High School Reunion

Chapter 8

* * *

“Justin.”

“Mmm…”

“Oh, Justin,” Brian singsonged.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Are you in there?”

“I’m not sure,” Justin replied sleepily. His eyes fluttered open and then closed immediately. “What time is it?”

“Five p.m.”

“Fi…five p.m.? You’re kidding, right?” Justin asked, his eyes now open.

“Nope, them’s the facts.”

“Where did the day go?”

“We fucked it away … literally,” Brian chuckled.

“Yeah, my ass is never going to be the same.”

“Bite your tongue,” Brian reacted immediately. “Or I’ll have to.” Brian grinned at his hapless lover. “I like your ass the way it is.”

“Then you should give said ass a little respite,” Justin chided.

“Just wondered if you still wanted to go to this shindig tonight.”

“What shindig?” Justin asked with a yawn.

“The reunion?”

“Oh, fuck, we missed the luncheon.”

“I had no intention of going to it. We had more important things to do,” Brian smirked.

Justin stretched and yawned. “Much better things.”

“Question is, are you up to going to the dinner? If so, we need to get cracking.”

“I’m not sure I can move,” Justin groaned. “And it’s highly doubtful that I can walk.”

Brian chuckled. “So, we’ll stay home.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that.”

“Sure you did.”

“Briiaan.”

“Okay, okay, if we’re going then let’s get the fuck ready.”

“Help me up … gently.”

“I expect you to walk in a suitable fashion when we get there. None of this pussy limping and wingeing,” Brian instructed as he gently got Justin vertical.

“I’ll do my best,” Justin said as he limped towards the bathroom fingering his sore ass.

“You’re making me hard doing that,” Brian rumbled warningly.

“Shit!”

“I’m right behind you.”

“I know. Take it easy,” Justin pleaded as he opened the door to the shower.

Brian shoved him in and proceeded to have his way with the much abused and cherished younger man.

It was twenty to seven when they finally managed to leave the loft. Brian drove through the streets of Pittsburgh towards his old high school.

“Are you nervous?” Justin asked.

“Why would I be nervous?’

“You haven’t seen these people in fifteen years.”

“Thank the gods.”

“Are there any that I should know about?” Justin asked wondering what kind of a hornet’s nest they might be walking into. “I’m sure I won’t recognize anyone except Michael and Ben.”

“I’d be extremely surprised if you did.”

“So tell me about some of them.

Brian thought about that for a moment. “There’s Buck Hansen who’s running this thing. You know about him.”

“What does he look like?”

“He used to be okay looking, tall and athletic, dark brown hair.”

“I wonder what he looks like now?” Justin mused.

“Short, fat and bald,” Brian prognosticated.

Justin laughed. “He could be fat and bald, but I don’t think he would get short.”

“You never know,” Brian replied, his tongue firmly in his cheek.

“Who else?”

“Hm, Buck’s best friend, Joel Dalrymple. He was another of the jock contingent. He helped Buck hold my head in the toilet.”

“Asshole! What was he like?”

“The fact that he held my head in that unseemly place should tell you something.”

“I meant what did he look like?” Justin corrected.

“He was rather … okay looking,” Brian mused.

“Meaning he was good looking.”

“I guess you could call him that. I always got a gay vibe from him, but he was fighting it so hard that he’d rather attack me because I was gay than deal with his own issues.”

“I wonder if he’s out of the closet,” Justin suggested.

“I seriously doubt that.”

“You never know.”

“Are you happy now that you’ve heard about the homophobic bitches I went to school with?”

“Speaking of bitches, you didn’t mention any girls.”

Brian chuckled. “I guess I could introduce you to my girlfriend.”

“Your…your girlfriend?” Justin asked in bewilderment.

“Yeah, good old Jack was getting on my case about not having a girlfriend, so I got one.”

“Who was she?” Justin asked wrinkling up his nose.

“Mary Beth Braunsweiger.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me,” Brian chuckled. “She was actually a pretty nice girl.”

“Did…did she know that you were gay?”

“Probably. Everyone in the school knew, but Mary Beth and I never really discussed it.”

“You didn’t? Why?”

“We were using each other.”

“Using each other? How?”

“She was dating Joel Dalrymple, and he was fucking around on her. Everybody knew. She wanted to pay him back and make him jealous. So we started going out.”

“Worked for each of you?”

“For a while.”

“What happened?”

“She got Joel to promise he’d be true to her. You know, all that romantic bullshit that girls want.”

“That you don’t believe in.”

“Correct.”

Justin smiled to himself. Brian was so full of shit. “Did you two, you know, sleep together?”

“You had to ask, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“No, we didn’t. We made out a few times, and … got close, but neither of us really wanted that.”

Justin nodded. “Do you think Mary Beth will be there tonight?”

“We’re about to find out,” Brian replied as he pulled the Corvette into the parking lot of his old high school. They both got out. “Looks like they’ve got a good turnout,” Brian observed glancing around the parking lot that was mostly full of cars.

“You ready?” Justin asked.

“Absolutely,” Brian said trying to sound more confident than he felt. He straightened Justin’s tie, and took his hand, as they made their way through the front doors of the school.

In the hall outside of the gymnasium where the reunion dinner and dance was being held was a table with some blond bimbo sitting at it.

“You need to check in,” she said cracking the gum she was chewing.

“No shit!”

“Do I know you?” the woman asked screwing up her face and staring into Brian’s.

“I doubt it.”

“Yes, I do, you’re Brian Kinney.”

“And you are…”

“Oh, come on, sweetie. I’m Janet Thompson. You know me!”

“Janet?” Brian repeated in surprise.

“Surely you recognize me.”

“You had brown hair.”

“Well, it was a little darker back then, but hair gets lighter as you get older,” she said with a little giggle, patting the amazing coiffure that she was wearing.

“I suppose,” Brian said looking at her more closely. “Justin, this is Janet Thompson, my lab partner for biology.”

“Hello,” Justin said with a winning smile. “I’m Justin Taylor.” He shook Janet’s hand when she extended it.

“Is this your … partner, and I don’t mean for biology?” Janet asked, studying Justin curiously.

“There are some … biological things that we do together,” Brian smirked. “But you would be correct in assuming that Justin’s my partner.” Justin beamed at him.

“Okay,” she said, seeming to decide that this was all right. “Fill out a name tag, please.”

Brian sighed. He hated wearing those fucking stick-on name tags. They always detracted from the look of his suit. He picked up a marker and was about to write his name, when another thought occurred to him. On the small rectangle he printed “Rage”. Then he grabbed another one and printed JT on it. He handed it to Justin, who smiled and started to peel the backing off the paper.

Brian stuck his name tag to the lapel of his suit. He watched as Justin did the same.

Janet opened her mouth to tell them they should be using their real names, but then decided that they could do whatever they wanted. Brian Kinney still looked mighty fine. Most people would recognize him anyway. She had recognized him almost as soon as he walked through the door of the school. He could introduce his partner when he was asked, and if the guy’s name was Justin Taylor, JT could be his nickname. She followed them with her eyes as they walked towards the door to the gym.

Brian took Justin’s hand as they neared the open door. Janet smiled at the sight.
 

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