Small Town
Part 9
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Just as Daphne was about to begin, Justin’s cell phone rang. The blond fished it out of the side pocket of his knapsack, looked at the number on the display and didn’t have a clue as to who it was.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Justin.”
“Brian?” Justin asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. How’s it going? I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time. I knew it was your lunch break, so I figured this was a good time to call,” Brian said. His voice was a little hesitant. He didn’t want to seem pushy by calling Justin and bothering him. He just couldn’t wait.
“No, no. I’m right in the middle of my lunch break so it’s perfect timing,” Justin told the man. He was thrilled to hear his voice and glad that he had called. “But, Brian, how did you get my number?” he asked, a little confused.
“You gave it to me last night. Don’t you remember?”
“No, I don’t. I guess I had other things on my mind,” Justin said with a huge beaming smile.
“Yeah, I guess you did, Sunshine,” Brian answered softly. Even though he couldn’t see him, he could hear his beautiful smile loud and clear across the line.
“Brian,” Justin whispered intimately.
“Ahhhh, Justin. Don’t do that to me when you’re not here.” Brian looked around the alley, making sure that no one was around to hear him, then moved the phone even closer to his mouth. “You’re driving me crazy, baby.”
Justin felt like he was floating on a cloud. He was so overwhelmed by his feelings for the man on the other end of the line, especially when he called him ‘baby’. Again, he sighed and for a minute, both men were silent, basking in the memory of their previous night together.
Justin was stunned out of his memories by the sound of an irritated voice next to him.
“Justin. Who the hell is that?” Daphne asked, slightly annoyed by her friends sudden interest in the phone instead of her.
“Oh, sorry, Daph. It’s Brian,” the blond said, his smile widening again as the man’s name rolled off his tongue.
“Well, that explains it.” She looked at her watch, noting that they only had about ten minutes left on their lunch break. “I’m going to go in. I’ve got to get my stuff together for my presentation this afternoon in English. I’ll see you later and we’ll finish where we left off.” And with that, she began to leave, calling over her shoulder, just a few feet away, “Say hi for me,” then laughed and walked away.
Shaking his head at his friend, Justin turned his focus back to his cell phone. “My friend Daphne says hi.”
“Oh, okay. Well, tell her hi for me too,” Brian said, slightly taken back that his friend would know who he was.
“He say’s hi too,” he yelled to his friend’s retreating back and she raised her hand over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers. Justin laughed.
“So, how’s your day going?” Brian asked, leaning casually against the brick wall of the alley, smoking a cigarette.
“Oh, it’s okay. You know, same old, same old,” the blond replied. “And yours?”
“Oh, same old, same old shit as usual,” he answered with a laugh. He was still amazed that he felt so at ease with Justin and could say whatever he wanted to, no holds barred.
“Is your father getting on your case again?” the younger man asked with concern.
“Well, it wouldn’t be a normal day if he didn’t, so I guess the answer to that would be yes.” Brian felt his anger returning just thinking about how Jack had fucked him over once again for his own sick twisted pleasure.
“I’m sorry, Brian.”
“Hey, nothing to be sorry about, Sunshine. That’s just life. As fucked up as it is.” Brian didn’t want to dwell on his father anymore, so he changed the subject. Perking up he asked, “So, are you, um, are you busy later?” He was still afraid of being rejected and his voice betrayed his insecurities.
Justin remembered that his parents were going out for the evening and his sister was sleeping at her friend’s house, so that left him all alone. “Nope, I’m not. Why, did you have something in mind?” the blond asked hopefully.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to get together. Hang out or something?” Brian was so happy for the younger man’s quick reply. It meant that he didn’t even debate whether or not he wanted to see him again. It made him feel really good.
“Sure, I’d like that.” Just then, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.
Brian heard the sound of the bell in the
background. “Okay, I know
you have to go now.
So, um, why don’t I pick you up at home, if
that’s okay, around
“Great. Can’t wait. Bye, Brian.”
“Later, Justin. It’s always later,” the brunet said softly. He never wanted to hear the words good-bye from Justin. Later meant there would always be more.
Understanding the older man’s words, Justin whispered, “Later,” then hung up, grabbed his knapsack and hurried into the school.
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Brian couldn’t wait until five-thirty so that he could see Justin. He’d had a shitty day, like most of his days. The only bright spot was the conversation with Justin on his lunch break. He couldn’t believe how just the sound of the other man’s voice made him feel better.
“Hi, Brian.”
Brian turned towards the voice. “Hey, Ricky. How’s it going?” Brian asked the part-time employee. He liked the kid. He was always on time, always willing to lend a hand when needed, really funny and most importantly, he thought that Jack was a complete asshole.
“Okay, can’t complain,” the red-haired guy said. “You off now?”
“Yeah, I’m leaving in a minute. Just a warning, stay as far away as possible from the old man tonight. He seems to have a bug up his ass about something,” Brian warned.
“Huh, how can you tell? I figure the guy has a bug up his ass pretty much EVERY day,” Ricky said with a laugh and Brian joined in.
“Yeah, you’re right. But it’s even worse today. Lucky you.”
“Oh yeah, lucky me,” Ricky said sarcastically, heading down the aisle to the backroom. “I’ll see ya, Brian.”
“Yeah, see ya. Tell my dad I’m leaving, would you?”
“Sure, no problem,” the redhead called over his shoulder before he disappeared behind the swinging door.
Brian grabbed his keys from behind the cash register and headed out the front door, just as the clock on the wall struck four.
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After school, Justin and Daphne walked home. Daphne lived only three doors down and they usually ended up together at one of their houses.
“So, you wanna come over for a while, help me pick out what to wear?” Justin asked his friend.
“Sure. But only if I get to stick around to meet Brian for myself,” Daphne said with a wicked smile. She was still slightly shocked by her friend’s tale of his previous evening. She had told him as much and laughed when he admitted that he was still kinda shocked over it himself. But she wanted to meet Brian, see what all the fuss was about. Not that she didn’t already know who he was. There was no way she wouldn’t have noticed the gorgeous guy in such a small town, people like him just didn’t go unnoticed. But she’d never actually talked to him or seen him close up. She couldn’t wait.
Justin looked hard at his friend. He wasn’t sure if she had something up her sleeve. Something that was going to come back and bite him in the ass. He decided that she was just being her nosey self and gave in. “Okay, but you’d better not embarrass me,” he warned.
“I promise I won’t. Ohhhh, I’m so excited. When did you say he was coming to pick you up again?”
“Five-thirty,” Justin said, looking at his watch as they walked
along the front porch of his house.
“It’s
“Hmph, I don’t think it’s enough time,” the dark-haired girl said with a laugh as she followed her friend into the house.
“Ha, ha. You’re just soooo funny,” Justin said drolly, closing the door behind her.
“Yeah, I know,” Daphne replied, punching her friend on the arm.
“Ow, you’re always hitting me,” the blond pouted, rubbing his arm.
“It’s just because I love you so much,” Daphne said with a toothy grin.
“Right. That must be it,” Justin replied sarcastically, but he knew that it was really true. She did love him a lot, just like he loved her. Just not THAT way.
“Hi kids,” Jennifer yelled from the kitchen as she heard voices in the front hall.
“Hi Jennifer,” Daphne said, dropping down into a kitchen chair and placing her knapsack on the floor beside her.
“Hey, Mom.”
“How was school?” the woman asked with genuine interest as she spooned fruit salad she’d just finished making into two bowls and placed them on the table in front of the teenagers.
“Thanks,” Daphne said then picked up her fork and began to eat.
“Thanks, Mom. School was, well, school. Same as always.”
“Good. Well, I’m
going to go get ready. Your father
should be home soon. We have
to leave around
“Oh, nothing big. We’re gonna just hang out for a while and do our homework. That’s it,” Justin said with a glare in his friend’s direction.
“Um, right. Nothing much,” Daphne confirmed, not really sure why Justin had lied to his mother.
“Great, well, have fun you two. We’ll be back around eleven.” And with that, Jennifer was gone.
“Why did you lie to your mother?” Daphne quickly turned and asked.
“I just didn’t feel like getting into the whole thing with her right now. I think she suspects something’s up with Brian, and I don’t want her to know that I’m going to see him again tonight. That’s all. So do me a favor and don’t say anything else about it. Okay?” Justin looked at his best friend with pleading eyes. He knew she hated when he asked her to lie for him, but he also knew that she would do it.
“Fine. But you’d better be home BEFORE they are. I don’t want to get in trouble over this. Got it?”
“Thanks, Daph. You’re the best,” Justin said with a huge smile.
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t already know,” the dark-haired girl said conceitedly.
Justin just laughed.