Chapter 1
Hey Lucas... The words were like a dream to Lucas Randall. He wasn't even sure if he really heard them. He was completely exhausted having worked to hard lately. On both schoolwork and his own schemes. He stirred slightly, before returning to his deep sleep. Lucas... Get up...
He tried to get further under the covers, but that didn't work. It was Saturday! He was meant to sleep in! It was the only chance he got! Marshall was a nice person and normally wouldn't be so blunt, so it must be important. Hence the throwing off of the covers.
The cold shot through Lucas's body almost immediately. He jumped up, still half asleep. "What's happening? Is it another wormhole?" He asked rubbing his eyes. "Or are you invisible again? Or is it a normal reason?"
"Well, it's a normal reason, I guess," he muttered. "I didn't want you to here it from anyone else. But Vaughn and Josie are kind of on the steady. They're going out tonight."
Lucas tried to pretend it didn't hurt. "And? How does that effect me?"
Marshall wasn't about to push. "Right. Just thought you'd like to know."
"Was it worth waking me up for?" Lucas snapped.
"No. But—"
"Alright. I'm going back to sleep." He snapped, even harsher, before covering his head with the covers again.
"I'll see you later then." Marshall said quietly leaving the room hastily.
When Lucas heard the door close, he got up from the bed, feeling bad about snapping at Marshall and even worse that Josie and Vaughn were officially an item now. He'd had his eye on Josie for a while now, but no hopes of that happening now. He moved from the bed slowly and had a shower—making sure no one else had used his shampoo. God knows how that could have ended...
Marshall sat alone in the music room with a guitar. He wasn't playing it, just sitting there. Alone. Until Vaughn walked in, dribbling a basketball, a sheepish look on his face. Marshall put the guitar down, and stared back at the taller boy.
"Hey," he started. "How did Lucas take the news? You did tell him didn't you? I paid good money... You still like money don't you?"
"I like money. Still. But so does pretty much everyone else though. But I did tell him. I'm not one to lie," Marshall replied. "Especially to my best friend/roommate. So, of course I told him. I still don't see why you couldn't tell him. To busy with the sport?"
"That and you're Lucas's best friend," Vaughn replied indifferently. "I knew I could trust you."
"Well, he didn't take it well. It was painful talking about it for him. I could tell." Marshall said. He got up from the seat and walked over to Vaughn. "I'm still not sure why you made me tell him."
"It was better he heard it from you. And I know he likes her," Vaughn said.
Marshall raised an eyebrow. "Did you figure that out by yourself?"
"I don't have to listen to this," Vaughn shot back defensively.
"You're not an idiot. Don't act like one!" Marshall cried at him. He hated Vaughn's lack of caring that he was actually intelligent and made a point of it whenever he was angry with him. "Well, okay you're partially an idiot..." Marshall trailed off.
"You're unnaturally harsh today... your DNA didn't get changed did it?" Vaughn asked his kind flashing back to what had happened with Lucas.
"Maybe if you were a better man and told him yourself instead of trying to buy him off, I wouldn't be talking to you like this!" He quickly added: "And I wouldn't have felt like crap since I said anything."
Vaughn started dribbling the ball again. "You agreed to do it. You wanted to let him off easily. Just because it didn't work, don't take it out on me! Go beat yourself up silently like you usually do!"
Marshall didn't want to talk about it anymore either, and left the room.
Great... Vaughn thought to himself. Like I need this at the moment.
Lucas was walking around not really wanting to see anyone when he bumped into Josie, of all people. He tried to avoid looking at her until she moved into his line of sight every time he looked away. She knew what it was about. She really didn't want an argument, but knew they had to talk. Ever since they'd kissed, he'd had feelings for her and she knew that. Everyone knew that really. She'd felt something too, but with Vaughn, it was stronger.
"Vaughn told you huh?" Josie asked softly.
"Why would Vaughn tell me? I heard it from Marshall," Lucas replied.
She stared at him for a few seconds. "Marshall told you? Vaughn was meant to... Damn it. I thought it would sound better coming from him."
"Or you, maybe," he muttered.
"Don't make me the bad guy," she snapped. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to."
"I'm not trying to... It's just... every time I get something or want something it all goes to hell! I swear this has to be a conspiracy..." He meant it as a joke. Josie didn't laugh. He paused, trying to form words. "What about when we kissed? There was spark-age. I saw sparks! They flew and all!"
"I know. I was there. It was me you kissed. The sparks were pretty and all, but you never acted on them," she countered. "And neither did I. And to be fair this is as much my problem as it is yours, but I'm with Vaughn now."
Lucas's face admitted his defeat, but he didn't say anything more about it. Instead, her quickly changed the subject. "Do you think he paid Marshall? Money is the only thing he'd break his moral code for. Not that I'm saying he broke it."
"Of course he would have. I hope that doesn't become a habit—Vaughn buying people off that is." Josie said, thinking about how bad it would be. Like she needed that, what with his dad hating her and everything. That would start rumors. Something she'd had personal experience with the badness of.
Suddenly Lucas remembered how badly he'd spoken to Marshall when he first told him. "He was just trying to help me... to make it easier."
"What? Who? When? I think an explanation is needed. Quickly."
"This morning when Marshall told me, I snapped at him pretty badly." Lucas explained. "I should go apologize."
"See... this is nice." Josie said before he left. "Us just talking. As friends."
"The only reason it's 'nice' is because we've been talking about something to take my mind off you and what we could have had. And now we're back to that and it hurts again." He turned and walked away.
Corrine sat at her desk, working out some problems with Marshall behind her looking over them. With her high IQ, she decided to constantly find the hardest questions she could. Hard to the point where she could barely do them all.
"We're the best and brightest Corrine," Marshall said slightly sarcastically. "You're going to ruin our reputation if you keep trying problems you can't actually do."
Corrine didn't look up, her brow furrowed in annoyance at the questions. "I know you didn't just come here to make small talk, Marshall, what do you want?"
"Advice."
This got her to turn around. "Advice on what?"
"Relationships."
"I am so unprepared for this. Do you have a crush on someone?" She asked, hope growing that it could be her. "Because this is an odd thing to talk to me about."
"I'm aware of that. But I trust you. How do I go about approaching someone when I have feelings for them?" He asked, his face turning red. He'd never talked about this before.
She'd turned back to her books by now to hide her embarrassment. "I can't really tell you unless you tell me what sort of feelings you have." She pushed slightly.
"Bigger than friendship that's for sure. I'm not really sure how to describe it..."
This time she turned back to face him. "Just tell whoever it is. Don't fight it. Or, you can just do something else. Like kiss them. Or just embrace them. You know, be surprising." She thought immediately afterwards, If he doesn't get that subtle hint... He's not as smart as I thought he was...
Marshall thought about that for a while. The words churning over in his mind like a gear machine. A gear machine that hadn't been used in a long time, seeing as how long it took him to come to a decision. Finally, he came to one and a broad smile crossed his face. He walked over to Corrine and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
"Thanks," he whispered, before leaving quickly. Just before the door closed, he called out, "you don't know how much you've helped me."
"No problem Marshall..." She replied, pleased with the progress of their relationship.
"I just hope I'm ready to move forward with them," Marshall said waving slightly.
When he closed the door, Corrine's face fell. She had been so happy that her and Marshall were moving forward. And he didn't want to move forward with her. She threw her pencil down in anger and grabbed her coat. She glanced at her watch. Three already? She went to her closest and pulled out a jacket—kicking Josie's clothes onto her bed while she was at it. She waited for a few minutes, until she was sure she wouldn't run into Marshall before she left to go buy some new books.
Marshall sat on his bed, waiting for Lucas to come in. He was looking at the money Vaughn had paid him, fifty dollars. Not bad, enough to get a new endeavor off the ground he hoped. He had a new business plan... but that wasn't the point. The point was to act on his feelings. To tell Lucas how he felt.
He heard the door creak open and sat up immediately, pocketing the money. "Lucas... I—"
"I'm sorry." He said cutting him off.
"'Splainy?" Marshall said caught off guard by the comment. "Could you be any vaguer?"
"I'm sorry about this morning," he repeated. "I might go to the movies soon. You want to come?"
Marshall shrugged. "Sure. It'll be fun," he said. "But I don't think you have anything to be sorry about."
"Look, I was out of line, despite what you say I was rude and bit your head off. Not literally. Hence you're talking," Lucas said. "I shouldn't have said what I did. Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah. Of course I do," Marshall replied. "Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend. Also, fighting with your roommate is bad. What movie did you want to see? Something with a conspiracy theory?"
Lucas couldn't help but laugh. Marshall joined in, and moved his hand over Lucas's. They looked at each other, directly in the eye. It was silent. All they could hear was their own heartbeat. Slowly, Marshall reached up with his hand and rubbed the side of Lucas's cheek. Lucas didn't know what to do. Then Marshall leaned and planted his lips on Lucas's.
The kiss was long and passionate. Marshall moved his hand up under Lucas's shirt rubbing his back, squeezing his hand tightly with his other hand. Lucas's breath tasted sweet. Lucas was mimicking his every move, just as involved in the kiss as Marshall, and enjoyed it just as much. Then he thought about Josie, and pulled away quickly, breaking it.
Marshall didn't say anything, but licked his lips, moistening them. Lucas remained silent as well. He went to say something, but found his voice curiously missing. Marshall coughed, after about ten minutes had passed breaking the silence.
And then the silence started again for another ten minutes, until Lucas's voice came back. "I don't think I'll be going to the movies tonight..." He muttered.
"Right... it was nice though," Marshall said to him.
"Uh, yeah... I guess it was," Lucas agreed. "It's five o'clock. Shit. When did the time change so much?"
"Huh?" Marshall asked, from under his covers. "Aren't you asleep yet?"
Lucas didn't say anything. "This is all going to fast... literally."
Marshall muttered something as he got out of bed and walked slowly to the bathroom. Lucas followed him with his eyes, but continued to sit on his bed. What felt like seconds later Marshall was next to him completely dry and dressed. Despite Lucas's apprehension after the kiss, he was disappointed that he missed Marshall dripping wet. Suddenly, he was looking at him in a whole new light...
He looked around confused, "Lucas? Lucas, where are you?" He called out concerned.
"Uh, I'm here..." He replied cautiously.
Without warning a white flash filled the room and—surprise, surprise, Lucas thought after his eyes readjusted—Marshall was gone. While his mind ticked over what had happened he stared at the clock making sure that time was back to normal. In exchange for normalcy of time he had lost Marshall. Nice trade off. He ran out of the room towards Corrine and Josie's, with three letters spinning around and around his head: WTF?
Then another thought formed: How eloquent.
Hey Lucas... The words were like a dream to Lucas Randall. He wasn't even sure if he really heard them. He was completely exhausted having worked to hard lately. On both schoolwork and his own schemes. He stirred slightly, before returning to his deep sleep. Lucas... Get up...
He tried to get further under the covers, but that didn't work. It was Saturday! He was meant to sleep in! It was the only chance he got! Marshall was a nice person and normally wouldn't be so blunt, so it must be important. Hence the throwing off of the covers.
The cold shot through Lucas's body almost immediately. He jumped up, still half asleep. "What's happening? Is it another wormhole?" He asked rubbing his eyes. "Or are you invisible again? Or is it a normal reason?"
"Well, it's a normal reason, I guess," he muttered. "I didn't want you to here it from anyone else. But Vaughn and Josie are kind of on the steady. They're going out tonight."
Lucas tried to pretend it didn't hurt. "And? How does that effect me?"
Marshall wasn't about to push. "Right. Just thought you'd like to know."
"Was it worth waking me up for?" Lucas snapped.
"No. But—"
"Alright. I'm going back to sleep." He snapped, even harsher, before covering his head with the covers again.
"I'll see you later then." Marshall said quietly leaving the room hastily.
When Lucas heard the door close, he got up from the bed, feeling bad about snapping at Marshall and even worse that Josie and Vaughn were officially an item now. He'd had his eye on Josie for a while now, but no hopes of that happening now. He moved from the bed slowly and had a shower—making sure no one else had used his shampoo. God knows how that could have ended...
Marshall sat alone in the music room with a guitar. He wasn't playing it, just sitting there. Alone. Until Vaughn walked in, dribbling a basketball, a sheepish look on his face. Marshall put the guitar down, and stared back at the taller boy.
"Hey," he started. "How did Lucas take the news? You did tell him didn't you? I paid good money... You still like money don't you?"
"I like money. Still. But so does pretty much everyone else though. But I did tell him. I'm not one to lie," Marshall replied. "Especially to my best friend/roommate. So, of course I told him. I still don't see why you couldn't tell him. To busy with the sport?"
"That and you're Lucas's best friend," Vaughn replied indifferently. "I knew I could trust you."
"Well, he didn't take it well. It was painful talking about it for him. I could tell." Marshall said. He got up from the seat and walked over to Vaughn. "I'm still not sure why you made me tell him."
"It was better he heard it from you. And I know he likes her," Vaughn said.
Marshall raised an eyebrow. "Did you figure that out by yourself?"
"I don't have to listen to this," Vaughn shot back defensively.
"You're not an idiot. Don't act like one!" Marshall cried at him. He hated Vaughn's lack of caring that he was actually intelligent and made a point of it whenever he was angry with him. "Well, okay you're partially an idiot..." Marshall trailed off.
"You're unnaturally harsh today... your DNA didn't get changed did it?" Vaughn asked his kind flashing back to what had happened with Lucas.
"Maybe if you were a better man and told him yourself instead of trying to buy him off, I wouldn't be talking to you like this!" He quickly added: "And I wouldn't have felt like crap since I said anything."
Vaughn started dribbling the ball again. "You agreed to do it. You wanted to let him off easily. Just because it didn't work, don't take it out on me! Go beat yourself up silently like you usually do!"
Marshall didn't want to talk about it anymore either, and left the room.
Great... Vaughn thought to himself. Like I need this at the moment.
Lucas was walking around not really wanting to see anyone when he bumped into Josie, of all people. He tried to avoid looking at her until she moved into his line of sight every time he looked away. She knew what it was about. She really didn't want an argument, but knew they had to talk. Ever since they'd kissed, he'd had feelings for her and she knew that. Everyone knew that really. She'd felt something too, but with Vaughn, it was stronger.
"Vaughn told you huh?" Josie asked softly.
"Why would Vaughn tell me? I heard it from Marshall," Lucas replied.
She stared at him for a few seconds. "Marshall told you? Vaughn was meant to... Damn it. I thought it would sound better coming from him."
"Or you, maybe," he muttered.
"Don't make me the bad guy," she snapped. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to."
"I'm not trying to... It's just... every time I get something or want something it all goes to hell! I swear this has to be a conspiracy..." He meant it as a joke. Josie didn't laugh. He paused, trying to form words. "What about when we kissed? There was spark-age. I saw sparks! They flew and all!"
"I know. I was there. It was me you kissed. The sparks were pretty and all, but you never acted on them," she countered. "And neither did I. And to be fair this is as much my problem as it is yours, but I'm with Vaughn now."
Lucas's face admitted his defeat, but he didn't say anything more about it. Instead, her quickly changed the subject. "Do you think he paid Marshall? Money is the only thing he'd break his moral code for. Not that I'm saying he broke it."
"Of course he would have. I hope that doesn't become a habit—Vaughn buying people off that is." Josie said, thinking about how bad it would be. Like she needed that, what with his dad hating her and everything. That would start rumors. Something she'd had personal experience with the badness of.
Suddenly Lucas remembered how badly he'd spoken to Marshall when he first told him. "He was just trying to help me... to make it easier."
"What? Who? When? I think an explanation is needed. Quickly."
"This morning when Marshall told me, I snapped at him pretty badly." Lucas explained. "I should go apologize."
"See... this is nice." Josie said before he left. "Us just talking. As friends."
"The only reason it's 'nice' is because we've been talking about something to take my mind off you and what we could have had. And now we're back to that and it hurts again." He turned and walked away.
Corrine sat at her desk, working out some problems with Marshall behind her looking over them. With her high IQ, she decided to constantly find the hardest questions she could. Hard to the point where she could barely do them all.
"We're the best and brightest Corrine," Marshall said slightly sarcastically. "You're going to ruin our reputation if you keep trying problems you can't actually do."
Corrine didn't look up, her brow furrowed in annoyance at the questions. "I know you didn't just come here to make small talk, Marshall, what do you want?"
"Advice."
This got her to turn around. "Advice on what?"
"Relationships."
"I am so unprepared for this. Do you have a crush on someone?" She asked, hope growing that it could be her. "Because this is an odd thing to talk to me about."
"I'm aware of that. But I trust you. How do I go about approaching someone when I have feelings for them?" He asked, his face turning red. He'd never talked about this before.
She'd turned back to her books by now to hide her embarrassment. "I can't really tell you unless you tell me what sort of feelings you have." She pushed slightly.
"Bigger than friendship that's for sure. I'm not really sure how to describe it..."
This time she turned back to face him. "Just tell whoever it is. Don't fight it. Or, you can just do something else. Like kiss them. Or just embrace them. You know, be surprising." She thought immediately afterwards, If he doesn't get that subtle hint... He's not as smart as I thought he was...
Marshall thought about that for a while. The words churning over in his mind like a gear machine. A gear machine that hadn't been used in a long time, seeing as how long it took him to come to a decision. Finally, he came to one and a broad smile crossed his face. He walked over to Corrine and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
"Thanks," he whispered, before leaving quickly. Just before the door closed, he called out, "you don't know how much you've helped me."
"No problem Marshall..." She replied, pleased with the progress of their relationship.
"I just hope I'm ready to move forward with them," Marshall said waving slightly.
When he closed the door, Corrine's face fell. She had been so happy that her and Marshall were moving forward. And he didn't want to move forward with her. She threw her pencil down in anger and grabbed her coat. She glanced at her watch. Three already? She went to her closest and pulled out a jacket—kicking Josie's clothes onto her bed while she was at it. She waited for a few minutes, until she was sure she wouldn't run into Marshall before she left to go buy some new books.
Marshall sat on his bed, waiting for Lucas to come in. He was looking at the money Vaughn had paid him, fifty dollars. Not bad, enough to get a new endeavor off the ground he hoped. He had a new business plan... but that wasn't the point. The point was to act on his feelings. To tell Lucas how he felt.
He heard the door creak open and sat up immediately, pocketing the money. "Lucas... I—"
"I'm sorry." He said cutting him off.
"'Splainy?" Marshall said caught off guard by the comment. "Could you be any vaguer?"
"I'm sorry about this morning," he repeated. "I might go to the movies soon. You want to come?"
Marshall shrugged. "Sure. It'll be fun," he said. "But I don't think you have anything to be sorry about."
"Look, I was out of line, despite what you say I was rude and bit your head off. Not literally. Hence you're talking," Lucas said. "I shouldn't have said what I did. Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah. Of course I do," Marshall replied. "Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend. Also, fighting with your roommate is bad. What movie did you want to see? Something with a conspiracy theory?"
Lucas couldn't help but laugh. Marshall joined in, and moved his hand over Lucas's. They looked at each other, directly in the eye. It was silent. All they could hear was their own heartbeat. Slowly, Marshall reached up with his hand and rubbed the side of Lucas's cheek. Lucas didn't know what to do. Then Marshall leaned and planted his lips on Lucas's.
The kiss was long and passionate. Marshall moved his hand up under Lucas's shirt rubbing his back, squeezing his hand tightly with his other hand. Lucas's breath tasted sweet. Lucas was mimicking his every move, just as involved in the kiss as Marshall, and enjoyed it just as much. Then he thought about Josie, and pulled away quickly, breaking it.
Marshall didn't say anything, but licked his lips, moistening them. Lucas remained silent as well. He went to say something, but found his voice curiously missing. Marshall coughed, after about ten minutes had passed breaking the silence.
And then the silence started again for another ten minutes, until Lucas's voice came back. "I don't think I'll be going to the movies tonight..." He muttered.
"Right... it was nice though," Marshall said to him.
"Uh, yeah... I guess it was," Lucas agreed. "It's five o'clock. Shit. When did the time change so much?"
"Huh?" Marshall asked, from under his covers. "Aren't you asleep yet?"
Lucas didn't say anything. "This is all going to fast... literally."
Marshall muttered something as he got out of bed and walked slowly to the bathroom. Lucas followed him with his eyes, but continued to sit on his bed. What felt like seconds later Marshall was next to him completely dry and dressed. Despite Lucas's apprehension after the kiss, he was disappointed that he missed Marshall dripping wet. Suddenly, he was looking at him in a whole new light...
He looked around confused, "Lucas? Lucas, where are you?" He called out concerned.
"Uh, I'm here..." He replied cautiously.
Without warning a white flash filled the room and—surprise, surprise, Lucas thought after his eyes readjusted—Marshall was gone. While his mind ticked over what had happened he stared at the clock making sure that time was back to normal. In exchange for normalcy of time he had lost Marshall. Nice trade off. He ran out of the room towards Corrine and Josie's, with three letters spinning around and around his head: WTF?
Then another thought formed: How eloquent.