They met at ten, they kissed at
twelve, and were madly in love at eighteen. Caleb is the captain of the swim
team and the hottest senior in school. Nico is small and beautiful and has an
Italian father who rules with an iron fist. Literally. Nico is never safe from
his vicious father. One morning Caleb forgets himself and pecks Nico’s lips at
school. A teacher sees them and tattles to the Headmaster. Accidentally outing
themselves is the least of their problems. The ball set in motion by the
school’s calls to their parents may get Nico killed.
About the Author:
Talking
about yourself is a cruel form of torture. Tall or short? Short. Big or small?
Small. Blonde, green… Have I said enough? Or, did you want something like this?
Raised
on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike
grandfather, C. Kennedy doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, and is epic awkward
and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a
constant state of fascination with the trivial, Kennedy contemplates such
weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the
straight people come from? When not writing, Kennedy can be found taming waves
on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the
much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling
at all things ordinary.
Excerpt:
The
lunch bell rings and Caleb bolts from his seat. Once in the hall, he pulls his
cellular from his pocket and rereads the text message from his dad. Man, I’m
in so much shit, Caleb thinks morosely. He races to his locker and
prays that Nico will be there waiting for him. He rounds the corner and
searches through the bustling, milling students. Nico isn’t there. Crap.
He needs to find him, and quick. He jogs to his locker, spins the combination
lock, and curses under his breath when it won’t open. He stresses and has to do
it three times before he gets the damn locker open. Be easy, Caleb. It isn’t
the end of the world. Whom was he kidding? It’s a freakin’ disaster.
The
students who pass give him looks. By now, they know. Shit, where in hell was
Nico?
“Hey,”
Liam says casually as he finds Caleb at his locker.
Caleb
returns a soft “Hey.”
“What’s
going on, man?” Liam whispers.
Caleb
doesn’t know what to say as he slams the locker door and turns to him. “What’d
you hear?”
“They’re
saying you kissed Nico.”
Caleb
meets Liam’s questioning gaze. Short of Nico, Liam was his BFF. There was no
sense in lying to him. The word was already out. He nods once.
“Yeah?
It’s true? You’re gay?”
Caleb
takes a deep breath and releases a shuddering sigh. “Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
Caleb
runs a nervous hand through his unruly blond hair. “Yeah.”
Liam
claps him on the back. “No shit. You could have told me, man.”
Caleb
sighs again, a tremble on the air. “Sorry, man. I’ve never known how to tell
anyone.”
Liam
gives him a warm smile. “Yeah, you gotta feel totally awkward, bro. You gonna
make practice today?”
This
surprises Caleb. “You’re okay with it?”
“Fine,
bro. To each his own, you know? And Nico’s a great guy.”
Caleb
breathes a giant sigh of relief. “Thanks, man.”
“No
problem. You gonna make practice today?”
“Doubt
it. The school called my dad. He’s picking me up after school.”
“That
going to be a hassle? We got State Finals on Saturday and you’re our Captain.
We depend on you, bro.”
Caleb
smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It was going to be a serious hassle.
“I’ll be okay for Saturday. Can you lead practice for me today?”
“No
problem. Text me tonight when the sentencing is over. See you at our table?”
“Yeah,
I gotta find Nico.”
“Yeah,
okay. See you there.”
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
Liam
waves him off as he walks away.
That
definitely went better than expected. Liam had always been cool, though, and a
good friend. The rest of the world? They usually sucked.
Caleb
worries about Nico. Nico isn’t good with confrontation. Nico is afraid most of
the time. Nico is only safe when he is with Caleb. He has to find Nico. Now.
He
jogs down the hall, making his way through the throng of students. A girl
giggles and puts a hand over her mouth then points at him. The girl next to her
bursts out laughing. They know. This is a freakin’ disaster.
Caleb
rounds another corner and doesn’t see Nico at his locker. Shit. Nico has
Phys. Ed. right before lunch. He exits the building and makes his way to the
gym. He checks down each row of lockers and doesn’t see Nico. Damn it, where
in hell is he? “Nico, you in here?” he calls as he heads toward the
bathroom and shoves through the door.
There,
squatted with his face buried in his arms, is Nico in tears.
“Ah,
shit,” Caleb says under his breath as he pulls Nico into his arms.
A
strangled sob escapes Nico as he wraps his arms tightly around Caleb’s waist.
“The school called my dad. He’s coming to get me after school.”
“I
know. They called mine, too.”
“My
dad’s going to kill me, Caleb.”
Caleb
winces at Nico’s words as he pets the curls he loves so much. Nico’s dad is
dangerous. Nico’s dad is someone to be terrified of. “My dad will talk to him.”
“What’s
going to happen to us?”
“The
worst the school can do is suspend us.”
“No,
I mean, what about us?”
Caleb
lifts Nico’s chin with gentle fingertips. “What do you mean, what about us?
We’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen to you and me.”
“You’re
not going to break up with me?”
Pain
sears Caleb’s heart. How could Nico even think such a thing? “Nicolò, baby, don’t
even go there. I love you. Always have, always will. In a few months we’ll be
off to college and all of this will be behind us.” He places a chaste kiss on
Nico’s lips.
“’Kay.”
Nico releases a long, shuddering sigh and squeezes Caleb’s waist before he pulls
away. He rubs the tears from his eyes with the heels of his hands then goes to
a sink and rinses his face with cool water. “I’d die if I lost you, Caleb.”
Caleb
cards his fingers through Nico’s curls. “Nothing like that is ever going to
happen. Everything will be okay.”
Nico
turns the water off and reaches for a paper towel. “What’s your dad going to
say?”
“He’ll
think it’s bad news, but he’s easier than Mom is. Let’s get to lunch. You need
something to eat.”
“’Kay.
People are already talking.”
“I
know. Mr. Higgins obviously couldn’t keep his big mouth shut. Liam asked me
about it and I told him the truth. He’s okay with it.”
Nico
looks up at Caleb as Caleb leads him by the elbow from the gym. “He is?”
“Yeah,
he’s fine with it.”
* * *
Caleb
reads his dad’s text message one last time before the bell rings ending his
last period class. THE SCHOOL CALLED. BE ON THE FRONT STEPS AT 3. He doesn’t
know what the school told his dad and he doesn’t want to be the one to tell
him. God, how could he be so stupid as to kiss Nico at school?
It
just happens. They’re always so careful at school, but he’d been kissing Nico
for almost six years and isn’t thinking. It just seems natural to kiss him when
they part to go their separate ways to class. Of all people, Mr. Higgins, the
peevish algebra teacher, had to be the one to see them. All they do is peck
lips. It isn’t even a full-on snog. Mr. Higgins acts as if they were caught in
flagrante delicto. He scolded them heartily then rushed off to the
Headmaster’s office. Man, they’d done so much more than kiss. If Mr. Higgins
only knew. Caleb isn’t sure whom he’s angrier with. Himself or Mr. Higgins. Shit,
what a freakin’ disaster.
This
is the first time in his seventeen-and-a-half-year existence that he’s ever
been in trouble. He suddenly has a horrible thought. A suspension would get him
kicked off the swim team. He’d worked hard to become Captain of the team,
swimming every afternoon after school for three hours. Three hours every day
that he could have spent with Nico. Three more hours each day that Nico could
have been safe. Fear and anxiety claw at his heart and his mind reels with
rising fear.
The bell rings and he
flies from his seat.
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