Chance

read it and find out.

            “Settle down everyone and find a seat,” says Professor Sinick, walking into class at Arizona State University. He begins to lay out his plans for the last semester of the year when he is interrupted by a knock on the door.

            Up until now, Alex had been staring at the door, thinking about his major crush on Anthony, whom he had dubbed the “Mystery Hunk from Starbucks”. For the past week, he could do nothing but berate himself for not asking the guy’s name, and even now sitting in biology class the hunk was still on his mind.

            Alex is so engrossed in his thoughts of Anthony that he thinks he is seeing things when Anthony walks in; his mind is pulled back to reality when he hears someone whisper “Who is that?” Standing in front of the room talking with the professor was the hunk from Starbucks!

            Glancing around the room, Anthony looks for both a friendly face and a place to sit. Spotting Alex, in the back of the room he smiles and heads in his direction. As he walks towards Alex, Anthony is aware of everyone watching him. He ignores all of the girls who silently invite him to sit with them as he continues his now public walk to Alex.

            Taking a seat in the empty chair next to Alex, Anthony pulls out a pen and a notebook, planning to write Alex a note. When he finishes he slides his note over to Alex.

            Anthony: Hey I’m glad to see a somewhat familiar face. I’m Anthony Day.
            Alexander: I’m glad to see you again. My name is Alex Shade
            Anthony: So I was wondering...
            Alexander: Wondering what?
            Anthony: Wondering if after class you’d want to grab a coffee at Starbucks.
            Alexander: Yeah that would be great
            Anthony: Awesome! It’s a date
            Alexander: Wait...Did you just ask me out?
            Anthony: Yeah...Is that a bad thing?
            Alexander: No, no…It’s a good thing...a very good thing.
            Anthony: Well good I’m glad
He smiles at Alex, who blushes and smiles back. The lecture ends at that moment and the professor assigns that week’s homework. Gathering their stuff Alex and Anthony head to Starbucks.

            After ordering their coffees they find a nice, quiet, somewhat secluded place to sit. Sipping their drinks they sit in silence until Anthony asks Alex, “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

            Shocked and a little surprised Alex answers with complete honesty “Yes, I do. Why”

            Relieved, Anthony replies, “I was just wondering.”

            “Okay. So why did you ask me out on this date” asks Alex

            “Well, I wanted to get to know you. I did not get the chance when we uh bumped into each other about a week ago.”

            “I honestly thought I was dreaming when I looked up and saw you talking to the professor. I’d been berating myself for not asking your name.”

            “Really? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you sitting in the back”

            “Yeah. So tell me about yourself.”

            “Well, my favorite color is black, I love cold coffee, and I have a Siamese kitten named Simone.

            “Sweet, I love kittens.”

            “When I was little my parents called me Tony, well they still do. My middle name is Richard, and I’m an only child. Enough about me; tell me about you.

            “Okay. I don’t know where to start… Um my middle name used to be Alexander and my first name was Michael. Michael is my dad’s name, and I never liked him, so after my parents got divorced I had my name changed to Alexander Michael Shade. I swear my dad is homophobic, but my mom could care less. She once told me that sexual orientation shouldn't make you not like a person.”

“Sounds like you’re really close to your mom.”
“Yeah, I am. It was just her and me after dad left.”

"Have you talked to your dad since the divorce?"

"Well I wouldn't consider arguing over the phone 'talking'"

"Awe man that must suck," says Anthony

            "Not really, I'd just assume not speak to him at all," replies Alex shrugging. After several moments of silence Alex gets up to leave, "Well I'd better be going, I have tons of things to do before I head home."

            "I totally understand. I've got to go home and feed Simone," agrees Anthony getting up and following Alex to the coffee shop entrance."So I'll see you here before class tomorrow?"

            "You bet," response Alex stepping outside. He turns to say good bye to Anthony but before he can Anthony kisses him.

            "Bye," says Anthony walking away, leaving a stunned Alex in his wake.

            The next afternoon having overslept Alex walks into class with two seconds to spare. Spotting Anthony in the back Alex quickly makes his way to the empty seat next to him, sliding into it just as the professor starts his lecture. "Hey sorry I missed meeting you at Starbucks, I over slept and was running late."

            "It's all good; I was hoping I hadn’t freaked you out yesterday when I kissed you."

            "What? No you just stunned me, I wasn't expecting it."

            The next hour ticks by slowly as both Alex and Anthony take notes on Mitosis. Finally the professor dismisses them and everyone gets up to leave. `          Walking out of class with Anthony’s arm around him, Alex is stopped by Brooke, a friend from English 101.

            "Hey Alex...need to ask you a question real quick," she says

            "Sure Brooke what’s up?" replies Alex stopping and sliding his arm around Anthony’s waist.

"Um it's kind of private..." replies Brooke casting a glance at Anthony.

            "Oh, um hang on," Alex replies, turning to Anthony he asks “Meet you at Starbucks?"

            "Sure thing," smiles Anthony giving Alex a kiss before walking away.

            With a smile still on his face from Anthony's kiss Alex turns back to Brooke, "Okay so what did you need?"

            "Well first you got to tell me who the Emo-Goth-freak is and why he kissed you." demands Brooke.

            "Geez Brooke chill, his name is Anthony, and he’s not a freak.”

            "Uh huh, and you let kiss you him why?"

            "Uh because I really like him...why does it matter?"

            "It matters because from what I've heard around campus he's your new boy-toy, and if Chance finds out he'll be crushed, not to mention pissed." Brooke says.

            "Chance can just deal with it. We broke up a week ago, but it was over long before that. Now is that all?" asks Alex starting to get annoyed at the mention of his ex.

            "Yeah sure that was all, other than the fact that Chance has been saying you're still together."

            "Well Chance is delusional." response Alex, turning to leave.

            "I'm just warning you, you might want to remind Chance of the fact you two are no longer together before he finds out about Anthony" Brooke says before Alex walks away.

            Finally reaching Starbucks Alex finds Anthony sitting at the same table as yesterday. Sliding into the chair a crossed from him Alex apologizes for the delay, "Sorry about that, she heard I was dating someone and was just checking on me."

            "It's fine, I figured she was a friend of yours and had to tell you something important." replies Anthony taking Alex's hand from where is sat on the other side of the table. Now staring into each-other's eyes neither notice the guy who just walked into the coffee shop.
            Having heard stories about a new guy hitting on Alex, Chance is fuming. He still believes that Alex is his, even though Alex had broken up with him a week ago.
            Chance spots Alex with Anthony and heads toward them with fire in his eyes.        “Who do you think you are hitting on my man?!” bellows Chance, grabbing Anthony by the front of his Black Veil Brides t-shirt and hauling hit to his feet.
            “Chance!” Alex exclaims jumping to his feet.
            “Stay out of this,” says Chance, not even bothering to look at Alex.
Grabbing Chance’s shoulder he yells, “No! I will not let you terrorize my date!”
“You will stay out of this. You’re mine,” declares Chance.
Anthony looks at Alex with both a confused and hurt expression on his face.          Glancing at him Alex registers the hurt in Anthony’s eyes. He realizes that Anthony is beginning to think Chance is his boyfriend.
            “No Chance. I’m not yours. We’re over,” says Alex correcting Chance.
Letting go of Anthony, Chance turns to Alex. “How can you say that? After all we’ve been through.”
            “Let me ask you this; after all we’ve been through...How could you cheat on me…not just once…but multiple times?” Alex asks. He feels no love for the man standing in front of him. The love had been tarnished the day he found out about the other men, and slowly faded the more he learned. But that was the past and Alex hoped Anthony was the future. “Please leave Chance, it’s over, we are over.”

Leaving Starbucks Chance is both heart-broken and angry. He still loved Alex.  Sadly Chance remembers the many times when he was drunk or hung-over; Alex would sit on the couch and cradle Chance’s head in his lap. He was angry that Alex didn’t seem to care about how much he was hurting; didn’t care that Chance was still madly in-love with him. Chance was both hurt and angry that Alex would throw what they had away for some Emo-Goth freak.
            After Chance leaves Starbucks Alex turns to Anthony and apologizes, “I’m sorry about that. Chance is a brute that’s another reason I broke up with him. Forgive me also because I have to leave.”
            “Will I see you again?”Anthony asks. Without answering, Alex turns and walks away.

            Watching Alex walk out of Starbucks, Anthony thinks to himself, I should go after him. Anthony hesitates and by the time he decides o go after him, Alex is gone.

            With his back to Anthony, Alex allows the tears to flow causing his eyeliner to run down his face. Knowing he could not face Anthony every day or biology, Alex requests a schedule change, his request is granted.

            Days go by and Alex prays that his feelings for Anthony will fade. Yet with every passing day Alex’s feelings for Anthony grow. They grow to the point where he would not only think about him during the day but would dream of him at night.
For a week straight Anthony would arrive to class early and stay late, trying to catch sigh of Alex. Until one day Professor Sinick says to him, “If you are looking for Alexander, he changed classes.” With a broken heart Anthony thanks him and leaves. He starts to think about moving back home to Nevada.
            One late afternoon, a week after the end of the semester, Alex spots Anthony sitting by the window in Starbucks. Deciding he had ignored his feelings long enough, Alex makes a decision.

Author's Note

please ignore the lack of indentation

Reviews

[Mioki]

Pretty good story, but it seemms like this chapter was compressed together. With all of the climatic scenes in here, you probably could have written a good three or four chapters more if you'd expanded on things.

Don't get me wrong, your story's very good and I'm liking the concept. Just try to slow things down a little, and give the reader time to digest the drama~