Nick
His name is Nick and he's straight. Nick's your typical high school jock living in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Nick comes from a loving home with
three other brothers, one sister, and two amazingly wonderful parents. He's a senior at the local high school, plays varsity baseball and lives in a very
large house that looks like a hotel resort when seen from a distance. He's well liked by his high school peers as well as the parents of all his friends. He's a
B-average student, intends to attend college and play baseball next fall and excels at guitar hero and rock band. Simply put, Nick is your average soCal
teenage boy, except for one exception: one of his best friends is an older gay man.
"Yeah, most of my friends don't really understand it and some are even jealous of Chris but I don't care, we're tight and that's all that matters."
Completely approved by his parents and siblings, Chris is a family friend and visits with the family on a regular basis. "We love him, he's a great influence
on the family especially Nick and Jake, who he tends to favor the most." says mom, Judy.
"We think and like doing pretty much the same things and we sorta see the world in the same humorous way so we've always connected." says Nick.
It was actually Nick that made the first contact and befriended Chris. "He's an uncle to one of my friends in the neighborhood and they always talked so
highly of him, I had to meet him, we clicked right away and have remained close ever since."
Nick and Chris first met at Chris' nephews home down the block from Nick's house. Nick was 12 at the time and even then was a bit of a character
and always seemed to love to joke around. It's actually a family tradition to punk each other so it was natural for Nick to play pranks on Chris when he
first met him. "He had a good sense of humor, he was always laughing or making everyone else laugh, I liked that in a person even when I was little. Chris
immediately reacted and liked hanging out with me and my brother Jake. We all clicked instantly."
Although Nick's brother Jake is only a year older, they're worlds apart in personality. Chris enjoys both boys but tends to gravitate more towards Nick
and only because Nick and Chris seem to be more alike in personality. "Yeah we're both weird, we laugh about the strangest things, we'll just repeat a line
from a movie we both watched and we'll laugh hysterically, everyone around us usually never gets the joke and most likely thinks we're strange. We never
care, we bust each other up and that's all that matters."
"When I played pony league baseball, Chris would come to my games and encourage me. It was flattering that someone I barely knew came to watch
me play and stuck around for the whole game. He was always positive and fun to hangout with. I was never embarrassed to have him as my friend. It
seemed strange to my friends at the time but Chris also knew and hung out with my entire family and my parents supported him so no one thought it was
a weird friendship. It was never sexual but from our body language and the fact that we're comfortable with our affection, some people thought the
strangest things about us. I guess there will always be haters and won't ever understand our friendship, that doesn't really matter though, we care
about each other and we're good for each other mentally. That's true friendship is what I'm thinking."
Chris + Nick = BFF
"Why did I gravitate to Nick when I first met him? 'Cause he was a bigger clown than I was and loved playing pranks on me." Their first contact was a sleepover when Chris was babysitting four of his nephews. "Here's this 12 year old kid with a grin covering his face so I knew he was up to something, I don't really remember when we finally fell asleep but the entire night was spent playing pranks on everyone and laughing hysterically, we bonded from that moment on. He's this amazing athlete, he's plays some serious baseball and only a few shoulder injuries have prevented him from getting a baseball scholarship. I'm confident that he'll at least play at the college level and to watch him shine on national television or see his ugly mug in some magazine will be my crowning joy. This guy has everything it takes to be a star, I'm positive the world will be seeing more of him in the media." says Chris.
Nick is currently embarking on a
modeling career. He just recently had a photo shoot done with a talented Bay Area photographer (click to see pics). "I'm fully supportive of Nick wanting to be a
model. I don't want him thinking
it's a breeze as he tries breaking into the industry and I also don't want him to think modeling is just a means to become
famous and popular. I want him to consider it as a serious career that can subsidize his baseball aspirations as well as allow him to possibly see the world while he's still young.
Check the pics, he's got what it takes, Nick reminds me of a very young
Montgomery Clift, one of Hollywood's most handsome and troubled 1950's actors. Nick has classic Hollywood looks. He's a natural, an agent would make
some serious money representing Nick.
Besides Nick's baseball and modeling aspirations, he's really just your typical 17 year old teenager. Since it's winter, he's obsessed with snowboarding at the moment and with California experiencing an actual winter this
season, he's hoping there will be enough snow this year to really have fun on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain in the Sierra mountain range of eastern California. "So far I've heard there should be at least a 3-4 foot base with more snow coming before
our family vacation this winter break. It's gonna be sick, I tried getting Chris to meet us but he's big on Tahoe and doesn't board, he skies, whatev's."
Chris
Chris also originates from SoCal but now lives in Northern California which makes it harder for him and Nick to spend time together. "Yeah it would be nice to live closer to Nick but I'm not really an LA kind of guy, I love it better up north. Maybe it makes our friendship that much more special though, I mean we remain friends but our main form of contact is text messages and IMs, we see each other maybe 4 or 5 times a year but that makes it perfect, it's always special when we actually get to spend time together. Regardless though 'cause I'm confident that we'll see Nick either playing college-level baseball and/or
modeling in print or some other media. He's got amazingly classic good looks. Even I didn't really realize it until I saw the contact shots from his photo shoot. I was there at the shoot, he was a natural, they didn't even have to pose him, he knew exactly what to do and was super relaxed. Plus he's got that wacky
personality, sorta like Shia LaBeouf, it's probably the initial reason I befriended Nick. I know we'll always remain close, no matter where he or I end up as we
both grow older."
"I consider Nick one of my very close friends, even when he was little. In fact it was Nick that convinced me to move back to California when I was living in Chicago. During those long dark winters we would IM back and forth and of course crack each other up but it was that one time that he asked when I was going to move back, that he missed hanging out with me, that's when I realized that I was needed back home."
"We've now been friends for over five years, he consoles and supports me and vice versa. It's amazing how influential we are
in each others lives. I don't know another guy his age that I could imagine being so close to, outside of my nephews. He's just a great guy. I made a good decision when I took the chance to be friends with him. Sometimes you have to be careful, parents can freak or the kid themselves, especially at the age I initially met him, could misunderstand what it means to be friends with someone a lot older. We've never had any problems and I think we have Nick's parents and their trust to thank for that. It's weird but I've never thought anything sexual with Nick, he's exceptionally beautiful, even when he was a boy, but I've always just looked at him as my friend, my very close friend, not something sexual and I think that's why we're so comfortable with each other. Most other guys his age would probably be uncomfortable showing any sort of affection with someone not related to them especially someone of my age and sexuality. Not Nick, it's not an issue. I admire him for that and I'll forever be grateful to him and his family. I love them to death."
So can a straight teenage boy be friends with an older gay male? Looks like in this relationship it can work. When you see the two together you get a sense they're close like relatives. Like they fit each other like a glove. Part of me did become a bit jealous during the interview. It's hard not to when you see how close they are and how they relate to each other like they've been lifelong family friends. Nick brings his teenage tough guy attitude and Chris brings his gay sophisticated sensibility. It's almost like they're one of those perfect couples you see that you think you're going to hate but can't because they're so damn cute together that you want to become just like them. Maybe there's other young/old straight/gay friendships out there. All I know is this one has that endearing, loving bond that every great friendship longs for. Maybe like a Matt Damon/Ben Affleck. Maybe it's the absence of sex that actually allows this friendship to grow even deeper than a friendship like this usually does. Whatever the reason these two got it going on. I admire them as they walk around in public, unashamed of the love they carry for each other. Wouldn't the world be a great place if more people could connect like they do?
