Graham and Griffin Ch. 02

Griffin's POV

School is in full swing and I'm really enjoying it so far. I haven't declared my major yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be English Education. I've wanted to be an English teacher since I was in elementary school. Right now I'm just focusing on getting my general requirements out of the way.

Graham is in only one of my classes, Geology 101, but that doesn't mean that I don't see him all the time. When we are not in class, we hang out in our dorm room studying, watching T.V. or listening to music. We've also hung out a couple of times with our neighbors, Ben and Carson. They are cool guys.

Even though we hang out all the time, Graham and I have avoided having any sort of real conversation. I mean we talk all the time, but it's usually about superficial stuff like our favorite movies or the best pizza toppings. I guess we are still trying to figure each other out. I really want to get to know him better.

Graham and I are hanging out in our room on a Friday afternoon the second week of school. We are both done with our classes for the week. He is lying on his bed reading a book for his Introduction to Contemporary Literature class. I am sitting at my desk across the room surfing the web on my laptop. Every few minutes I sneak a peek at Graham. I've started to do this when we are alone in our room. I have it bad.

He is wearing a slightly fitted green t-shirt that shows off his toned strong arms and a pair of brown corduroy pants that hang loosely on his hips. He is so tall (or the bed is so short) that his bare feet hang an inch or so off the bed. My eyes scan up his body until the best part of his body comes into focus; his lips. I don't really know how to describe them except to stay they are full, but not too full and pink, but not too pink. I've never touched them, but I imagine they are velvety to the touch. As I am ogling his luscious lips, Graham suddenly looks up and catches me in the act. Our eyes meet and even though I want to, I can't turn away.

"Hi," he says softly. He closes his book and lays it down on the bed next to him. "What are you doing?" He doesn't break our eye contact.

"Checking my Facebook," I mumble.

"Oh, really," he quips. He rolls onto his side facing me his hand propping up his head. In the process, his shirt rides up a little bit and I can see a sliver of his smooth golden stomach peeking out. I suddenly can't breathe.

"You know what?" He says.

"What?" I sound like there is a frog in my throat.

"We haven't left campus since we got here. I think it's time to go explore. You wanna come with me?" He raises his eyebrows in anticipation of my answer.

I nod. I am speechless.

His perfect lips suddenly transform into a huge smile.

"Cool. Let's go."

Graham's POV

Griffin likes me! I think...maybe...I don't know. This afternoon when I was reading in bed I caught him checking me out. I've suspected that he'd been watching me for the past couple of days, but this was the first time I caught him. Not wanting to embarrass him, I quickly suggest that we leave campus and have an adventure. He agrees. I am excited.

We start to get ready. As I put on my jacket, I carefully watch him as he digs in his dresser for a hoodie to wear. He is wearing tight black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt that advertises a band that I've never heard of and red converse tennis shoes. He looks perfect and it takes every ounce of my being to keep from walking over, wrapping my arms around him and rubbing my hands all over his cute tight butt.

"Slow down, Graham," I say to myself. "You need to get to know this guy a little better before you go and jump his bones."

"You ready?" He turns to me and smiles. He has a really cute dimple in his left cheek when he smiles.

"Yep," I say and smile back.

We walk around town for about an hour going in and out of the few shops that are open. It's a small town that mainly consists of a few antique boutiques, a thrift store and a handful of small restaurants and coffee shops. We have fun rummaging through the small collection of men's clothing at the thrift store. We find out that we are both into vintage clothing. He likes old band t-shirts from the 90's. He finds one and buys it. In the end, we settle down in a small coffee shop at a table in the back. We each have a steaming cup of coffee in front of us and a plate of assorted donuts to share between the two of us.

At first our conversation is pretty much like the ones that we've been having the past two weeks. He asks me about a concert that I went to during the summer and I ask him about the intro to music class he is taking this quarter. I know, though, that if I want to get to know him better, we need to have a dialogue that has a little more substance. When there is a lull in our exchange, I dive right in and ask him something that I've wanted to ask since the first day we met.

"Your parents didn't bring you to school. How come?"

He hesitates for a minute and looks down at his cup of coffee.

"I didn't want them to."

"Why?"

He looks up at me and frowns.

"We don't really get along. I thought it would be easier to make a clean break from them. I'm not really sure how much I want them to be involved in my life here. You get along with your parents?"

"Yeah, I do. My parents are really great. Why don't you get along with your parents?"

He shifts uneasily in his chair and looks over my head at the front entrance. I have the feeling that he is uncomfortable and would rather leave than have this discussion.

"Um, we don't really see eye to eye on things that are important to me."

"Like?"

He sighs. "I really don't know how to explain it. They want me to be a certain way and I'm not sure I can live up to their expectations. It's better if I don't have contact with them for a while so I can find out who I truly am. I'm still figuring things out."

I smile at him. I really want to get up, go to him, give him a hug and tell him he's going to be okay, but I don't. I sense that this would totally freak him out.

Instead, I say, "I understand, Griffin. I went through a similar thing a few years ago. Luckily, my parents were really supportive and I was able to get through it."

He stares at me for a couple of seconds and asks, "What did you go through?"

I know that I have to tell him. I can't keep it a secret forever. He's going to find out eventually.

"When I was in 5th grade I realized something about myself."

He continues to stare. "What did you realize, Graham?"

I take a deep breath, look into his eyes and say, "I am gay."