Survivors

Chapter Thirteen: "And the Winner is..."

 

 
Douglas woke up Wednesday morning before his alarm went off. He looked at the time and saw he had still another hour until he had to get up. He turned around and tried to go back to sleep, but his brain was spinning a million miles an hour. Mr. Z said he and Robert Charles would both be able to give a short campaign speech at the start of class. He flipped to his other side, then back again, but he couldn’t stop his brain from spinning. He kept trying not to think about the election and all the things that happened the last few days. Finally, his mind settled on a happy thought—Scooter. He drifted off to sleep, but the alarm seemed to go off at the same instant. Douglas shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He was so nervous he didn't even have a morning erection.
 
After he showered and got dressed, he went to Scooter’s cabin to pick him up. He and Scooter walked up the corridor together to breakfast. They were the first of their upper class friends to arrive in Dining Hall #3, which had become their regular place to meet for breakfast. They found an empty table and sat down.
 
"Scooter...”
 
“Yes?”
 
“Do you think I can beat him?"
 
Scooter pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket. "It depends." He showed Douglas what he had written down the night before. Douglas studied it and saw it was Scooter’s judgment of who was going to vote for whom.
 
“Douglas for sure. Douglas, Scooter, Travis, Mike, Ryan, Stevie, Alex, Brandon.  Robert Charles for sure. Jordan, Lisa, Carmen, Matthew. Not sure. Warren, Jeremy, Michelle, Felicia.”
 
"All you need is one of the not sure votes, Douglas. Just one and you win."
 
"Jeremy would be with me if not for the Mike thing," Douglas said. "And I just don't know about Warren. As for the two girls, well, I haven't done much about going after their votes."
 
Warren and Jeremy entered the dining hall; Jeremy had picked up Warren. They went on to another table, but Warren stopped long enough to whisper something to Douglas.
 
"What did he say?" Scooter asked.
 
"Said he was going to vote for me. Maybe that is the vote we need. I guess we'll find out soon."
 
Jeremy had seen Warren stop to tell Douglas something. When Warren got to their table he asked Warren what he had said.
 
“I said I was going to vote for him.”
 
“Well, I think you’re making a big mistake if you do.” Jeremy went on to say he liked Douglas, but anybody who broke down and cried when things got tough was not somebody he could vote for. And besides, there was the whole Mike thing.
 
After breakfast everybody headed for the ship's school. Mr. Z opened class by telling them that the election would be held right after the final speeches.
 
Robert Charles and Douglas had drawn cards with Robert Charles drawing a nine to Douglas’s six. Robert Charles told about how he had been trained to be a leader. He pointed out the things he had accomplished already, like reserving the spa and getting the auditorium for Alex and Stevie's show (That's a big lie, Alex thought). He told the class how he was experienced at leading and accomplishing things and how Douglas obviously did not know how to get things done. He didn't mention Douglas supporting Mike, but he did drop a hint. He said he knew all of his supporters were trustworthy and solid.
 
Douglas told how he had been elected his school's president. He pointed out that he had many friends in the class and that he’d done things behind the scenes to help his friends. He added that many in the class had become his friends, and that he would work not only for his friends but for anybody who needed him. Douglas sat down knowing what he said was lame, but he figured he had his nine votes no matter what, and he wasn't going to get the other side all upset by attacking Robert Charles and his lies.
 
Mr. Z. passed out the ballots. Two names were on them with a box beside them. Douglas and Robert Charles. All they had to do was mark an X in the box of the person they wanted.
 
The students  wrote their X's.
 
Robert Charles--X Robert Charles
Douglas--X Douglas
Scooter--X Douglas
Travis--X Douglas
Jordan--X Robert Charles
Lisa X—Robert Charles
Stevie--X Douglas
Alex--X Douglas
Jeremy--X Robert Charles
Warren--X Douglas
Mike--X Douglas
Brandon--X Douglas
Michelle--X Douglas
Carmen X—Robert Charles
Felicia--X Robert Charles
Matthew--X Robert Charles
Ryan--X Douglas
 
Mr. Z. collected the ballots and put them on his desk.
 
"Aren't you going to count them?" Alex asked.
 
"At break I will—I want to count them in private. You guys can wait a while longer. "
 
"Why, sir?" Alex asked.  "Any class vote I've ever seen the teacher counted right away." Alex had a bad feeling about this.
 
Mr. Z glared at Alex, but didn't say anything.
 
"I agree with Alex, sir," Mike said. "I think they should be counted now."
 
"Mike, everybody knows how you feel. Everybody knows how you don't like Robert Charles.  And everybody knows how you try to threaten your classmates...and worse."
 
Mike felt his cheeks burning. He was ready to say more when Mr. Z. turned to Alex. "And are you accusing me of something, young man?"
 
"No sir, I'm not. I just think we all would like to know who won now, sir. This is important to us."
 
"Then, if you aren't accusing me of anything, it really doesn't matter when I count the votes, does it?"
 
"Yes sir, it does. Unless you have some reason for not wanting us to watch you count the ballots, I think they should be counted here in front of us, sir."
 
"Well, I think you are totally out of line Alex."
 
"Can we have a student watch you count, sir?"
 
"That is enough! It is a secret ballot and nobody but me sees them."
 
"Also, sir, I think what you said to Mike was totally out of line."
 
"No, YOU are totally out of line! And one more word you leave for the day!"
 
"That would be a pleasure, sir."
 
"OUT! I will see you in my office before class tomorrow, SIR!"
 
Alex got up to leave. Mike got up too.
 
"And where are you going?"
 
"I'm going with Alex. I think you are being totally unfair, sir."
 
"And I think you're having enough troubles without walking out of class."
 
"This class is a joke, sir." Mike walked out behind Alex.
 
Douglas raised his hand.
 
"Oh, somebody being polite instead of shouting something out. How unique. Yes, Douglas?"
 
"Mr. Z., it wouldn't hurt to have a student help count. It would make somebody feel good and to be part of what is going on. Kind of like getting a special job."
 
"Douglas, that is a nice thought, but I think I can take care of it myself. That's what they pay me the big bucks for." He paused like he was waiting for a laugh. Since nobody laughed, he went on. 
 
Robert Charles raised his hand and Mr. Z acknowledged him. "Robert Charles, what do you think of this whole issue?"
 
"I think you're the teacher and you should count the ballots any time you want without anybody saying anything."
 
"Thank you Robert Charles, I like your attitude. Okay, let's work on your computer assignments."
 
While they were working the Recreation Director came in with a notebook. Mr. Z. talked to him a while and signed something and the RD left.
 
The morning went slowly for Douglas. He wanted the official count, not his own count which might be wrong, because some people didn't tell him for sure how they were going to vote, and some might even change their minds.  Whatever, he didn't trust Mr. Z. Alex was right. There was something fishy about the way he wanted to count the ballots later and in private. He looked at Mr. Z. who was at his desk, and walked over to talk to him
 
"Mr. Z., I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I think the best thing for everybody would be if you counted the ballots here in class now. It's not that I don't trust you, but Alex made a big issue out of it and maybe somebody might think it was rigged or something. That way if Robert Charles wins everybody would respect him even more because...."
 
"I think I've heard enough, Douglas. Of course you're right. And I apologize for upsetting everybody.  It's no secret that I want Robert Charles to win, because I think he is more mature and can be a stronger leader. That's no offense to you. I think in a couple of years you could be accomplishing big things on Alpha Orion IV."
 
All Douglas could think was that Mr. Z. was a slime ball, but he didn't say anything. Mr. Z. took the ballots off his desk and called Robert Charles over.
 
"Do you boys mind if the count is public? If you don't you can watch and I will put it on the board. I want there to be no doubt about who the true winner is."
 
Douglas was surprised at the teacher’s sudden change in attitude and agreed immediately. Robert Charles said he was fine with whatever the teacher did.. But Douglas was suspicious as to why Mr. Z. had suddenly changed his mind. One minute he is kicking Alex out for wanting the count to be public, and the next minute he is saying a public count would be a good thing.  Mr. Z  agreed to have a student see the ballots as he called them out. Both boys agreed to have Michelle be the person, since she didn't seem to be good friends with either side. Scooter was picked to put the marks on the board.
 
Mr. Z. started flipping and calling out the ballots while Michelle watched. "Douglas, Douglas, Robert Charles, Robert Charles, Douglas, Robert Charles, Douglas, Robert Charles, Robert Charles, Robert Charles, Douglas, Douglas, Robert Charles, Robert Charles, (eight votes for Robert Charles...Douglas needed the rest) Douglas, Robert Charles, (nine votes...Douglas felt like he was hit in the stomach), Robert Charles." Ten to seven. Douglas thought for sure the difference would be one vote either way.
 
The whole class went ohhhhhhhhh. Mr. Z. said, "Robert Charles is the winner.  Congratulations.  A good choice. And a good hard fought campaign by Douglas.  Time to break for lunch."
 
Douglas and Scooter walked to the lunchroom together. Scooter was near tears.
 
"You had him beat. Somebody cheated."
 
"You don't know that Scooter. It didn't look good, but Michelle was looking at the ballots, and I really don't think she is a big fan of Robert Charles or me. The ballots were on Mr. Z's desk the whole time so they have to be the right ones."
 
"You told me in class that Warren said at breakfast he was going to vote for you. That makes nine votes."
 
“Somebody else probably changed their mind or voted differently than we thought they would.”
 
They got to a table and sat down. The waiter gave them menus and they quickly ordered their lunch. Douglas's dad was at another table and came by.
 
"How did it go, son?"
 
"Robert Charles won, dad.  By three votes."
 
Douglas's dad ruffled his hair. "Sorry son. You'll catch him next time when we get to our new home."
 
Douglas got a sulky look on his face.  "Yeah, right. Our new home. I know where my home is and it isn't there."
 
Scooter could see Douglas's dad get a hurt look on his face. He ruffled his son’s hair again and walked away.
 
"That wasn't a nice thing to say, Douglas."
 
"Well, it's true!" Douglas felt near tears. Then he looked at his friend and saw the love in his eyes. He took a deep breath. "You're right, Scooter. I'll apologize this evening."
 
Scooter reached over and grabbed Douglas's hand and squeezed it. He whispered, "I love you."
 
Douglas squeezed back. "I love you, Scooter."
 
Travis, Brandon, Stevie, and Ryan arrived and sat with Scooter and Douglas. The group talked about the election, debating who they thought had voted for whom. To them, it all came down to one person, Warren. He told Douglas he was going to vote for him and Jeremy probably got to him and changed his mind. Stevie wanted to have a talk with him, but Douglas told him not to. It wasn't going to do any good, and besides, they weren't totally sure that's what happened.
 
"Maybe not," Stevie said, "but can you think of any other way?"
 
“If only Warren’s vote was different than we thought, RC would have won by only one vote, not by three,” Douglas pointed out.
Nobody knew how Michelle voted either. In the end,  it didn’t matter who voted for whom; Robert Charles did get ten votes.
 
Robert Charles sauntered over to their table. "Tough luck, Douglas. Maybe someday you'll grow up enough to get some respect from everybody. I'll give you some credit though, you made it close. I thought you’d only get three or four votes. I hope we can work together and plan lots of fun stuff in the time left." Robert Charles stuck out his hand.  Douglas shook Robert Charles’s hand, knowing that if he didn’t he would look like sore loser, which, in a sense, he was. Robert Charles grinned and moved over to Stevie’s seat.
 
"Sorry about your show on Friday."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Oh. You didn't hear. The auditorium was mis-scheduled. I guess Barney the comic wanted it for both Friday and Saturday nights."
 
"We were told that Friday was a movie night and we could have the auditorium."
 
"Oh well, mistakes happen. See me after school, maybe I can do something to help out.  After all, I am the leader and I should be able to help my friends,” he smirked.
 
"I'll come with Alex."
 
"I don't want to talk to Alex. He really pissed me off this morning. I'll deal just with you. If Alex comes the whole deal is off."
 
Stevie was starting to get angry, but he could see he had no choice. And right now Alex wasn't around to help him. He wondered where Alex was. He thought for sure that Alex would meet him for lunch.
 
Robert Charles ruffled Stevie's hair. "See you later, kid." He walked away laughing.
 
"I can't believe he got ten votes," Stevie groused.  "This whole thing was rigged."
 
"You can't go there alone," Douglas told him.
 
"I have to. You heard him."
 
"You're right, I did hear him, and he said you couldn't bring Alex. He didn't say you couldn't bring somebody else."
 
"He's right," Travis said.
 
"So who is coming with me then?"
 
"Well," Douglas said. "I might not have won the election, but it was close. I did say in my speech that a leader should be able to help his friends." Douglas smiled, and the whole table laughed. Douglas might have lost the election, but they were all friends and were developing a solid bond between them. Robert Charles winning wasn't going to change that. Together they would have fun and they would stand up to anything Robert Charles tried to pull on them.
 

++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Mr. Z. was having lunch in the crew dining hall. When the Recreation Director had come into the classroom he was carrying another set of ballots with his own paperwork.  It had been smart of Mr. Z to create a ballot that needed only to be marked with an X instead of a blank one where the kids would write their vote. It had been very easy to switch the ballots. When the class was working, he had switched the real ballots with the fake ones the RD had left with his paperwork.
 
 Mr. Z knew Douglas was going to get a lot of votes, so he didn't want to have the count too far off.  But he also wanted Robert Charles to win by more than one.  Ten to seven sounded just right and fit within how he perceived the dynamics of the class’s social structure. The real ballots were in the bottom drawer of his desk. He would destroy them later.
 
Robert Charles's father came into the dining hall and congratulated Mr.  Z. on a job well done. He told the teacher that he would not forget what he had promised. Mr. Z wondered if Robert Charles was going to perform what he had hinted at as well.
 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 
Alex and Mike were sound asleep on Mike’s bed. They were naked, their abdomens coated with drying cum after madly dry humping each other. Mike woke up and looked at the clock. Shit, he thought, it's lunch time. There is no way I am going to miss a meal.
 
"Alex, wake up, my dear. It's lunch time."
 
Alex woke up, blinking his eyes. He shook his head to clear it, then kissed Mike on the lips.
 
"I love you, Eeyore,” he cooed.
 
"I love you, too, Owl."
 
Both boys were Winnie the Pooh fans.  Mike had been called Eeyore when he was little because he always seemed so gloomy. The nickname certainly doesn't fit now, he thought. How can I be gloomy around Alex and my other friends on the “Starkeeper”? But then he thought about his restriction and all the crap about him being a bully and sneak attacking people and started getting gloomy.
 
Alex kissed him again. That cheered him up, and he knew lunch would cheer him up more. They got up to dress for lunch. Alex is so beautiful, Mike thought. After they had stomped out of class they knew what their destination would be without speaking a word. Mr. Z’s unfairness had angered them both and it was inevitable that the two teens would strip naked, fall onto Alex’s bed, kiss deep, long, and hard, and rub their cocks on each other until they shot their adolescent seed over each other’s bodies. The nap afterwards was the perfect way to come down.
 
Alex and Mike got dressed, kissed, and headed for lunch. When they got to the dining hall where the class had been gathering for lunch since the first day of school, they made their way to Douglas's table.
 
"Who won?" Mike asked without any preliminaries.
 
"Robert Charles," Travis answered. Then they all started telling what had happened after Mike and Alex had been kicked out of class. The entire table along with Mike and Alex were angry by the time review of the morning ended.  Alex was furious when he found out their reservation of the theater had been canceled. He was ready to head for Robert Charles's table and have it out with him, but Stevie stopped him.
 
"RC is the leader now, as much as we don't like it. And it looks like he pretty much can do anything he wants. If we want to play a concert for the ship, then we have to dance to his tune. I think he could stop us for good if we don’t."
 
"Then maybe I don't want to have a concert. Fuck 'em."
 
"Let's give it a try first, Alex. Please. Let's see what he wants."
 
Alex took a deep breath and said, "Okay, go talk to the asshole. But don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything you don't want to do."
 
"Never, but I have to hear him out. Douglas will be there to have my back.
 
"This whole thing stinks. I don't like it. Just be careful." He turned to Douglas. “And thank you for helping my brother.”
 
“No problem,” Douglas answered. “You guys are my friends.”
 
“Just how the fuck did you lose to that asshole?” Alex asked rhetorically.
 
All of the boys at the table got up and went back to class except for Alex and Mike. Robert Charles strutted by on his way back to class.
 
"I guess birds of a feather flock together, or losers like losers. Take your pick. It all fits you queers."
 
Mike pushed back his chair and stood up, his fists closed. He and Robert Charles were the same size; Mike knew he could take him. Mike was athletic and Robert Charles was soft.  Alex stood up with Mike. He didn't even come up to Robert Charles's shoulder but he knew how to fight.
 
Robert Charles shook his head and laughed. "Go ahead, start something. Get yourselves restricted to your cabins for the rest of the trip. You’ll never get to see each other, or any of your faggot friends. So hit me, I'm gonna love it."
 
Mike wanted badly to flatten RC’s nose, but he knew he was right. He also knew the voyage had a long long way to go yet, and that his chance would come. Alex was so mad he was hyperventilating and was red in the face. Alex nodded and they sat down. A crew member rushed up to table.
 
"Is there a problem here?"
 
"No, sir," Robert Charles said.  "Everything is cool. Just letting these poor slobs know who their leader is." He laughed and the crew member walked away. "Later, losers." He left for class.  Lisa had been right behind him and followed him out of the door, looking at Mike and Alex like they were a pair of snakes.
 
"Damn, he makes me mad," Alex said.
 
"It's okay, my love. He'll get his sometime."
 
"He better not do anything to Stevie this afternoon, or he'll get his today. I'll kill him if he hurts Stevie."
 
Mike had the feeling that Alex might do just that.
 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 
 
After class started Mr. Z. said he was going to be in his office and Robert Charles would in charge of the class, and then he walked out of the classroom.
 
Robert Charles sat at Mr. Z's desk while everybody worked at reading a story Mr. Z had assigned.  It was an article on life on other planets. They had to read it, write a paper on it, and be ready to discuss it.
 
"I can tell you that there is alien life," Robert Charles said.
 
"Really?"  Matthew asked.
 
"Really. But don't worry, the alien life forms were kicked out this morning." Robert Charles, Lisa, Jordan, and Carmen laughed. The rest of the class sat impassive, doing their utmost to ignore RC’s lame attempt at humor.
 
I can't believe I voted for that guy, Jeremy thought. Well, he still was better than Douglas. At least he wasn't a cry baby. He was a leader, but damn he could be stupid sometimes.
 
Mr. Z returned a half-hour later and the afternoon proceeded routinely. After class was over Robert Charles stopped Stevie at the door.
 
"Let's go meet. Mr. Z. said we could use his office. I'm sure we can get this all worked out and you guys can have your show."
 
"Douglas is coming with me."
 
"Oh no. I said I meet with nobody but you."
 
"No, you said Alex couldn't come, not that nobody else could come. So, Douglas comes."
 
"Well, then, I guess I can't help you. If you don't trust me as your leader to help you then there isn’t much I can do for you." Robert Charles started walking away. "But if you ever change your mind, let me know; I'm always willing to help."
 
Stevie glanced at Douglas who nodded his head. Douglas hated to give in to Robert Charles, but he knew how important the concert was to Alex and Stevie. Douglas was very aware of the fact that Robert Charles held the hammer.
 
Stevie entered the teacher’s office with Robert Charles. The office had a desk, a desk chair on wheels, two other chairs by the desk, and a couple of filing cabinets, and a small couch on the wall opposite the door. Robert Charles locked the door and sat at Mr. Z.'s desk, feeling very important as he did so. He pointed at one of the chairs. Stevie took the hint and sat down in it.
 
"I don't know how this got all confused, Stevie," Robert Charles said with an air of sincerity. He pretended to peruse the schedule for the auditorium. He showed the schedule to Stevie. He had asked the Recreation Director to make up a fake one, but Stevie didn't know that. His father owned the RD just like he owned Mr.  Z, and as result Robert Charles felt entitled to have the two men do his bidding.
 
Stevie read the spreadsheet. Friday and Saturday nights both read "Barney the Comic". Stevie remembered Alex talking with Marie about booking the auditorium on Friday and Marie agreeing to take care of it. Stevie told Robert Charles what Marie had said. Robert Charles said Marie didn't have the power to schedule the theater—that only the RD had that power.
 
"But Marie told Alex she talked to him about it," Stevie said. “All they had scheduled on Friday was a film, because Barney was going to put on a ‘private’ show for the crew. She said we had the auditorium scheduled and everything was cool."
 
"Marie was wrong. Mistakes happen."
 
"Okay, she was wrong.” Stevie conceded, even though he knew that Robert Charles was lying to him.  “But, how can you help us if the theater is already scheduled? You already said there is nothing we can do."
 
"Well, it's like this. I bet Barney would move his Friday show to the next Friday and do the crew show instead if the RD asked him. I mean I know how the whole class is looking forward to seeing you guys perform and I bet even a lot of the parents would too. And, if you're any good, maybe you can have a second show or a crew show too."
 
Stevie was steaming. If you're any good....what a shitty thing to say, he thought.
 
"So how do we get this messed up schedule changed?" Stevie asked. “Marie said that this Friday was the only day some special show wasn’t scheduled on a Friday or Saturday, which is how she could get it. And now you say that the next Friday is open.” He looked at the schedule. “But it says here on the schedule that there is a concert scheduled that night. You might think your shit doesn’t stink, but even you can’t change every night on the schedule.” He looked at the weeknights, which were booked solid. It had been discovered long ago that a long voyage seemed a lot shorter when there was entertainment. But yet again, Stevie didn’t know how much of the schedule really could be changed—Bingo did not have to be held every Tuesday night for example.
 
"That's where you come in by doing me a favor. A secret favor I might add."
 
"What kind of favor?"
 
"You mean you have to ask?"
 
Robert Charles got out of the teacher’s chair and sat on the couch. He gestured for Stevie to join him. Stevie had been around people who tried to get their way through sex, like his uncle, and he had a pretty good idea what was about to happen. He knew Alex would be furious if he found out. But he knew he had to do whatever Robert Charles wanted.  Alex wanted to perform for the passengers on the ship. He and Alex loved being on stage so much, but Alex lived for performing. He would do this for Alex and Alex would never know what happened.
 
Robert Charles pulled down his zipper, then unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down. He had a raging hard on, the head wet with precum.
 
"Make it feel good, kid, and I guarantee you will be playing Friday night."
 
Stevie knelt down between his legs and started stroking him.
 
"Come on, kid, you can do better than that. Suck me."
 
Stevie took a deep breath and put Robert Charles's dick into his mouth. It was six inches and thicker than his uncle’s had been. He had a bush of thick pubic hair above his cock, and a very musky odor. He let RC’s erection slide into his mouth and he started sucking, his head bobbing as he got it deeper and deeper into his mouth. Soon he got a rhythm going, sucking and tonguing and playing with Robert Charles's balls.
 
"Oh, man, you're good, kid. I see you've done this before. I bet you’ve had to suck that asshole brother of yours. You two are bed buddies aren't you? I know you are."
 
Stevie had this urge to bite down on Robert Charles's cock, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he kept giving him the best head he could. His own cock was hard even though he didn't want it to be. But he wasn’t about to expose it to Robert Charles. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that this was making him hard. He hated Robert Charles and he hated doing this to him.
 
Robert Charles arched his back, moaned loudly, and shot his teen load into Stevie's mouth. Stevie wanted to spit it back over Robert Charles’s pants, but he swallowed it, hoping that would make his nemesis happy and give them the theater back.
 
"Oh shit that was good, kid." Robert Charles pulled his pants up. He made no effort to try to touch Stevie. "“How old are you, thirteen?
 
Stevie nodded miserably.
 
“And your brother is fifteen?”
 
“Almost,” Stevie mumbled.
 
“I bet your brother just loves having you suck his cock. Well, tell him that I will talk to the RD and see about getting the theater back on Friday."
 
Robert Charles left the office with a smirk. Stevie followed him, almost wanting to cry. He felt cheap and like a whore, but he knew Alex would be happy. They were going to do what they loved best, play in front of an audience.
 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 
The next two days went by fast. Alex was ecstatic that they were going to play and amazed that Stevie had managed to pull it off. He asked Stevie how he arranged it.  Stevie said he just talked to RC to see if he could help them, since he was now the class leader. Robert Charles talked to the RD, and he talked to Barney about changing dates and it was all taken care of.
 
It was the first time Stevie had ever lied to Alex, who was his big brother and his hero.  Stevie worshiped Alex. He kept telling himself he was doing this for Alex and that made it okay. But in his heart he knew it wasn't. If he had to lie to his brother then it wasn't okay.
 
Alex, for his part, was skeptical of the entire affair. He was certain Stevie was lying to him, and the only reason Stevie would do that was because Robert Charles was somehow exerting his power over him.
 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

 
Mike hated his restriction. He might not be able to leave his cabin, but nobody said he couldn't have visitors. Travis, Scooter, Ryan, Douglas, and Brandon all stopped by. The best visits, however, were from Alex. On Thursday, when his brother Brad was out, they made hard love to each other. It wasn’t the wild humping of Monday morning, rather it was the sweet lovemaking of two young teens who were madly in love with each other. This time it wasn’t about them humping each other, it was about Alex filling Mike’s ass, the solid ass of a hockey player, with the essence of his boyhood.
 
After they finished, they lay in bed, naked and hugging.
 
"Well, you have your concert tomorrow night, my love," Mike said.
 
"I like it when you call me that. And yeah we do have the concert."
 
"Stevie did a good job of talking, did he?"
 
"I think it was more than talk. And that is what worries me."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"I mean I think Robert Charles made him do something, like sex."
 
"No!"
 
"And if he did, then Stevie is lying to me. And Stevie has never lied to me. If he is lying to me I can forgive him, but he has no reason to lie to me, no matter what he’s done. He knows I love him unconditionally."
 
 "Maybe RC threatened him."
 
"Maybe. I dunno."
 
They cuddled quietly and then Mike said, "I'm going to miss the concert you know."
 
"Why?"
 
"My restriction."
 
"Oh, shit, I forgot about that. Well, a donkey can always crash a party." Mike had been known as the Donkey on Earth, but Alex was the only person he had told. He loved his nickname, but wanted a totally new start as he started a new life on a different planet. Still, the name sounded just right when Alex used it.
 
"I know. But I don't want my restriction extended."
 
"Hey. If Stevie can get his way, then so can I."
 
"You're not going to Robert Charles are you, Alex?"
 
"Fuck Robert Charles. He is an ass kisser and a big phony. I'm going to somebody who really has clout. I'm going to somebody higher than him, which believe me, isn't hard to do."
 
"Good luck my love." Mike gave Alex a deep kiss. They heard Brad come into the cabin. It was time for Alex to get dressed and leave. The boys kissed one more time after Alex dressed and left the room, saying good-bye to Brad as he left the cabin.
 
In the games room that night, everybody was excited about the show.  Robert Charles spent a lot of time bragging about how he got the mistake changed so that Alex and Stevie could play on the night they wanted. He let everybody know his actions showed what a great leader he was and how they did the right thing by electing him. He was already campaigning for any kind of election that might be held once they reached AO IV.  Scooter and Douglas could hear him and it made them sick. Robert Charles walked over to them with a smirk on his face.
 
"Did I see you guys holding hands on that couch a while ago?"
 
"And what if you did?" Douglas asked.
 
"Then it is one more reason I'm a better leader. You might have gotten seven votes, Dougie, but I think if we voted again tonight you would lose half of them."
 
"You would be real surprised," Scooter said. And he grabbed Douglas's hand, making sure Robert Charles saw it. “And you might want to start counting on your fingers so you can figure out how Douglas could lose half of a vote.”
 
“Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? Ask Dougie how it happens, he’s the loser.”
 
"And don't call me Dougie," Douglas said.
 
"Whatever you say, Dougie," Robert Charles laughed. Lisa joined the chat and Robert Charles took hold of her hand.
 
"Douglas, I think the smell is getting bad in here,” Scooter remarked. “Let's go." Still holding hands, the two boys left the room.
 
"Don't see how a faggot boy like that thinks he can lead,” Robert Charles told Lisa. “This whole group is a bunch of wimps, except for Jordan, and maybe Jeremy. When we get to Alpha Orion IV, I'm going to totally own these guys and the kids who are already there; then I will have REAL power. A few of them will be sorry they ever crossed me." He looked at the door. "And those two will be the sorriest." He took Lisa's hand and led her to the couch, where he made sure everybody could see him kissing the prettiest girl on the ship.
 
Scooter and Douglas stopped in front of Scooter's door and kissed each other good-night.
 
"I love you, Scooter. Holding my hand like that in front of RC was awesome."
 
"I love you, my sweet love. You let me take your hand, so we were both awesome."
 
Douglas walked to his room feeling happy. He was in love, so why shouldn’t he be happy? So what that he lost the election.  At his new home there would be other chances to win. Now he had a good reason for running and winning.  The reason was simple—he would be defeating Robert Charles. Maybe he was going to like his new home. 
 
Then his heart sank. He remembered that Scooter was just on board for the outbound trip and would be on the “Starkeeper” when it made its return voyage. He would not be living on AO IV. In less than two months the boy he was in love with would turn around and go back to Earth. Not for the first time, he wished he was too. 
 
Next: Boyfriends.