Yay! Thank you all for your support on the first chapter. :) I know a lot of you said you don't even like Cargan, which I don't understand- I LOVE Cargan- but thanks for giving it a chance anyway. :)

"Sup, losers?" Kendall sang, plopping down in the seat beside me at lunch, his tray clanking to the table.

"Not much, just living life," I said.

Kendall, as you can imagine, is much more handsome than he thinks. He always jokes about his nose, which, yes, was a little odd, and his lanky appearance, but personally I thought he was really attractive. He had longish blonde hair, a unique color of yellow-green eyes, and dimples to kill, along with his great personality that can always make you laugh. He was the kind of guy that was easy to talk to. And if you catch him in a plaid shirt with his guitar, forget about it. He goes on a lot of dates with girls and he's had long-lasting girlfriends before, but really I think he's in love with his guitar and James.

"Twenty-four seven," Kendall agreed. "Hey, do you guys have to work tonight?"

"Nope," James said from across the table, popping the "P" sound. James and I normally had the same hours at the store we worked at- Sherwood Grocery Store- but not today.

"You know what that means," Kendall sang. "You two boobs are coming to my house! Friday night PAR-TAY"

Kendall rarely came to our house, simply because of our rules. He had been over a handful of times, all of which he had to scrub his hands and change his clothes when he entered, courtesy of Brooke, who I suspected purposefully tried to scare him away. Of course he also wasn't used to the rules around our house and Brooke got on him a lot. Needless to say, he hated coming over, so we normally went to his house.

"And by party you mean-" James began.

"I mean video games and pizza, yes," Kendall smirked. "You guys game?"

"I have to work," I said. "I'm getting a few extra hours in."

"Come ON Lo-Lo," Kendall pouted sarcastically. I told you about him and James acting gay together, right? Well Kendall did it to me sometimes, too, even thought he didn't even know about my sexuality. "If you call in sick, we can snuggle."

"Shut up," I retorted, shouldering him. "I need the money- I'm saving up for my own car."

"What a butt," James smirked.

"SUCH a butt," Kendall said in his lispy voice. "Guess it's just you 'n me, Jamie, and you know what that means."

I laughed and rolled my eyes as James wiggled his brows and bit his lip flirtatiously, acting the whole time, of course.

I have to say, I was pretty bored of being a cart-boy. James and I had been working at that store since the holidays and it was spring now, and still we weren't even considered for a promotion to baggers or cashiers. Being a cart-boy wasn't so bad now that it was warmer, but it was miserable in the snow and subzero temperatures, when we slipped and slid everywhere and had to wear heavy coats and scarves.

My oldest brother had an old car that used to be his girlfriend's that he wanted to get rid of, and he said I could have it for a thousand dollars. It was a lot of money for me, considering I was in high school, but I knew it was a great deal on a working car, so I told him I would get the money. James and I usually got places in Brooke's car, since she mostly worked from home anyway, but I thought that it would be cool to have my own car that I could go anywhere anytime in, and that James and Kendall could borrow when they wanted, too. It felt weird to be working without James, but I wanted those extra hours for a little extra cash toward the car.

James had dropped me off at work before he went to Kendall's, so I had to walk home. I didn't mind- it was a pretty warm evening, and although it was dark by the time my shift was over, I wasn't scared.

I walked quickly, hands in my hoodie pocket, trying to get home and get some FOOD. My headphones were stuck in my ears as I walked.

I was about a quarter the way home when I heard a rumbling through my music. I knew it was a motorcycle, and there was only one person in this town that rode a motorcycle around. I turned my face away from the road, hoping Logan didn't notice me. He seemed to be okay with me, but I was still really scared of him.

The rumbling became louder and I knew the motorcycle was right beside me. It seemed to stay with me for a second before something hit the side of my face.

I gasped and turned to him to see that he had stopped the motorcycle and was staring at me. I took out my headphones and paused my music.

"Leave me alone, Logan," I said strongly. I didn't know what he hit me with, but it kind of hurt.

"Okay, fine, I'll leave you alone to get kidnapped and raped," Logan retorted. "Excuse the fuck outta me for trying to be courteous to someone I know."

"This isn't California- it's safe to walk at night."

Logan turned the motorcycle off, making the loud rumbling stop, and was walking it with his toes on the road, still sitting on it.

"Why're you walking?" he asked.

"My brother has our car."

Logan was silent as he walked the bike beside me.

"Are you like a faggot or something?" he asked suddenly, sending ice into my stomach. My head snapped his way and I tried to give him the most defensive face I could muster. Why would he think that? I mean, it's TRUE, but I thought I was doing good to hide it.

"Why would you think that?" I demanded.

"There's a lot of them in Cali," Logan shrugged. "I'm kinda good at spotting them."

"I assume it takes one to know one," I hissed.

"Maybe," he shrugged simply, taking me off guard. "Are you, though?"

"No," I lied angrily. Logan didn't seem embarrassed or anything. We were silent for a while, my anger building a little. Why was he following me? "You can go now," I said irritably.

"Go WHERE, though?"

"Away."

"The one time Logan tries to be nice to someone, he gets told to fuck off," Logan laughed sarcastically. "Fuck this."

"Well it's dark and you're a mean guy on a motorcycle, I frankly don't feel very safe right now."

"I'm not MEAN. I'm nice to you."

I was silent, knowing he was right.

"I'm not gonna MUG you or like force you into sexual favors or anything," Logan retorted. "You don't have to be scared of me."

I was silent, just wanting him to leave.

"So do you want a ride home?" he asked impatiently, like he had already asked the question and I was yet to answer.

"No."

"You live close to me, right? If you heard me ride home the other night?"

"Unfortunately."

"C'mon. Just hop on- I'll get you home really fast."

"Do you have a helmet?" I asked.

"No?"

"Then I'm not getting on."

"I'll go slow."

"Nope."

"Kay," Logan sighed. "Well I'm not leaving you alone, so I guess we've got a while."

I groaned to myself, just wanting him to leave. I was tired and hungry and really cranky, and I wanted Logan gone.

"This'll go a lot easier if you let me give you a ride," Logan said simply.

"My dad would kill me."

"So? Rules are meant to be broken," he shrugged. "What kinda life will you have if you always obey?"

"Hopefully a long, safe one."

"I'd rather die young and live big than die old and not live at all," Logan smarted. "People say play it safe, but I don't wanna live that way. I say take a chance and change the game, you know? Show em that you're not afraid."

"Why do you even care how or if I live?" I snapped. "Just go."

"I guess I don't REALLY care," he said thoughtfully. "I just have nothing else to do."

I was silent, staring ahead as I walked, praying for him to ride away, but he didn't.

"Why do you all assume that because I have ink and a piercing and a bike, I'm automatically dangerous?" Logan asked simply. "You're all so judgmental here, like, I'm really not that bad, I don't think."

"You tried to kill me for almost running over you with my car," I said flatly. "Not the best first impression. Then you walk around school like if someone so much as looks at you, you'll knife them or something. It scares people- especially around here."

"I guess I can be a little defensive," he said after a while of silence.

I said nothing and planned on not saying anything else for the rest of the walk in hopes he would get bored and ride off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Logan look up at the stars as he walked his bike, taking a deep breath.

"You're the only one who has really made an effort to even talk back to me," he said, looking over at me. "Like, if I think a person's nice, I try to start conversation. They all roll their eyes and walk away, but you didn't."

I felt bad now for not talking to him, but I wasn't giving in.

"Back in Cali, I wasn't a big whoop. Practically everyone at my school had ink or piercings," Logan said. "I thought I could survive around here being the way I am… But I think I might die of boredom if SOMEONE doesn't start talking to me."

"You don't have to conform," I said softly. "If this is the way you, are, roll with it."

"But nobody likes me," Logan retorted. "I mean, I'm no social butterfly, but everyone needs friends, right?"

I sighed, twisting my lips.

"Maybe if you just tried to be nicer."

"Nice isn't my strong point."

I said nothing, and we were left in silence again.

"It's still a long walk home," Logan said simply. "Just hop on, we'll be there in like two minutes."

I groaned and gave in, going to him. Surprised, he stopped the bike as I approached.

I felt my heart pounding in my throat as I looked down at the shiny black metal. I was afraid, okay? Motorcycles are big and loud and dangerous, and I wouldn't have head protection. I wasn't even sure if I trusted Logan with my life- one sharp turn and we were dead.

He scooted higher on the seat as I slowly straddled it behind him.

"This is probably the gayest thing I've ever done," I said, trying to lighten the mood for myself. Hey, we were two guys on a motorcycle and I would have to hug his back. It was pretty gay.

"Not me," Logan said simply as the motorcycle roared to life. I jumped and suddenly had a death grip around Logan's waist, hearing him laugh as I pressed my forehead to his back.

I didn't even feel the motorcycle start to move until I dared to lift my head and see that we were riding smoothly down the road. We weren't going as fast as I saw that he usually did, which I appreciated.

"You okay, Carlos?" he called over his shoulder, surprising me with his remembrance of my name.

"Eyes on the road," I called back, making him laugh.

After a second, I seemed to relax and enjoy the ride. My grip on him didn't loosen, for "safety reasons", you know. His leather jacket smelled really good, like just a spritz or two of cologne. The back of his head was neatly buzzed and I saw that the long hair up front was held up and back with gel in a seemingly impossible fashion. You could tell he wasn't from here just by his haircut, which I had never seen before.

As the cool air blew past us, his words rang in my head.

"Not me."

As in, this wasn't the gayest thing he's done. As in… He's done worse with a guy? Earlier when I said that it took a homosexual to know one, he just shrugged and said "maybe". Was he… Coming out to me?

"Are you gay?" I found myself calling to him.

The bike jerked to a stop, slamming me into his hard frame. Suddenly he was turning the bike off and unboarding. Oh gosh. I made him mad. Oh gosh. This is the end!

"Get off of my bike," he said simply. I hesitantly got off, my legs feeling weird from the vibration that just stopped with the bike's engine.

"I'm sorry, man, it just slipped," I pleaded. "I'm sorry!"

Logan's brows knitted in confusion.

"Go home," he said, puzzled. I looked around, realizing that we were in a driveway. This was Logan's house, and I could see my own house just down the road.

"I thought you were mad," I said in relief.

"Not really… But you can't just ASK a guy that," he said. "There're boundaries."

I wasn't sure if that answer meant that he was gay or not, but I didn't dare push it.

"You asked me," I pointed out.

"And you lied about it."

I opened my mouth to say something, then stopped in realization. Logan held my eyes with his for a second before he started backing coolly toward the house.

"I think you're safe now," he said, opening the door to the house, which was dark inside. "But be careful."

I watched him disappear into the house, my mind jumbled and confused.

Woo! And the Cargan begins! :D