chapter 8

"Dan, wh...what are we going to do?" I asked. We were sitting in his truck. I didn't barf, so that was a good sign. Dan was unreadable.

"I don't know." He smiled. "But we did it."

"Yeah, we did." I smiled too. We were who we were and everyone knew it. No more secrets or hiding. It was like being able to actually live life.

"I actually feel much better," he said.

"Me too," I agreed. I looked at him. "But where are you going to stay? I can ask my mom if you could stay with us."

"Maybe I could get a job and rent an apartment. I already have about a grand saved up."

"What about school?" I asked, the nerd in me showing.

"Drop out I guess." Drop out? Was he crazy? I wasn't going to let that happen.

"You have to finish. When we both graduate we can move out of my mom's house and live together. We...we could get jobs for after school to save up. You just have to finish, please."

"Okay...yeah, sure." He pulled off from in front of his parent's house. He drove towards the downtown area and parked his truck. We got out and went to see if we could get jobs, hopefully together.

I saw there were no places hiring. We went into every restaurant and clothing store in town. We walked back to his truck when I saw a new looking restaurant. It had a small sign in the front window that said "Help Wanted. Inquire Within."

I dragged Danny into the restaurant and was met by a blast of warmth. It was a very homey type of place, but I couldn't see any people. "Hello?" I called.

"Sorry, give me a second!"

"Okay," Danny replied to the voice.

"Hello," he said as he came from the kitchen. "I'm the owner." He smiled at me.

"Where are all the customers?" Danny asked.

"We're not open yet. Right now we're getting everything together for the grand opening...hiring staff, that sort of thing."

"We need jobs!" I blurted out. He laughed.

"I'll get the manager." He walked back into what I assumed to be the kitchen. He walked back out. "By the way, my name is Oliver Bailey, and this is Mason Ryder." Oliver was short and adorable, but Mason was just as gorgeous and masculine. He was so my type, he reminded me of Danny.

"Nice to meet you," Dan said. "I'm Daniel Boyd and this is Scott Porter."

"Let's take a seat," said Mason. We walked over to a booth and I noted Mason had a fantastic, large ass. Mason squeezed himself into the booth next to Danny.

I realized Mason must have been at least 430 pounds. I easily fit next to Oliver. Danny and Mason looked so good, both of them, taking up more room than the booth offered. "When can you work?" Oliver asked.

"Well, we are still in high school..."

"Really?" Oliver exclaimed. "You two look older than that."

"Yeah. Danny is already 18 and I will be in May." I steered the conversation back to the job. "I think we can work from three thirty until you don't need us, and all weekend, and spring break."

"If I may ask, why do you need to work so much?" Mason asked.

"Well, I quit football, got fat, and came out of the closet with my boyfriend..." Danny smiled at me as he said this. "And then my dad kicked me out of the house so we need to save so we can rent an apartment after graduation."

"You two sound a lot like me and Oli."

"What?" I asked.

"The same things happened to us, except the needing a job for an apartment."

"You two are a couple?" I asked.

"Yeah, I see you like the bigger guys too," Oliver said as he winked at me. I blushed.

"Mason is pretty hot," I said without thinking and felt my face grow even redder.

"Thanks, you're not so bad either." I felt my heart race. I was sitting across from people who went through what Dan and I were experiencing. It would get better.

"Hey!" Dan exclaimed.

"But Danny is still better in my book," said Oliver.

"Thank you. I think you're pretty cute too Oliver." We all laughed for a moment.

"You two are hired, and if you need anything just ask." We filled out forms and applications and they said that they would call about our schedules. I felt better than I had all day.