My name is Donovan Moore. My mother is Jamaican and my father is Canadian. They met when my father was vacationing in Jamaica twenty five years ago. Apparently it was love at first sight. Even now, they still act like love-struck teenagers half the time. I’m their favourite child. But then again, I’m their only child. I’m nineteen years old and have just graduated from Memorial High School in Calgary. My biggest claim to fame was and still is that I am small, actually tiny might be a better term. At nineteen, I am 4 ft 9½ inches tall and weigh a full 86 lbs. I was even held back from starting kindergarten for a year, not because I couldn’t do the work and wasn’t ready, but because I looked like a three year old. I don’t think it impaired me in any way though, as I took the Advanced Placement Program in high school and had a 3.9 GPA. I was my class valedictorian at the graduation ceremonies. I was also in the school theatre and diving clubs, so between studying, practices, performances, and competitions, free time was not something I had a lot of. I even have a couple of gold medals and three silver from various diving competitions. I hate any type of team sport though. More importantly, I hate pain. Playing nearly any team sport against guys who are 6ft tall and 150 to 200lbs tends to result in pain, lots of pain. Therefore, I avoid getting involved under any circumstances.

Most of the girls in my class thought I was totally cute and fun to be around…or, at least, that’s what they told me. I think they just wanted to take me home, cuddle me, take care of me, and then prop me up against their headboard along side Barbie and Ken. I don’t think they saw me as dating material, which was just fine by me, since dating any one of them was close to the bottom of my list of things to do anyway.

I didn’t disagree with them about the cute part though. I have very big, expressive, dark brown, almost black, eyes. I have nearly flawless skin, thick black curly hair and nicely shaped thick black eyebrows. I like my nose and think it’s pretty much perfect for my face and I think I have kinda cute ears too. My smile can easily light up a room thanks to my orthodontist and a set of perfect, brilliantly white teeth. I also have an awesome year-round tan. I guess this makes me sound like a bit of a conceited ass, but when you’re nineteen and 4’9½”, you have to go with something. Cute works for me.

Unfortunately, it was only girls and me who thought I was cute. Well some of the boys might have, but they’d never have admitted it. As far as many of the other guys were concerned, I was one of their favourite targets. It seems if you vary even a little bit from what is considered ‘normal’ you become a target. Being half the size of your classmates since elementary school isn’t ‘normal’. Neither, apparently, is joining theatre.

I had been ridiculed by many of the other guys in school most of my life. At first it was Peter Pan, short-ass, shrimp, or tiny, due to my size, but when I joined theatre, the terms fag, queer, faggot, and fudge packer got added to the list. I have never been physically attacked like pushed, punched, or beaten up. It has just been name-calling and mockery. Not that that makes it better, as being openly disdained by your peers can be just as demoralizing and damaging as physical abuse. But I did have my circle of friends, for which I was truly grateful, unfortunately they were all girls. Not that that’s a bad thing in itself…unless, of course, you prefer guys.

Fortunately, high school was now history. I had already been accepted into the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I’m majoring in theatre arts which I’m sure is no big surprise. UBC is also reasonably close to Davie Village which has lots of cute guys wandering around and hot nightclubs full of those same cute guys. Cute guys who like other cute guys. I did say I was cute, didn’t I?

But that was a couple of months away. I had the whole summer to get out of the way first. The first three weeks were a blast. My three best friends, Sheila, Michelle, and Carol, and I were taking part in the Shakespeare in the Park festival. For three weeks, every afternoon and evening, I would be Hamlet, admittedly a rather short Hamlet, but Hamlet just the same. It was awesome. I was amazed at the number of people that showed up every day, spread blankets out on the grass, laid back, and watched our show. I was equally amazed at the number of people who waited to talk to us after the show. It was so different from the high school plays I had been in. There, you got on stage, did your thing, went backstage, changed, and left. Here, you could mill around amongst the crowd before the show, get onstage, do your thing, and then chat with people for an hour or more.  The three weeks were over far too soon. It seemed like we had just started and the festival was over.

After the festival, I was on my way to visit my grandma in…don’t laugh…Pixie Beach. Pixie Beach is on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, just north of Kelowna. Grandma has a cabin right on the waterfront and a very cool open-bow speedboat. The boat is awesome for water skiing or just laying about enjoying the sun and there was plenty of sun. Any time I have been there, it has always been sunny and hot…like 85 to 90ºF. One of the best things is that life there is slow and easy. Everyone is there to rest and relax. After the fast pace of the city, it was a more than welcome change. After two weeks of sun and water however, I was back home in the city…very relaxed and very well fed. When we weren’t on the boat, I think Grandma spent most of her time in the kitchen while I was there…not that I was complaining. I’m sure she was thinking if she fed me well enough, I would grow. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t have been vertically, but horizontally. However, I kept active enough while I was there to ensure that that didn’t happen.

Once I was back home, I just had a few weeks left before I was to head for Vancouver and classes at UBC. I took advantage of that time to enjoy my family and friends as I wouldn’t be seeing very much of them in the months to come. We did dinner out, movies, hanging out at the mall, bar-b-ques, and all the family-friend activities we could. Before I knew it, Mom and I were packing my stuff getting ready for the trip to the coast. I wasn’t quite ready for the tears and goodbyes that followed though. I was thrilled to be taking Theatre Arts at UBC, but forgot how much my family and friends meant to me until it was time to say goodbye. I did survive the good-byes though, and soon Mom, Dad, and I were on the highway heading west. We did stop at Grandma’s for a couple of days on the way.

It seemed that, in no time after leaving Grandma’s, we were sitting in a massive traffic jam on the Port Mann Bridge heading into Vancouver. As we sat there, I had to wonder why anyone would commute in and out of Vancouver. Two to three hours to get to work and the same coming home just boggled my mind. We finally arrived at the university dorm. After stretching and walking around for a few minutes, we were ready to find the main office, register, and start moving me in. Registering took all of ten minutes and we were back at the SUV ready to unload my stuff. It’s not like I had a lot, just three suitcases and five boxes. As Dad and I unloaded the SUV, I grabbed the first couple of suitcases and headed up to my room.

The door was open, so I just walked in the room. This really cute guy, who I assumed was my roommate was lying on one of the beds.

“Hi,” I said as I lifted the suitcases onto the other, I assumed, was my bed.

“Hi,” he replied, “Helping your big brother move in?”

I looked at him for a second or two before replying, “No, I’m helping me move in. I’m Donovan, by the way.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” he responded, “I guess I’m your roommate then. I’m Marcus.”

“No problem,” I said with a grin as I reached out to shake his hand, “Nice to meet you Marcus.”

“Nice to meet you too Donovan,” he replied as we shook hands.

Just then Dad walked in with three boxes stacked in his hands. I quickly grabbed the top one and set it on the floor at the end of my bed. Dad then set the other two on top of it. Mom was right behind him with my third suitcase.

“Dad, Mom, this is my roommate Marcus,” I said as Marcus stood up to shake Dad’s hand and then Mom’s.

“Pleased to meet you Marcus,” Dad said, “I’m Russ and this is my wife Elise.”

“Hi,” Marcus replied.

After half an hour of chit chat, retrieving my last two boxes, Mom’s fussing over every moving in detail, and several minutes of tears and good-byes, Dad and Mom had left for the hotel where they were staying. I now had all my stuff in the room and began the task of unpacking what Mom hadn’t already unpacked, and neatly placed in my dresser or closet. I was slowly finding a place for everything. Marcus was right in there helping unpack one of the boxes when he suddenly stopped. He was holding the video collection he’d found. The title on the box just happened to be Queer as Folk, the complete series.

He looked at it for several seconds before turning to me and asking, “You’re gay?”

“Yep, fraid so,” I replied, “Short…and gay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again, “I seem to be putting my foot in my mouth every time I open it.”

“So you’re okay with that then?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” he replied, “I have no problem with you being gay.”

“No,” I responded, “I meant, are you okay with me being short.”

He looked at me a second before grinning and replying, “I have no problem with it as long as you don’t go flaunting it all the time.”

Just then a couple of guys poked their heads in the door.

“Hey, we’re just heading over to Tucks,” one of them said to Marcus, “You wanna come?”

“Yeah sure,” Marcus replied before turning to me, “Donovan these two clowns are Robb and Scott,” then turning to them he said, “Guys, this is my new roommate, Donovan.”

I got a kind of odd look from both of them, but it only lasted a second.

“Hi Donovan,” Robb said as he reached out to shake my hand, “You wanna join us too. Their burgers are awesome.”

“It’s good to meet you Donovan, welcome,” Scott said with a grin as he too reached out and shook my hand.

“Hi guys,” I responded, “Yeah, I’d love to join you, I’m starving.”

“Great, then let’s go,” Marcus said.

As the four of us were charging down the stairs, I couldn’t help but think how different their reactions were compared to the guys in school. Yeah, they were taken aback by my appearance for a second or two, but it instantly became a non-issue.

When we got to Tucks, all four of us flashed our ID and ordered a Bud Light. The waiter, who by the way, took my breath away for a second or two, looked at mine and then at me and said, “Three Bud Light and a Coke, coming right up.”

“No,” I corrected, “Four Bud Light.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied, “But the drinking age in BC is nineteen, not twelve.”

“Listen fucktard,” Marcus ordered angrily, “Look at his fuckin’ ID.”

I handed my ID to him again and he looked at it for several seconds before saying, “Come on guys, this is a fake Alberta ID and you know it.”

I then pulled out my driver’s licence and my birth certificate and handed them to him. “Here,” I said, “Are these fake too?”

He looked at them for almost thirty seconds before saying, “Can you give me a minute? I need to run them past the owner.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” I replied.

A few minutes later he was back with four Bud Light.

“I’m really sorry,” he said as he gave me back my proofs that I was old enough for a beer. “But you don’t look nineteen and I got scammed a couple of weeks ago. I need this job or I’m out of a place to live and I’m out of school.” 

“Look, no problem,” I said, “I know I look young.”

“Next time you could try not to be so fuckin’ rude though,” Marcus snapped at him.

“I know. I really am sorry guys,” he repeated, “It’s just so annoying when someone tries it on, especially considering I could get the owner in big trouble and lose my job.”

“Okay, now that’s settled,” Scott stated, “We each want a burger deluxe with gravy.”

“Four burgers deluxe with gravy coming right up,” he said as he glanced around the table to make sure we were all in agreement and off he went to place our orders.

“Fuckin’ asshole,” Marcus stated after he left.

“Hey, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last,” I said, “Even I have to admit I look like a twelve year old.”

“Yeah, you do look young, but he didn’t need to be so ignorant about it,” Marcus responded.

“No he didn’t,” Robb said, “But it sounds like he has to work to put himself through university, so this job is very important to him.”

“Okay, let’s move on,” Scott suggested before asking me, “What faculty are you in?”

“Theatre Arts,” I replied.

“Hey, you’ll probably be with Robb half the time then,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m in Theatre Arts,” Robb said with a grin, “What section are you in?”

“Uh…section D,” I replied after thinking about it for a second.

“Seriously? I’m in section D,” Robb exclaimed, “The two of us are gonna have a blast. We’ll be able to study together, rehearse together, and help each other with our lines. Fuckin’ awesome.”

“Totally,” I responded with an equal amount of excitement. I had only been here a few hours and it was already looking to be a great year.

At that moment, our burgers arrived and once again the waiter apologized for being rude. I simply told him not to worry about it. I was used to it. He said that that was even more reason for him to have been more tactful as I was probably getting sick of it. I replied that, yeah, it got to me sometimes but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Unfortunately, I did look like a sixth grader, not a university freshman. He apologized again and thanked me for being so understanding.

After the first bite, there was no doubt Robb was right when he said their burgers were awesome. It was definitely the best burger I had ever tasted. As we chatted between mouthfuls, I learned a lot about the guys. Marcus was our token sophomore and was in his second year of civil engineering. Scott was in business administration and accounting. Robb and Scott had gone to high school together and were from Kamloops BC. They had taken a year off to travel and had been in every country in Europe over the last year. Marcus was from Kelowna BC. He was on the university’s diving team and had several medals. As soon as I mentioned I had been on the high school diving team at home, he immediately made me promise to try out for the university team. Robb and Scott were both track stars in high school and would be trying out for the university’s track team. I also learned that they were more than high school buddies, roommates, and travel mates. In fact, they would be celebrating their fourth anniversary together in a couple of weeks.

That meant a trip to Celebrities nightclub and a night of dancing till dawn…well till early morning at least. That was something I was definitely looking forward to. We had been sitting there for over an hour before we realized it and decided to head back to the dorm. As we paid, I made sure I left a good tip. I know he had been rude, but I also knew he felt bad and he needed the money. Once back at the dorm, I finished unpacking and as I flopped back on my bed, it seemed to just hit me all of a sudden. I was exhausted. I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon though, as at least six guys poked their heads in the room, introduced themselves and welcomed me to UBC. They were all pretty hot, unfortunately none of them seemed to be under 6ft tall.

It was quickly the first day of classes. The first person I saw as I entered the classroom for my first music theory class had to have been the cutest guy I had ever seen other than in the mirror. Haha. He had platinum blond hair and when he turned to look at me, he had the greenest eyes imaginable. When he smiled, he showed off the deepest dimples possible to go with those green eyes. If that wasn’t enough to make him perfect, the clincher was that he was no more than 5’2”. I was in love…or maybe in lust would be more accurate, but either way, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. That is until an equally cute girl walked up to him and gave him a rather intimate kiss. Damn. Oh well, next Friday night I was going be at Celebrities with more than two hundred other guys. At least one of them might be short…and cute…and interesting…maybe.

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. From the first few classes I’d had, all my courses were going to be more than I had hoped for. This was indeed rapidly shaping up to be a very good year. Not just because of my classes either. I had not received one negative ‘dwarf’ or ‘fag’ comment since I arrived at UBC. In fact I had the beginnings of several good friendships going already. I was ‘one of the guys’ in the dorm and in classes. I had to wonder how seventeen and eighteen-year-old high school kids could be such mindless assholes when eighteen and nineteen-year-old university kids could be so understanding and accepting. Maybe one day I will figure that out. If I do, I’ll let you know.

Robb and I had already teamed up on an assignment in one of the five classes we had together. It was a term assignment to write an original screen play. We were both energized by the prospect of having our play chosen and performed for the end of semester drama week. In fact we spent several hours working on ideas and an outline in the first week. I had never worked with someone else on a project before and I was totally excited about the prospect of working with Robb.

We did get to Celebrities and, after some serious discussion with the guys at the door about my age, we did get in and celebrated Robb and Scott’s anniversary. There were some awesomely cute guys there too, but it was not my lucky night. I did run into a couple of guys from one my classes but they were together. Of course I wasn’t looking to get lucky, but it would have been nice to have met someone from campus that I could have gotten to know…lucky would have come later. We did have an awesomely good time though, especially considering half the guys with us were straight. They were out on the floor dancing with us and having as much fun as we were.

It was two or three weeks later that I ran in to our waiter from Tucks. He was coming out of one of the fine arts studios and I did literally run into him. When I bumped his arm, he nearly dropped the folder he was carrying. As it was, a picture fell out before he regained his grip on it. I quickly apologized and bent down to pick it up and froze. It was a picture, actually a pen and ink drawing…of me…and it was perfect. He even had the tiny scar below my right eye. I had a mischievous look on my face, with an impish little grin. I eventually picked it up and turned to give it to him. When I did, he was standing there with the folder open and blushing profusely.

I held out the picture, he looked at it for a second, then at me and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” I asked, “For what? I ran into you.”

“I should have asked for your permission to draw you,” he replied.

“Why?” I asked as I looked at it again and added, “You’re very good. It’s perfect.”

“Thanks,” he responded, “But it’s normally common courtesy to ask, but I didn’t know how to find you.”

“Yeah, not knowing my name, or where I live would make finding me a little difficult,” I said with a chuckle before asking, “You did this from memory after meeting me once?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “You have to admit, you did make quite an impression.”

“I think Marcus made a bigger impression,” I responded, “Why did you choose to draw me?”

“Uh…” he started, blushing even more. “You…uh…you’re more impressive than you think,” he said rather quietly.

“Oh?” I queried, a little intrigued. “Uh, you have a class right now?” I asked after a short pause.

“No, actually I’m done for the day and I have an hour or so before I have to be at work,” he replied.

“Wanna go for a coffee and share a giant cinnamon bun then?” I asked with a smile.

“Actually yeah, I’d like that,” he said smiling back.

He finally took the picture out of my hand and we started down the hall towards one of the cafeterias. As we were walking I asked him if he would sell me the picture or if he could photocopy it or, better yet, draw another one of me that I could give to my parents. I told him I would pay whatever the going rate was for a custom portrait, as I thought it would be the perfect gift for Christmas. He replied that the picture he was carrying was one-of-a-kind and he was keeping it, but that he would be thrilled to do another drawing or even a painting if I wanted him to. We arrived at the cafeteria at that point, got our coffees and cinnamon bun, and found a table. During the next few minutes, we made arrangements for me to sit for him and he would do an oil painting of me. He had Monday and Tuesday evenings off and so did I, so we arranged the sittings for those evenings.

We actually thought to introduce ourselves to each other as well. When we did, we had to laugh because his name was Jared Moore…seriously. We were pretty sure we weren’t related in any way though. His family had moved here from Australia when he was four. My dad was third generation Canadian and his great grandparents had moved here from England in the 1920’s. We also got to know each other a little bit. It was just him and his mom at home in Hope, BC. His mom worked as a secretary in the high school he attended. His dad had been killed in a car accident when he was seven. Money was something they didn’t have a lot of but they got by. He had won a tuition-paid scholarship to the university but it didn’t cover room and board which is why he was working. He was living in a bachelor suite above Tucks where he worked. The rent was cheap and he could grab a burger or sandwich at work in the evening and even a coffee and toast or a bun in the morning on his way to the campus. The owner was a really good guy and didn’t charge him for either.

He loved his art as much as I loved my theatre. Every penny he earned from the time he was eight or nine went to buy pens, ink, paints, charcoal, and canvases. He also had probably a hundred sketch pads full of drawings. I think I told him about every play I had been in since grammar school. The time flew by and he soon had to leave to go to work. After he left, and as I watched him walk across the quad, I couldn’t help but wonder about our ‘rude’ waiter. Did he do that drawing of me simply because I was ‘impressive’? If so, why was I impressive? And why was he not willing to part with it or even give me a copy of it? Hmmm. He was definitely hot. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and the cutest blush. He was very sweet, funny, and a pleasure to be with. He also had a vulnerable side to him. It seemed like he could be easily hurt, or had been deeply hurt in the past. And…he was not 6’4”. He was closer to about 5’4”. Of course that still made him six and a half inches taller than me.

I hadn’t been back in the dorm five minutes before Marcus asked, “Okay, who is he?”

“Who’s who?” I asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” he said laughing, “You wouldn’t have that dopey look on your face if there wasn’t a he.”

“Dopey look?” I asked.

“Don’t make me get rough with you,” he warned still laughing.

“Okay,” I replied, “I don’t know if there’s a he yet, but I did meet someone today who was, to say the least, very interesting.”

“And?” he questioned.

“And, if it’s more than my imagination running wild, I’ll let you know,” I responded.

Of course this evening would be the evening that Robb and Scott threw open our door and announced that we were going to Tucks for a burger. When I mentioned that I should pass, they wanted to know why. When I couldn’t give them a good reason, I was lifted off my bed and was on my way to Tucks. We walked in and sat down. When Jared saw us, he held four fingers up. I just nodded and a minute later we each had a Bud light.

As he set the drinks down, he looked at me and grinned. “Hi. Didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” he said.

“Hi Jared,” I responded as I blushed slightly, “I got kidnapped.”

“Okay,” he said still grinning. “So four burgers deluxe with gravy on the fries?” he asked still looking at me.

“Yes please,” we all responded at once and he was gone to put in our order.

“No way,” Marcus said quietly as he looked at me and grinned, “The ‘rude’ waiter?”

“I don’t know I told you,” I responded just as quietly, “I said maybe it was just my imagination, remember?”

“By the way he was looking at you,” Marcus replied, “There’s no imagination involved.”

“Oh yeah,” Robb stated grinning, “That boy is smitten.”

“Yeah right,” I said as I blushed even more, “He’s just making up for being rude before.”

“Uh huh,” Marcus said with a grin, “Whatever you say.”

“So, we gonna hear the details?” Scott asked, “Or are we gonna to have to make up our own?”

“Yeah,” Marcus responded, “This should be interesting. From rude waiter to boyfriend material in one afternoon. I’m gonna want to hear this.”

“You guys are reading more into this than there is,” I said.

“No we’re not,” Scott stated with a chuckle, “Even a blind man would be able to see there’s something going on between you two.”

“Okay, okay,” I said in frustration, “But not here or now,”

“Okay we can wait,” Robb said, “But when we get back to the dorms you’re not gonna sleep tonight until we hear all the details.”

Just then, Jared was back with our burgers. Once again I got a big smile as he said, "Enjoy.”

“Thanks, we will,” I responded as I returned his smile.

As Jared walked across to another table to take their order, Robb looked at Marcus and grinned. “You think he noticed that there are four of us sitting here?”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Marcus replied with a grin.

We did finish our burgers and the conversation did move away from Jared and me. As we got up to leave, we did leave a nice tip and Jared thanked us before asking me if we could get together again tomorrow. I, of course, responded in the positive. 

“Same time, same place?” he asked.

“Yep, coffee and cinnamon bun?” I responded.

“Yep,” he replied grinning as he turned and headed for a table that had just been occupied by half a dozen girls.

“Oh my God,” Robb exclaimed as we stepped onto the sidewalk, “If that boy’s not in love, then I don’t know what love is.”

“Shut up,” I ordered grinning, as I gave him a little shove and my face once again turned some indescribable shade of dark red.

Once we arrived back at the dorms, I had three very curious people sitting on Marcus’ bed staring at me. I guess I was going to have to explain my afternoon to them…in detail. I began with our collision, talked about the picture Jared had drawn of me with no small amount of awe, explained a bit about our coffee date, and finished up with the fact that I would be sitting for him and he was going to paint my portrait for my parents. Surprisingly, they didn’t interrupt me once, and when I was finished, I got a hug from Robb and Scott and my hair ruffled by Marcus.

“Initial rudeness aside, he definitely seems like a nice guy,” Scott remarked when I was done, “And he definitely seems to be taken with you.”

“Yeah, there’s no doubt about that,” Robb added, “He’s totally in love. You ready for that?”

“He really is a nice guy,” I replied, “And yeah, I’m ready for that.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for you,” Marcus said, “You are one of the sweetest guys I know and you deserve to be loved…to be happy.”

“And remember,” Scott said with a grin, “You just heard that from a straight guy.”

I felt just a little bit embarrassed by their reactions, but I was also touched by the fact that these guys I had known for less than a month, cared so much about me. I almost teared up, but managed to keep myself together. It was almost an hour later that Robb and Scott decided to head for their room and get to work on their assignments for tomorrow. Marcus and I chatted for another half hour before we too decided we better get some work done. Three hours later, we were showered and in bed. As I lay there with the moonlight streaming across my face, I couldn’t help but break out into a huge grin. This was so going to be a good year.

I have no idea how I managed to stay focused on my classes all day but I did, when I wasn’t thinking about Jared, that is. Finally classes were over and I made my way towards the art studio. Jared was already waiting for me as I came down the hall. As soon as he saw me, his face lit up with a big grin.

“Hi,” he said as he gave me a quick hug.

“Hi,” I responded as I returned his hug.

“I thought this day would never end,” he said as we turned and started towards the cafeteria.
 
“Neither did I,” I said.

“So, when do you want to sit for me?” he asked.

“As soon as you’re ready for me,” I replied.

“How about next Monday?” he suggested.

“Works for me,” I told him.

We soon had our coffees and our cinnamon bun and were sitting at a table near the windows. We chatted about this and that for a while, mostly about our art and theatre programs. Neither one of us could stop smiling and I’m sure if anyone was paying attention, they would have assumed we were a couple in love rather than a couple of guys who had really just started to talk to each other the day before. All too soon, Jared had to leave for work. This time as we got up from the table, Jared leaned over and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I’m sure I turned bright crimson and my smile lit up the room.

“Sorry,” he said quickly as his blush exceeded mine, “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No you shouldn’t,” I said, as I got on my tip toes, put my hand on the back of his neck, pulled his face towards mine, and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Oh, wow,” was all he said as he stood there and grinned at me.

“You’re gonna be late,” I said grinning too.

“Uh…oh yeah,” he said as he leaned down and gave me another quick kiss. Then grinning, he backed up a few steps, turned and ran out the door towards Tucks. About halfway across the quad he turned, blew me another kiss and waved. I returned it and waved back. He turned and in another few seconds he was gone. I just stood there staring out the window grinning and thinking, ‘Oh My God!’

I don’t even remember walking to the dorms. I do remember the sound of Marcus laugh as I walked in our room. “Okay, we’ve gone from dopey to stunned,” he said, “That must have been one hell of a good cinnamon bun.”

I just looked at him for a few seconds and grinned. “Yeah, it was,” I replied.

“Uh huh,” he said laughing.

Thank God I didn’t have any major assignments to do that evening because I don’t think I could have focused enough to even read what the assignment was. All I could think about was Jared, Jared and our kisses.

The next day when classes ended I ran down the hall and I made sure I was waiting outside the art studio when Jared came out. I got a huge grin as soon as he saw me…a huge grin and another sweet kiss. This time as we walked towards the cafeteria, he laced his fingers through mine and we walked hand-in-hand. I don’t think I can explain how that felt. I was holding hands with a guy I had known for three days and I had never been happier.

This time we ordered coffees to go and wandered out into the quad, found a quiet spot under a big old oak tree and sat down. Jared sat against the tree. I sat between his legs and leaned back against him. He wrapped his arm around me and rested his chin on the top of my head. We just sat quietly enjoying our closeness for several minutes.

“How did I get this lucky?” he finally asked as he gave me a little squeeze.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” I responded as I cuddled up closer and squeezed the arm he had wrapped around me.

“I feel like I’ve known you forever,” he said, “Not just for a few days. I never thought I could feel this close to anyone, never mind someone I just met.”

“Yeah I know,” I replied, “It’s been the same for me. Just instant. I knew as soon as I saw that picture.”

“I knew as soon as you gave me shit at Tucks,” he said with a chuckle, “You had an air of confidence about you. An ‘I don’t take crap from anybody’ attitude. That and you’re totally hot. But it was your confidence that got to me. It’s not something I’ve had a lot of in my life and it just struck me.”

“Why would you lack confidence?” I asked, “I mean you’re totally good-looking and you have so much talent. Your art is amazing.”

“Maybe,” he responded, “But who in high school gives a shit about a fag who can draw?”

I wriggled tighter up against him and replied, “The same kids who give a shit about a fag who can act.”

He squeezed me tighter and kissed the top of my head. “I guess we both had to deal with pretty much the same shit,” he said.

“Yeah, I think we probably did,” I said, “Nothing like being short, gay, and artistic to help a person ‘fit in’ in high school.”

“No kidding,” he said with a chuckle.

We sipped our coffees, chatted, and simply basked in the comfort of being together.

“Oh, guess what,” he said.

“What?” I questioned.

“Tomorrow’s Saturday and I only have to work till 5:00. You want to get together and do something? Go for dinner and then take in a movie or go to a club maybe?” he asked.

“Are you kidding?” I replied, “I’d love to.”

“You wanna meet up at Tucks at 5:00 then?” he asked.

“Yeah, for sure,” I responded, “I’ll be there.”

Once again, the time flew by and he had to run to get to work on time, but not before giving me a rather passionate kiss. Again, he stopped, this time at the edge of the quad, blew me a kiss, and waved. I was on cloud nine on my way home. I had a date…I mean, I actually had a date for tomorrow night. I won’t even repeat what Marcus had to say when I walked in our room. Let’s just say it was a comment unfit for family viewing.

I did actually manage to sleep that night though it took me more than an hour to get to sleep. Unfortunately, I woke up earlier than I wanted to, which just made the day seem that much longer. I even thought of taking an afternoon nap to make the time go faster. However, I was afraid I’d sleep too long and be late. Spending an hour and a half showering, shaving, cleaning and clipping my fingernails and toenails, combing my hair five different ways, checking for nose hairs, checking for blackheads, deciding which cologne I liked best, cleaning my shoes, picking out the perfect clothes, ironing them, and then choosing something different, did help to pass the afternoon. Eventually my clock finally read 4:30. A quick double check in the mirror and I was on my way. But not before Markus managed to give me a hard time and laugh at me. He did give me a half hug though and did tell me to have fun. By 4:50, I was walking into Tucks.

As I walked in the door, I heard a voice call out, “You must be Donovan.”

I glanced over and someone I assumed was Jared’s boss was standing there with a big grin on his face, “Jared will be out in a minute,” he said, “He’s just bringing up some of cases of Coke and Sprite from the cooler downstairs.”

“Okay, thanks,” I responded.

“I’m Joe Penteleski,” he added as he reached out to shake my hand.

“Hi, I’m Donovan Moore,” I replied.

“I know who you are,” he said laughing, “You’re all Jared talks about.”

“I am?” I asked as a smile took over my face.

“My little angel, he calls you,” he said grinning.

“Donovan!” a familiar voice called out.

I turned and Jared was standing there with five cases of pop piled up to his chin and a big grin on his face.

“Jared, hi” I responded.

“Give me a second and I’ll be right there,” he said as he turned and walked over to the cooler behind the counter.

“I’ll finish that,” Joe announced, “You go get ready for your big date with your little angel.”

“Thanks Joe,” Jared replied as he set the cases down, came over and gave me a huge hug.

“You boys have fun, you hear?” Joe responded.

“Yes, sir,” Jared replied as he took my hand and led me through the kitchen to the back stairs. A minute later, we were standing in his apartment exchanging a most wonderful kiss.

“You look absolutely amazing,” he said with a grin, “And you smell real good too. Give me a minute and I’ll see if I can make myself presentable enough to be seen with you.”

“You look perfect just the way you are,” I replied.

“Oh yeah right,” he said laughing, “Black polyester pants, a green shirt with ketchup on it, and black loafers with a glob of gravy on them…perfect.”

“Okay, maybe the polyester needs to go,” I said laughing.

“Yes it does, now don’t go away,” he said as he gave me another quick kiss and disappeared into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he really did look perfect and he smelled good too. After a rather long passionate kiss, we were on our way to The Banana Leaf on Davie, a Malaysian restaurant. The food is out of this world, or so Jared told me. We each ordered a drink to start and believe it or not, I wasn’t hassled. The waitress looked at my ID, looked at me for a second and left to get our drinks. After pondering the menu for a few minutes, we both ordered the curry boneless chicken. Jared ordered the pineapple seafood rice, and vegetable spring rolls to share. I had never eaten Malaysian food before and it was amazing. A little spicy, but amazing. We took our time and ate slowly, enjoying the food and enjoying each other’s company. It was quiet and peaceful in the restaurant and it gave us time to get to know each other better, our likes and dislikes in reading, music, movies, our hobbies, pastimes, and even our hopes and dreams for the future. All in all, it was a wonderful time together.

As we were eating, we had decided a night out dancing was exactly what we both needed. Since it was still early, after we left the restaurant, we decided to walk along the beach. We took our shoes and socks off and walked along the edge of the water. Walking hand-in-hand with Jared, quietly talking, the sound of the waves lapping at out feet…it was perfect. We found a huge piece of driftwood and sat down. Jared put his arm around me and pulled me close. I just rested my head against his shoulder enjoying the warmth of being held. He rested his head on top of mine and we just sat gazing out across the bay. Neither of us spoke for several minutes. We didn’t have to.

We spent more that two hours enjoying the beach before we decided we should grab a coffee and something sweet before heading over to Celebrities. We decided on Starbucks just up the street from the club. After putting our socks and shoes back on we leisurely made our way back to Davie and up to Starbucks. We each ordered a Cafeé Mocha Grande and a double chocolate brownie. By the time we were done, it was close to 10:30 so we decided to make our way over to Celebrities. Thankfully it was the same guy on the door as the last time I was there. I pulled out my ID. He glanced at it and waved me in. It’s a good thing we had talked about almost anything and everything before we got to the club because, once inside, there wasn’t going to be much talking over the music. We found a table and waited for the crowd to arrive. By 11:00 the place was beginning to fill up and the dance floor was coming to life.

I can’t put into words how much fun we had. The music was fantastic. The crowd was amazing and we danced till we almost dropped. It was 2:00 before we finally decided we should call it a night. Unfortunately, Jared had to be at work by 11:00 the next morning for the Sunday brunch crowd. It was almost 2:30 when we reached Tucks. I was about to kiss Jared good night when he pulled me into a hug and suggested I spend the night. He promised that he had no ulterior motives. He said he felt we were not at the stage in our relationship to go beyond a hug or a kiss. He was just concerned that I shouldn’t be walking home alone this late at night. I had to admit that he wasn’t the only one concerned. At 4’9½ ” I would be an easy target for almost anyone. Walking me home and then walking back to Tucks would have made it a 3:30 or 4:00 o’clock night for him. Not good when you have to work the next day. Not only that, but at 5’4” he wasn’t much better off walking alone than I would have been. We quietly made our way up to his apartment. He closed the door, locked it, walked over to me and gave me a huge hug and kiss.

“I’m so glad you decided to stay,” he said quietly, “I don’t think I would have been able to sleep a wink worrying about you.”

“Thanks for caring enough to worry,” I replied with a grin.

“You have to know that, besides my mom, you are the most important person in the world to me,” he responded.

“I feel exactly the same about you,” I said, “Now it’s bedtime. You have to work in the morning.”

“Yes Mom,” he said, as he leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.

I don’t think it was five minutes later that we were both sound asleep. When his alarm went off at 8:00 the next morning neither one of us was ready to move. I was simply enjoying being wrapped up in his arms and I think he was enjoying the same thing. We lay there for at least ten minutes before he finally moved. As he did, he leaned in and kissed me, then jumped out of the bed, and headed for the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, he reappeared.

“Morning,” he said with a grin.

“Morning,” I replied before adding, “I gotta pee so bad,” and running past him to the bathroom.

When I came back, he was still standing there in his boxers. I was now standing in front of him in my boxer briefs.

“Oh my God,” he said, “You are even more beautiful than I imagined.”

“You imagined me in my underwear?” I asked with a chuckle.

He just grinned and said, “I imagined you in less that that.”

“Well since we’re exchanging complements and fantasies, you are just as beautiful as I imagined because I imagined you as perfect,” I said, “And you are. And, before you ask, yes I imagined you sans briefs too.”

“Okay before we go somewhere we shouldn’t, I think we should get dressed,” he said.

“Oh, yes please. You’re going to wear that sexy black polyester again aren’t you?” I asked laughing.

“Shut up,” he replied with a grin.

Once we were dressed, it was 8:45 and Jared had to be downstairs in five minutes. He pulled me into one of his wonderful big hugs and gave me the most amazing kiss yet.

“You coming down for breakfast?” he asked.

“Of course,” I replied.

As soon as we were downstairs, Jared unlocked the front doors and within a minute, five people were sitting waiting for their morning coffee. It was kind of funny because he didn’t even ask them what they wanted. He just said, “The usual?” as he poured their coffees and by the time he reached the kitchen, the cook already had everything half ready. Within a half hour, there were twelve people sipping their coffees and having ‘the usual’.

I decided on coffee and an omelette. Jared decided to have the same and as soon as everyone was served, he came over and sat with me to have his breakfast. Every few minutes he would make sure everyone had their coffees topped up and then he would return to eat a bit more of his breakfast. By noon, the place was filling up with the lunch crowd. I decided I should probably go and leave him to get his work done. Joe came in about 10:15 and told him to take a break. We slipped into the back and repeated the morning’s hug and kiss. I promised I would be back later when his shift ended, gave him another quick kiss and I was off.

When I walked into the dorm room, I was met with, “Just where the hell have you been young man? I’ve been worried sick all night,” from who else but Marcus. Fortunately he couldn’t keep a straight face for more than about fifteen seconds and he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I take it you had a good night?” he questioned.

“Totally,” I replied returning his grin.

“Do we need to have ‘the talk’?” he asked laughing.

“No we don’t,” I replied, “But thanks for offering. Besides, I have an assignment due tomorrow, so I don’t have time.”

“Okay, but if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask,” he said, trying to look serious.

“So, you’ve been reading up on gay relationships, have you?” I asked.

“They’re not so different from straight relationships,” he replied, “Just a few minor variations.”

“Okay, I have to go to the library now,” I said smiling, “But if I do need advice, I’ll come to you.”

Three hours later, I was making my way back to the dorm, assignment in hand. Shakespearian Drama was definitely not my favourite course. Doing his plays was one thing, analysing them was quite different. Another half hour though, and I would be meeting Jared at Tucks. When I got there, besides a big hug, I noticed a rather large basket sitting on the counter. It seems we were going to the beach for a picnic. Of course, I was in no way opposed to that idea, me, Jared, the beach, and enough food for eight, what could be better than that?

When we arrived at the beach, we walked what seemed like miles until we came to a large cluster of trees extending out into the beach area. Towards the middle of the cluster, there was a small alcove just big enough for two people and a picnic basket. It also made us invisible to anyone on the beach who was not directly in front of us. We had our very own private part of the universe, obviously made just for us. Jared set the picnic basket down in the opening and then he gave me a very mischievous grin as he opened the bag he had tied to the handle of the picnic basket, and produced two very small speedo swim suits. I’m not referring to size small either. I’m referring to the 20 cents worth of material they were made out of. Of course I don’t think his grin was just about the speedos. I’m pretty sure the fact we would have to change in front of each other, as in get naked, may have crossed his mind as well.

“You can’t be serious,” I said, holding up my speedos and grinning.

“What? They stretch,” he replied with yet a bigger grin.

“I’m going to regret this aren’t I?” I questioned.

“I hope not,” he replied, “Because I’m not going to.”

“Why do I even like you?” I asked.

“Same reason I like you,” he responded waving his speedos, “Good packages come in small things.”

 “Oh God spare me,” I tried to say as I burst out laughing.

“I’ll prove it,” he said, trying to be serious, but it wasn’t working.

Then, looking directly at me, his grin reappearing to its fullest, he began unbuttoning his shirt. In a matter of moments, it truly dawned on me just how much I loved the, now shirtless, man in front of me. Unfortunately there are certain things we have no control over, and mine was starting to misbehave. Since I was wearing a tee, I was shirtless two seconds later. Then we were shoeless, pantless, and sockless staring at each other’s briefs. Together we slowly lowered those too, and for the first time, we were seeing each other as we had been created. Okay, we were a little older and a little bigger, but whatever. After several seconds we picked up our speedos and tried to put them on. Now I shouldn’t need to explain what speedos cover and don’t cover. They definitely don’t cover misbehaving body parts. It took about fifteen seconds before both of us were laughing our asses off as we watched each other trying to cover up. Finally, we both gave up and made a mad dash for the water. As you know, cold water takes care of a lot of things that misbehave.

After a good half hour or more in the water, swimming, dunking, wrestling, with a kiss or two thrown in for good measure, we made our way back to our spot. Jared pulled out two huge towels and spread them out side-by-side…keeps the sand out of your butt-crack just so you know…and we sat down with the picnic basket right in front of us. He didn’t miss anything, we had chicken, green salad, potato salad, ham, buns, dressing, mustard, hot sauce, yogurt, pudding, coffee, juice, cookies, and chocolate. No ketchup, as we both agree that you only put ketchup on food you don’t like, to cover up the taste…and yes, that would include cake and cookies. We sat digging things out of the basket, eating and chatting for over an hour. I don’t remember half of what we talked about and I still don’t know how we ate as much as we did. Growing boys we weren’t.

Cause Mom said so, we had to wait for at least an hour before going back into the water. We laid back on the towels simply turned our heads and grinned at each other. He took my hand in his and I cuddled into him as he wrapped his arms around me. Misbehaving body parts once again took over. Since I was spooned into him, I could feel his but he couldn’t feel mine. Well he could if he wanted to. At that moment, I knew if there was a heaven, this was how it would be. I have never felt so content, so complete, so at peace with myself and the world as I did then. I wiggled my bum a little before turning over. Our lips met and that was it. As Jared made love to me that afternoon, we were one, and I realized without any doubt, we would remain one for eternity.