Read Something Like Summer Online
Authors: Jay Bell
Tags: #romance, #love, #coming of age, #texas, #gay, #relationships, #homosexual, #sexuality, #mm, #coming out, #lgbt youth, #lgbt fiction, #lgbt romance, #tasteful
Multiple expressions fought
for dominance on Mr. Cross’s face until it settled on perplexed
acquiesce. “That might be possible.”
“
Thank you, sir,” Ronnie
said with one final handshake. He spared a single nod and smile at
Allison before he headed for the door.
As soon as the front door
was shut, Mr. Cross wheeled around and pointed an accusatory finger
at Ben. “You think it’s funny, saying my daughter is with you when
she’s out with a stranger?”
“
No,” Ben answered, trying
not to make eye contact.
“
You’re damn right it’s
not!” Mr. Cross boomed.
“
Dad,” Allison
interjected. “It wasn’t his idea. It was mine!”
“
But he was happy enough
to go along with it!” Mr. Cross countered, refusing to take his
eyes off of Ben. “I bet you think you’re real smart, pulling the
wool over my eyes, don’t you?”
“
No,” Ben answered again,
beginning to feel agitated. He handed Allison her wallet and stood.
“I have to go home.”
“
Yeah, you go home! You
won’t ever be coming back here again, you hear me?”
“
Fine, whatever.” Big
loss. It wasn’t like they ever spent any time here with Mr. Cross
being home so often.
“
You won’t be seeing
Allison again either.”
Ben stopped in his tracks.
“What?”
“
Your friendship with my
daughter is over. You’re never allowed to see her again. Or call,
or anything else!”
“
Dad!” Allison
protested.
“
Shut up,
Alli!”
“
You shut up!” Ben yelled,
surprising even himself. “You can’t tell me who I’m friends with.
You can’t tell me anything!”
Mr. Cross’s shock only
lasted a second before blind fury took control. Two long strides
brought him close enough to grab Ben by the back of the neck. Mr.
Cross shoved him toward the door, releasing Ben as he stumbled
forward. “Get out!” he screamed. “Get out of my house!”
The second Ben opened the
door, he felt himself shoved from behind. He hit the screen door,
which buckled open. Sprinting to the driveway, he hopped into Tim’s
car, his shaking hand stabbing at the ignition until the key slid
inside. Once the engine sprang to life, he put it into drive and
escaped down the street. He looked in the rearview mirror to see
Mr. Cross standing in the yard, huffing and puffing like a bull.
Allison stood behind him, a look of complete shock on her
face.
* * * * *
There was, thankfully, very
little that Mr. Cross could do to prevent them from seeing each
other during the weekdays, short of sending Allison to a different
school in another district. This possibility wasn’t so far-fetched.
The idea would have seemed laughable a few short years ago, but Mr.
Cross’s grip on reality was slipping at an exponential
rate.
Seeing each other after
school was too risky so soon after the fallout, but they still had
the benefit of lunch break and choir. Mrs. Hammond enthusiastically
insisted they leave class to practice, either in the auditorium, or
if it was being used as it was today, then outside.
The two friends were
currently enjoying a sunny bench secluded by two large oak trees.
Ben’s head rested in Allison’s lap as she played absentmindedly
with his hair and he gazed at the lazy clouds above.
“
I asked Dad if I could go
out with Ronnie this weekend.”
“
What did he
say?”
“
No, but that I could next
weekend when I’m ungrounded.”
“
That sucks,” Ben sighed.
“I mean, I’m happy for you, but it seems unfair that I’m always on
his shit list.”
“
Who knows what his deal
is? You know what’s funny? I’m probably going to have to say I’m
out on a date with Ronnie the next time I want to do something with
you.”
“
Then when you get busted
I can show up and say ‘sir’ every other word and your dad will love
me.”
“
Shut up!” Allison
laughed.
“
You know,” Ben said,
leaning up on his elbows and shooting a disdainful glare toward the
school, “we’re going to have to start working on a song soon. It’s
only a matter of time before Mrs. Hammond asks us for a
preview.”
“
For the talent show?”
Allison chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I’d totally forgotten about
that. So what are we going to do?”
They spent the rest of the
period discussing which song to perform. Last year they had been
set to sing “Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen, but they had
practiced it so much that they had grown tired of it.
“
Ronnie has a band, you
know,” Allison said coyly.
“
I think you may have
mentioned that a few million times.” Ben paused to read between the
lines. “Wait, you want us to sing with them or
something?”
“
Maybe. They aren’t
perfect, but they have this one song with amazing lyrics. It’s
about a girl, and she’s watching this guy from far away that she’s
totally enamored with. He doesn’t know she exists, but the girl
knows everything about him, sees more than everyone else. It’s like
she knows more about him than he does.”
“
And I’m the
girl.”
“
Well, yeah.”
“
Thanks.”
“
I’m not doing it
justice,” Allison sighed. “Just listen to it once.”
When the bell rang, Ben
returned to school with Allison before doubling back and heading
toward the parking lot. Just as his hands were on the exit door,
someone called his name. He turned around and craned his head over
the crowded hallway until he spotted Ms. Hughes waving him down.
Ben almost bolted in terror, but it was too late. She had seen him.
His teacher for science, a class that he had been skipping for the
better part of two weeks, approached him with concern.
Ben’s feet were glued to
the floor as he tried to think of what he should do or say as she
navigated the swarming students.
“
I’m sorry,” he blurted
out when she reached him.
“
Where have you been?” she
asked, looking him over for signs of illness.
Ben breathed in and waited
for the words to come, but they didn’t. He had been so preoccupied
with everything lately that he hadn’t dreamed up what his excuse
would be when he inevitably returned to the classes he was
skipping.
“
Ben?” she prompted when
he failed to answer. “Is everything all right? Is something wrong
at home?”
As tempting as it was to
lie and say he had a problematic home life, he knew it would only
lead to more trouble. “I’m really sorry that I’ve been skipping,
Ms. Hughes,” the words came finally. “It’s… It’s hard to explain
what’s going on. I’m not in trouble or anything, but there’s
someone who needs my help. That’s why I’ve been leaving school
early.”
The school bell rang while
she considered his words with an open expression of confusion. The
students disappeared one by one until they were left virtually
alone. He knew Ms. Hughes would stand there until she had her
explanation. After all, she was often late to her own
classes.
Ms. Hughes had been his
teacher freshman year as well. Running late from lunch one day, Ben
had seen Ms. Hughes and another female teacher standing very close
together. They kissed and went their separate ways, never noticing
Ben. Occasionally he had wanted to bring it up, to let her know he
was gay as well, but it had always seemed such an odd subject to
broach and he worried she would react defensively, but perhaps now
was the time to tell her.
“
Level with me, Ben,” Ms.
Hughes said. “Do you need my help? Is there something I can
do?”
Ben wanted to hug her. She
was possibly the only teacher in the world who would offer to help
instead of dragging him off to the principal’s office.
“
It’s nothing too serious,
but I really am needed.” Ben smiled to reassure her, but it only
made her worry lines deepen.
“
And you can’t tell me
why?”
“
I can. But not yet.” He
could tell her now, but gay or not, she was still an adult and
would probably insist that Tim’s parents would be informed and a
proper nurse hired. All that mattered now was getting free of the
school.
She looked into his eyes,
hoping the truth would betray itself there. “When are you coming
back to my class?”
“
Monday,” he answered
truthfully. Tim’s parents came back late on Sunday. That left only
three more days before his domestic fantasies would come to an
end.
“
I’m trusting you, Ben,”
she said. “You owe me an explanation. And an essay since you’ve
missed the first test.”
“
All right,” he grinned,
relief washing over him. “I promise.”
Ms. Hughes watched him as
he left, even though her classroom was full of students who were
probably going wild in her absence. Once he could no longer be
seen, she turned and walked slowly down the hallway, wondering what
it was in Ben that she saw in herself.
__________
Chapter 8
“
Honey, I’m home!” Ben
crowed happily as he struggled with a grocery bag in each
hand.
Today had been one of those
Fridays where even the teachers had their hearts set on the
weekend. None of the classes he bothered to show up for had been
difficult or involved any homework. He and Allison once again
disregarded the talent show and spent the period gossiping. He
related to her for the umpteenth time how much he enjoyed taking
care of Tim, while she filled him in on the action she and Ronnie
had been sneaking in between classes.
After school, Ben took some
of the money Tim’s parents had left and went grocery shopping,
restocking much-needed supplies and picking up the ingredients for
chili.
“
Aren’t you going to help
carrying in?” Ben called as he deposited the bags on the kitchen
counter.
“
I could probably manage
something,” Tim said as he crutched his way into the
room.
Tim had been much more
active and restless the last few days. The painkillers had run out
on Wednesday and he had no interest in a refill. He was wincing
more often, but he seemed happy to pay this price for his
sobriety.
“
Seriously,” he said as he
followed Ben out to the driveway. “Sling a few plastic bags on my
wrists.”
“
I’ve only got paper,” Ben
chided as he took the last one and a twelve-pack of Coke from the
trunk. “Your moral support is appreciated though.”
“
Why’d you buy so much? My
parents are coming back on Sunday.”
“
I know, but tomorrow I’m
cooking a meal fit for a king. Well, a very poor and
underprivileged king maybe,” Ben corrected.
“
You’re making me hungry.
Why not cook it tonight?”
“
My parents are on my back
because I’ve barely been around the last few weeks and have missed
every single dinner.” Ben waited while Tim opened the glass door
for him. “I promised that I would actually be there
tonight.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “So
it’s frozen burritos for me?”
“
That or a pot pie. I
promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
Ben stayed long enough to
put the groceries away and make sure Tim had everything he needed.
He meant to leave immediately afterwards, but they started talking,
first about Tim’s homework that Ben had brought from school and
then about some of the insane antics Tim had seen on the daytime
talk shows. By the time he left to go home, Ben was already ten
minutes late for dinner.
He ran most of the way
home, cursing his mom for insisting he be there tonight. What
difference did it make? Couldn’t they shove food down their gullets
without him there? He didn’t see why meals were considered quality
family time. Half the time you couldn’t talk anyway since your
mouth was full.
Then again, he could barely
wait to cook for Tim tomorrow. He supposed that preparing a meal
was an expression of love and that he had been standing up his
mother all week. Burdened by guilt, he burst through the door and
dodged Wilford’s greeting in order to reach the dining room sooner.
He was in luck. The table was just now being set. Whatever Mom had
cooked had obviously taken longer than she had intended.
Ben took over setting the
table as his sister and his father came into the room and took
their places.
“
How nice of his royal
highness to grace us with an appearance,” his father
joked.
“
Can’t blame him for not
showing up,” his sister Karen complained when their mom entered the
room with a meatloaf.
Ben had no complaints.
Meatloaf was one of his favorite meals. Lately he couldn’t seem to
get enough red meat in his system. His mother’s meatloaf was made
with strips of bacon on top and slathered with ketchup, which
caused his mouth to water as she set it down. He was glad to be
home for dinner tonight.
They went through the usual
motions. His mother made them say grace, which he always mouthed to
make her happy even though he didn’t believe in it. Once that was
over and everyone was served, Dad went into his usual rants about
what had happened at work that day. Being manager of the local
cable company didn’t sound very intriguing, but his father managed
to bring home at least a few crazy customer stories every
day.