A/N
*flies in on rainbow* Hello! Welcome to part two of Learning To Love My other Half! Thank you for not maiming me and making this chapter possible. This chapter is sort of boring, but it's necessary. So deal with it hos! HAHA I'mmm just kidding. But seriously, deal with it. O_o Anywhore, I'd like to welcome Avery McIntyre to our cast! *throws confetti* He will be played by a sexy mcsexy pants by the name of *drumroll* - Josh Henderson! *drools* --> Pic to the side.
Fans: Permission to drool?
Me: Permission granted!
Everyone: *drools a river that would put the amazon to shame*
Shoutouts to any commenters, I'm too lazy to go find them all XD Love you all! <3
Enjoy!
«»
******************************
| PART 2 |
******************************
19 - Three's A Crowd
JUSTIN
"Sam! Justin! You're going to be late!" Sophie called up the stairs.
"Coming," I responded, checking my reflection one more time.
Satisfied, I exited the bathroom and joined Sam, who was pulling a shirt over his head.
"Ready?" I asked, taking his hand.
He nodded in reply and we went downstairs to meet Sophie in the kitchen.
"So you two zombies decided to get up after all," she chuckled, "Good choice."
Sam put his arms out in front of him and started ambling around the table, reaching for his mother and moaning 'braaaaainnnnsss'.
She squeaked when he put his hands on her head and I giggled.
"Sam, stop that," she laughed, swatting his arms away.
He just grunted and hugged her instead, a moan of 'huuuuuggggsssss' accompanying it.
"Yes, yes," Sophie said, putting her arms around her son.
He smiled and pecked her on the cheek then sat at the table, patting a chair beside him. I, however, opted to sit on his lap instead and he put his arms around my middle, snuggling his head against my back.
I noticed something long and hard rubbing my thigh and looked at Sam slyly, "Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
Sophie spluttered and Sam grinned wickedly for a moment, before donning an innocent smile.
"It's a banana," he said, pulling out the yellow fruit.
I sat there for a minute and looked at him dumbly then asked, "Why do you have a banana in your pocket?"
He shrugged, "Not sure."
I looked over at Sophie and we both broke out laughing, Sam joining us within seconds.
Sophie wiped her eyes and glanced up a the clock, "Goodness, you boys had better get a move on," she said, ushering us out of the kitchen and handing us each a bagel to eat on our way to school.
"I love you both, stay safe and I'll see you after school," she said with a smile.
We both told her we loved her back, exchanged hugs and went on our way.
«»
We walked hand in hand toward our high school, favouring silence over conversation.
At least until Kim showed up.
"Hey ho!" she called, sauntering up to us.
"Whore," I greeted, nodding.
"Bitch," she returned.
"Slut!"
"Skank!"
"Asshole!"
"Yeah, that's where you like it," she snickered, tossing her brown curls over her shoulder.
I gasped, clutching a hand to my heart.
Sam chuckled and I flipped them off, only succeeding in causing them to laugh harder.
I laughed as well, dropping the façade and hugging Kim tightly. She hugged me back then held me at arm's length, her blue-green eyes searching my own blue ones.
"How are you doing boo?" she asked sincerely.
I knew what she was referring to and smiled.
"Much better than I thought I would," I confessed.
"Good," she said as we resumed walking.
"So why are you two walking today?" she asked, changing the subject much to my relief. I may have been dealing okay, but that didn't mean I liked to dwell on it.
"Wanted some extra time together before school," Sam replied, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together.
"Awe, that's sweet," she cooed.
I blushed and we kept walking in silence.
About a block away from campus, Sam gave me an apologetic look and released my hand, pecking me on the lips.
I smiled reassuringly at him, telling him it was okay, that I understood.
"Well I'll see you later loves," Kim said, wiggling her fingers at us and departing.
We watched her retreat and turned back to the front of the building.
I knew as soon as I walked through the double doors that something was off.
The sounds of general chatter and slamming locker doors ceased immediately and all eyes turned to where I stood with Sam.
I could tell that he noticed it as well, but he didn't let it bother him. He tapped my shoulder and motioned for us to go to our lockers. I nodded and we started down the hall, all too aware of the whispered conversations that broke out in our wake.
Once we had obtained the necessary materials for each of our first period classes, we bade each other goodbye and parted, me heading for Chemistry, him for P.E.
I walked through the halls, noticing the same behaviour that I had observed moments earlier. This went on until I reached the chem lab, now walking at a brisk pace to avoid the awkward stares and that incessant whispering.
I slid into my seat and rested my head on the cool desk, closing my eyes. I couldn't think of any reason for the strange behaviour, but before I could think properly about it, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I jerked up in surprise and squeaked in fright, my head swiveling frantically as I searched for the culprit. My gaze landed on a boy that I had never seen before.
I looked him over and, cheesy as it sounds, the first things I noticed were his eyes. Not in a romantic 'his eyes are so beautiful' way, but in fascination. One was a vibrant green that resembled Sam's, while the other was a light shade of blue, similar to mine.
"Sorry," he chuckled, his voice deep and rough, "I didn't mean to startle you."
I smiled meekly at him, "That's alright, no harm done."
"My name is Avery," he said, extending a hand.
I shook it, "Justin."
"Anyone sit here?" he asked, indicating the chair next to me.
I shook my head, mumbling a quick no, and he sat down.
I looked at him quizzically, taking in his sharp features and athletic build. He had medium length flyaway hair, which was a soft brown colour.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer," he said cockily, noticing me staring.
I flushed scarlet and looked away, coughing awkwardly as he laughed.
"So are you new here?" I turned to face him again, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Yup, just transferred here from the catholic school in town," he replied.
I gave him a questioning look and he continued.
"I have a certain - quality - that was unacceptable. I was expelled."
He spoke with a bitter tone in his voice, biting each word as it fled his mouth as though they had caused him personal harm.
When he didn't elaborate further, I wanted to ask him about the situation, but decided to remain silent, although I did have a vague suspicion as to what the 'quality' was.
Not long after the interaction with Avery ceased, the rest of the class started to file in. Again, each and every one of them fell silent as soon as they saw me.
I was confused and frustrated, and just wanted to know what the hell was going on, but I held my tongue when the teacher, Mr. Frazer, strode into the room.
"Ok seniors, settle down," he muttered, same as every morning. He didn't seem to notice that the lab was already silent.
"Please take out your workbooks so we can go over last night's homework."
Slowly, one by one, the pairs of eyes left me. The class rummaged around in their bags and withdrew the requested item, though some stole glances at me every so often. I was so caught up with my thoughts that I didn't notice Mr. Frazer talking to me.
"Justin?"
What was so interesting anyway?
"Justin!"
Did I grow an extra head overnight?
"Mister Summers!"
"H-huh?" I looked up.
Mr. Frazer shook his head, "Please pay attention Justin. I was asking if you could please assist Avery here to catch up."
I reddened and nodded in response.
"Thank you," he said, turning back to the blackboard.
"We will be looking into isotope reactivity today. The instructions for a practical lab are on page two hundred forty seven," he wrote the page number on the board under the title and date, "Get to it."
Avery turned out to be a very pleasant guy. Sure, he was cocky and arrogant at times, but it was mostly all in good fun. With me at least.
We worked efficiently and I was pleased to actually have a competent lab partner for once. Usually I got stuck with the guy who was struggling.
"Dude, what's with the fans?" Avery asked, looking somewhere over my head.
I followed his gaze and saw that several groups were staring at me. As soon as they saw me looking they quickly turned their heads, pretending to work.
I rolled my eyes and sighed, turning back to Avery.
"Quite honestly, I don't know. It's been like this since the second I walked in this morning."
"Well whatever it is, it's obviously very interesting," he said, eyes narrowed.
Sure enough, when I glanced back over they were once again looking intently in my direction.
"Yeah ..." I mumbled, "Do I look abnormal to you in any way? Like do I have two heads or something?"
He chuckled, assuring me that I looked completely normal, then we got back to work, finishing with time to spare.
Avery took our lab papers to the front and returned to the seat beside me, lounging back in the chair with his knees against the desk.
"So what class do you have next?" I asked him.
He checked his schedule.
"Psychology," he said, "With ... Mrs. Howard."
"Awesome, you're in the same class as me. We'll head there together."
He smiled at me, "Thanks buddy."
"It's no trouble" I assured him, smiling kindly.
We sat in silence for the remainder of class, both lost in thought.
The bell rang and we exited the lab, heading upstairs to the psychology room.
We sat down and waited for class to begin.
Mrs. Howard came in and stood at the front of the class, addressing us as a whole.
"Okay seniors, we're going to be doing an activity of sorts today. When I say so, you'll find a partner and then come and collect two packages from the front, one for each partner. Also, I would like to welcome Avery McIntyre, who just transferred and will be joining our class for the remainder of the semester."
Avery nodded and gave a little wave.
"Alright, you have the rest of the period to finish and hand in the package, begin."
"Ready partner?" Avery asked, grinning.
I laughed, "Ready."
I got up and picked up the packages, scanning over them quickly. It was entitled "Introduction To Favouritism And Preference: Part A. It turned out to be a questionnaire. Most of the questions were pretty benign, things like "What's your favourite colour?" and "Who is your celebrity crush?".
I walked back to Avery and handed him one, taking a seat across the desk from him.
He looked at it and chuckled.
"Well this will be fun, and it's a way for us to get to know each other better."
I nodded, "So who's going first?"
"I'll ask you?" he questioned.
"Sure, fire away."
"Alright, number one. What is your favourite colour?"
"Blue," I responded, watching him scribble down the answer.
"What is your favourite food?"
I thought for a minute, "Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken."
It went like this for several minutes with similar questions. Then we hit the more intimate ones.
"If you had a child, would they be a boy or a girl?
"Boy," I answered without hesitation.
He nodded, "What is your sexual orientation?"
This time I did hesitate.
"Gay," I said in a small voice.
Another nod, "Who is your celeb crush?"
I sighed in relief, glad that he didn't care.
"Josh Hutcherson," I replied, smiling dreamily.
He cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Very soon, it was his turn.
Surprisingly, some of his answers were very similar to mine.
His favourite colour was blue, his favourite food was spaghetti and meatballs, and he wanted a boy.
"What's your sexual orientation?"
"Gay," he responded, not altogether surprising me. I had suspected as much from our first conversation.
"Celeb crush?" I asked.
"Funnily enough, mine's also Josh Hutcherson," he confessed.
"No way!"
"Way!"
I giggled.
We continued working until Mrs. Howard called for them to be brought up and handed in.
Again, Avery delivered them to the teacher's desk. I smiled in thanks when he returned and we sat and talked until the bell rang.
"So, I'll see you in biology then?" he asked as we made our way to the door.
"Yup," I confirmed.
"Cool, see you later bud."
"Bye Avery," I waved and we went in opposite directions for lunch.
Again I was bombarded with stares as I made my way to the cafeteria. I just kept my head down and tried to ignore them, but it wasn't easy. I quickened my pace, blindly fast-walking down the hall.
I was almost at the doors when I walked into a brick wall. Or at least, it felt that way. I looked up to see who I had walked into and my eyes narrowed when they fell on Zach.
He sneered at me and stalked away, disappearing around a corner.
This confused the hell out of me. Zach never passed up a chance to pick on me for being gay.
Deciding to shrug it off, I picked myself up off the floor and entered the cafeteria, searching the sea of students for Sam.
I spotted him with our friends and walked over, sitting on his left. They all smiled and greeted me before returning to their conversation.
"Yeah, apparently she has no idea," Kim was saying, an animated look on her face.
"What are we talking about?" I asked, eating one of Sam's fries.
"Some ho got pregnant," Jake responded nonchalantly.
I winced, "Poor ho. Who is she?"
"That Holly chick in our year," Kim said.
"Holly Garner?"
"That's the one," Jake confirmed, popping a fry into his mouth and pointing another at me, "Apparently she has no clue who her baby daddy is."
"How many options are there? I mean, she can only have slept with so many people in the amount of time around when she conceived."
"Dude, we're talking about the biggest slut in school remember?" Allyson chimed in, "There could be, like, twenty candid suspects."
"Ally's right, that chick has sat on more poles than Jenyne Butterfly," Martin snorted.
I gave him a blank look.
"You know ... the famous pole dancer? ... Never mind."
"Anyway, who do you think it is?" Kim asked.
"I have a guess," Kris said thoughtfully.
We looked at her expectantly.
"Sean Ryder"
"Isn't he dating that April chick?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but I heard that she wouldn't put out for him. Add that to the fact that both he and Holly were at that party last week while April was sick and you get a suspicious character," Kim reasoned.
"It's actually very likely," Kris said, "Apparently Holly is one week pregnant."
We all nodded our assent to the likelihood that Sean was the father and fell silent.
"On a different note, I can't help but notice something different about everyone's behaviour today," Jake commented.
Sam and I looked at each other.
"You mean the fact that people are looking at us like we're exhibits in a Ripley's museum?" Sam asked grimly.
"Yes, that, I wonder what's going on," he mused.
"I don't know, but it's hella annoying," I said, whipping around in my seat to see at least fifteen pairs of eyes dart away.
I sighed and turned back to my lunch.
«»
Finally, I thought as the final bell rang. I jumped up and shouldered my backpack, heading in the direction of the door.
"Hey Justin! Wait up!"
I stopped and spun around, seeing Avery jogging toward me. He fell into step beside me and we left the classroom together.
"What are you up to this afternoon?" he asked.
"Well Sam has football practice so I was going to sit around and be lonely, why?"
He chuckled, "Because I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."
"Sure," I said happily.
"Awesome, come on."
"Woah there, I have to at least notify Sam," I said, laughing at his child like eagerness.
He huffed, "Fine."
"Thank you," I said, leading him toward the football field where practice was already in session.
I approached the coach, who looked over and smiled.
"Hey Coach Connaly, is it okay if I borrow Sam for just a minute?"
"Of course," he said, "Thomas, bring it in!"
Sam came trotting up to us and spotted me.
"Hey Justin, what's up?" he asked.
"I just wanted to let you know that I was going to hang with Avery while you're practicing," I gestured to the boy beside me and he nodded in greeting.
"Just thought I'd let you know. I'll be home by five."
"Okay," he smiled and waved, heading back onto the field.
I thanked the coach and turned back to Avery.
"Lead the way."
«»
"Nice place," I commented, standing on the threshold of Avery's room and looking around.
It was carpeted with a deep blue that complimented the pale yellow walls nicely. There were a couple trophies on the shelves, each with a sports jersey hanging behind.
"Thank you," he said, walking around his double bed and sitting on the floor.
I walked in and sat down across from him, taking in his features.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're undressing me in your mind?" he asked with a sly grin.
"I-I'm n-not - I uhhh - " I spluttered, "Uhhhhhh ..."
"Relax, I'm just messing with you," he chuckled.
"Humph"
I pouted, sticking out my bottom lip.
"You're cute," he commented, taking me by surprise.
I didn't know what to say, so I just mumbled a quick thanks.
He chuckled again and moved closer.
"Not to mention sexy," he husked.
Now I was getting nervous.
Suddenly, he lunged forward and I started to protest but it was too late. It already happened.
«»
A/N
Dun dun dun. XD *sniffs* I smell drama! What happened? Tell me in the comments for a shoutout! Also, I'm still looking for pet names! What one word terms of endearment can Justin and Sam call each other?
Me: *bugging Sam at football practice*
Me: Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam!!!!!!!
Sam: WHAT!?!?!?!?!?
Me: ... Hi. *sheepish grin*
Sam: -_-
Hmmmm, maybe I'll be evil >:D No updates until the following criteria is met! ^_^
Don't forget to
VOTE (30 on this chapter)
COMMENT (20 on this chapter)
FAN (no criteria)
Hop to it! *flies away on a rainbow*