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Close Encounters
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The Forge dragons played two more games before the weekend of Seth’s show. They won both of them easily. It was starting to feel like they actually had a real chance, after all. Jacob’s ankle had pretty much recovered by the next day, and he had no problem playing on it. It could have been much worse, and it served as a bit of a wake-up call to the team both to be careful on the court.
The lobby outside the auditorium was sparsely populated. Jacob paid seven dollars for his ticket, and the girl on the other side of the table handed him a color program. He flipped through it while he waited for the auditorium doors to open. Jacob hadn’t ever gone to see a play before. He didn’t know anything about theater. It wasn’t his thing. He liked some television well enough, and he definitely liked movies, but his only experience with theater was the couple of times the youth of the
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Jacob waded through the crowd to the inconspicuous stage door. On the other side was a dimly lit hallway with doors to several rooms. One was labeled “Green Room” in hand scrawled marker. Jacob opened the door.The room was empty. Mirrors lined the walls with vanity lights along the top and a counter running underneath. There were a few plastic chairs scattered around the room. Jacob heard the door open and shut behind him.“Okay, talk,” commanded Seth.Jacob turned to see Seth glaring at him. The effect was likely not what Seth intended. Standing before Jacob was a glittering satyr with large ears sticking out from either side of his head. Jacob couldn’t hold back the laughter that bubbled up from his chest.Seth glared ev
Your Secret's Safe with Me The Long Ride Home
Jessica’s glare was icy.“Whoa, okay,” Jacob said, placating her ire. “We can talk.”They moved out of the way of the bathroom entrance into a small alcove in the hall.“What's this about?” he asked innocently.“Oh, you know exactly what this is about. I know your type.” She stabbed her index finger at his chest.Jacob stepped out of her reach with his hands up in front of him protectively. “I don’t know what you’ve heard-”“You better not be messing with him. If you hurt him, I will come after you. He’s been through enough,” she spat bitterly.
Your Secret's Safe with Me Keeping the Upper Hand
Jacob sat with Sarah during the service again on Sunday. She wove her fingers through his tightly. Sarah invited him back to her house afterwards, since her parents were going to brunch with some of their friends. She seemed nervous, but Jacob assumed it was because she was showing him her room for the first time. When they got to her room, she closed the door behind him and leaned up against it, almost as if she were trapping him inside. “What do you want to do?” he asked innocently. She had a look in her eyes that he recognized, but which scared him for the first time since his first time. He was nearly always the one being pursued, so he had become used to that look of hunger. For much of his high school life, he had given in easily. He didn’t dislike it. It always felt good enough; he just never sought it out. Things felt different now.
Your Secret's Safe with Me Red Briefs
Tuesday, November thirteenth. Why did big things always seem to happen on a Tuesday? Jacob mused as he walked up the sidewalk to Seth’s front door. He wasn’t even sure anything big would happen today, but he hoped it would. He still didn’t know what would make an appropriate birthday gift, but he carried a small box with two cupcakes, at least. He had felt so confident the day before. Red hot embarrassment crept up his spine, remembering what he’d said. He felt so cool in the moment, but thinking back on it, it surprised him Seth hadn’t burst out laughing. Seth had just kept looking at him with that burning intensity - until the bell rang and they rushed back to class. Jacob knocked on the green front door. The air was crisp, and Jacob noticed ice crystals were forming on the bare, un-kept rose bushes that lined the front of the townhouse. The doo
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Sweat pooled between the two boys. Jacob could feel Seth’s heavy breaths against his ear. He felt weak, and at peace, and he panted as he lifted himself up. Seth looked up at him with wide blue eyes.“Was that okay?” Jacob asked.“Yeah…” Seth panted, without breaking eye contact.Jacob rolled over onto his side so he wouldn’t be putting his weight on Seth anymore. They lay in silence for a time, breathing deeply and enjoying the quiet calm after their experience. Jacob snaked an arm under Seth and pulled him close. Seth put an arm over him and squeezed.Finally, Seth broke the silence, “Is that how it’s supposed to be?”Jacob laughed. “I don’
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It was pouring rain on the early Thursday morning of the Forge Dragon’s departure. Jacob’s mom insisted on driving him so he wouldn’t get soaked on the way. Alice sat in the back seat, waiting to be dropped off at her elementary school. Normally, they both walked, since they lived so close to both schools, but on rainy days, the Mom-Mazda-Express got them where they needed to go. “It’s really coming down out there,” his mom observed. With the wipers off, the view out the windows was just splotches of undefined color. “You should have an umbrella.” She reached over and dug around on the floor near Jacob’s feet. “Mom, I have one. Don’t worry,” he said. He pulled his umbrella from the side pocket of his backpack to show her. “Of course,” she sighed, looking at him like she was missing the small boy she u
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Jacob trailed delicate kisses up Seth’s front to the sweet melody of Seth’s moans. He held himself above Seth until Seth opened his eyes and smiled, and then he crushed his mouth to Seth’s again. Seth coiled his fingers in Jacob’s hair as their tongues danced.The adrenaline from the game coursed through both of them. Jacob basked in Seth’s excitement at basketball. Gratefulness that Seth could share his passion coursed through him like waves of electricity. Jacob’s identity had always been so intertwined with his love of basketball that watching Seth fall in love with the game was indistinguishable from watching Seth fall in love with him. For the moment, the two feelings were inseparable. Seth loved basketball, which meant Seth loved him, whether or not he ever said it.Seth pressed his groin up against him with
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CONTENT WARNING: Depiction of Panic Attacks and anxietySarah stood in the doorway, as white as a ghost.“Sarah! What are you doing here?!” Seth gasped, gripping the sheets around his nakedness.“You left your key at lunch,” she said, obviously at a loss.“So you decided to just fucking come in?!” Seth was shouting. Jacob couldn’t make any words come to mind, so it amazed him that Seth could form complete sentences at all.“I knocked… I didn’t think… how could I…” Sarah clamped her mouth shut. She was holding the offending key in her hand. She dropped it like it was white hot and stared at it as if she didn&rsquo
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“Come on! If we get going now, we will get in before midnight!” Seth called from outside.Jacob shouldered his way through the front door with the last box of his belongings. “You know we’ll end up hitting traffic, anyway. The maps don’t tell you about traffic that doesn’t exist yet.” “All the more reason to get going,” Seth said as he shoved a box over to make room for Jacob’s last contribution. Jacob pushed his box into the tetris of luggage that was held in place by sheer luck. They forced the hatchback closed together, grunting in unison with one last push to get it to latch. They had bought it together a week ago; their first purchase together, though it was in Jacob’s name since Seth didn’t have a license. Having completed their packing, they leaned against the back window to catch their breath. This was it. Everything was done.Two weeks ago, Jacob had walked across the auditorium stage for the first and last time, collecting his diploma before taking a seat among the gradua
Your Secret's Safe with Me Rest of Our Lives
Jacob couldn’t believe it. He grasped Seth’s hand as the nurses checked his vitals and wrote things on charts. Seth’s gaze darted around wildly, but always came back to Jacob. The feeding tube down his throat prevented him from speaking, but he occasionally made scared sounds that sounded to Jacob almost like a whimper. “It’s okay,” Jacob kept saying. “You’re okay now.” He was overwhelmed with joy that Seth was awake, but his heart ached that there was nothing he could do to make this easier for Seth. Nurses ran in and out of the room, bringing new equipment. The instruments on the cart beside Seth’s bed had calmed down to a steady rhythm of beeps. Seth’s doctor came in. He checked the monitors, then turned to Seth. “It’s good to see you finally with us, son,” he said. “I’m going to take the tube from your throat now, if that’s alright.” He gently lifted the mask from Seth’s face. Seth squeezed Jacob’s hand. “I need you to continue to breathe slowly and evenly. Breath with the
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Jacob knew they were in trouble as soon as the two teams circled up on the court. There wasn’t a single player on the Hillcrest team shorter than Derek, Forge’s tallest player. They were outfitted to win. Hillcrest attracted players who were planning to go professional, and they looked the part.Derek stood in the center circle for the tipoff, dwarfed by the opposing Center. The dude had to be at least seven feet tall. The ref tossed the ball. Derek jumped, but the other center’s height was too much of an advantage. Hillcrest’s center, number seventeen, tapped the ball to his teammates, and they dribbled down the court. Blocking such tall players proved challenging as well. They made every pass and shot they took. Forge depended on rebounds to get possession of the ball. Sweat poured down Jacob’s face. Luckily, Forge used Hillcrest’s height against them on offense. Jacob remembered the low passes that short players on other teams had used to evade his block, and he made liberal use
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Jacob rolled over and fumbled with his phone to stop the blaring alarm. It was in the wrong place. The table beside his bed was too low. As the fog of sleep faded, he remembered why. This wasn’t his room, or side table, or bed. This was Seth’s room. Jacob grabbed Seth’s pillow and pulled it over his face, inhaling Seth’s familiar and calming scent. He ached to be able to roll over and bury his face in Seth’s curls. It was Saturday, but he was up early because it was game day two of the state championships. They had not gone out to celebrate their win versus Preston last night. One win was pointless if they couldn’t win them all. They had agreed as a team to save their celebrations for when they won the final game.Today, they were playing the Century Diamondbacks from Pocatello. They were a good team. They even had one player scouted to the University of Kentucky a couple of years back. Jacob heard that that player was already being courted by the NBA. Century didn’t have that playe
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The gym was cacophonous as the team trotted to the court for the first huddle. The announcer called the names for the starting line-up for Preston over the noise of the crowd, while James gave last moment notes to the team.“Remember, Jacob will be on the weak side. I will dribble for a pick and roll. Charlie, I want you under the strong-side basket. If Jacob is blocked, I’ll pass to you for a jump shot. If I can’t get it to either of you, Bret will be in the paint, and we’ll relay the ball to one of you.”With a shout of “Forge!” the team broke off and lined up for the announcer’s call.On the court, Charlie stood in the center facing Preston’s number fourteen, a seven foot tall slender kid, named Chet Harper. The referee blew the whistle, and both C
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Jacob pushed through the doors of the long-term ward at West Valley Medical center. Seth was in the back corner of a communal room with a curtain pulled around his bed, creating a private space roughly the size of Jacob’s bedroom at home. Not at home. He couldn’t go back there. He didn’t have a home anymore. He had slept in Seth’s bed, at Seth’s house, for the last few nights.Seth had been moved to the long-term ward after twenty-four hours of observation for complications of his surgery.Seth lay on the hospital bed, as still as the dead except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. He wore a mask with tubes connected to a beeping tower of computers. Sensor wires sprouted from a mesh cap pulled down over Seth’s trademark curls and connected to another computer. On the monitor, several lines ticked zigzags across the
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Stale, musky air met Jacob when he pushed through the doors to the locker room. He was early, as usual, having bolted from class as soon as the bell rang. Most of the rest of the team would take a break before heading for the locker rooms, but not Jacob. Calm washed over him as he breathed the familiar scent. He felt at home. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. So much had changed. He had missed this room, this smell, this familiarity.He found his locker and dialed in the combination. His uniform was still there. He pulled his shirt over his head and slipped the jersey on. Number 33. Kobe’s number in high school. Small details seemed to matter more when you realized how short life could be.Jacob was tying his shoes when the rest of the team rolled into the locker room, echoing chatter off the walls. Jacob looked up, but they
Your Secret's Safe with Me You're Gonna Be Okay
Beep.Beep.Beep.The rise and fall of the electrocardiogram signaled Seth’s beating heart.Jacob and Mark sat in silence on opposite sides of the bed. Both watched Seth’s peaceful face as his chest slowly rose and fell with each breath.Beep.Beep.Beep.Jacob’s own heart beat in double time. He wanted to say something. He wanted to apologize again, but Mark wouldn’t hear it. Mark had already told him more than once that it wasn’t his fault; that he had nothing to apologize for, but Jacob still couldn’t make himself believe it. The only reason Seth
