Chapter Two: A Bumpy Ride

Marco

This is it. I'm actually going. My dad didn't even bring me. Craig drove. Now me, Craig, Spinner, and Ellie are standing at the train station. Jimmy couldn't make it because he was at a doctor's appointment. I'm not sure why we have to take a train. This is going to be one long ride.

I looked over at my friends. Craig was sadly looking into space, Ellie leaning her head on his shoulder. She was crying. Spinner just sort of stood there with his hands in his pockets. Jimmy had eventually forgiven him and we all slowly became friends again. But I could tell he felt a little uncomfortable.

"Come on guys, don't be so upset. You can visit me you know," I pointed out.

"I can't. Only male visitors, remember?" Ellie said, starting to cry again.

"Come on, we'll figure out a way to smuggle you in," Craig assured her.

"Man, you're lucky Marco," Spinner said. "An all boys' school." We all laughed, but the laughter was short lived. The train pulled into the station. I hugged everyone goodbye.

"Marco, I'm gonna miss you," Ellie cried into my chest.

"It's only for a year," I reassured her.

"I'm gonna miss you too man," Craig said as I hugged him. Spinner was last.

"See you soon," he said.

"Bye," I said as I stepped onto the train. I turned around and waved to my friends until I couldn't see them anymore.

I found an empty seat. I guess there are sleeping compartments or something, but we're only allowed in them at night. What is this, a prison? And is it just me, or does it seem like I'm in a fricken Harry Potter book? I'm on a private train to The Michael Gaelan Academy. I think I'd rather be going to Hogwarts. Hah.

From my seat, I surveyed the area around me. There were definitely some good looking guys. Then a cute one plopped down next to me. He had short, black hair that was buzzed, but he quickly threw on a New York Yankees baseball hat to cover it. His blue eyes were almost an icy gray, but had a kind feel to them. They were complimented by his black emo glasses. I could see a tattoo on his shoulder, peeking out of his long-sleeved black shirt. He caught me looking at him and smiled. He's gay. I can tell.

"I'm Jesse," he said, extending his hand. "You new?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm Marco," I offered.

"So, what brings you to MGA?" he asked.

"My dad's forcing me to go."

"That's how most of us end up there," he told me. "We're the lucky ones though. At least we have fathers who talk to us. Most of the kids are rich freaks whose Nannies tell them their parents arranged it," he laughed.

"Hmm well I think I'd rather be rich," I said. That brought another laugh from Jesse. Then some guy walked by, and all of his attention left me. He had spiked, dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. "Who was that?" I asked when he finally turned back.

"Rex Mora," he said rather dreamily.

"And he is…?" I asked. I didn't see why he was so lost in this kid. He wasn't that hot.

"My boyfriend."

"So why aren't you talking to him?" I asked, confused. This sure is going to be an interesting year.

"Well, if we pretend not to know each other on the train, it makes the sex better," he said, as if it were a well-known fact.

"I see," I stated, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, I'll fill you in a bit more. Once it's around nine or something, the little conductor people let us go into the sleeping compartments. Apparently we're supposed to stay out here until then so we can 'socialize' and not stay in the compartments that are way more fun. Every train ride, Rex and I go into my compartment to screw. When we act like we don't know each other and ignore each other pretty much, it makes the time we actually get together even more amazing than it already is. Anyway, I feel bad for whoever my roommate is this year. I think the last one quit going to this school for that specific reason. He was straight, of course, and couldn't take it," he explained.

"I get it. So we share these sleeping compartments with our roommates?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Why don't you go screw in Rex's compartment then?"

"Because, his roommate is Nate and Nate doesn't allow it!" Jesse said, rather annoyed. I guess he expects me to know everything, even though it's my first time here.

"Is Nate straight?"

"No, he's as gay as they come. But he just doesn't feel like hearing all the noise we make. We're pretty loud," he confessed.

"If you're so loud, then why don't the conductor people or whatever they're called come and see what's going on?"

"All of the sleeping compartments are soundproof. That's the beauty of it all." Jesse smiled at me, then seemingly bored with the conversation we were having, popped his headphones on. I started out the window, unsure of what I should do until nine. Hopefully I won't end up in some compartment with sex crazed gay men. Unless, of course, they're cute. Then I wouldn't mind.

Rex

"I don't think I can wait until nine," I complained to the kid next to me. I'd never seen him before, but I felt like venting. Geez, I guess there are a lot of new kids this year. The one sitting next to Jesse was gorgeous. Snap out of it! You have a boyfriend! Oh yeah, that's right.

"What's so great about nine?" the random kid asked. He must be straight then.

"Forget it kid, you wouldn't understand." I rolled my eyes and looked over the kid's head, out the window of the train. Why didn't I ever get the window seat? God I need a cigarette. Looking across the aisle, I saw my one and only roommate. He always got the window seat. "Hey Natey!" I called to him. He shot me a look that said 'don't bother me, I'm trying to sleep,' and leaned his head against the window. "Come on; don't blow me off like that!" People were staring at me but I didn't really care. If they wanted peace and quiet then they should have just stayed home.

"What?" Nate groaned.

"I need a cigarette and my bag's already in the compartment," I informed him. He rolled his eyes. I hated when he did that. "Don't be rude to me or I'll bring Jesse over tonight." I smirked at him but he flipped me off.

"First of all, I don't have a cigarette to give you. And even if I did, you can't light it here anyway. The teachers would be on you in seconds."

"Like I care." Nate leaned against the window once again and closed his eyes. Why is he sleeping at a time like this? He can sleep in his compartment at nine anyway. Not like he'd be getting any action. Oh wait, that's probably the time he saves for jerking off.

I was about to get up and take a piss when I felt someone kick the back of my seat. Oh man, if people start shit now, when I'm angry and horny, I'll have to kick everyone's asses. I turned around to bitch the person out, but was met by Thomas' gaze. He silently handed me a cigarette.

"Thanks man," I said, gladly taking it from him. He nodded his head at me before standing up and walking to the bathroom. Damn, I need to take a piss and now I can't. I decided to put the cigarette behind my ear and save it for later. After sex is always a good time to smoke. I didn't even feel like it at the moment, I just needed a reason to talk to someone. Sitting on a train for two days next to some lame straight kid was out of the question. Is it nine yet?

Jesse

I pulled my headphones off in time to hear this Marco kid talking to some girl on his cell phone. I could hear her voice because she was talking so loud, and obviously crying. A sad girlfriend perhaps? I was going to invite him to join our little group of friends, but Thomas is enough straight for us. Who can deal with all that bullshit girls carry around anyway?

"I know Ellie, I love you too, bye," Marco said as he hung up the phone. Yep, definitely his girlfriend.

"Hungry?" I asked him. He looked all depressed and shit and I didn't feel like dealing with it.

"Uh, not really," he said, leaning his head against the headrest on his seat.

"Why are you so depressed? I mean, MGA is not exactly perfect, but it has its advantages. Or is it because you had to leave this Ellie girl behind?" I asked. I had to meddle. I always did.

"Neither. I was just thinking about my mom," he said, sighing.

"Where's she? Did she leave your dad or something? Or, let me guess, she fully supports him on this whole boarding school decision," I said. I was usually pretty good at guessing.

"She's dead."

"Oh, that really sucks," I said.

"Well, I'm glad that you didn't say 'sorry, I didn't know.' I'm sick of people like that. Obviously they wouldn't know, and why say sorry to something that isn't your fault?" Marco ranted.

"You've got a good point," I told him. "Hey, do you know what time it is?" I asked. He smiled, getting off the subject of his dead mother, thank the lord. I don't like being depressed.

"It's not nine," he told me. Okay, now I'm depressed.

Thomas

I took a leak and washed my hands. Yes, I do wash my hands, contrary to popular belief. Slowly walking back to my seat, I plopped down, scaring the crap out of the kid next to me. I glared at him, which made him cower and hide his face. I love scaring people. I looked around at all my friends. Rex was in front of me asleep, with the cigarette I gave him tucked neatly behind his ear. Then Nate was diagonal from my seat, also sleeping. Quite a few seats up, Jesse sat next to some new kid, gabbing away. He'll probably invite him into our 'circle of friends.' Maybe he's straight. It's hard being the only straight one, but it certainly is amusing.

How did I end up with a bunch of gay friends? I often ask myself that question. Probably because my best friend, who I've known since I was five, is gay. But they are cool I guess. I leaned back, letting my thoughts be taken over by Theresa Nuñez. She's got to be the hottest chick back home. But she's also the only one I haven't been able to get to know. On an extremely personal level, I mean. I just want to bang her so bad. But here I am, stuck on this damn train, on my way to homo-land. Well, not all of the guys at MGA are gay, but they might as well be.

I can't wait until nine. But not for the same reason as all these other freaks. I'll go in my compartment, scare off whatever little ass kid I've been assigned to this year, then get drunk out of my mind. Most people might think it's not very fun to get drunk all alone, but I sure as hell am not getting wasted with a bunch of fags hanging all over me. Can you say butt rape? Besides, all I need is a bottle of whatever I can get my hands on, a picture of Theresa, and my good old hand. Gotta love a soundproof room.

Nate

I need a boyfriend. I've been pining over this one guy for far too long, and he'll never be into me. I know this for a fact, but somehow, I can't move on. I saw Jesse talking to some new kid. He's hot, but I probably don't have a chance. With all my luck, he's straight too. That would just be the icing on the cake right there. Not!

I scanned the immediate area, only finding Rex across from me. He's hardly boyfriend material. Except for the fact that he's Jesse's boyfriend. Whatever. I don't know what he sees in him. Rex is definitely friend material, don't get me wrong, but he's totally not lover material. He makes too much noise. I know because I've heard him, not because I've been with him.

This year is going to be crazy. It's our last year and that's a bit depressing. We'll all be split up, unless of course, we end up at some all guys' college. That would be hot. God, I need a boyfriend.

Marco

It's finally nine! I don't have to hear Jesse complain about it anymore, although he is cute when he complains. Too bad he's taken. I'm happy to be able to actually get some sleep. I know it's early, but I'm really tired. But I'm also a little worried about who my roommate will be. If he's anything like Jesse or Rex, I won't be getting much sleep tonight.

I watched Jesse walk back to the bathroom to 'freshen up' as he called it. In other words, he's going to whore out. Grabbing my bag from the overhead compartment, I checked my ticket. Sleeping compartment C18. I headed off in what I thought was the right direction; the front of the train. After walking around for ten minutes, I realized that I was in the wrong place. I changed my direction and walked towards the back of the train. When I walked through the normal seating area, everyone was already gone.

After five more minutes of searching, I finally found C18. I opened the door to a whole bunch of screaming. Two people were on the bottom bunk, underneath the sheets. A head popped out, and I realized it was Jesse. Oh and there's Rex. Wonderful.

"Hey Marco," Jesse panted. "Lock the door, will ya?" And then he was gone, back under the sheets. Sighing, I closed the door, locked it, and set my bag on the floor. This is going to be one bumpy ride.

A/N: I couldn't wait a whole week to update. Let me know what you think...