September Short Story Challenge--SCHOOL IS IN SESSION--stories here!

[Sammy Goode]

Below is the winning Pic for your plot bunny to tear into at will!

So dust off those keyboards and start posting!!

As always...YA...and just a bit of steamy on the side!!

[Sammy Goode]

[Sammy Goode]

*

[Kaje]

Oh goodie - I like that one :)

[Rachel]

That's an easy one. Be back to you in a couple of days. ;)

[Rachel]

It's all about the Context

By Rachel Eliason

Jaydon swallowed hard as he entered the locker room. He was starting to really hate gym, even though it had been one of his favorite classes last year. He still liked gym, it was just getting to gym. Guys said such crude crap in the locker room. Usually Jaydon just let it roll of his back.

Despite going to a fairly large school in a liberal town, Jaydon was one of less than a dozen "out" gay kids at his school. The school enforced their bullying rules as well as they could and he had never gotten worse than some teasing. Besides the bullies said crap about everyone. Mark was fat, John was stupid, James was a mental case (he had ADHD was all) and Jaydon was the gay kid. But they all got crap pretty fairly.

He kept his eyes downcast as he made for his locker and started to undress. He felt a presence beside and turned to see the back of Zach Wally. The tall, skinny dark haired kid was the real reason that Jaydon was starting to hate gym, Zach and his best friend Micheal. It wasn't that either boy was half as bad as the bullies, it was that he had thought better of Zach. Zach had been in his math class semester and had seemed really cool with Jaydon.

"They don't mean anything by it," His best friend Carmen had told him at their last GSA meeting, "They are just joking around. They don't ever say it towards you," She pointed out.

He shrugged. It was true they didn't say stuff towards him. "I know," He told Carmen, "But words hurt. They don't understand how those words can feel even when they aren't aimed at you."

"Hey, there's my bitch." Micheal crowed as he entered the locker room. Zach merely turned and flipped Micheal off with a smile on his face. Micheal was an inch or two taller than Zach, his dark hair slightly longer as well. Both boys were way handsome.

"You too got a bro-mance going over there?" One of the bullies shot towards the boy.

"Yeah, you got a problem over there?" Micheal replied flippantly as he stripped off his T-shirt. To Zach, who was dropping his pants to change he added, "Blue Hanes briefs? That is so gay."

"You know you like it," Zach teased back.

This is what bothered Jaydon so much, the way the two boys constantly joked about gay stuff. They never said a mean thing, nor did they say a thing to Jaydon. But they constantly teased each other about it. They accused the other of looking "so gay" or "like a homo". It bothered Jaydon, a lot.

He glanced across the way. The bullies had changed and left already, the three boys were alone in the locker room for the moment. It was now or never. He gathered his courage and turned to the two of them. "Hey, guys," he began lamely, "Can I just say something?"

"Go ahead, bro." Zach said.

"It's just the way you two talk some times." He shrugged while he said, "It sort of bothers me."

Micheal gave Zach a curious look. Zach said, "Because you are gay? You are part of that GSA thing, aren't you."

Jaydon met Zach's gaze evenly. "Yes, I am." He said.

To his surprise Micheal began laughing. "So are we dude." He said.

Jaydon's eyes went wide. That made Zach start laughing too. He looked back and forth, trying to see if they were joking.

"Oh come on," Micheal said, "You know how this school is." He faced off with Zach and pushed the other boy, who was still standing there in his underwear, against one of the lockers. "You think I can just walk in here and say 'hey boyfriend, those are the sexiest underwear I have ever seen.'?" Then he leaned in and kissed Zach full on the mouth, right in front of Jaydon's very surprised eyes.

Jaydon blushed heavily and he could feel himself getting aroused but just then they all three heard the PE teacher entering the locker room. The two boys broke the kiss quickly. "It's class time. Anyone not out in two minutes will be counted tardy." The teacher shouted from the door.

The two boys broke apart and Zach pulled his gym shorts on while Micheal stripped his jeans off and pulled his shorts out as well. "Look, if it bothers you, we'll stop." Zach said. "We didn't mean anything with our teasing."

"Yeah," Micheal said, "Actually we are kind of proud of you, being out and all. My dad would freaking kill me if he knew."

"No," Jaydon said quickly, "Don't stop. I understand now. You know some people are bothered by me being out, they claim I am pushing my sexuality or something. I guess we all just have our own ways of dealing with it. Besides when that kid said 'you to got a bro-mance going?' and you were like, 'got a problem with it?' That was kind of cool." They all three laughed.

"Okay but don't try to hit on me," Micheal said as they headed for the gym and class. "My boyfriend gets really jealous, okay?"

"You wish," Zach groused, "As Jaydon can easily see, I'm the cute one." Jaydon smiled, glad to be in on the joke now.

[Kaje]

Wow, what a cool twist to the story - I didn't see it coming. Sorry it took so long for me to read this - damn Goodreads didn't flag the thread as having new content! Thanks so much for writing for us.

[Rachel]

I am glad you liked it. It was fun to write.

[Sammy Goode]

I loved this!! thanks for writing!!

[Sammy Goode]

Locker Room Kiss
a brief interlude

Jamie reached into his locker to grab his sweatpants. The fight he'd had with Travis that morning still loomed large in his head. Its just that he was so tired of Travis hiding their relationship--if he really loved him like he said he did, why couldn't they at least be seen together more often. Jamie would never go as far as to suggest they do something drastic like hold hands--god forbid!

He was so irked by the whole thing. There were three other highly visible gay couples in the school--and nobody blinked an eye at them. Hell, Joe and Sam even kissed each other right there in the hallway outside Ms. Dewberry's english lit class just yesterday. Shit, in comparison to that, Jamie though just sitting together in the cafeteria was pretty mild--downright mundane.

He sighed and reached into the locker for his shoes and socks when he felt a warm hand stroke down his back. Startled, he stood up and whirled around to see who the fuck was messing with him and nearly fell into the arms of his boyfriend.

Travis, what are you doing? Somebody is going to see us. Give me just a minute to get dressed and I'll meet you by the auditorium-you know--our favorite hiding place?

Travis leaned in and Jamie noticed the odd look--almost a gleam, in his eyes. Licking his lips, he felt a shiver of anticipation and the telltale excitement starting in his groin. This was the look that Trav usually gave him right before...

The kiss was like no other. Sure and sensual...tongue slipping in and hands gripping his wrists. Hot flesh pressed against his chest and the cold locker against his back. Jamie shivered again--and his arousal moved up a notch. Here in the locker room at Stanford High School, his reluctant, shy, closeted boyfriend was kissing him for anyone to see.

Nearly breathless when Travis finally pulled back, Jaime reached out and grabbed Trav's shoulder and looked into his eyes.

Why? Travis--why now? Did something happen?

Travis smiled, that adorable, "aw shucks" smile of his and leaned in to whisper in Jaime's ear.

Nothing happened--just finally realized that I wanted to kiss my boyfriend whenever I pleased...and, well, here I am...you don't mind do you?

Jamie hesitated, wanting to know more--to understand what had suddenly changed. Then he realized he had all the time in the world to talk about that. Now he just wanted...

He dove back in and grabbed his boyfriend's head drawing him in for another long, slow kiss and thought to himself that he might just be able to get used to this.

[Susan]

So beautiful, Sammy.

[Sammy Goode]

Susan wrote: "So beautiful, Sammy."

thanks Susan!

[Kaje]

Aww, sweet. Thanks Sammy!

[Sammy Goode]

Kaje wrote: "Aww, sweet. Thanks Sammy!"

sure...just a little nothing--such a nice picture!

[Rachel]

cute story, loved it.

[Sammy Goode]

Rachel wrote: "cute story, loved it."

thanks Rachel!

[Rach.]

My fingers touched cold tile. Jesus. Finally!

Lungs burning and heart about ready to explode, I pushed up from the bottom of the pool, breaking the water’s surface with a bit more gusto than I would have liked. Hurriedly I shrank back against the pool wall, sucking in blessed lungfuls of air as my eyes frantically searched for Mr Scott.

Ah. There he was. Bent over one of the less capable swimmers, his gestures whiplash sharp, his serrated features and beady eyes a perfect match. I allowed myself a moment of relief. He didn’t appear suspicious…yet.

My gaze slid from Mr Scott to skim the poolside and then the swimmers around me. Shit. No sign of Eryn. His ‘toilet break’ was now reaching the 10 minute mark. By some miracle his prolonged absence had gone unnoticed, but Mr Scott’s tirade wouldn’t go on forever and Mr Scott, being what he was, was prone to being extra observant.

As if my thoughts had reached out and slapped him, Mr Scott snapped upright. Reptilian yellow eyes swept the pool. I ducked down, chin bobbing at the top of the water, my breath a coarse lump in my throat. The sick feeling in my stomach had nothing to do with the sandwich I’d eaten half an hour earlier and everything to do with Eryn, the alien boy that had somehow become my friend. He’d promised he’d be in and out. What was taking him so long?

The pool clock hung on the far wall. Mr Scott narrowed his eyes at it before swinging his head in the direction of the changing rooms, on the other side of which sat his office. His lips forked, peeling back to expose teeth a little too narrow to be entirely human. Bile burned the back of my throat. He knew. God damn it, he’d probably always known. Tucking his clipboard under his arm my fraud of a Physical Development teacher strode toward the changing rooms.

Eryn…

All the strength drained from my limbs. Eryn was in there. It was the middle of the school day. Mr Scott probably wouldn’t risk transforming, but if he caught Eryn in the tiny little cubicle that posed as his office, Eryn would be trapped.

I had to warn him.

Forcing my trembling muscles to move, I hoisted myself up onto the pool ledge. But I was never going to make it. Mr Scott was almost at the changing room entrance. I was going to have to do something drastic. Draw attention to myself and away from my friend. I drew a deep breath.

“Marcus.”

The voice came from the sliding doorway to the reception area. Ms Crowsberry stood there, painted lips pursed like a bright beak on her severely powdered face.

“Marcus,” she called again, her principals voice carrying easily over the hubbub of the pool hall.
Mr Scott stopped. His fingers curled and uncurled twice as he slowly turned to face his superior. Something moved beneath the fabric of his shirt, snakelike, twisting from the base of his spine up towards his neck. Christ. I knew what Scott was. I’d seen pictures even. I’d just never witnessed anything in real life before. Which meant Mr Scott was beginning to lose it. Which was a very very bad thing.

“I need to speak with you regarding your elite squad, Mr Scott.”

I snatched up someone’s towel and threw it over my head, pretending to vigorously dry my hair as I neared the changing room and the stiff figure of Marcus Scott. There were two divisions in the poolroom that day. My squadron and a group of first years. I could have been from either group. So long as Mr Scott didn’t look too closely I should be able to slip past and…

“Marcus!” Ms Crowsberry's waspish cry made me jump. I peered nervously at Mr Scott through a gap in the towel, my heart beat drumming my ribs. I half expected him to fly across the room, dismantle the principal in a spray of bloody pieces then come back and repeat the process on me. Underneath the towel my head broke out in a prickly sweat. I was only an arms length away.

But instead of breaking out in a murderous rampage Mr Scott merely shut his lips, gave a curt nod and set off back toward the sliding doors, the heels of his shoes snapping on the wet concrete as he went.

Discarding the flinched towel I ducked into the changing rooms.

They were empty, all of the good little soldiers still working on their laps. Except for Eryn and I of course. I dashed past the rows of lockers, rounded the corner and smashed straight into him. He grabbed me, keeping me from falling flat on my ass as I clutched at his bare arms.

“Fuck,” I hissed, the breath mostly knocked out of me from my collision with his chest.

He grinned. “Only if you ask nicely. And take me out for dinner afterwards.”

I pushed away from him, telling myself my skin only tingled where he’d touched me because I was still cold from the pool whereas he was warm. And surprisingly soft. I brushed at the goosebumps that had magically appeared on my arms.

“Tentacle man’s noticed you’re missing.”

Eryn scrunched his nose but didn’t seem otherwise disturbed. I remembered the twisting serpent beneath Mr Scott’s shirt and my stomach shrank into a tight knot.

“Eryn, he knows.”

The green flecks in Eryn’s eyes flashed, like emerald sparks in a sapphire sky. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. He raised his fist between us and the light streaming between the gaps in his fingers wrestled the breath from my lungs.

“You found it.”

“Yep. In the base of the trophy his squadron got for clocking up the most kills on a single mission.” Eryn’s fingers curled tighter around the gleaming object in his hand. “Felt good to bust that fucker apart.”

Considering Mr Scott had led the force that killed Eryn’s brother I wasn’t surprised by the cold venom in his voice. Hard lines made his usually animated face dark and distant. I wanted to reach out and touch them with the tips of my fingers, smooth the bitterness from his skin, but I’d never touched him like that. Never dared. My gaze fell back to his illuminated fist and a sudden wave of sickening coldness washed through me.

“So this is it then?”

I’d known Eryn’s finding the portal key meant he’d be leaving, but I’d managed to push the fact away, ignoring the way my chest felt like it was caving in on itself every time the mere thought dared venture through my mind.

Now there was no ignoring it.

Eryn was going back home. And home wasn’t some place simple like across state lines, or in another country even. Home, was light years away. I sagged back against one of the lockers, struggling to breathe against the sudden vice-like crush of my ribs. This was the last time I’d see him. The last time we’d be together.

“Jarreck?”

I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes until I opened them to see the worry on his face. Jesus, when had everything about him become so familiar to me. So…precious.

“It’s just…I don’t…” I scrubbed both hands over my face. I had to harden up. This wasn’t about me. It was so much bigger than me, so much more important than any feelings I might have. “You have to go Eryn. He’ll be here any second.”

My hands fell to my sides. There was nothing I could do but hold the trembling pieces of myself together until he was gone. I owed him that much.

He took a step toward me. His eyes were a darker blue now, a deep navy that almost swallowed the tiny dewdrops of green. They flickered over my face – chin, lips, cheekbones, nose – to catch my gaze and hold it.

“Jarreck…”

Fingertips brushed the backs of my hands. I jerked them away.

“Go! There’s no time for…for this!” For goodbyes. God, I couldn’t even say it. Hot tears burned my eyes and I blinked them back. I’d been Eryn’s right hand man this whole time. I would not fall apart on him now.

This time when his fingers touched my hands they curled tight around my wrists, not giving me the chance to pull free. He was so close now I could feel the tingling heat of his body, his breath warm on my face when he whispered, “Come with me.”

His words were like a savage punch and pull that left me reeling.

“What?”

Eryn ducked his head, dark bangs falling across his forehead like sleek black spider legs. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Jarreck. Meeting you. Feeling this way.”

I sucked in a breath. I’d never asked Eryn if he was gay. Never dared hope.

Eryn lifted his chin and met my eyes. “I came here to do a job. To find some kind of retribution. It was supposed to be easy. In and out, remember? I just never expected to find so much more. I never expected to find you. And I can’t…I don’t…fuck…” His hands slid from my wrists to circle my forearms, fingers digging in. “I don’t want to lose you Jarreck. Please, come with me.”

Hope flared, bright and fizzy in my chest, and for one lightheaded moment everything about the world seemed perfect. And then, bitter reality.

My mother and sister were spared poverty because of me. My being a soldier in training granted them a home and food on the table, my inclusion into the elite squad adding luxuries many others would never have. The tattoo on my outer shoulder burned. If I left with Eryn I’d be considered a traitor of the highest order and my family would be stripped of everything. Of course if my mother and sister knew what I now did they’d never expect me to continue training for the force. Which is why I could never tell them. And why I couldn’t leave.

I tried to tell Eryn, but the words wouldn’t come, my throat blocked with the million other things I wanted to say. The things that would never be said. Eryn’s people only allowed their citizens one mission, one big risk. Eryn would never be back.

Unable to stop myself I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, suddenly needing to feel the smooth strength of his cheekbones, the heat of his skin. There was no point in telling him that he’d been the sunshine in days so despairingly dark and lonely before he’d come.

Eryn bowed his head again. I kept hold of him as our foreheads touched.

“You can’t,” he whisped. “Jesus. Of course you can’t. What a thing to ask. I’m sorry.”

But I didn’t want him to be sorry. I wanted him know that his asking me had given my colourless life one fleeting rainbow moment of genuine joy and meaning. I wanted him to know that I would have sacrificed almost anything to be with him.

I tilted my chin and our breaths mingled. And then I was kissing him, the feel of his mouth against mine the most bittersweet thing I’d ever experienced in my life. It was like I was flying and bleeding out all at the same time.

I pulled away and let him go.

“Open the portal.”

Eryn shook his head, dark hair, still damp, flicking across his stubborn face.

“There has to be another way.”

I pressed myself back into the locker, the handle gauging into my spine. The pain was nothing compared to letting him go. Forcing him to walk away when I’d give my soul for one more hour.

“Open the fucking portal Eryn!” I raged. And it would have been a solid performance too, had a full out sob not torn itself from my throat.

Fuck!

I threw my head back against the locker door…and blinked at the windows above the shower stalls. Icy fingers skittered down my spine.

“Eryn? What time is it?”

“What?”

I looked back at his frowning face. “Afternoon, right? So why the hell does it look like midnight outside?”

“Shit!” Eryn didn’t even bother to glance at the windows. “He’s here.”

Eryn had mentioned Mr Scott could speed up time, but I hadn’t realized he could turn mere minutes into hours. At this time of night the pool room would be empty, the school deserted.

Eryn reached for me, fingers grazing my arms just as something thick and oily wrapped itself around my ankle and yanked. I slipped out of Eryns grasp and hit the floor hard, the lockers on my right whizzing past me as I was dragged backwards at high speed, the slide of my hands over the tiles matching the silent scream in my head.

[Rach.]

I searched frantically for something to grab onto but there was nothing. Twisting around I stared at the oozing gray tentacle wrapped around my foot. It disappeared around the fast approaching end of the locker row. The pictures Eryn had shown me flared up in my head. In vivid, 3D graphic, multi-colour clarity.

My mad scrabbling at the floor intensified and I twisted my hips in a desperate effort to tear free. I did not want to confront what waited on the other side of those lockers.

I noticed the ajar locker door just as I was whipping past it. Thinking I would be too late I shot out my arms, shouting with relief when my fingers caught onto the inch of protruding metal. The locker door flung open and I held on, wincing at the twin bolts of pain that exploded down both arms as it caught on its hinges and came to a bone jarring halt.

Eryn shot past me. A blur of bare skin and wild energy. He gave a savage cry and suddenly the noose around my ankle was gone.

I let go of the locker door and scrambled to my knees, turning in time to see Eryn fly across the room and smash into the lockers opposite. He crumbled to the floor, and lay there.

No! I jumped to my feet and ran toward him.

“Eryn!”

His head snapped up, eyes widening.

“Jarreck, look out!”

I tried to lunge sideways but the tentacle looping around my waist cinched tight and I was hurled backwards. I hit the lockers so hard my head bounced twice. Blood filled my mouth from my bitten tongue and it took a number of blinks before the fuzziness left my brain enough for me to focus.

It was like a bad horror movie. There were tentacles everywhere. Long, alien arms that slithered over lockers and around them. They pinned Eryn to the metal doors opposite me and, as I watched, one curled itself around and around his neck.

I clawed at the thick band of muscle around my waist as I was dragged up the lockers. Across the room Eryn’s face was turning a deep plum. In his hand the keystone streamed light between his fingers, but his hand remained fisted, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me.

Jesus Christ. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he opening the portal?

And then it hit me. If Eryn opened the portal now and he and Mr Scott were sucked inside…I’d be dragged along with them. He was waiting for me to free myself. Waiting for a miracle. Risking everything.

My ass scraped over the top edge of the lockers. In seconds I would be dragged over the other side. I wondered why Mr Scott hadn’t just killed us both outright. But that had never been his style. Even as a teacher he’d liked to drag out torment. Cat and mouse like.

With a cry of frustration I gave up trying to muscle myself loose and desperately scanned the locker roof. Bolt cutters! Mr Swidney, the janitor kept a couple handy for when he was required to open ‘suspect’ student's lockers. Unable to believe my luck I reached out and snagged them, my heart pounding hard in my chest.

I would only get one chance.

I swiveled, opened the cutters wide, jammed the tentacle holding me between the tools sharpened blades, and slammed the handles together.

Black blood sprayed everywhere. The limb I’d almost severed thrashed away from me as a shrill keening filled the room. I barely heard it. Gathering my feet I jumped from the top of the lockers and started running the second I hit the ground.

Tentacles slid past me in all directions. I dodged and jumped them, skidding to my knees beside Eryn’s limp form. Oh God, he looked like shit.

Hooking him under the arms I dragged him into a sitting position, relief surging through me in a hot, dizzy rush when his eyelids fluttered open. He started to cough and drag in air simultaneously, his fingers clutching at his bruised throat.

“Shhhh.” I pulled him up against me, winding my arms around him until his struggles subsided and he lay panting against my chest. “It’s okay. We’re okay.” But for how long I didn’t know. The wound I’d given Scott definitely hadn’t been life threatening.

And the shrill wailing had stopped. Damn it.

I grabbed Eryn’s hand and wrapped my fingers around his clenched ones. The portal key beamed through both our grasps.

“It’s time.”

Eryn tore his hand from mine, his wilted body suddenly rigid and hard. “No!” He snapped, voice gravelly and raw. “Fuck that Jarreck. I won’t do it!” Then, as quick as it had come, the tension left his body and he slumped forward, head falling into his hands. Because he would do it. For his brother. For all the people counting on him. He would do it. And, in that instant, the tiny little bit of heart that was still mine became his.

I shoved myself out from behind him and swiveled around so that I knelt in front of him, resolve and determination giving me strength I otherwise wouldn't have had. Because suddenly I knew – what I would do with the rest of my life – what would give my endless days meaning, the darkness light. Taking his face in my hands, I made him look at me.

“I know you can’t come back,” I said. “I know your people won’t let you.” I smoothed my thumbs over his bruised cheeks, drinking him in while I could. “But MY people…MY people breed us to go out there. Over and over again. I’m in the elite squad Eryn. Roaming the Universe is what I’ll do.” I held his face in my hands, meaning what I was about to say more than I’d ever meant anything in my life. “And I will look for you. Do you hear me? Wherever you are. Whatever it takes. I will look for you, and I will find you.”

He grabbed my wrists in a bruising grip. “You promise?” He hissed.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak any more for fear I might fold and beg him to stay. A tear spilled down Eryn’s cheek but he nodded too and, slowly, uncurled his fingers. In his palm the key that was the door from my planet to his shot a beam of dazzling while light through the ceiling and up into the midnight sky. Behind me Mr Scott and all his flailing tentacles shrieked. And then he was no more, sucked into the light and flung into space.

Eryn and I struggled to our feet. The light from the portal streamed around him and I noticed with relief that the bruises on his throat were already healing. He flashed me one of his crooked smiles.

“So, I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Like a rissole,” I replied, using one of the terms he’d found so hilarious when he’d first got here.

He snickered.

The white light was all encompassing now, bouncing off his bare skin in a dazzling glow. He looked like an angel. To me, he was.

“Go,” I whispered.

The green flecks in his blue eyes glittered. “I love you,” he whispered back.

And then, he was gone. And I was alone.

[Sammy Goode]

Rach. wrote: "My fingers touched cold tile. Jesus. Finally!

Lungs burning and heart about ready to explode, I pushed up from the bottom of the pool, breaking the water’s surface with a bit more gusto than I wo..."

WOW!!!!!!! SO good!!!

[Kaje]

Oh wow, unexpected and absorbing, and so poignant at the end. Wonderful.

[Rach.]

Thanks ladies X)

[Rach.]

haha Mrs Dewsberry and Mrs Crowsberry lol. Great minds aye Sam!!! ;)

[[deleted user]]

A bit late, but I wanted to write something.

Too Different

I stumbled into the boy’s locker room, my hip cracked against one of the lockers. This wasn’t the time for me to worry whether I’d be able to walk tomorrow. I had to survive today.

I’m Lucky Tannings and up to a few hours ago I knew who I was. Just your run in the mill ordinary guy with a nose too small for his face and a mysterious tattoo below his left shoulder. And that’s how mom and dad wanted to keep it. They never wanted me to know that I was a Fawn—half Demon, half Human. Dad never liked to talk about his past. I couldn’t even get him to divulge a little about Gramps. It never occurred to me that Grandpa was running his own business in the depths of hell and his choice of entrepreneurism was soul snatching.

I had even asked myself how many souls had he taken that I was attached too. Did Grandma end up with him?
It was all too much too soon. And whenever things got too much for me to handle, I’d escape to the school pool and do a little swimming. Because in water was when I did my best rationalizing. Boy was that a big mistake.

The water from my wet black hair passed through my eyes. My bag sat on the bench, clear view and only a few feet away. But when I took my first step everything closed in on me. I fell back only to find Sade was right behind me.

He pushed me up against one of the lockers. I’d brought my fist up, to punch him, but he stopped it effortlessly with a hand. He didn’t even flinch. My punches were lethal. I had put a guy in a coma once when he tried to pick pocket me.

“Don’t diddle-daddle. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. I hate it when people linger.” I told him trying to avoid as much eye contact as possible. If I even looked into those baby blues, I’d lose all of my confidence.

“Do you honestly think I’d ever hurt you?” The tips of his ears had gone a beat red. But it wasn’t from anger. That much I knew. He was hurting. “How could you think so low of me?”

“You’re one of them.” I reminded him, playing a finger against the tattoo he had inked on the opposite arm from mine. The touch almost sent me to my knees. Almost. I still knew what he was. A Hollow. Dad had told me all about them. They were deadly to my kind. They fed off of us. Sucked us dry until the only thing that was left was our human shell. And even that some were known to inhale whole.

“I’m different.” He cried. His voice had gone soft and it compelled me to believe him. To trust him. My parents had taught me that no trust lied with The Hollow. They burned anything they touched and us Fawn’s weren’t any different.

It must have been my human half that allowed me to be tricked by Sade for so long. Did he really play me this entire time? Did the last five months mean nothing to him? When he kissed me by the Oak tree behind the school, when he forced me into the trunk of my car to kick my fear of the dark in the ass, but couldn’t end up closing it because he didn’t want me to be mad at him, was that all just some elaborate act his family told him to put on so that he could get my guard down.

This time I found myself smacking away my memories. It didn’t matter.

“How so?” I asked, still not folding at his touch. “If you don’t turn on me now, eventually you will.”

“No. They want me to, but I’m done working for them. If it means a life without you, they can come and kill me.” He leaned in closer to me, his hand slid down my arm and his fingers lightly twisted around my wrist. “I’m a traitor and for you I’d betray them all over again.”

My body finally melted to his touch and I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into me. His teeth grazed the bottom of my lip when I slammed our lips together. My tongue played against his. Then when his tongue dominated mine, I knew he was claiming his control. And for Sade, I’d renounce my control over and over again if it meant that I didn’t have to go a day without knowing his touch.

I broke the kiss. “Will they come to kill you?”
A smile forced its way onto Sade’s face. “They can’t let me live. The penalty for betraying a Hollow is death.”

I laid a hand on his chest. He was warm. Too warm to be evil. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“There’s no way I would. They’re going to have to pry us off each other before they can kill me.”

[Kaje]

Change of Plans

Con Preston fidgeted in his seat and mentally zipped his lips shut. At the front of the classroom the teacher projected a painting from World War two on the screen. Con shook his head. American high school history was about as far removed from the actual sweat and blood and pain of real life as a Harlequin Romance novel. Con had seen dead men, destroyed men, live men with dead eyes, as part of his training. The patriotic drawings in the books seemed almost obscene. Not that he was about to blow his cover by saying so.

He settled lower in his seat and covertly eyed his target across the room. Nick Stavros. Age sixteen. Dark hair, dark eyes, five foot nine inches of livewire enthusiasm. Bright, fun, full of crazy ideas that he could sometimes pull off. It had been a long time since Con had been like that. Maybe he never had. But he could fake it, and had for weeks, until Nick thought of Con as his best friend. Con had always been small and looked younger than his years. Despite being nineteen, he fit into this tenth grade classroom seamlessly. At least in appearance.

The teacher droned on. Con didn't even bother to listen. He wasn't going to be around long enough to take the exam. Already he'd stayed far longer than he really should have.

His job was simple. Make friends with the son of Takis Stavros, lure him away from the guarded school premises, and call for pickup. The boy's father would be told that the ransom was the secure encryption program Takis had designed for his adopted homeland. Except that Con knew his superiors would never release the boy. They'd keep him alive, close at hand, and milk the brilliant father's brain dry. And if the father refused, Nick would pay the price.

Con felt his stomach lurch at the thought. He knew exactly how coldly and dispassionately the men in the Salazi criminal empire would deal with Nick. The same way they'd dealt with Con when he'd failed to meet expectations or attempted defiance. They weren't sadists, they were worse, men who could use pain as a tool because they were without souls.

“Con? Are you all right?”

Con blinked away nightmares and looked up. Nick was standing beside his desk, eyeing him with concern.

“Sure. Fine.”

“You didn't even hear the bell.”

Con frowned, realizing that the room was nearly empty. Damn. Spacing out like that could get you killed. Perhaps not in a classroom, but the world was an unsafe place. He made himself relax and grin. “I think I fell asleep. Henderson's lectures could be marketed as a cure for insomnia.”

“I guess.” Nick slung his bag over one shoulder and gave Con that ridiculous smile, the one that said the world was a happy, sunny place with butterflies and little white clouds. Con hated that smile, at the same time as he was coming to the terrified realization that he lived for it.

Nick kicked his ankle. “Come on. We'll be late for gym.”

Con walked at Nick's side as they headed for the locker room. The halls of the exclusive private school seemed suddenly smaller and echoingly loud. And yet not loud enough to drown out the voice in Con's head that said, “You know the consequences if you fail.”

Stripping in the locker room was fine, as long as he kept his eyes off Nick. But occasionally his eyes would drift over there, until his mind caught up with his preoccupation. Nick was slim and sleek, with smooth hairless skin and lean swimmer's build, adolescent-soft just a hint of biceps and quads to come. Innocently sexy.

Sometimes Con wondered if it was some kind of narcissism that made Nick so attractive to him. Con had been raised to stay looking young. He'd been forbidden to lift weights, allowed only cardio exercise, and his body was a close match for Nick's. Even their hair and eyes were similar.

Or maybe the attraction was that Nick was the light side to Con's dark coin. Nick was who Con might have been if he'd grown up with two loving parents and money and safety, instead of an addicted mother who died young, and a puppetmaster who saw a use for a small clever boy. Nick shone. And it was going to be Con's job to turn out that light.

He tore his gaze away from Nick's back, where it had somehow drifted again, and pulled on his trunks. He brushed his hand over the implanted tracker in his thigh, reminding himself. You didn't defy the Salazi and you didn't escape them. He'd woken that morning to a note on his pillow, inches from his face, with the window and door still locked on the inside. It said simply, “Today.” No threats, nothing more. It wasn't needed. He'd held it in a shaking hand, sweat trickling between his shoulderblades, his breath coming in shallow pants. It had taken all his hard-earned control to get up, get dressed, and walk to the bus.

Today.

PE this semester was swimming. Today Con threw himself into it with singleminded determination, forcing his body to its limits and beyond. He swam under water without breath until his vision was dark and sparkling, and the pain in his chest burned out rational thought. Maybe he could just continue like this. Stay under until he passed out, until his body's demand forced him to gasp in water, fill his lungs with fluid. He could drown here and Nick would never know what Con was. Nick would stay in the light.

Against his will he surfaced and sucked in a ragged breath. The instinct to survive had kept him going through his time on the street, and the years that followed in the hands of his trainers. It wasn't letting him go now. It was just like the bridge he hadn't been able to jump off last week, and the bus whose wheels passed by without touching him yesterday; he couldn't do this.

“Wow!” Nick was at his elbow, eyes bright. “You were under for ages! Are you okay?”

Nick's hand was warm on Con's shoulder. Con blinked his eyes, feeling the sting of chlorine-induced tears. And took one more shaky breath before saying, “I'm fine.”

The coach leaned over them. “Preston, that was really dumb. Push yourself too hard and you can black out and drown down there. Some kid did just that in 2009 in England.”

I'm not that lucky. Con managed to say, “Sorry, coach,” before a fit of coughing took him.

“Okay, that's it. You're out of the pool.” The coach reached down a hand to pull him upward. “Stavros, you go with him. Get changed and then make sure he checks in with the nurse.”

“Coach, I'm fine.” Con needed that grip to haul himself out of the pool, and his knees threatened to give way as he stood. But it wasn't lack of oxygen. Don't, don't send me out alone with Nick, last class of the day, perfect chance to lure him away. Please don't. “I can finish the class.”

“Are you arguing with me?”

“No sir. But anyway I don't need Nick to babysit me.”

“You'll do as you're told, both of you. Go on.”

“Come on, Con,” Nick said warmly, putting a hand under his elbow. “You're still shaking.”

The coach turned back to the rest of the class, yelling at them to start swimming lengths, four basic strokes. Helplessly, Con let Nick guide him back into the locker room. He stood immobile as Nick pulled their towels out of their lockers, watching as Nick dried all that warm, smooth, unblemished skin. Golden Nick.

Nick noticed him staring eventually. His vigorous rubbing slowed and he smiled hesitantly, dropped the towel and ran a hand over his hair. “You're looking...odd. Here. Let me...” He reached for Con's towel and began drying him off, gently rubbing Con's shoulders and back, swiping across his face and down his arms. Con stood still under his hands, every muscle locked and screaming.

Nick glanced at Con's legs but finally ran out of nerve. He draped the towel lightly around Con's neck and tilted his head appraisingly. “Are you going to be able to get dressed? Do you want to just head to the nurse now?”

“God, no.” Oxygen deprivation to his brain was the only reason Con could find for suddenly grabbing both of Nick's wrists and shoving him against the locker in a hard, desperate kiss. For a moment Nick's mouth was soft and hot under his own, and then Con pulled back. He let go of Nick's wrists and waited mutely. Whatever Nick wanted to do to him, he didn't care any more. Punch him, swear at him, let him down gently – at this point it didn't matter.

Nick stared into his eyes and said, “Do that again.”

“What!”

“This.” Nick's kiss was fumbling and unpracticed, and all the sweeter for it. He was laughing when he leaned away enough to look Con in the eyes. “I've been waiting weeks for you to do that.”

“No.” No, no, no. Nick was supposed to push him away and run off mad, not stay and...holy shit!

Con had lost all sanity as he moved into Nick's arms and opened his mouth, pressing closer, tasting Nick, more vital than air...No!

He jumped back, far enough to be out of range. “Nick. We can't.”

“Yeah, this isn't a great place for it.” Nick began toweling his hair as if to keep his hands occupied. “After school then. Maybe we can find a place.”

It was the perfect opportunity. All Con had to do was say, “I know somewhere. Duck out with me before your driver gets here, and I'll show you.” A few simple words, and Con would live. The cold tiled rooms where the wired electrodes waited with their clips and pins would light someone else's nerves on fire. Maybe Nick's, to make him scream for his father.

“No.” Con grabbed Nick's wrist and pulled him deeper into the locker room, looking around. There was the equipment storage room. It was locked, but it was the work of a moment to retrieve his lock picks from his locker and open the door. “Come on. In here.”

Nick hesitated, looking at the picks in his hand, but then grinned and followed him in. When Nick would have moved close and kissed Con, Con held him off with a hand on his chest.

“Listen. We don't have much time.”

“And you're wasting it.”

“Shit. Listen to me. I'm not who you think I am.” Con spoke as softly as he could. He knew there was a listening device in his shoe; it was safely inside his locker but he didn't know how sensitive it might be. His handler was nothing if not thorough.

Nick shook his head. “I don't understand.”

“Your father is Takis Stavros, the cryptographer.”

“And yours is Don Preston, the tycoon.”

“Mine was a sailor who went to Mexico after a dishonorable discharge and got his girlfriend pregnant.”

“What?”

“I'm not Con Preston, I'm Con Amado. I'm not sixteen, I'm nineteen. And I'm not your friend, I'm the guy who is going to deliver you to hell.”

“Con?” Nick put a hand toward his face. “What are you talking about?”

Con dodged it, catching Nick's wrist in a bruising grip. “Listen to me and listen good. I belong to a group called...” He retched, conditioned nausea hitting him. He couldn't say the word, couldn't begin to pronounce it. “Never mind. The important thing is, I was sent to get close to you, make friends with you, and then kidnap you. My bosses want to control your father. If they have you, they have him.”

“But... you're here to kidnap me?”

“I was. That's my mission, but I can't. When the bell rings at the end of the period, run, don't walk, to your car. Tell your driver that someone tried to snatch you. Tell them the same group will try again. You need better security than even this special school. And you...” Con grabbed Nick's jaw and squeezed, forcing Nick to stare him in the face. “You need to be careful. Jesus, sixteen years old and you still expect the world to be beautiful and fair and safe. You look at strangers and expect them to become your friends. You have no idea of the risks you're taking.”

He expected Nick to pull free, but instead Nick turned in Con's loosening grasp just enough to kiss the inside of his wrist. “This one looks like a good risk to me.”

[Kaje]

“Hell.” There was really no time, but there would never be another chance. Con grabbed him, kissing him, furious and needy and wanting just this once to have this – Nick in his arms, his to hold for just this moment. Then he shoved Nick away hard. “Not every man who comes up against you is going to fall in love with you. Get out of here. Go.”

Nick staggered but held his ground. “So you're a what? A hit man? A spy?”

“I'm a puppet,” Con said bitterly. “A tool for someone more ruthless than you can imagine. Nick, you have to believe me.”

Nick was silent a long moment, looking at him. “Okay. I'm not that innocent. My father is aware there are risks and he's talked about it with me. I have a driver to chauffeur me around and guards on the house – that kind of makes your point for you. It's just...I never suspected you.”

“I'm damned good. I've trained for this. But if I fail, no, when they know I've failed, they'll try again. You need to go warn your dad, ASAP.”

Nick folded his arms. “Not without you. What are you going to do while I run to safety?”

“I'll be all right,” Con lied. “I'll just tell them something spooked you. I'll be reassigned.”

“Yeah. Look me in the eyes when you say that.”

Con dragged his gaze up to Nick's, and bit his lip.

“Come with me to my Dad,” Nick said. “Tell him what you told me. He'll help.”

“I can't. You don't know.”

“Know what?”

“They'll find me. I have at least one tracker. Maybe more. They'll find me and if we're together they'll find you too.”

“So you're just going to go tamely back to them and say you couldn't do it?”

Was he? He thought about returning with nothing but failure, and his knees grew weak. He leaned against a pile of mats. Maybe once his choices were that narrow, the bus or the bridge would start to look appealing again.

“Dammit, Con. The look in your eyes. If that's how you feel about going back, what can it hurt to come with me? What's the worst that can happen?”

They find you again through me? But the odds were the FBI or whoever would take possession of him would be able to find his trackers. And in any case he probably wouldn't be allowed to see Nick again. This was the end, however it played out. He hadn't really thought past the moment when he told Nick the truth. “I don't know.”

Nick moved closer and gripped his arms. “If you come out of the building with me, get in my car with me after school today, will they...do anything?”

Con considered it. “No, probably not. They want you alive. Those ex-Seals your dad employs are pretty sharp which is why they haven't tried a frontal assault so far. They'll hope I'm getting close to you, and that I'll get you away later.”

“So that's all we need to do. If we get you and me in the car, we're home free. We'll go back to Dad, and tell him you're with us now and you can give them whatever information you have. It will be cool. They'll keep us both safe, and we'll be together. It's going to be great!”

Con looked at Nick's bright eyes. He just couldn't tell Nick that as soon as he said kidnap or leverage or, if he could force the word out, Salazi, he would be yanked away from Nick so fast there would be smoke under his feet. He'd be wrung dry, maybe patted on the back, but never, ever allowed near Nick again. It was the way of the world. Con knew how the game was played.

He was too untrustworthy, too dangerous, too hard to ever be a match for this untouched boy. But for a little longer he'd stand beside Nick and watch him smile. He'd memorize the way the light danced in his eyes, and the way his lips moved as spoke. Nick in sunlight. That memory could last Con a lifetime.

“Sure,” he said, taking a deep breath. “That could work. Take me home.”

[Kaje]

Maya wrote: "A bit late, but I wanted to write something.

Too Different

I stumbled into the boy’s locker room, my hip cracked against one of the lockers. This wasn’t the time for me to worry whether I’d be ab..."

Maya! Nice to see a new writer voice on here! Very sweet enemies to lovers story - great!

[Rach.]

Kaje!! That is AMAZING!!! *sigh* so good! ALL the stories on here are awesome. More please!! :D

[Rachel]

Wow, Kaje that was quite a story. Thanks for sharing.

[Susan]

OMG, Kaje. You left me breathless! Simply riveting!