Thr Forgotten Love

Chapter 1-College Bound

My name is Alec; I am a newly outed seventeen-year-old homosexual. I am tall, muscular, and very athletic. I have Dark blonde hair Dark blue eyes. I am always outside doing work so I have a very even tan tone. I found love in my childhood friend, and neighbor, Mikel. He is also an athletic person. He had Light blonde hair ocean blue eyes. We grew up together, we've lived next door to each other for my whole life and played every day. Back when we were younger our relationship was that of two kids just being friends. How were we to know that as we got older our friendship would blossom into something much more? This is a story about me and my close friend and how our friendship grew into love in a place where it is frowned upon and where there are many obstacles between us. This is my story, a story about the forgotten love.

It was the end of my junior year of high school. I was planning on going to my neighbors all boys' continuous school, Harrington's School for Boys. The school was building a public university on its grounds. The university was going to offer a variety of degrees that students of the city could attend.

But anyway, I was in the gym practicing my Taekwondo skills because I was agitated and practicing would help to calm and clear my head. Just as I was going through the beginning of my fighting stances, I felt someone watching me. As I did one of my turning kicks I caught a glance of who it was up on the higher level of the gym. The male who held his gaze upon me had striking long blonde hair. He had the bluest ocean eyes I have ever seen. As I turned again to see the person watching me, I noticed that it was Mikel. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that he had his phone out. I started right into a very complicated sequence that I created, showing him and only him. He noticed me and I saw his eyes go wide with recognition. A huge grin spread across his face and he called out my name.

"Alec!" he called out.

As he saw me respond to my name, he ran down the steps to the ground floor and straight into my arms. As we hugged the room seemed to spin and disappear. We separated and started to walk to the locker room so that I could shower and get rid of the sweat I worked up. As I showered he asked me how everything was going in public school. I told him that I was no longer attending public school.

"Why?" Mikel had said with a shocked tone.

"I am tired of public school and have decided to finish my schooling at a private all boys school." I spoke as I felt more refreshed from the water trickled down my back.

Mikel looked at me puzzled before speaking. "Saint John's School for Boys?"

"Nope, one closer than that and not religious." I answered.

Mikel looked at me for a moment then his eyes opened wide and a grin spread across his face. I smiled back at him and he knew right then and there that we were now class mates.

"Are you going to stay at your parents' house or in the dorms?" I told him to ask his dad because he knew what my choice was.

After I finished showering we headed to Mikel's dad's office. Once there Mikel hounded his father to tell him where I would be staying.

"Well he is staying at the dorms, Mikel. He is your new roommate." His father said with a smile. Mikel about fell over with an excited expression plastered on his face, before he looked over to me with a grin.

We left his dad's office and headed outside to the parking lot; which was very silent and eerie due to the lack of population. By the time, we got to the vehicle, we hadn't realized it was so late until I looked at the time.

"Do you want to help me get my stuff to move into the dorm." I asked as he looked at me in awe.

"You have your own car?"

"Yes, I do, it happens to a Prius."

"Shit I just got my license and my dad won't buy me a car yet."

"Well my mom and dad met me halfway. I had to get a job to make the payments on it and they would make the down payment and the first two payments."

"You have a job; where at?"

"I work as janitor at Alchemy Hair Salon. I mainly clean the hair off the floor. I started last year."

"You are a shift manager?"

"Hell no, I can't even get promoted until I get out of school."

My car was powder blue with flowers on it. Mikel stared at it with disbelief as I pulled out my keys and unlocked it. We both got in and I drove it to my parents' house where my dad helped us move my things to the car. While up in my room, Mikel was looking at my queen-sized waterbed and he asked me if it was going too, I said yes.

"There won't be much room left over in the bedroom with my twin-size bed and your queen."

"We can share my bed like when we were younger and you can leave your twin bed at home if you want." He laughed and smiled at me. "Well you're right. I can't deny that. But with both of us older I think sharing your bed will be very weird."

He looked over at me and saw me staring at the ground. "What's wrong, Alec?"

"There is something I have to tell you, Mikel."

"What?"

"This is really hard for me to say but I am going to just say it. I am gay, I like guys and I just came out this last school year. That's why I was in the gym. You know how practicing my Taekwondo helps to calm me down and distract me."

Mikel looked at me with a surprised expression on his face. When I looked up at him he was smiling at me. "I could care less if you were straight, gay or not interested in anyone. You are my best and closest friend; our friendship won't change."

"Well there is more I have to tell you and it's what got me frustrated in the first place." I said as the word were starting to feel like throw-up in my throat.

"What is it?"

I looked him in the eyes and told him that I liked him more than a friend. He became very quiet and I feared that I had just ended our friendship. Suddenly, he got up and walked over, hugging me. I was in complete shock.

"I have feelings for you too, Alec. I just haven't really figured out my sexuality yet." Mikel said; with the feeling of dismay.

"Is that why when we were kids I was the only one you would play with?"

"No, you were the closest person, other than my family, to me. You were like a brother when we were younger. As we got older my feelings towards you changed from being like a brother to me to being my first crush." Mikel looked at me without saying a word the whole time I was explaining to him.

"Have you ever kissed a guy or a girl to know for sure if you're gay or not, Alec?"

"No I have never kissed anyone but my mom and dad good night. I have been too scared of how I would feel and how others would react." Mikel placed his lips on mine. His lips soft and tasted of sweet honey. I didn't know what to expect of my first kiss, let alone with a boy and it being the boy I like too. It felt right; a lot more than I thought it would and it felt so good that I was sad when it had ended.

"How did that feel?" I looked at Mikel, smiling.

"It felt right and so good. I honestly can't believe how right it feels."

"I know what you mean. It felt like we are supposed to be together like we were one with each other." He smiled at me and we finished packing up everything I was bringing to the dorm room. After Mikel and I finished bringing in everything from the car, we arranged everything in our dorm room and put everything away. There were now two TV's in our room, Mikel's was in the living room and mine was in our bedroom.

Later that night, after we got back from dinner, we were on my water bed watching Supernatural. I was lying on my stomach with my pillow under my arms and chest and Mikel was sitting next to me but he wasn't looking at the television at all, but at my torso where I had four long scars on my back and a scar on my left shoulder. I felt him place his hand on my back and gently start tracing the scars with his index finger. Where he touched my scars, there was a tingling feeling, I looked back at him and saw he had tears in his eyes. He didn't notice that I was watching him; continuing to trace the scars.

"You know it was a freak accident that I got those, it isn't your fault." I had said as he looked at me and just about started crying.

"If I hadn't begged you to go camping at the cove then we wouldn't have been attacked by a pack of coyotes."

"Mikel, nothing could have told us that they were out there and they were injured and desperate for food."

"But you were jumped from behind by one."

"I managed to get it off me and get out my knife. Luckily the backpack was there to protect my back."

"Your knife was in your bag so you had to take it off. And even if you managed to severely hurt one, you were attacked from behind again by the other. Your bag wasn't there to protect your back or your shoulder."

"But you came to my aid and scared it off with that big branch. When you called your dad to take us both to the hospital to get my back and shoulder tended to, we both were checked for rabies."

He looked at me and just cried. I sat up and pulled him into my arms. "If it wasn't for you I would have been hurt even worse and the animal control wouldn't have known there were a pack of coyotes out there in the forest."

He cried for what seemed like forever and I just held him close to me, comforting him. Mikel started to calm down and looked up at my face. His eyes really looked like oceans now and I couldn't help myself. I lowered my head and our lips touched, kissing again. Our lips separated and he wrapped his arms around my chest. I wrapped mine around his and laid us both down on the bed and we both drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when I woke up, Mikel's back was to me and my arm was around his waist. I started to sit up just as Mikel started to stir. We both got up out of bed and we got changed to head toward the cafeteria to eat breakfast with everyone else that stayed at the school for the summer or part of it.

After breakfast, we decided to take my car to the lake and go swimming. It wasn't long until other people started to show up at the lake. When I looked at Mikel for any reaction, he seemed uneasy and I knew he did not want to be bothered. We got back into the car and drove off towards the cove. As we got near the cove I turned to park my car on the side of the road before getting out.

"Where are, we going, Alec?" Mikel had asked.

"We are going to where I have been wanting to go all my life. I have been researching this place since my sophomore year in high school." I had said with a gleaming smile on my face. We took our things out of the car and started to head down the side of the cove. As we got closer to the bottom I could see the sparkle in Mikel's eyes grow brighter as we had reached the lagoon.

The lagoon was a large lake near a hiking path with a nearby creek flowing into it. The water was nice and clear and the wildlife around the lagoon was just as amazing. We were the only ones to know about this lagoon as far as we knew. The lagoon was crystal clear all the way to the bottom. The average temperature in the summer was 75 degrees. It was in a clearing and was always hit by the sun. As we walked up a few deer that were drinking ran off towards the woods.

We had finally reached the beach of the lagoon. It was there that we stripped down and entered the water. We swam in the lagoon till the sun started to set. Soon enough we got dressed and walked back up to the car. When we got there, we headed to get something to eat.

We arrived back at the dorms and entered our room, changing into clean clothes. We went outside to the park for about an hour. When we went back to our room, we gathered everything we needed for the showers. We headed out and once there we showered together and rinsed the days' events away.

A few weeks later my phone went off, about noon one day. When I answered it the voice of my best friend, Tressa, came on from the other line. We talked for what seemed like hours about how things were going so far and how different it would be with me not going to public school anymore. As we were getting close to the end of our conversation, Mikel walked in and overheard us saying we should get together and maybe go swimming or something.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked curiously.

"My friend, Tressa."

"Oh, why don't you ask her to come swimming with us tomorrow at the cove?" I looked at him and then asked her. She got excited and told me to pick her up at noon tomorrow so that we all can go get lunch and drive to the cove to go swimming afterwards. I told her that I would see her tomorrow and hung up the phone.

Mikel looked at me and asked what Tressa was like. I told him that she was very outgoing and very open. When he asked me what I meant I told him that she will go up to a person and tell them what is on her mind even if it is offensive or not. He looked at me and said that he was worried now about meeting her. I just laughed; I also told him that around her he can't hide the fact that he does like guys because she can tell.

"She knew that I was gay even before I did."

"Are you serious?" Mikel had said astonishingly. I looked right at him and said that I was.

"She will be able to tell we have feelings for each other too."

"Well I guess I better come out now to everyone then!" Mikel had said with a laugh, making me laugh as well.

I went out for a while to get a little fresh air and when I got back I found Mikel asleep on our bed wearing only a pair of low cut boxer briefs. I got undressed and climbed in next to him and kissed him goodnight.

We had woken up around nine in the morning and had gotten breakfast and went for a jog. Eleven came rolling around I told Mikel that we should be heading towards Tressa's house. When we got to her house she jumped into the car and shouted at me to drive as if I was a getaway driver.

"Hello to you too, Tressa." As I started to move her mom came out onto the porch and shouted down to us, the music far too loud for us to make out exactly what she was saying.

Tressa asked where in the world we were going when I pulled into the parking lot of the cove. "We are going to a cove that you can only reach by going this way." Mikel told her.

"Wait who are you?" Tressa had asked.

"Tressa this is Mikel, the guy I told you about. We have known each other for years."

"Oh, that guy the one you have a huge crush on." I looked at Mikel with an I-told-you-so look and he laughed. As we got to the beach there at the cove, we saw a few people diving from the cliff faces around the cove.

"I have always thought that they were nuts for doing that." Mikel said. Tressa turned to him and asked if he would be willing to do it? He stiffened and shook his head.

"I would, it looks like fun." I had said as I walked toward the registration booth. Mikel looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"You would seriously cliff dive?" Mikel asked with fear in his eyes.

"Yeah, why not?" I had said with exhilaration.

"But what if you get hurt?" I smiled at him.

"Why do you care if he gets hurt? Tressa asked Mikel.

"Because I care for him and don't want him to hurt himself." Mikel said, defensively.

"I will be fine, Mikel." Tressa turned toward me and looked at me like I have done something very wrong.

"Do you want me to videotape you doing it, Alec?" Tressa asked.

"Yes." I answered. Tressa grabbed her camera and shouted at me 'Action'. When I got to where everyone was jumping I pulled my shirt off and handed it to Mikel. He went down the trail and stood next to Tressa. I waved to let her know which person was me and then I jumped off. On the way, down I did a spinning flip and sliced through the water. I resurfaced and swam towards them. I stood up in the shallow water and Jayden ran to me and rammed me back into the water. We both laughed as we got back up and we walked up to where Tressa was standing still recording. She stopped and played the video for me to see my dive. We then all entered the water and swam for about an hour. We climbed back out and all sat on the big blanket I brought.

I was lying on my stomach with my head near Mikel's waist. I was falling asleep as he was gently running his hand through my hair. As I was drifting off I heard them talking about me. Tressa asked Mikel why I seemed so tired, he told her that for the last couple of weeks he has woken up to find me in the living room of our dorm looking out the window unable to sleep and looking as if I was looking for something. She was very surprised to hear that.

"That is very unusual for him."

"Tell me about it. It is almost as if he is worried something will happen to us. I have tried talking to him about it but he just blows it off. I am not sure why."

They both looked at me when Tressa all the sudden noticed the scars fully and then asked Mikel where did the scars come from on my back.

"About five years ago, in July, I asked him if he wanted to go camping with me for the weekend. He said yes and my dad went to get him and proceeded to drop us both off at the camp ground. While we were starting to pitch our tent, a pack of coyotes came running at us from the woods and attacked. Alec was the closest to them so they attacked him first. One jumped and grabbed his backpack trying to get at his back. He flung it off him and at the same time managed to draw his knife out of his backpack. He readied himself for it to attack again and when it lunged at him he struck out with his knife. The blade hit the coyote in the chest mortally wounding it. But as he was busy with the one the other jumped on his back and did this to his back and his left shoulder."

"Wow, I have seen the bite when he wore a tank top before but I didn't really believe him when he said it was from a coyote and that there were scars of claw marks down his entire back."

"Well as he has reminded me when I blame myself for his injuries is that I saved his life because if I hadn't grabbed a fallen branch and started to beat the animal he would have been hurt a lot worse. After I got it from him I chased it to the tree line and called my dad. He came as fast as he could and got the both of us and took us straight to the hospital. I suffered some minor scrapes and bruises but it took a bunch of stitches to close the wounds in his back and his shoulder."

"With the damage done to his shoulder from the bite, the doctors said he might have never been able to use that arm again. They were amazed at how his recovery went. He proved that he was able to use his left arm again to its full extent."

Tressa looked at him and asked; "You really care about him, don't you?"

He looked at her and said, "Yes I do."

"Then why don't you admit it to him and start dating him." He looked down at me and sighed.

"Believe me, I want nothing more than to do that. But it is my parents. I know his parents don't care that he is gay and they support him to the fullest. My parents on the other hand don't even know that he is otherwise they would have a fit."

"Are they that homophobic?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. They are religious and believe it is a sin to be with someone of the same sex. It isn't so much the being gay but the being with another of the same sex and having sex is what they are against."

She shook her head and told him that that was stupid. I moved to reposition myself closer to Mikel. He then repositioned himself to where I was on my back between his legs and my head was resting on his gut. I opened my eyes just as he wrapped his arms around my neck squeezing me. I wrapped my arms around his back and neck pulling his head down for a kiss. Just as we kissed Tressa took a picture of us. I looked at her and flipped her off. She just laughed at me and said to give him tongue. Mikel and I both looked at her after she said that and we started to yell at her.