Something Like Rain (Something Like... Book 8) (9 page)

“You’re not like other guys,” she replied.

“That’s what I like most about him,” Holly said.

Abby ignored her. “At first we thought maybe you were just shy, but you’re the only guy in school not interested in our boobs, and if that wasn’t enough, you invited us over for a tea party.”

Holly giggled, covering her mouth. “With cupcakes.
Pink
cupcakes.”

“You’re girls,” William said defensively. “I thought you’d like them.”

“Great,” Abby said, “he’s gay, but he still manages to be a sexist pig.”

William stared. Maybe the stress had gotten to him, but he started laughing. To his relief, the girls joined in, even though Lily’s laughter seemed a little forced. They continued to tease him, finally enjoying the food and making it feel more like a celebration. Holly generously made fun of herself too. “I can’t believe I thought you invited us over to say who you chose.”

“To date?” William said. “Abby, of course.” He thought it was the safest answer, since she never really expressed much interest in him.

“No thanks,” she replied.

“You don’t want my body?”

“Nope. You’re hot, don’t get me wrong, but you’re too nice.”

“She likes the bad boys,” Holly explained.

“I have a leather jacket,” William teased. “I can slick back my hair, roll a pack of cigarettes in my shirt sleeve.”

“That’s not her type,” Holly said. “Tell him.”

Abby covered her face with both hands, but through them she murmured. “Is your brother single?”

“Spencer?” He asked, but then he understood. “
Errol
? Yeah! I’ll give you his phone number.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking. He fielded the same questions he had asked Kelly so recently. When did you first realize? How can you be sure? There were a lot of mixed signals he needed to explain away too. Eventually the topic became more lighthearted; Holly quizzed him about what sort of guys he liked, and even more embarrassing, all three girls gave him advice about boys.

“Don’t wait for them to make a move,” Lily said. “Guys take forever to work up their courage.”

“Just be sweet,” Holly said. “And pretty. Or handsome, in your case.”

“Try reading a freaking book,” Abby said, shaking her head at her friend. “I hate a guy who doesn’t have anything interesting to say.”

William stopped blushing and started taking notes. Mentally, at least. By the time his friends left, he felt closer to them than ever. He was only worried about Lily, who didn’t smile as much as she usually did. He was glad when she lagged behind, giving them privacy to talk without the others overhearing.

“I still don’t understand what happened the other day,” she said.

They stood in the driveway, her bicycle creating a barrier between them. It was the racing kind, which only made him like her more. They had ridden together many times. It wasn’t hard to imagine why she thought they might be compatible.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s been confusing for me too.”

“Okay.” She squeezed the brakes absentmindedly, attention on the bike as she spoke. “I want you to know that I’m not like Holly. She likes you, but then she also falls in love with celebrities who don’t know she exists. The feelings I have for you, they aren’t superficial.”

William felt terrible. All he could do was keep apologizing. “I’m sorry I can’t be what you—”

“I know,” Lily said, raising her head. “I just needed to tell you that. For me. We’re not meant to be together. I can accept that. You being gay doesn’t change anything, and neither do my dumb feelings. We’ll always be friends. I promise.”

“Thanks,” he said. He wanted to hug her but was worried that would only confuse matters more.

Lily nodded at him, swung a leg over her bicycle, a dejected smile tugging at one cheek. “I’ll see you in school on Monday.”

“Yeah,” he said, throat tight. “See you then.”

* * * * *

William still felt overwhelmed by the experience when he sat down at the dinner table that night. On one hand, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He just wished that he hadn’t shifted that weight to his friends. He kept thinking of the brave face Lily had put on just before they parted. She would bounce back. Plenty of guys vied for her attention. He just hoped they would be good to her.

A sigh pulled him from these thoughts. He looked up to see that his mother hadn’t touched her food either. Maybe she was waiting for him to start. He lifted his fork and jabbed at the salad, but she still didn’t move.

“What’s the point?” she said. “We might as well eat in front of the television.”

He looked at the empty chair where his father should be. Lately he was never around. Maybe William should say something to him, because surely once he knew how unhappy his wife was, Lewis would make more of an effort.

“I like sitting here,” William said. “It gives us a chance to talk.”

“Is there something you would like to tell me?” The question felt loaded. It didn’t take him long to guess why.

William’s mouth went dry. “You spied on us.”

“I overheard! It’s hard not to when you and your friends get so loud.”

“Sorry,” he said, breaking eye contact. Then he raised his head high. “But not for being gay.”

“Of course not!” His mother looked anguished. “Honey, all I want is for you to be happy!”

“Then you’re okay with it?”

“No!” she placed a hand on her forehead, as if the headache from earlier still persisted. “I don’t know. I’m worried about you. That boy… What was his name? Matthew Shepard?”

“Oh.”

Her lips trembled. “I don’t want anyone to hurt you!”

Then came the tears. William hadn’t been prepared for them, but he rose and walked around the table. He made his mother stand so that he could hug her. This only seemed to make her more emotional. He fought back tears of his own, not understanding them at first. Then he realized what she was feeling because he shared the same sentiment. The last thing he had ever wanted was for his mother to get hurt. Now he felt like he’d been the one to do so.

* * * * *

“Totally normal,” Kelly said, doing stretches beside the track after school the next day. “Mothers—the good ones anyway—care most about your wellbeing. My mom was worried I wouldn’t be able to get married, or that I’d be lonely without children in my life. I just had to explain that gay people can have those same things. There might be more legal hoops to jump through, but that’s not going to stop me. Your mom loves you, so she’s scared you’re going to get gay bashed or whatever.”

“That would explain why she gave me this,” William said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his keychain, which normally fit in his pocket, except now it had a large tube attached to it. If that weren’t enough, the tube was inside a purple leather condom. That’s how he thought of it, anyway.

“Is that pepper spray?” Kelly asked.

“Yup. It used to be hers. It might have fit okay in her purse, but now I’m forced to carry my backpack around. I feel ridiculous.”

Kelly grinned and shook his head. “She loves you. And come to think of it, that might save me some trouble. Think you can spray Jared with that stuff during the triathlon?”

“No way.” William put it back. “My dad tried giving me a knife.”

“Wow. I had no idea your family was so violent.” Kelly started jogging in place, either to warm up or because he was eager to get moving. “How did he react besides that?”

“Kind of distant, but that’s how he’s been lately anyway. What about you? Do you worry about self-defense?”

“You think I’m going to let anyone punch this pretty face?”

William took the opportunity to stare. Kelly’s face had been showing up in his life a lot lately. In his dreams, his fantasies, or on his computer screen when he’d done a search to find a photo of him.

“You’re better off running,” Kelly continued. “We had a guy talk to us about it in the gay youth group. He said that the best way to avoid getting hurt is to not stick around. I’ve got pride, but I don’t want to end up in the hospital because of it. Why give some asshole the satisfaction? I say run and live to plot your revenge. Speaking of which, your parents might feel better if their son learned how to run.”

“I can run!” William said in mock offense. “I’ll prove it. Let’s go!”

Kelly took off, zipping down the track. William was all too happy to chase after him.

* * * * *

“What’s the point of being gay if you’re not getting any?”

This was the second question Errol asked after William had confided in him. His brother had shown up on Sunday night, kicked out by his roommate again. He was standing in the kitchen and cramming cookies into his mouth when William decided to tell him the truth. At this rate he would forever associate baked goods with coming out. Errol hadn’t been surprised in the slightest. The first question he had asked was, “Got a boyfriend?”

William had shaken his head, leading to the next line of inquiry, to which William responded. “Getting any what?”

“Trouser snake. Meat popsicle. Bone cigar. Pudding torpedo.”

The list had gone on and on, William increasingly horrified until he broke down and started laughing. Then he had tried coming up with some of his own. “Party stick, beef thermometer, trouser trunk, baby bazooka.” It only got worse when they started dredging up colorful terms for anal sex. All that really mattered was that his brother was cool and accepted him fully. Errol wasn’t exactly wrong either. William had faced the most difficult part and told those nearest to him. Now he should reap the rewards, which meant actually
doing
something gay. Like going on a date. With a guy.

He spent most of the school day obsessing over how he could make this happen. Obviously he had to ask someone. He already knew who. Even if he had other options, William couldn’t imagine doing any better than Kelly. That’s what made it so intimidating. He was pretty sure Kelly was out of his league. Better looking, more experienced, and quicker. Not just in terms of running speed. Kelly was smart! He still wanted to try though. They met after school, as they had done for two weeks now, alternating between the high school track and the YMCA pool. Today’s session was particularly good. Kelly finally got the hang of flip turns, which he had asked William to teach him. After this breakthrough, Kelly couldn’t stop doing them, and William couldn’t stop watching his lithe body twist and turn gracefully beneath the water. Kelly was grinning by the end of their session. They sat on the edge of the pool, letting their muscles relax after the long workout.

“He’s done for,” Kelly said, still appearing elated. “Jared can’t do flip turns. I don’t care how fast he swims. I’ve finally got him beat!”

William furrowed his brow, not liking how worked up Kelly got over Jared. He was determined though to focus on the positive and show what he had to offer. He stretched out, feet in the water and towel off to one side, meaning his full body was on display. To his delight, he caught Kelly looking.

“Tomorrow’s the last day to train,” William said.

Kelly finished patting his head dry and let the towel settle over his shoulders. He was sitting cross-legged, but enough of his body remained in plain view too. “We should take tomorrow off. Make sure we’re well-rested for Saturday.”

The last thing he wanted was to spend time apart! “I’m still nowhere near as fast as you. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve learned more from me than I have from you.”

“Blame the student, not the teacher.” A smile played about Kelly’s lips. “One more day won’t make much difference. Save your strength and load up on carbs.”

Then again, maybe this was the perfect opportunity. “Wow, free time after school. What will I do with myself?” Then, as casually as possible, he added, “Maybe we should celebrate.”

“We haven’t won yet.”

“No, but we’ve been working hard. I figure we deserve some fun.” William tore his eyes away from Kelly’s body, not wanting to accidently launch a pudding torpedo. “You know how to play pool?”

“You mean the non-swimming variety? No.”

“Me neither. We’d be on equal standing for once. Maybe afterwards we can get some of those carbs you mentioned.”

Kelly nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Simple as that? Kelly had pulled one foot close to examine a toenail. William had just asked him on a date, and Kelly had accepted without even thinking about it. Or reacting much. William supposed he already had lots of experience with such things and probably got asked out all the time. He tried to play it cool by not verbalizing all the questions he had. What should he wear? What would Kelly wear? Who was the top in this scenario? Please let it be Kelly! Were they going to kiss? Should they now?

“Do you know a place?” Kelly asked.

“No,” William said. “I’ll look one up and text you the info.”

“Cool,” Kelly said.

“Cool,” William repeated, even though he felt anything but. This was way too exciting. He was going on a date!

* * * * *

As soon as William was home from school the next day, he took a shower, scrubbing every inch of his body and laughing, because he was pretty sure Kelly wouldn’t be performing an inspection. No way would they hook up on the first date. Right? Would they? He started scrubbing twice as hard. Once finished showering and drying off, he put on the only suit he owned, which he had worn once before. To his aunt’s funeral. With that cheerful thought in mind, he decided he was being an idiot and opted instead for a more casual approach. A pair of jeans, a light blue dress shirt, and some of that cologne that had driven Lily wild. He chuckled over the memory and was still smiling as he went downstairs.