Reese leaned against the wall, attempting to appear relaxed and unconcerned
as the music and babble of conversation from the party filled the air
around him. He had arrived what he considered to be fashionably late, and
the party was already in full swing. He had spotted Delilah immediately,
standing in the corner of the room talking to a group of friends. Someone
had obviously just told a joke because suddenly the group started laughing,
Delilah displaying her radiant smile and perfect teeth. Reese waited for a
moment when he could dive in and start a conversation with her, when he
could get her on her own. He was convinced that if she could just get to
know him she would surely feel the same way about him as he did about her.
As casually as he could he strode over to the refreshments table on the other side of the room and grabbed himself a drink, not taking his eyes of the group in the corner for a second. 'Come on' he thought to himself, 'just go to the bathroom or something. You can't talk to them all evening.' Eventually Delilah broke off from the group she was talking to and headed in Reese's direction. 'This is it' he thought, 'just be cool.' Quickly he smoothed his hair with his right hand and, looking quickly in the mirror beside him, removed a speck of smudge from his face with his left. Delilah moved closer, he positioned himself directly in her path, she was almost there. Suddenly someone stepped in front of him, blocking her from his view. A hand was thrust out towards him towards him, and a voice said.
'Hi, I'm Walter, Walter Spender. My friends just call me Walt.'
'Err, hey Walt' replied Reese, peering round him to try and see where Delilah had gone. He could see her talking to another group of girls who had just arrived. He had missed his chance. 'Damn' he said out loud.
'Damn what?' said Walt, smiling at Reese. 'You know I'm sorry just to barge in on you like this, but I saw you arrive and you looked pretty lonely, standing here all by yourself.'
'Yeah, whatever' said Reese, still not paying attention. At last he turned his attention from Delilah and focused on Walt. He was slightly taller than him, and probably a couple of years older as well. He had brown hair and dark eyes. He was smiling now, a glint in his eye that made Reese feel uneasy.
'I don't believe I know your name' Walt was saying.
'It's Reese.' Delilah had now left the group of people by the door and headed into the kitchen, out of Reese's view.
'Reese, that's a nice name. This sure is a great party, isn't it?'
'I haven't seen you before,' said Reese, finally focusing on the conversation at hand, 'How do you know Delilah.'
'She's my cousin actually. My family live in Milwaukee but we're here visiting for a couple of weeks. We're heading back on Monday, so this is really my last chance to get to know people here.' He said this in a hopeful tone which once again put Reese on his guard. There was something odd about Walt, something the Reese couldn't quite place. All he knew was that he wanted out of this conversation, and fast.
'Look Walt...' he began, but he was interrupted.
'I say this is a great party, but I'm starting to get bored with it to tell you the truth. Do you maybe want to get out of here, perhaps go to a movie or something, or whatever you want?' Walt asked, moving closer to Reese
Reese's eyes suddenly went wide as he realised what Walt had just said. His mouth dropped open. 'Whoa, slow down,' he said quickly, jumping back, 'I'm think you've got the wrong idea here.'
'How do you mean?'
'I mean I'm not gay, okay?' hissed Reese, almost in a whisper. He was suddenly eager not to let anyone overhear this conversation.
'Oh...right' said Walt, beginning to look slightly uncomfortable. 'Umm...are you sure? It's just, I can usually tell.'
'Of course I'm sure' said Reese, starting to get a little angry.
'Sorry' said Walt, looking sheepish, 'It's just...I was getting a strong gay vibe from you. But if you say you're not then that's cool.'
'Believe me, I'm not. Whatever vibe or impression you were getting, it's wrong, okay. It could not be more wrong.' There was an uncomfortable silence.
'What can I say? I'm sorry' said Walt. 'I'm going to go now.' He quickly turned away from Reese and practically ran out of the house.
Reese looked around in amazement. 'What the hell just happened?' he thought to himself, still stunned and surprised, and just a little bit worried. 'Of course I'm not gay' he thought, trying to reassure himself. 'I mean, I'd know by now wouldn't I? But he said he could tell, that I had a strong gay vibe. Oh man!' A multitude of thoughts raced around is head. Could he really be gay? What would his family say if he was? He was very confused.
Once again he spotted Delilah. She had left the kitchen and was heading in his direction once more. Instinctively he moved to intercept her, but then he hesitated. How could he possibly hope to talk to her after what had just happened? What if she thought he was gay as well? Before Delilah could get near him he decided to follow Walt's example. He raced across the room and through the door, out into the night.
***
Francis, Malcolm and Dewey emerged from the movie theatre into semi- darkness. The movie hadn't been great, but Malcolm and Dewey were just happy to spend some time with Francis. They had talked most of the way through, to the great annoyance of the other people watching.
'So what do you guys want to do now?' asked Francis, as they headed towards the car.
'Mom said we have to go straight home afterwards,' said Malcolm, and Dewey nodded in agreement.
'I'm perfectly aware of what Mom said,' replied Francis. 'The thing is, Mom and Dad won't be home until late, so they'll never know what time we get home. Anyway she's being totally unreasonable. Why shouldn't we be allowed to have some fun, Reese got to go to a party.'
'That's why I love Francis,' thought Malcolm, 'he's such a rebel.'
'Let's get ice creams!' said Dewey in excitement.
'Sure thing sport' replied Francis. 'We can go to that place over on 3rd, they have the best ice cream in town.' They were approaching the car, but before they reached it three figures stepped out of the shadows, blocking their way. Francis stared at the figures, and then recognition sprang into his eyes.
'Hey guys, what's up?' he said, looking into the faces of his friends Richie, Circus and Justin. 'Man I haven't seen you guys for ages, how've you been?'
'Well, look who it is' said Richie, in a voice which was far from friendly. 'The three stooges. I'm surprised you've got the nerve to show your face around here any more man.'
'What are you talking about, come on Richie, stop messing around' replied Francis. This had no effect whatsoever on the looks of dislike still displayed on their faces. 'Come on guys we're friends, we have been since second grade when blew up that toilet together' he added, in a last ditch attempt to try and salvage the situation.
'Not any more man. You betrayed us. You finally got away from military school and what do you do? You go marching off to Alaska without so much as a goodbye. You were our leader, dude, but you abandoned us. When we were vandalising the town square where were you? When we went joyriding in that fancy car where were you? When we went to jail for assaulting that cop where were you?'
'Look I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you guys before I left, but I was in a hurry. I had to get out of town before my parents killed me. You should have seen how mad they were.'
'Sorry just isn't gonna cut it, Francis. Not this time' said Richie. 'I regret that we have to do this, but you left us no choice.' The three of them began to advance menacingly on Francis, Malcolm and Dewey. They took a step back, Dewey quickly hiding behind Francis.
'Don't worry guys, everything's under control.' Francis whispered to the other two.
'How is everything under control?' shouted Malcolm desperately, 'they're gonna kick our ass!' Richie, Justin and Circus moved closer.
'I've got a plan' said Francis calmly, 'just do exactly what I tell you.' The advancing figures had now almost reached them.
'Wait for it,' whispered Francis, 'RUN!' He grabbed Dewey round the waist and picked him up under his arm, then both he and Malcolm turned and sprinted as fast as they could, across the car park and down the street in the direction of their home. Richie and the guys pursued them, keeping with them for a few blocks before eventually giving up the chase, too exhausted to run any further.
'This isn't over' Richie shouted after their rapidly retreating forms.
'Count on it!' Francis yelled back at them.
***
Lois and Hal's evening had been perfect. They had both got slightly drunk even before they had reached the restaurant, but the food had been great. Lois as always had ordered the lobster, Hal the steak. They had talked late into the evening about anything and everything, and for that few hours at least it had been like when they were first married. No kids, no responsibility, not a care in the world. They were now on the dessert, and Hal was lovingly spooning chocolate moose into Lois's mouth. She was in heaven.
Abruptly the moment was interrupted by a voice behind them. 'Lois, Hal, I didn't expect to see you here. What an unexpected coincidence.' It was Craig.
He had been watching them from the other side of the restaurant for the entire evening. Lois had mentioned to him earlier in the week that she and Hal were going out to celebrate their anniversary, so Craig had followed them. For the past several hours he had been lost in fantasy, imagining it were him sitting there with Lois. At last it had been too much for him. He felt he must interrupt, put a stop to it before it drove him insane. He had to get Hal out of the way. Now that he had reached the table though he was nervous, and less determined. How could he confront Hal whilst Lois was there?
'Craig!' spluttered Lois in great surprise. 'What are you doing here?'
'Oh you know, just having dinner. I'd completely forgotten it was your anniversary tonight. What a bizarre chance that we ended up in the same restaurant, huh?' replied Craig, suddenly eager to leave and consider his options. 'How are you Hal?'
'Just fine Craig, just fine' replied Hal. Recently he had come to dislike Craig. There was something about the way he acted when Lois was around that he didn't quite like. 'Are you dining alone?'
'Well yes actually. You know I like to come here sometimes just to get away from things, it's a very relaxing place, I just enjoy spending time here.' There was an awkward silence, during which Craig fidgeted and looked anxiously from Lois to Hal. He seemed unsure of what to do next. Hal glanced at Lois, giving her a quizzical look .
'Well it was good seeing you' said Craig eventually, 'I'd better be heading home now. See you on Monday Lois.' Hurriedly he scampered back to his own table, which fortunately was behind Lois and Hal, so they couldn't see him. He hastily paid the cheque and got up to leave. His determination was returning again. He knew that he had to confront Hal. He just had to wait for the right place, and the right time.
As casually as he could he strode over to the refreshments table on the other side of the room and grabbed himself a drink, not taking his eyes of the group in the corner for a second. 'Come on' he thought to himself, 'just go to the bathroom or something. You can't talk to them all evening.' Eventually Delilah broke off from the group she was talking to and headed in Reese's direction. 'This is it' he thought, 'just be cool.' Quickly he smoothed his hair with his right hand and, looking quickly in the mirror beside him, removed a speck of smudge from his face with his left. Delilah moved closer, he positioned himself directly in her path, she was almost there. Suddenly someone stepped in front of him, blocking her from his view. A hand was thrust out towards him towards him, and a voice said.
'Hi, I'm Walter, Walter Spender. My friends just call me Walt.'
'Err, hey Walt' replied Reese, peering round him to try and see where Delilah had gone. He could see her talking to another group of girls who had just arrived. He had missed his chance. 'Damn' he said out loud.
'Damn what?' said Walt, smiling at Reese. 'You know I'm sorry just to barge in on you like this, but I saw you arrive and you looked pretty lonely, standing here all by yourself.'
'Yeah, whatever' said Reese, still not paying attention. At last he turned his attention from Delilah and focused on Walt. He was slightly taller than him, and probably a couple of years older as well. He had brown hair and dark eyes. He was smiling now, a glint in his eye that made Reese feel uneasy.
'I don't believe I know your name' Walt was saying.
'It's Reese.' Delilah had now left the group of people by the door and headed into the kitchen, out of Reese's view.
'Reese, that's a nice name. This sure is a great party, isn't it?'
'I haven't seen you before,' said Reese, finally focusing on the conversation at hand, 'How do you know Delilah.'
'She's my cousin actually. My family live in Milwaukee but we're here visiting for a couple of weeks. We're heading back on Monday, so this is really my last chance to get to know people here.' He said this in a hopeful tone which once again put Reese on his guard. There was something odd about Walt, something the Reese couldn't quite place. All he knew was that he wanted out of this conversation, and fast.
'Look Walt...' he began, but he was interrupted.
'I say this is a great party, but I'm starting to get bored with it to tell you the truth. Do you maybe want to get out of here, perhaps go to a movie or something, or whatever you want?' Walt asked, moving closer to Reese
Reese's eyes suddenly went wide as he realised what Walt had just said. His mouth dropped open. 'Whoa, slow down,' he said quickly, jumping back, 'I'm think you've got the wrong idea here.'
'How do you mean?'
'I mean I'm not gay, okay?' hissed Reese, almost in a whisper. He was suddenly eager not to let anyone overhear this conversation.
'Oh...right' said Walt, beginning to look slightly uncomfortable. 'Umm...are you sure? It's just, I can usually tell.'
'Of course I'm sure' said Reese, starting to get a little angry.
'Sorry' said Walt, looking sheepish, 'It's just...I was getting a strong gay vibe from you. But if you say you're not then that's cool.'
'Believe me, I'm not. Whatever vibe or impression you were getting, it's wrong, okay. It could not be more wrong.' There was an uncomfortable silence.
'What can I say? I'm sorry' said Walt. 'I'm going to go now.' He quickly turned away from Reese and practically ran out of the house.
Reese looked around in amazement. 'What the hell just happened?' he thought to himself, still stunned and surprised, and just a little bit worried. 'Of course I'm not gay' he thought, trying to reassure himself. 'I mean, I'd know by now wouldn't I? But he said he could tell, that I had a strong gay vibe. Oh man!' A multitude of thoughts raced around is head. Could he really be gay? What would his family say if he was? He was very confused.
Once again he spotted Delilah. She had left the kitchen and was heading in his direction once more. Instinctively he moved to intercept her, but then he hesitated. How could he possibly hope to talk to her after what had just happened? What if she thought he was gay as well? Before Delilah could get near him he decided to follow Walt's example. He raced across the room and through the door, out into the night.
***
Francis, Malcolm and Dewey emerged from the movie theatre into semi- darkness. The movie hadn't been great, but Malcolm and Dewey were just happy to spend some time with Francis. They had talked most of the way through, to the great annoyance of the other people watching.
'So what do you guys want to do now?' asked Francis, as they headed towards the car.
'Mom said we have to go straight home afterwards,' said Malcolm, and Dewey nodded in agreement.
'I'm perfectly aware of what Mom said,' replied Francis. 'The thing is, Mom and Dad won't be home until late, so they'll never know what time we get home. Anyway she's being totally unreasonable. Why shouldn't we be allowed to have some fun, Reese got to go to a party.'
'That's why I love Francis,' thought Malcolm, 'he's such a rebel.'
'Let's get ice creams!' said Dewey in excitement.
'Sure thing sport' replied Francis. 'We can go to that place over on 3rd, they have the best ice cream in town.' They were approaching the car, but before they reached it three figures stepped out of the shadows, blocking their way. Francis stared at the figures, and then recognition sprang into his eyes.
'Hey guys, what's up?' he said, looking into the faces of his friends Richie, Circus and Justin. 'Man I haven't seen you guys for ages, how've you been?'
'Well, look who it is' said Richie, in a voice which was far from friendly. 'The three stooges. I'm surprised you've got the nerve to show your face around here any more man.'
'What are you talking about, come on Richie, stop messing around' replied Francis. This had no effect whatsoever on the looks of dislike still displayed on their faces. 'Come on guys we're friends, we have been since second grade when blew up that toilet together' he added, in a last ditch attempt to try and salvage the situation.
'Not any more man. You betrayed us. You finally got away from military school and what do you do? You go marching off to Alaska without so much as a goodbye. You were our leader, dude, but you abandoned us. When we were vandalising the town square where were you? When we went joyriding in that fancy car where were you? When we went to jail for assaulting that cop where were you?'
'Look I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you guys before I left, but I was in a hurry. I had to get out of town before my parents killed me. You should have seen how mad they were.'
'Sorry just isn't gonna cut it, Francis. Not this time' said Richie. 'I regret that we have to do this, but you left us no choice.' The three of them began to advance menacingly on Francis, Malcolm and Dewey. They took a step back, Dewey quickly hiding behind Francis.
'Don't worry guys, everything's under control.' Francis whispered to the other two.
'How is everything under control?' shouted Malcolm desperately, 'they're gonna kick our ass!' Richie, Justin and Circus moved closer.
'I've got a plan' said Francis calmly, 'just do exactly what I tell you.' The advancing figures had now almost reached them.
'Wait for it,' whispered Francis, 'RUN!' He grabbed Dewey round the waist and picked him up under his arm, then both he and Malcolm turned and sprinted as fast as they could, across the car park and down the street in the direction of their home. Richie and the guys pursued them, keeping with them for a few blocks before eventually giving up the chase, too exhausted to run any further.
'This isn't over' Richie shouted after their rapidly retreating forms.
'Count on it!' Francis yelled back at them.
***
Lois and Hal's evening had been perfect. They had both got slightly drunk even before they had reached the restaurant, but the food had been great. Lois as always had ordered the lobster, Hal the steak. They had talked late into the evening about anything and everything, and for that few hours at least it had been like when they were first married. No kids, no responsibility, not a care in the world. They were now on the dessert, and Hal was lovingly spooning chocolate moose into Lois's mouth. She was in heaven.
Abruptly the moment was interrupted by a voice behind them. 'Lois, Hal, I didn't expect to see you here. What an unexpected coincidence.' It was Craig.
He had been watching them from the other side of the restaurant for the entire evening. Lois had mentioned to him earlier in the week that she and Hal were going out to celebrate their anniversary, so Craig had followed them. For the past several hours he had been lost in fantasy, imagining it were him sitting there with Lois. At last it had been too much for him. He felt he must interrupt, put a stop to it before it drove him insane. He had to get Hal out of the way. Now that he had reached the table though he was nervous, and less determined. How could he confront Hal whilst Lois was there?
'Craig!' spluttered Lois in great surprise. 'What are you doing here?'
'Oh you know, just having dinner. I'd completely forgotten it was your anniversary tonight. What a bizarre chance that we ended up in the same restaurant, huh?' replied Craig, suddenly eager to leave and consider his options. 'How are you Hal?'
'Just fine Craig, just fine' replied Hal. Recently he had come to dislike Craig. There was something about the way he acted when Lois was around that he didn't quite like. 'Are you dining alone?'
'Well yes actually. You know I like to come here sometimes just to get away from things, it's a very relaxing place, I just enjoy spending time here.' There was an awkward silence, during which Craig fidgeted and looked anxiously from Lois to Hal. He seemed unsure of what to do next. Hal glanced at Lois, giving her a quizzical look .
'Well it was good seeing you' said Craig eventually, 'I'd better be heading home now. See you on Monday Lois.' Hurriedly he scampered back to his own table, which fortunately was behind Lois and Hal, so they couldn't see him. He hastily paid the cheque and got up to leave. His determination was returning again. He knew that he had to confront Hal. He just had to wait for the right place, and the right time.