CHANCE ENCOUNTER (Bieber x Male)

Part I

"If you walk out that door, Alex, don't fucking bother coming back!"

I slam the front door to my parents' house in my dad's face. Fuck him.

Fuck this whole town.

I stop for a second to pop my headphones in and grab a cigarette from my backpack, the only thing I have on me. I don't think there's really much in there except for a half pack of smokes, my phone charger, and some clothes I haphazardly threw in after the fight with my dad.

Ugh, my dad. I light up my smoke and take a big drag, exhaling a giant cloud of toxins into night air. I know, it's bad for me and it's killing me and it's gross, I get it. At the risk of sounding like the epitome of teen angst: I don't care, because everything else these days seems to be killing me too.

My dad just called me a faggot for the last time. I turned 18 last month and even though I'm still pretty young, my life is in my hands now. I can decide what I can and can't put up with.

Since the age of 15, when my parents found a bunch of gay porn in my browser history, my dad has been trying to force me to go to "Gay Camp" - and not the hiking and s'mores kind of camp but basically a camp where a bunch of nutcase pseudo-scientists try to make kids "straight again". I have dealt with three years of pressure and slurs and fights with my dad. My mom has mostly stayed silent, which only serves to make things worse, so in that way it's just as much her fault.

I'm sick of it.

I don't know where I'm heading but honestly I'd rather sleep in a ditch than go back home tonight. Thankfully it's sorta warm out and my tank top and cut-off denim shorts are plenty. I'm pretty sure there's a hoodie in my bag too.

I walk for maybe 20 minutes until I'm at the outskirts of town. Yeah, Stratford is tiny. Looking back at the lights of the town I realize how small and insignificant a place it is.

Looking forward I only see a long, seemingly endless highway heading out of town. Not exactly pedestrian friendly.

There's a pile of large rocks by the side of the road, and I decide to sit on one for another smoke. I check my phone and it reads 4am. The roads are empty at this hour. I'm fucking crazy I guess.

Over the course of an hour, the idea crosses my mind nearly 10 times to walk back home but I'm terrified to find what kind of anger is waiting for me there. My parents have never been physically violent but the emotional violence has really become too much to bear. I know my dad is going to have a field day with this "stunt", he would call it, when I call it "getting the hell out of a toxic place for some fresh air". I'll probably be grounded for weeks. I'm 18. And still getting grounded.

Sheer stubbornness has led me to this place: nearly an hour by the road at the edge of town. I refuse to go back tonight.

Just as I'm lighting my 3rd cigarette, the street lights up with high beams coming from around the bend. What kind of fucker would leave their high beams on coming around a bend into town? I shield my eyes and burn my arm accidentally with my smoke, dropping it onto my bag before clumsily trying to put it out.

It's the last straw, and I let it out. The tears. Not many, but enough to soak my face and enough to give me a sense of catharsis and relief. It's over in 10 seconds.

The car dims its headlights and slows down as it approaches me. I can't help but feel a tiny pang of fear as it seems to be slowing to a halt. There are no businesses or houses or even any other cars around at this hour. I try to relax by telling myself the car is just slowing down to make the bend, but it doesn't work because in seconds the car has stopped right next to me.

As I start to gather all my stuff and walk off, the passenger door to the car swings open. My heart begins to race.

"You okay? You in trouble?" a man's voice asks.

"Uh, yes, sir, everything is... yes, fine." My voice shakes.

The engine to the car turns off, and panicked, I start to jog away back towards town.

"Wait!!!"

The voice sounds young, and kind enough for me to quickly glance over my shoulder.

What I saw shook me.

Justin Bieber.