Pretend You're Someone Else (Chap. 5)

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ID: 1727540   (Rated: 18+) Pretend You're Someone Else  A man hides a secret from his family and has no clue that his son has the same secret. by KAT26/Adrian--Published!

Part One

Chapter Five

August-1971

Avoy, Georgia

"Can't you tell? I'm flirting with you, baby?"

         "So, what do you do for fun around here?"

         Startled, Peter raised his eyes and stared at Robert in surprise. The two boys were eating lunch outside under the pine trees.

         Flashing back, Peter pondered on how quickly the new kid accepted him as his friend. An hour before lunch began he had nervously approached Robert in Advanced English and asked if he needed someone to show him around the school. Remembering the fascinated look that he was given when Mrs. Carol introduced him to the class, Peter assumed that he should be the one to give Robert the "grand tour."

         The new kid's face seemed to light-up and Peter felt awkward as he was looked over from top to bottom. How he loathed when strangers did that! It felt like he was unfairly being judged on his expensive clothes instead of his courteous personality.

         Robert must have liked what he saw because he just laughed and replied, "Sure!"

         For the next twenty-minutes Peter gave his friend a tour. The only school in Avoy was a three-story, brick, cold all-year-round, and in everyone's opinion, the ugliest school ever built. The principal presided over the first floor Elementary, second floor Junior high and third floor High School. Peter hated it and by the sneers on Robert's face, so did he.

         When lunch break rolled around, the two boys made their way to the cafeteria. Peter bought his daily glass of iced tea, while Robert made quite a scene by asking for a cup of black coffee.

         "Why is everyone staring at me?" Robert asked as they maneuvered their way through the crowd of curious eighth-graders.

         "Because there is only one person here who drinks coffee and she's kind of weird."

         The two of them finally made it outside, where they settled underneath a cluster of pine trees. Peter opened up his tin lunch box, pulled out a peanut butter sandwich and began tearing it up into six pieces. He didn't like to eat the whole thing at the same time. Robert just sat in pristine silence, mixing packets of artificial cream and sugar into his coffee.

         "Well," Robert finally answered. "Whoever this girl is, I bet everyone buys a cup tomorrow."

         Peter paused to take a bite before replying.

         "Her name is Stacey and to be honest nobody really likes her. I've tried to be her friend and so has everyone else. It's so strange because she won't open up to anyone."

         Robert just shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps she's shy? Maybe it's low self-esteem? Trust me, people will clam-up over anything. It's always interesting to find out why."

         Robert took a sip of coffee while Peter glanced over his new friend. There was something quite interesting about him. He was smart, confident and said whatever he felt, regardless of how others would take the news. It's like Robert didn't seem to care if he insulted you or hurt your feelings in the process.

         A strange sensation washed over Peter, as he looked at Robert the same way he was glanced over in the classroom. His brain began to feel mushy; a burning flash crept over his face, followed by the tightness in his stomach. Quickly Peter turned away to eat his sandwich praying that Robert didn't notice the ten seconds of sexual pleasure that he just experienced.

         "So, what do you do for fun around here?"

         Startled, Peter glanced back up at his friend in surprise. Thankfully, there were no signs that Robert observed the incident.

         With a sigh of relief, he answered, "Well, there is a movie theater in town and a diner."

         Robert leaned forward with a little smile. "Is that it?" He smirked.

         Peter shrugged. Avoy didn't have much to offer. Usually, the teenagers hung out at the malt shop, or caught the Saturday movie. By their senior year, half of them had dropped out from the unexpected pregnancies, followed quickly by a 'shot-gun' wedding; it was just the way small town life played out. Childhood ended quickly in Avoy and before you knew it, a boy left school, received an sixty-hour a week job in the mountains, then settled down to support his wife and children.

         Peter became fully aware of this by the age of ten. His mother would talk to him for hours, laying out the importance of finding a nice, wealthy woman to marry.

         "It has to be done!" she would scream, emphasizing the word, 'wealthy.'

         "Your father clawed his way to the top of the social ladder and there is no way in hell that you're going to date a common, piece of trash!" She would say.

         As soon as his mother's rampage ended Peter always felt confusion and fear. Thoughts of: 'What if I don't fall in love with a rich girl? What if the person I love was someone else' raced through his mind.

         Peter sat pondering his dysfunctional family for several seconds until Robert reached over, grabbed the plastic wrapper from his clenched hands, rolled it in a ball and tossed the trash into a nearby garbage can.

         "Come on, let's go."

         Peter scrambled to his feet. "The bell hasn't rung yet," he called out.

         "I didn't mean class, you twit!" Robert replied coolly. "I meant school."

         Peter frowned, "We can't just leave! Also, what's a twit?"

         Swirling around, his friend smiled, "Of course we can! Our dad's are the two richest men in town." Robert paused to glance Peter over then laughed, "A twit is someone who doesn't know a good thing when he sees it."

         "You mean ditching school?"

         Laughing hysterically, Robert waited for Peter to catch-up before replying, "If you say so."

*****

         A short time later, the boys walked into the local diner found two empty barstools in the front and sat down.

         Peter nervously ordered another glass of tea while Robert reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one using a match he found lying on the counter.

         Refusing a cigarette Peter returned his attention back to his drink. It was so confusing, why wasn't anyone stopping them? They just ditched school and now were sitting at the local 'hot spot.'

         Surrounding the boys were some of Avoy's most talkative residents. Old men had been coming to May's Diner since their teenage years in the nineteen-forties, while their wives used the pharmacy in the back to hear the latest gossip. Of course, if there wasn't anything new, they just made stuff up. Coincidently there was a ruckus coming from that direction.

         "What do you mean my medicine isn't ready," a female voice screamed out.

         Peter rolled his eyes at the woman, while Robert spun around on the stool to catch the remaining conversation. The lady had all eyes on her and she knew it. With this, she basked in the attention and continued, "If you can't handle your job, then you obviously need to find another one!"

         The flustered pharmacy manager took a few breaths and calmly replied, "Ma'am we haven't received a telephone call from your doctor. I'm sorry."

         A few snickers were heard throughout the diner. The lady was not getting the reaction she expected from her audience. With a loud, "Humph," she threw her fake fur over her shoulders and stormed out. The old men shared a few chuckles. A distraction entered their boring lives and they were amused. Peter reached down to take another sip of tea when Robert suddenly called out, "That woman hasn't had sex in ages."

         Peter quickly gulped down his drink so he wouldn't spit it out all over the counter.

         "Why do you say that?"

         Robert smiled that little Cheshire grin of his.

         "Dear," he answered slowly. "Look at that lady's reaction. She threw a hissy fit over a stupid incident that a normal sane, person like you or me would have shrugged off. Now, some people have absolutely no sex life; it could be for several reasons. Perhaps they're divorcing, perhaps the wife is a bitch and therefore the husband doesn't want to fuck her. Whatever the reason is the person needs a little thrill. Many people who lack this need to get off any way they can, so they act like bitches. In that one moment they think they're in charge, it gives them pleasure and makes them feel superior to others. Unknown to them, everyone else has found out their secret, they have no sex life."

         With that said Robert took a long drag on his cigarette and flipped the ashes on the floor.

         Peter sat in shock. What his friend just explained to him made perfect sense. Women and some men could be crazy, manipulative people.

         Robert continued to smoke ignoring the peculiar stares he was receiving. There was this attitude that seemed to swirl around him which clearly stated: 'Fuck-you, I'm Robert Sella!' Peter loved it! In his entire life there had been no one like him. He spoke his mind, wore whatever he chose and didn't seem to care. A few more seconds rolled by, then Robert stubbed his cigarette in the tin ashtray. Without warning he stood up and announced, "Are you ready? This place bores me."

         Peter immediately jumped to his feet.

         "Me too! Let's go."

         The boys hastily paid, left a five-cent tip and walked out.

*****

         "So, what do you think?" The question came out of nowhere. Glancing over at his friend, Peter saw a strange look pass over his face.

         The two of them were walking down the deserted sidewalk. Looming overhead the town hall clock chimed two p.m.; school would be out soon. Returning his attention back to Robert, Peter replied, "What do you mean?"

         With a sly smile his friend answered him. "Women, girls, what do you think of them and especially what I just told you."

         Standing in silence for several minutes Peter began kicking at a pile of wet leaves that were clogging-up the sewer grates, exposing a nest of roly-poly bugs.

         "Well, you do have a point about the whole sex issue," he finally said.

         Robert giggled, "I do, don't I? Women are insane sometimes."

         "It's just," Peter continued. "I don't understand them; take the girls in my class for example. Ever since middle school started, they began to group into little cliques. I've witnessed them start rumors about other girls because one likes a boy that the head girl also finds attractive. I've also noticed that the two main insults are either, 'That girl is a slut,' or, 'I believe she is a lesbian.' Peter shrugged, "You don't see two men acting like that."

         Robert laughed. "No, men are way too intelligent for that nonsense and you're right about the insults. I guess women are too stupid to think of anything but, 'whore,' or 'lesbian.' Also, other girls are dumb enough to believe the rumors."

         Both of the boys burst out laughing. "Well," Robert managed to call out in between fits. "To quote Henry Higgins: 'Why can't a woman be more like a man?'"

         Peter shrugged, "The world would be a much better place!"

         With a smile Robert's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Hey, do you want to come over to my house?"

         Smiling back Peter answered, "Of course!" He felt giddy knowing that the new kid had officially accepted him.

*Next Chapter*

ID: 1734777   (Rated: 18+) Pretend You're Someone Else (Chap.6) 1/3  (This chapter is divided into 3 segments) "You're leaving me for him?" (1992) by KAT26/Adrian--Published!