TJ Ch. 10

Sean was released Sunday with doctor's orders to rest as much as possible. Keep the lights as low as possible. Avoid using his cell phone, computer, tablet, TV, and basically anything teenagers use to occupy their downtime, keeping them from going abso-fucking-lutely bat-shit-crazy. I wouldn't have been surprised if I found Golem instead of Sean by Friday. Honestly, I didn't envy him one bit. He was even told not to overdo it with his makeup work. The doctor actually told him to try to avoid thinking too much. Seriously?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Sean got out and had to be a vegetable for at least a week, maybe longer, depending on if he suffered any more symptoms. Since he wasn't supposed to use his phone, he handed it over to me. it was totally his idea. That way, I could take care of any messages that came over. The amount of trust he showed doing this one little thing made me love him even more. God, he turns me into such a fucking sap. I swear I'm as bad as a pine tree with how sappy I get sometimes.

Jacob and I decided to set up two areas for Sean, one, his room, the other the couch in the living room. We basically made sure he had access to anything he might need, like his painkillers for his arm, water, snacks, house phone for emergencies, pillows, and blankets. He could either veg-out on his bed or the couch depending on how adventurous he felt. We also let everyone know not to come over and see him, he needed to rest more than anything.

I will say, after his conversation with Castro, his mood didn't go to that dark, depressed place he was in at first. That Sean scared me. The look in his eyes when I walked into his hospital room will haunt me forever. They looked sad and lifeless, like he didn't have any happiness in him. The normal emerald green didn't have the sparkle in them. I guess him venting his negative thoughts out to Alex set him straight. Well, not straight, but you know what I mean.

I left his house on Sunday evening around eight. I still had a shit-ton of homework to finish since I didn't have a chance to work on anything over the weekend. Part of me, though, didn't want to leave him. Kevin and Jacob noticed my reluctance to leave and assured me they would check on him throughout the night. I grabbed Sean's phone and headed home. I finally fell in bed about one in the morning. Monday morning wasn't much fun.

First thing I did when I walked in the school was to go by Robert's office. He gave me a note letting Sean's teachers know I was gathering his week's assignments and bringing them to him. It also gave me permission to be off campus for an hour and fifty minutes each day, in case someone wanted to give me shit for driving out of the parking lot during fourth period.

The second the bell rang after Yearbook, I was out the door and in my car. When I walked through the back door, which Jacob left unlocked for me, I saw Sean laying on the couch staring at the ceiling. As soon as he knew I was there, he started talking

"Thank fucking God you're here. I'm losing my miiiinnnnnnd. I don't know if I can handle a whole week of this. I haven't been able to do anything. I can't play games on my phone or computer, I can't read on my Kindle, I can't watch TV, I'm not even supposed to read a hardbound book. This is literally killing me slowly. I'm wasting away from ennui. I'm finding patterns in the texture of the ceiling. There's a creepy man's face right over there you can only see if you're lying right here and there's only a little light. If I turn the lamp on he disappears. But the light from the lamp gives me a headache, so I keep it off. I can't lay on the other end of the couch and look at a different part of the ceiling because of the cast. I'm trying to ignore him, but it's like I can't un-see him now. He's there every time I glance that way and all he's doing is staring at me. Aren't you going to say something? Do I get a hello? Come on Teej, talk to me. Please for the love of all things sacred and holy, say something."

I seriously had to stop myself from laughing at him. "Umm...not really sure what to say. Did you ask the creepy man to stop staring at you? And since when do you use words like ennui?"

"You can thank Aaron for me knowing that word. He was sixteen when I started learning to read and he thought it would be funny for me to learn my ABC's from a book he found called The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Basically, a bunch of kids whose names are listed alphabetically die in some rhyming way. It begins with A for a girl falling down some stairs. B is some boy who was assaulted by bears. Well, N was Neville and he died of ennui. Pretty twisted huh? And, of course I haven't asked him not to stare at me. It would go against my ignoring him strategy. Oh hey! Have I told you I love you yet?"

I chuckled. "Sean, did you take one of your pain pills today?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but I don't like feeling this fuck-did up. Did I just say fuck-did?"

I nodded while smirking. "Yeah babe, you did. I think the word is fucked."

"Oh yeah. Well, you know what I think? I think you're fucking sexy as hell and you should come over here and let me suck your dick. I haven't had your cock-a-doodle-doo in my mouth in for-ev-er. For-ev-er. Did you know I love The Sandlot? For-ev-er."

"Babe, you're fucking loopy as fuck right now. I need to record this." While I spoke, I started recording a video on his phone. This was too funny to pass up. Thank god his phone pulls up the video app quickly, because the next thing he said was priceless and I got it on camera.

"Did you just call me Lupe? Hell yeah! That's my new name." He looked at the camera completely deadpan and spoke in a horrible Puss-in-Boots-Antonio-Banderas accent.

"Hola, I'm am Lupe. Lupe Rodriguez. You may call me Lupe." I saved the video to show him later when he was sober and sent a copy to my own phone.

I asked if he was hungry. I was hoping if I got something in his stomach, he would be a little more coherent. He nodded, so I went to make us a couple of sandwiches. I wish I had recorded everything he said while we ate, so I could be certain I was quoting him exactly the way he worded everything.

The conversation started with a discussion of Doctor Who. He was so excited because he figured out why the producers and writers introduced the character, Missy. He concluded they were prepping the audience, so they could introduce...insert dramatic pause...a female Doctor. I didn't want to tell him I came up with the same theory and posted it on a message board. The other users told me, quite emphatically, I was wrong. There was no way they were going to do a female Doctor. I guess we'll see. Personally, I think when Peter Capaldi is finished with his run, we'll have a woman playing the Doctor. Think about it, what other purpose would Missy serve? It's not like The Doctor and The Master, or Missy which is short for Mistress, would fall in love and live happily ever after. The Doctor loves River Song, aka Melody Pond, who happens to be the daughter of the second worst companion ever. The worst being Martha Jones. Isn't it ironic? One of the absolute best companions is the offspring of one of the worst? Amelia-fucking-bitch-face-Pond.

Next, he changed the subject and wanted me to help him get a message to Roland. We needed to tell him to NOT enter the tower.

"Because all it will do it start the whole fucking thing over again. The Man in Black would head across the desert and guess what. The fucking Gunslinger will follow. Seriously, I read seven books to find out the first line from the first book is the last line of the last book. What was the fucking point of it all? Oh, and don't get me started on the fact the fucking bastard killed Oy. Not Roland or Flag. King did that. How can you kill off 'Ake's best friend? I cried when it happened. And to do it with you as a character in the fucking scene? How narcissistic do you have to be to put your actual self in a piece of fiction you wrote? I think it was a chicken-shit ending."

I agreed with Sean, King ruined The Dark Tower. The movie is supposed to come out next summer. Maybe that will redeem it, although, I'm not sure how. Idris Elba, a black English actor, is playing Roland Deschain. I mean everyone knows Clint Eastwood should play Roland, but since he's way too old for the part, at least get Hugh Jackman. I guess there is no hope for redemption for The Dark Tower. Pity. I thought it was a literary masterpiece till the final book. Then it proved to be nothing but a piece of shit.

When I looked at the clock and saw it was 12:35, I told him I needed to head back to school. He frowned and stuck his lip out in a pout. I could tell the effects of the pain killer were starting to wear off. He started looking tired and he could carry on an actual conversation about something relevant. I told him to only take half of one pain pill, go upstairs, lie down, and take a nap. Then I whispered in his ear.

"If you're still asleep when I get back after three, I'll wake you up in a very special way." His pout turned into a smile.

"Oh yeah? How are you going to wake me up?" He asked with a sexy smirk.

I kissed him quickly on the lips and started towards the door. "Guess you'll have to wait and find out. Don't worry though. I know you'll enjoy it." Just as I was about to walk out the door, I called over my shoulder.

"Josh and I will be back about 3:15 at the latest. Love you, bye!"

He groaned. "Fuck! So, I guess that means no head for me, huh?" I chuckled as I closed the door.

The rest of the day went by without any problems. As soon as the final bell rang, I made my rounds picking up any assignments for Sean as quickly as I could. I was hoping Josh would either be waiting for me at my locker or at the car. Sean's phone started vibrating as I was heading to my locker. When I checked his phone, it showed a new text message had arrived. I opened the messaging app and at the top of the list in big black bold letters was the name John. I opened the message and had to stop myself from throwing the phone against the wall.

"John- hey sweetie, watsup? u wnt me 2 pck up ur hmwrk n brng it 2 u 2morro? We cld mayb hve som fun again. I need 2 remind u how good I can suck ur cock. Like I said b4, tj nvr needs 2 know anything. hmu l8r nd ill com over."

My first thought was, "What the fuck?" Then, I noticed the other messages. I started scrolling up, curious about the number of messages, wondering if Sean had responded to any of them, and confused as to why Sean kept them. I really didn't want to read the messages...yet. I kept scrolling, trying to see when, if ever, Sean last replied to a message. I wanted to know how long the two had been in contact. I did notice over the previous two weeks, John sent Sean at least three messages a day. Mixed in with the messages were pictures of John's cock or ass. I became curious why Sean kept those pictures. Why didn't he delete them? Finally, I saw a message on the right side of the screen.

The date read August 8, 2016. The first day of school and three days after we met. With my first question answered, I continued scrolling up. As I was scrolling, I noticed the last picture Sean sent was in December 2015. Finally, I came to a point where I couldn't scroll up any further. I made it to the top of the list and saw the first message.

It was dated July 2015. Sean's response was literally thirty seconds later. John told Sean he was amazing, and Sean told John he was good too. The flirting between them sickened me. I noticed Sean's flirty messages were always in response to something John sent. Sean never sent a message to start a conversation. There were also a fuck-load of photos coming in and being sent out. I couldn't figure out why Sean would have kept these pictures. Did he like going back and looking at them?

Most of the conversations were sexting, reliving the few days they messed around. John would always let Sean know he expected a repeat any time he visited the area. Sean would always respond with, "as long as I'm not with anyone and neither are you. I won't cheat."

John would respond by either saying "all men cheat", "gay guys don't do ltr's", or "I won't tell if you won't."

Sean rebutted with "I don't cheat." "I want an ltr." or "because it won't happen if there's someone to tell." respectively.

In one conversation, John was talking about some guy he hooked up with at a Halloween Party. Sean responded by letting him know he didn't want to hear anything about him hooking up with someone.

Finally, I made it to December and the final picture Sean sent. John sent a message asking Sean to take a nude picture in front of the mirror flexing his arms and abs with his hard dick showing. Sean first sent the eyeroll emoji followed a few minutes later by the requested picture. About ten minutes later, John sent a picture with a message attached. The message read, "this is the effect ur pic had." The picture was John sucking some faceless guy's dick.

Sean didn't respond to the message. In fact, according to the timestamps, he didn't respond for almost ten days. Finally, John sent a message vaguely apologizing for sending the picture to Sean. I noticed he didn't apologize for showing Sean's picture to the other guy. Sean's response said, "Thank u 4 apologizing. I was pissed because I've told you I don't want to hear about your hookups but you sent that pic. Also pissed you showed my pic to someone I don't know."

John didn't say anything in response. About a week after the apology, John sent a message asking, "what's up?"

Sean's response was short and quick. "Nothing, u?"

John responded, "can't wait 2 cu again and have fun with you again."

Sean sent, "we'll see, g2g, ttyl."

That's how the conversations went from then on. John would flirt and talk about hooking up again and Sean would reply with a vague message, never telling him no. In June 2016, John sent a message that read, "We're moving to Port Neches the third week of August. I'll b goin 2 school with you. lookin forward 2 cing you again can't wait to have some fun."

Sean responded two days later. "cool cool. I guess hmu or something when u get in town. we'll c what happens."

John kept trying to get Sean to send him a picture and Sean would say, "sorry, no. u have enough pics of me." He would send Sean a picture of either his dick or ass, one was him riding a dildo.

I finally made it to the end of July 2016. Sean received a message two days before we met. It read, "too bad ur not here 2 help me pack my shit. lol. cu in a couple of weeks."

Five days later, Sean sent, "Hey, John. I just wanted to let you know I met someone. I can tell you I'm already in love with him. He's a great person. He's nice, smart, funny, and sexy. Hopefully, we can all be friends. He goes to PNG and is a Senior. It might take me longer to respond to your texts now since I have football practice every day. I guess hmu when you move down here. I'll see you then. Oh yeah, please don't send me any more nude pics of you and the flirty messages should stop. Thanks."

The next messages came over a few days apart and they read, "okay, guess that's cool," and "hope ur happy." The next message was three days after and was flirty. He ended the message with lol, trying to pass it off as him only joking around. The next day, John started getting mad. The message said, "guess you don't have time to get back to me now you have a fuck-toy huh? Whatever, I'll remind you how good I am once I get there."

From there, the messages ranged from saying I (TJ) wouldn't be able to make Sean happy like John could, to saying once he (John) got his mouth on Sean's cock he would remember how good John was and come back to him. The night after I met John, he started texting three times a day. The first was an apology to Sean. He said he only wanted to make Sean jealous and that was the only reason he sucked Mark off. Of course, he didn't get Mark's name right. He typed "Mike/Mark/Matt whoever that guy was." After that night, he referred to me as T-fag in his messages. He also started talking shit about me and Sean never said one thing to defend me. I couldn't figure out why. Logic would say if a message had been marked as read, the message was viewed. But if the message was viewed, why didn't Sean say something about the mean shit John sent?

I guess I lost track of time going through the messages because Josh surprised me when I heard, "Hey, it's 3:15. I was starting to worry. Is everything alright Teej? Why do you look like you want to rip someone's head off?"

I handed him Sean's phone and said, "Read them. Don't even think about looking at any of the fucking pictures, I'll kick your fucking ass. I need to talk to Sean like now."

By the time we pulled into the driveway at Sean's house, Josh managed to talk me down and reminded me I was in love with Sean. He showed me an option in the messenger app where you can have new messages marked as read if you view them in the notification area and he let me know Sean had it chosen. He wouldn't let me out of the car until I convinced him I wasn't going to start a fight with Sean. He made me promise to give Sean the chance to explain, listen to everything Sean had to say, and not interrupt him.

The living room couch was empty. I was hoping he was upstairs taking a nap, since he is supposed to be resting. I walked into his room and saw him sprawled out on his bed laying on his stomach. He looked so peaceful I was reluctant to wake him. I wanted to strip down and crawl under the sheets with him. But, right then, that would've been counterproductive. We needed to talk. I needed reassurance and then we needed to take care of John and get him out of our lives somehow.

I sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Sean's shoulder while saying his name in a soft voice. His face broke out in a smile before he wrapped his left arm around me and tried to pull me down in the bed next to him. He sleepily mumbled, "Lay down with me Teej, please. I wanna cuddle up with my boyfriend. Love you."

"Sean. Wake up. I'm not getting in bed with you right now. Open your eyes and sit up."

He groaned and tried to pull me closer to him. I pulled away from him.

"Sean, seriously, I need you to wake up and sit up."

"Okay, okay. I'm sitting up. What's going on? Why won't you lay down with me?" He asked, pouting.

"Suck that lower lip back in, it won't work this time. We need to talk."

"Umm, okay. Sounds ominous."

"Yeah, it does," I said in a serious voice while trying to remind myself not to lose my temper and throw out accusations.

"Okay. Shortly after school got out, your phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a new text message."

"Okay, who was it from? Is everything okay?"

"Is there a reason you never erased all the messages and pictures John sent over the past year?"

Anger flared on his face and he practically growled out, "You went through my messages? What, you don't trust me now?" At which time, I had to remind myself one of the side effects of a concussion could be sudden mood swings.

I barely raised my voice and held up my hand.

"Stop, please. I don't want to argue or fight with you. I just want some answers. I didn't go through all of your messages, only the ones from John. And I won't apologize for doing it either. Why didn't you ever tell me about him? The two of you texted each other every few days for months. And for the first four or five months there was a lot of flirting going both ways and a lot of talk about hooking up again. I know you stopped after Christmas when he sent that picture. I understand and don't blame you. I know I can't be mad at you or jealous of something that happened before we even met."

As he listened to what I was saying, I noticed he started to calm down. I let what I said settle between us for a few seconds before I continued.