Falling For A Friend

My name is Zane Frankford. I am seventeen and live in the middle of nowhere in Michigan. There's one thing you should know about me...I'm gay. I get laughed at and things thrown at me in school. That's why I hate it so much. Until Aiden came.

I got up at 6:30 am and took a shower. I put on a pair of my black tight jeans and noticed I gained weight. I barely fit in them. I guess I'll have to go anorexic or bulimic again. I put on a Forever the Sickest Kids t-shirt and my black and white converse. I did my eyeliner and grabbed my messenger bag and ran downstairs.

"You better hurry," My mom said. "Or you'll be late sweetheart. Pop tart?" She asked offering me one.

"Nah," I said. "I'll eat at school. I don't have time." And I walked out the door. I walked to school alone because I had no friends, no siblings, nobody to keep me company. So I took out my ipod and started listening to Silverstein. Once I got to school, I had to pass by all the people who practically threw themselves into me to break my self-esteem. But how much more can it be broken? I cut, I make myself throw up or starve myself, I hate my life, and to top everything off, I'm a faggot.

I got to my locker and opened it, getting my books and throwing my messenger bag in. I shut it and turned to walk to first period. English. I hated my teacher. I wish I had her last period because she was out of it by then. You know what I mean, bottoms up! Yeah, about third period she starts getting a little tipsy but ninth period, the last period of the day, I hear she's the best. I walked in and sat down next to my acquaintance. Her name was Leonna and I just met her this year so we didn't really know each other that well. Just as I was about to start up a conversation with her, a guy walked in who looked almost like me. He had black, shaggy hair like mine that covered his eyes, tight jeans, and a From First to Last shirt on. Once the teacher saw him, she sighed probably thinking, Another Zane, another day of torture.

"Class!" She yelled to get their attention. The classroom was actually quieter than usual, you could probably hear a pencil drop on the floor. "This is Aiden Croft. He is our new student and will be with us for the rest of the year, questions?" A jock raised his hand. "Yes, Billy."

"Uhm, Aiden...Are you gay?" He smirked when he said this and the whole classroom cracked up into laughter.

"That's enough!" She yelled and the classroom was silent again. "Take a seat where ever you like." She said to Aiden and let go of his shoulder.

He started walking towards me. I could feel my heart beating faster, my cheeks getting redder, my breathing getting faster, when he finally sat down in the empty seat next to me. I glanced over and saw him flip his fair out of his face and I saw his eyes. I almost lost it. He had the most gorgeous aqua blue eyes you have ever seen! I couldn't wait to talk to him...If I even had the guts to. English wasn't so boring today because I was too busy staring at Aiden than the teacher. Then again, who would want to look at our teacher? Before I knew it, the bell rang for second period. I gathered my papers and books and stood up fast next to Aiden.

"Hi, I'm Zane." I said quickly.

"Hi." He murmured, not looking at me but at the floor. He got his books too and we headed for the door.

"So, what do you have next?" I asked, trying to start a conversation with him.

"Chemistry." He said, staring at his schedule.

"Cool, same here. Follow me."

"Okay." He said and walked behind me. I slowed down so I could walk next to him and maybe start another conversation. I wanted to get in this kid's head so bad, but he seemed to be the anti-social type.

"What do you have after Chemistry?" I asked.

"Digital Photography class." He was looking at his schedule again.

"Sorry, I don't take that class. But I think I know where it is. I can show it to you if you want me to after Chemistry."

"Okay. Thanks." He actually said a word other than 'okay.' "You know, people didn't do this for me in my last school."

"Really? Why not?"

"Because everyone thought I was a walking plague because I'm gay." He said, gradually getting quieter so people wouldn't know he's gay but look at him! He's got gay written all over him.

"That's how 99.9% of people are here. Stick by me and you might be safer than me." I told him, hoping he'd accept me and not thinking I'm being too clingy for a first day and walk the other way.

"Thanks...Zane, is it?"

"Yeah, I know it's a weird name but my parents aren't original people." We walked into Chemistry and sat down next to each other. "So, where are you from?" I asked.

"The slums of New York City." He said. "My dad's a drug dealer and my mom's an ex stripper going to college to get an education. I don't know why we moved here."

"Probably because it's so close to Detroit." I suggested.

"Probably." He said and the bell rang for second period to start. The rest of the day went by pretty fast. I found out that Aiden's in seven out of nine of my classes. It's like we were meant to meet. After ninth period, I found Aiden at his locker, stuffing his homework in his back pack.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"I don't understand any of this crap!" He said, sounding pretty ticked off.

"Do you want to come to my house and I'll help you out?" I offered.

"Sure." He said and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. How can he fit that in there? I thought and then found myself staring at his crotch. How can he fit that in there? I thought again, referring to something other than his phone.

"Daddy," Aiden said when his dad answered. "Can I go over to a friend's house so he can show me how to do my homework? I don't understand it and he offered to help me out." He got the feedback from his dad. "Thanks. I'll be home by nine tonight." And he hung up his phone. I forced my eyes back at his face and waited for him to talk. "He said sure and I'll have to be home by nine."

"Okay." I said, thinking of all the things we can do until nine tonight. Aiden started giggling. "What?" I asked.

"Look down." He said, smiling. I did and of course, these are times I hate being a boy.

"Great." I said.

"Think of Brittany Spears, Ashlee Simpson, Lindsay Lohan. That's what I do, and it goes away in a matter of minutes." He whispered. So I did an dhe was right. It was gone, and my face was red! I kept my hands around the strap of my messenger bag to keep them away from his hands or else I'd have our fingers interlocked and probably my tongue down his throat. Uh oh. Ashlee Simpson! Lindsay Lohan! Brittany Spears! Christina Aguilera! Okay, gone. I thought and caught up with him. We walked to my house and through the door to see my mom in the kitchen, as usual.

"Hello, Zane." She said. "Oh, who's this? A friend?" Notice how she said friend and not new friend. I love it how my loving mother rubs it in my face that I have no friends. She's being mean to me because I'm "in a phase" because I wear eyeliner. She doesn't know I'm gay. And I won't let her know Aiden's gay.

"Hi, mom." I muttered and grabbed Aiden's arm and pulled him along. "Come on, Aiden. Let's go to my room." I let go of his arm and led him upstairs into my room. We threw our bags on the floor.

"Whoa," He said.

"What?"

"I've never seen a bedroom this big before." So I got the hint he wasn't rich and wealthy and I was. But that won't stop me from having a major crush on him.

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah. Usually my bedroom was a quarter size of yours and my parents' was probably half, maybe less." I kinda felt bad for him. But I cleared my mind and focused on what we had to do.

"Homework. What do you need help on?" I asked.

"Math." He said. So, obviously he has Math ninth period because math couldn't make someone that pissy that their whole day was ruined because of it.

"Okay, bring it out." I said and sat on the floor next to him. I looked at the problems and showed him how to solve it. Soon, he was getting done faster than the speed of light. Obviously, figuratively. We both had our homework done at the same time and we decided to make popcorn and watch a movie since we had four hours left.

"A Walk to Remember!" He said, sitting on my bed.

"I don't have that." I was looking through the dvds I had. He came down next to me and looked.

"There." He pointed at Friday, the 13th.

"Okay." I said and slid the dvd in my dvd player in front of my bed. We got the popcorn and put it in a giant bowl that sat between us on the bed. Numerous times, I tried taking a handful of popcorn and grabbed his hand. I let go quick each time. I did it once more by accident until he finally hit pause and turned on my light.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I caught you staring at my crotch when I was on the phone with my dad, after that you were stiff, and now you're grabbing my hand. Is there something you're no telling me?" My face was so red because I didn't know that he knew I was staring at his crotch. Oh boy, here we go.

"Aiden, I'm not like other boys." I said. "I'm gay and I have a major crush on you." I forced it out. Aiden smiled.

"Aww, thanks Zane. I like you, too." That made me smile as well. He reached over and shut my light off and hit play. I went to grab more popcorn but got his hand again. He just opened his hand and gripped mine, letting our fingers fall into each other. I smiled and we watched the rest of the movie. Finally, it was over around 6:30 so we had about two and a half hours left.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked when I put the movie back.

"Let's play 20 Questions...my version." I started getting nervous. "Someone asks the other twenty questions about whatever they want, and if they don't answer, they have to take a piece of their clothing off. Ready?"

"Yep. You go first." I offered.

"Alright...What did you think when you first saw me?" He asked.

"Oh, my God is he gorgeous." I said, blushing to much. He giggled.

"Question two: What were you thinking of when you were stiff?" Oh, my God, he's going to rip me to pieces. I thought.

"You." I forced out.

"This is fun! Um....."

"Have you ever had sex?" I interrupted.

"No." He looked down, as if he were ashamed of himself.

"It's okay, neither have I." I said. He looked back up and smiled. Soon we just started asking random questions about each other until it was 8:30. "Aiden, it's 8:30. I'm going to walk you home, okay?" I said. Aiden bit his lip.

"Okay." He murmured. We got off the bed and he grabbed his back pack and we walked downstairs.

"Honey, you missed dinner. I tried calling you but nobody answered." Mom lied.

"I'm walking Aiden home. Bye." I said and pushed him out the door and shut it quick behind me.

"Bitch." He said. "I never heard her call for you."

"I know, Aiden. Try having to deal with this everyday of your life. Dad's always gone on business meetings and Mom barely knows my middle name, let alone I'm gay." I said as we started walking towards his house.

"I'm sorry." He said and stopped to give me a hug. I wrapped my arms tight around him.

"I don't want to go home." I whispered close to his ear.

"Neither do I," He whispered as well. "But I have to." He pulled himself away and we started walking again. Finally, we arrived at his house. It was pretty beat up but that didn't care to me. We stood in front of the door, not knowing what to say.

"Okay," I broke the silence. "I hope you had a fun time."

"Oh, I did." He smiled and leaned into me to give me a kiss on my cheek. I turned my head so our lips brushed, barely touched but I felt his. I went to kiss him back when he made me stop and whispered in my ear, "Save the rest for another time." And again, I felt his lips across my face. I felt like falling to my knees, I was so nervous and empty. It felt like I literally just gave him my heart.

"Good night." I said, breathlessly. Aiden giggled.

"Nitey nite." And he opened the door and walked inside, shutting it and I walked back home on water.