Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Proof ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Nine

“What do you guys want to know?” Tyler asked, looking from face to face. Chase belched loudly and signaled for a refill. “I mean, where do I start?”

“From the beginning, my playa. Listen, J, listen—Tyler hung out with those guys before he got all wise and ended up on the basketball team,” Chase explained, hitting Jake's shoulder with the back of his hand, as if by doing so was helping him clarify the situation.

Tyler was just another student that Chase had started hanging out with ever since try-outs months back. The four boys were sitting within one of the booths of the nearby café where the trio frequented, their table laden with plates of appetizers and soda. The waitress, Sara, was having a hard time keeping up with their mess.

Bart started to feel himself tune out the conversation, lulled by the fantastic hoagie he'd just consumed, his iced tea hitting the spot nicely. But then Jake hit him to get his attention, as if sensing him slipping off into his nether land of ignorance.

“There was this guy that played for a team in Selene, right? Well, he's the type that gots all these girls on him all the time. Me and the guys were standing behind him and Anthony at the snack shack behind the field when I heard Tweedy saying, `Hey, look at that guy! Man, I wish—', no, wait, he said, `I wish I had a piece of that', and then Anthony was like, `what?!', an' then Tweedy was like, `I mean, I mean I wish I looked like that', but then we all heard what he was saying!” Tyler finished with an exclamation, throwing up his hands. “We heard distinctly that he was all, `I wanna piece of that'! So we were like, Whoa, Tweedy's fag!”

Bart rolled his eyes.

Chase nodded solemnly, looking at Jake. Jake swept a hand through his hair, disheveling the mess even further and anxiously kicking the table. If it hadn't been for the quick reflexes of the other teens, their drinks would have spilt over their plates. “That doesn't mean anything! Guys say dumb shit all the time! I mean, look at me. FINE example.”

“But he is! He is, and Gone's alone with that predator,” Chase growled, clenching his fists. “If only we knew where they were—he's probably molesting him at this very moment.”

Tyler laughed at the absurdity of it.

“I'm serious! I'm so fucking serious, I'm like, cancer? Anyway, what are we stilldoing here?”

“Your dad told us to keep you out of trouble,” Bart muttered. “Eat your food. Dang.”

“J! I told you to talk to him!” Chase cried, gesturing wildly at the Hawaiian born teen. “TALK to him! He's so—grumpy!”

“What can I say? He's Superhuman. That pole's hard to budge, bud,” Jake sighed, picking at his fries. He ducked at the dirty look Bart gave him.

Tyler laughed nervously. He wasn't sure how to act around Bart, sure that the teen would punch him randomly.

“I say we go out looking for his ride, man. Let's just go out there, we'll take a peek, make sure Tweedy's hands are all to himself—”

“You've got serious fantasies, there, pal,” Bart muttered.

“I can't stand this!” Chase then cried, reaching up to hold onto his head. “What if something happens, and I could've been there to stop it! Y'know Tweedy's all grooming on him!”

“You are seriously tweaked,” Jake said, inwardly wondering if that were true.

“Other than that, Tweedy's cool,” Tyler continued, as if he hadn't be sitting there, talking trash earlier. “That frosh chick's always talking about him. Janna, I think. That Trevor bitch from my Geometry class, that's his sister.”

“Random,” Bart mumbled, wondering if he should order another hoagie.

“I only know this cuz she's in my PE class an' I gotta hear it, cuz I'm trying to go after her friend, Darcy. Say hey, Chay, I know what his car looks like. Let's go, bro. We'll leave these fools.”

“Oops.” Bart dropped his car keys near his plate, and Tyler stared at him in astonishment before patting his pockets with a startled air. Realizing that it truly was his pair of keys, he sucked in a huge breath of air before exhaling slowly.

“Ha, ha, my guy's awesome,” Jake chuckled, finishing off his soda.

“Ha, ha, you were punked,” Chase chimed in. “You're such a ninja. What you doing still here in America when you could be making it as a samurai in China, man? You could make trillions!”

“Educate yourself before you talk to me!”

“Oh, man, that's awesome. You weren't even anywhere near me!” Tyler said on a weak chuckle, patting his pockets once again.

“Retard! You dropped them on the table before the food came.”

Realization made Tyler's face brighten. “…Oh. Oh yeah.”

Chase scoffed. “Enough! J? You just going to let this shit go?”

Jake finished off his hamburger. “Whatever. I mean, Gone wanted to go.”

“He did not!”

“G wants to be Tweedy's friend,” Jake said calmly. “So…just let it go.”

“He does not!”

“If he really didn't want to be anywhere near this guy, he wouldn't've allowed Go to make him go with Tweedy. And since he didn't, well, son…I say we just wait on it.”

Bart studied him, feeling immediately suspicious of his charge's behavior.

“You've gone mad! What made you change your mind?”

“Hah, guess what? We were drinking on dad's beer last night,” Jake said.

“Not uh! How'd your D not know?” Chase cried, feeling disappointed that he'd been left out. “Did you guys get drunk? What was it like?”

“I had to pee every five minutes. That was…that was about it. G was, though. Cranked Bart, ha ha! It was awesome. We need to get him drunk one day. It's totally hilarious.”

Bart rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat.

“Aw man, I wish I was there…maybe G'll tell me who gave you that hickey.”

“It's not a hickey!” Without warning Jake reached out, pinched Chase's neck and twisted. Chase shrieked, leaping backward and falling out of his seat. Sara screamed at them to settle down from across the room. “That's what it is.”

“I was so sure it was a hickey,” Tyler said, amused. “I was wondering if it were true that you hooked up with that Miller chick.”

“She won't even allow me breathing space around her!” Jake exclaimed, thinking of the Starz article. “I can only gaze upon her from afar…”

“That really hurt, man,” Chase then said, returning to his seat, rubbing at his neck. “Ow.”

“That's all it is. I, uh, I only got him once.”

“Did he have one in the first place? Are you covering for him?”

“NO!” Jake bellowed, reaching for his fries, knocking over various condiments in the process. “Jeez. We were doing totally stupid stuff to each other.”

“Man, I wish I was there,” Chase said wistfully. “D was on my ass all night, making sure I didn't touch that huge supply there. I was like, Hypocrite! And he was all, Nonsense! And I was like—”

“Ha hah! Daddy's son couldn't join in with the big boys.”

“Oh, just you wait, sucka! I'll catch up! I'll show you all! I'll be this big alcoholic, come my time. You guys will be, like, literally so jealous of my manliness.”

“You guys are so retarded,” Tyler said on a laugh.

Bart searched his jeans pocket for his supply of Tylenol, grimacing.

“That don't look like a hickey,” Tyler then pointed out, gesturing at Chase's neck. Jake simply laughed at what he'd done, Chase slapping a hand over it and then racing off for the restroom. Tyler looked back at the other two. “Anthony's been pissed, anyway. That Tweedy's hanging out with that guy.”

“So? Look at us,” Jake mumbled, knocking over the ketchup in an effort to reach for the napkins. He moved to pick it up, his elbow catching his drink and spilling that over Bart's plate. Bart cursed, moved to clean it up when Jake turned quickly to throw some napkins over it, but splashing him instead with the spilt soda. Cursing again, Bart moved to stand up, only to have Jake shift away from the table at the same time, the action rattling the tabletop and sending another glass of soda bouncing against other empty plates. He moved to stop everything from shifting, bumping his fingers against Chase's full cup, the cup then rolling off and smashing into the floor. As he tried to catch it, he only ended up slamming his head off the table top, retreating to hold his head between his hands.

He sighed heavily as Sara screamed at him not to move until she cleaned it up.

Tyler laughed again. “Man, no matter how many times I see it, it's still so wicked. So, about Tweedy's gay day out in Selene…”

“Tyler, what's that shiny thing over there on the floor?” Bart asked monotonously, pointing in a random direction. Jake looked as well, both of them studiously examining the floors before Jake looked up with a grimace, recognizing the distraction tactic.

“Dude, I fall for that every time,” he confessed.

“What was it? Money?” Tyler asked, looking confused as he started to leave his seat.

All of them looked up at the sound of the front door being opened, Gone walking in with a look of trepidation.

“There he is!” Tyler announced.

“I saw Bart's car out front,” Gone explained, walking over. He saw the mess that had been made and automatically went in search for napkins.

“Where's your new buddy?”

Gone gave Tyler a double take, obviously unsure of who this boy was and why he was talking to him. Jake snaked out of his seat, careful not to touch the table. “Where's Tweedy?”

Before Gone could answer, Tweedy was strolling in, stopping short at the sight of Jake and the others. Bart heaved another sigh, and rose, ready to intervene if things got too hectic. Chase emerged from the bathroom, grumbling when he saw who had come into the café. With a loud hail, he hurried over, bumping into a couple of empty tables with his lanky body before wrapping his arms around Gone and twisting him behind him.

“Say hey, there, Tweedy,” Chase greeted, his tone nasty. “What's up? Got good figure there, girlfriend.”

“C'mon…why are you starting this?” Tweedy asked tiredly, adjusting his hat.

“What's going on?” Jake asked, looking from one teen to the other. “You guys here to eat or something?

“Nothing, I—”

“It's a date,” Tyler squeaked.

“This isn't a date,” Chase spit.

“IT'S NOT! Fuck!”

“Will everyone just settle down? I didn't even get a chance to speak, yet,” Gone said, abandoning his napkins.

“I was just—” Tweedy tried again.

“Where's Anthony? Heard he was looking for ya,” Tyler cut in, giving a short wave. “Wanted to meet up later at the cages.”

“Oh, yeah, we were just there.”

“At the batting cages?!” Chase repeated, looking at Gone. “You were at the batting cages with this guy?”

“Yes—”

“It wasn't a big deal,” Tweedy interjected. “He told me how he took out Jared Wilson. So I figured I'd give him a few pointers.”

“TALKING pointers, and not the…manli-ish kind.”

“What the fuck's that supposed to mean?” Tweedy demanded of Chase.

“I know what you're doing! Yeah, now, it's all lint and batting cages, but soon it's going to move into—other things! Other things of which I can't bear to make myself say!” Chase declared, shuddering dramatically.

Tweedy reddened. But from anger or from embarrassment, he wasn't sure. “Oh, for crying out loud—!”

“You were at the batting cages? You wouldn't even go there with us,” Jake was saying to Gone, giving him a frown.

“Don't start. Don't start, this is so stupid,” Gone warned, throwing him a disgusted look. He reached out and grabbed Chase's shirt to get his attention. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You cuss?” Tyler asked, surprised as he performed a double take. “I feel like I should be scolding you, or something.”

“Fuck off.”

“Argh! Language!”

Bart thumped Tyler over the head, discouraging him from riling the other teen into throwing things. Tweedy noticed the behavior, remembering his earlier judgment, and looking from Gone to Bart in bewilderment. It was incredibly perplexing as to how the two started something that seemed so far-off.

“C'mon, look, it's not what people think! I know you've been talking shit, Chase, and I don't know what that's about,” Tweedy then complained, forcing himself to focus on Chase. “Look, surprise that it is, we were just hanging out! Why is that such a big crime with you people!”

“You people?! Are you referring to our skin?!” Chase immediately squeaked, gesturing to Bart, Jake and himself.

“NO!”

“Racist!”

“I'm not!”

“Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?” Gone asked.

“Because we know the real reasoning behind his good guy bullshit,” Chase continued. “He's grooming you, G. Grooming you to be comfortable with perverted sexual behavior.”

“THAT IS SO FUCKING—NOT TRUE!” Tweedy bellowed in outrage, reddening at the same moment, somewhat frantic. “What the fuck?”

“You're so fucking dumb! It's not even like that!” Gone exclaimed, reddening as well.

“Ha ha, you sound like my kid cousin,” Tyler laughed.

Gone looked at him again, Bart shifting the table out of his reach just in case. He also held up a warning finger, one that Gone batted at in irritation.

“BOYS!” Sara shouted, striding up to them. “OUT! Out, now! Pay your bill, and take your drama outside.”

With a disgusted look at them, Gone swept past them and barged outside, Tweedy glaring at Chase. Once the four were occupied with looking for their money to pay, he turned and hurried out the door as well, calling for the younger teen. Jake quickly threw his money down and ran after them, Bart following with a curse as well.

Chase and Tyler looked at each other, holding out a few bills, obviously short on their cut. Waiting impatiently, Sara held out her hand, gathering up the money with her other hand. “It's enough to cover it,” she said with a heavy sigh, surveying the mess that had been made.

With that, both boys grabbed their jackets and raced after the others.

0o0o0o0

“Wait,” Tweedy called after Gone, who was stomping down the sidewalk. “Wait, wait. Are you mad?”

“Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?” Gone muttered.

“I know, huh? Look, I just want to apologize for Anthony. I know it got weird in there.”

Before he could get any further, Gone looked past him and felt overwhelmed as he saw that Jake and Bart were walking after them, followed by the others.

“Tony was just being a dick. He normally doesn't act like that,” Tweedy said, turning to see the others catching up to them, Jake scowling upon hearing his words.

“What'd he say?” he demanded.

“Jake, just leave us alone,” Gone whined, tired of all the negative interaction between them all.

“No, what'd Anthony say?” Jake demanded of Tweedy, facing him just as Chase crowded between them.

“It was just—”

“I told you J! I told you they'd start shit!” Chase insisted, reaching out to push Tweedy, who stumbled back with a surprised sound. Gone intervened, reaching out to push back on Chase, creating space between the two of them.

“Cut it out! Just go away, you're making this into a huge thing—!”

“NO, what did Anthony say to him?” Jake snapped.

“It wasn't anything, let's just go home!” Gone started to plead, grabbing onto him and then looking at Bart for help.

“Oh my God,” Tyler then said, laughing and pointing. “There are actual dudes taking pictures of this. Wait. Wait, is that how you get in magazines? Sick!”

“I told you not to hang out with this loser!” Chase growled, reaching out to push Tweedy again. “Told you they just wanted to start shit!”

“It wasn't even that! Look, nothing happened, he was just being stupid. And this isn't any of your business, anyway! Why are you all up in my face, man?” Tweedy protested, pushing him back.

“Because I don't like it when someone's pickin' on one of my friends!” Chase snapped, moving to pounce on him before Bart pulled him back by his collar. “Let go of me, B!”

“It ain't worth it. Chillax. For fuck's sake you losers, starting shit over something as stupid as this,” Bart complained, gesturing at Gone, who frowned at him. “He made that decision to get all chummy with these dudes, let him soak it up.”

“I'm not just going to stand around, letting that happen,” Jake snapped.

“Just let it go!” Gone snapped back at him. “It's nothing like you think!”

“This is just…this is just way too much. I don't see how you're able to do anything with these guys all up in everything you do,” Tweedy said, pushing past them to stomp off.

Gone looked after him, feeling torn and guilty.

“Yeah, that's it! Walk away, asshole! You know what's best for you!” Chase called after him.

Gone turned to him, and then reached up to yank his beanie over his face. Chase reached up to push it out of the way, only to hit himself with the wild movement. He stumbled into Jake, both of them stumbling and flailing. Bart caught them both before they could fall into the street. By the time they straightened, Gone was already stomping away, heading for home.

Tyler whipped out his cell and began to text his friends as what had just happened.

“This shit is so stupid,” Bart complained, pulling Jake from the street. “I'm starting to side with those guys. You're making a big deal out of nothing.”

“That's what I get for watching his back? Busta,” Chase muttered, readjusting his beanie.

“I wanna know what Anthony said to him,” Jake growled. “Obviously it was some shit, otherwise they wouldn't be walking around like that.”

“Tweedy apologized for it. Damn.”

“He's playing the role!” Chase cried, smacking Bart's chest. “Meanwhile, he's just seconds away from molestation! I bet Anthony barged in on whatever and busted Tweedy, and Anthony just snapped and said shit to both of them, traumatized by the entire ordeal!”

“You should be a writer, man. Your imagination is just…way out there,” Bart said, holding a hand up high to indicate his words.

“Writers get chicks, too, huh?”

“You write your name wrong sometimes,” Jake grumbled, searching for his `board and realizing he wasn't wearing it. He slumped, then perked. “Let's go find Anthony.”

“YES! Great idea, J!”

“NO. No, we're not finding this Anthony guy. Hell naw, I'm not getting all caught up in this stupid drama,” Bart complained. “This is ridiculous. And YOU! You need to lay off the fucking sugar!”

“You ain't my daddy, yo!”

“I'll tell your daddy!”

“No you won't! My daddy won't care! He'll side with me on this!”

Putting his cell phone away, Tyler said, “Anthony's at the batting cages.”

“NO.” Bart held onto the collars of both Chase and Jake as they moved in that direction. “We're not going. Wait until Monday. Cool off and fuckin' think about things, assholes.”

“Aw. Man! You're worse than he is!” Chase cried, gesturing in the direction Gone had left.

“Well, I guess so,” Jake acquiesced. “I mean, might as well.”

Chase threw him a bewildered look, Jake giving him a pointed one until he threw up his arms with a wild exclamation. “FINE! FINE, let's go home! Weiner.”

Bart nodded in approval, herding them to his car. When Tyler tried to follow, he turned and made to punch him, the boy squealing and curling in on himself. When he straightened, the trio was already scrambling into Bart's car. He laughed nervously. “Yeah, I'll catch ya guys later! Text me!”

0o0o0o0

“What's the big deal, anyway?” Bart complained, opening a can of soda. The trio had ended up at Chase's house. Drake was outside, complaining over his broken gate with Mr. James and Go, all three in vivid discussion. Chase's room was messy and overwhelming, with barely any space to sit. Bart had crammed himself into the cleanest spot he could find, which was sitting atop of a stack of paper magazines. Jake was sprawled out on the floor, and Chase was on his bed, fiddling with his pudding snakes and soda.

“Why can't you two just leave it alone? Dang, that kid can't have friends outside the lot of you.”

“It's not even that,” Chase mumbled, crushing his empty soda can with both hands. He tossed it towards the direction of the overflowing trash can. “He can. Just not that kind of a friend.”

“People've been saying that all this time. It's getting annoying. They don't see what we see,” Jake complained, pulling at his braid, picking at the split ends.

“LISTEN TO THEM.”

“It's not like we can't!” Chase exclaimed.

“I'm starting to feel bad about it,” Jake confessed. “I mean, what if it's only that? How often does G make friends?”

“Well,” Chase grumbled. “True. But why Tweedy of all people? Why not the other nerds?”

Jake shrugged, flicking at the bite mark on his arm.

Bart sighed. “Ya'll just made too big of a deal about it all. Is all. Let it go.”

“Well, still, I'll still be watching to make sure he ain't going to try anything gay,” Chase mumbled. “Cuz that's still wrong.”

“There isn't proof. It's all fuckin' hearsay.” Bart reached up, touching the diamond studs in his earlobes.

“If kids are talkin' about it, it has to be,” Chase stressed. “Kids don't talk about nothin'.”

Bart almost laughed, but he caught himself, clearing his throat loudly.

“Well, I'm not apologizing to nobody. I only did what I thought was right,” Chase grumbled.

Jake grinned at him. “Me too. Only, if we want Gone to acknowledge us again, we gotta say something.”

Chase thought about it for a few moments, then kicked at the clothing on his bed. “He don't have any other friends, huh? I mean, he talks to people, but he ain't like us.”

“It's a wonder why ya'll tolerate him,” Bart said. “What's good about him, anyway? He only causes grief.”

“He acts like my messenger when I want him to talk to someone for me. He listens to me yap about things,” Chase said immediately. “He talks to D about things and gets the authority off my case. He, like, makes sure we stay outta trouble! Stuff like that!”

“I don't have to specify what he does for me,” Jake said cheekily, giving Bart a nudge of his elbow and a conspiratorial wink.

“Ew,” Bart mumbled in response, but he started to think about Chase's words. He had seen it many times before. He supposed that such things were valuable.

“Ha ha, is he still doing your homework an' shit? You'll never pass high school, son,” Chase admonished, taking it the wrong way.

“See, that's why we were all worked up,” Jake concluded. “Plus, everyone takes advantage of him, and it sucks. I hate seeing that.”

“Hell, I mean, we do it. But that's different. I hate seeing other guys messing with him. If it ain't Go cuttin' him down, it's those assholes at school.”

“You don't hear Go saying anything nice about Gone. Even Drake gets all praising on Chase, here.”

“All right, all right,” Bart said, picking at his nose. “Ya'll are much more mature than I thought.”

“We didn't say we weren't,” Chase exclaimed. “Hell, well, that's that, then. If he wants Tweedy to be his friend, then so be it.”

“Even though it's weird and I don't like it,” Jake mumbled. “But we should lay off.”

Chase exhaled. “Yeah.”

Bart studied the pair of them, absolutely at a loss as to how they were able to handle the situation. Their emotions were so difficult for him to understand. His solution to the problem was to kill off Tweedy and then make it very clear to Gone that he was not to cause anymore trouble within the ranks. He wished he were able to take it in easier, to follow their example with the same mentality.

“Well…let's get on with it, J.”

“What?”

“Y'know. You got the number?”

Jake gave an excited wiggle that made Bart perform a double-take in horror. “I do! Hold on!”

He raced off, Chase snatching the handheld nearby. A few minutes of fiddling with it while Bart thought about things gave the room a comfortable vibe. Once they heard Jake racing back into the house, Chase gave Bart a smirk.

“Get your gameface on, playa! We're gonna set you UP!” he declared as Jake raced in, his school backpack in hand.

Rummaging around, he withdrew one of his test papers, which was marked heavily in red. He read off a number that Chase followed on the phone. Bart wondered what they were up to as Chase then waited for an answer. He then set it on speaker and announced loudly, “Hey, Holly! Heard you had a thing for my man, Bart!”

Bart frowned, wondering why they had to call that girl.

“I do! Wait—am I on speaker?” Holly asked, before squealing. “Take me off!”

“Talk to her, B. We'll help you say the right thing,” Jake hissed, giving a rapid nod of his head.

“Why do I have to say the right thing?” Bart asked, annoyed.

“You are so dumb!” Chase exclaimed, embarrassed for him. Into the phone he said quickly, “He's shy and never spoke to a girl in his life! So you need to be gentle with him, Holly Gellum.”

“I will,” Holly giggled. “Take me off speaker phone!”

“Wow, I've never really…spoke to a girl like this before,” Jake realized, paling at thought. “Can she hear me?”

“Jake! Stop being a noob! Bart, say, `What are you doing'?”

Bart couldn't even fathom why it was a group effort into some phone call. He gave Chase an annoyed look. “Why?”

Chase tossed the phone at him, and Bart caught it. He hung up, Jake and Chase giving outraged cries. “What? Damn, I'll just see her Monday, anyway.”

“You are so mental! You talk to a girl on the phone to get to know her!”

“I don't want to.”

“You don't like Holly Gellum, Bart?” Jake asked.

“I'm not interested in girls.”

“BART!” Chase shrieked in outrage, starting to rise from his seat.

“Or boys,” Bart added on a heavy sigh.

“WHY NOT?! Don't you ever want to get laid?”

“I'm a eunuch.”

“REALLY?” Both Jake and Chase asked, absolutely horrified.

“NO! I LIED! Get out of my face!”

“I almost fell for that,” Jake laughed, looking at Chase.

“I was going to say, `Can I see?',” Chase confessed, laughing as well.

“PERV! You like dick!”

“I do not!”

Bart began his search for his Tylenol once more, sighing again.