Apples to Oranges

Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2012 Xondra Day

 
ISBN:
978-1-77130-058-2

Cover
Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
JC Chute

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING:
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is
illegal.
 
No part of this book may be
used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This
is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or
dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

This
one if for my readers. You keep me writing.

XD

APPLES TO
ORANGES

Xondra Day

Copyright © 2012

Chapter One

Jace eyed the new guy with peculiar interest from where he sat,
underneath a large oak in the schoolyard. He bit into an apple and chewed,
slowing as he traced the dude’s form up and down, trying to figure him out.

Mike, his cousin sat next to him and motioned with his head
towards the new guy who
 
leaned back onto
the trunk of the tree. “This is
Brandon
,”
Mike said. “He transferred here last week.
Brandon
, this is my cousin, Jace.”

“Hey,”
Brandon
said, his eyes a deep blue looked to the area surrounding them, as if seeking
something as he spoke. “So, what do you all do around here for fun?” His gaze
connected with Jace’s for a second before be turned his head away quickly.

“Fun?” Mike asked. “You gots to be kidding.” He removed a
sandwich from a brown paper bag and winced. “Freaking tuna again.” He tossed
the sandwich back in the bag. “This is about as exciting as it gets around
here, in this hole of a town. Right, Jace?”

Jace nodded in agreement. “Can’t say that much of anything goes
on around here.” This was his first time meeting Brandon, but Jace had noticed
him, during the few classes they shared together.

Brandon
shrugged indifferently. “I figured as much. This place sure as hell ain’t the
city.”

“Population four thousand and counting,” Mike added. “It must
have been fantastic to live in a place with so much happening.”

“Yeah, man, it was great. There was always something on the go.
I miss it like you wouldn’t believe. I left a shitload of friends behind when
we moved here. I blame my dad. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have to be
here.”
Brandon
narrowed his eyes and looked up at the bright sky. “He screwed around on my
mom.”

“They’re separated?” Jace asked, wanting to know more about
Brandon
.

“Divorced,”
Brandon
corrected. “He cheated on her with some bimbo from work. They did try to work
it out, but it was a no go.”

“That sucks, man,” Mike replied. “My parents split up when I was
ten. It was mutual for them. They fell out of love, or so my mom says. She
remarried two years after, and my stepdad is pretty cool.”

“It’s nice to hear that someone’s family isn’t as fucked up as
mine. What about your parents, Jace? Are they still together or splitsville?”
Brandon
questioned,
eyeing him.

“My dad was killed in
Afghanistan
last year,” he
explained. Jace spotted a large spider scurrying across the grass near his
foot. It was a big assed spider. He placed his hand on the ground palm side up
and watched as the spider wobbled across it. “A landmine got him. There wasn’t
much left to send home.” He glanced up as he finished and raised his hand to
block the sun’s rays from his vision. There wasn’t anything else to tell about
his dad’s story.

“Jesus.”
Brandon
shook his head and looked towards Mike. “Is that true? Is he for real?”

“Yup. Uncle Rick was awesome, too. You would have liked him.
Everyone did. He was that type of guy. He was more like a friend than some
parental. He fought and did his duty and we’re all proud of him.”

“Sorry about your dad. He sounds like one hell of a guy. I can
respect that…the whole fighting for your county thing, I mean. If it wasn’t for
guys like him, where would this country be, right?”
Brandon
said.

Jace nodded. He totally agreed. “That’s how I see it, and I tell
myself that practically every day since his death.” He had, too. It was the
only way he managed to get through the grief that had overwhelmed him in the
first few months. It hurt like nothing else ever had, and his mom still wasn’t
past it. She had days where she simply didn’t function. “Anyway, it’s time to
get back. Class is about to start.” Jace listened to the school’s bell ringing
in the near distance. “And there it is.”

****

He was an absolute asshole. How could he complain about his life
when this guy, Jace had lost his dad like that, blown up in that terrible war?
Brandon
could have
smacked himself for being so stupid and thoughtless.

“Now,” Mr. Garcia, his history teacher, said, “I’d like for you
to read section two and complete the set of questions at the end.” A loud moan
escaped from the class. “Quiet down, everyone. It’s only ten questions,” Mr.
Garcia continued. “If you need any help, raise your hand.”

Brandon
flicked through the pages of the history book and started to read. Fuck, it was
enough to put him to sleep. Thank God it was his senior year and he only had a
couple of months to go before graduation. He’d leave this shit town and head
back to the city where he belonged.

Brandon
looked to his right. Jace sat two rows over from him. He wondered what it must
have been like for Jace to lose his dad like that. Every week more and more
soldiers were falling in the line of duty. It scared the crap out of him and he
was thankful not to know anyone fighting over there personally. He hated to
admit it, but he noticed Jace more than he should. He couldn’t help but watch
him, and that alone set off a flight of nervousness coursing through his
stomach. It wasn’t normal to notice other guys .

Jace had nice eyes. They were dark brown and soulful. It was the
first thing
Brandon
had noticed earlier in the schoolyard during their brief chat. And lips. Jace
definitely had sexy lips. He wondered how they’d feel pressing against his.
Brandon
started to get a
stiffy as he elaborated the thought in his mind. This forced him to shift
slightly in his seat to make things more comfortable and accommodating.
 
He bet that Jace had nice, soft skin too.
Christ! He had to stop thinking like that. He had to erase those thoughts. He
wasn’t queer, right?

****

Jace felt
Brandon
’s
eyes on him. From the corner of his eye to his right, he could see that indeed
one of the hottest guys in school was scoping him out.

Brandon
was without a doubt cute, in a rough sort of a way. Everything about him
screamed
rebel
: from the way he
talked like he didn’t give a fuck about anything, to the way he carried himself
around school with a slight swagger as he walked. But there was something about
Brandon
that
attracted Jace, something that he couldn’t quite pinpoint that went beyond
anything physical. None of it mattered, anyway. It wasn’t as if he’d be able to
act on his feelings. His gayness had to stay a secret for now. Coming out at
this time wasn’t an option.

He’d had only one experience with a guy.
Preston
worked alongside him on the school’s now-defunct newspaper. After school had
let out one day, they exchanged hand jobs in the boy’s washroom. After their
very brief encounter they hardly spoke and when they did, it was strictly about
business related to the paper.

Jace turned his head a little more and locked eyes with
Brandon
. Inside his
chest, his heart beat hard and steady.
Brandon
was the first to turn away.

The bell rang signalling the end of class. The other students
made a mad dash for the door while Mr. Garcia yelled for them to slow down.
Jace started to place his books in his backpack when a balled up wad of paper
landed on the desk, halting him. He looked up in the nick of time to see
Brandon
walking out of
the classroom. When he read the words scribbled on the piece of paper, he
raised one brow in response.

Sorry for being an ass
today. I should learn to think before I speak.

Brandon

Jace read the brief note three times before shoving it deep into
the right pocket of his jeans. There was definitely more to Mr. Brandon after
all.

At his locker, Jace stopped long enough to drop some books off,
to lighten his load before the walk home. When a hand fell on his right
shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin with surprise.

“Sorry, Jace. I didn’t mean to startle you.” It was
Preston
.

“Hey, how’s life?” It had been ages since they’d last spoken.
They had no reason to be around each other anymore since the school’s newspaper
folded a month ago due to lack of interest on the students’ behalf.