Then, his mind drifted into a darker place. He asked himself if he was losing his touch. Why weren't any of the guys at the Academy interested in hooking up with him? He never had this problem before. He couldn't even bag Mr. Pierce!
The van came to a halt in the empty lot of the shop they had previously been on their last “field trip’. Mr. Pierce put the van in park and pocketed his keys, sending Jake's head to pad the back of his seat.
"Alright, ready to get a new shirt?”
"Can we talk for a sec?" Jake met Mr. Pierce’s gaze with a puppy-dog look, "Off the record?"
Mr. Pierce sighed. He combed his neat hair to the side with his hand, closing his eyes. "Before you go on, I need to make one thing clear. I need you to start seeing me as your counselor."
"What do you mean?" Jake raised an eyebrow, seemingly innocent.
"I wasn't born yesterday, Jake. I see what you’re doing.”
“So, you do notice me, then?" Jake grinned, leaning onto the parking break that barely separated their bodies. "And what do you see?"
"I see you probably better than you see yourself.” Mr. Pierce lowered his voice without breaking eye contact. “I see a lost boy who is used to getting what he wants, when he wants it. I see what you do to the other boys, and frankly, I don't condone it."
"I see..." Jake exasperated. His motives were still ambiguous to Mr. Pierce, or so he led him to believe. Mr. Pierce was more of an enigma than he was bargaining for. Did he, or did he not feel Jake’s very forward advances?
"I also see that you need my help. And that's why I've agreed to take you to get a new shirt. I've got my eye on you Jake. I know you, because I used to be you. I'm telling you now, the path you're going, I've been there. I've woken up at parties, bare-ass naked with only a red, plastic cup to cover me. So, when I say that I see you, I truly do. And that's why I know that you'll need the extra attention from me. I'm willing to give that to you in exchange for your cooperation.”
“Cooperation? That’s it?” Jake said, raising an eyebrow again.
“What you need is a distraction.” Mr. Pierce suggested. “What about your acting? Think about all of your fans."
Jake stared back into his teacher’s dark, brown eyes. There was something there; he could feel it as if there was an electric shock to the brain. Some of his words he couldn't shrug off so easily, but the important thing was that he saw him. He knew Mr. Pierce had his eye on him, and he was determined to show him what he was missing—what he had been missing out on for his three years of sobriety. He knew it with every fiber of his being that if he were to make a move, Mr. Pierce would be powerless to stop him. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to move in…for a kiss.
Jake released the parking break in one swift swoop, leaning across Mr. Pierce's seat. within the same instant, Mr. Pierce had abandoned the car, not bothering to look back as he slammed the door in Jake's face.
Jake sighed. He snapped his fingers and chuckled to himself. He then exited the van and followed Mr. Pierce into the tiny shop.
The shop was more crowded than their visit before. The aisles were littered with clothes and crowds of men, circling the rounded racks of shirts.
Jake spotted a familiar face in Eric, the cute store associate who had helped them out before.
"Hey, I'm going to find the restroom,” Mr. Pierce informed. "Why don't you find your size, and meet me back here?"
"Sure thing, boss,” Jake saluted and made his way briskly towards the opposite end of the store.
He reached Eric, buried in a pile of shirts that he was in the middle of re-folding. Jake selected a shirt from the messy table and held it out in front of him, pretending to be an anonymous customer. He slowly backed into Eric nonchalantly, rubbing his own body against his. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir,” He teased.
Eric whipped around. A smile spread across his face, clearly relieved to see the hard body that pushed up against him belonged to the hot customer from the day before.
"Hey, good to see you here again,” Eric checked out Jake from head to toe.
"Not so bad running into you again either,” Jake rested his toned arms onto the table, his body crushing the shirts beneath him.
“So, what can I help you with?" Eric finished folding a shirt and placed it on the table carefully.
"That's a good question. You could help me out with something else after, but first I need a new shirt." Jake leaned in closer to Eric, mindlessly toying with the pile of shirts next to him.
The walkie-talkie hanging from Eric's belt started to fizz, screeching inaudible banter. "Sorry, I gotta take this." Eric threw a shirt effortlessly onto the table and headed for the backroom. He turned his head over his shoulder to Jake on his way through the curtain. "I'll be back to give you a hand in a minute." He winked, disappearing into the back.
Jake smirked, lifting himself from the table. He began to sift through the shirts, seeing if there were any he actually liked. He turned away and held up a t-shirt in front of him. The graphic on the shirt wasn't very appealing at all. To Jake, it was junk. He stared at the snake on the t-shirt, twisting his face with disgust.
"Thought that was you,” a deep voice arose from behind the shirt.
Jake lowered the article of clothing slowly, hoping his ears had deceived him. Unfortunately for Jake, the voice belonged to a familiar, blonde, young man.
"Cam!" Jake's voice cracked. "Wha-what's up?"
"Eric told me to check out the hot dude in the blue tank with the nice ass." Cam removed the hat he was wearing and messed up his perfect tuft of hair. He scanned Jake up and down, ending on his tight butt. "He was right, you haven't changed at all."
Of course, to Jake, Cam hadn't changed at all either. He still kept his hair trimmed short on the sides and allowed the top to grow nice and long, falling effortlessly to the right of his face. Dark eyebrows framed his deep, blue eyes. His sense of style was also still in tact judging from the loose, white t-shirt and tight, black jeans with matching sneakers.
Jake froze for a moment, speechless. The last encounter he had with his former co-star hadn't gone smoothly. From time to time, the sting of betrayal crept into his being when he least expected it. This perfect, young prince was the reason he had to spend his days in a school of misfit gay delinquents. Cam chucked him to the wolves, and Jake promised himself long ago that nobody would cross him like that and be able to get away with it.
On the other hand, nobody could get to Jake like Cam could. He began to reminisce about the days when they would skip rehearsal to ‘study lines’ of their own in each other's trailers. They had a bit of a history, and that was a difficult thing to give up once you lose everything else. It wasn't long before Jake noticed Cam's confused expression, and finally snapped out of his silent daze.
"Cam, what are you doing here?" was all Jake could muster.
“Well, great to see you too, Jake."
"Sorry, not what I meant,” Jake became uneasy. "I just didn't think you would ever shop in a place like this…kind of a weird coincidence."
"What, at one of these stores in the middle of Gayville?" Cam chuckled. "I work here during the week."
Now, Jake was really confused. Last time they met, Cam was ‘straight' and he wouldn't have been caught dead in West Hollywood. The fear of being out-ed alone was enough. Jake questioned what Cam was up to when he was the one who exposed their secret relationship and ultimately threw his life off track.
"But, what if someone sees you? I know you don't need the money. Your parents aren't half the dicks mine are."
"Ha!" Cam laughed. "I don't care if anyone sees me anymore. My secret is out, and my parents hate me."
"I'm sure they don't." Jake assured. He was in no position to offer advice on parents. He himself often felt similar feelings from time to time, but he thought it wouldn't hurt to reassure him otherwise.
"Yeah, they do. They kicked me out after they caught me fucking some twink on the camera crew. Luckily, some of the guys from work
let me stay with them until I can afford my own place."
Jake's mind raced with a million questions. It should have felt empowering to see Cam suffer the same fate as he did. Instead of relief, however, he just had more questions. His mind then considered the concept of Cam coming out to the world. His stomach churned at the thought.
Cam must have read the expression on his face, because he continued on, “Sorry, dude, I tried to keep your secret safe from the vultures, but you know how they are."
Exactly as he had expected, Cam ratted him out again. No doubt in an attempt to lessen the blow on himself.
"Look on the bright side though," Cam deflected. He leaned on the table next to Jake, placing an arm around his shoulder. "You're internet famous now. It's not so bad being a gay icon online. It's a nice transition from TV to internet. You'll see. I get recognized all the time at my weekend job."
Jake had half a mind to throw Cam's arm back at him dramatically, but the familiar scent of his cologne had already taken hold of him, enveloping him in a wave of comfort.
"And what job is that?"
“I’m a waiter at the Abbey."
Jake knew what those waiter's jobs consisted of. Sure, he would be a waiter by day, but by night he would be scooping up dollar bills with his butt cheeks. To call Cam a server would be like trying to pass off a lion for a house cat.
"The cash is great," Cam went on without regard to Jake's facial reaction." And you can shoot all the vodka you can keep down from the guys you meet. You should bring your hot, older man sometime." Cam motioned towards Mr. Pierce, who was scanning the room, no doubt in search of Jake.
"How do you know he's with me?"
"I saw you guys walk in together." Cam admitted. "He's ripped! How do you let that guy walk around this store alone?"
As much as Jake would have liked to jump at the chance of parading Mr. Pierce around as his trophy at this particular moment, he was in no mood to fib. The uneasy feeling in his stomach swirled around like a tornado of razors.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's my counselor."
Cam cautiously removed his hand. "Oh, shit. He's not from that place, is he?”
“Yep," Jake confirmed.
Cam dropped his gaze to the floor, unable to look Jake in the eye after his sudden realization. "Sorry, I didn't know you were still there."
"Yep," Jake repeated, joining Cam in a staring match with the floor.
"Look," Cam turned to Jake, "I'm really sorry about what I did. I know it's not super easy to forgive me, but I really hope we're still cool. You and I always had this great thing going, like, we always understood each other. You're a cool dude."
Jake couldn't explain, even to himself, as to why he felt the need to put on a charade showcasing that he was alright. Cam had the ability to bring out everything he felt about his past that he had been suppressing for months. He did his best to put on a cool, mellow facade and build up the courage to respond to his apology. He didn't want Cam to think he was any different from the Jake Parker he knew back then.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll be outta there in no time."
"Cool!" Cam shouted, throwing his hands out in front of him. “So, we can hang out when you're finished with that place, right? You're not gonna let them...convert you, are you?”
"Are you kidding me?" Jake spread his famous, cocky smile on his face. "Converting me would be a waste to all of the bottoms of the westside."
Cam chuckled. "Cool, I'll give you my new number. It's my roommate's phone, so don't call too late."
"Don't worry. I don't even have a cell right now."
"Oh, no way?" Cam looked surprised. "That's a bummer. What kind of place is that?"
"It just sucks,” Jake conceded. "But I'm sure I could find a way to see you sooner."
"Oh yeah?" Cam raised an eyebrow.
“Sure," Jake winked. "We have a lot of catching up to do."
Cam leaned in, squeezing him in a hug. Jake's legs almost gave out as he sunk into his bulging arms. For a moment, the world around him melted away, and he wanted nothing more than to stay within his embrace. And then, just as swiftly as he appeared, Cam was gone, and Jake was left with his lingering thoughts and feelings.
Jake stood in the middle of the store, leaning against a rack of shirts as if it were the only thing keeping him from tumbling over. He wasn't sure exactly why he had made such a false promise. There was no way he could leave the Academy, unscathed, at least. Hell, he wasn't even sure what the meeting would entail. Jake didn't know whether he wanted to punch Cam in the face, or jump his bones. One thing was certain, though. Jake was not ready to close this chapter completely.
The drive back to the Academy seemed to fly by. Jake had spent most of the time in his own head, a place he avoided usually. He was the type of guy who worked on impulse. Even though most of the time his quick-to-act nature got him into trouble, he always had a story to brag about to his buddies later on.
Jake thought about the way Cam had done him wrong, and how he wanted to kick himself for letting him off the hook so easily. In this instance, hindsight was twenty-twenty, and he wanted nothing more than to march back into the store and let him have it.
"Something wrong, Jake?" Mr. Pierce coaxed an innocent look on his face. "You've been giving me one word answers the whole ride back."
“No…" Jake countered.
"Right." Mr. Pierce abruptly stopped the van.
"What did you do that for!?" Jake protested as he flew back into his seat from the whiplash.
"If you hadn't noticed, we're back."
Jake looked up at the enormous structure before him. The Academy was dark due to the setting sun, but a few lights were ticked on from the dorms.
“Oh," Jake admitted.
"I hope what I said earlier didn't affect you too much. I mean well for you, Jake, honestly. I actually see a lot of myself in you. That's why I know you can change."
"Nobody changes who they are,” Jake uttered under his breath.
"What?" Mr. Pierce replied.
Jake turned to his teacher. He searched his dark, brooding eyes for something beneath the surface, but there was only mystery.
Jake then leapt across the seats. With both hands, he grabbed Mr. Pierce's face and pulled it fiercely into his own. He latched onto Mr. Pierce's lips aggressively, allowing the rough stubble of his beard tickle his own smooth face. His whole being rose to a new high as he felt a rush of warmth surge through.
Jake's heart pounded, and he thought it would burst out of his chest by the time he finally pulled himself away to see his teacher's reaction. As he looked upon the stunned face of the man he had been waiting for all this time, he wondered to himself if he had made a huge mistake. He couldn't read Mr. Pierce at all, and that was part of the reason he was so worked up...so hot for him. This could surely get him expelled. And then it dawned on him.
He didn't care.
Coming Soon
Lost Boys Academy - Book #3: JULY 2015
Lost Boys Academy - Book #4: SEPTEMBER 2015
Lost Boys Academy - Book #5: NOVEMBER 2015
Lost Boys Academy (Book Two: Distraction) Page 7