Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist (4 page)

Ethan gasped, his body instantly responding. It was a melting sensation in his chest, butterflies in his stomach, and fireworks exploding underneath his eyelids, as cliché as it was. He didn’t want to just stand there, so he put his hands on Rob’s arms, shuddering at the hardness of the muscle underneath. He tried to be gentle at first so that Robert wouldn’t feel forced, but the moment the sucking became more intense, so did the grip of his fingers.

Robert’s breath tickled Ethan’s pubes when he started bobbing his head over the part of the cock that wouldn’t fit in his hand. It sent a powerful surge of heat up Ethan’s spine, and it was so good it almost hurt. Robert’s handsome face was like cut in stone, the beautiful angles of his cheekbones and brow line sharpening as he sucked on Ethan’s cock as if it were his last meal.

Within seconds, Ethan’s knees went weak, and when he came, looking at the glorious image that was his own cock erupting in Robert Hunter’s mouth, it seemed like the most intense experience of his life. He grasped onto Robert’s shirt with a low moan and closed his eye, bending over him. The bliss was so pure that for a moment he didn’t even remember who he was.

Robert moved back his head, letting the cock slip out of his mouth and into the cool air, but he stayed in place.

Ethan gasped for air, unwilling to let go and overwhelmed with the sudden urge to return the favor. He could bet Robert’s cock was as amazingly hot as Robert himself. “Oh wow,” he panted. “That was so great. You want me to do you?” he asked even though he knew he probably sounded overeager. Fuck it, it was his call this time.

Seeing Robert shake his head and reach out for a paper tissue from the box on Ethan’s nightstand was like a cold shower. Robert held it against his mouth and spit out all of Ethan’s come, never even looking up.

Ethan’s heart dropped. Now that it happened, he realized this wasn’t how he’d envisioned this encounter. His idea of how it would play out didn’t include his own stomach plummeting at the realization that Robert was disgusted by his cock. He wanted not to care and just take his revenge, but it was awful to witness.

Ethan slowly stepped to the side and sat on the bed, too shaky to stand. It felt like a very ambivalent dream. Of course Robert wouldn’t want a blow job from a guy. He probably had a whole queue of cheerleaders to serve him.

Unwilling to look at Robert, Ethan let his gaze drift to the desk, and the floor seemed to fall from underneath his feet. He’d prepared a condom for this, in case Robert preferred it, but he’d forgotten to ask, too mesmerized by the situation. He took a deep breath and finally dared to sweep his gaze up the firm thighs and to the handsome, tan face.

Robert’s big, strong hands curled around the soiled handkerchief as he took deep, slow breaths, his shoulders tense. He swallowed, opened his mouth only to close it again and repeat. “I gotta go,” he said eventually in a voice so dull it made Ethan cringe.

“I’m sorry!” Ethan burst out. “I had a condom, I forgot,” he muttered, unable to look up at Rob. He felt as naked emotionally as he was physically. As if he were a skinless carcass, ready to be discarded.

Robert’s hand opened and the tissue fell to the floor. He got to his feet and grabbed his hoodie. “See you at school,” he murmured, already on his way to the door.

Ethan nodded, too shocked to utter a word. He wasn’t satisfied. He’d had a glorious orgasm and now knew how it felt to be blown by a guy, but he knew it wasn’t really what he wanted. Then again, what could he expect? That Rob would magically become gay for him? That wasn’t gonna happen, and Rob clearly didn’t want to stay and chat, which was kind of understandable given the awkwardness of the situation. The thumping on the stairs only quickened, and as soon as Ethan heard the door being slammed shut, he knew he was alone again. Nothing would happen between them until next week. The ‘See you at school’ had sounded more like a ‘fuck you’ so Ethan already knew he wouldn’t try to approach Rob there.

He wished the encounter could have been more than a moment of pure ecstasy followed by a crash landing in reality. He curled up on the bed, not ready to go back to work yet. Even sewing was harder with just one eye available. Another craptastic fail.

Ethan looked at the tissue on the floor with a deep breath. He’d swallow up all of Rob Hunter’s come.

Chapter 4

Robert chewed on his pizza. He hadn’t had the right mindset yesterday to prepare himself a proper lunch for school so he tried to stuff his stomach with the soggy thing. It was so disgusting and unappetizing he had a hard time getting it down his throat. His eyes kept returning to the lonely figure in black in the far corner of the dining hall.

He didn’t feel one bit sorry for Ethan sitting there and chewing on his food with just as much enthusiasm as Rob was. The accident hadn’t gained Ethan much sympathy, and no one seemed to approach him, even though it was the first day at school after weeks of absence. A simple black eye patch covering the empty socket made him more unapproachable, even when hidden behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He wore a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted long-sleeve top under an oversized black sweater with holes all over. The only brightness on his outfit were bits of silver jewelry on his fingers, and a necklace with the skull of a hummingbird. Wearing it had never won Ethan any favors. Not that Rob cared.

The day before, he’d used up a whole bottle of mineral water to wash the taste of spunk out of his mouth, and then spent over an hour sucking on mints while sitting in his car at the gas station where he got the candy. It wasn’t because of the taste of spunk itself, even though it turned out to be less pleasant than in his fantasies. The whole encounter had left him with a bitter aftertaste at the back of his throat, and he didn’t seem able to get rid of it completely. It was still there, spoiled the taste of his breakfast in the morning, and even bothered him when he was having freshly squeezed juice, always looming around the joints of his tense jaw. He didn’t deserve what had happened. Yes, he had fucked up, he was at fault when it came to the accident, and there was no way he’d ever make it up to Ethan, but it had been a lapse of judgment. Rob didn’t want to hurt him, but Ethan himself had no moral objections to force Robert into sex. All of the sympathy he’d felt for the guy had evaporated since.

His mind stopped drifting when he saw two girls stop by Ethan’s empty table, and even from where he sat he could hear something about karma. Ethan gave them a blank stare and stood up without a word.

“What a creep. He should be happy any girl wants to actually talk to him.” Pat, Rob’s teammate and friend by association, laughed, shoving the pizza into his mouth as though it was the best thing he’d had in a month. Already balding, thick in the nape and trunk, Pat was the person whose recently-repaired nose one wouldn’t want to see up close in a dark street. And his appalling eating habits were another thing altogether.

Chris, Robert’s best friend since childhood, yawned, equally unimpressed. “It’s not like he was talking to anyone in the first place. Not even the loser table wants him.”

“Aren’t those the girls who spilled paint all over Natasha’s fur last year because they were convinced it was real?” asked Kelly, slurping her drink next to Rob.

“The freaks. I loved how it turned out it was artificial. The principal went mental,” chuckled Chris.

“Do you think that bird head on his neck is fake?” Pat wondered out loud, slouching his large body over his tray as he wiped his lips with a napkin.

Kelly shook her head, pulling on the stud in her nose. “Hello, he does taxidermy. At home. In his basement. The sole idea freaks me out.”

Rob stroked his chin, his thoughts drifting to the chandelier of bird bones over the bed in Ethan’s room, which by the way looked like something that could well have been located in a haunted mansion. Not to mention the framed posters of still life on the walls. Most of them depicted carnivorous feasts, which were interesting as such, but the context of Ethan’s morbid room made the paintings unsettling. He didn’t even want to think what that infamous basement had to look like.

“Did he even thank you, Robert?” Kelly looked up at him, her wide blue eyes settling on him with a small smile. “It’s amazing that you managed to carry him all the way back to the house. All on your own.”

The pizza instantly hardened in Robert’s mouth, turning into a piece of chalk that he just couldn’t swallow. Back then, he’d spent God-knew how much time trying to decide whether to break the branch that got stuck in Ethan’s eye or not. He ended up breaking away all the branchlets before he cuddled the immobile body and ran through the forest, with fear curling in his chest. “Sure.”

“It’s so stupid.” Pat shrugged and pushed away the salad. “Who falls over and impales themselves on a branch? Shit like this only happens to Edward.”

“Right?” Chris slurped his slushie and leaned back in the chair. “I knew he sparkled, but not that he was made out of Jell-O and bad luck.”

Robert bit his lip and forced himself to swallow. He wouldn’t feel sorry for the bastard. Ethan was more of a douchebag than anyone imagined.

“Oh, come on guys, stuff like that happens. People die from the strangest things,” muttered Kelly. “That’s not cool.”

“I just need to go and check if that bird head is real,” Pat said and got up without further ado. Chris grinned at him and got to his feet within a split second.

“The guy’s just been in a hospital for a month,” hissed Kelly. “Leave him be.”

“I just wanna ask. Nothing wrong with that.” Pat groaned and walked off followed by Chris.

“You wanna come, Rob?” Chris asked, turning on his heel with a grin, which Rob supposed was intended to invite him in to join the ‘fun’.

Robert knocked his fists on the tabletop, furious he was being forced to take a stand. “No, and Kelly’s right. Leave the freak alone.”

Pat shrugged and didn’t even turn around, disappearing in the exit, but Chris made a one-eighty and looked back at Rob. “Hey, it’s just fun. I wouldn’t hurt him or nothing.”

“I’m not saying you would, but he just had a piece of wood up his brain. Christ!” Robert made a broad gesture, and his hand knocked down his Coke, which spilled all over the table. “Oh, fuck me!” he grumbled, not even bothering to pick up the empty can. He slumped into the chair and threw a napkin into the wet mess.

Kelly nodded and started clearing up her stuff. “Exactly. It was all the way up there. He barely made it out alive. He’d be dead if it wasn’t for Rob.”

The praise was cut short by the bell, and the rest of their friends, who were focused on their own conversations anyway, got up.

“Let’s just go to class.” Chris sighed and brushed his fingers through the thick mane of his hair. “See you later, I’ve got math now.”

“Wait for me,” muttered Kelly, who dumped some of the wet napkins onto her tray and gave Rob one more charming smile before getting to her feet. She was pretty, smart, and interested. Too bad Rob was gay.

He dumped the remainder of his pizza slice on the tray and slowly made his way to the trash can. He actually had class with the little bastard now.

But when he got to the door, he froze, because there Ethan was, at the end of the corridor, standing at the bottom of the stairs with his hand on the railing, and looking up as if he were about to climb a steep wall without equipment. Ethan adjusted his shoulder bag, took a step forward, took a step back, gripped the railing only to let go of it. God only knew what he was doing. Robert stopped, watching him when a group of girls ran past him and up the stairs with loud chatter. His stomach twisted when Ethan grabbed the railing, as though it was his lifeline, and leaned into the wall. He didn’t know what to do.

Ethan’s shiny black hair obscured his face as he started walking up the stairs, as carefully as an old lady. It was pathetic and sad at the same time. With every step, he was dragging his foot up the vertical edge of the step, as if he were afraid to stumble.

“Hey, you all right?” asked Robert, putting his hands in his pockets. As much as he despised Ethan for what had happened the day before, the guy’s physical condition was still his fault, and he couldn’t let go of the responsibility while still being able to look himself in the face.

His heart froze when Ethan glanced back at him so quickly he looked as though he was about to lose his balance. At the last moment, Ethan grabbed the railing again.

“Yeah,” Ethan muttered. “I just… stairs are shit. Like a fucking death trap.”

Robert didn’t need to listen to this anymore. He stepped forward and offered Ethan his arm. “I’ll help you. Go on.”

Ethan pulled back, pressing his side into the railing. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to,” he said but looked up at Rob with utter amazement and took him up on the offer in the blink of an eye. “The doctor said I’ll adjust to it in no time.”

Robert swallowed. He couldn’t believe the helplessness in that face. It was as if Ethan had two different people in him. “Is it, uh, your head? Did this... thing affect your balance?”

“It’s the eye. I can’t figure out all the distances that well just yet, and on the stairs it’s the worst because a wrong inch can make you fall. And because I’ve had these stinging headaches every now and then, it freaks me out to be somewhere where I can break my neck if I lose my balance. Sorry, am I boring you?” Ethan bit his lip and clenched his fingers over Rob’s forearm as though it was the one thing that kept him from sinking into the murky sea of concrete beneath their feet.

Robert shook his head and swallowed, looking at the stairs, just to make sure Ethan wouldn’t stumble. He had no idea what to say to this word-onslaught, and it hadn’t even ended because Ethan opened his mouth again.

“I really hope it’ll get easier because all the craft stuff I was doing before is harder now. But I have some new projects in mind. I’m not going to let this stop me. You know, when Monet started losing his eyesight, he made some fantastic paintings, like, really mind-blowing. He saw the world differently and amazed everyone. It’s about trying to find an opportunity in all this,” he babbled on as they slowly reached the top of the stairs. At least his voice was pleasant to listen to.

Robert clenched his teeth. He could imagine Ethan viewed the possibility of coercing him into sex as just that. An opportunity. This wasn’t how he had imagined his first experiences with another guy, but he would suck it up and be a man about it. It wasn’t as if it was something he didn’t want to do in the long run. He would have wanted Ethan in normal circumstances. He had this nice, silky hair, beautiful, angular face, and soft skin.

It took Ethan a good couple of seconds too long before he reluctantly pulled back his hand from Robert’s arm. “Thanks.”

“It’s my fault you have this problem in the first place, so it only seems fair,” said Rob, looking at the empty corridor. Everyone was already in class, but while he’d wanted to run just minutes ago, now the peaceful atmosphere was drawing him in with promises of time off from all this shit.

Ethan looked at something behind Robert and then back into his eyes. “It would only be fair if you went to prom with me.” There was a small smile on Ethan’s lips, but at this point in their…
acquaintance
, Rob had no idea what was going on in that punctured brain.

Robert’s breath caught in his throat. “Maybe you’d like me to donate my eye for you while I’m at it?”

The smile was gone with a little twitch of Ethan’s eyebrow. “It was just a joke. I’d never actually inflict the horror of fake-dating me.”

Robert bit his lip. A challenge was on the tip of his tongue, but was it really safe to call Ethan out on the Wednesday arrangement? What if it would piss Ethan off, and he’d report Robert’s role in the accident?

Ethan watched him for the longest moment before pursing his lips and walking off toward the classroom, leaving only the fresh scent of shampoo behind him. He had nice legs. It only now hit Robert that Ethan seemed to be gaining back the weight he’d lost in hospital. He stepped toward their classroom but his eyes stopped at the prom poster on the wall. It must have been what sparked Ethan’s idea. Robert swallowed, lingering for a few more seconds before following the slim figure. Everyone was expecting him to invite a girl, but the last time he dated one was in his sophomore year, and changing this fact was the last thing he wanted. Being gay sucked sometimes. Though thinking of the next visit at Ethan’s home sucked more.