Almost Famous

By Ryan Bartlett

Chapter 2

“Are you sure you’re not sick or something?” asked Benji.

He’d just beaten Wiley in straight sets and while he won games often enough he’d never won a match against his training partner. Stranger still, Wiley didn’t even seem to care. He was an extremely competitive guy, like all professional athletes, but he just stood there with this goofy grin on his face.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Wiley panted as they walked to the sidelines.

“So did you let me win for a reason?”

Benji was an excellent tennis player. He was on the team at USC and when he graduated he hoped to turn pro. He’d been training with Wiley since they were kids and had never known him to act so strange.

“No, I guess I was just distracted,” Wiley admitted as he gulped down a bottle of Gatorade.

“What’s up?”

“I, well, I met someone.”

“You?” Benji exclaimed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, I’m just surprised. You’re so shy in social situations. When I set you up with my cousin he said you hardly spoke during dinner.”

“I hardly spoke because he wouldn’t shut up about investing my tennis winnings,” Wiley scoffed.

“What?”

“He spent the entire meal trying to get me to invest my tennis money with his firm,” Wiley explained.

“That asshole!” Benji shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was afraid you had other cousin’s you’d try to fix me up with.” Wiley laughed.

“Oh, ha, ha.” Benji rolled his eyes. “So how did you meet this guy?”

“At the convention I was at this weekend. We got stuck in an elevator.”

“Oh, that explains it. You had no choice but to socialize, you were trapped.”

Wiley glared at Benji and flipped him the bird but then both of them started laughing.

“I’m happy for you though. I’ve never seen you act…giddy before. He must be something special.”

“Yeah, I think so.” Wiley grinned. He couldn’t wait until Wednesday.




Unlike most of the athletes Wiley knew, he didn’t have to go shopping for something nice to wear on his date because all he owned were track pants and gym shorts. He liked to dress nicely and took pride in his appearance. After showering he styled his hair, put on jeans, a nice button down shirt and a light V-neck sweater.

He got in his car and headed over to Cameron’s place, but as he turned down the proper street and began looking for a place to park, he glanced at his watch. In his excitement he’d arrived half an hour early. He figured Cameron was probably still getting ready and didn’t want to rush him, so he drove around the block a few times.




Cameron was a nervous wreck. He’d neglected to ask Wiley where they were going and he had no idea what to wear. He was usually a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. He liked sweaters and hoodies when the weather permitted and as he sorted through his wardrobe he couldn’t decide what he wanted to wear. He wanted something attractive so Wiley would know he was interested but he didn’t want to wear something slutty that sent out a jump-my-bones vibe because that wasn’t his style. As he thought about it he got off on a tangent, could guys dress slutty?

When the doorbell rang he was still in just a pair of jeans.

“I got it,” Bobby shouted.

“Shit,” Cameron swore as he quickly threw on a white undershirt and grabbed a black button down from his closet. The last thing he wanted to do was let Bobby scare Wiley off before they even left the house.

“Cameron, the Coyote’s here,” Bobby shouted down the hall.

Cameron gave himself a quick once over in the mirror then practically ran out to the living room.

“Hi,” he smiled as he skidded to a halt and greeted Wiley with a hug. He looked great and Cameron’s hand lingered a moment as he rubbed up and down Wiley’s back.

“Hi.” Wiley returned his smile. “The Coyote?”

“You know like Wile E. Coyote…” Cameron blushed.

“Ah, got it.”

“He came up with it, ignore him, he’s retarded,” said Cameron, nodding his head at Bobby.

“I am not. I got tested in first grade,” said Bobby. “Anyway, what are your intentions towards our little Cameron?”

“Oh, we are so not doing this.” Cameron shook his head. He grabbed Wiley’s hand and pulled him towards the door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Bobby shouted after them.

“There are crack whores who wouldn’t do the things you do,” Cameron shouted back.

“Bitch!” Bobby replied.

“Sorry about that,” said Cameron as he shut the door.

“It’s alright, I thought he was funny.”

Wiley led Cameron to his VW Passat and held the door open for him like a gentleman. Once Cameron was seated, Wiley went around to the driver’s side, got in and started the engine.

“Nice car; smells new.”

“Yeah, I just got it. I won it back in November but had to wait for them to ship it over from Germany. I don’t know why they couldn’t just give me one from a stateside dealer,” said Wiley shrugging his shoulders.

“Won it? Were you on a game show or something?”

“No, I got it at the Munich Open. Volkswagen sponsored the tournament and I did pretty well. This was the prize for sixth place,” Wiley explained.

“Um…” said Cameron as he stared at Wiley with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“What is the Munich Open?”

“Oh, it’s a tennis tournament.”

“And you came in sixth in a tennis tournament?”

“Sure. I admit I was having a particularly good day but…Oh crap! I didn’t tell you I was a professional tennis player, did I?” Wiley exclaimed. He could have kicked himself; how could he have forgotten to mention something that was such an important part of his life?

“No,” Cameron exclaimed. “I thought you were a photographer.”

“I am, well, I’m trying to be. I got my degree and I have a pretty decent portfolio but the Con was my first freelance assignment,” Wiley explained.

“So when you say you’re a professional tennis player you mean like, professional, professional?”

“Yes, professional, professional.” Wiley chuckled.

“Well, that explains all this,” said Cameron, gesturing at Wiley’s body.

“Huh?”

“You know, the um, muscles and stuff. I wasn’t sure if you were a jock or a gym bunny.”

“Oh,” said Wiley. Both boys were blushing.

“Oh my God,” Cameron exclaimed. “That whole time I was bragging about my state soccer championship in high school and here you are a professional athlete, you dick!”

“Sorry.” Wiley laughed.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never met an internet celebrity before. Maybe I was star-struck.”

“Whatever.” Cameron chuckled. “You’re a professional athlete, you must be famous.”

“Hardly, I’m the number seventy-three seed.”

“I don’t know tennis, is that good or bad?”

“Uh, seventy-three out of about fifteen-hundred.”

“Wow, ok, so you’re a world famous tennis player…”

“No, no, no,” Wiley giggled. “You’ve gotta remember, it’s tennis, not baseball or football or anything like that. I mean there are people who seriously follow tennis who wouldn’t know who I am.”

“Ok, but I’m still impressed,” said Cameron.

“Thanks for mentioning me in your last video,” said Wiley, changing the subject.

“Harmless, wasn’t it?”

“Sure, some of those comments though…”

“I know, right? You got lucky though, most of them just said you were cute. You should see some of the fan mail I get.”

“That bad?”

“Let’s just say if I ever go missing, there are some fans’ basements that should be searched. I keep a list.”

The boys continued to laugh and joke around as Wiley drove. He’d selected a nice open air Italian restaurant on the beach so they could enjoy the view as well as the fine food. Cameron felt so at ease with Wiley that he couldn’t stop talking and that was ok. Wiley was fascinated by just about everything Cameron had to say.

“…so my family is totally nuts. My sisters are like Stepford students. I mean we all got good grades in school and stuff, but now Erica is about to be a doctor, and Krissy’s getting ready to go to Africa and to dig wells in drought stricken villages or whatever. I feel like such a slacker sometimes, just sitting around making videos and…and I’m sorry, I’m monopolizing the conversation, aren’t I?”

“Not at all.”

“Are you sure? You were starting to get this glazed-over look.”

“I was just taking it all in. I like listening to you.”

“Thanks.” Cameron smiled. “So, your family, are they as crazy as mine?”

“Hmmm, well, my great aunt thought I was a cat.”

“What?”

“Yeah, when I moved in with her she used to leave tuna and milk outside my door.”

“No way!”

“I drew the line at letting her scratch my belly.” Wiley winked.

“That’s nuts!” Cameron laughed. “But why were you living with your aunt, where were your parents?”

“Well, uh, my parents died when I was sixteen.”

“Oh my God, Wiley, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s ok. You didn’t know and it’s been a long time.”

“Is it alright if, I mean…”

“You want to know what happened?”

“Only if you want to tell me...”

“Well, I was playing at a tournament in Memphis. I had to fly out early to meet my coach, and they were catching a later flight. Their plane went down outside of Dallas,” Wiley explained.

“Oh, Wiley, oh I’m so sorry,” said Cameron, reaching across the table and taking his hand.

“It’s ok.”

“How did you get over it? I mean I wouldn’t begin to know what to do.”

“Ok,” Wiley sighed. “See the thing you have to understand is that tennis has pretty much been my life since I was a little boy. I was one of the youngest guys to ever join the pro tour, and that took countless hours of practice, so I didn’t have many friends. Then my parents died and I had to move in with my aunt, so I lost the small group of friends I did have.”

“That’s so sad,” said Cameron.

“Well, that’s when I started watching your videos.” Wiley blushed.

“Wait, what?”

“It was lonely, just hanging out in my room all the time, and one day I found one of your videos on YouTube. I watched it and it made me laugh, so I watched a few more. It was like I had a new friend, and the great part was as long as I had my laptop or phone I could take you with me anywhere I went. Then last year you did your coming-out video, and you were so sad at first, but as you talked about it you got stronger, and at the end you said you were going to be ok. I remember thinking, well, if Cameron is going to be ok dealing with the difficulties in his life, I guess I can be ok dealing with mine too,” said Wiley. He was blushing so hard he was almost purple by that point. “I watch it whenever I’m feeling down.”

“Oh, Wiley,” said Cameron, putting his hand to his heart.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you feel weird or uncomfortable…”

“No, no, no, look,” said Cameron. “I get emails from fans sometimes, or meet them in person, and they tell me how one of my videos helped them with a problem and it makes me feel great. But what you just said, I’m flattered. No, that’s not right, honored. I’m honored, Wiley.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be weird or…”

“Trust me, I’m sure.” Cameron smiled.




After dinner the boys decided to walk down to the end of the pier and enjoy the sunset. Cameron felt so close to Wiley after talking about his parents, he reached out and took Wiley’s hand.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all,” said Wiley, squeezing Cameron’s hand for emphasis.

When they reached the end of the pier, Wiley put his arm around Cameron and drew him close. He wasn’t sure what made him open up the way he had, but he was glad he did. He’d been worried it might embarrass Cameron or make him think he was some kind of creepy stalker who planned their elevator encounter. But as Cameron rested his head against his shoulder, Wiley breathed a sigh of relief. Cameron understood and wasn’t scared away.

The boys held each other until the sun went down, and then Wiley drove Cameron home. He ran around the car to open Cameron’s door and walked him up the front steps.

“So…” said Wiley. He’d never done much dating and none of the dates he’d been on had been this good. He knew what he wanted but he was still shy and unsure how to approach it.

“I had a really nice time tonight,” said Cameron.

“Yeah, me too. Could I, I mean, would you mind if, you know, I kissed you goodnight?” Wiley squirmed.

“Sure.” Cameron beamed.

“Ok,” Wiley muttered, then leaned forward and pecked Cameron on the cheek. He was so shy that as soon as he removed his lips he turned to walk away. “Well, um, bye, I guess.”

“Wiley,” Cameron called after him.

“Yeah?” said Wiley as he turned to face him.

Cameron took Wiley’s face in his hands and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. “That’s better.”

“Yeah, it was.” Wiley grinned.

“Hey, Thursday night is pajama party night at our house, do you want to come? Please?”

“Pajama party?”

“Ok, party is a bit of an exaggeration. Basically it’s me and my roommates eating junk food and watching movies in our pajamas,” Cameron explained.

“Oh, I get it.” Wiley chuckled.

“So would you come?”

“Absolutely, I’d love too.”

“Great,” said Cameron. He hugged Wiley and gave him another little kiss. “Remember, you’ve gotta wear your pajamas. God, I can’t wait to see you again.”

“That makes two of us.”

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