"Sounds good," smiled Tyler as he waved to some people on the sidewalk. As he pulled out of school property. "So pick whatever tunes you want to hear. Got satellite radio that the pops pays for...well I pay for it but its in his name," grinned the black teen as he drove following the directions.

"So tell me about yourself, Tommy...or Thomas...or Tom?"

Thomas chose to keep the radio off. He preferred to just talk with Tyler, find out more about him, and more specifically, more about his relationship with Lucas. "It doesn't matter to me. You can choose which ever one you like the most" Thomas told Tyler when he asked about his name. "There's not much to know about me. I'm kind of a nerd and spend most of my time studying or being picked on." Tom said, playing the victim once again as he turned his head away from the teen. "Tell me more about you. How did you and Lucas become such good friends?" Thomas asked, choosing to be more direct in his approach.

"Nah we can keep the music off, Tommy boy. But you can change that part about you right? The picking on part? Have more confidence and they will stop. Most jack asses do it to get a rise and feel superior and," taking a deep breath his holder slumped a little bit. "Lucas and I were friends since like grade school. We met in summer sports camp and you can say we butted heads. You know, two alpha males and all. Buy after we beat each other up and sat in time out, we became best friends. We always had each others backs up and hung out all the time." Tyler chuckled a couple of times as he remembered some memories from the past.

When Tyler told him that he could change that part of him, that by being more confident would result in putting a stop in all of this, Tommy sighed. "Well, it's not that easy." Thomas explained. "I am confident in my intelligence and a lot of other things I excel at. However, most of the reason they make fun of me is because they think I'm a fag." Lucas said, his voice quivering a bit. "And well...I...I am one. I've tried to change, but..." Thomas' eyes were starting to tear up. He wasn't expecting to open up to the stud, but the information just kind of spit out. His emotions got the better of him, but his mind soon regained focus. "I can't. I'm sorry Tyler, if you feel uncomfortable around me now. But it's just so hard. To be hated because of something you can't control. Do you know how hard that is?" Thomas asked. He knew Tyler was at least bisexual from the way he looked at Lucas. He was very curious about how he would react to all of this.

Tyler sat their silent for a little bit when Thomas confessed that he was gay. Maybe we are not so different, thought Tyler as he continued to watch the road.

"I don't know what to say to you except that I can understand where you are coming from. Except you are probably a lot more open about it than me though," he confessed as they continued driving. "Also why should I care what orientation you are? You seem like a good guy and if people can't accept you for who you are then they can go to Hell."

Thomas looked up at the stud with tears in his eyes still, this time from happiness, even though they were fake. "Wait, y-you're gay too?" Thomas asked, trying his hardest to sound surprised. When Tyler told him how he felt about people not accepting him, a light bulb flashed in his head. Driving a wedge between the two would be a lot easier than he originally thought. "But...well...Lucas is the one who really started it. You wouldn't want him to go to hell just because he doesn't accept me. After all, you've known him all your life. You've known me for a few hours." Thomas said, defeated.

"Gay is a little bit of a strong work, even for me, but I think so..." said Tyler a little nervous. Upon hearing that Lucas started the whole deal with Thomas over his orientation, he wasn't too surprised, but it still annoyed him. "He just needs an attitude adjustment and realize that people have feelings too. To be honest, I almost feel like I don't know him sometimes."

Thomas smiled when Tyler half-heartedly denied being gay. It reminded him of when he first realized he liked men. He tried to think of all the ways to convince himself that he wanted to have sex with a male, but still not be gay. When Tyler said he felt like he hardly knew Lucas anymore, Thomas made note of it. There was a crack in their relationship, and Thomas was going to make sure he shattered it. "If you don't mind, can you tell me what Lucas was like before he became, well...such a bully?" Thomas asked. He wanted some information on Lucas' past that he could use to exploit the jock, and also wanted to see what Tyler found fun.

"Well, Kyle was a runt with attitude. He was just a happy kid that enjoyed being with his friends and family. Granted he had his bratty moments, but who didn't as a kid right?" Smiled Tyler as he began to remember their first encounter. "Shit, I think we tormented each other a lot as kids and got into a fight or two and became fast friends after that. He didn't take any bad talking about anyone he cared about and was a good guy..." His next expression softened but a small hint of sadness was on his face as he said this last word. "He really isn't a bad guy, Tom. I...I think it's something else and he just won't say."

Thomas listened closely as Tyler recalled his past with Lucas. It became evident to him that breaking their relationship apart was going to be a lot harder than he thought. It wasn't going to happen by just bad mouthing Lucas, no matter how much proof he had that the jock was a complete asshole. Tyler clearly had more than just teenage feelings for the douchebag. That's when Thomas realized if he had any hope of getting Tyler on his side, Lucas would have to be the one to get mad at Tyler.

"I believe you." Tom said, with a smile. "We're almost here. Just take the next right and its the third house on your left"