Brian failed to show at the diner during my shift that Saturday, which really didn't surprise me. Avoidance was one of his main defense mechanisms, along with profanity and sarcasm. Michael and Ben, however, did come in around noon for lunch. I stayed as far away from them as I could, but I did catch Michael giving me the stink eye a few times from across the dining room.

I spent Saturday evening doing homework. Daphne had called around seven to see if I wanted to take another shot at Babylon, but I declined. I figured that the best course of action, at least for the time being, was to give Brian some space while he still seemed to have positive feelings towards me. No need to force myself down his throat (literally and figuratively) if it wasn't necessary.

We had a snowstorm that night resulting in nearly a foot of snow on the ground on Sunday morning. I was supposed to work at the diner again that day, but my mother refused to drive me or let me borrow her car with the weather being that poor. Debbie answered the phone at the diner and was very understanding when I told her I would not be in, saying that she was debating even keeping the place open that day. Although it wasn't due until Friday, I finished my Boy Wonder story. I was very pleased with it and hoped that Brian would be, too.

School was canceled that Monday because of the dangerous road conditions. I was all caught up with my homework, so I trekked through the snow over to Daphne's house where we had a Christmas movie marathon complete with A Christmas Story, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, The Santa Clause, and finally The Nightmare Before Christmasbefore calling it quits.

School was once again canceled the next day. I stayed in my room all day, going nearly out of my mind with boredom until I decided to read Brian's Step out of the Ordinary once again. Emmett had offered to let me borrow his copies of Brian's other three books, but I kept forgetting to get them from him. My mother was in charge of my bank account and always questioned me over my purchases, so I could not buy the other books online without her wanting to know what I had bought.

Yet another reason why I could hardly wait for my eighteenth birthday that Saturday...

Being the nerd that I was, I was happy when we were able to return to school the next day. That also meant I was able to see Brian for the first time since Babylon five days prior. I couldn't believe how much I had missed him.

It took all I could not to jump into his arms and cry all over his perfectly pressed dress shirt when I saw him standing out in the hallway that morning prior to his Creative Writing class.

"Good morning, Mr. Taylor," Brian said to me, a small smile on his beautiful face.

"Good morning, Mr. Kinney," I replied before quickly dodging past him to go into his classroom so as not to make a spectacle of myself. Before going to my desk, I placed my completed story square in the middle of his desk.

Daphne was already there and saw me turn in my story early.

"You fucking showoff," she grumbled to me.

After a discussion about theoretical linguistics during which Brian actually asked me a question about using syntax to improve your writing, he gave us the last fifteen minutes of the class period to work on our stories and let others proof read them if we wished. I noticed Brian pick up my story from his desk and I pretended not to watch him as he read it to himself. I was glad that he refrained from picking up his red pen to grade it before giving it a once over.

There were several times throughout his reading that Brian smiled at something he had found amusing. Twice he glanced up at me, causing me to quickly look away. He eventually straightened the pages once he was finished and sat them down, and then looked back up at me again. That time, I held his eyes and waited for his silent appraisal of my work. After several seconds of staring at his stony expression, he broke into a wide smile which I happily returned.

I was so relieved that he liked it I nearly pissed my pants.

I went over to Brian once class was over and everyone else had left. He was making a show of wiping off the chalk board and didn't look at me.

"So you liked it?" I asked.

He continued to meticulously clean the board as if it had held government secrets. "Yes... it was very cute."

I drew back in mild revulsion at his word choice. "Cute?"

"Yes, very cute," he repeated.

Before I could press him further, Lindsay appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, hello Justin," she said in surprise.

"Justin and I were discussing an assignment," Brian said to her, as if he owed her an explanation as to why I was still there after the bell had rung.

Lindsay glanced between me and Brian. "Okay... Brian, are you ready to head to the dining hall?"

"I'll meet you there in a few," he said.

She gave us each another look before turning to leave.

"Shut the door behind you, please," Brian told her.

Lindsay opened her mouth to say something to him, but thought otherwise and instead closed the door as he had requested.

I could swear that the temperature of the room raised a few degrees.

Brian nearly knocked me off my feet as he suddenly grabbed me behind my neck and hungrily kissed me. Being his usual dominant self, he shoved me into the chalkboard, my backpack cushioning the impact.

He broke the kiss several seconds later and growled, "Christ, look what you fucking do to me."

I wanted to make a boastful comeback about how he couldn't resist me, how much he wanted me, blah, blah, blah, but he cut me off with his lips before I could get a word in.

We stood there making out and grinding our crotches together for at least a solid minute as if we were back on the dance floor at Babylon before he abruptly realized where we actually were.

Brian took a step back, smacked the chalk board with both hands on each side of my head, and stalked out of the room without a backwards glance.

Holy shit, Batman!

I just about floated to the cafeteria and blatantly stared at Brian while I enjoyed some tuna casserole. His eyes met mine a few times, but he tried in vain to focus on his monitoring duty and whatever Lindsay was babbling about beside him. He was probably thinking about the next time he would be able to steal a moment with me or, most likely, when he'd get a chance to jerk off to relieve his blue balls. I was thinking about the latter option myself.

Later in Brian's English Lit class as we were finishing up our reading of Hamlet, he once again tried to deny my presence by ignoring me. He didn't call on me to read or answer any questions.

Daphne noticed how Brian had been avoiding me throughout the day and offered suggestions for how to get his attention as we rode home from school.

"Or maybe you can pretend like there's someone else you're interested in and he'll get really jealous," she offered.

"Like who?" I asked dryly, not wanting to even entertain the idea of wanting someone other than Brian, even if it was a ruse.

Daphne shrugged. "I don't know... George Glass?"

I laughed, knowing that she was referring to Jan's fake boyfriend in The Brady Bunch. "You want me to invent a guy? No, I think I'm just going to bide my time and let him grow to miss me. Eventually, he won't be able to turn me away anymore."

I refrained from telling Daphne about our classroom make out, which was proof that Brian not getting to see me for a few days had increased his need to ravish me.

More of the same happened the next day in school. Brian refused to acknowledge my presence in both of his classes and during lunch, and I didn't bother him. Since it was a Thursday, he had no choice but to see me that afternoon in Book Club.

The other club members must have been thrilled that Brian did not ask me anything about The Lord of the Flies, allowing the rest of them to engage in a discussion with our teacher. I admit that Brian and I often dominated our club meetings and didn't give the other members too many chances to participate in our conversations about the book we were reading at the time.

Once the hour was over and Brian adjourned our meeting, I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the door with the rest of the group.

"Justin," Brian called out. "Wait a minute."

I turned around and slowly walked over to him. Once we were alone I asked, "What, I'm not ‘Mr. Taylor' today?"

He gave me a stiff grin. "Slip of the tongue, I guess. Anyway, how are you getting home?"

"Daphne's coming back to pick me up."

Brian grabbed his suit jacket from the back of his desk chair. "Does she have a cell phone?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked, feigning ignorance of what I knew he was about to offer.

He pulled his own phone out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "Let her know you have alternate transportation."

I thought about it for a moment before holding his phone back out to him. "No thanks... I have a lot of homework to do," I lied. "Besides, she's probably already out in the parking lot waiting for me."

Brian's jaw dropped on its own volition. "Wha... are you serious?"

There was nothing I wanted more than to go with him. Hell, I would have gone anywhere with him as long as I got at least one kiss from him out of it, but I decided to see how far playing hard to get would take me.

"Sorry," I said, shrugging as if the decision was out of my hands.

Brian took his phone back. "Fine... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Taylor."

I gave him a smile before walking towards the door. Before I left, I glanced back at Brian and saw that he was watching me with his eyes glazed over, or as I now thought of it as his "horny lion glare."

Oh, Mr. Kinney... I've got your ass now.