We Weren't Even Friends

by James Knoll

6 Aug 2013 1118 readers Score 9.0 (20 votes) PDF Mobi ePub Txt


The Audition

~~Ken's POV~~

Well, shit, look at the situation I've gotten myself into now. I'm about to piss my pants out of fear because I'm auditioning for all of the best singers in the entire school that I just got too a couple of hours ago. I look around the room, waiting for a girl to sing the song I chose with me and after what seems like forever, a girl stands up. She looks beautiful. She's wearing a beautiful white and red dress, has long black hair, with red dyed at the tips and she walks to the front of the room without saying a word. She has the face and body of an angel with her dark grey eyes. Her strut illustrates her grace and her elite status. It truly is intimidating me.

"Don't think I don't know what you are tryingr to do, Pretty Boy. I'll help you out. Don't disappoint us now," she whispers the first sentence to me and says the rest out loud.

"Ah, Tess, thank you for volunteering," Mr. Mathers says with a smile.

"Tess, I'm Ken," I say with a smile, showing my pearly white teeth at her, while on the inside shitting bricks.

"Well Ken, don't let me down now," she says with a smile.

I see Mike glare at her and I harder than ever before. I can't wait to wipe off the smug look of his perfect face. Fuck... did I just say perfect? Am I... trying to impress him? No way. I'm trying to impress everybody. I want to enjoy my senior year of high school and although I'm a couple weeks late to the party, I'm still not late enough to enjoy the spoils. He does really have an air of attractiveness about him that I would like to get to know if he wasn't such a tool. Now I said he's attractive... Great... That's exactly what I need to do at this very moment while Brandon is over in the corner smiling like he always is, and is it more than enjoyable to stare back. Ok, not gay, not gay, not gay, he just makes me feel comfortable.

"Okay, you're going to bars to come into, then you're off on your own," Mr. Mathers says as he sits at the piano.

The first strum starts. Time stops. I breathe, take in precious air, because this song can be difficult at times. Second strum, ready the note I need to start with, and I'm ready to finally go.

"Do you hear me, talking to you, across the water, across the deep blue oceeaan, under the open sky, oh my, Baby, I'm trying..."

Phew, good so far. I see looks of shocked faces all across the room, but I look at Tess. She opens up, sounding like the angel that she looks like. I'm utterly in shock, but we have to go together now. We harmonize what seems to be perfectly. She is smiling the entire time and she bobs her head up and down helping me keep our time. I'm still a bit nervous and she sees it. She comes and puts her hand on my chest and something and it is soothing, not sexual or sensual, just soothing as she puts her other hand on the back of my neck. It's going great and as we hit the most difficult notes of the song together perfectly, this feels natural. We end the song, as she gives me a kiss on the cheek and sits down. She's one hell of a strange girl. That's for sure. She signals for me to stand up still and I see everyone look at Mr. Mathers and I turn around and face him. His face is very emotionless, like he doesn't want to say anything. Like, a good director's poker face when they think about what they hear and see. I turn around quick and see people are whispering around the room and Mike is staring at me with a stone cold glare. I wink at him quick to piss him off and turn around again.

"Quiet everyone! That was quite a scene Ken, but a beautifully painted scene is not always truly beautiful. You both were very much on point, it's not the most difficult song, but it is difficult with timing. You both made it your own. And you did your part very nicely. I was really surprised. Looks truly are deceiving sometimes. It was more than obvious that you lack a certain confidence with your skills, but you do have them. I am going to let you in this choir. We will turn that voice into gold and you join the ranks of the best singers this school has to offer. Welcome, Ken," Mr Mathers says with a giant applause.

The room is loud and cheering except for Mike who is sitting there even more angry than before. I got and give Tess a hug and then Brandon nearly charges me. He is staring so far into my soul it feels like it is not even funny. He pulls me into a very tight embrace then and rubs my hair slowly. He's very awkwardly touchy sometimes, and he almost seems happier than me. The bell rings after we go over a few things and Mike charges out of the room. People are introducing themselves to me left and right and I can tell I've made a good impression in the school. Brandon goes and pretty much chases after Mike. After just general introductions to everyone, another guy and Tess are having a conversation. He's your stereotypical hipster type of guy. He's five foot 8, medium length wavy brown hair, is wearing a tight grey cardigan, a band t-shirt, and red chino pants, Converse shoes. Both of his ears have small black studs in them. He's pretty skinny too, not really muscular, but his sleeve a rolled up, revealing a black dragon grasping at an orb that says greatness. It's truly a neat tattoo.

"Hi Ken. I'm Carter, Carter Highspire and you have met my friend and head of the Soprano section, Tess," he says with a firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you Carter, what's that Mike's problem with me?" I ask as his face grows a bit cold.

"Ah, McDevitt... He's a bit of an asshole. He took my place as president of the choir last year. Most people can't help it. The charm. The looks. The voice. Enough to make a straight guy gay. Luckily, I was before I met him," he says with a laugh, with his baritone voice that almost sounds British.

"Really, you're gay?" I ask stunned.

"Yup, and proud too. Though you don't see me running around with it plastered against my body," he says laughing again.

"Well, that doesn't change a thing. So you never answered, what's his deal with me?" I ask again.

"He's just a bit jealous of you. You keep up with him in the charm, looks, and now voice department. He hates competition," Tess says.

"Oh..." I say with a sigh.

"It doesn't help at all that Brandon has been your friend all day either," Carter says with a smile.

"Why's that?" I ask with a frown.

"Because they are best friends. Michael is very protective over Brandon. Like, it's a bit weird. But, Brandon is a social butterfly. You never know what he's going to do," Tess said.

"Oh, interesting," I say perplexed.

Us three ate lunch together. Brandon sat with Mike for lunch and he waved at me and Mike just glared at him. Random kids came up and introduced themselves to me. Girls, guys, and even a couple teachers. I instantly became the popular kid at school. And each person seemed to be pissing Mike off more and more and I saw him leave the cafeteria. But, I'm not going to have him hate me. I want to be his friend too. I didn't want this title. I just came here for education. To start my life over, not run a school. That's not who I am. I took up my tray and ran up after him.

"Hey! Mike! Get back here! I want to talk to you," I yelled to him.

"What. Do. You. Want?" he said angrily.

~~Mike's POV~~

Who the hell does this pretty boy think he fucking is? Running up to me? Is he trying to rub something else in my fucking face? That wavy hair, pretty face, unique eyes, and a ripped body. The fact that he competes with me pisses me off, I would be his friend if he was any bit broken, but he is just too fucking perfect. He keeps looking at me; I bet he wants this dick. Then again, I keep looking at him, but I know what I like.

"I just want to talk to you. You don't have to be a douche about it," he said a little pissed off.

"A douche!? You don't fucking know me!" I said grabbing him by the shirt.

"You're right! I don't and I'm trying to. I've been! Just... listen to me," he said as I see a look of defeat in his eyes, no fear, just guilt. Why is he feeling guilty?

"What?" I said as I put him down, fixed his shirt, and sat down on the floor.

"I feel like we've gotten off on the wrong foot. From the moment you saw me, it seems like I have been trying to be better than you. Well, I'm not. I'm used to not really having friends, having anything really, it just kind of happened when I came here," he said to me.

He looks so sad, like he has something to hide. I can see it. There's a bunch of pain in his eyes. And I could help him. I want to know him now. Those eyes say so much to me.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'm having a big party this Saturday. Girls, booze, the whole nine yards. Come over, have some fun, we can talk then," I say giving him my address and phone number.

I need to go. My mind's all fucked up. Why does he attract me to him so much? I'm so jealous of someone I don't even know. And what is there to know?

~~Ken's POV~~

Saturday Afternoon. Three hours before the party. I can't really wait to go. It sounds like a shitload of fun and I can't wait to hopefully sort some shit out with Mike. He hasn't really said much to me, but he looks guilty for being mean to me. Brandon has been aloof as well lately, but he said he is going to be picking me up later, so that's cool. Sadly, nobody knows I'm living on my own. I'm going to keep that up for as long as I can. Classes are going well. I'm working hard with the choir, so that's going crazy well. Outfit is ready for tonight. Black polo, pink shorts, and black shoes. Sexy to anybody in the room. Shit, phone's ringing.

"Hey, what's up, Buddy! Look, I'm outside your apartment building, but I need to pee," Brandon pleaded like a kid.

"Can't it wait?" I say with a sigh.

"No, because, I'm outside the door," I hear a laugh from the other side of my door.

Fuck. Well, can't really avoid this one anymore.

"Hey, buddy! So you ready to party!? Shit, your parents might be home. Gotta keep quiet," he says from yelling to whispering after catching himself.

"Ummm... about that," I say as he wanders through my apartment.

He comes back out after inspecting my fridge, to my closet, to everything. He then gives me a hug after grabbing a soda. He's wearing a sky blue dress shirt, and really expensive cologne. I look at his car keys and see a Porsche logo and I almost cream myself at the thought. I bet it's a sports car. It's only fitting for him.

"There's only one bed here, that's weird..." he says as he stares at me suspiciously.

His green eyes are piercing into me, trying to read something they don't understand. All of a sudden, some spark in his eye comes out, like he has processed some unknown information. I answer his question with a look of my own. A solid, it's not a big deal kind of look.

"You live by yourself?!" he asks almost in fear.

"Yeah, I do..." I say with a frown.

"Ken, why are you living by yourself? Why didn't you tell me?" he asks, obviously genuinely upset.

"You didn't need to know Brandon, I've been through some shit recently, so I moved out. Just don't worry about it. I saved a bunch of money and..." I start to try and reason with him.

"How the fuck does a 17 year old kid save bunch of money? Not only is it not logical, it's not even healthy or safe even for you to be by yourself!" he says in a roar.

"Brandon. Calm the fuck down for five seconds. Sometimes, you need to get out of a home, because it isn't a home. It's not anything. It's painful. Bad shit happens. You see things you shouldn't. You experience horror at it's maximum. And that is all, I'm going to say about that. I escaped. I'm fine. I have almost one hundred thousand dollars saved up, rent for as long as I need, plus enough to pay for college. I'll be fine, but you need to keep this a secret. You best kept secret. A lot rides on this, okay?" I ask seriously.

I saw his smile diminish, replaced by a frown, something that just does not look right on him. I feel the worry in his body. His eyes stare into me again, searching for what I hide from, from what I have dealt with. But, I hide that look from the world. I hide it in everything that I now am. Come on buddy... Stop looking for it. I'll tell you when I need to. He looks more upset than I should be. He probably thought before I was wealthy, but now, I have no clue what he thinks about me. I walk up to him and give him a hug. I never noticed how strong he was, his huge pectoral muscles rubbing against my smaller frame, the huge shoulders, I guess that's why he's a running back for the football team. He's a tank. I hear the smallest sniffle and a bit of moisture on my face. Why is he so emotional about this?

"Ken, sorry. I... just, just am worried about you now," he said as he grabbed onto me and pulled me in with all of his strength.

"I'm okay. I promise," I say back.

"Let's go and have some fun," I say after hugging it out for what seemed like forever.

He put his smile back on and walked out of the apartment and unlocked the keys to his black Porsche. It was stunning and every other amazing adjective you could think of.

"Holy... Fucking... Shit..." is all I can mutter.

"Let's drive," he says as we get in.

by James Knoll

Email: [email protected]

Copyright 2024