The Fake Lover

The next few days passed with little interest. Things dropped back into their normal routine and Ohjiro just got bored again. His mind, however, kept drifting back into memories of that night. He would close his eyes and picture Gerrard in those clothes an the way he took him by the arm.

It had been such a magical night for Ohjiro. If only it had been just a little bit different… perhaps if the two of them had been alone, under the reddish glow of the fireplace, two bodies pressed together, Gerrard’s voice the only sound in his head… and the boy blushed a deep red with that thought during music, a few classmates catching it.

Ohjiro looked away and saw Gerrard sitting at his desk with a guitar in his hand. He was playing quietly, though still loud enough for everyone to hear him. The music was enchanting and, as he listened, Ohjiro slowly started humming a tune as he listened. It wasn't any song in particular, but the boy sitting next to him turned and smiled.

"You're really good at that," he said.

“Oh, thank you,” said Ohjiro, smiling lightly. “Actually, I love singing… but we already have a very talented vocalist in class, so…”

“So what? You should get your voice heard,” the boy told him.

“Um, but…”

Grinning, the guy said, “What? You’re just gonna let the celebrity’s kid take all the glory?”

"I doubt I'm as good as he is, anyway," Ohjiro sighed, lowering his head onto the desk.

The guy just shook his head and patted Ohjiro on the back. "Oh well," he said, "my name's Esper, by the way."

"I know," said Ohjiro dryly. "we've been sitting next to each other all semester."

Esper laughed and turned to the front of the class. His pen scratched over his notebook and Ohjiro looked over to see he was doodling a picture of Ohjiro in some crazy getup and singing. "This is what you'd look like," Esper said, "and between you and me, I don't even like his dad's music too much, anyway."

Ohjiro rolled his eyes. “You’re crazy.”

“Oh, am I?” Grinning again, he called out to the teacher, “Sir, I think that instead of just giving the singing solo for next week’s school concert to Gerrard, we should allow this kid,” he points at Ohjiro, “a chance to show what he can do. I have a feeling he’ll be great.”

As students started turning to look at Ohjiro, the poor raven-haired boy shrunk into his seat, looking like a deer in headlights.

“Alright then,” said their instructor, “let’s hear it, Ohjiro.”

He looked around the room slowly, trying to come up with an excuse for not having to sing when the bell rang. Ohjiro let out a sigh; he'd been saved by the bell. "Tomorrow then, I want to hear how good you really are."

As the class started getting out of their seats to head off to their next classes, Ohjiro sat there for a moment, watching as Gerrard bent over to pick up the case for his guitar. Just as he was about to relax again a hand clasped on his shoulder and he just about jumped out of his skin. When he looked up to see who was there he looked into his father's face.

"Hey, kiddo," Di told him, “I already signed you out, so get your things.”

“Uh, why?” Ohjiro asked him, still a bit jumpy.

“Well, I want you to meet someone, to be honest. Someone I’ve been dating for quite awhile.”

The boy frowned a little. “You signed me out to meet your girlfriend?”

“Um… it’s not really a girlfriend, if you know what I mean.”

It took only a moment for Ohjiro to figure out what his father meant. “You’re dating a guy?!”

"That's right," Di replied with a wink, "I think you're going to like him."

Ohjiro rolled his eyes and started putting his books in his bag when Di idly walked in front of him, looking around at everyone. "So," he said slowly, "which is the one you have that crush on?"

Quick as a flash, Ohjiro slung his bag over his back and dragged Di out of the classroom. “Please don’t do that, Dad!”

“Oh, was your crush in the room?”

“Argh, shut up, please!”

“Haha, alright.” They walked out of the school together in silence, and Ohjiro noticed a very recognizable guy sitting in the passenger’s seat of his father’s car. “Come on, son,” Di told him as he got into the driver’s side.

Ohjiro quietly got into the car, staring at the guy. “Aren’t you… Daryl?”

The man turned around in his seat and nodded, his leather jacket squeaking against the leather of the seat. "I am," he said, his voice deep and rough, just like it was on the tv and videos. Ohjiro just stared at him, mouth agape. After a moment's shock and silence, Di started up the car and drove off down the road.

"H-how?" the boy stammered at Di. "How did you end up going out with him?"

“We met at a bar,” his father explained. “A girl had stood me up. I was upset and he just.. walked over… we started talking… and the next thing you know, we’re kissing, haha.”

“Yeah,” agreed Daryl.

Ohjiro pouted. “That doesn’t exactly mean you’re going out though, you were drunk and fooling around then!”

“At first, yes,” said Di. “But then we actually started hanging out more, talking more, and as we got to know each other better… well, it just sort of clicked.”

"And from there, things just fell into place," said Daryl, lightly stroking Di's hand and watching him with a light smile.

The teen just watched them for a moment. “So it’s not bad to like someone of the same sex? People at school would get all freaked out about something like this.”

"Take it from me," Daryl said again, turning to face Ohjiro with a light smile, "it's going to be all the rage once they know I'm doing it."

The boy looked out the window with a sigh. "It's not like some fad," he said, "people get really worked up over this stuff."

Ohjiro's father turned to him lightly, trying not to look away from the road. "Are you worried that some of the other kids will make fun of you for this?"

The boy shook his head. “No, that’s not it… I’m glad that you found someone, Dad, really… I just… Could I maybe transfer to a different school?”

Shaking his head, Di glanced back at Ohjiro again. "You know there are no other ones that are close by."

“... Okay then…”

“Why would you want to transfer?” wondered Daryl.

Ohjiro blushed, his thoughts immediately going straight to Gerrard. “B-because… uh…”

“You like someone? … A guy, perhaps?”

"That would actually make a lot of sense," Di said, "with some of the stuff I've found while cleaning out his room.”

The raven-haired teen just blushed more. “W-what did you find?” he asked nervously.

"Just some old magazines," he said with a grin.

“Oh…"

Daryl laughed and looked back at Ohjiro. "Don't worry, kid," he said, "we were all teenagers once."