His legal name was Jason but he preferred to be called Jase. Seventeen year old Jase Stevens came from an unusual family.
Jase's grandfathers on both his father's and mother's sides were extreme conservatives believing that the man was supposed to make all the
decisions and the woman was supposed to obey. They were accused of discrimination and hate crimes but none of the accusations held up in
court. They were strict disciplinarians that believed in spanking the willfulness out of their children. Surprisingly, despite their stance against all
forms of birth control, Jase's grandfathers only had one child each which meant that Jase's parents got their fathers' full and undivided
attention.
Naturally, James and Mary rebelled against their fathers. They became extreme liberals and even changed their names to Glen and Storm.
Surprisingly, despite their pro abortion stance, they had eight children: seven daughters and a son. After Jase was born, Glen divorced storm
and married a man named Byrd. Storm married a woman named Hilary. But his parents remained friendly toward each other so Jase got used to
having four parents. He alternated between spending time with his two dads and time with his two moms.
Jase's sisters, in birth order were Helen, Aurora, Cassandra, Ambrosia, Artemis, Persephone and Cleo. Jase, being the youngest, was picked on a
lot by his older sisters but he grew to understand women. Jase never learned that flatulence is funny. Jase never learned that male bonding
meant slugging each other as hard as possible. Jase never learned to be rude and crude. Instead he learned what shoes go best with different
outfits. Jase learned how to give his hair body and shine. Jase learned how to behave like a proper gentlemen.
Jase was picked on at school. The bullies frequently called him a fag which wasn't true. No matter how un-masculine Jase behaved, he was
never attracted to men in that way.
Jase wanted to play sports but neither of his dads were encouraging in that direction. The only encouragement Jase got was from the
occasional visits with his grandfathers but that wasn't often enough. So Jase was never good enough to make any sports team.
So Jase turned to music, the only interest his parents would support him with. Even so, his heart was only partially into it. Jase wanted to play
jazz but his parents pushed him to play alternative rock.
There was one particular bully that seemed to target Jase. Perhaps it was the coincidence that Mark kept getting on the sports teams that
rejected Jase. Perhaps it was the coincidence that Mark, who loved alternative rock, kept winning the music competitions that Jase kept losing.
Perhaps it was the coincidence that Mark lived next door. Whatever the reason was, Mark was not nice about it. Mark would sometimes
accidentally spill food all over Jase and encourage everyone to laugh about it. Mark frequently said, "Can't you take a joke?"
Jase began watching whenever Mark was around. This wasn't about attraction. Jase was on his guard trying to keep out of Mark's way but Mark
frequently said, "Quit staring at me." Today Mark said, "Little faggot. If I catch you staring at me again, I'll kill you."
But Jase didn't have a mean streak in him. He had no thoughts of revenge or hatred for Mark. He simply wanted the bullying to stop. Jase
simply wanted to stop being afraid of Mark.
He came home after school to find a mysterious package addressed to him.