Chasing Rusty Parer

Chapter Five -- Where Did Rusty Parker Sleep Last Night?

Last night was dark and full of secrets, boys and girls. Our king, Rusty Parker, after seducing and abandoning a fair number of equally fair maidens, abandoned the hippest party on campus and disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him. We're pretty sure it wasn't the earth doing the swallowing to our king last night, but that still begs the question...

Rusty Parker, where did you sleep last night?

"I'm not in the habit of reading Xpress, but now I'm curious since a bunch of random people keep pestering me." Dex put his phone on the table and linked his hands on top of his head. "Who did you do it with last night, Rusty?"

Such questions came with the territory when you were a celebrity. Rusty sighed and continued to create a house from his French fries. Satisfied with the result, he reached for the ketchup bottle. If he painted the walls red, it would be a horror movie.

However, his hand met nothing but air. Kane had grabbed it and was now staring at him with interest.

Rusty just opened and closed his fingers a few times. "Give."

"We're curious, Rusty."

"You should teach your mates not to give me weird booze," Rusty told Kane.

Kane shrugged. "You can say 'no' on occasion, Rusty. Now, spit it out. What new girl grabbed you and dragged you to her lair? If this information doesn't surface in the next twenty-four hours, we'll have to turn off our phones."

Rusty leaned back in his chair and looked at Dex, and then at Kane. These guys were serious. And Kane was going to eat all the ketchup given the way he was squeezing the bottle over his fries.

"I chased a cat boy."

Dex and Kane stared at him with interest. "A cat boy?" Dex asked. "You're sure it wasn't your imagination you were chasing? There are no cat boys around here, and I don't think there's any cosplay convention taking place anywhere near."

"It was a cat boy," Rusty insisted.

"All right." Kane always played the diplomat. "Let's say that there was a cat boy. Did you catch him?"

"No. He jumped into a tree. I couldn't follow."

Kane and Dex traded one of their famous shared glances.

"No," Rusty said pointedly, "it wasn't just a cat. It was a sexy dude, dressed in a black latex suit, with tail and ears and all."

"Are you sure it wasn't a flying squirrel?" Kane insisted, like the annoying prick he was. "Mistakes are easy to make, especially at night."

"Did you chase this cat boy all night? And where?"

Rusty paused. Usually, he would just say everything. But he didn't want these assholes of friends of his to think that he suddenly had a thing for his tutor. Not everyone turned gay at the sight of a sexy tail, the way it had happened to Maddox, as soon as he had laid his eyes on Jonathan. That wasn't like him. Plus, it wouldn't have been that much of an issue, but Matty was straight and wanted to hook up or get a girlfriend or something. Spreading rumors that he was getting into the gay with the king could hurt his chances of scoring.

Determined that it was all for a good cause, he kept his mouth shut.

And Kane and Dex exchanged another look.

"He was real," he said and stuffed his mouth with the east wall of the French fry house. He didn't need any ketchup. "And yeah, I chased him all night. It was exhausting. But fun."

"He is keeping things from us," Kane said slowly.

Dex tooted his agreement.

"I'm not," Rusty said aggressively. Well, he sounded like he was keeping things from them. Damn, there was no way to fool these wannabe parents. "You know what? I am. But it's my right."

"Were you at least here on campus?"

"Yes. I didn't leave."

"Are you for real about the cat boy?" Kane asked.

"Yes."

"He's telling the truth," Dex concluded. "Did you do it with him?"

Rusty groaned. "No. For your information, I'm not-fucked. So, unless one of you is offering me a hand, lay off."

"Wow, he's serious," Dex said with satisfaction. "Rusty didn't get his dick wet last night."

"Yeah, yeah, call Xpress," Rusty said and scoffed. He grabbed the glass of water from the table and marched toward the stairs. He didn't want to offer any other explanation.

"What are you doing with that?" Kane asked, always aware of everything everyone did and wanting to know why.

Rusty raised the glass while walking up the stairs. "I need it to get my dick wet."

***

"So." Zoey grinned and bumped into his shoulder.

Matty pretended to be absorbed by something on his phone.

"So," Zoey insisted.

Matty growled under his breath. "In the animal kingdom, this should be a signal to butt off, Zoey."

"Thanks for the translation. Now, tell me everything."

"Everything in the history of humankind?"

"I'll settle for what happened last night between you and Rusty."

"Nothing happened. I mean, why would you even assume that something happened? I wasn't at the party--" Matty began to babble.

"I was the one who told him where to look for you, so save it," Zoey interrupted him promptly.

"Traitor," Matty muttered.

"I'll settle for fairy godmother, Cinderel."

"Why did you tell him where my room is?" Matty groaned and finally abandoned his phone. "And why are you always in my room? No wonder you aren't getting laid. You only hang out with the one dude who's not interested."

Zoey's eyes sparkled. "Do you mean everyone else is interested? Aww, that's such a nice thing for you to say. Forget about why I'm not getting laid. Let's talk about how you're working on that."

"On you not getting laid?" Matty said airily.

Zoey slapped his shoulder. "Spit it. Now. Last night, unbeknownst to the vast Sunny Hill student body, Rusty Parker abandoned a party in search of his tutor. No one but me knows this. Not even Xpress."

"I know. Rusty knows. Stop pretending to be special," Matty teased his best friend.

Zoey grinned. "Which means that he found you. What did you two do all night?" She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "Don't tell me that you did it!"

"Seriously?" Matty gave her a disappointed look. "Is that how well you know me?"

"Well, according to how well I know you, this would be a very boring story. Such as you sent Rusty on his way instead of dragging him into your lair and doing unspeakable things to him."

"Yeah, like tucking him in bed and reading him a bedtime story," Matty said matter-of-factly.

Zoey searched his face for signs that he was pulling her leg, and then searched again. Then, she punched him in the shoulder hard enough to hurt. "Get out of here! Is that what happened? For real?"

"I kid you not." Matty sighed and looked out the window, recalling the events of the night before in all too vivid colors. "He came in here, asked me why I was sweaty, supposed I was jerking off, then supposed I was jerking off to A Kingdom To Plunder, then decided to take a nap, and then made me read to him until we both fell asleep." At the end of that tirade, Matty took a deep breath. "And that's the whole boring truth. I woke up alone, before you get any other strange ideas in your head."

Zoey was conspicuously silent. Matty had to look at her eventually and witness her slack jaw and wide eyes. "How long are you going to keep that face?" he asked.

Zoey's face metamorphosed into a large grin. "My romantically inadequate friend, it's a lot better than I expected. But why were you sweaty? Were you jerking off to A Kingdom To Plunder?"

"Not you too, Zoey. No, I was sweaty because earlier Rusty chased me down--" He clamped his mouth shut.

"He chased you down?!"

He covered his ears. "Louder, Zoey. They didn't hear you on the top floor."

"Why did he chase you? What happened? O. M. G., this is so good, and why, oh why, don't I have any popcorn with me?"

Well, it was all right to admit to everything, no matter how weird or humiliating, in front of friends. "I tried on the cat suit, and Rusty almost caught me. I was outside, running on the walls." He gestured with his hand as if it was the most common occurrence for him to put on costumes, go outside, and do parkour on the campus walls.

"You didn't tell me the suit came. Where is it?" Zoey didn't wait for an answer and began to search the room.

Matty didn't stop her, but didn't help her, either. She eventually came back with the bundled suit and even found the cat ear band under the bed. She held them and stared at him in shocked pleasure. "Put them on. I have to see you."

"This suit almost got me into trouble," Matty argued. "It's a stupid idea. No, it's insane."

"Why?" Zoey asked with a stricken face. "Oh, don't tell me he's into some other cosplay. This kind of thing is expensive."

"No," Matty said quietly. "That might just be one thing Xpress got right. He wanted to touch my tail. So I ran."

"Yeah, the most logical thing to do," Zoey said with irony. "But, wait," she added, "that's not a bad thing. Yeap, you did the right thing, Matty. Rusty gets bored easily. You need to keep his interest high. So, not giving in too easily is the way." She nodded, satisfied with her conclusion. "Wait, he doesn't know you're the cat boy, right?"

"No. It was a really close call. Why do you think the cat ears were under the bed?"

Zoey pursed her lips and munched them for a while. "This is amazing, totally awesome. Long foreplays are the best, especially with a guy who gets handed every piece of tail in the land on a silver platter, the moment he snaps his fingers."

"Are you telling me to play hard to get?" Matty asked.

Zoey plopped herself down on the bed, the latex costume still in her arms. "Yeah, totally. You need to lure him, seduce him, make him yours, until he cannot live without you!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. So, Rusty's interest in cat boys is real. That's a fact," he admitted. "But what if there are other cat boys that decide to, you know, not play hard to get?"

"Yeah, the world is full of cat boys, especially here at Sunny Hill. I tripped over one in the library, and I had fur in my coffee at the coffee shop on the corner," Zoey commented while pretending to sip from an invisible cup with one hand. "Well, I'm not going to go against your wishes. You might as well put on the cat suit, happen into Rusty's path once more, and let him touch you everywhere."

"I wouldn't do that," Matty protested. "The embarrassment would kill me on the spot."

"So hard to get it is," Zoey said with satisfaction. "Rusty's going to go nuts. That's how you catch a guy like him. During your tutoring sessions, you can still treat him like he's only your tutored pupil, although, now that I think about it, you two crossed a line by sleeping together." She scrunched up her face in thought.

"Trust me, that wasn't crossing the line since nothing happened last night." Matty sighed. "I didn't tell you what happened on Friday."

"What happened on Friday?" Zoey's eyes grew wide again. "You know what? I'll turn around and you can change into your cat boy suit while you tell me all about it."

This was the price of having a confidante, right? "Well, there is no easy way to say this. I kissed him. Hey, don't turn now!"

Zoey fidgeted in her place, but obeyed. "What the hell, Matty? And you didn't say a thing? Tell me everything that happened, and not in the history of humankind."

"He challenged me because he gets bored so easily, just as you noticed. When he provoked me by saying that I don't know how to kiss, well, I showed him."

Zoey bounced up and down, giggling. "O. M. G., this is so good. How did he react?"

"I didn't have time to process everything. Jonathan came into the room. He saw everything."

"Ah, damn, I wouldn't have pegged Jonathan Hamilton for a cockblocker."

"He apologized. He just wanted to treat us to some juice and didn't expect to find me half naked, stuffing my tongue down Rusty's throat," Matty explained.

"You were half naked?" This time, Zoey truly turned.

Good thing he was already zipping up. The cat suit was so glued to his body that it didn't allow for anything but the skimpiest underwear to be worn underneath. Since he didn't have such a thing, he was all naked underneath. "It was a very strange and complicated situation. You know, he didn't bring up the kiss last night. That means that he wants both of us to forget that it happened. And it was just a dare, anyway," Matty continued and looked down.

"Matty, you look damn fine in this suit," Zoey commented. "Give me a full three-sixty. Put on the cat ears, and stop assuming things. Where's the wig?"

"That's the one thing I didn't unpack," Matty said.

"It doesn't matter. I like what I see. Now crouch."

Matty shrugged and obeyed.

"Good, good," Zoey continued her appraisal. "Now, lift one paw like you want to scratch. Give me a meow."

"Oh, fuck off, Zoey." Matty got to his feet.

The reprimand flew over Zoey's head like an invisible annoying bug. His friend was all a grin, ear to ear, and she seemed very pleased with how he looked. That made him feel good, to have someone else's opinion on the matter. Still, he shouldn't get ahead of himself. Catching Rusty Parker, as Zoey put it, was no easy feat. And maybe, the fact that somewhere inside, he maybe was a scaredy cat, helped. So far, it had worked to get him to take certain steps with Rusty...

Argh, what was he thinking? Rusty hadn't mentioned the kiss, and why would he? He got kisses from so many people, well, mostly girls, presumably, and again, Matty's kiss must have been annoying, or worse, nothing special. Something forgettable.

"Hey, Matty, hey," Zoey called for him.

"You don't have to yell," he scolded her.

"I do. You were so lost in your own head that you didn't hear me. What were you thinking about?"

He could call the whole thing off. He could pack the costume, put it at the bottom of the closet, and pretend that nothing ever happened. And then, continue his tutoring with Rusty for a bit, so that he wouldn't seem suspicious and then tell the guy that he needed to focus on his own studies and couldn't afford the wasted time.

"Zoey," he said slowly, "am I nuts for wanting Rusty Parker, of all people?"

Zoey shook her head and offered one of her motherly looks. "No. We want who we want, I guess. And you, my friend," she said, perking up, "have the golden opportunity to see how far you can get with your crush. Not many people have this kind of luck, you know? Also, you make your own luck. Look at you, wearing a cat boy suit, and kissing Rusty. Told you, I'm awfully proud of you," she added in a fake strange accent.

Matty sat on the bed and took Zoey by the shoulders. "I'm not the sentimental kind, but damn, sometimes you make me want to kiss you, Zoey."

"Eww." She pushed him away playfully. "Go kiss Rusty. I bet he wants an encore."

"He didn't mention it, you know? What does that mean? Oh, fuck, I sound like one of those ditzy heroines in all the romance novels, right?"

"You sound like you," Zoey said and patted his shoulder. "I'm not just saying that, although I'm mooching off your notes on a regular basis, and you know that I get perks for hanging out with you."

"Yeah, you're a total user," Matty said with a snort. "But enough about my silly cat boy adventures. How was the party?"

"Eh, you know," Zoey said and shrugged.

"No, I don't. That's why I'm asking," Matty insisted. Whenever he got close to the topic of who Zoey was crushing on at the moment, he either got evasive replies or something outrageous. Now, Zoey was evasive. That was code for 'serious'.

"I drank some weird stuff. I fell asleep on a sofa. I didn't molest anyone."

"Kudos for your restraint," Matty said, knowing it wouldn't do any good to apply too much pressure. He would just poke her gently now and then, until she spilled the beans. Despite her apparently reckless exterior, underneath it all, Zoey was one of the most complex human beings he had had the chance to know.

"Eh, I try," she said brightly. "Let's go for a cup of coffee. Wait, don't you want to change first?"

Matty looked down at his body and shook his head. He was getting a bit too comfortable playing the cat boy.

***

How many weeks since he had gotten laid last? He didn't even know. That was a premiere for Rusty's sex life since its inception. Well, maybe not quite that long, but ever since he had established himself as the king of Sunny Hill, he had had more than his fair share of sexual endeavors and this dry season wasn't like him, especially since it wasn't exactly self-imposed.

Rusty found himself bored out of his eyeballs. The occasional perky tushy wiggling about no longer had the same appeal. Girls resting their boobs against his arm while trying to get his attention had no success in dragging him out of his funk.

"Cat boys are ruining me," he declared, although he was alone in his room, doing a kind of thing he supposed to be meditating, if meditating about his lack of sex counted.

Well, he always had his hand. But he had seen most of the cat boy porn the world had to offer, and he was all in for something new. Hmm, he needed to find that cat boy, because that was where the problems started. Now that he knew such a fine specimen was somewhere in the vicinity, he didn't want to use only his hand and the porn videos available.

Plus, the cat boy he had chased down the wall on Saturday night was superior to all the porn stuff in existence. First of all, he hadn't been sexed up. Not that Rusty didn't appreciate collared cat boys who stuffed their asses with more than just butt plugs and dildos, but that wasn't what he had in mind.

No, his desire to pet a cat boy was a lot more intellectual than that. Speaking of intellect, he could use all this boring time to get on someone's nerves. He grabbed his phone.

Free?

He waited. And waited. Geez, he had read the message, why the hell wasn't he replying?

Free for what?

Rusty grinned. He could see those pouty lips in his head if he closed his eyes for like a second.

Dunno. Tutoring?

It's not Friday yet.

So? I have a need for knowledge.

Take your need somewhere else.

Come tutor me or I'll tell everyone the kind of weird stuff you're jerking off to.

Are you daring to challenge me? I'm sure you have a lot more skeletons in your closet than me.

What do you have in your closet?

Normal clothes. Nothing else. Bye, Rusty.

Wait. Do you want to hang out?

Another pause followed. It could be that Matty was ignoring him now, buried deep in his textbooks.

Hang out where?

My room.

That doesn't sound too exciting.

Trust me, you don't know what you're talking about.

He was very much in the mood to ruffle Matty some more. After falling asleep in his room, Rusty had meditated about Matty a lot, too. Like about that kiss, as well, although it wasn't like him to obsess over the little things. But he could ask Matty why he kept all that kissing to himself when he could make girls happy all over campus. Sure enough, those girls who wanted a tonsil examination with a tongue, but still.

Just joking, he typed. I just need your tutoring skills, nothing else.

Rusty closed one eye and used the other one to zero in on the tent he was pitching. He should just rub one out and leave Matty alone. Poor guy only wanted to study.

He took his cock out. He didn't even need any porn. He'd just imagine catching the cat boy, caressing his back, playing with his tail and making him twerk for him. It should be enough to jizz after so much no-action time.

I'm coming.

Rusty checked the phone and grinned. He pushed his cock back in his pants. That would have to wait until after chasing off his boredom by playing a bit of cat and mouse with Matthew Han.

***

"Why are you moping around the house like you've just been left at the altar?" Maddox asked, lifting his eyes from his text book only so that he could check on him. Kane and Dex were at the library, and Jonathan wasn't around, either.