Foul Play
folder
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
6
Views:
2,885
Reviews:
46
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0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
6
Views:
2,885
Reviews:
46
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Four.
A/N: Okay! This chapter took a while because.... It’s Midterm week/month! I’ve spent forever holed up in the library studying chemistry – because yeah, I’m (for some unknown reason) a student in the department of sciences. And it’s ridiculously difficult!
If there are grammar/spelling/word errors in this chapter, keep in mind half the reason is because I’m disgustingly tired :P And I have to wake up in 5 hours for my class... so pity me!
Thanks for reading, despite everything :)
And enjoy!
x.x.x.x
Chapter Four: Seduction is a Science
x.x.x.x
“Hey Quin!”
Before the door closed behind me, Mr. Howard’s voice cut past the dough-filled air in greeting. His dark eyes wrinkled in a smile as he slipped behind a few of his co-workers to reach the front register where I stood idly.
“Hey, Mr. Howard.” I smiled back, tucking a hand into my pocket as I glanced around in what I hoped was a nonchalant way.
“Should I get you your regular?” Alec’s step-dad had already started punching the personal cheese and green pepper pizza into the register before I could answer, so I decided stopping him would be futile.
“Um, sure...” I hesitantly slipped onto one of the stools facing the elevated TV stand, playing with the shop-crested napkins ahead of me. “Actually, I was wondering...”
Samuel Howard paused, brushing his hands off on an apron. “He’s not here. I figured he’d be off with you. Did you check the house?”
My stomach dropped at his words and I held back my sigh while offering him a slight nod to his last question. I had walked the extra ten minutes east to their home and stood on the doorstep for what felt like forever waiting for Alec’s messy slept-in hair to roll my eyes at. He always slept in unbearably late on Sundays.
“Thanks, anyway.” I figured now that I had already ordered my pizza, I might as well stay and avoid home for a while. My week had been spent there excessively, and I hated to admit it was because seeing Alec was rare. My best guess was that he realised I was studying hardcore for that history test, but he had never been known to give me space.
And I didn’t really want space. Not from Alec.
“Here, it’s on the house.” Sam ruffled my hair, and though I felt little torrents of dough settle into my fringe, I knew it would be impossible to see in my blond hair. Ignoring it for a while, I let my gaze land on the television set and watched the random sports broadcast uninterestedly. The pizza was great as always, and I was amused to see that Sam knew my favourite drink was orange soda.
“Oh, look!” Mr. Howard nodded toward the door while leaning against a steel-metal rack. The dining room was mostly empty, so we had been chatting aimlessly for around fifteen minutes, commenting vaguely on the football game. I turned my head to look, dropping the last pizza crust on my plate as Alec walked through the door, followed closely by Julie Guzman. I could feel the lines of my face rumple up in confusion.
She was a short, but agile, blonde, and the only eleventh grader on the senior softball team. Julie also had great legs, I managed to notice – probably because she was wearing a pair of denim shorts that displayed them pretty nicely.
“Quin?” I could have sworn Alec’s expression was mildly irritated before it skewed back into its grinning expression. “What’re you doing here?”
He walked over to where I was sitting, and I unconsciously held my breath when I realised why Julie was following him so closely. Their hands were linked, his pale in comparison to her outdoorsy complexion. “I’m –” My eyes left their hands and landed back on the TV, and I was unaware of why I was feeling so betrayed. “Pizza,’ I finished lamely.
Alec’s eyes swerved to my plate and on the small pile of crust still sitting on it. His smile softened a little, to the point where it looked less forced and with his free hand he picked one up. He usually always ate my crust when we ordered pizza... I hated it.
“Right, of course.” There was an awkward moment where Julie stood off to the side, before he untangled their hands to place his on the small of her back. “Us too.”
I realised that I was in the perfect situation to be called a third wheel, and shoving my drink aside I stood up. There was a panicked drum against my ribs as I watched Alec’s green eyes pointedly stay away from my face, and so I looked at Julie instead. “Yeah, enjoy yourselves.” I cringed inwardly and wiped my hands on one of the napkins I had played with earlier. “I’ve gotta get home. That test is tomorrow.” I wondered how much more about the Renaissance I could learn.
“Oh shit, that’s tomorrow.” The uncomfortable atmosphere disappeared as soon as a bit of Alec’s normalcy returned. It was the perfect opening to invite him over to study later – which is one of the reasons I came looking for him in the first place. He always joined my studying sessions when he needed to cram. Before my mouth could open, he sighed. “Nevermind. I’ll just wing it. I have the whole year to bring my mark back up.”
“Yeah,” I swallowed uneasily. The pair seemed occupied and before I could display even more of my awkwardness, I zipped up my jacket and headed toward the door. “Seeya, then.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. I just ran home.
x.x.x.x
I feel like shit.
Sam didn’t say anything, but I knew he was disappointed. He doesn’t have a clue, though. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have to try so fucking hard to tear yourself apart now, because it’ll hurt more if you do it later.
When he called to let me know Quin was at his shop waiting, I asked Julie out on a whim. She turned into the catalyst I needed.
Because I saw the look in Quin’s eyes. And even as I try to hold on as I let go, I know he’ll eventually feel too angry to care about me.
And then we can move on.
x.x.x.x
“Another A?” Alec met me at our lockers after the test. I had to bite down hard to swallow my anger at him, but when it eventually subsided to a less prominent feeling, I shrugged.
“Maybe. Question 14 really had me stumped.” I glanced around him for a minute, grabbing my wallet to pay for lunch. “Where’s Julie?”
Alec seemed surprised as he took a look around as well, before laughing a little. Shutting his locker with a shoulder, he held his palm out in front of him to count the remnants of change in his pockets. “She was so dull, Quin. I just figured it was time to start dating again. Maybe get laid.” He looked up and studied my expression. I was bright red, and he grinned in a way that made me realise the only reason he said it was to make me blush.
“Yeah, yeah.” I had entertained the thought that maybe Alec wasn’t gay, and that night during the summer was just my imagination, the whole morning. I mean, he could have been bisexual, but I had never even seen him take a second look at another guy. Not even in the locker room before gym, even though I didn’t necessarily expect him to. “Are we heading off to the vending machine’s first?” I asked with a meaningful look at his handful of quarters.
Alec smiled slightly, jingling the metal in his hands as he nodded. “I have just enough for a Snickers bar.” We began to walk across the hallway where three machines sat waiting. “Those are your favourite, right?”
There was something about the way Alec offered me a piece that made my anger permanently simmer. It was still there, but as I chewed thoughtfully, I knew it wasn’t the same boiling rage as before. When I finished, I studied him with a grin that was coiled with relief. Julie wasn’t a long-term commitment, just a mild speed bump.
Finally, I decided as we walked past the gym, that I needed to find out once and for all if Alec was gay. I wasn’t sure if it was the remembrance of his neglect when he was with Hannah toward me that spurred my need to know he didn’t care about his girlfriends as much as he led on, but I became determined.
And even though I was perfectly straight, there was only one way to do it without letting anyone in on his secret – because although I was willing to subject my morals to a bit of trickery, I definitely wasn’t ready to betray Alec’s unknowing trust in me.
I don’t know how convincing I’d be, I’d never even built up the courage to ask a girl out, but Alec had that way of letting me feel like I could act natural; I never felt that way around the Julies of the world.
So when we both stood up from our positions against the hallway wall, I deliberately let my arm brush his. I didn’t expect a reaction, nor did I get one, but I knew that I had to be patient.
I mean, I could wait years for a colony of Ascophyllum nodosum to flourish if I had to do an experiment on seaweed. I was positive I could draw out the patience for my experiment with Alec.
Question: Is Alexander Freedman really interested in men?
Procedure: Seduction.
The whole thing seemed impossibly funny as I pondered it after lunch, lounging in my seat during Algebra. I was the least knowledgeable specimen on seduction, or dating... or anything sexual at all. I’d shared a sloppy kiss with Dana Tyler during our ninth grade Christmas banquet, and that was as far as my experience went.
But as I stared at the back of Alec’s head in front of me, tilted at an angle that obviously meant he was on the brink of falling asleep, I felt my pulse quicken at the challenge.
As long as I didn’t lead him on, or he didn’t kiss me, it didn’t have to become awkward. I’d observe his reactions to my seemingly innocent touches and suddenly interested behaviour and then write up my conclusion.
God damn.
Science really is the answer to everything.
x.x.x.x
A/N: And the plot thickens! Sort of get the relevance to my summary now? ;)
Thanks for reading once again! I’m so amazed that my dinky chapters are managing to capture your interests. :)
x
2Bexy31: It looks like they’re going to stay short for a while... but now that I actually am mostly done with a lot of the background setting stuff, they should get a bit longer :)
2Nathaniel: It’s nice to hear from you again! It’s really helpful to hear that my writing has some nice flow to it, because I always worry about that. And the POV thing is working out much better than I could have hoped, which is a great bonus! As for Alec’s taste in food... what you described sounds delicious. I need to get some for myself :) Thanks so much for the constructive review!
2aki: You’re Canadian, too?! I bet you live somewhere less boring than Alberta, haha. Thanks for the glomps and for being such a loyal reader!
2Rachel: Sorry this update took longer! I’m a little busy lately. And my favourite stories are definitely like that! I think one of the popular terms is like... ‘hidden gems’ :P
2Illyric: I always, always try to make my stories go at a realistic pace with believable character reactions, so I’m glad you’re finding that it they are :) I agree about unrequited love... it’s just totally depressing. I guess it’ll depend on my mood as I write future chapters!
2julianYES: Ah! You caught on to the sort of entwining thought processes thing I’m trying to do. I’m a little obscure with it, but eh... it’s just an experiment! (lol, sounded like Quin there) This chapter update was muuuch less frequent, so I understand if you’re ready to complain! Sorry!
2Young Sage: Thanks very much for saying something I’ve written is worth reading. I’m the same way... I sort of study something before I read it, especially when it’s unpublished work. And as I’m a fan of your humor/characterization and ability to use proper grammar in your own fics, it’s really great to hear that my writing can live up to various standards. As for content codes: I hate listing all the ones I THINK are going to apply, since I’m not really sure what scenes are going to take place, so I put that there to warn readers that I may add anything and everything, so be aware of all of them :)
2Carmen: I’m glad you figured out what you missed and got around to reading it! Hopefully it’s not too confusing :P And I’m glad that reviewers like you still stick by me, even if I’m so very sporadic with my writing! :S
2Enslavement Thesis: Thanks so much for your compliments! I decided to go with first person mostly because a lot of what I usually write is in third person, which I think is more difficult. I’ve been in a writer’s block for a couple of months, almost half a year actually, so I needed something easy and smooth to get me back into it. I figured first person was a perspective with the least road bumps :P. I’m glad I managed to add the journal entries in a way that is sort of unique, and hopefully less cliché than normal, haha. I hope this chapter satisfies :)
2ariesgirl: Alec’s been thinking about it... oh, he definitely has. I guess that’s why he’s putting so many restraints on himself :P Thank you for reading! :)
x
If there are grammar/spelling/word errors in this chapter, keep in mind half the reason is because I’m disgustingly tired :P And I have to wake up in 5 hours for my class... so pity me!
Thanks for reading, despite everything :)
And enjoy!
x.x.x.x
Chapter Four: Seduction is a Science
x.x.x.x
“Hey Quin!”
Before the door closed behind me, Mr. Howard’s voice cut past the dough-filled air in greeting. His dark eyes wrinkled in a smile as he slipped behind a few of his co-workers to reach the front register where I stood idly.
“Hey, Mr. Howard.” I smiled back, tucking a hand into my pocket as I glanced around in what I hoped was a nonchalant way.
“Should I get you your regular?” Alec’s step-dad had already started punching the personal cheese and green pepper pizza into the register before I could answer, so I decided stopping him would be futile.
“Um, sure...” I hesitantly slipped onto one of the stools facing the elevated TV stand, playing with the shop-crested napkins ahead of me. “Actually, I was wondering...”
Samuel Howard paused, brushing his hands off on an apron. “He’s not here. I figured he’d be off with you. Did you check the house?”
My stomach dropped at his words and I held back my sigh while offering him a slight nod to his last question. I had walked the extra ten minutes east to their home and stood on the doorstep for what felt like forever waiting for Alec’s messy slept-in hair to roll my eyes at. He always slept in unbearably late on Sundays.
“Thanks, anyway.” I figured now that I had already ordered my pizza, I might as well stay and avoid home for a while. My week had been spent there excessively, and I hated to admit it was because seeing Alec was rare. My best guess was that he realised I was studying hardcore for that history test, but he had never been known to give me space.
And I didn’t really want space. Not from Alec.
“Here, it’s on the house.” Sam ruffled my hair, and though I felt little torrents of dough settle into my fringe, I knew it would be impossible to see in my blond hair. Ignoring it for a while, I let my gaze land on the television set and watched the random sports broadcast uninterestedly. The pizza was great as always, and I was amused to see that Sam knew my favourite drink was orange soda.
“Oh, look!” Mr. Howard nodded toward the door while leaning against a steel-metal rack. The dining room was mostly empty, so we had been chatting aimlessly for around fifteen minutes, commenting vaguely on the football game. I turned my head to look, dropping the last pizza crust on my plate as Alec walked through the door, followed closely by Julie Guzman. I could feel the lines of my face rumple up in confusion.
She was a short, but agile, blonde, and the only eleventh grader on the senior softball team. Julie also had great legs, I managed to notice – probably because she was wearing a pair of denim shorts that displayed them pretty nicely.
“Quin?” I could have sworn Alec’s expression was mildly irritated before it skewed back into its grinning expression. “What’re you doing here?”
He walked over to where I was sitting, and I unconsciously held my breath when I realised why Julie was following him so closely. Their hands were linked, his pale in comparison to her outdoorsy complexion. “I’m –” My eyes left their hands and landed back on the TV, and I was unaware of why I was feeling so betrayed. “Pizza,’ I finished lamely.
Alec’s eyes swerved to my plate and on the small pile of crust still sitting on it. His smile softened a little, to the point where it looked less forced and with his free hand he picked one up. He usually always ate my crust when we ordered pizza... I hated it.
“Right, of course.” There was an awkward moment where Julie stood off to the side, before he untangled their hands to place his on the small of her back. “Us too.”
I realised that I was in the perfect situation to be called a third wheel, and shoving my drink aside I stood up. There was a panicked drum against my ribs as I watched Alec’s green eyes pointedly stay away from my face, and so I looked at Julie instead. “Yeah, enjoy yourselves.” I cringed inwardly and wiped my hands on one of the napkins I had played with earlier. “I’ve gotta get home. That test is tomorrow.” I wondered how much more about the Renaissance I could learn.
“Oh shit, that’s tomorrow.” The uncomfortable atmosphere disappeared as soon as a bit of Alec’s normalcy returned. It was the perfect opening to invite him over to study later – which is one of the reasons I came looking for him in the first place. He always joined my studying sessions when he needed to cram. Before my mouth could open, he sighed. “Nevermind. I’ll just wing it. I have the whole year to bring my mark back up.”
“Yeah,” I swallowed uneasily. The pair seemed occupied and before I could display even more of my awkwardness, I zipped up my jacket and headed toward the door. “Seeya, then.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. I just ran home.
x.x.x.x
I feel like shit.
Sam didn’t say anything, but I knew he was disappointed. He doesn’t have a clue, though. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have to try so fucking hard to tear yourself apart now, because it’ll hurt more if you do it later.
When he called to let me know Quin was at his shop waiting, I asked Julie out on a whim. She turned into the catalyst I needed.
Because I saw the look in Quin’s eyes. And even as I try to hold on as I let go, I know he’ll eventually feel too angry to care about me.
And then we can move on.
x.x.x.x
“Another A?” Alec met me at our lockers after the test. I had to bite down hard to swallow my anger at him, but when it eventually subsided to a less prominent feeling, I shrugged.
“Maybe. Question 14 really had me stumped.” I glanced around him for a minute, grabbing my wallet to pay for lunch. “Where’s Julie?”
Alec seemed surprised as he took a look around as well, before laughing a little. Shutting his locker with a shoulder, he held his palm out in front of him to count the remnants of change in his pockets. “She was so dull, Quin. I just figured it was time to start dating again. Maybe get laid.” He looked up and studied my expression. I was bright red, and he grinned in a way that made me realise the only reason he said it was to make me blush.
“Yeah, yeah.” I had entertained the thought that maybe Alec wasn’t gay, and that night during the summer was just my imagination, the whole morning. I mean, he could have been bisexual, but I had never even seen him take a second look at another guy. Not even in the locker room before gym, even though I didn’t necessarily expect him to. “Are we heading off to the vending machine’s first?” I asked with a meaningful look at his handful of quarters.
Alec smiled slightly, jingling the metal in his hands as he nodded. “I have just enough for a Snickers bar.” We began to walk across the hallway where three machines sat waiting. “Those are your favourite, right?”
There was something about the way Alec offered me a piece that made my anger permanently simmer. It was still there, but as I chewed thoughtfully, I knew it wasn’t the same boiling rage as before. When I finished, I studied him with a grin that was coiled with relief. Julie wasn’t a long-term commitment, just a mild speed bump.
Finally, I decided as we walked past the gym, that I needed to find out once and for all if Alec was gay. I wasn’t sure if it was the remembrance of his neglect when he was with Hannah toward me that spurred my need to know he didn’t care about his girlfriends as much as he led on, but I became determined.
And even though I was perfectly straight, there was only one way to do it without letting anyone in on his secret – because although I was willing to subject my morals to a bit of trickery, I definitely wasn’t ready to betray Alec’s unknowing trust in me.
I don’t know how convincing I’d be, I’d never even built up the courage to ask a girl out, but Alec had that way of letting me feel like I could act natural; I never felt that way around the Julies of the world.
So when we both stood up from our positions against the hallway wall, I deliberately let my arm brush his. I didn’t expect a reaction, nor did I get one, but I knew that I had to be patient.
I mean, I could wait years for a colony of Ascophyllum nodosum to flourish if I had to do an experiment on seaweed. I was positive I could draw out the patience for my experiment with Alec.
Question: Is Alexander Freedman really interested in men?
Procedure: Seduction.
The whole thing seemed impossibly funny as I pondered it after lunch, lounging in my seat during Algebra. I was the least knowledgeable specimen on seduction, or dating... or anything sexual at all. I’d shared a sloppy kiss with Dana Tyler during our ninth grade Christmas banquet, and that was as far as my experience went.
But as I stared at the back of Alec’s head in front of me, tilted at an angle that obviously meant he was on the brink of falling asleep, I felt my pulse quicken at the challenge.
As long as I didn’t lead him on, or he didn’t kiss me, it didn’t have to become awkward. I’d observe his reactions to my seemingly innocent touches and suddenly interested behaviour and then write up my conclusion.
God damn.
Science really is the answer to everything.
x.x.x.x
A/N: And the plot thickens! Sort of get the relevance to my summary now? ;)
Thanks for reading once again! I’m so amazed that my dinky chapters are managing to capture your interests. :)
x
2Bexy31: It looks like they’re going to stay short for a while... but now that I actually am mostly done with a lot of the background setting stuff, they should get a bit longer :)
2Nathaniel: It’s nice to hear from you again! It’s really helpful to hear that my writing has some nice flow to it, because I always worry about that. And the POV thing is working out much better than I could have hoped, which is a great bonus! As for Alec’s taste in food... what you described sounds delicious. I need to get some for myself :) Thanks so much for the constructive review!
2aki: You’re Canadian, too?! I bet you live somewhere less boring than Alberta, haha. Thanks for the glomps and for being such a loyal reader!
2Rachel: Sorry this update took longer! I’m a little busy lately. And my favourite stories are definitely like that! I think one of the popular terms is like... ‘hidden gems’ :P
2Illyric: I always, always try to make my stories go at a realistic pace with believable character reactions, so I’m glad you’re finding that it they are :) I agree about unrequited love... it’s just totally depressing. I guess it’ll depend on my mood as I write future chapters!
2julianYES: Ah! You caught on to the sort of entwining thought processes thing I’m trying to do. I’m a little obscure with it, but eh... it’s just an experiment! (lol, sounded like Quin there) This chapter update was muuuch less frequent, so I understand if you’re ready to complain! Sorry!
2Young Sage: Thanks very much for saying something I’ve written is worth reading. I’m the same way... I sort of study something before I read it, especially when it’s unpublished work. And as I’m a fan of your humor/characterization and ability to use proper grammar in your own fics, it’s really great to hear that my writing can live up to various standards. As for content codes: I hate listing all the ones I THINK are going to apply, since I’m not really sure what scenes are going to take place, so I put that there to warn readers that I may add anything and everything, so be aware of all of them :)
2Carmen: I’m glad you figured out what you missed and got around to reading it! Hopefully it’s not too confusing :P And I’m glad that reviewers like you still stick by me, even if I’m so very sporadic with my writing! :S
2Enslavement Thesis: Thanks so much for your compliments! I decided to go with first person mostly because a lot of what I usually write is in third person, which I think is more difficult. I’ve been in a writer’s block for a couple of months, almost half a year actually, so I needed something easy and smooth to get me back into it. I figured first person was a perspective with the least road bumps :P. I’m glad I managed to add the journal entries in a way that is sort of unique, and hopefully less cliché than normal, haha. I hope this chapter satisfies :)
2ariesgirl: Alec’s been thinking about it... oh, he definitely has. I guess that’s why he’s putting so many restraints on himself :P Thank you for reading! :)
x