| Chapter 4 |
| �Hello?� �Hi, may I please speak to Justin?� �This is Justin.� �Oh, um, hi. This is Lance.� Justin grinned. �Hey Lance. What�s up?� �Well, nothing really. I was just, um, thinking about you, and I just picked up the phone and called,� Lance explained, sounding kind of embarrassed. �I�m glad you did cause I don�t have your number,� Justin replied, hinting that maybe he should have Lance�s number. �Do you want it?� Lance asked, getting the hint. �Yeah.� �Ok,� Lance responded, giving Justin his number. Then they were both quiet, neither sure what to say. �Are you busy today?� Justin finally asked, not sure how he�d managed to get that out. He seemed to get nervous when he was talking to Lance. But at the same time, he loved talking to Lance. �No, are you?� �Nope. You want to do something?� Justin asked. �Sure.� �Ok. What?� �Well, I don�t really know what there is to do. Maybe you could just give me a tour or something? We could go out to eat somewhere for lunch?� Lance suggested. �Ok, that sounds good. When will you be ready?� Justin asked. �Well, I�m ready now, so any time is good.� �All right� how about half and hour? I can be ready be then,� Justin suggested. �You remember where my house is?� Lance asked. �Yeah, I can get there.� �Ok, see you soon then!� Lance exclaimed, hoping he didn�t sound *too* excited. �Bye,� Justin said, waiting for Lance to say goodbye before hanging up the phone. He laid back on his bed with a sigh, but then realized that he only had half and hour to get ready. He went to start his shower, whistling happily. **** Lance had nothing to do while he waited for Justin, so he started getting nervous. It wasn�t like it was a date, it was two friends hanging out. Justin was going to show him around town, and they were going to grab lunch somewhere. Why was he making this to be more than it was? �Because I want it to be more,� Lance thought to himself. �But it�s not going to be,� he reminded himself. His mind and heart were conflicted, and he didn�t know what to do. He wanted to try to find something special with Justin, but he didn�t want to ruin what he thought was going to be an awesome friendship. He knew he�d just have to wait and see what happened. They�d only seen each other once after all. He�d only really been in a few relationships before, and none of them had been very serious. The guy he�d been with before he�d moved was a real asshole, and Lance was glad he was forced to move because he was able to get far away from him. He shivered, thinking of the night that he told Matthew that he was leaving for Florida. Matthew had been furious. He threw things, and he laughed if they hit Lance. Finally, he had left, leaving Lance sobbing in a corner of the room. Lance had been sad at the time, but now he was very thankful that he was able to get away from Matthew. His relationships before that had been short. A few guys he�d started relationships with just wanted sex, and Lance wasn�t about that. He wasn�t a virgin, he�d given himself to Matthew when he was pressured, but he knew that relationships shouldn�t be based on sex. He regretted giving his virginity to Matthew, but he knew that it hadn�t been special. They�d had sex; they hadn�t made love. Lance believed strongly that there was a difference between the two, and because of that, he decided that he really was a virgin � to making love. And that is what was important to him. He�d been lost in his thoughts for so long, that the doorbell rang, signaling that Justin was there to pick him up. He was glad he�d gotten ready early. He got up and went to answer the door. He smiled at Justin. �Hey.� �Hey yourself. You ready?� Justin asked. �Yeah, let�s go,� Lance replied, shutting the front door and following Justin to the car. �Where to first?� Justin questioned, buckling his seat belt and waiting for Lance to do the same before backing out of the driveway. �Um, well, why don�t you decide since I don�t know what there is,� Lance suggested. �Ok,� Justin agreed. �We could go to the mall, downtown where there�s lots of little shops, the park by the lake, the movies�� �Is the park downtown?� Lance asked. �Yeah,� Justin confirmed with a smile. �Let�s go to the shops and then to the park.� �Sounds good to me,� Justin said, driving towards the highway. They chatted on the way downtown, just enjoying each other�s company. Lance talked a little about his life in Indiana with Brandi. He had a lot of funny stories about Brandi and him when they were a little younger. Justin told Lance about his life in Orlando, and how he used to live in Tennessee. He touched on his parent�s divorce a little, but when Lance saw the pained look on his face, he changed the subject. Lance was so easy to talk to, and Justin felt comfortable telling him about his life. He noticed how Lance had changed the subject when he mentioned the divorce and was thankful. He always got either angry or sad when he talked about it, and he didn�t want to cry in front of, or yell at, Lance. He changed the subject to sports, one of his favorite things. �So, did you play any sports at your old school?� �No,� Lance replied, a little worried. He hoped that Justin would still like him if he sucked at sports. He�d heard that Justin was an awesome basketball and, well, everything else player. �Oh, why not?� Justin asked. �Well, to be honest, I suck at most every sport,� Lance admitted. �I�m sure you don�t, Lance.� �I�m sure I do,� Lance replied, laughing. �I promise. I always end up embarrassing myself.� �Well, I�m just going to have to teach you how to play. What do you want to learn the most?� Justin questioned. �You don�t have to teach me, Justin. I�m just fine being the geek,� Lance told him. �You�re not a geek. And besides, I like teaching people,� Justin responded, smiling. �Um, ok. Well, I�ve always thought basketball was cool,� Lance said, knowing that Justin would be excited that Lance was interested in his best sport. He also knew that Justin was one of the best, if not the very best player on the school team. If anyone could teach him, it would be Justin. �Really?� Justin exclaimed, obviously excited. Lance just smiled, nodding. �Actually, I have a ball in my trunk. We could play at the park today!� Justin said, grinning excitedly. �Oh, um,� Lance started, sort of regretting what he�d said. He didn�t want to embarrass himself in front of all the other people at the park. That would be a disaster. �Or we don�t have to,� Justin replied, sounding kind of disappointed. �Could we, maybe, play at your house or something? I just don�t want to embarrass myself in front of too many people,� Lance explained. Justin smiled. �Ohh, that�s why. I thought you just didn�t want to. Sure, we can go back to my house.� �Cool,� Lance agreed, knowing that he was going to embarrass himself later, but not caring at the moment. A few minutes later, Justin pulled into a parking spot on the street and led Lance to Church Street. They walked in and out of the shops, chatting about the things they saw. Justin bought something for each of his little brothers, and Lance bought something for Brandi. Then Justin dragged Lance into the sports store and insisted on buying him a basketball. �If you�re going to learn how to play, you might as well have a good ball,� was Justin�s reasoning, as he helped Lance pick out a good ball. Then, once Justin had bought the basketball, he led Lance to the park. It was pretty busy since school was out. It was right on the lake, a lake Lance hadn�t known was there, and it was very beautiful. There were a group of guys playing football, a couple throwing a frisby around, a few children chasing their dog, and bikers riding by. Justin told Lance to wait there and ran back to their car, which was close by. He came back with a blanket in his hand and a smile on his face. �I thought we�d need something to sit on,� he explained, spreading the blanket down and sitting down. Lance followed, wondering if the day could get any better. |