"Alright then, let me know if you need anything just push the pager." Justin pointed to the small button on the wall reminding Caleb of its location, smiled and left the room. Isaiah looked at his plate, the dish was made up of a wide variety of vegetables with chunks of tofu on a bed of rice noodles with a sweet sauce. Isaiah wasn't completely a vegetarian, but he treated himself to it when he could. Originally planning to be a veterinarian when he was younger, he didn't like the idea of factory farms. So, he tried not to support them where he had the option as at home it was whatever his mother cooked, he ate.

"This looks really good," he stated.

"Dig in." Caleb smiled and picked up his knife and fork, his plate was a chicken and vegetable mixture of sorts. Isaiah picked up his fork and took up some of the vegetables, tofu and noodles and took a bite. It was probably the best thing he had ever tasted. It certainly beat the microwavable vegetarian food his mom sometimes brought home from the market. "Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's awesome." Caleb smiled and went back to his dish. The two of them continued to eat quietly until their food was gone. It was now around noon, and they would have to leave soon for Caleb to be back in town for the game with the others. "Should we get going soon, don't want you to miss your game," said Isaiah sarcastically but smiling.

"Ha ha, yeah I did say I'd be there didn't I," Caleb laughed. Justin walked in and over to the table smiling.

"Any dessert for either of you, a coffee maybe?" he asked as he picked up their plates and stacked them together. Isaiah was full from the stir fry but looked at Caleb.

"No, I think we're good," Caleb answered taking the cue from Isaiah. "Just put the bill on the account we have to get going back to Strathecona."

"Okay Caleb, nice to see you as always, have a good day." Justin smiled at the two of them and left the room.

"Are you ready to go?" Caleb asked standing up and stretching his legs. Isaiah nodded and stood up with him.

"Yeah, let's go." The two of them walked out of the room and into the noisy restaurant. Isaiah found it hard to believe that the walls of the restaurant were so well insulated. There had to be close to one hundred people in the main dining room, but they never heard a word from them until they walked out of the room, they were in. They walked through the dining room and Caleb nodded, smiling at several members of the staff they returned the smile. Isaiah just kept his head down as they headed out into the parking lot. "They all seem really nice."

"Yeah, my parents spend sometimes thousands of dollars here in a month when they bring their clients here." Isaiah really had no idea what Caleb's parents did, but it sounded important. Isaiah couldn't remember seeing them at any of the games in the past. He had only seen his uncle on a few occasions. Caleb opened Isaiah's door for him and then got up in the driver's seat. "You want me to take you home or did you wanna come over to Chris's with me?" Isaiah got up in the truck and looked at him for a second not wanting to go to Chris's house for what he thought were more than obvious reasons.

"Not really." Caleb turned on the truck and started driving out of the parking lot.

"Are you sure? I know you don't really get along with them, but you'll be with me. Might be a good chance to get in good with the team. Let them see you're not any different than the rest of us." Caleb smiled trying to reassure Isaiah that they might accept him, even if this was the case, he wasn't ready for it.

"I think I better go home," said Isaiah. Caleb could tell Isaiah was getting anxious just talking about it deciding to drop the conversation. "I'm sorry," Isaiah spoke quietly feeling as though he had disappointed him.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Caleb reached over and put his hand on Isaiah's comforting him. "Just remember though, I'm not going to let them push you around anymore." Isaiah smiled at Caleb and squeezed his hand putting his fingers between Caleb's.

"You never did let them, remember?" Isaiah reminded him, still smiling.

The drive home passed quickly, Caleb pulled into Isaiah's driveway and parked the truck. They sat in silence for several long seconds, both of them clearly not wanting their time together to end. Caleb looked at Isaiah waiting for him to make some kind of move that he was going to leave but really not wanting him to.

"Do you have to get going right away?" asked Isaiah.

"Well no." Caleb looked at the clock on the dashboard of the truck which read one thirty. "I don't have to be there right away. I just have to show up." Isaiah opened the door to get out of the truck.

"Did you wanna come in for a bit?" asked Isaiah. Caleb glanced at the time once more and then smiled and turned off the truck.

"Sure. As long as your mom doesn't mind."

"Don't worry she won't mind." Caleb got out of the truck and looked at the small house for a few seconds as Isaiah got out of the truck. Caleb, uncharacteristically started to feel nervous about the situation, feeling as though he had stepped outside of his comfort zone. Isaiah walked around the front of the truck and stood in front of him. "Are you okay?" he asked, seeing the expression change on his face.

"Well..." Caleb paused, not ready to face his decision in the form of another person. "I don't know about going inside yet." Isaiah looked at Caleb confused, not sure what he meant. "I mean... it's hard to explain but." Isaiah listened intently waiting for Caleb to finish his train of thought. "I know she knows about us already but... you know?" Caleb watched closely at Isaiah's facial expression hoping he wouldn't be mad. "If you're mad at me I'll understand."

"I'm not mad," said Isaiah being truthful. He knew that it was going to be something that Caleb had a hard time with. He was happy that everything had gone smoothly this far. "We don't have to go inside. Let's just go sit on the step out back for a bit." Caleb smiled, and they headed around the back of the house on the patio.

"I'll get there," said Caleb, "I want to, promise." The two of them sat on the steps, side by side.

"It's okay. We have lots of time right." Isaiah laughed quietly and pushed up against him. Caleb laughed with him and pushed back. "I'm glad we got to hang out today."

"Me too. It was fun to go to a restaurant with someone I asked to go with instead of someone who made me take them."

"Why on earth did you stay with her for so long Caleb?" Isaiah looked at Caleb waiting for a response.

"I don't know, I guess I just had to realize what was better for me." Isaiah laid his head on Caleb's shoulder. Isaiah's house was in front of a large field full of trees, there were other houses in the area, but Caleb was confident that no one else could see them where they were sitting. Caleb rested his cheek on Isaiah's head and closed his eyes listening to their surroundings. He could feel the wind blowing through his hair, he exhaled and relaxed taking in the calm day and the warm sun. He could hear the wind rustling in the trees that lined the property just as he could feel Isaiah take his hand. The two of them sat with their eyes closed in the quiet keeping the mood. Caleb knew that he would have to leave soon but didn't want to. He wasn't really feeling like spending his afternoon listening to the other guys and watching a game he didn't care to see.

Jonathan and Casey had finished what they went to do, it had been about an hour and Jonathan was driving Casey back to her house. The two of them were quiet, recuperating from their sexual encounter in silence. Jonathan thought to himself that this had been the most intense sex that they had, and he wasn't sure how to express himself about it. He went in just looking for a quickie, but he was starting to feel something for Casey that he wasn't ready to admit to himself. Jonathan didn't want a relationship with anyone let alone the girl the other guys teased him for. He usually had a rule he went by where as soon as feelings started to get involved, he dropped out of the arrangement. Usually, it wasn't him that had the feelings though, this is where he got his reputation from. They took a turn on the street Isaiah lived on which was adjoining Casey's street. They drove down the street passing Isaiah's house, Jonathan noticed the white truck in the yard.

"What the heck?"

"What?" Casey leaned forward in her seat and looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"Does Isaiah's father drive a white truck?" asked Jonathan.

"Um no. His dad died when he was like three." Jonathan went quiet clearly uncomfortable hearing that someone he tormented was in such a situation.

"Oh," he said awkwardly, "Then that must be Caleb's truck then." Jonathan looked back at the truck in his rear-view mirror and could see the truck in full knowing it was Caleb's.

"So, what if it is? Maybe they're starting to be friends. Caleb has always been nice to him," said Casey not seeing what the issue was.

"You say that like there's nothing wrong with it. I think Isaiah's trying to convert him or something and I don't like it."

"Why is that your business?" Casey laughed blatantly.

"Caleb's my best friend and he just broke up with his girlfriend of three years. He's in a bad state, he's just not letting anyone see it. He loved that girl as much of a bitch she was to him," explained Jonathan sure what he was saying was the way it was. The car turned onto Casey's street and into her yard seconds after.

"Just leave it alone, it might be good for Caleb to get a fresh point of view on his situation," said Casey.

"Whatever that faggot better not..."

"Hey that's my best friend you're talking about," Casey interrupted angrily. "I'm going to get out now before you disgust me to the point that I never wanna speak to you again because I'm already getting pretty close to it." Casey abruptly got out of the car and slammed the door causing Jonathan to flinch at the banging noise. Jonathan laid on the horn letting her know he was angry and backed the car out of the yard quickly. Jonathan had made up his mind that he was going to go back and see why Caleb was there. He took the turn back onto the street Isaiah lived on and slowed down as he came up on his driveway, but the truck was already gone.

The rest of the day passed slowly, and Isaiah found himself in his room getting his books ready for Monday's classes. It had been the best weekend he had probably ever and was sad to see it go but he knew it wouldn't be the last of its kind. He pushed his history textbook into his backpack and sat it down on the floor by his bed. It was roughly eight o'clock and he and Casey hadn't talked since Saturday. He hadn't wanted to talk to her until now after processing what happened over the weekend. Isaiah took his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. He looked through his phonebook on the phone and selected her number and pushed the call button. He put the phone to his ear.

"Bout goddamn time!" yelled Casey, the phone didn't have enough time to ring more than once before she picked up. "Why didn't you call me yesterday?"

"Yeah sorry, I just had a lot on my mind." Isaiah couldn't help but laugh a little bit at the sound of urgency in her voice. He knew it was killing her not knowing what had gone on. "I had to take some time and think about stuff you know?"

"That good huh?" she said sarcastically. "You dog you! So how did it go?" Casey laughed. Isaiah thought for a moment about how to word the answer to the question she was asking.

"Um, well, how did it look like it went?" he asked feeling as though he sounded stupid.

"It looks like you have him eating out of the palm of your hand." Isaiah couldn't help but feel slightly offended, she made it sound like he was being like Sheena.

"It's not even like that, we didn't really do anything sexual we just talked and kissed a lot," Isaiah explained, "He's felt the same way about me since he saw me try out for the team."

"Wait, back up a bit," said Casey shocked. This situation was something Isaiah had wanted to find himself in since junior high school, she found it hard to believe that he passed it up. "You didn't do anything sexual? Why not?" she asked confused, "The gold was right there in front of you, and you looked the other way?" Isaiah could understand Casey's confusion, he had been madly in love with Caleb for what seemed like forever and was sexually attracted to him beyond belief.

"Casey it's not just about sex and besides Caleb was drunk that night," he explained, "He said that once we did anything he wanted to be able to remember everything." Isaiah knew what question was coming next.

"How do you know what he said wasn't just 'drunk talk', then?" Casey knew she was asking an obvious question but was concerned, she didn't want her friend to end up hurt by some jock.

"If you could have seen the look on his face, you would understand. Once he said that to me everything just came together. All the awkward stares and smiles, the times he stuck up for me. It all just fits." Isaiah paused and waited for her to respond before continuing. "If it means anything, he and Sheena are through."

"I heard from Jonathan, why?"

"She walked in and saw us kissing and she freaked."

"That's too funny," Casey laughed, "but won't she tell everyone?"

"Caleb thinks he managed to talk her out of it, but I guess only time will tell." Isaiah didn't want to think about everyone finding out about him and Caleb and decided to shift the conversation. "How about we talk about you and Jonathan now?"

"What about us?" asked Casey sounding defensive.

"Well judging by the other night seems like it's not just a one-time thing anymore." Isaiah sounded accusing on purpose he didn't like the idea of his bully and his best friend being together.

"Well, so it seems," said Casey sounding unsure, "I guess he's getting to the point that he doesn't just want sex anymore."

"Hey, you're always going on about how hot he is, but is that what you really want?" asked Isaiah, "He's probably not going to go far in life. I mean, all he does is play football and party, right?"

"Well yeah, but look at where football is taking Caleb, and where it could be taking you if you tried hard at it – but you have your marks to get you the scholarships," said Casey defending him.

"Yeah, Jonathan's got one or two things. I just don't think he could handle the whole university thing, right." Isaiah was starting to be outright mean in the things he was saying, and Casey didn't like it but couldn't blame him after the way Jonathan treated him.

"Isaiah, you have to give people a chance."

"Sometimes, yeah," said Isaiah nonchalantly. It was clear that both of them had enough of the topic at hand.

"So, what are you doing later?"

"Well, not much." Isaiah looked at his clock, it was already late. "It's already almost time for bed. School tomorrow, remember." Isaiah picked up his alarm clock and fidgeted with it to make sure it was set properly.