Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Travis hesitated outside the luxurious apartment door for the fifth time. Kyle had given him the address since the first day of class but he found it almost embarrassing to ask for a handout. Not that he wouldn’t pay him back but it would be a while before he could save up that kind of amount. Finally, he gave up and was about to turn back to the lonely elevator when the door opened “Travis?” Anton asked, he recognized the guy.
“Hey.” He smiled friendly.
“You looking for Kyle?” he asked, Travis nodded without answer “He’s still asleep.” Travis frowned as he glanced at his watch “Late sleeper.” Anton rolled his eyes “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” He reluctantly entered and was instantly at awed with the place “Wow, you guys sure know how to live.”
Anton too was in love with the place years ago when he moved in with Kyle but he had grown use to it “Yeah, Kyle prefers to live at the ‘top’.” He rolled his eyes sarcastically “So, I hear you two were old friends in grade school?”
Travis nodded “Yeah. He was my ‘Dai Lou’.” He laughed with a shaking head “We were so lame.”
“Join the club.” He grinned “Want some coffee?” he was heading to the kitchen walking backwards and bumped into a figure at the hallway “Dear Lord!” he gasped when he realized it was a disheveled Kyle looking extremely grumpy.
“You know I’m a light sleeper! Who in the world are you talking to?” he groaned grumpily and let out a long yawn.
Anton winced disgustedly and plugged his nose “Brush your teeth before you talk man! You’re friend’s looking for you.” He used his elbow to wave at Travis.
Kyle turned to his friend who waved weakly “I’ll be right out.” He nodded and returned to the bathroom.
Travis didn’t comprehend the entire meaning until Anton came back with two cups of coffee “This will take a while.” He sipped the dark coffee and turned on the television while Travis looked confused “It takes him about an hour to get ready but if he’s in a rush, maybe…just maybe half an hour.” He explained.
“I see…” Travis nodded. Just as Anton guessed, Kyle strolled out 35 minutes later cleaned and ready to go out. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a button collar top, he looked like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine.
“What can I do you for?” Kyle settled comfortably in the leather sofa next to Travis.
“This is a little embarrassing…” Travis began.
Anton suddenly got up with raised hands “Wait. I can’t listen to this.” With that he walked out of the room to the spacious kitchen.
Travis raised his brows strangely at Kyle, who explained, “Anton is running for Mayor and cannot be linked with any type of controversy, conspiracy or entertainment people. Which I think is LAME!!” he yelled loud enough for his friend to hear.
“Wow, he’s got some dream.” Travis was impressed.
“You can say that again.” He snickered “Do you need a loan?”
His eyes popped open “How did you know?”
“It’s a gift. My mother always told me I should be a fortune teller but I always found that job to be…not satisfying. I like attention… so naturally, I turned to modeling.” He grinned, “How much do you need?”
Travis hesitated, he hated to ask for money when he barely ran into him after almost 20 years later “Ten grand.”
“Done!” Kyle agreed without thinking twice or questioning it.
“Aren’t you afraid I might run with the money?” Travis asked in total shock.
“If you were a woman in high heels and slinky dress then I would think twice but you’re my old buddy. Hey, we use to swap fruit drinks for lunch but I think an old friend is hard to find. I think you’re one.” Kyle said with much confidence “I’ve always thought you were cool.”
He was pleasantly amused by Kyle’s quick to trust him, who was actually a stranger if it was from a third person’s point of view “You sure are different.” He laughed with a shaking head.
“Yeah, Anton says I should stop trusting people but he’s just uptight because he hasn’t got laid for years.” He whispered but it didn’t stop Anton from sneaking up behind him with his fingers around Kyle’s neck, playfully choking him “Sorry!! I accidentally spilled the beans!!”
Anton gave him the evil eye “Just because you’d sleep with anyone with a pair of legs and breasts doesn’t make you any better.”
“Don’t let them go to waste.” Kyle said seductively licking his lips.
“You are just plain sick!” Anton spat with a laugh. He turned to the quiet Travis “How about you? Are you tied down?”
“No!” Travis said almost defensively.
Kyle wrinkled his brows “Hey…it was just a question.”
“Sorry.” He quickly regret the outburst “It’s just…I don’t believe in relationships and I think the person that came up with marriage should be burned at the stake.” He shook his head “What a joke.”
“Dude, some girl screwed YOU over.” Kyle arched a brow up at his roommate “What happened?”
Travis’s eyes moved over to Anton who raised his right hand “I promise not to repeat this information to anyone outside of this room.”
Nodding, he began explaining about what happened years ago that continued to carry on until that very day. It practically ate him alive. Kyle was in utter amazement “Wow…and you still pay for her now?” Travis nodded “You are so the man.” He whispered.
Anton smiled “It’s guys like you that give us a good name.”
Travis shrugged carelessly “Personally, I never thought of it as a good thing. I just thought it was my responsibility.” Turning to Kyle, he gave him one last chance to back out of the loan “Now that you know why I need the money, you have every right to decline.”
“Are you kidding?!” Kyle asked, “Now I want to give you more.”
“Thank you very much. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.” Travis was grateful and glad that they could pick off where they left off as kids.
Kyle nodded firmly “Glad to help.” Suddenly, his face began cringing “You’re not going to cry or hug me are you?”
His question was not expected but caused Travis to laugh “No, Mr. Sensitive. Although I want to give you a kiss!” He almost pounced on him while Anton watched Kyle fight off Travis.
“You know if any girls saw you two, you would be doomed for life.” Anton’s words of wisdom caused Kyle to stand up in a heartbeat as he straightened his shirt.
“He’s right.” Kyle cleared his throat “Let’s go out tonight…I gotta find a girl.”
Travis waited for his friend to leave the room before turning to Anton “He’s really homophobic isn’t he?”
“The worse case in the history of men!” Anton laughed “You want to join us tonight?”
“Sure, let me check with Anesa and see if she wants to come.” Travis pulled out his cell phone and before he had a chance to dial, he heard running from the hallway appearing Kyle wide eyed as he lunged towards Travis and took the cell phone away.
“NO! No women and definitely no demons!” Kyle exploded.
“She’s just a girl, Kyle!” Anton said in surprise.
“No, she’s not. She’s the devil in disguise. Didn’t you watch ‘Bedazzled’? The devil was portrayed as a woman!” Kyle made a ridiculous argument but he continued to stand his ground “If you invite her to come…I’m not going to lend you the money.” He threatened.
Travis was taken aback “Really? You hate her that much?”
“Hate is such a strong word.” Kyle brushed it off with an easy laugh “It’s more like fear for my life!”
“Who would have thought loverboy would ever be so threatened by one petite girl like Anesa?” Anton rolled his eyes.
Kyle turned to his long time friend “She raped me remember?!” he retorted.
“She did?!” it was the first time Travis heard of such a thing.
“How does a girl rape a guy?” Anton crossed his arms as he questioned Kyle “Did she forced you to go up?”
“Oh God…not now…please.” Travis shook his head “It’s too early for a mental picture.” He gripped his head in pain “I’ve got a few errands to run but I’ll meet you guys later at Monet’s.”
“Okay, don’t bring her!” Kyle warned before the door closed behind him. He narrowed his eyes at Anton, who only cracked up with laughter “You sick bastard!”
“Aww, don’t get mad! I’ll give you some love tonight.” Anton teased as he chased him toward the hallway laughing at the same time.
***********
The guys met up at the bar and wasted no time doing shots “Why are we drinking so early again?” Travis grimaced at the second shot that refused to go down.
“Because when you’re buzzed, you have more guts to hit on women.” Anton said matter-of-factly “According to Dr. Kyle Liu’s analogy.”
“It’s true.” Kyle stood up for himself “And it works much better when she has a drink too. Keeps the conversation going. And everything she says appears to be amusing. Except when she starts talking about dead relatives…that’s not funny.” He said with a dazed expression as he recalled a conversation.
Travis got into the mode of things as he felt the heat rising to his face “Okay…how about that girl?” he pointed to a girl among a group.
“Too skinny.” Kyle said quickly without giving her a second look.
“How about her?” Travis saw another single girl by the dance floor.
“Too ugly.” Kyle winced.
He began to see a trend “How about her?” he pointed randomly.
“Which one?” Kyle asked in confusion.
“Does it matter?” Travis asked “You’re so picky, 90% of the women in here are too ‘something’ for you.” He hit it right on the nose as Anton laughed in agreement.
“He’s right you know.” Anton nudged Kyle “If the girl isn’t tall, well gifted in the back and front region, you won’t even approach her.”
“That’s not true!” Kyle said haughtily but deep down, he knew the guys were right. He only dated model like girls with a better figure. He scoped the place and landed his eyes on a girl sitting at the bar. Legs cross, a crimped blue skirt and white tank top “I’d date her and she’s not perfect.”
Anton gave the girl a long stare “Actually, she’s everything you would date. Beautiful, tall and lean…just the face.” She was facing her back to the guys and they could not see her.
“Ten bucks says I’ll get her number.” Kyle said with overly confidence.
“Only ten? What’s wrong with fifty?” Travis took on the bet with comfort, since he guessed who the girl was.
“What’s wrong with a hundred?” Kyle fought back the dare.
Travis laughed “Nothing, it’s perfect.” He nodded to the girl “Go on, take your best shot.”
Kyle finished his beer as he got up “Get ready to pay up.” He grinned smugly and slowly approached the girl from behind.
“He’ll get her number, you know.” Anton warned.
Travis was firm “We’ll see.”