Lyle

"Morning Dad."

"Good morning, Lyle." He came into the kitchen and ruffled my hair before grabbing a Granny Smith and taking a bite. "How's that project comin' along?"

"What project?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and wrinkling my nose in the process.

"The one you have to do with your friends."

"Oh, that's a planning committee." I explained. "We're actually supposed to come up with a proposal very soon."

"Well I hope it all goes smoothly."

"Thanks." I smiled.

He did the same and was about to speak up only for Mother to intervene.

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Uh... Friday?" I forced a crooked smile which got me a stony glare in return.

She folded her arms and huffed. "No, today is the annual church bake sale."

"Bake sale?" My ears perked up. "Ooh, that sounds delicious."

Mother scowled and shook her head. "You must've forgotten, but we're not there to buy goods. We are there to sell them."

"Then the profits go to charity?"

"Of course." Mother insisted. "Where else would they go?"

"I always thought our priest stashed some in his pocket."

"That's preposterous. Why would you ever think that?"

"Maybe because the last one did?" I squinted while forcing a crooked smile only for her to groan at my remark.

"Alright. Fair enough."

With that said, I grabbed my things and was nearly out the door when Mother stopped me again. "Wait."

I froze and awkwardly turned back to her. "Yes?"

"I looked onto your calendar and saw a marking that mentioned a date with Dominic." She crossed her arms and stepped forward. "Are you seeing someone?"

"No..." I slowly shook my head while clutching my shirt. "Not that I can think of."

"Dominic is a name of a boy. A date is for two people in love–"

"It's not an actual date." I lied through my teeth. "I just listed it as that because hangout sounds weird to me."

Mother nodded with a skeptical glare in her eyes while I gulped. Meanwhile, the bus honked outside.

"I've gotta go." I told her.

"Have a good day, sweetheart." Her words came off so cold yet completely natural at the same time.

I left in a snap and found myself breathing heavily even after finding a comfortable place on the bus. That was a close one. Knowing how both her and my father felt about boys such as myself... it could've gone much worse. I had to be more careful. Unfortunately, there were forces beyond me that I couldn't control. Somehow those forces always had a way of finding me. Whether I loved it or not.

"Hey there, tiger." Dominic greeted me in his dashing, flirtatious manner before wrapping his arms around me.

I felt a tingle in my body and giggled a little. "Well hello to you too."

I turned to him to see his glorious smile on his face.

"How's your morning?"

"Strange. Yours?"

"Absolute torture." Dominic chuckled as he rested his arm on a nearby locker. "My parents were at it again. This time it was about his..."

Dominic looked around before leaning in and whispering. "Naked masterpieces."

"Oh." I gasped as he stepped back and nodded.

"Yep. I came from a bastard who believes in complete freedom. Artistic freedom. No clothes needed."

"Dear lord." I remarked. "That's uh... that's really something."

"I know." Dominic smiled. "Between his crazy ramblings and her nagging, it's a miracle I haven't shot myself."

"Whoa there." I chuckled.

"Too much?"

"Yeah." I half-nodded with a forced smile on my face.

The two of us then found ourselves in a midst of awkward silence once more. I shuffled my feet a little while he rubbed his thick hair before he spoke again. "So, are you still up for tonight?"

"Um, about that..." I bit my lip and paused for a second. My eyes looked straight down at the tile floor. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but it had to be said. "I can't. Go. Not tonight."

"You can't?"

"Unfortunately not. I have to help with this bake sale. Mother demanded for me to be there."

"Do you even know what's all being sold?" Dominic asked, crossing his arms while flashing a skeptical smirk my way.

"Of course! I mean, there's an apple crisp? Pumpkin pies, pecan pies, gingerbread cookies–"

"Oh Lyle..." Dominic shook his head and gently touched my face. "You're so hopeless."

"I am not."

"You're kinda being hopeless right now." Dominic gave me a stoic yet static look which framed his faint smile. "Stop being afraid. She's only your mom."

"Well, you don't know how scary she can be."

"Hey, if I can live in the ghetto, you can face her. Easily."

"Hmm... I don't know about that." I arched my head upright and chuckled. "She can be a real vulture sometimes. Plus if she or my father ever found out about us–"

"So that's a no then?" Dominic concluded with a hollowness in his tone.

I saw his eyes gradually go from radiant to opaque before he nodded. "Totally understand."

He began walking away while I hastily followed. "Maybe I can work something out?"

"If you can, hit me up." Dominic responded dejectedly. "See ya around, Lyle."

"Okay then. Bye–"

Before I knew it, he was halfway down the hall. I watched as my first possible boyfriend drifted into the shadows. Oh, why couldn't I just say I'd make arrangements or stand up for myself? Now, he'll think I'm weak-willed and disinterested in him. That was the last thing I wanted.

After wallowing in my sadness, I looked back one more time to see him completely out of the sight. The rest of the morning went by in a flash of blurs before lunch time rolled around where nothing had changed. I sat at the usual lunch table alone, waiting for him to arrive. He never did. Instead, I just got a knock to my head.

"Yo dorkwad, catch!"

"Gah!" I yelped as the bright orange foam football hit me in the back of the head. It wasn't as terrible as I thought, but still...That really hurt! I was also convinced the material was harder than foam since it felt like a baseball instead of a tennis ball against my head.

I turned around, glaring at the snickering bullies. Marvin even laughed too in his usual obnoxious manner just like the rest of them. I shook my head as Logan yelled. "Throw it back, you fag."

Really? My eyebrows raised at the ignorant remark. You wanna say that in a progressive school like this? And they say I'm the dumbass.

I scoffed before launching their precious ball over where it hit one of those guys in the face. Quite the miracle it was.

"You're gonna pay for that!" He pointed and shouted.

"Yeah, better watch your back, freak." Bruce followed up.

I simply ignored them only to be met by the presence of two very pleasant people.

"Fucking morons." Elise scoffed.

"Don't they have anything better to do?" Aria asked.

"Apparently not." I shrugged, digging right into my salad. "Just when you thought the hard part was over–"

"The shitstorm's only begun." Elise finished my sentence much to my surprise. "I had that same mindset when we started this year and now look. I'm probably gonna have to drop out of Breskott."

"You got into Breskott." My ears perked up when hearing the news. "When?"

"A few weeks ago." Elise casually answered. "I haven't even told my parents yet, but they don't have to know about this."

"You should probably tell them."

"Why?"

"For one, it's truly splendid news and two; they'd be proud."

"That's exactly what I've been saying." Aria responded.

Elise laughed before looking down. "Well, it's too bad this little fucker's gonna drain me of all my money. It's either him or college and I'm not taking him away from Frasier."

"But what about you?" I asked, leaning forward. "What about your needs?"

"They can come later."

I sat there and stewed over what she had said. One hand, I agreed with her method of putting her child first, but on the other hand... she didn't seem thrilled in the least bit for making this sacrifice. Rats, I needed a second opinion on this matter. Oh, where's Johnny when you need him?

When he popped into my head, I searched around before asking the girls. "Uh, have you two by any chance see Johnny around today?"

"Nope." Elise shook her head.

"I did." Aria answered. "Saw him desperately trying to scrape old firefighter posters of his dad plastered on his locker."

"Huh, I don't see how that would–"

"He wasn't a real firefighter," Aria said with the utmost deadpan voice. "He just worked the poles."

"Wow..." my jaw dropped. I knew he resented his father for something, but this took the cake.

"Yeah." Aria chuckled. "If I had to take a guess, he's in the bathroom trying to shake off his wounded pride."

"Of course. Thanks for tip."

"Wait, I never said–"

"No time. Gotta find him now." I dumped my lunchbox and sprinted down the hall. My endless thoughts bounced around in my bed so much, I wasn't even paying attention to where I was.

"Slow down!" Normack ordered as he passed by.

"Sorry sir." I eased up on the pace before fast walking into the boy's bathroom. Ironically enough, Aria was right. He was in the bathroom washing off his face.

"Thank god, I've been looking for you all day!" I exclaimed.

Johnny turned off the faucet and turned to me with a forced smile. "Yeah, kinda got caught up in some shit."

"Oh." I frowned. "Uh, may I ask who had ruffled your feathers?"

"Who do you think?"

I thought for a minute about all the possibilities, then it hit me.

"Logan."

"Ding, ding, ding." He pointed and nodded. "You sir, are sadly correct. It is Logan."

"Again?"

"Again." Johnny dejectedly repeated as he folded his arms. "Yeah, my former best bud is literally the scum of the earth."

"Wait a second..." I slowly deduced, putting a hand out and holding onto my head with the other. "He wasn't behind the locker thing, was he?"

Johnny stood there, letting out a giant sigh with his arms tightly crossed. It was then, I knew the sad truth.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yep." Johnny nodded. "I'm sorta wishin' I hadn't gone off on him the first time, quit the team, or both."

"You know that's not your fault."

"I do." Johnny meekly acknowledged. "But sometimes it's easier to shut my mouth and go with the flow. Just like what you've been doing."

"Actually, it's not all that great either."

"Still better than where I'm at now."

"Yeah..." My eyes rolled to the side for a moment before I awkwardly shifted gears in an effort to cheer him up. "Gee, when you put things into perspective, my issues seem so basic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well do you really wanna hear about my surface-level issues?"

"Sure." Johnny nodded. "I've got nothing better to do."

"So I think I'm gonna have my first real kiss tonight."

Johnny's eyes widened as he let out a muffled gulp. "Wait, you've never kissed anyone before?"

"Technically, yes." I tilted my head to the right while looking up. "But fake guys don't count."

"What do you mean by fake guys?"

"The ones who pretend they're into men when really–"

"Ah." Johnny frowned as he nodded. "I bet that sucks."

"It sure did. I tried being really straight after the ordeal, except it wasn't working."

"You know there's a community here, right?"

"Define community." I grumbled. "All I see here are a bunch of brats who either cry about never getting laid, experimenting, or hiding behind their orientation while sassing everyone around them."

"I guess that's fair."

"Uh huh." I nodded. "But what am I gonna do? Dominic's already upset because I don't have the guts to stand up to my mother. Now I'll have to make it up and by that, I'll have to kiss him."

"And you're not that experienced?"

"That's the problem." I humbly noted.

He stood by for a moment and checked me out before he turned away, chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Oh. I don't know if you'd like this idea–"

"Spit it out. I can handle whatever–"

"Do you want me to show you how it's done?"

Huh? My heart went aflutter and my eyebrows jumped as I heard that surprising, if not dreamy proposition.

"Y-you mean, you'd kiss me?"

"Hey, other cultures do it. It's not that weird." Johnny shrugged. "But... this is a one time thing. You were there when I got treated like shit and today. Now I feel just like you did when that whole prank went down."

"Listen, we don't need to go there again–"

"So... I still owe you." Johnny finished. His eyes narrowed in on me the longer I stared. "Now, are you still up for this?"

"Of course, I'm just surprised by the offer."

"Same here." Johnny admitted. "But just so you know, I'm gonna pretend you're a model from the panty catalog and leave it at that."

"Well that's reassuring."

"I know." Johnny looked down at his watch before he huffed. "Come on, you want this moment or not?"

Damn it. My dream has become a reality, yet seems like a nightmare. The idea of a guy I've grown to love platonically was willing to kiss me so I'd know what it's like. How on earth did this happen?

I felt my skin getting redder by the second until I eventually answered. "Of course."

Johnny gave a little nod before he stepped closer to me. His eyes softened as he towered over me. I closed my eyes as he hand gripped the back of my head and our lips locked... Oh god. This was really happening.

My heart skipped a beat and I found myself moaning gently. I loved every second of it even though it doesn't mean anything in the long-run. After a few more seconds, he patted me on the back. The one time thing between us was over and everything was back to normal. Sadly, but unfortunately.

Once he broke off the kiss, he stepped back with a smirk on his face. "How was that?"

At that point, my face was blushing hard and my hands were shaking. I even felt a little bulge down there. Instead of getting all awkward, I laughed and said, "Truly splendid."

"See, I told you." Johnny playfully punched me in the shoulder. "Now, do you think you're ready for tonight?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Thanks for that."

"No problem, man."

He grabbed his bag and began to walk out only to halt where he turned halfway with his finger pointing out. "Oh, you might wanna wash up. You're sweating buckets right now and look like you just popped off."

Crap, I bit my lip. My glasses had fogged up to the point I took them off and squinted at myself in the mirror. I did need to clean myself up. "Thanks for the tip."

Johnny chuckled and the moment the door closed, I let out a giant sigh. My back laid against the wall where I gradually slid down until my bottom was planted on the unkempt, beige tile floor. I wiped off my forehead yet I still felt the emotions blasting through my head. It was just a kiss. Just a kiss... So I could... I could do the real thing with the guy that had an interest in me. Romantic interest.

My face buried itself in its palms and I couldn't stop laughing. My life was changing faster than I realized. While I wasn't necessarily afraid, I was also worried. The idea of possibly going from friends to boyfriend, was simply astounding but I was ready. No matter what would come about the ordeal.

* * * * *

"Dominic!" I waved and called out as he walked by with his sunglasses down, though upon seeing me, he raised them up.

"Whoa." He remarked. "What's with the get-up you got there? You pullin' a Mister Rogers or somethin'?"

I looked down to see that I was wearing my good clothes along with the bright red cardigan since the other clothes got all... soiled.

The whole situation made me shake my head. "Oh, this is just what I wear on my walk home."

"You sure about walking home today? It's supposed to get real cold."

"I'm sure I'll be fine." I waved off and laughed.

To my great misfortune, a massive breeze went through and it made me shiver. Ooh, that was chilly.

I wrapped my arms tighter, then said, "On second thought... I may need a ride."

"Alright."

Before I knew it, we were on the road again where during the ride, Dominic turned down his music and asked. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"Actually, I can make it."

"Seriously?"

"Of course." I answered with a slight chuckle. "But we might need to stop at my place first."

"Your parents home right now?"

"Nope."

"Sweet." Dominic grinned and pressed on the gas. Meanwhile, I rested my head on the window. Something about this was making my stomach churn. That or the fact, my salad was just tossed together and I just accidentally ate something weird. Either way, I was nervous.

Eventually, we arrived at my place where I called out only to realize it was completely silent.

"We're alone." I gasped.

"What I'd give to have that just once." Dominic chuckled.

"You're never by yourself?"

"My pops is always there."

"Well that's nice." I walked up the stairs though the feeling of unrest suddenly emerged. Within seconds, I faced Dominic to see him silently standing at the bottom of the stairs. I guess that was wrong. "Or...not?"

Dominic sighed before joining me up the stairs and once we made it to the top, he revealed the truth. He looked me in the eyes and asked. "Okay, so this is gonna sound dumb, but do you ever think you'll turn out like your pops?"

"Some days." I shrugged. "I mean, he's intimidating but a kind soul."

"For me, it's a fucking nightmare." Dominic scoffed as he made his way into my room and plopped himself down on my bed. I would've made a suggestion, but that could wait.

"How come?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

"He's just..." Dominic held onto his forehead and closed his eyes. "He's such a stupid freak."

"Wow. Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"Oh trust me, that's an understatement." Dominic grumbled. "It's bad enough I spent my childhood known as the poor brown kid, it's even worse when you got a dad with no concept of reality."

"No concept of reality?" I repeated. "Does that mean–"

"He ain't right in the head? You guessed it." Dominic put his arm out and pointed. "Yep, he is one crazy motherfucker that thinks he's the next Picasso."

"Huh." I crossed my arms and thought on that a bit.

"Yeah, somehow he's the art freak and I'm the one with talent."

"What do you mean?"

Dominic pulled out his phone and scrolled right to a picture that made my eyes nearly jump out of their sockets.

"Holy cats." I remarked.

"Right." Dominic chuckled.

I continued taking in his masterpiece. It was this grand spiral staircase, with stars that majestically flowed on the way down. It came in shades of blue, red, gold, and all sorts of vibrant colors that made it burst with life.

"You-you did this yourself?" I asked.

"Damn right I did." Dominic took credit and snatched his phone back. "I sprayed that whole back alley area and nobody said shit."

"Wow..." I continued gushing in awe. "It's simply–"

"Splendid?" Dominic cheerfully guessed.

Damn. I must be really predictable, My face got red again as I laughed. "Yeah. That would describe it. Though I was thinking more like truly sensational."

"Shit, man." Dominic shook his head, cracking up at my compliment. "Look at you with the big words."

"Well I did read the entire dictionary back in the day. True story."

"No way."

"Guess which one was my favorite?"

"I bet it was that onomato-whatever."

"Nope." I snickered. "Maelstrom."

"Why that one?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, looking outside my window at the cloudy, grey sky. "It just sounds powerful. Especially because according to the dictionary, it's a violent whirlpool. It's chaotic, unsettling, and feels like my life in a nutshell."

"Same here."

There was a brief flash and a low rumble coming from outside. I simply turned away and walked over. I didn't know what came over me, but I joined him in-I mean on my bed. Right beside him. Luckily, it was big enough for the both of us.

"Oh, what's this?" Dominic asked.

I snuggled up by him and said, "I'm just getting comfortable."

"Didn't think you had it in you."

"Well I'm full of surprises."

"Mhmm..." Dominic softly caressed my face and smiled. "You know, I'm really falling for you, Lyle."

"You are?"

"More than you know."

Oh man, this is happening. He really wants to be together, I couldn't help but blush as he leaned in to me. His hand latched into my cheek as I closed my eyes.

Wow, his lips were so tender. I felt his chest pressed against mine as he got on top of me. His dominant presence was truly gratifying. Everything was swirling around so fast, I was engulfed. This euphoric sensation exploded from within. I couldn't get enough. A mix of chills and adrenaline flowed through my veins. It made my hands tremble as I held onto him. My world spun endlessly like the legendary adventurer pilot. It was the carousel that always kept turning until a full stop came in the form of a wide open door. Someone was here.

"What are you doing with my son?"

No... I couldn't speak. Chills went through my entire body as I heard that voice. Dominic's eyes widened. Mine did too. His vibrant, luscious skin went completely pale. He gasped and turned his head before getting off of me.

"Please, I can explain–"

"Out." She pointed her finger to the door. Dominic raised both hands in the air and hastily retreated before I could chase after him. Instead, I was left there to face my mother's wrath. I gulped as she stared narrowed her eyes in on me. This was the end, I just knew it. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and now I was doomed.