~ Zachary Mitchell ~

"How big is the island?" Gray asked. My glossy eyes turned to glare at him, annoyed as fuck. He kept staring at the island which was still miles ahead of us with giddy smile plastered to his stupid little face.

This boat needs to go faster.

"Big," I replied. Not giving a fuck. Not gonna even try.

"But how many pounds?"

"That doesn't make sense."

"When they first opened, they had eight species ..."

A lot fucking faster.

Gray went on and on about how amazing the island was, knowing every last detail about it and then some. And he was getting on my last fucking nerve. God, twelve hours to get here and my stupid little brother still has energy? Why is this happening to me!? Isn't something else that the gods could torture me with?!

Good thing I found something to occupy my thoughts. Just in time, too.

My brown eyes shifted back to the other side of the boat and down a level where three very pretty girls stood. I felt their flirtatious eyes on and off of me. Playing hard to get? Heh, two can play at that game. I'm harder to get than they are. Really hard. Fuck, I'm impossible.

Let's just say, they're not my type.

My uninterested eyes glossed over to them and landed right on the guy who was at the front of the boat, leaning on the railing. I bit my lip and focused on his outstretched ass. Oh, the booty game was so, so strong. Although for him, probably in his twenties, I'd be more interested in the package up front.

With a sudden constriction in my pants, I leaned forward on the railing to hide it (as well as look away from the girls undressing me with their eyes). Thankfully, we still had enough time until we got to the island to make my friend deflate.

Great, now I'm fucking horny.

I still found myself looking over to Mr. Hunky-Nice-Ass over there and kept getting more and more frustrated. My greatest flaw, really. If I see a hot guy, I just up and think about him naked. Just bare-ass and hard-cock naked. What makes it worse is that I like straight guys even more! I want what I can't have.

Fuck, now I'm horny and pissed off.

Let's see, I've been gay since ... hell, since I was born. And I've come to terms with what I am, but I've kept it to myself and only myself.

That's not good for me, right?

Well, growing up in suburban Minnesota to an ultra-conversative family did not help. It feels like it chipped away at my sanity really. Not just my family too. It is so hard to walk the halls of my school and hear stuff like "This state just legalized faggotry!" And then to go home and hear the same thing from my parents? All while thinking about the hunky quarterback on the football team who I finally saw his abs in gym class.

Yeah, well, that's another story.

I have to put on a brave face when I hear that kind of bullshit, but it always comes with a sense of resentment towards myself. I know I shouldn't hate myself, I know, but I can't help it! In a homophobic world like my own, it's just the norm to hate anything gay. I want to love myself and who I love, I can't help but feel wrong.

Wrong.

I'm wrong for being gay and I should just keep to myself for my entire life. I should just grow up like every other northern, conservative boy: go to school, go to college, marry a nice girl and have baby after baby. Live the simple, suburban life and die in the same place I was born. Nothing terrifies me more than that.

The worst part is, I can guarantee, I'm not the only one who is anything but straight in my town, but no one's ever had the guts to come out and "disturb the neighborhood order" as my dad puts it. Being gay is a taboo talking to even think about in our parts ... So much so that sometime's I'm convinced that I am the only one that way in the entire town and I feel so alone.

That's why I'm excited for this vacation. Not at the moment, but I'm looking forward to not being in that prison. But don't let Gray find that out, or I'll never hear the fucking end of it.

Soon enough (not really), the boat docked. That, of course, was when Gray's sugar high started and it probably wouldn't end until midnight.

In the line to get off the boat, Gray started bouncing up and down and spew out fact after fact of the dinosaurs. As if that wasn't bad enough, his large backpack kept hitting me. I could feel my eyes roll into the back of my head on their own out sheer frustration probably my need for sleep on a real bed. As if my exhaustion from traveling this far wasn't bad enough, I still have to deal with this little shit that I call my brother. I'm excited to travel this far, but the strings attached made me wanna run right back home. Especially right now. My fuse is extremely short and anything can set me off. Gray is about to.

We got off the boat just in time and went with the flow of the crowd down the wooden dock towards a monorail. Okay, so, I have to look for aunt Claire. Mom said she'd be the one to meet us at the dock. But, I'll go with my instinct and assuming she's not gonna be the one to meet us here.

Annnnnd I was right to assume so. Great, another thing to irk me.

I told Gray to follow me as I approach the woman with jet black hair holding the tablet with our names on it. "Hi."

"Are you ... Zach?" she asked in a crisp British accent. I cocked a brow (as if I had something to be cynical about) and nodded. Gray came up to my side and she gave us both a forced, professional smile. "You must be Gray. Wonderful, I'm Zara, I will show you to your room."

This place will be the death of me. I followed after her with Gray keeping up at my side. Well, for only a few seconds before he bolted ahead of me. I had to speed up to keep up with him even though there wasn't anything to see except for the monorail that lead off into the thick brush of the island. It had a small station next to it and a few enclosed escalators leading up to it.

"Can he slow down?" she growled about Gray

"Nope," I replied, not bothering to look back

"Come on!" He cried out.

Calm down, Zach. You'll find sleep soon.

We found a seat, and sat down. Gray's mouth kept moving and moving. "Stegosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut - only 3 centimeters long and weighing 75 grams …." He went on and on with this dinosaur shit. I thought couldn't care less earlier on the boat, but now I'm defying the motherfucking odds. Then, cut me some slack I'm tired, I remembered about my headphones. In one swift movement, I canceled out most of the noise around me and was taken to a world full of music and peace.

But then Gray was suddenly at the front of the monorail and looking at the large gate to enter into the park. I have just a few moments of peace to myself where I could at least rest without him. But, fate had other plans to annoy me once again.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my hand. A lot. Since I was under the park's reception, all my notifications that I couldn't get out at sea were coming in. Many were from my girlfriend. 'I miss you' they wrote. Most did at least. There were some variants. From 'I just made your fav cookies cuz i miss you!' to, 'I miss your dickkkkkk!'

Yeah, okay, I'm a really shitty person.

This has been my absolute worst struggle. I got a girlfriend to cover my ass. And I've been beating myself up for it because I just want a guy (so bad), yet I can't with my life. I have no feelings for this girl, but she certainly does for me. I can't just up and break up with her. Especially after all we did …. I hate myself for what I'm doing. The worst park is thinking of the quarterback to keep me hard.

I just want a fling here.

Whoa, that was blunt. But fuck it, I've never had any kind of opportunity to do anything with a guy. I see this trip as something to finally be in a place where I can be myself. Surrounded by hot guys all around the world!

Oh, and dinosaurs too.

I'm here for a whole two weeks, so I have the chance. Honestly, I just want one one-night-stand with a hot guy here so I can say to myself, I've done it! Move on! Go back to your Judeo-Christian lifestyle and be happy with your girlfriend!

Who am I kidding? I can't fucking hide that from Gray.

Who am I kidding … It doesn't even fucking work that way …

Of course, my hope only lasted a few minutes. As usual. A shiver went up my spine.

With more debilitating thoughts in my exhausted mind, I was officially in an even worse mood by the time Gray came back. He said nothing this time, but it Fuck this. Fuck this all. I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna go home. I wanna be free … it feels like I've been in a prison all my life.

But for a little while, just a little while … I have freedom.

A/N: Well ... this outta be interesting.