Chapter 1 Parker

• Parker Montgomery put his contact lenses in and took one last look in the mirror. He blinked twice, letting the plastic lenses settle over his green eyes. He ran his hand through his hair. The short and spiky dark blond hair was as good as it was gonna get. At least the messy style hid the stupid cowlick on the crown of his head.
• He was dressed simply in a pair of blue jeans and a fitted white cotton button-down shirt. He wore a blue and green friendship bracelet on his left wrist, given to him by his best friend. He pushed his feet into a pair of black leather shoes, not stopping to bend and untie them, just wiggling his heels until they slid in.
• It was the first day of school. He couldn't believe that it was his last year of high school. He was a little bit nervous, but at the same time, he was excited. Hopefully this would be a year to remember.
• Parker shut his bedroom door and bounced down the stairs. "Mom? Dad?" he called out.
• He listened for a moment. Not a peep. He let out a sigh. Nothing new there. His dad was a financial big wig at some investment company whose global headquarters was downtown in the city. His mom was a lawyer. Both of them were more concerned with their careers than their son.
• Parker looked up at the clock on the kitchen wall and then quickly chugged down a glass of chocolate milk. He was going to be late if he didn't get a move on. He pulled on a hoodie and grabbed his phone and backpack and raced out the front door. He pulled the blue and white Forest View High School `Timberwolves' lanyard holding his keys and student ID from his pocket and locked the door behind him.
• Shell was waiting next door in the driveway.
• Michelle Wilson was Parker's best friend since junior high school, when her family moved in next door. Shell's parents were both successful business executives and the two kids often hung out together in the evenings and on the weekends. Well, when Shell was in between boyfriends.
• Shell was wearing her blue and white FVHS cheerleading uniform. Her hair was permed straight and slicked back into a tight ponytail. She looked way cute today, with her flawless, mocha skin. Her uniform accentuated her curvy shape, complete with perky breasts and a tight butt.
• Though Shell and Parker were the same age, she always acted like a big sister towards her shy friend. Parker had always been grateful to Shell for helping to break him out of his nerd shell. She was truly a good friend.
• "Hey, Parker," she said with a grin. "Ready for the first day of school?"
• "Yup."
• They got into Shell's Honda and she took off, heading towards the high school.
• "Hey, you should come to cheerleading practice after school," Shell said after she turned down the radio.
• Parker looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Are you insane? I am not going to be a cheerleader. I'd really like to minimize the ass-kickings this year."
• "We already had tryouts at camp last week," she said with an eye-roll. "And besides we don't have boy cheerleaders. We have mascot auditions today."
• "Okay, now I know you're insane. I'm not going to make an ass of myself in a ridiculous `Tacky the Timberwolf' costume."
• "Okay, first of all, you know damn well it's `Timo the Timberwolf'. Look at it like this, Parker. It's our last year of high school. This is your chance to be somebody. Get invited to the good parties. Have fun. Go on dates."
• Parker shrugged. "I don't care about that stuff," he lied -- to himself and to Shell.
• "I'm gonna keep it real, boo. You're my mission. I'm gonna get you out there. Get you a man. I'm gonna get you laid."
• "Oh, yes. The best way to get myself a man is to wear that stupid costume. I don't know why I ever came out to you."
• Parker decided not to mention the fact that he had given another guy a handjob the summer before eleventh grade. He had made the other guy come, so that counted as sex, right? If the other guy wasn't such a bastard, he might have told her what he did. No, if he told her, she'd demand all of the details and Parker wasn't about to go there.
• "Boo, I hate to break it to you, but I knew way before you told me. You're a little zesty."
• "Remind me again why I like you?" Parker pouted.
• "You know you love me, boo. Look. You have to do this. You're a good dancer. I mean, how many years did you do gymnastics?"
• "Up until tenth grade. When I got my ass kicked almost every week."
• Shell shook her head. "You shouldn't have let those assholes win. You were good. Anyways, you're doing this. You just have to come and show off your dance moves and do some flips. They'll love you. Don't we have fun dancing in your room?"
• "Yeah, but that's just fooling around. Not in front of other people!"
• "Just pretend you're pumping some Madonna in your room by yourself. `Don't just stand there, let's get to it...'"
• Parker rolled his eyes and sunk down into the seat. "I hate you," he mumbled.
• A smile spread across Shell's face as she said in a sing-songy voice, "You'll get to change in the locker room with the football players..."
• * * *
• Shell pulled into the school's student parking lot and parked the car. She and Parker grabbed their bags and weaved through the parking lot towards the school's main entrance. As they walked across the lot, Parker drew in a deep breath.
• Colton Butler walked past, cutting across the grass, flanked by his best friends, Trey Williams and Jed Stone. All three of them had freshly shaved heads, looking totally bad-ass. They strutted across the lawn like they owned it. And for all intents and purposes, they did.
• Colton was a total stud, one of most popular guys in the school, if not the most popular. He transferred in from out of state last year and quickly became the top dog at the school. He was smoking hot. He had dark brown eyes and a sexy black goatee and mustache. He was always sporting a five-o'clock shadow. The last time Parker saw him, he had a head of thick, black hair. The shaved head suited him, though. It made him look rough and rugged. He had an arrogant, dominant attitude that Parker thought was so sexy. Everything about him screamed MAN, and that made him very appealing -- not only to Parker, but the entire student body. The girls wanted to fuck him. And all the guys wanted to be him. Well, Parker was in the camp with the girls on this one.
• The weird thing about that was that Parker couldn't recall ever seeing him date anyone. Though it sure seemed like every girl in the school threw themselves at him. That was fine with Parker. It fueled the boy's fantasies that he was gay and that he was saving himself just for Parker. The reality was that Colton didn't even know that Parker existed.
• Colton's best friend was Trey, a tall and muscular black guy. Trey was insanely handsome and excelled at all sports. He was captain of the basketball team and the quarterback of the football team. He led the football team to regionals and state the past three years. Girls threw themselves at Trey, literally. The rumor was that he'd been through all of the cheerleaders and was working his way through the rest of the senior class. Of course that was an exaggeration, but not by much.
• Rounding out the power trio was Jed. He was big and brawny, a total redneck, built like a power lifter. He was a defensive linebacker on the football team. He had a long, shaggy goatee of reddish-brown hair and sported a couple days worth of beard stubble. It would probably take two weeks for Parker to grow that much stubble and he sure as hell would never be able to sport any kind of beard. It wasn't a secret that Jed was gay, though no one talked about it for fear of getting their ass kicked. The rumor, according to Shell, was that Jed had turned out quite a few supposedly straight jocks.
• After Parker was outed last year, he worked up the nerve to try to talk to Jed. Being the only other out gay guy at their school, he thought maybe they could be friends. The big jock looked at him wide-eyed like he was some kind of leper and practically ran the other way. That sure was a self-esteem booster.
• "Damn," Shell whispered. "Trey can get it."
• "It should be a crime to be that hot," Parker whispered back, but referring to Colton. "What happened to their hair?"
• "The whole team shaved their heads at football camp last week."
• "Huh. He's bigger, too," Parker noticed.
• Colton had to have grown at least two inches taller over the summer, making him well above six feet tall. He also filled out a little more. His biceps were bigger and his chest muscles were bigger, too. Parker's eyes drifted down to the bulging crotch of the big jock's jeans.