I can think of. Damn! Why did I put a smile on it? Am I falling in love with him?'

.....

Ten minutes passed, Zick was watching TV. He saw a handsome boy talking to the other characters of a drama series. He found himself admiring that boy. He changed the channel and saw a man with no shirt on. He couldn't help but to stare at the man's body.

'Why am I staring at them too long? Do I really like men? Am I a gay? Or am I just envious of them?'

True enough, Zick was envious. He was not that tall. He was not that muscular. He was not that cute. Well, he was cute alright but he would not believe it unless someone believable would tell him he was. He had been a pessimistic person.

Someone knocked on the front door. Zick turned off the TV and stood up. He opened the door and saw Teddy.

"Hey! What's up?" Zick said.

"What's up? I brought a friend, is it okay?" Teddy replied.

"A friend?"

Zick saw someone sitting on the stairs in front of the Barrymore house. He found out it was Lay. He felt disappointed. He thought Teddy would just come to his house alone.

"Zick?"

"Huh?" Zick just realized he did not yet answer the question.

'No!'

Zick sighed and simply answered, "Yes."

.....

To be continued...