The students of Listhrough High's reaction to my stepbrother was exactly as I'd expected. Damien acted as though I was invisible whenever we were opportuned to share the same class, during lunch at the cafeteria and also, the hallways. The straightest of the Hall brothers, girls flocked to him wherever he went, and he instantly became a sensation without having to say a word to anyone. It was that horrible.
Probably the most horrible thing was Giordan's possessive reaction to him.
"Back off from him, you scary faces!" he shouted as we passed Damien by on the way to calculus. As usual, my stepbrother kept mute, his eyes barely sparing us a glance as the shameless girls batted their nefarious eyelashes at my best friend.
"We should be the ones telling you that, gay boy," Skylar, head cheerleader and a mean bitch scoffed, flipping her ponytail backward and jutting her chin out. "In case you didn't get the memo, he'll never be interested in drilling your rotten shithole."
There came a collective laughter from everyone present in the hallways. I tugged at Giordan's sleeve, shaking my head at him to ignore her. Trading words with Skylar was a precious waste of time.
"But seriously Tim," Giordan began as we made our way over to our seats. "What do you think my chances are of getting Damien?"
I sighed, realizing I had to spell it out to get it into his skull. "None. Z-E-R-O. Nada. Zilch. Quit embarrassing yourself for crying out loud. He'd never look at you romantically."
"Right now, yes I can see that." He nodded, acknowledging Damien (who'd just entered)'s murderous stare at us. "But that doesn't mean a miracle can't happen. He may wake up tomorrow and find a pussy repulsive. You never know with these so called straights."
"A straight is a straight no matter what. There are no detours. You have to start being realistic and please, keep me out of this venture."
"That's impossible! You're my only get in, Tim, even if you don't get along well with him."
"He hates me to bits. How am I going to help you with this?"
"How about you set us both up? Invite me over to your room while he's around then take an excuse to go check something downstairs and leave us alone. Don't forget to lock the door on your way out too."
I facepalmed. "You're hopeless."
"And you're gorgeous." he winked persuasively at me. "Please, pretty, pretty, stupid please?"
I hesitated. "I don't know. You don't... understand the kind of person he is. I'll help you get someone else and trust me we'd be miles better off without this Damien drama."
"Yes, I know he treats you like shit and you two don't get along but really Tim, you don't see guys like him everyday in this stupid school. He's exactly all I've ever wished for. Would it bug you if he ends up dating me?"
"I don't think you'd ever have a chance with him even if he turns out to be all rainbows."
Giordan waved me off. "That's perfectly fine. I only want to kiss his hot lips and go one round with him. Really, is that so much to ask?"
It wasn't a difficult thing to do... I could invite Giordan over, have him spike Damien's drink and let them get down with one another intoxicated. It'll make me feel better that I'd gotten some form of revenge on him for turning everything in my life that felt right against me, but I knew a part of me wouldn't be justified. My conscience had always been a devil.
And the thought of Damien screwing my friend over made me uncomfortable. I didn't know the reason why and I sure as hell couldn't tell Giordan about it. Also, I didn't want to paint it as jealousy — that maybe, just maybe Giordan stood a chance to touch him and live out my wildest fantasies. But what was more daunting was the thought of Damien having mutual ties and a revered connection with someone so close to me while he still continued to openly despise me and our bond as stepbrothers.
Jealousy is never a good feeling. I hate it.
Scooting my chair back to stand, I scowled at him. "You're crazy. I'm only convinced you're swooning over him this seriously only because you haven't known the real him yet. Seriously, he's the most homophobic human on this planet."
Giordan rolled his eyes. "I've heard that line so many times already. You can just tell me you don't want to help and that'll be fine."
"I want to help, but he's not good for you. Please let's quit talking about this, I'm having a migraine."
"Okay. I heard Matt Morgan whispering to Jordan the other day about how hot your butt look in pants. Think he might be interested in dick?"
I plopped my butt back down on the chair upon that news. "Unbelievable."
"I know right? After all the crap he's been giving you since practically forever. Don't let him bug you darling, he's a wimp."
Matt Morgan was one of those dumb popular kids that cussed a lot, groped practically every female arse that passed by and made sly, dumb jokes while thinking it made them look cool. He was my first crush and also, one of the three people in this whole school who knew my real sexuality( here's a tip gays, don't out yourself to a straight crush, no matter how hard you like him) and had been blackmailing me all summer last year. Apparently he had a crush on Selena Quilby. And Selena Quilby, somehow got it into her head that I was attractive. So it was some sort of love triangle.
He'd shove me against lockers whenever we walked by the hallways and threatened to tell everyone that I was gay in every morning gathering if I didn't set him up with Selena. At first I tried to talk it out and play it cool with him but he was adamant. And I was anxious. Privacy meant the world to me, and I didn't have the strength to homeschool ignorant hoes bout sexuality hometruths.
Eventually I summoned up courage and spoke to Selena about it, revealing my sexuality in the process. She, unlike I expected was very understanding and promised to help me get Matt off my back. The week after that, rumours sprang up that they were dating and Matt lowered his guns off, much to my relief.
They barely lasted a week.
And so Matt moved on to the next available chick he didn't need me to help him with, and Selena and I were cool with each other. It was a win-win situation for us all and I couldn't be more grateful to her.
"But anyway, maybe he found out where he really belongs and is now cool playing for both teams. If he asks you out, we could invite Damien too. He could go with me, and you could go with Matt. It'll be one super-hot, gay double date and we'd watch that new horror movie I told you about."
"Thanks a lot, Giordan but I sure as hell won't take you up on that."