All Chapters of The Clay Connection: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

ANTHONY’S POVI stared at Anderson with my mouth hanging open, praying silently that for once he didn’t get anything on that stupid camera of his.“I didn’t realize you guys were…occupied. I’ll come back later, Tony,” he said and scurried off, but not before giving me a disapproving look. I hurried after him, abandoning Blake to deal with this new experience of kissing a boy even though it was just a surface touch.“Anderson, wait! Slow down!” I managed to catch up with him halfway through the hall. As if confirming his countenance from before, he gave me another disgruntled look.“What the hell Tony? Of all people to kiss, you chose Blake Lindell? The guy that bullies you with the rest of his douchebag friends? Have you forgotten what he did to you in ninth grade?”The mention of the Ninth-Grade Incident, as I liked to call it, puts me in a mood. I was immediately transported back to that moment in freshman year when my entire high school experience got ruined before I had the chance

ANTHONY’S POVMy head was spinning a bit and my hands were trembling slightly, but other than that I felt completely fine. Mr. Cornell along with the school’s nurse insisted that I went to the hospital so now I was lying in one of our town’s general hospital’s beds, watching the doctor as he stared at the EKG machine monitoring my heart rate.I turned my head to the side because I did not understand what the machine was displaying and I was a little bored. Blake was sitting by the window, his hair a little bit messy and falling all over the place. His face had a little more color now since the last time I looked at him in school. I wanted to be mad at him; after all it was his stupid friends that almost killed me, but I couldn’t because he saved me. And if he saved me, didn’t that mean he wasn’t part of their little murder-plan?“Well, you look fine Anthony. Your heart rate’s normal and all the swelling has gone down. Your airway is all cleared up too. That EpiPen really did help you

ANTHONY’S POV“I come late to class one time and you are already frolicking with the enemy,” Anderson said angrily and he stuffed his locker with his books and polaroid camera. He had been using that ever since his digital camera was stolen. Even after reporting the incident to the school authorities, not much was done about it. Now he had to work extra shifts at his after-school job to buy a new one.“Don’t be dramatic, Anderson. I wasn’t ‘frolicking’ with Blake. It was just a misunderstanding.”“It always is, isn’t it?” He faced me now, his brown hair falling into his eyes and making the angry green glow of them almost impossible to see clearly.“I almost fell over the foot pedal cord and he caught me. Trust me, I didn’t want to be engaged in an arm lock with Blake Lindell of all people.” He appraised me for a few seconds more, as if contemplating whether he could trust my story. Finally, he exhaled and nodded.“Okay. But I don’t like these near misses you keep having with him. It’s

ANTHONY’S POVMy hair was dripping wet and with a towel wrapped around my waist, I strolled lazily back to my room. I didn’t expect to see Blake clad in baggy sweats and an oversized black sweater, sitting on my bed, going through my music collection.“What the hell, Lindell? How’d you get in here?” I asked him, shutting the door behind me with a loud bang. He looked undisturbed by my outburst and just tossed aside my most prized vinyl like it was paper.“You have way too many vinyls, Pearce.”“What are you doing here?” I tried to sound intimidating, but that didn’t work on Blake. No one could intimidate him.“We need to talk Pearce,” he said calmly. I rolled my eyes and moved to my drawers, intent on getting my clothes and leaving my room if he insisted on staying put.“I’m not taking no for an answer Pearce.” I didn’t realize how close he’d gotten until I spun around and almost collided with his lips. He didn’t move at all and I was obstructed from moving backwards by the highboy. W

ANTHONY’S POVHe did not break up with Crystal.I groaned and rolled over on my bed as I listened to Blake and my sister through the now-magically-thin walls of my bedroom. They were so irritatingly sweet with each other I found myself gagging every once in a while. But inasmuch as I was getting severe second-hand embarrassment from all their sickening sweetness, it was absolutely nothing compared to the first-hand embarrassment I got from having shared my feelings with Blake earlier today.I hate being gay…I cringed so hard remembering this statement I made and screamed into my pillow. The lovely couple in the next room were too engrossed with each other to even pay me any heed.Why, oh why, did I say that? What was I thinking telling him that I hated being gay? He didn’t have to know that. In fact, he didn’t have to know any of the things I said to him!He probably thought I was crazy right then. Or maybe he really didn’t care that much about me so he wouldn’t even consider the wor