Trouble (6 page)

“
That’s cool for you.”

“
I know I won’t feel like the First Kid,” Byron admitted.
“Perhaps you can take me for a spin.”

“
During lunch time?”

“
If that’s okay.”

“
And I’ll show you some of my maneuvers?”

“
That’ll be awesome. I’ll get two passes for the free period.”
Tracey High allowed students to leave the campus and either go to
their homes, or to the shop. He forgot to mention that going on a
fast spin in a sports car was not condoned.

“
Hope we come out alive.”

Byron was
not sure if he was joking.

As they
walked to Mr Chang, there was an announcement on the intercom that
sophomores would go to Griffin Observatory for a field trip at
2.00pm. Students were asked to be prompt.

Chapter 10: Conflict

“
Byron!” Russ screamed at him during lunch period. “I’m sick of
you,” his face glistened with rage.

Other
students milled around in the hall way.

“
You hacked into my phone,” he screamed.

“
You hacked mine and put in this message about me being gay and
wanting to do it with the world,” Byron said without raising his
voice. He held up his Iphone. “I merely put it back in your
timeline.”

“
You called me names,” he shouted.

There was
a murmur of nervousness from both freshmen and sophomores who were
milling around. This could take a turn for the worst.

“
I can’t believe you did this,” he said.

“
You can’t believe that your plan backfired.”

“
You humiliated me, you fag lover.”

“
Okay I’m sorry. I’m a kind of rebel with a cause. I’m sick of
the way you terrorize everyone and deface school buildings and slap
girls around so I added to your message and posted it,” he paused.
“Maybe I was wrong to hack your phone because two wrongs don’t make
a right.”

“
I’m going to humiliate you just as you humiliated me.” There
was an evil glint in his eyes. “You’re going to take off your
clothes and walk only in your underwear from here to the bathroom.
I think that’s only fair for the humiliation you caused me by
hacking into my phone and calling me a bully.”

There was
a collective gasp from the bystanders, growing ever
larger.

His
gaggle of goons loved this. It was an ingenuous
punishment.

“
Please don’t do it Byron,” Natalie said nervously. “You can
walk out of this.”

“
You stay out of this Nat. I still have to deal with you and
that new kid on the block,” Russ said sharply.

“
Natalie, don’t worry. I can handle this,” Byron reassured
her.

Matt ran
up, “Byron you don’t have to do this.” He turned to Russ. “I
challenge you to a fight. If I lose Byron does what you tell
him.”

“
My fight is not with you lover boy.”

“
Matt, it’s okay. I can handle this my way.”

“
I haven’t finished with you,” Russ said angrily as he looked
at Matt. “You’re going to get your fight before the end of the
day.”

“
Russ you’ve always hated me so I’m going to do as you say but
you must agree to two things.”

“
What?”

“
Stop bullying and stop hitting girls. Stop terrorizing boys on
empty street corners.”

“
Lord Byron has become a knight in shining armor,” he said to
his gaggle of goons who cackled. “And he’s a fag lover to
boot.”

“
That was really cruel of you. No one deserves to be
bullied.”

There
were murmurings of support from the crowd.

“
Once and for all, I humiliate myself and make you very happy.
But you must stop your bullying. Get counseling or whatever. Get a
better life. Act normally.”

“
What if I want to humiliate you and continue with the
bullying?” he sneered.

“
If you don’t agree, then we’ll shoot this out.” There was a
dangerous tone to Byron’s voice that Russ sensed immediately. Byron
was well known for being such an excellent marksman and he was not
keen on a shootout. Besides, walking half naked in the school would
bring him so much shame that he would not be able to live with it.
It was a win-win situation for Russ and he smiled slyly. He had the
upper hand.

“
Agreed,” he smiled confidently.

Byron
took of his sweater and jeans and sneakers until he was only in his
underwear. There was a collective gasp of admiration from the
onlookers as he walked slowly and confidently to the bathroom.
Byron was handsome with a perfectly chiseled body and he was also a
hero for standing up for the downtrodden and those who were
bullied. He didn’t know it then but he would become a legend in
years to come.

Students
cheered him as he walked to the bathroom about 20 feet away and
looked contemptuously at Russ and his goons.

As he
walked a freshman asked, “Can I have your weight training
program?”

“
Sure,” he said.

“
If you need a friend let me know,” a junior with long dark
hair said.

“
I’m kind of occupied,” he said politely.

“
Thanks for standing up for guys like me,” Quentin
said.

“
Be glad to.”

Cell
phones clicked furiously. The students recognized a hero in the
making.

Too late,
Russ was consumed with impotent rage. The punishment had backfired.
Byron had not been humiliated. He had become a star at his
expense!

Byron
dressed and came out to a hero’s welcome as students milled
around.

Natalie
hugged him, “You’re the craziest sonofagun I have ever met. You’re
impossible, Brother.”

He felt
very tense and hoped that she hadn’t noticed. His overwhelming urge
at that moment was to kiss her passionately. And brothers didn’t do
French kisses. He just hated it when he was hugged for being a
brother. Maybe I should have an ‘attitude’ and look really focused
like Taylor Lautner, he thought wistfully.

Quentin
came forward and Byron shook his hand uneasily. It wasn’t because
he was wary of Quentin. He’d heard about his gay parents and was
anxious not to say or do anything that might be seen as being
socially incorrect. He wanted to relax and just talk to Quentin but
worried that he might say something that was misconstrued as
insulting to his family. In fact, while walking around in his
underwear, he had wanted to show his support for him by hugging him
but worried that Quentin might have been deeply
embarrassed.

Russ and
his goons were nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 11: Fast driving

Lunch
period was for half an hour so they had only a short time for Matt
to demonstrate some racing car maneuvers.

“
Impress me,” Byron teased.

Matt
drove fast but within the speed limit then abruptly he turned the
sports car sideways. Byron felt himself being thrown forward but
was held back by his seat belt. He was sweating with excitement.
Matt was very calm and did not stop or lose control.

Matt had
started driving in Indiana as a way of overcoming his loneliness.
His maneuvers were a window to his inner troubled world and the way
in which he tried to come to terms with it. For Byron, this
rollercoaster kind of ride was like being inside Matt’s risk filled
mind. It was as if unseen forces were trying to harm him and he was
taking evasive action. Byron was disturbed because it was like a
mirror in which he saw his own stormy life. He couldn’t keep
avoiding it. He felt he needed to confront his fears, his concerns,
his trials and his search for identity. He was glad he had
confronted Russ because it showed that he was on the right track in
dealing directly with his issues.

Later he
would talk to Natalie!

He was
going to ask Matt to teach him these maneuvers but knew he would be
unwilling to do so because they were quite dangerous for someone
just learning to drive.

“
Okay let’s go back to school otherwise we’ll miss the next
period,” Matt said breezily.

Byron was
sweating and his head seemed to be pounding.

“
What’s with you?” he asked good naturedly. “You walk around
fearlessly like Tarzan in school but you’re shaking inside
here.”

“
I’m impressed.”

‘
With my car?”

“
Yes. But more so with your driving. It’s like riding inside
your mind.”

Suddenly
Matt jerked the steering wheel and Byron was flabbergasted that he
was not using the brakes! He swerved furiously and Byron thought
they were going to crush. Then he steered very quickly without
being too fast. Instantly he corrected the car’s direction and they
moved back to school.

“
You’re one crazy son of a gun.”

“
But never ask me to teach you to drive like this. It’s
dangerous.”

“
You remind me of a legend.”

“
Who?”

“
James Dean.”

“
Rebel without.”

“
No,” Byron added quickly. “Rebel with a cause.”

“
Why ‘with a cause’?”

“
I guess I’m trying to find some deeper meaning in life. Trying
to search for the right identity rather than just having a good
time.”

“
You mean rather than just going with the flow of drinking,
sexing and having a blast? That’s cool.” Matt pressed a button and
Carly Rae came on loud and clear.

“
You like Natalie, do you?” There was subtle tension in Byron’s
voice as he tried to be as casual as possible.

And then
Matt understood. The whole purpose of this ride was not to be
impressed with his driving but to quiz him on the love of their
lives. Byron was hoping that she would hook up with him after her
break up with Russ and it was Matt’s good fortune that he was at
the right place at the right time when the drama unfolded. He
sensed that Byron had wanted Natalie to break up with Russ, partly
because he was a bully but there was more. There was an invisible
barrier between Byron and Natalie. It was a mystery to him what the
whole issue was about. He sensed that he was in the middle of the
invisible barrier and could get caught in the crossfire! If he was
patient it would just unfold. He wished that he was not so
temperamental. He needed to learn to deal with the issues calmly so
he would be able to ride out this storm of a love
triangle!

“
What is it to you?” he asked nonchalantly as they came to the
car park. Immediately he regretted his response and his tone of
voice. If he had spoken reasonably and calmly this issue would have
been solved easily but his cavalier reply would set off a chain of
events.

He had
not meant to be rude but it came as a blunt question. The situation
was made worse by Carly Rae’s song Call Me Maybe booming loudly in
the confined space. In his own brave way, Byron had stood up to the
biggest bully in school and had provided Natalie with a face saving
solution for leaving him. He suspected that by humiliating himself,
he had also humiliated Russ and this was done out of his deep love
for Natalie. What he was not sure about was whether this love was
brotherly or romantic or a mixture of both. He was going to find
out soon enough!

He could
feel Byron’s anger as he looked at him sharply.

Carly Rae
oblivious to what was going on sang about ripped jeans, skin
showing and the hot night. It seemed to echo the incident the
previous afternoon with Quentin and Natalie. Matt’s choice of song
further antagonized Byron. He thought Matt had played it to show
his inner feelings.

“
You strike me as another frisky guy with a fast car and I bet
a faster motorbike. I just hope you don’t hurt her.”

Carly
Rae’s voice came clearly about ‘just meeting you and this is crazy
but here’s my number.’

“
You love her too?” Immediately he regretted that howler of a
response. He should really think before he spoke, he thought
wistfully to himself.

Carly Rae
continued about ‘all the other boys chasing her but here’s my
number.’

Byron
slammed the door and came to his side. He could barely control his
anger. He was staring down at Matt. “Yes I love her. Is that a
problem for you?” Before Matt could answer he added.”If you don’t
like the sound of that, come out and we’ll settle it right
now.”

Matt had
the presence of mind to realize that the song was adding fuel to
the situation and shut it off. “Look whatever my faults I’m not
frisky. I didn’t mean to sound the way I did. You popped the
question so suddenly that I said the first thing that came into my
mind. If I’m camping on your territory, let me know and I’ll move
on.” He felt he had given a speech.

Byron
relaxed considerably.

“
Okay,” he said almost absentmindedly. He was in a quandary but
Natalie had obviously agreed to see Matt and being a true
gentleman, it was not in Byron’s nature to argue with her. He had
an almost obsessive kind of love and Natalie was not sure if she
could handle it at this delicate moment in her life with her dad
leaving them abruptly. She wanted some breathing space and Matt
suspected that was the reason she had agreed to their friendship.
Byron did not like this arrangement at all. He was perceptive
enough to realize that Matt loved Natalie and would do everything
in his power to retain their friendship. Oh the trials of being
sophomores, Matt groaned.