Author's Note: At long last I'm finally back with something new and exciting. Its been a craptastic year on numerous fronts, especially as far as writing is concerned. But now, as we enter the end of the year I'm finally starting a new project and hoping it helps me get my mojo back. I have every intention of finishing this, no matter what it costs me. This is my unofficial NaNoWriMo project. So come hell or high water, even if November come and goes and I still haven't reached a certain number words or chapters or whatever, I'm still going to work on finishing this at least by the end of the year. Its a story I've had bouncing around inside my head for a long time now, so hopefully, like with 'I Wanna Be a Porn Star,', it'll be just as awesome and refined as that was. This is my second story in first person, just so you know. So forgive me if its choppy or rambling or whatever. Reviews, comments, and critiques are welcome. Enjoy.

Fairytale Ending

Written By
Robert Floyd

Chapter One

Another day, another period in Mrs. Talbot's Algebra 2 class. I wouldn't say I'm the greatest student ever, but I'm certainly not the worst either. I do my work and strive to make passing marks to keep my parents pleased. And while I've never been especially fond of math, or particularly good at it, I've always managed to break even by doing a little extra studying or asking for help from someone. So why, then, am I failing this class harder than Paris Hilton taking an IQ test? Its not because I don't care, because I do. And its not because I've started shooting up heroin in the school bathrooms or turning tricks in the stalls. No, the answer to my troubles is fairly simple, and is related to one single individual.

Trey Anderson.

Every day is the same. I come in, sit down, open my books like a good little student, and then it happens. Try as I might to pay attention to crotchety old Talbot's incredibly dry, boring lecture about finding the slope of a line on a graph or what have you, my eyes-and mind-are pulled away from her like a black hole sucking everything into it. Trey, with his handsomely chiseled face, bushy dark eyebrows, and dreamy brown puppy dog eyes (with a small beauty mark right above his right brow), is the most gorgeous human being I have ever laid eyes on in my entire life. I've known this ever since I first laid eyes on him in middle school. He was pretty much the defining factor in helping me figure out that I liked dudes, albeit without his knowledge. To tell you the truth, I've never spoken to nor interacted with him in any capacity. I'd only ever seen him roaming the halls or sitting in the cafeteria at school. It wasn't until this year-my junior year-that I finally got a class with him in it. I don't know what God I pleased, but whichever one it was I am eternally grateful to.

Today was no different. I sat with my books open, pretending to follow along as Mrs. Talbot went over some problems in our text books as I leaned over my desk, head in my right hand as I doodled in my notebook. That was pretty much all I did in that class was sit and draw all sorts of pictures of Trey-sometimes with me, most of the time not-in various different poses or situations. You might call that being a little obsessive, but you always tend to obsess over people more when your love for them is unrequited. Whenever the other person is unaware of your affection, you pine for them harder than you would otherwise, or at least that's how it is for me. At any rate, my notebook was almost completely full of pictures of Trey. I suppose the only way that could be any creepier was if I had a shrine built in my closet to him with locks of his hair and articles of his clothing along with pictures I'd drawn and photographs I'd snapped of him. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Speaking of creepy, is it weird that I follow him to lunch every day? When the bell rings at the end of the period, everyone packs up their things and heads off to stuff their faces. But not me. I stay behind, waiting so that I can follow Trey to lunch. Does that make me a stalker? My friends all seem to think so, but screw them. If I can't profess my love for Trey or be close to him, what the hell else am I supposed to do? Besides, its not like I'm hurting anyone. Right?

Right?

Right. Anyway, I sat there drawing my fifty millionth picture of Trey and me riding off into the sunset on the back of a stallion. Sometimes I develop little ideas for stories and comics as I draw and wind up creating some sort of continuity between my sketches. I couldn't begin to tell you what order they went in, but regardless I seemed fond of the idea of Trey rescuing me from some sort of peril and whisking me off with his arms wrapped around me, living happily ever after in a cottage on the side of a mountain where nobody would ever bother or interfere with us again. At any rate, as I sat scribbling in the final details of the picture, the bell rang dismissing us for lunch. Everyone around me bolted from their seats as if they were starving dogs getting called in for feeding time. While they were furiously packing up their books and herding out of the room like a bunch of sheep, or cows, or goats, whatever's stupider, I casually close up everything and begin putting it away in my book bag while keeping a close eye on what Trey's doing. Being the popular guy he is, several of the girls in the class were gathering around him while he put his things away. He was on the school's varsity basketball team, so naturally he hung around the jocks, cheerleaders, and other preppy kids. I don't hold that against him though. People tend to hang around people who share common interests or activities, so that's understandable.

One thing that does bother me is Amanda Johnson. She's a freakishly tall brunette chick in our class who always seems to be around wherever Trey goes. She's at all his games and always seems to be with him in and out of class. There've been a few times I've even seen then holding hands while walking through the halls. I don't particularly care if they're dating, I mean, Trey's a hot guy and he can have anyone he wants-he deserves it. But a few things confuse me, the first being that I've seen no indication on either of their Facebook pages about either of them being in a relationship, either the two of them together or with other people. Another thing that confuses me is, well, I won't say Amanda is ugly but she certainly isn't much to look at either. She's just kind of... there. She's plain looking, nothing other than her abnormal height that sets her apart from the other, prettier girls Trey hangs around. So the question I ask myself is, why her? Why out of all the other generic, fake, plastic pretty girls that attend our school does he choose the most unremarkable one there is? Maybe there's more to it than that. I mean, hell, there's plenty of people who you have to question why they got together, like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. J-Lo is gorgeous, but Marc Anthony? Not so much. He looks like a gutter rat, and I can't figure out why someone as stunning as J-Lo would ever hook-up with someone like Marc Anthony unless there was something more going on.

Alright, bad example. Celebrities only seem to get together to get attention or whatever, I get that. What I meant was, maybe Trey isn't like most of the other guys in the school who value beauty over brains. I don't know much about Amanda personally, but based off what I've seen on her Facebook page, she seems pretty down to earth and level headed. Maybe that's what it is? A sweet, handsome, down to earth guy like Trey would value a nice, intelligent, down to earth girl like Amanda, wouldn't he?

For the record, just because I peruse Trey and his friends' Facebook pages every now and again doesn't make me a stalker. So stop judging me.

At any rate, regardless of Trey's relationship status with Amanda, the two of them seem pretty close, closer than Trey is with any of his other friends. As they began to get up and head towards the door, the other girls fell in behind them. That was when I got up and followed suit. I always made sure I never followed too closely so as to draw attention to myself. I made certain to always keep a clear view of Trey since he was, after all, the whole reason I went through the trouble of tailing him.

Out in the hall there were some more of Trey's friends, team mates and cheerleaders and what not. He met most of them with fist bumps or high fives as the rest of his posse fell in around him. One of his other friends, another basketball player that was kind of short in stature and had a bunch of freckles all over his face named Tyler Dukes walked beside him opposite from Amanda. Trey had his left arm around Amanda's shoulder as he walked and talked and laughed with Tyler. God he had a beautiful smile. It always made my knees turn to jelly.

Once they got to the cafeteria, it became hard for me to continue following him. With all the other people around keeping track of one person was like finding a needle in a haystack. I always felt a little forlorn after I was forced to part ways with him, but such was the way of the world. Or high school, rather. So after Trey disappeared, I went through the lunch line and got my plate, the food on which often ranged between unusually suspect to deathly inedible. Today was meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans, and apple crisp for dessert; about the only things worth eating were the green beans and apple crisp.

After getting my tray I headed outside to a large court yard area where my friends usually sat. Off near a tall, old oak tree they were sitting in something resembling a triangle, talking while they ate their lunch. I sat down on the ground next to my best friend, Kelvin Maynard, who was dressed to the T in his white fedora with the black band around it, black button down shirt with a white two-button jacket over that, and fitted white jeans with black Converse sneakers that looked especially sharp on him. He was always well dressed, and if he wasn't like an older brother to me I'd probably have a crush on him too. He was no Trey, but at least I knew him. With his chest nut hair done in a crew cut, eyes the color of sapphires, aquiline nose, and soft full lips, Kelvin wasn't all that hard to look at. He was in the middle of arguing with our other friends, Caitlyn Smith and Nicholas Holden, which was something Kelvin did well. It just got irritating sometimes because he always overanalyzed everything and tried getting into a debate over it. It didn't matter what it was. If it existed, Kelvin would argue over it.

"Hey guys," I said as I sat down next to Kelvin, who was lying on his backpack chomping into an apple. "What's up?"

"Hey, Eric," Kelvin replied with apple still in his mouth. He flashed a smile after swallowing and looked toward Caitlyn and Nick. "We were just talking about prom and how there are about a dozen better things to do than wasting our time and money attending some lame dance where we honor the popularity of the pretty, vapid people."

Caitlyn, with her black dyed hair with pink and purple streaks, and piercings in her ears, lips, and tongue smiled and rolled her hazel eyes, snorting a laugh.

"No, that's just what you were talking about. Don't put words in our mouths for us," Caitlyn said.

Kelvin blew his lips and shook his head.

"You know you agree with me," he insisted, turning to Nick. "You agree with me, don't you Nick?"

Nick, a tall, lanky guy with a squat nose and pale skin with freckles held his hands up, slapping them together to wash himself clean of the discussion.

"I'm not getting involved in y'all's argument. I'm just going to prom because its a once in a lifetime event, and that's that," he stated.

"No it isn't!" Kelvin shouted stubbornly. "You can go during junior and senior years, so that's two times. Not one."

"Yeah, and I didn't go last year so I'm going this year. Besides, it's my last year in high school, and I'd like to have the memories," Nick stated.

Kelvin barked a laugh and pulled a bottle of vitamin water out of his backpack, unscrewing the cap as he looked over at me with a knitted brow.

"Can you believe these guys? Its like all the years they've spent hanging out with me pushing my anti-establishment agenda have gone to waste. Now they're wanting to attend the prom and be one of the nobody's who they'll just forget after graduating," Kelvin ranted.

I puckered my brow as I poked at the meatloaf on my plate.

"How tragic. God forbid they want to be normal people for a single night of their lives," I replied dryly.

Kelvin took a swig of his water and wagged a finger with his other hand.

"Mm, no," he said, swallowing. "They just want to contribute to the already baffling statistic of teen pregnancy that occurs on the night of prom, that's what it is."

Caitlyn burst out laughing all of a sudden and slapped her leg.

"Oh my God, you really are grasping at strings now, Kelv," she said, turning to face me. "Don't listen to him, Eric. Kelvin's just mad because nobody wants to go to prom with him, so he's acting like he never cared about it to hide the fact that his pride has been damaged."

Kelvin snorted and snickered.

"Please. I could probably get at least a dozen girls or guys to go with me if I wanted to," he said.

"Special Ed students don't count," Nick quipped.

Caitlyn and I stifled our laughter as Kelvin's jaw dropped.

"Oh. Oh, no you just didn't," he said.

"Yeah, Kelv, I'm pretty sure he did," Caitlyn said, biting the tip of her tongue as he flashed a toothy smile. "You just got burned."

Kelvin narrowed his twinkling blue eyes and pointed his middle and index fingers from his to Nick's.

"You and me, one day we're going to have it out," Kelvin challenged.

Nick held his arms out to the side and waved his hands.

"Bring it on, Maynard," he said.

"Oh, I will. One day, I will," Kelvin said, nodding slowly with unblinking eyes.

Nick and Caitlyn started laughing. Nick nudged Caitlyn on the shoulder as he rose to his feet, and Caitlyn followed soon after.

"I guess we should be getting back to class. Mr. Chayt locks his door if anyone's late, so we'll see you guys later," Nick said.

"Later peeps," Kelvin said, giving a V sign as Nick and Cait headed off. It was just me and Kelvin now. Kelvin stretched his arms and put them behind his head and rolled onto his back, resting his eyes. "So what's new with you, home boy? Any new drawings from math class?"

I had just braved a bite out of the apple crisp when I nodded and reached into my backpack to pull out my binder. Kelvin turned back onto his side as he took the binder from me and I continued eating. Kelvin opened it and flipped through until he found my new sketches. This was a daily routine he went about, checking the latest doodles I made of Trey on my notes. At first it had started as having Kelvin check my homework, but once he'd discovered the pictures I'd drawn during class, he'd become more interested in seeing them than checking my work. Kelvin wasn't any sort of art connoisseur, but that never stopped him from reviewing and critiquing my art.

"So you went for a more bishounen look today, huh?" Kelvin asked, lifting an eyebrow as he stroked his smooth chin thoughtfully.

"A what?" I asked.

"Bishounen, basically an anime style pretty boy," Kelvin stated.

I nodded slowly, giving up on the apple crisp and moving on to the green beans.

"Ah..."

"Not bad though. His nose could use a little work though. Other than that its good."

"Thanks, Bob Ross. As usual your input is so valuable," I remarked. I snatched my binder back from him as I slid it back into my backpack.

"Bob who?" Kelvin asked.

"You know what bishounen means but you don't know who Bob Ross is? Don't you ever watch PBS?"

"No. I haven't watch PBS since my grandma died last year," Kelvin replied. "Always with their friggin' telethons..."

I sniggered at his comment and opened the carton of chocolate milk I got with my lunch.

"So what were you going on about prom about? I thought you didn't give two shits about it," I asked, taking a sip of chocolate milk.

Kelvin had lied back down with his hands behind his head, staring up at the sky when he answered.

"I don't give two shits about it. Hell, I don't even give one," he replied.

I blinked and furrowed my brow curiously.

"Okay, so what was all that with Nick and Cait then?" I asked.

Kelvin blew his lips and waved a hand through the air.

"Eh, Nick came over going on about it, asking if we were going and rambling on about who he thought the Prom King and Queen was going to be," he replied.

"And that got you going off on one of your signature tirades, huh?"

"You betcha," Kelvin replied, flashing a toothy grin. Most people found Kelvin to be a difficult person to deal with, and I could definitely understand where they come from. He's a very vocal, outspoken, and opinionated individual who often has rather unique and interesting views on topics most would consider fairly mundane. He fights and argues tooth and nail, never giving an inch in his debate whenever he gets into arguments with people, which usually end with the other person giving up in frustration. It was common knowledge how Kelvin felt about social events funded by the school, and he made it no secret how he felt about those who attended them. Sometimes I have trouble telling if he acts the way he does in jest or if he truly believes in the things he does and says. Regardless, there was rarely ever a dull moment when Kelvin was around.

"I just can't stand hearing about that crap," he stated. "It's about as bad as seeing all those stupid political ads on TV during campaign season."

"True. You can't go five steps without someone shoving a flier in your face telling you to vote for them or walk down a single hallway without seeing posters hanging all over the walls and bulletin boards, all just so someone can wear a stupid crown for single night and make themselves believe that people really care about them," I said.

"And then a year or so later, nobody even remembers who they are and the crushing reality of their normality comes crashing down around them and they realize just how worthless they really are," Kelvin continued.

"Exactly," I agreed, grinning. Whereas most people would be arguing with him right now, I'm perfectly content agreeing with whatever it is Kelvin's bitching about and just going along with him on it. It makes for a much easier relationship.

Kelvin laughed, looking over at me with a broad smile as he reached for my leg and patted me on the knee affectionately.

"I've taught you so well," he remarked.

"You must be so proud," I said.

"More than you could ever possibly imagine," Kelvin said, sitting up all of a sudden. "Just a heads up. I think your boy toy is getting ready to leave."

Like a watch dog I suddenly bolted to my feet and found where Trey had been sitting. He was getting up and leaving with his posse, just as Kelvin had said he was. Reaching down and grabbing my backpack, I was on the prowl. I couldn't let Trey leave without getting one last look at him for the day.

"Off to chase the man of your dreams, huh?" Kelvin asked.

"Not chase. Just stalk," I replied, winking as I took my tray and dumped it, leaving it at the pick-up area as I chased after Trey. Kelvin was trailing behind me without me even realizing he'd gotten up.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he asked when he caught up with me. "You've known the guy since seventh grade and you even have a friggin' class with him, yet you've still never so much as said hi to him or anything. He doesn't even know you exist, yet you still continue stalking him. Why torture yourself if you're not even going to try to get to know him?"

I shrugged as I kept my distance behind Trey and his entourage. It was a fair question. I often asked myself that and found I never really had an answer.

"I guess because I'm afraid that if I get to know him personally then I might not like him as much, so I suppose I like the idea of him more than he himself..." I replied.

Kelvin crinkled his brow, looking at me incredulously.

"You don't worship the ground somebody walks on and stalk them for four years just because you like the idea of them. You need to be more proactive. Sure, you may not have a snowball's chance in the Devil's ass of being anything more than friends, but at least you won't have to skulk about like some creepy fanatic."

He was right, as Kelvin often was about such matters. For all his crazy, radical ideas and wild tangents he went on, whenever he gave advice, he was usually right. I was starting to lose sight of Trey when I finally stopped in my tracks and breathed a defeated sigh.

"Alright, fine. So what should I do? Just go up and introduce myself, be all like, "Hey, I'm the guy that's been stalking you for four years! Let's be friends!"?"

Kelvin rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Sure, go with that if you really want to sabotage your chances with him. Or you could, you know, act like a normal human being and just find some reason, any reason, to go up and talk to him. Ask to look at his notes or see if he got the homework or something. Just act natural about it."

I thought about it for a moment, and it actually sounded like a pretty good idea. I knew I liked Kelvin for a reason.

"Alright," I conceded, "I'll do it. After school I'm going to just walk up to him and ask him what the homework for Mrs. Talbot's class is. Should be easy enough, right?" I asked, looking to Kelvin for reassurance.

Kelvin smiled, slapping me on the back.

"Yeah dude, should be cake," he said. "Good luck."