Almost Average: Ben is pretty much average. He hangs out with a pretty nerdy crowd, has a little brother that idolizes him, and does well in school. Only two things really bother him; the fact that his parent's marriage is falling apart and the need to get his little secret out. Will be SLASH

I know there's a bunch of descriptions in the first chapter, but as the story moves along there's a lot more dialogue and action. I ended up adding this because my friends had trouble keeping the characters straight.

Chapter One - Me

Hi, I'm Ben.

I'm a normal guy. A bit tall for my age, not fat but compact. Brooke, my best friend, likes to say you could probably bounce a nickel off my ass. It's true (we tried, once, on a dare), even though I'm not the kind of guy that gulps down protein shakes and goes to the gym 24/7. I'm just built that way and I love sports; it keeps me in shape. I have brown eyes, like most anyone I know, and crazy curly hair. It's like my hair has a life of its own, but it doesn't look too bad, so I refuse to cut it short. Dad wanted me to try a buzz cut so I'd look manlier, but I convinced him not to. It'd had given mum a stroke.

I'm a junior at Riverside High School. It's not as posh as the all-male school up the hill, and not as harsh as the barely standing building down south. We're pretty much average, in sports, and wealth, and looks, and almost everything else.

We have our little cliques, like any other High School. I'm usually with the nerds, because Brooke is the nerdiest guy I know, but sometimes I hang out with the jocks too. They ain't that bad, not like the ones you see in the movies that spend all their time bashing other people and strutting around and shit. They are a bit arrogant, but mostly they just enjoy sports and being at the top of the food chain without bothering the rest of us.

I get along with a lot of people and speak with most of the school; anyone you ask will tell you I'm a pretty friendly guy. But mostly I hang out with Brooke, Sam and Joe.

Brooke's sixteen, like me, and I've known him almost since we were born. He's a bit short –I'd never say that to his face, though- and thin, with black hair and bluish-eyes. He doesn't look like your stereotypical nerd, that is, until he opens his mouth. He just doesn't have a brain-to-mouth filter, the way most people do. He's also the guy I go to whenever I've had a fight, or just need to be quiet for a while and figure things out. We've been best friends since we were three and learned how to say it.

Samantha, Sam for short because she hates to be called her full name and even most teachers accept that, is tall and cute. She's a year younger than us, but says that since guys are so immature, she's still mentally older than any of us. We bear with that, because she's witty and helpful and can beat any of us at most video games. And also, because I don't think she has many friends outside of us. I know she doesn't get along with any of the girls in her year, and that must feel pretty lonely.

Joe's seventeen, and the second tallest in our group. He's a class A nerd, which is weird because back when he was a freshman he was one of the bad kids, the kind that cut class to smoke behind the school and went to parties and drank too much and talked too loud. He got held back a couple of years, I think, because he goes to class with Sam.

And that's us. We make a weird group, but still fit together pretty well. Some other people join us, every once in a while, and before she got into drama Mary used to be part of the group too, but now she hangs out with the drama kids and it's down to us four.

It's a pretty cushy life. I pass most classes, I'm good at sports (although I don't play in any of the school's teams, because dad thought it'd take too much time and I don't much care to, since that would keep me away from my friends for practice and games and the like), my little brother idolizes me and my parents love me. If it wasn't for the fact that my parents' marriage is falling apart at the seams and I have no idea how to tell them I'm –well, how to tell them that- I'd say it's pretty much perfect.