chapter 3

~During Lunch~

Ashton was amazed at how much James ate. Most boys at Hensley never ate as much as he did. Ashton sat across from James and listened to him talk. James was very talkative. Ashton had never had many friends, aside from Percy, and most guys saw him as an easy target and used that as an opportunity to have some fun at his expense.

Ashton hated school, and the only thing he did enjoy were his classes. He was smart and he was most likely going to be valedictorian, even though his father wouldn't care. He hadn't given a kind word since Ashton admitted his homosexuality.

James finished off his lunch with a few slices of chocolate cake. "I love chocolate," James said. Ashton was fighting an erection, and just wanted to masturbate. He sighed lightly to himself as he listened to James talk some more.

He liked that James talked so much, which meant he wouldn't have to say anything. The less he said, the lesser the risk of James finding out he was gay--well, before he saw some of the teasing he would receive from the other boys.

None of the other boys ever arrived as early as Ashton did. Some usually showed up the night before classes were to begin. Ashton came early to avoid his mother, who's drinking had made her quite the handful.

She would drink and tell Ashton what a disappointment he was. She would tell him how Donny always did what she told him to. Ashton didn't get it, as Donny was always a sarcastic jerk, and his mother knew it.

James stood up and lightly rubbed his meaty chest and belly. He asked what else he wanted to do and Ashton had to remember he was being spoken to. "Anything is, uh, fine with me," he said sheepishly. He hadn't expected James wanting to hang around with him. He hadn't expected James to be so nice, but he knew the kindness wouldn't last for long.

"We could just walk around," James suggested. "I kind of need to walk this off," he said as he rubbed his full belly. Ashton blushed and followed James from the lunch room.

They walked around campus, Ashton even answering a few of James' questions. School would start in a week, and Ashton was glad to have made a new friend, even if it wasn't going to last. James was out of the room alone two days before term was to start. Ashton put on his headphones and pulled out a book he had been dying to finish, but lacked the time to read.

It must've been an hour or two, but he was on the last page. He looked up and noticed James on his bed across from him. He sat up and pulled the ear buds from his ears. How did he not notice James enter the room? How long had he been there? His bed did face away from the door, and he wasn't focusing on the outside world.

"I just got back," James said quickly, not wanting to seem weird for not announcing his presence. In truth, he had been in the room for five minutes. He thought Ashton was cute reading his book so intently. He noticed his facial expressions were greatly affected by what he was reading at the time. "What's your book about?"

Ashton never got to talk about his books, and that's one thing he could go on and on about. "Its central theme is the red string of fate." He saw the confused look on James' face. "It connects two lovers by an invisible red thread, and--and they are bound by, uh, fate." He had lost his original audacity and closed his mouth.

"That sounds really, uh, romantic." All Ashton could think about was how gay it sounded. He was reading chick lit and it was obvious. That was why he didn't talk about his books, too much of his personality shown through and he found it best to keep it tucked deep down inside.

But Ashton was gay. He was gay and he knew it. He knew he liked penis. He knew he didn't quite fit the masculine mold he should have filled, but he just wanted to be accepted. He just wanted someone he could connect to.