Meeting the Trenchies

I was almost scared. I knew I was to blame for this. I sort of half-glanced at my ex-Brothers. I'd made a mistake, and they'd found out. My ex-best friend, Jace, glanced at me. I knew he hated me. Jonathan, The Trenchie King, completely ignored me, sitting on the bench and sun bathing. His Brothers were situated around him, doing whatever he was doing, agreeing with whatever he said. He was completely loyal to them, never controlling or manipulating them. In a way, that made him likeable. He had a little goatee on his chin now, making up for his bald head. He was totally honest too. He admitted that he'd fallen in love, and he accepted the consequences. He would have done anything for his twelve-guy and one-girl group. Lisa and Jonathan had been together for three months now, before I came and screwed everything up.I would have done anything to make him and Lisa and Jace forgive me at least. Even if it meant risking my life for his.
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Okay, I admit I'm gay. I was popular at my old school, and I hated leaving my friends and family. My father got this stupid job in New York, that's why we're here. I almost threw up when I broke up with my boyfriend, Alex. He looked so hurt I regretted it immediately. Then he admitted he'd been wanting to break up for a long time, he just never got the courage. I missed his gorgeous ebony skin and curly hair. Mine's blond and straight. Alex had said he loved it when we started dating.

"Liam, are you okay?" my sister Kirsten asked. "No, I miss Alex." Kirsten smiled. "I miss him too. He was a great guy. Hey, there's plenty of other fish in the sea." I lifted my head up. "Is this the part where you smother me with cliches?" "Pretty much." she said. Then she walked away, whipping her perfect blond hair behind her. Lucky her. She got all the good ones, and never fell in true love.

I suddenly thought of the one group that never was liked nor talked about. Trenchies. The one group everyone truly hated. I knew I'd probably never be in that group, but it was worth a shot. I was so sure that way, my heart would never be broken. Or so I thought.

First day at Hillview High: baggy black jeans, black v-neck, small hoop earrings, black combat boots. I wore more eyeliner than I usually do, smudging a little on purpose. I ate breakfast early, Cheerios. I messed up my usually perfect hair a little, not putting gel or hairspray in it. I knew there might or might not be a trenchie group. They'd either be sitting down or bullying others. Every other word they said was a cuss word.

I kept this in mind as I started the engine to my BMW. My stomach twisted into a knot as I pulled up into the parking lot. It didn't take long to find them. The Trenchie King himself was sitting on the cement bench, a trenchie girl with long black hair beside him. She could be his sister, or his girlfriend. His girlfriend, because he kissed her cheek after I got out of my car. It didn't take long for him to notice me either. As soon as I took a step forward, he called out to me:

"You new here?" "Yeah." "Where are you from?" "Seattle." "Nice. Have you always been a trenchie?" "Yes." The complete opposite, actually. "Come here." I walked to about a foot in front of him, and he squinted at me. The girl whispered in his ear, and he smirked. "Come on, Lis. You don't know him, either." he said. "My name's Jonathan, and this is my girlfriend, Lisa." "I'm Liam." I said. A boy with black curly hair walked up to us. The moment I saw him, my heartbeat sped up.

"I'm Jace." the New Boy said. I grinned. "I'm-" "I know, Liam." I blinked. "I have good hearing." he said. I noticed his eyes were violet. My hands felt clammy as I gave him a twice-over. His body was incredible, lean and strong. I could only imagine what his midsection looked like. Amazing, I guessed. Jonathan introduced me to the others. There was eleven more guys, but my mind was on Jace and his eyes and arms. I was still happy when the bell rang.

"Great, a new trenchie," said a popular looking blond girl when I walked into my first class. "A new Regina George," I said, and the girl shut up. It wasn't long before I found out JACE was in this class with me. He grinned at me, giving me a just ignore her look. I knew I couldn't fall in love. Not because some trenchie groups didn't permit it, but because I knew it would foil what I was trying to do. Forget love. Forget true friendship. But Jace, he could ruin it.'Super Bass' by Nicki Minaj played through my head.

The teacher was a short woman with fake everything. Fake blond hair, fake breasts, fake rear end, makeup that looked tattooed on. Crimson lipstick, Cleopatra eyeliner. "My name is Ms. Rich. I know we have a new student." She looked at me directly. "Mr....uh,..." "Liam." I said. "Yes, Liam." Despite being fake, Ms. Rich was actually sort of nice. She didn't prejudice or discrimanate against anyone really. She really helped me understand Contempory Modernism better. (She's an English teacher.) I also found out she was a sucker for The Veronicas. Her favorite song was 'Popular'. (Irony?)

I learned Jace had a brother. Granted, he was young. Seven years old. Jace had asked me to go to his house and I said yes. I told my mom I was staying after for a club. 'Awesome. Have fun, lovebird!' was what she said. Jace's house wasn't far from mine. I was able to point mine out. My sister waved when she saw us. I knew she wouldn't blow. I'd covered for her and kept plenty of her secrets. I told my sis what I was doing and what I'd told Mom. She said okay. I hadn't told her my plan yet though. I should have.

Jace and I both lived in the rich part of the city. His house was even better than mine. (If I'd been in my right mind, I would have been jealous and challenging.) As soon as I walked in, a black cat nudged my legs. "This is Pesticide," Jace said, gesturing toward the cat. "Named so, because she licked a pesticide can and had to be rushed to the vet." he said.I let Pesticide sniff and lick my hand before I petted her. She bit me. "Ow!" "Careful, she bites strangers." I looked at him. He'd just said Careful to me!

Then I remembered he thought of me as a friend, and he wasn't gay. My stomach began to hurt. I realized I loved him. Wait, what?! NO NO NO! This cannot be happening! "Dude, are you okay?" Jace asked, looking worried. "It's my...stomach." I said honestly. That made sense, since I'd roamed the hall with him instead of eating lunch. We hadn't talked, just roamed. "Hang on," he said. He came back with a bag of Lay's. "Thanks." I said, taking the bag. I dug in after a few seconds. Jace seemed satisfied that I was eating something. I'm not a huge junk food eater, but I knew my food habits had to change too. Usually if I'm hungry I eat celery, not chips. I know it takes more energy to digest celery than it actually provides, but it's full of vitamin B and antioxidants.

Jace turned at a sound like a wine bottle being corked. I looked at his neck. I could see his Adam's Apple clearly. It wasn't jutting out, yet it wasn't completely hidden either. "Come on." he said. I followed him to his basement. His basement also turned out to be his room. He sat in a beanbag chair, and gestured for me to do the same. I set the chips down and faced him. I looked around. There was a leopard print blanket on his bed. I resisted the urge to grab that blanket and attack him. Pesticide clamped me down by jumping in my lap and rubbing against my chest. I felt myself gaze at Jace's middle.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he said, cocking his gorgeous head full of curly hair. Beauty, perfected. "Yeah, just staring into space." "Okay." he said as his cell phone rang, blaring Screamo music. "YO?" he said into the speaker. "Uh huh. Dude, relax. I've got the new guy right here with me. NO, why would I be worried about getting his number? Sean, you need to chillax. Trust me, man, I trust him completely. He hasn't lied yet. Nor have I uncovered any "unbound secrets". Sean, that was one time, and the guy was a quack. Man, settle down." Jace said, hanging up. He grinned sheepishly. "Sean thinks you're an alien from another planet." I started to giggle, then I realized he was serious. "Wow." I said.


So I was happy when I returned home later that night. He got out some vodka, we started drinking, and he'd kissed me!!! I was on Cloud Nine, I was so happy. I was also dangerously drunk. I stumbled into my house, into my room. I grabbed a photo of me and Alex, put a big X on Alex, and wrote 'Jace, my TRUE LOVE!!!!!!'. I put it on my nightstand. I was dangerously in love. We'd made out, he started to feel my abs and took my shirt off, I began to unzip his pants, then his little brother came in, looking like he had a fever. While Jace took care of his brother, I laid on the leopard print blanket, wanting something I hadn't done in a while. It took him an hour to get back, then he fell asleep on his bed. I just went home. I fell asleep in half a second after I laid down.

When I woke up, I realized it was Saturday. I had a monster of a headache, and my stomach was about ready to drop. Kirsten put a glass of water and some pills on my nightstand. "How'd you know?" I groaned, sitting up. "A girl I met yesterday saw you two through the window and she caught it on tape. She knows you're my brother." "Which girl?" I asked her. "Raquel. Tall, blond, red wrap shirt, dark rinse shorts, cute white wedges. Ms. Popularity." I realized who she was talking about. I told her about the incident in English class. She laughed. "It's not funny." I told her. "I know, I'm sorry." she said. We both paused for a second. "You know that if I'd been there I would have bitch-slapped her, right?" Kirsten said. "Yeah, I know." "Right. Now can you tell me what you were doing at a trenchie's house?"

So I told her my plan. She agreed to keep it a secret. She told me HER plan. "I'm going to try out for the cheerleading team, sign up for dance classes, take voice lessons, and Raquel and I are going to go shopping today to improve my wardrobe. I even already got a job, but it's the easiest and funnest one ever." She leaned close. "I'm going to DJ at school dances." "Cool." I said. I was excited for her, and my headache was smoothing out. I didn't know if it was the pills, or hearing my sister's voice.

Jace called me after breakfast. "Do not tell anyone what happened last night, especially not Jonathan or Lisa," he said. "I know. I won't tell." I said. "Swear on your life?" "Yes, swear on my life." "Thank you." "NO problem." When we hung up, I regretted not telling him how I felt. But I'd see him later. Or Monday. Or tomorrow. I went into my sister's room to watch her unpack. She smiled at me when she saw me. Being in her quiet presence, I felt safe. She'd been the only one who didn't judge or criticize me when I came out.

She set up her Ipod on her iHome. She set it to play everything she had by Evanescence. Bring Me To Life. She'd already unpacked all her clothes and beauty products and got them organized. Now she was working on magazines and books. Her cat, Catt Kat, began to sniff a beetle. Kirsten made a face when she saw the insect. "FYI, I found a club that's not too hard to sneak into." she said. "Nice." I said. We had fake IDs, saying we were twenty one. We loved sneaking into clubs.

After Evanescence, Kirsten chose Kesha. Boots And Boys. Who doesn't like those two things? I gazed at a poster of Adam Lambert. Kirsten loved him. Actually loved. So do I. I watched as the door opened by itself. Kirsten saw it, too. Her mouth opened a little, and we looked at each other. Our parents were out getting groceries and other stuff, so they'd be gone all day. The only other explanation would have been Catt Kat, but she was getting to know the beetle. Kirsten went back to her unpacking, trying to ignore the entity. Suddenly the entity revealed himself. He gazed at her. At first I thought he didn't like her, then I realized by the look in his eyes that he was actually attracted to her. I didn't blame him. My sister was very pretty, with her long perfect straight blond hair and bangs, and her mysterious grey eyes with a blue tinge.

The ghost saw me watching him, and his mouth opened a little. I saw his lips move, but no sound came out. Kirsten turned to him. "What's your name?" she said. She grasped an EVP, an Electronic Voice Phenomenon. "What's your name?" she repeated. "Drake." came the voice. "How...did you live here?" "Yes. I lived here for ten years." he said. "I was stabbed in my stomach and chest by a woman I should not have loved or trusted." "I'm so sorry. What can I do to help you?" "Help me find peace. I will speak to you only later. Your brother is...he makes me uncomfortable." Kirsten frowned on my behalf when he said that. "He's gay, get over it." she ordered. Surprisingly, the ghost blushed.

While Kirsten chattered on about why we moved and how, and how she was doing, I grabbed my cell phone from my room. When I came back, I expected a Living Girl/Ghost Makeout Session, but she hadn't done anything, thank God. The ghost nodded, intrigued. I noticed that he didn't look bored or annoyed. In fact, he looked like he wanted to rape my sister.

I couldn't help but feel angry on her behalf. She didn't seem to care, though. I carefully fluffed my hair and walked out. Looking back, I saw the ghost helping Kirsten unpack. I grabbed a hot pink minidress from my closet and put it on. I chose black pumps. I combed my short blond hair. I carefully put foundation by CoverGirl on, my fave powder, a hot pink blush,lined my eyes with an E.L.F. eyeliner, put pink and black eyeshadow by CoverGirl on,and put red lipstick by MAC on my full lips.


I turned my video camera on. I carefully adjusted myself so that my face was directly in front of the camera. "Hey guys, it's Li Li, did I really just say Li Li? Anyways, here I am, on my third day here. So far I've met a super-popular girl that my sister a-dores, and a group of trenchies. Yes, trenchies, my beauties. Anyways, there's one that vaguely seems to like me. Yes, I know that's strange." I looked over at my door, hearing a noise, and guess who was at the door? "Oh..."

"What are you doing?" Jonathan said, smirking. Jace and a boy named Allen were with him. Allen looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh, and Jace was giggling. Embarassment Central. "This is funnier than when Chris dressed up like a football player."Allen said, rubbing his short brown hair. "Hey, Liam, can I borrow some shoes of yours?" my sister said. She stopped when she saw the trenchies. "Whoa." "Who are are you?" Jonathan said with vague disgust. "For your information, I just so happen to be his sister!" Kirsten said, planting her hand on her hip. Oh man, the Trenchie King has met his match, I thought. "This is your sister?" Jonathan asked. "Yes, unfortunately." Kirsten slapped my arm as she walked past me. "Hey, what are my heels doing in here?" she snapped. "I was hoping you wouldn't find them. They gave me a headache, with all that clicking going on!" I snapped. Allen and Jace laughed and did a guy handshake.

Kirsten growled, revealing her white teeth. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Allen suddenly screeched. "What is it?" Jonathan snapped. Allen pointed a finger at Kirsten's room. "A ghost...I saw it with my own eyes! It was a man, and he was glaring at us, and mumbling something!" "A ghost? Man, get real. I doubt there's a...whoa!" Jonathan said, seeing Drake also. "His name's Drake." Kristen said. Jace squinted down the hall. Then he saw him, too.


Acording to Jonathan, my sister was a whore. I pretended to agree with him. "I don't think she's a whore." Allen said. Jonathan looked at him, surprised. "She dresses like them, acts, talks, walks with them." he said. Allen shrugged. "Don't judge a girl by her cover." he said. Jonathan rolled his eyes. Jace took me aside. "You don't have to agree with everything Jonathan says. We rarely agree with him." "All right." Jonathan whacked Jace in the back of the head, startling him.

We climbed into Jonathan's Ferrari. Rap music blared as he turned the radio on. "I'm Not Your Boyfriend Baby" by 3oh!3. Jace's hand brushed mine. We were in the back. I pleasured myself by imagining I was holding Jace's hand. I suddenly realized I was over Alex, and all because of Jace. I looked at Jace, imagining the most perfect moment of my life. Yes, I wanted him. Needed him. "Opening the gates of Llwellyn." I muttered. "Beyond the Mysts of Avalon, and into the Silver Moon Woods." Jace stared at me. Then he started giggling. "That's so weird. My mom loves Llwellyn. She's obsessed with him. You like him too?" "Yeah, and so does my sister." I noticed Allen looked surprised when I said that Kirsten likes Llewellyn, too.

Again, Jonathan rolled his eyes. "I figured as much. I hate that music." Jace rolled his eyes this time. He smiled, a smile so dazzling and perfect that I couldn't help but lean toward him. "What are you doing?" he said, sounding and looking creeped out. "What? Oh, sorry. I was adjusting myself." I lied. I couldn't help the fact that I loved him. I leaned back, feeling depressed. I wanted to feel Jace by my side. Literally, shirtless. But I couldn't have him.

I continued to think about what would happen if I never told Jace how I felt. I'd become a perpetual mope! Kirsten disagreed when I talked to her about it. "You don't need a man like him. You deserve better." she said, clicking off. I disagreed with her. There was something about Jace, something I couldn't place, that drew me to him. But no, I needed to focus on my plan, no boys, no fashion, little makeup. One thing I'd accomplished already. Jonathan had drove us around, then parked in an alley that made my gut churn. Broken windows, taped doors, old police tape, even a few runaways.

I tried to remain positive, then I spotted a guy selling hookahs. Jonathan bought one for himself, one for Allen, one for Jace, and one for me. I rolled my eyes. I put my Ipod on, playing 'Party Rock Anthem'. I looked over at Jace, and he looked uncomfortable. "Wrong song?" I joked, taking my earphones out. "No, Jonathan usually isn't like this." he muttered under his breath. If I'd ever been frightened,it was nothing compared to my mood now!I looked at Jace, who was now reaching for my hand. His hand was cold, but soft. I relished the feeling of his hand on mine.


Jace walked me to my door afterwards. We'd also gotten food at McDonald's. I usually ordered fruit or salad but this time I asked Jonathan to get me a Big Mac. Jonathan didn't care if we ate in his car, it was pretty messy anyway. Kirsten was gone. I noticed that Allen looked slightly crestfallen. Hmm. Interesting. I knew for a fact that Kirsten preferred dark haired punks and blonde-haired jocks over anything else. Her boyfriend was a blonde-haired jock who fell in deep love and asked her to marry him. She didn't truly want him forever, so she turned him down. Now she was into a dark-haired punk again. His name was Tyler. He wasn't bad looking. I knew that Raquel would not care about him one bit. And since Kirsten wanted to stay on Raquel's good side, she kept her feelings for him in.

Why did I keep my feelings for Jace in? For trust. I wanted him to trust me more than anyone. I decided to give myself four months. If I still loved him, I'd tell him and accept anything that would happen to me.

Jace

Jace was the new hottie. He was my newest obsession. He was a Trenchie, and most Trenchies don't accept gay men in their groups. Especially not slightly feminine ones. They do accept real girls in their group. But not many girls want to be a Trenchette.

"Favorite movie?" I asked Jace later on the phone. He'd called to give me a questionnaire. I suspected that Jonathan and Lisa were also there, probably the whole group.

"I need to hear yours first." he said.

"I not gonna lie, the Harry Potter series. Maybe There's Something About Mary. You?" I replied. He laughed at my answers instead.

"Mine is The Lord of The Rings. Favorite music?"

"Metal and Goth! Duh!" He laughed again. "Mine, too." he replied. "I also like Pagan music. You?"

"Not a big fan, but there's one or two songs I like by a Pagan band." I checked my newly painted black nails. I chewed on one a little. That's my bad habit. Besides overspending.

I could feel him smiling. The conversation continued, with favorite music, celebrities, crushes (I made up girl crushes and pretended Alex was a girl), I made up a group, I pretended I was a member of the group back in Austin. I wasn't, but Jace didn't have to know that. Neither did Jonathan.

 

I could not believe myself. I was sinking pretty low, but there was no going back now. Besides, I'd been looking for an excuse to wear black lipstick. That's a miniscule reason, I know.

But whatever. I decided that it was a test, I was testing out a new style with a new crew. I was in New York, people! Seriously, I was in America's Fashion Central, and I have cash to blow. Not just allowance, but I test out different products and review them for money. (Kirsten and my parents all know, so no getting on me for that. It's also a legit website, so don't go around saying it's fake or a scam. That's exactly what people say about TruTV shows, and it drives me crazy!)

I finished the conversation, and decided to shop around. I dressed like I'd been dressing the past couple of days, in case I ran into any of them, and grabbed my wallet and added a chain Mom got me as a stocking stuffer for Christmas. I actually did want one, so it wasn't too bad. I reorganized my shoe closet for a minute, stray sneakers somehow got mixed in with high heels, and headed off.

My BMW decided to churn.

"I just changed the battery!"

It huffed for a minute or two before finally dying.

"Aah!" I let out a noise that didn't sound human. Don't you hate it when your car dies at the worst time ever? Because guess who was standing on Jace's driveway looking at me with great amusement? The Group. I rolled down the window.

"What's up with your car?" Jonathan asked, leaning in.

"I have no clue. I changed the battery before I left Austin."

"Is it out of gas?"

"Impossible. I filled it up recently."

"How recently?"

"Like two days ago." 

Jonathan frowned. "Dude, don't say like like that. You sound like a queer."

Mental forehead slap! At least I now knew Jonathan was homophobic. Not cool. And it made my life just a little bit harder. I happened to look over at Jace, and he blinked. Butterflies flitted around inside of me, and I wondered he was flirting. 

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 25.05.2012

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Widmung:
To Adam Lambert, not because I think you are a fake, which you're not, but because I think I am in love with you.