Hey Friends! Time for the usual disclaimer. If you are not legal to view this type of content, please leave and come back when you're older. I'd love to have you still. If it male on male sex offends you this is not the place for you. How did you even end up on Nifty in the first place? Well after a while here is chapter 10 of Against All Odds. Enjoy!!
CHAPTER 10
A few hours later there was a soft knocking at Max's door and luckily Evan was the one to hear it. He slowly and carefully lifted the still sleeping Max off of his chest and put him on the bed. He tiptoed quietly and opened the door, and stepped into the hallway.
"Evan. How are you?" Linda asked, she needed no answer because the look on his face gave him away. "What happened?"
"They..." Evan began, his voice broke. "Someone spray painted the word 'Fag' on Max's locker. I took care of it." Tears began to well into her eyes. She gave Evan a hug and wiped the tears from his face. Evan opened the door to check on Max who was still sound asleep. He stared at the boy until his phone vibrated in his damp jeans pocket. He saw the sender and mumbled a few choice words to himself. He walked over to Max and kissed him on the forehead and quietly walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He walked down the steps and into the foyer Linda following close behind him.
"Hey, Evan?" Linda called to him; Evan didn't want to show the tears streaming down his face. "Look at me." She said sterner than she ever been with him. Evan turned slowly and the look in his eyes was all she needed. She walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "Everything will be okay. Just be strong." Evan wiped his tears and nodded. Giving her a weak smile he opened the door and ran into the rain towards his car. A few moments later he was home and in warm clothing, watching television with Dylain while his mother put the final touches on dinner. Soon the all too familiar sound of her voice rang through the home summoning everyone to dinner. The family gathered around the American favorite of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The clasped hands, a reluctant Evan included, and Mr. Lonzo graced the food. The first 5 minutes of the meal began as usual, the food was passed around and idle chit chat was made and when everyone had gotten their fair share Mr. Lonzo cleared his throat.
"So. Sarah, how was your day?" He said, not realizing that what Sarah was going to say was going to cause severe problems.
"OMG, okay I heard that someone spray painted something really nasty on some kids locker at the high school." Sarah said excitedly.
"Oh? Evan? Do you know anything about it?" He father said almost condescendingly.
"No. I don't know anything about it." Evan said focusing on the meatloaf and trying to change the topic.
"Of course you do! Shauna said it was your friend Max." Sarah said like the gossiping hen she was quickly blossoming into. All eyes were on Evan now, his face turned red as he looked for a quick solution of the judicial stares.
"Mom? Could you pass the string beans?" Evan asked his voice broke slightly.
"Son? Is there something you aren't telling us?" Mr. Lonzo asked, Evan was damn sure that when he said us, he really meant me.
"Look there isn't anything to talk about so just drop it okay." Evan said, his desperation quickly evolving into anger.
"Evan you shouldn't lie to your father." Mr. Lonzo said firmly. Evan felt the frustration build up into his body like a pressure cooker on high.
"May I be excused?" Evan asked pushing his plate away, before waiting for an answer he bolted from the table and into his room. He picked up his sketch pad and blasted his iPod dock drowning out the world beyond his room. About 20 minutes later there was a knocking at his door and the music still drowned it out.
"Evan?" Janet called poking her head in.
"What?" Evan called paying no attention to her.
"Evan your father wants to see you in his study. Please just go to him." Janet pleaded and just left. Evan pondered over it and reluctantly went to his father's study. He knocked lightly and Mr. Lonzo called him in.
"You wanted to see me?" Evan asked emotionlessly.
"Yes. Sit." He was sitting with his chair back towards the door, pouring himself a refill of whiskey. Evan reluctantly took a seat in front of the desk. "Answer me one question. Is Max gay?"
"Why?" Evan asked. He couldn't figure out why it was so important for his father to have an answer.
"Because I have the right to know if my son is hanging around with some faggot." Mr. Lonzo said, his words dripping with venom, that tore at Evan. The word burned him and he was fighting to hold back the tears in his eyes.
"Why should you care! You don't hang out with him!" Evan yelled standing from his chair.
"Because you do! Because you hang out with a fag! I have reason to be concerned." Mr. Lonzo said he stood but didn't turn to his son, who was now seething with anger.
"No you don't. You think you can control me, that you can live through me. I'm sorry I'm not the perfect son you wanted so badly." Evan said yelling at the top of his lungs.
"I forbid you from ever seeing him again." Mr. Lonzo said, the calmness in his voice was eerie.
"You can't do that." Evan said matching him calmness, however letting the anger boil below the surface.
"Are you a faggot?" Mr. Lonzo asked.
"Why would you even ask?" The words were like knives stabbing at his skin repeatedly when Evan spoke those words.
"Because only fags don't have a problem hanging around other fags. Is disgusting and God will punish this world for allowing them to live." Mr. Lonzo said raising his voice only slightly. A look of shock and disbelief drained Evan's face of color. Evan opened his mouth ready to reveal the truth but he stopped himself short.
"I could never be like you. Max was there for me when I needed him most. When I found out Christy was sleeping with someone behind my back he was there making sure I was okay, you didn't even bother to ask how I was. You wanted me to be this huge football star and the stereotypical all American son that I just can't be!" Evan said seething still.
"And why not?" His father yelled getting in Evan's face.
"Because I'm..." Evan stopped himself from revealing his secret. "Because I'm not perfect, and I'm sorry if you can't accept that." Even turned and left the study, he needed to get out of his house, he grabbed his keys and went to his car without a second thought.
A few moments after Evan had left. Mr. Lonzo heard a soft knocking at his study door.
"Come in." He said as if his altercation with Evan never happened. Janet walked in with a look of dismay and sympathy as she set a cup and saucer on his desk.
"I brought you some tea." She said softly. He merely looked at the cup and then to her, and resumed his work. "We need to talk." Janet said calmly. She now had her husband's full attention. "I think there are something that we need to consider about Evan."
"I refuse to have this conversation." Mr. Lonzo said dismissing her.
"And then what you lose your son?" Janet said pressing further into the conversation he was so adverse to having.
"If he is a faggot I only have one son." Mr. Lonzo said locking his eyes on her.
"So instead of being there for him you want to tear him down? Disown him? You are his father." Janet said tears beginning to well in her eyes.
"Janet. If he is a fag and you take him into this family. I will leave. Now get out." Mr. Lonzo said. Janet couldn't believe what she had heard and left the study devastated. Her family has gone through a lot but this one she couldn't guarantee they'd make it through unharmed.
Evan sat on the beach, tears streaming down his face. He looked up into the brilliant sky for some answer that he knew only he could provide.
"Why? Why did you do this to me?" He mumbled silently.
"Well, well. Look what washed up." A familiar and slimy voice rang through his ears. He looked behind him to see Christy dressed like more of a slut than usual.
"What do you want?" Evan asked masking the broken boy with a strong bravado.
"Can't a girl take a stroll on the beach and stop to chat with an ex? It's a shame about what happened to Max." She said, trying to hid her demonic smile.
"You. You did that? Why he did nothing to you!" Evan said confronting her.
"I wouldn't say, I did it. Did I pull the puppet strings? Yes I did." She said bearing a sinister grin. "And he has done something to me."
"What would that be?" Evan asked getting catty.
"He took you from me."
"You lost me the moment you cheated on me." Evan said.
"I am done playing this game. Here's the rules. Either you do what I say or your precious little fag gets whatever he deserves. It won't end until he decides to end it all." Evan's face went white.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Evan said. Christy pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture from the bowling alley. "Where the hell did you get this. It's not real."
"Don't play games. I know you're a fag now and it just makes this deal a whole lot sweeter." Christy said moving her phone out of reach.
"What do you mean?"
"Not only will Max gets bullied until he suffers so much he can't handle it, but I will email this picture to everyone and the first to get it will be mom and dad. How does that sound?" Christy said cockily, she knew Evan too well and knew that she had won. Evan's heart sank with conflict.
"What do you want?" Evan asked defeated.
"The crown of Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen." She said vainly.
"Why do you need me? Why can't you get it using someone else? Evan asked his resolve coming back to him.
"We used to be the power couple, I want that power back and the only way to get it is to have you back. The captain of the football team and the head cheerleader, the way it should be." She said touching him lightly on the arm. He yanked away violently.
"Too bad for you I'm done with football." He said "I'm done with you." Evan turned and began to walk.
"You get back on the team and we can go back to how it was before, or your secret gets out and your boyfriend, or should I say ex-boyfriend finds himself in a lot of hard situations" She said venomously putting emphasis on the word hard. "You have until Friday." Evan began to walk away with a conflicted mind and a heavy heart. He didn't know what to do now, he didn't know what to do about Max, but he had to do it. Later that night he lied in bed unable to sleep, blankly staring at the ceiling. He couldn't let Christy out him, he wasn't ready for his secret to come out, and especially not on his own accord. He knew what he had to do and it would be harder than hell to do it, but he didn't have a choice. Eventually the sleep set in.
The next few days went by quickly and it was Thursday night. Evan lied in bed with Max as the two of them watched so television. Max was intoxicating as was Evan was to him. Max began kissing him lightly on the neck causing Evan to squirm underneath him. They're lips met and they began to passionately make out as things started to heat up Evan pulled away and got of the bed leaving Max stunned. "Baby what's wrong?" Max asked concerned. "You've been distant since Monday."
"They still haven't found the jerk who did that!" Evan said angrily fighting back his true intentions of this moment.
"I'm over that. People want to try to hurt me but I know you will be there to protect me." Max said proudly. "So stop bullshitting me and tell me what's going on. Whatever it is we can make it together."
"I...can't, I'm sorry I can't do this." Evan said softly.
"What?" Max asked.
"This. Us, I just can't I'm sorry." Evan said beginning to break. The tears started rolling down Max's face and he began to sob softly. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Evan left without another word as the tears began to flow down his face like a waterfall. He rushed down the stairs only stopping for a second to mouth the words "I'm sorry" to Linda. Evan got into his car his decision ripping away at his heart. Rain began to fall and the crash of thunder and flashes of lightning surrounded him. He pulled out his phone, and called Christy.
"It's done." He said and hung up the phone. He drove home and as the tears subsided the hole in his heart grew bigger, as if the space that Max had occupied became a black hole that devoured everything else, leaving him as nothing more as an empty hollow shell.
The next day, every time he saw Max he felt his heart pull, leaving him sick and light headed. After classes you he would meet up with Christy and walk her to classes while she showed the world that the power couple was back. She would often kiss him as he dazed of into the distance.
"Hey Evan. Did you hear me?" Riley said waving a hand in front of his face snapping him back to reality. They were sitting at the final lunch break of the semester
"What?" Evan asked as if he had just woken up.
"I was just saying that my dad was planning a trip to Washington to do some skiing. You okay? You've been really distracted today." Riley asked concerned.
"No I'm fine just a little tired." Evan said still just a little distracted. Riley knew he was lying but decided not to press on.
"Okay. Anyway are you in?" Riley asked taking a sip of his soda.
"What?" Evan asked confusedly.
"The ski trip dude!" Riley said punching him in the shoulder.
"Hi baby." Christy said taking a seat next to Evan. He just smiled weakly. "So the whole is buzzing about the power couple being back in action."
"Uh huh." Evan said looking down at his lunch tray.
"It'll only be a matter of time until our status is back. Except for one thing, you need to go back to football." She said smiling.
"Okay. I'll talk to coach." He looked up and saw Max look at him with Christy and took off walking away from the lunch area. "I need to go." Evan said picking up the few books he took off after Max.
"Max please wait." Evan asked when he finally caught up to him. Max turned around tears in his eyes.
"You know. I thought it was me. But I should have known that a boy like you couldn't keep his back turned on the All American fucking dream for long. Enjoy your life with that two timing bitch." Max said turning away and beginning to walk.
"Please just listen to me." Max stopped momentarily and then turned to him. "Your right this wasn't your fault. But I...I just..." Evan stopped to collect his thoughts. "I wish it were easy for me to tell you what was going on. To offer you an explanation but I... I just can't."
"Just say it. You aren't gay and this was all a mistake. Dating me was a mistake. You know when I first kissed you my life got turned upside down and I liked it, I honestly thought that you were gonna be different but you are like every other guy. Good bye." Max turned around and walked off.
The day finally finished and Evan sat in his car waiting for Christy.
"Hi baby." She said opening the car door and getting in. Evan didn't say anything, he just started the car. "Oh did you talk to the coach?"
"Yea, I start in January." He said.
"Oh Baby I'm so proud of you! I can see it now, Prom King and Queen!" She said kissing him on the cheek making him wince. The drive was a one sided conversation with Evan throwing a few non- committal answers his way. "Okay so I expect to see in church on Sunday and we will go from there." She said smiling as if she did nothing wrong. All Evan could think about is how screwed up this will be. Max sat alone in his bedroom, reading a book when a piece of paper slid out of it. He opened the folded paper carefully, wondering where it had come from. His breathe was taken away audibly and tears began to well in his eyes. In his hand was a sketched picture of Evan, smiling the smile the Max loved so much, and on the bottom it read "Love always." He began to sob lightly when there was faint knock on his door. He wiped his eyes, Linda opened the door slowly and walked in, knowing what Max was doing. She sat on the bed next to him and put her arm around her and almost instantly the boy collapsed into her as a waterfall of tears flowed from him.
"It hurts so much." Max said through his tears. "I thought he loved me."
"Oh baby, don't worry about it. But I have a good feeling that something is up with him, he'll be back soon. Just give it time. He still loves you." Well guys that's it. Chapter 10 the cards are laid out on the table. Christy and her conniving plan comes to fruition while our devastated couple begin to live their lives separately and as miserable as ever. What happens next? Will Christy's plan backfire, will Evan give into the life that everyone wants him to be or will Evan and Max find their comfort back in each other's arms? Well obviously we know how these stories go...but the question remains how will they get there? Sorry the chapter is sooo overdue, but I am recently graduated from college and starting the baby steps into the "real world". As always I love feedback so please feel free to email me at aidendstories@gmail.com