Lyle

"I'm so proud of you." Mother gushed. I watched her swerve around my side of the table over to Gunnar where she strode by all prim and proper before setting a printed article smack down onto the table.

Dad lowered his newspaper and wrinkled his nose. His bushy eyebrows scrunched as his eyes narrowed on me. I silently shrugged as he turned to Mother. "What's this?"

"Our son shaking hands with a world-class surgeon at the grand opening of the hospital in Seattle." Mother beamed.

"Let me see that." Dad swiped the article and looked down, nodding as he read. "Huh. That's very wonderful."

"Yeah." Gunnar agreed with a mouthful of bacon in his mouth. I cringed not only because of the bad manners, but the fact he was consuming bacon. Now I wasn't a super vegan or nature's spirit reincarnated, however I still had standards. I wouldn't do fur clothing, certain meat from beloved animals, and of course, keep the activism from being too much. Speaking of which, I had to get going soon.

I quickly placed my dishes in the dishwasher and skedaddled only to be stopped.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?" Dad demanded.

"School."

"Good to know." He nodded before he kept reading. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one with questions.

"Lyle, sweetheart... did you remember to pack your lunch?" Mother asked.

"I sure did."

"Anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Huh? My eyes went to the side before I swiveled around to see her standing with her arms crossed. Her cold, blue eyes really gave off that intimidating look when combined with her pale skin. It got my nerves all riled up to the point, I scratched my head and chuckled. "Um, I don't understand."

"The man that called last night." Mother answered in a stern tone. "He asked for you."

"Which man?"

She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper with a number. One I recognized.

Uh oh, I gulped and looked back at Mother, who then asked. "Was that a friend?"

"Yes..." I slowly nodded. "A friend from school."

"He certainly doesn't sound like that, though I wouldn't put it past scoundrels like him."

"Scoundrels?" I exclaimed. "Are you saying he's trash?"

"No, he just doesn't seem too bright. Plus, he was a bit too flirtatious if you ask me."

Oh dear god, My jaw fell for a moment before I heard the bus pull up. Thank the lord! Saved by the bus. Hallelujah.

"Uh, I've gotta go." I bobbed my head to the right and forced a crooked smile, then bolted off.

My heart was racing even after I successfully made it onto the bus. I dodged a real bullet there. Hopefully he didn't say anything too damning otherwise I'd be toast again. Gunnar already bailed me out the first time by unconventionally claiming to them that my interest in boys was part of my schizophrenia. As upsetting as it was, that really was the best option to keep myself hidden. Leave it to Picasso Versace over here to nearly derail everything in one fell swoop.

"Hey Lyle," Dominic said in a seductive voice as he planted himself beside my locker.

I simply closed it back up and walked away. He scoffed, chasing after me. "What, no hello? Not even a glare or nothing?"

I sent a stern glare his way prompting him to grin. I picked up my pace where he continued following me, eventually pulling me to the side.

"Move." I commanded.

"No. Not until you tell me what's up."

"Life." I announced, throwing my hands in the air.

He wasn't convinced by my jazz hands and got closer. "Is it your brother again?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "It's you."

"Me?"

"Yep." I revealed before walking away, seemingly in the clear. A few minutes later, he was back again.

"Alright, say I am the problem. What does that have to do with you?"

"Lots of things." My eyes shifted between Logan and his cronies, the mean girls without their queen, and Elise coming out of the bathroom with droopy, fatigued eyes along with her frizzy hair. She had that zombie schtick going on. I would've gone over to help except Kim had beat me to it. So many possibilities to escape this conversation and yet I was still here.

We kept walking until Dominic stood right in front of me. "Like?"

"Feelings." I bluntly told him. "Do you know how I feel about you?"

"A little."

"Well it's kind of tearing me apart inside." I nodded quickly, then walked past him. He waited another two minutes where I had almost broke free. Almost.

"Is this about Homecoming?" He continued to pry.

"Not just that." I began to explain. "It's been like this since we met."

"I see how it is." Dominic nodded understandingly.

"Yeah." I gently sighed, looking down at the tile floor. While the tension was boiling between us, I felt we were moving the right direction. Then Dominic had to open his big, fat mouth.

"I totally get it man. You're still salty because I made you jealous–"

"Really?" My voice went shrill as I pulled him aside to the nearest unoccupied classroom. During that time, someone was drawing on the whiteboard before glancing over at us.

"You boys need anything?"

Oh boy, I closed my eyes while Dominic scoffed. Before us stood the most lovely, sophisticated, charming teacher to graze the earth: Mr. Killian Trevoche.

When I opened my eyes, he came by in his black, leather vest, slick pants, and dashing Irish accent. He gave us a warm smile, then extended his arm out. "I don't believe we've met before."

"Nope." Dominic graciously shook his hand if not checking him out in the process. "I'm Dominic Romano."

"Killian Trevoche." He introduced himself.

I turned a bit to see Dominic was already lost in Trevoche's gorgeous, blue eyes. Typical. Though at the same time I couldn't blame him. Those eyes were a true wonder to behold.

I cleared my throats for a second, then spoke up. "Um, do you mind if we have some privacy? If that's okay with you?"

"Not at all." Trevoche cheerfully accepted before he stepped away to grab his keys and locked the drawers. "I was just about to take my lunch break. Do you boys promise to work out whatever's going on?"

"Yes." I nodded

"Sure." Dominic agreed.

"No shenanigans. Understand?" He stoically raised his finger while looking at us.

"Understood." I responded.

"Stellar." He remarked before putting on his coat and heading out.

Meanwhile, I shut the door as Dominic chuckled. "Damn. That ass though."

"Are you serious right now?" I grumbled.

"But ain't it fine?" He smirked, refusing to let up on the matter.

I rolled my eyes and agreed. "Sure."

Not long after, the awkward silence had settled in. He kept his mouth shut as I did the same. Neither of us wanted to speak until I cracked and asked the burning question on my mind.

"What are you trying to do to me?" I shook my head and sighed. "I mean, I've tried really hard not to feel things for you. Romantic things. The kind that gives my heart some life–"

"So what's the deal here?"

"Us." I answered rather quickly. My eyes narrowed into his, delving right into our current dilemma. "Sure, it's fun and annoying how you tease me and get me all flustered."

"That's the best."

"No, it's not." I scoffed, feeling some redness on my cheeks. "The point is, the more we've been talking, the more I'm falling for you."

My words sparked a smile upon Dominic's face where he grinned with joy. "And why is that a problem?"

Why? My eyebrows sprung up and I gaped a little. "Have you met my parents? I can't be with other boys the way I want or else I'd be cast out."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

"Well it is and that affects my life." I closed my eyes. "It affects us."

When I opened them again, Dominic gave me this look of sincerity. He wasn't being so smug and seductive, instead he was listening. He was accepting or at least trying to understand where I'm coming from. Dominic stepped closer, letting out a deep sigh before he said, "I've been there before."

"What do you mean?"

"The whole anxiety thing you got going on here, your heart beating a thousand miles an hour, trying not to feel, I've dealt with it."

"So is that why you really didn't want to go to the dance with me?"

"No." Dominic scoffed. "Look, I ain't afraid to be who I am, but don't think for a second that I've got it any easier."

"How come?" I asked, folding my arms.

He looked down for a moment before facing me again. "There's a reason I'm not at that shithole of a school on the south side. At a place like that, guys like myself have to toughen up. Wound up in the wildest crew of rebels you've ever seen. They all led fucked up lives themselves between arson addiction, shit with drugs, and everything ghetto in the world. So... one day I thought it was fine to say how I felt about somebody."

Dominic shuddered a little and then forced a crooked smile. "Turns out I was wrong. You could knock out as many white kids as you want, yet somehow loving other guys was worse."

"Oh my god." I murmured. "W-what did-No, how did they–"

"It got really ugly. I get that some were high when the news broke out, but even when they were sober they were just...awful."

"Wow. Did you tell someone? Anyone?"

"I tried going to the principal and he was no help. He did give suggestions though." Dominic shrugged with his head tilted more toward the right. "Shitty suggestions. Group therapy, uh... bringing in some speaker of tolerance, Oh what else?"

Dominic thought to himself, then raised his pointer finger. "And best of all... reason. He believed I could just explain to some methheads and scumbags that liking guys isn't so bad. It only got worse from there. If I thought the first beating was brutal, I hadn't seen nothing yet."

My eyes shifted down to the left arm which seemed to tremble harder the more he spoke.

"Did they burn you?" I pointed out.

"Burn, beat, bite, you name it."

"You could've called the cops."

"And come off as a snitch?" Dominic sneered. "Fuck no."

"It's not snitching if they really hurt you."

"Yeah well maybe I should've never been with them in the first place, but too late for that now." Dominic cackled long and hard, though deep down he was hurting.

I reached out to comfort him only for Dominic to step back, shaking his head. "You know, I think you're real cute and all, but let's not do this."

"Do what?"

"Pour our hearts out and then be together like every other basic couple."

Dominic turned his head and pointed to the one outside, making out by the guy's locker. "See, basic."

"We're not basic though." I tried to reassure him. "We're just... lost. Trying to figure out what we want. You're obviously in a different place than I am–"

"Nope." Dominic denied. "I'm perfectly fine with taking this thing between us to the next level. The real question is, are you?"

Oh boy. I didn't see that coming, I gulped as Dominic stared me down before checking his watch. "Listen, I gotta go. If you need me, you know what to do. Otherwise, relax. I know it ain't easy being us, but you don't gotta make this harder than it already is. We can be a thing."

"We can?"

"Yeah." Dominic cheerfully replied. "But only if you want that, not just because I'm ready."

Whoa, I stood there breathless. Dominic gave me a kiss on the side of my forehead and patted me on the back on his way out. I turned around seconds later but he gone. I couldn't help but moan to myself. On one hand, I was beyond ecstatic that he finally spoke up on how he feels. He had feelings for me too. On the downside, I wasn't so sure myself if I could do it. It was less about whether I could handle his problems and more about if he could handle mine.