welcome to crvboy - The Living Years

"And I miss you all more and more everyday......love Jesse," Noah spoke, before smiling brightly at everyone as he closed the card that held no such kind words from Jesse.

After passing out nearly two weeks earlier, everyone was admittedly relieved to learn that Jesse wasn’t dead. They then were all shocked to discover his addiction to aspirin. Apparently he’d taken enough to kill a horse that night and yet somehow survived. Needless to say, the best thing to do for himself and everyone was to enroll him in a rehab program. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a choice. He had 2 months to clean up and get himself back on the path to recovery.

Now they were all at lunch reflecting on Jesse’s situation as they read the card.

"Aww, rehab’s made Jesse such a nice little boy," Grace spoke.

Trey who was sitting next to Noah and could clearly see the card had more expletives and pleas to be released than kind words but he wasn’t going to say anything.

"Let me see that thing," Sierra spoke, reaching over the table for the card which Noah held away from her.

"No, actually Jesse says he wants me to be in charge of the cards," he said, nervously. "He says he always trusted me best."

"Aww, see, I knew that boy liked you," Grace said.

Sierra, not the least bit convinced, sat back and decided to instead turn everyone’s focus to Chad.

"So, Chad, how much have you been remembering about yourself lately?" she asked, hoping to sound as curious as possible.

The truth was Sierra had found out much earlier exactly who Chad was but was keeping that information to herself for some very nefarious reasons.

"Not much, really," Chad responded, rubbing the back of his newly shaved head with his right hand. "It’s weird. It was all coming so fast with Jesse around. It was all messed up in pieces that I was trying to put together, but there were actual pieces, you know? And now there’s just...."

"You all alone in that nice little apartment all by yourself," Sierra spoke, wrapping her arm around Chad’s.

Chad looked down at her arm and noticed the pathetic look she had on her face.

"Uh, well no I’m not alone actually," he said. "Chuck’s there with me. Jesse paid him for the rest of the school year in advance apparently and he says he wants to still do his job even if Jesse isn’t around."

"Oh, two clueless guys, alone," Sierra said. "It must be really hard for you."

"Not really. Chuck’s kind of awesome, actually," Chad smiled. "He lets me do things that I wouldn’t even trust myself to do. The other day he took me driving. I suck at it apparently but it’s the thought, you know?"

"Oh I totally understand," Sierra said. "Why you suck at driving I mean."

"Really, you do?" Chad asked.

"Do what?" Sierra asked.

Everyone stared at her.

"You just said you know why I suck at driving," Chad said.

"Did I?" Sierra asked. "Huh, must’ve been me thinking about something else."

"Did I tell you you look sexy with your hair shaved all military style?" Sierra interrupted, running her hands over Chad’s shaved head.

Chad rubbed his hands over his head. It was one of the things about himself he figured he’d take control of since he was starting to become more and more independent every day. He still didn’t know who he really was but he was just comfortable enough not to care.

"Well at least we can say the one good thing that came out of Jesse’s little drug dependency was Chad here getting his tuition paid for," Sierra said. "Now you get to be an actual student instead of just pretending to play student."

Chad was happy that he didn’t have to pretend he was a student in his friends classes anymore but something about Jesse paying his tuition for him didn’t sit right with him. He wasn’t sure why but he almost felt like it would have been something he could have paid for himself if in fact he actually knew himself. There was that and the fact that he didn’t feel like he wanted to owe Jesse so much. He’d already let him have full access to his apartment which would be fully paid for as long as Jesse was in rehab not to mention this latest act of kindness.

What he really wanted to do was find out just how it was exactly he felt like he knew all of this. But he wanted to let that be something he focused on on his own time. He didn’t want to worry about it with his friends.

"He’s only writing those cards because they’re making him you know," Sierra stated. "When my cousin went to rehab for her Vicodin addiction, they made her write those letters too."

"Maybe it’s a guilt thing," Chad suggested. "Maybe they’re working on getting past all the bad in their lives to focus on all the good."

"Either that or they’re over there torturing them and want everybody that cares about them to think things are just peachy keen," Sierra replied.

"No one can accuse you of not having an imagination," Zoey mumbled.

"Still, I have to wonder what he has to be doing at this exact moment," Sierra sighed, thinking as if off in space. "Withdrawal can be a bitch."

"Well he’s out of our hair for now so I’m pretty sure he’s being his usual better-than-you self," Noah said.

"And he calls you his best friend," Sierra mumbled.

The last nightmare Jesse had unfortunately had the displeasure of having involved him being trapped on a speeding train filled with all kinds of famous killers and monsters in route to Disneyland to save a cat from falling off a 50 story cake.

And that was before the aspirin.

He thought that was bad but as he quickly learned, it was nothing compared to the misery that was being trapped at the Seashore Wellness Resort. Why a drug rehabilitation center was also called a resort was beyond him. He’d been to several resorts and spas in his lifetime and in all of those places he’d always been able to leave whenever he wanted.

Now he was trapped in a place that had taken his credit cards, his cell phone and anything else he used to get through each day in exchange for pen and paper for the daily letters he was to write to ‘friends and family’.

It was almost like a certain kind of torture for him. Like in his doped up, out of touch with the world state that he’d been in when released to them the people he was forced to tell people were his friends had told them everything he hated and they were doing their best to accommodate him accordingly.

And there was nothing he could do about it for 2 months. He was theirs for 2 months and there was nothing he could do about it. Unless he wanted to be sued. Apparently he’d done some pretty wacked out, messed up things to people when he was high and those people had those things on film. No one wanted to admit they knew he was a celebrity until it benefited them.

Either way he was trapped and he didn’t like it.

Jesse sat on the edge of his small cot looking around his room wondering just what he’d done to deserve such a fate. The way he saw it, he wasn’t a bad person. But here he was trapped in a bad situation with no way out. He didn’t even have time to think about anything to himself. He was always being watched. There were cameras, group meetings, and of course there was the roommate.

His name was David and that was probably the only simple thing about him. David was the kind of guy that was active. Physically he was in tip top condition, probably because he was so active. Mentally, Jesse was a little unsure if maybe David had been placed in the wrong kind of jail. He told the most outrageously random stories almost like he was several different people with several different personalities, all of them having very active imaginations. He was always talking and whenever he wasn’t he was always doing something else. He was never not doing. He was just, plain and simple, active.

And he was stuck with him.

Jesse was so deep in his thoughts that he completely missed the door to their room opening and someone walking in.

"Okay boys, time for the day’s vitamins," announced the voice of their Group Director Molly. "Is behaving going to be an issue today?"

If David was a spastic mish mash of random energy, Dr. Molly Walker was anything but. She was a cool, calm, calculating Group Director who somehow managed to unnerve everyone she came into contact with. She knew what she was doing all of the time and it was something that had bothered Jesse from the moment he met her. She reminded him a lot of someone he knew but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

"You aren’t off trying to poison us all are you, Molly?" Jesse asked. "Because I see substituting one drug for another as a clear conflict of interest."

"Substituting harmful drugs for beneficial drugs is what I like to call a beneficial addition," Molly replied. "You’re regaining everything taken from your body through substance abuse, thus the addition."

Jesse looked briefly over at David.

"Yay, math," David said. "Shoot me now."

Jesse watched as David took his cup of assorted vitamins and swallowed them. He opened his mouth to show that they’d in fact been swallowed before all attention was turned back to Jesse.

"You’re up," Molly spoke.

"What if I’m allergic to this unknown special cocktail you people have conjured up?" Jesse asked. "If we die here, people will ask questions."

Molly didn’t seem to be affected negatively at all by Jesse’s words. As usual she had the perfect counter statement.

"Oh Jesse, you have to stop looking at this place as the one to cause harm," she replied. "We’ve already saved your life by keeping you away from the drugs that were going to take it from you."

Jesse decided it would be best not to argue with that logic. He did after all see exactly what kind of things he was capable of doing to himself when he was a junkie. Who was to say death wasn’t coming soon?

Jesse, begrudgingly took his cup of pills and swallowed them, opening his mouth for verification.

"See how pleasant and fast this all goes when you cooperate?" Molly asked. "Now, don’t forget, group session is tomorrow. Make sure you have your days letter done by then."

Jesse just rolled his eyes as Molly and the rather bulky female nurse companion left him and David alone in the room.

There was silence for a few seconds before Jesse heard coughing sounds coming from David. He looked over and noticed David spitting out the pills he was supposed to have swallowed and placing them inside his left sock.

"Dude, please tell me you didn’t swallow those pills?" he asked.

Jesse watched as David took off his right shoe and removed the sock, pouring the remains of yesterday’s un-swallowed pills into a small dish on the table beside his bed.

"I’ve never known vitamins to not be good for a person," Jesse replied.

"Who says they’re vitamins?" David asked. "You ever ask yourself exactly what it is they’re feeding us? And who’s making them?"

"I generally like to stay out of the X-Files territory," Jesse replied. "Lest people start to question my sanity."

Much in the same way he was beginning to question David’s.

"It’s not X-Files territory when I’m right," David replied. "Because I am."

Jesse decided he would go about doing the bit of nothing he was doing while David pulled his chair beside Jesse’s bed.

"This place is bad for us man," he said in a hush-hush tone. "And the longer we stay here the worse things are gonna be for us."

"Just long HAVE you been here anyway?"

David didn’t respond and it made Jesse just a touch uncomfortable to see how easily his roommate had brushed off the question.

"Well it doesn’t matter to me anyway," Jesse said. "I don’t plan on being here for much longer."

"I thought you were supposed to be here two months?"

Lately the days had been very mellow for everyone. After deciding to spend their spring break at school relaxing and spending time away from the chaos they called family, the fast paced world that had been school for them had come to a nice crawl. It wasn’t life being boring it was life being life without all the constant twists and turns their college year had taken them on.

Now with school back in session things seemed to be staying at their steady pace, with not so much as an unkind word spoken between everyone. They were all at happy points in their lives.

Grace had finally made up with Josh and given him the second chance she figured he deserved. Zoey seemed to be happy with things in her relationship. Noah and Trey were better than ever now that Trey was putting his all into making their relationship last. And Shawn was finally starting to live his life outside of the ever present Trey-shadow.

It was like life couldn’t get any better for any of them and they wouldn’t want it to if it could. They liked things the way they were and none of them were counting on change happening any time soon.

Grace, whose arms were draped over Josh’s shoulders as the two of them decided to ignore their lunch in favor of making out, jumped a little when the newspaper Amber had slammed down hit the table.

Everyone who was busy with their own actions and thoughts turned their attention to a rabid looking Amber who looked like she would be foaming at the mouth if she could.

"Girl, is you crazy?" Grace asked.

"Uh, Jesse’s in rehab," Sierra said. "Which means we DON’T have to put up with you."

"Guess again bitch," Amber started. "I have news that’s gonna rock your frickin little world."

No said a word. Instead they all gave Amber the utmost attention, something that not only had she not been expecting to happen but was something that she wasn’t used to either.

"Um...okay, then...some of you look down at the table," Amber said, fumbling the words as she did. "I can’t deal with this many eyes on me."

"Girl is you gon tell us something or what?" Grace asked.

"Okay, okay," Amber spoke excitedly, taking a seat at the head of their table. "Guess who’s coming HERE? To OUR school?"

"George W.?" Noah asked.

"Who’s that?" Chad asked.

"He’s our current president. Or lack thereof," Sierra replied.

"No, somebody people would actually WANT to visit our school, duh," Amber clarified.

"Well let’s see," Zoey started. "Knowing you and the kind of stuff that floats your boat I’d guess the people from The Real World are coming to hold auditions here or something."

"Who told you?" Amber asked.

"I’m right?" Zoey asked.

"Not exactly," Amber said, calming herself down a bit. "MTV got permission from the school to film a reality series about college life here on campus. They’re holding auditions today and tomorrow for the show."

"Wait, what?" Sierra asked, interest firmly piqued.

"Yeah, the auditions already started. I’ve known about them for a while. I WAS trying to keep it to myself since no one but me actually watches MTV anymore-"

"With good reason," Zoey interrupted. "Remember back in 89 when you could catch a video or two on MUSIC television?"

"As I was saying," Amber continued. "I wasn’t gonna tell anyone but it’s all over the school paper now. Everyone knows."

And now everyone truly did know. No one would actually come right out and say it but they all had different feelings regarding the subject. But one thing was certain. No one was more sure that this was a stupid idea than Trey.

"Are you kidding me?" he said. "I watch MTV. Sometimes. I see what kind of crap they put out into the world. The school really gave them permission to come here?"

"I think I read something about exposure," Amber said, refereeing to the newspaper. "This school isn’t as popular as it used to be, you know."

Everyone knew that before applying for and accepting into the school but didn’t really talk about it because they were comfortable and happy with things the way they were. And even though they’d all settled into a nice little niche of peace and tranquility, being used to so much drama all year was making the idea of staring in one sound extremely tempting for most of them.

"Grace Brown, next great star...I think I like that," Grace spoke dopily.

"Grace, come on," Trey said.

"I’m serious boy. It’s not like I’m going out there auditioning to be some star. They coming to me and if it’s meant to be I say let them find me."

Trey just sighed and rolled his eyes. The idea of staring in some, no doubt trashy reality series was beyond pathetic to Trey. There was absolutely no way he was going to want to be involved in such a thing.

"So come to the auditions with me," Amber said. "I mean, I’d rather share star status with someone I know than some stupid cow around here who wants all the spotlight for herself."

"Look no further, that cow is you dear," Sierra sighed. "But this could be fun so I’m in."

"Ugh, no one asked you," Amber said.

"I know, right? That’s the best part," Sierra said giddily. "And Chad you can audition with me. We’ll do it as a couple."

"As a couple?" Chad asked, a bit uncomfortably.

All of a sudden he felt put on the spot. Like there was something on his face that everyone couldn’t take their eyes off of. He liked Sierra, that much he’d admit. He just wasn’t sure if he was ready to be labeled a couple with her when he wasn’t even really sure it was girls he was even into.

"Oh yeah, that’s right. Throw yourself all over the poor guy the minute Jesse’s away," Amber said. "What a whore."

"Takes one to know one, slut," Sierra shot back.

As everyone continued talking Trey looked over at his boyfriend who seemed to be amused with the entire situation. It annoyed him a bit and he figured he needed to see what was so amusing about letting some trash network pimp people out to be the star of its next trash show.

"Please tell me you don’t wanna do this too," Trey said.

"I think it sounds like it’d be hilarious," Noah replied, simply, arms crossed as he watched Sierra and Amber bicker. "I mean, look at it. It’s already starting."

"Hilarious? Noah, you can’t be serious," Trey said.

"Well, obviously I don’t want to be on the show but it’s not every day MTV or anybody comes to our school with something like this," Noah replied.

Trey could see the logic behind Noah’s argument but he still was annoyed. He always figured him and Noah to be so in sync when it came to the way they thought and yet it seemed like he heard the words ‘MTV’ and ‘show’ and all of a sudden decided it was time to be a big television star. And he knew he was exaggerating but that was the way he felt.

"Should we go today or tomorrow?" Grace asked.

"Too late today," Amber said. "There was a line all the way from the quad to the coliseum an hour before they started auditioning. We’d never get in. But tomorrow auditions start at 8. Let’s just skip class and go then."

"Okay then," Grace said, stars in her eyes. "Im’a go call my mama and tell her I’m bout to be a big star!"

Sierra, who was situated firmly in Chad’s lap, looked down at him with a smile before rubbing her hand over his head.

"You’re so cute," she said. "Come on, let’s go figure out what to wear to the audition."

"Clothes, maybe?" Chad spoke to Noah’s chuckling.

"I’m officially grounding you from him," Sierra said, referring to Noah. "He’s a bad influence on your fragile mind. Now come on, we’ve got work to do."

"Bye guys," Chad sighed, obviously disappointed to be leaving.

"See ya Chad," Noah said as they went. "Hey, where are you guys going?"

Grace and Amber were both too involved in their conversation with each other to respond, instead just following Sierra and Chad right out of the cafeteria.

Zoey looked over at Noah.

"If I don’t want my best friend to turn into Amber 2.0 I’d better go with them," Zoey said, standing. "I’ll see you two later."

"Yeah...dude, what the fuck?" Noah asked aloud, more to himself than anyone.

Trey was still feeling a little upset that Noah actually wanted to try out for the show and was silently fuming, arms crossed as he did.

"You’re so cute when you’re mad like that," Noah said.

"I’m not mad," Trey said, clearly sounding as if he were in fact upset.

"Okay," Noah spoke, a grin on his face. "Whatever you say."

Jesse looked over at the clock. Again.

"I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t believe the money these people are being paid is for my wasted time," he spoke, bored.

It was time for the day’s group therapy session. Or rather, it had been time for the session to start a good ten minutes ago. It was more or less the same basic kind of share circle practiced by every recovery center known to man. They talked about their feelings mostly. And what they were going to do to change their lives for the better without using drugs.

It was all a bunch of stupid and pointless bullshit to Jesse and the fact he couldn’t do anything about it was continuing to upset him.

He wasn’t really intimidated by all the eyes in the room seemingly fixated on him. Rather, he found the situation slightly amusing but slightly irritating. He certainly wasn’t here to make friends with anyone. Especially since he didn’t plan on sticking around.

"You’re all drug fiends of some persuasion or another. Perhaps one of you knows where I can score some strong aspirin," he said, completely serious.

A few mouths dropped. A few girls crossed their arms in disgust while others had their noses up at him.

"Dude, this is rehab," a guy Jesse had come to know as Fred, spoke. "The point is to get off that stuff."

"I believe the point is also to talk about our feelings and discuss our future, something I got enough off before passing the A-levels in college," Jesse replied before shifting forward in his seat. "Now come on. I’m sure one of you lot is willing to help me. I have a lot of money you know."

The fact of the matter was that Jesse wasn’t in the kind of rehab center most people with a lot of money could afford. If he was in one of those places he’d be sipping alcohol free margaritas by the pool with the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love right about now. He figured money was going to do him wonders in a place like this.

"You think we want your money?" Fred asked. "Like you’re so much better than all the rest of us right?"

"I’m surrounded by convicts and junkies, of course I’m better than the rest of you," Jesse replied. "The question is, exactly at what price will it take for you to realize that?"

Fred just chuckled in disgust at Jesse, who looked around at all the disapproving faces in the room.

"Jesse, maybe you should just leave it man," David said, touching Jesse’s shoulder.

Jesse was about to address the group once again but didn’t take the chance as he and everyone else noticed Dr. Walker entering the room and taking her seat in her usual chair around the circle.

"Hello everyone," she said.

Everyone but Jesse and David responded.

"Everything alright Jesse?" Dr. Walker asked, taking sight of Jesse.

Truthfully, and he’d never admit it to anyone, things were not alright. He was going through withdrawal. He never imagined that he’d be one of those people that got hooked on anything whether it be alcohol or cigarettes. He was at least happy he hadn’t been stupid enough to get himself hooked on something like cocaine or worse but it didn’t change the fact that after two weeks, he still couldn’t stop the urge to swallow down an entire bottle of aspirin. There was just so much here to give him a headache, real or not.

"Why of course," Jesse replied with a fake smile. "Why wouldn’t everything be alright?"

"Well it’s just, you look a little flushed," Dr. Walker replied. "Would you like a glass of water?"

Jesse hadn’t even realized he’d been sweating until a tiny droplet fell from his hair down to his forehead and down his nose. He wiped his face with his hand and sat back in his chair, trying to come across as confidently as possible.

"I’ll be alright," he replied. "I’m just adjusting to the pressure of being the center’s only celebrity."

There were quite a few scoffs, coughs and eye rolls from most of the other people in the room. Jesse didn’t bother to look at any of them.

"Well, let’s get started shall we?" Dr. Walker started.

"Actually, Dr. Walker....I’m REALLY not feeling well," David started, spoke. "Do you think it’d be okay if I rested in my room for a bit?"

Jesse looked over at David, partially pissed off at him and partially amused that he could be so smart to get out of therapy by pretending not to feel well. Of course, there was always the chance that he really didn’t feel well as he hadn’t been taking the vitamins Jesse had been taking nor eating the food they’d been served.

Of course he did realize that as much as his leaving bothered him, there wasn’t much he could do about so he simply chose not to comment. Instead, he decided to get smart and try it himself.

"Actually, I believe I’m feeling a bit unwell also," he spoke, clutching his stomach. "I don’t mean to pass judgment on the quality of the food here but perhaps it’s a shared case of food poisoning of the innocent variety? We are both roommates?"

Dr. Walker eyed Jesse for what seemed to him like an unnecessarily long amount of time before ultimately deciding that she knew better.

"Actually what I think I’ll do is have you go first during session today, so you can go rest. But David you can go now. I’ll have Ethan escort you-"

"Thanks, Molly," David quickly said before flashing Jesse a look he hoped he’d catch onto before standing up and heading towards the door.

Jesse turned in his seat to watch David leave, sheer displeasure appropriately attached to his face before he slowly turned back around only to realize that all eyes were firmly planted on him.

"If you were hoping to have me go first in an effort to get me out of here sooner, I’m afraid you’ve grossly miscalculated me and my issues," he said. "We could be here all day."

"We have nothing but time here," Dr. Walker said. "So..."

Jesse stared right back at her.

"So what?" Jesse asked.

"You still have yet to share with everyone the reason you’ve come to the Seaside Wellness Center and Resort."

Jesse sat back in his chair, crossing his arms

"That statement would indicate I’m here by free will, which of course I am not," he said. "And who names a place after a sea for which there is no sea anywhere around to be found?"

"We’re drug fiends. I’d say I’m here for one of a very short list of reasons, all of which stem around what some would call an improper use of drugs. And most wouldn’t consider taking a harmless couple of aspirin here and there to be a drug problem."

"Jesse, the toxicology report your hospital submitted to us said you had enough aspirin in your system to kill an adult horse and that it had been in your body’s blood stream long enough to strip it of 5% of your total white and red blood cells."

There was silence in which all eyes stayed glued to Jesse as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, that still leaves me with 95% which most would consider to be a win on any occasion," he said.

"Jesse, sooner or later you’re going to have to talk about what led you to your problems to begin with," Dr. Walker said, moving forward in her chair. "It’s the only way any of us are going to be able to help you."

Jesse looked around at the eyes in the room, most of which were reading him up and down negatively.

"Somehow I doubt very much that will happen," he said simply.

"We’ll see, won’t we?"

All Jesse could think was that no, they would in fact not see. He had yet to resort to his resources but with his body now reaching its withdrawal limits and his sheer agitation with his current state, all he knew was that someone was going to have to give in soon. And he was going to do his damndest to make sure it wasn’t him.

Trey couldn’t take his eyes of the sheer scale of everything. He was used to seeing protests, impromptu pep rallies, makeshift bonfires and other projects happening in the large field of grass in the center of the school quad but never had he seen it so packed.

Directly towards the far back end of the field was a giant blue tent set up. The front of the tent was obviously where people could enter, as there were several lines of people coming from said tent. It was only 8 in the morning and already things were quite packed. He didn’t know what to think.

As he, Grace, Noah, Amber, Sierra, Chad and Zoey made their way through the various crowds of onlookers that may or may not have been in line to get a better look, Trey took everything in. There were people dressed in costumes. There were people dressed in barely nothing at all. There were people holding scripts in their hands acting out scenes with each other. Their were people juggling, there were people with animals, dolls, you name it.

Their school had officially become a circus, thanks entirely to MTV.

"I guess people think this is some kind of talent show," Chad said, as they all walked, looking around at everyone.

"That’s essentially what an audition is, especially these kinds," Sierra replied. "You do your best to sell yourself and usually the crazier the better."

"So how come none of us look like them?" Chad asked.

"Maybe some of us aren’t taking this as serious as they are," Trey responded.

"Boy, no negativity this morning," Grace spoke. "I need to focus on this or else I won’t get in."

Trey just rolled his eyes as everyone found a spot in line.

"What’s your shtick? You gotta have one if you want them to notice you," Amber said like a groupie obsessed with a band. "This is MTV we’re dealing with here. They don’t take just anybody."

"Obviously they do if they’re here," Trey replied.

"Trey, come on. You don’t have to take it so seriously," Noah said. "Just have fun with it."

Noah had said it with an offered smile in the hopes that it would work but Trey just flashed Noah a sour look.

"Like you?" he said. "If anything I’m gonna die of boredom here. Everybody does remember we’re missing class for this right?"

"Class, smash," Amber said. "We’re gonna be famous. You think Britney Spears was worried about missing class when she was discovered?"

"I don’t think Britney Spears thinks at all, actually," Zoey said. "I’m just here for the moral support. And on the off chance that they decide they want to take a highly motivated individual that can think for themselves, well...I’m not going to say no."

"Yeah......I think maybe you should sell yourself as the token lesbian," Amber spoke. "People will believe that more."

Zoey just gritted her teeth at Amber as she looked ahead before squealing loudly with glee.

"What girl, what?" Grace asked, rubbing her left ear.

"I think Mason Nightly is here!" she replied.

"Who’s that?" Chad asked.

"Only the hottest host VRL’s ever had before MTV decided he was too old and booted him to the curb. I think he’s doing porn now."

"Girl, what the hell?" Grace spoke, confused and disgusted with Amber.

"Okay, if I’m gonna concentrate on how I’m gonna win those casting agents over I’m going to need to be away from you and....well, you. Now," Sierra spoke referring to Amber. "Come on Chad, let’s go find another line."

Everyone watched as Sierra pulled Chad away, the two of them heading off until they were no longer in sight.

"She treats that boy like they married," Grace said once they were gone. "I keep telling her she need to let him be. How else is he gonna get his memory back?"

"Uh, maybe by us helping him," Trey replied. "Remember when THAT was happening?"

"Yeah, yeah, help me memorize what I’m gon say when I get up there," Grace said.

"Grace, come on," Trey said.

"Ugh, come on girl. I’m not getting on this show without you. Me and you need to be ‘like this’ when we get up there," Grace spoke before she and Zoey started away from Trey and Noah, leaving the two of them alone.

Noah turned his attention to Trey.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

Trey sighed. Technically he was mad at Noah. But he realized that it had more to do with himself than with Noah and knew that he couldn’t fault him for that.

"No," Trey replied. "I’m just surprised you’re taking all of this the way you are."

"And how was I supposed to be taking it, according to you?"

And that was the problem. It wasn’t like he was expecting Noah to be exactly the same on everything they did. This entire situation and experience was totally new. He wasn’t really sure how he was expecting Noah to feel because he didn’t really know himself.

"As long as you remember it’s just fun," Noah said, cupping Trey’s hands and swinging them lightly as he did. "It’s not like any of us are gonna get onto the show. It’s all a big stunt for publicity."

That sounded more along the lines of what Trey figured Noah should be thinking. He smiled and kissed Noah back when he kissed him briefly.

"Right," he replied, smiling but not really feeling like there was anything to actually smile about.

"I’m gonna go see if I can find Sierra and Chad," Noah said. "It’s weird that she’s spending so much time with him right? I mean, even if she likes him it’s still weird right?"

Trey hadn’t really thought too much about that or Chad recently but now that he actually was stopping to think about it, it was weird. Before Chad they hardly ever just hung out with Sierra. Now she was always with them as long as Chad was around. And when he wasn’t she was quick to find him.

"I don’t know, she’s always been a little psycho to me," Trey spoke.

"Stay right here, I’ll be right back," he said before kissing Trey again and brushing past him.

Trey stood, alone in a crowd full of characters waiting to be characters on a stupid show feeling completely out of place. He hadn’t been alone for more than two minutes before he felt an arm around his shoulder.

Trey looked quickly to his right, a little startled with the action.

"It’s great huh? MTV coming here of all places to do a show," Ben spoke, looking around with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

"Uh, I guess," he replied, not really sure to respond to Ben.

If Sierra suddenly spending all their time with them all was weird to him, Ben coming from nowhere and talking to him certainly was weirder. He barely knew the guy, truthfully.

"You trying out?" Ben asked.

"I don’t think so," Trey replied.

"It could be fun," Ben spoke, sounding like he was trying to tempt Trey into.

"Yeah, it’s not really my thing," Trey replied before something came to mind. "Is Shawn trying out?"

Ben looked around at everyone before catching sight of a particularly good looking girl that he wanted to get to know a little better.

"Yeah, no, he’s with his new boyfriend, the junior. Collin, something," Ben replied. "Haven’t seen him in days."

And with that Ben quickly walked off to catch up to his mystery girl leaving Trey feeling like he was paranoid all of a sudden.

He had a boyfriend. Noah. Who he needed to keep telling himself that he was happy with. Who he was ACTUALLY happy with. And yet hearing this news about Shawn and a boyfriend did this to him. It made him feel like he couldn’t breathe. Like the world around him was shutting down and he was going down with it. He didn’t know what anything was before he realized exactly what this was. It was panic. He was panicking and having a panic attack to go along with it.

Realizing this, he decided to forget about lines and people and auditions and castings and headed straight through everyone end into the tent. The tent itself was so large that it actually had individual rooms. He’d snuck into a back room around the side of the tent and took one of many of bottles of water sitting on a large rubber table. There were also Rice Krispy Treats and fruits on the table as well as five chairs that looked like the ones directors sat in while filming movies.

He didn’t care about anything. He sat down, opening the water and drank until it was almost gone. He took a few breaths and waited for a few minutes before drinking the rest of the bottle and taking in more breaths.

He was only just starting to recover when he was startled with a voice and figure entering the tent from where he’d entered. It was a man who’d been saying something but stopped once he noticed Trey. Trey looked up at him feeling apologetic for even being where he was but not making a move at all.

"And you are?" came the first words between them, these from the man.

Trey stared at him, a little nervous but mostly still reeling from learning that Shawn had a boyfriend.

"Trying to escape my problems and failing miserably," Trey replied, deciding he didn’t care what happened to him consequence wise and sat back in the seat.

The man stared at Trey for a few moments before deciding to enter the tent fully and walking over to the table, grabbing himself a muffin and turning so that he was facing Trey.

"So you’re trying to escape your problems and you picked the casting auditions for a new MTV reality series?" the man asked. "You are aware college kids practically breathe MTV, right?"

"My friends are trying out. Being on television isn’t really something I can see myself doing, you know?" Trey replied. "Besides, not all of us breathe MTV. I like to hope so, anyway."

Trey was impressed with how easily he seemed to be able to talk to this complete stranger. While it had certainly become a lot easier for him to do than it had been before meeting his friends, most of his newfound conversationalist skills came from being around them. He still struggled when he was on his own and here he was talking like there was no problem whatsoever.

"Okay, so...you look like you could use somebody to vent to so....vent," the man spoke.

Trey looked up at him.

"Seriously?" he asked.

The man took a seat in one of the directors chairs, pulling it so that it was next to Trey’s.

"So you’re not here to tryout but your friends are. But they’re not anywhere around you right now and you’re alone. Something happen with them?"

"No, not them," Trey replied. "Somebody. A guy."

"Like a boyfriend kind of guy?"

"No...it’s complicated. His name is Shawn and the two of us....I don’t know. He has a boyfriend I just found out. And so do I but for some reason it’s bothering me. It’s not like we’re together or anything."

"Hmm," the guy spoke a few moments later. "Well...."

"Well Trey. I don’t know you at all. But based on my completely random and probably very strange and creepy to you five second analysis, I’ve come up with one conclusion."

Trey looked over at the guy.

"What’s that?" he asked.

"You ever stop to ask yourself...and I mean REALLY ask yourself if you’re with the right person?"

Trey just stared at the guy before all of a sudden feeling his old self kicking in. The same old self that felt intimidated at the thought of talking to people he didn’t know. He looked down, unable to answer.

"Well, I have to get back to casting," the guy spoke. "I don’t want just anybody picked to be in my show. Besides I think I’ve found exactly what I was looking for here."

Trey looked up quickly.

"Yeah, I’m Freddy Davis creator of MTV’s College Life and hopefully, that is if you’re willing to have an open mind about it, the guy that’s gonna put you into the homes of millions of people all around the world."

Trey felt like running. He felt like jumping. He felt like laughing. He felt like a lot of things but mostly he felt like he was still in line outside having a daydream and that any moment he’d realize that he hadn’t just found out that Shawn had a boyfriend, had a panic attack, snuck into the casting tent of a major network and had an intimate conversation with the creator of the very show the network was casting for in which he had described as something being not even worth most people’s time, in so many of less words.

Pinching himself hadn’t helped anything.

Jesse was upset. He didn’t really know David and the guy didn’t really owe him anything and yet he was still upset with him. After David had managed to get out of therapy session the previous day he’d spent the rest of night oddly silent, almost as if in deep thought. It didn’t bother Jesse too much, for he was trying not to think too much about how much he hated this place and how much he needed some kind of drug relief fast.

But David getting out of things didn’t just end there. He managed to get himself not out of morning breakfast but out of activity communication and their allotted workout training time. Jesse had never been one to work out much before. Years spent practicing and mastering karate had done enough for his body that he never got complaints from any ladies. But he needed to do something to keep his mind off of just how miserable he was and had decided to join everyone in working out.

It was an interesting experience to say the least, as no one bothered talking to him yet they all had talked to each other. He hadn’t let it get to him, however, as he simply choose to go about his business.

But now that was over and he was back in his room, water bottle in hand and David was sitting at the small desk in the front of the window that separated the two beds, looking out of it like he was looking for something.

Jesse stood watching him for a moment from the door before he entered and slammed the door behind him.

David hadn’t turned around, which further annoyed Jesse, who walked further into the room.

"Why yes David, it is day time and yes, yes you have been in this room for nearly twenty-four hours," Jesse said.

David turned around.

"Jesse, oh, hey," was his response.

Jesse watched as David walked past him and over to the glass window near the door to the room, looking out of it and into the halls.

"Did those aliens forget to take you to planet Z as promised?" Jesse asked.

"What do you think it’d take exactly to get out of this place?" David asked, ignoring Jesse’s comment.

Jesse stared at David’s back before twisting the cap to his water bottle off and taking a sip.

"Judging from this place’s Nazi like standards I’d say a sobriety test showing we’ve all been clean ten years," Jesse replied.

"No," David said, turning around. "I meant what do you think it’d take to break out of here?"

Jesse eyed David, trying to determine exactly how serious he was as David passed him and sat on the edge of his bed, Jesse turning to face him.

"You’re serious?" he asked.

"I’ve been here three months," David replied. "I don’t even really have a drug problem. My mom is kind of...eccentric. My dad spends most of his time doing business overseas and taking a cocktail of different medicines was her form of coping. I was trying to help..."

"How exactly?" Jesse asked, mildly interested.

David sighed, obviously not wanting to talk about it but realizing it wasn’t like he had much else better to do.

"I took a lot of her pills and sold them at school. Just to get rid of them, you know. But I got caught with them. They didn’t even bother drug testing me. If I had that much drugs on me I must be using not selling was somehow their logic."

"I’ve since come to the conclusion that American logic isn’t as up to par with the British in a lot of respects, yes," Jesse replied. "And it’s a shame they locked the two of us up for nothing. I don’t really have a drug problem either."

Jesse didn’t see himself as having a problem, anyway. And he’d never admit it if he didn’t have to either.

"So if we both don’t need to be here, then we shouldn’t break out?" David said, sounding excited.

"As opposed to just using the front door and walking right out, right?" Jesse asked.

"You think they’re gonna let us just walk out of here? This place has more security running around than Fort Knox," David replied. "And if we try to walk out and they catch us, I guarantee you they’ll make us pay for it. They’ll probably try to poison us and say we get our hands on some drugs and overdosed."

"Got our hands on drugs while in rehab," Jesse spoke, eyeing David once again as the paranoid psycho he figured he was. "I see you’ve done a great deal of thinking about this...subject."

"Yeah, well you have nothing but time in here," David replied.

"Still," Jesse replied. "I don’t need to break out of here when I can actually walk out the front door. My family is worth billions overseas. I doubt very much this place wants to be taken for all it’s worth in court."

David just stared blankly at Jesse for a few moments before reaching back to his bed and taking his pillow into his hands, pulling out one of what Jesse recognized to be one of the dumbbells that had been missing from the weight room earlier.

"You’re going to bludgeon yourself to death before they do?" Jesse asked.

"No, Jesse.....look, we might not be able to just walk out of here but if were led out those doors by them there’s nothing stopping us from leaving once we’re already out."

Jesse found himself to be a little confused.

"There are fire alarms all over this place but they’re all protected with these glass, plastic, metal box things. They don’t look too hard to get into, provided you have something hard enough to get into them."

"And you want to set off the alarms so they’re forced to evacuate us, giving us a chance to escape?"

David didn’t respond but Jesse realized this was exactly what he was planning.

"I believe you’ve yet to factor in the sheer amount of noise taking on something like that will cause," Jesse said, sitting back casually. "They’ll catch you trying to escape before you actually try to escape."

"Not if you help me," David said. "You could be the distraction while I work the alarms. We could be like a team."

"Or not," Jesse responded flatly. "I’ve told you, I don’t need to break out of here. I can walk right out the front doors. Here, I’ll show you."

Jesse stood up, opened the door to their room and marched down the hallway, turning a couple of corners before reaching the front.

"Jesse, wait," David said behind him, following.

Jesse noticed the receptionist at the front desk, smiling at the two of them.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"You most assuredly can. Have a town car ready and waiting for me here in half an hour. I’ve decided this place isn’t right for me. Too many nutters running around and people not respecting my celebrity. You overcharge too. The Four Seasons this place is not."

"I’m sorry, you what?"

"And apparently the receptionists lack decent listening skills. Excellent," Jesse sighed, agitated.

"Look, you can’t just leave. You need to be cleared."

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, I’m going outside to wait on the steps. It’s been nice....no it hasn’t," Jesse said, before turning towards the doors, opening them and getting so far as the second step down to the street before he felt an arm on his left and another on his right, his body being lifted into the air and himself going right back inside.

"What the bloody hell!"

"Jesse, you weren’t planning on leaving us were you?" Dr. Walker asked, arms crossed, clipboard firmly in hand.

Once Jesse’s feet were back on the ground, he responded.

"What’s going on here? Why am I being kept prisoner in this place?"

"Because Jesse," Dr. Walker started. "You, like everyone else being here, have drug problems."

"And Naomi Campbell has problems biting and slapping people yet you don’t see anyone telling her she has to go to model rehab," Jesse spoke. "I demand to speak to whoever is in charge."

"Oh I doubt very much you want that," Dr. Walker spoke.

"I beg your pardon?" Jesse asked, catching a brief glimpse of David.

"Apart from sharing a drug problem you also all share criminal records. If any of you should leave before you’re cleared you’re all going to jail for anything from drug possession to public indecency."

Jesse stopped. It was only then that he remembered the charges against him just waiting to be pressed should he somehow not pass rehab. He didn’t think anyone was being serious with any of that however.

Now he saw just how serious of a situation he was in. And there was nothing he could do about it. Calling either his father or his mother would have him out of rehab in an instant but then he’d not only have to admit to something as shameful as being put into rehab but also to having a drug problem and charges against him because of it.

He’d take rehab torture over that humiliation any day.

"Now, let’s get the two of you back to your room, shall we?" Dr. Walker spoke, ever so pleasantly.

Jesse and David walked alongside each other, two buff and tall security guards behind them and Dr. Walker behind them.

"I tried to tell you," David whispered.

"Yeah, well, plan B I suppose," Jesse whispered back.

The casting had long ago ended and the day went on for most people. But for Trey and his friends, their day had gone from typical to anything but.

After being told that he was the one Freddy wanted for the show, the casting mysteriously just ended. It was as if Trey was the last person to be cast and after that everyone else was told to leave. Everyone was understandably upset until they realized that Trey had gotten a part in the show.

Now they were just confused. But excited. And mostly confused.

"And you swear you didn’t audition?" Amber asked Trey for the third time in three hours.

They had been told to wait around while Freddy spoke with the producers of the show about Trey. While he didn’t know much about what was going on, all of them had heard a few statements come from the discussion further back in the tent that ranged from Trey being one of the most real people Freddy had met in a long time to him being ratings gold. Either way, discussions were taking hours and Trey was starting to get bored.

"I haven’t even said yes," Trey said. "We can leave and no one would even know."

"No!" Amber, Grace and Sierra all objected simultaneously.

Trey looked over at them.

"Boy is you crazy? They want you to be the star of television show that half our entire school turned up to audition for. Do you KNOW how many people that is?"

"No buts boy. You think somebody else is gonna want you or any of us to be the star of a tv show?"

"The star? Grace, come on," Trey tried to reason.

"I agree with her," Sierra replied. "Obviously I’m disappointed it’s not me but it’s still someone I know which means I still get to reap the benefits."

"I know. Can you picture us hanging out with the cast of The Real World Serbia at a cast party? This is so amazingly exciting!"

"Like, really, cuz you get to leave the country and ride on a big plane for the first time LisaAnne!" Sierra mocked.

"Shut up your fugly mooch," Amber complained. "We all know why your fat ass didn’t get picked!"

"Because, your fat ass didn’t get picked?" Sierra replied, questioningly.

"Neither of ya’ll is in so shut the hell up," Grace spoke. "This is about Trey, not ya’ll for once thank god."

Sierra and Amber both promptly shut up as Grace, Zoey and Noah looked over at Trey.

"You okay?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, I guess I just...what if I don’t wanna do this?" Trey asked.

He honestly didn’t know if he wanted to do it or not. He knew his doubts were coming from his insecurities and that was what was bothering him, not doing a television show for a network he hated.

"You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Trey," Grace spoke. "We’re still gonna be here for you if you don’t."

"Yeah I mean it IS only MTV. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t do it," Zoey chimed in.

Trey didn’t feel remotely close to making up his mind either way but was at least happy that his friends were here for him.

Things were pretty silent among all of them for a few moments before they heard voices of people entering the tent.

Everyone looked around.

"Look I’m telling you this is gonna the best thing for your career," a man dressed in a dark black business suit replied following in a small framed blonde girl. "Have I ever lied to you, Gina?"

It looked like Gina had to think about that for a moment before responding with a huge smile.

"No baby," she replied before kissing the man that looked twice her age.

Amber and Sierra felt like vomiting upon sight. They soon straightened up once they noticed an extremely attractive, tall, light blonde haired guy on his cell phone.

"Totally, right? I mean just go with the Valentino if you’re really that serious about it. It’s not like anyone is gonna notice it’s fake. Oh, I gotta go hun, I’ll call you later."

Everyone looked over at the guy.

"What’s up people?" he spoke.

"So totally gay," Sierra spoke.

"Totally," Amber replied.

"How can you tell?" Chad asked.

"You mean you CAN’T tell?" Amber asked, incredulously.

"Uh, who are you people?" Grace asked.

The man in the business suit looked over at everyone.

"Oh I’m sorry, this tent is for cast only," he replied. "I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you all to leave."

"Who are you?" Noah asked.

"Wayne Gipson, Gina here’s agent," Wayne replied.

"And lover," Sierra mumbled.

"Gina is going to be the star of MTV’s new reality project about college," Wayne replied. "What are the rest of you? Extras?"

"Hold up, hold up? This fresh from Alabama, obviously demented Anna Nicole nobody is NOT the star," spoke another of the four that had entered the tent. "That’d be me, Brooke Kent. I know what I’m talking about, I’ve actually BEEN in reality shows before."

"I’ve never seen you," Wayne spoke.

"You don’t watch enough tv, then," Brooke replied.

Now everyone was thoroughly confused as to what exactly was going on.

"Are you people on the show?" Trey asked. "Do you even go to this school?"

"Yo man, I don’t NEED to be from here to know here," the blonde guy from earlier spoke. "I‘m everyone’s hero, everywhere I go."

"So, none of you go to this school and you’re all....actors?" Trey asked, surprised.

"Don’t sound so surprised, that’s all a reality show star is anyway," Brooke spoke. "It helps to launch you into superstardom. Just look at the Hills girls. That’s my future, but not as fake."

Trey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had failed to even consider the possibility that MTV would hire actors for something that was supposed to be reality but then, he didn’t watch enough MTV. It didn’t surprise him though.

What did surprise him was how he seemed to be the only person who wasn’t an actor or previous reality television star picked to be on the show.

"Then what were all the auditions for?" Trey asked, still trying to process everything.

"They had auditions here?" Brooke asked, sounding disgusted. "In this nobody town?"

Feeling completely overwhelmed, Trey turned around and walked right out of the tent, leaving everyone behind.

After the entire failed leave attempt from earlier, Jesse hadn’t felt like doing much else apart from succumbing to his fate. He hadn’t wanted to accept that he was trapped here but it had been made so evidently apparent to him this afternoon. It depressed him and made him feel miserable.

He was lying on top of his bed just thinking about his life while David sat atop his, doing something Jesse couldn’t quite notice and didn’t quite care about.

After a few moments David let out a sigh and looked over at Jesse.

"Wanna see how you turned out?" he said.

Jesse turned his head to look over at David.

David stood up and walked over to Jesse, who sat up as well as David handed him a large notepad with a sketch of himself drawn on it.

"I’ve never seen anyone draw me before," Jesse spoke, looking over the picture. "I’m not sure if I should be afraid or amazed."

"My one true talent," David said. "Since I screw everything else up."

Jesse wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t a huge fan of people spilling their guts to him and was hoping that this wasn’t going to be one of those times.

"Well, it’s a nice picture. Just try not to make it a habit," he replied. "The last thing I want is the walls to be covered in amateur pictures drawn of me."

David just smiled before taking a seat back on his bed and looking over at Jesse.

"So, why are you here?" he asked.

"I mean, I told you the real reason I’m here. What’s your story?"

Jesse swallowed before falling back on his bed and crossing his arms. As far as he was concerned there was no real reason he was here. He wasn’t even here because he wanted to be and even that was directly out of his control.

"It’s a drug abuse rehabilitation center," Jesse responded. "Why else would I be here?"

"They do say around here a man is only as sick as the secrets he keeps."

"Well in that case someone should probably inform them all that I’m the best thing that has ever happened to this place."

David stared at Jesse for a moment before responding.

"Yeah but you’re like some rich guys kid. Can’t you just call your parents and have them get you out?"

As much as he had seriously considered doing just that, Jesse had realized that he was far too removed from his parents to consider them people worth calling on for help. Besides, his brother had been the one to shame the family before and the last thing he wanted to do was join in him in that.

"My parents would first have to care one way or the other that I’m here, which I’m sure they would not," Jesse replied. "Besides, my older sibling keeps them busy enough. They don’t need to worry."

"So you’d rather stay here than call people who can get you out?" David asked.

Jesse thought for a moment before sitting up and looking over at David.

"Why call them to get me out when you and I are going to break out?" he asked, an evil glare in his eye.

First it was the fact that it was MTV, a network in which Trey had promptly deemed to be trash. Then it was the fact that all of his friends, including his boyfriend, didn’t have a problem with any of it. There was that followed by the sheer insanity of the whole tryout process. And now the latest development as per an hour ago, the show that was supposed to a candid look into the lives of college students was all just one big stunt, complete with characters and all.

It all left Trey feeling more than a little jaded and as such had caused him to go off to do a bit of thinking to himself. But his friends knowing him as well as they did had found him and convinced him to come to dinner with them all to celebrate his being asked to be on the show. They promised not to try to convince him to take the offer, even though the comments they’d been making were just dripping with subtext.

"I wonder if you’re gonna be paid," Amber said.

"Well as we all just found out, they hired actors for this thing so my guess is yeah, he’ll be paid," Zoey spoke.

"Still, the opportunity alone-"

"Okay, can we chill out on all the show talk for now," Grace spoke. "Let’s just celebrate the fact that our friend was the only guy out of the thousands that applied to be picked."

"My boyfriend, by the way," Noah added, kissing Trey quickly on the cheek.

Trey just felt completely overwhelmed with everything. It was like his entire cartoon world was becoming even more cartoon and he actually had to stop and tell himself that all of this was actually happening to him. He’d been through more stuff in the past seven months than in his entire 18 years of living. It would be overwhelming for anyone.

"Yeah well, I don’t know if I want to do it anymore," Trey replied. "Freddy seemed nice enough and I figured he’d do something different with the show but I guess not."

"Maybe hiring those people wasn’t really Freddy’s idea," Zoey mentioned.

"Yeah, who’s Freddy and why do we care?" Amber asked.

"Funny, we say the same thing about you constantly!" Sierra spoke.

"At least you’re talking bitch!" Amber shot back. "No one talks about you."

"I know, they mostly talk TO me," Sierra replied. "We save all the talking ABOUT for you."

"Okay, so a toast!" Noah started, picking up his glass of soda.

Everyone piped down and paid attention to him.

"To Trey proving to us all that being yourself actually does get you places," Noah replied.

"I’ll toast to that," Amber spoke, picking up her own glass.

"Maybe you shouldn’t. Since when has being you ever been a plus?" Sierra said picking up her glass.

Everyone followed suit, toasting together and feeling happy before everyone who didn’t have their backs to them noticed Shawn and Collin approaching.

Trey, Noah and Chad were sitting on the side opposite the girls with their backs to Shawn and Collin and didn’t notice them standing behind them.

"Yay, hot gay guys!" Amber spoke.

"Hey, everyone...uh, I heard about Trey and the show," Shawn started, Trey turning around shocked to see both Shawn and his apparent new boyfriend. "Congratulations, Trey."

"Shawn. Shawn’s cute friend. Sit down, eat with us," Sierra said.

"We don’t wanna get in the way," Shawn spoke, looking over at Trey.

"Speak for yourself, I’m hungry," Collin spoke taking a seat next to Chad. "Hi, Collin Jacobs."

"Chad Sports," Chad replied. "Although that’s not my real name. I don’t actually know my real name."

"Huh....we’ll aren’t you just an interesting guy," Collin spoke.

Shawn seemed to be hesitating and Trey could feel another panic attack coming on.

"I called and told him," Grace said. "He’s our friend ya’ll."

Trey realized that they’d got everything out into the open a few weeks ago and that they were supposed to be working towards getting back on track, albeit the idea that this hadn’t happened between them at all. But seeing him now...seeing him now with his new boyfriend...he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think at that moment.

All he knew was that Shawn was once again causing him to feel like he was trapped and having to be around him and his new boyfriend was not going to help anything. He could never think as clearly as he wanted and was afraid of doing something he’d later regret.

He decided he needed air and headed out into the lobby to walk around.

"Noah...just give him a minute," Grace said before Noah could even stand.

"Yeah, you’re right," he replied.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean-"

"I know boy," Grace replied.

Trey meanwhile was walking in smile circles in the lobby trying to clear his head before he felt his phone vibrating. He fished it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Gave any more thought to what we talked about earlier?" Freddy asked.

Trey was surprised that Freddy was calling. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten his number but wasn’t entirely surprised that he’d somehow gotten it.

"I don’t know, Freddy," Trey replied. "I met those actors that are supposed to be on the show."

"Why do you think they’re there Trey?" Freddy asked.

"People can spot fake easily. They’re there so people can tell the difference between you and them. You’re the hero of the story, the one person on the show that people are going to be able to look up to."

Trey hadn’t really thought about it from that angle and wasn’t even entirely sure how that logic was supposed to make sense but at least Freddy had his reasons to explain why there were actors in the first place.

Still he wasn’t convinced. He started walking back in forward in a straight line, mulling it all over before he noticed Shawn and Collin exiting the cafeteria together, laughing and looking like a nice happy couple. If anything, it pissed Trey off and it further pissed him off that he didn’t know why he was pissed off.

"Trey, you still there?" Freddy asked.

"I’ll do it," Trey quickly replied. "I’ll be the star of the show. I’ll let everybody see me."

"Wow..okay, awesome. That’s great," Freddy responded, obviously thrilled. "I’ll call you with the details to we can get everything set up."

"Great," Trey spoke, still watching as Shawn and Collin continued laughing together, holding hands as they exited the dorms.

Now everyone was going to see him, including Shawn and Shawn’s boyfriend. That was the best part. Shawn would have to deal with seeing him everywhere and hearing people talk about him all the time. After all, college kids did breathe MTV.

"I have to say I’m really glad you’re gonna be our shows gay hero," Freddy replied. "Everyone’s gonna love and respect you. I bet your parents are going to be so proud."