Post by Teddy Patterson on Jan 1, 2010 19:52:26 GMT -5
The day had been an absolute bore at least as far as Jandro was concerned. Saint was out to some boring coffeehouse with Jonah and Lia went for a walk looking for some Frenchman she had met the day before. He was completely at loose ends with no one to admire him. It was driving him crazy. He decided that he would go downtown and do some fashion shopping. He hadn't had anything new since Christmas and he had some money his father had sent him so he was mad to spend it.
Dressed in tight cigarette style charcoal grey jeans with a light blue tee shirt that matched his eyes, Jandro was looking good. He also had on a straw fedora that he imagined made him look mysterious. He took the bus as he felt his bicycle would distract from his looks. He couldn't wait until he had his license. He felt better after receiving admiring attention on the bus and his walk was more confident as the strolled into Dior Homme thinking a classic vest would complete his look.
Teddy thought the day could have gone better but getting a new friend who was from Silver but was in theater was pretty okay. He never understood why Silver and Gould had ever been rivals. If they were to pull their sources together, they could have the cream of the crop. He didn't have anything else to do after his vocal training turned out to be non-existent for the day so he decided a little retail therapy would do him much good.
His second home, aptly named Dior Homme, was his destination. Going through the entrance, he was warmly greeted by one of the salespeople who recognised him as Doreen Patterson nee Michael's son. They shopped there quite often. He waved the salesperson off and went to where the vests were placed and found only one person there. Young, maybe his own age.
He had some semblance of style unlike everyone else he knew who preferred ratty t-shirts and scuffed jeans. The boy knew how to dress. And the fedora was adorable and added a nice touch to his look. Tugging at the thin scarf wrapped around his neck, Teddy looked for his vest and finally found a beautiful one. "Oh that is simply divine." Teddy ran his finger across the lapels, unaware that the other boy had set his eyes on the same thing as well.
Jandro grimaced, wishing he had grabbed the vest the moment he saw it rather than hesitating between it and another that wouldn't bring out his eyes as well. This was his favorite store otherwise he wouldn't have worried about simply grabbing it from the other boy. To be banned from Dior would be devastating though and he couldn't risk it.
Instead he decided he would stalk the other boy and hope he set down the vest so that he could make it his own. If he headed for the check out then he would have to be more direct. He stayed very close, looking through sweaters he would never buy because as much as he liked fashion, he wasn't willing to roast for it. He had thick blood from his Norwegian ancestors and suffered from the heat.
Taking it off the rack he decided to try it on right there. Setting his bag down by his feet, he slipped into the vest and almost immediately seemed to snuggle into it. It was a perfect fit. It was then that he realised someone was watching him. Turning around, his hands tugging at the hem of the vest, he looked to find the boy with the good fashion sense looking at him. "Can I help you with something?" He asked slightly abruptly.
Jandro bristled at the abrupt tone and seemed to grow slightly as he stiffened his spine. "Well actually you can give me that vest as I was looking at it before you were and you grabbed it just as I was about to. It would look better with my eyes anyway," he said with his usual confidence in his beauty. "I believe that that cocoa brown one over there with the light green pin stripes would go better with your eyes and hair. Black is too harsh for your coloring," he said being sincere while still trying to get the vest.
Teddy's mouth dropped at the sudden stream of words and little by little a smile etched on his face as he turned to examine the vest the boy had indicated. He looked down at the vest he had oh so coveted not a second ago and looked back at the brown one. He took off the vest he was wearing and hung it back on the rack and put on the other one and scrutinised himself in the mirror, a smile fully formed on his face.
"Well...don't you have an eye..." Teddy whirled around and took the previous vest and helped the boy into it, immediately seeing the contrast of the colours and it really suited him perfectly. "I am speechless." The boy was taller than him by a few inches so Teddy had to step back to fully admire the boy. He was very good looking.
Jandro gave Teddy a confident grin. "That looks great on you, you have wonderful eyes," he said, a bit surprised for the vest had indeed brought more focus on them. "I am Jandro Juarez by the way... and I know I don't look Hispanic. My mother is Norwegian and the hair is dye. My father only gave me the name as he often tells me. I tend to frustrate him a lot. I go to Silver I think, there is talk there won't be a return to our building. Do you go to school around here?" Jandro barely realized he was speaking so fast. This was the first time he had ever met someone he was so drawn to. They seemed to have similar interests and the other boy seemed to understand him which only Lia and Saint ever did.
Feeling his cheeks heat up, Teddy looked down with the pretense of checking his outfit. It really did look good with everything else. When he was sure his blush was gone, Teddy returned his gaze on the boy as he introduced himself. The way he talked a mile a minute was definitely something Teddy could relate to. Not a lot of people could understand when he spoke so he understood.
"Jandro...very nice name. I'm Teddy. Teddy Patterson. It's very nice to meet you. I frustrated my dad a lot too I reckon. I'm from Gould actually. Let's see, I introduced myself, we established a common ground by having tools for dads and I answered your question. I covered everything didn't I?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. Then he realised something. "Oh my gosh, my bag."
He jumped and ran back to get his bag and returned to Jandro. "Oh my gosh. If I lost this my mother would have a cow. It's bad enough we have to live in Van Nuys and I don't have a license to speak of. But if I lost this vintage Pierre Cardin...I wouldn't know what I would do." Teddy said, patting his cheeks to stop from hyperventilating.
Jandro admired the bag. "It's very chic," he said with a hint of envy. "Do you have to leave right away, there is an ice cream place around the corner than has to die for Italian Ice that has no fat and very little processed sugar. I am not sure how they do it. But I never feel guilty having some," he said with a twinkle in his eye. He didn't really worry too much. He had a very high metabolism and it was more of an issue to not turn into a skeleton like his older brother Saint.
Teddy was very proud of his bag and smiled. "I love it anyway." He giggled. The invitation for ice-cream seemed very date-ish and brought another flush to Teddy's cheeks. "I was actually thinking of going for coffee but ice-cream sounds nice," his voice softened considerably. "But I have to pay for this first. Are you going to get that?" He pointed to the vest Jandro had on.
"Definitely, it's the first time I have stalked someone for a piece of clothing, it would be a crime not to take it with me," Jandro said with a light laugh as he took it off and pulled a wallet out of his pocket and walked beside Teddy to the cash registers. "I will wear it out," he said to the girl that offered to ring him up. She removed the tags and handed it back to him before ringing it up. He put it on and then paid her. She seemed inclined to flirt, but Jandro barely noticed her. To him it was so obvious he was gay that he was oblivious to female attention.
"It is a stalk worthy vest. I don't blame you. Nice save by the way." Teddy grinned and went to the cashier and paid for his merchandise before waiting for his new friend to finish. The flirtatious cashier made Teddy scoff derisively. "Darling, can't you see he's with me?" Teddy brazenly slipped a hand through Jandro's crook and pulled him away when his transaction is done. "I'm sorry, Mr Patterson." She looked embarrassed as Teddy waved at her dismissively. They walked out of the store arm in arm. "That girl doesn't have gaydar the poor thing."
Jandro smiled, liking the feeling of being linked to Teddy. Normally Jandro liked big guys, buff and tattooed, but Teddy was easier to relate to and very cute in the same sort of way that Jandro was... effeminate you might say. "She will be miserable in L.A. without gaydar she will be falling in love with all the wrong guys." Because of the movie industry there were a lot of gays roaming the streets and many of them were in the closet.
He led Teddy to the ice cream shop which was almost overwhelmed with pastels. The shop was owned by one of his mother's former model friends and his boyfriend. "Hi Les, This is my new friend, Teddy," he said to the man behind the counter who was gorgeous but too old. "What flavors of Ice do you have today?" After hearing the list he chose Watermelon.
"She'd do much better on facebook." Teddy said, closing the topic. When they finally arrived at the ice cream shop, Teddy couldn't help but smile at the man. He looked like a regular old grampa but hotter. Like Sean Connery. Oh Sean Connery. "I'll have blueberry please." For some very odd reason, he had been craving a lot of blue food. It could be anything as long as it had blue in it, he was all over it.
Once they got their ice creams, Teddy followed Jandro to a seat and immediately dug into the ice cream. Teddy didn't really care much about calorie intake because he had a strict routine he followed that Cindy had helped him with a long time ago so he could eat whatever he wanted, feel bloated and then sweat it out and he would look fit as a fiddle. "Oh this isn't bad at all!"
"Les' boyfriend, Mario got the recipe from his nana and experimented with different sugar substitutes until he got it so it tastes like the real thing. They do real well here," Jandro said nodding at the almost full shoppe. He saw a table and led Teddy to it, knowing Les would bring them their treats when they were ready. "I can't believe I never saw you before at school. You must keep busy." Jandro tended to wander the halls a lot, man shopping, but he was rather glad now that he hadn't found someone else. He didn't think about the fact that it was rather dangerous for the average gay guy to hang out unprotected. Jandro was very fast so he usually didn't have too many problems. And he was cocky enough to face down most bullies.
"I'm usually in class and if I'm not I'm in the library and if I'm not there, I'm trying to avoid all the jocks." Teddy admitted without shame. He knew it was quite cowardly of him to run the opposite direction if he saw any of the jocks were coming his way. It just means he's smart enough not to get pummelled. "Then again the school is big and it's getting overcrowded so I understand the whole not seeing each other thing, I suppose." Teddy smiled.
"Well from now on we could walk together so the jocks won't bug you so much. They aren't as brave as they like to think they are. Mostly they will back down if you stand up to them. The exception is Quenten. He is just a psychopath, not even a jock. The rumor is he raped a girl. He almost got me last week, but the coach happened to come by. It was the first time I was glad to see him," Jandro said with a giggle that was a bit on the verge of hysterical. Quenten had actually frightened him.
"Quenten Ferris you mean? Oh my God that jerk is creepy." Teddy physically shivered but the thought of having Jandro by his side was pretty comforting. Although it was quite obvious they weren't going to be given the time of day, at least whatever happened Jandro was going to at least push them right back. Teddy was safe...enough. "You want to walk with me? I'd just pull you back." Teddy chuckled.
Jandro laughed regaining a bit of his cockiness. "Nothing pulls me back, I would just keep you safe. Most of them leave me alone. Some of them think I am crazy enough to hurt them back," he said, though he didn't mention the fact that he had just missed being brought up on murder charges after the shootings. He had killed the DeSales boy though he really had only meant to protect his brother after he had been shot.
If Jandro knew that the victim's brother, Anibal was planning revenge, he would never get Teddy involved, but he was very much unaware of it.
Teddy chuckled slightly. "You're not going to hurt me in the process are you?" He asked meekly. He hadn't met anyone like Jandro before and it seemed like he never will. Jandro did seem a little crazy, but Teddy supposed it wasn't so bad. He hadn't done anything or said anything that indicated he was a serial killer or worst...
Jandro reached across to put his slender hand over Teddy's. "I would never hurt anyone who didn't threaten me or my family, I promise. Besides now I can't carry my knives to school anymore," he said, perfectly serious. "I am a dancer not a gangster."
"You carried knives?" Teddy gulped. "I believe the fact that you're a dancer, A hot body like that just can't be a normal everyday teenager's body but you carried knives?"
Jandro chuckled. "Yeah my dad taught all of us to use knives. The gangs keep trying to get us to join them so we have to protect ourselves. My sister is the best with throwing them and Saint my older brother was best in a fight, but I am the quickest. It is a good way to get fit and the dancing helps a lot," Jandro said, knowing it would be hard to understand unless you knew his father who was an old world aristocrat that owned a horse breeding ranchero in Andalusia Spain. Things were not always peaceful there and his father was a fighter. In fact Jandro inherited his feistiness from him.
"Oh that's...comforting..." Teddy chuckled nervously and made a show of eating his ice cream. Why was the boy so at ease with the fact that he knew how to use knives? It's unnerving! "This is really good ice cream."
Jandro realized that he had really bothered Teddy with his admission. "I promise I will never hurt you, Teddy, on my honor. I won't even touch a knife around you, if that is what you want," he promised. He had never made promises like that before, not even to his mother who hated the fact that all her children had been taught to be fighters. "I'll even swear it to you on my sister's life who means more to me than my own."
Looking up, Teddy's expression was of surprise. "Oh please don't swear on anything for me. It's completely unnecessary. No, no, no." Teddy patted Jandro's hand, feeling slightly less scared. "It would be nice to not ever see a knife being used as recreation though so...just promise not to whip one out in front of me and I'm fine with anything." He chuckled lightly.
Jandro's expression eased and he smiled again. "Does that mean you'll see me again?" he asked, surprised at how intensely he wanted the answer to be yes. He liked the other boy and even found him attractive. He had of course found men attractive before, but he hadn't like them as well.
It was a surprise how eager Jandro was to see him again. "Yeah. That would be nice." Teddy's smile softened. "There's always school. But if you're free anytime after school, I'm quite okay with meeting up as long as it doesn't clash with my jazz classes."
"When are your classes?" Jandro asked, pulling out his blackberry to make a file on Teddy. "I don't have any committments. I dance but I just do it by myself. Until my brother gets all settled with the equipment and training for his handicap, I can't afford lessons."
"Every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays after school. You should come by. You don't have to pay if you're just there to enjoy it. And I bet you'll enjoy it." He took out his own cellphone and typed in Jandro's name and took a quick picture that made him look so cute. "I just need your number." He announced.
They exchanged numbers and Jandro also typed in the information about Teddy's dance school. "I haven't ever done Jazz, mainly R&B and some Swing, maybe you can give me some private lessons so I won't completely embarrass myself," he suggested thinking it would be fun to have the slightly younger boy be his tutor.
Private lessons...? That was something Teddy had never imagined another boy would ever say to him. Even if the context was completely innocent, it just sounded really good coming from another guy. Teddy wasn't so bad-looking. Having someone as cute as Jandro actually want to hang out with him again was an ego boost. "Maybe..." he said with a small smile. "I'll give you a call sometime..."
Jandro felt reasonably confident that was a yes so he chuckled. "I will look forward to it," he said, his pale blue eyes seeming to warm from glacial to a lake on a warm summers day. He finished his watermelon ice, sighing at the rich fruity taste.
Smiling, Teddy leaned back in his chair and openly stared at Jandro as they finished their dessert.
Jandro could feel Teddy's eyes on him, but he loved being looked at so he just did his best not to drip ice down his front. When he finished, he looked up to meet Teddy's eyes. "Do you want an escort home?" he asked, willing to go out to Van Nuys and back if Teddy was nervous. When they stood up, he hugged the other boy and was a bit embarrassed as his body reacted even to that minimal stimulation. Of course he was fifteen and had very little actual experience and with what he had it had been almost a year. He was flushed slightly as they pulled away from each other.
Patting Jandro's cheeks to get rid of the flush, Teddy shook his head. "I'll do fine. My stepfather usually waits for me at the bus stop. I know it's silly and very kindergarten but at least I know he cares. And now I know you care so...I'm going to be fine." Teddy's shoulders jerked up as he perked up.
"I'll see you in school tomorrow. Find me. I'll make sure I'm not hiding from the jocks." He was still reeling from the hug but he managed to keep it in check. "Thanks for the vest suggestion." He started walking backwards, not wanting to turn. "I'll see you in school tomorrow." He waved with his fingers before finally turning around and went to the bus stop where timing of the bus couldn't have been less perfect. He turned to Jandro and smiled before boarding the bus to go home.
Dressed in tight cigarette style charcoal grey jeans with a light blue tee shirt that matched his eyes, Jandro was looking good. He also had on a straw fedora that he imagined made him look mysterious. He took the bus as he felt his bicycle would distract from his looks. He couldn't wait until he had his license. He felt better after receiving admiring attention on the bus and his walk was more confident as the strolled into Dior Homme thinking a classic vest would complete his look.
Teddy thought the day could have gone better but getting a new friend who was from Silver but was in theater was pretty okay. He never understood why Silver and Gould had ever been rivals. If they were to pull their sources together, they could have the cream of the crop. He didn't have anything else to do after his vocal training turned out to be non-existent for the day so he decided a little retail therapy would do him much good.
His second home, aptly named Dior Homme, was his destination. Going through the entrance, he was warmly greeted by one of the salespeople who recognised him as Doreen Patterson nee Michael's son. They shopped there quite often. He waved the salesperson off and went to where the vests were placed and found only one person there. Young, maybe his own age.
He had some semblance of style unlike everyone else he knew who preferred ratty t-shirts and scuffed jeans. The boy knew how to dress. And the fedora was adorable and added a nice touch to his look. Tugging at the thin scarf wrapped around his neck, Teddy looked for his vest and finally found a beautiful one. "Oh that is simply divine." Teddy ran his finger across the lapels, unaware that the other boy had set his eyes on the same thing as well.
Jandro grimaced, wishing he had grabbed the vest the moment he saw it rather than hesitating between it and another that wouldn't bring out his eyes as well. This was his favorite store otherwise he wouldn't have worried about simply grabbing it from the other boy. To be banned from Dior would be devastating though and he couldn't risk it.
Instead he decided he would stalk the other boy and hope he set down the vest so that he could make it his own. If he headed for the check out then he would have to be more direct. He stayed very close, looking through sweaters he would never buy because as much as he liked fashion, he wasn't willing to roast for it. He had thick blood from his Norwegian ancestors and suffered from the heat.
Taking it off the rack he decided to try it on right there. Setting his bag down by his feet, he slipped into the vest and almost immediately seemed to snuggle into it. It was a perfect fit. It was then that he realised someone was watching him. Turning around, his hands tugging at the hem of the vest, he looked to find the boy with the good fashion sense looking at him. "Can I help you with something?" He asked slightly abruptly.
Jandro bristled at the abrupt tone and seemed to grow slightly as he stiffened his spine. "Well actually you can give me that vest as I was looking at it before you were and you grabbed it just as I was about to. It would look better with my eyes anyway," he said with his usual confidence in his beauty. "I believe that that cocoa brown one over there with the light green pin stripes would go better with your eyes and hair. Black is too harsh for your coloring," he said being sincere while still trying to get the vest.
Teddy's mouth dropped at the sudden stream of words and little by little a smile etched on his face as he turned to examine the vest the boy had indicated. He looked down at the vest he had oh so coveted not a second ago and looked back at the brown one. He took off the vest he was wearing and hung it back on the rack and put on the other one and scrutinised himself in the mirror, a smile fully formed on his face.
"Well...don't you have an eye..." Teddy whirled around and took the previous vest and helped the boy into it, immediately seeing the contrast of the colours and it really suited him perfectly. "I am speechless." The boy was taller than him by a few inches so Teddy had to step back to fully admire the boy. He was very good looking.
Jandro gave Teddy a confident grin. "That looks great on you, you have wonderful eyes," he said, a bit surprised for the vest had indeed brought more focus on them. "I am Jandro Juarez by the way... and I know I don't look Hispanic. My mother is Norwegian and the hair is dye. My father only gave me the name as he often tells me. I tend to frustrate him a lot. I go to Silver I think, there is talk there won't be a return to our building. Do you go to school around here?" Jandro barely realized he was speaking so fast. This was the first time he had ever met someone he was so drawn to. They seemed to have similar interests and the other boy seemed to understand him which only Lia and Saint ever did.
Feeling his cheeks heat up, Teddy looked down with the pretense of checking his outfit. It really did look good with everything else. When he was sure his blush was gone, Teddy returned his gaze on the boy as he introduced himself. The way he talked a mile a minute was definitely something Teddy could relate to. Not a lot of people could understand when he spoke so he understood.
"Jandro...very nice name. I'm Teddy. Teddy Patterson. It's very nice to meet you. I frustrated my dad a lot too I reckon. I'm from Gould actually. Let's see, I introduced myself, we established a common ground by having tools for dads and I answered your question. I covered everything didn't I?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. Then he realised something. "Oh my gosh, my bag."
He jumped and ran back to get his bag and returned to Jandro. "Oh my gosh. If I lost this my mother would have a cow. It's bad enough we have to live in Van Nuys and I don't have a license to speak of. But if I lost this vintage Pierre Cardin...I wouldn't know what I would do." Teddy said, patting his cheeks to stop from hyperventilating.
Jandro admired the bag. "It's very chic," he said with a hint of envy. "Do you have to leave right away, there is an ice cream place around the corner than has to die for Italian Ice that has no fat and very little processed sugar. I am not sure how they do it. But I never feel guilty having some," he said with a twinkle in his eye. He didn't really worry too much. He had a very high metabolism and it was more of an issue to not turn into a skeleton like his older brother Saint.
Teddy was very proud of his bag and smiled. "I love it anyway." He giggled. The invitation for ice-cream seemed very date-ish and brought another flush to Teddy's cheeks. "I was actually thinking of going for coffee but ice-cream sounds nice," his voice softened considerably. "But I have to pay for this first. Are you going to get that?" He pointed to the vest Jandro had on.
"Definitely, it's the first time I have stalked someone for a piece of clothing, it would be a crime not to take it with me," Jandro said with a light laugh as he took it off and pulled a wallet out of his pocket and walked beside Teddy to the cash registers. "I will wear it out," he said to the girl that offered to ring him up. She removed the tags and handed it back to him before ringing it up. He put it on and then paid her. She seemed inclined to flirt, but Jandro barely noticed her. To him it was so obvious he was gay that he was oblivious to female attention.
"It is a stalk worthy vest. I don't blame you. Nice save by the way." Teddy grinned and went to the cashier and paid for his merchandise before waiting for his new friend to finish. The flirtatious cashier made Teddy scoff derisively. "Darling, can't you see he's with me?" Teddy brazenly slipped a hand through Jandro's crook and pulled him away when his transaction is done. "I'm sorry, Mr Patterson." She looked embarrassed as Teddy waved at her dismissively. They walked out of the store arm in arm. "That girl doesn't have gaydar the poor thing."
Jandro smiled, liking the feeling of being linked to Teddy. Normally Jandro liked big guys, buff and tattooed, but Teddy was easier to relate to and very cute in the same sort of way that Jandro was... effeminate you might say. "She will be miserable in L.A. without gaydar she will be falling in love with all the wrong guys." Because of the movie industry there were a lot of gays roaming the streets and many of them were in the closet.
He led Teddy to the ice cream shop which was almost overwhelmed with pastels. The shop was owned by one of his mother's former model friends and his boyfriend. "Hi Les, This is my new friend, Teddy," he said to the man behind the counter who was gorgeous but too old. "What flavors of Ice do you have today?" After hearing the list he chose Watermelon.
"She'd do much better on facebook." Teddy said, closing the topic. When they finally arrived at the ice cream shop, Teddy couldn't help but smile at the man. He looked like a regular old grampa but hotter. Like Sean Connery. Oh Sean Connery. "I'll have blueberry please." For some very odd reason, he had been craving a lot of blue food. It could be anything as long as it had blue in it, he was all over it.
Once they got their ice creams, Teddy followed Jandro to a seat and immediately dug into the ice cream. Teddy didn't really care much about calorie intake because he had a strict routine he followed that Cindy had helped him with a long time ago so he could eat whatever he wanted, feel bloated and then sweat it out and he would look fit as a fiddle. "Oh this isn't bad at all!"
"Les' boyfriend, Mario got the recipe from his nana and experimented with different sugar substitutes until he got it so it tastes like the real thing. They do real well here," Jandro said nodding at the almost full shoppe. He saw a table and led Teddy to it, knowing Les would bring them their treats when they were ready. "I can't believe I never saw you before at school. You must keep busy." Jandro tended to wander the halls a lot, man shopping, but he was rather glad now that he hadn't found someone else. He didn't think about the fact that it was rather dangerous for the average gay guy to hang out unprotected. Jandro was very fast so he usually didn't have too many problems. And he was cocky enough to face down most bullies.
"I'm usually in class and if I'm not I'm in the library and if I'm not there, I'm trying to avoid all the jocks." Teddy admitted without shame. He knew it was quite cowardly of him to run the opposite direction if he saw any of the jocks were coming his way. It just means he's smart enough not to get pummelled. "Then again the school is big and it's getting overcrowded so I understand the whole not seeing each other thing, I suppose." Teddy smiled.
"Well from now on we could walk together so the jocks won't bug you so much. They aren't as brave as they like to think they are. Mostly they will back down if you stand up to them. The exception is Quenten. He is just a psychopath, not even a jock. The rumor is he raped a girl. He almost got me last week, but the coach happened to come by. It was the first time I was glad to see him," Jandro said with a giggle that was a bit on the verge of hysterical. Quenten had actually frightened him.
"Quenten Ferris you mean? Oh my God that jerk is creepy." Teddy physically shivered but the thought of having Jandro by his side was pretty comforting. Although it was quite obvious they weren't going to be given the time of day, at least whatever happened Jandro was going to at least push them right back. Teddy was safe...enough. "You want to walk with me? I'd just pull you back." Teddy chuckled.
Jandro laughed regaining a bit of his cockiness. "Nothing pulls me back, I would just keep you safe. Most of them leave me alone. Some of them think I am crazy enough to hurt them back," he said, though he didn't mention the fact that he had just missed being brought up on murder charges after the shootings. He had killed the DeSales boy though he really had only meant to protect his brother after he had been shot.
If Jandro knew that the victim's brother, Anibal was planning revenge, he would never get Teddy involved, but he was very much unaware of it.
Teddy chuckled slightly. "You're not going to hurt me in the process are you?" He asked meekly. He hadn't met anyone like Jandro before and it seemed like he never will. Jandro did seem a little crazy, but Teddy supposed it wasn't so bad. He hadn't done anything or said anything that indicated he was a serial killer or worst...
Jandro reached across to put his slender hand over Teddy's. "I would never hurt anyone who didn't threaten me or my family, I promise. Besides now I can't carry my knives to school anymore," he said, perfectly serious. "I am a dancer not a gangster."
"You carried knives?" Teddy gulped. "I believe the fact that you're a dancer, A hot body like that just can't be a normal everyday teenager's body but you carried knives?"
Jandro chuckled. "Yeah my dad taught all of us to use knives. The gangs keep trying to get us to join them so we have to protect ourselves. My sister is the best with throwing them and Saint my older brother was best in a fight, but I am the quickest. It is a good way to get fit and the dancing helps a lot," Jandro said, knowing it would be hard to understand unless you knew his father who was an old world aristocrat that owned a horse breeding ranchero in Andalusia Spain. Things were not always peaceful there and his father was a fighter. In fact Jandro inherited his feistiness from him.
"Oh that's...comforting..." Teddy chuckled nervously and made a show of eating his ice cream. Why was the boy so at ease with the fact that he knew how to use knives? It's unnerving! "This is really good ice cream."
Jandro realized that he had really bothered Teddy with his admission. "I promise I will never hurt you, Teddy, on my honor. I won't even touch a knife around you, if that is what you want," he promised. He had never made promises like that before, not even to his mother who hated the fact that all her children had been taught to be fighters. "I'll even swear it to you on my sister's life who means more to me than my own."
Looking up, Teddy's expression was of surprise. "Oh please don't swear on anything for me. It's completely unnecessary. No, no, no." Teddy patted Jandro's hand, feeling slightly less scared. "It would be nice to not ever see a knife being used as recreation though so...just promise not to whip one out in front of me and I'm fine with anything." He chuckled lightly.
Jandro's expression eased and he smiled again. "Does that mean you'll see me again?" he asked, surprised at how intensely he wanted the answer to be yes. He liked the other boy and even found him attractive. He had of course found men attractive before, but he hadn't like them as well.
It was a surprise how eager Jandro was to see him again. "Yeah. That would be nice." Teddy's smile softened. "There's always school. But if you're free anytime after school, I'm quite okay with meeting up as long as it doesn't clash with my jazz classes."
"When are your classes?" Jandro asked, pulling out his blackberry to make a file on Teddy. "I don't have any committments. I dance but I just do it by myself. Until my brother gets all settled with the equipment and training for his handicap, I can't afford lessons."
"Every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays after school. You should come by. You don't have to pay if you're just there to enjoy it. And I bet you'll enjoy it." He took out his own cellphone and typed in Jandro's name and took a quick picture that made him look so cute. "I just need your number." He announced.
They exchanged numbers and Jandro also typed in the information about Teddy's dance school. "I haven't ever done Jazz, mainly R&B and some Swing, maybe you can give me some private lessons so I won't completely embarrass myself," he suggested thinking it would be fun to have the slightly younger boy be his tutor.
Private lessons...? That was something Teddy had never imagined another boy would ever say to him. Even if the context was completely innocent, it just sounded really good coming from another guy. Teddy wasn't so bad-looking. Having someone as cute as Jandro actually want to hang out with him again was an ego boost. "Maybe..." he said with a small smile. "I'll give you a call sometime..."
Jandro felt reasonably confident that was a yes so he chuckled. "I will look forward to it," he said, his pale blue eyes seeming to warm from glacial to a lake on a warm summers day. He finished his watermelon ice, sighing at the rich fruity taste.
Smiling, Teddy leaned back in his chair and openly stared at Jandro as they finished their dessert.
Jandro could feel Teddy's eyes on him, but he loved being looked at so he just did his best not to drip ice down his front. When he finished, he looked up to meet Teddy's eyes. "Do you want an escort home?" he asked, willing to go out to Van Nuys and back if Teddy was nervous. When they stood up, he hugged the other boy and was a bit embarrassed as his body reacted even to that minimal stimulation. Of course he was fifteen and had very little actual experience and with what he had it had been almost a year. He was flushed slightly as they pulled away from each other.
Patting Jandro's cheeks to get rid of the flush, Teddy shook his head. "I'll do fine. My stepfather usually waits for me at the bus stop. I know it's silly and very kindergarten but at least I know he cares. And now I know you care so...I'm going to be fine." Teddy's shoulders jerked up as he perked up.
"I'll see you in school tomorrow. Find me. I'll make sure I'm not hiding from the jocks." He was still reeling from the hug but he managed to keep it in check. "Thanks for the vest suggestion." He started walking backwards, not wanting to turn. "I'll see you in school tomorrow." He waved with his fingers before finally turning around and went to the bus stop where timing of the bus couldn't have been less perfect. He turned to Jandro and smiled before boarding the bus to go home.