The Fake Lover

Chapter One

The rain poured outside as class droned on. Ohjiro’s attention wasn’t on the class, though. No. He couldn’t stop the desire to peek over at the guy sitting right next to him. Gerrard’s future role as class president seemed predetermined in a way. Everyone loved him. The girls all wanted to go out with him. And that was the problem right there… Gerrard only dated girls.

Ohjiro sighed as he pretended to pay attention again. Even his own parents had been traditional, but… then his mother died. After that his father Di had gone into a deep depression, and Ohjiro was responsible for his two younger brothers. Sazuki was the middle child, always wanting to play dress up and whining about wanting to dye his hair. Orzone, the youngest seemed to just want to have fun, like most normal kids. It was difficult, but Ohjiro always had to put them first, and even after their dad started dating again, he was the one always watching over his brothers, day after day.

“Ohjiro, are you paying attention?” said the teacher, standing right in front of him now.

Blinking, the teen mumbled, “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

"Well see that it doesn't," the teacher said again as he turned back to the front of the class to continue his lecture. Ohjiro just sighed and tuned it out again. He sighed and turned his eyes to outside the window and let his mind wander. His thoughts came to visions of Gerrard, strong and beautiful, taking him in his arms and holding him so warmly. He could feel his breath wash over him, feel his heaving chest and the warmth radiating from him. He felt safe and secure.

"Ohjiro, pay attention," snapped the teacher from the head of the class. Ohjiro jumped out of his daze and the other students turned to him, sniggering. Ohjiro blushed and sunk into his chair. Could this class get any more embarrassing?

***

As the day wore on, Ohjiro was tortured by the fact that Gerrard had classes with him pretty much all the time. He was tortured the most in PE though, since his locker was close to Gerrard’s. Ohjiro silently gulped, trying not to look at him, trying to focus his eyes straight forward. He despised PE for this specific reason. Being gay was bad enough here… but having his crush so close to him, getting undressed so close to him, was enough to drive him insane.

Ugh, he thought, why do you have to be so damn hot?! When he thought that Gerrard wasn’t paying any attention, joking with a classmate instead, he attempted to sneak a peek. Of course it never ended well. He was always either facing away or wearing a towel around his waist. Still, Ohjiro would always look away, biting his lip, before anyone noticed he was staring.

Other classes weren't any better, though. Even one of Ohjiro's favourites, Music class, is ruined by him. He always found himself dreaming of one day becoming a world famous singer, seeing his name in lights and having hundreds of people screaming to hear his voice. Still, here, where he felt his dream could truly be nourished, he was still over shadowed by Gerrard.

And it wasn't as though he was picked on or anything, but Gerrard's father just happened to be the front man for a band famous around the country. Gerrard had learned a lot from him and also had aspirations of being a singer. However, because of his popularity, Ohjiro never got his chance to shine, so he would always just shy away into the background.

***

Towards the end of the school day, Ohjiro was, yet again, feeling miserable. He went to his room, locking the door. Good thing his father didn’t have any dates tonight. Ohjiro couldn’t handle watching over his brothers right now. Instead, the teen decided to take a nap, and was awoken hours later, covered in sweat and his sheets feeling damp. “Damn it,” he whispered to himself. He loved the dream he was having involving him and Gerrard, but… the physical evidence of that dream in his bed now was rather… embarrassing.

Making sure everyone was asleep, he tiptoed out of his room and to the laundry room to get his sheets cleaned. After putting the soiled sheets in the washer, he started going back to his room, but stopped. He didn’t really want to go back to bed after… that…

He went to his bedroom closet, shoving clothes out of the way until he found what he wanted. It was a light purple mini-dress he had bought out of the blue one day. He had gotten strange looks at first, but then he hurriedly said it was a gift for someone.

He carefully eyed out in the hall again one last time to make sure that no one was awake and locked his door again. In the drawer of his desk was a small kit of make up that he had taught himself to use. The dress fit tightly as he pulled it up around himself, pinching his waist lightly giving him even more of a feminine physique than he already had. Back in his closet, he threw things about looking for a pair of shoes to go with the dress.

After a few minutes, he found a pair of shoes whose color matched the dress perfectly. He grabbed them and walked back to the make up kit, applying a very light amount, just enough to make him feel… well, pretty and special. He then put the shoes on, and before leaving, he quickly grabbed a wig from the back of his closet so that no one would recognize him. And then… he left the house.

The feeling was so surreal. It was like he was free from reality now. Once he made it into town, however, he regretted coming outside. The wind blew and rain started to fall. He was beginning to feel really cold, shivering even. Luck was on his side tonight, though, as a car pulled up beside him on the sidewalk. A boy about his age stepped out of the backseat of the car, smiling at him. “Are you alright, Miss?” he asked.

Ohjiro hesitated. He was afraid to speak. If he spoke, would this boy realize that he’s not really a girl? He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering from the cold and nodding briskly. The boy smiled and motioned towards the car. "I was just on my way to visit a friend," he said, "you get warmed up there and I bet his sister could lend you a sweater or something."

Facing a darkening street with the wind picking up and the rain pouring, Ohjiro just nodded and sat in the car as the boy stepped aside for him. He had no idea what he was thinking, getting in a car with a stranger like this. He instantly regretted it; what if this guy was a rapist? And if he was, what would he do when he found out he wasn't really a girl?!

He looked out the window, at the lights streaking passed, to try and get his impending doom off his mind. He didn't even realize he was shaking until he felt the boy’s hand on his shoulder. Ohjiro looked back and the boy was smiling lightly. "Just relax, Gerrard and I will get you home safe."

G-Gerrard?! The thought of seeing him like this made Ohjiro even more nervous. How was he going to survive tonight at this rate?

The car drove up the long driveway to the mansion. Ohjiro’s jaw dropped. It was so beautiful. The white mansion had gorgeous flower gardens in the front yard, and sidewalks going around to the back. It looked as though they even had a maze of green bushes to walk through.. Even in this horrible weather, everything looked so clean and lovely. “Nice, isn’t it?” the boy asked him.

All Ohjiro could do was nod.

"Just come this way," the boy told him, leading him up into the house. Once inside, Ohjiro saw that the interior was just as lavish as the exterior. The floors were marbled, great paintings covered the walls and... well, the house was just beautiful.

Footsteps came down the hall and Ohjiro looked up to see Gerrard coming towards them. It was Ohjiro's first time seeing him in his regular clothes and he looked amazing. He was wearing a pair of tight leather pants and a white tank top. Ohjiro had to look away and hope that Gerrard wouldn't recognize him.

“You got a girlfriend, Alistor?” Gerrard joked, grinning at him. “I’m shocked. I thought you said you weren’t a one-woman kind of guy.”

Alistor shook his head. “No, she’s not my girlfriend. I found her in the rain and brought her with me.”

“Yeah?” Gerrard got closer to the ‘girl’ and smiled. “What’s your name?”

Ohjiro bit his lip. How was he going to get away with this?

Gerrard gave him a concerned look. “Are you okay?” After a moment of no reply, he then asked, “Can’t you talk…?” Ohjiro quickly shook his head no, not wanting to say anything. If he were to speak, then his secret would be out! He could never let Gerrard know. Never!

Gerrard just smiled, though, and with a sympathetic nod he took Ohjiro's arm. "It's okay, I understand," he said, leading him down the hall. "My sister's blind, so I know what it's like helping people with disabilities." Ohjiro nodded and smiled, a cold relief washing over him. Now they wouldn't pressure him into saying anything.

He was led down the hall and stopped with Gerrard knocking on a door. It was opened a moment later by a girl that Ohjiro could remember seeing around school. She had blonde hair and was wearing a loose dress with a sweater. "Yes?" she said, her vacant eyes staring off into nothing.

“Rika, I think you’re the same size as this girl here. Alistor brought her over after finding her in the rain, I guess.”

“So, what’s your point?”

“Well, could she maybe borrow some dry clothes?”

Her face twisted a little with annoyance and she stepped aside to let Ohjiro in. Before he could say anything though, Gerrard pushed him in and the door was closed behind him. The room was normal, though it didn't have most of the normal things you'd find in a teenagers room; there was no tv, no books, no posters on the walls. The bed was huge, though, to make up for it.

The girl, apparently named Rika, felt her way over to her dresser and started rummaging through for some clothes. "There anything you don't want to wear?"

… This was a bit of a problem. In order to keep the theory that he can’t speak at all, he’d have to keep quiet, but at the same time, Rika was blind and there was no other way to communicate with her. Not that he could think of anyway.

As the silence drew on, Ohjiro started to feel more and more uneasy. “Are you there?” asked Rika.

Again… silence.

"Damn it," she swore, reaching her hands out and feeling around for him. "Make fun of the blind girl, how nice are you."

Ohjiro sighed softly in desperation. What am I going to do? he thought. Slowly, he reached out and took her hand, to show her that he was indeed there. What else could he do?

***

After about fifteen agonizing minutes, Ohjiro and Rika emerged from the bedroom, with Ohjiro in a cute pink skirt, and a yellow sweater. Good thing she couldn’t see anything, the boy thought, embarrassed still about having to change in a girl’s room like that.

“Heh, nice outfit,” commented Alistor. “At least now you won’t get sick. What do you think of it, Gerrard?” he asked him.

Gerrard gave a low whistle and circled around Ohjiro slowly, making him blush and look down. An inspection this close would surely give him away, but Gerrard just nodded. "I like it, I like it alot."

A wave of relief washed over Ohjiro as he relaxed ever-so-slightly. Gerrard came back in front of him and grabbed some paper and a pen, which he handed to Ohjiro. "If you write down your address for me, I'll get our driver to take you home."

Biting his lip a little, he quietly wrote down his home address, then he mentally kicked himself as Gerrard took it from him to look at it. If Gerrard ever showed up at his house unannounced, the secret would definitely be out, and he couldn’t just take back what he had written now. After getting an idea, he took the paper from Gerrard and added to it, writing that it was a friend’s house.

“Why a friend?” asked Gerrard.

Ohjiro wrote, Ran away from home.

"Ah, I see," said Gerrard, nodding thoughtfully to himself. Ohjiro silently breathed a sigh of relief. "Alistor, why don't you go wait in the living room while I take her to the limo?"

"Alright," Alistor replied, giving Ohjiro a small wave, "see ya around."

"Come on," Gerrard said, taking Ohjiro by the arm and leading him back outside to where the car had parked. It had gotten quite late by now, and as a breeze rang through, Ohjiro wrapped his arms tightly around his chest to protect himself from the cold.

Gerrard looked in at his face, squinting his eyes. "I swear I've seen you before," he said quietly.

Ohjiro shook his head no. It would do no good if Gerrard were to figure it out now.

“Hm… maybe you’re right,” Gerrard told him with a smile, opening the door for him. As Ohjiro climbed into the car, he heard his crush whisper to him, “Keep safe tonight.”

A few minutes later, the car was driving to Ohjiro’s home. Everything felt as though it had been a dream. The teen even pinched himself to make sure it was all real, which it was. Gerrard was as wonderful as he had imagined, so kind and calm. And this made the boy start crying. He would never be able to be with him, not unless he went through some major changes, and he didn’t want to do that.

Eventually, the car stopped outside his house, and he walked up the driveway. After getting inside as quietly as he could so as not to wake anyone, he went straight to his room, stripping off the girly clothes and hiding them, pulling on a pair of pajama pants, and went to the laundry room to put his sheet in the dryer. After all that, he finally went back to bed, fortunately able to find sleep right away.