Milton's Ultimate Hero Read online

  Milton’s Ultimate Hero

  By Drew Hunt

  Published by Queerteen Press

  Visit queerteen-press.com for more information.

  Copyright 2012 Drew Hunt

  ISBN 9781611523812

  Cover Photo Credit: Silent47 | Dreamstime.com

  Used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

  Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

  All Rights Reserved

  WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America. Queerteen Press is an imprint of JMS Books LLC.

  * * * *

  Milton’s Ultimate Hero

  By Drew Hunt

  “Hey, Milton, wait up!” JJ Brockwell called out.

  Milton paused, the sea of milling students in the main hallway of Empire Preparatory flowing around him.

  Given the morning he’d just had, Milton wasn’t interested in talking to anyone, even his hero, so he began walking again. He might just have time to finish the last few questions of his French homework if the homeroom was quiet enough. Okay, the work wasn’t due to be handed in until the end of the week, but he might as well do it sooner rather than later; it wasn’t as if he had a large circle of friends to distract him. Heck, he hardly had any friends at all.

  “Milton!” JJ called out again, sounding closer.

  Milton stopped walking, but didn’t turn around. If JJ wanted to speak with him, he could come to him. At that moment Milton didn’t care much about meeting anyone halfway.

  “You gone deaf or something?” JJ asked when he’d caught up.

  “I can hear you just fine,” Milton said quietly, talking to JJ’s shoes, which were polished to a high gloss, as always.

  “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

  Milton didn’t answer.

  “Did something happen at the comic book convention thing yesterday?”

  Milton had gone to Javits Center the previous day with Steve, a friend of JJ’s. The guy was into Superman and Batman comics, whereas Milton preferred X-Men. But despite that difference, they’d had a great time visiting the booths and talking with the vendors as well as the other attendees.

  “The Comic-Con was good, thanks.” Milton shrugged and started walking again.

  “What the f…” JJ put a hand on Milton’s shoulder and turned him around. “Talk to me.”

  “It’s nothing,” Milton said, still addressing JJ’s shoes. “I’m nothing.”

  “Huh?”

  Milton wished he hadn’t added that last, because he knew his friend wouldn’t let something like that pass without comment.

  “You ain’t nothing.” JJ rested large, strong hands on Milton’s narrow and sloping shoulders, giving him a slight shake. “What’s got you on such a downer? I thought you’d be pumped, what with spending the day with Steve all of yesterday and…everything.”

  JJ and his girlfriend, Maggie, had tried to play matchmaker, almost pushing Steve onto Milton. In a way Milton had felt sorry for Steve, but the guy had been pretty sweet about it all, once he’d realized Milton wasn’t about to jump his bones and suck his face. Although, Milton had to admit, Steve had a really nice face, one he’d love to taste.

  It hadn’t hurt that Steve had put on the Clark Kent costume he’d worn at Halloween—suit pants, white unbuttoned shirt over a Superman tee, and a sexy-as-shit curl over his forehead. Yeah, Milton had so wanted to climb the guy’s broad chest and lay a big wet kiss on those wonderfully strong, firm-looking lips and…

  “Earth to Milton.”

  “Uh, yesterday was good.” It had been better than good.

  “So why are you moping around the halls looking like someone’s just kicked your puppy?” JJ’s infectious smile had the corners of Milton’s mouth turning up.

  “Like I said, it’s nothing.” Milton didn’t want to talk about it; he wished JJ would let it go.

  “Hi, guys,” Maggie said, coming up to the two of them and giving JJ a hug. Turning to Milton, she added, “Did you have a good time with Steve yesterday?”

  Milton rolled his eyes. “Yes!” he said, more loudly than he intended.

  A few of the kids nearby stopped their conversations and looked over at him. If there was one thing Milton hated, it was being the center of attention.

  “Sorry,” he said more quietly. “I had a great time with Steve…yesterday.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Maggie asked, looking concerned.

  Milton slouched in resignation. He knew that, with Maggie and JJ acting as a team, they’d extract the truth out of him eventually, so he might as well save them the trouble of getting out the thumbscrews.

  “This morning,” Milton sighed. “I was taking some books out of my locker, and a couple of assholes on the basketball team thought it’d be fun to stuff me into my locker.”

  “Who!” Despite saying it softly, JJ still managed to put so much menace into the single word that it caused Milton to shudder.

  “It’s okay. That wasn’t the—”

  “No, Milton, it isn’t okay,” JJ interrupted. “You shouldn’t have to put up with that shit. Hell, I thought they’d started to lay off you recently.”

  “They have,” Milton said in frustration. “That wasn’t what got me upset.”

  Maggie gave him a sympathetic smile. “Talk to us.”

  “Steve, he saw it happen, and…” Milton closed his eyes.

  “And?” JJ prompted.

  “He kept on walking.”

  “What?” JJ said loudly.

  Milton opened his eyes and took a quick glance around. Yep, they were the star attraction once again.

  Shuffling his feet, he said, “I guess it’s possible he might not have seen.” He knew that was a crock of shit—the two jocks hadn’t exactly been quiet in their taunts. “And even if he’d seen it, why should he have helped?” Milton shrugged. “I’m just a worthless geek, a fag,” he said, using two of the terms the jocks had thrown at him.

  “The fuck!” JJ said under his breath, clenching his fists. “Mags, you stay with Milton…walk him to his homeroom. I’ll go find Steve.”

  “No, don’t,” Milton protested.

  Was there anything more pathetic than having a girl as his bodyguard? Plus he didn’t want JJ and Steve to fall out, they were best friends, fellow baseball jocks and… But his protests went unheard. JJ turned on his heel and went pushing through the crowd of milling kids; Milton could almost see steam coming out of his ears. Milton loved JJ for being so protective, but hated that his friend wanted to fight his battles, believing he was too weak to fight them himself.

  And even if part of him was turned on by the whole white-knight thing, those feelings couldn’t go anywhere, since JJ was incurably straight. Steve, on the other hand…

  “It’s okay.” Maggie put a hand on Milton’s arm. “JJ will deal with it.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Milton imagined JJ marching up to Steve and busting his nose. “Oh, God.” Steve would never want anything more to do with him then.

  “Let
’s head to your homeroom,” Maggie said, patting Milton’s arm.

  “I’d rather find Steve and…”

  And what? Say everything was all right—it wasn’t. Say that he understood why Steve didn’t do anything? Truth was, he understood all too well why. Steve was a jock; he had a reputation to protect, and looking out for a geek wouldn’t exactly help keep that.

  JJ manages both, a small voice in his mind announced.

  But JJ is… Milton sighed.

  Milton shook his head in resignation and trudged off to his homeroom.

  What a morning!

  * * * *

  Steve had looked everywhere else, so he guessed Milton had to be in the library. God, what a fuckin’ coward you are, Morrison! he thought, mentally reliving yet again the incident in the hallway.

  Why the hell didn’t I say something? I might have been able to talk those meatheads down without making it look as though I knew Milton. God, the look on his face. Steve shook his head.

  “Milton?” he said, coming through the main library door and taking a look around. That’s when he saw the disapproving stare from the librarian. “Sorry, Ms. Philips,” Steve said more softly.

  Milton wasn’t in the library, so Steve turned around and went back through the door, where he bumped into JJ.

  “Have you seen Milton?” Steve asked, although from the thunderous look on his best friend’s face, Steve knew JJ had.

  “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t punch you in the mouth,” JJ said, flexing his impressive guns.

  Reaching for humor, always his first line of defense, Steve said, “Because you think I’ve got a cute mouth?”

  JJ’s expression didn’t change.

  “Shit, man, I wish I could have a do-over of this morning,” Steve sighed, visualizing yet again the disappointed expression on Milton’s face. “It isn’t easy.”

  “It isn’t easy for Milton, either.” At least JJ was sounding less pissed.

  “Look, man, I’m sorry, okay?” Steve threw up his hands, knowing he was in the wrong and JJ was just so goddamned lucky, and smart, and hot, and…

  “It isn’t me you need to be apologizing to, it’s—”

  “Milton, I know. Jeez, this is a lot harder than I thought it’d be.” And here he was, failing on the second day of being true to himself.

  They walked side by side down the hallway, although Steve could tell there was a distance between them, emotional more than physical, and he hated it. Part of him wanted to blame Milton, but the more rational side of his brain knew it was all his own fault.

  Standing at the door to his homeroom, JJ’s being two doors down, Steve turned to his friend. “Will you help me?”

  Other students were close by, so Steve had to talk in code. Yes, he hated himself for that. There was a lot he hated about himself recently.

  “You know I will; you’re my best friend.”

  Letting out a sigh, Steve asked, “Will you go out for lunch with me?” He couldn’t talk in this place, too many ears. “We could go to that Thai place you like. My treat.”

  “I should eat with Milton today. You should join us.”

  “What?” Steve looked around, but no one was paying him any attention. “I—”

  “Bye, Steve.” JJ walked away.

  Steve’s shoulders slumped; he trudged into his homeroom and took his usual seat. He rested his head on his folded arms and closed his eyes. God, what a morning.

  * * * *

  Milton was on his way to AP English with JJ, his minder/protector, walking next to him. English was the only class he shared with Steve. Milton knew he needed to talk to Steve, reassure him that, as far as Milton was concerned, they were still cool. He didn’t know if he dare use the term “friends” although Milton hoped they were.

  They’d had such a great time the day before. Milton had gotten to see the playful and fun-loving side of the big guy, and he liked it…a lot. Steve’s face grew even more handsome when he smiled, and the two of them had done a lot of smiling that day.

  “I can get to class on my own,” Milton said, trying not to let his frustration at JJ’s actions get to him.

  “I’m going this direction anyway.” JJ shrugged and treated Milton to one of his winning smiles.

  “Liar. You have AP Chemistry before lunch, you told me that the other week. And the chem lab is thataway.” Milton pointed in the opposite direction.

  JJ had the good grace to look sheepish. Then his expression rallied. “Ah, but I’m such a good student the teacher lets me off if I’m a few minutes late.”

  Milton shook his head and continued walking.

  A few moments later Milton said, “It’s just up ahead, I’m sure I can manage from here.”

  “Okay, sorry. I know I’m overdoing it; Maggie told me as much earlier.” JJ stopped walking. “See you at lunch?”

  Milton waved his agreement and carried on walking. It seemed the talk he’d had with Maggie about how he needed to stand up for himself had gotten through, and she’d passed this on to JJ, who, when Milton turned in at the door of the classroom, was still looking in his direction. JJ smirked, shook his head, and turned to walk away.

  Going into the classroom, Milton scanned the faces of the students and was surprised not to see Steve. They didn’t have assigned seating, so Milton chose a double desk near the front, hoping to catch Steve’s eye when he came in, or to grab a quick word with him after class. But Steve snuck into the classroom just before the warning bell and took a seat in the front row, not making eye contact with Milton.

  The lesson seemed to go on and on. Milton felt guilty for not paying full attention, because Mr. Grayson was great and brought the subject alive.

  “Mr. Morrison,” the teacher said at one point, “would you agree with the hypothesis that Jane Eyre was only able to capture Rochester because he’d been emasculated.”

  “Huh?” Steve, who had been slumped in his chair for most of the lesson, sat up.

  “A witty response, but not quite up to your usual standard,” Mr. Grayson smiled. “Anyone else care to discuss this?”

  A girl on Milton’s row raised her hand and gave an answer that Milton didn’t hear. He was too focused on Steve, who had rested his head on top of his folded arms.

  When the bell finally sounded, Milton made to get up and rush to Steve, but the baseball player had shot to his feet and was at the door before the bell had stopped ringing.

  “A pity you did not employ your quick reactions during the class, Mr. Morrison.”

  “Sorry, sir,” Steve said before exiting.

  Milton sighed. He knew he wouldn’t get a chance to speak with the guy during lunch. Steve always sat with his fellow jocks, an area of the lunchroom that was unofficially off limits to the likes of Milton.

  * * * *

  By Wednesday afternoon Steve felt about as low as he could ever remember. Why didn’t JJ understand? Steve couldn’t let anyone know he was gay. He might get kicked off the baseball team. His folks would find out and start asking awkward questions. He knew they weren’t homophobic, but they were snobs, and that was even worse. As it was, they’d already mapped his life out, and being gay, living with another man, just wouldn’t figure in their carefully plotted script for their only son. After high school he’d go to Harvard like his father, then on to somewhere else—the plans kept changing—for his MBA. He’d get a job with his dad’s bank, and somewhere along the way they’d find the “perfect girl” for him, one who came from a “good family.”

  “Got a minute?” Maggie asked before Steve had a chance to bolt from the computer class they shared.

  “Uh, I guess.” Steve shrugged.

  Since the incident on Monday, relations between JJ and himself were strained, and Steve had assumed Maggie would follow her boyfriend’s lead. He should have known Maggie would set her own course.

  “Want to grab a coffee or something at New Venus?”

  “What about JJ?”

  “He doesn’t like New Venus.�
�� She smirked. “Anyway, I told him I was washing my hair after school so he would have to do without me for once.”

  Steve smiled. Maggie sure had JJ wrapped around her little finger.

  * * * *

  “You’re unhappy,” Maggie said across the table from him.

  Steve sipped at his mocha au lait before answering. “That obvious, is it?”

  “To me. And JJ isn’t happy, either.”

  “It’s easy for him. His dads understand, and he has so much credibility with the other students he could walk down the main hallway at school in a prom gown, belting out show tunes at the top of his lungs, and still everyone would think he was cool.”

  Maggie laughed. “That wasn’t what I was meaning, but thanks for the interesting mental image. No, he’s unhappy because you’re unhappy, because his friendship with you isn’t…what it should be.”

  “He told you that?” Steve picked up his cup but put it down again without drinking from it.

  “Of course not, he’s a guy. But being a girl, I know.”

  Maggie sucked on her straw. She liked diet root beer, but was particular about the brand. Steve well remembered going from café to bodega to drug store in search of Diet Barq’s Root Beer. In the end JJ had had to order a case online. Steve had thought at the time that this was what true love must be like. He wished he had someone whom he could scour the markets of Manhattan for.

  “Milton just wants to be your friend. He doesn’t want you to march in pride parades wearing matching prom gowns and singing show tunes.”

  Steve smiled at Maggie reusing his analogy. “I know. I’m just a coward, and I hate myself because of it.”

  Maggie nodded, but stayed quiet.

  “I hate that I didn’t help him Monday morning. Those guys are grade A assholes and I should have stepped in and done something.”

  “But?”

  “But I was scared. You don’t know what it’s like. For years I’ve hidden who I am.” Steve took another quick look around, just to check no one he knew was within hearing range.

  “Helping Milton won’t label you as gay.”

  Steve sighed. “I know. But I think I’ve left it too late now to fix. Milton hates me, he—”