When I got home, I found Brian in the kitchen making his vegan breakfast. The month before he tried to get me to stop eating meat. He gave me all of these pamphlets on why killing animals for food was wrong. I didn’t pay any attention, but I stopped eating meat for that one month just to make him feel a little better. I would never do that again. I wasn’t a big meat eater to begin with, but I ate enough to feel the difference when I stopped. I missed it way too much. I only ate vegetarian lasagnas, cheese pizzas, and Boca burgers and other ghastly things. I shuddered just remembering that.

I went into my room to take a shower. Half an hour later I emerged and Charlotte was out and about the apartment. She went into the kitchen for some food, and I went into the living room. Brian was watching some documentary on the history channel when I sat down. He put the TV on mute and asked, “How was your date? You were gone all night.”

“Yeah, you must have had a GREAT time if you’re doing the walk of shame,” Charlotte said laughing.

I just shook my head. “We just talked into the wee hours of the morning actually. He let me crash on his couch.”

Charlotte sat down next to Brian and started to eat her cereal. Between bites, she asked me more about the date. “Was he as hot as his picture?”

“He was hotter actually. He answered the door in nothing but blue jeans. My jaw hit the floor when I saw him.”

Brian laughed.

“But you don’t look happy at all. I mean you talked all night, so he must like you.”

I let out a big sigh and tried to fight back the tears that were coming to the surface. “That’s just it, he doesn’t like me. At least, he doesn’t like me enough to date me. There’s this guy he likes, who likes him……” And I told them everything that happened the night before. When I was done, the tears were freely flowing. I lied; this was the last time I shed tears for Connor.

Charlotte tried to reassure me that it was one bad date and that he was an asshole. I thanked her, and then left to be alone in my room. I closed the door and lay on my bed for the next couple of hours. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I heard was Brian knocking on my door.

“Hey James, how are you doing?” he asked. He was always so kind.

I rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes. I really needed that. “I guess I’m okay. I’m just tired of the same things happening over and over again.”

Brian came into my room and sat at the desk. “Why don’t you try meeting guys in person instead of chat rooms?”

“It’s still hard to meet guys in person. How do you know if the guy standing in line is gay? That guy that accidentally knocked his cart into yours at the supermarket could just be nice. Unless I’m at a club, I don’t know if the guy is gay or not, and at clubs, the guys you meet tend to be after sex. The last guy I met at the club gave me his number, but I think he just wanted to sleep with me because he hasn’t returned my call yet and that was a week ago.”

“You know,” Brian paused for a second like he was looking for someone. “Charlotte and I met at a party and we had sex before we started dating.”

“How romantic, but I know all about that. She told me a while back. I also know it’s possible to have a relationship after sex. It’s just that when I have sex with someone who is a stranger, I usually don’t think about them afterwards.”

Brian laughed. “That is such a guy thing to do.”

“I know, right?!”

After talking some more, Brian went back to his room. I finished checking my email and went to play some video games. I had recently bought the new Final Fantasy game, number 9, and it was awesome. Square had done it again. Since I started teaching, I hadn’t had much time to play games like I used to. Oh well, if I ever did get a boyfriend, I wouldn’t have the time to play all that much anyway.

While playing the game, I called Jean and told him about the non-date. Needless to say, he was livid. I tried to calm him down, because he was so ready to find out where Connor lived. Jean was such a great friend.

Later that day I hung out with Jean and my other best friend Matthew. He’s the other friend who really loved Jason Branton. We went to the Beverly Hills Café on Red Road for dinner. I clued Matthew in on the date and he got just as mad as Jean had.

After dinner, Jean suggested we go out. I reminded him that we both had to sing in the morning. Instead of the club, we decided to see a movie. The movie we saw was “Road Trip”. It was hilarious. I would definitely buy that one when it came out on tape.

The next few weeks blurred together. It was finally the day that Jason Branton would be at the mall promoting his show. I had asked Matthew if he would go with me, but he refused. I asked why and he said something about stalking. I moved all of my lessons to Monday and requested the day off. I would actually have a two day weekend like everyone else on the planet that works. Marvelous; it’s definitely been too long since that had happened.

I arrived at the mall around ten am and there was already a long line in Burdines’s. People must have been standing there since the mall opened an hour before. I should have thought about that. I just had to get that workout in. The signing didn’t start until noon, and with so many people already in attendance, it showed that I wasn’t the only one who really loved the show. I decided to take out a book. I figured it would be a bit of a wait. I got this particular book from Connor. I only started to read it a few days before hand. Despite the fact that Connor was a total dick for what he did to me, I really enjoyed the book. I had only read twenty pages, but the story was amazing! It had spies and intrigue and politics and I loved it! I got to page two-hundred when there was an announcement that the signing would begin in five minutes. Oh my God!! I had waited my whole life for this moment without ever knowing why. This was going to be epic!! I used that word a lot, “epic”. I don’t know why I did, but it wouldn’t be long before I found out the reason.

Interlude

“It’s nearly time my Lord.”

“Have all of the preparations been made?”

“Yes my Lord. He is awaiting your word to begin.”

The Lord got up from his throne and walked over to a giant model of the Earth. This model wasn’t fake, but a small version of the planet itself. After he moved a cloud over a small island, the Lord looked up at the other speaker. “Alright, tell Amitiel to begin. It’s time.”

Next Chapter: It’s about time