“Hey, Matt.” Joe Monroe called out to the guy next to him at the table littered with paper.
Joe looked over at the blonde boy next to him. They had been classmates for the past three and a half years at Central College. Both were seniors looking forward to graduating in five months. It was their third year together with the newspaper staff. Joe was editor of the school newspaper, and Matt Adams was one of his stellar reporters.
If there was a good lead, Matt was his go-to guy. He had scooped the story last year of an alumnus hosting a wild party at his mansion after the homecoming game. After hearing rumors around the school, he investigated and found out that drugs and alcohol had been abundantly supplied to underage revelers. He took his notes to the police. In return, he received first rights to all information on the arrests.
As a result, the small town had its first real scandal in years. Matt earned himself a name at Central. Many admired his reporting abilities; others hated his guts. Several students had been expelled because of their involvement, so there students in the school who would like to see him hanging from the rafters of the gymnasium.
The alumnus, Mr. Samuel J. Wellston, was a well-respected man in town. He owned several car dealerships, and he was a major donor to the institution. Each year he donated over $50,000 so the town could have a spectacular fireworks display on the Fourth of July. Wellston was not a man to be messed with. He had power and money. However, he was now sitting behind bars in a federal penitentiary as a result of Matt’s investigation.
“Yeah?” Matt asked as he looked over at Joe.
Matt admired Joe. Not just admired him, he had a huge crush on him. Unfortunately, it was a one-sided affair.
Joe was an extremely good-looking black guy. He was incredibly smart, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. He stood 6’2” and weighed around 175 pounds. He had beautiful caramel skin and a slight mustache and thin goatee which added to his sex appeal.
Matt had signed up for journalism as a sophomore for the sole purpose of spending at least one hour each day with Joe. Later, he joined the newspaper staff because Joe was one of the top reporters. This year Joe was the editor. To please him, Matt put in 110% on any story given him. When the story on Wellston last year gained state wide attention, he was thrilled watching Joe’s reaction.
Working with Joe on the story formed a special bond between them. They spent many hours at school working on the story and formulating plans to gain information. Those months that they worked together were very satisfying for Matt.
He didn’t care that he had become a celebrity in the town. The only thing that pleased him was seeing the excitement in Joe’s eyes. Joe had joined him when he went to the police and was there when the media interviewed him. He never tried to take credit for the story. He gave Joe the byline, and he insisted he only acted as an editor and confidante.
Joe said to Matt, “I have an idea for a story."
“Okay, let’s hear it,” replied Matt. Matt was thrilled. Joe's suggestion might mean the possibility of spending long hours together working on it.
“All right but hear me out before you say no.” Matt was interested. It was the first time Joe had given him an option. Normally, the assignment was handed to him, and he eagerly accepted.
“You know last year when you did the Wellston story?” he began. “Well, I think another story might have come out of your investigation.”
“Okay, I’m listening,” replied Matt. It was beginning to sound interesting.
“You discovered that many of the students had engaged in sex at that party.” Matt nodded. “No one really said much about it. They were more concerned with the booze and drug angle.”
“I’m still listening,” replied an interested Matt. Sex. Yes! He liked the sound of it so far. Working with Joe on a story about sex had many possibilities.
“Several football players were found in an upstairs bedroom. No one mentioned it, but according to your notes, they were all naked,” he said thoughtfully.
The image of hot football players naked in bed was sending erotic images to his head. He remembered that witnesses said there were two separate bedrooms with sexual activity going on.
One room contained male and female students. However in the other room, only guys were present. Some might have even been of high school age.
“I want you to do a little more research,” Joe continued. “Ask around and see if you can find out who was involved. We might have a story here.
“I want to do an investigative story on sexual activity at Central. You know, the usual- who was involved, how rampant it is, and was staff involved. We’ve got to be very careful, though. If word gets out, we could be in a lot of danger,” he warned.
“You think so?” laughed Matt. “After getting several of our popular students expelled last year, if they find out I’m looking into their sex lives now, they'll be gunning for me!”
“All right. I’m just suggesting it right now,” remarked Joe. “Just think about it. I haven’t decided on doing it yet. It is dangerous and there might be all sorts of school rules we could be violating. I’m going to run this by Dr. Olsen and see what he thinks.” Dr. Olsen was the journalism professor and staff adviser for the school newspaper.
“Don’t go to Olsen yet,” pleaded Matt. He wanted desperately to investigate the story. He didn’t care what they uncovered. He just wanted to work secretively with Joe. It could be a story that would require many hours alone with him.
Joe had never given any indication he might have played for the other side. With his exceptionally good looks, girls were always hitting on him. There were times when girls would stop Joe in the halls and tell him they had a story for him. However, he would have to come to their apartment or dorm room at night for the information.
Joe would just laugh them off and tell them to speak to one of the reporters. He would tell them his job was editor. He didn’t write ‘stories.’
He had a girlfriend, but they seemed to be more like friends than a serious couple. Matt would see them holding hands occasionally, but they never kissed or exhibited any displays of affection that was expected of an ordinary college couple.
“I have to go to Olsen,” Joe informed him. “There could be some serious liabilities for the university if this story backfires.”
“Tell you what,” suggested Matt. “Let’s just nose around a little and see if there is a story first. No use jumping the gun here.”
“All right. But at the first sign of trouble, the story ends,” Joe insisted. “You remember the problems we had last time.”
“Yeah. First sign of trouble.” He made a slashing gesture across his neck. Joe laughed.
“Come by after your last class tomorrow and we’ll talk about it,” he said. “When’s your last class?”
“European Literature. I get out at two,” responded Matt.
“Good, my last class is at noon. See you at two.”
'YES! There is a god in heaven!' Matt screamed silently to himself.
“Sure, tomorrow after class.” He gave Joe a thumbs up and walked out of the room. He wanted to do somersaults down the hallway, but a janitor was busy mopping the floor.
'That white boy is hot!' Joe thought to himself after Matt left the room.
Matt had become a close friend over the past year. Because of all the long hours they spent together on the Wellston story, he had developed a certain affection for him. After months, that affection had taken deeper roots. It was now bordering on love.
However, Joe wasn’t sure if Matt was gay. He had heard rumors for the past three years, but he never saw anything unusual about Matt’s behavior. Anytime he saw him outside of class, he was always with a girl named Jessica.
Matt did have a roommate the first year he was on the newspaper staff. Jake used to wait around for him often, usually getting in the way. After a few months, their friendship cooled. Jake didn't returned his junior year.
One of the rumors around school was that they had a terrible fight in the dorm early one morning. It seems that Matt walked in and caught Jake in bed with another guy.
After years of writing stories from different viewpoints, Joe knew it didn’t necessarily mean a lovers’ quarrel had occurred. Perhaps Matt was homophobic and he didn’t like having a gay roommate. He never asked him about it. It was also around that time he was handed the Wellston assignment. He submerged himself totally in the story.
At first, Joe loved Matt’s work ethics. He was hard-working and relentless in gaining information. He was extremely intelligent. Joe had to do very little when he edited his stories. They were always flawless, exhibiting an exceptional writing style.
However, the more time they spent together, that admiration deepened. Matt was a very handsome guy. He was 6’0’ tall and weighed about 160 pounds. He had silky blonde hair that he wore slightly long and parted in the middle. He had beautiful green eyes; eyes that would captivate a person.
There were many times Joe would sit and just stare into Matt’s eyes. He would act like he was interested in what Matt was saying, but often he couldn’t remember what he had said when the conversation ended.
Until he met Matt, he had never questioned his sexuality. He knew from an early age that he was straight, or so he thought. He had his first sexual experience at fourteen when the girl down the street seduced him one day.
He had just finished mowing their yard one hot summer afternoon. When he finished, he knocked on the door for payment. Tina, her sixteen-year-old daughter, told him that her mother had left and would be back soon. She invited him in and offered him a glass of iced tea.
He sat at the kitchen table waiting for his cold beverage. Tina brought it to him, leaning over his shoulder and placing it on the table, rubbing her body against him. When Matt responded, she grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to her room.
He lost his virginity that day.
Now the handsome white boy had entered his life, and he was beginning to question his sexuality. After Tina, he had numerous sexual encounters throughout high school and college; however, he found none of them satisfying.
It was just sex. A woman, he thought, expected some kind of commitment. She wanted to display him to her friends. She wanted him to take her places and buy her nice things.
He had been dating Marilyn, his current girlfriend, for five months. They had sex often, but his heart wasn’t into it. He knew he was a lousy sex partner. They rarely showed any affection to one another. It was a meaningless relationship.
He wanted more, and he was beginning to wonder if he could ever find fulfillment with a woman. He didn’t want to be gay. There was too much of a social stigma associated with it.
If his parents would continue to support him, he planned to go to graduate school next year. One day he hoped to become an editor of a major newspaper. He didn’t think major newspapers would hire a gay editor, though.
For now, though, he knew he had to keep his distance from Matt. He thought that he could easily fall in love with him. He didn’t want that to happen. It would produce too many problems. No, he couldn’t allow himself to fall in love with Matt.