Isaiah's Love

by Kbrandan2004

Isaiah could feel Caleb shifting violently and almost wondered if he should wake him up. Isaiah looked at the clock that was showing in big red letters that it was now four 'o'clock in the morning, it frustrated him because he had just managed to drift off to sleep and now he was right back to square one. Isaiah closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.

10. Chapter 10: The Truth

Sheena was sitting in her bedroom with Chris, Katelyn and Stephanie she looked up at the time and it was somewhere around five o clock in the evening. They had been there since school was done, more or less just hanging out and spending time together. She was more than happy with things the way they were now, Chris and her were doing well even though it had only been a few days since they made everything official, she could see a future with him. Something she had always thought that her and Caleb couldn't have on the count that she always had to tell him what to do. She had made up her mind that her and Chris were a much better match to one another, Chris just seemed all around better then Caleb now. Chris passed her a joint, she had been resting her head on his shoulder, and she took a long drag off it, they had been passing it around for a few minutes now and she had been waiting for it to get to her. As she inhaled, the familiar burn filled her lungs and she rejoiced in it for a few long seconds before passing it to Stephanie who was sitting across from her.

"So did anyone else notice that Caleb and Isaiah disappeared at the same time today?" Stephanie took a puff off the joint and passed it along to Chris. Sheena had noticed that Stephanie had been acting weird since lunch break this afternoon but she denied that there was anything wrong when Sheena asked her about it. She decided right now she would leave it alone until it started to become a nuisance to her, then she would deal with it.

"That's weird, you don't think they're like, you know?" asked Katelyn implying. Katelyn had decided that with so little time left in the school year it would just be best to keep the peace for the time being. Chris took a deep puff from the joint before passing it to Sheena again.

"Can't see that being the case," coughed Chris letting out the smoke.

"What if it is though? What if Caleb's a fag too?" Stephanie persisted.

"I don't know but we're not about to go and attack him in the locker room like we did Isaiah, Caleb's a big boy," Chris laughed casually. Sheena could see that Katelyn was suddenly uncomfortable, she knew how much Katelyn objected to how they had attacked Isaiah.

"What's up Kate?" she asked.

"I don't know I just feel horrible for that poor guy, after seeing him today and the shape he was in," Katelyn looked at Chris with an accusing gaze, "How could you take a knife to someone like that, what if he bled out?" Katelyn knew she was bringing up a dead argument, that they clearly felt no remorse for what happened.

"Hey I didn't use the knife man, Jonathan did," Chris explained seemingly trying to justify his participation.

"What an animal." Katelyn shook her head and lowered her head for a second before looking up at Sheena waiting for some kind of response. Stephanie lit up a cigarette and took a puff from it.

"I don't think the what if, really matters because it didn't happen. It could have been a little lighter on the wound but it still turned out fine for us."

"I feel a little guilty about it too, to be honest, but God hates fags right so we're good the way I look at it," said Stephanie smiling as she flicked her cigarette. Katelyn couldn't believe that these were the people she used to call her best friends, it almost seemed like some kind of demon started looking down on their town and was turning people into monsters one person at a time.

"What's gotten into you guys, Sheena not a week ago Isaiah was the one of those idiots that you didn't mind," Katelyn and Sheena had talked about this before so she decided to throw it in her face, she couldn't keep her mouth shut on the topic anymore, "you see him kiss a guy and you have all but a death wish for him?" Katelyn went silent for a minute lighting a cigarette to calm her nerves a bit, everyone stayed quiet at her outburst. "The way you're acting you'd think you saw him kissing Caleb not just any guy." Sheena could feel an anger burning inside her chest as she recalled walking up the stairs and catching Caleb and Isaiah in the act. She was sure it was showing through in her facial features, it was something that made her completely furious. She figured now was the time to let everyone know Caleb's secret.

"Well, I did tell you that he cheated on me right?" she said, quietly containing herself.

"Oh man no fucking way," said Chris almost jumping up out of his seat, "no fucking way is Caleb a fag!"

"It's true, I saw the two of them kissing right after Jonathan left that morning."

"Then why didn't you tell us before this?" asked Stephanie paying close attention to Sheena as she spoke. Sheena thought for a few seconds and put the joint out before she spoke.

"Well to be honest he asked me not to, after a three-year relationship I thought I owed him something but when I think about it he doesn't deserve any mercy. He can rot in hell," explained Sheena her bitterness shining through in her words. Chris sat back down and got comfortable again he sat looking back at Sheena.

"Sheena you better not be lying about this," said Chris, "it was one thing when it was someone who everyone already thought was, but Caleb? That won't go down well if you're wrong." Sheena glared at Chris for doubting her.

"I know I'm right, I'll prove it to you soon." Katelyn listened to Sheena speaking, there was a certain deviousness that was there that was even unusual for her to speak with.

"Sheena, no more can we stop this now please?" she pleaded. Sheena just looked at her and Katelyn knew that the plea was going unheard. "Why can't we just stop before someone else gets hurt? You've gotten back at Isaiah now why can't you just leave it alone now? Why go the extra step?" Sheena's patience with Katelyn's sympathy for Isaiah and now Caleb, was wearing very thin.

"Because, he lied to me. If he had of broken it off with me before all this happened then fine I wouldn't have cared in the least," she explained. "I wanna show that bastard that this is what he gets for cheating on me." Sheena quickly made up her mind that she was going to tell everyone and with the end of the year being so close she would have to work quickly. "In fact tomorrow when we are at that meeting in the auditorium, I'm going to tell the entire school that they're both fags."

"But what does that prove?" Katelyn could feel that she was fighting a losing battle and that Sheena was hell bent on doing this.

"I'm not out to prove anything," snapped Sheena, "I'm just going to make sure that he feels as much pain as I did that day, I don't care if its emotional, physical or whatever as long as he suffers." Katelyn could see the anger brimming in Sheena's eyes and hear it in her voice as she spoke deciding that there was no way she'd be able to convince her against what she was about to do. "Why don't you guys leave? Now I'm irritated." Chris looked at Sheena surprised. "Not you, but you guys should go I'll see you tomorrow at school or something." Katelyn took a deep breath and stood up, picking up her back pack.

"Alright sounds like a plan," said Katelyn hinting at sarcasm, "Stephanie you wanna walk with me?" Katelyn watched as Stephanie stood up, waiting for an answer.

"I'm going in the opposite direction, I need a coffee, feeling a little blah right now." Katelyn shrugged her shoulders and left the room.

Caleb opened his eyes to the sound movement downstairs as he realized that he and Isaiah dozed off together on his bed, he looked at the time and it was almost four thirty. He looked over at Isaiah who was cuddled up beside him under his arm. They had laid on the bed to watch a movie and fallen asleep somewhere between one and two after about half way in. It was evident that it wasn't just Caleb that hadn't been sleeping well lately. With all that had been happening in the past week neither of them had much opportunity to sleep what anyone would call normal hours. Caleb was looking forward to the summer vacation when he thought everything would get back to normal. The only thing he would have to do was set up for university but that could be done on a normal sleep schedule. He looked at Isaiah almost not wanting to wake him up but knowing that if his either of his parents came in and saw them that it would be war. He gently moved his arm out from under Isaiah's head and touched his cheek for a second before Isaiah opened his eyes and stretched a little bit.

"Hey how'd you sleep?" whispered Caleb.

"Pretty good," Isaiah smiled at him before taking his hand, "How about you?"

"No complaints," Caleb smiled and leaned in kissing him on the cheek before sitting on the edge of the bed. "I think my parents are home, so I'm thinking we should go for a drive or something."

"Will they be mad that I'm here?" asked Isaiah gaining a confused look on his face.

"No but it'd be awkward probably." As Caleb spoke he realized that his words probably sounded selfish, he didn't want Isaiah to think that he was ashamed of him, "That's not what I meant." He looked back at Isaiah and smiled awkwardly then turned around again, he just wasn't ready to deal with coming to his parents with their relationship. "I'm just not..."

"I know," said Isaiah interrupting him. Caleb looked back and Isaiah was staring at him pretty intently giving him a comforting gaze. Caleb smiled before standing up off the bed, Isaiah moved awkwardly to sit on the edge of the bed clearly still in pain.

"How's it feeling? Any better?" Caleb walked over to the door taking his favourite vest off a nearby coat rack and looked back at Isaiah as he spoke.

"Um, it's a little better I guess, not by much," Isaiah got to his feet and stretched a little bit. "I just wish it would heal already."

"How long did the doctor say?" Caleb had guess that it wouldn't take too long for the wound to heal even though it was so deep. He had learned about how resilient the human body was from first-hand experience being a sports player his whole life.

"Like a month or so." As Isaiah finished talking Caleb could hear footsteps heading up the stairs, it sounded like his father, his mother was fairly light on her feet and Caesar wasn't as heavy on his feet as his father was. He could hear the footsteps come up the steps then down the hall and stop at his bedroom door before there was a stern knock at the door.

"Caleb, are you in there?" called Gordon. Caleb was surprised that he knocked at all typically his father didn't respect his privacy, because of this Caleb had gotten a keen sense of how to determine where people were in the house just by listening. Caleb opened the door.

"What's up Dad?" asked Caleb trying to make it seem like nothing was out of the ordinary. Gordon looked at Isaiah briefly before turning his attention back to Caleb.

"I didn't realize we had a guest," he said, "I just wanted to let you know that the principal called to let us know that the game was off for tomorrow. Did you know that?"

"Yeah, I actually suggested it, the coach got suspended because of what happened the other night, it's not making me very popular right now, but who cares about that right." Caleb smiled as he talked looking from his father to Isaiah then back again. Isaiah smiled shyly then looked down at the floor.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew so you weren't disappointed when you got to class tomorrow." Gordon looked at Caleb as he spoke then moved his gaze to Isaiah again. "Who is you're knew friend Caleb, I don't believe we've met?" Caleb had been hoping that his father would just deliver his message and leave so that they could avoid any awkwardness.

"Yeah this is my friend Isaiah, Dad. He's one of the guys on the team," explained Caleb trying to be brief. Isaiah looked up trying not to be rude and gave a welcoming smile.

"Hello," he greeted. To Caleb's surprise his father stepped in the room and extended his hand to Isaiah.

"Pleased to meet you Isaiah," Isaiah shook his hand, "My name is Gordon and as you can see I'm Caleb's father." Caleb thought for a few seconds that he might still be sleeping or that the man in his room wasn't his father.

"Nice to meet you," said Isaiah standing up.

"Alright, I've got a few quick questions for you Isaiah." Isaiah looked at Caleb then back to Gordon confused at what he might be getting ready to ask. "First one is, are you into drugs?"

"No sir." Isaiah laughed a little bit inside he had never done drugs before but to be asked so blatantly was something he found quite funny. Caleb was almost scared to hear what the next question was and swallowed hard at what might happen if his father didn't like Isaiah's answer.

"Good," he smiled at Isaiah then looked at Caleb as he slid his hands into his pants pockets, "Here the way he answered that, you could learn a few things from this boy Caleb, knows how to address his elders properly. He's already better than your friend Jonathan on two counts," Caleb smiled at his father and began to realize why he was asking the questions. "The second question is what do you want to do with your life?"

"I'm getting into school on scholarship to be a teacher."

"Sports scholarship?"

"Scholastic," said Isaiah proudly. He didn't look down on people who had scholarships based on their physical abilities but he felt that it was hard to get a scholastic scholarship over the latter.

"I can hear the pride in your voice when you say that Isaiah," Gordon smiled before looking back at Caleb, "Why haven't you brought him around before this? This is the type of person we want out son to be associated with. Not some of that other riff raff you've brought home." Caleb smiled knowing that if Gordon found out what Isaiah really was to him then he would have an entirely different choice of words to describe him.

"We just never really connected before last Friday I guess, I don't really know why," answered Caleb. Part of him was glad that all of this had happened so late in the year but he did regret the fact that neither of them had been able to demonstrate their feelings for each other before they did.

"Well what did you boys plan on doing for supper? Did you want to stay for supper Isaiah?" In all the years that Caleb and Jonathan had been friends, never once did Gordon offer him to stay for supper. Gordon looked at Isaiah waiting for him to answer and Isaiah looked over at Caleb not really sure what to answer but he didn't want to offend Caleb's father. Caleb wasn't giving any hints leaning one way or another.

"Sure I guess," said Isaiah trying not to sound unsure of himself.

"Good it should be ready in twenty minutes or so, we'll give you guys a shout." Gordon smiled and turned and walked out of the room. Caleb waited a few seconds before pushing the door shut, as the door latch clicked telling him it was shut he let out a sigh of relief.

"Man I thought he'd never leave."

"Sorry, I wasn't sure what to say when he asked me to stay for supper, I didn't want to offend him," Isaiah took a step over to Caleb, "If you want I can pretend my mom called and give us a reason to go home?"

"Nah it's okay, I'm kinda hungry now that I'm thinking about it. I'm just glad he likes you," explained Caleb.

"Is it really so hard to believe," laughed Isaiah.

"No you don't understand, he's never asked my friends to stay for dinner before, let alone complimented them." Caleb was extremely happy that his father liked Isaiah, it just meant that when the time came it would soften the blow of him being with a guy if they liked him in the first place. "I wanted to pass out." Caleb looked at Isaiah and wrapped his arms around him in an embrace. He held onto him tightly but was still sure not to hurt him. Caleb breathed in deeply taking in the smell of Isaiah's skin. "I love you so much," he whispered.

"I love you too." Isaiah pulled back getting Caleb to look at him and kissed him briefly. Isaiah reached up and touched Caleb's face just as his phone rang. "I bet that's my mother wondering why I wasn't on the bus." Isaiah reached into his pocket quickly and took out the phone bringing it up to his ear right away. "Hello?" Sure enough it was his mother on the other end and just as he thought she would be, she was almost in a state of panic.

"Where are you?" she asked sternly.

"I'm at Caleb's house mom," answered Isaiah. He could tell by her tone that she was upset with him for not calling her.

"And when were you going to call me and let me know about this Isaiah?" Isaiah could hear the concern in her voice and he could tell that she was trying not to let it shine through in the form of anger.

"Sorry I should of called, I know."

"I'm sorry for seeming strict Isaiah, but after what happened I need to know where you're at. I don't want anything more to happen to you."

"It's okay mom, I know your just concerned. But Caleb hasn't left my side all day if that makes any difference." Carla had to feel comforted knowing that Caleb was with him like a faithful sentry protecting him.

"It does, but please just call me when you're not going to be home from now on," Carla paused and Isaiah felt as though he should say something but wasn't sure what he should say, "Are you going to be home for supper?"

"Actually, Caleb's father asked me to stay for supper, if that's okay."

"Okay then, is Caleb going to bring you home later?" asked Carla. At this point it was clear that Carla was making small talk, she had to know the answer to her question already.

"Yes, mom. I'm not sure when though sometime later tonight through probably, I'll call you before we leave if you want?"

"That'll be alright, I'll see you when you get home dear."

"Okay talk to you later, Mom." Isaiah flipped his phone closed and put it back in his pocket.

"Is she okay?" asked Caleb only having been able to hear one side of the conversation.

"Yeah it's all good, she just wanted to know that I was okay. I let her think I forgot because I didn't want to tell her we skipped school all day."

"Ah, good idea." Caleb nodded and went over to his computer desk and sat down, "I hope they don't want us to sit down there and eat," he laughed. "I can only imagine what the dinner conversation is going to be like." Isaiah leaned against the door and smiled.

"Anything I should watch out for?"

"I don't know that's just it, it's been very few times that my friends and my family have mixed." Caleb could think of very few occasions where he sat at a table with his parents and his friends, mostly because they were gone at work all the time. For the most part his parents didn't like Sheena because of the drugs and the way she would spend his money. The nights events were going to be interesting to say the least but he had no idea how interesting, and that was what was scaring him. Isaiah walked over and started to massage his back lightly.

"Don't worry about it I'm sure we'll be okay."

Caleb and Isaiah sat with Caleb's family at the dinner table, they had just about finished eating and the conversation seemed to stick to mostly banter for most of the night. Isaiah wasn't used to eating with a family, he and Carla would eat together but it wasn't the same because it was just the two of them. He envied Caleb for having the option of doing this at least once in awhile, even though he understood why Caleb didn't seem to get along with his parents. The meal had been prepared by Caesar who sat with the family to eat but also served them at the same time. Isaiah didn't like the fact that Caleb's father had turned his brother into a servant of his family, it just seemed like they didn't really appreciate what he did for them. The fact that he was getting waited on while not at a restaurant was something that was hard for him to grasp anyway, he didn't like being made to feel like he was above someone for any reason. The dish Caesar had prepared was a Cuban style chicken dish that Gordon had claimed he would only make on a special occasion. It was something that Isaiah enjoyed, he had never had any type of authentic foreign dish before and it interested him. There had been the odd occasion where he had gotten sushi from the grocery store or his mother had brought home something that was Italian, Chinese but never something that had be prepared by someone whom could be called a chef native to that country. Caleb had pretty much kept his head in his plate for the entire meal, clearly nervous.

"Did you enjoy it Isaiah?" asked Barbara. Isaiah moved around some of the rice on his plate and scooped it up with his fork.

"It's really good," Isaiah nodded, "I was just thinking about how I've never had authentic foreign food before."

"Good, well, we're glad you're enjoying it." Barbara smiled and took a drink of the glass of water that sat by her plate. "So how're you feeling Caleb was telling us that you were involved in an unfortunate incident the other night." Caleb lifted his head from his plate and looked at Isaiah knowing that the question was going to stir some feelings. Gordon looked at Isaiah then at Carla and glanced back over to Isaiah.

"I didn't realize that you were the Isaiah that Caleb was speaking about the other night," said Gordon sounding sympathetic. Gordon went back to what was left to the food on his plate, seemingly unsure of what to say to him.

"Um, well I'm okay I guess, I'm kinda bruised up as you can see with what they did to my face. But that'll heal." Isaiah forced back the urge to cry as he thought about the wound on his chest that was going to scar him for the rest of his life. He decided that he wouldn't be any more specific with them than he had to.

"Well I'm glad you're okay, I can only imagine what your poor mother must have gone through with it." Barbara put a forkful of rice in her mouth and chewed staring intently at Isaiah as if waiting for an answer.

"Yeah she was pretty shaken up now, but with me hanging around with Caleb, her mind is at ease to say the least." Isaiah smiled at Caleb then looked back at his parents.

"I went to school with your mother. It's funny that the two of you weren't good friends before now," said Barbara. "But then, I don't imagine many other people could stand some of Caleb's other friends."

"Yeah Jonathan and I don't get along all that well to say the least."

"Why haven't you and Jonathan been hanging out lately Caleb?" asked Gordon, "The boy went from being here almost every night of the week to not coming around at all." Gordon looked at Caleb with a small amount of conviction in his gaze.

"I've been hanging around with Isaiah so Jonathan and I aren't getting along, I don't know that I'll ever really speak to him again," explained Caleb.

"Good riddance." It was slowly becoming clear that he wasn't the only person in Caleb's life that didn't like Jonathan.

"Gordon," Barbara scolded, "I know he's neither of our favourite person that Caleb hangs around. But I feel sorry for him," She looked at Isaiah, "Your mother and I went to school with his mother as well, and his step father. They're both alcoholics, they've got to be abusive. I think he used to be here so often because he hates being at home. His brother left home because of that so-called man they live with. I can only imagine how bad it must have been." Carla pointed at Caleb then to Isaiah, "I hope you two realize how lucky you are to have parents who care for you and provide for you."

"I do," said Isaiah plainly. He didn't feel he needed to be reminded by a parent that partially neglected her child for her job of what he had and didn't have for a relationship with his mother. Isaiah smiled at her and scooped up the last of the rice that was on his plate putting it in his mouth. Caleb stood up almost suddenly having finished his plate as well. He had been waiting since the last bit of conversation began for Isaiah to finish so they could get out of there and away from his parents.

"Let's go for a drive or something Isaiah, and get some air," he said picking up his plate.

"Aren't you guys going to stay for desert?" asked Barbara.

"We'll probably be back later, if that's okay." Isaiah couldn't believe how antsy Caleb got around his parents, he was almost a completely different person when he was around them. He was quiet, seemingly under confident and shy. Caleb took Isaiah's seat out from in front of him and stacked his on top of it before walking it over to the dishwasher under the cupboard.

"Alright well, it was nice having supper with you Isaiah, don't be scared to come back," said Barbara. Isaiah watched as Caesar, who had finished his meal some time ago, got up and start to clear the table.

"Thank you, I won't. Thank you for the meal Caesar." Caesar smiled and nodded at Isaiah as he took the remainder of the dinner plates to the dish washer. Caleb gave him a signal then headed for the door Isaiah followed closely behind him as they walked to the truck. Caleb grabbed his keys off the table and they walked outside. As Isaiah shut the door behind him he could hear Caleb let out a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm okay," Caleb paused as he opened the door to the truck then looked over at Isaiah, "now." Caleb got up in the truck and opened the passenger door for Isaiah. "Need a hand getting in?" he asked.

"No, I'm okay," said Isaiah grabbing the handle on the door and pulling himself up. "Where are we going anyway?" Isaiah looked at Caleb after pulling his door shut.

"I figured we'd go grab a coffee or something from the coffee shop," said Caleb starting the truck. "Sound good? I'm buying." Caleb looked at Isaiah for a second before starting to pull out of the yard.

"Okay, I haven't been in there in awhile." The coffee shop in town was a locally owned business that specialized in coffee's from around the world, that were often expensive, because they were authentic. It was something he very seldom had the money for and if he did there was something else he would rather have. He didn't really enjoy coffee all that much, but on occasion he would get a mug of Kenyan blend if he chose to stray from his usual green tea soy latte'. Isaiah looked out the window, the weather had gotten progressively gloomier as the day went on, it hadn't full on rained yet but it was in the forecast. The clouds were heavy and dark and there were drops of rain on the window of the truck when they had gotten in. Isaiah noticed as they drove that the drops hit the window but were still few and far between, considering they were driving. Isaiah glanced at Caleb who looked relatively happy as he drove, he loved Caleb's face and when he smiled it especially made him smile. He couldn't help but smile when he knew Caleb was smiling. Caleb glanced over at him then back to the road as he let out a nervous laugh.

"What are you smiling about?" he laughed already knowing the answer to his question.

"You," said Isaiah, "When you smile it makes me wanna smile." Isaiah could tell that Caleb felt a little bit awkward.

"Okay," he said, "Well that's a good thing right?"

"Yeah." They continued on toward their destination that wasn't all that far now. They were right down town and the coffee shop was right next to a pizzeria that was a popular hang-out for a lot of the teenagers in town when school was out. They pulled up to the pizzeria while Caleb waited to turn into the parking lot of the coffee shop and Isaiah could see Andrew and Mike hanging out with some others in front of the pizzeria. They immediately took notice of the truck, when Caleb pulled in to the parking lot he started toward a parking spot. "Don't you wanna go through the drive-through?" asked Isaiah not really wanting to deal with either of them right then. Caleb looked at him then looked at the line in the drive-through.

"Um, we can if you want to, I guess. I just thought it would be quicker to go in," explained Caleb. Isaiah wasn't comfortable being at this place with all the people around, but he also didn't want to argue with Caleb over something so trivial even if it did irritate him. As Caleb was looking at him Andrew walked up to his window and knocked on it. Caleb turned around and looked at him with a greeting smile before rolling down the window. "Hey dude's what's up?" he said. It wasn't long before Mike stepped into view.

"Not much dude, you tell us. Where ya been all day?" asked Mike looking in the window suspiciously at Isaiah.

"Oh we just took it easy all day. After what happened the other night he's not feeling all that great." Mike and Andrew were quiet for a moment as if unsure of what to say.

"Cool," said Andrew, "Did you hear about that party tonight? Gonna be pretty big, you should show up." It was obvious that Andrew was changing the subject to avoid a possible confrontation with them.

"I didn't hear anything about it, who's throwing it?" asked Caleb sounding as if he might really be interested in going. Isaiah sat hoping that he was only making conversation, there was no way he'd go to a party in the shape he was in, even if it was with Caleb.

"It's at Sheena's oh..." said Andrew trailing off as he realized the situation they were in.

"Yeah, I won't be going to that," Caleb laughed. A few seconds of awkward silence passed as everyone let the reality of the situation sunk in. "Well we were just going in to get some coffee and some sweets or something, so we will see you guys later." Caleb started to open the door and the guys took a step back. Isaiah let out a sigh of relief as he got out of the truck and shut the door.

"See you tomorrow C," called Mike. It was obvious that both of them were incredibly uncomfortable with Isaiah and Caleb being together all day. Caleb nodded in acknowledgment at Mike and Isaiah watched as the two of them walked away. Caleb and Isaiah started toward the coffee shop taking their time, Isaiah's discomfort with the situation had all but disappeared as he realized that he was safe with Caleb.

"Faggot," they heard a voice yell from behind them. Isaiah felt a ball in the pit of his stomach and had a sinking feeling come over him as Caleb whipped around and looked back. Isaiah slowly turned to face them. Andrew and Mike were still walking toward the crowd of people, Isaiah could tell it wasn't them anyway it wasn't either of their voices.

"Who said that!" yelled Caleb. The crowd of people were quiet except for one person, David Sanders one of the guys that would regularly hang out with the foot ball team guys, leeching off of their popularity.

"Caleb, what's up?" he said casually. He acted as though he didn't realize that Isaiah was walking with Caleb after having seen him get out of the truck with him. Caleb walked toward him quickly there was a noticeable irritation in his step.

"Was that you?" asked Caleb getting within arm's reach of him. Isaiah stood and watched as David looked like he was almost ready to turn and run as Caleb stopped in front of him.

"I wasn't talking to you man," he said nervously.

"Who were you talking to, then?" asked Caleb raising his voice a little and interrupting him. Isaiah could feel his palms getting sweaty part of him wanted Caleb to hit him, but the other part of him just wanted to wake up on Caleb's bed to realize this was all just a bad dream. He couldn't believe how bad this whole thing had escalated just since Tuesday.

"Man I didn't say anything." David changed his story clearly not expecting Caleb to react the way he had. Isaiah couldn't help but think of how stupid he was acting, he had to of known that lying now would only make the situation worse.

"I thought you weren't talking to me, you obviously said something," said Caleb. Isaiah could see Caleb's fist clenched from where he was standing.

"Dude why does it matter?" David's girlfriend walked over to him and put her arms around his waist deliberately putting herself between the two of them. "That guys a fag everyone knows it, that's why he got his ass kicked." Isaiah couldn't help but notice that David had gotten suddenly braver now that his girlfriend was between him and Caleb. Caleb looked at David's girlfriend then back to him.

"I don't think you know the first thing about that guy over there, he's a member of the football team that you pretty much worship every day. Even if he is what you say he is, it's none of your business. He's not trying to sleep with you so just piss off and stop hiding behind your bitch, you little bitch," said Caleb insulting, "Next time you yell something at someone make sure it's their name and that I'm not with them. I'll knock your head off your shoulders myself." David's face had gone almost white with fear as Caleb spoke, Caleb gave him one last glare before turning away and walking back to Isaiah. "Now," Caleb smiled at Isaiah, "Let's go get some coffee shall we?" Isaiah smiled back at Caleb and they walked into the shop together. As they stepped through the second door the smell of the brewed coffee hit Isaiah in the face, he enjoyed the smell of coffee often associating it with any number of sweets. They walked up to the counter still a couple steps back to look the menu over, the shop itself wasn't all that large but there were several tables throughout the small dining room. Any time that Isaiah had ventured through almost all the tables were full, the shop did fairly well for itself, mainly because they were the only coffee shop in town but also because everyone loved their sweets and coffee. "What do you want?" asked Caleb as he looked up at the menu. "Do you have a usual?"

"A soy green tea latte," said Isaiah choosing not to stray from his usual this time.

"Cool that sounds pretty good actually," said Caleb taking one last glance at the menu, "I think I'll try one of those too." The clerk at the counter turned her attention to Caleb as the person standing ahead of them moved out of the way.

"Your usual?" she asked happily.

"Ha, not today actually can we get two large green tea soy latte's please?" It seemed strange to Isaiah that wherever Caleb went people recognized him but it didn't surprise him that he was a regular here. It was already clear to Isaiah that Caleb was used to enjoying a lot of the finer things in life leaving him to wonder how Caleb would be able to cope when he was out on his own.

"Alright then," she said almost put off as she rung in the order, "Anything else with those?" Caleb looked back at Isaiah, who shook his head telling him he was fine with just the drink.

"No thanks," Caleb smiled and passed her his credit card.

"Alright, your total is eight dollars forty four cents, on credit." Isaiah watched as the cashier pushed several buttons on the computer telling it the order before taking Caleb's card and swiping it. "Two green tea latte's with soy please," she called back to the barista. The person in behind her went to work making the drinks as the cash register printed out a receipt that she passed to Caleb along with a pen. Caleb signed his name to the receipt and passed it to her. "Do you want your copy?"

"No that's good." As the computer printed off his receipt she crumpled it up and put it in the garbage. Caleb walked down to the drink pick up spot, Isaiah followed him all the while watching the people in back quickly make their drinks. "So this is good right?" Caleb smiled at Isaiah as he spoke.

"Yeah you should like it? Ever drank green tea before?"

"Yup, it's good for keeping water weight off."

"Then you'll be fine," laughed Isaiah.

"Two large green tea latte's," called the barista as he sat the drinks on the table for them, "Enjoy guys." The barista smiled at them before going back to make his next drink. Isaiah grabbed one of the sleeves to stop the drink from burning his hand and picked up the drink quickly sliding it on. He turned as Caleb picked his up to see Stephanie standing right behind them in line. He had hoped that this drink would be the best one he ever had because they were certainly going through a lot of hassle to get it. He was starting to think that someone told them they were going to be there. All he would need now was for Sheena and Jonathan to show up to make this whole ordeal. With Stephanie things would be especially awkward since she was the last person he talked to before he got attacked.

Stephanie had sat and watched as Caleb ordered for both himself and Isaiah, then watched him pay for them both. There was no doubt in her mind now, that what Sheena had said about them was true. During her time in the last year or so, her experience told her that guys only bought you stuff if they were sleeping with you or wanted to sleep with you, therefore what she was seeing made sense. She watched as Isaiah took his drink and as he turned to face her she saw a look of shock in his eyes, almost as if he had seen a ghost. Stephanie began to wonder if he had any idea that she was talking to him that day in the field to give the other guys on the team time to clear out and for Jonathan and the others the time they needed to get ready. She didn't want to appear guilty so she thought she had better say something quick. She still didn't feel like herself after what Jonathan had done to her, she hadn't been able to talk about it with anyone yet.

"Hi Isaiah," she smiled as she spoke putting on the front, "How're you feeling?" Isaiah hesitated and appeared to be thinking about his response.

"I'm alright I guess," he said staying brief. "How's your day going?"

"Oh I've been better I guess," Stephanie didn't want to reveal too much about her day so she kept her answers brief as well. "Where did you two disappear to all day?" Stephanie had recalled Katelyn talking about them leaving together and wanted to see if she could get more information out of them for Sheena.

"We just hung out for the day really. Neither one of us really felt like hanging around today. Caleb didn't want to deal with the team after getting the game cancelled," explained Isaiah.

"Yeah I heard that everyone was pretty ticked off," said Stephanie. Caleb turned around and faced Stephanie after putting his wallet back together. He gave her a small nod in acknowledgement and smiled before turning his attention to Isaiah.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. Caleb had never taken Stephanie seriously and she knew it. She almost found him irresistible and had even tried to get with him a couple of different times when they were drunk and Sheena had gotten into a fight with him, but he always seemed to fight off her advances. It was something that had always bothered her, but now she understood why he always turned her away. It seemed to her like all this time Sheena was just a cover up for his real feelings.

"Yeah if you are," Isaiah answered.

"Did you hear the rumour that's floating around about you?" Stephanie blurted out wanting to make them uncomfortable for trying to ignore her. Caleb and Isaiah both stopped and looked at her. "People are saying you're a fag." Isaiah rolled his eyes at her.

"I thought you were going to tell me something new."

"Not you," Stephanie looked at Caleb and held back a sinister smile as she spoke, "You." A look of worry came over Caleb's face as he looked from Isaiah to her.

"Who told you that?" he asked almost sheepishly. Stephanie could hear that his usual self confidence was gone.

"It's just floating around, I'm not sure where it started." Stephanie sat waiting for some kind of worried overreaction, but she didn't get it. Caleb let out a sigh and took a sip of his drink glancing at it strangely as if surprised by the taste before focusing back to her.

"I don't even care anymore." Caleb turned away from her giving Isaiah a look telling him silently to follow before the two of them just walked away from her. Isaiah glanced back at her again as they walked through the door exiting the coffee shop. Any doubt she had previously, disappeared, Sheena was right about them.

Caleb and Isaiah walked out of the coffee shop in silence and got into the truck. Caleb started it and quickly pulled out of the small parking lot. Isaiah could tell that what Stephanie had said was bothering him but he didn't know what to say to be able to comfort him. Their entire world was about to change, some ways for the better, but for some ways for the bad at least from the viewpoint of a regular high school student. Isaiah watched the passing scenery and could tell that they weren't going back to either of their houses but wasn't sure of where they were going. Caleb appeared to be in deep thought.

"Do you like it?" asked Isaiah wanting to change the subject of thought.

"Huh?" Caleb looked at him then back to the road and Isaiah could see his olive skin was tinted red, Isaiah wasn't sure if he was angry or upset. Isaiah pretended not to notice and took a sip of his drink.

"Do you like your drink?" he asked again.

"Oh, yeah it's good." Caleb held up the drink and took a sip from it putting it back into the cup holder and continuing with his attention on the road. "Little hot right off though." Caleb was clearly distraught it almost seemed like he had lost his sense of security in himself. Isaiah could see Caleb's eyes shifting from him to the road and could tell he wanted him to talk about what Stephanie had said.

"Are you alright?" Isaiah thought it best for Caleb to just forget about what had happened if only for now, but he asked the question anyway.

"Not really," Caleb spoke quietly as if recalling everything she had said. "I said I didn't care, I just didn't want to give that dumb the satisfaction she was looking for." They pulled up to a stop sign and Isaiah could see Caleb clench the wheel as hard as he could as he put his head against the headrest partially looking up. Isaiah could see that Caleb was crying as the tears started to flow down his face like a river. "This is so screwed up." Caleb sniffled and Isaiah could tell that everything was starting to get to him. Caleb looked over at him seeming lost in a trap of emotions and high school. "I don't know what's gonna happen now." Caleb took his hands off the wheel wiped his eyes. A car had stopped behind them at the stop sign and blew their horn at them. "Go around!" Caleb put his hand out the window and waved them by him. Isaiah reached out and took Caleb's other hand. Caleb wiped at the tears with his arm.

"I know you know this, but whatever happens we're going to go through it together." The car behind them had honked their horn again having ignored Caleb's previous signal to go around them. "Come on we have to go, Caleb." Isaiah urged wanting to avoid any possible conflict. Caleb put his free hand on the wheel and started to drive. "Where were you going anyway?"

"Honestly I wanted to go to the field for awhile and just kinda enjoy the quiet." Isaiah smiled at him, it was weird but he had never pictured Caleb as the type to sit and just enjoy the quiet, but it seemed to be something they did frequently together.

"Sounds good to me."

They drove for about ten minutes and arrived at their destination. What Stephanie said was still on his mind but the second Isaiah touched his hand none of it seemed to be all that bad. The only thing that bothered him was that after everything he had gone through defending his team-mates to Sheena for the last three years, they had seemingly completely sided with her. He just didn't get how they could betray him so easily. They were literally only a few days from being done with high school and it was nothing how he pictured it, he thought that as the days went by he should be feeling less stress not more. Caleb shook his head and put it out of his mind as he shut the truck off, not wanting his worries to worry Isaiah. Caleb looked outside, the field was quiet and everything was still. There were patches of clouds in the sky but he could still see the blue as it got darker. It usually didn't get noticeably dark until around eight but the sun was behind a deep dark cloud giving everything a gloomy feel to it, small rain drops were still falling on the windshield. Caleb looked at the clock on the radio it was already quarter to seven and he couldn't help but wonder where the last two hours went.

"Are you okay?" asked Isaiah probably wondering why Caleb was so quiet. Caleb looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah, actually. I'm fine now." Caleb picked up his drink and took a sip holding onto it for a few seconds. "This is really good, I'm surprised. When you said soy I wasn't sure what to expect." Isaiah smiled and took a sip of his own.

"I think that's a general reaction when you haven't tried it before."

"How's your stomach feeling?" asked Caleb.

"Still hurts, but I think I'm adapting to the feeling or something, it's not as bad as it was." Caleb undid his seatbelt and moved over to Isaiah and leaned in to a kiss. He put his hand on Isaiah's side as they kissed for several seconds. Caleb wanted to pretend just for a little bit that the only thing in the world was the two of them and nothing else existed. His eyes closed he could feel Isaiah move to put his drink down then put his hands on Caleb's face. He loved the way Isaiah touched him and the feeling of safety that it brought him. Isaiah pulled back briefly and Caleb started to kiss his neck. "I love you, Caleb." Caleb stopped what he was doing and looked Isaiah in the eye.

"I love you too," he said smiling. Caleb kissed him again, the touch of Isaiah's lips was exciting him but he knew he had to control himself, as right now there was nothing either of them could do about it given Isaiah's condition. Caleb was satisfied just being in his arms and being able to touch him, the rest didn't matter.

It was almost eight o clock and Sheena and Chris had just got done with what he referred to as a sexual encounter, he had gotten up to go to the bathroom. She was disappointed with his performance as he had climaxed and left her hanging, something she never let Caleb get away with. Her mother and father had gone out for a night in the city celebrating him getting home from a long work trip so they had the house to do what they pleased. Sheena had gotten dressed and was waiting for Chris to walk in, people were probably going to start showing up soon and she wanted to be ready. She couldn't help but feel a sense of self satisfaction, she was going to tell everyone at the party tonight about Caleb and Isaiah. To celebrate she had gotten what she considered to be a special treat for herself and the others if they chose to participate. It had been a while since she had gotten it, since Caleb would never let her do it.

"So are we drinking tonight then?" asked Chris as he walked in the room in his underwear, grabbing for his pants. Sheena watched as he pulled up his pants admiring his body for a few minutes, he was more slender then Caleb was but still in great shape by most people's standards, she smiled at him.

"Yeah of course we are, I have something else for us too." Sheena stood up and went to her armoire and looked herself over in the mirror fixing her hair. "When did the guys say they'd be here?" Chris put his shirt on then looked at his watch looking slightly confused.

"They should be here by now, said they were gonna be anyway," he said, "Probably any minute now." Chris watched her as she fixed her hair. "You look awesome by the way." Sheena looked at him out of the corner of her eye, she had never been told that she looked awesome and she could think of a few better words to describe herself then awesome.

"Thanks," she smiled at him and the door bell rang twice. "Can you go get that?" Chris did up his belt then walked out of the room, Sheena listened as he walked downstairs and opened the door. She couldn't make out the words but she knew she was hearing Stephanie. Stephanie came right upstairs and into the bedroom with an urgent look on her face, Chris followed shortly behind her.

"You're so totally right about Caleb and Isaiah," she said sitting on the bed, "I saw them at the coffee shop after I left here earlier. They both got the same thing and Caleb bought." Sheena was extremely annoyed with Stephanie she could be so stupid at times. She knew she was right but what Stephanie saw was hardly proof.

"How does that prove anything?" asked Chris, "Caleb's family is loaded and Isaiah's not of course he's gonna buy, he used to buy for Jonathan too." Stephanie looked back at Chris knowing that he was implying she was stupid.

"I told him that there is a rumour floating around about him being gay."

"What?" said Sheena cutting her off, "I don't want it spread around yet Stephanie, I wanted to crush him myself."

"I didn't say who said it, but he didn't deny it, he just said he didn't care anymore and walked away. He almost seemed broken." Sheena was starting to see what Stephanie was getting at now, it seemed as though Caleb was starting to lose the self confidence he was famous for.

Roughly an hour had passed and Sheena had the time to contemplate what Stephanie had told her, the guys had shown up and they were in the midst of having their private party. Some other people had come by after hearing about the party presumably from Mike and Andrew but Sheena had told them to get lost. She had no intention of having people at her house that she didn't really know. One of the things that always bothered her about Caleb's parties was the fact that he would let just anyone come as long as they went along with the rules. Mike and Andrew had shown up but Katelyn hadn't shown up yet. Sheena was beginning to question whether or not she was still trustworthy with all the doubt and disgust she had shown at what they did. Sheena wasn't sure what she was going to do if Katelyn told anyone but it likely wouldn't be pretty. In the ten years in their friendship they had never really had a fight about anything, they had the occasional disagreement, but this was more than that. Sheena could tell that the whole situation was really bothering her. Thinking about what they did to Isaiah didn't make her feel good, it was the thought of hitting Caleb where she knew it hurt that gave her the feeling of self satisfaction. She couldn't help but think that if Caleb had of just broken it off with her and then all this with Isaiah happened she wouldn't have cared one way or another. But there was no way she was going to let anyone get away with cheating on her regardless of what she had to do to prove the point or who got hurt in the process. Sheena had thought enough about everything to the point she was starting to bring herself down. Now was a good time to bring out her treat. Sheena dug into her drawer where she stored her marijuana and pulled out the bag of marijuana and the small baggy filled with the white powder that she enjoyed so much.

She wasn't addicted to cocaine she considered herself above that but when she could do it and not get caught she did. She sat it on the bed and the others who were immersed in their own, what she considered to be meaningless, conversation stopped and looked at the bag sitting on the bed.

"What's that?" asked Andrew seemingly nervous.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Mike. Sheena was surprised by their apprehension she was sure that they would have been into the heavier drugs.

"It's cocaine. Who else wants some?" Sheena grabbed the baggie and walked over to her dresser. "I figured I'd treat us to something special."

"Where did you get it?" asked Chris.

"My dealer cut me a deal for being a loyal customer," Sheena wasn't getting the response she had hoped for in regards to using the drug. "So are you guys in or out?"

"I'm in," said Stephanie walking over to the desk. Andrew and Mike looked at each other reluctantly, each of them seemingly waiting for the other to make the decision. Without saying anything the two of them looked to Chris.

"I'll do a line or two, I guess," said Chris smiling at her.

"I don't think we can do that," said Mike, "If we get caught with that in our systems then it's bye bye football opportunities." Sheena almost seemed to ignore them as she started lining out the cocaine on the top of the dresser.

"Not to mention our parents wouldn't let us see the light of day again," said Andrew, "We'll stick to the pot and alcohol thanks." Sheena let out a sigh of frustration and walked to her drawer, she took out the bag of her pot and threw it on the bed.

"There you go." Sheena had set up three lines of the cocaine one for each of them, she wouldn't need very much to get the feeling she was looking for and since it was Chris's first time she knew he wouldn't either. Usually Stephanie wouldn't use to much either, she was sure it was just enough so that she could impress Sheena. "Who wants to go first?" she asked looking at each of them with a smile on her face.

"Show me how," said Chris, "I've never done this before."

"I'll go first," said Stephanie. Sheena watched as Stephanie plugged one side of her nose and kneeled over the dresser. She could hear a snorting sound as Stephanie followed the first line snuffing it up her nose. Stephanie stood back up straight and tilted her head backwards still sniffling making sure to get the remainder. "That stuff is better than the last batch you go us, stronger." Sheena smiled at Stephanie's reaction while Andrew and Mike sat watching seemingly almost in disgust.

"Good I'll go next," she said. With that Sheena bent over the lines and snorted a line then tilted her head back tapping her nose trying to numb the slight burning feeling that it left behind. "You're next baby." Chris looked down at the cocaine then looked at Sheena and smiled. "Don't tell me your getting cold feet."

"Chris man, are you sure about that stuff? If they happen to do a random drug test or something anytime soon you're screwed." Andrew's expressed concern just annoyed Sheena, she felt as though everyone should make their own decisions regardless of what your friends said. She let out a small laugh.

"Don't be a pussy," she laughed. Chris looked at her with a serious expression on his face before kneeling down and snorting up the last line Sheena had set up and came back up.

"I don't even feel anything, it just burns a little bit."

"Just wait a few minutes it doesn't hit you right away always," explained Stephanie.

"So do we do more now or what?" asked Chris seeming almost urgent.

"Oh lord no," laughed Sheena, "every forty five minutes or so we'll do a line. In the mean time let's pour a glass or two. And let's get the hell out of my bedroom, my parents aren't going to be home tonight." Sheena picked up the bag of weed and the remainder of the cocaine and walked out of her room and downstairs. They others followed her and she walked into the kitchen and over to the fridge where her parents kept their alcohol. She opened it up and grabbed a couple of coolers for her and Stephanie then sat at the table. "You guys can get your own there is some harder stuff in the bottom of the fridge." Mike walked over to the fridge and opened the door Sheena watched as he pulled out the bottle of white wine her mother always kept in the house.

"Nice," said Chris taking the bottle. "I'll get the glasses." Chris opened up the cupboard and pulled down three glass mugs. Sheena laughed to herself quietly at the thought of drinking white wine from a mug, but also considered the fact that they were football players so they would probably object to the proper glass. "Here we go boys." Chris poured the wine into each glass and passed them to the others.

"Thanks dude," said Andrew. Andrew took a swig from the glass and made a strange face. "Man that tastes like crap." Chris and Mike laughed at Andrew's face then took a drink themselves.

"Yeah it does, but gets the job done," said Mike making a similar face. It had been about ten minutes since they had done the first line and the feeling Sheena had been waiting for suddenly washed over her, she looked at Stephanie and it was clearly happening to her as well. The euphoric full body feeling hit and it almost felt like she was floating in her chair. Shortly she began to feel the drip in the back of her throat that was the cocaine making its way through. It tasted terrible the first time she had done the drug this same taste was enough to make her throw up for several minutes, but every time she did it, the sensation became easier to handle. Now as the time slowly passed the feeling of euphoria just became stronger, coupled with the alcohol and marijuana Sheena was in for an interesting night to say the least. "What are you waiting for, Sheena, roll us a joint."

"You roll it," Sheena giggled throwing the baggie at him. Chris suddenly gained a look of discomfort Sheena could only assume that he was getting the same feeling she got her first time doing it.

"Man you alright?" asked Andrew.

"Yeah, I think the stuff just hit me, but man what's that taste?" he said making a weird face.

"That's the coke dripping in the back of your throat," said Stephanie taking a drink of her cooler. "Just drink something that should get rid of it."

"Man that's nasty, I think I'm gonna puke." Chris made a mad dash to the downstairs bathroom that was just off the hallway connecting the kitchen to the living room. They could hear him as he rushed in and shut the door behind him, as he started to throw up, Sheena hoped, in the toilet.

"He'll be alright, that's a pretty standard reaction to your first time snorting." Mike sat down at the table and started to roll the joint. "So yeah, I didn't tell you guys yet did I?" said Sheena, knowing the answer.

"Tell us what?" asked Mike looking up from what he was doing.

"When I said that I saw Isaiah kissing a guy at the party," Mike stopped what he was doing and looked up at her waiting for her to finish, "Well it wasn't at the party."

"What do you mean?" asked Andrew taking a seat next to Mike, "You did see Isaiah kiss a guy right, we didn't just go do that to an innocent person did we?"

"Let me finish, it wasn't at the party it was the next day, and it was Caleb." Sheena sat smiling in wait of their reactions.

"What the hell man?!" said Andrew clearly shocked.

"As much as it would explain why they've been hanging out so much lately, it's still a little hard to believe," said Mike doubting.

"Well how do you think I felt when I saw my boyfriend of three years kissing some guy? I'm going to tell everyone tomorrow, I don't care anymore the seal is off, they can both go die in a fire somewhere for all I care."

"You know we did see the two of them at the coffee shop today," said Andrew.

"Yeah and Caleb pretty much admitted to me that they are together," said Stephanie getting the story somewhat twisted. Mike looked at Stephanie then back to Sheena.

"That sucks man, I'm glad this happened at the end of the season if the other teams found out we had two fags on our team, we'd be laughed off the field."

Jonathan sat in his basement laying on his bed as his mom and step dad were upstairs screaming at each other. Derek had come home late from work again and Helen was suspicious of him, she accused him of cheating on her at least once a month for the last year or not, after he had come home apparently smelling of another women's perfume. Jonathan didn't understand why they stayed together Derek treated him like garbage for the most part and now she suspected him of cheating. But she still would always choose Derek over Jonathan. "You stupid bitch!" Jonathan heard Derek yell at his mother. Jonathan got frustrated when Derek abused his mom like this so he usually would go to Caleb's and wait it out, but now that wasn't an option. Jonathan was slowly realizing that he had no real friends other then Caleb all of the guys on the team were choosing to go hang out with Sheena instead of him just because Chris was dating her. Up until this whole ordeal had began they hated her with every fibre of their being all because of how she treated Caleb. "The stupidest thing I ever did was get with you, you good for nothing dirt bag!" Jonathan heard Helen screaming what he was sure was as loud as he could. Jonathan covered his face with the pillow with hopes of drowning out some of the screaming match but it didn't seem to be working. Jonathan sat up and reached for his stash of marijuana, he had already rolled a few joints earlier in the night just so he would have them. He pulled the lighter from his pocket put the joint in his mouth and lit it, breathing it in. He took it in and held it for a few long seconds letting the drug do its job. There was suddenly a loud slam and his mother screamed for him.

"Jonathan!" she screamed sounding desperate. Jonathan had no idea what to expect he threw the joint in the ashtray and ran out of his room and up stairs.

"Mom!" he called out. He went upstairs to find nothing in the kitchen then walked into the living room to see Derek standing over his mother who was cowering on the floor shielding her face. "Hey! Get the hell away from her!" Derek turned just as Jonathan rushed him, Derek had never hit his mother before but he wasn't going to let him get away with it. Jonathan rammed Derek into a nearby glass cabinet and punched him in the side winding him. Derek fell the ground and kneeled over gasping for air, Jonathan turned back to his mother who was getting up off the ground. "Mom, are you okay?" he asked concerned, "What did he do to you?" Helen got up off the ground and Jonathan looked at her. Her face was streaked with tears and she was cradling her shoulder.

"He grabbed me and threw me down, thank you," said Helen.

"You ... son of ... a ... bitch," Derek struggled to say as he tried to catch his breath. "Get the ... hell ... out of ... my house." Derek slowly got on one knee. Jonathan looked at Derek then back to his mother.

"Listen old man, you're not in any position to be putting anyone out of the house. Shut up before I hit you again, next time it'll be harder." Jonathan felt himself losing control as he spoke. "If you ever, ever hit my mother again, I'll hit you so hard you'll be shittin out teeth for a month." Helen reached out and touched his arm then pulled him into a hug. "Come on mom, let's go to grandmas for the night, leave this sack of shit to rot for a while." Helen let go of him and started to walk out of the room. Jonathan moved to follow her when Derek knocked him onto the ground and started hitting him. Jonathan was the type of person who could certainly hold his own in a physical confrontation but not when he was taken from behind. He tried his best to turn around and get Derek off of him but he couldn't, he turned his head and took a right hook to the face twice once getting him in the eye the next in the lip.

"Derek leave him alone!" Helen yelled. Helen tried to push him off of Jonathan but wasn't really strong enough to do anything. She was a very small women and lived off of a disability pension for problems with her back. However it was enough to catch Derek off guard and give Jonathan a chance to throw him off of him. Jonathan stood up and turned to face Derek who was getting to his feet. As he got to his feet Jonathan drew back and sucker punched Derek in the face as hard as he could knocking him to the ground. Jonathan looked at him waiting for him to get up, but he didn't move, he had knocked him out. "Let's just go!" said Helen. Jonathan was going to debate he could tell that Derek was still breathing and he did warn him. The two of them left the house quickly and got into the car. Jonathan sat in the driver's seat and looked at his face in the mirror, he would have a black eye tomorrow and his lip was cut open.

"Are you alright?" asked Helen as he started to pull out.

"Yeah I'll be okay," answered Jonathan. This was the second time he could remember a fight between them getting this bad, the last time was just before his brother left for out west. Jonathan's brother wasn't as athletic as he was but the same altercation took place the only difference is that Derek had never hit their mother before. When it happened before Jonathan was only eleven and not able to stick up for her. "Has he ever hit you before today?"

"Only once," Helen reached into her purse she had grabbed on the way out for a cigarette and lit it, "and he apologized and said he would never do it again. That was back when we first got together." Jonathan assumed he had been out somewhere when this had happened because he didn't remember it. Jonathan fought for a second he didn't understand how someone could stay with someone else who made them miserable.

"Why do you stay with him, you don't trust him and he treats both of us like garbage?" Jonathan paused not sure if he should say what he had to say right now but decided not to stop, "He's the reason that Luke left, you know?" Helen flicked her cigarette out the window and looked at him with an astounded look on her face. Her reaction told Jonathan that now was not a good time but it was already too late for that he could see the anger building in her delicate features as he drove and glanced from her to the road.

"So are you saying it's my fault your brother left?" Jonathan knew that his mother had a complex about the men in her life leaving because of her. First his father left them when he was very young and then when his brother left it just strengthened her feelings about the situation.

"No mom, that's not what I'm saying," explained Jonathan, "I said he left because of that idiot not you. Why do you always have to twist my words around?"

"Well if it's Derek's fault then you're saying it is my fault, because I chose to remain with Derek." Jonathan could tell that his mother was just looking for someone to take out her frustration on and he didn't feel like being the one for it after what he had just gone through for her. "Why don't you go spend the night at Caleb's house tonight?" she asked. Jonathan looked at his mother shocked that she would ask him to go somewhere else after what they had just been through.

"Caleb and I aren't speaking right now," he said not wanting to go into detail.

"What you finally fucked up the one thing in your life that was stable?"

"Whatever, mom." Jonathan was starting to get angry, like always he would do for his mother and she would selfishly disregard it just because she wanted to make herself feel better.

"Don't you whatever me, Jonathan," she paused staring at him with an angry gaze, "Why don't you pull over and let me drive, I don't want you to go to your grandmother's place."

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

"Quite frankly Jonathan I don't care about that right now, I'll drop you downtown you can go and stay with your friends for the night." Jonathan let out a sigh and pulled the car over and got out of the vehicle leaving the door hanging open. His mother got out of the passenger side and walked around the front of the car.

"You know what mom, next time he's beating the shit out of you, don't call me to come save you, because I'm not going to be there." Jonathan slammed the car door and started walking down the street.

"That's it you ungrateful bastard, walk away just like your father did!" Jonathan couldn't help but think that his mother wasn't making any sense, she was probably drinking, but the sad thing was that she didn't have to be drunk to talk like that to him. "Did you hear me?! You're just like your father!" Helen screamed at him again as he walked with his back to her not bothering to look back. Jonathan could see that she was getting the attention of the neighbourhood, noticing that one older gentlemen was looking out his window at her as she screamed then looked at him. He could hear her get into the car and shut the door, she pressed down on the gas spinning the tires and kicking up rocks and dirt as the car took off. She knew how much it bothered him to be told he was like his father so it was what she went for every time they had a big argument. Jonathan kept walking trying to think of what he was going to do for the night he had left his cell phone and all of his stuff at his house and didn't dare go back for fear of finding that Derek had either woken up and called the police or that he was dead. In this situation normally Jonathan would just show up at Caleb's house and stay there for the night but that was no longer an option. Jonathan stopped walking for a second then looked behind him up the road, the car was long out of site by now, but he could still see the older gentlemen standing in his doorway looking at him. Jonathan tried not to make eye contact with him and turned to start walking again, as he did he could hear presumably the man's door opening.

"Hey are you alright?" the man called to him. Jonathan stopped in his tracks without turning around trying to make the decision to turn around and accept the stranger's help or to keep walking and ignore the offer. Jonathan looked back at the man not sure what to say but he knew he had look distraught, he could feel the blood rushing to his face as the argument had progressed. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jonathan put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.

"Well do you want to come in and talk for a bit? What's your name son?" Jonathan looked up at the man standing in his doorway across the street and started to walk toward him.

"Um, my name's Jonathan." Jonathan had never had this type of experience with someone before and wasn't really sure how to approach it. All he knew was that he really wanted to talk to someone, the pressure from the last week was building up and he hadn't had anyone to let it out on. The previous method he had tried to get his frustration out hadn't worked and he knew that the marijuana was just hiding it for a little while. He got up to the man's doorstep and the man took a step in his house.

"Well come on in Jonathan, my name is Mason, pleased to meet you," said the man introducing himself. "Come on in, make yourself at home." Jonathan walked in and let the door close behind him, Mason took a few steps in and sat on a nearby chair. "Now mind letting me know what all the noise was about just now." Jonathan wasn't sure if the man was being genuinely nice or if he was just being nosey. But in any case, he wanted to talk and Masons true intentions would be revealed soon enough.

"Well ..." Jonathan hesitated he had never opened up to anyone before, he and Caleb would never talk about anything but hanging out with Caleb was a way for him to forget what was going on at home, "my mother got into a fight with my step father." Mason's face turned to an expression of confusion.

"Then why would she be yelling you like that?"

"You've got me man, she just goes crazy every now and then I guess. He hit her today so ..." Jonathan paused not really sure if it was safe for him to tell a stranger the entire story. "I kind of ... knocked him out." Jonathan put his head down nervously wondering if Mason was going to call the cops.

"Looks like he got a couple of good swings in on you before-hand, eh?"

"Yeah that was when he jumped on me." Jonathan started to feel more relaxed about talking to this person it seem as though he was going to cast any judgement on him for anything. "My brother left because of this idiot and she somehow took me saying that as me blaming her for him leaving."

"Take your shoes off and stay awhile son," Mason stood up and walked to the kitchen, "Can I get you a drink of water? Maybe an ice pack for that eye?" Jonathan touched his eye and felt the sting, he could tell that it was already starting swell.

"Yeah just the ice would be good I think." Mason shortly returned with an ice pack wrapped in cloth and passed it to Jonathan. Jonathan took off his shoes and sat on the small chair and pressed the ice pack gently against his face. "Thanks." Jonathan sat there with his elbows on his knees looking down with the ice pack held to his face and his other hand hanging between his legs. He was starting to feel something he hadn't felt in probably years, he could feel his emotions coming to rear their ugly head as the eye he didn't have covered started to tear up. Jonathan tried to hide his face but his body was starting to feel shaky from the left over adrenaline after dealing with step father and mother and he couldn't raise his other hand. "Man, I should go." Jonathan was fighting back the tears as hard as he could but they kept falling it had been almost seven years since he had cried in front of anyone. Jonathan slowly stood up to leave when Mason stood up with him, concern showing in his face.

"It's okay, son." Mason suddenly grabbed him and pulled Jonathan into a hug and he took to crying, unable to hold it back anymore. Jonathan stood there in this strangers arms crying and trying to stop for the first few seconds, as he realized it wasn't going to stop he let it flow from himself, feeling like an idiot but at the same time relieving some of the stress he had been under.

"It's not fucking fair, man," he cried, "He beats her ass and I defend her then she screams at me and says I'm like my father, just because she knows how much it hurts me to hear it. I hate my father!" Jonathan felt Mason put one hand on his head and hold him against his chest, the ice pack had long fallen to the ground. Jonathan felt better knowing that someone was there listening to him, his touch was comforting. He had never known a man that brought him comfort before through touch, he had never had a positive male influence in his life aside from Caleb.

"It's okay let it out, all of this is just between you and I." Jonathan couldn't help but feel like he was imposing on this stranger, he was still unsure as to why he was showing him such kindness.

"I'm sorry, I..." Jonathan pulled out of the hug and looked down at the ground, "I should go. I don't deserve your help."

"And why's that?" asked Mason puzzled.

"I'm not a nice person, okay?"

"I'm afraid that's not enough of a reason for me not to help you. Why do you say that?" Mason reached out and wiped away a tear from Jonathan's face.

"Because it's true. I beat people up, I do drugs . . ." Jonathan stopped himself mid sentence not wanting to reveal anymore about himself. Mason kept a look of understanding as Jonathan spoke still no seemingly passing any judgement.

"Well, that's the Jonathan out there maybe, but that's definitely not the young man I see standing in front of me right now. As long as you're willing to leave that person out there, I'll welcome you into my house," explained Mason. Jonathan let out a sigh of relief as he thought over Mason's words as he spoke them.

"Okay," he whispered.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow?" asked Caleb leaning over and kissing Isaiah. Isaiah kissed him back and smiled before getting out of the truck, he stood there for a second with the door ajar as if thinking for a response to Caleb's question.

"Okay, what time?"

"Well, the usual no need to rush in." Isaiah nodded and shut the door Caleb watched him as he walked across the front of the truck. Smiling at him, Caleb rolled down his window. "I love you." Isaiah stopped in his tracks and turned around making eye contact.

"I love you too." Caleb watched as Isaiah disappeared for the night into his house before starting to pull out of the yard to continue on his way home. He couldn't believe how quickly time seemed to pass when they were together, one minute they had pulled into the field where they had sat talking, seemingly the next the day had passed and he was dropping him home. Caleb wanted for Isaiah to stay with him for the night but his mother wanted him home to care for his wound. Caleb drove down the street taking the long way home, he didn't really feel like going back to what he knew would be an empty house, so he took his time getting there. He took a turn down the street Jonathan lived on just for the sake of it, as he passed his house it looked like no one was home. Caleb thought about Jonathan for a moment, a part of Caleb missed him, they had had some fun memories together but Jonathan's attitude toward Isaiah and them being together was something that would be difficult to deal with. Caleb found himself wondering if they would ever be friends again, if Jonathan would ever see passed his hatred, the answer was something that only time would be able to reveal.

The clock on the dashboard was reading eleven o clock and Caleb didn't want to spend another night with no sleep, the naps just weren't enough to keep going on. As he drove and the street lights flashed passed him he started to reflect on the week's events and started to think how he couldn't wait for the next week to be done, so he and Isaiah could take the summer and do something without having to worry about the repercussions of being seen together. It wasn't long before Caleb pulled into his driveway not bothering to put the truck in the garage he got out and pushed the button on his key chain to lock it up, the lights flashed twice telling him he was good to go. He looked around noticing that his parent's cars were in the yard but the house was dark, it was rare for them to be home so early and even more rare for them to be in bed. They would probably be up early to catch their plane and be gone for the weekend. It was likely that they would be up and gone without him even realizing it. When he was younger his mother would wake him to tell him they were leaving and to kiss him goodbye but she stopped when he turned fourteen. He walked up to the door, well lit by the door light, when the silence was broken by his cell phone. Instinctive he pulled it out of his pocket and hit talk without even checking to see who it was putting it to his ear. For a second all he could hear was laughter and really loud music, when it suddenly got quiet.

"Hello?" he said quickly realizing that it wasn't Isaiah who was calling him.

"Hi," said Sheena from the other end. Caleb could hear her curt attitude shining through in her voice.

"What's up?" Caleb was careful not to let any of his discontent for her shine through in his voice. He could only assume that her call would mean bad news for him in one way or another.

"Well, I've just decided that I am going to break my silence as of tonight." Sheena paused and waited for his reaction but he stayed silent getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. "You don't deserve me keeping this quiet. I just wanted to let you know." Caleb thought for a minute not really sure how he should react. Truth was she hadn't really kept anything quiet up to this point she just hadn't used his name.

"Um, okay. What changed?" Caleb could hear some rustling on the other end as someone else took the phone from her.

"Hey Caleb, buddy. What's kickin'?" Caleb wasn't sure if the fact that she had moved on was causing her to act this way or if she was being spiteful as usual. "Sucks to know you're a fruit, when did that happen?" There was more rustling as Sheena took the phone from Chris. Caleb stayed silent choosing not react to the comments Chris was making he was angry but he didn't want them to see it.

"Yeah, so I'm not going to hold back anymore, I'm going to tell the truth. There's an assembly in the morning in the AV room for some idiot to talk about violence in the school. I'm going to tell everyone then so they know why we broke up." Sheena's tone reminded him of the way she used to talk to him and the way she would threaten him with one thing or another and he wasn't going to stand for it.

"Sheena, I won't let you do it." Caleb wasn't about to let Sheena have control of the situation again. They weren't even together anymore there was no way he would yield to her again.

"You don't have a choice!" Sheena started laughing and Caleb hung up on her.

"Bitch." His cell phone starts to ring again it was an unknown number calling so he hit the ignore button, hopefully sending the message that she wasn't in control of what was happening. Caleb put the phone back in his pocket and looked up at the house suddenly getting a feeling of loneliness coming over him. "Can't go in there yet." Caleb turned around and started to walk down the driveway, he didn't know where he was going but he didn't like the thought of sitting up in his room, thinking about what Sheena said and waiting for the time to pass when he would have to face her in the morning. Caleb reached the bottom of his driveway and looked back one more time before finalizing his decision to go for the walk.