Yours to Hold

About a half hour later, I found myself climbing off the bus and beginning the walk to my house. My bus stop is a a bit of a walk from my house; the walk was a real nightmare when the Pennsylvania winters brought snow and ice. However, today happened to be a very nice fall afternoon and I found myself whistling a bit as I walked to the house.

I was lucky enough to be born into a family with a nice amount of money, so we live in a nice neighborhood; our house is big enough to allow the three of us children to each have our own room. I was beyond glad about that, because I couldn't begin to imagine bringing a cute boy to my room only to find my younger brother in the room as well. That would go straight by slightly awkward and right into horribly mortifying.

Actually, mom had the basement made into a recreation room for that very reason; she told me she'd be damned if I had to bring any cute boys into my messy bedroom. Both of my parents were absoutely amazing like that and were both extremely accepting when I finally decided to break the news to them that I was gay. Mom actually took me out to lunch at Olive Garden the next day to give me tips about how to attract the cutest boys.

Not going to lie, I have the best fucking family in the world.

Like usual, the house was empty as I stepped into it with the exception of our blue merle Australian Sheepdog named Rorschach. I'll admit it, the name is entirely my fault; I am one of the biggest DC fanboys you will ever meet and I was a LITTLE obsessed with Watchmen when we got him back in 2009. Okay, I was more like WAY obsessed, but that doesn't change the fact that Rorschach is a totally badass name.

As soon as I entered the house, Rorschach trotted up to me with his tail wagging. He is the most adorable dog ever, since he has one blue eye and one brown eye. He is also a complete sweetheart; everytime I bring Brian or Jimmy over, he always assaults their faces with kisses when they kneel down to greet him. He is also the kind of dog that if you leave your bedroom door open, will find his way into the room and cuddle up to you.

I dropped my messenger bag on the steps before leaning down and petting Rorschach.
"Hey, Ror," I commented, causing the dog to wag his tail even harder. I chuckled quietly before pushing myself back up and heading into the kitchen with Rorschach following me; I always grabbed myself some kind of snack after getting home since that's around the time I begin to get hungry again.

I rapped my fingers against the counter as I entered the kitchen, trying to figure out what to make for myself. After a few seconds, I grabbed the loaf of cinnamon swirl bread off the fridge and retrieved the crunchy Skippy peanut butter and Nutella out of the pantry. I grabbed a paper plate and a knife before heading back over to the counter.

I placed a slice of bread on the plate and shut the bag before opening up the jar of peanut butter. I spread some over one half of the bread before licking the extra peanut butter off the knife and opening up the Nutella. I spread some on the other half of the bread before licking the knife again and tossing it in the sink. I closed both the Skippy and Nutella and put them away before folding the bread over to make it into a sandwich.

I dipped a hand into the bag of Halloween candy on the counter and tossed a few almond-free Hershey Bars on the plate before going into the fridge and grabbing a can of Crush grape soda. With food and drink in tow, I exited the kitchen and walked back to the stairs. I paused to grab the strap of my messenger bag and swing it over my shoulder before walking up the steps to my bedroom.

I let loose a content sigh as I opened the door to my bedroom and stepped into it. I dropped my bag on the floor and placed my food and soda on the bedside table before collapsing onto the bed. After a minute of lying there like a dead man, I pulled myself into a sitting position and unbuttoned my jeans. After I pushed the jeans off and tossed them to the side, I slipped into a pair of Batman louging pants.

Wanting to be more comfortable, I grabbed onto the hem of my t-shirt and pulled it off; I tossed it in the hamper before pushing myself off the bed and grabbing my laptop off my desk. I made sure it was securely plugged into the outlet before returning to the bed with it. I took a seat again and pressed my bare back against the headboard, placing the laptop on my lap and flipping the power on.

I placed the computer on my lap and reached for my soda, cracking it open as I waited for the laptop to boot up. I usually came home with no homework and today was no different; learning supprot and study hall gave me enough time to get my homework done during the schoolday. I took a sip out of the soda before gently placing it back on the endtable and grabbing onto the half peanut-butter and Nutella sandwich I made.

I took a small bite out of the sandwich as I logged onto AIM. I let loose a giggle as Jimmy messaged me as soon as I was online; I had no doubts that he was waiting for me to get online; he probably wanted to see if I could go to Field of Screams on Friday night.

xTheReverendx: Yo babeh. What the hell took u so long to get online?
xZVengeance: Hey, sweetie. Ya know that I always need a bite to eat when I get home from school.
xTheReverendx: Aw, are u making your cute little belly even cuter?
xZVengeance: ...STFU. So, did you im me to ask about Field of screams on Friday?
xTheReverendx: Of course. My dad wants to know how many people are coming so he knows how many tickets to buy.
xZVengeance: Ya know that my parents arent home right when iI get back from school. Ill call ya after dinner and let u know. :-)
xTheReverendx: that sounds gr8. :-D

I had just finished up my yummy sandwich and was opening up one of my Hershey bars when I got an IM from a screen name I didn't recognize. I arched an eyebrow and shoved the chocolate in my mouth before clicking on "Yes", although I already knew who it was.

MxShadz: Hey, man. Its Matt. I asked Bri for your screenname, so I hope you don't mind. Hows it doing, dude?
xZVengeance: Nah, I don't mind at all. And, its going pretty good; just finished up an after-school snack while chatting with Jimmy. How are you?
MxShadz: I'm okay. I'm waiting for Val to get home from votech school so I can head over to her place. A snack? Dude, you ate a piece of pizza, three breadsticks and two brownies at lunch. Now I know why you have a little bit of a belly.

I almost chocked on my soda as I read that message; I must be gaining weight if MATT noticed I had a belly. I instinctively dropped my eyes to it and pinched my slight flab before making a face and returning my attention to the IM conversation.

xZVengeance: Shuddup, dude. Its cuz I'm Italian. :-(
MxShadz: Italian has NOTHING to do with it, dude. You just eat too much. :-P
xZVengeance: Meh, I know. I have to start working out so I can get rid of my love handles, although Jimmy thinks my belly is cute.

Matt didn't reply to my last message, so I closed out of the IM window after a few minutes and opened up Mozilla FireFox; Jimmy had signed off AIM several minutes ago after telling me he had some quick homework to do. I had no doubt that he would be back on soon, since he was the kid that was always doing his homework RIGHT before class started. Brian didn't have an AIM, even if I kept bugging him to get one. I therefore assumed that Matt had asked for my screen name via Facebook.

While I waited for Jimmy to get back on AIM, I went to 13Haunts.com to see if I could find a coupon for Field of Screams; the Scream Pass for all three attractions ran for twenty-seven dollars and while that was one of the cheaper local haunts (Terror Behind the Walls is thirty for all six attractions and Pennhurst is a whopping forty for all four of theirs), I assumed that Jimmy's dad would appreciate getting a few bucks off at least one of the tickets.

13Haunts did indeed have a coupon for Field of Screams, so I sent Jimmy an offline IM regarding the coupons before checking out a few of the attractions listed on the 13Haunts website. Me, Brian and Jimmy already made our annual trip to Eastern State, so I checked out the website for Pennhurst Asylum. I had brought one of my classmates, Billy Martin, last year and thought it was very well done; the addition of two whole new attractions (including an actual ghost hunt through one of the hospital buildings) made it look even more promising this year.

I quickly grew bored after spending a few minutes on the Pennhurst site, so I went to Facebook to see if Brian was on. He wasn't online, although he had left me a message to tell me that Matt had asked for my AIM name and to expect a IM from him. Jimmy hadn't responded to my IM yet, either, so I assumed that Jimmy had ditched his homework and drove over to Brian's house.

I shook my head and chuckled before gulping down the rest of my soda and tossing the empty can into the waste basket; I was about to log off of AIM and turn off the laptop when the IM window popped up. I figured it was Jimmy thanking me for the coupon tip, but I quickly realized it was from Matt. I hesitated for a second before clicking "Okay" so I could see what he said.

MxShads: Shit, I'm sorry, man. Val got home and called me, so I was getting ready to head over to her place.
xZVengeance: Its fine, dude. Don't worry about it, okay?
MxShads: Okay. (: Listen, I gotta head over to Val's place. I'll talk to you later, okay, Zack?
xZVengeance: See ya later, Matt.
MxShads: Later, man. Oh, and by the way, Jimmy's right. ;]

My mouth dropped open and I stared at the screen for a second; before I could think of a way to reply, though, Matt had already signed off of AIM. Feeling my heart pounding against my ribs, I glanced at the message one more time before exiting out of the IM window and shutting down the laptop. I unplugged the adapter from the wall and placed the laptop back on my desk before flopping back down on my bed. I was still tired from waking up for school this morning, so I curled into a comfortable position and shut my eyes so I could take a nap.

"He thinks I'm CUTE," I whispered to myself before grinnning like an idiot and driting off to sleep.