Hello again... Thanks to those who have read so far, reviewed, added this to their favourites/alerts - much appreciated. As promised, a more substantial chapter this time.

WARNING: Sex & slash

DISCLAIMER: I only own the OCs. No-one else. More's the pity.

Hope you like. x

Chapter 3

I kick my way along the dirt track that leads outside the school building, from the locker room round to the main entrance. The low sun casts long shadows over me, but I'm grateful for once to be in the darkness, to be shielded, to be invisible. I slow deliberately, patting down my pockets, hunting out my cigarettes.

I pause and decide to draw out these sacred few minutes even more. I step onto the dying grass in the shadow of the building and lean against the wall, almost hidden from sight in one of it's many crevices. I light up and then slowly slide down the wall and stretch my legs out in front of me.

The cool bricks feel good against my sweat-soaked back. I left without taking a shower. I had to get out. Practice was enough torture. Bea sitting on the bleachers with the other girls, twirling her hair, blowing me fucking kisses. And then came the taunts from Rich and Jay – another Basic Instinct reference and one of them would have been pissing blood.

I roll the cigarette between my fingers, watching the ash tremble and drop. I can hear a whistle blowing; cheer-leading practice coming to an end. The slam of the locker room door seems to vibrate through the wall. I hold my breath, wondering if they'll walk this way. My ears strain, but I hear nothing. Everything grows slowly silent.

Placing the cigarette between my lips, I get to my feet and dust off my pants. I take one last drag and stub it out against the wall and carry on along the path.

As I round the final corner I stop short.

Leaning against the gates, feet scuffing at the weeds that poke up between the concrete slabs, is Randy. I glance around warily, wondering where the rest of the team went. Or whether he had hung back himself, deliberately avoiding the confrontation that was bound to happen.

I'm not sure when this all started. I guess we were already set in our ways; cliques all organised when he turned up one day, half way through junior high. He stood out for a variety of reasons: too tall, too bulky, uninterested in football, basketball, baseball. Jay and Rich branded him a freak from the start.

Even when we all started to gain height, he still towered over everyone. And he was so quiet. He made no attempt to join a group, preferring to keep himself to himself. He sat alone at the back of classes, mumbled answers incoherently, yet seemed to have enough intelligence to impress his teachers. We couldn't figure him out. Or rather, we didn't give him a chance. We singled him out for being different from the word go.

Funny how things change. Funny how one day he crept into my head and curled up in a corner. And then slowly unravelled and wrapped himself around my mind, crushing it to pieces. Making me think. Making me wonder. Making me fantasise obsessively.

So I grabbed Bea. Kissed her, groped her, fucked her in the back of my car, behind the bins outside The Cavern, in the toilets, anywhere and everywhere, whenever he entered my mind. But that didn't work. He was still there. Making my stomach twist and turn, whenever he entered my mind or came into view.

Now I fuck her out of decency, out of politeness. I can't dump her. She thinks that we're going to college together, will live together, get married, have fucking kids. And even if I did dump her, what would I do? Pick up another girl? Not likely. The thought is terrifying. Bea is like my safety net. She makes me feel normal.

Because I'm not normal am I?

I can't be.

If I was, I would be happy with my lot in life. I would accept my fate. But I can't. I close my eyes and fuck him instead of her. If I imagined another girl that would be okay I guess – the norm in fact. But another guy? That's not even hot. It's definitely not on par with girls imagining themselves with other girls – I mean, that's accepted right? But not this way round.

I can't be normal.

I chew my lip and weigh up my options. I toy with the idea of walking back around the entire building and exiting at the side entrance. But all just to avoid him? What exactly is going to happen if I just walk past him? It's not like I'm going to be dragged into a conversation with him – we've barely spoken to each other since he arrived on the scene. Jay and Rich dish out the insults, whilst I stand in the background, watching them bully their way through the day, looking tough, over-seeing business. I play the part well. I let my honchos do the dirty work and pretend it was all my idea. Maybe that's worse. Who knows.

Just as I decide to suck it up and walk straight past, a car pulls up. Randy's head jolts up, suddenly he's standing to his full height, shoulders back, a proud stance, an almost swagger in his walk, as he approaches the vehicle. I can just about make out the dark swathe of hair of the driver, her sunglasses catching the low sun, as she leans out of the window and Randy kisses her on the cheek.

I pull back into the shadows, breathing heavily. I feel embarrassed. Ashamed, even more than before if that's possible. I have tormented myself for so long, imagined so many things, so many situations and not once did I even think that maybe, beyond these walls and fences, he might be someone else.

Or rather, someone else's.

I lean back in the booth and take a sip of whatever Jay just placed in front of me. It's not nearly strong enough.

"Where'd you disappear to after practice?" he questions.

I shrug. "Nowhere, I just wanted to get home."

"I didn't see your car out front when I drove past."

"I went and got some take out."

Jay nods, but his eyes don't seem satisfied with the answer. I tense myself for another line of questioning, but it never comes. Jay's eyes drift over to the bar where he spies a potential gaggle of conquests. Clapping me on the back, he disappears off in search of the next notch on the bedpost.

Rich slides into his place.

"Jay reckons that Randy dude needs telling once and for all to back off."

"Why? He didn't do anything. Someone else shoved him."

Rich raises an eyebrow and I instantly wish I could press rewind and erase at the same time.

"He keeps looking at you funny, man. I mean, like he's fucking obsessed with you or something. It's fucking creepy."

I shrug.

"Oh c'mon man, he just needs a little lesson in respect. Me and Jay thought maybe after last period tomorrow. He always walks around the back. We'll just have a word – nothing much. Maybe just knock some fucking sense into him, make him think a little bit straighter if y'know what he mean," he chuckles, giving me a knowing wink.

I scowl in return. "Whatever, just don't get fucking caught."

What else can I say? Defending Randy just makes it worse. And although standing back and letting Jay and Rich get on with it, isn't exactly great, I'm not exactly going to get in their firing line alongside him.

And anyway, what's the fucking point in sticking up for him? I was deluded. I mean, I knew that, but... There was all those glances. Today for example. He was looking at me. Straight at me. Why? Was it all really in my head? Was I just jumping to conclusions? Was the whole event just a coincidence?

Or... Is Rich right? Maybe he does have a weird obsession. Jealously maybe. From the outside, I have everything anyone could ever want in high school – who wouldn't want what I have? So yeah, jealously sounds about right. That would explain the narrowed eyes. But not the wide-eyes, the caught in the headlights look...

I take empty my glass and get up.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Rich waves me off, probably glad to get rid of me and my foul mood. I push through the crowd and out into the cool air.

"Hey baby."

I freeze as two arms circle around my waist, as a warm mouth presses against the back of my neck.

"I was just on my way to you," I lie.

Bea giggles. "Well I thought I would come surprise you."

"Well, you succeeded."

"Come here," she says, taking my hand and pulling me in the direction of the parking lot. But instead of heading towards her car, she pulls me down the alleyway between The Cavern and it's neighbour.

She pushes me up against the wall and her mouth is soon sliding over mine. I can taste vodka on her breath. I can almost picture her sneaking the bottle out of her parents' drinks cabinet, taking a few swigs in the darkness of her car, the alcohol hitting her too quickly as she waits for me to leave the bar, so she can make her move.

I should stop this. It isn't fair.

But her hands sliding down my chest, tugging my shirt from my pants, her warm hands slipping inside, are too hard to resist. Especially after today. I need to feel normal. I close my eyes and block out everything else apart from her. She plucks my shirt open, her mouth on my chest, my stomach. Her hands pushes my pants down slightly, pull my cock out and begin a steady stroke.

I breathe in sharply as her mouth slides over me, her tongue running over the under-side and then over the tip, making me squirm. I hiss as she build the pace. One hand grips my leg, the other pumping the base of my cock. I reach down and run my own hand over the back of her head, fingers entangling in her hair, as the burning sensation starts in the pit of my stomach and then spreads slowly south.

"Fuck," I hiss, opening my eyes for a brief second. I glance down, see her head bobbing back and forth in the half-light. I bite my lip. So fucking close.

"Bea," I breathe. I can almost feel her smile around my cock.

My head rolls back as I almost reach breaking point. My eyes are half-closed, but something moving at the entrance to the alleyway catches my attention. A shadow.

Someone is fucking watching.

I stare into the shadows, wondering if my mind is playing tricks on me. But I can't concentrate: Bea's mouth is driving me insane and I'm so close... So...

The shadow moves again and this time, I catch a glimpse of someone tall. Too tall. They pause. And then a car crawls past, headlights bouncing off the walls for a brief second.

Randy stares at me, unblinking, his face unreadable, as I crack under Bea's incessant mouth and cum with a groan.

The headlights move away and I blink.

When I look back, eyes narrowed, the darkness is unmoving. And when we make our way back into the parking lot, he is nowhere to be seen.

All that's left is an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.