Call Out Your Name Ch. 01

Jesse took the seat across from me and continued to give me the stink eye. "What?" I asked in mounting irritation.

"Nothing," he finally muttered, pulling his binder from his backpack.

"Okay then, let's get to work."

We whipped out our copies of the essay instructions, breaking apart the work into manageable chunks. I showed him the materials I'd located in the library as well as some sites online we could get information from.

"I already learned about the Brontës in my old English class," I explained tersely. "I still have my notes. Part of a term paper I did was on their novels, so if you like we can use it too."

He studied me for about fifteen seconds before answering, and then it was only a short nod. Hey, don't fall all over yourself in gratitude because I just saved your ass eight hours worth of annotating and typing, you dick. I shook my head and tried to concentrate on something besides getting annoyed.

For the next half-hour we went over my information, deciding what was relevant and what wasn't. We were cross referencing terms and dates and discussing the writing styles, but I could see that Jesse was going to have trouble talking himself into reading either novel seriously since they were both dry and romantic. Maybe Heights would be easier because it was narrated by a male and Healthcliff was more sympathetic and less abrupt than the men in Jane Eyre.

We were working on our own, using our laptops to look up study guides and read interpretations of the novels. I watched Jesse gradually relax through my lashes. He really was fine to look at, especially when his mouth wasn't all squished up in anger or his eyes didn't flash in fear.

"You're kind of cute when you let your guard down." The words spewed forth before I even thought about the wisdom of uttering them. Oh well, there's nothing like laying your cards on the table, and if what the Butler kid said about him was true, I was announcing my position loud and clear.

His head shot up. "What did you say?" Fortunately he only sounded shocked.

I raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I said I think you're cute."

"You can't possibly believe that," he responded, his voice low with astonishment. He was fighting to keep his face blank but his eyes were glittering with some emotion between hope and despair.

"Well, I do," I answered with conviction. "You don't need to be all down about yourself like that."

I decided to let it go for now and went back to work on the note-taking, allowing him to decide whether to trust me because I had pushed enough for one day. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him open his binder and remove a single piece of notebook paper folded in half twice. He looked like he wasn't sure what to do next until, with a flick of his eyes in my direction, he laid it on the table between us.

Glancing at it only briefly, I noticed that it was standard wide-ruled paper and leaking through it were large but indistinguishable words in green marker. They were, of course, backwards from the wrong side of the sheet, so I couldn't make them out, and two corners had been torn off around the edge. Not knowing the significance of the note, I ignored it.

Five minutes went by in which Jesse kept watching me surreptitiously. When he spoke, his voice had a curious vibe but mostly sounded relieved. He fingered the sheet. "You don't know what this is, do you."

"It's a piece of paper." Duh! Stating the obvious, that was me, and I fixed Jesse with a bewildered smile.

He, on the other hand, broke into a smile of pure delight, leaving me more confused than ever.

"What's so important about it?" I asked, holding out my hand as if I expected him to hand it to me. Which he did. I unfolded the paper and written in large green letters was 'My OO R on U, Jesse.'

I raised my eyebrows. "Double O? What does that mean?" It looked like a valentine written by a second grader. By somebody who was colorblind.

He laughed, but it wasn't happy. "They represent eyes. See the dots inside?"

Now that he mentioned it, I did. A faint green dot inside each O made them look cross-eyed. I grinned, hoping the answer was becoming clearer and deciding it was worth the risk to find out. "So somebody likes you and you thought it was me? I mean, I'm not that brave to send an anonymous card like that uninvited."

"This isn't the first one," Jesse explained, his face muddling back into sadness and disappointment. He reached back into his binder and brought out a similar sheet of paper. When he opened it up, I could see that it wasn't a love note at all. They were both threats. The new one announced, 'U wil git wat U desurv'.

"Holy shit!" The spelling was crappy, but my eyes bugged out and I gasped. "Someone is stalking you?"

Jesse nodded. "There are a couple bullies here at school who know I'm gay, but it's no big deal. Last year was worse and I used to just get defensive and mad, but now it's easier to walk away."

"Mark Butler," I mentioned. "I saw him that day in the quad. I thought you handled yourself well."

My praise made him squirm a little, but he looked more abashed than anything. "Thanks. He's a junior. Last year I had to deal with him and his older brother, Mitchell, who was an even bigger nightmare. Four inches taller than me, dumb and mean. Then he graduated, and I decided I wasn't going to let Mark push me around like that anymore. It isn't worth stressing myself out over."

He indicated the threats with his chin. "I'm really sorry I thought it was you. I received the first one shoved in my locker two days after you started school here. Putting two and two together, it seemed too coincidental..."

I felt myself get irritated and set my mouth to retort, but then I stopped, considering the circumstances. The bad timing of these threats was hardly either of our faults, and if I'd been him I probably would have believed the same of me. It certainly explained Jesse's peculiar behavior and fear over the past month, but at least he had the balls to be frank about it and not hide behind excuses or platitudes.

Jesse was still talking.

"...The first note said something like, 'It ain't safe 4 U to be queer.' I threw it in the trash because it didn't seem like a big deal. I just thought someone was trying to be a douche, not really a threat. But the way second one was written," he indicated the letter in his hand, "made me take it more seriously. And then I found the one you're holding taped to my car's windshield today after school."

This explained his anger at me when he walked in. My mouth was hanging open and I closed it. "Damn, Jesse, what are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "I hope it's some prank and the person behind it will get bored if I don't respond. So for now, nothing."

I started to tell him that he shouldn't try to handle this on his own and needed an adult's opinion, but frankly, who was I to give advice? The idea that he was willing to open up and trust me after the past month was gratifying.

"At least, don't throw any more away," I suggested, handing the newest one back to him. "You'll need them if this turns more serious."

"Thanks," Jesse went on, candidly studying my face for anger. Or as if he expected to find the answer to a puzzle there. "I'm sorry I misjudged you. You aren't like that, are you? At least, I don't think you are; otherwise, I'm in a mess of trouble."

He was so earnest, almost boyish, and I fought back appreciative laughter so I wouldn't hurt his feelings. I wanted to jump up and down in cheers because Jesse seemed equally in like with me and it was a huge relief. It felt pretty damn good to get this out in the open now that I knew where his mistrust came from.

"No, I'm not," I agreed with an encouraging smile. "I don't threaten people. I'd rather be the new kid sending the cute gay boy a real valentine telling him that I like him and hope to ask him out."

Jesse's face lit up again in eager hope, and I swear, I could tell exactly what he was feeling just by looking at him. He had the most expressive eyes I had ever seen. I was already making plans to get lost in them.

"This is going to sound stupid but even when I was worried about you being my stalker I thought you were cute too." Jesse blushed and fidgeted with the notes in his hand.

Oh good, I thought happily. Mutual attraction, what the best sex was built on. And then we were grinning at each other like fools. Jesse had his hand lying on the table between us and I reached over and put my hand on top of his and squeezed gently. We were the only ones in the back of the library so the librarians must have been busy in the front. I knew I was being discreet, and I wanted him to know precisely how I felt about him.

He smiled at me shyly and linked his fingers into mine, and all the ambiguous feelings I had been harboring against him disappeared. He wasn't conceited and being difficult; he was being harassed and was afraid that I was behind it. There was a world of difference.

We got back to work on the project, but I can't say we accomplished much. I kept darting quick glances at him, and peripherally, I noted him doing the same thing, his cheeks reddening up nicely every time he got caught.

"Can we go somewhere tonight?" he asked quietly. "Out to dinner or the movies, maybe?"

I smiled saucily and nodded. "Give me you cell number and I'll put it in my phone." He relayed the digits, and I immediately sent him a text message."Now you have mine too. Let me know when and where."

Jesse picked me up at 5:30 and we went into Santa Barbara. After we grabbed two very tasty orders of cheeseburgers, milkshakes and fries from some mom and pop diner that was rumored to be famous, he took me to the multiplex to see Safe House with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. It was a rather predictable action flick that wasted the talents of the cast but it was worth groaning over the film since I got to do it with Jesse. Being a drama student, he was able to point out to me where the production was just plain bad and we laughed and made fun.

All in all, I had a wonderful time. The movie had only been out for four days but the theater wasn't crowded, especially in the back where we chose to sit. Once the lights went down I snaked my hand over and grabbed Jesse's and we stayed that way through the whole two hours. His palm was dry in mine, but he was running the pads of his fingers around my knuckles and it was getting me wound up in a good way. I was glad of the dark because my cock was trying to burst through my zipper.

It was shortly after 9:30 when Jesse pulled his silver Jeep Wrangler into my driveway, and I sighed silently. The house was dark so I knew my dad wasn't home, meaning he was spending the night with Jillian like he did almost every night of the week. It was so silent outside I could hear a coyote yipping way on the other side of the canyon at the end of the street.

On the bright side, I didn't have anyone keeping tabs on me or watching through the living room window to see who I was kissing. Strangely, even though I was used to taking the lead in these types of situations, I hung back, all of a sudden insecure. He turned off the engine and I think we both felt awkward, not really knowing what to do next. I could see Jesse's teeth glowing in the dimness.

"Thanks for a great night," I said sincerely before climbing out of the cab. "Next time I'll pay." I hoped there was going to be a next time because I wasn't picking up any signals at all from him.

Jesse jumped out of his door and followed me up the sidewalk to the porch, nodding at the unlit windows. I was fumbling in my pocket for my keys. "Do your parents go to bed early?" he asked.

"It's just my dad and me," I corrected. "He's a heavy sleeper." This early in the game, without me knowing him very well, I was ashamed to tell him I was alone most of the time.

"Good," he whispered hoarsely, stepping towards me and leaning in. I caught his body in my arms and I wrapped them around his back.

Reaching to splay his fingers around my neck, he slowly pulled my mouth down, and I could see desire swirling through his pale golden eyes just before he closed them. The first brush of his cool lips against mine was soft but it sent a bolt of passion coursing through me. Oh fuck, he felt so good and I wanted nothing more than to kiss that pretty mouth back.

Tilting my head for a better fit, I felt his full, moist lips tug at mine once more and it was like an electric current lighting me up inside. Slow and gentle turned into urgent when I felt his tongue seeking entry, and I parted my lips to accept it. He lost no time in gauging my response, but there was no struggle for dominance. I sucked on his tongue and just let it eagerly explore my mouth.

I pressed myself closer so our bodies lined up. Of course, the inevitable happened; I began to get hard. Shivering, I begged my cock to remain soft but it had a mind of its own and continued to grow and twitch in my jeans. I was afraid of Jesse feeling it, and I tried to lessen the contact between us, but instantly it didn't matter. My hard-on was being matched with a steely column of his own, and we moaned together as the two trapped lengths skated against each other.

Kissing Jesse made me feel new and alive but all too soon we had to unlock because I was getting faint from lack of air. I knew his lust-filled eyes matched mine. My heart was pounding so fast it was almost painful and his hand was feeling up under my shirt to find my pectoral.

My nipples were already rigid. When his fingers skimmed one, it made me tremble and I went hot and cold at the same time. He pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear, thumbing my bottom lip gently before angling his mouth for another slow kiss. The desire between us spread, hands moving against skin, dicks straining and tongues firmly entwined.

"Damn, Shane, I could stay here kissing you all night." His deep voice was filled with regret as he pulled away at last and his long, black lashes fluttered against my cheek. "But I need to get home. It's a school night, and I have a curfew."

"I wish you could too," I sighed sadly. "That was fucking unbelievable."

"I haven't been turned on like this in... a long, long time." He gulped, lightly running his fingers over my shoulder and I could feel the emotions raging inside him.

I tightened my hold on him, afraid to let him go because then I'd be alone again. But I didn't want to act overly needy or cause him trouble so I gave him a quick kiss and stood back. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Jesse."

He squeezed my hand and with a light glaze of his lips he was gone. I could still smell his cologne when I went inside, and I jacked off to memories of our kisses and fell asleep.

(To be continued...)