Chapter 9

6 years ago

8 months before

"So, in order for there to be sexual intercourse, the penis needs to enter the vagina," the teacher, Mrs. Peters said as a cartoon was shown on the whiteboard of two people having apparent intercourse.

Around the classroom, either the sounds of suppressed laughter or suppressed disgust was heard. Though Carter was simply paying attention to the screen and the lesson. Should he feel something? He felt like he should, but he didn't. He had noticed this for a long time now. The fact that he couldn't look at girls the way he should had been bothering him for quite a while now. He had been thinking about it ever since he discovered the true meaning of being gay. He by now knew the concept of being gay very well, and had thought about it deeply as well.

So what bothered Carter about these things was why they kept giving information about people of the opposite gender having sex, but no information at all about people with the same gender having sex. How do two men have sex? How do two women have sex? Carter wondered why nobody told them about those subjects, as if being gay was an extremely rare thing.

The rest of the hour they were being informed about all sorts of condoms and birth control. It was then that Carter first started to realize that he was not interested in girls. The thing that gave it away? The fact that he was a lot more intrigued by the picture of the naked man and even curious about what it would feel like to touch another male's body.

He carefully glanced at Josh who was sitting next to him from the corners of his eyes and saw him slightly narrowing his eyes at the pictures of the naked man and woman, and he wondered if maybe he was thinking the same as him.

He then saw Josh ripping a small piece of paper from his notebook and scribbled something on it before passing it to Carter.

"When do you think you're going to have sex with a woman?" Carter read.

He flipped the piece of paper over and grabbed his pen to write a reply.

"I don't know. I don't think I ever will, honestly."

A few moments later, Carter received a reply on a new piece of ripped paper.

"Why?"

Carter wasn't entirely sure how to answer that question. Because he didn't think he was attracted to girls? Because it seemed more appealing to him to be with another man instead of being with a woman? He wasn't entirely sure himself.

"Because I don't think I want to."

He was satisfied enough with that answer and gave it back to Josh, not receiving an answer to that.

Now

Carter had probably spent a good ten minutes brushing his teeth and grooming himself before he was finally ready to go the the bus stop. He was, needless to say, quite nervous for his first school day as a Senior back in his hometown. He also had a good time in Minnesota, and also missed his friends there, but he had never been a city boy. He prefered the quiet, beautiful surroundings of Port Hayland and the busier but still peaceful town of Hayland.

He gave a yawn and readjusted the strap of his backpack around his shoulder as he waited for the bus. He had probably come too early. He was afraid he'd miss the bus and be late for his first day of school so arrived earlier than usual.

And like always, he kept fussing over what to wear, eventually settling with a white t-shirt and some jeans with sneakers. He had probably also packed too much in his backpack, just to be sure he had everything he'd need.

It didn't take that long for the bus to arrive, and Carter got in, seeing nobody he knew. He went to sit somewhere in the back on his own, wondering if the ride would be long. He had no idea how long it would take for the bus to get to Port Hayland to Hayland High. Carter also wondered if he had classes with his friends as well. Of course, he was planning on making new friends as well, but knowing at least someone in his classes would be a lot less scary. Being social had never been his strong point.

He watched the passing surroundings, the buildings and the streets. The weather was, as usual, warm and sunny. Most people were wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts. It never got really cold here. Only chilly and rainy, but there was never snow.

Once the bus had arrived at the school, Carter got out and looked at the large school building that was now his new High School. There were students everywhere, sitting on the steps in front of the school building's entrance, sitting at the lunch tables, leaning against the fenches of the steps. It had the same feeling as his high school in Minnesota.

He walked into the building, knowing that he had to see the reception first to see if he had registered properly and to check his schedule.

The first class he had was English, which was actually one of his favorite subjects along with History. He loved English because he had always enjoyed reading a lot. The way books were able to bring you to another world, another universe, another time, always brought Carter so much salvation whenever he wanted to escape from reality. He had always thought the human mind was amazing for being able to create whole new worlds, using only the imagination.

He readjusted the strap over his shoulder as he walked to his class. He had gotten directions from the lady at the reception and looked at the class numbers above the doors to see if he was going the right way.

Once he had gotten to classroom 203, he walked in and looked around, immediately getting curious looks from the groups that had already formed in the class. After looking around for a moment, his eyes met with familiar blue ones.

His lips parted in surprise of seeing Josh there. They hadn't spoken to each other ever since Josh got angry at him for going to his house, which was something that Carter was still confused about. Though Josh had greatly confused him in general ever since he had returned. First he tells him he's not what he had thought he was, then he holds his pinky finger in the car, then he smiles and shows that he was genuinely happy spending time with him, and then he gets angry at him for going to his house and talking to his father. Carter wasn't even sure where he was standing at the moment; if Josh and him were still friends or not. Which saddened him.

Carter walked up to the other, seeing as there were still a few empty seats around him. He sat down at the table next to Josh, placing his bag on the ground and sitting down on the chair. "Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Josh greeted back. Carter gave him a glance from the corners of his eyes before looking around the class a bit. There was nobody else who seemed familiar to him, and he was reminded of the days in Middle School and Elementary School, when it was just Josh and him during every class they had together.

"Excited for the new school year?" Carter asked. He knew it was a stupid question to ask, but he tried to create a conversation, not wanting to let their friendship disappear. Instead, Carter was hell bent in fixing their relationship, and to get as close again as they were before he moved away. Though after what had happened during the day he moved away, had had hoped they'd be even more than that upon his return.

Josh let out a soft huff and sat up. "Not exactly. I don't like exams," he answered with a faint chuckle.

"Me neither," Carter smiled. "Though I thought you liked studying. Or at least, getting to know all about everything. Even the tiniest details," he said.

Carter saw the corner of Josh's lip tugging up and his eyes flickered up to meet with Carter's. "I do like studying, and getting to know things. Though I don't like being tested on it. It makes me nervous, to be honest."

Carter listened to the other talk and decided that it was really like Josh to feel that way. Even though he had told him otherwise, deep down inside, he hadn't changed at all.

Carter and Josh talked until class started, and Carter was happy to be able to talk to Josh as if nothing had happened. It seemed Josh was the only person he could talk so easily to. Even now.

Class went by smoothly, and Carter was now finally getting a little less nervous. After English he had Maths, which was one of his less favorite subjects. Actually, he hated maths with a burning passion but still got decent grades. At least he had that class with Melanie, so he wasn't alone there either.

When it was lunch break, Carter walked with Melanie to her locker and to the lunch hall.

"But honestly, Mr. Denova is really handsome. Some in my class call him Mr. Decasanova," she chuckled as she swapped some of her books in her locker. "Alyssa was kind of sad when she found out he's married."

Carter snickered at the comment. That sounded like Alyssa, alright. He walked next to Melanie to the lunch hall, wondering if her, Alyssa, Chris, Paxton and Josh all sat together.

The lunch hall was busy. Students walking with trays of food everywhere and almost all the tables were full. Carter and Melanie walked outside and saw Josh, Chris and Paxton sitting together at one table. Chris looked up and waved at them as the two of them approached the table.

"I'll see you guys later," Melanie smiled after Carter had sat down and walked away with her tray of food, leaving Carter a little confused.

"Is she not going to sit with us?" he asked and turned to the rest of his friends.

"Nah, she sits with her girl friends. Alyssa as well," Paxton said. "It's cool, though. They hang with us after school so there are no hard feelings or anything."

"I see..." Carter said and took a bite of his sandwich, looking at Josh and Paxton, wondering if maybe they had already made up.

"So, how's Hayland High so far?" Chris asked and patted Carter on his back, causing him to almost choke in his sandwich. He quickly swallowed before looking at him.

"It's nice so far. I'm just happy that I can sit with Melanie during Math, and with Josh during English. That makes it less scary, being the new guy," Carter answered and gave an awkward smile. He moved his leg a little and accidentally nudged Josh's knee, causing him to look up and their eyes met.

Josh cleared his throat and looked away, giving Carter's leg a nudge back, making him smile a little.

When lunch break was over, they all got up to go to their next classes.

"See you guys later," Chris said before leaving Carter and Josh behind who were also getting their bags.

Carter's next class was Spanish and he still had to figure out how to get to that classroom. As swung his bag over his shoulder, he felt a soft tap on his shoulder and he looked up to see Josh standing next to him.

"Hey," Josh said and looked away, appearing to be a little shy for some reason. "Could you meet me at my boat after school?" he asked. "I'm done with school at around 2:30. It won't take long."

Carter was a bit surprised by the sudden invitation but he was also happy to hear that Josh wanted to hang out with him. "Sure," he said. "I'm done at 2 PM. So, should we meet up at 3?"

Josh nodded and he glanced back down at the shorter male. "Cool," he replied. "I'll see you then," he said before he walked away, giving the other one last look.

"I'll see you then," Carter said with a faint smile, wondering why he wanted to meet up with him. Though whatever the reason was, he was glad to be spending time with him.