tamgreen
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2013
- Posts
- 1,501
Simon Thorpe, nineteen years of age, had always felt like an accessory in someone else's life. When walking through the museum-like Thorpe family home, he often paused to glance at the old family photos in heavy scrolled metal frames, under glass like exhibits, and wondered who those people were, even though he recognized his own face among them - baby blue eyes, dark brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a toothpaste commercial smile that his parents had paid an obscene amount of money to perfect. They were all so meticulously crafted and polished, and as a unit, they were more like a product to be marketed to the public than a real family. He supposed that was what they were.
Simon's father, Senator Roger Thorpe, had been born into money, and made plenty more, first as a congressman, and then as a United States Senator. He was in the midst of running for reelection, and Simon knew all about election season. Senator Thorpe was a staunch Republican, and he orchestrated his family into the perfect traditional-values archetype. His wife was seamlessly elegant; Simon had never seen his mother without makeup and a perfectly sculpted hairstyle. The senator's eldest son, seven years Simon's senior, was a high-powered lawyer with a beautiful wife and four irritatingly perfect offspring. Simon also had a younger sister in high school whom he thought of as Little Miss Perfect - ruler of the student council, champion of social justice clubs, queen of the Honour Roll.
Simon was sick to death of all of them, of everything about this life. He was sick of the rigid expectations, of the PR professionals and image consultants, of the pressure to excel and to appear the flawless white Christian straight boy his father had created him to be. Most of his childhood memories were of the nanny, and the only time his parents seemed to pay attention to him was when he dared to place one foot outside the line he was expected to stay behind. He wasn't rebellious by nature - he just wanted to live life, to feel things, to figure out who he was independent of Team Thorpe.
These days he had very few avenues to explore when it came to finding his own path. Simon was attending university as per parental expectations, and they paid his tuition, but they would not allow him to work even part time, insisting he had to focus on his studies. Simon knew it was a way to keep him under his dad's thumb. There was no way he could afford to move out, particularly since dad had made it clear that once he moved out he'd have to "be a man", which meant paying for everything himself, including tuition. Financially, living with his parents was his only viable option until school was done, and so long as he was under dad's roof, he had to play by dad's rules. He'd been quite effectively railroaded.
Simon was pretty sure he knew why his father had been especially rigid with him lately. A couple of times he'd been caught with gay porn, and his parents had lectured him for hours, with his dad frequently referencing how one of his predecessors in the Senate had been taken down by some sort of porn-related scandal, and that he would absolutely not accept his own flesh and blood compromising his carefully crafted public image. Mom had humiliated him by advertising all over church how her son was "battling the devil", and needed extra prayer. It was their typical style of discipline - not abusive, but cruel in its own way, that had an effect like death by a thousand cuts. It just wasn't worth it. He took the path of least resistance and tried his best to do as expected (or at least, got a lot more careful about his porn habits), knowing that once he was able to move out, he could be his own man.
Aware of what his son wanted, and of his 'problems', Senator Thorpe had come to Simon a few months ago with a simple, yet somewhat nauseating proposal: marry a woman, and he'd buy them a house... in another state. Simon had been choked by the very idea of it at first - buying his freedom with a commitment to heterosexuality? It was horrendous.
Yet, it wasn't long before he'd decided to at least make a go of it. It was hard to deny the appeal of a free house and no more parental pressure. It wasn't as if he didn't ever plan to get married anyway. Sure, girls didn't really excite him, but he'd still dated a few. In truth, he wasn't quite sure of his sexuality - he remained preoccupied with male-on-male sex even though he'd never experienced it, but he suspected it might just be the taboo that drew him in - and going straight might just be that path of least resistance he'd always defaulted to.
There was a girl in his neighborhood, a friend of the family, he'd started seeing. Alyssa was a nice-looking, well-behaved girl who believed in promise rings and chastity. This at least bought Simon some time. If it wasn't going to work, physically, they wouldn't find out until after marriage, and by then he'd already have his house. The relationship was bland and routine, but they looked like the perfect couple, and their families mutually approved of one another.
Meanwhile, feeling almost unbearably stifled, Simon masturbated almost obsessively, looking at gay porn on his phone whenever he was sure he had the privacy.
He was supposed to go over to Alyssa's tonight, and his dad had let him take the Bentley. It wasn't until he pulled up to her house that he realized she'd texted him:
I'm so sorry sweetie, I'm held up at work and I'm going to be late. Can we postpone a little?
Simon sighed, and texted back: I'm already here.
Alyssa's response: Oh noooo! I'm soooo sorry :/ Why don't you hang out? My dad's home, and I think he'd enjoy a chance to get to know you better. Would that be okay?
Simon considered this option as he looked out the window of the Bentley at Alyssa's parents' house. Did he want to awkwardly hang out with his girlfriend's dad? No... he didn't. He felt somehow like Alyssa's parents would eventually see right through him. Still... he knew it would be expected of him. Both her parents and his would appreciate him making nice.
He agreed, and got out of the car, carefully combing his dark hair back and smoothing his sweater vest as he approached the front door, praying that this wouldn't be too painful.
Simon's father, Senator Roger Thorpe, had been born into money, and made plenty more, first as a congressman, and then as a United States Senator. He was in the midst of running for reelection, and Simon knew all about election season. Senator Thorpe was a staunch Republican, and he orchestrated his family into the perfect traditional-values archetype. His wife was seamlessly elegant; Simon had never seen his mother without makeup and a perfectly sculpted hairstyle. The senator's eldest son, seven years Simon's senior, was a high-powered lawyer with a beautiful wife and four irritatingly perfect offspring. Simon also had a younger sister in high school whom he thought of as Little Miss Perfect - ruler of the student council, champion of social justice clubs, queen of the Honour Roll.
Simon was sick to death of all of them, of everything about this life. He was sick of the rigid expectations, of the PR professionals and image consultants, of the pressure to excel and to appear the flawless white Christian straight boy his father had created him to be. Most of his childhood memories were of the nanny, and the only time his parents seemed to pay attention to him was when he dared to place one foot outside the line he was expected to stay behind. He wasn't rebellious by nature - he just wanted to live life, to feel things, to figure out who he was independent of Team Thorpe.
These days he had very few avenues to explore when it came to finding his own path. Simon was attending university as per parental expectations, and they paid his tuition, but they would not allow him to work even part time, insisting he had to focus on his studies. Simon knew it was a way to keep him under his dad's thumb. There was no way he could afford to move out, particularly since dad had made it clear that once he moved out he'd have to "be a man", which meant paying for everything himself, including tuition. Financially, living with his parents was his only viable option until school was done, and so long as he was under dad's roof, he had to play by dad's rules. He'd been quite effectively railroaded.
Simon was pretty sure he knew why his father had been especially rigid with him lately. A couple of times he'd been caught with gay porn, and his parents had lectured him for hours, with his dad frequently referencing how one of his predecessors in the Senate had been taken down by some sort of porn-related scandal, and that he would absolutely not accept his own flesh and blood compromising his carefully crafted public image. Mom had humiliated him by advertising all over church how her son was "battling the devil", and needed extra prayer. It was their typical style of discipline - not abusive, but cruel in its own way, that had an effect like death by a thousand cuts. It just wasn't worth it. He took the path of least resistance and tried his best to do as expected (or at least, got a lot more careful about his porn habits), knowing that once he was able to move out, he could be his own man.
Aware of what his son wanted, and of his 'problems', Senator Thorpe had come to Simon a few months ago with a simple, yet somewhat nauseating proposal: marry a woman, and he'd buy them a house... in another state. Simon had been choked by the very idea of it at first - buying his freedom with a commitment to heterosexuality? It was horrendous.
Yet, it wasn't long before he'd decided to at least make a go of it. It was hard to deny the appeal of a free house and no more parental pressure. It wasn't as if he didn't ever plan to get married anyway. Sure, girls didn't really excite him, but he'd still dated a few. In truth, he wasn't quite sure of his sexuality - he remained preoccupied with male-on-male sex even though he'd never experienced it, but he suspected it might just be the taboo that drew him in - and going straight might just be that path of least resistance he'd always defaulted to.
There was a girl in his neighborhood, a friend of the family, he'd started seeing. Alyssa was a nice-looking, well-behaved girl who believed in promise rings and chastity. This at least bought Simon some time. If it wasn't going to work, physically, they wouldn't find out until after marriage, and by then he'd already have his house. The relationship was bland and routine, but they looked like the perfect couple, and their families mutually approved of one another.
Meanwhile, feeling almost unbearably stifled, Simon masturbated almost obsessively, looking at gay porn on his phone whenever he was sure he had the privacy.
He was supposed to go over to Alyssa's tonight, and his dad had let him take the Bentley. It wasn't until he pulled up to her house that he realized she'd texted him:
I'm so sorry sweetie, I'm held up at work and I'm going to be late. Can we postpone a little?
Simon sighed, and texted back: I'm already here.
Alyssa's response: Oh noooo! I'm soooo sorry :/ Why don't you hang out? My dad's home, and I think he'd enjoy a chance to get to know you better. Would that be okay?
Simon considered this option as he looked out the window of the Bentley at Alyssa's parents' house. Did he want to awkwardly hang out with his girlfriend's dad? No... he didn't. He felt somehow like Alyssa's parents would eventually see right through him. Still... he knew it would be expected of him. Both her parents and his would appreciate him making nice.
He agreed, and got out of the car, carefully combing his dark hair back and smoothing his sweater vest as he approached the front door, praying that this wouldn't be too painful.