Chapter 2

Two

Will

" Fuck! " Will cursed, quietly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

He had just shut the front door to his tiny studio apartment and he stood in his kitchen, swearing. His landlord had come to tell him that instead of being able to stay the next two weeks as planned, Will needed to get out of the apartment within two days. Two days! Will was sure this was in breach of some sort of renter's policy, but he had already pissed off his landlord so much in the past year that he couldn't exactly fight it.

"My landlord is kicking me out of the apartment IN TWO DAYS!! " he texted his friend Maya.

" LOL, that's what you get for bringing over guys all the time and playing your dumb music til 4am every night this year," Maya texted back, and Will knew she was right.

Will took a deep breath, craned his neck back, and ran a hand through his soft brown hair. He tried to go through his mental list of people he knew, to see if he could stay with anyone for a few days before flying home to Arizona. Luckily, he had already sold or packed up almost everything he owned, and just needed a roof over his head for a couple days.

I'm totally fucked , he thought. Everyone had already graduated and left by now, off to travel Europe or start their new jobs. Will had nothing lined up. He had been an art major and loved every minute of it. But now that graduation had passed and reality was smacking him hard in the face, he found himself with no prospects. His only immediate plan was his flight back to Arizona, which was where he had grown up. He'd have to move back in with his parents, which filled him with deep shame, and filled his parents with an equal amount of disappointment.

He scrolled through his phone, trying to find anyone he knew that might still be in town. He was scrolling through when he noticed Freddie's name. He had remembered seeing Freddie just the night before at the burger place down the street. He was probably still in town.

Yes! He thought, immediately dialing the number. He asked the favor, and after overhearing Freddie convince his roommate through a muffled phone, he couldn't believe when the answer was yes. Awesome . He felt a wave of relief wash over him. He would stay in Freddie's old apartment for a few days, and be out of there and back to Arizona by the end of the week.

After the chaos of the morning, the rest of the afternoon passed slowly, languidly. Will laid on his couch after calling Freddie, right in front of his two big box fans. It was such a hot afternoon, and he found himself lulled to sleep on the couch, napping for hours in the breeze.

He woke later with a start, looking at his phone and realizing it was already almost 8:00 pm. Normally by this time he'd be holed up in the art studio, working on his newest drawing or painting, or he'd already be hanging out with friends, starting to drink and get ready to go out for the night. But classes were over, and his friends were all gone.

He got up, used the bathroom, and took a cool shower. The water fell over his lean, fit body and he felt completely refreshed. Alright, I've got to do something with my night , he thought.

He got ready and then headed out to the downtown area of the small college town. It was usually vibrant, full of life and students, but now it had a sleepy, summer vibe. People were still there, but not nearly as many as usual. Will found it both sad and peaceful, a bittersweet way to spend his final nights in town.

He walked down the cobblestone sidewalk. The night had become far less sweltering. With a breeze, it was almost nice. Will aimlessly walked down the street, then decided to duck into one of his favorite clubs, Opal. It was one of only two gay clubs in the entire town, and Will had gone with some frequency during his senior year of college. It was probably too early in the night for anything fun to be going on, but he figured he'd get a beer, at least do something with his time.

The club was nearly empty. There were about five people sitting around the bar, but beyond that it was dead. Behind the bar, he saw Jaden. He had hooked up with Jaden earlier in the year, and had high hopes that it could turn into something more. It clearly wasn't what Jaden had in mind. He considered immediately turning around and walking back out the front door, but he took a deep breath and sat down at the bar anyway.

"Hey, Jaden," he said softly, "I'll take a beer. Don't really care which one."

Jaden nodded and cracked open a cold bottle for Will.

"I'm surprised you're even still here in town," Jaden said, not smiling. "Any plans now that you're all graduated?"

"I'm headed back to Arizona. Other than that, not really. Hopefully I can start to look for gallery jobs or something, but I hear it's kinda hard to get those nowadays," Will said, annoyed that Jaden had brought it up. He chugged half of the beer at once.

Jaden smiled. "It's ok, kid. Maybe someday you'll be a big successful artist. Don't let living in your parents' basement stop you from dreaming!" he said, laughing.

"What the fuck , Jaden?" Will said, angry. "You don't need to be a fucking asshole about it. At least I'm getting the hell out of this town, which I can't say for you. Still here, trying to hook up with college boys after all these years." Will knew he was cutting deep, but Jaden had really hurt him. Will had thought they were dating for about a month, only to discover that Jaden had been fucking not one, but two other "straight," closeted dudes behind his back.

He knew he shouldn't have bothered sitting down at the bar with Jaden there. He chugged the rest of the beer, slapped a five dollar bill on the bar, and left.

Dejected, he ambled aimlessly once again down the street. The sun had set completely at this point, and he saw fireflies gathered around the shrubs and trees. He kicked an empty water bottle down the street as he walked.

He passed by another bar that seemed much more full and inviting. He sighed deeply.

"Okay, let's try this again," he said, attempting to do something other than just go home, masturbate, and sleep yet again.

He entered the bar. It was old, and sort of like a dive-bar, but nicer. The seats and booths were made of worn out wood and there were popcorn and pinball machines in the back. The people inside seemed relaxed and happy, and Will assumed most of them must have been grad students that lived in the area.

He ordered another beer at the bar and then headed to the back to grab a pinball machine. He rarely played games like this, but pinball was always fun to him. He had been playing for five minutes when a guy came up to the second pinball machine next to him and started playing. After a few minutes, Will realized the guy was good, really good at the game, and had been playing with the same ball the whole time. When Will played pinball, he ended up needing a new ball every 30 seconds. When Will's game was over, he turned to watch the other guy.

"Holy shit man, you are fucking awesome at that!" Will said, amazed. He looked up at him and realized the guy was hot, too. He had short, light brown hair, and was muscular. He must have been some sort of athlete or jock, but he also had a kindness to his face that Will didn't usually see in jock types. Calm down , Will thought to himself, there's no way in hell this guy isn't straight .

The guy laughed when he heard Will's praise.

"Yeah, I played a ton of pinball as a kid. Guess I've just got good hand-eye coordination or something," he said, never taking his eyes away from the ball.

"Yeah you really must. Are you an athlete or something?" Will asked, curious.

The guy paused while he got the ball out of a complex spot, then answered.

"Uh, yeah, I've played soccer for years. Pinball's just fun, though," he answered. Will laughed, and leaned over. He decided to be bold.

"Well, you certainly do look hot playing it," he said, flirty.

The guy made eye contact with Will for the first time, shocked, and his pinball flew down the bottom of the machine, losing him the game.

"Huh?" he said, looking at Will questioningly.

"Sorry, sorry, I know I'm too forward. I should have known you were straight," Will said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's just so hard to meet cute guys around here, especially now that everyone's gone."

The guy looked at him, and seemed really uncomfortable.

"Uh, yeah, sorry man, but I'm not into dudes," he said. Will looked into his eyes, which were a beautiful deep brown. He really was cute for a jock, he thought. Too bad .

"Yeah, I figured. It's okay. Have a good night!" Will said, and turned away. He looked around the bar, finishing his beer. He saw mostly couples hanging out, with a few pairs of women and professors in their fifties. There was no one who looked like they might be willing to go home with him tonight. Well, that's my cue to leave , he thought, and went to put his empty beer on the bar.

He walked home, the night now clear with a cool breeze. His heart ached. He was lonely, and was sure he would never find success after college, let alone love.

When he got home, he splayed out in bed and masturbated, though he had hoped he wouldn't have to that night. He found the image of the beautiful brown-eyed jock floating into his fantasy, and as he came, he pictured coming into that straight guy's mouth.

He drifted off to sleep afterward, alone and exhausted.