Homecoming

[Zeke Nayakan]

"It must be positively devastating."

Ezekiel just shook his head in a slightly amused way. He was glad that after four weeks he still had the power to make Caleb laugh. That made him feel good about himself, because he loved making others happy. It was what Zeke lived for. He was glad that Caleb was back, though he was sure that he had enjoyed his time overseas. Zeke hadn't been anywhere outside of the United States, so he had to live vicariously through his best friend's stories.

"So, ah, Marcoh... are you a junior then? Do you two have a class together or something?"

It had never really occurred to Zeke that Caleb wouldn't pick up on the fact that he and Marcoh were dating. Unless he’d caught their kiss a few minutes ago, there really weren’t any obvious signs. He was about to answer for Marcoh, but the sophomore beat him to it. Zeke felt a little bad about assuming that Marcoh wouldn’t want to talk just because he had been shy when they had first met; of course Marcoh could socialize! He was a big boy, and Zeke had to remind himself that he didn’t have to look after him all the time.

"Er, no. I'm just a sophomore."

Zeke could tell that Marcoh was pleased at the fact that Caleb had assumed he was older. He was glad that the two of them were talking and getting to know each other, at least on a basic level. It was a nice start.

“Marcoh and I met…” he was about to give the story, but figured that being cornered in a janitor’s closet by the Evans brothers wasn’t the best first impression for Caleb. He decided to go with a better direction. “… last week at school, then again at the mall. Turns out we both have the same taste in books,” he added, with a slight wink at Marcoh as he remembered their encounter at his house upon the book’s return.

“We're dating,” he explained for Caleb's benefit, as though his had been the most obvious thing in the world. “I almost forgot you didn’t know, since you’ve been gone,” he added, hoping that Caleb wouldn’t be too thrown off by the sudden change. When Caleb had left he’d been single, but surely he couldn’t have expected nothing to change. Hopefully his best friend would approve of his new boyfriend… he was sure they’d have some alone time to talk later.

[jack]

"No not really," Jack admitted. "I ain't had much time ta make friends here yet. I mean if you've met anyone ya want ta sit with. . ."

The only kid he'd really met was the girl sitting with the two guys, but he didn't really know her or them well enough to join their table.

"If not, we can just take an empty spot," he added.

[Viola Hastings]

As the music began to pick up, Viola heard a song that she actually enjoyed come on: No Sleep 2Nite. She stood up and began to bounce on her heels excitedly to the beat. She grabbed Kyan and Toby's hands and tried to pull them up out of their seats.

"Ohh the Faders!" she said. "C'mon you two, let's get up and dance."

She made her way out to the dance floor, assuming they would just follow her. She knew that Kyan was technically there as her date and she could have just yanked him out to the dance floor and claim he was there with her, but she chose instead to bring them both out and act more like a trio of friends having a good time. If Kyan actually planned on living in the same house with this guy, she'd prefer they were all friends anyway.

Once out on the dance floor she began to shake and move to the tune playing. It was a fast paced song and she was enjoying herself. She loved dancing and didn't care if anyone though she was bad. Of course, if people thought she was a good dancer, that was fine. She thought she was pretty good on her feet. She looked over at the two boys and made "come hither" motions with her inex finger at them, grinning in a jokingly seductive way.

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan felt the tug of Viola, pulling him from his seat. He stood up and glared at her, without any real hatred. She wanted to dance already, and of course he would oblige. Not only was he half fag, he worked at Babylon almost every night: he loved dancing. Of course, this song was no Sandstorm, but he'd make due with what he had.

He shrugged helplessly over at Toby and began to dance his way over to Viola. He came up behind her and began to dance up against her, laughing slightly as he did so. This wasn't the perverse sort of dancing that implied the dancers wanted to discover a means of having sex through clothing, but rather the kind of dancing friends did jokingly while pretending to be sexy.

Kyan then followed Viola's lead and reached a hand under her arm to make the come closer gesture to Toby.

[Caleb McClure]

“Marcoh and I met... last week at school, then again at the mall. Turns out we both have the same taste in books."

Caleb listened, as best as a boy could while staring into the eyes of his crush, until he saw those eyes travel somewhere else, a wink - directed at Marcoh. What was that? Why would he...?

And suddenly it became apparent, like he'd completely missed the punchline of the joke, only to have it told to him in the most somber of tones. He tensed slightly, bracing himself for the words he knew Zeke was going to say, for the hurt


“We're dating. I almost forgot you didn’t know, since you’ve been gone."

Fuck.

Fuuuucck.

Caleb wasn't one to be irrational, but fucking fucking fuck fuck! How had it even happened? How did Zeke manage to find someone in the brief weeks he'd been gone? How could Zeke get into a relationship during the time he spent pining over him? How could Zeke forget him so easily? It wasn't fair, wasn't-!

But it was fair. It was entirely fair. Caleb had had his feelings for years, and if he'd only worked up the courage to say something...

Trying to keep his internal cries smothered, he offered the emptiest smile he'd ever mustered and a handful of words he didn't mean.

"Oh, wow, that's... uh, that's great. Really... oh, I've got to go, looks like Jenny's crying again, got to... ah, got to see what all the fuss is. Talk to you later." Caleb replied, trying to walk away in what he thought was a good imitation of a casual stroll. In his own mind, he was tearing away from the couple as fast as he could, shoving people out of the way as he did so. He needed to get out of there, far away from the overwhelming heat and sadness and disappointment.

[liam]

Liam was dateless, but that didn’t bother him any. He was rather sociable, and could mingle well with pretty much any group of people from his school. That was one of his many talents, really. He was also one of the few people he knew who wasn’t bothered by having to show up to the dance dateless. He couldn’t believe the number of friends he had who weren’t coming at all just because they couldn’t work up the nerve to ask someone, or had been turned down. How lame!

He arrived, dateless, bright eyed and bushy tailed. His clothing was a simple suit with a light blue tie, one that complimented his eye color. Not that he really cared, but it was nice to keep up appearances. This wasn’t quite as big of a deal for him as it was for some of the seniors, as this would be their last dance and their grade which was being voted on for Homecoming King and Queen. Intense.

Liam spun around a few times to the beat, scanning the room as he did so to scope out the attendees. He spotted a few people he knew, but nobody worth the hassle of trying to make his way over to their table or butt into their conversation. His opinion changed when he spotted Caleb, though.

Caleb, the senior. Caleb, who worked at Blockbuster with him. Caleb, whom he’d been severely crushing after for the past two years. Caleb, who was completely oblivious. That Caleb.

It was true; Liam had been pining after the older boy for quite some time now, and though he flirted with him openly it had always come across as just joking around, or purely in a friendly way. This was why, when he spotted Caleb, he didn’t mind the smile that began to tug the corners of his lips up. It was a natural reaction by now.

Even though everyone was moving and dancing all around him, it was as though everything stood still when his gaze rested upon his old friend, whom he hadn’t seen in four weeks. Work had sucked without him, and it was as if a part of him had died for a while. Of course, now that he was back things could go back to normal.

Liam caught the look of disappointment on Caleb’s face even from as far away as he was. He had come to be familiar with each of Caleb’s expressions, he could tell what he was really thinking most of the time, even when he tried to hide it. Such was the working of a secret crush. His secret crush. He knew that he needed to rescue Caleb from whatever situation was causing him to be upset.

“Caleb!” he said, bounding over to the Senior and punching him gently, playfully, on the arm. “Long time no see! You better have enjoyed yourself, because work was hell without you,” he said, pretending to be angry. His words were kind, but his expression was clearly asking Caleb if everything was alright. After all, he practically had to sprint across the room to catch up with him, since he'd ran away from Zeke at a rather fast pace. Something was obviously wrong...

[Zeke Nayakan]

"Oh, wow, that's... uh, that's great. Really... oh, I've got to go, looks like Jenny's crying again, got to... ah, got to see what all the fuss is. Talk to you later."

Zeke didn't have time to react to Caleb's statement before he had turned and rushed off in the opposite direction. Jenny? He didn't think Jenny was eve here, let alone crying... what was that all about? His words had seemed a little forced, and his demeanor had completely changed so quickly after Zeke had said the word ‘dating’. Was that it? Was Caleb… no. That couldn’t be it. If it was, then, well, no, it just wasn’t.

As Zeke turned around he spotted Caleb standing next to a Junior boy Zeke recognized from around the school Perhaps he’d just wanted to go and talk with some other people. He was unwilling to accept the fact that the prolonged silence had been due to the fact that Zeke was dating Marcoh. Did that mean that Caleb didn’t approve of him? He really needed to know what was going on, but figured that now was a bad time to question it.

“Weird…” he muttered, shaking his head. He picked his punch back up off of the table they were still standing next to and took a sip. “So, do you like to dance? Or are you more here for the social aspects of the evening?” he questioned Marcoh, trying to forget about Caleb for the time being. After all, he was here with Marcoh.

[Marcoh Kinsley]

“Marcoh and I met… last week at school, then again at the mall. Turns out we both have the same taste in books."

Marcoh blushed when Zeke gave him a secretive wink, recalling the sensations he'd felt when they'd kissed. Oh god, that was amazing. He'd almost forgot.

...no, wait, he hadn't. He thought about it all the time, actually, and could hardly wait to do it again.

“We're dating. I almost forgot you didn’t know, since you’ve been gone."

"Oh, wow, that's... uh, that's great. Really... oh, I've got to go, looks like Jenny's crying again, got to... ah, got to see what all the fuss is. Talk to you later."

He could sense the awkwardness and Caleb's abrupt emotional change. Marcoh didn't know Zeke and Caleb's relationship well - the same could be said for both boys - but to him it was clear that Caleb had some feelings for Zeke that he'd been wary in sharing. In a way, he felt bad, but he also felt a surge of possessiveness, like Zeke was his and his alone, despite the fact that they'd only been dating for a week.

“Weird... So, do you like to dance? Or are you more here for the social aspects of the evening?”
After watching Caleb walk away, Marcoh transitioned back to being alone together and scoffed a bit as he grinned.

"Oh yeah, I'm such a social butterfly," he said sarcastically. It wasn't really self-depreciating, just an honest, 'that's how it is' sort of comment. Being a nerdy kind of guy taught him the value of being able to poke fun at himself, especially when he felt particularly down about having few friends.

Remembering the first part of Zeke's inquiry, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders, looking up into his boyfriend's eyes.

"And I have to be honest... I'm not that great of a dancer." he admitted, though he figured Zeke would expect that. Unless dancing included spazzing out to ABBA in a t-shirt and boxers, then he really didn't know much about it.

[Caleb McClure]

Caleb had been making his great escape, intent on going home and burying himself in anything to distract his mind from the ache he felt, when he felt a sudden jab to the arm and a familiar voice in his ear.

“Caleb!. Long time no see! You better have enjoyed yourself, because work was hell without you.”

He turned to face Liam, a junior and co-worker at Blockbuster, and couldn't help but feel a little bit better. It touched him to see the concern in his face, and at that moment, it was what he needed most. Reaching toward him, Caleb squeezed him tightly in a hug and took a moment to compose himself. It wouldn't do to get all blubbery on the poor guy. He just needed to feel someone else and know that he wasn't alone, despite the fact that it was an emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.

"I did," he began to reply as he pulled back, smile only half-forced now, "and I'm glad to hear I was missed."

[brad]

Brad watched with increasing rage as Kyan tugged Toby around like boyfriends or something. Then Kyan was trying to get Toby to dance. Oh Hell no, Brad wasn't about to let the fags turn this into some sort of gay dance party! With out consulting his brother Brad got up and walked over to Kyan. "Hey fagot!" said Brad furiously, giving Kyan a rough push. The dance floor was now so heavily pack that there was no way a teacher would have seen the push. "I got to punch the other queer in the face now it's your turn! How about we take this outside?"

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan felt a push and saw that Brad Evans had reached around Viola to shove him. What the hell was this moron's problem? Was it possible for him to just enjoy the dance? He made to shove him right back, but was held back by Viola. Though she was a slim girl, she could hold her own.

"What the fuck's your problem?" Kyan spat. "How about you get a fucking clue and get the hell out of my face."

[Viola Hastings]

Viola was having a pretty good time at the dance, until one of the Evans had to ruin everything. She could already see the other one following behind him: great. He pushed Kyan from the front which meant getting to close to her for her own comfort. She had made to slap him across the face, but before she got a chance, she had t hold back Kyan. he didn't respond well to the sort of petty bullying that went on at this school. And on top of it that asshole had brought up punching Toby in the face.

"Why don't you just crawl back under the rock you came form?" she said angrily. If they weren't inside right now, she'd have been more than tempted to bitchslap him senseless.

[brad]

"What the fuck's your problem?"

"You being a fucking fag is my problem!" spat Brad. Then Kyan's little fag hag had to get involved. Brad wasn't against punch girls, but he didn't want to cause too much of a stir while they were still inside.

"Why don't you just crawl back under the rock you came form?"

"Shut up, Bitch! Why don't you go back to the whore house you crawled out of?" he said.

[Randy Evans]

Randy saw his brother get up and almost sighed. Sure he was just itching for a fight too, but he had planned on waiting until the dance was over before giving the queers an asswhooping. He followed behind though, in case things got out of hand and he needed some back up. Oh damn, the fucking half fag had his fruit fly with him.

[Viola Hastings]

The tables turned at this comment. Viola leaped at Brad, but Kyan wrapped his arms around her middle, so all she could do was claw at Brad.

"Let me at him," she muttered.

She was lifted up by Kyan and placed off to his right. Where she stood with arms crossed across her chest.

[Kyan Walker]

After having held Viola back when she was about to attempt pummeling Brad Evans, he turned to face the two Evans brothers.

"You watch your fucking mouth," Kyan said dangerously. "Fine, you want me? You got me. Outside in half an hour! If you've got balls enough."

[brad]

"Fine!" exclaimed Brad, "but you better not pussy out like the little fagot you are!" With that he turned, with a satisfied grin and went back to his table. He made sure to check what time it was after he sat down. He wasn't going to be late for the fight and the faggot better not be either.

[Tobias Vaughn]

Tobias, upon deciding that one fight this week was enough, didn't even bother to get up as Brad approached Kyan. He knew that Kyan and Viola could both handle him if need be, but he also knew that there was very little chance of a fight actually occuring inside like this. Just from their brief exchange of words teachers were already starting to look over at them, ready to step in if things got out of hand. As soon as the Evans brothers were gone Toby made his way over.

"Please tell me you aren't going to do anything stupid," he said, knowing that it wouldn't matter what he said if Kyan had his mind set on something.

[Zeke Nayakan]

Zeke had been worried that Marcoh would be put off by Caleb’s reaction to his news of their new relationship, but it didn’t seem to affect him very much at all. In fact, he seemed to be a little happier once Caleb was gone, and so Zeke decided not to say anything further on the subject. It was just odd that Caleb had been so shocked by the news. In all honesty, Zeke knew getting over Christian would take a while, but he hadn’t expected to go without a boyfriend for this long. It was more of a surprise that he’d still been single for weeks ago than it was that he had a boyfriend now.

But Caleb was his best friend, and he doubted that their relationship would change any because Zeke had a boyfriend. After all, the two of them had remained close friends through his relationship with Christian, and if a friendship could survive that then it could survive anything.

“ Oh yeah, I'm such a social butterfly,"

“Okay, okay,” Zeke said, holding his hands up in mock defense. “Perhaps that wasn’t the best way to phrase it.” Even in admitting that, Zeke couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how much more social Marcoh seemed, even just in the past few days. It was almost like he was starting to test the waters when it came to being more sociable with others. After all, he hadn’t hesitated when talking to Caleb. In a strange way, Zeke was proud of him. He didn’t know what it was like to be so shy as he’d never suffered from that particular trait, but he could only imagine it was hard to overcome after such a long period of time.

"And I have to be honest... I'm not that great of a dancer."

Zeke laughed. In all honesty he couldn’t picture Marcoh dancing at all, but he wasn’t about to voice that thought aloud. Instead, he just smiled. “Well, maybe we can work on that a little,” he teased. He couldn’t help but take a final look back at where Caleb had run off, though, wondering what had gotten into him back then. He hated not knowing that Caleb was thinking!

[liam]

Liam carefully examined Caleb’s expression as he turned around to face him. For a moment the two of them stopped, and there was no movement on either part. Then, all at once, Caleb reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into a hug. While Liam was sure that this hug was purely out of friendship and nothing deeper, he couldn’t help but allow himself to get carried away by the gesture of friendship.

As Caleb’s arms reached around him his breath came to a halt, caught in his chest. In the absence of his own heartbeat he could feel the soft cadence of Caleb’s against his chest, and took in the moment for what it was worth before the older boy pulled back with a smile on his face again. He had missed seeing him every day at school and work, though he wouldn’t go so far as to admit that directly.

"I did, and I'm glad to hear I was missed."

“Well, of course you were! What did you expect?” he asked, as though it was impossible to think that Caleb’s absence would have gone unnoticed. “You’ll have to tell me all about it sometime! Sometime when we don’t have to scream over the thumpa-thumpa of the bass,” he added, smirking slightly. He tried so hard to be cool when he was around Caleb. Why must he get like this? It was stupid. They were just friends… nothing worth all this fuss. Still, he hadn’t seen him in so long. It had been surprisingly difficult for him.

((ooc- short, and lame, but I can’t think of anything. Bleh. ))

[grace]

There was little that Grace could do about her friend situation. Of course she had classes with some of the people here, but she didn't feel like she was really friends with any of them, even those who had been nice to her. No, she thought it was much safer to sit at one of the empty tables and allow people to decide to sit with the two of them. That way they wouldn't be intruding upon anything. She knew that several people had their tables planned out already, and she would have hated to ruin anything like that.

"Maybe an empty table would be best, for now," she pointed out, smiling. The two of them really were perfect for each other that night, as neither of them had anyone else to hang out with. She saw everyone else in their stunning dresses and high heels and felt a pang of jealousy. She couldn't wear heels because of the extra weight she was carrying with the baby; it would be too much for her poor feet. And anything other than a black dress had looked horrible on her. Still... she had come to terms with herself and her decision, and was determined to make the best of it.

As they came upon the first empty table she placed her purse down in front of a seat, claiming it as hers.

[Kyan Walker]

"If meeting the Evans brothers outside in half an hour to try to knock some sense into them is stupid, then yes I'm going to do something stupid," Kyan said calming himself down.

He was glaring over at Brad and his dumbass brother. Sure going two against one probably wasn't a very bright idea, but what the hell did he care. It wasn't like he'd had much choice in the matter. At least now things were on his terms.

[addison]

Addison Clark noticed the small confrontation occur and alerted the faculty who were there chaperoning the event. She didn't want anything to ruin this night for those who had worked so hard putting everything together and for those who ere just around to have fun. This was the part of working with teenagers that she hated the most.

Walking up to the stand with the microphone she tapped on it twice to get everyone's attention as the music stopped playing. "Excuse me," she said, ignoring the few groans. "It's time to announce the homecoming king and queen!" she said, smiling. "The envelope, please," she said, turning to whoever happned to be giving her the winning student's name.

"And this year's Homecoming Queen is..." she said slowly, opening the paper. "Viola Hastings!"

[Kyan Walker]

Kyan heard Viola's name called as winner for Homecoming Queen and felt himself fill with pride for his best friend. He knew she'd been in the running, and what with the sports and clubs she had been in he had believed she'd honestly stood a chance.

"Viola Hastings, you sly minx," he said, slapping her butt jokingly. "Go on up and get your crown."

[Viola Hastings]

Viola heard her name called and wasn't sure she'd initially heard right. But no, she'd won. She'd actually won. Hell yes! She turned around and kissed Kyan, than turned and made to do the same to Toby, but though better and kissed him on the cheek: they weren't close enough yet for an actual kiss. She then made her way forward to where the two previous Homecoming kids were.

The old Homecoming queen placed the tiara on her head and she grinned brightly. This was insane. . .ly awesome. Despite her lack of girly-ness, she had secretly hoped she won this. Didn't every girl? She waited to find out who the homecoming king was.