Welcome to my life, Chapter 10
Title: Welcome to my life
Genre: slash, drama, fluffy, angst
Pairing: David Desrosiers/ Pierre Bouvier
Fandom: Simple Plan
Rating: PG-15
Summary: Pierre Bouvier is a 17-year old boy who is an outsider at school ‘cause he is too afraid to get to know anyone due to his experiences at his previous school.
David is his classmate who is bullied and gets beaten up almost everyday. What happens when one day their paths cross?
Chapter 10. This time it’s different
Pierre’s PoV.
After the second math lesson, I looked at my timetable again and noticed that I would have English next. As I turned my gaze away from the paper on my hands, I noticed that Chuck was standing next to me.
“I’m guessing you need help with finding your classes?” Chuck asked and grinned at me.
“Yeah, I have no idea where any of my classes are”, I admitted.
“Do you have English next too?” Chuck asked. I nodded and we started walking towards the right classroom.
“Do you have any hobbies?” Chuck asked as we walked along the long hallway.
“Not really, but I like to watch movies, listen to music and write songs”, I answered and blushed slightly. The last one came out of my mouth accidentally, I wasn’t going to tell about my secret hobby to someone I had just met since I probably wouldn’t be ready to show my lyrics to anyone else except David anytime soon. They were so personal. I glanced at Chuck’s expression. He had raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“Oh, cool! You write songs too!” he exclaimed excitedly. I nodded, still a bit embarrassed.
“Wait, you write songs too?” I asked confusedly as I realized what he had just said.
Chuck nodded.
“Yeah, I also play drums in a band”, he answered. Now it was my turn to look at him surprised.
“Really?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I’ve been playing for a couple years”, he answered and smiled at me.
“What kind of music do you play?” I asked.
“Punk rock”, Chuck answered.
“That sounds so cool”, I said, still surprised about the information I had just gotten as we stopped in front of a classroom.
“This is our English class room”, Chuck said. I looked around me, trying to memorize the place so I would remember it later, in case Chuck wasn’t always walking with me to every class.
We sat on a bench outside of the classroom.
“I guess you like punk rock music then, if you play in a punk rock- band?” I asked. He nodded.
“I listen to other stuff too, but it’s always been my favorite”, Chuck answered.
“Yeah, same here”, I said. Now it was Chuck’s turn to look surprised.
“You like punk rock too?” he asked, sounding astonished.
“Yeah, if I had a band, it would probably be a punk rock band”, I answered.
“Do you dream about being in a band?” Chuck asked.
“Maybe. I should just have a lot more confidence, so I would have courage to play or sing in front of people”, I answered.
“What would you play then?” Chuck asked curiously.
“Maybe I would sing or play bass”, I answered. He nodded.
Chuck was just about to ask me something when Phil and Jay came to us.
“What are you talking about?” Phil asked curiously. Chuck and I glanced at each other.
“We were talking about our hobbies and music”, Chuck answered with a smile.
Phil nodded.
“Do you have any hobbies then?” he asked me as Jay was listening to our conversation curiously.
“Not really”, I answered. Phil nodded again.
“I play hockey”, he told me. I nodded and smiled at him.
“And I don’t have any actual hobbies either”, Jay said.
Suddenly the bells rang, signalling that the classes were about to start. After the teacher opened the door, I followed the others into the classroom.
In the classroom I stayed on the side as the others were going on their own seats. I waited to see which seats were available after everyone else had taken their seats. I noticed that the seat next to Chuck was empty again, so after everyone else had sat down, I went to sit there. Phil and Jay were sitting in front of us. Chuck smiled at me as I sat next to him.
“You can sit next to me in almost every lesson. That seat is basically always empty”, Chuck said quietly and smiled at me as the teacher was going through the name list. I nodded and smiled back at him.
After the English lessons we had an hour-long lunch break. I followed Chuck, Phil and Jay out of the class. We stopped in front of the classroom for a while.
“Do you have your own packed lunch with you?” Chuck asked. I nodded.
“We always have our own packed lunch with us as well, but usually we go to eat at Jay’s place ‘cause it’s nicer to hang out there than here. And before you ask, we eat at Jay’s ‘cause his home is the closest to the school”, he told me. I nodded again.
“Do you wanna come to my place to eat with us?” Jay asked and smiled at me.
“Yeah, sure”, I answered and smiled back at him.
“Good, let’s go then”, he said and all four of us started heading out of the school.
Soon we got to the parking lot where Jeff had left us this morning. Jay’s black Nissan was parked on the other side of the parking lot, so it was closer to our school building than Jeff’s car. He opened the doors and sat in the driver’s seat. Phil sat next to him in the passenger’s seat and I sat in the backseat with Chuck.
It only took a few minutes to drive to Jay’s place and soon he parked his car on the driveway, in front of a red brick house that had two floors. We all got out of the car and walked to the front door. Jay opened the door for us and we walked into the house. We came into a narrow hallway and took our shoes off before walking further into the house. We followed Jay through the kitchen, which was on the left side of the hallway, into a dining room. In the middle of the dining room there was a big wooden dining table with eight chairs around it. Jay and Phil sat on one side of the table, which was closer to the kitchen as Chuck and I went to sit on the other side, opposite to the other two. We took out our lunches and started eating.
We ate in silence for a while. I was waiting for the others to start a conversation ‘cause I didn’t really know what to say or ask, but I guess they had the same problem. Actually I had plenty of questions in my mind, but I wasn’t sure if I had the courage to start a conversation by asking one of those. I had never been really good at getting to know new people, I was always thinking too much about what to say or ask and if I had the guts to say or ask it. Even when I was younger, basically all my friends had been Jay’s friends that I accidentally had gotten to know ‘cause they were always hanging out at our place and including me in their games.
After eating one of my two sandwiches, I finally mustered up my courage and opened my mouth. I had a chance to get not only one, but three friends from my class. I wasn’t going to let my shyness and bad self-esteem ruin it for me this time.
“Um… So… You already know my brother, so you probably also know that we have an older brother, Jonathan”, I started nervously. The others nodded and smiled at me, making me feel a little less nervous.
“Do you have any siblings?” I asked as I glanced at them.
They all glanced at each other, silently asking who would answer first. Phil and Jay let Chuck answer first and I turned to look at the boy sitting next to me.
“I have a brother named Louis. He’s three years younger than us”, Chuck answered and smiled at me. I nodded. Phil decided to answer my question next.
“Well, you already met my brothers in the morning and Vital is in the same class with Louis”, he said. I nodded again and turned to look at Jay.
“I have a two years younger brother Sebastien and two sisters that are in elementary school”, Jay answered and smiled at me. I nodded and smiled back at him.
“You seem to be really close with your brother Jay”, Phil said and smiled at me friendly. I nodded.
“Yeah, he’s always been my best friend”, I answered and smiled back at him. Phil nodded.
“I’ve always been close with Jeff too, but I think you guys are even closer”, he said. I nodded.
“Yeah, we’ve always been close, but the struggles of past few years have made us even closer”, I said. I realized my slip after finishing my sentence and seeing the slightly confused expressions on their faces. I felt myself blushing. What the hell was wrong with me today? Why did I keep slipping out things I didn’t mean to tell, not at least yet?
“That sounds nice to have your best friend living with you and help you with your struggles. Now I almost wish I had a brother like Jay”, Chuck said and smiled at me.
I chuckle as I recover from my embarrassment a bit. I noticed that Phil and Jay wanted to ask something, probably about the struggles I mentioned, but they decided to not ask further questions and just agreed with Chuck.
We kept eating in silence. I guess no one knew what to say anymore and I was worried what might slip from my mouth next time I opened it.
“Do you smoke?” Jay’s question brought me back to earth from my thoughts. We ate our lunches a while ago, but we were still sitting by the table. I shook my head. I had never even tried smoking and I wasn’t planning on starting it either.
“Well, Phil and I could probably go have a smoke. Do you wanna come with us or stay here?” Jay asked me and Chuck as he and Phil got up from their chairs. I shrugged. I didn’t really want to go out and smell like cigarettes since I didn’t even smoke, but I also didn’t want to say no in case Chuck wanted to go.
“Maybe we’ll wait here”, Chuck answered and smiled. Jay nodded before heading into the hallway with Phil. Chuck and I stayed in the dining room, sitting by the table.
“You don’t smoke either?” I asked him. Chuck shook his head.
“No, I even hate the smell. That’s why I very rarely go out with them when they go for a smoke”, he answered. I nodded.
“Good to know that I’m not the only one”, I said, relieved and smiled at Chuck.
As we waited for Jay and Phil, we started to talk about our favorite bands, which seemed to be pretty much the same for both of us, and soon we noticed that they were already coming back.
We hung out at Jay’s for about fifteen more minutes before we started heading back to school.
Geography lessons were the last two lessons of my first school day. They ended up going by quite fast and soon I noticed myself standing outside of the school with my new acquaintances. Maybe I could call them my friends? At least in my scale they were already my friends. At least they seemed interested in being my friends. But would they be interested anymore when they found out I was gay? Maybe they just pretended to be my friends ‘cause they were friends with my brother. I sighed as I tried to get those negative thoughts out of my mind.
“Pierre, you want a ride home?” Jay’s question interrupted my thoughts.
“Um, yeah. If it’s not too much inconvenience then I’d like to have a ride home”, I answered confusedly. Jay shook his head and smiled at me.
“It’s not an inconvenience. I take Chuck home everyday anyway so it doesn’t make a big difference if I take you home as well”, he answered. I nodded.
“Thanks”, I said and smiled at Jay as we started heading towards his car again.
“I guess you're coming with us too, Phil?” Jay asked the other boy.
“Yeah, I don’t feel like staying and waiting for Jeff for an hour”, Phil answered. Jay nodded.
“Sometimes when my little brother Seb has a longer school day, he’ll come with us as well, but it doesn’t happen very often. Usually his school ends at two”, Jay told me.
“Okay, good to know”, I said.
Soon we sat in Jay’s car again. Chuck and I were once again sitting in the backseat as Phil was sitting in the passenger seat next to Jay. I took my phone out of my pocket and decided to send a text message to David.
“Hey, I’m on my way home now. Do you wanna come over?” I wrote and sent the message. It only took a few minutes for David to answer to me that he would love to come over and he would be at my place at four, which was in an hour.
“I’ll see you then”, I answered him and smiled foolishly without noticing. After sending the text message I put my phone away.
“Were you texting your girlfriend?” Chuck asked and smiled at me. I felt myself blush a little, especially when I noticed that Phil turned to look at me curiously too and I was pretty sure Jay glanced at me through the rear view mirror as well.
“Um… Kinda”, I answered, even though I was worried that my answer would cause more questions. I just didn’t wanna lie to them, but I also couldn’t tell the entire truth, at least yet.
Luckily Chuck just nodded as a response and Phil turned to look at the views that were passing by.
Soon we arrived on our driveway.
“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow at school”, I said as I opened the door.
“No problem, I’ll see you tomorrow”, Jay said and smiled at me.
Phil and Chuck also said their goodbyes to me before I got out of the car. I closed the door behind me and watched as Jay’s car drove away from our driveway before I started walking towards the front door of our house.
*
About five minutes until four, our doorbell rang. I got up from the couch where I had been sitting and headed towards the front door to open the door for David. After I opened it, we greeted each other and I let him inside. After he stepped into the house and closed the door, he wrapped his arms around my body and I answered his hug. David pulled away from the hug so he could press his lips against mine and of course answered the kiss.
After we pulled away from the kiss, David took his shoes off and we headed upstairs into my room.
“Well, how did it go?” David asked curiously as we sat down on my bed.
“Actually really well”, I answered, still confused about everything that had happened earlier.
I told David everything that had happened today up until the moment that Jay took me home.
“Good to hear that it went well and your new friends sound really nice”, David said and smiled at me after I finished my story. I smiled back at him.
“I just have to ask Jay what has he told them about me when he gets home soon… I was bothered all day ‘cause I didn’t know what they knew about me already”, I said. David nodded.
Soon I heard the front door open and almost immediately close downstairs. I got up from my bed and headed to the door of my room before opening it.
“Jay?” I asked, although I knew it was Jay that had come home.
“Yeah?” he answered downstairs.
“Could you come here for a sec?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right up”, he answered and soon he was at the door of my room.
I went back to sit on my bed next to David and motioned Jay to come in. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, although no one else was home yet.
“Hey, guys”, he said and smiled at us as he headed over to sit on my desk chair in front of us.
“So… How was your first day at school?” he asked me curiously.
“Surprisingly well. I didn’t have to introduce myself in front of everyone in any of the classes and yeah, it was good”, I answered and smiled at him.
“Good to hear. How are your classmates?” he asked next.
“Well… Most of them didn’t pay any attention to me, but there were a few guys that were really nice to me and I spent all my breaks with them and they also gave me a ride home”, I answered.
“I think you already know them since one of them is Phil”, I added. A wide grin appeared on Jay’s face.
“Oh, that’s great! I was hoping you would end up in the same class with him. I knew you would get along with that other Jay and Chuck as well”, Jay said excitedly.
I smiled at him, a bit confused.
“Yeah… About that... I wanted to ask you, what have you told them about me already?” I asked. Jay shrugged.
“I don’t think I’ve told anything except your name and that you're the same age as them. I might have mentioned you as I’ve told some story or something, but I haven’t told them anything… Personal about you”, Jay answered. I nodded relieved.
“And… Do you happen to know how they feel about gay people? Should I tell them I’m gay or just stay in the closet?” I asked him. Jay smiled at me.
“At least they won’t admit that they have anything against gay people or other sexual minorities so I think you can tell them”, Jay answered. I looked at him surprised.
“Have you talked about it?” I asked. This was not what I had expected. I had been worried that either he didn’t know their opinion about it or they would be against it, like most straight guys my age. Jay nodded.
“It came up when we accidentally happened to go to the center of the city last August during the Pride parade”, Jay answered. I nodded confusedly.
“I have to admit, I was tempted to tell them about you back then, but I was able to keep my mouth shut”, Jay said. I didn’t know what to say after that, so I just nodded. We were silent for a while.
“Thanks for not telling them”, I said and smiled at my brother, finally breaking the silence.
“I realized that it’s not my job to tell them about it, even if the moment was perfect. I thought that if you meet, it’s better that you tell them when you’re ready”, Jay said.
“But seriously, as I said, I don’t think you have any reason to think that they wouldn’t accept you”, he added. I nodded.
“Still I’m scared to tell them… But at the same time I want to tell them ‘cause it’s difficult to really get to know them without letting out something about it”, I said and sighed. Jay moved closer to me with the chair and stroked my arm encouragingly.
“You’ll tell them when you’re ready”, he said and smiled at me.
“Or if it feels easier, maybe you can tell the one that you feel closest to first and that way you can get more confidence to tell the others”, he continued. I nodded and smiled at him thankfully.
“Do you wanna play video games or watch a movie with me now or do you have something else in mind?” Jay asked, changing the subject. I glanced at David questioningly, who just shrugged.
“I’m good with either one”, I answered and smiled.
Jay rolled his eyes at our indecision and eventually we decided to go play FIFA in Jonathan’s room.
After playing for about an hour Jay’s phone beeped as a sign of a text message.
At that moment I was playing against David, so Jay had a good time to take this phone from his pocket and read the message as we were playing.
“Um… Pierre”, he said as he read the message.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“That other Jay just texted that he could pick you up tomorrow morning as he picks up Chuck and Phil ‘cause your school starts an hour earlier than mine and Jeff’s. Also he asked if I could give him your number so he wouldn’t always have to ask through me”, Jay said.
“Yeah, sounds good”, I answered as I tried to concentrate on the game.
“Great. I’ll answer him now then”, Jay said. I nodded, not turning my gaze away from the TV screen in front of me.
*
After we stopped playing, we went to eat downstairs with my family. After eating, David and I went to my room. Once again we had put on a CD, this time Green Day’s Insomniac, and just cuddled on my bed while listening to the music.
Now we were walking towards David’s home as it was nine o’clock already.
“Are you gonna tell your friends about me tomorrow?” David asked and turned to look at me after we had walked in silence for a while. I shrugged.
“Maybe, if I get a chance. At least I could try to tell Chuck. After today, I feel closest to him”, I answered. David nodded.
“Do you wanna come over tomorrow as well?” I asked.
“Eh, Linda wants to buy me a new suit for the funeral ‘cause the old one doesn’t fit me anymore and we’re going shopping tomorrow”, David answered with a sigh.
“In my opinion I could’ve gone to the funeral with black jeans and dress shirt, but Linda insists on buying me a new suit”, he continued, rolling his eyes. I smiled at him.
“It’s okay. We can meet again the next day”, I answered. He nodded.
“Preferably I would’ve met you tomorrow too, but I have no idea how long it’s gonna take until we find a suit for me”, David said. I nodded.
“Preferably I would’ve met you tomorrow too, but I think we can manage a day without seeing each other”, I said and smiled at him. David smiled back at me.
“Yeah, probably. Can we talk on the phone in the evening though?” he asked. I answered his question by nodding and smiling at him.
*
The next morning I walked out of our front door around half past seven am ‘cause Jay had texted me that they would pick me up then. I didn’t have to wait long in the chilly October weather until a familiar black Nissan arrived in our driveway. After the car stopped, the door of the backseat opened for me and I climbed into the warm car, greeting the others. The others answered me the same way and suddenly I noticed that Chuck was sitting much closer to me than he was yesterday and that there was also a fifth person sitting on the other side of Chuck in the backseat. He was maybe a couple years younger than me and he had brown hair and blue eyes. I closed the door and my seat belt, confused about the fifth person.
“Hi, I’m Sebastien. Jay’s brother”, he introduced himself to me politely. He probably noticed the confused expression on my face. I probably should’ve realized he was Jay’s brother without him actually saying it out loud. After all he looked a lot like his brother, only a couple years younger and Jay did mention yesterday that he had a younger brother named Sebastien who occasionally was going to be in his car with us. I felt a bit stupid for not realizing it immediately.
“I’m Pierre”, I introduced myself as well, although Sebastien probably already knew who I was. He nodded and smiled at me and I smiled back at him.
Soon we arrived at the parking lot of the school and Jay parked his car in almost, if not exactly, the same spot as yesterday. We all got out of the car and started walking towards the school.
Almost as soon as we stepped into the school, Sebastien had to turn in another direction as the rest of us.
“It was nice to meet you, Pierre”, he said and smiled at me. I answered him the same way and smiled back at him before he started walking away from us. We started heading towards our first class.
My second school day went in a very similar way than the first one. The first two lessons were French and the next two lessons were history. After the history lessons we had our lunch break which we spent by going to eat our packed lunches at Jay's again. After the lunch break we had two biology lessons. On our breaks we talked about random stuff and just got to know each other more.
*
“Pierre, do you wanna come over to my place to hang out with me?” Chuck asked me as we were walking towards the parking lot.
“Or if you want, we can do something else too”, he added and smiled at me.
“Yeah, sure”, I answered and smiled at him.
Soon I realized that he didn’t invite Jay or Phil so I turned to look at them confusedly.
“I can’t hang out with you guys today ‘cause I have hockey practice today. I have them on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and sometimes I have games on weekend”, Phil said and smiled at me. I nodded.
“And I have to look after my siblings today ‘cause both my mom and stepdad have later shifts at work today”, Jay said. I nodded, realizing now why Chuck didn’t even ask if they wanted to come over.
We arrived at Jay’s car and noticed that Sebastien was already waiting for us there. We all said hi to the younger boy before going into Jay’s car.
“How’s it going in our school?” Sebastien asked me curiously as Jay started driving out of the school’s parking lot towards Phil’s home.
“It’s been really great. I’m happy I ended up in your school”, I answered honestly and smiled at him. Although a voice in my head decided to remind me how it all might change with my new friends after I come out to them, making my smile fade away a bit. Sebastien nodded and smiled back at me.
“It’s nice to hear”, he said.
The drive from school to Phil’s place didn’t take long and soon we arrived in front of a white house with two floors.
“Bye, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Phil exclaimed as he opened the door of the car. We wished him luck for the hockey practice and said our goodbyes as he stepped out of the car. After the door had closed behind him and he had started heading towards the door, Jay started heading towards Chuck’s place.
The drive from Phil’s home to Chuck’s home was even faster ‘cause it was only like a mile between their houses and soon we arrived in Chuck’s driveway. We got out of the car and said our goodbyes to Jay and Seb before we started heading towards the front door of Chuck’s home.
Chuck opened the door of the red brick house and we stepped in. We left our shoes, jackets and school bags in the hallway and Chuck showed me around the house. On the left side of the hallway there were the bedrooms. First there was his parents bedroom which was the biggest bedroom. Next to his parents there was his brother’s bedroom and Chuck’s bedroom was after that. Next to Chuck’s bedroom there was the bathroom. On the right side of the hallway there was a combined kitchen and living room. From the living room there was also an access to a little backyard.
After walking around the house, we ended up in between the kitchen and the living room.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” Chuck asked politely. I shook my head.
“I’m not hungry, but maybe I could drink something”, I answered and smiled at him.
Chuck nodded and we ended up taking cans of coke from their fridge. With the cans of coke, we walked over into their living room and sat on the beige couch.
“What do you wanna do?” Chuck asked and smiled at me. I shrugged.
“Um… I don’t know, I’m good with almost anything”, I answered, a bit embarrassed.
“Should we check what’s on TV? Or we can watch a movie if you want?” Chuck suggested, not seeming bothered about my useless answer. I nodded and smiled at him.
“We can watch if there’s anything good on TV and if not, then we can watch a movie”, I answered. Chuck smiled at me and turned on the TV.
“What kind of movies and TV-shows do you like?” he asked as he started going through the channels.
“In movies I like pretty much anything that has a good plot, but in TV-shows I mostly like comedies”, I answered. Chuck nodded.
“Yeah, it’s pretty much the same for me too”, he said.
For a while we talked about our favorite TV-shows and movies while watching The Simpsons and drinking our cokes. At some point our conversation stopped as we concentrated more on the episode on TV.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering that maybe I could tell you why I transferred schools”, I said after The Simpsons episode ended, breaking the silence. I was nervous. My heart was pounding way too fast in my chest and I was almost worried it was gonna jump out in any minute.
Chuck muted the TV and turned to look at me. He looked surprised, but still smiled at me encouragingly.
“Um… I transferred schools ‘cause I was bullied in my previous one”, I said quietly, not daring to look Chuck in his eyes.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry”, he said, sounding so sincere that I turned to look at him. As I looked at him in the eyes, I saw a genuine empathy in his eyes.
“Do you wanna tell me why? I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to”, Chuck asked.
“Um… It’s actually why I wanted to tell you ‘cause it’s a big part of my life and it’s difficult to get to know you guys without talking about it”, I said.
Chuck nodded and looked at me questioningly. I took a deep breath.
“I was bullied ‘cause I’m gay”, I said quietly and observed Chuck’s reaction nervously.