He was sitting on the couch watching TV. Today he was supposed to meet up with his girlfriend to fool around a little. But she couldn't make it; she was going to a club with her friends. He wasn't jealous, but it was weird: she was going out with her friends more and more often without him, didn't want him around, or when she was with him, they didn't do anything except watch movies. He didn't really believe that she would cheat on him, but he wasn't sure. He often wanted to talk to her about it, but she always blocked it and said that she didn't feel like having sex. He accepted it, though not entirely happily. Who was he? Quite simply, his name was Elias Sander, he was 1.89 m tall, weighed 80 kg, was well-trained, had blue eyes and blonde hair.
He would have liked to have had an explanation from her, that's what he would have liked... but in the meantime, he could pass the time with other girls.
The doorbell rang. Well, speak of the devil, he thought. He was only wearing underpants, thought about throwing something on, but if it was Inga, she would just grin and immediately know what he wanted. He felt his penis swell. The doorbell rang again. “Yes, yes, I'm coming!” he said more to himself. Elias opened the door and Jonas was standing in front of him. He looked a little puzzled: “Jonas, what are you doing here?” “Thanks for the wonderful welcome,” replied Jonas. “I was bored, so I thought I'd come to see you! Am I disturbing you?” “No... no, come in!” Jonas thanked him and entered. Elias would have liked to have had someone else, but at least he now had someone to keep him company. Jonas was exactly the same height as Elias, only one or two kilos heavier, had brown eyes and dark brown, almost black, hair.
“What are you doing here? I mean, you're half naked!” Jonas remarked. Well, that's just like him, he sees something like that immediately and speaks to me about it. Um, yes, for a better understanding: Jonas is gay, even if he doesn't like to admit it.
“Well, I wanted to... watch a porn movie, actually. But I don't feel like it anymore,” said Elias. Jonas looked at him quizzically. ‘Yeah, um, okay, if you say so,’ he just remarked. They sat down on the couch and watched the exciting program. Once again, nothing was on TV. It was Saturday night, so what a surprise!
Elias hadn't bothered to put anything on, and Jonas tried not to stare at the boxers all the time, which was visibly difficult for him, after all, he wasn't exactly distracted by the report on the monkeys in Africa.
“Isn't there anything more interesting than this nonsense?” Jonas asked cautiously, before he would pounce on Elias.
“Ah! I know what you're after,“ Elias replied.
“Huh? You don't know that...”
“Sure, man, I've got eyes in my head! It's just that there's no porn for you, I'm sorry,” said Elias triumphantly, leaning back on the couch. Jonas looked at him for a moment, but then turned back to the report.
“The evening is going to be boring as hell tonight, and I can't even persuade him to watch porn with me,” thought Jonas, sighing and getting up.
“Well, if you're just going to watch that mind-numbing report, I might as well go home,” Jonas said to Elias. He looked at him in puzzlement, and Jonas realized that Elias felt alone and preferred to stay with him.
Jonas sat down, or rather, he intended to, but he decided to go to the bathroom first. “I'll be right back,” he said to Elias and walked down the hall to the very back where the toilet was.
While Jonas let nature take its course, the doorbell rang again. Elias went to it with heavy steps.
“Marina? What... what are you doing here? Didn't you say you were going to the disco with your friends?“ Elias asked her.
“Yes, but before that I just want to tell you that it's over between us,” she emphasized this “over” as if she wanted to impress it on him for eternity. All you could hear was the door slamming, Marina crying outside the door, Elias crying in the hallway.
Jonas quickly got ready and went to Elias. “Shit!” Jonas remarked, seeing the tears running down Elias' face. He took him in his arms.
“Hey man, don't read anything into this,“ Elias said.
“No man, I'm not that kind of asshole! Come on, get up!” Jonas helped him up and sat him on the couch.
“A beer?” Jonas asked him. Elias just nodded. Jonas took two beers out of the fridge and opened them. He put one in front of his best buddy, who drank half the can in one go. Elias looked at him desperately, Jonas was his best buddy too.
“Why?“ was the simple question from Elias.
“A thousand people probably ask themselves this question every day when their partner breaks up with them. You guys were already over long ago,” Jonas tried to build him up. Elias looked at him with red and wet eyes, thanked him and gave him a big hug. Jonas looked a little taken aback at first, but knew that Elias needed a strong friend's shoulder now.
“Come on, there are plenty of other girls who are pretty and smart,” Jonas encouraged him. Elias let go, looked him in the eye, and suddenly Elias gave him a kiss, right on the mouth. His hands pressed Jonas's head lightly towards him, without much pressure. Jonas looked extremely puzzled at first, but then he closed his eyes and just enjoyed the moment. He had often dreamt of this moment, but he never would have thought that it would really happen. 

Elias turned away immediately and looked down sheepishly, and Jonas didn't really know what to do either. Jonas stood up and said, “I think it's better if I leave for today!” Elias nodded, and Jonas walked out into the dark night with his head bowed. He had no intention of going home; he wanted to sit down by the small river that ran next to the house and think. “How does Elias feel now? Man, I wish I hadn't... well, he kissed me. Maybe he just longs for a little tenderness.” Jonas' thoughts raced like an ICE train on a straight track at 300 km/h, and yet he knew no way, no advice; at least the ICE train knew where it was going. Jonas reached into his jacket pocket and found his iPod. He put on the headphones and turned on the little shuffle. He searched for something specific, a song that would fit the situation well. And Jonas found one: Nightwish – Gethsemane; yes, that was what he needed now, something sentimental. He lay there on the bank of the river and looked at the starry sky.
“We are both 18 years old, we can... be friends, we also live in Austria and not somewhere in Africa. Here in Vienna! There are no problems with something like that... but... I can't make him gay. That sounds weird! Oh, he'll know what he's doing, tomorrow it'll all be forgotten. Within Temptation – Jillian (I'd give my heart), the song fits perfectly now.” Jonas sang along, very quietly and only to himself.
At some point, however, he also got tired and thought to himself that he would rather go home before he fell asleep here. But just as he was about to pull himself together, he noticed Elias sitting next to him in a white sweater and white trousers. Jonas was startled, took the earplugs out of his ears and asked him how long he had been sitting there.
“About an hour,“ he replied, lost in thought, and continued to gaze at the starry sky.
“Nice... what?” Jonas asked casually. Elias nodded. He seemed different, and Jonas had the feeling that he should apologize for what had happened before.
“You, Elias... I'm sorry about before...“ But by then, Elias had turned his head to him, and Jonas stopped mid-sentence. Elias was crying... still or again? Jonas didn't know, so he sat down closer to him, his left arm going around Elias' shoulder.
“Why... are you crying?” Jonas asked carefully, lovingly wiping a tear from Elias' face.
“It's not fair! You know? I kept it secret for a long time...“ Elias replied quietly. Jonas understood what he meant.
“But you could have told me!” Jonas countered.
“Yeah, so you'd smell your chance?” replied Elias, but it wasn't meant badly.
“I see... and now?” Jonas asked. Elias turned his head to Jonas again and looked into his brown eyes. At night they looked more like black eyes. Elias' eyes, on the other hand, sparkled bright blue through the dark night. This moment was so romantic that neither of them would forget this night – and it wasn't because of sex, no! This was more about the fact that Jonas and Elias had found each other, which had been Jonas' dream for years, and what Elias didn't want to admit to himself had now become reality. The kiss that followed was more intense, passionate and sweet than the previous one, and both enjoyed it. The tongues of each other explored the oral cavity of the other. Both had their eyes closed, it was not necessary that they saw each other, they knew each other well enough. And from the earbuds of the iPod now sounded the song “Show me Love” by t.A.T.u. It was really excellent! The silence of the night, the moon, whose light was reflected on the water surface, and the few crickets that chirped, made this moment even more unforgettable.
Both thought that this kiss had lasted for hours, but only three minutes had passed. They let go of each other and looked at each other. They smiled.
“Satisfied?” asked Elias.
“Yes, I am!“ Jonas replied.
They fell onto the grass and didn't want to get up again. At this time of day, no one would come by here anyway. They looked at each other dreamily once more and then decided to go into the house.
“But there's no sex!” Elias said to him. Jonas nodded.
“Of course!”
When they were in Elias's room, they lay down in the big bed and covered themselves up, just looked at each other briefly, then breathed a “good night” and extinguished the light. Both fell asleep immediately; a lot had happened today, after all.
The next day they were awakened by a loud thunder. It was only eight o'clock in the morning, and on a Sunday. Outside it was gray in gray and the first raindrops came down, lightning flashed. Elias snuggled up to Jonas. Both still a bit tired, they tried to sleep before a flash of lightning startled them. At first, Elias thought it had struck the house, but when he opened the window, he saw that the lightning had only hit a few meters from the house wall.
Now that they were awake, they got up. At least they were awake now, because the lightning had shot their adrenaline to unprecedented heights.
“Where are my parents, anyway?“ he wondered. The answer came promptly. There was a note stuck to the fridge:
”Hi Elias!
Dad and I are going to Fuerteventura for a week. Business trips, you know I hate them, but I had no choice. Have a good week, after all, you're already 18!“
”Best regards,
“Oh, so that's how it was! And please, when did they leave?” Elias asked himself, but since he didn't know anyway, he put the matter aside. This meant that he had the house to himself and Jonas for a whole week. He must be beside himself after yesterday's events.
Elias looked out the window and saw that the storm had moved on. It was still raining, but only lightly, and apart from the rolling thunder, there were no more lightning strikes, especially not near the house.
Elias set about cooking breakfast for Jonas and himself. Fried eggs with bacon, a pot of coffee and some sweet things.
And there Jonas came down already. The underpants had no more bulge, but still Elias couldn't help but smirk a little. Jonas ignored that, greeted him and even gave him a kiss.
“What are you trying here?” Jonas wanted to know, because everyone knew that Elias was a bad cook.
“I'm not trying to do anything! I'm cooking here!“ Elias stated. Jonas opened a few windows to let in the good rain air, then he sat down at the table and read the note that Elias had taken off the fridge and put on the table.
“Ah! So that's how it is. And when did they leave? They weren't here yesterday, were they?” he wanted to know.
“No, they weren't here yesterday! But I don't know when they left. But it's certainly more beautiful in the Canary Islands than here,“ Elias remarked. Jonas agreed with him. Then he was served the ‘fried eggs’.
“Do they just look burnt or are they really burnt?” Jonas asked jokingly.
“They just look it,” Elias scoffed back.
“Pizza?“ Jonas asked him. Elias nodded.
“It's better and no one gets hurt,” said Jonas. Both had to laugh. Elias stood up and kissed Jonas. Elias' hand stroked Jonas' flat chest until it reached his underpants. Both noticed something happening in their trousers. Elias sat on Jonas' lap so that he could look him in the face. Once again, their tongues explored each other's mouths. At that moment, the dense cloud cover parted and the sun shone through the open kitchen window onto the two of them.

For Sören
Yes, parents, it may come as a surprise to you, but I live with both of my parents under the same roof. In this day and age of life partners and blended families, the gentle reader may consider this a luxury, but I personally consider it a violation of the Geneva Conventions, at least in my case.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I like my parents, I probably love them too, but I'm not always so sure about that. They raised me and provided me with everything I needed to live. They gave me a sense of security and were there for me when I needed them.
But there is one topic on which we cannot agree: my homosexuality.
In mathematics, one would look for the least common multiple, but this search is not so easy with my parents. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack – only the haystack is about the size of the island of Greenland.
The problem started with my coming out.
Strengthened by the good results of my best friend Christ - Christ not Chris! - with his coming out to his Buddhist New Age parents, I thought to myself: you will do the same.
So one fine evening I went down to the living room to see my parents.
“Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you.”
“Just a minute, honey, Lindenstraße is almost over.”
So, now I was standing in the living room, brand “oak rustic”, as ordered and not picked up. My heart was beating up to my throat and I felt sick. To make matters worse, I had massive flatulence and I tried not to remodel the living room brand “oak rustic” into “forecourt to hell”.
On TV, the concerns and needs of the residents of a well-known street in Germany were discussed. Georg Uecker, alias Dr. Carsten Flöter, just kissed his TV partner Käthe, then: the final melody. My parents show no reaction. Neither a positive nor a negative one. A good sign, I think to myself secretly.
The melody fades away. Dad turns off the TV. I take a deep breath.
“Mom, Dad, I'm gay.”
A moment of silence.
“But honey, you can't just tell us like that.”
I was stunned. I can't just tell them that?
“You don't know that yet. You're just disappointed because you haven't found a girl yet. But that's not why you become gay.”
I took a deep breath. I was shocked. So, please, I don't know whether I'm gay or not? I... But there was more:
“Or did Christian touch you? With his parents and that terrible cult they're part of, it's no wonder.”
I was speechless.
“First of all, it's Christ, not Christian, I've told you that a thousand times, and secondly, their parents aren't in some kind of cult, they're Buddhists.”
My mother looked at me sympathetically.
I felt that I would not be able to control myself for much longer.
“I'm leaving.”
My mother nodded in her inimitable way, twisting the corner of her mouth so that she looked particularly compassionate.
“Yes, darling, do that. And think again. It can't be like that, you're not gay.”
I fled the room. Otherwise, I would probably have been in all the newspapers the next morning: “Homosexual son strangles parents with bare hands.”
I tried to talk to my parents about it several more times, but always with the same result:
“It's just a phase.”
“Wait until you meet a girl.”
“Have you ever been with a man? No? So, you can't know.”
When they realized that these arguments were not falling on fertile ground with me, they brought up the big guns:
“What did we do wrong?”
“You don't want us to have grandchildren?”
“What did we do to deserve this?” 

One Friday evening, things came to a head:
My mother had served dinner. Fish, of course, because in a proper Catholic family you only eat fish on Fridays. If you were to apply the meaning of this custom to the present day, there would have to be chips majo currywurst, but of course there is no lively dialogue with faith in the Catholic Church. Where would that get us? Sodom and Gomorrah!
So, we had fish.
We sat silently at the kitchen table and “enjoyed” our meal. The same as every Friday since I was born. My mother had probably eaten this dish every Friday since she was a child. They probably call it “conservative value”.
“Mom, I'm going to a party with Christ tonight.”
My mother looked at me.
“To a gay party?”
Actually, I wanted to go with Christ to a mutual friend's birthday party, but this “gay party” was already giving me the creeps.
“If you must know, yes.”
I looked at her defiantly. At least I tried to look defiant.
“Child, why do you always go to such parties? They put drugs in your drink and then you get AIDS and all that.”
Aids and stuff? That was pure ignorance talking.
“They're not putting drugs in my drink, Mom. That's an 'urban legend'.”
My mother looked at me, her gaze had something sheep-like about it.
“Speak German to me, darling.”
“Urban legend, Mama.”
She waved it off.
“And what if someone sees you? Imagine if your friends found out about it.”
“Imagine, Mama, most of my friends know I'm gay.”
Horrified, she covered her mouth with her hands. I have to admit that at that moment I felt something like triumph.
“Child, you can't just tell people that. What will people think of us now?”
I was starting to get really annoyed.
“I don't really care what they think of me.”
“Honey, you want to be something decent, don't you? Think about what you're throwing away if you keep being one of those homos.”
“Mom, as a gay man you can become anything these days. There are gay bakers, carpenters, farmers, police officers and even politicians.”
She looked at me sympathetically again.
“But honey, that's only on TV. Just look at your Uncle Heinrich, nobody wants anything to do with him anymore.”
Yes, the tiresome topic of Uncle Heinrich. At every family celebration, Uncle Heinrich was torn apart for hours and with growing enthusiasm.
Uncle Heinrich was not married and lived in a bachelor flat share. That was enough to label him gay. But I'm pretty sure he's not gay. Unless he works as a gay cleaning lady in a brothel at the train station.
“You don't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Most people see it differently.”
Again that compassionate dog look.
“Honey, you can't believe that, that's what they try to make you believe at those gay cult parties with their brainwashing methods.”
Now gays were a cult with brainwashing methods.
“Are you still okay?”
“Honey, in twenty years, gays will perhaps be accepted, but today it's still damn hard. I just want you to know what you're getting into when you join in.”
“Mom, I'm not saying it's all fun and games. I didn't choose to be gay - I just am and I'm going to live my life and not hide.”
Rational attempts at explanation.
“If you only knew; the world can be so cruel.”
If I only knew? Slowly but surely, I am convinced that I understand more about the world than she does.
“You're behind the times, Mom. In my generation, most people don't have a problem with gays.”
“Don't insult me, Stefan. I still have more life experience than you and I always will.”
Now my father also spoke up, for the first time since my coming out:
“Exactly, don't insult your mother, she doesn't deserve it.”
Right then, I knew there was no point in talking to my parents about it. They had their own world view and wouldn't budge an inch from it.
Since then, we have had a kind of truce. They have realized that no matter how good their arguments may be, they cannot dissuade me from being gay, and I have realized that I cannot expect a more liberal attitude.
Isn't it wonderful when parents don't want to accept a fundamental part of who you are?
I could rant on for hours, but I'm sure you don't want to hear that.

It was cold when we got off the bus that had been taking us through the Canadian wilderness for hours. I pulled my winter jacket tighter and pulled my cap down over my face. To escape the piercing wind, I joined my classmates at the bag distribution point and was able to grab my suitcase relatively quickly. I now walked quickly to the youth center in the middle of nowhere. There was snow everywhere and if you didn't watch your step, you quickly sank dozens of centimeters deep into the snow. Thick flakes easily fell to their fellow flakes and as much as I loved snow, this amount was a bit too much of a good thing, so I was glad when I finally stepped through the heavy wooden door into the inside of the hut. It was beautifully furnished. A fire was burning in the fireplace, the walls and furniture were made of wood and the upholstery looked a lot like fur. Was it real? And in one corner, I discovered why we had been asked in advance whether we liked dogs and whether anyone had an animal hair allergy. There, three beautiful huskies were curled up and sleeping. One of them slowly woke up and was surprised to see about twenty teenagers standing in the living room. All of them were wet from the melting snow, but at least most of them seemed enthusiastic. Kathy immediately knelt down and waved at the awake dog. He immediately jumped up and ran to my best friend. They greeted each other as if they had known each other forever. Then the three huskies inspected the whole class. And of course they all got a pat. Then a young, almost inconspicuous woman with a friendly smile stepped forward and said, “You've now met my three sweethearts. They'll get in your way often enough during your stay. You now have an hour to look around here and then there's food. What do you think of that?” Some nodded in agreement, others walked up the big stairs to the dormitories without a word, and the rest murmured ‘yep, sounds good’ or something like that and then followed the others. The last ones to arrive upstairs had still been petting the dogs and now they came into the dormitories with them. We heard the woman in the kitchen and she shouted up: “Better leave the dogs outside, otherwise you won't get rid of them and their hair.” We looked at each other in the girls' room, then shrugged our shoulders in agreement and continued to put our bags next to the already covered mattresses. And the woman was right, the dogs were in the way. We had just put our stuff away when the woman called up to us to come and eat. There we met her, her husband and her brother. All between 20 and 30 and very nice. The woman's brother, Gideon, said that if the storm had passed by the next day, we could go out and explore the area. Our class teacher was given the task of dividing us into five equal groups of two boys and two girls each. Then we were dismissed and those who didn't have to do the dishes surrounded our class teacher in the hope of being able to influence the group formation. That could be something...
Tired, I crept down the stairs to the living area. It was only the first night and I was already completely exhausted. Hoping that a coffee would help me to join the world of the fully alive, I dragged myself to the machine. One of my friends must have had the same idea, because he was already standing at the machine, about to pour the coffee into the filter. So it would probably take a while before I got mine. “Morning, want one too?” ‘Yep.’ Way too exhausting a conversation so early in the morning. We stood silently next to each other at the kitchen counter, and I noticed how good he smelled. Not because he had showered so early in the morning, but his own scent had that certain something. He didn't stink, he just smelled good. Know what I mean? Probably not. His hair was tied back as always and looked a lot like Björn's hairstyle in the third season of Vikings, except that Jacek's hair was so long by now that he pulled it through in a kind of loop. Even the color matched quite well. You don't know what I mean again, do you? Well. Now he noticed my quick glance and looked at me questioningly. Then I realized that the quick glance had actually been a somewhat longer one and quickly nodded towards the window, which was fortunately behind him from my point of view. A few flakes were falling outside, it was such an idyllic landscape that I hoped he would believe me that I had been looking there the whole time. Then he looked at the window himself and watched the dance of the flakes with fascination. So now I really had a great view. Through the window, of course. I slowly woke up and noticed both the ticking of an old wall clock and the soft rumbling of the coffee machine. “Where are the others?” I only now noticed their conspicuous absence. It was much too quiet. “They were still awake until a little while ago, at least a few guys from your room came to us. That woke me up and since I didn't have much chance of falling back asleep with that sawmill up there, I got up.” Then I realized that I had no idea what time it was. I just saw the light coming through the old blinds earlier and got up. When I looked at the clock, I slapped my hand to my forehead. It was only five o'clock. Five! The others would not be here for another hour or two at the earliest. No wonder I was so sleepy. I noticed Jacek laughing briefly and then tucking into the coffee that was now ready. He knew very well that I was not an early riser and had probably wondered why he had company and then of all people me. I leaned on the kitchen counter with both hands and let my head fall back. Again there was a quiet laugh beside me. Then I heard a “here” and the pungent smell of coffee was in the air. I brought my head back into a more normal position, the most normal at this time of day would be lying on a pillow, of course, and opened my eyes. Jacek was standing in front of me, with an outrageously sweet smile on his face and two steaming cups in his hand. He was about to offer me one until he thought of something. “How do you actually drink yours?” And with that, he placed the cups on the counter and began to look for sugar in one of the cupboards. “Black, coffee doesn't have to taste good, it just has to work.” I was about to reach for a cup when his hand closed around mine. ‘That's just what people say who have never had good coffee. Let me do it, okay?’ As if paralyzed, I could only nod. Then he let go of my hand and if my thoughts were just simply not present, they now shot so fast through my mind that I couldn't grasp any of them. So I had no choice but to watch him pour milk and then sugar into both cups. When he had stirred the sweet, he held one of the cups out to me and said a little proudly, “After this coffee, you will never again claim that coffee can't taste good.” “Oh, there's still coffee in it, I thought that was sweetened milk now.” When I saw his indignant expression, I had no choice but to laugh. I had already taken my cup, a beautiful blue one with a light-colored gradient, from him while I was talking and now put my arm around him. I didn't know exactly why I did it, but since he didn't seem to mind, I left it at that for now. I led him to a couch that was in a somewhat separate area in the living room in front of a large window front. There were some blankets and pillows on it and also one of the huskies. I sat down between the dog and boy and took a sip of my coffee. Jac looked at me expectantly from the side. “Yeah, it's okay.” “Really? You think so? FYI: You won't find a better one anywhere in the world.” I smiled wearily at him and poked him in the side. ‘Is that supposed to be a challenge? Drinking coffee until I never sleep again? Nah, I don't think so, I like my dreams too much for that.’ Before he could react, I pushed my cup into his hand and before he could protest, he noticed my intention. I pulled a blanket halfway out from under the dog and draped it over us both. He was sitting in sweatpants and a T-shirt and I was still in my pyjamas, which were actually too big for me. It wasn't cold in the house, but a blanket was still appropriate. I put my legs up on the couch, partly around the husky, and then took my cup again. The position was uncomfortable. I fidgeted around a bit until Jac put his arm around me and pulled me close. At first I was irritated, but I quickly realized how much more comfortable this position was. Satisfied, I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder while the husky put his head on my lap. As you can probably imagine, there wasn't much left to do with thinking. His scent enveloped me and slowly I began to understand how much more comfortable a shoulder was compared to a pillow. I slowly became friends with this day, maybe the following hours would be anything but hell. Grinning blissfully, I stroked the husky's head and took another sip of what must have been the best coffee in the world.
And indeed, the following two hours flew by. We talked about this and that until we fell asleep again. I was still leaning on his shoulder and his arm was around me when I was awakened by a hysterical giggle. Definitely Kathi. Jen, my second best friend, whispered that she should be quieter, but since she couldn't whisper, the people in the kitchen probably heard it. Suddenly Jacek's breathing quickened, so he had woken up too. Then he remarked in a deep, hoarse morning voice: “I think we're being watched.” “No shit, Sherlock.” My voice was also hoarse from sleep, but not half as nice as his. I buried my face in his shirt as best I could and he pulled me a little closer to him. Kathi started laughing again and stood in front of us. “Sorry, but I need one more photo. You're just too cute.” And before I could react, the sound of her cell phone announced that she was taking a picture. Why she didn't put it on silent remains a mystery to me to this day. Tired, I looked up and did her a favor by giving the camera a smile. “You'll send that to me, though.” With that, I hid my face again. The light reflecting off the snow outside was just too bright. Jacek laughed briefly and then said, to my surprise, ‘Me too.’ Why did he want pictures of this scene? Well, he could have them. ‘All right, I'll do it.’ Just then, Jen pulled her away so the two of them could have a little more privacy. Even if the blissfully grinning girl in the boy's arms couldn't see it, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on behind the couch. Satisfied, her grin broadened a little, so they still had some time before they had to sit at the table. 

But that time came too. I was almost asleep again when the husky and with it its warmth disappeared. And soon Jacek said: “I'm really enjoying this, don't get me wrong, but I think we should get up slowly.” I just grumbled without deeper sense and buried my face even deeper into his shirt. “Should I carry you over?” There was amusement in his voice. Now I raised my head. I looked at him questioningly: “Nah, you better not.” “Then get up.” That sounded almost like blackmail. “Nope” ‘Yes’ ‘Nope, get up yourself’ ‘I would love to, but you're lying half on top of me’ I was about to give a useless ‘hmpf’ until I thought of the ultimate answer: ‘Nope’ ‘Then I'll just carry you over’ ‘N-Okay, I'll st-’ before I could finish my sentence, which would have meant something like, ' I'm standing up' would have included, his arm slid under my legs and I was lifted in bridal style. Totally romantic you might think now, but unfortunately not. We got so tangled up in the blanket that I had pulled over us earlier that Jacek had exactly two options for taking a step. Option one: sit me back on the couch and run the risk that I re-injured my back or option two: throw me over his shoulder. And what can I say: I was thrown over his shoulder and he marched straight to the dining room, ignoring my loud protests. The whole class was sitting at the breakfast table, laughing and wondering at our arrival. Their laughter was so infectious that Jac and I would have had to join in if we hadn't already done so. I was gently set down on the bench and Jac disappeared again towards the kitchen. I brushed my hair out of my face and realized that I was surrounded by my besties. Enrico, my best friend, was sitting right next to me, and in front of me were Jen and Kathi. The two girls gave me the infamous 'We need to talk about boys' look, which, to the chagrin of my nerves, I already knew far too well. I nodded conspiratorially at them, and then they sank into some speculation about what might have happened. But asking them would be too easy. Shaking my head, I turned to Enrico. “Well, how did you sleep today?” “Quite well. And you?” “Yeah, me too. I ha-” At that moment, the cup with the blue gradient was placed in front of me and when I turned around in surprise, I saw Jacek sitting down next to me. He had actually made me another coffee. “Oh great, sugar milk” I grabbed the cup and held it like Gollum his ring. “My sweetheart” Everyone who had somehow witnessed this action laughed. But the warmest laugh came from Jacek.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was still in ninth grade.
At that time, there was a girl and a boy whom I thought were correct up to that point.
Their names are Laura and Luigi. Our whole story begins with an appointment. The two had arranged to meet for the new film “A Man in Jurassic”. When I learned this, my imagination took over. I had wondered myself how I came up with all of this in retrospect. Well, we had a charity run (I couldn't participate), thank God, otherwise it would have started much earlier. When I came back to school the next day, I found out from a classmate what Laura's mother had said to Luigi, namely:
“Are you the boy Laura wants to go to the movies with?” When Katly heard that, it all started.
Katly was a girl I knew from school and from the bus.

When I realized this, I had a movie playing in my head for the first time in my life, and it was never rated R!
In any case, I had put myself in the mother's shoes, who thought her daughter had a date with Luigi and that the two would start kissing during a completely unromantic scene. From there on, I had a free ticket for an endless movie playing in my head.
All this happened only because I knew and liked them both.
Well, in any case, the movie started playing in my head. We had imagined it more and more and it got worse and worse.
The movie started.
The movie started with Laura and Luigi going to the movies. Not like everyone else our age, no, they went to an evening showing. As the last teenagers to watch a movie. It started out normally, the two went to the movie theater, bought tickets and then went into the auditorium. But halfway through the movie, everything changed. The two of them started kissing wildly. It should be noted that “A Man in Jurassic” was not a love story.
They kept smooching and walking backwards out of the hall. All the way to the popcorn stand.
That's when it got bad for the audience for the first time.
They started taking off their clothes on the counter of the stand. But then, luckily, my movie theater went on break. School had started, and the only annoying thing about that was that Luigi was now sitting in the class next to me. But even in class, the last scene kept coming up and going away, even though I tried everything to stop it. When school finally ended, I took out my headphones and had to turn the music up pretty loud to get myself together and think clearly again. I didn't want to hear anyone at that moment, really no one. But Katly caught up with me very quickly and shortly after that, Lotta was next to me on her bike. That was the end of it for me again. Unfortunately, Laura had to go home when we got to our bus stop. As soon as she was gone, I took a deep breath. Katly then talked to me about the two of them “dating”. When two secondary school students walked by and shouted “We were there too!”, Katly got some crazy ideas and my mind went on.
I had refused the popcorn inside because I had seen what had happened there. In my head, I now saw the two students from before. They were standing there laughing at Laura and Luigi, who had fresh popcorn all over them. I was so glad I hadn't wanted any. But I was already feeling sick, because you could see Luigi licking the popcorn off Laura's body. I had to be careful not to throw up on the bus we were now on.
Even when I listened to music, this scene kept running through my head. The more often it played, the more closely I examined the details. These girls filmed the whole thing until the moment they threw up. There were a lot of other people standing around watching but not intervening. Why isn't anyone intervening? I wondered. And why are these stupid women filming the whole thing? The world had become a terrible place with all its inventions. In a matter of seconds, even the smallest mistake could end up on the internet, where almost half the world could see it.
This time I noticed a man in a police shirt. He seemed young and athletic. He didn't look too bad either, with his black hair that was slightly gelled up. He looked at me, but didn't intervene either. At least I could now concentrate on him and didn't have to watch the spectacle around Laura and Luigi so closely anymore.
When I finally got home, my movie finally stopped.
Today was Wednesday, which meant we finally had biology. Two hours that were not canceled.
Biology was my favorite subject since I was at this school. The only bad thing was that Laura was sitting next to me and we had as a topic what she and Luigi had been doing in my movie. A good time to get into our main characters.
Laura was small and not exactly slim, which was supposedly due to her size. The sport she did was called riding her bike to school, otherwise she was a “gamer”. Sometimes she would accompany her friend Lotta to the riding stable, but that wasn't very often either. Lotta was also in my class, but I didn't really like her, especially since I had an allergy to horse hair and Lotta kept saying she was the greatest and most beautiful.
Well, now we come to Luigi. He was actually a normal 9th grader. Actually, because he hated soccer and the movie series “Planet Wars”. He was 1.80 tall and could run very fast and jump high. He loved dinosaurs and knew everything about them. He was the only one in my class who didn't have a cell phone.
The biology lessons were not helpful at all.
It was about pregnancy and so my head cinema made its very own jump cut.
On a black background now stood “8 weeks later”
Now you could see Lotta and Laura, who set out together to go to the riding stables. But somehow the whole two hours didn't happen more than that. It would probably continue in a moment when I had time off.
I had just left the school grounds and turned on my music when Katly came up to me from behind. I told her what had happened so far, but I only found out later that this had been a huge mistake.
Because as soon as we were at the bus, Katly had new ideas, which also ran directly in my head figuratively. So my head cinema went on.
Laura and Lotta had finally made it to the riding stable. As the two had just locked their bicycles, Laura suddenly vomited. “What's wrong?” Lotta asked in horror. “I was fine just now, I've had it more often in the last two weeks,” was Laura's reply. “Have you ever told your mother?” Lotta asked her. “No,” Laura replied immediately. “She'll just get nervous.” she added. ‘Do we want to see a doctor?’ Lotta asked. ‘I'll go alone,’ Laura said again immediately. The movie jumped again. Laura was now sitting in a treatment room. She sat there alone and looked around the room. It was sterile, like most rooms in such practices. On the wall were pictures of exotic animals and on the desk stood a small African wooden figure. The door opened again and the doctor came in. “Do you know what's wrong with me now?” Laura asked nervously. The doctor nodded. “My suspicions, which I had after your blood test, have been confirmed thanks to the urine sample.” Laura turned pale as chalk, because her doctor was not only a normal GP, but also a specialist in tropical diseases. Please don't ask why she turned so pale, I can't even imagine what was going through her mind.
“How long do I have?” Laura asked nervously.
The doctor laughed.
“You don't have an illness, you're pregnant.”
From there, the movie paused again, because I was finally at home and had other things to do there.
But the next morning, the nice break was over again. This was when Katly sat down next to me on the bus again. “Do you have any idea how this can happen...” The doctor couldn't finish, because Laura jumped up crying and ran out. Outside, she ran into our chemistry teacher. “Laura, what's wrong?” our teacher asked her, but Laura was already gone.
The movie takes a break because we were in the schoolyard and Mike was supervising. Mike was our English and biology teacher, and my parents were friends with him. Mike was a 2.20 m tall man, his wife was as tall as me and he had two children aged 5 and 4. If I had any questions, I could ask him and he would find an answer. “You Mike,” I said, walking towards the stairs. “What is it, Bella?” he asked as I sat down on the railing. “How do you get rid of your mental images?” I asked. ‘If you're interested in losing your long-term memory, try alcohol or a car accident,’ he said. ‘Not really,’ I grumbled. ‘So you'll have to deal with it,’ Mike sighed.
But then Laura arrived.
Today I even felt like using my imagination, because the only positive thing was the conversation with Mike. The movie had taken a leap and Laura was now at school telling Lotta what the doctor had found. Personally, I felt a little sick about it, which is why I went to the secretary's office to lie down on the couch. But even there it didn't get any better. “Do you have any idea how this happened?” Lotta asked Laura. The next moment, Laura was seen running into the office, crying. “Yes, I have some idea how that happened,” I thought to myself. At that same moment, Mike pulled me out of my reverie. “Aren't we feeling well?” he asked me. “I don't know about you, but no, I'm not feeling so great,” I said. “Can you maybe tell me what's wrong with Laura?” he asked me. But before I could say “no” or anything else, Laura came in, sobbing. My movie took a break for the day and I went back to class. Mike must have talked to Laura and then came for English class.
As soon as I got home in the afternoon, Laura messaged me. Did I have time to play? Dude, I was eighteen, I didn't go to someone's house to play anymore. Besides, I didn't feel like taking the bus for half an hour just to not know how I would get back. My mom wasn't going to pick me up. But she was exactly my salvation. “Mike is coming over for dinner with the kids,” she called from the kitchen. “Cool,” I called back and texted Laura that I was very sorry but I didn't have time and had to babysit. She then wrote that she could help me with that, which I knew, but I countered with the argument that the father of the children didn't want to.
When Laura had read the message, she wrote:
“Too bad. Lotta doesn't have time either.” That was her message, but I hadn't read it until that night. Because shortly after my mom had said that Mike was coming to visit, the doorbell had already rung. It was Mike with his wife and children. After we had eaten together, Mom and Mike asked me if I would like to play outside with the children. Whenever they asked me that, they were discussing something that they didn't want me to hear about directly. In retrospect, I didn't want to know this time either. But you always learn from your mistakes.
I had once ordered a dictaphone on the internet, and I chose this one this time and hid it so that no one could see it, but the device recorded everything. So I went outside with the two kids. We played tag, drew on the driveway with chalk, played soccer and swung on the swings. When we came back inside, it was already seven o'clock in the evening and Mike and his wife said goodbye. When my mother was in the kitchen to do the dishes, I snuck into the living room and got my dictation machine out of its hiding place. But somehow I didn't want to listen to what they had discussed right away, I don't know. It could be because I didn't feel like a movie in my head again or because I was afraid that it had been a completely useless conversation between parents. I tend to lean heavily towards the latter because Mike had come out to play along and he only did that when it was unnecessary talk.
But I took it to school with me the next morning, because I didn't want my mother to find it and get into trouble again. But I made another mistake, because I was holding the stupid thing in my hand and as soon as Katly sat down next to me, she asked what I had there. “A dictaphone,” I replied with a sigh. “And why do you have it with you, do you want to listen to Laura?” she asked. ‘No, Mike was with us yesterday and discussed something with my mother, I wasn't allowed to be there and then I listened to the whole thing without further ado.’ I explained. ‘And what did they discuss?’ Katly asked eagerly. “I have no idea, I haven't listened to it yet and I only took it with me so that my mother can't find it.” ‘Then let's listen to it,’ Katly said. Sighing, I plugged my headphones from my cell phone into the device. Katly took one of the headphones and listened to the whole thing. First of all, they made sure that I was gone, very friendly. Then Mike spoke. “I'll be going on paternity leave at the end of this month because Katrin is pregnant.” That was actually enough information and Katly was about to turn off the tape, but I knew that couldn't be all. Of course, the tape continued and I kept listening. Katrin, Mike's wife, then said: “We were wondering if Isabella should be the godmother of our third child.” “Right, because she's already been busy with the other two...” I heard Mike before I stopped it. I felt sick to my stomach, but I was also kind of happy and it was actually a cool thing.
No sooner had I left the bus than I remembered that Mike had told me last night that he wanted to talk to me.
I knew that he would tell me exactly that again without knowing that I already knew and actually I didn't want to hear that again from anyone.
At the school grounds, Mike was already waiting for me as usual at the stairs to the entrance. I went to him. “Good morning, can we talk then or do you have something more important to discuss with Laura?” he asked. ‘No, no, I just wanted to go to the bathroom.’ I heard Laura say behind me and then she walked past me and went in. Mike went in with me too. We looked for a room where there was no class in the first hour. As soon as we were in the room, Mike started telling the same story that I had already heard on the tape. Ironically, he had to stop at the same point where Katly and I had also stopped the tape. Someone unlocked the door from the outside. “Hide,” Mike whispered. I did that immediately. 'They could clean the floor here again sometime,' I thought to myself. I shouldn't be too happy about the person who had just come in. It was Mike's substitute, who was being shown around by our vice-principal. “Ah, here they are. We've been looking for you everywhere,” said my vice-principal. “This will be your substitute,” he added. I had a small gap in the desk through which I could see the front. I looked at the guy and knew immediately that Mike and I were thinking the same thing. “Aren't you going to introduce yourself?” asked our vice principal. “Yes,” replied the guy. He wasn't very tall, wore a white shirt and light blue jeans. He had very short black hair and glasses with a wide amber-colored frame.
“But first I want to know if we're alone,“ the dwarf said. My breath stopped briefly and I had to swallow.
“Of course we're alone, I'm just preparing my lesson,” Mike saved us both. You could rely on this man.
“Very good, because I don't want all of my students to see my whole life,” the guy said, and I immediately found him unsympathetic. “My name is Ralph Cheindrichs, I live in Cologne and have a degree in molecular biology.” He paused briefly. ‘And you?’ he asked Mike. ‘I don't want to steal your words now, please continue,’ Mike said. In truth, the good gentleman in front of us soon had three children but no diploma in anything. ‘As you wish,’ said Cheindrichs. “I've also been to all English-speaking countries, so Canada, Australia and England.” When he stopped again, I couldn't hold back anymore. Mike had developed a voice distorter at some point that I always had with me. Of course, it had his voice and a few others. Most of the time, I was lucky that he always played along immediately, and I hoped for that this time as well. ”Oh yes, you want to have been in all English-speaking countries? What about the USA then?” I saw Mike look at me angrily. Yes hello, I couldn't just leave out the country I was born in. ‘Certainly sir, I will go there this year.’ There was nothing to keep me on this dirty floor anymore, so I jumped up, but I hit my head on the table. “Mr. Linde, someone like that shouldn't become our teacher,” I said while holding my forehead. Mr. Cheindrichs looked at me in shock. ‘What are you doing here?’ Mike asked me. I had to play along now, just like he had just then. ”I lost my pen here yesterday during the last lesson and because I needed it, the caretaker unlocked the door for me.” “Okay, all right,” said Mr. Linden, and I wanted to go out. On the way, I pushed my recorder into Mike's hand. As I stood in the doorway, I felt blood running down my face and then dripping onto the floor. ‘Shit!’ Mike said, jumping up. He came to me. ‘I think it would be better if I took her to the secretary,’ he said. Mr. Linden nodded and the new guy still looked at me in disbelief. Mike took me to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Mike's worried expression disappeared. “You got us into something really great,” he said. “Do you seriously think I hit my head on purpose?” I asked. “You didn't, but now we'll be the topic of conversation and I'll get another one for it,“ he said and the elevator doors opened. We continued to the secretary's office.

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#2 
2025-09-29, 06:00 PM 
“Your mother will kill us,” he said when he saw the wound. “At least you were married then.” I sighed. “Oh, don't start that again, you'll find your husband.” He said. ‘How can I when I'm only surrounded by brainless idiots?’ I sighed quietly. ‘Who here stayed back twice?’ Mike asked. ‘Bloody hell, that was in primary school because I had better things to do and spoke better English than German.’ I said. “Yeah, well, if you applied yourself more, your grades would be better,” he said. I looked at him grimly. ‘I was held back twice, believe me, since then I've had my ass at home,’ I said. ”You would have been best raised by your father, then you would never have gotten into this whole detective thing. He would have shown you the world and you would have been an A student.” Mike sighed and slapped a plaster on my forehead. ‘Dad showed me the world. He always goes away with Grandma and me.’ I defended my father. Mike grinned. ‘Favorite country?’ he asked. ‘If it were up to you, it would be Australia, but it's Japan.’ I said.
Then the bell for the first lesson rang. “Well, let's go then,” Mike sighed. As I was just about to get up from the couch, Mr. Linde came with Cheindrichs. “Would it be okay for you if he came to your class?” Mr. Linde asked. Mike looked at me, but it was clear to me that he had to agree to it.
“Tell me, is that girl from before also in one of my classes?” Cheindrichs asked Mike. ‘She's not a girl!’ Mike immediately defended me. ‘She's a quiet and shy student. If she should ever speak up in your class, you can speak of a miracle,’ Mike continued. “But there must be a reason, she can't have always been so shy,” said Cheindrichs. ‘Students also have a private life and that's none of your business,’ I said, walking past them. I was now ahead of them and somehow immediately noticed that Laura and Nick were not standing with the others. Mike nudged me lightly. “Laura was just there, wasn't she?” he asked me in a whisper. Just imagine that happening from 2.20 meters to 1.70 and then understand every word. “No, no, that was Laura, without a doubt,” I whispered back. “Well, maybe she'll still come,” he said and went to the door. As soon as he had unlocked it, noises were heard that made me freeze briefly. Luigi stormed in, Mike and I behind him.
Laura and Nick were having sex on the oh-so-dirty tables. Luigi stormed straight towards them and pushed Nick off Laura. “Ouch.” Mike blurted out. I went to Luigi to stop him from making even more of a mess. “You bastard, fuck your own girlfriend! And you, you stupid slut, I thought you loved me!” Luigi shouted at them both. I had him under control when I got his fist in the face. Shocked, he looked at me and then ran away. I let myself slide to the ground at the wall. Now blood was dripping from my right eye as well. “You're really lucky today,” Mike said while he straightened me up. “My hands are busy holding middle fingers up,” I said. Mike grinned briefly. “Sit down at the desk, the ambulance is coming,” Mike said. “Police too?” I asked on the way to the front. “Of course,” he said, then tried to bring Nick to consciousness. I sat down at the desk. Mike's laptop was turned on. Yes, I could spend the time usefully. I plugged my headphones into the thing and then typed in Avenged Sevenfold. Oh, how beautiful that was.
“You're having fun, that's good,“ Mike said, who was suddenly standing next to me again. ‘You can also write him an email, I won't tell.’ he said. But with my head, I couldn't concentrate. So I closed the part even when the emergency services came. They first turned to Laura and Nick, but then left one to me.
“But he gave you a good beating,” he said. “I had already been given the plaster by a table,” I said to him. ‘But the plaster is already gone,’ he sighed and took it off. At that moment, I realized that someone was looking at me. My gaze wandered to the right and froze. I had seen that guy in the police shirt in the cinema scene. This guy was real!
He looked even better, but he also had some white stripes on his right eye, which was also a bit blue. “That's what you'll look like too,” the paramedic said to me, and I jumped. “What?” I asked. “Mr. Grant had also been hit in the face while on duty recently,” said the paramedic. The policeman, who was obviously named Grant by last name, was suddenly gone. Well, maybe I was just dreaming.
“Can you walk?” the paramedic asked me. ‘I don't have a broken leg,’ I said and stood up. ‘Let's go then,’ the paramedic said and then he went downstairs with me. I was supposed to lie down in one of the ambulances. ‘Still feeling so fit?’ he asked me there. I gave him both thumbs up. “Yes sir,“ I said. ‘Good, then we don't have to hurry at first,’ he said.
“Yes, thank you very much too,” I thought to myself. A little later we went to the hospital. But I was allowed to leave shortly after the two wounds were sewn up, which meant back to school, otherwise I would see my grave.
“Hey, that was a shitty day.” I was scared to death and turned around immediately. It was Mike. ‘Don't scare me like that,’ I said. ‘Sorry, I was talking to your mom. You'll be staying with me for the next two weeks and she's going on a business trip with her husband,’ he said. ‘Cool,’ I sighed, nodding. “I know you'd rather go to your father, but you have to go to school,” he said. ‘Yes, all right, should I come with you right away or take the long way?’ I asked. ‘The latter, your mother is still with us,’ Mike said. ‘Well, see you in a minute,’ I sighed and left. I really didn't feel like that now. The bus and train ride soon took an hour and a half, partly because I had to wait so long for the bus. Meanwhile, it was no longer clear to me whether all of this was still real or taking place in my imagination.
On the way, Katly caught up with me. “What happened to you?” she asked. “The biggest bad luck of the day,” I sighed. Then I turned around, I had the feeling we were being followed, but of course there was no one there. “Our fantasy is coming true,” I whispered at the bus stop. Katly looked at me with huge eyes. “Let's think of some more crazy things, maybe they'll come true too.” I shook my head. “By the way, you're going to the cow town alone, I'm staying with Mike for two weeks,” I said five minutes before her bus arrived. Then a patrol car drove up to our stop and stopped at my height. The passenger side window went down. “Young lady, would you like us to accompany you home?” the officer asked me. To make sure he was talking to me, I pointed at myself and he nodded. ‘Not necessary. Thank you, sir,’ I said. ‘I can take care of myself,’ I added. He shrugged and then they left. It was him again, this Mr. Grant.
Thanks to Mike, I was allowed to stay in bed for another two days. But then Mike also went on parental leave, leaving me alone in this madhouse, and to make matters worse, my mother found out that Mike had allowed me to talk to my father more often. That caused a lot of trouble.
Well, and then I was without Mike for three months. Three horror months, because Laura had to vomit all the time and I was the one who always had to go to the bathroom with her. Because Nick didn't give a shit about her and Lotta didn't feel like it after a short time either. So I always stood in front of the toilet door for five minutes, bored to death, singing quiet songs to myself, until she finally came out and we could go to the secretary's office to send her home. But even then I had to wait another ten minutes for someone to finally come and pick her up.
Mike's replacement was just as annoying. Not to mention that he was even worse. He was watching me the whole time and also took me the whole time, even though I didn't answer. But I always knew the answers and when he was watching me, I stayed quiet and didn't do anything. I think it always annoyed him because he had hoped to embarrass me. The two scars on my face from our first meeting should have been enough to satisfy him, but apparently that wasn't enough for him. I thought he was strange when I first met him and that didn't change. But I didn't know what exactly was wrong with that bastard and I didn't find out during Mike's parental leave. So much for the topic of getting too involved in the detective thing, but oh well.
Lately, I often had the feeling that someone was watching me at the bus stop. There was always a private car there that always drove when my bus arrived, but I could never see who was sitting in the car.

Normally, we would definitely win the championship after this season as the defending champions. Normally, I would be on the court right now, sinking baskets. Yes, normally... Because normally I wouldn't be sitting on the bench with a broken forearm, watching the rest of the team actively work to ensure that we completely mess up after a great season.
But what was normal?
For me, it was normal to always be lucky in all respects. For 16 years, I had more than just hit the jackpot when both height and all other physical characteristics were distributed. I had already reached 180cm. I was muscular, dark hair that hardly needed any styling. I did well in school and just about everything in life went according to plan. Until my mom came around the corner and announced that she and dad had a new job and we would move to the other end of the USA. Since then, things went downhill. Not just figuratively speaking, no, I even managed to rush out of the house and kiss the floor two weeks before the championship. As if the embarrassment itself wasn't enough, my arm also had to decide that the floor was stronger...
“They can't be that damn serious...” I grumbled, glancing at the scoreboard. 23-34 in favor of the opponents was shining at me in bright letters, and I felt as if the scoreboard was mocking me, because at that very moment the number increased to 36. But I didn't just mean my teammates in front of me when I said that.
“Damn it!”
After three of four quarters to be played, as it was common in basketball, this was just ticked off. My colleagues played as if they had already accepted the whole thing and I didn't have the strength to take it with humor now. I was nudged from the side and looked into the brown doe eyes of Derek. This blond shaggy head was half a giant and a good friend, but just didn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
“Don't worry about it, next year we'll get the thing back and then it'll really be about the scholarships,” I heard him say at that moment. His expression seemed encouraging and I didn't question the fact that he meant it exactly as he said it.
Nevertheless, I let out a sigh, saw my team of the last two years approaching and signaling the end of the last break, and got up.
“I can't stand this any longer.” I mumbled to myself, picked up my things and headed for the exit. Yes, I felt many eyes looking at me. Some might even have understood my displeasure, others were disappointed that I was now mentally abandoning them.
But what did they know?
The last game was over. My parents still couldn't quite understand my displeasure, which is why I hadn't paid much attention to them this morning.
What could they possibly imagine? They could never get enough themselves, at least that's how it seemed to me. One last look at our current house only reinforced my impression. Damn it, we had a house, not a small one, no... we even had a damn pool in the backyard and the parties in it were awesome. So why did we have to move? Did they really need more luxury? I just didn't understand it. And they didn't understand that I didn't want the basketball scholarship so that I could go to college, but so that I could get better at basketball, but they didn't really understand sports. How could I hope for understanding?
For my last week of school, I had decided to take the bus. At least I would have a few minutes of peace before I arrived at the rather outdated school grounds. Yes, it was not the most beautiful school, that was for sure. But I didn't really care about that, the people were okay and wasn't that more important than any status symbols?
Now I was standing there, as I hadn't in a long time, waiting for the bus. I had my backpack on. Normal white sneakers, dark, knee-length jeans, and a dark blue shirt. I didn't need anything more. It was warm and I never gave much on any brand clothes. It was simply not necessary here. I was accepted as I was and I liked that. Even better, since I was mainly responsible for the team scoring, I was not only popular with my teammates. Rather, I was popular with all the students.
“It could have been too good to be true,” I muttered to myself with a sigh. I let my head fall back and felt the sun's rays pushing through the dense leaves of the tree. Shortly afterwards, I was able to get on the bus and immediately knew why I had actually turned my back on this stuffy means of transport that smelled of old sports socks.
– Memo to myself. I'll reconsider taking this ride every day.--
For 20 minutes, I had to endure this musty smell. But basically, this was the least of my worries.
On the bus, I could see Derek and Mason waiting on the other side of the street. As expected, Derek seemed in a better mood than Mason. Unlike Derek and me, Mason had to be on the court for the last game. Even worse, he was supposed to take my position, which I had already argued with the coach about before the game. He was our center and he was great at it, so why should he suddenly be the point guard? Nobody could understand that. Even the blond guy would have been the better choice, because unlike Mason, he could have scored a point or two, but that wasn't my decision to make.
Meanwhile, I had arrived at the two of them and what can I say. The sight literally invited me to tease them. The way Mason hung his head, his light brown hair hung down to just below his eyes, which looked anything but attractive, more like a beaten puppy dog. Not that I have any comparison pictures in my head.
“Now stop burying your head in the ground, the girls won't be able to see your pretty blue eyes, although with your hair length increasing exponentially, that's soon going to be a thing of the past anyway.” I tried jokingly, punching him on the shoulder with my unscathed left hand.
“What? No comment about Friday? Are you just going to smile your way through this, or how should we interpret that?” Mason replied, also puzzled.
What had he expected? Which brings us back to the words at the beginning, because normally I would have been angry, normally I would have accused him of playing sloppily. Only I had the weekend to calm down. Neither I nor she could change the way the game turned out.
“I could blame you for this, or the stupid wood paneling, which was smoother that day than on other days. But what good does that do us? To be honest, I don't feel like spending the last week in this state in a bad mood.” I put on a forced smile with my last words, but that didn't stop the two of them from understanding the words exactly as I meant them. I slowly got moving, because I didn't want to be late for class, even in the last week.
“What?” came the simultaneous reply from both of them. It sounded a bit like that to me too when my parents announced their idea. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it. ‘You've got to be kidding us,’ said Derek, who was the first to find his voice, followed by, ‘Are you staying for your graduation? What about the team?’ from Mason.
Derek to my left and Mason to my right both looked as if they were looking for signs of a joke, but unfortunately I had to disappoint them.
“Unfortunately not, my parents have a job offer that they really want to accept. I can't attend classes when I'm over 600 kilometers away.” My bad mood couldn't be hidden, and the team? I couldn't even mention that right now. They would somehow manage... and yes, 600 kilometers is not at the other end of the USA, but that's how it felt to me at first. Besides, I didn't know exactly which corner of Florida I would end up in, I hadn't expressed that much interest.
“I don't get it, like this couldn't have waited another two years. Did they even ask you what you think? How long have they been planning this?” As we all know, Mason went from being amazed to being in attack mode not much later. He'd gotten himself into enough stupid situations that way, but I just shook my head at this one. Now it was like this, and to be honest, I didn't want to think about it anymore.
Derek, meanwhile, just nodded in agreement with Mason's outburst.
“What should I be able to change about it? It is now as it is and now stop asking questions, we can also explain that after school, let me now first in math make sure that none of you imbeciles gets the first bad grade for next year.” I ended the discussion and sat down at my place. How quickly will the rest of the school find out that I'll be gone soon? With the two chatterboxes, I strongly suspected that this was the case at the latest after the lesson.
-:Qu(ee)inn(i):- So how Pat and Patterchen are behaving, did you tell them?:-
The telltale beeping in my pocket gave me a bad feeling, but when I read the name, I knew it wasn't the case. I just let my cell phone slide onto the table, as if I was looking for something else. I caught the unobtrusive glance of Derek and Mason, and I could understand Quinn's message.
-:Lukas:- Well sweetheart, I had to go sometime. I couldn't have known that it would be the end of the world. :'x:-
Was it mean to make fun of it? Sure, but what do you call that? Gallows humor? At least I could still maintain that.
-:Qu(ee)inn(i):- That's probably because they haven't yet understood that there is such a thing as internet access in Florida and they don't have to learn Morse code to keep in touch with you.:-
How could someone type so fast? I quickly scanned the words and couldn't hold back an amused snort. She definitely knew how to cheer someone up. Even though you wouldn't think so at first glance, when you saw her in person. You could describe her as a typical doll. Blonde extensions, even though she often claims that it is her real hair. I had known her for years and could say that it was definitely not the case. She also paid excessive attention to looking good and not appearing to have too much make-up on, but often that was exactly the case. The more she put on her face, the more natural it looked again. You'd think she'd be good at art, but no. Face painting seemed to be an art form all its own... Only in character was she definitely a 10, at least after she found out what advantages a gay best friend had. She didn't tell me all of them yet, though...
“Lukas Johnson, would you be so kind as to explain to the rest of the class why math is so entertaining?” Mrs. Monroe's loud voice rang out, and I looked up, caught, as expected, standing barely a meter away from me. She was always good at sneaking up on people.
I was always good at math, but that didn't mean that the teacher liked me, because unfortunately that was not the case at all. What had I done to her? Personally probably nothing, but after my outing she had it in for me especially. But I would never see a connection, that would be completely stupid...
“No, I wouldn't. I'm not a gossip, you'd have to try the room upstairs. Aren't those the rooms for the school newspaper? They like to blabber more out of the box.” I heard some students around me draw in their breath sharply. Well, what should I care about the old woman? I knew she didn't like me. She also knew that it was mutual. And what could she possibly do to me in the last week? I didn't know if the entire teaching staff had heard about it by now, but I assumed that they had. I had asked that it not be widely spread until after the last game, but I had already been approached about it several times last week. As if the teachers didn't have anything better to do.
“Just because this is the last week before the holidays doesn't stop me from sending you to the principal for your first time, do you understand me Johnson?” God, how much better could she have phrased that? I definitely had the class giggling on my side after her wording. Yes, I had never ended up with the principal for any abnormalities, but...
“QUIET NOW” I didn't even have to say anything, she had apparently realized what she had said.
For the rest of the math lesson, I had taken my cell phone off the table again, I should still have a little decency.
As soon as I left the classroom, I knew that it must have already made the rounds. Here and there I felt a few glances on me, from others you could hear quiet whispering, but no one addressed me. I was glad about that.
It was enough that Mason and Derek still looked as if they had seen a ghost even after math. Quinn, on the other hand, was Quinn, and the broad grin on her face could only have been caused by the old Monroe's statement, and so it was.
“Honestly, Lukas, how could you upset poor Mrs. Monroe like that?” she stood before me, reprimanding me, almost holding her sides with laughter. Apparently she'd been holding it in the whole time. Poor thing.
“Seriously, as if our generation still saves itself for marriage, what does she dream about at night?”
Mason had apparently found his words again.
“You guys are pretty funny sometimes. But I don't think any of us want to take a closer look at her mental movie.” I shook my head to try to get rid of the thought.
“By the way, did you guys know that there are no sports classes today? Except for the basic physics courses, of course.”
As usual, it was Derek who had to bring up academic topics again. To me, however, his words meant that I was now free, as our sports trainer had left it up to me whether I came to class every time or not. I didn't have many absences, so the few hours didn't bother me at all. Only Mason and Quinn were annoyed, because they had to stay until the end, and you could see and hear that.
“What bad luck that I'm off duty now.” I let a little schadenfreude sound with it, because that's how it was. In a way, I was glad that I could leave now. That way, I didn't have to wait for other classmates to ask me about my whereabouts. On the other hand, it was a strange feeling to have day 1 of 5 behind me.
“Oh yes, so unlucky, then you can organize a farewell party for tonight and I'll take care of...”
I didn't even let Mason finish. “No, definitely not today,” I interrupted him. “But there will be one. On Saturday. And yes, don't look so irritated, just because I'll be at a different school next year doesn't mean that Friday is the cut-off. Besides, my parents are already in Florida for the weekend doing something, I wasn't listening too closely, so there's nothing standing in the way.” At least I was able to make a few children's eyes light up again with that statement. Apparently it also came across that I didn't leave immediately.
We left it at that. We said goodbye for today and I left the school grounds. There were definitely some advantages to finishing work early, but I was feeling rather that it was more of a disadvantage for me. Firstly, I would have to wait forever for the sewer that is called a bus, which is why I decided to just walk home, which, by the way, wouldn't take that much longer than the bus. The traffic was just hell sometimes. Secondly, and this was the much bigger problem, my mom. Unlike Dad, she didn't have to work until after lunch today, which meant that if I didn't waste a lot of time, I would run into her, and that wasn't exactly something I wanted.
So I decided to get something to eat. This morning, I had neither the time nor the desire to take something from the kitchen, I would have had more than enough options at school, but now it was like that.
With a filled bread roll, I came out of the bakery. It wasn't that busy. On a Monday, at 10:45 a.m. My eyes fell on a bench in the park across the street. It just made a lot more sense to eat while sitting comfortably and watching people like some creep who actually felt the need to stroll through the park at this time of day. Yes, well, mostly older people or pet owners. Yes, deliberately not dog owners, because there were really people here who walked their cats in the park! It was amazing what you could see when you had time to waste.
However, when I looked at my watch, I realized that it had only been 15 minutes. 15 minutes that felt really long to me, no matter how I looked at it. My mom would luckily disappear by 12:30, but what about me? I would be home in 20 minutes at the latest.
With a sigh, I got up. I threw the napkin from the bun into the trash can and made my way home.
And as I had already thought, my mom's car was still there.
I quietly opened the door to our house and could already hear her clattering around in the kitchen. She was probably packing something to eat or preparing dinner, what did I know.
I tried to quietly make my way to the stairs, but they then put a spoke in my wheel. The creaking of the first steps had given me away.
“Lukas Schatz, is that you?“ my mom called in a friendly voice, and I immediately heard footsteps approaching.
“Yes, we had a sleep-out,” I turned around on the stairs and went to meet her. Her worried expression didn't exactly make the whole situation any less bizarre. So I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and let the whole thing wash over me.
“You have an outbreak? And then you're at home and not out with your friends?” she asked in amazement. Her long black hair was tied up in a bun. Apparently she was already ready for work, which meant she still had a lot of time... This forced small talk didn't make the whole thing any better.
“Quinn and Mason still have physics and I didn't want to wait for Derek until after gym,“ I would have done.
She sighed and ran her hand through her perfect hair, which was absolutely not her style and obviously signaled a change of subject.
“You've been avoiding us for a month.” A nod from me had to suffice as an answer.
“It can't go on like this, Lukas, there's still a lot to discuss and...”
“What and?” I interrupted her? ‘It might also have been nice to have been involved in this planning from the start. Then you would have also heard what I think of this idea!’ I didn't raise my voice, just a hint of disappointment in my voice. I hadn't chosen any of this.
“I know and I understand you too.” She sat down with me. Everything about her always seemed too perfect. She didn't get angry or condescending. No, always on the nice side, but still... It didn't change the facts.
“There was no other way. Now it's a bit tight to explain all this to you, but we'll talk about it at dinner. Ok?“ Had she just pushed the whole conversation back again?
“Mm-hm,” I agreed with her almost silently. I didn't trust my voice enough anymore.
“Luk?” I raised my eyes to her, not having noticed that I had lowered them.
“Your dad will arrive tomorrow and start with the furnishing of the living rooms. I'll follow him on Friday.” It almost sounded as if the whole thing would be over faster than I had first assumed. Without waiting for a reaction from me, she continued. ”I have four weeks off before I have to start my new job. We want to manage the move in that time. I know that you probably want to stay here as long as possible. So your dad and I have agreed that you can stay here for the whole time, if that's okay with you.” Phew, there it was. The long-considered reprieve. As I understood it, that was still four weeks from Friday or even Monday. So enough time to do a lot with the house free of parents.
“It's okay,” I swallowed the lump that had formed during the conversation. ‘I'd just like to go up now.’ With a silent nod, my mom dismissed me from the conversation and I ran upstairs, almost fleeing.
Four weeks, if I had to leave, then it would be four absolutely, awesome and unforgettable weeks. As always, I threw my backpack directly under my desk as I entered my room. It was only now that I got around to looking at my cell phone. The usual suspects were lit up, but our class chat was also almost exploding. I could pretty much guess what the topic was there. I dropped backwards onto the bed and wanted to click through the messages.
When I opened it, the chat had already jumped to the first unread message, and as I had already suspected, I was the subject.
I quickly scrolled through the more than three-digit number of messages. It was okay. Apparently I had been dealing with the topic for a while. They didn't have the chance and now had to explain themselves at length. At least this also explained why my private mailbox was overflowing.
I dropped my cell phone next to me on the bed. I didn't feel like answering everyone, and it was also a bit cumbersome to type with the splint. My eyes slid over to my laptop. Of course, it was difficult for me to reach my desk from here, but that didn't stop me from trying. In the end, I had to get up after I had already supported myself on the floor with one hand between the bed and the desk, only then I had no working hand to lift the laptop off the table.
I stayed at my desk. I put together a small flyer with the most important data. And then I put it in the class chat. A picture of the last pool party served as the background, just so that I could write on white text blocks.
: -Lukas: -
It was a great time, let's make the farewell even better.
Pool party, every Saturday for the next 4 weeks.
Drinks on site!
Is this actually more the responsibility of the 11th and 12th graders? Definitely. Am I at the same level as them because of my position in the team and my older appearance? Also definitely. And it was also clear that the rest of the team would show up, which in turn meant...
I have to shop.
Yes, I'm spamming you a bit today. There might even be another one. But everything I don't post today will probably come next week.
Maybe you can leave a comment and say how you like it? Unfortunately, I have no experience except for a few RPGs
There were still a few small hurdles that I had to overcome during the week, but I was really looking forward to the party getting closer and closer.
On Monday evening, my parents and I had a rather long and very disturbing conversation. Unfortunately, I had to admit that it was quite plausible and understandable. The company my dad worked for was no longer doing so well. Although his position would not be cut, the company that was now buying it out would benefit more from employing him there as a training manager. And the offer was quite... better. Even if this meant that there would be no more storm-free weekends...
And mom? Well, as a tax consultant, she just had to apply somewhere and then she usually had no problem finding a new job.
One of them is studying, the other is good at handicrafts, and I just wanted to play basketball. It was clear that there were two different worlds colliding.
Even at school, opinions were divided. There was nothing I could do about that. Above all, Coach Edison was so... phew... semi enthusiastic. He had planned two more years with me. I couldn't help his disappointment.
So I avoided him for the rest of the week.
At least until today.
Friday. As every year, all students gathered in the gym.
A teacher was bid farewell. The 12th grade and last but not least, or in my opinion unnecessarily, me too. But that was the procedure every time a student left. At least that's what they said, because it hadn't happened in the last few years.
Our couch even apologized for his reaction, which almost made me sentimental. All in all. I had survived the last week. Without any major complications. And now my plan was to spend the last four weeks here celebrating, possibly the last two or three of them playing basketball if my arm was fit enough again by then. Fortunately, I now only had a splint that I could take off if I wanted to. Thanks to physiotherapy...
“What's the plan?” Mason asked me after we had left the hallowed halls. I already knew what he wanted to get at, because we had already touched on the subject this morning.
“Well, the same as always. You and Derek are setting up the sound system for tomorrow. Quinn and a few friends want to come by and hand out some decorations. TK and I will pick up the drinks order. And then we can chill a bit until the party starts tomorrow,” I explained the process, and it was the same as always. The same roles as the last few times.
We were still on schedule when TK appeared behind them. Quinn was long gone, but that was nothing unusual.
“I'm here,” the older one grumbled. He had already stopped playing in a fixed position this year. Basketball had been just a hobby for him, because it had been clear to him for more than two years that he would study law and that would be the case after the summer. For the 190-pound man, this was also the last day. TK was also one of my closer friends and when it came to drinks... We both had fake IDs, but he usually didn't need it. It wasn't particularly surprising either. Especially since the last year of high school, he felt he had to shave every day to avoid looking like the next terrorist, his words, not mine. At least he also came from, phew, let's say the eastern countries. I kept forgetting exactly where. Until the last day, apparently.
“Well then, let's go,” I replied immediately and we set off.
Two hours later, we were the last ones to arrive at my house, but that wasn't a problem, after all, Quinn had had a duplicate key for ages. My parents always said that at least they could be sure that someone wouldn't lose the key. In my defense, It happened about twice in 10 years... per year. Most of the time he was lying somewhere on the basketball court, or in the locker room, or... the list would be too long.
“Guys, it's warm and we only have non-alcoholic drinks here. I hope the beer didn't get warm on the ride or why are you only just back?” Sarah. Quinn's evil twin and not necessarily my favorite person, but now and then Mason and she got into each other, so I had to deal with it. She looked just like Quinn and was also a damn good friend of hers, but I seemed to lack the synapses to recognize any positive qualities in her. In contrast to Quinn, however, she was tall at 170cm, almost 15cm taller than Quinn. Isn't it usually the case that short women are more prickly? Exceptions prove the rule.
“Now we're here.” TK mumbled the words more than he actually said them. We had to pick up his dad's car trailer from the garage, which was in the other direction, so it took a while. It was only officially morning. If my favorite idiot wasn't currently playing on-off relationship with her, she wouldn't be there at all today...