Curious Desire Pt. 07

***This is the last chapter of the story for awhile but I will definitely be coming back to finish it. I love Jacob and Alex's story but I want to do their story justice. I have other stories I'd like to explore in the meantime.***

A tall, blonde girl was sat in her car before school started on one Autumn Monday morning. Several scenes kept flashing through her mind repeatedly, incensing her. First, she was laying in bed and going through someone else's cell phone messages. Next, she was standing in a parking lot, screaming at a very handsome, tall boy.

Then she was walking up the sidewalk in her well-to-do neighborhood with a heavy box of the handsome boys possessions until she got close to her destination. She dropped the box in shock, causing a noisy thump, as she looked up the driveway to see that boy kissing the outline of what certainly looked like another boy.

And finally, she was sitting alone in the bleachers after a football game, gazing up at a beautiful 40-something year old woman speaking to three young people before setting off together.

Kelly Chamberlain wasn't a dumb girl. She might play ditzy for the benefit of boys but she was intelligent and observant. When she had noticed her (now ex) boyfriend Jacob pull back, she'd snooped through his phone as he used the bathroom.

To her mild surprise, she noticed he was talking to the cute quiet kid named Alex that always seemed to be alone and had no real friends at school. She knew they were partners on a new project but the conversations were really not about that. They looked like messages between close friends, with some hints of what could almost be considered flirting. She asked him if everything was okay and he'd said yes. But something in his face told her he wasn't being truthful.

And when Jacob had broken up with her in the parking lot at school, she had her suspicions. She had almost asked him flat out about Alex in her rage but she managed to stay composed just enough to hold on to that potential trump card. Kelly wasn't angry and hot-headed, she was vengeful and spiteful like the classic high school mean girl archetype she was.

But until that night after the breakup, she only had suspicions. She'd went home and immediately gathered up the various things Jacob had left at her house across the many months they had dated and boxed them.

When she knew Jacob had to be home from football practice, she picked up the heavy box full of clothes, a couple books and other miscellaneous items and set off down the neighborhood to return them to him in person.

She got the shock of her life and the confirmation she desired when, just as she came to the end of the tree line by Jacob's house, she saw Jacob in his car with somebody else. They were kissing and, even though she couldn't see the person's face, she saw their outline and hair.

It was definitely Alex. She had dropped the box in surprise and quickly hid back behind the trees. The boys never even looked her way thankfully, or they would have seen the box even if they didn't see Kelly.

She grabbed the box and tossed it in disgust into the woods as she stormed back through the affluent neighborhood to her own house. Her mind was already working hard, trying to figure out how best to punish the two boys.

Simply spreading a rumor about it wouldn't suffice. She needed some way to prove everything she had seen. She settled for spreading a couple unrelated rumors first. That would get at least a few people to start questioning if Jacob really was the person he portrayed himself as. Sure, he might not have an std and he definitely never hit Kelly but he was definitely a cheater and definitely a disingenuous liar. At least, he was to Kelly.

It killed her to see Jacob become the hero at the next night's football game. Hearing the crowd chant "Jake the Great" was nearly unbearable.

"HA, more like Jake the snake! No! Jake the gay!" she thought angrily.

She'd still been unable to formulate how to prove he and Alex were gay together and the fact everybody thought Jake was amazing ate at her.

And when the man who'd been recruiting Jacob spoke with him, his coaches and his mother, she knew he was getting what he wanted more than anything in the last year. She could tell by the way he skipped off the field like a fairy. In all reality, Jacob looked far from feminine in his excitement but it made her feel better to disparage him.

When she saw Jacob's mom leave the game with Alex, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt she was right. It was time to get even. People might not believe her if she told people Jacob was gay, but they would if she told them the quiet boy was. There were already rumors circulating about Alex, that he'd been gay bashed. And it had been none other than Jacob that had put a stop to it.

At the time, she had just believed he was being kind to the kid like he was to everybody. It always annoyed her what a nice guy Jacob was. Being incredibly conceited, egotistical and hateful, she always believed he was just fake and couldn't fathom the possibility that he was actually a genuinely nice person despite all the popularity and success he had. In her mind, to be beautiful and come from a rich family made you royalty and justified anyone's narcissism.

She had her plan. First, she'd spread the word throughout the school. The rumor would be that Alex is gay and had been crushing on Jacob ever since their project. That would be good enough to plant seeds of doubt into some people about Jacob as well. There were a couple of her fellow cheerleaders that were sure to tell EVERYBODY once they had gossip like that to share. That would keep her name far enough away from the rumor that people wouldn't question it too much.

But that wasn't good enough for her. All those things would do is make school difficult for them. She needed to do better than that...and as she walked into school, the idea struck her.

**********

Alex Yates had just arrived to school on a Monday morning, after the usual smelly bus ride. He felt more happy and more confident than ever. The previous four days with his boyfriend Jacob were undoubtedly the best of his life.

He really wasn't paying attention as he walked through the hallway and as a result, he walked straight into someone. It was Thomas Johnson, an openly gay student in the school.

"Oh, my bad Thomas! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he apologized, smiling.

"All good Alex, how have you been?" Thomas asked.

"Pretty good, I can't complain. Well, I could complain about this math test first thing on a Monday morning...but I won't," Alex said conversationally as they both headed to their first period pre-calculus class. Thomas laughed.

"I think you just did," he observed.

They continued chatting until they got to class and took their seats. Alex seemed to be more relaxed than ever. It'd been a gradual development over the previous month or so, but he'd started to come into his own as a young man. His confidence was at an all-time high and it showed.

At lunch, Thomas waved Alex over to his table where he sat with his fellow drama club seniors. Alex hesitated before going to sit with them. He caught Jacob's eye across the lunch room and at first was concerned. Jacob was an incredibly jealous and protective young man. But he just smiled at Alex. Truth was, Jacob trusted Alex and wanted him to have his own friends.

Alex's choice of lunch table wasn't only noticed by Jacob. Kelly was watching with her cheerleader friends. Alex was known for being a timid boy and she couldn't help but want to make him uncomfortable. She got up and strolled across the room over to where Alex and the drama geeks were seated.

"Hey, your name is Alex isn't it?" she asked, tapping Alex on the shoulder as she did.

Alex spun around quickly and immediately felt his pulse quicken. Thomas and his friends glared at the notorious mean girl. She was a couple inches taller than Alex and with Alex seated, she towered over him.

"Uh, yeah?" Alex responded, bewildered and somewhat concerned.

Jacob had noticed the scene unfolding and felt both anger and a slight panic bubbling in his stomach. He knew this could only be something negative, even if it wasn't his worst fear. He stared daggers in her back, losing track of the conversation around him.

"I just wanted to tell you that there are people talking, Alex. I almost didn't want to say anything but I know if it was me, I'd want to be told. There's a rumor going around that you're gay and, like, stalker-obsessed with Jake Andrews," she said with an almost convincing air of genuine sympathy.

All the color left Alex's face, going as white as humanly possible. His eyes instinctively found Jacob's and Jacob knew it was about as bad as it could be. Despite the danger, he wanted to go confront her but knew that would be a dead giveaway if she really had somehow found out about them. He gave Alex a meaningful look, darted his eyes to the door before walking outside to his car with his keys in hand so Alex knew where to go as soon as he could get away.

"Just thought you should know sweetie, it's such a nasty disgusting rumor"--she through a dirty look at Thomas-"but I'm sure you're no peterpuffer like that. Well, have a good rest of your day!"

She strutted away as if she thought she was a model on the runway with a shit-eating grin.

"Don't worry about that Alex, she revels in this kind of thing. Even if it was true, who cares? Everybody is obsessed with Jake, ESPECIALLY her bitter "woman-scorned" ass," Thomas assured Alex.

Alex was able to regain his composure quickly and was able to laugh it off to Thomas and the other kids but his mind was whirring. He waited a few minutes before excusing himself, telling them he had to call someone. He rushed out to Jacob's car and jumped in his car, looking around paranoid Kelly would see somehow.

"So? What did she want?" Jacob inquired.

"She told me there were rumors about me, people were saying I'm gay and...they are saying I'm obsessed with you Jacob!" Alex said, feeling a little panicked.

Jacob, however, was relieved. He reached out to rub Alex's shoulder soothingly.

"Breathe baby, just breathe. People have been saying you are gay for weeks, it could be a lot worse. I thought she found out about us somehow."

"That's easy for you to say! You're not the one being called gay! Or a creepy stalker!" Alex snapped at Jacob, shrugging Jacob's hand off of him.

Jacob was stung by Alex's sudden fierceness but quickly realized his mistake.

"I'm sorry baby, you're totally right. I'm sorry, that was selfish of me...we are in this together. I'm sure it will blow over baby, I'll tell people it's not true if anyone asks me. I'll tell them you're actually really cool and it's not like that at all," Jacob said earnestly, placing a hand on Alex's knee this time.

Alex took a deep breath. His frustration with Jacob had completely dissipated. He had the cutest determined look on his face and Alex couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah...I'm just a little shaken up. I knew as soon as she spoke to me it was going to be some bullshit."

"Me too, I wanted to walk up to yall so bad but I knew that could only make it worse somehow. She hates me right now and honestly, I don't hate anyone but she is definitely not my favorite person either at this point," Jacob said, a suddenly harsh look on his face

It was cute to watch Jacob express dislike for somebody. He never really did so it was unsurprising how mildly he expressed his dislike for her.

"You're such a dork Jacob, you even dislike people politely," Alex laughed.

"Yeah but you still love me," he said, turning up his chin.

"More than anything in the world babe," Alex admitted.

Jacob did a quick sweep of the parking lot, making sure nobody was watching before leaning in and giving Alex a quick kiss.

"Okay, go back inside. I'll wait out here for a bit before I go back...I love you baby, I'll see you after school. No practice today, coach gave us an extra day off for the dub Friday night," Jacob reminded Alex.

"You already told me! But I love you too babe."

Alex looked around and snuck off back inside into a different door than he left out of, stopping by his locker before heading to his next class.

Alex held his head high for the rest of the day at school. He heard the whispers in the halls and in class but his newfound confidence and the security he felt being with Jacob made him impervious to the embarrassing rumors.

Alex wasn't ashamed to be gay. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he actually was ready to live authentically. But he respected Jacob's predicament and he didn't want to make things any more tricky for him.

What bothered Alex more was the part that implied that he was some kind of lovesick staker. Sure, Alex had had crushes before but then again who hasn't? He'd never been "obsessed" with anybody though. Maybe you could argue that he really was obsessed with Jacob but then again, that was his boyfriend and they both were in love.

The insinuation that it was one-sided was what was most offensive to Alex but he couldn't tell people that, obviously. So he just ignored everybody until sixth period science with Jacob. Unfortunately, that class also included two of Jacob's more obnoxious teammates: David Grady and Sam Taylor.

Alex was already seated when Jacob and the two boys strolled into class. Jacob took his usual seat behind Alex and his friends sat on either side of him as they always did.

"Hey, Yates...are the rumors true?" David asked Alex. His tone of voice was not inquisitive, it was jeering. Alex ignored the question.

"Dude, knock it off," Jacob told him warningly.

"Hey man, I'm just trying to get you a new girlfriend bro," David sneered.

"Grady, we've been over this about a hundred times: it's okay that you're in love with Andrews but it's really weird when you obsess over his love life like this," Sam replied with mock seriousness.

"Whatever, we all know you love to catch Jake's balls," David retorted.

"Wow, David, you sound jealous of both of us now," Alex spoke up, surprising everybody. Jacob, Sam and the rest of the students that had arrived already busted out laughing.

"What'd you say to me Gaytes? Watch your fucking mouth or I'll have to give you a wedgie, I hear you like those," David said menacingly.

Jacob was immediately seeing red. Before he could stop himself to consider the repercussions, he'd gotten to his feet and stood over the seated David.

"You won't do shit Grady. Go ahead and try it, I fucking dare you," Jacob spat at him in a low, dangerous voice.

He'd never felt more enraged in his life. How dare David say something like that to Alex? Did he not know how incredibly fucked up that whole situation was? Flashbacks to the night he'd seen Alex hanging by his underwear went through his mind.

"Whoaaa dude, you need to chill or people will start to think you're a faggot too," he said, obviously intimidated but refusing to back down.

Jacob's fists slammed onto David's desk hard, causing David and Alex to jump in fright. Alex watched on, worried; Jacob was losing control. He knew Jacob's back wasn't totally healed and he worried about Jacob hurting himself further.

Alex couldn't stop himself, he stood up and placed a hand on Alex's bicep. Jacob seemed to come back to his senses a little, almost immediately.

"It's okay Jacob, I don't care what he says," he said softly. He didn't want to give off any vibes beyond someone trying to keep a fellow student out of trouble but he couldn't keep the loving caress out of the tone of his voice no matter how hard he tried.

Jacob looked over his shoulder at Alex before grabbing his bag and walking out of class quickly. Alex wanted nothing more than to follow him but he knew that wasn't a good idea.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Alex heard David say incredulously to Sam.

"I don't know man, you were kind of being a douchebag. You know how he feels about bullying people," Sam replied, although Alex could hear he was unsure if that was what it really was.

After class, Alex hurried outside to his bus and checked his phone. As he expected, he had a text message.

"I'm in your neighborhood waiting for you," it said.

When Alex's bus dropped him off, it wasn't thirty seconds before Jacob pulled up. Alex threw his bookbag in the back seat and got into the car. Alex expected Jacob to still be angry but was surprised to see him looking so apologetic.

"I'm so sorry baby, I didn't mean to lose my temper like that. You're not mad at me are you?" he asked a little anxiously.

"Of course not, you were defending me...why would I be mad at you?" Alex asked, confused.

"Because I could have made the rumors worse for you, I guess."

"I don't care honestly, who cares what they think? I was worried about rumors starting up about you! Sam and David are suspicious, you don't wanna do anything else to raise their suspicions any more," he advised Jacob.

"What if I don't care?" Jacob asked fiercely.

"Do you really mean that though?" Alex asked leadingly.

"Yes--I mean no! I mean, I don't know. I don't want us to have to hide anymore. I want to sit with you at lunch and drive you to school every morning and home everyday once football season is over. But it could cost me my scholarship, I haven't signed my letter of intent yet...I don't know what to do baby, I really don't," he replied.

As he finished, Jacob placed his hands over his face and rubbed his face roughly. Alex could tell he was really stressed out over what to do.

"I support whatever you want to do babe but maybe we should wait until after you sign and football season is over before we consider doing anything."

"Yeah maybe you're right...my dad doesn't even know yet," Jacob groaned.

"Neither does mine but half the time he doesn't even know I exist so," Alex said, shrugging.

Jacob let out a low growling sound. He always did whenever Alex's father was spoken about between them.

Jacob drove them back to his house and they hurried inside before they could be spotted by Kelly or anyone else. They didn't have long to spend together, however, before Jacob's phone went off.

Coach wanted to see him. Jacob groaned, although he'd expected to get a lecture for his altercation with his center. They needed to be on the same page, their positions had to be in sync with eachother moreso than any other or plays would be dead before they ever even got to run them.

Alex got up, expecting Jacob to take him home. He couldn't be seen with him on school campus right now. Upon seeing this, Jacob smiled and shook his head.

"No baby, you can just stay here. I won't be long, I'm just going to get my ass chewed out and then I'll be right back!" Jacob told him.

"Okay babe, if that's what you want me to do," Alex said.

Jacob kissed Alex goodbye before leaving. He rushed over to school and walked quickly to Coach's office. When he got there, he knocked on the open door.

"Ah...Andrews, come in and sit down. And do shut the door behind you," Coach told him rather curtly.

Jacob silently did as he was asked and sat down. Jacob was respectful but he didn't like being scolded or spoken to as if he was a child. The way he saw it, he was a grown man and should be spoken to with respect. So he always felt a little tense in these situations, although coach was normally very respectful. He knew what was expected from football players by their coaches.

"So I hear you and Grady got into it in class today?" he said inquisitively.

"Yes. He was bullying a kid for no reason. As leader of the team, I felt it was my responsibility to keep him in line and out of trouble."

"Yes, you are our leader but from what I hear, you didn't just stand up for the kid. You got in Grady's face and tried to intimidate him, correct?"