CHAPTER - 1
THE MANY CHOICES
"A man is too apt to forget that in this world, he cannot have everything. A choice is all that is left him." - Harry Mathews
The Summer of Eight Years Ago
At each stage, phase and day, we are offered choices and whatever we choose becomes our destiny.
Almost nineteen years back, Mom and Dad decided to do the nasty, better not go there, and the Y-chromosome attached with X-chromosome resulting in formation of XY genes instead of XX. Nine months later, they were blessed with the devilishly charming, sexy, cute little boy - me. Out of the pink and blue, two choices, blue was chosen.
A year later, I had to make a life changing decision of choosing either the Robots or the Barbie dolls. Much to my parents' pleasure, I chose robots even though the Barbie doll of my neighbor's one year old girl was damn sexy.
At a Thanksgiving Dinner at my Aunt's home, I, the poor six year old was asked whom I loved more- my Grandpa or my Granny. All eyes in that room were on me, as if I was about to announce the next American Idol. I chose Grandpa as he really was cool, not that I didn't love my Granny, but she could not bear my rejection and two days later, she passed away due to a heart attack. Poor me; I had so much load on my tiny shoulders. Huh!
When I entered High School, I had to choose between being a Nobody, whom nobody knows with the exception of his own friends or the Popular Boy, who does not know anybody with the exception of his own friends. Damn two choices! With my dark brown hair and eyes as blue as the ocean which were teamed with my perfect model-like physique, I knew that I could not hide from the popular group for so long and eventually they would find me and beg me to be one of them. So, I decided not to give them the pain of chasing me.
For maintaining the reputation of the popular boy, I had to choose between being the sweet, kind boy or the player. It was obvious that the sweet, kind guy gets everybody's respect, love and adoration, while the player gets nothing pointed earlier and only sex. It's not hard to guess what I chose. Soon, I was the star quarterback 'player' of my school. Every girl wanted me and every boy wanted to be me.
In senior year, I had to decide on the course I wanted to pursue in my future. After thinking hard about my life ten years down the line, I realized what I wanted. I wanted to play the field, football field and the other one too. I got a scholarship and was selected for Vanderbilt University.
At the end of my senior year, during the summer, my mom gave me the option to visit my Uncle in Houston or my Grandpa in Miami. The choice was not tough as any day I would choose my Grandpa over my nine months pregnant looking uncle whose snore keeps his entire neighborhood awake.
One hour back, my grandpa asked me to go grocery shopping alone or with him. I decided alone as I wanted him to rest. Hey, no jokes on my Grandpa!
Fruit loops or honey loops?
Looking between these two boxes in my either hands, I realized that this was the toughest decision I had to make in my life, ever. I wouldn't have regretted if I had chosen Barbie over robots, but what if I chose fruit loops and the next morning I wanted to have honey loops or vice versa?
'I would so regret this decision. And Keith Warren never regrets anything,' I told myself.
Mom had always told me that whenever I am confused, all I need to do is close my eyes and whatever pops up in my head the instant I face darkness is what I really want and what I should choose.
I smirked as I thought this and closed my eyes. The first thing I saw was Claire - my grandpa's seventeen-year-old neighbor with whom I have a hot date tonight. 'Don't you guys dare think that I love her or all that mushy crap because I saw her hot body, not her face. I am so going to bang her tonight.' I snapped open my eyes, shook my head to clear my mind off of Claire's sexy body and things I intended to do to her and focused on my life changing decision - honey loops or fruit loops.
With a new found determination, I closed my eyes and instantly saw what I wanted. I opened my eyes again and kept honey loops back on the shelf while fruit loops in my cart. I went through the list, quickly scanning it to check if I had got everything listed on it. It was complete, but one thing was left that was not to be written in any list. I went to the shelf and put some in the other small basket.
The billing line was not crowded, thankfully. I picked up a Playboy edition from the nearby magazine counter and started flipping through the heavenly pages.
'Dear Sir Hugh Hefner is doing a great job. He should rule the world!' I snorted at my own thought and kept the small basket on the billing counter without looking up. Who would look at a boring salesman with a fake smile on his nerdy face when you have hot nude models in your hands? Well, not technically, but still. 'See, again two options! The world is based on two options.'
"A condom exclusive basket!"
My head snapped up from the very interesting magazine in my hand to the person who said this and found my dark blue eyes looking into brown almost black eyes. A gasp escaped my mouth in embarrassment as I realized that the salesman was not actually a man, but a girl almost my age, looking at me with an amused smirk playing on her lips.
I looked at my precious half-filled condom basket and shouted, looking around, "Who the hell does this belong to? And who exchanged it with my basket of fruits?" She rolled her eyes clearly not buying my act, but I continued anyway, "this must be yours-" I stopped when I turned to blame the person standing behind me and came face to face with an old lady standing with a six or seven year old kid, who was looking up at me with a confused face, while his granny was glaring at me.
I turned back to the girl at the counter who was trying hard to control her laughter. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure this is your basket full of fruit-" she paused and continued with a smirk, "-flavored condoms."
"I've a research project about the efficiency of condoms. So I had to buy loads," I tried to reason, with the most serious face known to mankind. Seriously, who would like to get caught with half a basket of condoms by a girl, not me at least. I might be a player, but I have respect; in my own eyes I had, but in the eyes of the girl who stood across me, definitely not.
"Gran, what is condom?" the little boy's voice broke the train of my thoughts and I turned back to look at him. The lady was looking at her grandson in shock and was speechless.
So, I decided to answer the boy's curious mind, "Condom is the thing whose inefficiency is something you should be grateful to as it is responsible for your birth." The lady looked at me in horror as she covered the kid's ears and started moving towards the other line, but she was late as the kid had already heard enough and was now asking more questions. The lady looked back at me and said something incoherent, which I could not hear but understood by her expressions.
At the sound of laughter, I turned back to the girl at the counter and smirked at her. Once she calmed down, she started billing the condoms and I took this time to observe her. Her dark brown hair was tied in a neat ponytail that reached her shoulder. She had three small freckles at her chin forming a triangle. Her nose was cute like a button and she had a freckle just above her upper lip. She was about 5'6 and probably slim; I couldn't figure that out in her work uniform which was baggy. She was cute.
'Wooh, what's wrong with me? Cute? I never use that word even for a puppy and she is just a girl, who are either hot or not hot. This girl is not even my type. She is far from it,' I told myself.
Once she completed billing the condoms, she looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Yearly stock?"
I almost laughed at her bluntness and corrected her, "Monthly."
"Right!" she muttered and started billing the grocery. She looked towards my hand and smirked. She asked, pointing towards my hand, "You must need that for your research. To find out whether it helps in usage of condoms or not. Right?"
I laughed at her joke and nodded. "Sir Hugh Hefner would be upset if I don't buy this."
She chuckled and took the magazine from my hand. "I agree with that condom-man."
I did a double take at what she said. "Wooh! What? Really?" I asked.
"Yup," she replied in a serious voice, but humor in her eyes could be seen clearly. "If it was up to me, I would make you the Brand Ambassador of condoms."
I tried not to show the amusement on my face. I played along as I leaned on the counter and gave her my irresistible smirk. I said, huskily, "Would you make me if I show you how I use one?" Though she was so not my type, I knew my charm worked on everyone. She was no different.
But, she didn't look a least bit affected as she confidently leaned forwards and smirked. She held my eye contact and replied in a low voice, "The day Greenland and Iceland look like their names, I will."
I was taken aback and extremely shocked at her reply and the way she said it. She was not even a bit affected by my presence, my sexiness, my godliness. She didn't check me out even for a second. Not that she herself was some Greek Goddess look alike, but there was not a single girl who was not affected by my presence - nerds, loners, emos, cheerleaders - everybody wanted me so badly. This girl was definitely a lesbian. 'Yes, that's what she is.' I satisfied myself with this thought.
"Eighty Dollars," she told me in her confident sales girl tone.
I slightly nodded and took out the money from my wallet. I handed the amount to her and she smiled politely at me though her eyes were sparkling with mischief and victory. I smirked back at her and picked up my bags, moving out of the shop with an unknown smile playing on my lips.
************
"Keith, let's dance." Claire pouted.
I looked at her and thought about dancing with her; that would definitely save me from her constant blabbering about her popularity in high school and the various shades of nail paints and lipsticks she owned. Girls; boys do not like such talks. When she realized that I was not paying attention, she started bitching about her cousins and how she is more beautiful than them. She might have thought that I was interested in this topic as she spoke about it for almost half an hour, when actually I was saying reverse alphabets in my mind. I frowned when I could not remember it, smiled when I recalled and at the end she praised me for being "such an attentive listener".
Why was I with this girl again? Oh, yes. I was going to get laid and I was pretty sure she would be good in bed. At least, I hoped so.
Smirking, I took her hand and led her to the center of the dance area which was heavily crowded. Claire had asked me to 'accompany' her to one of her friend's beach party and here we were.
The private place was lit up with lights and special attention was paid to the made up bar area, where all kinds of drinks were being served. There was bonfire in one part where people were singing, dancing and playing games. On the other part was dancing area supervised by a DJ, who knew his job perfectly. This was a typical high school party and I loved it. Too many drinks, too many girls and the best part - most of them in bikinis.
I turned to face Claire, who was already a bit tipsy. She was almost five feet three inches tall; too short in front of my 6' frame, but she was smoking hot, though a bit too slim. She was wearing a bright pink bikini top and very short shorts of the same color. Honestly, I do not like the color pink, but I didn't care about what she was wearing. I was just concerned about what was beneath it.
She smiled seductively and traced her finger down my chest that was covered by my Abercrombie blue T-shirt. She put her arms around my neck and fiddled her fingers in my brown hair. I snaked my arms around her waist, resting them on her hips and giving her my famous smirk. I swear, I saw her drooling. I pressed her closer and started moving my body with the music, making her move with me. She let out a moan and started grinding against me, making my skilled friend down south hard.
This time too, I, Keith Warren did not regret my decision of dancing with her; making her effectively shut up and doing what I wanted to do tonight.
We danced for about twenty minutes and to say that we both were very hot and bothered would be an understatement. She stood on her tip toes and whispered, "Let's go out of here."
I smirked, happily complying and we started moving away from the dance area. When we were about to reach the parking lot, she said, again, pouting, "Keith, will you please get a drink for me? I am thirsty."
' What a perfect time it was for you to be thirsty!'
"Sure." I nodded, keeping my thoughts to myself and sprinted towards the bar.
Not intending to waste anymore time, I reached the made up bar area. "One soda," I ordered and leaned my back against the counter, looking at the high school kids dancing. Every now and then, I got suggestive looks from the girls which I returned happily with a wink or a smirk and if the girl was damn hot, the reply was the combination of the two.
"I assume that your research starts tonight."
I looked at my right towards the vaguely familiar voice that broke my flirting moments with so many girls. The salesgirl from earlier today was smirking at me. I smirked back and asked, "You had doubts?"
She snorted and turned her chair to face the crowd, just like me. "With girls like these? No, not at all." She shook her head in a mocking way and clicked her tongue at the end.
I took this time to check her out. She was wearing a baggy red T-shirt and baggy cargo pants with sneakers. Her hair was still tied up. She was such a tomboy and definitely a lesbian.
"Who are you here with?" I asked her, mildly curious.
She pointed towards a group of 6-7 girls and boys. "Friends."
"No boyfriend?" I found myself asking and quickly shut up. Why the hell did I just ask that? How can she have a boyfriend when she is a lesbian? Maybe, I should have asked, 'Where is your girlfriend?'
She snorted and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Guys think that girls are good for just one thing. You think the same. Right?"
"No," I replied instantly, assuming this is what she wanted to hear.
She faked surprise and asked curiously, "Really?" I nodded. "Do you have any friend who is a girl and you both never even kissed?" The challenge in her voice was crystal clear. I frowned as I thought about it. No, there was not even a single girl I could remember whom I knew and didn't kiss or had sex with. She chuckled at my lack of response and said, "See, that's what I'm saying."
In the meanwhile, the bartender came up with the drink that I had ordered and forgot about. "Well, that is true. Girls are not good at anything else. They cannot do any fun in life," I told her, as a matter of fact.
"Really Condom-man?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and I almost laughed at her nickname for me.
"Yes, that is if you don't include shopping, gossiping, swooning over guys, watching chick flicks in the definition of fun." I smirked.
She rolled her eyes, while her lips curled up in a half smile and looked directly in my eyes. "What if I show you that we girls can have fun more than you boys can? Well, at least I can and I do."
I did a double take at what she had said. Was she finally giving in to my good looks and getting utterly affected by my charm? "And I thought you could resist me..." I trailed off with a victorious smirk.
She smirked back and replied, "Yes, that is if you don't include flirting, playing x-box ,watching TV, making out and sex in the definition of fun."
I laughed and told her, "That's impossible."
She looked at me with all seriousness and challenged me. "What if I prove it to you?"
"I'll do whatever you'd ask me to do," I promised, knowing that I didn't have anything to lose in this bet. There was no way she was going to win over me; over Keith Warren. "But how do you plan on winning the bet?" I asked her jokingly as I stressed on winning and bit my lips to control my laughter.
"Stay with me tonight and I will tell you what real fun is."
"Darling, you just had to ask," I joked.
"I know you would do it with any girl on the planet," she replied, shaking her head. "Now, here is the deal. We will spend the night, according to me and if, by dawn you do not enjoy yourself, I will do whatever you'll ask me to do." I smirked and she continued, "but if you have fun, you'll do whatever I'll ask you to do."
Spending a night with a girl always meant doing 'it', but I knew, I would not get laid with this girl. She was stubborn, sarcastic, tomboy and definitely a lesbian. Was I willing to risk a sex-filled night with sexy Claire for a so-called fun night, which I was pretty sure would end up in a disaster, with this strange stranger? I drank the soda I had ordered. There was just no catch in this deal for me, but still, I found myself saying the next word which surprised both of us to some extent.
"Deal."
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A/N:
Please VOTE & COMMENT if you like the story. :)
Heyy,,this is my first story & I hope you liked this chapter. And if you liked it plz spread a word about it..:)
I am sure there are mistakes as English is my Second Language. I have tried to edit it, if you find any mistakes, please comment :) I am not very confident about my writing. It took me 2 months to upload this..well, more like to gather courage to upload this. Any type of constructive comments are most welcome.
Thanx :) :)